Yercaud Trip

Our marriage anniversary was on 21st November which was Monday this year. The day went very dull with my hubby coming late from office after 8.30 p.m and me waiting for him :(....in order to celebrate the anniversary he planned a trip to Yercaud last weekend. Another couple from his office joined us in the celebration.

Yercaud is a small 'developing' hill station nestled amidst Shevaroy Hills in Tamilnadu state. I mentioned 'developing' because there are a host of things yet to be properly developed to metamorphose Yercuad into a full-blown hill station like Ooty. Only at 230 kilometres distance from Bangalore, indisputably, this is the next popular tourist destination in the making, among weekend revellers, after Ooty. It takes only about 4 hours through NH44 to reach Yercaud.Apart from the last leg of the journey when you need to swerve your car through the steep road of the hills, the road from Bangalore to Yercaud is smooth and trouble free. There are one or two pit stops at McD and Cafe Coffee Day where you may unwind and relax for a while on the way.

There are 20 narrow hairpin bends, properly guarded with railings, winding up to almost 2000 meters in altitude to Yercaud. Driving through the steep treacherous roads with gorges on both sides calls for some skill in the driver, and my husband seems to have mastered the art well within 2 years of driving experience. We started around 10 o'clock in the morning and reached Yercaud by 2.30 pm. In between we took a break at McD for 40 minutes.

We put up at a resort called Regent Hill Park side owned by Mr. Visu Kaliyappa.Built way back in 1861; the resort was originally a home of a British administrator. Now renovated into a resort, Mr. Kaliyappa has tried to retain the old English look and feel of the place. The switchboards as well as decoration of the rooms exude an impression of antiquity. The spacious lavish bathrooms of 400 sqft recreate the ambiance of the royal British life style. Mr. Kaliyappa himself was quite hospitable and took utmost care to treat his guests with satisfaction. However, I was a bit put off by the frequent load shedding and that the generator was turned on manually. Post-midnight when the staff members went to sleep and there was no one to regulate the generator, the entire resort plunged into darkness due to load shedding, leaving us in pitch-dark for the whole night. But the weather being salubrious as it was heavily raining outside, we didn’t feel the absence of ceiling fans. Oh yes, the resort is yet to accommodate an air-conditioning facility. Some snapshots of the resort are below:

We went to Yercaud amidst rain. The sky was overcast and it was continuously drizzling the day we arrived there. Mr. Visu got a fulsome lunch prepared for us - fried rice and chicken as per our request. The meal was good. During lunch in the beautifully ornate dining room, one thing came to our notice....Mr. Visu has an impressive collection of recipe books. From Italian to Mexican, he has an entire encyclopaedia on cooking at his disposal. What was more exciting was those books were available for reading to his guests. Taking advantage of the moment, I chanced to peek into a handful of books and took down some recipes.

We chose to spend the evening at the resort itself due to incessant downpour outside. We ordered onion pakoda, tea and coffee as evening snacks to spike up our chat session. At dinner was served Kerala paratha and chicken curry. It was a lovely evening spent with friends and we enjoyed a lot.


Next morning the sky was looking clear with the sun smiling from behind the wisp of cloud. We ventured out finally to do some sightseeing. First we went to Lady's seat which provides a bird's eye view of the luscious plains spread below. The panorama viewable from Lady's seat was of scenic beauty, but if you find a troop of monkeys keeping a watch on your every movement and waiting for a chance to seize food items from your hands, it's unnerving and I got scared the way one monkey, perched on a barricade, was sizing up my husband as he got his hand inside the backpack to take camera and related accessories out. I apprehended that it might snatch our expensive DSLR camera mistaking it for a piece of eatable. We didn’t linger around long and preferred to leave within 15 minutes.

Next we went to Kiliyur Falls which in the itinerary was suggested as a must visit. The ideal time to visit this falls is during or just after the monsoon because the falls remains dry otherwise. It is a 300 feet high waterfall with a beautiful view in the backdrop. You have to clamber about 300 steps down to reach the base of the waterfall. The stairs are properly cemented and supported with balustrades. Being careless by nature, I wore 1 inch high heels to the waterfall, and after the up and down climb, every nerve and muscles of my legs were strung to a breaking point. My sedentary life style has atrophied the stamina and agility of my body and that I realized with every step I took back and forth. My legs were trembling from sudden exhaustion once we reached the foot of the falls and I had to halt after every 15 steps climb to catch my breath on our way up. The muscles of my legs are still sore all over :(.....But yes, the breathtaking beauty of the falls cascading down in ripples made up for all the exertion taken. The sight was overwhelming.

The to and fro journey of the falls left us all sapped and gasping. So we returned to our resort for freshening up. Since we had done a heavy breakfast with idlis and masala dosas, we ordered only chicken sandwiches for lunch.We left the resort finally around 3.30 p.m planning to take a quick boat ride in Yercaud Lake before starting out for Bangalore. Yercaud Lake is a beautiful lake against a fascinating green backdrop of lush woods. 60 ft deep this lake is a natural lake unlike the ones in Kodaikanal and Ooty which are man-made. There are two kinds of boating options available. You may hire either paddling boats or rowing boats. We opted for rowing boats because we were too tired to paddle boats on our own. Moreover, rowing boats were safer and more comfortable because a rower pulls the oars for you, leaving you to enjoy nature at its best.

Since except my hubby, none of us in the group knew swimming, we wrapped ourselves in life jackets praying to the almighty to keep our boat safe from capsizal. It scared the hell out of me when the boat was in the middle of the lake, the rower stood up to capture our snaps and the boat was swaying sideways in heavy wind. Finally, after a chilling 20 minutes ride across the lake, we set off for Bangalore.  

Chicago Trip

We went to USA in March, 2011. The week before returning back to India, we made a trip to Chicago which is about 270 miles of distance from Perrysburg where we were staying in US. Chicago is the largest city of the state of Illinois and indeed, it stands true to its name "the Wind city" because due to frequent gusts of wind it's almost impossible to keep your hair neat and combed and since we made our trip just when Winter has started receding, chilliness was still strongly felt in the air. From May till September, the weather in Chicago remains salubrious but from October onwards, it gets covered beneath thick layers of snow.

Like any other big city of USA, Chicago too is replete with buildings towering over you. Its fascination with skyscrapers is prominently manifested in the view of downtown Chicago where most of the buildings seem to be more than 60 storied high and I litreally had to stretch my neck back to catch a good view of the topmost point of those monumental buildings.

On reaching Chicago first we went to the Willis Tower popularly known as Skydeck for this 108 storied edifice has a skydeck at its 103rd floor offering breathtaking view of Chicago downtown from about 1,300 feet above. But since there was a huge queue waiting outside, we preferred to catch other attractions of Chicago and make our trip back to Willis Tower the next day early in the morning when the rush of tourists visiting the skydeck is expected to be thinner.

 

We then bought tickets of Chicago Trolley and Double decker company for multiple day downtown tour at the price of $35 per person.This tour is specially designed for tourists with a guide providing comprehensive view of the Chicago downtown and its growth over the years. The buses are available at the gap of every 15 minutes and so you can alight from the bus to see the attractions at your own leisure and then catch the bus again to drop by the next attraction. The tickets we bought were valid for 7 days. Since parking in Chicago is inconvenient and a costly affair,it's advisable to park your car at some place and opt for the public transit system.

 

   



Chase Bank..World's tallest bank building





Millennium Park located on Michigan Avenue was the first attraction we paid a visit to in Chicago. This park is one of the most popular haunts for tourists and locals alike. Its appeal lies in its four major features - the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, and the Lurie Garden. Cloud Gate is an attractive structure made of steel and because of its legume like shape, it has earned the sobriquet "The Bean". Its glass-like reflective surface provides distorted images of Chicago skyline and visitors feel amused to see their warped reflections on "The Bean".

                                                                                                                                                

  



 

Crown Fountain is an artful video sculpture composed of two translucent glass brick towers facing each other. Various human faces appear on the surface of each tower with lips slightly puckered to ooze out water from the nozzle set on the front face of each tower.Water spouting through the lips of the images reflecting on the towers is a fascinating sight.

 

The Jay Pritzker Pavilion is the cynosure of Millennium Park. With the facility of 4,000 fixed seats and a huge lawn accomodating an additional 8,000 people, this pavilion has been a host to a series of musical shows including symphony, orchestra, classical music and so on.

 

On completing our tour around Millennium Park, we headed towards Michigan Lake. It's a huge lake almost as big as some of the seas of the world like Caspian Sea and Red sea. Lake Michigan has a significant role to play behind Chicago earning its popular name "the wind city".

After that we took another ride in Double Decker bus and roamed around the downtown of Chicago city. The guide poured out information regarding the development of Chicago familiarizing us with the buildings found in Chicago downtown. The pic below is of Trump Tower which was originally meant to be the tallest building in USA but post 9/11 attack Donald Trump revised the design and made it the second tallest building of US.The Trump Tower is a hotel cum condominium, only second of its kind to Burj Khalifa located in Dubai.

The skyscraper below is the head office of Wrigley Chewing Gum Company. Built way back in 1920, interestingly, it was the first office building of Chicago that was equipped with air-conditioning facility.

The pic below is of Marina City,a luxurious residential/commercial building complex.The corncob shaped 65 story tall towers were the tallest residential buildings in the world when built way back in 1964, but in 1977 they have been transformed into condominiums.

The snap below captures "Thompson Center" that boasts of a stupendous collection of arts. The bizarre-looking modern sculpture displayed at the entrance reflects the artistic heritage of the building.

I was shivering in freezing cold seated at the top compartment of the Double Decker bus under open sky, more so because the weather was so windy that it seemed as if the breeze generated from Michigan Lake directly was hitting us and I was not at all prepared for such windy weather. The jacket I was wearing that day was of flimsy fabric, hardly insulating enough for warding off cold.I started feeling pretty dizzy by the time we finished our trip and got down from the bus near the parking lot where we had our car parked.But a misfortune as it seemed was awaiting us. To our utter astonishment and horror, when we reached the parking space, we saw our car vanished. Upon enquiry, we discovered that our car had been towed. None but Debu gets the entire credit for forgetting to put the parking ticket on the windshield. In the absence of a parking ticket glued to the windshield, they assumed that we had not paid for parking and hence our car was towed. I literally freaked out in frustration. Chicago was totally an unknown place and to retrieve our car from the towing people, we would have to shell out $250 as fine and that too when we had already paid for the parking ticket. I was on the verge of tears when a guy and a female security guard at the parking lot came for our help. That guy was an absolute angel who not only convinced the security guard to drive us to the towing office but called the people there requesting them to let us go as we were foreigners who unmindfully didnot go through the parking ticket properly and hence slipped putting it on the windshield.Only and solely for that godly person who appeared from nowhere to help us we got ourselves extricated from an ugly situation, which could have ruined our total trip, without paying any amercement.

Debu has innocence writ large on his face, may be due to the fact that he is a kind of person who would never harm a fly and so the towing people there took mercy on him (thanks to the phone call of that angelic person we met at the parking lot) and gave our vehicle back to us without charging a fine. After such miraculous escape (it's nothing short of a miracle that we were let go because in US, towing rules and regulations are very strict) we were definitely very happy though I was seething inside over Debu being so careless to miss reading the parking ticket carefully, but on reaching hotel my anger subsided and we decided to go for a night stroll after dinner. Our hotel was exactly located at Magnificent Mile in Chicago downtown and hence every restaurant or attraction were within walking distance. We chose a Japanese eatery named "Sliver Spoon" and consumed some very delectable Japanese dishes.

Post dinner we visited John Hancock Observatory which is a 100 storied tall skyscraper with a restaurant at its 95th floor providing a panoramic view of the Chicago skyline. The entire city illuminated at night looks dazzling and ornamental.The view is simply breathtaking and inexplicable in words.Unfortunately, the building shuts down at 11 o'clock and since we reached there few minutes before the closing time, we could linger for half an hour only.

Next day we started early in the morning for Willis Tower. As mentioned earlier Willis tower is a 108 storied high-rise building,which formerly known as 'Sears Tower',is popular among tourists and locals alike for its skydeck situated at 103rd floor of the tower. Skydeck is nothing but an observation deck which slightly protruded from the main frame of the building is made of glass boxes and hence standing upon the skydeck at 103rd floor, if you look through the glass below you may find the entire city sprawled beneath your feet some 1,400 feet below. The experience is quite scary and unnerving if you are height phobic, but super exciting.The skydeck apart, the astounding view of beautiful Chicago skyline meeting the Michingan Lake is a paradigm of nature juxtaposing with modern architecture.  

 

Usually the glass balconies known as skydeck remain so crowded that you need to squeeze through the crowd to get inside the balcony and wait for your turn to take snaps. So just in case if you are unable to capture your family without a stranger appearing in the same frame, you may avail a facility of getting your snaps taken by some professional photographers at the pay of $25. The pic below featuring me and my hubby standing on skydeck is one such pic clicked by one of the professional camera men.

Buckingham Fountain, located at the heart of Grant Park of Chicago, is one of the largest fountains of the world, designed after the pattern of a three-tiered wedding cake.The fountain surrounded by a stream of seasonal plants and flower beds is a visual delight. Functional only through the months from April till October, this fountain hosts many water shows and evening color-light shows in order to attract tourists.

 

 

Navy Pier in Chicago is another sought-after tourist destination. Standing 150 feet tall, the Ferris Wheel so distinctly conspicuous from even farthest of skyscrapers is a popular attraction here. The ride in Ferris wheel will expose you to a beautiful scenic view. Besides, parks, gardens, shops, promenades and restaurants make this place throbbing with activity. Numerous entertaining shows arranged within the Navy Pier building are also huge crowd-pullers.

 

Navy Pier was the final destination of our trip after which we wrapped up our journey and started towards Perrysburg, our home during the stay in US.

Ooty Trip

We went to Ooty in April 2010 just prior to my joining IBM. Since once I would join office, I wont get much time or have enthusiasm to go on a trip during the weekend, this trip was planned in order to enjoy some last few days of my freedom from the monotonous routine awaiting me.

Ooty to Bangalore distance is 280 kms and it takes about 6 hours to reach there. We hired a cab and although, the journey to Ooti could have been much more pleasant in the absence of an unruly arrogant driver, we had no other option but to bear with his temper. As I have least patience with people trying to take me for a ride, couple of times I lashed at the driver who in retaliation involved in a fiery squabble with me. Debu being a man of huge patience and mild disposition didnt know how to stop us from wringing each other's neck and so remained silent and sometimes uttered one or two words in my defence. Later, I also fought with Debu over his indifference to the incivility of the driver. I wanted to get rid of the driver but since we already agreed to pay for the return journey, the loss would have been ours if we dismissed him midway because he would take his due whether or not we preferred him for driving us back to Bangalore. Now looking back in reminiscence I understand why Debu paid no heed at all to the driver but at that time I was offended with Debu showing so much patience.

Located in Tamilnadu, Ooty is a beautiful hill station atop Niligiri hills. Situated at an altitude of about 2500 meters, Ooty with its lush green scenic beauty, lofty mountains, vast expanse of tea estates is a favoured tourist spot. Endowed with a wholesome climate, Ooty is an ideal destination for people seeking to while away some time close to nature.

We set off for Ooty in the morning of Saturday and reached our destination by evening (around 4p.m). After freshening up, we went out for sightseeing. The first place we paid a visit to was the Botanical Garden. Spread over 55 acres of land, Botanical Garden is one of the most popular attractions of Ooty. The garden displays some rare species of trees including cork tree, monkey puzzle tree and paper bark tree. The prized possession of the garden is a 20 million year old fossilized tree. Besides, the garden compartmentalised into 6 different sections including New Garden, Lower Garden, Italian Garden, Conservatory, Fountain Terrace and Nurseries boast of myriad of ferns, bushes, orchids and flowerbeds. We spent some wonderful moments exploring the garden and I recall my running across a corpulent cat curled up in the middle of a grassland, infront of a food section selling snacks and drinks for the weary travellers. There was a mini gathering formed surrounding the cat in curious amusement for the cat refused to budge from its position even when poked and looked totally heedless to its surrounding. Though my love for dogs overrides my feeling for other animals esp cats, somehow I could not help developing a fondness for the cute obese cat oblivious to the world around it. Photos below:

 

 

 

 

After Botanical Garden, we went around the town of Ooty in search of a shopping centre and did spot a store wherefrom I picked some nice tops for myself. Ooty being a small town doesnot have shopping options galore though I did buy some lovely Kashmiri stitched dresses.

Next morning we went to Sim's Park located in Coonoor. Coonoor is another hill station of Niligiri hills. Ooty to Coonoor distance is only 35 kms. So either you can stay in Ooty or in Coonoor and tour both the places.Sim's Park is mainly a park with a small garden displaying varieties of shrubs, herbs and ferns. It is useful for morning walk or jogging and relaxing with friends under the shade of trees.

Next we went to Wellington. At less than 5 kms away from Coonoor is a beautiful military cantonment called Wellington which has earned the epithet "No Garbage Town" because of its cleanliness.A good chunk of the movie 'Roja' was shot in and around Wellington. The Wellington Golf Course is a sought after place for stopping by and enjoying breathtaking beauty of the surrounding landscape. Sadly, it remains closed on Sunday, the day we visited the place and hence we were not allowed inside.

Around 10 kms away from Coonoor, Dolphin's Nose is a beautiful vantage point that provides breathtaking view of the luscious green valley spread below. As the name suggests, a huge protruding rock formation resembling the nose of Dolphin is used as a view point which gives enticing panoramic view of the Catherine Falls, Kotagiri Hills, and Mettupalayam plains.The way to Dolphin's Nose is a bit perilous as the road is narrow and yet to be cemented. However, the side slopes covered with verdant tea vegetation looks mesmerizing as your car makes its way through the narrow road between. Photos below:

 

 

 

Extending to an area of 65 acres, Ooty Lake is another popular attraction of Niligiri Hills. This lake is basically an artificial lake built by a British collector of erstwhile Ooty in 1824.Set amidst groves of Eucalyptus trees, the lake has houseboats parked along the bank where you may reside for the night. Further, a train line running along the embankment is an added attraction. You may take pleasure trip across the lake via speed boats or paddle boats.

Ooty and Coonoor both are famous for tea production. There are numbers of tea factories in Ooty and we visited one of them. It was a learning experience to see through the processing of tea manufacturing.First of all fine leaves are collected by tea workers and then they are put through a machine to make into smooth paste. Thereafter, the moist paste of tea leaves are dried and reduced to raw tea powder. Then they are processed through different graders which would determine the quality of the tea leaves. After that they are packaged and made ready for sale. Different flavours of tea are sold in the factory itself like honey tea, lemon tea and so on. Also, Ooty is known for homemade chocolates which are really yummy in taste. 



Tea Museum was the final destination of our trip in Ooty and then we halted in Mysore for a while for lunch and came back to Bangalore.