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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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!!!
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!!!
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