Sedona - A Journey Through Nature's Wonders across American Southwest

Sedona

Drive from Antelope Canyon to Sedona is 160 miles and took us 3 hours. The drive to Sedona was very scenic passing through the lush pine forests of Coconino National Forest. It was a lot more green than the other places we had visited so far.

We reached Sedona around 6PM. The plan was to met one of Pankaj's school friend at a restaurant called 'Breezy'. This friend had drove all the way from Phoenix to meet us.  Restaurant Breezy is located in uptown of Sedona with a beautiful outdoor seating area. The view from the restaurant was super pretty.  We spent a couple of hours chatting and catching up over an early dinner. We got to experience another amazing view of the rising full moon. This was very different from the views in Bryce and Antelope.

Restaurant Breezy

Sedona uptown is also know for its quaint shops with beautiful candles, lamps, souvenirs and more. After a short walk in the uptown area we reached 'Pine Tree Resorts' - our stay for the night.

Pine Tree Resort - Sedona

Our cottage at Pine Tree Resorts was beautiful. It was a spacious cottage with a 1 bed room, hall and kitchen. It had been a long day and we were tired.  When we met-up with Pankaj's friend he had highly recommended 'Pink Jeep Tours' and said this something we should not miss this. We had not planned for this jeep tour, but since we got this must do recommendation, we started looking for ticket availability. We were lucky to have got seats on the 11am slot. Only because we were booking for a weekday we were able to get the tickets even at the last minute. These tours are hard to get over the weekend.

September 18th: Sedona to Grand Canyon

After a breakfast of fruit and homemade ladoos, it was already check-out time. I wish we stayed here for another day. Sadly we hardly spend anytime enjoying this resort.

We began our day at the Airport Mesa viewpoint, offering panoramic views of Sedona. This viewpoint is like any other stop point but a fantastic spot to get some panoramic views of Sedona.  It's also best experienced by cycling/biking to this view point. 

Airport Mesa Viewpoint

We had another hour before our Pink Jeep Tour at 11am. During this time we stopped over at Tlaquepaque Arts Village. This art village has some stunning arts and crafts of the Navajo people. One can easily spend 2-4 hours exploring the various outlets.

We reached the tour office well in time for our 11am tour. We were assigned our jeep. Each jeep has a max of 7 members plus driver who also is the guide. Glad this was a last minute booking. We had no idea what to expect. We just knew it would be an off-road 4 wheel jeep drive. 

Pink Jeep Tour Stop

After a short briefing, we were boarded our designated jeep, tucked ourselves in the seat belts and waiting to experience this much talked about drive. On our jeep, we had a couple of Canada, a family from Connecticut, USA and we three from Bangalore, India. The guide was super funny and keeping us entertained through out the drive. This is one good thing in US. I have found most of the tour guides to be very funny, cracking jokes and at the same time sharing a lot of information. It's amazing how they do this seamlessly.

Pink Jeep Tour

 

The tour was about two hours, driving on muddy pathways and on rocks - sometimes up and sometimes on steep descents. It might look scary, but it's nothing to be afraid of. I think some of the roller-coaster rides are more nerve wrecking. At a few places the jeep was descending at a 75 degree angle. The drivers are well trained and know exactly how to drive on these terrains. On this tour, we visited some amazing points which are not easily accessible by foot. We had a thrilling off-road adventure on this tour and glad we did it.

By the time the tour ended, we were super hungry. One of the co-tourist on our tour had recommended this restaurant 'Mariposa' (a latin inspired grill). We decided to go there for lunch. This was a few mins drive from the Pink Jeep Tour office. Mariposa is set in a beautiful location overlooking a valley. This is a fine dining boutique restaurant and luckily had vegetarian options on the menu.  

Apart from our meals, we also ordered some Yuca fries. These fries tasted like Tapioca fires. For meal, I had ordered a mushroom burger. It was kind of weird. Maybe it was just weird for me as I don't generally eat mushrooms. 

Chapel of Holy Cross

 

After lunch we stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross - easily skippable. But FOMO made us visit this place :) We also stopped at Yavapai Vista and Bell Rock view points. Didn't feel like hiking much after lunch. Hence make-do with view points. Also, I had started feeling a little uneasy after lunch. At this point I was all fine, but things turned differently when we started driving to our next destination - Grand Canyon

 

 

Antelope Canyons - A Journey Through Nature's Wonders across American Southwest

 September 17th: Drive from Bryce to Antelope Canyons

The drive from Bryce to Page, Arizona, was stunning, and we even crossed over a different time zone as we moved from Utah to Arizona. 

We wanted to make it in time for the sunset at Horseshoe bend. As we got close to Page in Arizona, we made a quick stop at the 'Wahweap' overlook to take in the grand view of Lake Powell and the never ending open landscape. Glad we didn't spend a lot of time here else we would have missed the amazing sunset at Horseshoe bend. Yes, this was another day of chasing sunset 😊. We decided we will not stop at Glen Canyon Bridge (which was en-route) and visit it at leisure the next day. 

Horseshoe Bend @Sunset

 We reached Horseshoe Bend just in time for the sunset. The car parking was almost full. Luckily we found a spot. Everyone was rushing towards the trail to not miss the sunset. It's a 20-minute walk from the parking to reach Horseshoe bend. I had not seen so many people in one place in the US other than the fireworks time at Amusement parks in Orlando. The sun was almost setting and it's yellow-orange-red hues were all over the bend and on the Colorado river. We just sat there witnessing breathtaking views of the bend, with setting sun on one side and rising moon on the other side. No pictures or words can fully describe the grandeur, depth and vastness of this nature's wonder. 

Moonrise @Horseshoe Bend

After spending almost an hour here, we walked back to our car and drove to Holiday Inn Express our home for tonight. The location of this hotel was very good. Lots of restaurants were just at a few minutes walking distance. We dined at a nearby restaurant called 'Gone West Family Restaurant'. This restaurant is set in Wild West theme, the food was great and also they had a live band performing. It was a great way to end yet another amazing day.

September 17th: Antelope Canyon and Sedona

Glen Canyon Dam

We didn't have any thing major planned until our Canyon tour later in the day. After a lazy breakfast at the hotel, we visited the Glen Canyon Overlook. Glen Canyon Dam Bridge was impressive and looked almost similar to Hoover Dam. The exhibits at the visitor center were informative. We skipped the Powell Museum - one because it was ticketed (didn't want to spend 30$ per person) and other reason was, we already had gathered enough information at the visitor center. We were looking forward to the main event: the Lower Antelope Canyon tour at 12:45 PM. 

Narrow Antelope Canyons

 After doing some research, we had booked our tour with Dixie's Lower Antelope Canyon Tour more than month in advance. There are approximately 70 people in each time-slot group because of which the slots get sold-out quickly. We reached Dixie's by noon. We had to wait in the waiting area until our tour turn. A Mexican entertained the waiting crowd with his hula-hoop stunts. In not time it was time for our tour.

The group was further divided into subgroups with 15 members and a tour guide. The guide gave us information about how the canyons were formed, some do and don't and also answered any questions we had. It was good 15-20 minutes walk in the hot sun, from the waiting area to the start of the canyon. Since the canyons are underground, we didn't see them until we reached the entrance. 

Ladder @ Canyon Entrance

In the lower antelopes, we had use steep & narrow ladder to enter to the canyons. Once we descend the ladder, we entered a magical world. The canyons are carved by erosion of Navajo sandstone due to flash flooding and other erosion. Most of the canyon passage was very narrow with only one person fitting it. 

Lady with the flowing hair

 The winding sandstone walls of the canyon were stunning. The pink-orange-red hues of sandstone with shades changing based on the sunlight created a different world underground. We were completely lost in this creation. Our tour guide showed some amazing formations and also helped us with wonderful pictures. Though the tour took about 1hr 30min it felt as if it got over quickly. The exit from the canyon was a very narrow opening and with that we were back to the world above the ground.

Narrow opening to exit Canyons

Post our antelope tour, we stopped by at Subway for lunch. A grumpy staff here made us feel a little unwelcome. From here it was time to move to our next stop 'Sedona'.

Bryce National Park - A Journey Through Nature's Wonders across American Southwest

September 15th: Drive from Zion to Bryce Canyon

The drive from Zion National Park (ZNP) to Bryce National Park (BNP) is about 90miles (2 ½ hrs drive). Most part of this drive is through the ZNP. The drive is beautiful with open landscape and huge rocky mountains. After an hour or so into the drive, we start to see the rocky mountains which are grey/cement color on the top and shades of red in the lower layers. We thought we had reached Bryce. Little did we know what was waiting.

As we got closer to the BNP, we passed through the red rock landscapes – these are the Red Canyons. We arrived at Bryce Amphitheater just in time for a magical sunset over the hoodoos. Though we had seen plenty of pictures of BNP, the view we saw with our eyes was beyond imagination. It is hard to imagine the size and scale of the rock formations. Unlike the other national parks, the formations here are below the ground level. We were 8000 feet above sea level and instead of looking up we had to look down to see the formations. 

 

On one side we had the last rays of sun shining into the hoodoos and on the other side the super moon was raising. This is was completely mesmerising. We spent some time at the sunset point and drove to our hotel.

For this night, our stay was at Red Ledges Inn, a 15 min drive from the BNP. Most national parks honor the darksky and with no large towns around these parks it gets pretty dark once the sun sets. Red Ledges Inn was a simple hotel (more of a motel on the highway). By the time we checked-in and got our keys it was already 8PM. Most restaurants here close by 9PM, so we decided to grab dinner before we go to our room.

We had pasta for dinner at the nearby Charles Restaurant. Food was better than what we expected.  Post dinner we headed to our room. For some reason the keys didn’t work. By now the reception was closed. So we had to call the shift contact person to help us get in. After some wait we were finally in our room. Tired after a long day of hikes and travel, we were ready to crash. A lesson from this experience – always check if the room keys are functioning before reception closes.

September 16th: Hiking and Exploring Bryce Canyon

A simple breakfast of bagels, yogurt, muffins, and fruit was a great way to start before heading to our first stop Sunrise Point in BNP. The combo trail of Queens Garden & Navajo Loop is a 2.9 miles / 4.6 KMs trail and takes about 3 hours. This trail combines the open views and unique hoodoos of the Queen's Garden Trail with the iconic switchbacks and towering canyon walls of the Navajo Loop Trail.

 

 

Though the hike can be started either from sunrise or sunset point, we started ours at sunrise point. The combination of towering hoodoos and narrow canyons made the hike truly unforgettable. It’s unimaginable what wind and water can do to the rocks. The views and colors in the morning were very different from what we had seen the previous evening at sunset. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The descend on the Queens Garden trail is gradual. On this trail we see some beautiful color hoodoos and windows. We also cross a couple of naturally formed arches. At the end of Queens Garden trail, there are two paths on the Navajo trail. Though the Wall Street trail is a little strenuous, it is unquestionably the prettiest path.

The ascent here is through some narrow canyons. One gets to first-hand experience the height of the narrow canyons and also the cool wind gushing through them. It great that there are well documented trails and one can pick based on their interest and endurance. Otherwise, on hikes like these where the hike starts with the descent followed by ascent, it's very easy to keep walking down without realising that we need to climb that much up.😅

A short walk along the Rim Trail brought us back to our car at sunrise Point. We then headed to the visitor center for a 20-minute movie on Bryce’s seasons, followed by a brief exhibit tour. The movie was worth the time. This also gave us a good break after our hike. BNP is one of the prettiest of the national parks. Though many people visit BNP for half a day, it is good to spend a night here to soak into its beauty.

 

For lunch, we tried Valhalla Pizza in BNP, which offered some good vegetarian options. After a long hike, having yummy pizza and refreshing drink while sitting on a picnic bench under a huge tree was bliss. 

Post lunch we stopped at Mossy Cave. Nothing fancy about this trail. It's a short and easy trail leading to a serene waterfalls with super cold water and a cave. With this it was end of yet another amazing national park and time to move to our next destination Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyons.

Hoover Dam & Zion National Park - A Journey Through Nature's Wonders across American Southwest

September 14th: Hoover Dam & Zion National Park

Our next stop was Hoover Dam (HD). We picked some take away breakfast from Starbucks at the rental at Las Vegas airport, picked our rental car and started our drive. HD is about 45 min drive from Las Vegas airport.

Hoover Dam

Our first stop was the walk across the Hoover Dam View Bridge. It's a 5 min walk from the car parking to the bridge. Though it was hot, the strong wind made it tolerable. We got some breathtaking views of the dam and the Colorado River from the Dam View Bridge.

Plant Tour

 

Following this, we parked our car at the visitor center and purchased tickets to Plant Tour, a 30 min guided tour. The tour starts with a short movie covering the history of the dam, followed by the guided tour to the generators through the tunnels. This short tour, gives a good overview of the dam.

Post the tour, we walked on the dam. The dam is so deep, it's quite scary when we bend to see at the view points. We then grabbed a quick lunch at the visitor center cafe. They did have a couple of vegetarian options which was a relief of us.

 

 

After spending about 3 hours at the Hoover dam, we set off on a scenic drive towards Zion National Park (ZNP). ZNP is about 190 miles - 3 hour drive from HD. ZNP is in Utah and in different timezone than Las Vegas (Nevada). The drive is through vast open landscape pretty much nothing around. 

Drive to Zion National Park

All national parks in USA have an entry fee. We can either pay per national park or buy a annual pass at 80$ which will give access to all the 63 national parks. Since we were planning to visit multiple national parks, purchasing the annual pass was best. The annual pass can be purchased at any national park or REI stores. Once pass gives access to one car/people in the car. 

Zion Lodge is the only place within the national park. One needs to book very early to get accommodation here. There are a bunch of good options in Springdale which is the close to ZNP and easily accessible by shuttle.  

Bumbleberry Inn, Springdale

Around sunset, we arrived at the charming Bumbleberry Inn in Springdale, our stay for the night. The orange/red colors of setting sun added more to beauty to the rocky mountains of ZNP. After checking in, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Oscar's Café, indulging in the local flavors. A quick stop at Sol Market allowed us to stock up on snacks and essentials for our road trip before a restful night.S

September 15th: Exploring Zion National Park

Morning started with a hot & yummy breakfast at the Inn. They have a nice cafe where our complimentary breakfast was served. After breakfast we picked trekking poles from the Inn. Most lodgings here provide complimentary trek poles which are to be returned at the end of the day after the hike.

Springdale shuttle stop to ZNP visitor center was right opposite the Inn. We tool the shuttle to ZNP visitor center and there boarded the ZNP shuttle.  These shuttles are every 5-10 min and are most convenient to access all the points on ZNP. Infact, ZNP can be explored only via the shuttle. 

While restrooms and water filling stations are available at all ZNP shuttle stops, there are no food joints/cafes on any stops other than the visitor center and at Zion Lodge. So good to carry food depending on how much time you want spend in the park.

ZNP scenic drive is one of the most beautiful drives and is only accessible by the shuttle. Choose a window seat to get some amazing views on this scenic drive. 

Our first stop on the ZNP shuttle was Stop #6. We planned to do the lower and middle emerald pools on the Grotto/Kayenta trail. This is approximately 2.5 miles/4 KMs easy hike and it took us about 2hrs to complete.

We planned the Emerald pool hike in the first half of the day to avoid the heat. Heat in south-west America is at a different level. The sun is sharp and the wind is cool. So cap/hat, sun glasses, water and light jacket are a must when in outdoors.

 

 

On this trail we got some great views of the gigantic rocky mountains and a thin stream of virgin river flowing along the trail path. Unlike the view points, hiking gives an opportunity to get fully immersed in the surroundings and be part of it.

Emerald Pool

 Emerald pools are nothing but a tiny pool of water formed from the flowing water. Because of the moss/algae in the water, the pools look green and hence the name. There is nothing great about the pools as such, it's a great break-point on the hikes as the water flowing over the rocks to form these pools is very cool and refreshing.

The hike offered us beautiful views of Zion’s waterfalls and pools. We spent some time at the pools soaking in the surrounding and started hiking back to the trail head. The trails here are rocky, uneven and muddy. Having good shoes and trekking pole helped.

Unlike the trails in India, the trails here have no litter, there are washrooms, water and rest area facilities, people are mindful about co-hikers, nobody is playing loud music and more important no place is as crowded as in India. Hiking experience in USA is very different and serene. To get a similar experience in India, we will have to hike an unknown trail :)

 

 

 

After a small snack break, we headed to our next hiking - 'The Narrows'. This is a 16 mile hike in the Virgin river. The trail starts from the last stop of the shuttle - the Temple of Sinawava. From here it's a 1.2 mile / 2 KMs Riverside walk (mud pathway) before we enter the river/narrows.  Doing the entire 16 mile hike is full day activity of walking in waist level water. Generally people do the riverside walk and then walk about 30-40 mins in the water/narrow and return. We decided to follow the same trend.

 

 

 

While early mornings have lesser crowd on the trail and the narrows, the water will be super cold. It is better to hike in the afternoon, when the water temperature is slightly higher. It was great that we planned this in the afternoon, the water was slightly cold but not bad. We hiked on the riverside walk and walked in narrows for 40 mins. We walked in the water until it reached our knee length and returned. Walking in fresh and cool flowing water between the huge rocky mountains was an amazing experience. 

 

 

 

Water proof shoes and socks are available on rent at the visitor center. However, we did the narrows with our regular shoes (sneakers). Some people were managing with sandals as well. The water bed is full of small stones, which are slippery in some areas. A good pair of shoes (even if not water proof) and trekking pole helps a lot to navigate into the water. Also, wearing dry fit clothes works out better. We had also carried an extra pair of footwear to change into post our hike. 

Narrows

It took us about 3 hours to return to the shuttle stop. It was around 4pm when we returned to the visitor center. We were super hungry and went to the first cafe we came across. Late lunch at the Zion Canyon Brew Pub was a perfect break before heading back to Springdale. We had some amazing Mexican food. Since it's very close to the visitor center, this place is very crowded and the service can get slow. We had to wait for 20 mins for our food to arrive. There are a bunch of other restaurants at a couple of minutes walk from the visitor center. We saw them only after we finished our lunch when we headed back to Springdale.

We dropped our trekking poles at the Inn and started our drive to our next destination - Bryce National Park (BNP).

Our Native Village

Our Native Village is a resort close to Bangalore - about 1 1/2 hours drive from Bangalore, off the Bangalore-Tumkur highway. This resort is nestled in the quite villages. The resort is themed to provide village experience with modern amenities. A pretty decent resort, and fun for a weekend getaway with family and friends.

We planned for a 1N/2D stay in the last week of February. This was our first family vacation without Shree. Vacations are never the same without all the members of the family. We missed her but knew she was having great time with her friends.

We started relatively late after a breakfast at Adiga's close to our house. We took the NICE road and exited on Tumkur road. We followed the directions given by google maps. Once we reached Nritya Gram, we realized the road specified by google maps was closed. We spent about 30-45min calling Native Village to give us directions. Since there are no concrete landmarks, following direction was difficult. Finally, one of the staff from Native Village came to Nritya Gram and picked us up. There was no way we would have figured that route without the help of the staff. It was mud ridden road through the fields. The resort is literally middle of no-where.

Once we reached the resort, we were offered butter-milk which was refreshing. After the check-in formalities, we were guided to our room. The rooms are huge with an attached balcony. Room was pretty cool even without an AC or Fan (rooms are fitted with AC and fan - but didn't feel the requirement). We had some time to spare until lunch. We played some games like catapult, basketball, cricket. It was fun. By now it was pretty hot on the ground and we were hungry too.

Lunch was great. They had lot of dishes. It was a set menu served on the table. We wished the menu could have been more native - inline with the resort's theme rather than a standard North-Indian cuisine. Nevertheless we had a good full course lunch of soup, salads, starters, curries, rotis, rice and desserts. After a heavy lunch, me and Pankaj dosed off. Shrishti took to her reading.

Around 2:30-3PM, there was pottery activity, which we happily participated in. We made some small pots and mugs. After pottery, went on a bullock cart ride. There was milking the cow activity too. We felt tired, after these activities on a hot afternoon - even though we didn't do much. Now it was time to get into the pool for some cool relaxation. And that is exactly what we did. Playing and swimming in the pool was fun and relaxing.

Later in the evening, there was a camp-fire and some music under the stars. This was great time to meet fellow residents of the resort. We would have liked it if there wasn't any electronic music and one could just enjoy the calmness and some sounds from the insects. I guess, this was one other thing apart from native food, which the resort can take up as a change. One of the activity mentioned on their brochure was "Night walk". We were interested in this and signed-up for it. This was planned after dinner.

We had dinner, which was buffet style with great variety of food. Post dinner we were all ready with out jackets and shoes for the walk. Weather was pleasant but a thin jacket was required to keep us warm. As directed, we were at the gate on time.  Soon we realized we were the only ones for the walk. It wasn't any formal activity. One of the security guards with a powerful torch led us. Four dogs (Gabbar, Mallika, Sheetal. can't recollect the name of the fourth dog) from the resort followed the security guard to guard all of us :) This turned out to be one of the best night walks we have ever experienced. After about half a kilometer walk from the resort we reached a place full of trees. We further walked about a kilometer or so through these trees and then we hit grassland. Complete open space - a 360 degree view of the star-lit sky. This grassland goes on and on. The view was similar to the dome-theater experience in any planetarium. It was around full moon time, the moon wasn't yet up high in the sky. Which kept the sky almost without any light except the stars. Watching countless starts amidst the grassland with no one around except us, the security guard and the four dogs was an amazing experience. Absolutely no sound. Even the dogs stayed quite through out the walk. Every few minutes the guard would shout the dog's name and they would pop-up from no where. It was unbelievable that we were just about 60Kms away from Bangalore city.

We didn't feel like going back to the resort. But we had to as it was pretty late and we were tired too. As we started our walk back, we noticed a big peach colored balloon in the sky. We were wondering what it could be. When the security guard said it was the moon, we couldn't believe our eyes. The moon was just rising and it was huge.  Through out our walk back to the resort, we noticed how the moon started rising up and re-sizing. A beautiful sight to end our night walk and the day!

After a good night sleep, we started our day with a small leisure walk around the resort area. The resort is literary middle of no-where. We were back in time for some hot breakfast. Post breakfast we spent some time playing some more games like gilli- danda, top, cricket, aadu-puli etc. It was now time to head back home. We had booked tickets for "Gully Boy" 4PM show and didn't want to be late for it:)

In all a great place for a weekend getaway!

Mahabalipuram - Shore Temple

It's end of October and we start thinking of what do we do in Christmas break. After having just finished a 3-week action packed vacation to the US, none of us had any inclination to do a mega planning for another vacation. We wanted to do a short-relaxing trip which would not require much planning. First thought was to go to Goa, we had heard very good reviews of a place called "La Mangroove". Unfortunately the place was completely booked for mid December to mid January. Most places we could think of for short trip where sold out. We realized we were late for the December bookings - which is a peak holiday season.

After looking at various options, we decided on Mahabalipuram. We were excited, as this was the trip with our family friends Meera-Venki. There was absolutely no availability in any of the beach resorts. We shortlisted Four Point Sheraton. Venki went ahead and completed the booking. This was the quickest booking we had ever done. We didn't want to loose any time as most places were being taken very quickly.

Shore Temple

Mahabalipuram is about 6-7Hr drive from Bangalore. Our plan was to start early so that we reach by lunch time. 6:00AM - 23rd Dec, we start our trip. 2 cars and 2 families. The kids are still sleepy and not in a mood for any chit-chat or songs. We take the e-City flyover to reach Hosur. The traffic around Attibele is bad. Bumper-to-Bumper cars. Everyone is traveling. It tool nearly 30 min to cross the Hosur checkpost. After crossing this, the traffic was better. By the time we reached Krishnagiri we were starving. We stopped at A2B for some breakfast. The parking lot of A2B was overflowing, there was no place to sit in the restaurant - holiday crowd was all over. We didn't have any mood nor energy to find another place for breakfast. So we decided to wait for a table.

After a good breakfast, we had all relaxed and ready to hit the road. Plan was to stop over at Kanchipuram temple if we reach their before noon. Kamakshi temple in Kanchipuram is typically closed between 1PM-3:30PM. Unfortunately we had never managed to reach Kanchipuram during the time period where the temple is open. This time we reached Kanchipuram around noon and very hoping to make it to the temple. As we took the deviation at Kanchipuram to reach the temple, we immediately realized we had made a wrong decision. The entire road leading to the temple was bumper to bumper. There was some festival because of which there was huge crowd. We were stuck. We had no option but to take the road to the temple. There was no place to turn around. Some how at snail pace we reached close to the temple. Now the issue was where do we park the car. Somehow we managed to find some parking spot. After a small walk, we reach the temple courtyard and we see a huge queue to enter the main temple. We had no energy or enthusiasm to go to the Garbha Gudi or the place where the deity is worshiped. We were happy exploring the courtyard and its architecture. We quickly walked around the courtyard and ready to leave. Now we had another battle - to get our cars out of parking and hit the highway.

It took some time to get out of this crowded area and hit highway. Once we reached highway, next big question was were do we have lunch. We could not find any decent place to stopover of lunch until almost 2:30PM. All of us were very hungry and cranky. Finally we stopped for lunch at a place called Shri Ganesh Bhavan. All of us ordered South-Indian meals which is fastest and safest to order when traveling in South.

Evening at the beach

By the time we reached Mahabalipuram it was around 4:30PM. Four Point Sherton is a typical hotel. One doesn't have to worry about the quality of stay and food. We completed the check-in formalities and headed to our rooms. The rooms we had booked were family suite. They were very spacious with a bedroom, hall and a balcony. We had booked 2 suites - one for each family. Luckily we were able to get the rooms facing each other.

Evening we headed to the beach. The beach wasn't very crowded. The waves were high as it was closer to full moon. We had great fun playing on the beach and taking pics. Once the sun was set, we headed back to the hotel. Since we were already drenched playing on the beach we decided to continue having more fun in water. We headed straight to the pool. It was super fun playing in the pool. We were exhausted and hungry. We had a good dinner and crashed.

Next day, everybody was up early as we had decided to go to the beach to view the sunrise. Everybody just sat on the beach quietly enjoying the sunrise and calmness of the beach. It was a beautiful way to start the day. Once the sun was up, we headed back to the hotel.

Sunrise

Today, we planned to visit the shore temple and other monuments around. Plan to was to start early and finish touring all the monuments by lunch time, so that we avoid the afternoon heat. Also, wear comfortable footwear as you will need to walk a lot. For some monuments, you can choose to hire a cycle rikshaw. It is recommended to park the car in the parking lot and walk/hire rikshaw to all the monuments. We had a heavy breakfast and left for 'Shore Temple'. This is a UNESCO world heritage site and has monuments dating to 700 AD. The temple complex is on the shores of the ocean. The monuments at Mahabalipuram are divided as Architectural, Rathas and Cave temples. All these group of monuments are very close to each other and can be easily covered in 4-5 hours. It is recommended to hire a guide to help one understand the history. The guides typically charge Rs. 500-1000 to cover all these monuments. Last week of December being a holiday season, there was a lot of crowd. The parking lots were overflowing and the tourists were more than we expected.

Shore Temple

We first visited the main shore temple complex. This is very picturesque. It took us about an hour to visit the main complex. From here we walked to group of Ratha temples. Each of these is named after the 5 pandavas and each one is different from the other. We spent an hour here. From here we walked through various to boulders and cave temples to see ' Krishna's Butterball". This is a huge boulder which is standing on a sharp incline. After some photo shoots here, we visited the last set of cave temples. By now we were tired. Even in the December, the afternoon sun here can be quite draining. Wonder how bad does it get in summer...

Rathas

By the time we finished visiting all the important monuments, it was around 2:30PM. We were tired, thirsty, hunger and done for the day. We stopped at a small food court which had small joints serving different types of food and a decent sitting area. Each picked their choice of food. After lunch we headed straight to our hotel.

After relaxing for sometime, it was beach time. There aren't many beaches here. We revisited the beach next to the Shore temple. Today we didn't spend a lot of time here. Just sat and watched the waves as the sun set behind us. Kids wanted to get into the pool. We returned to the hotel and headed straight to the pool. We had fun playing games in the pool. After games in the swimming pool, we played some card games and pictionary. It was super fun. We had a long fun filled day. Ended the day with a great dinner.

Next day it was time to bid goodbye to Mahabalipuram. Meera's family decided to visit their relatives in Chennai. We headed back to Bangalore after breakfast.  It was long drive back. Little did we know what adventure was awaiting us.

I was at the wheel. After crossing Salem, we started experiencing some weird thing with the car. The clutch seemed a little off. I wasn't able to control the speed. We were about 5-10Kms away from Hosur, when I could not continue driving. Had to pull the car to halt. It was the day of Christmas and all the mechanics shops seemed to be shut. We were able to trace a TATA motors service center about 1/2 Km from where our car had broken down. Pankaj and Shree walked to the service center and got a mechanic. On inspection he said, the clutch plate is damaged and cannot be driven. The only option was to tow the car. He arranged for a tow truck and we soon we were being towed. Me, Shree and Shrishti sat in our car and Pankaj sat in the tow truck. It took us couple of hours to reach home. It was an experience which none of us will ever forget. Our Christmas break ended with a big bang!!!

K Gudi Jungle Lodges - Total Relaxation

Kyathadevara Gudi Wilderness Camp - popularly known as K Gudi wilderness camp is one of the wilderness camps from Jungle lodges (http://www.junglelodges.com/kyathadevara-gudi-wilderness-camp/). This is one of the unique resorts from Jungle lodges. It is situated midst of B.R.T Wildlife Sanctuary. B.R Hills is very close from the camp - it's about 30 min drive from the camp. This is the place where the Eastern Ghats meet the Western Ghats.

View from B. R. Hills

Tents - JLR K Gudi

Of all the JLR properties, this is one of those properties which hasn't been commercialized yet (compared to others). Since the forest is very thick, spotting wildlife isn't very easy. However, the place itself is very beautiful and is definitely worth a visit for total relaxation.

We had been hearing from our friends and frequent travellers that since this particular camp is amidst the jungle it is likely to shut down as some laws have been passed. We were wanted to have a small break where we could just relax and spend some time together. And this was the place we decided to go before it closes (if at all - hope it doesn't).

Its not very far, about 4 hour drive (225 Km) from Bangalore. We started at 7am, stopped for breakfast on Kanakpura road. The road was in rather bad state until we reached Mallavalli. After that, the drive was beautiful. Even in peak summer (April), there was greenery everywhere. Once we cross the entry gate of B. R. T Sanctuary, the drive is very scenic. It takes about 40min - 1 hr to the camp from the gate as it has lot of hairpin curves.

We were at the camp by 11:30am. Fresh lemonade was served, before we were shown to our tents. We had booked 2 tents. Kids decided to have a tent for themselves. All accommodations over look the forest. It is beautiful and quiet. The only sound one gets to hear is the birds chirping.  There are hammocks and tyre swings everywhere. We dumped our luggage in the tents and each one got hold of a hammock to relax.

Lunch was standard JLR lunch - simple food of salads, rotis, curries, rice and sambar. This was one of those breaks where we had not planned to do anything. Just read, eat, chat, sleep and go for safari. And that's all we did. We went for 2 jeep safaris. Did not spot any big cats. However, during the evening safari, we saw a fresh kill of Sambar deer by a tiger. The kill was left half eaten. We saw the tiger pug marks around the kill. Sambar deer are supposedly favourites of Tiger.

Half eaten Sambar Deer - Tiger Kill

As the evening set in, it got very chilly. By the time we returned from the safari, we were cold. Hot tea/coffee along with some pakoras were served. This was very refreshing. Each of us got our favourite books to read and enjoyed uninterrupted reading until dinner time.

After a good night sleep in the tents, we were given a wakeup call at 6am for the morning safari. First thing on safari our driver took us to checkout the status of the kill (which we had seen yesterday). And what we saw, was shocking. The entire Sambar deer was eaten, except for its guts which were left. We also saw the tiger's poop which had all the undigested Sambar deer hair. The sight was scary and disgusting. Scary - because we knew the tiger was somewhere close by, probably watch us. Disgusting - because, the site of all the uneaten organs and stench was not very pleasant. Our naturalist/driver mentioned that the tiger usually finishes the whole deer in a day and then hangs around a water body to quench its thirst. We waited near the water body which was very close to the kill for sometime hoping to see the tiger, but alas no sign of the cat.

Left over guts of the Sambar Deer - Tiger Kill

Tiger Poop - Sambar Deer Fur (undigested)

We saw lot of other animals during the safari - Spotted deer, Sambar deer, barking deer, langurs, mongoose, Malabar squirrel, a Bison pair, wild boars, serpent eagle, owl etc. After the safari it was time for breakfast. Breakfast was of good spread. We eat leisurely as we had no other plans before we checked out.

 

It was now time to checkout. We drove to Ranganathswamy temple which is located on top of B.R. Hills. The temple is about 30min (20KMs) drive from the camp. The temple was closed for renovation. However the views from the hill top are beautiful and definitely worth visiting. After this it was straight drive to Bangalore. Since Kankpura road was under repair, we joined Mysore-Bangalore highway at Madduru. We stopped at Kamath Lok Ruchi for Bhakri Oota (North Karnataka Meals). Love this food - reminds us of home town. We were home by 5pm.

Ranganathswamy Temple Gopuram - B. R. Hills