Ladakh travel – Frequently Asked questions

 Ladakh travel – Frequently Asked questions

1. How Ladakh was chosen as the destination? Before how many days, the trip was planned?

We were planning a trip as our Anniversary falls in August; could not find any good travel plan around that week- but found a trip in IRCTC tour package during Aug 15th long week end; Consulted wife, family members and booked the trip thru IRCTC. It took less than 2 days to decide and book.

 
IRCTC takes only 30 people (max) and we were the last two members to book; we booked just 1 week before the trip.

I thought Ladakh is like Kashmir or Kulu Manali- but after booking, read about Ladakh and was taken aback.

It is a place with very less oxygen (as it is in High altitude); you cannot walk for 500 meters comfortably. Walking and breathing both will be challenging.

 
Fortunately spoke to Prasanna, CS from Bengaluru who went last year- he gave lot of useful tips; followed all of them diligently during the trip and just scraped through.

2. How many days trip is required?

IRCTC planned it 7 full days (6 nights) – guess this is perfect; can reduce 1 day if needed

Any tourist coming to Leh (Ladakh is the name of the Union Territory & Leh is the capital)- will stay in Leh atleast for 24-36 hours without much activity just to acclimatize with the climate; If people's health is ok, only then-  they will take to other places; there are cases where people having health complications will fall sick and get admitted (happened to one of the old person in our group itself).

3. Must visit places

Entire Ladakh is full of beautiful mountains; altitude being so high we see the clouds in different shapes always; Highway roads are very broad and clean with less traffic. There will be river flowing in most places.

This visual beauty- Mountain+ Clouds+ River +Road – this is what we are going to see and enjoy wherever we go; though there are activities like Camel ride or Bunkie jump, the main takeaway is watching the picturesque Ladakh in various forms.

Pangkong lake is a stunning beauty; we could not believe this is our country & it looks like a Foreign nation; mountains in different colurs in bright sun; Lake water in double colour (Crystal clear green is so beautiful). But one has to travel a lot to reach this place. 

4. Precautions required.

Ladakh is not like any other fun trip; it challenges one mentally and physically; not recommended for everyone. One’s health should be perfectly all right. And they must be physically active. A doctors certificate showing the fitness was required by the tour organizer

It was advised to buy an oxygen cylinder in the medical shop on arriving at Ladakh; we bought it and used it till the last day – it was very helpful; personally whenever I had breathing trouble or headache (Most common- every one had headache without exception) – I used the oxygen cylinder and got immediate relief ( wife did not get instant relief- still felt better)

Vomiting tablet- being Ghat area with hairpin bends, tablets to prevent vomiting is needed. Should have fever tablet as well since the climate changes often.

Sweaters, Jerkins- both are a must; Cotton dresses are required which we completely missed (Though temperature is around 22 degree in the day, as we are in high altitude, sun was very hot- missed cotton shorts/ Shirts badly)

Cooling glass to prevent the side effect of Sun is a must; entire group were wearing cooling glass mostly- happy to see that

Moisturizer and cream to prevent sun heat. Should use it daily

Electral or ORS- we drank it at regular intervals; helped immensely for travel sickness as well as an energy boost. 

Water- one will not feel thirsty- but should drink atleast 2 liters of water every day- this is must and non negotiable

All the above points were suggested by CS Prasanna of Bengaluru and we are really thankful to him

5. About IRCTC trip arrangements

We travelled with IRCTC for the first time and it was value for money; They arranged in the best of the available hotels/ places. The tour manager from Chennai Mr Pradeep was available through out- from early morning till midnight to talk to us. We had local guides as well to tell about that area. They did not miss out a single place that they committed; if we missed any place on a day, they will show it first thing the next day and will go to other places. Vehicles were sufficient enough and last row was always empty (Difficult to sit there being the travel in mountains)

 

Food was a concern; though IRCTC tried their level best- still we had to live with Rotis and Sabji three times a day- the rice served is half cooked we did not risk eating it till the last day. Poha we got for breakfast many days and it worked well; They also had Bread-both- plain and roasted, eggs and chicken. We simply followed Roti and Sabji most of the times.

Cost- IRCTC charges 54,000 per head which is inclusive of Flight, Room, Food, Entry tickets etc; They almost covered most expenses; except few like Camel ride etc. During travel by flight (Onward and return) they do not bear the lunch or dinner expenses during flight travel- we need to manage it ourself. 

6. Takeaways….

First time we travelled with unknown group travellers- but most of them were very good; in our van, Mr. Vinod – a co traveler did his best to engage us with fun filled activities- 

we got to know each other extremely well;  helped each other to the best possible manner. One of the activity we had is – every one telling their own story- we were amazed by the pain some of the people have undergone and how they rose up in life.

We had Venkat – who just got retired; he was very much interested in photography and took photos of most of us willingly; he was very friendly and helpful always.

 

Majority of the people were 60 + ; they all are travel enthusiasts and post retirement, they have started travelling regularly (monthly 2 longer destinations !!) ; 

they feel that they were very busy before retirement (Most did 1 or 2 travels in an year then) and have limited active years left and want to see most places before 65 or 70

Ladakh gave us lot of memories and some good friends !

Madurai - A spiritual and Food travel blog..

We recently visited Madurai and sharing some important places to visit at Madurai. We have both temples and food joints to visit in Madurai (Madurai famous food is covered in the end of this article).

Pazhamuthir Cholai

One of the Arupadai veedu of Lord Murugan; its in a small hill; It is said that Lord Murugan appeared before Avvaiyaar here and Avvaiyaaar asked him " Sutta pazham vendumaa? Sudaatha pazham vendumaa?". Its a nice small temple; We have Free dharshan as well as Rs 100 Darshan; In Rs 100 Darshan we can sit before Lord Muruga and pray for sometime peacefully.

Rakkaiyi Temple

This place is above Pazhamuthir Cholai and there is sacred water coming here; people take bath in this water; or take it and splash few drops in their head.

Kallazhagar Temple

This is just in the footsteps of Pazhamuthir cholai. Kallazhagar is the Perumal and said to be the brother of Lord Meenakshi. The Chithirai festival in Madurai is very famous and Azhagar gets into the Vaigai river which is watched by lakhs of people every year. Legend says that when Azhagar came for his sister's marriage - he got delayed and waited near Vaigai river; the same ritual is followed here every year.

Thirumohoor Kalamegaperumal Temple

This place is also closer to Kallazhagar temple; A very quiet and ancient temple. One can visit it when going to Pazhamuthir cholai

Yoga Narasinga Perumal Temple

Another temple closer to Kallzhagar Temple. The shrine here is Suyambu. We can feel very good positive vibes while visiting here.

Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple

A world famous temple and now devotees throng through out the year. One can visit in the early morning to avoid crowd and for peaceful dharshan. Special dharshan is available. Mobile phones are not allowed; we need to deposit them outside; A very beautiful temple and statutes telling so much of stories; Worth spending 3-4 hours atleast here to know and marvel at the scupultures

Thirupparagundram Murugan Temple

Another Arupadai Veedu of Murugan; out of 6, two temples are in Madurai itself. Its in outskirts of Madurai & a very crowded temple; Also one need to mandatorily get into lot of steps and we need to wait in the steps in the queue. But it is worth the wait and a very ancient and great temple.

Thiru Malai Naicker Mahal

It is in the heart of the city; Built by Naicker - where the king along with his wives lived. Only half of the place is available now; Other half is destroyed by the king's grandson- he is said to have carried those materials to Trichy to build another fort. Later in the British period, they tried to safeguard whatever is available and Archaeological department is taking care of it now.

 

The building is so huge and without even a small crack even today. The roof is so tall, probably they wanted good ventilation, light and breeze. There were beautiful drawings in the roof; we wonder how they would have done it at such a height and it lasts even today.

Light show at Mahal is quite famous in the evenings, but from 2023, it has been stopped.

FOOD SHOPS TO VISIT

Madurai is very famous for food shops - sharing some of them.

Vilakku Thoon Famous - Jigirdhanda

Best and authentic Jigirdhanda; there are so many shops with the name “Famous Jigirdhanda”; but you need to have Jigirdhanda at this very shop; It is close to the four way signal in that area and always crowded. You can bring it to your home also and they will do wonderful packing with ice and give.

It is one of the best Jigirdhanda you can ever have and not to be missed.

Visalam Cofea shop

A very small coffea shop - but proper filter coffea; Worth visiting.

Amma Mess, KK Nagar

Wow.. those who love Non veg- should not miss this shop. Kari Dosai, fish kulambu, Chukka Varuval are famous items to try out here; Many cine actors have visited this shop and photos of them is seen; Vairamuthu photos are more- may be he visited here many times.

We were also told that Konar Mess is very famous for non veg too. People need to wait for about 45 min to have food in Konar Mess during week ends. Similarly Kumar mess is also famous for Non veg.

Sree Prema Vilas Sweet stall

They have many branches and the one closer to Meenakshi amman temple (Opposite to Thanga Reegal theater) is the biggest one. Halwa is the most famous item here; They give hot Halwa for Rs 20 (May be 50 gram)

Problem is we finish it so soon and ask them for the next one; Halwa from here is something which you can certainly buy for your home and relatives.

Mysore Travelogue: Must visit places

We visited Mysore in the year 2023; this post was written then. Publishing it now, as better late than never.

We went for daughter Sneha’s convocation; Visited all these places with CS friends who had come to attend the convocation and it was great fun with them.

Sharing some of the important places to see in and around Mysore. Except Somnathpur temple, which we went by car, remaining places we went in auto (sometimes 2 autos) which worked out very cheap.

Zoo

It is a must watch, particularly if you have kids with you or if you are a pet lover. It’s a pretty large zoo with various animals (unique foreign animals included). If one covers the zoo by walk, it will take 4 hours; if you have time you can do that; else they have battery operated vehicle and charge Rs 200 per person to cover in 1 hour; They stop in important places (Around 10) and allow us to see the animals. 

                                                               Sneha @ Zoo

Being pet lovers we enjoyed some of the animals like Chimpanzee, Foreign birds, Elephants very much.

Karanji Lake

It is very close to Zoo; in fact they give both tickets as combo pack; You can cover both Zoo and the lake in half a day. Boating is available with self pedal or driver operated vehicle. 

                                                                         Karanji Lake


Lot of plants and trees are there in this place. We can have a calm and cool time here.

Guru Sweets & Mahalakshmi Sweets

Guru Sweets is the most famous sweet shop where even on a week day, people wait in queue for 15 minutes to buy the sweets. 

                Forgot to take photo of the long queue before the shop :)

Mysore Pak in three different forms is the attraction here; Milk Mysore pak is a different one, which we bought and liked very much. Cost of sweets is very reasonable.

Mahalakshmi sweets is another famous shop- again Mysore Pak is the famous thing here.

Somnathpur – Chenna Keshava temple

It is situated about 35 Km away from Mysore and takes one hour drive. 

It is a beautiful temple and an architectural marvel. It is built about 750 years ago and it is so beautiful and we are amazed at the minute sculptures & how they have done in it during this period.

Lot of movies – Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam have been shot here. Entry fee is just Rs 20 but needs to be paid online (You can go there and pay it there too)

Though I have written very shortly here, we can write a lot about this place; those who like ancient architecture, should not miss this place and it is a treasure for them.

Chumundi Hills

The famous Godess Chamundeswari temple is situated here and it is about 12 KM from the Main city of Mysore. Those who visit Mysore generally do not miss visiting and praying here.

Mysore palace

We visited the Palace twice- once during the day to see the palace inside and once to see the palace in the night. 

Inside the palace the rooms, pillars etc gives us a feeling like we are in a big Studio (Much bigger than we have seen in movies in fact).

Light show in the evenings are done only on select days (Mostly in the weekends) ; Ideally if one visit the Palace around 4 or 4.30 PM, they can see it, wait and see the lights by evening.

Palace is centrally located and most of the places inside Mysore is 2-5 KM away from Palace

Finally..

Mysore is well connected by train and bus and has a good climate and some beautiful places to see. A 2 or 3 day trip here will be really good and can cover most places.

Consistency – Is it important in life ?

Consistency.. this is the trait which differentiates ordinary and the extra ordinary. The achievers and the normal people.

Every human being wants to succeed – be it in their studies, profession or passion. But most people just think and do not take enough action. Our action is what determines 90 % of our life.

Let’s look at it with some example.

An overweight person wants to reduce his weight by 10 KG. Many will have this desire– but will not take any action on it. And those who take some action –going for walk, gym etc- they make a definitive step and are far better than those who just think and not take any action. But .......their success purely depends on how regular they are in physical activities, diet etc. This is where consistency comes into picture.

Anything we do – we will be a novice at first; but when we do the same thing on a regular basis, we slowly start learning and improve gradually. We learn from our own mistakes and from the mistake of others too.

Once we start doing something new, wherever we go, things related to it will be visible to our eyes and we will meet the relevant people too.

To give a personal example, if I read my initial blogs, cannot control laughing how childishly have written and dared to publish them. But the good thing is starting somewhere and continuing to write. Wrote 1000 + blogs in a span of few years and improvement in writing is bound to happen.

The above example applies to most part of our life, if one wants to succeed/ progress. Being a beginner first when starting and becoming an experienced person after a few years. (There is a saying " All things are difficult before they become easy".. How true it is !)

Have always observed that anything we do with passion and in an intense manner for six months is bound to give a positive result / output..(Exams/ New entrepreneur/ fitness, applies to many things )

We get results for all our actions; but it does not happen immediately; Similar to how - a harvest happens few months after sowing a seed, the results will happen in its own course.

Anyone who takes action- positive or negative is making an impact on the universe in his own way !

If you think - you lack consistency.. do not worry. Anything comes with practice including consistency.

It boils down to how badly you need what you aspire for – that will make you passionate and consistent.

Start slow and keep at it regularly; if we do anything for few weeks consistently, mind and body become habituated and cometh the time, both will be ready for it and will do effortlessly.

Everyone runs their own race and their success depends mostly on their actions and how consistent they are in their pursuit !

Final note: This act of writing a motivating thought itself is a baby step- a beginning to me! Hope to continue at intervals and improve  

Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Sharjah trip- A throwback

Had an opportunity to visit Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah recently. All three are part of United Arab Emirates. Dubai is in the center point; while Abu Dhabi is 2 hour drive by road, Sharjah is hardly 45 minutes drive. From Chennai CS Shankar Venkatraman, Mr Srikanth and self went together to all these places. 

Sharing some info about these 3 cities :

 

Dubai

Dubai is the beautiful and happening city & not to be missed. Climate is extremely hot and only from November to February (4 months) the climate will be good. When we visited in Sep, it was still hot; Chennai heat is far better as wind settles in the afternoon in Chennai; though there are many beaches in UAE, the coolness cannot be felt as humidity is extremely high. Every place including the walking paths to Metros/ Tram/ Monorail are airconditioned.

 
Burj Khalifa- is the largest building in the world- visited the mall and the fountain show which happens here every evening & it was a wonderful experience. Pl do not miss ! 

When you visit Burj Khalifa, please remember to have Pistachio Latte, a famous drinks at “Tim Hortons” shop. Delicious drink; we had it in other place as well, but it was best here in Tim Hortons.

We travelled in all the modes in Dubai- Metro train (similar to our Metro)/ Tram – which passes through the bus route in the center of the road and Mono rail (Small in size- but otherwise similar to metro). Local taxis- Uber and Careem are the apps used to book car; But taking a cab without booking through app directly standing in the road will be better. All Taxis put Meter and collect exact fare and return the balance including the coins.

Atlantis- a famous hotel and some good water games are there- while going to this place in Metro/ Tram we get the full feel of Dubai.

We visited Gold Souk; Dubai is very famous for Gold jewellery and lot of people buy gold here; Quality will be very good- cost may be slightly lesser. 

We have to buy jewels which one can wear like Bangles, Chain etc and not Gold coins as we will be charged customs duty at Chennai airport.

We also visited Deira Waterfront , Fish market, Vegetable market and Abra grand old Souk ( We can do a boat ride here )

 

Things to purchase: Dates is very famous and in very good quality; Electronic items including iphone is cheap and lot of people buy them when they visit Dubai. And perfumes too !

                                                Having lunch at a Park in Dubai...


We were there during Ganesh Chaturthi ; we were happy to see & dine at Madras Veg Restaurant at Dubai ( they have 3 branches in Dubai); we ate Very good Idly, Dosa, Pongal and Kozhukattai here and were very happy.

Every hotel and most of the apartments will have both Gym and swimming pool. People can really take care of their health in their premises itself.

Cars.. cars and Cars.. We get a feeling that whether these cities have more cars than human beings. You can see all kinds of cars in the roads and parking.

We had a wonderful friend Sadiq who was with us through out our stay at Dubai and Sharjah and took us to each and every place. Without him we would not have had all these unique experiences.

Sharjah

Though situated very close to Dubai, Sharjah is comparatively quiet and buildings are not as tall as Dubai.

 

Al Heera beach, Sharjah was very beautiful. Somehow it reminded me both Besant Nagar beach and Pondichery beach.

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is a quiet place compared to Dubai and has many Government offices. The Dargah here is huge and the Carpet is the longest in the world. The paintings were wonderful.CS Friend Nishan took me to the Dargah; he was the one who took us from Abu Dhabi to Dubai in his car and shared lot of info about UAE.

Abu Dhabi Mosque with Nishan

Both Abu Dhabi and Dubai has around 10 to 12 % locals only; remaining are foreigners. Among them Indians will constitute more than 30 %;  out of these 30 %, majority will be friends from Kerala; People from other countries are also there.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai are few of the safest places in the world to live and are in the top 5 list of safest cities in the world ! There is no Income tax for individuals ! Corporate Tax is also around 8 %

Entire country is developed right from the scratch in the last few decades and they have kept the tax laws simple inviting corporates and individuals to come and do business and work in UAE.

    

 

Mostly they work for 5 days a week (Till Friday) and weekends are holidays; The hobby for most will be going to Malls because – you really cant go to any open places due to heat.

Visiting Dubai and Abu Dhabi gave lot of insights and new friends.

Probably we may visit again with family after a few years – in Dec- Feb period !

An enjoyable Stay at Marutham resort, Mahabalipuram, Chennai

We recently went for short trip to Marutham village resort which is 100 KM from Chennai (close to Mahabalipuram) & enjoyed it thoroughly.

 

Sharing a brief summary:

Check in is around 2 PM.

The biggest attraction is the 2 borewell sets; they have built a reasonably big tank (“Thotti”). Both borewells were having some minor difference and we took bath in each one on different days and enjoyed. Borewell bath is available from 6 AM to 6 PM. They allocate a staff for all the activities – for us it was one Mr Alagar; he normally allocates you 30 min slot once we speak to him. 

Do not miss the bore well bath- we can even have twice on the first day (once immediately on arrival and again in the evening) and one on the next day. Atleast once on both days is certainly recommended.

The food is really good- slightly higher price, but taste is really nice; breakfast is complimentary & you have regular South Indian foods- Idly; very tasty Chutney/ sambar; Pongal (Good!), Poori- Masal (Hot and was good); Bread- corn flakes; Raagi Halwa; Fruits/ vegetables, Neer aagaram with Mor milagai (Wow!) and a wonderful coffee. Since they have lot of cows here and coffee/ Tea is made directly out of cow milk, both coffee and tea are very good.

There are many activities which keeps us engaged throughout our stay:

Badminton: They have rackets/ cork and a nice court where paddy fields are one side and the rooms on the other side. We played Badminton on both days.

Poi Kaal kuthirai dance: It was a fun filled activity to dance with Poi kal kuthirai; They play apt songs in the background); it was a fun filled activity and we enjoyed it much.

Pottery- they make small pots/ flower wash using clay and help us to do it; wife who has interest in it liked it.

Pambaram- something which 70s kids like us enjoyed during our school days- was able to play after so many years.

They have other games like Pallanguzhi, Paramapadham etc- we did not play them as they take more time. For small kids they have some more games suitable to them.

Apart from the most attractive bore well bath, they do have a mini artificial water falls; the force is more & falling from a good height, it gives a good massage to our back. Only thing is chlorine is more and those who are allergic to chlorine can avoid.

    

Swimming pool: They have swimming pool artistically designed exactly like a Temple Kulam; depth is around 4-5 feet only and kids also enjoy this pool very much. This is adjacent to waterfalls and I took bath in both one after the other on the 2nd day.

The activities place and falls/ kulam is very near; they played 80s Ilayaraja songs when we were there; it gave an apt atmosphere to the place.

Evening they had Thallu vandi kind of shops for preparing Coffee/ Tea and Snacks. Cost is slightly more – Tea is Rs 65 and coffee is Rs 75- but the taste is so good and it is worth ! The same Thallu vandi they have for night also if there is no rain. For dinner – either you can have it in Thallu vandi or inside the restaurant.

Archery/ Gun shooting: They give 3 chances for both archery and gun shooting; another small archery game is there- which we can play ourself too. Table tennis is also nearby.

They have Cows/ Duck/ Vaan kozhi/ Goat : These are kept in one place– they take milk from the cow in the morning and evening; we can go and see this process. They gave fresh/raw milk taken from the cow and it was a different experience.

Lake walk; 2nd day morning – they take interested people for a walk around 7 AM- they have taken a lake for lease and show us this place and there are lots of trees near this place.

Rooms- all their single room (For 2 people) cost around 7000 on week days and 8000 on week end; they have around 32 rooms; there are 3 BHK and 4BHK as well- which can be used by bigger families. All these rooms are with Athangudi tiles and built in typical Karaikkudi style. You have Mutram and lot of old vessels used in the earlier generation.

    There are 2 rooms (both in half kilo meter distance) inside the paddy fields & we stayed in one of them ; This cost 7200. Harvest was over few days ago and we were not able to see the paddy crops when we stayed; But most of the time, it could be there as they cultivate paddy crops 3 times in a year. Our room was bang opposite to borewell and it suited as we can go and take bath whenever it was free.

The rooms were neat and clean; the service was really good; each and every staff moved very courteously. All are staying closer to the resort in some villages and few stay in the resort itself.

One very good development:

They are now allowing day time visits: Ie: Without staying: So one can come in the morning; enjoy all activities; have lunch here and leave in the late evening; for this they charge per person around 2000- 2500; Currently they are not putting it and advertising in their site and allowing on demand. But they are constructing some rooms for these guests to go and stay and take some rest in the day time itself; we were told that this construction will be completed in a month or two and then they will put this in their website itself.

This is a 3 year old resort and has become popular already; around 15 families stayed on the week day when we went; From Friday to Sunday – it is normally getting sold out and one needs to book it in advance.

We enjoyed the one and half days we stayed here fully and might come back again with our extended family!