Lepakshi Visit

It was end of March, the summer was just started. We were looking for a short trip near to Bangalore‬. Lepakshi fits into that, which is just at little as more than hundred kilometers. We started late in morning from Whitefield and took the airport road. Traffic was not bad as it was Saturday. Reaching to Devanahalli took one hour. After that we moved on NH44 Hyderabad road. This road is one of the best roads we have in country, I guess. Four lane road on both sides with service roads, diverted out of passing towns and not much traffic load, make the drive excellent. Speed more than one-forty looks very comfortable to me. As there is almost no crossing road, one hardly have to press brake. Next seventy kilometers did not take much time. Then we took diversion for Lepakshi. Last fifteen kilometers road was also fine. So after total two hours drive we reached to Lepakshi.

The small town welcomes tourists with a Big nandi at its entrance. Signboards are pretty good. Then comes the APTRC run Haritha hotel. Lepakshi temple is very near to that. We parked our car there and we had to run inside temple as Sun was on top and floor was baking. Temple is well maintained. After spending one hour we came out and went to buy toy for my son. We had food which we brought from home. The return drive was again great. Driving on Hyderabad road was one of the best drives I had. In next two hours we were back to home. Lepakshi trip took only half day and take you far from Bangalore busy day to give a refreshing experience.

Yercaud Trip

It was the year end. Christmas weekend was long so we planned to go to Yercaud hills which is two hundrthed and twenty five kilometers only from Bangalore. Early morning we started in Ertiga car which was good enough for six people and four small kids though there was a space crunch for luggage. In one hour we reached to tollgate of Chennai highway. It was a long queue there, probably due to weekend. Journey from there was comfortable as road is very well. Drive was smooth and speed more than hundred and ten is standard here. After one more hour we stopped in between to have our breakfast. Restaurant was crowded and after a wait of fifteen minutes we could get a seat. After breakfast, we started again and soon we reached to Salem city. Passing through the city took half an hour. Once we crossed the city, the road to the hill was not very far. We paid toll at entrance check post. Signboard there shows that there are twenty hairpin bends. Drive from that point was adventurous. The sharp bends, deep valleys, monkeys sitting on roadside walls made the drive eventful. After another half an hour we reached to the small sleepy town Yercaud. We passed besides the lake. Golden Nest resort where we had booking, was not very far. From the lake road it was at five hundred meters only but we had to drive very upward. The first view of resort was great. We did check-in and moved to our rooms. Rooms were great. A hall having kitchen connected to the bedroom and having a balcony from where there was a view of lake. Soon we got ready and went to restaurant. Restaurant was at the top of the hill and road was very steep. It was tiresome effort but view of valley from restaurant was worth rewarding. Food was good and ambiance of restaurant was soothing. After the late lunch there, we went to the lake. 

Yercaud lake is very scenic. One can spend hours there. There we took tickets for boating. We spent one hour in boats in the calm lake. Lake is surrounded by roads from almost all side with a botanical garden on one end. There was a decent crowd at the lake which is the main center of attraction for this hill town. From lake we went to Rose garden which was not very well maintained. Then we went to Lady's seat, which is the famous view point. We could see the deep valleys and hairpin bend roads. There was a Telescope House but was closed as it was late evening. This place is a gem but poorly maintained. There was no proper sitting places and it was mostly occupied by street vendors. It was very cold and having tea was the best thing one can have. After spending some good time, we went back to the resort. In night we came to the lake again. It was eight pm only but town was almost sleeping with few tourists enjoying their dinner in lakeside restaurants. After a short walk around the lake we went back to our resort and had dinner in the restaurant. Food was again awesome.

Next day we woke up early. There was no plan to go anywhere as my son was not well in the night. After the breakfast we spent an hour in the resort and then started back for Bangalore. The return journey started with the sharp bends and few people were feeling uncomfortable. Near one of the bend, a small waterfalls was there. We stopped there to have some good photos. After the hill road we passed Salem town. We took few small breaks before Kriahnagiri. I was driving after that. In next one hour we reached to home.

I found this small hill station very calm and unexplored. Local administration should improve the lake and Lady's seat so tourists should spend more time there. In any case it's one of the cool gateways from Bangalore.

A Date with Tajmahal

This November, I planned for Agra trip as part of my chhath vacation. It started with a visit to Delhi by flight. From Delhi, I had booking in Bhopal Shatabadi express for Agra. We boarded the train at New Delhi station in early morning. This train is the fastest train of India. A good number of passengers were foreigners, inbound to Agra. Services in train were superb. In two and half hours only, we reached to Agra Cantonment station. One of my friend who is native of Agra came to station to receive me. As per his suggestions, we planned to visit Tajmahal as first thing for the day. 

Mostly tourists enter into Tajmahal from east or west gate but my friend took us at south gate. There was no queue at ticket counter and a short queue only at the entrance. Security at entrance was strict. After a walk of few hundred meters, we entered through another gate. There the majestic Tajmahal was in front of us. It is as beautiful as it is mentioned in numerous literature. We got ourselves photographed there. Then we walked through the lawn to reach the Tajmahal. The beautiful white architectural monument is exceptionally marvelous. We had a walk around before we went inside. Shoe covers were put on to protect whiteness of the marbles. I saw local people who care less about these heritage and sit where they are not supposed to be. They need to be educated. Once we came out, we had a walk around veranda where we could see calm Yamuna river flowing along the boundary of it. One can see Mehtabbagh on opposite side. Once we came out through west gate, we went to Hotel Taj for breakfast but their service was pathetic. So we came out. There was a huge rush at ticket counter and entrance at the west gate. Not sure why south gate is not widely popularized where crowd is generally thin. From Tajmahal, we hired a Tonga or horse-cart to go to Agra fort, also called as Red fort. Traffic was badly mismanaged. Never thought that traffic around the country's most sought tourist place will be so bad.

At red fort, there was less crowd though it was also one of the main tourist places. Fort is constructed of red sandstone. This fort was very giant which can be realized from a view from outside only. We went inside but spent less time as we were feeling the peak of heat. From there we went to friend's house. We purchased famous panchi petha from old town. There was a plan to go to Fatehpur sikri but skipped it due to the traffic. In evening we went to Tundla station to catch the train for hometown.