Rajasthan: Sept 2009

The trip snaps are available on flickr

We needed a break from work, and also it was time we vacationed someplace; a car-trip down south, or a trip to Rajasthan were options that we considered. Rajasthan was just desert and heat in my mind, and I somehow didn’t exactly warm up to this idea. But then Indu’s insistence, and some research on the web sort of convinced me that this may be worthwhile after all.

We applied for leave, and booked air-tickets to Jaipur and back. I usually use Cleartrip to look for tickets… somehow the layout of the site, and the aesthetic and utilitarian layout of content on that site really appeals to me. Anyway, I digress.

We then listed out our trip details, and the various costs on a spreadsheet – we used Google docs for that purpose. The plan was to spend a day and half at Jaipur, 3 days at Udaipur, a day or two at Ranakpur, a day at Jodhpur, and then return to Jaipur for the flight out to Bangalore.

Ooty trip: Feb 2009

Trip snaps are available on flickr.

(Updates 25 Feb) Videos: Pykara falls, and Golf lessons

Least planned of our trips so far. The idea was to just get to Ooty, stay put at the guest house there, and then figure out what to do next.

Srirangapatna

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/hush-sss/

Woke up lazily on Saturday, 07 Feb, and after a hearty breakfast at Adiga’s, headed to Mysore. A sunny day, and without too much of the painful traffic – we were in luck, and a good start to the vacation. Drove on without a stop anywhere, and once we neared Srirangapatna, decided to stay at some resort there – spur of the moment decision. Stayed at the Ambalee Resort, opposite the fort. Decent enough rooms, but a tad expensive. Again considering that the rooms there are always in demand, guess that explains the tariff.

Had a simple lunch, and we slept till 4:30pm. Decided to drive through the fort, and have a look at the Ranganathaswamy Temple and the other sites within the fort. The temple is a 9th century temple, with some amount of history attached to it. But then again, like most sites of historical interest within India, there is a total lack of information about the site, at the site. Maybe the Archaeological Survey of India should issue booklets about that historical sites, their importance, history, facts, and sell them at the site. Am sure that will be lapped up, and the visitors to the site will appreciate the site or monument all the more.

Had a look at the ruins of Tipu’s palace, the place where his body was found, a beautiful mosque and then drove from there to the Nimishamba temple. It is situated on the banks of the River Kaveri, but then the environs of the temple are a mess.

Uttarakhand trip: Sept 2008

This trip to Uttarakhand was on the cards for sometime, but we just didn’t get around to planning for it, and actually deciding on a date for travel.

All the snaps are on flickr

Planning

Finally decided that 20th Sept works for us, booked tickets and planned the trip in a hurry:

• BLR-DELHI-BLR by air,
• DELHI-HALDWANI-DELHI by rail (Haldwani being the nearest rail station to our destination Ranikhet),
• and the final leg HALDWANI-RANIKHET-HALDWANI by road.
• Stay in Ranikhet, at the Windsor Lodge in Kalika estate
• Other places that we should probably check out: Maybe travel to Corbett’s park, spend a day or two there. Travel to places from which we could spot the Himalayas.

That was basically it. Except for the last point, everything else was relatively easy to plan for, except for booking the tickets – was that fun or what. The irctc.co.in site is no fun, though it surely is great when it works right the first time.