the light baggage

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: Today was the day of forts, starting off with Reis Magos fort, which was unfortunately closed. However we explored the fort from the exterior. This was built in 1551 by the Portuguese, later occupied by the Marathas. The other two forts in the vicinity are Fort Aguada and Sinqeurim. Sinquerim Fort acts as the wall for Hotel Taj Aguada. From here we went to Aguada Fort, one of the most scenic forts in Goa. The entrance to the fort has a massive doorway, and the walls can be scaled by climbing a series of stairs. One can have a spectacular view of North Goa from this fort. Reis Magos Fort  Sinquerim Fort Fort Aguada  From Aguada, we proceeded towards Vagator beach in search of 'Shiva's Face', which we had seen on Google Maps. We parked our vehicle and climbed down towards the beach. Being monsoon, the beach wore a deserted look and the shacks were empty. We immediately spotted the image of Shiva carved on a rock. It was beautiful, with the serpent ...

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...

Overview: New Zealand has always been a dream destination for me, and I got a chance to visit the country for the first time on work. As this was my first visit to any country in the southern hemisphere, I wanted to make the most of it. Our first weekend was in Auckland, and I tried to search through all the interesting places around the city, then we narrowed down on Coromandel Peninsula and Auckland city. There is an interesting connection between India and Coromandel. According to Wikipedia- The Coromandel Peninsula was named for HMS Coromandel (originally named HMS Malabar), a ship of the British Royal Navy, which stopped at Coromandel Harbour in 1820 to purchase kauri spars and was itself named for India's Coromandel Coast, which itself is named the Cholamandalam in Tamil after the Chola dynasty, literally translated as The realm of the Cholas from which the Portuguese derived the name Coromandel. We started from Auckland at 9am, and reached Coromandel region by 11:30am. T...

Overview: Vidarbha region, located in the cotton belt of Maharashtra, is home to a number of ancient temples. We had a chance to visit this magnificent Markand Deo temple near Chamorshi. Located on the banks of Wainganga river, this place is one of the 8th century marvels built by the Rashtrakutas. We were at the temple very early in the morning to avoid the crowds, and were fortunate to find just ourselves inside the premises. The temple looks like it has been assembled, though remains of several other temples could be seen inside the temple area. One thing which stands out in this temple is the wall carvings of different dieties, dancers and also some images of some visitors from places outside the region. A few images had Egyptian like features (long ears, square beard..). Markand Deo Temple Markand Deo Temple Markand Deo Temple Markand Deo Temple From Chamorshi, we came to Chandrapur and took a train to head northwards towards Nagpur. Nagpur has a lot to...