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Going on vacation is a great time to kick back, relax, and take a break from all the stresses of daily life. To make sure your holiday goes off without a hitch, make sure to bring all the documents you’ll need during your stay in the foreign country to which you’re travelling. Failing to take one of these important documents may lead to your being held up at immigration or face other major inconveniences during your trip. While many countries now accept soft copies of documents, it is always recommended to carry a printed version, just in case. The cost of getting a printed version is much less compared to being denied entry to foreign country or any other such hassle during your trip. Today, we’ll walk you through a list of 7 essential documents to keep on hand when travelling abroad. Make sure to bring all these travel documents with you on your journey to make sure your vacation is as stress-free as it can be. Note that foreign currency / card is not included in this list as technically these are not documents. 1. Visa (if required) A visa is a document you definitely won’t want to forget when setting off on vacation. Before setting off, we strongly recommend using a PDF converter  to generate an easily accessible digital copy of your visa. Besides this, you should also bring a hard copy with you in case your phone runs out of battery or in some countries they might still insist on printed version. There are many countries that require Indian residents to secure visas before visiting. These include popular travel destinations like the United States, France, and Japan. Make sure to research the requirements beforehand to ensure that your arrival goes smoothly. We also strongly recommend applying for visas well before your planned departure date, as embassies can often take a long time to process applications, especially during the busier parts of the year.  While it would be nice to travel wherever we like on a whim, moving across international borders usually isn’t so simple. Look up whether or not you need a visa for your destination of choice and secure the necessary papers before your travels.   2. Passport Your passport is the single most important document to bring when travelling. Firstly, you can only secure a visa if you have a passport, so you’ll need to have your passport long before your departure date. Passports are also necessary for getting through immigration. Furthermore, a passport can also serve as proof of identity in a foreign country. Other national identity documents such as Aadhar, PAN cards, voter ID cards may or may not be considered relevant in other countries especially if you go to countries where English is not a widely spoken language or your national documents are in local languages. Apart from immigration, a passport can be needed also when you check-in to your hotels, purchase tickets to local attractions, getting into nightclubs, renting a car, taking trains / flights within foreign country. If the country you’re visiting offers tax rebates on local purchases, you’ll also need to take your passport while shopping and show it in the stores. When on vacation in a foreign country, you want to guard your passport with your life. Losing this document means you’ll have to apply for a replacement at the embassy of your country of origin, which is a massive hassle and may delay your return date.   3. Driver’s Licence or Other Identification Whether you’re taking a trip to Dubai , Paris, or San Francisco, you'll likely need some form of identification. Vendors often ask for an identity document if you're looking to lease a vehicle, purchase tickets, buy alcohol, or gain access to certain venues. While a passport works as a form of identification, you might not want to bring it everywhere you go. As previously mentioned, losing your passport can spell disaster when you’re in a foreign country. Bringing another form of identification can alleviate this risk.  A driver’s license is among the most universally recognised identity documents, and you’ll need to have one with you if you want to rent a car. Other options include national IDs like your Aadhaar card, vaccination records, and school IDs. If you’re planning on bringing your Aadhaar card, it’s also wise to keep track of your Aadhaar card PDF password  to ensure you can also maintain access to your digital card – on the off chance that your physical card is damaged or misplaced. 4. Tickets and Booking Confirmation Before heading to a foreign country, it’s important to make bookings for travel, accommodation, dining, and sightseeing. Depending on the country you are travelling to, you might have to show complete itinerary with bookings or at the very least, you would need to show booked return / onward flight tickets  and a place to stay for first few days. Luckily, it’s possible to make these arrangements easily through various online platforms. Once you’ve made your bookings, don’t forget to bring your tickets and booking confirmations along with you. While airlines keep records of who has tickets for a particular flight, being able to present a copy of your boarding pass or booking confirmation speeds up the check-in process tremendously. The same is true of showing a digital or printed version of a confirmation email to the concierge if you’re staying in a hotel.  We also highly recommend pre-booking your tickets to tourist sites that require them, such as museums, zoos, and national landmarks. These places often attract massive crowds of people, so being able to present your tickets at the gates eliminates the need to stand in queues and removes lot of stress.  5. Travel Itinerary Whether you’re paying a visit to a distant country like France or Brazil or travelling somewhere closer to home like Bhutan , it’s crucial to make a travel itinerary. While it’s fine to be spontaneous, having a general idea plan can save you plenty of time, and make sure you don’t miss out any interesting landmarks just because you didn't plan it out well. In some countries, you might also need to present your travel itinerary when going through immigration as proof that you are in the country on vacation and don’t plan to overstay your visa. So based on immigration needs and your own travel style, you may want to have some form of travel itinerary - either a detailed day to day one or a rough overview outline of tentative plan. 6. Travel Insurance While we all hope we do not need to use one, you should never visit a foreign country without Travel insurance. There are number of things that can potentially go wrong on a trip from missed or delayed flights, loss or delayed baggage, sickness, accidents, burglary, losing passport to some extreme possibilities such as emergency evacuation, hijack or death. These may cause some or high amount of stress, anxiety, financial loss to yourself and your travel partners. That's where travel insurance comes to play. Most insurance companies that you may know would also provide travel insurance. You would also most likely get options to choose from depending on how much insurance would you prefer and what it covers. You can easily buy these online by filling up a form and making a payment in a matter of minutes. Some countries may mandate you to buy travel insurance as they would want to ensure you can pay for any medical bills in the foreign country if such situation arises. But even if the country you are visiting does not mandate this, you should still get one. 7. Optional - Vaccination / Medical certificate A vaccination or medical certificate is a document which medically proves you have taken a vaccination or are medically fit to enter the foreign country. Most countries do not need this and hence this is under optional category. However you should check if a country mandates bringing such certificate (could be COVID vaccination or any other such prevalent diseases) and get the necessary documents before you enter the foreign country. Everyone loves a good vacation. Going on a trip to a foreign country is a fantastic way to learn about a new culture, see incredible sights, and spend valuable time with friends and family. To have a hassle free trip, it’s vital to bring several important documents with you.

Vantage point has always been one of the first things photographers think about. From which angle and what perspectives should the shot be taken? Vantage point has gone to a completely different level in past few years as technology has given photographers a gift called Drones. With drones, there are literally no limits in achieving any desired vantage point. It is now left to photographer's imagination as to how best he sees the subject and chooses his vantage point using drones. In this article guest author Ashley Lipman introduces you to the world of Drones, new possibilities and how it can be used to do uniquely effective photography. New Possibilities Drone technology has reached a place where it’s not only viable, it’s more viable than perhaps it’s ever been. Drones are even being used in various scenarios from capturing wildlife to weddings today. Cost-effectively, you can acquire your own drone and get some stunning shots. Additionally, there are a lot of opportunities to get pictures that you would be unable to capture any other way. If you’re working on a film, consider costs associated with aerial shots. Before drones, you’d either have to use an actual aircraft, or acquire a crane, to get the footage you need. Either way, the costs involved machinery, operator(s), safety considerations, and substantial planning. And in many cases what you want might just not be feasible. Meanwhile, with a drone you just buy the drone, charge it, and one guy can make multiple photography runs cost-effectively via remote control, acquiring steady, high-definition footage that is oftentimes even better than older filming methods were capable of providing. That guy could even be you! You save time, you save money, and you get better footage or even individual stills—but there’s yet a little more to it than simply purchasing a drone—even a fine one like this one. Are you trying to identify the right gifts for a photographer? Check out this detailed guide with 20+ gift ideas to give a photographer that you can use to make their birthday or holiday the best. More Than Just Nearby Photography Drones are designed today to have a range of miles. You can actually pilot a drone almost like piloting a simulated vehicle on a video game. There is a little screen which shows exactly the shot you’re getting and is on the controller of higher-end drones. But these drones are going to be north of $1k, and naturally designers want to help users get their money’s worth. Cheaper drones allow you to use your mobile as a screen on which live telecast of what the drone is capturing can be seen. All you have to do is download a specific app which manufacturers recommend. The costlier ones however have in-built software and sensors which detects objects and overrides the controls of the drone. What this means is if there is a tree to the left of the drone, the drone will not go left even if you direct the drone to go left. While this is an extremely useful feature to avoid crashing your expensive drones, it can be especially annoying if you’re trying to catch a difficult shot which may require a little maneuvering. Imagine having everything line up perfectly, then suddenly jar for the last ten seconds because automatic sensors detected an object within a two or three feet perimeter. Certainly these safety options can be turned off, but that’s going to make you vulnerable; so if you do turn off these automatic correcting features, you had better be sure that you’re properly prepared to pilot the device. This may require a little practice. Drone piloting isn’t quite as simple as interfacing with a video game and is a skill learnt over a period of time with lots of practice. A number of factors can impact your control over the drone. Birds can get in the way, so can breezes, and so can weather. All you need is a low-hanging fog and a curious crow to cost you some substantial funding. Even a gust of wind at the wrong time can ruin a shot—though that said, many drones are specifically designed with stabilization controls that overcome the majority of gusts. Familiarization What you should do is familiarize yourself with the drone and practice the shots you’re looking for, in terms of video. In terms of stills, your best bet is going to be purchasing a drone carefully, and looking for the options you resonate with. A drone can get lower and higher than most physical photographers can; and with a greater level of convenience. You can also use a drone internally to get action shots as well as specifically-engineered stills from unique angles as yet not fully trendy — drones are more expensive than traditional cameras, after all. Generally, when you’re shooting stills on a drone using either interior or exterior subject matter, you want to set up the shot as best you can before the actual shoot. You’ll want backdrops. You’ll want to note the lighting. Lighting is perhaps the most important element of any photographic support. How that lighting interacts with backdrops and the like is likewise important. At Denny Manufacturing you can find some excellent photo drops and banners to help you perfectly “set the scene”, as the saying goes. Some backdrops are going to be more reflective than others, and will so affect both synthetic and ambient lighting. Pragmatic Considerations One extremely positive aspect of drone photography is the ability to instantly review the pictures you capture on the control mechanism. Since the higher-end drones can hover in place so level they appear to be “hung” in mid-air, you can subtly adjust it until you get exactly the right look. It’s important to remember that not all drones are created equal. Cheaper may not always be better, and neither will extreme cost. You want to go with utility and options. The more skilled you are at basic photography, the more you’ll be able to use niche features. Something else to consider is that if you’re using drones for difficult shots, you very well may want to have a backup drone. You’ll certainly want to have backup blades. You will definitely break them. Have at least three sets of backups so that when you’re down to one, you can order two new sets of four; as most drones are of the “quadra-copter” variety. Another tactic to help you get the most stunning photography will involve piloting smaller drones around obstacle courses using VR glasses to help you get a better sense of how these little devices handle. Once you learn how to navigate a difficult course, you can bring the same skills to pricier drones, resulting in exceptionally engaging footage. Uniquely Effective Photography With a drone, you can sit at the base of a mountain and pilot your device to its peak and back, collecting stunning images all the way, and even catching footage which could not be acquired through any other method. Imagine slowly pulling up on an eagle’s nest located in a crevice tucked between craggy peaks in the Rocky Mountain wilderness. Drones make precisely these kinds of pictures possible. But they only make such photography possible for those who know what they need, and what their goals are pertaining to the drone(s) they purchase. So if you go this route, practice with your drone, and prepare for repair. Over time you’ll likely acquire stunning videos, pictures, and even drone-piloting skill! Note that all views expressed in this article are of the author Do you want to document your travels or showcase your photography? Or would you like to give travel or photography tips to help other readers? Contact us to write guest posts with Fairytale Studios. How did you find this article? Is there any other photography related information you would like us to write about? Do let us know your thoughts in #Guestpost #PhotographyGear #TipsnTricks

Finding a quality wellness retreat in India can be more challenging than one might think. We've been to a few, and let us tell you, not all live up to the promise of true Ayurveda and yoga experiences. In some places, the staff seemed to lack the depth of knowledge required to guide others in these ancient practices. At others, the treatments felt more like a checkbox exercise than a journey toward wellness, with unprofessional setups and a lack of genuine care. When we came across Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort, we were curious but cautious. Before committing to their 3-day retreat, we decided to reach out directly to Mr. Vijay Deo, the founder of the resort. We had a lot of questions—about their approach to Ayurveda, the qualifications of their staff, and the overall ethos they bring to the practice of this ancient art. What we found was beyond our expectations. Mr. Deo's passion for authentic Ayurveda and Yoga was evident in every answer. He described the “Lhasa Tejas” package with such detail and sincerity that we felt reassured this was the right choice for our much-needed relaxation and rejuvenation. And it truly was. From the moment we arrived, the experience was transformative. The Lhasa Tejas package delivered everything it promised and more, leaving us refreshed, centered, and eager to return. This retreat is a hidden gem for anyone seeking a genuine wellness experience. Read on to know more. Location of Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort is truly a hidden treasure. Nestled in a peaceful neighborhood beside the serene Periyar River in Kochi, Kerala, it offers the best of both worlds. Unlike many wellness resorts that are far from civilization, Lhasa is conveniently close to Kochi airport and the city, yet feels worlds away from the hustle and bustle. The tranquil surroundings made it easy to disconnect and fully immerse ourselves in the healing treatments. We appreciated how accessible it was without sacrificing the peaceful atmosphere that’s so essential for a rejuvenating retreat. Welcome and Reception at Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort When we arrived at Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort, we were struck by the tranquility and natural beauty surrounding the property. The retreat is thoughtfully laid out with three distinct blocks: two dedicated to guest rooms and the third housing a dining hall and yoga hall. Each block offers stunning views of the Periyar River, making it a perfect place to unwind. The lush greenery, with its tall trees and serene sit-outs facing the river, made the environment even more inviting. Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly with a traditional scarf, a gesture that immediately made us feel welcome. The reception area exuded warmth and comfort, quickly becoming one of our favorite spots to visit during our stay. It even had a small library filled with intriguing books, which added to the retreat's charm. The attention to detail and genuine hospitality made our experience at Lhasa truly memorable. Rooms at Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort Our room at Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort was an exceptional blend of modern luxury and traditional elegance. The moment we walked in, we were struck by how seamlessly the design of the room integrated with the surrounding natural environment. The décor was simple yet sophisticated, instantly lifting our spirits and creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere that made us feel right at home. The room itself was expansive and thoughtfully designed, offering all the comforts one could ask for during a wellness retreat. The centerpiece was a large, comfortable double bed, flanked by side tables, perfect for keeping our essentials within easy reach. The room also featured a study table for any work or journaling we wanted to do, and two cozy chairs around a center table, which quickly became our favorite spot for morning tea. There was even a separate luggage rack, a cloth drying rack, and a spacious wardrobe, ensuring that everything had its place. They also thoughtfully provide mosquito nets on all room doors and windows, allowing us to enjoy nature without worrying about insects. The attention to detail was evident in every corner of the room. Since the room was quite large, it was equipped with three fans and an air conditioner, keeping it cool and comfortable despite the tropical climate. The small kitchenette was a charming addition, complete with a tea and coffee maker and a jar of delicious cookies. It was these little touches that really made a difference, adding to the overall sense of care and consideration that defined our stay at Lhasa. The ensuite washroom was another highlight, as it was equally spacious and meticulously designed. The walk-in shower was stocked with high-quality cosmetics from Holy Lama Naturals, a brand known for its natural wellness and beauty products. The thoughtful inclusion of comfort stools and buckets in the shower area showed that the resort had gone an extra mile to cater to the needs of all guests, including the elderly, who might need extra support while bathing. It was clear that Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort is committed to offering not just luxury, but an experience that feels personal and thoughtful, deeply rooted in tradition yet fully embracing the comforts of modern living. Treatments at Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort We had the pleasure of enrolling in the Lhasa Tejas package at Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort, which is perfect for travelers like us who are short on time but eager to experience authentic Ayurveda. The package was thoughtfully designed to maximize relaxation in just three days, and it did not disappoint. Each day brought a new treatment, beginning with Abhyanga on the first day. The warm herbal oils and expert massage techniques melted away all our stress. Day two featured Shirodhara, where a steady stream of warm oil was poured onto our forehead, creating a deep sense of calm and mental clarity. On the final day, we experienced Ilakkizhi, where warm herbal pouches were used to massage and relieve muscle tension. We can’t emphasize enough how incredible these treatments were. The masseuses were true professionals—certified, experienced, and incredibly attentive. They answered all our questions about the products used and made sure we were comfortable and relaxed throughout the sessions. The treatment rooms were spotlessly clean and smelled divine, creating an instantly calming atmosphere. The light music playing in the background added to the serene environment, making the experience even more soothing. After each treatment, we were led to a steam bath, followed by a shower in an impeccably clean attached bathroom, complete with aromatic toiletries from Holy Lama Naturals. The whole experience was incredibly rejuvenating, and we left feeling completely refreshed and stress-free. We recommend enrolling for a longer stay with 7-, 14-, and 21-day packages to ensure personalized cleansing and healing. Meals at Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort One of the highlights of our stay at Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort was the food experience. Unlike typical restaurants with menus, Lhasa believes in serving Satvik vegetarian meals, thoughtfully planned and prepared by an in-house chef. The food was absolutely delicious, reminding us of the comfort of home-cooked meals. It was both satiating and light on the stomach, which perfectly complemented the wellness-focused retreat. We were treated to three mouth-watering meals each day—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—along with tea or coffee and cookies in the evening. The meal spread, though fixed, was generous and packed with variety. The focus was on protein-rich and healthy options, with an emphasis on fresh, locally sourced vegetables and lentils. We particularly enjoyed the cabbage and beetroot poriyal, a local delicacy that was prepared with just the right amount of spices. Each dish was freshly cooked, ensuring that we received the best in both taste and nutrition. A special mention must go to the head chef, who served us with such grace and warmth. The dining area was spotlessly clean, and the tables faced the river, offering a peaceful view as we enjoyed our meals. Dining with the serene river in front was an absolute bliss, adding to the overall sense of tranquility and well-being that the retreat offers. The experience was not just about eating; it was about nourishing both the body and the soul. Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort Team We can't praise the staff at Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort enough. From the moment we arrived, Ms. Bindu welcomed us with such warmth that we instantly felt at ease. And then there was Ms. Vijaya Deo, who truly went above and beyond to ensure our stay was nothing short of perfect. She was always on her toes, making sure we felt at home and had everything we needed. Her dedication and genuine care made all the difference. The masseuses and cleaning staff were also wonderful. Every time we passed by or spoke to them, they greeted us with friendly smiles and a positive attitude that added to the overall sense of comfort and relaxation. Ms. Sheela, the head chef, was incredibly accommodating, tailoring meals to our taste preferences. Her cooking was delightful, and the serving staff made sure every meal was a pleasant experience. But what really touched us was the personal connection we made with Ms. Vijaya Deo. She was so warm and nurturing; it felt like we were meeting a mother. She even served us food with her own hands, encouraging us to eat more. By the end of our stay, we think we gained a bit of weight—not just from the delicious food, but from the overwhelming hospitality that made it impossible to say no! Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort's team is nothing short of a magician. Everything is managed with grace and efficiency. Their warmth and personal touch made our stay truly unforgettable. Activities at Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort Our time at Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort was nothing short of magical. Our days were packed with activities that left us feeling both relaxed and rejuvenated. Each morning, we started with a peaceful yoga session, either in the serene yoga hall or beside the pool area, where we could practice while facing the tranquil river. The combination of yoga and the calming natural surroundings set a perfect tone for the day. Of course, the Ayurvedic treatments were the centerpiece of our stay, and they were so deeply relaxing that we found ourselves napping quite a bit—a luxury we rarely get to enjoy. When we weren’t indulging in the treatments or savoring the delicious, home-style meals, we spent time at the beautiful swimming pool that faces the river. There’s something incredibly soothing about lounging by the water, taking in the serene views. We even took advantage of the kayaks available for guests, paddling along the river and witnessing some of the most stunning sunsets we've ever seen. The vibrant colors reflecting off the water were breathtaking. One of our favorite memories was lounging on the river-facing sit-outs, especially the swing and the hammocks. Whether we were reading, daydreaming, or just soaking in the peaceful surroundings, these moments felt like pure bliss. We also had some truly meaningful conversations with the staff, who were always ready to share stories or simply chat. We also bought some great cosmetics from Holy Lama Naturals that Lhasa displays at their reception. We were told that visit to Holy Lama Naturals factory was possible which would have been an interesting experience as well but our schedule didn't allow for this. Time flew by as we immersed ourselves in all that Lhasa had to offer. It was a perfect blend of relaxation, adventure, and connection, making our stay truly unforgettable. Conclusion If you're searching for a serene escape that blends traditional Ayurveda with modern luxury, we wholeheartedly recommend Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort. You can plan to book your retreat directly on official website of Lhasa Ayurveda and Wellness Resort or through any of the below e-commerce websites - From the tranquil river views and lush greenery to the deeply relaxing treatments and delicious, home-style Satvik meals, everything is designed to rejuvenate your body and soul. The warm, attentive staff ensures that every need is met, making you feel truly cared for. Whether you're practicing yoga by the river, lounging in a hammock, or kayaking at sunset, Lhasa offers the perfect atmosphere for relaxation and renewal.

Ootacamund or Ooty in India, the famed hill station of yesteryears was the must visit destination for everyone's itinerary if they were visiting southern part of India. The lush green tea gardens, the exquisite hilly landscapes, gardens full of rich flora, year round good weather and a popular Bollywood shooting location, Ooty was a celebrated superstar of its day. But with time, everything changes and so did Ooty. It had to pay a price for its fame as more and more tourists flocked its hills. To capitalize on this business opportunity number of hotels, shops etc. cropped up. Ruthless commercialization and rising competition from other nearby destinations such as Coorg, Munnar, Kodaikanal made many travelers including us consciously avoid Ooty. Yet there are always people who prefer purity, quietude and satisfaction over dilution, restlessness and greed. And they create places which echo their spirit and soul. Mr. Vijay Kumar is one such person and in this blog we will walk you through our experience of visiting a place he owns - Red Hills Nature Resort. A place that lured us to visiting Ooty, apart from the toy train. As we stepped down from the toy train at Ooty station (read our blog on journey of the toy train ) a vehicle was waiting for us to escort us to our place of stay in Ooty. While we opted to take the toy train from Coimbatore, you can book taxi from coimbatore to ooty to reach the resort directly in convenience . We opened the window of the car in excitement as we started towards our destination to absorb some beautiful views but were discouraged soon by the exceedingly cold weather. We rode on the criss-cross curvy roads for about an hour. Red Hills is at a distance of 25 kilometres from Ooty railway station but the drive to Red hills is quiet picturesque as one goes through beautiful valleys of Nilgiris. Nilgiris literally mean blue mountains and are part of western ghats, a hill range across #Karnataka , Kerala and western Tamil Nadu states of India. On our way to Red Hills, the driver showed us carrot and potato plantations. We had to stop the car when we saw the first glimpse of a lake. We were on the bridge between 2 lakes - Avalanche and Emerald Lake; and the location was just too good to savor from the car. After clicking few pictures, we moved on to the property which is situated on a hill at the end of a steep rugged road at a height of 7000 feet above sea level. Who knew the bridge we stopped at was not even a trailer to the movie we were going to see. It was barely a movie poster. We were just dumbstruck once we reached the resort. Red Hills Nature resort is surrounded by tea gardens and overlooks a vast valley and Emerald Lake. The views were just so amazing that all the tiredness of the 5 hour toy train journey and another hour in car just whooshed away in seconds. We were greeted by Mr. Vijay Kumar and family who were very welcoming and charming. Red Hills Nature resort is more like a boutique hotel or a lavish homestay. The entrance leads to Mr. Vijay's bungalow which is some 150 years old and is supposedly built in the British era (1875 to be precise). Surrounding the bungalow are 7 cottages nestled in nature, each with magnificent view of the lake. They have many verandahs in front of main bungalow, around dining and around every cottage. They also have a small little temple in the middle of lush green lawns in one corner of the property. Our room was at one quiet end of the property. The room was very spacious and featured a rustic design with a fireplace, an outdoor seating area and a big bathroom with a tub. The old age interiors with yellow lights felt as if we were living in a museum with modern luxuries. The room was so cosy that we got up only when the staff called us for lunch. The dining area at Red Hills Nature Resort was simply beautiful with leather couches, walls decorated with huge paintings and artifacts, a magazine counter and a fireplace. The elegant colonial era architecture, nature inspired earthy shades, warm wooden interiors and colorful hanging lamps shouted out aloud that Mr. Vijay was definitely a man of exquisite taste. The buffet style meal was made fresh using the vegetables grown organically in their own farm. Mrs. Kumar is an excellent cook; we gorged on the home-cooked food like pigs. We were soon greeted by Kaira and Mika, a German shepherd and a Golden retriever, who were very charming and hyper-excited to meet us. As we played with our two new friends, Mr. Kumar assisted us in planning our activities during the stay. As per his suggestions, we decided to go for cycling in the evening, a small trek down to the lake early next morning and a hike up the Red hills to the top-most point of the estate after breakfast next day. In the evening, we rode our cycles both up and down the slope on the narrow roads surrounding the tea estates of Red hills. The area is sparsely populated with very few houses in sight though we could see some people working in the tea estates. We also happened to ride through a dense forest and thickets for a while which was a bit scary given there was no other sign of any humans and we were scared any wild animal might be offended by our presence. The roads offered a wonderful views of the Emerald Lake reflecting bright blue colored water. The lake curves around slanted banks but we realised rains this year have been less leaving a brown border around the lake as if the lake is framed. It started getting cold in the evening and we sat on the leather sofas sipping hot white tea in front of the fireplace of dining room chatting with Mr. and Mrs. Kumar and two other guests - also Mr. Vijay and his daughter. Mr. Vijay studied in Ooty and is now settled in US. Mr. & Mrs. Kumar were the most hospitable hosts and told us all that we wanted to know about the life up there in Red Hills, the estate and the tea industry. It was fascinating to know that Mr. Kumar's forefathers had migrated to Ooty few hundred years ago from Rajasthan and lived in a nearby village called Ithlar. Willie Collins was an Englishman who fell in love with this area and built a house here in 1875. He called it Red hills as he was from Red hills, England. In 1937, Mr. Kumar's father bought this house from Willie's daughter and they have lived here since. Out of 250 acres of tea estate owned by the family which is like an entire hill, Mr. Vijay owns around 70 acres. They also owned a tea factory here. Times changed and with it a lot changed. On one hand the landscape in front of Red hills changed dramatically due to dams built in the region and on another hand personal tragedies stuck Mr. Kumar's family. A fire accident burnt the tea factory down and sad demise of Mr. Kumar's mother in 1990 changed things. Mr. & Mrs. Kumar's children went abroad for higher studies and left the couple alone in a huge property. That is when they decided to invite guests and have some company, meet new people and have some extra work to keep them busy. They have preserved most of the original bungalow and built few colonial themed cottages around it to create Red Hills nature resort. After a mouth-watering dinner, a few attempts to capture the Milky Way and a little bit of roaming around their farms; we called it a day. It was still semi-dark as we moved in torch light early in the morning towards the main porch of the Red Hills Nature Resort. Sitting on the chair, we witnessed a spectacular sunrise. We were then escorted by a local guide down the hill for a trek to the lake. We headed for the trail across the road descending down the hill and then entered a cluster of trees on either side of the small trail that headed straight into the forest. It was kind of scary and thrilling at the same time. The trail sometimes disappeared and the grass patches covered our way. After half an hour of walk, the trees were left behind and we were on the rocks near to the lake. Throughout the march down the lake our guide helped us spot red langurs, a few birds and some rare trees growing around. We could see the hill behind us that we were to climb post breakfast. It was too cold and breezy down at the lake. The water was calm and emerald blue in color- that’s how it should have got its name. There was no one down there except the three of us and we indulged in capturing the beauty through our lenses. Sitting there for a while and enjoying the peace and solitude was the most refreshing part of the trip. After scrumptious breakfast back in the resort, we were ready for a hike up the Red hills. Mr. Vijay (the guest) and his daughter, couple of local guides and us started slowly up the mountain for the 3 hour long hike. This peak is the 4th tallest peak in the Nilgiris. The uphill trek had steep ascent in the beginning and was exhaustive to the core. The forest now gave way to random grasses and bushes. We were starting to give up when we looked back and couldn't believe what we saw. It wasn't the view this time that left us dumbstruck but Kaira and Mika - the 2 lovely dogs were running towards us with all excitement. We were so happy to see them and they were our only inspiration to reach the summit. The view from the top was mesmerizing. We were able to see the Avalanche and Emerald dam, a vast expanse of tea estate and a few barren mountains. The beauty of the nature spread out in front of us, with clouds touching us, gave us goose bumps against our sweaty skin. We knew nobody is going to bother much about the three-hour long path we took, the challenges we faced and the flickering hope that we had once lost- it’s the destination that we are interested in. We forgot how tired we were, almost instantly. We sat there, in silence, lost in the vast expanse of splendor, capturing as much beauty as we could in our camera and in our hearts. With much reluctance, we trekked downhill which felt quite easy. Back in our rooms we took a quick shower, had lunch and faced the most difficult part – Goodbyes. In just a day Red hills had captivated our minds and hearts. Our romantic soul was ready to leave everything behind and get imprisoned here. While the natural beauty is without a doubt the highlight of the place, life chosen by Mr. & Mrs. Kumar inspired us. We always thought that we wanted to travel the world to know different cultures and meet different people. We never knew it was possible to have different cultures and people come to you. It was difficult to fathom everything we had seen, learned, experienced here and so it was difficult to let go. But we sure do wish to visit Red Hills again someday and would wholeheartedly recommend this place to anyone. So if you are staying away from Ooty, you know you are missing something special and if you are visiting Ooty, you now know the one place worth visiting in Ooty. Below video perfectly summarizes the amazing beautiful views from top of Red Hills. The resort also provides other activities such as visit to Toda village which is one of the few remaining areas where native tribals still live, visit to dams, fishing, camping etc. To visit Red Hills Nature Resort, you can contact Mr. Vijay on +91 944 2254 755 or visit redhillnatureresort.com . To and fro transportation from Ooty or Coimbatore can be arranged by Mr. Vijay on payment basis. You can also get in touch with us for any guidance. PIN THIS IMAGE Do let us know your thoughts on our review of Red hills and feel free to pin, share it on social media. Do you know of other such beautiful places with amazing views? Do let us know in comment section below. Note that all the views expressed above are our own based on our experience and not influenced by the property in any way. #India #SouthIndia #TamilNadu #BengaluruWeekendOutings #ChennaiWeekendOutings #Accommodations

Velas is a small beautiful village on the Konkan coast in Maharashtra, India. What is so special about it? We have covered this in detail in our previous blogs - Turtle Festival and Village life in Velas . In this blog we will be guiding you on how to reach Velas and various places/ activities you can visit/ do during your Velas trip. How to reach Velas Velas, a small village in India is at a distance of 170 kilometres from Pune and 205 kilometres from Mumbai. We reached Pune by bus and rented a motorbike from there to do a road trip to Velas. The route that we took is: Hinjewadi – Paud – Mulshi – Tamhini – Mangaon – Bagmandale – Velas. This route was the shortest and involved a ferry. We started from Hinjewadi early in the morning and stopped for breakfast in Paud. The double lane roads of Pune have now become single lane. The roads from here started becoming patchy. On a two wheeler, it was easier for us to avoid the potholes. The roads were surrounded by small villages. Once we crossed the Mula River, the views started improving and we drove alongside the river for a while. The drive to Tamhini Ghat was tiring. It seemed like we were driving forever without covering any significant distance. But on the other hand it was beautiful. The view from the Ghats is spectacular. We witnessed the small stream of Mula River meeting the main reservoir. The water reflected bright blue color. This particular Ghat road has many restaurants and cafes lined up with a great view of the reservoir. The roads throughout were average in condition. Also the MIDC road once you get down from Tamhini ghat is wonderful and ideal for shooting. Mangaon is a big town where we stopped for lunch. We took a right from Mangaon towards Bagmandale. Bagmandale is the ferry point to cross Savitri River. A huge ferry that can accommodate 6-7 cars and many two wheelers makes a shuttle across the river several times. They charge INR 50 for a motorbike. We had to wait for quite some time for the cars to load first and then the two wheelers. It was a good experience of being on the bike in the river. Once we cross the river, Velas is just 8 kilometres but the roads are again in a bad condition with more and more beautiful views. On return we decided to try out another route to avoid the waiting time for ferry: Velas – Madangad – Mhapral – Mangaon – Tamhini – Mulshi – Paud – Pune. The roads from Velas to Madangad were excruciatingly bad and we were exhausted very soon but the views were always good as river Savitri accompanied us for most of the parts. However, from Madangad they started getting better. It took us about 8 hours each way to reach our destination; including breakfast and lunch breaks and a few occasional breaks here and there to rest, eat or click photographs. Places to visit in and around Velas I’m a turtle now, struggling out of my nest, Departing to the sea I vow, to return and lay eggs, I trust that you will conserve this place for me, And ensure that my children also meet the sea! 1. Velas Turtle Festival The primary purpose for everyone visiting Velas is to attend the Turtle festival. Though the Turtle festival happens 2-3 times in February, March depending on when turtles are expected to hatch, the volunteers check every morning and evening from October through March if any eggs have hatched. So one need not visit Velas specifically on Turtle festival dates and still get to watch the baby turtles hatch and return to the sea where they belong. In fact, they can avoid the crowds and get a closer look at the baby turtles. Read our blog on the turtle hatching sessions over here. 2. Velas beach The turtle hatching sessions that happen on the beach are a definite crowd puller. On weekends during the hatching season, you would find the beach extremely lively. People of all ages, having all sorts of interests flock the beach and it is just a joy to sit and observe them. While some enthusiastic photographers capture anything that interests them, others are more interested in getting their photos clicked, groups of young people have fun playing and small kids are just curious about all the sand around them. There was no turtle egg that had hatched on this particular evening we were there. It was disappointing to travel so far and not see what you were looking for. But just sitting quietly and watching people enjoying in their own ways as the setting sun left various shades was relaxing. 3. Small trek to cliffs on Velas beach You would be visiting the beach every morning and evening for the hatching sessions. Right on the beach, towards the left, there is a small cliff which one can easily trek to in less than 15 minutes. The ideal time to hike is during sunset, however, it depends a lot on how the evening sessions of turtle hatchings turn up. We trekked the cliffs in the morning and still found the views from the cliff to be breath-taking. We were able to see tiny reflections of people in the small water filled puddles that were left when the tide was low. We also spotted a few birds playing with each other and having a great fly time. 4. Velas Village The Velas village itself has so much to offer. If you are from a non-rural area, you will be amazed to see the wells, hand pumps, mud mopped floors, manual sowing and farming activities and the architecture of the village houses. We got to know a lot about the village culture talking to the villagers who are very welcoming. To know more about Velas village , read our blog here. 5. Shiv Temple in Velas The Shiv Temple lies in the centre of the village. We visited Velas on the day of Mahashivratri festival and the villagers had decorated the entrance with oil lamps on each side of the 15-20 steps of the temple. We did not have our cameras then but the decorations were beautiful. 6. Bankot Fort near Velas One would have crossed Bankot village to reach Velas. There is a steep and risky road that goes uphill from Bankot village where lies ruins of a fort. The road is narrow and surrounded by trees from both the sides with small villages in between. About 5 kms from Velas, the origins of this fort are still unknown. It was supposedly the first British residency in the southern part of Konkan coast. The structure of the fort is in square shape. From the entrance it seems small but as you enter you will be amazed by its hugeness. There are steps on each side to get to the top. From the top, one gets a good view of the sea and the surrounding area of the village. One can clearly see the different colours of the river and the sea waters mingling. There is no entry ticket. The fort was secluded when we visited in the morning and we loved sitting there for quite a while enjoying the cool breeze. Sunset again would be the best time to visit it as the views from the top would be mesmerizing, but then you will have to skip the turtle hatching sessions. 7 . The Beach road leading towards Velas We have read many blogs on how great the road trips are from Konark to Puri in Odisha and Chennai to Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu as the road runs right parallel to the beach. But trust me, we were really disappointed in terms of views with both the road trips. The sea is just too far away from the road from Chennai to Pondicherry with lots of land in between. On the other hand, the road from Konark to Puri has good views as beach is right next to the road but only in few patches. We weren’t expecting anything from this particular road trip to Velas, but the last stretch of the road after Bankot village took our breaths away. It runs parallel right besides the sea. One can jump from the road and land in water! We went back to this road again and again to just park our bike, sit and listen to the sound of waves. This is one of the most blissful roads we have ridden till date. We witnessed the power of infiniteness across the boundaries of the slaps of sea and the road. Apart from the above mentioned places to see, travelers also visit Harihareshwar beach and Harihareshwar temple on the other side of the Savitri river where we didn’t go due to lack of time. Important points to remember when you visit Velas 1. Make sure to get your fuel tanks properly filled before leaving for the trip. It is extremely difficult to spot a petrol pump after Paud. Velas does not have a fuel station. The nearest fuel station is in Madangad which is about 40 kilometres away. However, a small shop in Velas does sell petrol to the tourists, but it’s better not to risk the chances. 2. While coming from Pune, there are many restaurants and eateries lined up on the road. But after crossing Tamhini Ghat there’s no proper place to stop, relax or eat till Mangaon. Even Velas does not have any restaurant or a shop that sells food packets. When travelling with kids, make sure to carry whatever eatables are required throughout the trip. 3. There will be a lot of walking involved in the village and on the beach as well. The roads in the village are not in good condition to support women’s heels or fancy footwear. Do carry comfortable shoes, slip-ons or slippers. 4. No ATM’s or pharmacy shops in Velas. Ensure that you carry enough cash and your medical requirements. 5. The cell phones do not catch any network connection in Velas. Keep your friends and relatives well informed in cases of emergency. You can use the landline telephones of the family you stay with but their connections are also not very trustworthy. 6. If you are a photography enthusiast, you ought to carry your tripods with you. We read some blogs which mentioned there is no need to carry a tripod which is wrong. Since the village is so isolated, there will be plenty of opportunities to capture the stars, the milky way or light trails by the beach road. PIN THIS IMAGE #India #WestIndia #Maharashtra #MumbaiWeekendOutings #PuneWeekendOutings #HyderabadWeekendOutings #BengaluruWeekendOutings

Have you ever visited the place where you were born? Imagine revisiting the place you were born after 10-15 years and unable to recognize it. Normal human practices in the name of development through infrastructure, artificial lighting or noise often leads to climate changes; subtle and radical; and can completely change the state of any place. This is what the Olive Ridley sea turtles would face as adult females comes on land and lays its eggs at the exact same beach where she was born years ago. Thanks to one of its kind community driven eco-conservation efforts by residents of Velas village in India, the natural state of these beaches is preserved ensuring the olive ridley sea turtles are able to find their birthplace and are comfortable coming on land. Velas is a tiny village in remotest area of Konkan coastline in Maharashtra, India. It is one of the major nesting site for the Olive Ridley sea turtles. Located in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, Velas is at a distance of 175 kilometres from Pune and 205 kilometres from Mumbai. The residents of this village have been working hard along with a NGO - Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra (SNM) and Forest department of India to save birthplaces of the Olive Ridley sea turtles over past decade. They also celebrate a Turtle Festival annually in Feb/Mar when there are higher chances of the egg hatchings. Velas Turtle Festival was recently celebrated from Feb 24 to Feb 26, 2017. Our love for animals and desire to catch a glimpse of cute little baby turtles took us on an arduous journey of 20 hours – an overnight (10-11 hours) bus journey from Hyderabad to Pune, and then a 9 hour road trip on a rented bike from Pune to Velas. To know more about the Turtle Festival , you can read our blog here . You can also read about places to visit around Velas here . If you are interested in village life in general, you can see the cleanest village of Asia - Mawlynnong here. The egg of an Olive Ridley sea turtle was once a food supplement for people of Velas. These eggs were taken away from their nests to make omelettes or sold in market. Years ago, a young confident man started the journey of educating people that turtles, being a threatened species need to be protected. He ventured on a journey of creating awareness around how man's selfish tendencies was against the course of nature. The villagers joined hands and formed a committee together with SNM. With support from Forest department, they were able to create a small conservatory where the eggs of turtles were shifted for better protection and higher success rate of hatching. Continuous patrolling of beaches ensured poaching or stealing the eggs was slowly over. As these efforts became successful and better awareness was created, tourists started flocking the beach to see the turtles. The committee then took two vows - To never allow building a hotel in the village and to always prioritize Turtle's needs over tourists wants. Years later the number of tourists visiting Velas has gradually increased but there is no commercialization of village. Velas observes outpouring of a lot of tourists during the turtle festival. To accommodate travellers, number of homes in village signed up to act as homestays. As homestays they get an opportunity to earn a few extra bucks while travellers get a place to stay and homely food to eat. Mr. Mohan Upadhyay, currently working for forest department has been dedicatedly working since the past 14 years to save Olive Ridley turtles. We called him up to book a room in one of the village homes, which he did pleasantly. You can call him at 02350-220304/ 8983767388/ 8975622778 between 8:30-9:30 AM and 7:30-9:30 PM. Note the numbers are difficult to connect. On reaching Velas, we were greeted by Ms. Manali Patil and family who were our hosts for the two days we were to spend there. As no mobile networks support in the remote village, we had called them from the last town we drove through to inform that we will be reaching in a while. Ms. Manali stood on the road for a few minutes to make sure that we don’t lose our way. All the tiredness of the journey just whooshed away sipping the hot tea she offered us as we reached her home. Their house was small but hearts big to accommodate us. She then escorted us to our room which was at one of the farthest end of the village. Our room was in a house that was basic with mattresses laid on the floor, a small table, tubelight and fan. The house had a swing in the drawing room and a big verandah with cats and dogs and their babies all playing together. The floor was made of cow dung which is considered to have many benefits and used throughout in rural areas; something we knew was done in Indian villages but never saw up-close. The bathrooms were common and were to be shared with the other people who were to stay in other rooms. No TV, no AC, no geyser, no luxury, and no lavishness. We had never ever stayed in a house so basic nor had we slept on mattresses on floor made of cow dung. The verandah had many varieties of trees and saplings grown - coconut, cashew, green chilli, banana, papaya, mango to name a few. It was surprising to compare the size of bathrooms and verandah in rural and urban areas. The bathroom was big enough for only one person to be in it at a time but the verandah was big enough to throw a party to 50 people. In cities even the rich do not manage to have a verandah this big. We quickly freshened up and went to the beach for the evening session of hatchlings sighting. After an hour of the session, we visited Mr. Mohan’s house (he stays in the village with a group of volunteers) to watch a documentary on the work of SNM. The documentary was projected in a small TV in the verandah of his house. We seated ourselves on the carpet laid out in the veranda to watch the 30 minutes informative video. The volunteers also welcomed our questions very patiently. They also sell turtle festival merchandise in the name of "OneForBlue". Right from coffee mugs, key chains, badges to t-shirts they had a lovely collection. Mr. Mohan's house is lovely with a huge seating space for documentary and the house is painted with turtles by one of his friends. That night we were served delicious homemade food by our host family. We ate like Kings! After the dinner, we sat for quite a while with the family understanding their lives. The villagers mostly depend on farming and to some extent fishing, for their daily wages. Most of the youngsters migrate to nearby towns to work. Each year, during Feb-Mar the village lights up like Diwali as turtle festival nears. 10% of the rent we pay to the family for our stay goes to the welfare and development of SNM. They also give a lot of importance to education. Ms. Manali Patil, our lady host, was pursuing M.A through correspondence and worked in a government office in the nearby town. Her brother was pursuing M.Com and used to drive a tempo owned by the family to the nearby towns as a passenger vehicle and returned with goods and petrol to sell in a small shop owned by his father. The mother was a housewife and a tailor, preparing tiffins for the visiting guests in the travel season. Their house was equivalent to our drawing room. Yet this looked like such a happy family. We talked about villagers’ life, how and when they joined SNM, how they feel when so many people bang into their peaceful village every year at this time. The village has no mobile network, no ATM, no bank, no restaurant; the vegetable vendor comes once a week to sell vegetables in a tempo. A small school provides education till class 10 beyond which students have to go to other towns. We realized how hard they worked and how tough their lives were. After a great session of chat, we retired to our rooms. The silence of the night with just a few chirping crickets made us fall asleep quickly. Next day after the morning session where we saw 12 turtles entering the ocean, we wandered to nearby places. Post lunch we moved around in the village and enjoyed clicking photos and talking to villagers. They still draw water from the wells, use hand pumps, sow their farms manually, milk the cows and use cow dung and mud to sweep and mop the floor of their houses. The lazy afternoon in this quiet village felt like traveling back in time. The wooden pillars of age old houses, roofs lined with red clay, kids playing around as cows chew grass sitting lethargically, dogs sleeping in shade; it seemed we were witnessing a bygone era. Yet we could see parked Renaults and Toyotas of tourists from Mumbai or Pune. This could as well be a set of Bollywood movie based on a 1950s story. Dish antennas were the only sign of any technological advancement we saw in the village. It felt good to not have network coverage in our cell phones. People tend to talk more with each other when phones don't work. Away from the city pollution, noise and traffic we had the time of our life. The peace and tranquillity of the village took us to a different world - a world we would love to stay forever. We left Velas the next day post morning session which saw us run out of luck as none of the baby turtles had hatched. Leaving Velas we felt strangely attached to the place. We had spent just 2 nights there and that too not in a very comfortable way, yet we had an exceptional time living as a villager for a weekend. The lack of number of basic modern necessities suddenly felt an unnecessary luxury. Living without mobiles, proper beds, AC, dining tables, laptops etc. was possible and we felt the urge to cling little longer to this lifestyle. Probably the love and genuine goodness we experienced for couple of days can fill the void left by lack of modern amenities. We left hoping to experience this more in the future. You can also read about the actual turtle festival and places to see on the way and around Velas . Let us know how you found our blog in comment section below. Feel free to share it on social media or pin it. PS: We are grateful to Ms. Manali and family to gift us fresh cashews while returning. We cooked spinach peas with cashew gravy from it and we gorged on it like crazy. You can directly contact her for accommodations and best home food at +91 2350-220548/ +91 8308513561. PIN THIS IMAGE #India #WestIndia #Maharashtra #MumbaiWeekendOutings #PuneWeekendOutings #HyderabadWeekendOutings #BengaluruWeekendOutings

It was about 5 AM on a Sunday morning. We had woken up before the alarm would ring. Only some chirping crickets were audible in the otherwise peaceful night of this small remote village. We freshened up and got ready in no time. The loud sound of our motorbike engine revving up broke the silence of the night as we started towards our destination. We wanted to reach earlier than anyone else while it was still dark. As we got closer to our destination, we were surprised by hushed voices coming from groups of people walking in the same direction. We realized we were not going to be only ones trying to reach early. By the time we reached the parking area, it was clear we were not the first ones there. Few bikes, cars and a bus had already beaten us. Quickly parking our motorbike we began walking using the mobile torches to light up the narrow path. The sky was gradually turning blue as dawn signaled its arrival. We could see many torch lights ahead of us as we picked up speed to complete the 600 meters tapering trail that ended on a beach. As we closed in on our destination, we could not believe our eyes. Two rows of people were already sitting near the barricaded fence reserving the best spots. As per our pre-decided strategy, we split. One of us reserved a decent spot with next best available views near the barricade while the other walked ahead about 100 meters towards the seashore. We then waited for more than an hour as people kept coming in trying to catch some action. 7 AM is what everyone was waiting for. At exactly 7 AM when it was bright enough to see around, two volunteers opened the fence door as hundreds of people looked anxiously. After a brief announcement thanking everyone to come this early in such remote village, one of the volunteers picked up an inverted basket revealing what was underneath. Though only few who had arrived very early and reserved the best spots could see anything, the excited gasps told everyone what was to come. The volunteers carefully picked up what they saw underneath the basket and rushed towards the seashore as hundreds of people followed them. Few hundreds had already gathered near the seashore picking up best spots around the temporary barrication that was meanwhile built in a U-Shape. On reaching the U-Shape the volunteers released what they had carried as other volunteers struggled to control an excited crowd. The sound of sea waves became more prominent along with shutter sounds as hundreds of cameras clicked the amazing natural phenomena. The tiny baby turtles which had just hatched were taking their first steps towards the sea. This is a normal weekend for about 4 months from December to March every year in this village called Velas . Velas is otherwise an unknown speck of dust in map of Maharashtra, a state in India. A village that is sparsely populated with most youngsters migrating out looking for jobs, a village where mobile network has still not reached and internet is rather distant dream, a village that does not have a bank, ATM or even a restaurant, a village that suddenly comes alive during these months as tourists flock this place to catch a glimpse of baby Olive Ridley turtles and celebrate The Turtle Festival. Suggested reads about Velas: Velas: Life in a village Places to visit in and around Velas Migration journeys of a lot of animals and birds are simply phenomenal. Be it in search of food and water for African animals and Alaskan bears or to prevent themselves from extreme weathers such as Monarch butterflies and Arctic birds or the need to reach better breeding grounds for Emperor penguins, red crabs and sea turtles; migration journeys of various species are ecological wonders worth witnessing. The science around how they find their way across the globe without GPS and maps called 'Magnetoreception' - the ability to sense earth's magnetic field; is simply baffling. The Olive Ridley sea turtles are one such species of turtles who live their whole lives in sea but migrate to land for laying eggs. Primarily found in tropical waters of Indian and Pacific ocean, these turtles are best known for Arribadas - a synchronized behaviour of mass nesting. While Arribadas are witnessed in various parts of the world, certain beaches in Odisha, state of India are the largest mass nesting sites in the world. Most of these areas are ecological reserves maintained by government and not accessible by tourists but the pictures of these that you would see on internet are absolutely breathtaking. Some of these things, and thirst to see and know more took us to the far off lands of Velas where every year on a specific weekend, the turtle festival is celebrated. A unique characteristic of these turtles is that they lay eggs in their natal lands, something similar to what mothers in Indian culture do. So the female turtles who were once born on the beaches of Velas come back here after 10-15 years, dig a hole to lay around 100 eggs and bury them with sand usually in the night. The volunteers of Sahyadri Nisarg Mitra (SNM) , a NGO focused on nature conservation, along with Forest department and local village panchayat; identify locations of nesting through the trails left by the mother turtles. They then remove all the eggs and relocate them in a conserved fenced area to prevent poaching of eggs by dogs, hyenas or even from high sea tides which would destroy any possibility of eggs hatching successfully. The relocation too reduces the percentage of success of eggs hatching but this is the best possible protective action under the given circumstances. The volunteers ensure that the eggs are buried under the sand in the nursery at same depth as dug by the mother turtle to maintain temperature levels and cover it with a basket. The eggs hatch around 50-70 days later and baby turtles make their way up on the land by crawling upwards. The volunteers check the baskets everyday at 7 AM and 6 PM for any baby who may have made its way up. These babies are then taken close to seashore and they intuitively know that they are supposed to go towards the sea. This cycle continues when the female babies come back to the same beach to lay eggs after 10-15 years. The pictures below was a demonstration that the volunteers gave us explaining the process. The Olive Ridley sea turtles are listed as vulnerable or range from Endangered to Threatened by various nature conservation bodies. Their population has been going down mainly due to human actions, boat collisions, fishery related activities, beach erosion as well as pollution. Apart from these, sea turtles in general are more susceptible to predators as unlike Tortoise they have streamlined shells which does not allow them to go inside it for protection. Thus most of the babies do not reach adulthood. However ability of turtles to adapt and survive should surely not be underrated as they have survived the disasters which wiped out Dinosaurs about 65 million years ago. Various conservation projects and awareness efforts these days would also help them to hopefully flourish in future. Our stay in Velas was highly educational. The volunteers we met were extremely passionate about conservation and always prioritized what is right for turtles over tourists requests. One of the leads - Mr. Mohan Upadhyay plays a documentary on the work done by SNM for conservation of turtles in his home verandah every evening at 7 PM. We were in Velas for 4 sessions - 2 morning and 2 evening sessions but managed to see Turtles only once. The hatching of eggs and sightings are purely based on luck. Despite volunteer's best efforts to estimate maximum hatchings before finalizing dates of turtle festival, nature does not bend to science and no one can answer if you will be able to see turtles on the dates you visit. Also the crowd left us wanting for more as we could see turtles only from a distance and given how tiny they are, we felt coming on a weekday would be far more enriching. Still visiting Velas itself was an experience in itself. People travelling from far off distances in hope to catch a glimpse of baby turtles take their first step was bordering crazy - THE GOOD CRAZY. It was heart-warming and filled us with hope in general. Though sighting turtles was our primary motive, it ended up being cherry on top compared to what we learnt and experienced in the whole trip. The sights of tiny baby turtles who have never seen their parents, who have never been told where their homes are yet instinctively start walking towards the sea was definitely the highlight of the trip. The cheer and applause given by crowds as the first one reached the waters felt like a rock star arriving on stage. We left Velas with much more empathy and hope in our lives. Visit our next blog about village life in Velas and accommodations available . You can also read another article if you would like to know other places around Velas that you can visit quickly in the same trip. Do let us know how you found this blog and do pin it, share or leave your comments. PIN THIS IMAGE #India #WestIndia #Maharashtra #MumbaiWeekendOutings #PuneWeekendOutings #HyderabadWeekendOutings #BengaluruWeekendOutings

Train journeys have always remained close to my heart. On a personal level, I like traveling by train because it gives me the option to read, sleep, eat, relax – all while enjoying the scenery go whoosh from the comfort of a train’s seat. It is also a wonderful time to introspect as every second you literally leave your world behind. A big part of enjoying traveling lies in going slow and making our way across unseen lands. Late last year, we got a chance to experience this in a train. An extremely slow train - The famous Nilgiri Mountain Rail also famously known as Toy Train. The Toy train runs between Ooty (also known as Udagamandalam or Ootacamund), a renowned hill station in Tamil Nadu, India and Mettupalayam. This 100 year old railway line was named as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005 ensuring this rare and unique rail is protected. (This along with 2 other railway lines - Darjeeling and Kalka to Shimla were identified by UNESCO). The Nilgiri railway line was first proposed in 1854 but the work only started in 1891. It was ultimately completed and opened by the British in 1908; which makes it more than a century old now. The railway track is the steepest in Asia scaling from 326 meters to 2206 meters in a span of 46 kms. It represented the latest technology of its time using the ABT (Alternate Biting System) or the rack and pinion system to climb the steep gradient. The railway track has 2 additional racks in the middle. The toy train has pinions which climb up the racks just like a person climbs the ladder. While going uphill, the engine is actually at the back pushing rest of the train and while coming downhill, the engine is in front preventing the train from running off. Nilgiri Mountain Railway is one among the very few railways in the world which uses steam locomotives. The train covers 16 tunnels, 250 bridges and 208 curves. The toy train runs once each day from Mettupalayam to Ooty at 7 AM in the morning and starts its return journey from Ooty at 2 PM. Mettupalayam is around 30 kms from Coimbatore and one can take a government bus, cab or train from Coimbatore. Coimbatore is a major city and is well connected through roads, rail and Air to rest of India. To catch the toy train on time, we ensured reaching Mettupalayam a day before and staying overnight there. We got up very early in the morning, got our breakfast packed and though we had reserved seats; we decided to reach the railway station an hour before the train starts. On reaching the station, the first glimpse of the train gave us an adrenaline rush. The train looks marvelous with a tint of blue, green and cream with wooden coaches which blend well with the nature through which it was destined to pass. It is nothing short of an engineering marvel and its builders would have had to work strenuously to overcome the challenges of nature – especially the sloppy terrains and unfavorable weather conditions. We had our reservations in the first class coach which to our surprise was the very first coach of the train and the only thing separating us from the nature was a big glass window (as the engine doesn't pull the bogies but pushes them from behind). The old bogie we sat in had entrance doors on both the sides. Only 6 people can accommodate a single small compartment of the toy train. We slid the window down and made ourselves comfortable. The clock was yet to strike 7, so we decided to step down and check out the station and the steam engine. Mettupalayam is a small town and the railway station has an old retro look. From the station one can see a Railway Museum nearby. On the platform, few people had lined up in a queue to occupy seats in the general compartment. The engine was being prepared for the long journey by a few people. Everyone watched with curiosity and bated breath as the engine shunted in with the toy train. Few breakfast vendors were roaming about, selling south Indian delicacies to the passengers. Soon the driver blew the loud horn that indicated the onset of the journey. The excitement of the passengers, at that point of time, is beyond description. We settled in our seats as the train set off slowly. The sweet whistle of the toy train as if a bird hidden in the woods singing aloud, the cool wind blowing as the old machine works hard sweating and panting to ensure we have a comfortable ride. Behind us, brightly colored villages tumbled down hillsides covered in tea and eucalyptus. From the suburbs nearby, children came out of their houses to wave us goodbye. The train started picking up some pace now and soon we left the plains and saw the hills approaching. The steep land started to show up and the train slowed down a little. From here, the train runs at an average speed of 10 km per hour, making it the slowest train of India. However, the slow pace was advantageous for us to behold the mesmerizing beauty of the hills that never ceased. We used to lean out of the windows, wave hands to passengers in the other bogies and hoot on seeing a tunnel ahead. The zig-zag curvy track took us in between the hills, bridges, tunnels, forests and what not! We started to feel the chill in the weather slowly as we passed through the mist and fog. The birds and trees were dancing along as the train passed through the stunning gorges and arch bridges. Our hearts were singing to the tunes of A. R. Rahman's Bollywood song “Chaiya Chaiya” which was shot with superstar Shahrukh Khan dancing right on top of this train. Occasionally, we would see and exclaim on a cloud of fumes emanating from the steam engine. We got warnings of each tunnel, as people wailed or shrieked loudly at the sudden darkness. The train halted at the small stations in between; first at Kallar and then at Hillgrove. The halt at Hillgrove was long. We thought that the purpose of the long halt was for the passengers to stretch out and freshen up as the toy train had no lavatories; but the real reason of the halt was to cool down steam engine, refill the water tanks and oil its aging bolts. The gorgeous little station of Hillgrove is situated miles apart from any habitation. A tunnel was just beside the station where the passengers flung to click photographs. With both the steam engine and passengers replenished, we continued uphill steadily. The railway line ran along the precipitous ledge, high above the valley. The waterfalls grew in strength and the views became absolutely heart clenching. The scenery was, frankly, incredible. We also found a foreigner clicking pictures of the moving toy train from sidelines. We were surprised to see him more than once and then we started clicking him too. Dense forests led to raw views of the green gigantic cultivated steps of terrace farming, slopes covered with houses and streams of water gushing down the hills. While the nature showered its charm on us, the journey continued with its excitement and eye soothing views. Soon we could see the gradual rise of tree plantations and we realized that we were reaching Conoor, where we had a 20 minute halt. Smooth roads accompanied us in Coonoor. We had to bid adieu to the steam engine as it made its way to shed for some rest. A diesel engine was ready to take over for the rest of the journey to Ooty. Finally, the train embarked on this second leg of journey, this time significantly faster because of changed engine and gentle gradual path. The journey continued to charm its visitors with equal zest winding its way through the best of nature though people were no longer peeking out of their windows at curves to take selfies with steam engine. But this did not seem to have discouraged the foreigner who had accompanied us throughout our journey from sidelines. We would continue to find him standing at odd points trying to get some perfect shots of the train. After halt at a few small stations like Wellington and Lovedale, we finally reached Udagamandalam aka Ooty. With heavy heart we bid farewell to the beautiful train ride and the friends we made there. Though it was an amazing journey, something each one of us would remember for a long time to come, I could not help notice the amount of smoke created by the steam engine. Despite many positives, it seemed like a ruckus created by humans in a quiet silent beautiful forest. All in the name of history and heritage. While clinging to past is human nature and respecting, preserving the legacy is common sense, I cannot help but question our common sense in respecting, preserving the nature. And what should we chose when these 2 conflict? By the way, couple of days later when we were in Coimbatore airport catching a flight back home, we saw a familiar face in far distance. On a closer look, we realized it was our foreigner friend who had accompanied us all the way from Mettupalayam to Ooty on the sidelines. We had a brief chat with him and realized he was Peter Patt. Director of Destination Management at Tanago, a german based Photography and Rail travel company. He was there to identify best locations along the railway track so that he could organize a tour for professional photographers. Tips to travel on Ooty Toy train Reach Coimbatore through flight, rail or road. Catch a train, bus, cab to Mettupalayam. We would suggest reaching one day before to ensure you catch the train on time. There are few limited and basic options in Mettupalayam. There are couple of luxury resorts . Book your toy train tickets in advance through www.irctc.co.in . The seats are always in demand and get filled pretty fast especially on weekends and holidays. Choose First class. Though the weather is good round the year, going right after the monsoon after September would be ideal. PIN THIS IMAGE Hope you liked our experience of journey in a toy train. If you happen to go via toy train to Ooty, do visit Red Hills Resort - a completed isolated hill with amazing views of nilgiri hills and lakes with a standalone resort. You can also club your trip to Ooty with Kodaikanal , also called the princess of hills which is around 4 hours from Coimbatore. #India #SouthIndia #TamilNadu #BengaluruWeekendOutings #ChennaiWeekendOutings

Gandikota, also known as the Grand Canyon of India, is one of the most unexplored gems of India. Visiting this timeless village surrounded by a medieval times fort on the edge of 300 feet gorge is a truly remarkable experience. But one should also cover some more interesting places nearby if you are visiting Gandikota. Especially if you are on your way to Hyderabad, some interesting places in #AndhraPradesh can be covered in a day. These interesting places provide a unique range of experiences as each is different from the other. Here is a list of the Top 5 places you can club with the Gandikota trip to make your experience unforgettable. You might also be interested to read below articles - Gandikota - Grand Canyon of India Srisailam - The holy town Mallela Theertham waterfalls Places to see around Gandikota Here is a list of all of the places to see around Gandikota that are on the same route from Gandikota to Kurnool, and it is preferable to cover them as a part of a road trip. They are listed below in order of their location if you start from Gandikota. 1. Belum Caves Exploring the mysteries of ocean depths can be compared to discovering the wonders of an underground cave. The deeper you go, the more bizarre yet wonderful it gets. The unusual shapes and formations with eerie textured walls around, a myriad labyrinth of underground waterways below, and the damp, moist earthy air filling the empty space - This was what you would experience on visiting the largest tourist caves in the Indian subcontinent - Belum Caves. It's definitely amongst the most unique places to visit near Gandikota. About 300 km from Bangalore and 365 km from Hyderabad lies Belum, a small village in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. We went to Belum caves from Hyderabad after covering the holy town of Srisailam and the Grand Canyon of India - Gandikota (Read our blogs in the link). The first thing one would notice before reaching the caves is a huge white Buddha statue from a distance, lending a spiritual touch to the place. The hill behind the statue reads Belum Caves. Belum is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Bilum', meaning hole. You would realize why a hole after you buy the tickets and start towards the caves. The caves are underground, accessible only by a staircase going down a hole. On reaching down, you would notice a circular space with some seats on the sides and a huge sinkhole on top. Sinkholes are cavities in the ground formed naturally, mostly caused by the chemical dissolution of limestone. As you go inside, you realize the scale and size of this place. The 1.5 km long area open to tourists is only half of the whole cave. It feels like a never-ending maze of weird rocky formations. Realizing that these were formed naturally over millions of years by water flowing on limestone deposits shows the unimaginable capabilities of nature. Stalactites, Stalagmites, Siphons, Sinkholes and Waterways made this a geologist's paradise and a tourist's delight. However, photography would be extremely poor if you don't have a tripod. Even though locals always knew about the caves, they were first discovered by the rest of the world only in the late 19th century when British geologists visited them. Detailed exploration and studies started only about 30 years ago. Post this government has taken an active role in protecting this nature's creation by constructing pathways, installing air shafts and providing soft yellow illumination apart from facilitating research. They have discovered remnants of vessels used in 4500 BC and found evidence of the caves being used by Buddhist and Jain monks thousands of years ago. Thus there is a section named in the cave called the meditation hall, and this also answers why the Buddha statue is built outside the caves. All in all, a must-visit tourist place near Gandikota. 2. Owk Reservoir Just 12 km from Belum, while travelling towards Kurnool, lies another village called Owk, which has a huge lake called Owk reservoir. An artificial reservoir formed primarily by feeding water from canals and earthen dams is right next to the road. Though there is not much to do here, one can spend some time clicking photographs or sitting in front of the huge water body. Owk Reservoir is one of the best places to visit near Gandikota, right on the highway! Click here to sign up for our newsletter (3-4 mails per month) and access an interactive version or download a PDF version of map containing exact locations of each of these top 5 places to see around Gandikota 3. Yaganti Temple The next stop would be Yaganti temple, a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is located 45 km from Belum towards Kurnool. This temple is known for Pushkarini - a small pond of fresh water and 3 caves named after saints who lived there. The pond water in Pushkarini comes from hills, but no one knows how. Devotees take a bath in the holy pond before heading to the temple to pay tribute to lord shiva. The caves are easy to climb and have their own historical significance. One of the highlights of the Yaganti temple is the growing idol of Nandi. The Archaeological Survey of India has found that the idol grows in size by 1 inch every 20 years. They already have removed a pillar in the temple to accommodate the growing idol. One can spend a couple of hours in Yaganti and have free lunch before heading towards the next destination though devotees tend to spend an entire day here. Staunch believers of Lord Shiva - this is the place for you to visit near Gandikota! 4. Oravakallu Rock Garden Heading towards Kurnool, our next stop was Orvakal or Oravakallu rock garden, a very beautiful place to visit near/ on the way to Gandikota. Just 20 km before Kurnool and 60 km from Yaganti lie this expanse of igneous rocks in water pools developed into a 1000 acre park by the #AndhraPradesh Tourism department. They have also created a Haritha resort with comfortable rooms and a restaurant. The unusual rocks formed out of quartz and silica would be a fitting end to your day. A day that started at the gorges of Gandikota led to limestone rock caves of Belum and finally a rock garden overlooking a beautiful sunset. The rock garden is known for being a shooting location for many movies, including the Indian blockbuster Baahubali . One can spend a couple of hours here and enjoy photography before travelling to Kurnool and spend the night there, or you can spend the night here too based on your preference. 5. Kurnool Fort Kurnool is the fifth largest city by population and one of the major cities of Andhra Pradesh, India. River Tungabhadra (flowing from Hampi ) flows through the town and joins river Krishna heading towards Srisailam , Nagarjuna Sagar and Vijayawada . There is not much to see from a tourist point of view in Kurnool except the Kurnool fort. Kurnool Fort, also known as Konda Reddy fort, was built by rulers of the Vijayanagar empire but is more famous for Konda Reddy, who was a ruler in the 17th century and imprisoned here by Golconda kings. The historical monument is good enough for spending an hour or so and clicking some good photographs of the fort's architecture. We had spent some time around sunrise at Gandikota fort before starting towards Kurnool. We covered Belum caves and Owk reservoir reaching Yaganti temple around lunchtime. After having lunch and spending some time at Yaganti temple, we could get to Oravakallu rock garden in the evening, and we saw the sunset from here. We reached our hotel in Kurnool around 7 PM and visited Konda reddy fort or Kurnool fort in the morning before travelling back to Hyderabad. Another place one can see is Alampur in Telangana, which is just around 30 km from Kurnool. The temple town of Alampur, apart from being famous for its many temples, is the meeting point of the Tungabhadra river coming from Hampi and the Krishna river coming from an area near Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. The larger river formed due to the confluence is the Krishna river which flows towards Srisailam , Nagarjuna Sagar , and Vijayawada before meeting the Bay of Bengal. PIN THIS IMAGE Click here to sign up for our newsletter (3-4 mails per month) and access an interactive version or download a PDF version of map containing exact locations of each of these top 5 places to see around Gandikota If you have already visited Gandikota, you can also cover places listed in this travel blog over a weekend as a standalone trip, especially if you are in Hyderabad or the vicinity. We covered all the above listed 5 places in a 4-day journey covering Mallela Theertham , Srisailam and Gandikota starting from Hyderabad. Have you visited these tourist places near Gandikota? How did you find them? Do you know of any such interesting places to visit around Gandikota which could be added to this list? Do let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. #India #SouthIndia #AndhraPradesh #HyderabadWeekendOutings #BengaluruWeekendOutings #ChennaiWeekendOutings

Gandikota is a very small village in Kadapa District of Andhra Pradesh , India. Known to few ardent travelers Gandikota is not the usual tourist hub since it is neither a world heritage site, nor is it marketed well by state tourism agencies. While it deserves so much more, this untouched, unexplored, uncharted place is probably the most unbelievably amazing place we have been to in recent times. A frozen in time village in the middle of centuries old structures such as forts and temples to granary and jail overlooking a 300 feet river gorge reminiscent of Grand Canyon of Arizona with sights of windmills on the distant mountains - never thought all this could be found together in one place. We started from Hyderabad over a long weekend and covered Mallela Theertham waterfalls and holy town of Srisailam on previous day before heading towards the most awaited destination of our trip - Gandikota. Gandikota is quite centrally located with 280 kms from Bengaluru and 360 kms from Hyderabad making it a perfect weekend outing, if only enough people knew about it. Going from Srisailam we were to cover a distance of 250 kms by road to reach this extremely small village with hardly any provision to stay or even have a proper meal! The only good option for stay is government run Haritha resort which has just 10 rooms and are booked much in advance on weekends. The next option is 15 kms away in the closest town called Jammalamadugu (though the options are very basic) or Proddatur which is 35 kms away. One can camp in Gandikota around structures if one is comfortable doing it. Most of the roads in the state of #AndhraPradesh are good broad highways but as one nears Gandikota, the last stretch of 15 kms is a narrow curvy road on undulated terrain. The sight of distant windmills with small stretches of visible roads was the first attempt of this place to impress us. On reaching The Grand Canyon of India - Gandikota, one would find that village is both outside and inside the premises of the historical fort. The narrow road takes you inside the fort where people have small houses. It feels the village is frozen in time as if the clock stopped turning after 19th century. They live their daily lives oblivious to presence of heritage structures around them or bikers and backpackers passing by. They did not mind us clicking their pictures and carried on with their chores or gazing at nothing. Exploring the structures in the premises of Gandikota fort one would come across a Jail, a miniature Charminar, couple of temples, Jama Masjid and a granary. Gandikota was founded and built in 12th Century by local kings who were subordinates of Chalukya Kings (modern Badami and Basavakalyan). The name comes from Gandi meaning gorge in Telugu and Kota meaning home. The historical fort built on Erramala hills bordering a 300 feet river gorge on two sides containing massive granite boulders make it ideal for defense. This strategic location of the fort lured many south India kings into capturing it and thus played an instrumental role in various eras such as Kakatiya dynasty (12-13th Century, modern Warangal ), Vijayanagar empire (14th-17th Century, modern Hampi) and Qutb Shahi dynasty (16th-17th Century, modern Hyderabad). Gandikota was last captured by Hyder Ali (18th Century, Kingdom of Mysore) before going to British rule. Different structures within the fort might be built under different rules thus giving it variety in terms of architectural forms. That would also be the reason why Gandikota fort houses both a temple and a mosque. Walking across reddish brown rocks and reaching the edge of the Gandikota fort is when one is truly left awed by the landscape. The river Penna, though more of a stream now flows between two flat terrains around 300 feet below you. The almost vertical valley with various rocky formations makes you feel like you are in an alien planet. This point is the very reason why Gandikota is also called Grand Canyon of India. The resemblance of ​Penna river at Gandikota from this point with Colorado river in Arizona is uncanny. The only difference lies in green shoots seen here whereas Arizona is quite barren. Though our initial plan was to spend only the evening here, the mesmerizing views forced us to wake up next morning and come back. We were unlucky to find clouds blocking the sunrise else we would have witnessed a sun rising at a point where the river Penna curves along the gorges. Grand canyon of India - Gandikota is a must visit for any travel buff and should be clubbed with few more interesting places towards Kurnool such as Belum caves . There are also two dams on each side of Gandikota on river Penna - Gandikota Dam & Mylavaram dam which can be added to itinerary in case one has time. The extent of neglect by state tourism department is such that there is absolutely no entry ticket or parking areas or any sort of restrictions or maintenance of structures. One could go to a 500 year old structure, put a nail and hang their own photo frame without anyone to object. Thankfully no one seems to have done that. Nonetheless the tranquility felt being in this natural wonder with cool wind blowing through our hair and windmills seen at a distance will leave you enthralled. Add to it the wonderful architecture of the monuments, the place is simply a beautiful verse straight out of poet's heart. Various structures in Gandikota fort may take 3-4 hours to cover. However, one might want to spend more time here especially near the gorge. People either come for a day trip to Gandikota or take one night halt at options already specified above. Great roads for most of the stretch also makes it a wonderful road trip for those living in #AndhraPradesh or nearby states. Like any other place, the sunrise and sunset are the best times and one must plan their trips accordingly. Since there is no entry gate or ticket, one can visit the gorge at any time of the day. The secluded area also makes Gandikota an ideal location for astrophotography. PIN THIS IMAGE Would you like to visit the grand canyon of India? or have you already been here? Let us know your thoughts about our blog and photographs. Stay tuned to read the next day in our journey when we visited some wonderful places on our way from Gandikota to Kurnool . #India #SouthIndia #AndhraPradesh #HyderabadWeekendOutings #BengaluruWeekendOutings #ChennaiWeekendOutings

Srisailam is one of the well known places to visit in South India. The ones who are religious visit it to pay homage to number of temples in the town while the tourists visit it for the dam, lake and a break. Its location in Kurnool district of #AndhraPradesh, India makes it easy to reach from major cities of Telangana-Andhra such as Hyderabad and Vijayawada. Nestled in the Nallamala forest which also happens to be India's largest Tiger reserve in terms of area, the temple town of Srisailam is definitely the 2nd most holiest place in the state after Tirupati. We were planning for a trip to Srisailam since long but were waiting for the right moment. A long weekend around Dussehra (a hindu festival) was perfect for our plan - to club Srisailam with Gandikota (India's Grand Canyon) in the same trip over a long weekend from Hyderabad . We visited Mallela Theertham on our way to Srisailam and this travelogue we will detail our experience of visiting Srisailam, especially during Dussehra festival. We started early in morning from Hyderabad in Telangana state of India and visited Dindi reservoir and Mallela Theertham waterfalls on our way. The river Krishna separates 2 hills and also forms the boundary that divides the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Srisailam dam built post independence across these hills is India's 2nd largest hydroelectric station and a major irrigation hub for surrounding areas. One will not miss this dam enroute to Srisailam as road goes downhill towards a bridge across the river before going uphill again to reach the town. There are 2-3 viewpoints on the road from where you can witness the grandeur of this dam. Unfortunately the gates of the dam were not open when we were there but we had a good time clicking some photographs. We checked into our hotel late in the noon and had lunch before resting for an hour. In the evening, we explored the town and visited a tribal museum. We didn't know what to expect here as most reviews we had read said it's a fun place for kids. The place has a small circular museum depicting various tribes of South India - their cultures, their attire, their homes, tools and occupations. While nothing impressive, we were surprised to know there are so many tribes in the region. It also has a small shop which sells artifacts and organic products made by some of these tribes. Apart from this, there is a park which might interest kids, but definitely not us. It was almost dark and we decided to take a stroll around the temple area. The main temple in Srisailam is dedicated to Lord Mallikarjuna and is one of the 12 jyotirlingas dedicated to lord Shiva and one of the 18 shakti peethas as per Hindu religion. If one is visiting Srisailam for religious purposes, there is enough material on internet about fees, line, laddus and rules so we would not get into those details. You can also get all these details and even book poojas on their official website - www.srisailamonline.com . In Fact most of us didn't even visit the temple as we were more fascinated by things around the temple. The hindu festival - Dussehra was in a day so the decorations and a shopping street opposite the main temple was a photographer's heaven. The street was bustling with all sorts of people and shops. We saw a man embossing a trishul (3 spears) shaped tilak on forehead of passersby and asking for money. A kid painted in silver was standing as a mannequin on street dressed as Gandhi hoping to get paid. Sadhus or religious ascetics with long beards and dressed in saffron were common and so were bangle shops glittering in light. Srisailam was probably the best place for street photography ever. But we didn't know what was in store for us that night. We were in for a shock as we started hearing loud drums beating in distance. The town was suddenly alive with excitement and people were rushing towards the main temple. At the same time a lot of people were walking out of the temple. Before we could ask anyone what was happening, we saw 2 huge mascots walking out of the main Srisailam temple with their hands joined to greet Namaste. This was followed by people dancing in traditional styles, the holy cow, people dressed as hindu mythological characters such as Shiva and Ganesh, ascetics chanting hymns, men playing drums to their loudest, a man spitting fire, tribals playing their own musical instruments and at last 2 huge chariots housing idols of Hindu gods draped in colorful flowers and clothes. It soon turned into a carnival of sorts where organizers pulled up ropes on both sides of road to keep onlookers at bay and policemen were everywhere trying to control the chaos. Some people were busy praying to the main lord idols while few wanted to touch the holy cow for blessings. We on the other hand were completely taken aback by this sudden turn of events and were taken over by our camera. For next couple of hours it seemed our camera was controlling us as a sea of incredible faces put us in trance. Hunger, thirst, sweat, tiredness, all numbed by the drug of colors, costumes, cultures and chaos. Couple of hours later when Srisailam's Dussehra carnival was all over, we came back to our senses. One of us drank 3 cold drinks to quench the thirst, while someone quickly ordered food before they faint while someone just went to sleep. Such was the trance. We woke up next morning and visited APTDC (Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation) ropeway - a small ropeway which takes you to foot of the lake and takes you for a boat ride. Though nothing great, it was a fresh start to the morning and we were all looking forward to what other surprises were in store for us. One can also go to Akkamahadevi caves through a separate boat from the same point. We did not choose this because neither did we have time nor were we interested in seeing them as reviews we read about it were quite okayish. We then went to Sikharam which is supposedly the highest peak of this area and gives a good view of the whole temple town of Srisailam. We then left Srisailam and traveled to our next destination Gandikota - The Grand canyon of India . Srisailam turned out to be quite an experience and felt like a good weekend destination for those traveling from Hyderabad or Vijayawada . Srisailam gave us way more richer experience than what we had expected and hope the rest of the trip does so too. Stay tuned to see how our journey unfolds. PIN THIS IMAGE Have you visited Srisailam? Is it your type of place? Did our travelogue make you want to visit it? Have you witnessed such carnival before? Let us know your thoughts in comment section below. #India #SouthIndia #AndhraPradesh #ChennaiWeekendOutings #HyderabadWeekendOutings #BengaluruWeekendOutings

As the clouds start receding and the rainy season nears its end, most travel addicts and adventure lovers look for places to escape the comfort of their homes to get out on the road and breathe some fresh air. The best places to visit during such times are rivers, dams and waterfalls for obvious reasons. October had just begun, a long weekend was around the corner and clouds were few; we had to plan something. We created a 4 day itinerary starting from Hyderabad, India covering 3 major destinations - Srisailam , Gandikota and Kurnool travelling around 1000 kms forming a diamond shape. Even after in-depth research, we could not find a trace of such itinerary on internet, but with some doubts in our mind, we decided to do it. In this blog we cover couple of interesting places on our way to Srisailam - Dindi reservoir and Mallela Theertham Waterfalls. We started our road trip on a saturday morning at around 7 AM from Hyderabad. Taking the outer ring road towards Airport, we were soon on Srisailam Highway. The roads are fantastic and the weather was awesome. After a quick stop for breakfast on the way, we reached Dindi reservoir at around 10 AM. Dindi is a small town about 120 Kms from Hyderabad and right after the town, adjoining the highway itself on the right is a lake or reservoir called Dindi reservoir. It is formed out of tributary of Krishna river called Dindi and plays an important role in irrigating the area through various canals. One can climb up the dam like structure which prevents the water from flowing on the roads and get a good view of the reservoir. You can actually find some videos on Youtube where water from Dindi reservoir overflows on the main roads. We spent around half an hour here walking on the dam and clicking some pictures. This place is not great but it is recommended as a short break in your journey to Mallela Theertham waterfalls and Srisailam since it is right on the road. Back on the road, we entered the premises of Nallamala forest few minutes later. Once you enter the forest area, the smooth road is covered on both sides with extremely thick forest. It is in fact India's biggest tiger reserve, called Nagarjuna Sagar - Srisailam Tiger reserve and there is a Safari ride which takes you through the forest. However the number of tigers in the forest are too less and sightings are extremely rare letting down most tourists who visit it. About 50 kms from Dindi which is around 170 kms from Hyderabad and 50 kms before Srisailam came the first sign of our next destination - Mallela Theertham waterfalls for which we were desperately waiting - a diversion to left from the village named Vatavarlapally. Thankfully there is a board for Mallela Theertham waterfalls on the road which ensured we do not miss this diversion. On taking a left, we saw there was no proper road, just a muddy path which passed through Mallapur village (probably named after the waterfalls or vice-versa). The reddish yellow muddy road which was moist due to rains made the journey easier for us. We are sure this road would be closed for vehicles in the rainy season. Green fields on both sides of the road looked beautiful. We stopped on the way in a village to click some photographs. The village was quite isolated and small with very few people in sight. The handful of huts with verandah, the age old agricultural carts pulled by cattle, hand pumps for water and silence all around felt like we had landed in medieval times. It was a photographer's paradise. Moving on, at about 8 kms from the diversion on main road, we reached Mallela Theertham, a temple and a waterfall. There is a huge parking area at the gate. There is a minimal entrance charge of Rs.10 for seeing the waterfalls. The sound of the waterfall was audible as we started going down the steps. We soon reached the falls and found a group of people leaving. Thankfully the waterfalls were ours to capture. We spent quite some time trying out different angles and taking lots of photographs till our thirst for those perfect shots of waterfalls was quenched. The white stream of water of Mallela Theertham flows from around 150 feet on some rocks and then flows on to ultimately join river Krishna. Summers would definitely have much less water but we were visiting it at the best possible time. Apart from the waterfall area where you see direct sunlight falling, rest of the area is quite dark as it is surrounded by the dense Nallamala forest, probably the most untouched forest reserves of South India. We spent about 1-1.5 hours at the Mallela Theertham waterfalls and left when lots of monkeys turned out looking for food and terrorizing tourists with their fearlessness. Despite huge boards saying bathing or swimming is not allowed, a shattered fence and absence of any official allowed people to stand and bath under the waterfall. We however were not interested in getting wet and did not indulge into going directly below the waterfalls. While one might not visit the places covered in this blog - Dindi reservoir and Mallela Theertham waterfalls as a standalone trip from Hyderabad. It is highly recommended that you do not miss these lesser known spots when you travel to Srisailam . You may however visit these as a weekend day trip from Hyderabad in case you have already covered Srisailam earlier. The low turnout of tourists makes the time spent here worth it and if you are into photography, the main attraction for you might be the interesting faces and landscapes in villages you see here. PIN THIS IMAGE We visited Srisailam next after Mallela Theertham followed by Gandikota and various attractions near Gandikota and Kurnool . Read our travel blogs on these places. You can also check out our travel blogs about other destinations in the vicinity. Do let us know your thoughts about Mallela Theertham in comments section below. #India #SouthIndia #Telangana #HyderabadWeekendOutings #BengaluruWeekendOutings #ChennaiWeekendOutings