the light baggage

Overview: Konaseema is one of the most beautiful regions of Andhra Pradesh, with lush green paddy fields and wide and always filled up Godavari river. I happened to visit Amalapuram in Oct 2019 for a friend's wedding, so thought of exploring this beautiful region by a self driven car. We hired a self-driven rental car from Viyawada and after breakfast and a quick visit to Undavalli caves, we headed towards Amalapuram. After crossing Tanuku, the landscape changed drastically, with lush green paddy fields all around and the river flowing on the other side. The looks on the faces of the locals was also very pleasant. The Government is also doing its bit to promote tourism in this region, the most popular one being the Papikondalu tour, and river cruises at Dindi. Konaseema We first visited the Adduru Stupa, near Amalapuram, which dates back to the 2nd century BCE. It is claimed that the foundation stone for this Stupa was laid by Ashoka's daughter, Sanghamitra. Due to som...

Overview: Having planned a trip to Kaas Plateau for the last 4 years, finally we decided to do it in 2018 while on our annual trip to Shirdi. From Shirdi, we took an overnight train to Satara, where we camped. Kaas Plateau falls under the Sahyadri ranges of the Western Ghats which is a UNESCO World heritage site. Prior booking is needed to visit the Kaas Plateau due to heavy crowd during the season. It is around 25kms from Satara. Our vehicle took us to Kaas early morning. At first, we could see a carpet of yellow flowers all around. It is said that different colours of flowers bloom at different time. Yellow was more prominent during our visit. We could see shades of blue and purple as well. A walk of about 2kms would take us to a pond which is filled with water lilies. One with great interest in nature can easily spend around 2 hours at Kaas. By this time we were hungry and quickly bought a plate of the local Pitla-Bhakri from a lady near the flowers. From Kaas we proceeded towar...

Overview: Goa during monsoons is different then its normally imagined. Less touristy, green all around, deserted beaches. For experiencing a part of Konkan railway, we took the Bangalore City-Karwar express, covering the best of nature between Mangalore to Karwar on the Konkan line. Green fields, misty mountains and massive backwaters and rivers greeted us on the way. Along the Konkan Railway After reaching Madgaon late in the afternoon, we checked into our hotel near Colva beach. We spent the evening by the beach watching the beautiful sunset, and planning for the rest of the trip. We started early next morning, starting with Safa Masjid, built in 1560 by Ibrahim Adil Shah in Ponda. This is a small single chambered mosque with tiled roof having a flight of steps in the front entrance. To the south of the mosque, there is a 600 sqm water tank with Mihrab designs. The tank has a natural spring which keeps it filled with water throughout the year. This place is not to be miss...

This is a guest post from my friend Smita Shanbhag, a traveller who likes exploring new places and go on adventure trips. Overview:   12th August – 20th August 2017 Nestled in the beautiful Himalayas is a beautiful valley called Valley Of Flowers. Once hidden from the outside world, the valley was believed to be a playground of the Gods and fairies. The valley was accidentally discovered by Frank Smith a mountaineer and botanist. He was so mesmerized by the beauty of the valley that he went on to write a book about it! The valley indeed looks beautiful with over 300 different varieties of flowers spread over miles in the valley. I had a pleasure to visit this valley this august. Let me take you on this memorable journey and give you a glimpse of valley through my eyes. We were a group of 16 ladies from different parts of India who met at Dehradun Airport for this trek infact tour package which covered Haridwar, Rudraprayag, Govindghat, Ghangria (our base camp and we go to v...