Tag: holiday

Hampiness – An adventure in the waiting!

Virupaksha Temple

A journey that had been on the bucket list for the last few years.

And having explored India from the north and west.

South had a been little unexplored and was waiting to be explored.

Hampi is a city full of temples that have references not just mythology ( Ramayan) Hanuman’s Birthplace. But, also with Shiva- A single monolith statue that’s one of the most visited sights of the city. To the Dynasties battles Kilji, Chanayaka and later the British coming to existence.

No Wonder a city filled with so much history and mythology feels like one place with many world heritage references that the The Ministry of Tourism, on 29th September, declared Karnataka’s iconic destination as the Best Tourism Village of India-2023.

Hampi was selected one among the 795 applications received from 31 states and UTs.

Some bits of Hampi feel like you are in Macchi- Picchu to some feel like you are in Greece. While some truly belong to India.

The city has many world heritage sites.Think your ₹50 currency and you will observe the chariot stone. Hampi is also referred to as India’s Rome with so many ruins and history to the sights.

The historians at Hampi, also mentioned to explore the whole of Hampi that has 80 monuments worth exploring would take you an ideal 45 days here! So much history!

And if you would like to travel to Hampi some of the most important sites are Vitthala temple, that’s full of interpretations of history and the home to the stone Chariot. To the Virupaksha temple an active temple that has rituals performed daily including feeding of elephants as an experience of lifetime.

Elephant Stables a monument that was built for the kings elephant many centuries ago is another site worth visiting.

At times Hampi makes you believe you are In Stonehenge with the rocks here beautifully placed naturally or makes you believe you are In Grand Canyon with trekking around on rocks that are placed with boulders for support.

The sunset and sunrise view points of the city, give you an overview of the lush green landscapes covered with sugarcane’s and Banana plantations.

With so much to offer for history & nature buffs.Hampi still has the rawness and beauty of India.

Hampi is still not considered a tourist destination, with only one flight to Mumbai! And limited advertising for tourism in Hampi.

Stay: Evolve Back Resort

Did You Know?

Karnataka once served as the capital of one of the largest kingdoms of India the Vijayanagara Empire around the 1500 AD. And during that time it was known to be one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world.

The Virupaksha temple dates back to 7th-century, which makes it one of the oldest functional temple in the country is dedicated to Virupaksha, an incarnation of Lord Shiva, built with a pillared hall, three.

One of the must things to do before you leave the temple take blessings from Lakshmi elephant

The pillars in the Vittahla temple would also be used as musical instruments by the locals. Each pillar would have a different sound and rhythm.

Elephant Stables
Vitthala temple

Raffles Udaipur :Luxury in its true sense.

As soon as we reached the jetty Shore,

A team warmly received us and made us comfortable with refreshments at the waiting area until the boats were ready.

The 15 minutes journey in the boat was all about giving us a background of the place and of course, Ngambi who ferried us shot photograph videos with the best angles of the property and the landscape. 

The long walk from the bridge to the main entrance of the property ( Wet Towels,& Water bottles were offered) 

Well, This was just a teaser of our stay. The main highlights were the Welcome at the lobby with a refreshing cocktail made by Terai Gin. One of the things that I loved about the hotel was going Vocal for Local.

Bili Hu Coffee, Svami & Sepoy Co tonic water, The Whole Truth Bars and Chocolates like Paul & Mike and dessert made from Mason & Co chocolates. 

The F&B team was so involved with us, there wasn’t a moment when they did not let us go without food.

Shreyas, Max, Sanjeev, Ashwin, Bhavya, Alpa, Rubeg, Daksh were some of the best people who were so warm. Tea, Coffee, Cocktail, Mocktails or any recommendations of food, Dessert you wanted you could just take their word for it. 

Chef Prasad, Chef Ajinkya, Chef Pratik treated us to some memorable meals ( Tangerine Salad, Biryani, Fettuccine Truffle oil, and John Dory were some of the best things that were served) 

Vishrut, Vimi, Divi and the Captain of the team Abhishek Sharma were some of the warmest people we have come across during our stay. 

A special mention for the BirthdaySurprise Dinner by the Team.

Additional Information:

15-20 minutes drive from Airport

A sitting area for guests to wait and fill the health declaration form until the Jetty comes to take you to the main hotel property. Refreshments (Tea, Coffee, Beverages) are served here till we make it to the hotel.

Room:101

Suites : 18

Regular Rooms :83

3 Restaurant & 7 Gardens are part of the hotel.

Weekend in Sri Lanka !

Having visited Sri Lanka five years ago.I was familiar with the city.

And the excitement of working on Project for a Destination that I would be visting again after a five years was on another level.

I did not know what to expect in the five years that had gone by .And after travelling extensively to all Major countries in the World. I really had no Idea what to expect from the country,Once I visit it again.

A Couple of weeks later,We were considering going for a Recce to Sri Lanka to finalise the venues & Hotel with the client.

We Landed in Sri lanka and the complete Journey was a revelation of how much the country had developed in terms of it’s infrastrcture expressways throughout Galle,Colombo to cities around sri lanka last time there were no such Roads like these.

Galle Fort was very much the same with quite a few restaurants newly opened and stores like Barefoot still being one of the stores to visit in Galle.

The Cricket Stadium being in the city and connecting the fort is something that most unusal about the City.

Visited some New places around Galle.

Mirissa – which is popular for the whale watching experience & Weligama where so many hotels chains have opened and are opening for the breathtaking view of the blue waters from the rooftop terraces.

Colombo felt like the city that has developed so much with real estate investments from around the world & within the country.So Many Hotels chains to have opened while some had gone through the reovations to still be considred as one of the hotel options to stay & experience their hospitality while others want the tourist & locals to experience thiers.

Ministry of Crab – The only Resturant in Sri lanka to be part of the Asia’s 50 Best Resturant 2017 And to have Sri Lanka on the World Map for it’s Food.. And the Man behind is the celebratory Chef Dharshan Mundaisa- Is behind the fame Resturant (Nihonbashi)

Ministry of Crab is in with Partnership with Sri lankan cricketers Mahela Jawardene & Kumar Sangakkara.

I also had the opporunity to meet Mahela Jawardene at the Ministry of crab when we visited the restaurant during our visit.

Dharshan Mundaisa has also partnered with Jacquline ferandez for Keamesutra another restaurant that specialises in Japanese Food at the Shangri-la Colombo.

Dutch Hospital Street is the most lively street to be on weekend with live music performances,Bars and a resturants to choose from.

Sri lanka has more to offer than just Cinamon & Tea.

It’s the Goa of Sri Lanka .

The Trip!!

Back and just been 3 days ,I have finally written about my first visit to the United States .
This trip ,was more like a family affair,meeting so many family members from dad’s side for the first time ,and dad himself meeting them after ages ,It was rather surprising to meet them ,and see them being so warm and welcoming ,not just the east coast,but the west coast too we had met a few of them.
These last 4 weeks have been really interesting and unexpecting since we hadn’t really heard about a few of them and then meeting them was really good .
These 4 week too were the weeks where we stayed with my dad’s sibling and were taken good care of.This holiday dint feel like a holiday ,it was more like being at home itself .this holiday has been one of those holiday were you wonder how time flew away .
There were also quite a few inspirational stories heard of people who have either struggled ,succeeded and made it big in this country ,where anything is possible .
Now that the trip has come to end ,for the first time in my vacation I don’t feel like going back home .
The only down side were the flight delays and the long journey from home .

Holi !!!

Holi this year was fun .morning started with oiling to prevent colour strange because we were playing the festival of colour .any way after finishing oiling .we got ready to fill balloons and getting ready to welcome our attacks or guests missed a few targets .wasted some but it was fun .finally we drenched each other with bucket full of water as if this was not enough we started playing with eggs targeting each other .finally after getting tired of playing we went to the beach to clean our self and came back to our well deserved food with phirni and bhang