Category: Uncategorized

Posted in Uncategorized

Kerala

Posted on by harrytinkers

Popularly known as God’s own country because of the beautiful landscape this state offers.This state lies on the tropical malabar coast of India.It’s known for its palm-lined beaches and backwaters, a network of canals and a land which is fertile to support tea, coffeee and spices.

Named as one of the ten paradises of the world by National Geographic Traveler, Kerala is famous especially for its ecotourism initiatives and beautiful backwaters.Kerala banks at the vast Arabian sea and enjoys the bounty of the western ghats.

The capital of Kerala is Tiruvananthapuram ( Trivandrum) and its bordered by states of Karnataka and Tamil nadu. the language widely spoken here is Malayalam.

Kerala is also both of our native, so we have lots of stories to narrate ,Click on the below links to read more

Innocence

Well, the epitome of innocence are children. It’s said that children are angels on earth they see everything but respond only to the good ones.  So today my day started with my usual workout routine and today I was blessed to see some of the cutest kids of my society. It happened to be the…

harrytinkers's avatar by harrytinkers

Paragliding for the first time

For adventure lovers it’s cherry on the pie and for first timers it can be little scary. So, what happens in Solang valley paragliding?? You take the cable car in a group of 4 and it takes you to the place where you will meet your guides. Your guides will take you the starting point…

harrytinkers's avatar by harrytinkers

Manali diaries

The roads from Delhi to Manali is pretty good and the highway is well maintained. There are few check posts in between which can consume your time in long queues otherwise there is no issue. There are plenty of Dhabas and restaurants on the way, you can munch something whenever you feel hungry. The food…

harrytinkers's avatar by harrytinkers

Temples

The mouth watering Unniappams : Kottarakkara Mahaganapati Kshetram

Guruvayoor: My favourite temple of Lord Krishna

12 Interesting facts about Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple

The reason of south Indian temples emphasising on wearing saree and mundu

First pongala at Attukaal Bhagwati Kshetram

A temple which considers everyone equal : Parshinikadavu Kannur

Beaches

Must visit beaches in Trivandrum

Interesting locations

The first time I saw manjadi kuru tree: Kollam ashramam Adventure park

Neendakara fishing harbour : Kollam, Kerala

Posted in Uncategorized

Nandi hills

Posted on by harrytinkers

Nandi hill is known for its misty morning sunsets , mesmerising sunsets and delightful nature’s beauty.

Nandi hill also known as Anandagiri (hill of happiness) is an ancient fortress which is known to be ruled by Tipu sultan. Later in the colonial rule the British had taken over this place so you can see a mix of colonial and Chola architecture in the buildings.

The entrance itself is super majestic and can define its heritage.

There are 40 hairpin curves before you reach the entrance. During your climb uphill you will find many photogenic spots with deep gorges and steep rocky hills.Drive slowly and safely there is absolurely no rush.

Nandi Hills is the nearest hill station near our residence as its just 20 kms away. It was our first trip together and we went there for our post wedding photoshoot. It was my first time visit to Nandi hills. Akhil has visited multiple times.It was Mid- September when we visited Nandi hills and the climate was rainy and misty .

Best time to visit is : Throughout the year , isnt it wonderful. During rainy season the roads can be slippery so be careful.

Entry fees :Normal entry fee per person is 5 INR.Car – 60 INR, Two wheeler – 21 INR

Timing : 6 am to 6 pm . You can stay in the guest houses at night if you are planning to stay overnight but the entry is closed by 6 pm in order to avoid mishaps.

Nandi hills is covered with exotic plants and trees, As the horticulture department of Karnataka has full control over the hills now you can see beautiful flowers and unique trees which are not easily found in the city. The climate on top is very pleasant and usually rains every day.

The mornings are the best where you can enjoy the misty sunrise with hot tea and steaming hot pakodas .

Unexplored areas

There is also a 1300 old Nandi temple which is restricted for tourist now and truly this place is mystical. There is a small pond and a garden which is now restricted for tourists and both the  places look enchanting.

Nehru nilaya

Nehru Nilaya is bungalow named after the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru as he had stayed at this place for some time.
Nehru Nilaya is now converted into a guest house. No one can enter inside the building but you can click pics as we did.

Posted in Uncategorized

Sigiriya rock

Posted on by harrytinkers

Sigiriya is an ancient rock fortress located near the town of Dambulla  in Sri Lanka is a popular UNESCO World heritage site and is known as one of the greatest inventions of ancient engineers and artisans.

I was really very much excited for this trek and have read about it so much. It’s a common notion that if you are in tourist famous destination it’s supposed to be beautiful as well as crowded. Well in our case we were lucky to visit this place with less crowd.

So, we reached around 4:45 pm and the ticket counter closes by 5 pm lucky enough!!

And the time for sunset was 5:50 Pm so technically we had only an hour to climb the rock.

The ticket costed us 2655 Sri Lankan Rupees per person.

There will be plenty of locals who would tell you they are tourist guides and would try to convince you to take them with you as a guide, I would Insist it’s better to take them, but bargain for prices as they tell you high prices initially. We did not take a guide because our Driver was also a tourist guide which was an added advantage for us.

There are approximately 1200 steps to reach the top of Sigiriya rock and it takes about an hour and half to climb them depending on your age and health conditions. The steps become steeper and narrower as you climb up.

Watch the video to know more

History

Sigiriya (means lion rock) is rock fortress built in 5th century AD by a Sinhalese king Kashyapa. He chose sigiriya to build his fort because of the special position this rock beholds in the midst of a lush jungle. The rock is 660 ft high which offers a 360 o  view of the whole area. After king Kashyapa’s dynasty fell, the fortress was lost the jungle and later was discovered by the Britisher historians in 19th century.

As in Sinhalese historical stories it is said that the lion is the mythical ancestor of kings and symbolises royalty, Kashyapa decided to build a lion shaped gateway in order to symbolise power.

Architecture

The kingdom was decorated with beautiful fresco paintings, garden and water fountains. The fortress is a best example of ancient Sinhalese urban planning.

Sigiriya has miniature and traditional water gardens considered to be the oldest in the world and their underground water ways are still functioning that’s so amazing. Water gardens utilizes a very complex ancient hydraulic system.

It’s a fort with a moat for its defence mechanism.

The ‘Lion rock’ got its name from the gigantic lion which greeted visitors halfway up the rock on a small plateau. Only the lion paws are remaining right now, but just imagine who beautiful it must have been back then.

Even thinking about it I get goosebumps; how marvellous the construction was also it would have been extremely meticulous to construct the whole fortress.

Frescos

 Well this was something which was a surprise element for me as I have never seen such beautifully preserved frescoes. It’s mainly ladies which are depicted in these frescoes.Its painted with natural dyes on wet plaster. Well you have to climb a narrow spiral staircase to reach the cave where these frescos are preserved.

  • SIGIRIYA, POLONNARUVA, SRI LANKA – CIRCA APR 2013: Ancient painting on rock

Mirror Wall In The Sigiriya Complex

Originally the walls were so perfectly polished that the king could see himself whilst he walked alongside it. Made of brick masonry, the wall was covered in highly polished white plaster, used a technique that combines a unique combination of natural rock, brick powder, kaolin, dolomite and oil of a bark of Dorana tree. This walled path continued till the summit through the lion’s mouth.

As soon as you start climbing more and more, the scenic beauty starts increasing in your surroundings. When we reached at the top of the Sigiriya rock we could see the ruins of the old fortress, which takes you to an imagination of how grand palace would have been. One could see a 360 view of the surrounding areas which is breathtakingly mesmerising.

Beware of the bee hives on the rocks. Try not to make too much noise as the bees can get disturbed and attack you.

The climb down took only ½ Hour and it was quite dark and there are no lights to guide you. So, its always better to leave as soon as the sunset. Also, I had sprained my ankle while coming down as I missed a step and slipped.

With its ancient history, marvellous architecture and scenic view from the top Sigiriya is sure to leave a mark in your memories.

Posted in Uncategorized

A day at Universal Studios Singapore

Posted on by harrytinkers

We took a bus from clement which had dropped us to the harbour front  bus station near the vivo city mall which is about 30 minutes drive .

We got down there and noticed a food court with some amazing breakfast menu, so we had dosa and Juice .Sweet and sour juice was so refreshing as it was a mix of sugercane and sweet lime with a  tinge of lemon,

After that we headed to Vivo city mall and from there we took monorail to Sentosa with took us to the Universal Studios. This mono Rail had 3 coaches and was painted beautifully in bright colours. Sentosa is aan island so the the mono rail  goes through a water body and has a very beautifu lview  and you should definitely take a window seat to have a look at it Finally reached Universal Studios by 11:00 a.m. and that is the time when it opens so you have to show your tickets to go inside and we did not know that it was the beginning of the Halloween Party Nights in Universal Studio the whole studio in the morning was getting ready for its first Halloween Night party.

Halloween night preparations at Universal Studios

As soon as you enter Universal Studio from its big gate you would see the whole world of Minions. Because it’s a theme park it’s divided into sections and which are easily asccesible with the map. Its is divided into 6 parts and you can choose to go wherever you want first so we went to the Madagascar section where we took the river Safari and took us about 45 minutes and the ride duration was for 10 minutes which was fun and we also got to click pictures with the main characters of Madagascar as a photo booth which was really amazing. Also they have these stores which have merchandises.

Also there is Character meetup in different areas of the park wherein characters would be coming at specific timings and you can click pictures after standing in a queue with them.

The next stop was the Transformers because we wanted to witness roller coaster ride and it was thrilling ,this ride would definitely rush your adrenaline level. The wait time was 45 minutes long and Wait was worthwhile, the ride blew our mind . So there are basically 2 roller coaster rides in the Transformers section and a very fun 3D ride which I would definitely recommend everyone to have an experience for,  it was really amazing but the wait time is too long for about an hour the we lost a lot of time over there .Also if you have to go to the roller coaster ride you basically have to leave all your belongings in a locker which takes about 2 SGD for 2 hours and 2 SGD for every half n hour.

After the ride we were exhausted and dehydrated so we decided to fuel ourselves up ..The food court near transformers section offers  for both veg and non veg options and  we had mushroom and corn noodles ( this was amazing), fried  chicken ( good),olive rice ( too much olive ), some fresh fruits ( no so fresh) ,iced Milo ( very bland) and a rainbow cake ( the best part about the meal).The food was tasty but highly overpriced as all the other theme parks.

Also there is section called lights camera action which is about this old city and you get really vintage pictures. You would literally feel you have come back to the cowboy era .You would see these old Vintage cars and  restaurant’s and marketplace and the Gotham ice company. Every inch of this place will actually remind you of vintage village surroundings.

Then we move to the Egyptian era where we went for a Treasure Hunt which is basically a ride for kids and its absolutely relaxing.

Next we went to the Prehistoric area where it was everything about dinosaurs with a cute ride with flying dinosaurs, a tour to the Prehistoric era and rivers Safari (the best one) and is highly recommended. By the time we were done with the river Safari it was6 p.m. (closing time) and we did not know that.

When we came out of the Universal Studio in the evening it was a totally different place the whole place was ready for its Halloween Night and everyone was dressed up in Halloween costumes. And there were some creepy things to eat, Halloween props and the universal globe was turned into a red colour globe it was really Spooky and creepy and we wondered that how did they do everything in such a small time because at morning it was all normal and by the night it turner all spooky and creepy .

Overall It was such an amazing day at Universal Studio and everyone must go where and have a really fun day all together

Posted in Uncategorized

How to travel in Singapore

Posted on by harrytinkers

Singapore is good connectivity in terms of transportation whether its MRT (metro service) , bus sevice or Taxi service and as a tourist we never faced an issue travelling to any destination because there were signboards everywhere to guide us.

MRT  ( Mass Rapid Transit) Singapore

MRT Map

The connectivity is superb of MRT and it connects the whole Singapore.The signboards and the map helps a passenger to get to their specific destination.

Bus service

The bus numbers are mentioned on the specific station and the buses have the end destination mentioned on the digital display of the bus.Its easier to have your google maps turned on.

**** you need to have an EZ-link card which is used for both MRT and bus which as a tourist you can apply it online for a Singapore tourist pass which is on an expensive side and mostly for 3 days or you can purchase an EZ–Link card over the counter at any MRT station, bus interchange, or 7-Eleven in Singapore. The EZ–Link card costs SGD 15 – SGD 5 covers the cost of the card (and is non-refundable), and SGD 10 is a consumable amount that needs to be “topped up” as the card runs low

Taxi service

Fare description

You can get a taxi in and around all the places and if you wanna book them you can download GRAB which is perfect in choosing your taxi.There are many other taxi services and we used GRAB and was very much satisfied by their services.The best part about the taxi service is they are very genuinely priced and they have their starting rate (flag down) mention outside the taxi which is very helpful.