Road Tripping To Wayanad!

Road trips are a great way to explore India, the freedom it offers is exciting to say the least. Truly blessed to be born in such a culturally rich Nation where every few hundred kilometers offers drastic changes in cuisines, languages and cultures but values, love and affection remain unchanged. We hit the road to visit one of the most celebrated places from God's Own Country- Wayanad in Kerala. A 350 km pleasant bike ride from Bengaluru was impeccably planned and well organized by 3 start ups- Onn Bikes, Scout My Trip and Wandertrails. Onn bikes a bike rental start up provided the bikes that were in great shape. They had arranged for the much sought after bikes from Royal Enfield stable. Scout my trip helps everyone organize travel and plan exciting itineraries. Wandertrails a one of it's kind experiential stay options and activities platform which has all properties verified and strives to give unique experiences for travelers. First time 3 travel starts ups got together to host riders and bloggers.

Early morning ride started from Electronic city, 8 bikes -7 bullets and 1 avenger were all parked waiting to kiss the road. A good briefing as to who would lead the ride and then everyone chose their respective numbers to follow the lead and the tail was decided. Clear instructions were given to follow the lead and stick to the numbers in a zig zag pattern and at no point in time would the order be compromised. The zig zag pattern was to ensure that in case of a sudden brake the bikes do not collide. We had 2 cars as well with us to take care of our luggage and also the crew to document out ride and shoot our videos.

We zoomed past on the most beautiful stretch of Bengaluru - Mysore road i.e Nice Road and it was a sheer delight to be on this beautiful highway with pleasant weather that made the ride even more enjoyable. After riding on this brilliant stretch, we stopped at one of the many Kamat Hotel branches on the highway and had a proper South Indian breakfast and ended it with piping hot filter coffee.

Mother Nature was very generous and provided the best conditions for a perfect ride. The absolute black top roads that lead to Wayanad from Bengaluru took us through the picturesque Bandipur National Park. The monsoon added a lovely dash of green to the surroundings. It was an amazing feel to ride with such wilderness for company.

Post sunset, we reached our destination covering 350 km and the ride did end but not our journey. To reach our resort up the hills, we had to opt for an exciting steep climb and that was the highlight of the trip. A 6 km drive in a 4x4 jeep that would take about 45 minutes to reach our destination-  Dare Nature 5000 resort which is the highest property in Wayanad. We parked our bikes in a safe location and hopped onto the jeep.

The drive was the most bumpiest ride but it was epic experience. The entire drive was totally worth it. It looked more like being in a roller coaster rather than a jeep and at one point we crossed a bridge over a water fall. Since the sun was down we could only hear thundering sound of water falls but the sound of gushing water made us happy as we knew this would be an epic experience and in true sense "Being amidst Nature." The place was beautiful, right in the middle of nowhere and we were the only souls around. It was the best way to spend a vacation. It offers basic accommodation, given the remoteness and beautiful location. Basic here is luxury! In life, experience counts more than creature comforts. The views from the resort are killer to say the least. The resort offers a few adventure activities such as zip lining, laddering et all. With no gadgets, no signal, the property was really beautiful and we celebrated the end of a ride with a bonfire and sharing stories and bonding over the love of food. The authentic Kerala food served with so much love and cutting chai and rains was a better love story than DDLJ.

The next day it continued pouring and we had planned for Wayanad sightseeing but decided to change our plans. A short trek from our property, mind you the property spreads over 40 acres of green vegetation, led to the starting point of a massive waterfall and so we decided to head there after a hearty breakfast.

All of us were prepared with appropriate rain gear as it continued to pour and we started our hike. It was a short hike but it was totally fun and we were walking on a small path laid out in between the forest and after crossing a few small water bodies we reached the massive waterfall. En route we were all introduced to natural and free leech therapy, worry not they are harmless and a dash of salt gets them off you. So in the meanwhile let them purify your blood. After spending a couple of minutes getting the leeches off our bodies, it was time to plunge into the ice cold water. With monsoon the waterfalls came alive and we stood under the thundering falls and the ice cold water was like an amazing spa treatment. It was more like our own private falls and we had the time of our lives getting completely drenched and enjoying what Nature had to offer.

All days we were pampered with amazing food made with lots of love. In the evening, our caretaker took us to another trail path that led to a view point and it is the highest view point in Wayand at 5000 feet above sea level. The view of the town from there is mesmerizing. Post that we were treated to yummy pakodas and pipping hot milk tea and cutting chai. We ended the day with some amazing chicken curry and dal for dinner and playing Mafia. All of us bonded so well that it was hard to believe that most of us were meeting each for the first time.

Our ride back to Bangalore started early the next day and with some spells of drizzle, we were spared by the weather Gods for majority of the ride. On our way back we stopped at Roti Dhaba near Columbia Asia Hospital for lunch and the food was finger licking good. The trip could not have been planned any better. Everything worked out amazingly. The bikes were in pretty good shape, we had the most amazing stay with some beautiful experiences that we will cherish and the destination and the ride was just perfect. With some beautiful memories and some amazing friends we wrapped up our wonderful ride and headed back home.

The trip was planned and sponsored by Scout My Trip, Onn Bikes and Wandertrails.

Being A Tourist In Delhi!

Delhi or Dilli, the capital of India. While on one side the city is always in news with headlines ranging from being extremely corrupted, highly unsafe and road rage incidents, the other side talks about the beautiful history of the place, amazing street food, the bone chilling cold winters, and of course tons of affordable street shopping options. Not to forget it serves as the base camp for all trips to the Himalayas. Well almost everyone who visits India would have mostly been to Delhi at some point in their lives so have we be it either for work or for our trips up North so finally we have a post dedicated to the lifeline of India.

What better way to start our Dilli Darshan that with Red Fort. Built by Shah Jahan in 1638 when he moved the capital from Agra to Delhi, this World Heritage Site is today used as the venue by The Prime Minister Of India every year to deliver his speech to the entire Nation on 15th of August, Independence Day.

Bang in the middle of the city is centuries old "Agrasen Ki Baoli." Also known as Ugrasen Ki Baoli, it has around 103 steps and a series of arched corridors. It is believed that the water entices people to commit suicide and the deeper one enters the well, the eerie feel is very prominent and many believe that the place is haunted. Stories apart, this place is definitely worth a visit and few scenes of the Aamir Khan starrier 'PK' movie was shot here. The age old step well is pretty well kept by ASI but is infested by Bats. We were surprised to see such a extravagant water storage facility.

We were blown away walking around the centuries old 'Jantar Mantar.' It is one of the five built by Maharaja Jai Singh II from 1723 onwards. It was built to tell precise time and movements of moon and planets around the Sun, with 13 astronomical instruments in this site. The many yantras constructed here could tell the exact time to the milli second. It was such a fabulous scientific creation from centuries ago and it was unbelievable to know our ancestors were so interested and accurate about time and other planets.

One of the most interesting stops in our Delhi darshan is Qutub Minar. The stunning Minar is a real treat. There are several ancient monuments in the vicinity. The Iron Pillar of Delhi is housed in the same complex and is really a wonder due to its rust resistance feature. It also houses a mosque and an inscription in Persian on the walls of the mosque states that the materials used to build it were procured from the demolished Hindu and Jain temples. A few that we could see were image of Lord Ganesha, different murtis and avatars. Several parts of the monument with the Arabic scriptures have broken off and seem to have been added in the monument later on.This monumental wonder left us with many perplexing questions. Was this an ancient Hindu temple as the architecture and building style suggests. To this day there are several concrete living, hard hitting evidence that have been attempted to destroy across India.

There are several pillars that are just not Islamic style of architecture. One could see this style of architecture in temples of India. By asking these questions if we would be labeled "Right Wing Extremists" or Hindutava fanatics" so be it.

Lotus Temple is a Bahai House of Worship and is open to all regardless of their religion or any other discrimination. Built in 1986, the temple consists of 27 marble clad standing petals.

Thanks to Delhi metro, which is extremely well connected, we visited most of these places at a very economical price and not caught up in the notorious Delhi traffic, but the Metro does get very crowded and during peak hours reminded us of Mumbai local trains just air conditioned though.

While in Delhi we had a typical tourist day out. We stopped in one of the oldest Dabhas in old Delhi- "Kake Di Hatti" and the extremely friendly owners welcomed us and addressed us as 'Beta' and 'Bachchein.' The food portions were huge and even their half portions of butter rich dal makhani and chicken masala had such generous quantity. The rotis were pretty filling and yummy. A delightful heavy lunch for the two of us costed Rs. 400.

For sweets and snacks we visited Banga Sweets and it is easily one of the best places to pick up sweets in Delhi. Do try their cham cham, pani puri and veg puff.

While in Delhi, we checked into Hotel Hari Piarko in Pahar Ganj. Though located in a very congested and a busy market area of Delhi, we had a wonderful stay experience. The rooms were very clean, spacious and comfortable and loaded with all modern amenities. Pahar Ganj main market, RK Ashram metro, New Delhi Railway Station are all at a walkable distance. Even if you are flying into Delhi, the airport Metro rail is the best way to reach the hotel. The only downside to the hotel was a very average complimentary breakfast.

One of our other stay experiences was at "Aspire India Bed & Breakfast," a home-stay in Udai park New Delhi (9810113600.) Owned and run by Colonel Sudindar Singh. The property is bang in the middle of the city in a quite secured residential area. They have very comfortable rooms with an attached bath that come with all modern luxuries.

The best part about the stay is the entertaining, caring and lovable host Colonel Sudindar Singh uncle. Over a hearty and yummy breakfast we had lengthy discussions about travel, Army and India. The home stay has a wide collection of books on travel. It is very close to green park metro station. The host was very kind to give us metro travel card help plan our travel for the day and gave lot of insider information.