Blissful Benaras

A panoramic view of the ghats

A sudden burst of emotions and you make some of the best decisions in life. One such decision of my life was to quit my job and go to Benaras. I happened to reach there just in time to celebrate the festival of colours, Holi. Now, the first thing I realized was that the Ghats are the soul of this city. Even if they aren't already when you reach, they become an  eternal part of each and every soul present there. For most of them who belong to Benaras, life begins and ends on these ghats...

The grand every-day evening Puja 

For me, everything there was like music.

From the journey to the ghats on a rickshaw, breathing in the early morning beauty of Benaras to sitting on a mildly rocking boat with this crazy friend at midnight sipping hot lemon tea, watching the orange moon at the horizon.

From the first rays of the sun sparkling on the water of the Ganges, watching devotees immerse themselves into the holy river to the massive diyas that light up hundreds of worshiper's beliefs, at a Puja which is nothing less than a performance.

The early morning Puja at Dasaswamedh ghat

From Surya Namaskar on a ghat pillar embracing the background flute melody to a cross country talk on the rooftop at a midnight jam.

From the funeral process of becoming an eternal part of the holy Ganges to the endless walks in this city high on colors, bhaang and dreams - the contrast surely brings out the art in everything.

Benaras during Holi is blissfully colorful and chaotic. A celebration in its true sense.

Benaras to me was "beautiful chaos". A chaos that broke all the patterns in my head and gave me a totally different perspective about travelling. And also initiated the start of my very own brand "My Yellow Diary".

That is where we sat and stared at the orange moon sipping hot lemon tea at midnight.
 And yea..I made a journal out of it :)

Sketch of the early morning beauty

The best description of Varanasi by Lonely Planet

PS: I was too immersed in the beauty of this town that I almost forgot to click pictures.

Do take a walk starting from Assi ghat to the other end and back. Every ghat tells a different story. :)

The Windy City!

The 3^rd largest city in the United States lying on the shore of Lake Michigan, Chicago gets its name from “Shikaakwa” meaning “Stinky onion”. Weird right!

Right from the airport to travelling in the L train, from throwing all my stuff in the hostel to finally reaching the aqua waters of Lake Michigan, Chicago offers different panoramas and experiences at every step.  It gives you a feel of walking in a big metropolitan city yet feeling at home.

The first breeze in “The windy city” is sure going to give you goosebumps but towards the end of your journey, you would fall in love with it. I walked from the hostel towards Grant Park and found the Buckingham Fountain to be closed for repair. But it didn’t matter. I was still sinking in the fact that I was on my “FIRST SOLO TRIP”. Don’t know if that was what gave me goosebumps, or the breeze. It was insane!

The only time I felt alone was when I walked out of my room to the world outside. But I didn’t realize when that feeling vanished and I felt one with everything around me. I could talk to anyone around me about anything and they didn’t feel like strangers at all. 

This is the best part about travelling solo. You come out of your comfort zone and surprise yourself in ways you wouldn’t believe.

And since I prefer being a traveler than a tourist, I tend to not plan too well. I just go with the flow. That’s what I did, walked around following my instincts. When I was walking towards the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, I found Myriam, my roomate at the hostel and we accompanied each other the entire day.

I finally got to see the work of the Living Legends of architecture- Zaha Hadid’s Aqua and Frank’O Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, an Amphitheatre you’d WOW at.

The “Proud to be an Indian” moment was when I stood in front of the iconic CLOUD GATE or “the bean “ as the locals call it, designed by Anish Kapoor. It truly is a marvel. The sculpture does not only reflect the city beautifully, but also forms interesting patterns when you go under it.

Next to the Cloud Gate is the Crown Fountain, a video sculpture made of glass bricks displaying random faces of Chicagoans. The water flowing out of the spout every 7 minutes like it’s flowing out of their mouths, comes as a surprise. It was funny to watch people wait for 6 minutes to get a picture with that. 

Apart from walking, the best way to explore the city is to pick up a divvy bike for the entire day. It gets a little frustrating in the beginning trying to understand how it works, but you get adjusted in a few hours. Day 2 was pretty much on the bike. I rode from Grant park following the water towards Navy Pier that hosts some of the best events in the city. But i didn't stay there for long. Guess i was missing the bike!

The ride from Navy Pier to the North Avenue Beach was the best memory I have from Chicago. I went as slow as I could, watching the marvelous architecture on the left that totally complemented the turquoise water on the right. Like a slow motion picture! i'd name it "Tranquility" :)

The beach was quiet and serene. I sat there for a few hours adoring the skyline on this cloudy day and trying out some cheesy poses, intending to make them look candid. Please tell me I succeeded! :D

And there it came- the “Sunshine”, like glitter on the water, giving warmth to the body and the soul. So so Dreamy! 
I rode back smiling at the city that welcomed me with warmth and chill. The ride to the planetarium, the opposite side was even incredible.

 




















 
In the evening I relished on some deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s, something that anyone who goes to Chicago should try out. And yes, the local beer of course, whichever suits your taste. Before I went back to hostel to crash, I walked for hours along the riverwalk. Its a pleasant stroll beneath the movable bridges. An ultimate ending to a "Solo but not-so-solo day" at Chicago!

I just had 2 days to live the city, to get the cold shivers. It was NOT enough. It’s never enough anywhere I go. But that’s the point. I get an excuse to go back there again. :P

 
PS: Other recommendations

•  If you are into Art, look out for exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago. You can even visit the Museum of Contemporary Arts if you have the time.
• For the museum freaks, Field museum, the planetarium and the museum of Science and Industry are crazy places to spend time.
• Take Chicago architecture boat tour to know more about its diverse architecture, if walking isn't for you.
• Willis tower (Sears tower) to experience the city’s breathtaking views from the 103^rd floor Skydeck.
  
• Eat the famous hot dogs.
• Check out the Cultural Centre for exhibitions. Chicago Architectural Biennial would go on till January 2016.
• Walk around Wicker Park for an artistic and fun street atmosphere. You’d find some cool restaurants out here.
• Go shopping/ window shopping at the Magnificent Mile.
• Take the “L Train” wherever you go, especially from the Airport to Downtown. It’s like time travel, from the cute artistic communities to high rise buildings.
•  If you are travelling alone or with friends, I’d recommend you to stay in a Hostel. I stayed in Hi Chicago. It’s neat, cheap, safe and close to the water.
• October really isn’t the best season to visit Chicago since the winters have stepped in and a few touristy places would be shut down for the year. But it’s a great time if you don’t want to be crowded with tourists. Weekends do have some “Fall” events going on and weekdays are quieter.

The Offbeat Tale- Gandikota

Its not the Taj Mahal, neither the Qutub Minar, nor is it one of those crazily cramped tourist places. Its a tiny village. SECLUDED. QUIET. UNTAPPED. UNEXPLORED. And just INCREDIBLE.
That is the beauty of Gandikota. "The Grand Canyon of India",yet so subtly underrated.
Very few know about it. You would find no signs, no boards. Its like a mystery you unwind.

Bangalore-Bagepalli-Gorantla-Kadiri-Gandikota

Tired in the sun

At 120kmph on our Enfield, along the vast deserted barren land, we fell in love with NH7.

Reaching an untapped destination is much more eventful than the destination itself. 
We got lost( one said left, the other guided us back 20 miles), took a lot more time and got restless in the hot sun. But the people we meet and the food we ate, made it all worth. Finding the destination after this was like a bonus!!

Struggling with the spice

We took around 6.5 hrs to reach Gandikota. That includes the bum breaks, the photo sessions, almost getting killed by trucks, eating deadly-spicy-but-delicious Andhra food and meeting all those beautiful people you'd see in the video.




 
Some 50 km from Gandikota, we saw a teaser of the canyon. Awestruck by its beauty, we got highly impatient to see the real canyon.

Teaser Canyon :)

After 30 min- " I think we are close"
         40 min- " I can see it already"
         50 min-" there it is-THE CANYON"
         55 min- "Why the hell is it taking forever?"
             1 hr-  Finally entered Gandikota. So close to the canyon and something embarrassing happened.
                      I dozed off in the Temple. 
   1 hr 20 min- We ran to the view point. And there it was-" The Indian Canyon"

                      REAL. ENORMOUS. SILENT. CRAZY. BEAUTIFUL and just EPIC.

The Enormous Canyon

We took some time feeling one with the greatness of the canyon and for some silent offbeat memories. Then went over to the Andra tourism hotel for a cup of coffee,watching this spectacular sunset. I was sitting on the bike facing behind watching the wind mills move with a color changing backdrop- from orange to red.  Just then, a flight crossed in that backdrop and faded somewhere among those colors like a shooting star.
So dreamy that I was spell bound by its beauty for hours together, until we reached back home.

Windmills + Sunset

Canyon Selfie

Here's the video of our day trip to Gandi :D

The Quest for Red Rain!!

Craving doesn’t have boundaries. And craving something as weirdly amusing as “Red rain” is definitely not questionable. The moment I saw this picture, I was like “Red rain? Seriously?”. Googling it up would’ve spoiled the fun allnd so we packed our bags and were out 
on the roads to our quest for red rain.

L

Bangalore-Theni- Thekkady

Throughout these 500 kms of a pleasant start, continued with getting horribly tanned in the Tamil Nadu sun, dancing through the musically vibrant towns, eating delicious food at every step and travelling 3 states in a day, one thing remained constant. And that was the excitement that made us scream like kids on the roads, “We’re going to Idduki and we will see red rain”.

By 8pm, we were in Thekkady, which did not seem like any other tourist place at all-'Some lottery shops on the right, people walking around in the market, a bus stand on the left with an open theatre playiThe“Gandhi” for a fact that it was Oct 2 and some food carts serving steaming hot idlis.'

The best part was, even with all these people around, not for a moment did that place feel noisy or crowded. 
We went straight to our homestay- Claus Garden. How we wished Omana aunty would adopt us. This one is so beautifully made that you'd never feel like leaving.

Day 2

Not planning has it’s own pros and cons. Getting up in the foggy dawn and wondering what to do is one of them. 
“So the closest option is Periyar Lake. Why don't we just go there and figure out the rest later?”

 

At the Periyar Tiger Reserve checkpost, hungry as we are always, we found this chai place open. Vadas/idlis/apams, 
everything was delicious there. 
That itself made our day..A
beautiful ride among the lush green forest and the fresh breeze touching the face as if it was -


 
-wishing us a great morning, led us to the lake we
 couldn't afford to enter. That place was like a kumbh mela at 7 in the
 morning. Not even 5 seconds and we knew 
where we were headed next-“Vagamon”.

with Stella aunty and friends 

That's Jaya Jackson and Rajni

“Walking on clouds and paragliding was a little i knew about this place”. 
 But did we have expectations? No. 
 So surprises were in store
 for us. Thekkady to Vagamon was one hell of a
 ride.
 Stella aunty and her estate friends, Jaya
 Jackson and team, some excited and some
 scared kids we threw chocolates at, were our
 company through all the right and wrong turns
 we took.

selfie time :D

And i forgot her name

Sat near the flowing stream for some blissful sketching time

The "wrong" turn we took at Wagamon

Day 3

The Claus family

Another try to the Periyar Lake was justifiable is 
what we thought. The routine was the same as the previous day. Just that today we atleast had a glance at the lake. Maybe, for us Periyar lake was just a
place to have amazing breakfast and plan the rest of the day. So we packed our luggage, took a picture with the Claus family and left for Chellarkovil.

I don’t know how we ended up going to Chellarkovil just by seeing a picture on the internet.
And so it wasn’t less of a surprise. 
A bumpy, adventurous ride at the edge of the  mountain leading to a not so great guest house at the end. "THAT" was Chellarkovil. Not too great a discovery I know. Maybe we just weren’t too lucky. 

After that little disappointment, Munnar road was simply brilliant. “Those curves were sorta dangerous, got us dizzy". But then a hot cup of  coffee wasn’t too difficult to look for. Around 36km from Munnar was a view which was truly non-erasable from our memories. 

Down the green valley

It was just tea plantations to eternity. Words would not do justice if I try explain that beauty. That moment onwards, there were surprises lying for us every 500m.
About 21km from the city, at this sexy pin bend, we stopped by at Madhi uncle’s chai stall.  2 hours of admiring, jumping,some tea,coffee,Maggie and corn and finally finally it rained!!

Madhi uncle's chai stall

Hamari red rain wali maggi!!

But the rain was nowhere close to what we thought it'd be. It was plain normal colorless rain. 
But who cares!! Madhi uncle and his wife were 
quite a great company in that not-so-red pour down. Nothing could spoil the beauty of
 that moment. Not even the purpose of our travel.

with Madhi uncle and his wife

After sucha blissful time, getting stuck in 2 hour-mountain traffic-jam too wasn’t traumatic. We enjoyed even that. Made some

biker friends,screamt, guided, commented and

laughed with others around.

Now reaching Munnar was a pain in the bum, but staying there, even more. Hogged at sarvana bhavan and did the impossible of finding an accomodation for us-Rose Garden homestay, around 12km towards Kochi. Not to forget the micro-minute adventure where we almost killed ourselves at the Glenmore resorts. Rose garden was a relief for having a hassle free entry. It was a pretty comfortable nice place with some good home    food.

Day 4

Its this moment when you are no more excited coz you’re going back home. And it wasn’t just a flashback, calm and peaceful, it was a crazy way back home. Getting stuck in the horrifying-unstoppable ligtening and rain, swimming in dirty stagnant water with other vehicles, trying to start the bike for 2 hours and luckily finding a cab to get back. 
But whatsoever, If you ask me how my trip was, in one word i’d say-”GREEN”. Suddenly Bangalore sounded like Rajasthan. 

"4 days of riding in those hills and valleys makes you feel that the entire world is an extension of you, wherever you go, wherever you stay. 

As a traveler, you would never always take the right turn, and for us those wrong turns we took, made our journey worth sharing."

Some crazy moments from our trip

Bought lottery tickets both the days.
Just missed the chance of winning a crore :'(

Crazy rain we got stuck in

Route map :D

PS : Try not to order Hyderabadi biryani or fried rice in restaurants there..its a heartbreak.
Don't forget to buy a lottery ticket. You never know when your luck shiNes :D