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Good Homestays in Chikmagalur

Posted on November 10, 2017February 1, 2023 by SamTram

About this Chikmagalur travel blog: This is an account of a family vacation involving good homestays in Chikmagalur, coffee estates and offbeat temples of Hoysala.

Where is Chikmagalur located?

Chikmagalur is a hill station in Karnataka located on the foothills of the Mullayanagiri peak of the Western Ghats.

Chikmagalur is about 250 kilometres away from the state capital Bangalore and about 150 kilometres away from the port city of Mangaluru.

The nearest international airport is in Mangalore. Look for some wonderful Chikmagalur homestays if you plan to visit.

This is an ideal weekend getaway for people in nearby places like Bangalore and Mangalore.

Why Chikmagalur is called the coffee land of Karnataka?

The name Chikmagalur translates to ‘Young daughter’s town’ and is also known as the ‘Coffee Land of Karnataka’.

Chikmagalur is located at an elevation of about 3400 feet and is blanketed with tea coffee plantations. The beauty and ideal weather bring tourists from around the globe to enjoy blissful few days in this lovely land.

Now, how Chikmagalur became an ideal place for coffee plantations is quite a tale of an accident. Apparently, it was a Sufi saint – Baba Budan – who, way back in time, stole some coffee beans from Arab traders and planted them on a sloping hill in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

This is how coffee made its way to Chikmagalur in India. (After you are done thanking me, do read more about Baba Budan and his seven seeds here: http://madrascourier.com/insight/how-coffee-came-to-india/).

Chikmagalur coffee — Blame it on Baba Budan – here are the seeds he sowed

With that sorted, let me ask you another one: What’s better than a day spent indoors amidst lush greenery, listening to the pitter-patter of rain outside, sipping some of the most amazing coffee you have ever tasted while turning the pages of that book you have wanted to read?

A day spent binge-watching episodes of your favourite TV show while munching on some pizza, you say? OK, you win.

But in the interest of taking this blog post forward, let us agree that the former is better. Deal? Deal. So that’s how I spent a few days earlier this month – relaxing in Chikmagalur with family.

Chikmagalur Rain Walks

Now, Chikmagalur is not new to me. This is a place where my friends and I go every year to enjoy the rains – Chikmagalur gets some heavy rains, and we spend a few hours walking in the rain. Every year. We call our trip…the…wait for it…’ rain walk’.

Check out this post from one of our rain walks:

https://sampathmk.com/chikmagalur-into-the-rains

Here’s the general format of our rain walks: The preparations start a few months in advance, with us playing meteorologists, trying to predict which of the days Chikmagalur would be getting the heaviest of rainfall that year. With a date fixed, everyone is assigned a role – mainly who will bring what eatables (and drinkables). On the D-day, the dozen or so well-rounded middle-aged blokes that we are, rent a minibus and drive down to the ghat section en route to Chikmagalur. We then tumble out of the bus and begin walking in the rain. We howl, wave to passing vehicles, and generally act stupid as kids do in an arcade.

There have been instances where our acts scared passing motorists too – imagine turning a blind curve in the ghats (where visibility is already low with mist and rains) to encounter silhouettes of a dozen or so bear-like creatures. That would be enough to make one jump out of his/her skin, which is what befell a hapless 2-wheeler driver, who almost swerved off his path into the valley below. Luckily for him, he made a narrow escape and lived to see another day. We’re just glad that we gave him a story (of how he narrowly escaped a sloth of bears) that he could narrate to his grandkids.

Back to the walk. So after our 2-hour stroll in the rains (which completes the workout quota for the year for most of us in the group), we land up at one of the many coffee estate bungalows, have a kingly lunch, and decide to spend 10 minutes resting to shake off all that fatigue from the heavy workout we had earlier in the day. A symphony of snores (in surround-sound) follows. 4 hours later, the groggy bunch wakes up one by one, ready to tackle the next big thing: dinner. We eat, sleep and return to our respective homes the next day. What fun!

Of course, we have also done clambering up mountains, bathing under waterfalls and other fun stuff too – but through the years, we figured out what our priorities were and have since stuck to those.

Good homestays in Chikmagalur

Now, this family vacation that I went on – was a hastily planned one. Since it was a long weekend, most of the accommodation options including Chikmagalur Homestays were fully booked. Chikmagalur Airbnb listings were running full too. But homestay rated #47 by Trip Advisor proved lucky for me. They had a cottage available! I booked it immediately.

Good homestays in Chikmagalur - Saudhamini — Next time you go to Chikmagalur, try this Koff Villa cottage of Soudhamini Homestay.

Soudhamini Homestay, though it did not evoke dreamy images in my mind like a ‘Crows nest cottage’ or ‘Misty greens home stay’ did, turned out to be a hidden gem.

Their cottage – named Koff Villa – was built like an independent two-storey house, with one very well kept room on each of the floors and had a common dining area. The host – Vasavi – was amiable and kept us supplied with some great coffee and delicious food.

Activities in chikmagalur

A drive through the coffee estate, a stroll through the little Chikmagalur town and some time spent doing nothing really helped us recharge.

The drive we did to Belur-Halebidu took us through sunflower gardens and showed us glimpses of village life. The ancient temples were a treat to watch too.

This was definitely an unplanned trip that provided me with a lot of good memories. I also learned that mixing snuff in oil and applying it to your body will keep the leeches away (that stink would keep anything away, for that matter).

Leaving you with some select snaps from this most recent trip to Chikmagalur.

Chikmagalur activities — An early morning drive through one of the coffee plantations in Chikmagalur was really refreshing – the cool, crisp, pure air and with all the greenery around. (I know, a walk would’ve been even better, but sonny boy wasn’t particularly interested in meeting the creepy-crawlies). Most of the Chikmagalur Homestays offer drives or strolls through their coffee estate.

Sunflower gardens Belur — The Sunflower gardens on the way to Belur

Visitors at the Belur Chennakeshava temple. Built during the Hoysala reign, this temple is a great example of some brilliant craftsmanship. Search for offbeat Hoysala temples to get more details of temples in this area.

Update – November 2022

I visited Chikmagalur recently and had a chance to stay at Taj Gateway Chikmagalur. It is one of the good places to stay in Chikmagalur. I thoroughly enjoyed the stay and the early-morning trek.

Here’s a video of my road trip that has excerpts from the stay at Taj Gateway Chikmagalur (Taj gateway Chikmagalur photos):

I also revisited Belur Chennakeshava temple (Bangalore to Belur trip). Here’s a video of the Belur temple from my trip (A brief Belur temple guide):

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Ellora caves architecture

Posted on September 3, 2017April 2, 2022 by SamTram

Ellora caves architecture: Ellora is one of the largest rock-cut cave complexes in the world and is truly an engineering marvel. The Kailash temple (Cave 16), also known as Kailasa or Kailashnath temple is the largest single monolithic rock excavation in the world.

This is an account of my trip to see the Ellora caves architecture. Ellora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.

Planning the trip

Of late, I have started enjoying making conversations with strangers – mostly Uber drivers. Maybe it has got to do with the fact that I am living in a new city, and that I use Uber a lot to commute to the office these days.

Since I knew that my stay in this city would be temporary, I had got myself a used scooter that I thought would suffice for my daily commutes to the office. But like the impulsive shopper that I am, I hadn’t put a lot of thought into this transaction as well.

The scooter did well for a few weeks. But as days went by, the scooter started producing rattling noises from all sides, and soon my passage was akin to a marching band.

Children would come out to watch me drive through, and I would wave to them. Occasionally some parts fell out of the scooter too as I was riding. Soon I realized that:

I could ride faster since my scooter was getting lighter
I would never get lost since I could find my way home by following the trail of nuts and bolts that my scooter had left behind
My scooter was built with a lot of extra components that really weren’t required and above all,
It was time I gave away my scooter

The chai-wallah near my home had shown keen interest in my scooter and had asked me whether I would be willing to sell my scooter to him when I left Pune.

I thought this would be a good time to strike a deal with him, which I did. I did not do a monetary transaction. Instead, I gave my scooter to him in exchange for free teas from his shop. He was overjoyed.

Post the deal, I had to rely on Uber for my office commutes.

And it was during one of these trips that I met Bakshi (not his real name of course – I changed it to protect his identity. Brilliant me).

Bakshi was telling me about his recent trips and mentioned about Ellora, which spiked my interest in the conversation. I had marked down Ellora as one of the places I wanted to visit before I left Pune, given its proximity to Pune.

I asked him if he would take me there over the weekend, which he agreed. So off we went, to the famous Ellora caves in Aurangabad.

Ellora has 34 caves – 12 carved by Buddhists, 17 by Hindus and 5 by Jains. Cave No. 16 (Kailash Temple) is the most popular and awe-inspiring cave. It is carved from a single monolithic rock, is a World Heritage Site and is an architectural marvel.

Ellora Caves Images

Here are the snaps from my trip to Ellora. If you would like to explore the caves from the comforts of your home, you can do so by going to the Ellora caves official website: http://elloracaves.org/about.php

Ellora caves photos - Cave 10 - Carpenter's Cave — Cave #10 is – Most famous of the Buddhist caves. Also known as ‘Carpenter’s Cave’.

kailasa temple ellora images — It was drizzling. The rock was slippery. Like many, I too am scared of heights; my legs were trembling. Yet I risked my life and took this snap. For you! (A bit overdramatic there eh.. :)). This is Cave #16 – Kailasa temple. It is a single rocked carved in that shape!

kailasa temple ellora photos — They came, they saw, and they took a selfie.

kailasa temple ellora architecture — I dont really know what this carving means, but looks to me like a person dusting himself; maybe implying the significance of keeping oneself clean. I think he is also shown wearing a fitness tracker; signifying the importance of health.

ellora caves architechure — Room with a view: A view from Cave #29. This must have been a premium room back then.

ellora caves architechure - cave 32 — Cave #32 – ‘An excellent amalgamation of Dravidian and Buddhist architecture styles’, says the literature I got from there. Well, I agree.

Monkey gate: Had great fun watching the monkeys outside the caves. Here’s a li’l fella admiring his banana.

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Pune heritage walk: reliving history

Posted on July 23, 2017March 31, 2022 by SamTram

What is the Pune heritage walk?

Pune Heritage walk is organized by Pune Municipal Corporation and Janwani Pune, an NGO. A National Award-winning walk (for the Best Heritage Walk project), it is conducted on all weekends at 7 am.

The three-hour-long walk takes you around eighteen different heritage sites and is conducted in three languages: Hindi, English and Marathi.

It is an amazing cultural experience that takes you through the heart of Pune and is a great way to experience the splendour and culture of Pune. This is an account of my Pune Heritage walk experience.

Absorbed in History

I don’t know how long I’d been standing there in front of the massive ‘Dilli Darwaza’ of Shaniwar Wada in Pune, enamoured by the several rows of steel spikes protruding out from the mid-section of those giant doors.

Named so because the entrance faces north towards Delhi, Dilli Darwaza and its spikes were easily the most noteworthy items I saw in the fort. The spikes, as I learned later, were to prevent enemy elephants from charging the doors.

As I wrapped my fist around one of the spikes, I conjured up images of the fort in its glory days – ornately clad elephants and powerful soldiers with heavy weapons doing routine marches sprang to life in my mind’s eye.

The mental imagery left me in an intoxicated state (yeah, I don’t need much to get a high these days. Maybe it is old age setting in). As I walked into the fort, I wondered why I never found history so appealing during my school days.

How do you do a heritage walk?

I was on a ‘Pune Heritage Walk’ – a guided walk through eighteen historic sites of old Pune. I had recently moved to Pune and was finding it difficult to get adjusted to this vast city.

Having lived in a small, coastal town down south (Mangalore) for more than a decade, I had gotten used to the small commutes from home to the office, low traffic and relatively less polluted environments.

The suburb in Pune, where I had taken an apartment, was in total contrast to this. I found the pollution (due to ongoing fast-paced construction all around), traffic and vastness too overwhelming for me.

Having to live away from my family and friends added to my woes. Two things helped me maintain my sanity: food, and my weekend explorations on foot through various parts of Pune.

When it comes to food, I can eat anything (well, anything except bitter gourds). Food is usually my therapy for lifting spirits – my BMI is testimony to that.

On weekends, I walked around different parts of Pune, clicking pictures with my ten-year-old Nikon

One such exploration had led me to the Peths of Pune, and I instantly fell in love with old Pune.

The dilapidated but still functional Wadas, heavily crowded streets, shops selling all sorts of colourful merchandise, strong scents of incense and street food wafting through the air – all provide for a heady sensory experience.

If Pune were a living being, these old parts of Pune would be its heart – for this is where life throbs with raw energy in Pune.

Well, in short, I was fascinated with all the history that lay frozen in time in ‘old’ Pune, and I was hungry to learn more; Pune heritage walk promised me just that and I signed up for one.

Held on Weekends (Saturday and Sunday at 7:00 am), Pune Heritage walk is organized by Pune Municipal Corporation and Janwani Pune, an NGO.

The organizers had asked me to be present in front of the Pune Municipal Corporation building by 7 am. I reached there 20 minutes ahead of time, and since I had some time to kill, I set off in search of some morning tea. I found a bakery nearby, had a glass of very sweet, tasty ginger flavoured tea and returned.

By then, a decent-sized group of fellow participants had assembled in front of the building. Among the participants were a family of four, a few young couples and a German lady. Some of them were conversing intently with our very knowledgeable guide. He handed us each a brochure containing details about the sites we were about to visit.

Pune Heritage Walk: Shivaji bridge

We started off our walk with an overview of the PMC building from our guide; after which he shepherded us onto Shivaji bridge.

Much like the Kapoors, this bridge is known by two to three different names – Lloyd’s bridge and Nava Pul being the other names.

The bridge, constructed over 90 years ago, had open terraces and lamp posts since the British had built it as a spot for spending evenings. The bridge was built using a mix of European and Arabic architecture styles.

Pune heritage walk photo — My next house will have an entrance like this.

We then came upon the famous Shaniwar Wada fort, made even more popular recently by the Bollywood flick Bajirao Mastani.

Our guide told us some interesting tidbits about the fort, one of them being about the choice of the site – it was chosen after the Peshwas noticed a rabbit chasing a dog there (symbolizing their struggle against the powerful British army).

Frankly, for me, the fort itself was a big letdown. Once you enter the fort through the Dilli Darwaza, there isn’t much to see, really.

What was originally built as a seven-storeyed headquarters of the Peshwas had since been reduced to rubble by an unexplained fire. Today, what you will find inside is a garden and hordes of tourists taking selfies.

But our guide’s stories about the fort and my mind’s vivid imagination that brought those stories to life made the visit a memorable experience for me.

Pune Heritage Walk: Kasba Peth and Nana Wada

Our walk took us through Kasba Peth, where skilled artisans and traders used to live. We were told not to use our cameras in Kasba Ganapathi temple since it was on the target list of terrorists. In front of the temple was a 104-year-old lady selling offerings for God.

I spotted quite a few artists around Kasba Peth, making sketches of various buildings in the area.

Nana Wada, built by the wise and influential minister of the Maratha Empire – Nana Fadnavis, was our next destination. Since it was being redone, we could see a lot of cardboard boxes, tools and debris in the building.

One of the couples in our group seemed to have prepared well for this tour since they kept asking questions to our guide. Our guide, happy with the kind of interest his tour was getting, gladly poured out stories to them, partly in Marathi.

The couple clearly had become the guide’s favourites. I felt like I was in school again with peer pressure building up inside me, almost forcing me to ask some questions to keep up with the over-enthusiastic couple.

However, I quickly quashed the urge by putting on a ‘strong silent man’ look and nodding my head whenever our guide looked at me.

Pune Heritage Walk: Bhaurangari Ganpati temple

Our next stop, Bhaurangari Ganpati temple, turned out to be very interesting. The temple is housed in a two-storey home of a gentleman named Bhau Lakshman Javale, a physician who ran a charitable dispensary.

He came to be more famously known as ‘Bhau Rangari’ since his family vocation was dyeing ethnic Maharashtrian sarees. Bhau Rangari also aided revolutionaries of the freedom struggle, helping them store their weapons so that they could move around without the British being suspicious of them.

The house has secret tunnels, and the front door has a secret latch (that still works), which the revolutionaries could use to enter the house even when it is locked from inside.

This was quite a hit with our group, and we role-played what fleeing revolutionaries would’ve done – clicking open the latch to enter the house, and vanishing inside.

The Lord Ganapati idol here does not have the usual peaceful demeanour; instead, the depiction shows a violent Ganapati killing a monster – said to symbolize the freedom fighters’ aspiration to overthrow the British rule.

This is also where the first public Ganesh festival was held in Pune. Originally organized as a commonplace where the revolutionaries could meet and pass on information about the Freedom struggle, the celebrations have since become bigger and more popular.

Mahatma Phule Mandai

We then moved on to a British built closed vegetable market, known now as Mahatma Phule Mandai. It is an

impressive structure built by the British to deliberately change the then-prevalent system of openly selling vegetables on the streets by the Indians. The vegetables appeared fresh, and the Mandai provided me with some good photo opportunities.

Tulshi Baug Ram Mandir

After quick visits to some of the other spots including Tulshi Baug Ram Mandir – a peaceful temple, we ended our 3-hour walk at Vishrambaug Wada, a fine mansion that used to be the luxurious residence of Peshwa Bajirao II.

The organizers gave us each a decently sized Modak (a sweet dumpling) to mark the end of our tour, which all of us tired souls gulped down gratefully.

I should say that the 3 hours I spent walking around old Pune was truly an exhilarating experience. When I moved to Pune, one of my friends had told me: “people either love Pune or hate it totally”.

I thought I belonged to the latter group during my initial stay in Pune, but now I realize that I may be among the rare few who fall somewhere in the middle – as someone who hates Pune’s commercially developed areas but loves the rugged charm of old Pune.

Note: To know more about Pune Heritage Walk, please visit www.puneheritagewalk.com

If you are interested in reading about my other exploits while in Pune, please check out this article: https://sampathmk.com/on-a-food-truck-trail-in-pune

Food trucks in Pune

Posted on July 18, 2017March 31, 2022 by SamTram

I got a chance to explore some famous food trucks in Pune. This is an account of my Pune Food Truck escapade. Before we get there, a backstory:

Some years ago,… no, I should say many years ago… in fact many, many years ago… during my high school days to be precise, I used to be infatuated with a red Herald car parked in Kalamassery junction.

Kalamassery junction, if you don’t know, is a busy junction on one of the state highways in Ernakulam and is located right in front of the Apollo Tyres factory.

Now if you are wondering what on earth a Herald car is, let me explain. In those days, if you wanted to buy a car, you had 3 choices: get a bulky, manly Ambassador; a petite, chic Fiat or a tired-looking, elderly Herald. While Ambassadors and Fiats ruled the roads, one could occasionally see a Herald sputtering along.

Now, this specific, aforementioned Herald that was parked in Kalamassery junction was quite different. For starters, it never moved from where it was parked.

It was painted bright red and had some chrome that caught your eye. And to top it all, it was a topless model. Now if you are drooling over that thought, wait till you hear this – come nighttime, this topless model turned into a topless model with great racks … of terrific street food!

Yeah, baby! I’m talking Food truck here – the earliest version of a food truck that I’ve seen in my life. Thus began my love for topless models…err… food trucks.

Cut to the present day. Since I have been living in Pune for close to a year now, and since Pune has numerous food trucks, and since I don’t have my wife here to tug me away from junk food eateries, I decided that I should visit some of these trucks to see how their food compared with that of their tyre-less counterparts.

I searched on the internet to identify a few popular ones. Here are some notes from my food trucks adventure:

Food trucks in Pune: Boston Food Truck

The first food truck I checked out was called ‘Boston Food Truck’. This was just a stone’s throw away from where I lived. A white truck with the image of a man waving an American-like flag is hard to miss.

I’d reached the spot early – around 6 pm and hence I didn’t see many customers around. The owner – Mr Anand Jamdhade – was there himself.

I ordered a chicken burger and got to talk to him.

It’d been more than two years since he opened this food truck. Before opening this truck, he was based near Boston, MA (That explains the name of the food truck).

He talked me through the construction and economics of a food truck and mentioned that the kitchen is created with 3 mm steel insides to keep away the heat (don’t ask me the physics of that).

It took him close to 17 lakh Rupees to set this one up! He is working out a franchisee model to scale.

While we were talking, a pair of hands (belonging to his helper) appeared from inside the truck and extended a basket containing the burger that I’d ordered.

The burger looked good, and I lifted the top half of the bun to see what was under the hood.

Some mayonnaise, a few tomato slices, pickled cucumber pieces and a chicken patty stared back at me. So far, so good. I put the top back, squeezed the burger and gave it a big bite.

While I was doing this, I could hear Mr. Anand passionately describing the making of this burger. “…we ever so slightly toast the buns; just enough so that the flavours break out…” – was all I could make out before the rest of his words were drowned by my own munching sounds.

I took a few snaps of his food truck, thanked him and booked an Uber to get me to my next destination – Breaking Bread Food Truck.

Breaking Bread

Breaking Bread is a blue and orange food truck located opposite the Crossword book store in Aundh. The location looked lively, with food joints all around.

There was a small crowd lined up in front of the truck. A young man carrying a messenger bag was taking orders and collecting cash from the customers while two men were busy cooking up dishes inside the truck. The menu looked interesting, and I ordered a Piri Piri Burger.

The burger served on a paper plate, looked massive yet wasn’t big enough to contain the chicken filling.

The filling spilt out of the buns and appeared dark and spicy.

My kind of burger – I thought to myself as I tried to get my palm around the burger to lift it up. The buns were soft and juicy – all buttered up.

With one bite; the bun melted and many flavours burst inside my mouth – the salty flavour of butter, the sourness of tomato and the fieriness of Piri Piri spices, all lit up my taste buds.

Having discovered a food truck worth its salt, I left the place a happy man. That was all my stomach could handle for the evening, and hence I decided to return to the other shortlisted food trucks another day.

Burgertron

It took another week for me to get back on the food truck trail.

On a very rainy day, I took a cab to Wanowrie, where the next food truck on my list – Burgertron – was. Though located near a park and some busy streets, the place looked kind of isolated and was infested with street dogs when I got there.

I was apprehensive that the dogs would get a bite out of the buns – my burgers and mine; so I decided to wait for some time before I went to the truck. I stood on the opposite side of the road, keeping my eyes on the truck and the pack of dogs.

Once the dogs moved away, I made my way to the truck and ordered a chicken steak burger.

Shortly, the burger arrived in a basket.

Now I had to balance an umbrella, a camera, a bag and a burger. To make matters worse, the basket was just large enough to hold the burger, and there was no space to slip my fingers in to hold the burger.

I decided to do the ‘dosa style’ of eating – by breaking pieces of the bread and eating them with pieces of chicken. The burger was slightly disappointing, given its blandness.

Maybe I should have ordered some other flavour.

Food trucks in Pune: Hennys Gourmet

Now this place appeared to be the most popular among the food trucks that I read about and hence kept it for last.

Located in Wanowrie, it specializes in desserts – specifically waffles with sweet toppings. I walked from Burgertron over to the (slightly worn-out) green truck parked by the side of the road.

It was, however, closed. I had read that it opens every night at 8.30 pm. I checked my watch – it was 8.30 pm sharp. Slightly disappointed, I decided to wait for some time.

I ambled over to a café located across the street and ordered some coffee. I sipped my coffee and waited. I waited for some time, and then some more. No sign of the operators.

At around 9.30 pm, I decided that I had waited long enough. I gave a call to the Hennys Gourmet phone number that I had found online. When someone picked up, I asked:

“Hello, do you plan to open today?”

“We are already open sir”, came the response in a female voice.

Perplexed, I shot a glance at the truck. It was still dark and the windows were down.

“But..but..your truck is all dark – I don’t see anyone there”.

“Oh..oh…we don’t operate from the truck anymore. Please walk back about 450 meters, and you will see our shop”.

Dang. I quickly paid up for the coffee and walked back as directed. Sure enough, I soon came across the bright, inviting green sign of Hennys Gourmet.

The sweet aroma of freshly baked waffles filled the air. In the cold, wet weather, that aroma and the warmth emanating from the shop evoked an awesome feeling in me.

A long queue had formed in front of the store, consisting of happy people.

Children were giggling in anticipation and talking excitedly.

When my turn came to order, I decided to go for a slice of Belgian chocolate waffle and a mango one.

I had to wait a bit before my number was called. I got to the counter, and a sweet lady handed me the pieces of heaven that I had ordered.

I dug into the Belgian chocolate waffle first.

Bliss!

There are a few more food trucks that I will need to check out – Buddhas Food Palace, L’dorado, JW Marriot, Mexican Rodeo to name a few.

Maybe another day. For now, from among the ones I did check out, I think I will return to Breaking Bread and Hennys Gourmet for more.

Finally, as a closing note, I would like to mention that this assignment indeed helped me grow as a person. My waist size has increased to 38 from 36.

Now to get some new pants!

Have you tried any of these food trucks? Which one did you like best?

If you liked this article about food trucks in Pune, please check out my post about the Pune heritage walk. Here: https://sampathmk.com/pune-heritage-walk-reliving-history.

Visiting Boracay?

Posted on March 12, 2016March 28, 2022 by SamTram

Boracay is a beautiful island in the central Philippines known for its resorts and beaches. If you are looking for reasons to visit Boracay or are planning on visiting Boracay, please read this blog post as it covers some of the fun things to do in Boracay.

***

Boracay: An Unexpected Invitation

Whenever my wife goes shopping for that extra pair of footwear she doesn’t really need (well, is there such a thing), I tease her saying, “Oh, another pair … who do you think you are – Imelda Marcos?”. Over the years, I had actually forgotten who Imelda Marcos was, but the phrase still lives on in my household.

Let me throw some light on how that phrase came about. Imelda Marcos is the widow of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, notable for her collection of shoes. As a First Lady, Imelda used to live a lavish lifestyle as most Filipinos remained in poverty. I learned about her in my growing-up years from our local newspaper, which had carried a full-page feature on her, along with photos of her shoe collection – large rooms filled with shoes.

Given that short introduction to Imelda and her poor countrymen, you may have got a fair idea about my wife’s shopping priorities and possibly my current financial situation as well. That tidbit about the Philippine President and First Lady covered about 80% of what I knew about the Philippines until about a month back. Here are the remaining (mostly useless) facts I knew about the little island country:

That Philippine people have been trumping Indians in the Call centre/BPO business lately.
Manny Pacquiao (Remember Pacquiao vs Mayweather – 2015?) lost his Nike contract recently.
Kerala film actor Soman played the role of a detective disguised as a Filippino in the popular yesteryear movie ‘Akkare akkare akkare’.

I don’t know if the last point could be counted as valid Philippines trivia, but hey, we are talking my list, and that’s firmly on it.

Then all of it changed – my knowledge base on the Philippines expanded exponentially – because, suddenly, the Philippines came into my life rather unexpectedly. I spent 7 wonderful days on a beautiful island in the Philippines, named Boracay, last month. A beautiful island with white sand beaches, turquoise-green waters (you know – the kind of beaches you would see in luxury product advertisements), corals and lovely people.

Things to do in Boracay! — I was going to Boracay!

You know, life can be funny. I never had heard of such a place in my life nor dreamt that I would ever visit this place one day. But here I was, in one of the most beautiful of Philippines beaches, sitting around lazily in my shorts, showing off my well rounded hairy Indian body, sipping cold coffee and dipping my fork in sticky white rice, watching the sun come up and go down. How was this even possible? Enter my friend, ‘Smiling Buddha’. I refer him thus for the following reasons:

He is into Buddhism
He is a cheerful person, and his sole aim in life is to see others happy; so he doesn’t mind putting himself through any discomfort for the happiness of others, and
To save him from any embarrassment that this article may wreak on him.

Many of his friends and he were planning this trip to Boracay, and he included me in their plans since he knew I needed some lifting of spirits. When he called and informed me of the travel plans, he’d already made reservations for me, and all I had to do was get my amply sized back into the competitively sized economy class seat of an AirAsia flight. Well, that was a small discomfort I was ready to live with in exchange for a magical week on a beautiful tropical island. I am visiting Boracay!

Why is Boracay famous?

Boracay is one of the many beautiful islands in the Philippines and gets its name from its fine, white beach sand that resembles cotton (which in the local language is Borac). And what are the top favourite activities to do in Boracay?

To do nothing, or
Watch the sun come up and go down (if you are the active kind, I guess).

I did not make those up – I actually read that in a book about Boracay that I found in my hotel room. There are about 30 beaches in and around Boracay; White beach and Bulabog being the most popular. We had booked our accommodation at Hotel Milflores De Boracay – a well-kept, cosy hotel located close to White beach.

Now that's an office with a view — Now that’s an office with a view.

Can I fly to Boracay?

Our flight to the Philippines had us coming through Malaysia, where we had a rather long transit. We spent most of our time in the airport food court, enjoying ‘kaya’/butter toasts and Teh Tarik (Milk Tea) from the Toast Box outlet. We then flew into Calebo through Manila, from where a 2-hour bus ride got us to a ferry, across which was Boracay.

The bus ride gave us a peek into the Philippines countryside – green paddies, locals going through their day lazily – all of which reminded me of my home town back in Kerala. The Philippines must have the worst looking electric distribution system – the lines bunched up shabbily, running along everywhere, spoiling otherwise picturesque views.

Tricycles - the most popular mode of transport in Philippines — Tricycles – the most popular mode of transport in the Philippines

From the jetty, we had to take a boat to Boracay. Boats in the Philippines are narrow and have bamboo structures attached to their sides for stability and support. The ride itself was adventurous and scary at times when the boat negotiated giant waves. The whole jetty, the boats and the hardened, shabby boatmen reminded me of the movie ‘Water World’.

By the time we got to Boracay Jetty, I was wet and dripping, my hair on all parts of my body standing up and my legs wobbly. I managed to walk myself to terra firma by tip-toeing and balancing over a narrow plank they had set up between the boat and the jetty. If getting to Boracay was such an adventure, I wondered what would be awaiting us in the coming days. Thanking God, we entered the mini-van that took us to our hotel.

Laughing Buddha had planned our week to a tee. Not a hard thing to do since we planned to have a vacation with no agenda nor time pressures. Every day, the bunch of us would wake up at some reasonable hour in the morning, walk down to the beach, park ourselves in a beach-side café and decide on how we should be spending the rest of the day. Here are some activities we did in Boracay:

Walking the most famous beach in Boracay

Walking the 3.5 km White beach stretch: The walkway alongside the beach is lined with small shops selling all kinds of stuff, restaurants and cafes. As we walked, we also bumped into hawkers selling Baluts (boiled, fertilized duck egg). Now that’s something one doesn’t get to eat often in our part of the world, so we did give it a try. I should say that if you can get over the looks of it, you should try it. Not bad at all.

View from one of the cafes we sat in to plan our day

Helmet Diving in Boracay

Helmet diving: Remember Captain Haddock going underwater in Red Rackhams Treasure? That’s precisely what this is, except that one doesn’t need to wear a heavy suit. A boat took us to a large stationary platform from which divers helped us wear a 30 kg helmet fitted with an oxygen pipe and guided us through a beautiful underwater walk. If you, like me, have an eternal fear of the deep blue sea thanks to the Jaws movies you saw in your childhood, you may find it difficult to go under. But once you get over that initial fear, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Wondering why you aren't seeing any divers? They are all under water! — Wondering why you aren’t seeing any divers? They are all underwater!

Island hopping in Boracay

Island hopping: They took us to 3 beautiful islands near Boracay – Puka Beach, Crystal Bay and Tambisaan Beach. This was a full-day activity and included a buffet lunch. Puka beach is one of the cleanest and most beautiful beaches I’ve seen in my life.

One of the beautiful rocky islands we visited

Watching the kite surfers do their stuff in Bulabog island

Parasailing in Boracay

Parasailing: Well, if you like to be unleashed from a speedboat and left dangling in the air for about 20 minutes, parasailing is for you. If you can stop worrying about whether you are buckled safely to the parachute or what could happen if the rope gets cut, you could catch some great aerial views of Boracay. Boracay is one of the many places where you can do parasailing in philippines.

Snorkelling in Boracay

Snorkelling: Now, this one, everyone can try – even if you don’t know swimming. They took us in a boat to a shallow area where we were given the gear and helped to water. If you don’t know swimming, you could hold on to the ropes tied to the boat and dip your head underwater to get fabulous views of corals and fish underwater.

ATV ride in Boracay

ATV/Buggy ride to the top of Mt. LuhoThis is where we explored the island on an ATV and went up Mt. Luho to catch a great view of the island.

Nightlife in Boracay

Evenings in Boracay: Once the sun goes down, everyone settles into one of the many restaurants lining the beach. While some have live music, many have flame dancers who amaze the audience with ‘live-fire performances. Every night we explored a different restaurant and loved each one of them.

As the Sun goes down, the beach side restaurants become active — As the sun goes down, the beachside restaurants become active

Amazing night life and dinner options at Boracay — Amazing nightlife and dinner options at Boracay

D Talipapa Boracay

D’ Talipapa – Wet Market: This is a fish market where we got to see the freshest of seafood, haggled with the sellers for the lowest price, took our fish to the nearest restaurant where they cooked them just the way we wanted. A fun experience, though the haggling part was a bit uncomfortable.

Fresh catch - grilled — Fresh catch – grilled

Scuba diving Boracay Philippines

Scuba diving: Scattered along the White beach walkway, you can find shacks where you could sign up for learning Scuba diving. There are about 15 dive sites near Boracay with underwater tunnels, caves, corals and other beautiful spots. After giving it some consideration, we decided not to do Scuba diving on this trip.

There are many more activities in Boracay, including banana boat riding, flying fish, cliff diving, sailing, sailboarding, canoeing and a lot more. Be it a lazy vacation, or an adrenaline-pumping active one, Boracay has something for everyone. It took me a few weeks after I returned to get over my Boracay hangover. For now, I am just thankful to Laughing Buddha for introducing me to a new land. I hope you enjoyed this brief post on the top things to do in Boracay.

Sights along the White beach - Weird items seller? — Sights along the White beach – Weird items seller?

Sights along the White beach - Getting pork ready for dinner — Sights along the White beach – Getting pork ready for dinner

kite boarding at Bulabog beach — kiteboarding at Bulabog beach

One of the top favourite activities in Boracay - doing nothing — One of the top favourite activities in Boracay – doing nothing

PS: I am working extra time to pay back my trip expenses to Laughing Buddha. However, he may not take it from me.

Is Boracay open for tourists in 2022?

Good news is that it is! Please check this article to know the travel requirements: https://www.pinoyadventurista.com/2021/10/latest-boracay-travel-requirements-for-tourists.html

Kite Festival near me (Mangalore)

Posted on January 18, 2016April 2, 2022 by SamTram

A few photos from a Kite festival near me – these are from the International Kite Festival, Mangalore.

24 foreign kite flyers from 13 countries and three Indian teams came together at Panambur beach in Mangalore on Saturday and Sunday for the Rotary International Kite Festival 2016.

I could make it on the first day, and here are some of the photos I clicked on Saturday.

Mangalore kite festival Nemo kite Ray fish kite

Moodbidri Jain Temple

Posted on November 23, 2015April 2, 2022 by SamTram

When I went to Moodbidri to meet an old friend of mine (about whom I’d written earlier), I planned it such that I would have some time to explore the famous Moodbidri Jain temple (a.k.a Thousand Pillar Temple (Saavira Kambada Basadi) in Moodbidri), and the giant Bahubali statue in Karkala.

Moodbidri, a small town near Mangalore, is also known as the ‘Jain Kashi’ of South India and is an ancient centre for Jain learning.

Built in the 1400s, Saavira Kambada Basadi is the most famous of Jain temples here and is known for its pillars – all carved from granite, each having distinct and unique engravings.

Here are some images I took of Moodbidri Jain temple:

Sunil Jain, a friendly temple official who was guiding visitors the day I went there, called my attention to one particular pillar which had a carving of Lord Ram and numerous ones of Lord Hanuman around Lord Ram. He asked me to count the number of Hanuman images. I counted 15. He said I was wrong, and there were 16. Then he asked me to count again. I still counted 15. Perplexed, I looked at him. He then pointed to one particular carving of Hanuman, which though looked like one Hanuman, actually had 2 of them.

Most pillars there have similar trick carvings on them; so keep aside some time to look at each of the pillars carefully if you ever visit this temple.

Though the temple has upper floors, they aren’t open for devotees always.

Apart from the intricate carvings on the pillars, the other thing that will captivate you is the peace and silence that engulfs you. This is a great place for meditation, and so I spent some time just seated there silently before making my way to Karkala.

In Karkala, I climbed my way up the Gommata Betta – a rocky hill atop which the towering, 40 odd feet granite monolith of Bahubali (also known as Gommateshwara) is built.

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I had visited Saavira Kambada Basadi with my friends some 15 years back and found this one image from my archive that shows a few of them in their prime. One of them is no longer with us now – hope he’s happy up there. Some great memories…

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Read more about Saavira Kambada Basadi here: http://www.karnataka.com/mangalore/story-thousand-pillar-temple-moodabidri/, and Gommateshwara here: http://www.karkalagommateshwara.com/. If you would like to add more to this article, please leave your comments below.

A low budget trip to Goa

Posted on November 16, 2015March 28, 2022 by SamTram

I was visiting Goa in September. If you are looking for Goa places to visit in 3 days, please read on. Unlike my other visits (one such here: https://sampathmk.com/go-goa-gone), this one was different since this one involved offbeat things to do in Goa. Read on.

Planning the Goa visit

I wanted to get away from normal life for a few days and chose Goa as my hideout after reading various traveller accounts on the serene Goan countryside. Two of my friends had decided to join in as well. One has a home in Vasco that was lying vacant, which he graciously let us use for a few days (yeah, I do have some useful friends. Let’s call this friend ‘House Owner Friend’ or ‘HOF’ for short). The other – let’s call him ‘Beardy’ since he has a beard for a face – was gracious enough to take time out from his busy schedule to join in.

Since we’d also decided that this would be a ‘Goa on a shoestring budget’ trip, Beardy had chosen The Indian Railways for his travel, and to keep his costs low, he had gone in for General or Second Class tickets. He had planned to visit his hometown, so his itinerary looked as follows: Bangalore > Goa > Kerala > Bangalore. For having booked such a long trip for under Rs 1000, he was feeling pretty good about himself, and also got me feeling a tad guilty for choosing to fly into Goa (My justification: I was coming in from Mumbai and had got a cheap flight using the combination of a MakeMyTrip deal and my Payback points).

Beardy had reached Goa earlier that morning and had come to the airport to pick me up. The 15-hour second class rail journey he’d undertaken in the Indian heat should’ve made him 2 shades darker and caked his face with dust and dirt. But there he was, bright and shiny. All thanks to his beard, I supposed, inside which he must’ve cocooned himself all through the journey.

Since I was here searching for peace and tranquillity, I wanted this to be a quiet, offbeat kind of trip (Plus, I’d already done the usual Baga-Calangute-Casinos tourist circuit a few times). HOF proved to be even more resourceful when he jugaad-fied a car from one of his friends that we could use while we were there. Thus began our 3 day ‘offbeat Goa’ sojourn.

Vasco

Vasco (short for Vasco da Gama; named after the famous Portuguese explorer) – a port city and Naval base, heavily relies on the port for most of its economic activity. As a tourist, Vasco is probably the last place in Goa you would want to end up in, especially when Tripadvisor lists ‘Vasco’s Municipal Market’ as one of the top 5 places to see here. But Vasco is indeed a beautiful little city. Vasco also threw up a few hidden gems.

First, a restaurant named ‘Ananthashram’ (an unlikely name for a Goan non-vegetarian restaurant!). The special non-veg thali (rice plate with different kinds of seafood sides) I had there was just out of the world – so fresh, delicious and in line with our shoestring budget. The normal non-veg thali (with a few sides, one fish curry and one fish fry) is just Rs 80, and the special thali is Rs 300. We kept going back there for more every night.

I have always been a fan of Goan Fish curry (Mamma’s kitchen in Panaji is where I had it first), and Ananthashram’s version is by far the best I’ve had. We also tried the Mackeral Reshad (Reacheado), Red Snapper (Chonak) Reshad and Goa’s famous Chicken Vindaloo during our subsequent visits. While the Reshards were terrific (slightly sweetish), I didn’t dig the vindaloo.

So if you ever stray into Vasco, hunt down this place and have fish from there. If you don’t like it, your next meal’s on me.

Aside: Later, when I was back in Mangalore, I got this deep craving to eat some Mackeral Reshad again. So I got hold of a recipe (here’s the one: http://www.food.com/recipe/fish-reshad-stuffed-fish-goan-style-102408) and cooked myself. It turned out OK, but not as good as the one I had back in Vasco.

The other gem you should definitely visit is a bakery named Temptation. The chocolate-vanilla rolls and bebinca (a Goan sweet), which I picked up based on HOF’s recommendation, were lovely.

Then there’s the Bogmalo beach which we visited towards late evening. We had our dinner at Joet’s on the beach. The fish fingers, made from sardines (who makes fish fingers using sardines?!), destroyed the evening for us, but then some of the other dishes we had salvaged it to some extent.

The days I spent in Vasco also led me to believe that Goan women are more hardworking than men. Now, I may be wrong here, but I say this because I saw more working women than men in Vasco – selling stuff in markets, transporting heavy loads by balancing sacks and buckets on their heads, running eateries, baking cakes and bebinca, or just plain bossing their husbands.

Beardy had to rush home!

Late that night, we were awakened by a phone call that Beardy received. His tenant called from back home, saying that the house was flooded due to incessant rains in Bangalore.

Apparently, Beardy had faced this situation once earlier, when the shit had hit the fan (no, seriously. Dirt from the clogged gutters and tanks had floated in, and he was awakened in the middle of the night, floating alongside the aforementioned dirt, much closer to the fan than he had set himself to rest the previous night. It had taken him two days of back-breaking work to get his house back so that time).

After instructing his tenant to remain vertical and keep everything important 2 feet above ground level, he started checking for flights to head back to Bangalore. He booked an early morning flight which cost him four and a half thousand rupees. There went all the shoestring budget planning down the drain – what a waste! In parting, like a true optimist, he remarked thus: “On a brighter note, it’s not every day that I get to make a 15-hour train journey for dinner”.

Offbeat Goa: Morjim, Mandrem, Arambol beaches

Driving is what relaxes me the most. I sometimes wonder whether I should have pursued my childhood dream of becoming a bus driver. We were driving up north with a rough intention of seeing some of the beautiful beaches of North Goa.

Driving through the hinterlands of Goa was a fresh and beautiful experience for me. The roads in Goa, unlike those in many other parts of India, are very well maintained. Many new bridges that have come up in the past few years have connected the interiors and islands better by road.

We soon came upon Morjim beach. Sun was beating down hard, and the beautiful, white-sandy beach glistened in the sunlight. There were only a few people around, mostly foreigners, either resting on those wooden beach chairs or inside water. Morjim beach is also a nesting and hatching habitat of the Olive ridley sea turtle, an endangered species. You can see the Goa forest department’s Turtle conservation centre at the entrance of the beach.

Further north is the Mandrem beach, which we skipped and continued our journey to Arambol beach – considered one of the most beautiful beaches in Goa. Arambol, like Morjem, was not very crowded but had more shacks/eateries lining the beach. We had lunch at a nearby joint, at the beach entrance (just outside the car park). The food (again, centring on fish), though a bit oily, was fresh and good. The joint had posters of art and yoga pasted all around. These beaches up north, as I could see, were more about relaxation, peace and tranquillity. We wanted to drive to Querim (Keri) beach, the northernmost beach of Goa, but the heavy lunch made us lethargic, and we decided to drive to Chorao island lazily.

Offbeat Goa: Chorao and Divar islands

A list of Offbeat locations in Goa won’t be complete without mentioning Chorao and Divar islands. They should be on your itinerary if you want to get a taste of the picturesque settings of rural Goa. Our drive through Chorao village gave us beautiful views of green and yellow paddies, small white chapels, brightly coloured Portuguese villas and some thatched houses. We also intercepted one of the famous Goan bread seller cyclists and sampled some Pois. Chorao Island is also home to Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary – Goa’s only bird sanctuary. We took the ferry to Ribander before driving back to Vasco that night.

The next day, we drove through Amona, Sanquelim, Bicholim and Maem before taking a ferry across to Divar island. My inexperience with a ferry came to the fore when I did an eight-point turn to get out front first instead of backing my car out from the ferry onto land. Had I done this in any other part of India, I would’ve been shouted at and sworn off the ferry, but here in Goa, I just got patient, helpless smiles and a bit of help in my endeavour. Good Goans. The ferry ride also offered us terrific views of Old Goa. Like the island of Chorao, Divar also offers views of elegant, well maintained Portuguese villas. After my visit to Divar, I heard from a friend of mine that some of the Portuguese villas are available for rent for visitors. Maybe next time.

Offbeat Goa: Harvalem (Arvalem) caves and waterfall

Harvalem caves, also known as “Pandava Caves, ” is a site protected by India’s Archaeological Society. Believed to have given shelter to the Pandavas, this cave has many chambers carved into a laterite hill. Further down the cave is the Arvalem waterfall, which made the trip to this place worth it to me.

Offbeat Goa: Cumbarjua

Cumbarjua canal is the only place in Goa where crocodiles can actually be seen in the wild. We did drive to the small village of Cumbarjua but failed to find someone who could take us into the canal. Asking around with the locals didn’t help either, and so we had to abort this mission. I have to go back to for this sometime. I will most probably go with these people: http://www.southernbirdwing.com/goa_wildlife/croc_cruises.htm. Or, I could visit Baga to see some crocs (based on this article. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/After-Morjim-now-crocodile-shows-up-on-Baga-beach/articleshow/49559523.cms).

Ruins of St. Augustines.

I had seen what looked like a run-down church while on the ferry to Divar, and as soon as I landed in Old Goa, I decided to see this place. The structure that I’d seen was the ruins of St Augustine, which is located very close to Bom Jesus Basilica. Now in complete ruins, the church gave me the creeps, especially since there wasn’t anyone around.

Three days driving through the hinterlands, experiencing Goa’s sunny susegad did provide me with what I came looking for: a bit of peace and calm. This was a fun, offbeat trip to Goa that will stay with me forever. This is the side of Goa I want to return to someday, maybe on my bike.

P.S: Beardy got his house back in order and plans to revisit Goa during sunnier times (in Bangalore, that is).

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Update: A condensed version of this post was published on Huffington Post, India. Please click the image below to view it there:

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What about you – what are some of your favourite things to do in Goa? Leave your comments below

My friend Shankar: Techie turned farmer

Posted on November 1, 2015April 11, 2022 by SamTram

I was meeting Shankar (Shankar Kotian M) after a long gap of 16 years. Shankar is no longer a techie; He had ended his decade-and-a-half-year-old tech career in 2012 to become a full-time farmer. Time had taken away a lot of his hair, but nothing else about him had changed. This is his story, distilled from a two-hour conversation I had with him. I think what he is doing is different and inspirational; hence this feature on him.

“There was this reporter who had come to the santhe (market), and spotting a new species among the farmers there, spent some time chatting up with me”, said Shankar, smiling and pointing at himself when he mentioned ‘new species’. Shankar was telling me how the article in ‘The Hindu’ had come about. (Here’s the report: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/once-a-software-engineer-now-a-farmer/article7804873.ece). Shankar is indeed part of a rare, but an emerging crop of techie turned farmers who are returning to nature in search of their true calling.

Shankar - turning over a new leaf — Shankar – turning over a new leaf

A bit of history

Shankar and I were among the 15 odd software engineers who were drafted in as the ‘3^rd batch’ of Infosys, Mangalore branch back in 1996. While I was one of those uninitiated engineers taking my baby steps in the world of programming, Shankar was already creating rotating patterns and graphics (using C). He was one of those true techies, born to program. Our first project, code-named BKB2DB2, was insane – it had about ten of us working 16-18 hour days for close to 6 months straight. Shankar, with his saintly demeanour and soft, firm voice was the only calm presence amidst all the madness. After that project, we had drifted apart and lost touch with each other.

The newspaper report

It was a Whatsapp message a few days ago from a common friend of ours that reminded me of Shankar again. The message had the link to the newspaper report I mentioned earlier. The report had a picture of a goatee sporting Shankar, selling yam in a market in Mangalore.

What?! The programming ace was now after bugs of a different kind? The guy who used to give us ‘knowledge dumps’ was now dipping his hands in the real dump? I had to find out first-hand; so I tracked down his phone number and got myself invited to his farm.

The meeting

The 'ferocious' little pup! — The ferocious little pup!

Following the precise directions he had given, I drove up to his farm in Moodbidre, about 35 km from Mangalore. There he was, sporting the same cap I’d seen him wear in the report. He had built his house in the centre of his farm. I parked my car and settled comfortably on a couch on his veranda. Over a cup of coffee, we went back in time to our BKB2DB2 days, exchanged notes on hair loss and played with his 3-month-old puppy (which he hoped would grow into an aggressive watchdog. Seeing how friendly it was with me, I have my doubts).

“I always thought I was more of a research person; so after college, I wanted to get into Texas Instruments – which in the 90s was the Mecca for systems programmers”, he said, “but as fate would have it, I got selected to create business software at Infosys. Looking back, I think that was the best thing that happened to me because it exposed me to people and places and broadened my horizons”. His stint at Infosys had taken him to places like Australia, Switzerland and Japan which came in handy later when he decided to get into farming.

I asked him what made him quit his well-paying job, and why he chose to get back to nature.

“After the first 7-8 years, I started feeling a lack of challenge, … a lack of purpose. The excessive travel was also taking a toll on my health – I had a slipped disc and had to slow myself down. It was during that time that I decided I would take up farming. I started buying farmland here”.

A peacock I encountered en route to S's farm — A peacock I encountered en route to S’s farm

His journey as a farmer

He started researching more on crops, and farming methods and started talking to other farmers. He realized that most farmers just tended to follow what others were doing, and some of the natural farming practices our ancestors had developed had gotten lost in the last 30-40 years after the introduction of chemical farming. He is developing his land in stages, in a much-planned manner – typical of an engineer. He currently has rubber (his main bet), areca, paddy and maize. He is also growing vegetables on a small scale for his own consumption, and to sell in the local market.

He, like many of the young farmers today, is moving away from using chemicals and is using organic techniques. But his aim is to move up to ‘Natural farming’, since the effort to output ratio is much better there. Natural farming, as I learned from him, is about being in harmony with nature, and making nature do most of the work that a farmer otherwise expedites using machines. Natural farming observes the law of nature and respects the rights of crops and livestock. This technique, interestingly also called ‘Do-nothing farming’ (now that sounds like something I could do) heals the soil slashed by chemicals, herbicides and machines, and is considered a natural next step after organic farming.

Snapshots from Shankar Kotian's farm land — Snapshots from his farmland

The core principles around which he is designing the rest of his life are:

Leave the land better than you found it (for future generations): Natural farming techniques will make the land better. Additionally, he is also leaving some portions of his forest land as-is, for what he calls ‘lung space’
Cut out middlemen, and sell directly to the consumers: As per Shankar, middlemen mostly do not add any value and don’t help farmers in any way. He wants to create a clientele initially through friends, engage with them and then expand the network
Go the cooperative way: Instead of trying to bring about a change single-handedly, work with other farmers in the region for the betterment of all
Pass on his knowledge through agri-tourism: He plans to build a few cottages and tree houses where his clients could come over, stay, try their hand at farming and experience the lifestyle. He wants to share knowledge that he has gained with people who are contemplating getting into farming. (I have already buttered him up to be the first customer in his treehouse. You can try the other cottages)

Shankar Kotians farm - Forest left as-is for lung space — Forest left as-is for lung space

Shankar Kotians farm - He mentioned Russel vipers, so I was observing the ground closely as I walked, and noticed these colourful mushrooms — He mentioned Russel vipers, so I was observing the ground closely as I walked, and noticed these colourful mushrooms

On his Cows

Shankar is also a proud owner of 40 cows, of which 15 are yielding close to 150 litres of milk per day. He makes a slurry out of cow dung for use as manure, and also uses gobar gas for cooking.

Now here’s an interesting tidbit I got from Shankar, which could be of use if you ever went cow shopping: The buying price of a cow can roughly be calculated as the number of litres it gives per day times Rs 3,000. So if it gives 30 litres a day, you will have to pay a whopping Rs 90,000 to buy the cow. (and I thought cows went for Rs 8 – 10 thousand).

Cowshed — This cow is Shankar’s personal favourite. No wonder. She’s got the looks!

His experiments, best practices and challenges

He does a lot of farming and dairy experiments, some of which are being emulated by other farmers. Here are some he showed me:

He is trying to grow paddy without flooding the area (flooding is usually done to keep the weeds and pests out)
He has created a pipe system that pumps cow dung slurry to nearby fields, for which other farmers pay him
In his cowshed, he has designed cubicles for his cows (the partitions developed in an ‘S’ shape to help the cows sit and get up with ease), and has rubber flooring for their comfort
He has installed a car-wash pump to bathe his cows. He adjusts the pressure settings for different cleaning purposes
He is also in the process of setting up mechanized milking stations, using machinery from Sweden. Once the system is in place, cows can stroll in, connect a pump to their udders (with some human help, of course), get milked and stroll off for another round of grazing. Seeing the wonderful life his cows were leading, I wished I were a cow on his farm.
By June, he plans to build a smokehouse for getting the best quality rubber

Cowshed at Shankar Kotians farm - — ‘Car wash’ for the cows

In the process of setting up an automated milking station

He also faces challenges on a day-to-day basis, for which he develops ingenious solutions, some of them below (Reminded me of that line from the movie ‘The Martian’: “You solve one problem and you solve the next one, and then the next. And If you solve enough problems, you get to come home”. Shankar hasn’t got to potatoes yet though).

Monkeys were eating his maize saplings. He placed a life-sized tiger doll in the centre of the field. The monkeys apparently surveyed the tiger from a distance, screamed, made faces at it and tried their best to drive the tiger away. The tiger stayed put, and the monkeys were never seen again
When he first bought a few cows, he was conned – the cows weren’t giving anywhere near the amount of milk the seller said they would give. So he started breeding his own cows using the best quality insemination. So most of the cows he has now were bred on his farm

In parting

So what are some learning that he could share (with anyone who wants to get into farming)? Here are a few:

You need to plan for at least 3-to 4 yrs of sustenance money before you can hope to start living off farming alone.
Don’t just go by the trends, and what other traditional farmers are doing. Experiment with the techniques.
Read up/ research. There’s a lot of material on the internet.
Expect delays in schedule. If you estimate something to take 6 months, it usually takes double that. So be prepared for that.
Getting into farming is really a change in lifestyle.

“Isn’t is a bit lonely here? Don’t you ever miss your old life?”, I asked him. He said: “I am so far away from my old life that a return is no longer possible. I do not want to return to that. This is what I want to do in life”.

Shankar seemed content and happy. He has his plans well laid out and is moving ahead one milestone at a time. I have no doubts that he will soon be very successful as a farmer, and as an agri-tourism entrepreneur.

He saw me off with a 2.5 kg yam; so I know what I will be eating for lunch and dinner for the whole of this week.

Postscript

Further reading on Natural farming can be found here (based on Shankar’s inputs):

If you or someone you know have switched careers (from a tech job) to do something different and interesting please do connect with me. I would love to chat up and feature the story on this blog so it could inspire all of us.

Best places to visit in North Kerala

Posted on October 27, 2015April 2, 2022 by SamTram

If you are looking for unique places to visit in Kerala, you will find a few in North Kerala. If you compare north Kerala vs south Kerala, you will find that places in North Kerala are less crowded and not as frequented by tourists. This blog post covers the best places to visit in North Kerala.

Mangalore to Kochi road trip

As I set out for the 450 km drive in my Scorp from my adopted city of Mangalore to my birth city of Cochin, excitement and joy filled my heart. For this trip was going to finally let me experience the magic of North Kerala, something I had been looking forward to for a long time.

I had been doing these Mangalore to Kochi road trips at least once every year for the past few years. Every time I pass through the small towns and villages of North Kerala, I think I should stop to soak in the beauty of these places. But never have I done so for want of getting to Kochi before nightfall.

The drive to the centre of Kerala usually takes me 10-12 hours (with food breaks), depending on the condition of the roads and the number of times I got lost.

Despite driving through this route 10-12 times before, I still get lost and ‘discover’ newer, long ways to get to Kochi from Mangalore. Though I don’t mind the extra time it adds to our trips, my co-passengers (my wife and son) usually grumble about this as they tumble out of the car in Kochi.

I understand – a geographically challenged person who loves to drive, in charge of the wheel can be pretty frustrating to co-passengers.

A rope making facility along the route in North Kerala — A rope-making facility along the route

Challenges with Kerala road trip

The drive across Kerala could be frustrating to many, also because of the following:

A narrow highway that, at times, take you through densely populated residential areas or markets, where the speed of traffic could be determined by a slow, gyrating stroll of a cow or a cyclist leading the traffic.
Privately run buses (a.k.a private buses) that suddenly appear behind your car with a loud, irritating honk that makes you jump out of your skin, causing you to swerve off-road (Remember that introduction scene of the shark in ‘Finding Nemo’ movie? These buses remind me of the shark).
Protest rallies blocking the way. Yes, we Keralites are very revolting.
Ever-continuing road repairs and over bridge constructions causing diversions.

Read a funny take on how to handle all your Kerala traffic frustrations here: http://www.platform7.in/2010/01/road-rules-tips-for-driving-in-kerala.html

But, for me, this drive is always a pleasure, partly because of the anticipation of meeting my family in Cochin and partly because I love to drive.

Food and Culture: North Kerala

The backwaters, the blue tarps over anything that needs to be protected from rains, the bridges, and the buzz of people engaged in their daily lives are all characteristic sights you will get to see along the way.

The heavy influence of Arabic cuisine in Kerala of late can also be felt by the number of restaurants serving Arabic delicacies.

The other significant change that can be felt just by visiting restaurants is the increase in the immigrant population from Orissa, Bengal and some northern/northeastern parts of India. Most of them work in restaurants as waiters and cooks, cooking and selling true blue Malayalee dishes.

My favourite stretch along this route is the short one from Mahe (a Union territory part of Pondicherry/ an erstwhile French colony) to Thalassery. Mahe is lined with liquor shops and petrol pumps (gas stations), and people stop here to refuel their cars and bodies.

Kerala is a state of tea drinkers, which is very evident when you drive down the highway. You will find a tea shop (sometimes a cart or makeshift building) every 400 meters along the way with an apparatus unique to Kerala for making tea.

When it comes to food, North Kerala is famous for its snacks, shellfish preparations, Biriyani, and… for anything and everything they cook.

North Kerala also drips in history and culture, like ghee dripping out of Sri Krishna Sweets’ Mysurpas. I have grown up listening to stories about the heroes of Kadathanad and Thacholi – the gladiators of Kerala. (If you are a history buff, look up Vadakkanpattu – the ballads that celebrate the bravery and skills of the renowned characters).

So I had to include Lokanar Kavu (legendary hero Thacholi Othenan was a devotee of this Goddess) in my trip to feel it firsthand.

I had already visited a few must-see places in North Kerala – like Bekal Fort and Ananthapura lake temple, and had also been to a couple of resorts – Oyster opera and Nalanda resorts. So I did not want to include them in this trip. I also did not want to do beaches since Mangalore has tons of them unless it was unique. So I created a route plan based on my preferences and the time I had on hand.

Read these articles about Ananthapura Lake Temple and Oyster Opera resorts below:

https://sampathmk.com/ananthapura-lake-temple

https://sampathmk.com/oyster-opera-great-settings-good-food

Best places to visit in North Kerala

Kavvayi (Payyanur)

Laze around in Kavvayi island — Laze around on Kavvayi island

Island hopping in motorized thonis in Kavvayi island — Island hopping in motorized thonis

My first stop was Kavvayi in Payyanur. You will not find Payyanur listed anywhere as a tourist spot, but there was one article I found which convinced me that I should check it out. Here’s the article: http://wanderingtastebuds.com/2013/01/18/payyanur-kerala/.

Inside Payyanur, when I stopped and asked a local guy for directions to Kavvayi, he seemed amused.

“What is there to see in Kavvayi” he said, “If you want to see a good place, visit Ettikulam beach“.

Assuring him that we would consider his recommendation, we moved on. After a while, the road ended in Kavvayi backwaters.

Kavvayi is surrounded by small islands (Valiyaparamba being the biggest) that directly face the Arabian Sea. Kavvayi and the cluster of islands around are worth a visit to chill out.

State-run boats can take you across the islands, but while we were waiting there, I saw some of the local fishermen ferrying passengers across in motor attached thonis.

At a distance, I could see a hanging bridge (a skinnier version of the Golden Gate Bridge) and asked the local boatman if he could take us there.

He said the bridge was damaged and not usable. Disappointed, I hung around for more time listening to the waves hitting the shores and got back into the car.

Where to eat: Bamboo Fresh Restaurant (Payyanur)

It was lunchtime, and since I had read about Bamboo Fresh in the article I mentioned earlier, I decided to give it a try. It was indeed a great choice. We ordered Karimeen pollichathu, squid fry and meals. The food was fresh and yummy. Satisfied, we continued our drive to Kannur.

Drive-in beach: Muzhappilangad Beach (Kannur)

Touted as Kerala’s only drive-in beach, I wanted to see whether Muzhappilangad beach lives up to this claim. After paying an entry fee, I drove straight onto the beach.

I could hear the sound of seashells snapping under my Scorp’s tyres. My initial fears of getting stuck in loose sand soon disappeared as I saw how firm the beach surface was, and I drove the four odd km stretch of the beach, making giant splashes as waves met my car’s tyres.

It was an exhilarating experience. I hung around till the Sun went down, and this provided me with another great spectacle of silhouettes of jagged black rocks sticking out of the water, with an orange sky in the background.

This is one of the gems in North Kerala: Places to visit.

Kerala's only 'Drive in' beach - Muzhuppilangad beach — **Muzhappilangad beach:** Kerala’s only ‘Drive in’ beach.

Muzhuppilangad beach — After a hard day’s work

Parassinikkadavu (Kannur)

Our next stop was the famous Parassinikkadavu Muthappan temple, situated on the banks of the Valapatnam River.

Sree Muthappan is the personification of two divine figures – Thiruvappana (Lord Vishnu) and Vellatom (Lord Shiva). Here dogs are considered sacred and can be seen in large numbers around the temple.

I had heard that, unlike other temples, this temple gave fish and chicken as prasadam – and this is what I wanted to see.

I got to know from locals that every evening (6.30 pm – 9 pm) and morning, they perform Theyyam (an artist who assumes ‘divinity’ by representing God – with men adorning masks and costumes with a riot of colours). Unfortunately, the day we visited the temple, this was not on because death had taken place in the family maintaining the temple.

All devotees were offered boiled beans and tea, and I could also see people queuing up for dinner provided by the temple. Outside the temple was a line of shops selling knick-knacks.

Parassinikkadavu Temple entrance — Parassinikadavu Temple entrance

Line of shops in front of Parassinikkadavu temple

Parassinkkadavu Snake Park

On the way to the temple, we’d noticed Parassinkkadavu Snake Park and had gone in to kill some time. The park houses a variety of snakes and other small animals, and there was a very neatly done snacks bar from where we had some great boosters.

The drink I ordered – cucumber/nannari/lime/honey – did pep up my spirits.

Where to stay: Hotel Mascot (Kannur)

Cleartrip had got me a great deal for my room reservation at the famous Mascot hotel in Kannur. That was a last-minute booking I did, thanks to the recommendation from a friend of mine, and boy was I glad I did that. This beautiful resort is located near the Kannur Cantonment on a cliff facing the Great Arabian Sea.

For dinner, I thought we would try out a restaurant that my friend had recommended – Odhens (also called Ondens?). I located the place with help from Google maps, but on reaching there, I learned that Odhens only serves lunch.

Update: I did manage to visit Odhens during one of my later trips to Kannur. You can read about it here:

https://sampathmk.com/dog-cafe-dosas-more

So we went back to Mascot and had a candlelight dinner, which was fun. Later that night, we slept to the sounds of waves crashing against rocks all night. After a morning swim (in a pool overlooking the sea), we were treated to a sumptuous complimentary breakfast. With our stomachs full, we dragged ourselves into the car again.

Hotel Mascot kannur — Hotel Mascot, Kannur

The shore line of Hotel Mascot kannur — The shoreline of Hotel Mascot, Kannur

Lokanarkavu Temple (Vadakara)

Lokanarkavu temple is renowned for its historical significance because Thacholi Othenan, the renowned martial hero of Kerala, used to come to the temple every day and worship its presiding deity, i.e. Goddess Durga.

The temple gave me a very positive vibe, and I felt at peace as soon as I entered it. I was a bit disappointed that there weren’t any write-ups or displays/ museums detailing the history of this place.

The temple looked its age, and the ceilings had carvings depicting (I presume) the lives of people of that day and age.

Lokanarkavu - the upper temple — Lokanarkavu – the upper temple

Lokanarkavu temple- the lamps — Lokanarkavu – the lamps

Lokanarkavu - the lower temple — Lokanarkavu – the lower temple

Located in Iringal (a pretty little village near Vadakara, renowned resistance of Kunjali Marakkar), Sargaalaya, the Kerala Arts and Crafts village, is an initiative of the Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala. Since they asked for a whopping Rs 100 for taking my camera in, I decided not to. Call me a scrooge, but I didn’t think it was worth it. Plus, as I later found out, they had a ‘No photography’ board put up in most of the stalls. So, paying Rs 100 to take in your camera and not being able to click any pictures would have been plain stupid, don’t you think? That apart, this is a place you must visit to see the traditional artisans in action and pick up some great quality souvenirs. Most of my love went to bamboo crafts and murals.

Sargaalaya Arts and Crafts Village (Iringal)

Mahe Riverside Walkway

After this stop, we drove through my favourite stretch of Mahe and Thalassery, stopping for a stroll through the Mahe riverside walkway.

I know I haven’t even skimmed the surface of what could be experienced in North Kerala. To really get drenched in the culture, food and history of these renowned places, one would need to spend days slow-travelling, probably on a bicycle. Maybe I will do this someday. But for now, it was time to double up to Cochin, where my family would be waiting.

I hope you enjoyed this post on North Kerala: Places to visit. Please leave your comments below.

Mangalore to Dharmasthala

Posted on October 12, 2015April 2, 2022 by SamTram

This is a brief account of my bus ride from Mangalore to Dharmasthala. Dharmasthala is an Indian temple town on the banks of the Nethravathi River in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, India. The town is known for its Dharmasthala Temple, which houses the shrine of Lord Shiva.

Planning my Dharmasthala temple trip

So there’s this uncle of mine – all of 75 years, single and retired – who spends most of his waking time visiting places. Every morning, he wakes up, gets dressed (he wears only whites – a bit like Obama there – no decision fatigue, you see), takes the first bus that comes his way, and sets off to wherever that bus would take him. No, I exaggerate. He occasionally chooses the second bus too.

While he doesn’t care much for the potential dangers that his adventures may expose him to, his sisters (my aunts and my mother) are a worried bunch until he gets back.

They can put the CIA to shame when it comes to keeping the tab of the man in whites – their use of informers and the latest communication gadgets at their disposal (Nokia 105/ iBall Aasaan 2 White or equivalent) are worth a chapter in ‘Clandestine Service Trainee’ training manual.

Though my mother keeps nagging him about his journeys and advises him to spend the rest of his retired life safely planted in an easy chair (so she could gulp down her heart that had found its way to her mouth, thanks to my uncle’s excursions), I secretly admire the way he lives his life, travelling and meeting people.

How to reach Dharmasthala from Mangalore

Having been softened up by years of a comfortable life, I longed to do a very earthy, basic, ‘rugged’ (and possibly dirty) trip using only my two feet and basic public transport.

In other words, I wanted to be my uncle for a day. So I decided to kick off a series of such rugged trips on a religious note, with one to Dharmasthala.

Dharmasthala, located about 75 km (about 2.5 – 3 hours) away from Mangalore (where I live), is an Indian temple town on the banks of the Nethravathi River in the Belthangadi taluk of the Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka (That line, courtesy Wikipedia).

If you are into temples and ever come to this part of the world, Dharmasthala is a must-visit temple; the others are Kukke Subramanya, Udupi, Murudeshwar, Kollur, etc. Sringeri and Hornadu.

Bus from Mangalore to Dharmasthala — My ride

Going from Mangalore to Dharmasthala turned out to be a breeze – I just had to take one of the frequent KSRTC Express buses.

So I set out early last Friday, and crossed the fish market to get to the KSRTC bus stand. I got a bus almost immediately, and it was mostly empty, with only about 6 – 7 bored looking fellow passengers on board.

So I got a window seat (which actually gave me a high – the child in me is still alive – yay!) and settled down with a content smile.

The ticket to Dharmasthala cost me Rs 64, and the ride was uneventful, except for some fun provided by a fidgety Malayalee guy who kept asking, ‘Are we at Dharmasthala? Yet?’ every time the bus pulled into a town bus stand.

Dharmasthala Temple

I dozed off for a while and woke up when we were nearly there. I looked back, and that fidgety guy was nowhere to be seen. Finally, the bus conductor informed me that he had got down at Ujjire, about 10-12 km from Dharmasthala. ‘Well, he sure’s going to miss lunch at Dharmasthala temple’ – I thought to myself.

Guest houses for devotees Dharmasthala — Guesthouses for devotees

An old (working) weighing machine in front of a shop in Dharmasthala

The KSRTC buses stop right in front of the temple premises – and are very convenient for devotees.

As soon as I got down, I got into one of the small, clean-looking tea stalls for tea to shake off my lethargy. The walkway to the temple has old, long, multistoried rest houses built for the pilgrims on the right and a line of shops to the left.

Since the instructions said I couldn’t carry my camera inside the temple, I left my camera and bag in the luggage room nearby and entered the temple.

Dharmasthala temple timings: Since the inner sanctum was closed from 11 – 12 pm due to pujas, I had to wait in a Q. After a while, we were let in, and I had enough time to see the deity and say my prayers.

The prasad (for which I had paid Rs 100) was a bag of goodies that included sweetened puffed rice, a sweet powder, raisins, and some appams. So I munched on the appam and made my way to the dining hall. Dharmasthala offers free food and subsidized shelter for pilgrims.

Lunch at Dharmasthala temple

The dining area, named Annapoorna, is huge and generally filled with pilgrims. One has to sit on the floor for lunch, but they have also set aside tables for people who cannot squat.

The meal consisted of rice, rasam, sambar and a side dish – all served hot, topped off with a sweet for dessert. I found the food extremely delicious and wiped my plate clean before walking out a satisfied person. As some of my friends would say – ‘Brahmin khush hua’ (translating to ‘Brahmin is happy!’) – a phrase we say after a satisfying meal.

It is commendable that most big temples (in Karnataka?) provide free food to millions of people.

Things to do in Dharmasthala

Once outside, I collected my bag (no charge for storing the bag, but Rs 2 for keeping my worn-out flip flops safe) and went over to a shaded area where people crowded around the temple elephant.

Give her (the elephant. It’s a she) coins, and she would bless you by placing her trunk on your head. Some devotes offered bananas and got extra blessings while I stayed a trunk’s length away from her.

Dharmasthala temple elephant — I stayed a trunk’s length away from her

Next to the temple is a park, which is well maintained. I clicked a few pictures there and walked over to the Manjusha museum. The way it looked from the outside (too small/ dingy), I did not have high expectations. The entry charge was Rs 5, and to my surprise, the narrow entranceway opens into a large hall, at least 75 – 100 meters in length, filled with exciting old stuff.

There’s enough material in there to spend an hour if you are a history buff. From paintings, idols, cameras, coins, and weapons to personal items used by kings – like ivory brushes, hairdryers, monocles, pens – the museum takes you back in time and is worth every rupee (and more) you paid to enter.

Unfortunately, the building itself looked very old and dangerously damp in places, and I wonder if many of these articles would last for much longer.

Dharmasthala museum — No, not a museum piece. He’s a visitor.

Dharmasthala rathas — Carvings on a chariot

Right opposite the museum is some old chariots (typically used in temple festivals) with intricate carvings. From there, I moved on to the vintage car museum.

On the way, my eyes fell upon a couple of discarded aeroplanes protected by fences. The car museum is worth a visit too, and again, I wasn’t allowed to take my camera inside. Along the way were more guest houses built for devotees.

The road to nowhere. So I didn’t take that.

Dharmasthala car museum — Cabin baggage up to 20 kgs allowed.

I wound up my day trip with another coffee and boarded a bus back to Mangalore.

Thus, the first of my ‘rugged travels’ was done, and I’d become a fan of such trips. I am now planning a ‘Goa on a shoestring budget trip around the end of October, early November. More on that later.

I hope you enjoyed my Mangalore to Dharmasthala blog.

Read all about my budget trip to Goa here:

https://sampathmk.com/an-offbeat-goa-trip

Kollur Mookambika: One night, and the next morning

Posted on March 4, 2015May 20, 2015 by SamTram

“You have to do upasana daily” – he replied to me in soft voice.

Standing on the shores of river Souparnika, I had struck up a conversation with one of the pilgrims who’d come to take a dip in the holy waters. A few minutes earlier, I had seen him float on the river, absolutely still, in lotus posture. I was curious how he did it, and so when he came ashore, I asked him about it. He told me he had been doing this for years, and I gathered from our conversation that meditation was his secret. Meditation seems to be the answer to all our problems these days. Darn, I have been trying to learn meditation for some months now, but I still have not got a hang of it. Well, that topic for another day.

I was at Kollur Mookambika, fulfilling my wish of staying overnight to attend all the evening and early morning poojas. It turned out to be such a wonderful experience – a very calming one. I noticed that the crowds had increased over the years, and I had to stand in queues for everything now – to get inside the temple, for the temple dinner, to buy prasada … heck, even for putting my sandals on the footwear rack outside the temple. The dinner tasted heavenly (even more so because I was starved after standing in queues all day), though it was just rice, sambar and a vegetable dish (all served hot; adding to the taste).

I had chosen Hotel Abimon Residency, (in spite of its name, I should say) based on Trip Advisor reviews that told me it was clean enough for families to stay. The room tariff matched that of a Tier 2 city hotel, and the stay was comfortable.

The next morning, we woke up early to attend the morning poojas. As we walked back, my gaze fell upon this shabby old tea stall by the side of the temple which still used fire wood in the kitchen. I wanted to get a taste of some smoke flavoured coffee, and so I stepped in and ordered for one. Well, the coffee did taste smokey. I hung around the temple for some more time, watching people come and go and then started my journey back.

That old coffee shop near the temple: Where I hoped to drink smoke flavoured coffee that would take me back to my childhood. I did get it.

Souparnika River where we dipped our toes

Evening rituals at Kollur. (No, not the ice candy. The rest)

Note: All photos taken using Blackberry Q5 and Samsung Galaxy

Museum of Kerala History

Posted on February 13, 2015May 20, 2015 by SamTram

This was one place that, for me, has been so close yet so far. A place I always wanted to visit, but never got around to doing it. Finally, I made time to do so, and it was a couple of hours well spent. Museum of Kerala history – located in Edappally (around 8 kms from Ernakulam city) takes one through the history of Kerala using lights, life size figures and voice overs.
Unlike a typical museum, this one doesn’t showcase old artefacts; so the name is a misnomer, but it definitely is a place you must take your child to if you are a Keralite since it gives a sneak peek into the history of Kerala in a quick, easily digestible form. It also houses an art gallery and a doll house. The entry fee is Rs 150 per adult and Rs 30 per child.

History of Kerala - Through life size figures — History of Kerala – Through life size figures

Sad news for me: My dear 7 year old Nikon D80 stopped responding to my commands one fine day – All it was showing on its dial was a blinking ‘Err’ message. I have turned it in for repairs, and they tell me that it could be a month before I can caress its buttons again. Meanwhile, I am making do with my phone cams (Blackberry Q5, with which the above images were shot, and Samsung S4).

That trip to Murudeshwar

Posted on December 2, 2014October 26, 2021 by SamTram

It was noon by the time we (wifey, sonny and I) pulled into the parking lot of Naveen Beach resort in Murudeshwar. The 150 km drive from Mangalore had taken us along the coast, offering breathtaking views of clean, white sand beaches (like Marvanthe) and backwaters. The ride, though bumpy in patches due to the (never ending) road construction, was enjoyable and had helped me work up a good appetite (not that it requires a lot of working up).

Scenes en route Murudeshwar — Scene en route Murudeshwar

Inside the restaurant, I settled into a chair near the window overlooking the beach and collected my thoughts – specifically the ones pertaining to what I should be having for lunch. While I was doing this, wifey had started doing her thing – reviewing and re-reviewing the menu hoping to find something that matched her current ‘mood’. After a detailed study that lasted 15 minutes, she seemed to have arrived at a decision. She looked at me and said: “OK, I will go with whatever you order”.

The waiters were all huddled in a corner looking rather grumpy, which I suspect could’ve been because we, the only customers at that time, had disturbed their ‘standing-around-idly-staring-out-of-the-window’ time. A fellow appeared shortly, and took my order of rice and fish.

A quick, uneventful lunch later, we stepped onto the beach. As soon as we did that, a bunch of boys encircled us and started selling us boat rides to the tiny, uninhabited Netrani Island nearby. I’d heard and read about Netrani being a great place for scuba diving and snorkeling, but I wasn’t in the mood for that kind of an adventure right now. All I wanted to do was visit the temple, chill on the beach for some time, watch the Sun go down and then head back home. The only way to drive off the salesmen was to agree to buy something, and so I settled for a quick speed boat trip costing Rs 100 per head.

They geared us up with life jackets, put us on a speed boat and revved up the engine. 2 minutes later we were back on firm land – that was the fastest 300 rupee loss I had suffered in entire my life. But on the bright side, the sales guys stopped stalking us, and we roamed around in total freedom under the hot afternoon sun. The beach had indeed become very active and commercialized since the last time I had come here a few years ago.

I wanna run to you... — I wanna run to you…

When the Sun got unbearable, we decided to head to the temple. We took the elevator to the top of the 20 storeyed Raja Gopura. The views from atop the Raja Gopura were amazing, but since the windows were pretty small we had to wait patiently for our turn. The giant statue of Lord Shiva (second highest statue of Lord Shiva in the world) could be seen very well from up there. After going around the temple, we headed back to the beach. We spent some more time in the water, and then started our journey back to Mangalore.

Next time I visit Murudeshwar, I want to try snorkeling and scuba diving at Netrani. Have you been there? How was it / how much was it?

An evening in Fort Kochi

Posted on November 15, 2014April 3, 2022 by SamTram

“I’ve never been to Fort Kochi“, she mumbled, as she sat staring out of the car window, absorbing the scenes whizzing past. My mother spends most of her time indoors nowadays, and I was taking her out on a drive, that I hoped, would be a welcome change for her.

Now aged 72, she had lived all her life 15 kilometres away from Fort Kochi – in the ‘other’ Kochi; the mainland part (referred to also as Kochi or Ernakulam). Yet, this will be the first time that she sets foot in Fort Kochi! It may sound incredible, but I suspect this would be the case with many people living in Ernakulam.

This route we were taking would cover the regular route she used to take to get to her college when she was working. I could see her eagerly soaking up the scenes and the changes time and development had brought about. Occasionally she would recount an old story about a place we just passed. This trip, I could see, was turning out to be a journey down memory lane for both of us!

Down the memory lane

As we drove past Thevara junction, and on to the new Mattancherry bridge, we could see the iconic old Mattancherry bridge, now semi-retired, running alongside us. As a child growing up in the mid 70s and 80s in Kochi, the Mattancherry bridge was a bigger wonder than the 7 wonders for me – for this was one of those bridges that would open up to let ships go across! I faintly remember having seen this in action too – though I can’t be sure. Was it active in the 80? I would need to check on that. I remember us having to wait on the bridge for vehicles from the opposite direction to pass, and when they did, we could feel the bridge (and our car) rock up and down.

Another iconic structure we passed was the huge red beam crane – known to me as the ‘150 tonne crane’. I heard this name for the first time from my father, who used to work in Cochin Shipyard. The introduction of this crane to Kochi skyline was big news, and I remember watching it wide-eyed every time we passed through the bridge.

Another memory that comes gushing up when I think of Cochin Shipyard is that of the lost ship ‘Kairali’. Kairali was docked in Cochin Shipyard, and my father had taken us aboard to visit a friend who was part of the cruise. I remember dangling helplessly on a white rope ladder trying to get aboard (I wonder why they didn’t use the solid detachable staircase). Later we would hear the disturbing news about the disappearance of this ship.

Ooh, ooh – there’s another important one; one related to food. There used to be a restaurant called Tima located in Ravipuram, opposite Deepa Theater. Wait, I got that wrong, didn’t I? Deepa Theater is no longer known by that name – I don’t know what it’s called now. Anyways, Tima was opposite this theater. It is here that the locals got the first sight (and taste) of grilled chicken. That weird machine in which red colored chicken rotated and got slow cooked was a wondrous sight indeed! A crowd used to gather around in the evenings just to see those chicks getting roasted. If they’d sold tickets to let people watch the machine, I’m sure they would’ve collected a decent sum. I don’t see the restaurant there now – guess they’ve demolished it.

Fort Kochi

As my mother and I were navigating through our past mentally, my physical self was steering our car on autopilot mode to Fort Kochi. Fort Kochi feels different from the mainland part, and is a great place to just walk around. Fort Kochi is a haven for creative minds; you can find art everywhere – on trees, walls, cafes, anywhere and everywhere! (Also read: my experience at Kochi Muziris Biannale that was held in Fort Kochi recently).

Creative juices flow through the art-tree!

I parked our car in front of Burgher street, and since my mother finds it difficult to walk for long, I helped her onto a concrete structure (with a ship’s anchor stuck in) overlooking the Vembanad lake. The area was buzzing with tourists (local and foreign), fishermen and street hawkers. I strolled along the concrete walkway that ran along the shore.

Along the walkway, you can find a number of Chinese fishing nets, all of them reinforced with steel rods. Apart from being used for fishing, these nets now also serve as a tourist attraction. I saw the operators letting tourists climb onboard, operate the nets, and get photographed. They were also selling the fresh catch right from there – crabs, lobsters, and fish.

Chinese nets — Now that’s a big catch: Operators let tourists experience the nets

Netted: A family poses for a photograph aboard a Chinese fishing net

When you are in Fort Kochi, you have to make it a point to visit the cafes – Kashi’s art cafe located on Burgher Street is lovely. The line of roadside shacks right next to it is also good to sit around, but I wouldn’t recommend eating anything from those shops – for, even my strong, abused-with-any-kind-of-food tummy revolted after eating a sandwich from there once. But don’t hold that against them – try them too and decide for yourself. Walking around the narrow streets, you will also come across big old bungalows (now converted to offices or hotels), colorful little shops that sell curios, clothes and other touristy stuff.

Kashi's Art Cafe: A popular cafe around here — Kashi’s Art Cafe: A popular cafe around here

Old Harbour Hotel: More than 300 years old!

The Sun was coming down, and so I walked back to where my mother was sitting. The concrete structure where she was sitting was now filled with people; people who looked like they met here every evening. One of the guys had old Hindi songs playing from his mobile, and was discussing the day’s happenings with his gang of friends.

A tourist making sketches as the Sun goes down

As I helped my mother into our car and prepared to drive back, I caught a glimpse of the dark silhouettes of the Chinese nets against an orange-ish sky. Another day had come to an end – a memorable one that had me time-traveling back to my growing up days.

Have you visited Fort Kochi during the Biennale? I got an opportunity to do so a few years ago. Check out the details here:

https://sampathmk.com/kochi-muziris-biennale

Also, check out my Fort Kochi vlog here:

https://sampathmk.com/fort-kochi-cycling