My Travelogue - Indian Travel Blogger, Heritage enthusiast & UNESCO hunter!

Getting lost & finding self in the middle of Nowhere!

Its always awesome to stay in the midst of plantations with all the greenery all around, birds chirping to wake you up, occasional insects & small animals that visit you in your room just the peacefulness!!! May it be in the rubber plantations of Spices Farm Stay, in tea plantations of Windermere Estate, or this time in the coffee plantations of Magnolia Resorts in Coorg.

Located in a small town called Virajpet close to Coorg, this entire property is about 73 acres. This was the weekend getaway for the owners who bought this property in 2007. Later on they relocated to California where Magnolia flowers became their favourite flower, so they decided to name this property the same. Soon they built 7 buildings here for their own use and 6 villas for the guests. By 2012 they built 8 more smaller cottages for the use of tourists, ecology enthusiasts alike!

As soon as I entered I was welcomed by women clad in saree draped in the authentic kodagu style. The reception is a square with the back that opens up to the glorious western ghats behind it. This entire square is tastefully decorated with traditional seating arrangements, retro styled sofa & chairs and the entire wall is filled images of coffee plantations across the world. The one thing that totally struck me by awe was a tree that grew inside this place and grows out through its roof. The care was taken to not cut down the tree and include it in this construction!!! That was totally heartening.

Very close to the reception is the Peppervine restaurant and Saaqi bar. The bar is an open air one and a few steps from it takes you to the back entrance of the restaurant. Between these 2, on the side is the space for bonfire. The resort provides 1 complimentary bonfire during the stay. Drinks and Bonfire in the chilly evenings of Coorg is just so awesome!!! Currently the bar isn’t licensed to sell, but you’re welcome to get your own drinks! But they provide an array of fingerfood incl some delicious options for veggies too incl cheese fried broccoli (must try), chilli paneer, onion bakoda etc.

The breakfast at restaurant is a mix of both continental and south Indian varieties. I did not manage to enjoy a lunch here as I was out exploring Coorg and for dinner, the buffet is just splendid with a very wide range in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian 3 course meal from soups to biriyani to Indian breads to tandoori platter to cakes to kesari et all. The place also has a scenic outdoor seating which is best enjoyed in breakfast or lunch! The service is quick and very professional, that’s rather unexpected in such a small resort in the midst of nowhere!!!

Roads are there to lead you from the reception to the restaurant to the rooms and all other places within the resort. The best way is walking or bicycling (resort provides it on request)! However the resort also provides vehicular transport if needed. Your own vehicle has to be parked at the parking area near the entrance and if you have a driver, he may stay at the staff quarters and will be provided simple food as well. There are maps in several places to let help explore yourself.

Within the property is a portion that doesn’t belong to the property, but to the forest department! That’s the mountain itself! A trek is allowed in this mountain, but prior permission from the forest department is required and has fixed timings! Yes, being a part of Western Ghats, this mountain is also home to Western Ghats animals including Elephants, so timings are set towards least disturbance to the animals here!!!

Within the property are also 2 lakes – Emerald and Turquoise. Check out the lakes in dawn and dusk. Avid birder or amateur doesn’t matter – spotting a grey hornbill is just a dream come true for both alike and grey hornbill is a regular visitor here. Unfortunately they didn’t give me the blessing of showing themselves to me……

There are 2 types of rooms, the 1000 sq ft villas (x6) and 900 sq ft cottages (x12). The villas are a thing of beauty with ancient pillars brought in from old houses & palaces that have been demolished! Sitting there in the border between Karnataka and Kerala, I was time and again reminded of the building style of Kerala with wooden carvings and terracotta tile ceiling etc. I stayed at a cottage. It’s a single room cottage with the bed on one side, and TV with sofa on the other. Close to the window is a small reading table and the view out of the window is the mesmerizing Western Ghats!!! Who needs a TV when there’s such a view outside the window!!!

There is a rather unique factor here. Unlike other hotels, here, instead of a landline in the room, all guests are provided with a mobile phone with a local sim! The numbers of reception, restaurant etc are pre-stored. Being in the middle of nowhere surrounded by mountains, most of the cell phone signals are patchy. So this sim is by a network provider whose reach is excellent here! Being in the midst of coffee plantation, a fab concept they have is called ‘Coffee Anywhere’. Take this cell phone with you and roam about anywhere in this 73 acre property. If you feel like having coffee, give a call and they’ll get it where you are!!! How about birding early morning near the lake with a cup of hot coffee??!!!

The room is provided with all basic amenities incl toiletries, mini fridge stocked with soft drinks, coffee, tea & milk packets, disposable footwear etc. There are 2 ceiling fans which are absolutely unnecessary in the soothing climate here!

All the cottages & villas are in ground floor and have their own dedicated pathways and entrances and porticos. These connect to the in-house roads. The best I felt was walking in these roads in the night – the light pollution is so less and the sparkly stars in the sky look gorgeous, the crackle of the crickets is so so so loud but that’s the only sound you hear, the roads look never ending in the darkness of night and more so ever just sitting in the portico of your own room in the night and just gazing at the sky listening to these sounds is so much needed to every city dweller!!!!!

Being in the middle of a forest at the base of a mountain, expect the unexpected! Grasshoppers and crickets would be everywhere! Moths might give you a visit inside you room if you leave the windows open. A walk on the wet grass near the lakes with your open sandals might attract leeches! Here’s a tip: apply nose powder (available in all local shops) or edible salt on your shoes/foot to prevent the leeches. If you’re lucky enough, you may spot deers or even elephants!!!

Here are a couple of options – How about a destination wedding at Magnolia Coorg with the Western Ghats as backdrop??? How about your annual official corporate meeting or post-project celebration venue as Magnolia Coorg??? Did I mention they a huge meeting room and a club house incl library, billiards room, basket ball and tennis court??? That's blogger Umang Trivedi trying his hand on billiards.

With this as your stay, you can venture out to regular tourist spots like Dubare Elephant Camp or Iruppu Falls or Bylaguppe Namdroling Monastery or you could do opt for eco-tourism and go on a safari at Nagarhole National Park or you could opt for a road less travelled adventure with…….. Stay tuned to know what I did!!!

To get there:
On Google Maps: Magnolia Coorg
From Mysuru Jn: 100km
From Bangalore City Station: 235km
Transport is arranged by the resort from nearest airport / railway station on prior request.

To Book: Magnolia Coorg, Make My Trip
Room tariff begins at Rs.8000/-
Resort Ph no: +91-82773-72100 and +91-99803-78253

P.S: I was invited by Magnolia Resort, Coorg to stay and experience the hotel for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Basking in the warmth of the bonfire, at Magnolia Coorg, I was wondering what to do the next day. I had a couple of options in front of me - I could take the beaten path of tourist spots which I most definitely didn’t want to take, I could stay all day long in the resort , do nothing , just enjoy the nature and roam about in bicycle, or I could go trek Tadiandamol – the highest peak in Coorg (Kodagu)… Soon I came to know that one of the staff at the resort, Mr.Appachu, is a regular on this trek route and would prove to be a great company. So that’s it, decided…

Next morning, we set off at 7AM. The base is about 45 mins drive from Magnolia Resort, Coorg. The entire trek path his 3.75km but further 1.75km more the vehicle can go if it is a 4x4. But I suggest stop the vehicle here and trek from here if you want to feel the awesomeness of this mountain.

At the point of 3.50km more to peak there’s a board mentioning so and then there’s a board every half km. Its kinda nice to know how much more to go and how much is done as it helped me to mentally prepare myself!

The first half km is a plain slope of grassland with nothing much happening and then began its beauty. A point began when the route started to feel like a tropical forest with trees that towered up and its foliages that stopped the sunlight from reaching the ground and streams were flowing across. I also managed to see some fresh elephant dung near the stream. I strained my eyes much to see all around if I could spot the elephant but in vain.

Further ahead were tall grasses that had to be pushed on the sides to find the path and then the topography changed... There were huge boulders that required actually holding onto them and climbing onto them (much like Nagala West) followed by more grass land from where I could spot a peak. I was content at myself and asked Mr.Appachu if that was the peak we were gonna climb for which he replied in negative. Our peak was behind this one!!!! Ahhhhhh……..

We stopped over at one point for breakfast. Yes, Magnolia Resort gives the option to get your picnic packed if requested early. I had asked for some veg sandwiches and fruits which were aptly given to me. After trekking for about 3km, even that simple sandwich tasted divine! Remember how we found the simple bread and mayonnaise divine in the Tada trek??? I was much reminded of it…. After resting for a couple minutes and taking a few panorama shots, we continued.

Soon the topography totally changed altogether. It was almost a rainforest here! The path was more of climb on roots of huge trees with younger roots and vines that helped to hold on to while climbing up. The temperature had dropped significantly and water droplets were falling from the trees. The tree branches were filled with algae that held dew drops. It was a typical rainforest.

Soon ahead of that was the strenuous last 1km. That was the hardest part esp the last half km. The climb went very inclined and the path very narrow towards the peak. On the way I had collected a stick somewhere which helped me to a great deal. For the last bit of steep incline I most definitely needed the walking stick support. At the end of that steep incline there it was - the board that said 0km!!! The height of this peak is 1748m above sea level. This is the tallest peak in Coorg (Kodagu) and third tallest in the whole of Karnataka.

The view from here was just mind blowing. It was a bit misty and I was told that on a clear day, the Arabian Sea could be seen from there and if time permits for an extensive trek, we could climb down the valley on the other side to directly get to the beach of Kerala!!!! But that would be a more than one day trek and would require camping inside the forest which in turn requires prior written permission from the forest officials.

Anyways, it was one spectacular view from the topmost point. But even more spectacular view was going down a bit on the other side, coz right atop someone had done some sort of controlled fire which to a bit, was a black mole on the view. But going down a bit on the other side that was at the bottom of the burnt section the view was way too gorgeous to explain in words.

I saw quite a few falcons just hovering up there that dove to the depths to capture its prey and again rocket up. It was such a sight and I really felt I had to do that. Btw, did I already mention that this is a part of Western Ghats that comes under UNESCO and listed as Biodiversity Hotspot? Hopefully in future I’ll get a chance to do skydiving. Let’s see! Btw, this pic was by Mr.Appachu when a falcon dove beside him (I was sitting in the cliff at that time).

I spent 45 mins up there. At a point of time I definitely fell a bit asleep sitting on that rock cliff!!! I met a couple of other trekkers too there and our climb down was with them! Isn’t making new friends the best part of solo travel??!!! Btw, the fastest that Mr.Appachu has even climbed this was in 1.5hrs and with me, we did this in 2 hrs. Not bad, huh…

If reaching the peak was the best feeling, the second best feeling is what Mr.Appachu said. So far he had accompanied about 35 guests to this peak and I’m only the 2nd person to reach the peak and the 1st one was also a solo female traveler!!!!

To Get There:
On Google Maps: Tadiandamol Peak
From Magnolia Resort: 31 km
From Tala Kavery (starting point of River Cauvery): 43 km
Nearby places to see: Nalknad Aranmana and Chelavara Falls & Devarakadu (temple of local diety).

Timings: 6AM to 6PM. Camping or trekking beyond this timings requires prior written permission from Forest Dept
P.S: All pictures of me and the falcon were clicked by Mr.Appachu. Rest by yours truly.

Remember my review of Ottimo Cucina? Well, after the initial couple of restaurants, several more were opened specializing in a variety of different cuisines like Peshawari (Rajasthani), Royal Vega (Vegetarian), Madras Pavilion (Tamil) etc. One of it is Café Mercara Express and I got to try out their new menu and here’s, as usual, a vegetarian’s view of the food!

To begin with, I was impressed that almost half the menu was vegetarian. Their tagline is ‘Carefully Selected and Mindfully Prepared’ which is common for all restaurants across all ITCs. Going by that, the first drinks placed in front of me were called the ‘Morning Energizers’ from the Pavilion Pure Juicery – Detoxifier, Refresher and Cleanser. The yummiest of them was the Detoxifier with a fruit, vegetable and spice mix of Apple, Carrot and Ginger. A unique effort they’re working on is to use ‘locally sourced ingredients’ and ‘forgotten seeds’ like Amaranth, Jowar, Ragi etc. These drinks (and many more dishes) have their own share of forgotten seeds!

Next thing in the plate was just too divine, my most favorite from the whole menu - Tulsi Seed and Indian Summer Fruit Muesli. It was so yummy and so filling, that I’d have this for breakfast any day or even everyday! If you’re an Indian, esp a South Indian, you’d know the importance of Tulsi in our tradition. I love to eat tulsi leaves and almost everyday when walking across the tulsi plant in my garden I eat a couple leaves. I do add some Tulsi leaves along with Mint and Coriander when I make pasta and I love that taste.

That said, I’ve never seen Tulsi used in mainstream restaurant dishes and I was pleasantly surprised to see that this is not the only dish that uses Tulsi in this menu! Also available are a range of yoghurt smoothies as well as cereals served even with soy milk if you’re not into diary. Breakfast menu ofcourse include the typical North Indian & South Indian dishes incl. poori bhaji, aloo paratha, idli, vada, dosa, idiappam etc.

Next was the starter round with crusty bread and a green colored dip, they called Green Goddess - you should have guessed it by now - yeah, Tulsi! A creamy pesto with Tulsi??!!! You got me there!!! Next was something I totally loved - Carrot and Coconut Puree with basil croutons and paper-thin sliced carrots!!! People who know me personally know that I’m a coffee addict and that’s effectively stopping me from becoming a vegan, though I try my best to control my diary intake as much as possible. So, when a soup came in, diary-free, I was very much impressed. With so many people being more and more conscious about the ingredients in their food and having an option for lactose-intolerant people, this is a good concept. Not just the concept, the actual dish you just too yummy!!!

This was followed by the salad round with Burrata and Beet! More than anything else, the presentation in this was impeccable. I was rather questioning about the dish in the centre. It looked so much like egg. After trying to analyze it, I asked and I was told it’s a Burrata which is a combination of Goats Cheese and Cream!!! Hmmm… Interesting… But guess what, it did not feel cheesy at all when eating it… Pickled beetroots, citrus-y peeled oranges and pepper coulis were perfect accompaniments! Another interesting starter was the diary-free Silken Tofu and Miso. I haven’t tried it though.

Next was the round of Appetizer with Vazhaipoo Cutlet and Quinoa Shakarkandi Kebab. The Vazhaipoo Cutlet is from the range called ‘Local Love’ which celebrates the ingredients and tastes of the location where the particular ITC is located. Banana and Tamilnadu is extremely intertwined, right from eating on banana leaf to gifting ripe bananas on any celebration to using every part of the tree in the cuisine!!! A cutlet made of banana flower??!!! That pays its tribute to Tamil cuisine! Quinoa and Sweet Potato combo from its range called ‘Kitchens of India’, was definitely a win. I liked! Ofcourse, the menu has a range of burgers and wraps.

Next was the mains from ‘World Kitchen’ range called the Brie en Croute. The chef called it a ‘Soul Food’ and I’m not denying at all!!! It was a cheesy goodness!!! It was very cheesy and I could feel the cheese all over my palate unlike Burata! The way it was packed inside a twisted & knotted pastry puff layer, was a visual delight!

The maincourse is in 4 sections - the ‘Local Love’ range is a proper traditional range with Urulaichery (potatoes in coconut cream), Tomato Pappu (lentils), etc with Kerala Red Rice, Bisi bele bath, Malabar Paratha, Idiyappam etc; the ‘Kitchens of India’ range with the authentic Mughalai and Punjabi dishes incl Subz Dum Biriyani, Paneer Tikka, Naan etc; the ‘Express Wok’ range with a few Chinese inspired dishes; the ‘World Kitchen’ range that has dishes inspired from English, French, Italian and Mediterranean Cuisine.

The dessert was mostly Indian mithai like Palkova, Falooda, Halwa etc in the vegetarian side. Being a veggie, I’m also a foodie who loves desserts a lot. I’d love to see some interesting baked goodness in the menu which are eggless! Sad, that’s its already not there in the menu…

Located in the ground floor, very close to the Madras Pavilion, it was a small restaurant. I felt the place was a wee bit cramped for the number of chairs. The service was impeccable. Esp when the servers, keep replacing the spoons & forks after every course, that tells about how quick and efficient the service is. As a vegetarian, except for the dessert part, I was completely satisfied with the range! Located inside ITC Grand Chola, a luxury hotel, ofcourse, the prices are in the higher side. A 3-course meal for 2 persons works out approximately at Rs.5000/-.

To Get There:

Refer to my post on the launch of ITC Grand Chola

Table Reservation: Ph:- +91 44 2220 0000

P.S: I was invited by ITC Grand Chola to try out the new menu at Cafe Mercara Express for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Getting down from Tandiandamol Peak, very close to it was my next destination – Nalknad Palace. This was built by Doddaveerarajendra in 1792. He was a Kodagu king belonging to the Haleri reign. Chikkaveerarajendra was the last king of this dynasty who ruled in 1834. Unfortunately by his time the power of British Raj had become so strong that he had to surrender. This palace served as the last refuge to him before he gave up.

I reached the temple by exactly 1:20 PM. There was little chit on the door that had a phone number and said that 1 to 1:30 is the lunch hour. So I waited there at the entrance for 10mins and sharp in 10mins, the gentleman, its caretaker turned up. By this time there were 2 more groups of visitors and we were about 10 of us. I thought the caretaker is just a guy who has the key but I was amazed when he started taking us on a guided tour throughout the palace. He’s well versed with the history of the palace.

Though it is called a Palace, it looks so extremely simple. The terracotta tiled roof atop wooden frame, wooden structure and carvings and pillars and much more importantly its Murals, very much reminded me of Kerala buildings, once again reminding me that I’m in the Kerala and Karnataka border. I must say I was reminded of Kuthira Malika close to Padmanabhapuram Palace!

Past its wooden doors, soon as I entered, to my right was this small mandapa that was not even in sync with the rest of the Palace. I learnt that it was built later by Chikkaveerarajendra for his sister’s wedding. To the left were a garden and a high street lamp that was solar powered!

Further ahead was the entrance to the actual building. But before you enter, it is impossible to miss the gorgeous mural on the varandah to the left. It is of a procession. I’m not sure what it depicts exactly but I was told that in the Kodagu history, men had to defeat other men, chop the head off and bring it to the lady in order to win her! The mural did depict some men holding spears on which there were some heads!!! These old murals were painted 223 years ago when the Palace was built.

The pillars of this varandah itself are such thing of beauty. But more gorgeous are the carvings here. In the corbel of one of the pillars was this complicated kolam-style twisted Cobra! A spectacled Cobra (Naja naja) is a regular in this area and is a symbol of power that induces fear!

Finally overcoming the beauty of these outside, I stepped into the Palace. The first point of stoppage is the first floor. A curved staircase from the very first room took to the first floor to the main room that overlooked outside. Again the pillars on either sides were so symmetrical and perfect. This was once the durbar of the kings. An elevated platform on the opposite side of the staircase is where the King sits and precedes over the courtroom. This room has 3 incredible jaali work windows.

The small door on the side leads to the private section of the King & Queen incl their bed chamber, bathrooms etc. At the end of the passage on the ground, completely merged as one with the wooden flooring was a secret door!!! A room close to the end of this staircase is the dark room. The guide asked us to switch off the light from our cell phones and shut the door and soon that was pitch dark, so dark that nothing at all was visible. I got the exactly same feeling as I did in Chislehurst dark room. There is one more room in the palace like this. At any given point of time, these rooms were pitch dark even if the sun is shining mightily outside. These were the hiding dungeons when they had to escape!!!

There are a couple more rooms in the ground floor. One of the rooms is for the Palace Guards located behind a wall that exactly faces the door. This wall has 3 jaali windows. The Palace guards could kill any enemy entering in without coming out of their hideout!!!

The entire place is painted, the ceilings, walls, everything in both ground floor and first floor, even the walls of the royal toilets!!! But sadly, very sadly, the painting that we see today belongs to the recent years (less than 50 years old). All these surfaces were originally painted when it was built in 1792. Today these original paintings are being restored bit by bit, removing the current plaster layer, under INTACH. Hoping to see it in its restored, original glory soon...

P.S: In the Virajpet Town is this clock! It is more than a 100 years old. It was erected by M.R.Ry Mukkatira Iyappah son of M.R.Ry Muttanna Subedar of Devanagiri Village in 1911 in the memory of Delhi Coronation Durbar that happened under King George V when India was under British Raj.

To Get There:
On Google Maps: Nalknad Palace
From Tadiandamol Peak: 5.6km
From Magnolia Resort, Coorg: 33km
From Coorg Madikere Bus Stand: 35km

Those who read my blog regularly would know that I’m not a big fan of touristy places. I am the one who takes the roads less travelled. I’m not a big fan of Dubai, but the places that intrigue me a lot, include Isreal, Jordan, Turkey etc. Here’s a bit more why Israel is in this list.

Pic Courtesy: Eitan f via Wikimedia Commons

As someone who studied in a convent school, I’ve known of Israel since school days. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which is very close to Jerusalem and he grew up in Nazareth (infact, he’s called Jesus of Nazereth), lived as a carpenter before he started preaching Christianity. When I was in school I hadn’t seen any photographs of Bethlehem, but as I grew up, I got all the more intrigued when I came to know that the city is holy not only for Christians, but also for Muslims and Jews (infact Jesus himself was a Jew before forming Christianity). Today Old City and Walls of Jerusalem are listed as UNESCO Sites and anyone who reads my blog regularly would know what a big sucker I am for UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Pic Courtesy: Avram Graicer via Wikimedia Commons

When it comes to Christianity and UNESCO, Israel has more to offer. There are 3 Tels in Israel which are also UNESCO sites - Megiddo, Hazor and Be’er Sheva. Mounds are created by human settlement (remember such mounds close to StoneHenge) and after they abandon it, over several centuries they’re called Tel in archaeological terms. Megiddo was a pre-historic Bronze age city and an excavation in recent years revealed 26 layers of ruins, that shows the long period of settlements that it went through. The earliest magnificent construction here was the 5000 year old "Great Temple" of Early Bronze Age (3500–3100 BCE). Tel Hazor belongs to the middle bronze age & Israelite period (1750-900 BCE). Be’er Sheva is the town of Beersheba where according to Bible, Abraham lived. This place has archaeological evidences since 11th C CE.

Another natural ‘magic’ that wow-ed me since schooldays was Dead Sea. Remember the good old science experiments where the density of water is increased by adding salt in it, so that things dropped in it won’t sink but would stay afloat. When my teacher explained that such a thing exists naturally at Dead Sea, where the density of water is so high that even humans can float on it, I was majorly surprised. Dead Sea is in Israel as well.

Pic Courtesy: Oren Rozen via Wikimedia Commons; I, Chai via Wikimedia Commons

Located at such an interesting location, it has quite a variation in geography too. Apart from Dead Sea other interesting natural wonder here include Negev, an arid desert region and the interesting rock formations in the Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin. Just like how India & China have an ancient Silk Route, Israel has an ancient Spice Road and Incense Route (that’s about 2000km long), both of which go across the Negev Desert. This was active in 400 BCE to 200 CE. The desert was the prime location for the transport of frankincense and myrrh to the port of Mediterranean. May be the Biblical 3 wise men were from here or atleast they most definitely crossed the desert! Today the ruins of all the 4 towns, 4 fortresses and several milestones enroute are still intact for us to see. Bet-Guvrin on the other hand is a series of caves, about 800 and called Bell Caves which are mostly interconnected by underground network of passages. The way the sunlight gets in at some places is rather surreal!

Pic Courtesy: Ynhockey via Wikimedia Commons

When it comes to city life, there’s Tel-Aviv. It’s the 2nd largest city in Israel. It’s the party capital with a spectacular night life and the city that doesn’t sleep at all. Its history begins from 15th C BCE, as mentioned in an Egyptian Pharoah’s conquest letters. Today it’s a beautiful amalgamation of Jewism, Christianity and Islam. The must see places here include the Museum of Art, Flea Market, Old City of Jaffa, Old port, Jaffa Port, Rabin Square etc. If you’re a foodie, the Levinsky Spice Market is not to be missed. The White City within Tel Aviv is a UNESCO site as well for its modern town planning and architecture. The international feel and the uber modernist style, that Tel-Aviv gives is undeniable, with Le Corbusier inspired architecture complete with sculpture garden in the middle of the city.

Let’s see what future has in store for me! I hope to visit & feel Israel sometime in future. Plus, the advantage of Israel Visa stamp is that, just with it, visiting Gulf countries is also possible. However, as I always say, a lifetime isn’t enough to see all the places in my wishlist!!! Let’s hope for the best.

P.S: This post has been written in collaboration with Israel Tourism India, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

As soon as I landed in the Basel Mulhouse airport, the first thing that totally took me aback was the exit of the airport. There were 2 exits - one for France & Germany and another for Switzerland. Actually, the Basel airport itself is in France and is called the EuroAirport that serves Switzerland, France & Germany.

A shuttle (free if you've booked a hotel/hostel in Basel) takes you from the airport to Basel. Not only is this shuttle, so are all public transport, with what's called the Mobility Ticket which is handed over at the hotel/hostel when you check-in and that's valid for as long as you stay. I went in autumn season, so unlike the picture of typical Switzerland filled with snow, at that time Basel was as hot & humid as Chennai, hotter than London!!!!!

The first thing I did was to go to Basel Zoo (another post coming up soon). From there I decided to go on a walk. The Old Town of Basel has 5 self guided, color coded walking tours. A Map of these walks is available free of cost at the Basel Tourism counters, where you can also get the Basel Card. All the tours begin at the Markt Platz. I decided to mix up Grey and Red esp coz both go along the river side and both overlap a lot. Apart from the grey, the rest all are easy walks and are wheelchair accessible as well. The grey route alone has a lot of ups and downs, slanted roads, steps etc.

Right at the Markt Platz is the City Hall. Locally called Rathaus, this is a govt building that houses the parliament. This was built in 1504-1514. In brick red it was one imposing facade.

Inside where some frescoes and sculptures that were made in 17th C by Hans Bock. Some of the wooden sculptures there definitely looked ancient, which may be the original decor from 1514!

From there the walk led to Mittlere Brucke. This is the oldest river crossing across Rhine built in 1226.

From this point, the grey route started to have the ups & downs and it began with a street which is actually a staircase of 69 steps!!! Further ahead where some super slanted roads which pretty much reminded me of Edinburgh The Real Mary King's Close. Along such streets where buildings whose height was static but varied in their number of stories according to the elevation starting from 5-6 stories to just 2 at the highest point of elevation!!! Unlike Edinburgh, people still live in these houses and infact in one of the house a bunch of men were playing cards!

At the end of the 69 steps is the MartinsKirche (St.Martin's Church) which was built in 1101-03 and is the oldest Parish Church in Basel. However it went to alternations throughout history till 1851. Later in 1922, murals were painted. Sadly it was closed when I ventured to here.

Another best feature of Basel Town is that its filled with water fountains everywhere and its all drinkable!!! One such fountain is Augustiner Fountain built in 1468. However the present structure is from 1846.

Ahead is the most important landmark of Basel - Munster which means Cathedral, which was built in 12th-15th C CE (I'll do a separate post on this Cathedral). Behind it is Pfalz, an observation platform with a spectacular view of Rhine.

Further ahead was the Labyrinthplatz, which is actually a labyrinth or a maze on the ground. This was designed by Agnes Barmettler in 2002. All these ups & downs reminded me of Kerala, also where the roads are like this! And further ahead up & down, several slopes and staircases, I reached the Markt Platz again and it was almost night! I retired for the day and the first thing next day morning was........... Wait & watch!

P.S: I was invited by Basel Tourism Dept - Basel Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

The first thing in the morning of Day 2 (check out Day 1 post here), I set out to Dreilandereck. Its located in the outskirts of Basel and as the name says (Tri-Land), its the merging point of Switzerland, France and Germany. In this below pic, all the 3 countries are visible - standing on Swiz; on the right of the curved bridge is Germany and left of it is France.

Reaching the very endpoint is a bit confusing. After the very last stop by bus or tram, after about 1km along the river in a tiny lane, beside a dock, is the monument with 3 wings directing to the 3 countries.

Also here is a bar called Sandoase aka Sand Oasis, where a beach like set-up is created which also has boards that show the distances of various cities in different directions.

From there my next stop was Spalentor. Basel had fortification walls built in 11th C CE and again another one covering larger area in 13th C CE. Today certain sections of the wall still stand. Spalentor is one of the still surviving 3 gates. The 3 sculptures on it were added in 15th C CE& represent Madonna & 2 prophets. Unfortunately climbing this isn't allowed.

My next destination was Tinguely Fountain. This was created by Jean Tinguely, a Swiz artist who grew up in Basel, in 1977. He's known for his kinetic art where the engineering thought process goes into installations, making them an animated sculpture, called kinetic art or metamechanics!!! Tinguely Fountain is a complex set of 9 sculptures constantly moving to make it a very quirky fountain. There's another smaller fountain in front of the Tinguely Museum.

Next I visited St.Alban Tor which is another one of the 3 surviving gates. From there as I started walking along the picturesque river, I came across this rather interesting castle like wall. This is the Letzi Platz, a portion of the fortification walls of Basel.

Next was the waste of my time. But anyways, I'm sharing the info here, so you don't end up wasting your time. I walked upto the La Roche Tower which is the tallest building in Basel atop which is the Pebble Lounge, which was supposedly a must-visit to view Basel from up above and look at the gorgeous Rhine river! Unfortunately when I went there and enquired, I was informed that the lounge was open only for employees (and their friends) and there are certain days a week when its open for general public which also requires a pre-booking! Though I tried to contact them prior to my visit via Facebook, I didn't get response and couldn't find any details. That was a 'face-palm' moment. Anyways, so unless you have a confirmed prior booking, save yourself a trip.

As a part of the Basel Card, I was entitled for 1 ferry trip across the Rhine and I chose to take the Munsterfahre, so that I could get a glimpse of the Church from the river. The ferry ride itself was an interesting thing - it was neither manual, nor mechanical. You could call it manual but it didn't have an oar. All it has is a rudder! The boat is connected to a rope atop with a cable and when the rudder direction is changed and the boat is released from the dock, holding the rope atop, it moves with the current of the river!!! That's something that I've never seen before!!!

Not only is there this ferry crossing, but Rhine is a centre of various activities incl kayaking, rowing and even swimming. The hotels & hostels rent out something called Wickelfisch which is an waterproof bag which can be used to store dry clothes, gadgets etc and serves as a flotation device as well. You can swim with it from one point to another point with it, get out of the water, change and get going!!! Its available to buy as well.

I reached the Cathedral on the other side and visited the Cathedral, coz the previous day on my walk, by the time I went, it was already closed. And with this my 24hrs in Basel wraps up!
A couple more posts in detail about some of the places are coming up soon.

P.S: I was invited by Basel Tourism Dept - Basel Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

The place where Basel Munster or Cathedral is located is called the Munster Hill. Excavations in this site shows traces of settlements of 1st C BCE. By 4th C CE, a Roman Fort was built here. By 805-823 CE Carolingian Haito Minster was the church here! Today only its foundation is decipherable. This was destroyed by 917 CE when Hungary invaded. By 1019 CE, the last Ottomon Emperor Henry II constructed it again. In 2019, its all set to celebrate its 1000 years!!!

By 1220 CE, the church was expanded. The cloister beside the church must have also been built around this time. The north facade called the Galluspforte was also built in 1185 CE. Its one of the sculptural marvel of the entire church. It is the earliest Romanesque figure portal in German region. True to its age, its a rustic design.

Depicted here is Jesus flanked by Peter and Paul. Also depicted is the parable of 10 holy virgins with Jesus. On the sides are the reliefs of the noble actions of Jesus like attending the sick, feeding the hungry etc. he stained glass windows belong to the late 16th C. The bronze door belongs only to 19th C.

On the southern side is a huge lobby. The arched fir wood ceiling and wooden wall reliefs were made in 1490. This entire space is filled several tombs added during various times! The Cloister windows pretty much reminded me of Westminster Abbey.

In 1356, a major earthquake, destroyed its original tower. So by early 15th C, the present Gothic structure was built incl the twin towers called the Martin Tower & George Tower. In the western main entrance is a high relief of St George as an equestrian on either sides, static in Georgestrum with a sundial above and killing a dragon in Martinstrum. The George Tower is 67.3m tall while the Martin Tower is 65.5m tall.

Going inside, the primary task was to climb the towers! I was informed that for safety purposes no one is allowed to climb solo. There has to be atleast 1 more person. Since I was there on a solo trip, I had no clue what to do. Luckily for me, an Italian family of 4 took the climbing ticket and I asked the person at the counter if I could join them and I did!!!

The tower goes as a simple spiral climbing for sometime and after than begins the challenging part and I understood why where they hesitant to send anyone alone. The passage was made of wood and the passage went in short sections and not a spiral! At places it was so narrow that a voluptuous person would find it difficult to pass through!! It was out of question for anyone with vertigo or claustrophobia. At several places the passage goes horizontal with closed doors on either sides which should be opened to access the other side. Esp when you're between the 2 closed doors it definitely feels claustrophobic.

Just before reaching the top, a door opens up as balcony. Here, going on either sides, takes you to either George Tower or Martin Tower. I went to check out the Martin Tower. Now there was a small circular platform to have a good view and beyond this is another tiny spiral staircase to reach further higher level and from here the view was extremely spectacular. Though I totally wasted my time going all the way to La Roche Tower, atleast I wasn't disappointed as climbing this, I got to see such a spectacular view of Basel from atop!!!

I don't know which era the colorful tiles atop belong to, but I'm assuming they too should be from the 15th C CE, when the towers were built, unless they were renovated sometime later. I do have a love for the traditional cement tiles of that era. I already told you about it in my post on Westminster Palace. However here they weren't patterned but just solid bright colors, but were arranged in a beautiful pattern!

The interiors of the church was typical Gothic architecture with high arched ceiling and Romanesque sculptures, that's so typical of the 12th C CE. The pulpit belongs to the 15th C CE and the present organ belongs to 2003, however the original organ must have been placed here ever since Gothic era.

The nave is on an elevated platform, actually its the above of a 2 storied section with the crypt beneath it. The crypt was rather interesting with some ceiling murals which were painted in c.1202 CE. Some more panels were painted c.1400 CE.

The nave has quite a few sculptures that are rustic and belong to the 12th C. Infact a tiny panel at the entrance to the tower staircase is also from this era. Esp the capitals of the pillars at the nave are such amazing examples of the sculptural marvel from Adam & Eve, to dragons to mythological creatures to warrior saints to gruesome killings etc! I don't recognize the story behind most of it and I couldn't find the details there or on their website as well. If someone can explain, I'm all ears.

To Get There:
Nearest tram/bus stop: Markt Platz
Entry fee: Free; Tower Climbing: CHF 5

P.S: I was invited by Basel Tourism Dept - Basel Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

I am not much of a zoo person, but I visited Basel zoo because while searching online about it, I came to know that the Oceanium/Ozeanium here is just spectacular!!! Sadly, very sadly, the Oceanium is still only on papers and not been constructed yet!!! So anyways, here are some pictures of the place.

These snow leopards were very interested and didn't take their sight off of the meat cylinder hanging in the opposite enclosure for the Rhino! Anyways, after eating this lump a bit, this fella decided to go on a swim.

This zoo is the largest (13ha) & oldest in Basel (however area wise it is smaller than Vandaloor zoo (510ha) closer to home in Chennai. This was opened in 3rd July 1874. Here are some more of the animals & birds there! This is just gonna be pictures!!!

The section for orangutans and chimpanzees were interesting. It pretty much reminded me of Dawn of the Planet of Apes. The place was huge filled with trees and covered in mesh. One section of the entire enclosure has a unbreakable double layered glass through which we can see inside very clearly. The apes could interact with the humans keeping hands together, try to touch with the glass barrier between. Unfortunately, very unfortunately there were no apes the day I went!!!

The aquarium was interesting, esp for kids, this place was a fantasy world! Esp, these 2 fishes really intrigued me - See that image of sand, there's actually a fish on it, in sand color. Go figure! The other one had sparkly golden spots on it. The last one, no, that's not a rock, that's actually a fish!!! There was a section within the aquarium, in sub-zero temperatures, meant for penguins!!!

To Get There:

Nearest tram/bus stop: Zoo Dorenbach, Zoo Bachletten, Basel Zoo;

Nearest metro station: Bahnhoff Basel SBB

Entry ticket: CHF 21; Free entry with Basel Card

P.S: I was invited by Basel Tourism Dept to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

When I decided to go to Barcelona, my primary aim was to see as many UNESCO sites as possible, coz it has 9!!! There UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Barcelona is in 2 sections - 7 works of Antoni Gaudi and 2 works of Lluis Domenech i Montaner.

Beginning here with Casa Batllo. This house was originally built in 1877 but completely revamped and given a makeover in 1904-06 by Gaudi. The first thing is that its so easy to figure of the building. Its so damn different. While all the other buildings are pure architecture, this is a mix of nature & architecture or rather nature within architecture.

All the shapes of everything here including doors & windows & decor have a very organic, fluid feel to it. Art Nouveau at its best it is!!! In Spain Art Nouveau is called Catalan Modernism.

There are no lines or sharp edges, everything is curvy - both from the interior & exterior. Believe me, that's a spiral staircase & its railing that I've clicked looking up, in this picture. That should give an idea of how crazy the architecture is!!! The doorways & windows are just random fluid shapes.

The best part of Gaudi architecture is that its mostly self sufficient. There are skylights and huge windows in all rooms to provide enough natural lighting. In many places, the door panes are replaced with translucent recycled colorful glasses that not only provide lighting but also make it interesting & colorful.

The corridor in top floor, has slits on the wall. These slits are downwards so water doesn't come in when it rains, but light comes in!!!

Plus there are also some unique ways in which there's constant circulation of wind in every room. There are wooden planks fixed along its axis which can be closed or opened to improve circulation in summers or block in winters.

Most of the colorful decor in the house are made with broken tiles and glasses. The ceilings on each room have something special in it like a tortoise shell inspired bumpy texture etc, conch inspired wavy pattern etc.

Even the fireplace has a mushroom shaped design. All the doors, windows & cupboards handles are also tiny and botanical inspired, but absolutely ergonomic.

At the terrace is a small room with a small fountain that was a very beautiful, nature inspired, fluid shape that inspired Gaudi when he was alive. It was almost like a meditation room for him. The exterior of this room was just crazy! It resembles a dragon's scaly back, just impeccably colorful. Its completely decorated with broken mosaic tiles. By far, this is the most tastefully done colorful building that I've seen!!!

I was just mesmerized and couldn't help but be reminded of Le Corbusier and Laurie Baker with the upcycling of waste tastefully & colorfully and with the self sufficiency that's taken care in architecture!

To Get There:
Nearest metro / bus stop: Passeig de Gracia
Entry fee: €22.50 onwards (€3 discount with Barcelona Card)
Can be bought online on their website.

Here's a tip: The best way to go about in Barcelona is by buying the 1-day transport card. Here's the catch. In the ticketing machine, the first page has 8 options - 2,3,4 & 5 day passes, 1 way ticket, T10 (10 journeys), T30 (30 journeys) and monthly pass. The 1 day ticket is actually in another page! You've gotta click on other tickets and there you'll find the 1 day pass. If you're there for just 1 day, the 1 day pass works out cheaper than T10 ticket. You can get this ticket at the airport metro station's vending machine. All these tickets are valid for the airport transfer by metro & TMB bus (not Aerobus) as well.

P.S: I was invited by Barcelona Turisme - Barcelona Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Very similar to Casa Batllo, this is also a very fluid, unique building. The right way of seeing the building is to start from the terrace. The terrace was so damn quirky that, that itself took so much of my time. There are several chimney like quirky structures atop.

The best these aren't just decorative, but serve some purpose - some as chimneys, some for wind circulation inside the building, some for skylight and some as entrances to staircases and one even a watertank. While most of these were decorated with mosaic tiles, one of the cluster had wine bottles!!!

Apart from these chimney like structures, there are also 2 arches. One of which frames Sagrada Familia and another frames Montjuic Castle!

Like Casa Batllo, this too was designed by Antoni Gaudi in 1906-12. This is locally called La Pedrera which means an open quarry, coz this looks like one! This came under UNESCO in 1984.

The floor below has a museum that talks about the life of Gaudi and more importantly all his important works in Barcelona. This floor is made of red bricks interior and the curved arched ceiling, a feature that I saw in Casa Batllo as well. This also has the miniature 3D models of all his architecture.

While looking down to the lower floors from the terrace, the interior view of the windows isn't as fluid as Batllo. Unlike Batllo, this ones has a few straight lines.

The floor below that was the re-creation or rather the preservation of the living space of the Mila family incl the kitchen, living room, bedroom etc. The way the rooms are placed and the way they are decorated esp, the windows & ceilings look so much like flower petals or butterfly wings!!! Nature inspired Art Nouveau, or rather Catalan Modernism, in every inch of Gaudi it is, indeed!!!

The whole building has 9 stories, but only the top 3 and ground floor are allowed for visitors. True to Gaudi's idea of self sufficiency, the whole building has a central courtyard that allows skylight to come in through the windows to all the rooms!!!

The ceiling of the ground floor is one visual spectacle! The murals are inspired by plant life and sea life! The painted texture almost looks like moss and sea weed! Not just the paintings, but also the wrought iron grills of windows, staircase railings and door patterns are all flowy, botanical patterns. Frescoes were there around few of the windows of a few floors in a random way. Even the pillars have a fluid feel to them!

From there my next stop was Casa Vicens, built in 1883, again by Antoni Gaudi. This is how it looks from the street that leads to it? Notice anything strange??? Well, that's the life-size digital print on a flex banner, of the photograph of how the place looks like!!! Well, it was under renovation. It was never open to visitors, but now, after renovations, the plans are to open it for visits! I did catch a glimpse of its colorful flat tiles, 3 dimensional tiles, wrought iron grills, and wood & terracotta work in the midst of its closed railings.

The next post is on Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's most important work, so it obviously needs an entire post by itself. The other UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Antoni Gaudi are Parque Güell (Park Guell), Palacio Güell (Guell Palace) and Crypt in Colonia Güell which I didn't get a chance to see. Esp., I feel miserable that I missed Park Guell which is such a vast, colorful, quirky place. Infact its so surreal that when I showed a pic of it to my guy, he just discarded it saying its photoshopped!!!!!

To Get There:
Nearest metro / bus stop for Casa Mila: Diagonal
Nearest metro / bus stop for Casa Vicens: Fontana
Entry fee at Casa Mila: €20.50 onwards (20% off with Barcelona Card)
Can be bought online on their website.

P.S: I was invited by Barcelona Turisme - Barcelona Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

The most visited Antoni Gaudi work in the whole of Barcelona is Sagrada Familia. Somehow my luck was weird! Wherever I go, some renovation work was happening, be it Windsor Castle, Florence Duomo, Pisa Cathedral, Casa Vicens, and here too! It is frustrating to be there but not see the exquisiteness of the place in its true glory, but only with cranes protruding from here & there or digitally printed flex of the original hung in front!!!!

Well, coming back to Sagrada Familia, its a huge Basilica, was built over a long period from 1883-1933, first under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano, then later under Antoni Gaudi. This is Gaudi's masterpiece and when he worked on this, he worked exclusively on this. Being a devout Christian, he dedicated himself completely to this, so much that when he died, his mortal remains were buried here. Unfortunately he didn't even see it get completed.

There are 2 facades to the Church. The entry is through the Nativity Facade and the exit is through the Passion Facade. When I saw the Koekelberg Cathedral, that was the weirdest looking church that I had seen, but now, after looking at this, this ranks no. 1!!!

The sculptural intricacy was so much like Indian temple sculptures with so so so much detailing!!! Unlike other Gaudi architecture which were just fluid shapes, this was a crazy mix of geometric shapes and fluid shapes. Perhaps because the prev architect Francisco designed a Gothic architecture which Gaudi converted as a Nouveau!

As you enter through the Nativity Facade it takes immense time to look into the sculptural detailing. It tells the whole story, right from the appearance of Gabriel to Virgin Mary, crowning of Virgin Mary, His birth, huge comet right atop Him, older shepherds holding him in the hand, younger shepherds seeing Him with awe, kids totally rejoiced with all smiles, the 3 wise men, celestial beings singing & playing musical instruments, turkeys & hens roaming about, escape to Egypt, Jesus as a toddler with Joseph, Jesus as a young carpenter - every tiny detail that you could think of, is there in stone, sculpted!!! Words are written in several places to denote who is who, incl Jesus!!!

I'm definitely have a strong feeling that Gaudi's original idea would have to somehow make the whole thing iridescent and colorful. I mean, remember his uber colorful designs in Casa Batllo? Compare these 2 and with the fact that the building was not completed before he died...

Guess what this is? Its the portal at the entrance. While most churches has celestial beings here, here's Gaudi's master mind and quirky self! Are they bats, leaves, shells?!!!

The doorway is split into 2 with a huge tree in between. Both the doors are filled with leaves and insects incl spiders, geckos, flies, butterflies, moths, ladybirds, grasshoppers etc. So when the doors are closed, the whole effect would look like one huge tree or rather a complete ecosystem! There's also a separate tree filled with doves!

While the entire sculptural detailing was fluid, the interiors was completely geometric. The pillars opens up to the ceiling like the branches of a tree, but just completely geometrical. The ceiling patterns are also completely geometrical.

The stained glass windows are again very unique. There aren't much of detailed painting, but are geometric but asymmetric glasses. The are 12 windows on either side, each window bringing in a color from green to violet on one side and from red to yellow on the other side.

This is the structure on either sides of the altar which leads to the tower. I don't know if its accessible for the public, but since restoration was happening when I went, it wasn't allowed. Even the ceiling of the crypt has a similar geometric feel to it.

The exit facade is where the Passion panel is. This isn't as detailed as the Nativity panel and its much less complicated and minimalist. The scenes here incl, His prayer, Him carrying the cross, and being crucified.

Again from outside, this is a spectre to see the 18 impeccable, gigantic, colorful towers - 1 representing Jesus, 1 representing Mary, 4 for the 4 gospels and 12 for the 12 apostles. All of these are covered with Gaudi's typical multicolored mosaic pieces! And don't miss the frail Jesus Christ ascending to Heaven between the 2 towers on either sides (1st pic of this post), in this facade.
Here's a tip: Buy the ticket online. There is no point standing in the queue there. When you buy online you choose a time slot and you have to get to the Nativity Facade at that time. If you're buying the ticket there, if its crowded, you might get the slot a couple hours later and that's exactly what happened with me. I ended up visiting every place twice, once to get the ticket and once to actually see the place!!!!

To Get There:
Nearest metro station: Sagrada Familia
Nearest bus stop: Av-Gaudi, Sardenya-Mallorca
Entry fee: €15.00 onwards (€1 off with Barcelona Card)
Can be bought online on their website.

P.S: I was invited by Barcelona Turisme - Barcelona Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Unlike the earlier posts, this site under UNESCO was not designed by Antoni Gaudi but by Lluís Domènech i Montaner who was also a Catalan Mordernist (Spanish counterpart of Art Nouveau) like Gaudi.

To begin with, this place was a functioning hospital till 2009 and it totally confused me. I followed a map and I ended up at the actual Hospital i.e., the present functioning hospital complete with its ambulance. There were no boards that showed any direction to the old building. So, I had no option than to just get into the new hospital and ask one of the staff there on the whereabouts of the old building. Guess what, I wasn't the first one to do it. They have a bunch of printouts of a map from the new hospital to the old hospital and its a 5 minutes walk! By the time this confusion got sorted, the guided tour that I had opted for had already started! Thankfully they allowed me join in.

A hospital has been here ever since 1450. It was originally a building that brought together 6 health centres that were in Barcelona. The construction of this building began in 1401 making this the oldest hospital still standing in the world today! It was then called Hospital de la Santa Creu which means Hospital of the Holy Cross. After 5 centuries of non stop usage, in 19th C, the building couldn't withstand any more and had to be rebuilt.

It was around this time when the rich banker Pau Gil i Serra died and left a major portion of his wealth to rebuild the hospital. The new hospital was built in 1902-1930. In 1997 it came under UNESCO.

The first room is an underground room with arched ceiling and imposing pillars called the Hypostyle Hall. This was originally the first point of contact at the hospital from where patients were transported to various rooms, galleries and pavilions. Later in 1990s this place was converted to Emergency Ward. Next to this is the tunnel. When the hospital was functioning, the whole floor had several colored lines to direct people to various places like red for blood bank, blue for emergencies etc.

Halfway through the length of the tunnel were the gardens. Beyond this was the central courtyard. In the building opposite side of the courtyard is the Operation Theatre! Its exactly in the same place one atop the other in 3 floors are the 3 operation theatres! Its circular in shape and the observation deck for the interns was along the edge. It has no walls at all, just pillars & glass. So the whole place gets all the light from the nature!

The next section was the St.Rapheal Pavilion. This originally had a row of beds for in-patients. Since this was funded by Rafael Rubel, there's an R denoted in the ceramic designs atop the windows. The walls of this room is fitted with ceramic tiles which is easy to clean, so hygiene is at a good standard. Very similar to this there are 7 other pavilions which are not open to public. Each also has a dome atop with red and yellow solid colored ceramic tiles but placed to form different patterns in each dome!

Similar to Gaudi, his style is also very colorful and the usage of broken mosaic tiles to beautify surfaces, multicolored solid tiles that form pattern upon roof etc can be seen here too! Also the typical Art Nouveau elements of being inspired by nature was also visible at many places with ducks, rabbits, and geckos depicted!

In the first floor is a huge seminar room like space filled with seating arrangements with a pavilion. This is sky lit with a huge circular stained glass work on the ceiling! This particular piece of art is beyond exquisite!!! This is surrounded by the typical broken mosaic tile patterns. This was the predecessor to the much more exquisite 3 dimensional dome shaped circular stained glass with more complex patterns in his other creation Musica Catalana, which is also under UNESCO! Sadly I didn't have time to see that.

There's passage from here leading to the next room. The ceiling here is also gorgeous. But what's much more interesting is the light that passes through the colorless clear glass on the windows here. I was lucky enough to see this on a bright sunny day! See the texture difference??? The original glass of the yesteryear were handmade and blown which gives it its unique texture. However during renovation the damaged glasses were replaced the regular clear glass!

The next room is the Chapel. The view from here of the whole site is one splendid sight.

Here's a tip, if you're opting for a guided tour, look for the schedule & language. There are only about 2-3 tours per day per language. Check the timing and join on time.

To Get There:

Nearest metro station: Sant Pau | Dos de Maig

Nearest bus stop: Cartagena-Av Gaudí & Av. Gaudí-Castillejos

Entry fee: €19.00 (20% off with Barcelona Card)

Can be bought online on their website.

P.S: I was invited by Barcelona Turisme - Barcelona Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

...I met Nefertiti...

Just like how London has Thames, Paris has Siene, Amsterdam has Amstel, there is a river flowing bang in the middle of Berlin called Spree. And bang in the middle of the city, in the middle of Spree, is a tiny little island on top of which are 5 Museums & 1 Church.

The 5 museums here are Bode Museum, Pergamonmuseum, Neues Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie and Altes Museum. With the time I had I could visit only Neues Museum and it was there that I got to meet Nefertiti!!!

Anyone who has learnt the basics of Art History would very much know who is Nefertiti. She was an Egyptian Queen and the wife of King Akhnetan. She was extremely beautiful woman and infact I used to call one of my friends, who looked like her, lean with long face, high cheeks, sharp nose and elongated eyes, as Nefertiti!!!

Pic Courtesy: Philip Pikart via Wikimedia Commons

And how do we know she was beautiful? Well, a sculpture of her bust from her sarcophagus still survives. And ever since my uni days, I drooled over the beauty of Nefertiti. And honestly, when I set off to Berlin, I did not know Nefertiti was there!!! And to see her with my own eyes, I was just in Cloud 9!!! Unfortunately photography wasn't allowed there. Errr... I did try to click her from the next room with my tele-lens but a guard was sure to stand right in front of my camera!!!

The section was filled with Egyptian Civilization awesomeness. One more of my favourites was the relief of Akhnetan and Nefertiti seated with their children and blessed by Ra (Sun God). Another interesting sculpture was a free standing little sculpture of either Akhnetan or Tutunkhamen.

The topmost floor has the pre-historic accounts of Berlin incl the items recovered during various excavations. Along with it was The Golden Hat, excavated in Berlin. Such pre-historic Golden Hats have been found in various places across Europe. The origin of this particular golden hat may have been from somewhere in Alps. This is a masterpiece of the Bronze Age (c. 2000 BCE)!

See the several circular pattern on the hat, its not just decorative or random, but denotes the 19 yr cycle of sun & moon. The hat being a tall and valuable one, should have been worn by a priest or ruler. There's a star atop to depict sun. There are sickle & eye patterns to denote moon & venus. To realize that our forefathers 4000 years earlier, knew leap year and used it to synchronize sun & moon year (which has a difference of 11 days) is plain crazy!! Calculations depict 12 lunar cycles a year and addition of 7 lunar months every 19 years to sync the cycles... It was an astronomer's or scientist's or mere sky watcher's heaven!!!

I honestly did not understand why photography was allowed near the Golden Hat when it wasn't allowed near Nefertiti, or rather why wasn't photography allowed near Nefertiti. Strange.... Ideally an entire day isn't enough to see the 5 museums in Museum Island. But if you don't have time, just don't miss Nefertiti...

The first museum here in the island was Altes Museum which opened in 1830s. It was in 1930, that its latest museum being Pergamon Museum. In 1830s, it was a social revolution to make art accessible for general public! For this, for being a standing example of the Age of Enlightenment and evolution of museum design & urban architecture in 19th C, the whole island with its 5 museums, came under the wings of UNESCO in 1999.

To Get There:

Nearest bus stop: Lustgarden
Nearest Metro station: Hackescher Markt

Entry fee: €10 (free with 72h Welcome Card + Museumsinsel)

The Museum has a free coat/bag storage facility.

P.S: I was invited by Visit Berlin - Welcome Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Dedicated to Venkat

As I said in the earlier post about the Island Museum, amongst the Museums is 1 Church called the Berliner Dom. This was built in 1894-1905. Earlier this was the site of a Baroque styled smaller church since 15th C. However the present building is new.

However again in 1944, in WWII, it was damaged by a bomb and the dome, most of interiors and tombs were destroyed and was repaired in the following years which got completed in 1993. However the dome got completed only in 2002!!!

Soon after entering the church (that's through the side entrance) the first thing to see is the ceremonial sarcophagus for Prince Friedrick Wilhem and his 2nd wife Dorathea, near the entrance.

Coming into the Nave of the church, its one splendid structure. The dome is atop the nave and to see the stained glass circle atop from the ground below was beautiful. But what was more splendid was the mosaic works! On the dome, there are 8 panels depicting various scenes from the Sermon on the Mount.

Atop the altar are 4 mosaics of the 4 gospels. Apart from the mosaics there are also relief sculptures on the 4 corners of the nave, making this level octagonal,and the windows above it is 16 panelled.

The organ is located opposite to the altar and just look at its sheer size with all its 7269 pipes. From its other side entrance is the way to go up. In the first floor is the King's Gallery and Queen's Galley. Here's also the Balcony Box. I was pretty much amused to see a Balcony concept like a theatre, in a church!!!

Further ahead begins the spiral staircase to reach atop. Unlike Copenhagen and Basel, the staircase here is pretty straight forward without much of wood work or sections. But then this is a very new church compared to those two. There are several doors along the way. It was about 270 stairs to reach atop. It was not tricky, just a wee bit tedious - that's it. So unless you're a total couch potato, this isn't a problem at all. The way up and the way down are 2 different ways here.

The view from atop is definitely spectacular! Esp those angels and celestial sculptures look great up close and the view of the Museum Island and the Spree around it and the Berlin city beyond it is just perfect!!!

Once down, you've gotta go further down to see the crypt where the tombs of important saints and members of royal family are put to rest!

To Get There:

Nearest bus stop: Lustgarden
Nearest Metro station: Hackescher Markt

Entry fee: €7 (not a part of Welcome Card)
Timings for dome tour: 9:00AM to 8:00PM
Services: 10:00AM, 12:00 noon & 6:00PM
Dome tour isn't allowed during services & events

P.S: I was invited by Berliner Dom to experience it for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Dedicated to Venkat

Berlin has a gory history that's world famous thanks to Adolf Hitler & Cold war. The infamous Berlin wall, quite literally tore the city into 2. This was built in 1961 to segregate the Allies controlled Germany and Soviet controlled Germany. West was under America and was a free society and East was under USSR with Nazi regime.

Later when good times returned, the Berlin Wall was broken in 1989 uniting the 2 sides. Today it and its associated elements, stand still in few section at few places - Berlin Wall Museum, East Side Gallery, Checkpoint Charlie and Topography of Terror. The Museum is located slightly away from the centre of the city so I couldn't go there. This is my travelogue on the rest 3 of the places.

East Side Gallery is the longest bit of Berlin Wall that's still standing. At 1.3km, this was painted by 118 artists from 21 countries as a sign of a celebration towards the fall of the wall! The number of paintings are 101 that cover the entire height of the wall in various widths. These were done in 1989 & 90. However it was major target of vandalism and in 2009 the renovation began and certain panels are yet to be cleaned up.

The wall begins with the words East Side Gallery and the first ever panel itself depicted India and I was pretty thrilled about it. There's an Indian flag on the corner and a huge image of Goddess Kali with some wordings written below which I couldn't figure out. A walk ahead took me to the most famous grafitti is the reproduction of the photograph of the kiss between Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker that happened on the 30th anniversary of German Democratic Republic. Below it are the words 'Mein Gott, hilf mir, diese tödliche Liebe zu überleben' which means 'My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love'. There were several allegorical, symbolical imageries. There were some caricatures too!

From there my next destination was Topography of Terror which is a combination of both indoor and outdoor museums. A portion of the Berlin Wall stands here as well. Withered with holes of the effort to break it down, and curved and twisted iron rods, this looks interesting!

Beside the wall, the actual space of the site is actually where once the Gestapo (secret police of Europe occupied Germany) and Schutzstaffel (a parliamentary organization under Hitler) stood. So the remnants of those buildings with a bit of its brick masonry of walls, arched doorways, iron pipes of plumbing etc. This entire wall is utilized as a background for a presentation to explain Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, Cold War & Berlin Wall. There's also a library here where books about it all are available to read and also buy!

My next stop was Checkpoint Charlie which was the official border crossing point between East & West Germany. This was once the Wagah border of Germany (Indians & Pakistanis would understand that). There were strict restrictions for the crossing and a visa was required as well. During the Cold War the tanks of US & USSR were kept on either sides of the Checkpoint Charlie.

Today its a memorial where the original sandbags and American flag and Visa clearance point and warning board that says you're leaving the American sector etc are maintained as it was! Along the Checkpoint Charlie in 2 lines of cobble stones on the ground along the line where the Berlin Wall once stood. Standing there looking at the buzzing traffic, I couldn't help but think 2 decades back, this would have been such a different place!!!

To Get There:
East Side Gallery: Nearest metro - Schelesisches Tor & Warschauer Strabe
Topography of Terror: Nearest metro - Anhalter Bahnhof & Potsdamer Platz
Checkpoint Charlie: Nearest metro - Kochstr / Checkpoint Charlie
Entry Fee: Free at all 3 places
Timings: 24hrs at all 3 places

P.S: I was invited by Visit Berlin - Welcome Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Dedicated to Venkat

My day at Berlin started with the Berlin Wall. Since I reached Berlin at Schonfield Airport, my first stop was the place nearest to me, on the way to Berlin city - East Side Gallery. From there, my next stop was, Museum Island and Berliner Dom.

It was post noon by this time and we were terrifically hungry. After a lunch at a Thai takeaway near Friedrichstrasse Bahnhof, we set off to Reichstag Building which is essentially the German Parliament. The specialty of this building is that it has a transparent dome. The idea behind it is to signify that all the decisions taken and all political matters are completely transparent to the general public. This was built in 1894. It was originally a stone dome which got destroyed in bombing and in 1999, it was replaced with glass dome.

And yes, it is open to public to view and its free of cost too! However similar to Big Ben, application has to be sent atleast a month ahead I guess. I tried to get it done 2 weeks and it wasn't available!!! It is possible to book it then and there, but the queue is way too long and the booking can be done only 2 hrs in advance.

From there a 5 min walk took me to Bradenburg Gate which is similar to Brussels' Arcade du Cinquantenaire or London's Wellington Arch or Paris' Arc de Triomphe. This was built under King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and by architect Carl Gotthard Langhans in 1791. However just like the Parliament, this too was damaged heavily during the World War and was renovated 2002.

Again, a 5 more minutes walk from there took us to Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This was designed by architect Peter Eisenman from New York. This was one surreal place. It was a very simple, minimalist architecture. But on a sunny day, the way light falls on it, its just surreal!!! The ground is smooth, but not in the same level, its wavy with varying heights and so are the pillars, making them vary from just 2 ft tall to 10 ft tall!!! This isn't a graveyard or tombstone, as the name suggests its a memorial. I don't know weather its allowed to sit or stand on these pillars, as I was unaware of the sentiments of the locals regarding this, though I did see many doing the same (again I'm unaware if they were locals or tourists). Just mesmerized by the architecture and how light & shadow created such an interesting pattern, I clicked some pics posing here!

My last 2 spots were Topography of Terror and Checkpoint Charlie. I wrapped up my day sitting on a street side seating near Checkpoint Charlie where there was a musician making our evening, just spectacular.

On the way something we could just see was the TV Tower. Its the highest building in Berlin and it has a spherical rotating restaurant atop. It takes 1 hr to complete 1 rotation and sitting on a window seat atop it watching Berlin while having your lunch or dinner must be one heck of an experience. Unfortunately it was fully booked on the day we went!

There are 2 types of transport cards when it comes to tourists & cities. One is the regular public transport card and the other is the Hop-in Hop-off bus. I hate that Hop-in & Hop-off thing, coz it gets so difficult to track the timings and routes (usually they have 2-3 routes), esp when you're more of a traveler than a tourist. Thankfully in Berlin, as a part of Berlin Welcome Card, the public transport is covered. It comes in 2 region options AB & ABC (that C covers Potsdam and Schonfield airport). It also comes in 2,3,4 and 5 days validity options. The 3 days one alone, has the option of adding in the Museum Island. The transport card has to be punched with date & time on the first travel undertaken at any metro station or within the bus. After that, there's no swipe-in swipe-out complication.

To Get There:
Bradenburg Gate: Nearest metro station - Berlin Brandenburger Tor
Entry Fee: Free at all places
Timings:
24hrs at Memorial for Murdered Jews & Bradenburg Gate
Pre-determined time slot at Reichstag Building & TV Tower restaurant

P.S: I was invited by Visit Berlin - Welcome Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Dedicated to Venkat

…or rather the Top 5 romantic beaches of India that I’ve been to!...

Nope, I still haven’t been to Goa in my life so far, so this is going to be a list without Goa in it!!! Is it a cardinal sin?!!!! Lolz… When I say Romantic, I’m meaning those beaches which are less crowded and secluded!!

1. Thiruchopuram Beach, Puducherry - This beach tops any list of beaches, I’ve ever been to in my life!!! I don’t think I’ll ever come across a beach more beautiful than this!!! Located close to Puducherry, this is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, with the road that leads to it, in a very pathetic condition, which is kinda a blessing in disguise that prevents tourists from reaching there! This is unfortunately the remains of a tsunami affected region. The ruins of the structures that were here gives the place a very interesting landscape! This isn’t a tourist spot. Apart from a couple of locals, there wasn’t a human on this entire place apart from me & my guy!!!

2. Paradise Beach, Puducherry - There are some beaches in India which are rather unique, in their landscape. Located on a small piece of land which aren’t islands but disconnected majorly from the mainland by backwaters except for a tiny little connection somewhere (kinda opposite of what a 'gulf' is). Paradise beach is like that. A ferry ride is needed from the main land to reach this side. This isn’t an untouched beach, but has very less number of people in it! The sand is pristine. There are few shacks and few shops!

3. Mudaliyar Kuppam, Chennai - Similar to Paradise Beach, this too has to be reached from the main land by a ferry ride. We were a gang of 7 of us who went there and when we went we were the only humans on the entire stretch of beach!!! Need I say more??!!!! But there’s more, you could do some speed boating or kayaking here as well!!!!!

4. Gorai, Manori, Erangal, Aksa & Madh Beaches, Mumbai - To even understand these beaches, it is necessary to look into the map. There are 2 backwaters back to back here!!! A ferry from Gorai Road in Borivali in mainland takes you to an almost semi-island like area, on the other side of which is the Gorai beach. Manori beach is close to this. Again, a ferry ride is needed at Marve to get to the main land which again is another semi-island at this location!!! Here are the Erangal, Aksa and Madh beaches. Again, a ferry ride from Versova takes you to the main land! Almost all the beaches are quiet with just no-one except local fishermen. The sand here is There’s a beautiful church in Erangal and a fort in Madh!

5. Tenneti Beach, Vizag - Located very close to the city, this is somehow often overlooked! Located at the base of Rishikonda hill, many climb the hill, have a look at the beach from atop the hill and skip going to the actual beach!!! With the Tenneti Park just beside it is one of the most beautiful sunrise you’ll ever witness!

Want more options of Romantic Beaches? Instead, looking for beaches to go with friends or family? Check out this Interactive Beach Guide of India by Expedia!

Fit for the King in You!

Hampi has been in my wishlist for long, one of the reasons coz its a UNESCO World Heritage Site and anyone who reads my blog regularly knows that I'm a bit crazy about it!!! We took a long weekend off and set off to Hampi and for more about its awesomeness you've gotta wait for the upcoming posts. Before that, here's more about where we stayed - Orange County Luxury Resorts, Hampi.

To begin with, entering the resort through high wooden doors filled with metal decor & spikes, fitted on high granite wall, it was pretty much like entering a castle! With a 150m long waterway in front of the resort, going towards it, slowing engulfing its massiveness and palatial beauty its just mesmerizing! Covering an area of about 28 acres, in the middle of nowhere, just beside Daroji Bear Sanctuary (no, so far bears haven't come visiting the resort), its indeed a palace!!!

I was escorted in by the lovely staff of the hotel, women clad in beautiful cotton Gaghra that looks like saree and men with kurta with dhoti! Yes, the outfit has been designed keeping in mind the local clothing & the dry heat conditions in Hampi. The welcome drink is either Buttermilk or Badam milk! Everything in the hotel has been designed keeping in mind what the town is famous for - Hampi ruins - combining Vijayanagara Hindu architecture & Bahmani Islamic architecture - all, now UNESCO World Heritage Sites!

There are 4 types of rooms in the hotel - Nivasa, Nilaya, Zenana and Jal Mahal! There are 23 Nivasa rooms at 950 sq ft each, 8 Nilaya rooms at 1300 sq ft each, just 6 Zenana rooms (these are the corner rooms) at 1600 sq ft and the separate cottages called Jal Mahal are 9 in number at 2600 sq ft each!!! All the rooms are equipped with king sized beds, toiletries, mini bar, and the bathrooms are fitted with a shower, bathtub and Jacuzzi.

Several tiny little details of these rooms brings us close to a royal experience - doors & windows shaped like Islamic palace doors, cupboards & containers made of wood with brass detailing that look like royal treasure trunks, the switches are retro, liquid toiletries in ceramic containers, lights are fitted in a outer casing that look like a castle torch, a fabric hanging atop the bed that looks like the age old manual ceiling fans (punkah) used by royalties!!!

I'll give you a very simple idea - the bathroom of these rooms here are as big as the actual rooms of budget hotels!!! Except for the Nivasa rooms, the rest of the rooms have a separate living room apart from the bedroom. The Zenana and Jal Mahal rooms have a separate dining area and an open balcony as well!

However all the rooms have huge French windows (shaped in an Islamic style ofcourse) that will give a fantastic view! All the rooms are equipped with cupboard safes, kettles, French press for coffee, a bowl of fresh fruits, some local sweets (that are replenished everyday) etc!!! To be eco-conscious, all rooms are provided with RO drinking water taps and glass bottles; also a card requesting to not change the sheets is also provided, so the impact of detergent can be minimized!!! Nivasa, Nilaya and Zenana are in the main building while Jal Mahal rooms are like private cottages, each separate!

Jal Mahal is an epitome of luxury!!! As the name says, its surrounded by Jal i.e. water! The entrance to the cottages requires crossing a bit of water on some granite slabs. As soon as you enter is the drawing/dining room, next is living room with the TV and from here the back door opens which leads to your own private infinity pool!!!

Just beside the pool is a small private lounging area facing the setting sun! There's also seating arrangements in the shade if that's the preference. Private candle light dinner could be arranged here as well. A wall separates this area between adjacent cottages! The pool is accessible also from the bedroom as well as bathroom! The shower of the bathroom is skylit! These rooms are an honeymooner's delight!!!

More about the hotel's other facilities coming up soon. Stay tuned!!!

To get there:

On Google Maps: Orange County Hampi

From Hospet Jn: 17 km

From Bangalore Airport & City Station: 350 km

Transport is arranged by the resort from nearest airport / railway station on prior request.

Room tariff begins at Rs.29000/-

To Book: Orange County Hampi

Resort Ph no: +91 (0)8274 258 481-4

P.S: I was invited by Orange County, Hampi to stay and experience the hotel for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Fit for the King in You!

Continuing with more about Orange County Resort in Hampi! Apart from the rooms, there are 2 swimming pools, 2 restaurants, a bar, a spa, a meditation room and a game room.

The infinity pool is an adults only pool and there's a separate family pool as well! There are sunbathing beds beside the infinity pool and you can order something to drink at the restaurant/bar beside as well. The pool is not temparature regulated, but with the dry heat conditions in Hampi, the cool water feels awesome! Check out the boulders beside the family pool - they're actually changing rooms!!!

Candle light dinners can be arranged upon request at your own balcony (or pool in case of Jal Mahal) or beside the common infinity pool! Just beside the Infinity pool is the Tuluva restaurant. The complementary breakfast buffet here is beyond expectation with a range for everyone incl vegan/vegetarian, south & north Indian, cereals & fruits, egg section, freshly baked section, and even a section for weight watchers!!!

For lunch/dinner the local Vijayanagara Cuisine is a must try!!! Enagayi was divine with brinjal stuffed with spices, coconut, tamarind & jaggery. The mix of jaggery, tamarind & spices gave the perfect blend of sweet, tangy & spicy taste! Shenga Obbattu - a sweet pancake in dessert is a must! In the Lunch/Dinner section, the Cottage Cheese Steak, Subz Biriyani (I found this better here than the Bahmani restaurant!), were perfect! Attached to this is the bar!

Yes, there's a range of Mocktails for those non-drinkers as well! There's an in-house flutist who makes the dining experience here impeccably enjoyable! Next to it is the game room which has a billiards side by side with the traditional south Indian board games!!! See the mural behind? The entire hotel is dotted with such murals throughout!

Opposite to the Jal Mahal rooms, is the Lotus Mahal which houses the Bahmani Restaurant, Vaidyasala (spa), Souvenir shop and a Library (reading area)! The library has its own open space that faces the setting sun! The Bahmani restaurant specializes in Mughal cuisine. Kham Khatai & Dastan e Paneer with the 3 yummy pickles & chutneys is the perfect starter to the dinner. Dare not miss the Shahi Tukda on dessert!

The Vaidyasala (spa) is too good and deserves a post on itself. Will post on that soon! In the first floor of the main building, just behind the facade's balcony is the meditation room called Deep Mahal which is filled with tea candles late in the evenings which gives a fuzzy, warm feel to the room.

Atleast once wake up early and watch the sunrise from the terrace or the balcony of the main facade, its gorgeous! And then on the way back to your room see how the sunlight forms stunning shadows with this architecture! Also, atleast once be beside the pool and watch the sunset from here, and take a stroll at night and check out the interesting lighting that they've put up! All that said, yes, the cellphone network as well as wifi are a bit patchy here and the landscaping around the hotel is yet to be completed!!!

The architecture astounded me in certain functional areas! Behind the common bathroom in main building and the spa in Lotus Mahal are small waterbodies with lillies, that are open to sky; also the showers, private infinity pools & lounges of Jal Mahal rooms are also open to sky - utmost care has been taken in designing to make sure that none of these are visible from anywhere else even if you're standing on the terrace!!! That's expected when the owners are a bunch of architects!!!

Over to the actual Hampi ruins, which is a UNESCO site (as well as other sites), guided tours are arranged by the hotel. There are standard tours (where all the interested guests are taken together) that happens twice a day and dedicated tours (especially you and your guide) as well. There are 5 in-house guides headed by a historian who are pretty much knowledgeable in the Hampi history, culture and all the locales around as well! These guides are trained & certified by Karnataka Tourism Dept and are given further training by the historian of the hotel! More about it coming up soon in the next few posts! Cycles are also available to hire to explore the nearby sanctuary with a guide to explore the flora and fauna of the region, if that's you interest area!!! Stay tuned to know where I explored in Hampi.

In simple words, stay here for a long weekend and experience how the Vijayanagara or Bahmani royalty would have felt like!!!!! If you know Tamil, this is exactly ராஜ வாழ்க்கை!

To get there:

Refer to my earlier post.

P.S: I was invited by Orange County, Hampi to stay and experience the hotel for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Magnolia Resorts (Coorg (Kodagu) - Karnataka)

Tadiandamol Peak (Coorg (Kodagu) - Karnataka)

Cafe Mercera Express (Chennai - Tamil Nadu)

Nalkanad Palace (Coorg (Kodagu) - Karnataka)

Why is Israel in my wishlist?!

Basel in 24 hrs - Part I (Switzerland)

Basel in 24 hrs - Part II (Switzerland)

Basel Munster (Basel - Switzerland)

Basel Zoo (Basel - Switzerland)

Casa Batllo (Barcelona - Spain)

Casa Mila & Casa Vicens (Barcelona - Spain)

Sagrada Familia (Barcelona - Spain)

Sant Pau Recinte Modernista Hospital (Barcelona - Spain)

Museum Island (Berlin - Germany)

Berliner Dom (Berlin - Germany)

Berlin Wall, Topography of Terror & Checkpoint Charlie (Berlin - Germany)

Day Trip to Berlin (Germany)

Top 5 Romantic Beaches of India

Orange County Resorts Hampi - A Review - Part I (Ballari - Karnataka)

Orange County Resort Hampi - A Review - Part II (Ballari - Karnataka)