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Day 3 of the trip This blog is in continuation of our Day 1 (Exploring Leh) and Day 2 (Leh to Kargil) of our Zanskar trip. After a long journey from Leh to Kargil and the pleasant surprise at Mulbekh monastery, we slept peacefully on day 2 and had planned to start our day 3 at 4:30 in the morning. We were going to travel from Kargil to Rangdum. Though the distance is just about 130 kilometres, the roads are close to non-existent and with a team of all time energetic photographers; it was difficult to reach Rangdum sooner than 11-12 hours. Imambara, Trespone Village - Kargil As we started from Kargil, our first place of visit on the way was Imambara - a beautiful mosque in the Trespone village, oddly 20 kilometres away from Kargil. The mosque is located on a hilltop and reflects a quaint mix of Islamic and Tibetan elements in its construction style and location. It was so cold that we sighted water vapor coming out of mouth as we breathed. As the mosque was closed, we quickly moved. It was amazing to see some sun rays cutting through the might of Himalayas. Our next stop was at a village called Sankoo where shops had opened giving us an opportunity to have breakfast as well as some early morning street action. Sighting Nun-Kun peaks in Panikhar, Ladakh: Next we drove another 45 kilometres to Panikhar which is a huge green expanse of Suru Valley. The beauty of this area was amplified by 2 beautiful snow-capped peaks emerging out of Himalayas ahead of us. We realized these were the Nun-Kun mountain ranges towering high and building a majestic skyline. The twin peaks of Nun and Kun, around 23,000 feet high (Around 6000 feet short of Mt. Everest), are the highest in the Zanskar range in Ladakh and are separated by a snowy plateau of about 4 kilometre in length. A green patch of grass besides the road, the Suru river passing calmly, the cold piercing our jackets, and the white twins ahead of us, commanded our undivided attention. We had to take a group photo here. After much reluctance to leave such an amazing place, we moved on. We kept stopping briefly at number of villages on our way which gave us some photographic opportunities to capture the village houses as well as some cute kids on their way to school. Since there would be one school for various nearby villages, we could see really young kids walking few miles everyday to reach their school, some posed for us, some were scared of us. The Parkachik Glacier, Ladakh: Driving 15 more kilometres accompanied by the Suru river, we reached the hill slopes of Parkachik-La. Parkachik Glacier is a majestic mass of ice moving slowly down the Nun-Kun slopes. This ice mass falls finally into the Suru River, providing a magnificent view of the huge ice-fall. After Panikhar, the road became an unmetalled dirt track; such that we were leisurely driving at a pace averaging about 15-20 km/ hr. All along the way from Kargil, the Suru River kept us company. The roadside was adorned by fall colored grass and shrubs. This added a unique dimension to the scene. Slowly the greenery started getting sparse and all life that was left were patches of grass valleys here and there along the sides of the river. We took a break near another snow clad mountain, a point where we saw the first stupa on the way with some Tibetan prayer flags. The point marked the end of Islamic area of Kargil and beginning of Buddhist area of Zanskar. We next stopped someplace on the way with a lot of horses grazing besides the river cutting through the snow-capped mountains. Lots of food around, pure water to drink, views that people pay thousands to see, no one except a few enthusiastic photographers to disturb them and not a thing in the world to care about. What a life these horses might have! We also saw some sheep and not to forget the cute little marmots. Marmots are large squirrels found only around mountainous areas. All they do is sunbath lazily on rocks and live under the ground. We found many marmots sunbathing and giving a loud whistle on seeing us which is a danger call to fellow marmots. As we moved on we came across some beautiful lakes with sparkling fresh pristine waters. The landscape was stunning that we almost wanted to stay there for rest of our lives. There were very few villages on the way and they too had a handful of houses. We wondered how people might live here, in the middle of nowhere befriending tyrannical mountains and bitter climate. The roads kept worsening as the unmetalled dirt track we were on since Parkachik gave way to barely visible trail. Tiredness was now giving way to aches everywhere. We were soon on a flatland full of stones where vehicles could create their own paths and streams of water could be found anywhere. We could see few mountains at distance with a strange pattern on it, as if nature created wavy lines on rocks by brushing its fingers on them. We saw a small hill at the bottom of the textured mountains with a monastery on top. Rangdum was finally in sight. We reached Rangdum late in the afternoon and charged ourselves with one of the best Dal-Chawal servings at the only restaurant located in the vast plains of the area of Rangdum. The poor road condition has preserved the virgin beauty of this place as not many tourists care or rather dare to visit Rangdum. We reached our place of stay for the night which was a lovely campsite located amidst the barren mountains on all the sides. Some of us were still very energetic after a long day travel to visit Rangdum monastery nearby while others were dead tired after an extremely bumpy ride. In the night, we were served a sumptuous dinner which was to our surprise very delicious and fulfilling. This charged us up to try out some night photography. Since remote places such as this hardly have any artificial lights, it calls for some high exposure shots. The sky was spoiled by the moon as it became difficult to capture what we desired but nonetheless we kept trying to get some good shots of the enormous mountains and an alien landscape. Soon everyone was asleep except us and all lights were out except the moon. It felt bizarre as if standing on a different planet thousands of miles away from home in an almost hostile environment with a severe headache. It suddenly hit us how lucky we are to have visited this place, to be here and witness a different face of nature, to experience how infinitesimally minuscule we are in this vast universe and yet how much there is to do in our lives. Thoughts of wonder, admiration, fascination and probably confusion took us to bed. A day full of adventurous journey which introduced us to newer and fascinating landscapes came to end under a sky full of stars. We were so taken aback by the amazing things the day showed us that Kargil and Leh now seemed a distant past though we were there just yesterday. Stay tuned to discover our journey to the highest point of our trip, the second largest glacier in Himalayas, meeting some awesome people and seeing some stunning places as we move on to Padum, the capital of Zanskar on the Day 4 of our trip. Read all our blogs of the series The Zanskar Odyssey by clicking on the links below: 1. Exploring Leh 2. Leh to Kargil 3. Kargil to Rangdum 4. Rangdum to Padum 5. Exploring Padum 6. Stongdey Gustor Festival 7. Padum to Srinagar #India #NorthIndia #UnionTerritories #Ladakh

Day 2 of the trip The Zanskar Odyssey is a series of 7 blogs which describes our journey through Zanskar Valley, a remote yet beautiful region of India. Surrounded by the Himalayas, our plan was as follows - Day 1 - Reach Leh Day 2 - Start from Leh and reach Kargil Day 3 - Start from Kargil and reach Rangdum Day 4 - Start from Rangdum and reach Padum, the capital of Zanskar Valley Day 5 - Explore areas surrounding Padum Day 6 - Attend Stongdey Gustor Festival Day 7 & 8 - Return from Padum to Kargil and reach Srinagar to take a flight back This blog is a continuation of Day 1 of the Zanskar trip: A Day in Leh This is the second article in The Zanskar Odyssey series where we start from Leh and reach Kargil. After a tiring day 1 which saw us landing at Leh airport in Ladakh region of India, experiencing some after-effects of sudden altitude changes, visiting two monasteries in Leh (Stakna and Thiksey) and witnessing some spectacular landscapes which only Ladakh is capable of providing, Day 2 of our Zanskar Valley trip started early in the morning as we took the Srinagar-Leh highway (National Highway 1) to reach Kargil. The plan was to reach Kargil by the evening after stopping at a few scenic places on the way. Despite the rough terrains and isolated locations, most of the roads are smooth thanks to BRO (Border Road Organization). Enroute we took a number of halts to digest the splendour of this astounding place which seemed so alien, yet so magnificent. Magnetic Hill, Ladakh: Our first stop was the Magnetic Hill famous as Gravity-defying hill. It is believed that objects and cars when placed on one particular spot on the road, roll uphill in defiance of gravity even when the engine of the car is not running. We enjoyed clicking some road photographs here; though we didn’t really experience the car going up on the inclined road as claimed. Sangam - Confluence of Indus and Zanskar rivers, Ladakh: The next stop was Sangam in Nimmu village. Sangam offered us a breathtaking view of the confluence of two rivers - The Indus River and the Zanskar River. Indus originates in Tibet close to the Mansarovar Lake whereas Zanskar has two branches of its origin – first is the Doda and second is the Lungnak River; both merging in Zanskar central valley. The Indus and Zanskar, 2 disparate rivers with different sources, different histories, different journeys and even different colours (Zanskar is muddy while Indus is greenish-white), unite at Sangam, letting go of all their differences giving us an amazing view. Both the rivers converge at this point in Nimmu village and flow towards Pakistan eventually ending up in the Arabian Sea. After the Sangam, the resulting river also named Indus kept following us throughout the way. Or shall we say we followed the Indus river throughout. Our next halt was a very colourful wooden bridge hanging on the mighty Indus River flowing with full force. The bridge was fully wrapped with the Tibetan prayer flags. The flags are supposed to be blown by the wind to spread the goodwill and compassion into all-pervading space and the air is purified and sanctified by the mantras written on them. The place was surrounded by huge barren rocky mountains on all the sides. The rugged texture of the mountains gave an unfriendly feeling. It let no living thing reside on it. For ages, these tough, resolute mountains must have stood here. They must have seen millions of days and as many nights. But any and every attempt of moss or grass to grow on it would have been shot down emphasising their individuality, announcing their independence. Their only accomplice through countless seasons might have been the equally cold and furious river Indus. The location gave a feeling of timelessness. A small monastery was located on the other side of the bridge. The path down to the river wasn’t very steep; hence we also trekked down to the river to collect pebbles and click some photos. The water, however, was ice cold and did not allow us to step into it. Spending some time there, we were again on the road to resume our journey. Lamayuru Monastery, Ladakh: Some time had passed on the road and we were getting used to watching barren rocky mountains all around us. Suddenly the landscape started changing and we realised we were about to reach our next stop - Lamayuru monastery. Lamayuru is famous for its unusual moon-like landscapes carved into Greater Himalayas, famed as the Moonland. The soft craters and the orangish-yellow land simply add charm to the surreal beauty of Lamayuru. The sand-coloured formations seemed like enormous ant hills in the middle of the rocky Himalayas. Lamayuru monastery is a Tibetan - Buddhist monastery dating back to the 11th century. It is one of the largest and oldest monasteries in Ladakh. The monastery like others, houses a rich collection of artefacts, wall paintings, statues, thangkas, carpets and an impressive 11-headed, 1000 eyed image of Chenrezig. We savoured mouth-watering ginger-lemon-honey tea in a small café outside the Lamayuru monastery where we also bought the vibrant and colourful Tibetan flags and fridge magnets. After spending some time on the hill and clicking some amazing shots we bid adieu to magical Lamayuru monastery. Mulbekh Monastery, Kargil: Back on the road, on our way to Kargil, we were continuously impressed by Ladakh and its natural wonders around us. Hardly did we know that a surprise was awaiting us at Mulbekh village where we stopped for lunch. The small monastery in Mulbekh was celebrating its annual festival on that particular day which they called as Mentok Stano (Flower mela). The Mulbekh monastery pictures an enormous figure of standing Maitreya Buddha (The Buddha-to-come) carved on a rock facing the road. Maitreyas are also known as Chamba, so Mulbekh Monastery is popularly known as Mulbekh Chamba. The monastery festival is a way to build social companionship among people residing in villages situated far off in the Ladakh and Zanskar valley. The people celebrate victory of good over evil with colours, flowers, dance, music and masks. The festival showcases the present-day culture of Ladakh and Zanskar Valley. The most celebrated event was the dance performed by men and women wearing traditional costumes. The jewellery and accessories worn by the ladies were truly amazing. They wore a colourful dress, a turquoise stone-studded headgear (called Perakh) and a bright feathery scarf that flowed down their back further tied around the shoulders. We were also invited to join in their ancient dance which narrates- Pluck a flower and offer it to God. The monks offered tea and biscuits to visitors. Outside the Mulbekh monastery, all the kids played a typical gambling game; the lead shouting- Make 50 out of 10; where one had to bet Rs.10 on one of the 6 signs etched over big cardboard and the lead throws a dice which decides which sign wins and who will take all the money. All in all, it was a joyous celebration. People from various neighbouring villages had come to participate and watch the festival and we realised there were two different Ladakhis in sight. The older generation who were dancing in traditional clothes and were more interested in giving their respects to Maitreya Buddha and the new generation which wore jeans and jackets, carried mobile phones and seemed like any other young crowd we see in urban cities. Probably the generational divide that is present around us has no boundaries. We also happened to make some very cute kid friends who were more than happy to have a good long chat with us. There was a sea of pretty faces around us, some wrinkled with a lifetime of festivals behind them and some fresh with a lifetime of celebration ahead of them. We stood in the Mulbekh monastery for 4 hours dancing, clicking and enjoying as if it was our festival. We almost forgot that we were just tourists visiting this fascinating place, meeting these beautiful people and we must move on. Leaving Mulbekh, we directly drove to Kargil. We were startled to witness how the barren desert-like mountains slowly transformed into greenish ones and how Buddhism gave way to Islam. Kargil is a district and is the second largest town of Ladakh division after Leh and is situated along the banks of the Suru River (Indus). The town lies near the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan to its north. Our hotel in Kargil was located right beside the banks of Suru River. Suru River is a tributary of Indus River and originates near Drang-Drung glacier in Pensi-la pass - a place we were going to cross the next day en route to Zanskar Valley. The huge veranda in front of our rooms in the hotel offered us breath-taking views of the river and the city of Kargil. Late in the evening, we visited the Kargil market to capture some street photographs before calling it a day. Thanks for reading this blog. This was day 2 of our Zanskar Odyssey. Read the day 3 of our journey from Kargil to Rangdum - a journey which stunned us with its landscapes, showed us alien places and ended under starry skies reminding us of our trivial existence. It will be great if you can let us know what you thought about the blog, pictures or the trip. Feel free to comment below. Read all our blogs of the series The Zanskar Odyssey by clicking on the links below: 1. Exploring Leh 2. Leh to Kargil 3. Kargil to Rangdum 4. Rangdum to Padum 5. Exploring Padum 6. Stongdey Gustor Festival 7. Padum to Srinagar #India #NorthIndia #UnionTerritories #Ladakh

Day 1 of the trip Hidden in the remotest reaches of Himalayas lies one of the most inaccessible places in the world named Zanskar Valley. Spread over an area of 7000 square kilometres (which is 11 times bigger than Mumbai), Zanskar Valley is located in the Ladakh region, a Union Territory in India. The only motorable road to Zanskar Valley is from Kargil through Penzi La pass which remains closed for nearly eight months every year due to heavy snowfall. However, recently a new road has been constructed to reach Padum (headquarters of Zanskar Valley) from Darcha in Lahaul Valley of Himachal Pradesh. The region of Zanskar Valley stands out as one of the few places in the Himalayas where traditional Tibetan culture, society, and buildings have survived both - the Chinese cultural revolution & global modernisation. This isolation and purity of Zanskar culture, as well as some of the most magnificent landscapes in this region of Indian Himalayas, lured us to visit this 'lost valley'. Though the road leading to Zanskar Valley was completed in the late '70s, it has always remained an unpaved & graded (kacha), which makes the journey extremely difficult. Due to this, the people of Zanskar Valley have been living in nearly total isolation throughout their history until recently. 14,000 people scattered across numerous villages depend on the yak and mountain farming for livelihood. Without any doubts, the people of Zanskar Valley have lived a simple, spiritual existence. In this series - The Zanskar Odyssey, we take you through our travel journey through this region and give you a glimpse into unique people, customs, traditions and landscapes of Zanskar Valley. If you have any interest in exploring and understanding different people and places of the world, this 'The Zanskar Odyssey' is bound to captivate you. We joined Saurabh Chatterjee, a renowned professional photographer based in Hyderabad who also conducts photo tours (www.siaphotography.in). The plan was to land in Leh and then reach Kargil before embarking on the strenuous journey through Rangdum to our final destination Padum, capital of Zanskar Valley. The itinerary was also designed to ensure we cover Stongdey Gustor festival at Stongdey monastery near Padum before heading back to Srinagar to catch a flight back home. After a pretty sleepless night, we took off in an early morning flight to Leh from Mumbai. We got some amazing views from the flight before reaching Leh. All the tiredness suddenly disappeared seeing the vast snow-capped mountains and barren desert. Ladakh is a cold desert and Leh is, in fact, a bit of a city in the desert. Inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent, the region stands at 3000 meters above sea level and is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Ladakh. No train routes exist to reach Ladakh. One can reach there either by air from various parts of India or by road (from Manali or Srinagar). Ladakh has recently become a union territory. It surely is a unique and special place for everyone who visits it and no words can do justice to what you see and experience here. Leh’s airport is small but unique with colourful decor. It is one of the highest commercial airports in the world. A quick drive in a pre-paid taxi to our hotel and an introductory session with the rest of the members of the photo-tour marked the beginning of our journey to Zanskar Valley. After half a day of rest to acclimatise ourselves with the high altitude and cold weather, we decided to go for a little sightseeing. Stakna Monastery, Leh: Our first place of visit in Leh was Stakna monastery. It is located some 25 odd kilometres from the city of Leh on Leh-Manali highway. The roads are well built and smooth. The monastery is located on a hill besides Indus River. We crossed a wooden bridge over Indus river full of colourful Tibetan flags to reach Stakna monastery. From atop the hill where the monastery was located, we got a picturesque view of the flowing river and the copper coloured sand mountains. We could also see the Thiksey Monastery which we were going to visit next. Stakna monastery is centuries old (built in 16th Century) and simple yet colourful with many items of Buddhist art like stupas, statues, wall paintings, swords and ancient Buddhist scriptures. The ‘Manis’ outside the main building of Stakna monastery completes its antiquated look. Thiksey Monastery, Leh: We next visited Thiksey monastery which is just 5-6 kilometres back towards Leh on the same road from Stakna monastery. It was past 6 PM and hence was monastery’s closing time, thus we weren’t able to see the interiors of Thiksey monastery. This monastery, however, resembles the Potala Palace of Lhasa and is the largest monastery of Ladakh. It was built in the 15th Century. It has a fort-like structure from outside and is painted red and white. The path to the main worship place is like a hill slope. Various large Manis are placed enroute the main path. It offers an excellent view of the Indus valley and the whole setting is so calm and peaceful that it puts you in a silent trance. We were fortunate to see the sunset in the orange and red coloured clouds across the horizon and the moon rising on the other side at the same time from atop the Thiksey monastery parking lot. Our excellent team of photographers got some amazing clicks of the monastery and the Indus valley. Shadows of clouds were present everywhere around us but seldom seen. Ladakh offered us numerous opportunities to capture the constantly changing interplay of lights and shadows falling on its massive barren mountains. It had been a long day and it was getting dark. Driving through the Leh market, we reached back to our hotel and slept dreaming of the next day’s exciting journey. Though we would have loved to stay more at Leh and explore other must-visit places in the area, we were more excited to start our journey to Zanskar Valley and see what it had in store for us. Due to difficulty in accessing Zanskar Valley, its untouched raw beauty, and the fact that very few tourists visit it, the valley was far more enticing to us than Leh. This was just day 1 of our journey and we already felt amused by what we had seen. Keep reading the Zanskar odyssey to see how our journey unfolds. Read day 2 of our journey from Leh to Kargil and the surprise that awaited us there. It will be great if you can let us know what you thought about the blog, pictures or the trip. Feel free to comment below. Read all our blogs of the series The Zanskar Odyssey by clicking on the links below: 1. Exploring Leh 2. Leh to Kargil 3. Kargil to Rangdum 4. Rangdum to Padum 5. Exploring Padum 6. Stongdey Gustor Festival 7. Padum to Srinagar #India #NorthIndia #UnionTerritories #Ladakh

Vijayawada, meaning ‘place of victory’, previously known as Bezawada, is located on the banks of river Krishna and is enveloped by Indrakiladri Hills to its west. Vijayawada today is one of the most important commercial cities of Andhra Pradesh and the only other major city in the reduced state of Andhra, the main being Visakhapatnam or Vizag. It is also a suburb to the newly developing capital of #AndhraPradesh, Amaravati. A quite modern city still preserving its ancient ruins, the city has great connectivity through rail, road and flights. Vijayawada is a veritable paradise for people to learn more about the region’s history and culture. While some renowned temples are expected in every major south Indian city, Vijayawada is also surrounded by numerous hills and with a grand river by its side, giving tourists many avenues to get good views. The thought of making Vijayawada our next trip had struck us since the time we shifted to Hyderabad. It took an interesting twist this summer when we were consumed by the idea of making it a motorbike trip. Vijayawada is 340 kilometres from our place and while one of us has done 500 kilometres on a bike in a day, the other hasn’t done more than 180 km! While covering this long-distance on a cruiser bike or Enfield is easier, very few attempt such distances on a Honda Dazzler (Read 'us'). The thought scared us but also lured us on taking this challenge. Other places to visit as a weekend outing from Hyderabad Hyderabad to Vijayawada road-trip: We planned our road trip to Vijayawada for the long weekend holiday of Good Friday in March 2016. Everything from hotels and places we would visit to the last bit of detail about where would we be taking breaks on the way was finalised. We had even begun working out, focusing on our backs, which go through most stress during such long bike trips. Our excitement came down crashing 2 days before the trip when the newspapers read - 'AP reels under intense heat'. Vijayawada recorded its highest temperature in 4 decades – 42.4 degree Celsius. Hyderabad itself was difficult to survive without air-conditioners at temperatures inching towards 40 degree Celsius mark. Prolonged exposure to such temperatures with heat waves can not only play havoc with our skins & minds, but it can also do major damage to our bike – a bike which we planned on running continuously for at least 8-9 hours with 5-6 short breaks in atmosphere temperature of 42 degree Celsius. The road is obviously much hotter than that. After lots of thinking, calculations and pondering over our fear, we decided that we needed to do this. There was no second thought now. Hyderabad to Vijayawada route map: Early on Friday morning around 5 AM we tied our bag to the rear side of the bike with a bungee rope and started our road trip to Vijayawada from Hyderabad. We had to start early to avoid the peak noon temperatures. The most optimistic plan was to reach by 1 PM. We had decided the best route to reach Vijayawada the previous night. We took the outer ring road service route from Gachibowli and drove towards the airport approach road. We decided to take frequent short breaks to prevent our back from aching. Our first break was after some 53 odd kilometres at Wonderla Amusement Park which was still under construction at that time. Clicking a few photographs and after quick stretching exercises we set off on the road again. Apart from a few speed breakers placed here and there the road was pretty smooth. We soon took an exit from the Outer ring road and took the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway. Driving 30 kilometres more we halted on the highway near Ramoji Film city to savour hot breakfast. Filling our stomach we set out again. At around 8 AM and 128 kilometres, we reached Suryapet. We took half an hour halt here as our next stop was 120 kilometres from Suryapet at Kodad. This was the longest stretch planned in one go and we needed to be mentally and physically perfect before starting this. Another reason for deciding on this long stretch was there is no urban area post Suryapet towards Vijayawada. There are several villages and we were not sure if we would get a decent place post this. As we resumed our further journey, the sun was already up in the sky shining brightly and we started feeling the heat. Vijayawada seemed too far. Reaching Kodad was arduous and we were eager to jump out of our bikes. With no restaurant in sight, we stood under the shade of a large tree and sprinkled some water on our bike and waited for it to cool down a bit. We had no choice but to go on. After another 50-60 kilometres, we reached Nandigama where we had planned our last break and lunch. We were relieved to take another long break and sit on cushioned chairs at a local restaurant in a village. We raced towards Vijayawada from this last stop on the four-lane highway driving smoothly; no traffic no rough patches. We finally reached Berm Park resort (Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation - APTDC) on the bank of river Krishna in Vijayawada. It was a beautiful place with gardens, view of the Prakasham Barrage and Bhavani Island at a distance. We had booked our stay at Bhavani Island resort (also APTDC) which is located on the small island on the Krishna River. Berm park is from where you can onboard boats for Bhavani island. We parked our vehicle near a garden in berm park under tree shed giving our loyal chariot much needed rest. Bhavani Island, Vijayawada: A boat started from Berm Park to Bhavani Island every half an hour. Our boat was launched after waiting for some 10-15 minutes. Clicking kids playing in the water on the way was a joy as our boat ferried towards Bhavani Island. The entrance to Bhavani Island is huge with large wooden docks carved nicely. Bhavani Island has 2 types of rooms – air-conditioned rooms with river view river and treetop rooms without air-conditioning nestled amidst jungles. Though the soaring temperatures enticed us to book air-conditioned rooms, we didn’t want to miss out yet another experience of living in treetop rooms. The room was very basic and was supported on cemented structure giving a treehouse feel. Huge trees surrounded the room. The wooden feeling of the room gave a natural feel. Too much travelling and the heat took a toll on us and we had to take a shower followed by a deep sleep as soon as we lay on the bed. We woke up at 5 PM in the evening and took a walk across the Bhavani Island. The peace and calmness of the environment amazed us. We walked on the sand towards the adventure sports zone and were amazed to see the variety of adventure and water sport activities they had. The officials have also built a cute little lighthouse here. Watching the young college crowd who had come from the city just to enjoy water sports and clicking photographs, we didn’t know when time flew by. The golden sunset was a treat to the eyes as we enjoyed the panoramic view of the resplendent river and the city of Vijayawada. Bhavani Island is open for general public till 6:30 PM and after that, we had the whole place to us. We sat on the terrace restaurant appreciating the cool breeze from Krishna River, helping keep the temperature moderate. Chit-chatting we didn’t realise it was dinner time. We ordered food and continued with the conversation. After dinner, we went near the bank of Krishna river to click night photographs of the Prakasam barrage and the hills. Thankfully we had carried our tripod with us. We woke up early in the morning to catch the sunrise from Bhavani Island. As we walked towards the bank of the Krishna river we spotted a bench placed just adjacent to where the water sports were conducted a day before. This early in the morning, the place was very quiet and peaceful. Sitting on the bench we saw the sunrise from behind the mountains. We hadn’t planned on going for water sports as they were unnecessarily costly compared to what we have seen elsewhere. But the security guard tipped us to go and ask for Rs. 500 complimentary vouchers from the reception for the water sports. We did go to the reception and were excited to get it. Bhavani Island being government resort, we guess the staff doesn’t tell you upfront that you get these vouchers on booking a room and would keep every unused voucher for themselves and their families. It is good to know that there are honest people like the security guard. We went to the water sports area and opted for a paddling boat ride. The sight of the swan-shaped paddle boat was amusing. We paddled the boat deep inside the Krishna river towards Prakasam barrage clicking pictures. Our boat ride in the empty calm river in Vijayawada is something which we will never forget. Post the boat ride, we went back to our room, got fresh and checked out for our next destination. We crossed the Krishna river via transportation boat and soon we were in the parking lot of the Berm Park resort. We drove to our next place of stay in the main city area in Vijayawada. It was surprising to see one of the two metropolis of Andhra Pradesh not being as urban as we expected. A long tunnel through a hill right in the middle of the city was interesting to pass through. We reached our next hotel – Hotel Southern Grand at around 12 noon. It was important for us to relax and be ready for our long trip back planned for next morning i.e. Sunday morning. So we slept and woke up only at 4 PM to visit a couple of places we had shortlisted in Vijayawada. Undavalli Caves, Vijayawada: Our first destination was the Undavalli caves located on the other side of the Krishna river in Vijayawada. Undavalli caves is a multi-storeyed and monolithic structure located in the fresh and verdant surrounding of the hills in Vijayawada. The caves date back to the 4th and 5th century A.D. According to Wikipedia, Undavalli caves are an example of how many Buddhist artifacts and stupas in Andhra Pradesh were converted into Hindu temples and deities. One of the floors in Undavalli caves has a huge statue of Vishnu in a reclining posture, sculpted from a single stone. These caves left us with an imprint of a mixed heritage of Jain-Hindu-Buddhist architecture. Believed to have been carved around the time of 7th century A.D, there are also records of Buddhist monks using the caves as a resting house for themselves during some parts of the year when the weather got unfavourable. Located around 8 kilometres from the main city, Undavalli caves lie on the other side of the Krishna river in Guntur. Despite being the focal point of tourists visiting Vijayawada, we felt the place was pretty average with nothing much to see. Our experience was also spoilt by brash monkeys all around. The only solace was the journey to and from Undavalli Caves which was nice. Crossing Prakasam barrage made us realise how wide the river Krishna was. Prakasam barrage is a remarkably prominent traveller spot as it offers all-encompassing perspectives of the waterway from here. The barrage is a 1223.5 m long structure over the Krishna River, which associates Krishna and Guntur locale. Gandhi Stupa, Vijayawada: After clicking some great pictures on Prakasam barrage, we headed to our last destination of the evening – Gandhi Stupa. The location of this place was intriguing as GPS pointed to the middle of the city near Vijayawada railway station and it was supposed to be on a hill. After asking a few directions we finally found the gate to the hill which had an entry ticket. Thankfully, one can take their vehicle right to the top of the hill as proper roads are constructed. This place also supposedly has a planetarium which was not operational and an operational toy train. We were delighted to board the toy train after reaching Gandhi Stupa as it was a unique experience to go around the hill on a train and get a 360-degree view of the entire Vijayawada city. We spent the entire evening at Gandhi Stupa watching the sun go down and the city light up. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped near Lenin road where we saw a street filled with book shops. Though the shops sold mainly educational books, we managed to find a few shops with novels and got a very good deal with 4 novels for Rs. 200! We started our journey from Vijaywada to Hyderabad at 5 AM the next day. It was still dark and without much traffic, we quickly exited the city. We took timely breaks, sometimes to eat, sometimes to click and sometimes to simply rest under the shade. The sun was equally pitiless and we had to take a number of breaks to give ourselves and our bike some cooling time. It seemed our journey back was quicker as we reached the outer ring road of Hyderabad before 12 noon. We managed to cover around 290 kilometres in 7 hours with multiple breaks. We were just 50 kilometres away from our home and felt at ease. But we were mistaken. Driving for around 15 hours on deserted highways for the past 2 days had made us forget what city traffic could be. Unbelievably, it took us 2 hours which felt like forever to cover the last stretch of 50 kilometres and reach home. Our realisations from our last month’s trip to Goa just got stronger. Nonetheless, we felt satisfied that more or less everything in our Vijayawada road-trip went as per our plans. We had stretched our physical limitations completing a gruelling journey against everyone and everything including the weather department’s advice and family's concern. We felt a sense of pride and relief. Not to forget we felt encouraged to reach shores on a bike from Hyderabad. The beach is just 100 kilometres away from Vijayawada and now seems doable. Hope to write another tale of challenge, struggle and victory soon. Have you been to Vijayawada? How did you find the city? Are there any other interesting places in Vijayawada you feel we might have missed? Do let us know in the comment section below. Read about other destinations which can be good weekend outings from Hyderabad, India. Some of these also lie on the same river Krishna. #India #AndhraPradesh #Hyderabadweekendoutings #Chennaiweekendoutings

"If dreams were made out of stones, they would be called Hampi" Hampi is an ancient village located on the banks of River Tungabhadra in the northern Karnataka region of India. Hampi is recognised by UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites in India. Located exactly between cities of Bangalore & Hyderabad, it is frequented by tourists from both these cities as well as people from nearby localities and not to forget the plethora of foreigners. While foreigners come here for extended stays spanning a month or two, Hampi is a perfect weekend destination for tourists from Bengaluru or Hyderabad. Historical monuments, ruins and temples amuse the families and the old, foreign cuisines and a chilled aura enthuse the group of friends and the young while the stone hills and paddy landscapes amaze every visitor travelling to Hampi. In this travelogue, we take you through our long weekend trip to Hampi detailing various places to visit as well as our experience at one of the luxury resorts here. Other articles you might be interested in Hyderabad to Hampi: We travelled to Hampi on a late-night bus from Hyderabad. It takes about 8 hours to reach Hospet, the closest town near Hampi. Hampi is about 30 minutes from Hospet. Hampi can also be reached by taking an overnight train from Hyderabad to Hospet. You can book the train from IRCTC website. Hospet to Hampi: On reaching Hospet early in the morning we took a state-run bus to Hampi. Ride to Hampi was wonderful with an amazing view of paddy fields and sugarcane farms with the ruins and excavations seen every half a kilometre. We also happened to see the beautiful sunrise from the bus. The river named Tungabhadra runs through the small village of Hampi splitting it into two as if separating two areas which are a world apart. As we were in Hampi for 2 nights, we had booked our stay on different sides of the river each night. Our first night stay was on the other side of the river. We got down the bus, walked towards the magnificent Virupaksha temple and the Hampi market and took a ferry which operated right in front of the temple to the other side. Being early morning, it felt cold; but we were surprised to see pilgrimages bathing in the ice-cold river water. We also saw a huge elephant being bathed by its mahout. A huge crowd stood against the banks to see the elephant display its art of completely putting its head into the water with just its trunk out to breathe. We also spotted many wonderful birds while crossing the river. Hippie island in Hampi: Once on the other side, our hotel was just walking distance. On our march towards the hotel, we rented a scooter to roam about and visit places on that side. The rented two-wheeler are available only on the other side of the river. This side of the river is completely beyond the imagination. It is easy to forget that we are in India as there are a string of guest houses, hotels, shops lined up filled with foreigners. This side of the river has a hippie culture and people from all around the world flock here round the year. In fact, you will be able to find all sorts of cuisines here except Indian cuisines! No parathas or even Idli - Dosas which is really surprising for any place in South India. Hampi seems to be a popular stop for them after landing at Goa. Our hotel was just very basic. The rooms were small but just enough to accommodate a double bed and a mosquito net. The attached bath was clean. Apart from a chair and a mirror there was no other furniture in the room. But we didn’t care as the room was just to spend the night and the whole day we will be out visiting places. We quickly freshened up and had breakfast in the restaurant. I ordered just a sandwich as I wasn’t very hungry but there came a heavy double-decker big loaves of bread filled with different vegetables with a lot of cheese and mayonnaise. I somehow managed to eat slightly more than half of it after which my husband helped me finish it. We were also accompanied by a cute cat sitting near us as if she was our pet. After the heavy breakfast and some cat pics, we left for our first place to visit. Places to visit in Hampi: Sanapur Lake: I was just too thrilled to ride a scooter after a very long time. In the maps, the Sanapur lake seemed to be really small but in reality, it was a huge water body with ferryman offering small rides in their coracle boats. Not sure how many people visiting Hampi visit Sanapur lake, but we would highly recommend it for a beautiful, peaceful time. We started with our basic photography session here. Sri Krishnadevaraya tomb in Anegundi: Our next place of visit was Sri Krishnadevaraya tomb in Anegundi. Now, due to a 3-day holiday in schools and colleges, a lot of crowd had emerged to Hampi from nearby places and Anegundi was so full of crowd that we returned back just from outside. We instead decided to go to Durga temple which was not very far from there. Durga temple in Anegundi: The Durga temple is located in the centre of Anegundi village. The steps were easy to climb and we found a lot of guides following us to guide us through the place. We didn’t hire any as we are not so much into history or even mythology. After climbing about 50-70 steps we reached a big temple which we did not enter because of a lot of crowd. On further climbing, we reached another small temple where we did our prayers. Outside the temple, we sat for a while on a podium under a huge tree. For you to know, Hampi gets really hot in the afternoon probably because it is surrounded all over by rocks. The afternoon heat now started bothering us. We decided to climb down the hill and look for a good cool place to spend some time until the sun starts setting. On our drive back to the plains, we spotted a nice cosy restaurant on the banks of the Tungabhadra. It was an open restaurant with the climbers and creepers as a ceiling and no walls. A few pillars supported the climbing vines that grew voraciously all over the wired thread like supports over the pillars. The cool breeze from the river kept the place nicely ventilated. The cemented floor was divided into equal spaces where small mattresses were placed with a low lying cemented table between each mattress. We selected a shady end of the setting and occupied one mattress each with a table in between. Our first order was cold-drinks as we were too thirsty facing the heatwave on our ride. After having light snacks I fell asleep on the soft mattress. Everything about the place was very peaceful. After spending more than an hour there, we decided to start climbing the Hanumanahalli hill which is a very famous tourist spot to view the sunset. But we were not very convinced with the idea as there were just too many tourists over the weekend and we knew that the entire crowd would go there. Hence, we dropped the idea and headed out on our bike to discover our own private sunset point. We drove towards the Tungabhadra dam crossing the Sanapur Lake in between. The road was surrounded by paddy fields and small hills all over. After a good search and taking too many small roads, we found a perfect spot- a huge area of low lying rocks. We walked to the highest point and all we could see all around was paddy fields. The place was empty, full of greenery with the sun setting on one side and the birds flying back to their nests. We witnessed the best sunset in this beautiful place. Soon after the sunset, we drove back towards our guest house returning the vehicle first. We strolled through the lively market selling all sorts of colourful things from imitation jewellery to lifestyle products. We had a light dinner in the restaurant attached to our guest house and were too tired that it didn’t take time to fall asleep. The next morning, I woke up late. Meanwhile, my husband went to the river bank to see the sunrise. He returned with some amazingly beautiful photographs of the paddy fields, the birds and the river. We checked out and had a quick breakfast in a restaurant surrounded by paddy fields. We then walked towards the river to get to the other side. We soon took a ferry to the other side and visited the Virupaksha temple. There we enquired about the cycle tour and decided to give it a try the next day as the sun was already up and it had started getting hot. We roamed about in the Hampi bazaar enquiring for cycle rentals. Unlike the side where we were a day back, this side of the town prohibited bike rentals. Hence, the only option we had to visit places was either autos which were heavily charged or a bicycle. We decided to go with the second option as it sounded adventurous. Hampi Bazaar: Photographing in the Hampi bazaar was a joy with all sorts of creative handicrafts all around. We discovered Mango tree - this is a restaurant we had read about a lot and it is rated as the most happening and best restaurant in Hampi. I decided to give it a try as it got very hot outside and I had already started getting hunger cramps. So within seconds, we were inside the restaurant ordering lunch. We had again selected to sit on the ground on the mattresses and time just passed listening to Russian music till our food arrived. After a fulfilling lunch, we headed towards the bus stand to get to our resort which was in a village named Malpangudi towards Hospet. Though the resort was a bit expensive, we had got an amazing steal through online deals and hence we decided to try it out. Getting down the bus, we walked towards our grand resort. It was spread across a huge expanse with some 40 cottages nestled among 60000 plantations. The owner has planned this resort around the philosophy of Pancha Bhoota - the five elements comprising earth, fire, wind, water and sky. The reception was beautifully decorated with heritage village themes. We went through a smooth check and were surprised as the manager called for a car to drop us to our room. We were informed that the property was so huge that the cottage allotted to us was very far to walk on foot. We took our seats in the car and as we drove towards our room I saw the huge lush green lawns which were very well maintained and the heritage villas spread sufficiently distant from each other giving a secluded feeling to each guest. We had booked a Royal Haveli and it certainly came as a big surprise to me. It was as big as a house with a drawing-room, a bedroom, a small kitchenette, a dressing room and a big bathroom. It had all the amenities one can think of right from refrigerator, a king-size bed, a tea/ coffee maker, to a safe locker and a Jacuzzi. We were just too thrilled to get this deal. As it was peak afternoon, we spent all the time in our Haveli taking rest and watching television. In the evening, the resort offers a theme Heritage village experience to its guests. A mini-village has been built just adjacent to the resort where one can experience bullock cart ride, horse ride, and camel ride. We were welcomed with Rajasthani folk music and free snacks with tea that we enjoyed sitting on a charpai. I also got a mehendi tattoo done. The mini-village was spread across a gigantic area with so many activities going around. There was a puppet show, folk dance, magic show, rope walk which were very different from what we generally get to see. There was also a small playground with swings etc. where kids were playing. Altogether it was a wonderful experience. Finally, they served us a full Rajasthani meal (sit down type) and really pampered us with their excellent hospitality. Walking back towards our room we roamed around the whole property. It had a large swimming pool, a buffet restaurant, a coffee joint and a spa and indoor game area, all very spacious and clean. We sat outside the room on a bench in the lawn late night talking and planning for the next day. I had one of the best sleep in the softest bed. Hampi Ruins: Next morning we woke up early and went for a tour in the big lawns of the resort photographing birds. We ate our complimentary breakfast and bade farewell to the heavenly place. We were yet to explore Hampi’s historical ruins and excavations. We took a bus to Hampi and soon were dropped to the Hampi bus stand near Virupaksha temple. Hampi being such a small village houses people who either have shops selling stuff or guest houses or restaurants. That’s it. Their only source of income is tourism and hence it is easy to find what you are looking for. As we had planned, we rented our bicycles from Hampi bazaar and also dropped our luggage in the bicycle owner’s house. I bought a map from them and they also guided us quickly to a few places. We rode our bicycles out from the Hampi bazaar to the broad lanes that took us to our first place to visit – Achyutaraya temple. Parking our bicycles, we walked a few steps towards the temple. It was situated in front of a small water body with ferryman offering coracle rides. The temple was surrounded by ruins and pillared rocky caves. Next, we started walking towards stone chariot, where on the way, we saw a banyan tree with lots of colourful cloth potlis tied around its branches. It was a long tiring walk reaching back to our cycle stand and by that time the sun was up shining bright. The sweet coconut water from a roadside vendor quenched our thirst. We rode to the following places: Queen’s bath, Pushkarani, Royal enclosure, Elephant’s stable, Zenana enclosure and Underground Shiva temple. All these places were partly destroyed but still magnificent with the finely carved figures of warriors, elephant, horses and various other deities. The best attraction to me was Mahanavami Dibba which is a pyramid-like structure somewhat reminiscent of the Mesoamerican edifices with flights of structures on all sides. I was impressed with the grandeur and mystique location of the Elephant’s stable. And visiting through all these places we spent hundreds on quenching our thirst drinking cold drinks, lemon water and lemon soda. Matanga Hills: Our last place to visit was Matanga hills. Our bicycle tour ended with visiting Matanga hills for sunset. Atop the hill, we could see the whole Hampi town, some amazing views of the orange bright sun, the green fields and the majestic Virupaksha temple standing erect next to Tungabhadra River. We trekked down the Matanga hill before it got dark, returned our bicycles and collected our luggage to head back to the bus-stand bidding adieu to the exquisite Hampi town with promises to visit again. Back in Hospet, the dinner was a simple affair in a small restaurant. A short wait later, we boarded our bus to Hyderabad, thus marking the end to our very adventurous visit to the temple town! "It's just looking at stones and sculptures"; some friends had convinced me not to go to Hampi. But now I can say for sure that Hampi is more than stones and ruins if you have an eye for it. We were surprised by the casual atmosphere as well the low cost of everything from hotels and food to transportation. With foreigners and heritage sites all around, it was sometimes confusing to accept it all. Without a doubt we will be back again to this literally timeless place again soon, hopefully, to spend more time than we did on this trip. Have you been to Hampi or are you planning a trip? Did you like our travel blog and the photographs? Do let us know in the comment section below. We visited Neil Island in The Andamans couple of years later and while riding a scooter there, we could not help feel a similar aura like Hampi. Though the exotic beaches and underwater life replaced the stone hills and ruins, somehow we feeling of being on Neil island was similar to Hampi. Have you felt something common is such starkly different places? #India #Karnataka #Hyderabadweekendoutings #Bengaluruweekendoutings

Goa is the smallest state in India. It is home to beautiful Portuguese influenced culture, lovely beaches and its laid back lifestyle makes it a preferred destination for a lot of Indian visitors as well as foreign backpackers. The land of sun, sand and beaches is never off my bucket list – there’s always something new to Goa. In this travelogue, we take you through our short trip to South Goa hopping around some of the beaches and having a wonderful time, as always. In Feb 2016, we left with the intention of travelling South Goa on a bike. The main objective of the trip was to relax and get a break from the very busy life schedules we have in our corporate job profiles. We quickly chose our bike from a rental service after landing in Goa and off we went on the roads that took us towards the South of the state. I kept gazing all around as we drove through the narrow lanes. I admired the empty roads and wondered if Hyderabad roads could be this empty. The long stretches of green fields, the cool breeze playing with my hair, the brick and tile terraced houses, the architecture of huge churches, everything about the place enthralled me. It was obviously not our first visit to Goa but it was our first time meandering through the hinterland of Goa on a 2-wheeler. Our first stop was the Benaulim beach in South Goa. We chose to stay in a budgeted resort near the beach. There were 8 hut shaped bamboo cottages in the resort. No luxury, no extravagance yet tremendously calm and peaceful. I believe we were the only Indians in the resort. We soon checked-in and were ready to hit the beach after an hour of rest. Benaulim beach was not more than 200 meters from the resort. I cannot describe the feel of the sand, softest of all beaches I have been to. We took off our footwear and started for a long romantic walk along the beach. The beach was lined with small beach hut resorts, outdoor restaurants, souvenir shops and all the other paraphernalia of a tourist trap for beach bums. Most of the people on the beach were deeply tanned foreigners; swimming, playing volleyball, walking along at the edge of the surf or relaxing with beers in the outdoor restaurants. There was a distinct Goan party vibe in the air. Soon we found a safe place to keep our belongings and ran to soak ourselves in the saltwater. We went deep into the sea letting the waves pass over our heads and it felt amazing- like someone trying to take all the burden of your shoulder. It felt like bliss. After a lot of fun in the water, I sat down on the shore making sandcastles while my spouse was enjoying taking photographs. Soon the sun started setting down the vast horizon into the sea and we witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets in Goa with shades of orange, red, purple, yellow, blue… all mixed in one huge sky. In the night, we happened to have a lovely candlelight Mexican dinner in one of the beach shacks with soothing Goan music and a few fire performances by foreign tourists - something they call fire poi. We slept undisturbed to the sound of waves till the birds woke us up with their chirping and chatter early in the morning. The first thing we did in the morning is hit the Benaulim beach again. Today we were accompanied by our resort manager’s pet – a dog, who was super excited showing us the way to the beach. Soon after we reached, it met its friends and went running after the birds with them. This time we saw many people doing yoga, exercising, jogging or getting sunbathed on the soft sand on the shore. The fishermen were busy collecting all the fishes in their small baskets from the nets they had put in the sea the previous evening. This attracted a lot of crows, a few eagles and a kite whirling around in circles around the area where the nets were spread. The eagles portrayed a marvelous performance where they flew high up in the sky, spotted something and rushed downwards as if they would crash into the ground but as soon as they reached the ground they caught a fish, maneuvered craftily and flapped their wings to fly off again. Seeing a small starfish on the beach was another highlight of this lovely morning. We happened to play Frisbee and after a lot of attempts, I learnt the art of throwing it in a way up in the air that it returns back to you. It was a fun session. Soon we were back to the resort bidding goodbyes to get back on our trip. Our next destination in South Goa was Patnem beach. We took the Panvel highway to get there. We stopped on the way to have breakfast in a local Deli which we thought served us the best Pita and falafel. We reached our resort after 3 hours driving through the small beautiful Goan villages. This resort was located on a small and quiet road, 2 minutes’ walk from the beautiful beach of Patnem. The cottages were spotlessly clean and decorated in an Indian traditional style but were furnished with equipment of modern convenience. The friendly and supportive staff welcomed us. Rooms were built with tropical wood and modern conveniences to ensure comfort and privacy with traditional charm. We reached here peak afternoon but were so excited to have a look at the beach that we left our room as soon as we entered. We walked down the Patnem beach and started walking along the shore towards a very narrow stream of river hardly meeting the sea. Patnem beach is a horseshoe-shaped bay with plenty of shacks to eat and drink. There are many massage and yoga places. Despite all of this it's still a very peaceful place. I was surprised to spot a dozen jellyfishes in a small freshwater pond a few feet away from the beach. They moved rapidly expanding and contracting their bell-shaped bodies to push water behind them. They were so close that we were actually scared to step in the water. Unfortunately, we didn't bring our cameras and couldn't capture them. We left them to their state and without any worries of tanning, we again went to soak ourselves in the seawater. Slightly cold water in the hot afternoon felt very comforting. Again we were deep inside the sea letting ourselves float with the waves. Reaching back to the resort we were so tired that we fell into a deep sleep. In the evening, we drove along the narrow roads of South Goa to see nearby Palolem beach. Palolem has a quaint hippy vibe that makes it one of the finest beaches in the south Goa. It is a stunning crescent-shaped beach with rocky outcroppings at each end, perfect for watching the sun sink into the Arabian Sea. But to our disappointment, the beach was very very crowded by boats, kayaks, endless restaurants and generic shops selling odd things full length of the bay and so full of people that we decided to go back to Rajbagh beach which is very near to Patnem beach to view the sunset. Back to Rajbagh beach, we enjoyed taking a lot of photographs, seeing the sunset and sitting on the sand chit chatting till it got dark. The sound of waves was so soothing we didn’t realize where time flew and it was late at night. We dressed our best to go for a dinner date on one of the famous beach shacks and had the tastiest sizzler in a candlelight setting. This night we sat late on the shore watching lights of restaurants lining up the shore and clicking some photographs. We headed back only when we were too tired and slept with peace. Next morning, we again woke up early to visit the beach. This time we drove all through the narrow lanes down the South Goa towards Talpon River which met the sea towards the south most end of Rajbagh beach. This is one of the less crowded beaches of Goa, probably because of its location which makes it one of the best beaches for nature lovers. Its crystal clear water and scenic surroundings completely mesmerized us. The landscape and forests around are stunning and it’s secluded like you have the beach just to yourself. Here, we spotted many rare birds and saw the fishermen who were also ferrymen, ferrying the people across the river towards Talpona beach in their small boats. We also saw big motorboats taking people in large groups for dolphin spotting deep into the sea. The beach was so deserted here that we enjoyed clicking ourselves a lot here. We had carried our tripod with us today and hence we had fun taking couple photos. Soon, the sun came up shining brightly hinting us to move to our next destination for the day. We went back to our resort, got ready, had breakfast and departed. We again took the Panvel highway to reach the place we had booked. The 3rd and the last destination of our 3-night Goan journey is a secret beach. Secret because it is simply too awesome, untouched and unspoiled by the commercialization that tends to kill all awesome places one day or another. So we too wouldn't like to play a minuscule role in killing it by mentioning it here. But in case you find the place interesting and are truly interested in experiencing its beauty first hand, just drop us note and we will reveal it to you. The idea is only to share it with true nature lovers as we are. The last 2 miles of our journey towards this secret beach was on a private dirt track, through the scary jungles and bumpy roads which don’t even exist on the Google maps. It felt as if we were leaving the world behind us with all its crowd, hassles and worries. When we reached, it was like arriving at a hidden paradise. The huts of our resort were scattered through the lovely coconut groves beside a freshwater lagoon overlooking the sea. We would undoubtedly rate this beach the most beautiful of all the beaches in Goa. It offers an escape from reality. It is pretty much common sense that Indians would rarely know such places preferring the usual hullabaloos of Calangutes and Anjunas while foreigners find it easy to uncover such hidden gems. The huts of our resort are rebuilt from scratch every year after monsoon; the palm walls of the room woven together to provide natural ventilation and the whole setting is spacious and delightfully secluded. Each hut has a cushy bed and an attached open from the top bath. We had paid for a sea view room and had a balcony that opened right on the beach. We could just sit outside our room and keep gazing the endless ocean forever. We had a freshwater lagoon right next to the resort which was separated from the sea by a small strip of sand. The beach is completely cut off from the mainland and doesn’t even support any mobile signals which altogether gave us an exclusive and private feel. We experienced two contrasting water bodies – the steeply sloped beach with bit rough and strong waves that pull you back in the sea and the lagoon which is extremely calm and inviting. Serenity or even heaven is an understatement to describe this piece of setting. We took a swim in the sea and later freshened up with swimming in the freshwater lagoon to get rid of the itchy dry sand and salty water. The tranquility in the atmosphere made us so lazy now that we carried our novels and retired on the sunbeds reading. Without a care in the world and forgetting the existence of time we fell asleep on the beach. Later in the evening we freshened up, filled our tummy with heavy snacks and set forth walking to explore the places nearby. We had read and knew of watching the sunset atop a hill nearby and hence started a small steep trek up the hill. The view from above was breathtaking. The secret beach is tucked between two hills and we were at the top of one of them. The vast expanse of the sunburned grasslands dried and golden brown on the hilltop was stunning. There isn’t much to do there so the sole purpose was to view the sunset and have our customary photo shoot. Without any doubt, we got some of the best pictures of the trip here, some truly fairytale pictures. We sat down on one of the cliffs and saw the sun slowly setting in the mouth of the sea. We trekked down to our resort before it got dark and continued our photo shoot. This night we ate Indian food and sat in our balcony for hours together feeling the cold sea breeze and the never-ending sound of sea waves crashing on the beach rocks. Next morning we took a walk towards the end of the beach again enjoying taking couple photos and getting wet in the sea. Soon it was time to bid farewell to this heavenly abode. We checked out of the resort and with heavy heart said our goodbyes to the most amazing beach. Again we were on the road to drive back to the airport as our trip came to an end. And yes, I pleaded my husband to let me collect the soft sand of Benaulim beach in one of the empty bottles we had on our way. And we did! We soon returned our tuk-tuk (two-wheeler) to the bike rental company and took a cab to the airport. Hence ended our 4-day escape; from dusty, crowded and noisy Hyderabad streets to calm, serene and peaceful Goa beaches. But somewhere deep inside, this journey made us realize how pointless is everything, running just because everyone else is running, in search of money to lead a decent life. Someday we will have to take the plunge, live in some unknown street of Goa where money has little value and time is slow, where we neither see a traffic signal nor a mall, where our routines are surrounded by little joys which we currently ignore, where busy is nothing more than a familiar word, where reality is better than fantasy... Now that would be a Fairytale Life... Have you been to Goa? What are your favourite beaches in Goa? Do you prefer South or North Goa? We would love to know your thoughts and experiences in the comment section below about this beautiful state of Goa. Would you like to know about even more exotic beaches in India? We have a complete 10 blog series on it. Click here to read about The Andaman Odyssey. #India #Goa

Around 160 kilometres from Hyderabad and around 200 kilometres from Vijayawada in India, is a perfect weekend destination for the city dwellers - Nagarjuna Sagar. Nagarjuna Sagar is mainly known for the tallest masonry dam in the world. It also forms India's second biggest water reservoir and thus offers good boating opportunities. Along with couple of other attractions it is a fairly good option for those looking for weekend outings from Hyderabad or Vijayawada. People also tend to travel to Srisailam along with Nagarjuna Sagar which is located on the same river Krishna around 170 kilometres towards west. Though most people go for day trips as everything can be covered in a day, as always we planned a little longer stay i.e. 2 day trip to explore the place. Also a 2 day trip ensured we could go around at the best times of the day - sunrise and sunset which those coming for day trip miss out on. So here is our experience of a peaceful and serene sojourn at Nagarjuna Sagar. Other places to visit as a weekend outing from Hyderabad Hyderabad to Nagarjuna Sagar: Nagarjuna Sagar is often visited as a weekend destination from Hyderabad due to its close proximity to the city. As the New Year 2016 came around, we planned our customary New Year road trip. This time we had planned on visiting Nagarjuna Sagar, the tallest masonry dam in the world built over river Krishna. We began our journey around 7 AM on 2nd Jan, little later than what we had planned. Couple of friends joined us on the way and before we knew we were out of Hyderabad on highway. Taking couple of breaks on the way mainly to remove the fatigue that comes along when you travel on motorbikes by driving and sitting continuously, we reached our destination, Nagarjuna Sagar around 11 AM. Accommodation / Stay near Nagarjuna Sagar dam We had booked rooms in the only decent option available in Nagarjuna Sagar, government’s chain of Haritha resort. The one at Nagarjuna Sagar is known as Vijay Vihar resort. As we knew already, all Haritha resorts across the state have mediocre services and maintenance but are located in beautiful locations, we were prepared for what we saw. Behind the reception was a breathtaking view of the huge lake formed due to the Nagarjuna Sagar dam. Serene, peaceful, extremely quiet, it was definitely a must visit place and a perfect start to the year. We had lunch in Haritha Vijay Vihar and rested for a while before starting off exploring the place. Nagarjuna Sagar is a small town mainly developed post construction of the dam. The dam itself built around 50 years back is lifeline of various districts in #AndhraPradesh and #Telangana including Hyderabad providing most of the required water supplies and generating electricity. We went around on our bikes looking for interesting locations and views on the other side of the Nagarjuna Sagar dam where a small river flowed since the gates of the dam were not opened. This side of the dam had its own beauty with stones and rocks all around, number of birds flocking the area and kids having fun in the water. We found a road bordered by red rocky hills on both sides giving us a perfect spot for our usual photography session. We went on to a bridge directly in front of the Nagarjuna Sagar dam which gave us a perfect view of the river below us and various types of birds playing their own games in the water. We could see the circular coracle boats used by fisherman from a distance as the evening approached fast. We wanted to have the best view of the sunset and felt the place to watch it would be from Haritha Vijay Vihar resort. Hence we started back reaching just on time to witness an amazing sunset by the Nagarjuna Sagar lake. As expected the afterglow post the sunset showed us wonderful hues of colour leaving us spellbound. Ethipothala Falls near Nagarjuna Sagar After spending some time watching the sky left behind by the sun, we embarked on our next destination. We had heard about a waterfall nearby, about 20 kilometres from Nagarjuna Sagar dam and unlike most other waterfalls this place was well lit in night. It's named Ethipothala Falls. Since we had never seen a waterfall in night, we decided to go there post sunset. The road leading to Ethipothala falls was completely dark without any street lights and barely few vehicles. After driving on the road for a long time, it was actually scary seeing no sign boards or even existence of human life. Much to our relief the place did exist and had couple of groups visiting as well. One cannot go right till the Ethipothala waterfall but can see it from a distance. Unfortunately we didn’t have a tripod but yet managed to click some amazing pics of the waterfall. The drive back to Nagarjuna Sagar was surprisingly shorter and quicker and we slept like a baby post a tiring day. We were up early to capture the sunrise but there weren’t any good spots that could have given us a good view of the rising sun. Hence we chose to go back to our bridge from yesterday which held some promise of a decent view. The sunrise behind the hill was better than our expectation and we got some decent photographs along with some bird activity down on the river. We went back to the resort, had breakfast, clicked some final pics of sprinklers and water drops and checked out to see our next spot. We went to Nagarjuna Konda, an island on the lake formed due to Nagarjuna Sagar dam which houses Buddhist statues and ruins. To our surprise Buddhism was extremely popular in south India long ago, especially amongst females of the kings family. It turns out Nagarjuna was a Buddhist master and ran universities in this area in 2nd Century AD. Nagarjuna konda was supposedly the capital of Ikshvaku dynasty which is also around whom Amish’s latest book – ‘Scion of Ikshakavu’ is based upon. What remains of this capital city now is an isolated island as the surrounding areas are covered due to lake formed by the dam. Archaeological survey of India runs boats to take tourists to the island which houses a museum. The place is average and much to our disappointment was further spoiled by January heat and local crowd who were flocking the area as it was Sunday. Also the boating experience was not that great as the journey was too long and after initial excitement, you have the same views and nothing else to do. We reached back to the mainland around 2 PM post which we hurried back to Hyderabad as we wanted to reach before dark. The return journey from Nagarjuna Sagar was a bit daunting due to a tiring and uneventful morning and hot afternoon but we had no choice. However we have experienced nature has its ways of helping you out often when you travel or probably life in general. During the return we were awestruck by the sunset happening right in front of the road hiding beyond the horizon till we reach further towards it only to see it hide again. It was like witnessing the sunset 3 times in a single evening. But we were in such a hurry that we didn’t even stop to click pics. We reached back little late but were pretty satisfied with our first road trip of the year. All in all, a great road trip, a good visit for 1-2 day holiday from Hyderabad and some good clicks, what else do you need? The year of travel was off to a good start and hopefully the year will show us more such trips. Have you visited Nagarjuna Sagar? How was your experience. Are you looking for more weekend travel choices from Hyderabad? Checkout our detailed accounts of various weekend destinations from Hyderabad such as Vijayawada, Srisailam, Warangal, Hampi, Gandikota etc.. #India #AndhraPradesh #Telangana #HyderabadWeekendOutings #ChennaiWeekendOutings