In The Laps of the Peninsula

A decade had passed since I last felt the warm embrace of the beach, and the longing in my heart finally led me to a decision. Pondicherry and Mangalore beckoned me with their coastal allure, but in the end, I chose Mangalore, setting the stage for a new chapter in my life. Mangalore, a city with a warm, homely charm, had always held a special place in my heart. My friend and I had been diligently saving up for this trip, cherishing the anticipation of being near the sea after such a long hiatus.  The excitement in my heart reached its peak as I booked an overnight train shortly after returning from Shimoga.  And so, Mangalore beckoned us once again. A week later, we found ourselves boarding the KSR Bengaluru-Kannur Express, ready to embark on another incredible journey.  The next morning, at 7 o'clock, the train pulled into the Mangalore station, and a sense of déjà vu washed over me. It felt like coming home, even though I had never truly lived here before. The salty br...

 I have a cherished memory from my hometown when I rode an elephant for the first time in my life during my childhood. Elephants, those magnificent and incredible creatures, have always held a special place in my heart. The memory of that first encounter has stayed with me. During that time, it was common for small towns to have traveling circuses, and offering elephant rides to the public was a way for them to earn extra money. With my mother's help, I climbed onto the back of one of these gentle giants, joining a group of kids from our neighborhood for a short but amazing ride. It felt like a dream come true, and my love for elephants grew even stronger. Years later, I learned about Sakrebyle Elephant Camp from an Instagram post. It's a place in Shivamoga where you can not only see these incredible creatures up close but also get the chance to bathe and play with them. It was an opportunity I didn't want to miss. I quickly checked for train tickets and set a date for my t...

 It's time for the continuation of my previous blog about my trip to Ooty. I'm writing this on a Sunday after receiving an ultimatum from a reader. Although, that was a motivational push for me. Also, today's topic happens to be indescribable because whatever I happened to feel in the moment is too huge to be put into words. Has it ever happened to you? A moment in your life that took your breath away, where your eyes remained fixated, where it felt futile to do something, where words lost it's meaning. A moment of blissfulness which led you to close your eyes, pause your breath and absorb all of it in you. Or rather, let yourself immerse into the moment. That's it. That was the feeling that kept going with me the entire day.  The day started with a rush as it was the last day of the trip. We still had a lot left, to witness. Dressing up, breakfast, everything was on schedule. Somehow we managed to get out of the cozy blanket which filled us with warmth amid the s...

I never really thought that I would have a sudden opportunity to visit Ooty and Coonoor. It has been sort of a dream to every middle class child to visit Ooty because it has been a part of our childhood with countless movies based on this land. Hum Apke Hain Kaun, Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, Maine Pyaar Kiya, Raja Hindustani, Roja, Dil Se, Deewana , a list that goes on.  What made it more special was that, I was on a vacation with my family after 12 long years. I know, it's shocking! Let's start from the top. On my parent's first visit to Bangalore, they demanded of going to a hill station and the first name that popped in our minds was OOTY. All credits to my sister who took over the responsibility of the entire trip. Honestly, I didn't feel the excitement at first. Maybe because I've always admired mountains all my life but never been to one before. It was all very new to me - an overnight bus journey, with my family, opening my eyes to a view of Nilgiri ranges and the c...

 It hadn't been even 2 months since I first visited Mysuru and yet I am presenting another travel blog of the Royal city. The city has casted a different spell on me. It's beauty attracts me like a bee to a flower. Being a Bengali, it was extremely difficult for me to spend Durga Puja far from West Bengal. So, I decided to take a one day trip to Mysore to witness it's infamous Dasara celebration. Let's get started-  We were two people and we booked train tickets to Mysore.  Tuticorin Express or TN MYS EXP (16235)  KSR Bengaluru (SBC) - 6:55 AM --- Mysuru Jn (MYS) - 10:00 AM Ticket fare - Rs. 145/head The train was filled with passengers. It seemed that the whole of Karnataka is visiting the city of the festival. I was somewhat right. The peaceful city was filled with hustle and huge crowd. Local buses were filled with people. This time it was easier to travel in Mysore because I was familiar with the routes.  Just like the last time, we took a bus pass and en ro...

Vanakkam!  Chennai is one of the cities that was on my bucket list. It is famous for it's culture and I was fascinated by it's popularity. Also, my main reason to visit the city was my best friend's birthday. So, I immediately booked my tickets and went on to surprise her. We wanted to reach Chennai early in the morning, so we took the train at midnight. We took the  KAVERI EXPRESS (16022) from Krantiveer Sangolli Rayanna Station (KSR Bengaluru) at 23:50 . It was an all night journey. We got off at MG Ramachandran Chennai Central at 6:45 . The sleeper class ticket costed Rs. 235 each. The total travel time was almost 7 hrs. We began our journey towards SRM University by boarding the metro from MGR central to Airport metro station, which costed us Rs. 40 each. Then our supposed journey continued by Chennai local train, we took a train from Tirusulam halt. Then we got to know that we boarded a wrong train and had to get off at Tambaram station instead of our destin...