Ooty – Day 4 – Emerald/Avalanche
March 28, 2015 By sastha

I was eagerly waiting for this day. I made plans with a childhood friend, PR Ramesh, for a trip to Avalanche, Emerald, and Red Hills Nature Resorts. As usual, I got up early and went for a long walk down the Tamizhagam road. Ramesh came over around 9:30 am and we left for the main bus […]

Ooty – Day 2
March 27, 2015 By sastha

My Circadian rhythm is still set to the plains, woke up at 5:30 and it was quite dark outside. Waited for some light and then went for a walk. Taking the Hill Bunk road, crossing the Taj Savoy Hotel towards Tamizhagam is a good morning walk route. It is one of somewhat preserved area in […]

Ooty – Day 3 – Hospitality
March 25, 2015 By sastha

Another early start to the day. I woke up early and went on a long walk after a cup of tea. It was really cold and misty. I took the road leading to Monarch Hotel. These are quieter parts of the town and there was hardly anyone on the road at 6 am, maybe the […]

Ooty – Day 1
March 21, 2015 By sastha

Got up quite early and it was very cold. I took my camera and went for a small walk. I was able to get some pictures of the House Sparrow, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Jungle Myna, and a few shots of the beautiful vista. Right opposite to where I stay is the Woodside School.A few school buses […]

Reaching Ooty
By sastha

It is always difficult to leave my village or reach it , there are very few buses and if one bus is cancelled then the next one will be about 45 minutes later. I finally got the bus and reached Palakkad by around 12:45 pm. I remembered that there is a direct bus to Ooty […]

Leelu’s House
March 9, 2015 By sastha

Leelu’s Homestay was the first homestay in my itinerary to visit. It was 11:00 am when I dropped in to this beautiful old building just behind the Main Post Office in Fort Kochi, and I was met by a gentleman who said they are having a cooking class and if I could come over by 4:30 pm or […]

After meeting a couple of homestay owners in the morning and with the plans of returning home, I walked into a cafe. I asked for some tea and I could see signs and posters of a homestay. I asked the lady if this was a homestay. She tell me yes and it supposed to be […]

I checked into a nice home stay called the Tree Home close to the Fort Kochi Jetty and to the main venue of the Biennale. I had come down to Kochi last December and stayed in the same place. It is clean with all the basic amenities and Wi-Fi. Being the end of season here, […]

Lots of work, but fulfilling…
March 6, 2015 By sastha

It was quite late when I left the Biennale venue after getting a few sunset pictures. The sunset was truly spectacular. I reached my room and freshened up and went to a nearby restaurant right opposite the Aspinwall House, the main venue of the Biennale. I sat opposite to the restaurant owner who was having […]

Kochi – The Queen of Arabian Sea
March 5, 2015 By sastha

Started quite early to Kochi… a KSRTC bus that passes through my village took me to Angamaly and from there to Kochi in one of the ‘low floor buses.’ Reached Blue Charles place, a beautiful half an acre property in the heart of the city, to find him gone to Mavelikara with his father, met […]