the light baggage

Overview: Horsley Hills is a popular weekend getaway from Bangalore and is good for a long drive without too much crowd. Situated around 160km from Bangalore, this place is in Andhra Pradesh, and is promoted as APs Ooty. The drive through Kolar is scenic with a few beautiful lakes on the way. The vehicles go all the way to the top and there are a few viewpoints offering great views of the valley. Other than the views, there is an APTDC guest house offering stay and food options. Other attractions on the hill are the 125 Eucalyptus tree planted by the British collector William Horsley, George Horsley's Tomb, a mini zoo and a museum. Overall, a trip to Horsley Hills is a welcome break from the routine activities. The hill is also popular among bird watchers, with over 130 species of birds have been recorded so far. The museum has a good display of local artifacts like Geological structures, rocks, and details about the wildlife found in the region have been displayed. Horsley Hills ...

Overview: On a balmy partly sunny Sunday. we decided to head towards Malur. We had heard of the pretty countryside and some old temples. First we went to Tyakal, also spelled as Tekal. Tyakal is known for the huge boulders and the twin hillocks, which were once forts during the Vijayanagara dynasty. A wonderful place for trekkers, the hills offer odd shaped rocks and some beautiful views of the Shatashringa range of hills. The village Tyakal, historically was popular for Varadaraja temple, which dates back to the Cholas, and is believed to have similar features as that of the temple at Kanchi. The place is referred to as Tekanchi as well.     Around 15kms from Tyakal is the Markandeya Betta, reached via winding curves, offering breathtaking views of the villages below. However, the place can get crowded during festivals and holidays. One can enjoy the serenity of the place early in the morning. The hill gets its name from Markandeshwara temple, also built during the...

  Overview: Our visit to Malaysia kick started with a day trip to Penang. Penang is a small island in the Malay peninsula separated from the mainland by Penang bridge. We stayed in the southern part of the island where one can find lot of companies and commercial establishments. We started our trip with our visit to Penang National Park, which includes visits to small beaches by ferry and some unique rock formations. After that we proceeded towards Penang dam, followed by Tropical Spice Garden, which is a huge park showcasing variety of spices, rare plants and some methods to extract spices. Just opposite the Spice Garden there is a serene beach and is worth spending some time there. Next we went to Batu Ferringhi beach which is the most popular beach in Penang and is known for water sports and adventure activities. From the beach circuit our next attraction was Penang Hill. It is a steep climb of around 720 m and one can reach the summit on a hill train climbing slowly across t...

Overview: We planned a trip to Munnar during the summer of 2009. A popular tourist destination needs no introduction, we checked into our resort early Friday morning. Having 3 full days at our disposal, we planned to explore this beautiful hill station as much as possible. Day 1: We went towards Mattupatty direction today. First up we visited the flower show, followed by the Photo point and the Honey bee nest.         Next was the Elephant arrival point where we had a ride on top of an elephant into the woods. At times it was scary when the path was too narrow and the elephant had to traverse through it.         Next we went to the Mattupatty dam and the view was majestic with bluish green waters with hills in the background. The scene was beyond words to describe so letting the pictures do the talking this time.     From there we went to the Kundaly lake where it started raining and added to the beauty of the...