[The J!]

Originally Posted by smartcat

This is not a travelogue, because I don't know how to write one.

Who say's that you don't know how to write travelogues bro? This is turning out to be one of the finest and funniest travelogue I've ever read on TBHP. Your style of narration and pictures are simply mind blowing!
Keep it up

[drrajasaravanan]

Absolutely awesome. You are realizing my dream. The pictures you have posted are amazing. I am planning on a trip to Vizag and Araku probably in May. Hoping to drive from Chennai to Vizag. Keep going buddy.

[SmartCat]

Who say's that you don't know how to write travelogues bro? This is turning out to be one of the finest and funniest travelogue I've ever read on TBHP. Your style of narration and pictures are simply mind blowing!

Thanks J. My travel buddies always used to ask me to write a travelogue, but the thought of buying a domain name, uploading pics etc looked like too much work. Although I knew joined TBHP a couple of years back, I used to hang out at the car review sections, as a guest.

I am planning on a trip to Vizag and Araku probably in May. Hoping to drive from Chennai to Vizag.

According to me, Vizag is the most beautiful 'big city' in India. Most of the roads are double roads and is clean & empty. Some more Vizag pics -












Before you get to Vizag, do a Google search on 'Vizag Beaches' - there are many beaches to go to. The last photo - its taken from a hill near the beach - get on top of that hill to catch some sunset views.

Do book a hotel room in advance before you go to Araku.

[SmartCat]

Continuing with the Rajasthan trip:

Pic 1: We then headed towards 'Bada Bagh' - monuments built in honour of rulers of Jaisalmer.



Pic 2: & 3 This place is popular among directors for shooting fight sequences in movies & TV shows.





Pic 4: When we came back to the car, an enterprising guy came over and asked for Rs. 20 as parking fee (in the desert!). He wasn't there when we entered Bada Bagh though. When we started arguing, he handed over a small receipt too - don't know where that came from. And yes, the car was HOT!



Pic 5: We then headed towards Sam's Sand Dunes, around 40 km from Jaisalmer, close to Pakistan border. The road to Sam's Sand Dunes is one of its kind in India. Long straights, a sudden 30 feet drop, straights again, and a then a sudden drop. At 90 kmph, if you are sitting in the back seat, you get the same "free fall" feeling that you get in a roller coaster. If you are in the front seat, you will fear that the front bumper will scrape the road at the drops - especially if you are the owner of the car!



Pic 6: At the dunes, we park our car and ask around for the cheapest deals on the "ship of the desert".



Pic 7: Binny & myself select the twin-seater model.



Pic 8: While Jagga & Naveen pick the single seater model for better speed & comfort. Jagga takes the short 20 minute ride quite seriously and dresses up like a Bedouin!



Pic 9: Our camel gives Naveen's camel as kiss.



Pic 10: After reaching the sunset point, the camel carrying Naveen says "Hey! Let's switch our riders when going back - It will be more fun that way!" The others obviously refuse the offer.

[MX6]

wonerful mix of desert sand, mountain rocks, beaches, forts, animals and ofcourse photos of you and your friends. You have covered all demography and have measured the length and breadth of this magnificent country "foot" by "foot".
Next time I come to Bangalore, There's a definite pitstop at your place. In case you are crossing pune, I'll waylay you for sure!

[SmartCat]

That says a lot about how our country is, don't you think? We have everything. Forests, snakes & elephants coming up later when I get to trekking travelogue & ooty pics. A few teaser pics -





What snake is that? Is it poisonous?

Next time I come to Bangalore, There's a definite pitstop at your place. In case you are crossing pune, I'll waylay you for sure!

Absolutely. My wife immediately goes "Ayyo! Paapu Baby" when I show her your Pune to Tirunelveli thread.

[ampere]

Wow! That photo of the snake is Chilling. Vizaag photos are amazing. Azure water. I have seen such blue water only at Mediterranean. In India only place is Dhanushkodi @ Rameshwaram.

[SmartCat]

Driving to Dhanushkodi was a slightly scary experience - because we have the sea on both sides of the road! Unfortunately, the sun had already set by the time we reached Dhanuskodi - so our photos are not that good.

Do you have any Dhanuskodi pics? Especially the road leading to Dhanushkodi?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Driving to Dhanushkodi was a slightly scary experience - because we have the sea on both sides of the road! Unfortunately, the sun had already set by the time we reached Dhanuskodi - so our photos are not that good.

Do you have any Dhanuskodi pics? Especially the road leading to Dhanushkodi?

Murphy was at his best (or worst should I say!). We flew till Madurai and then had a Tavera all over Rameshwaram and the complete stretch. We took a jeep from Rameshwaram to Dhanushkodi, leaving Tavera at the lodge.

What was the worst point? My camera was stolen on the flight by some ground staff. (It was stupid of me to put it in the first place, without a lock. But airlines folks do force travellers to lock their items, if you checkin the luggage. Deccan did not remind me and as luck (or Murphy) would have it, camera was there in the bag and that is the end of the story.

All I have are some photos taken from cell phone!

[MX6]

Originally Posted by ampere

Murphy was at his best (or worst should I say!). We flew till Madurai and then had a Tavera all over Rameshwaram and the complete stretch. We took a jeep from Rameshwaram to Dhanushkodi, leaving Tavera at the lodge.

What was the worst point? My camera was stolen on the flight by some ground staff. (It was stupid of me to put it in the first place, without a lock. But airlines folks do force travellers to lock their items, if you checkin the luggage. Deccan did not remind me and as luck (or Murphy) would have it, camera was there in the bag and that is the end of the story.

All I have are some photos taken from cell phone!

That's sad. Airline baggage folks are notoriously famous for stealing things. I found visible marks of failed effort to pry open my samsonite suitcase back from US. Thank god, they couldn't succeed. Else I'd have lost my ext hard disk (most valuable) which contained over 10K photos. Not to mention other valuable electronic items.
The couldn't get anything and managed to swindle the detatchable handle used to lug the luggage (another suitcase).
I noticed the same when seated in my window seat at CDG while ground staff were loading it, on the tarmac.
It had mysteriously vanished at Mumbai airport when I retreived it from the conveyor!

And photos of driving with sea on both side. I was in awe driving on the 7 mile bridge in the florida keys. The vehicle was a dodge caravan. The bridge was separating the Atlantic ocean from the gulf of mexico. It derives it's name from the fact that, it's 7 miles (around 11 odd kms) long.
The nearest land from the middle of the bridge would be vertically below!
The same bridge one gets to see in True lies. Pity that we couldn't stop to take photos.

At the helm of affairs. The speechless expression says it all over a long bridge. Couldn't help gaping!


Bridging two great water bodies.

[SmartCat]

Now that's a shame. I lost my camera here in Sam's Sand Dunes after fine sand dust got into the lens.

MX6: The Dodge Caravan is a hired car I presume. Why don't people take a Ford Mustang instead on road trips? It is supposed to be quite inexpensive.

Rajasthan Trip Continued:

Pics 1 to 4: Views of the desert.









Pic 5: We sit on the sand and discuss philosophy.



Pic 6: and also try some photography stunts. First, a classic "swallowing the sun" photo.



Pic 7 to 9: and then try the other classic - "Exams Over!" photo stunt.







Pic 10: We run down from the tops of large dunes, and flop on the sand at the bottom.



Pic 11: After fooling around in sand for some more time, we go back to he car. On the way back to Jaisalmer, we heard Naveen scream out "eeeyaagh! There is something in my shorts! eeeyaaagh!". He even opened the car door (to jump outside probably), and I hit the brakes.



Pic 12: This big black insect, which was flying around, had got into the car from the sunroof. Naveen swore that he will never wear shorts again.

[ampere]

Taking the liberty to add some of the pics on the azure aspects of life. Sorry for robbing your thread smartcat, but could not help it. I was mesmerized by the sheer blue of Mediterranean.

Along the cost of French Riviera




On the Maltese Falcon! One of the islands of Malta. This has been made famous by the shooting of Count of Monte Cristo.

[MX6]

I've rented all kinds of vehicles there in US. Dodge caravan was my choice to quench my cynical thirst to live like an American. Drive a 7 seater all alone and travel 1500 miles in two days. So when the urge is to do that I went for Dodge.
Among the best cars I enjoyed driving in US, I ranked these as top three.
1. Nissan Xterra 4WD
2. BMW X5
3. Chrysler Sebring touring - convertible.

I have interesting stories to go with it.
But I loved the dodge because the auto transmission is more like the hand gear of old premier Padmini I used to have!

[SmartCat]

@ ampere - The fifth pic looks unreal. Sea water made that hole? - seems unlikely. Also, are you on a boat, or is this rock formation close to the coast?

@MX6 - My cousin, for some reason, used to take those big 7 seaters too (GMC/Chrysler vans mostly)

Rajasthan Trip Continued:

Pic 1: The next day, we left Jaisalmer for the hippie/holy town of Pushkar (15 km from Ajmer). Our route was Jaisalmer - Pokhran (NH114 intersects NH15 here) - Mokhori (via NH15) - Nagaur - Pushkar (via NH89).



Pic 2: We are in Pokhran now. We expected something more than just an ordinary hot dry town - some explosions perhaps? But no, we didn't find anything interesting here.



Pic 3: Nothing interesting on the Jaisalmer-Bikaner NH15 either. But the state highway between Mokhori & Nagaur - now that's something else!



Pic 4: Straight roads, just about as wide as the car, with sand on both the sides.



Pic 5: If you drive here at any speed over 40 kmph, you will end up in the fence.



Pic 6: Overtaking - what we call the "sardar truck" (The Turban) - on those narrow roads took some time allright.



Vid 1: As we go further towards Pushkar, the sand on the side of the road gets a lot "harder". And we get off the road exploring the countryside!

YouTube - Off the state highway in Rajasthan

Vid 2: And we chase a few camels too.

YouTube - Chasing Camels in Rajasthan

Pic 7: We reach Pushkar - which has the only temple in the world for Lord Brahma.



Pic 8: At the Pushkar Lake, Rs. 101 quickly changes hands - from us to the Pujari.



Pic 9: We get our body and soul cleansed at Pushkar, and I'm sure all the evil things we have done so far in our life has been forgiven. We go to a Israeli restaurant (Pushkar is full of Israeli restaurants).



Pic 10: Here, food is delivered from the ground floor (kitchen) to the first floor (where diners sit) through this rope pulley!

[MX6]

There are many such "only temples" for brahma in the world. One very famous temple is at Suchindram near Nagercoil. It's called Thanumalayan temple.
Thanu - Brahma
Mal - Vishnu
Ayan - Shiva
May be one day I'll do a documentation of all the "only temples" and plan a trip as well.