Diary of a Whacky Girl

The last leg of our trip was Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi. We were staying at our friend S’s ancestral home, which was about 35 km before Rameshwaram.  We had S’s friend A who was staying at S’s place. A had a Royal Enfield and we thought if we could get another bike from somewhere in S’s town, we would all go to Dhanushkodi in bike. But unfortunately we couldn’t a bike and hence, decided to take a bus to Rameshwaram and then from there, another bus to Dhanushkodi.  As we were prepping up for the journey, V was just wondering if we would be able to get an auto from here to Dhanushkodi for a decent price. It so happened that S’s grandpa knew quite a few auto men in the town and that’s how he set us up an automan who would take us around to Rameshwaram, Dhanushkodi for the whole day.  So, Rameshwaram was about 35 km from our place and Dhanushkodi another 20 km from Rameshwaram. In total, it would be a 100 km for the day, in auto! Yayyy!!  We began our ...

Today was back on the roads again. I think after that one time I went to Karaikudi from Chennai and returned back to Neyveli the very same day, I have never traveled in bus for so long until today.  We checked out of Hotel Reech in Nagercoil at 10.30 A.M, and had breakfast the same Hotel as last night and headed towards the bus stand. We had to be in Rameswaram by today evening.  As we didn’t have any direct bus from Nagercoil to Ramesawaram, and hence took a bus to Tirunelveli, which was 1.5hrs. Having survived on the narrow State Highways of Kerala, where it took 1 hr to traverse 30 km distance, it was a bliss to cover 30 km distance in 25 minutes. Thanks to the broad highways of Tamilnadu.  So, Nagercoil to Tirunelveli in 1.5 hours. Next was Tirunelveli to Tuticorin, which was another 1 hour. And after that Tuticorin to Ramnad, which was close to 3 hours. By the time we reached Ramnad it was 4 P.M. We had a friend who had an ancestral home enroute Ram...

After quite a heavy breakfast, we started off early in the afternoon from Trivandrum towards Kanyakumari.  Guys, some real piece of advice! If you want to go to Kanyakumari from Trivandrum, make sure you either take an A/C Volvo or an express, and ensure you don’t take up the last seat.  Yes, you guessed it right. We took a passenger bus and a last seat in that as well. Starting and all was nice only. Just when I was thinking that this driver was driving well compared to the yesterday’s A/C Volvo driver, he proved me wrong. With roads full potholes and no roads in some places, it became one roller coaster of a ride. Wasn’t able to sleep either, because I wouldn’t know when the brakes would be applied and I’d end by banging my head of the seat before me.  It was supposed to be a journey of 2.5 hours, but by the time we reached Nagercoil it was well past 3 hours.  We had booked our stay at Nagercoil as the hotels in Kanyakumari were way too pricy due ...

Well, today is day of bus rides, more bus rides and only bus rides! We had Aapams, Egg Curry, Christmas cakes and home-grown bananas at my friend’s place for breakfast. As most of you guessed it right, we were heading towards Alappuzha (Alleppey).  We got an A/C Volvo from Vytilla to Allepey, a journey of 2 hours. Once there, we took another bus to Champakulam, which was a good 40 minutes through the picturesque backwaters and lush greens of Alappuzha. This is not called God’s Own Country for no reason. It is simply beautiful.  All we wanted to see was the Church that was featured in Vinnaithandi Varuvaya movie. Well, frankly I had no clue how the Church was or where was it. I’m pathetic at remembering scenes and locations from movie. But V, on the other hand, would remember them to the T. It was he, who kept insisting we visit this one.  So, the over excited kid V, while trying to navigate to St. Mary’s Forange Church, Pullinkunnu, ended up ...

Hi!  Continuing from my previous post.. We took a bus from Kozhikode to the port city of Kerala, Kochi. Luckily for us, I had a friend of mine who was from Kochi. He was kind enough to let us stay at his place while in Kochi.  I was so exhausted that I slept off during the whole of the bus journey without the slightest budge and didn’t realise we had reached Kochi until the conductor came over and woke me up. It was 3 in the morning. We took an auto to my friend’s place and reached there by 3.30 A.M. Crashed on to the bed straightaway, only to wake up at 7.  His house was minimalistic yet classy. Very thoughtfully built. And hey, they had a garden too, where they grew Seppankazhangu (my love), Brinjals, and Bitter Gourds. There were Plantains, Jackfruit and Coconut trees as well.. And six little rabbits and a Dog. It was a really nice Home.  His mom had prepared us a breakfast of Pooris and Potato Masala, and a couple of boiled eggs and home ...

Ever since our bike ride was cancelled, we did not make any plans for the vacation other than booking onward ticket from Chennai to Kannur and return ticket from Rameswaram to Chennai, a week later. We decided to decide on the next place of visit on-the-go. So after a relaxed evening at Kannur, we planned on going to Bekal Fort today. Google be our sole and very trusted trip guider! Hit the Google Map search for Kannur to Bekal, it throws up not just the distance and time but also the various other commute options available.  We planned to hop on to a passenger train which was at 7:15 A.M. Craving for just another extra hour of sleep, as the alarm went off at 6 o’clock in the morning, I started lamely citing to V that the trains might be crowded today as it was Christmas and begged him that we take a bus later in the day. (Frankly, after that disastrous journey yesterday, I was a little skeptical to take buses again) But V wasn’t budging, so reluctantly, I got up and refr...

Even before V got this Thunderbird (TB) and even before Accham Enbadhu Madamaiyada hit the screens, we used to discuss a lot about bike tripping across the country. And when he finally got the TB this June, we sure wanted to put all our discussions to action, i.e., go on a bike trip. We did go on a 2-day trip to Jawadhu Hills, which was about 200 km off Chennai, but we wanted to do a 10-day proper trip in bike. After a lot of deliberation and contemplation, we finally decided to do a road trip across the South West Coast starting from Mangalore and finishing it off at Rameshwaram during the year end Christmas - New Year Holidays. Leaves booked and granted... Itinerary jotted down.. Bike ready, we were eagerly anticipating the day of the journey. But of course, when everything is so perfect, things have to get jinxed right? And that's exactly what happened. V fractured a bone in his left ring finger while playing Cricket. Now since I didn't know how to ride TB and because V c...

I was never a believer of love at first sight until I laid my eyes on him. Neither did I know that first love is forever until I met him. We were first introduced when I was around 7-8 years old. He came along with my uncle from the land beyond the seas. Our first meet was very brief and minimal, nevertheless I adored him.  I longed to meet him again sooner, but fate had other plans. Memories of him kept coming back and they made me a little desperate every time, to meet him. The wait was long, but it was always worth the wait. And finally, after 6 long years, he came again. And this time around, even more adorable and lovely. And the moment I saw him I knew ours would be a forever thing.  He never stayed with me forever. But he kept coming back, every year. Each time a little different from the previous, but underneath still the same I had met for the first time when I was 7 years old. Introducing you to my first and forever love, Hershey's Hugs and Kisses :...

I was supporting the investment banking business in Japan and Japan has this 3-day holiday in the first week of May. You are lucky if those 3 days happen to be Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - it would be a really long weekend. I got lucky this year. Hence, V and I planned to have a leisurely holiday at his cousin's place in Bengaluru and booked the onward ticket. We, being the really smart people that we are, were mighty sure that his cousin would be home and informed him about our plans only after booking the onward tickets. It so happened that his cousin was planning to be in Chennai the very same day that we were planning to crash at his house. Our plan collapsed. Me having a really long weekend of 5 days and V having booked his leaves at office, didn't want to miss out the opportunity to travel somewhere. Off we open the Google Maps and start scanning for places near Bengaluru where we could go for a holiday and that is when we bumped into GOA! Goa, The land of parties,...