A Jail, Blue Waters and White Beach : Andamans

Ø 10 December, 2013 No option but to Fly to Kolkata. Overnight at the Airport. Ø 11 December, 2013 Kolkata-Port Blair flight early in the morning. After freshening up, went to Cellular Jail. Afternoon Government Ferry to Havelock Islands. Nice place with resorts lined up right on the beach. Ø 12 December, 2013 Morning Walk on the beach. Off to Elephant Beach in a Motor Boat. Back to Jetty and went to Radhanagar Beach, the one and only of its type in India, white sand, excellent place. After-noon Ferry to Port Blair.   Ø 13 December, 2013 Took a three island tour in a big TRASH CAN (and they call it a tourist boat). Half day on the Ross Island alone or a visit to mud volcanoes would have been much better. Ø 14 December, 2013 Local sight-seeing in Port Blair- Museums, Saw-Mill and Light & Sound Show in Cellular Jail.   Ø 15 December, 2013 Flight to Kolkata. Victoria Memorial, again endless wait at the airport and back to Delhi.

Leh-Laddakh (September-2011)

This is what I did this year. It was really fast and..

• 24 September, 2011, reached Leh from Delhi by a direct flight. The arrangement of our stay was in the officer's mess of BRO. Enjoyed the hospitality of the pioneers. Called a vehicle and visited Shanti Stupa, Leh Palace, Castle @Tsemo and Leh Bazar. 

• 25 September, 2011, was the day of real long drive on the second highest motorable pass. Went to Pangong Tso, tso means lake. Encountered snow on the Chang La, la means a pass. You will feel altitude sickness at this place. Real enchanting experience of a beautiful high altitude lake, wild Yaks, a beautifully peaceful Hemis Gompa and the school of Phunsuk Wangdoo.

• 26 September, 2011, was our date with the majestic Khardung La. After Khardungla it was the road going towards Drass>Kargil. Visited magnetic Hill, Gurudwara Patthar Sahib, Confluence of Zanskar-Sindhu(Indus) and one more calm and quite Monastery.

• 27 September, 2011, was the day of early morning flight back to Delhi.  

Kerala Tour (Trivandrum-Kanyakumari)

Kerala can be a dream destination for any one. It is really difficult to make up your mind to go all the way 3000+ KMs for excursion when you have Himachal and Uttaranchal in your neighborhood. After much thinking and %#*&@$)!&% I finally finalized my program for Kerala, God’s Own Country. I was to reach Trivandrum on 19/03/2010 around 6-00 AM and leave on 23/03/2010 in the evening by Trivandrum Rajdhani.

The news of extraordinarily hot march was reaching Delhi and troubling me. For them 34 Centigrade was really hot. Any way there was no looking back and by 7-00 AM we were in the refreshment room run by IRCTC on Trivandrum railway Station tasting our first IDLIs. It was really hot but tolerable. There is plenty of accommodation available near the railway station. Railway station is adjacent to East-Fort (literally the city centre). You get transport for every where from here TSRs (Three wheelers) as well as Local buses. In the evening you can visit KOVALAM. So many things were heard about this beach and it was worth it. There is enough public transport available for Kovalam beach from East-Fort.

Trivandrum is an excellent city in every manner. We were staying in Poonkulam on a small hill towards Kovalam beach. Evening is perfect time for visiting Kovalam. Although a little crowded but you always get some space for you and your family.

It was time for me to decide about back waters. Travel websites generally speak of some destinations (backwaters) around Trivandrum too but there is none, the locals say. If you want to try just reach Kollam or Alleppy. Both the points are easily reachable from Trivandrum by two trains in the morning. We reached Alleppy to catch the Government Boat for Kollam (75 KMs, 8 Hours and Rs. 300/-).

This program turned out to be the best part of the tour. We would have missed “GOD’s OWN COUNTRY” had we skipped this. Alleppy really a world different from the one we live in. Water and canals all around. Life is different here.

The colorful Boats

And the colorful houses catch our eyes.

Our three days were really “well spent” in every manner.

Kanyakumari was nearby and easily reachable by train as well as bus. We spent a night in Kanyakumari also. The story of three meeting sea and the sights of the Thiruvallavur statues and Vivekananda Memorial makes your trip to Kanyakumari a must.

We also visited the Suchindram temple.

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