The Mountains and the traffic #wordlesswednesday

Until next time,

Linking this post to #wordlesswednesday hosted by Natasha and Esha.

D is for Driving

Driving is the most basic thing to learn in our life, but i didn't learn it till 25 years of my age, how lazy iam :) Other than Laziness, there are many more reasons. One such prominent reason is fear of traffic and accidents.

I used to go to school by bicycle. When i reached engineering, my father was ready to buy me a 2 wheeler, but i preferred travelling by bus. I felt, Public transport is more safe than driving alone. Time was the only constraint. I have to be at bus stop 5 mins early and wait for the bus, whereas my friends who had bikes, started late from home and used to reach college at same time as me. Moreover, there was problem of ragging in buses. But, fortunately, i didn't face it much. 

After all these years, now i learnt driving a 4 wheeler directly in a traditional method from a driving school. I could learn and drive well even in traffic, could drive 'H' and 'O' for my license test. I have to get the confidence level still, but i can manage driving on road now :)

So this is my D for Driving story  for #AtoZChallenge :)

Until next time,

This is my entry for AtoZ blogging challenge 2014. 
Image courtesy: creative common license image from Flickr.com

A perfect 10 day plan - Road trip - Part I

This is the plan for a road trip by car for 10 days from Hyderabad to Coorg. 

You may ask, how we can get that long leave, it’s impossible :) I suggest, Aug 9^th to Aug 18^th. Aug 9^th will be a holiday for Ramzaan for most of us and as we know, Aug 15^th is a holiday for our Independence Day. So, taking leave for 4 days will give us a holiday trip for 10 days :) what say?

Here goes Part I of plan..

Day 1 – Aug 9^th : Start early by around 5 Am to Bangalore from Hyderabad. You may reach Kurnool in 2 hrs or atmost 2.5 hrs, where you can stop for a breakfast. After refreshing, drive for a continuous stretch via Anantapur,.. you will reach Bangalore by afternoon, at most by 2 PM. Check in to the hotel, take sumptuous lunch and have enough rest till 4 Pm. You can visit ISKON temple in the evening after 5PM, which will be a pleasant experience that one should never miss in Benguluru. Head to famous Lord Hanuman temple near ISKON in Mahalakshmi layout.  Have some snacks after that, and head to Kemp fort, which is a Giant Shiva temple with exhibition on Jyothirlingas. This is an awesome place to visit in the evening.There are some nice restaurants around Kemp fort, where you can have dinner and return to hotel.

Day 2 – Aug 10^th : If possible, start by 7 or 8 Am after breakfast, to Big bull temple in Basavanagudi and drive towards Lalbagh after darshan. Lalbagh botanical garden is excellent during flower show, which is in January month; else, it is not that great, so you may think of skipping it and covering Visweswarayya museum. Have lunch around this place, take rest in cubbon park for sometime. Covering Visweswarayya museum will be tiresome  to anyone as it needs a lot of walking.

Mysore Maharaja palace

Day 3 - Aug 11th : Must see attractions in Mysore are Chamundi hills, Mysore palace and Brindavan gardens. Start by 7Am from Bangalore to Mysore, have breakfast in the middle and reach Chamundi hills directly. After darshan, drive to Mysore palace, but have enough food, as it is a very big palace and needs more walking :) St.Philomenus church in Mysore is also a good place to cover. After lunch and some rest, head to Brindavan gardens by 5 or 6 Pm, as  it will be pleasant at that time. There will be laser show, you can roam, have snacks, do boating and take rest in the lawns. Laser show and dancing water fountains with colors are big attractions. 

Day 4 - Aug 12th : Srirangapatna is famous for Lord Vishnu (Sri ranganathaswamy) temple, which is around 22kms from Mysore. His magnificent idol made from black stone is excellent. Tipu sultan's summer palace is also a place to look for. Another lovely place near by is Balmuri/ Belmuri falls. It is not a huge waterfall though. There is also Ranganthittu bird sanctury near Srirnagapatnam. Depending on time, our patience and energy level, one can cover many places of these kind in and around Mysore.

Nisarga dhama forest resort

Day 5 - Aug 13th :Coorg is around 118 kms from Mysore, it may take around 2.5 hrs to reach. Orange county is a famous resort there, but there are also many  home stay options available which we can book online. Nisargdhama is a forest resort, which is an excellent place for natural beauty and there is an elephant safari just next to it. Don't forget to visit Tibitan monastery in Kushal nagar. There are many other good places in Coorg, which i will cover in next days of plan. Meanwhile, it is best to taste the traditional kodava cuisine. 

Budhist monastery

But one caution.. Rainy season may not be the best time to visit Coorg as it is difficult to visit places and trekking cannot be done. Best season to visit is Oct to Apr.
Part II of plan here..

Until next time,

written for indiblogger contest by Ambipur facebook.com/AmbiPurIndia