Malay Flavour...!!

 Petronas twin towers are definitely the face of the glittering city of Kuala Lumpur, but the city also does display some of the most beautiful buildings, architectural stunners and exciting places other than the twins.

The view from my hotel room was mind blowing as each time I looked through the glass pane all I could see were tall skyscrapers with the Petronas and the KL tower rising above the rest. That was indeed a  fabulous sight and it became all the more attractive in the night with the colourful lights. It was absolutely a memorable sight.

Glittering Kuala Lumpur

View from my hotel room

Standing 421 meters tall, Menara Kuala Lumpur which translates to Kuala Lumpur Tower or KL Tower as its better known as is the world's 7th tallest communication tower. This sky kisser is a big attraction amongst the visitors to the city. Situated in the middle of the city, this tower is also known for its cultural activities, nature walks, shopping and adventure sports. The day I visited the tower was the last of 2011. Heavily crowded with families, kids and tourists, this place definitely seemed like a much sought after tourist destination. The cultural show for that day was being performed by a group of young Indonesian children and the perfection of their movements made me awestruck.

Dance performance by Indonesian children

Visitors are taken up on an elevator onto the 3rd level which has the observatory desk. Visitors are allowed only up to level 3 on all days of the year except for two. And one of those days when visitors are allowed up to level 5 happens to be the last day of every year. How lucky was I? With special tickets that gave access to a higher level than the Observatory desk, I reached my view point after a few seconds of stay inside the elevator. It was quite windy as it is open to the sky and also a bit dangerous as the edges are only knee high tall. However the expansive views were breathtaking and mindbogglingly beautiful. The tall structures, massive flyovers and the distant hills looked miniature models from the 5th level of KL Tower. Definitely the best vistas one can get of Kuala Lumpur. It also gives a closer view of Petronas Towers which is not very far from KL Tower. On special days people jump off from this level as a part of adventure activities. That should definitely be one hell of an experience. After an hour of gawking and clicking I went down to the Observatory desk. This place is more commercialized and has a lot of shops selling miniature KL Tower and Petronas Towers. This floor is enclosed, had more crowd and also displayed pictorial descriptions of the fabulous views. KL Tower is definitely a must visit for all people travelling to Kuala Lumpur.

KL Tower

Expansive vistas of Kuala Lumpur as seen from KL Tower

Batu caves in the background

Petronas Towers as seen from the Observatory desk at KL Tower

 I was told that the best place in Kuala Lumpur to welcome the new year was the independence square or Petronas Towers. But, when I just had to push over the curtains of my room to get a fantabulous view of the fire crackers during the eve, I did not bother much to go to any of the above mentioned places. The fireworks began at exactly 00:00am and went on for about 20 minutes. The sky looked colourful and the lit up buildings looked all the more fascinating. A memorable experience. The last I saw such fireworks for a long time was at Thrissur Pooram during my childhood.

Welcoming 2012

More crackers

Traffic jam on new year's eve

The next day was set aside for a city tour of Kuala Lumpur and I began with a visit to the national museum. It is one of the best museums I have been to and it explains elaborately about Malaysia, its people, the rulers and the trades. I just ran through this huge museum which actually requires at least half a day to enjoy and go through every single article, statues, discoveries and creations. Another must visit.

Inside the National museum

Inside the National museum

Inside the National museum

Inside the National museum

My luck in Malaysia post KL Tower carried further as I was in time to witness the change of guard at the King's Palace. Though it wasn't an attractive display of honour, it did give me an insight about the Malaysian culture. The King's Palace did look magnificent from outside the gate and that is the nearest that visitors are allowed.

Change of guard at the King's palace

The King's Palace

The National monument commemorates the glorious soldiers and fighters who died for the country during the First world war(1914-1918), Second world war(1939-1945) and the Malayan emergency (1948-1960). The monument has huge bronze figures of soldiers with the Malaysian flag fluttering in the air.

 The cenotaph at the national monument

National monument

National mosque was another beautiful place that I visited. Shortage of time did not allow me to go inside the mosque and I had to be content with a couple of captures from outside. I also happened to see a couple of other famous buildings like the Sultan Abdul Sammad building in front of independence square and  the Old Railway station near the national mosque. I also visited the chocolate factory near the Malaysian tourism office and they do have a plethora of chocolates in various sizes and shapes. They also let the visitors taste each chocolate even if they have no intention of purchasing it. As my guide rightly said "Tasting is free!!"

Batik is a painting and textile dyeing technique which is famous in Malaysia and Indonesia and Malaysian culture and tourism promotes batik in a big way. I happened to visit one of their batik shops and was introduced to the way the batik is painted and dyed. It is a creative form of art and looked beautiful and elegant.

 

National mosque

Petronas Towers is definitely the most imposing and prominent structure in the whole of Kuala Lumpur and it out rightly is the face of the city. The fascinating architecture and the glazing outer surface makes this twin tower a gorgeous one too. Standing 452 meters tall, this was opened in the year 1999. The interesting fact is that one tower was built by the Japanese and the other by the Koreans. Presently one tower has the petroleum company, Petronas and the other has been let out. My lady luck did not favour me this time as I visited the towers on a Monday and supposedly the towers are closed on all Mondays. I will have to wait for my next visit to go up the Petronas Towers. A big reason to visit the country again. :).
A passage through the ground floor of the towers led me to a massive shopping mall called Suriya KLCC. A huge mall that showcased numerous brands, massive outlets and a huge number of shoppers.

The stunning Petronas towers

Since my areas of interest were limited to the city center, I found mono rail to be the best mode of commutation. My hotel was a 5 minute walk away from the nearest mono rail station and that helped me a lot. My visits to KL Tower, Petronas and shopping malls were all done by taking the mono rail. Its comfortable, cheap and transports you quite fast.

A mono rail station

Like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur is also known to be a shopper's paradise. Bukit Bintang is the place which every shopper should head to in Kuala Lumpur. Its an area where there are loads of street shops, all kind of eateries, big hotels and shopping malls like Lot 10, Fahrenheit 88, Sephora, Sungei Wang, Berjaya Times Square and Pavilion. The choices are numerous suiting every need and budget. Malaysian tourism promotes this place as The Bintang Walk. If you love being in the crowd with beautiful people and fancy shopping centers everywhere, this is the place in Kuala Lumpur. A walk here in the evening would absolutely be awesome.

Inside a shopping mall

Bukit Bintang

Paved roads at Bukit Bintang

Crowd at Bukit Bintang

I found Bukit Bintang to be a very exciting one in Kuala Lumpur with people from all parts of the world busy walking down the lanes, haggling with the sellers, families and kids enjoying the long walks inside the malls, a Malayalam film unit busy shooting a new film, youngsters happily lazying away to glory and the street sellers inviting every one inside their shops. The celebrations of the new year had not died down and the place still had the decorations intact. The people were also yet to get out of their holidays. Surprisingly I found Japanese to be a major chunk amongst the tourists. Wherever I went, I found them to be omnipresent. Certain malls even had a Japanese section where all kind of Japanese brands were sold. I also witnessed a Japanese cultural show at one of the malls. A splendid performance by them.

I had to miss out on a couple of places like Petaling street, China town, pubs, discotheques, night life etc due to time constraints. 
There is always a next time. ;)

Japanese section inside a mall

A Japanese cultural performance welcoming the new year

Happy New Year 2012

Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful metropolitan city which will sweep you off your feet with the attractions that it offers to its visitors. The tall skyscrapers, cosmopolitan culture, multi cuisines and exciting places definitely makes Kuala Lumpur stand out on the destinations to visit.

Signing Note- Exciting, Exotic and infinitely Entertaining...!!

Tranquillity...!!

A serene water tank. Hampi. September 2009.
You can read my travelogue on Hampi here

The Towering Twins...!!

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur. January 2012.

Wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year 2012...!!

A Peppered Coffee Ride...!!

My earlier visits (see here) to  the coffee country of Coorg, have always been flagged off with a visit to the  Tibetan monastery at Bylakuppe and has invariably culminated with the sunset view at Raja seat. How ever this time after visiting the monastery and Abbey falls, we (5 bikers) decided to take the route less trodden. A cold and misty morning ride on the Bangalore- Mysore highway took us past the lovely towns of Maddur (we had a lovely breakfast here), Srirangapatana, Hunsur and then further into the coffee hills of Coorg.The roads had drastic changes from my previous visit and the smooth tarmac made the ride through the winding bends a mind-blowing experience.

The first big stoppage during  the ride came at Bylakkuppe, where we took a detour to visit the Namdroling Monastery. As always it was crowded and thronged by tourists and school children. Bylakuppe is home to one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist settlements in India and houses this beautiful Namdroling Monastery (Golden temple) that follows Nyingmapa which is a lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It is home to thousands of monks and nuns who go about their daily routine wrapped in red wardrobes. It was indeed a beautiful sight to see hundreds of monks of all ages briskly moving past the vsisitors. A massive statue of Padmasambhava resides inside the sanctum. Even though it was crowded inside it felt so calm and quiet and I enjoyed my moments of solitude. Bylakuppe also has many other monasteries and nunneries near to this Golden temple.

Padmasambhava statue inside Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery

With hungry tummies growling we rode our way through the hills to Abbey falls. After gobbling down a few plates of bread and omelets we walked down to Abbey falls. Situated inside a coffee plantation, this beautiful falls was filled with tourists. Choosing a weekend for your travels do turn out to be bad selections. The bridge from where one can see the falls was crowded and I was quite apprehensive about reaching the other end. With the sun setting, we left Abbey falls and headed to Madikeri in search of a home stay.

Abbey Falls

The home stay was located a couple of kilometers from Madikeri town and the sunset view from there was a stunner. After a sumptuous dinner at East End restaurant in Madikeri we retreated to our home stay. We had a late night bonfire and then it was time to snore.After a late brunch the next day, we began our winding ride from Madikeri to Virajpet crossing the small towns of Napoklu, Kakkabe and Kabinakkad. The roads were pathetic with potholes galore. The ride, however was absolutely blissful with the aroma of coffee and pepper throughout. The roads wound past the coffee and pepper plantations deeper into the heart of Coorg district. The fascinating views of the rolling hills, wide meadows, trickling streams and the yellow-green paddy fields made me stop quite a few times to capture the real essence of Coorg. The potholes made my ride a slow one and a few times during my ride I did feel happy about their existence. Coffee and pepper were omnipresent and this did add aromatic flavours to the ride across the coffee country.

At Kakkabe we stopped by to visit the Nalknad palace. Built in the 18th century, this palace was the refuge of the last Kodava king, Chikka Veerarajendra. The palace did not look palatial and was quite similar to one of those old ancestral houses in Kerala. A security-cum-guide led me into the inner rooms and alleys which were completely dark. However the steep steps, secret rooms  and narrow doorways made the walk interesting.

Nalknad Palace

The palace does boast of a picturesque background with the hills forming a beautiful landscape. One of the trekking routes to Tadiyandamol also starts from near the palace. With Tadiyandamol trek not in our itinerary, we headed to a nearby resort for a late lunch. The resort which was situated amidst coffee planations had beautiful vistas all over. As the lunch took time to be prepared, we decided to explore the coffee planations and trekked through the same for some distance. After a trek of 10 minutes we were staring at a magnificent waterfalls inside the coffee plantation. Even though the quantity of water was less, the falls looked beautiful. We climbed up a few boulders to have a better view and then relaxed there gawking at the natural beauty for a few minutes.

The pathway through the coffee plantation

Waterfalls inside the coffee estate

After a tasty lunch at the resort we further traversed the coffee hills and headed towards Virajpet. En route we took a detour and visited the Chingara waterfalls. The falls which has water gushing from all over during the monsoon did not have the same intensity due to lack of water. After a small photography session we had a quick ride to Virajpet.

Chingara Waterfalls

With the shadows becoming longer, the potholes becoming bigger and the plantations becoming wider, the ride through the rustic side of Coorg was exhilarating. As we touched Virajpet the orange sun was blissfully setting behind the enchanting coffee and pepper hills. The ride from Virajpet to Hunsur was quite an adventurous one.

 

With flashing head lights and pathetic roads, the ride through the buffer zone of Nagarhole national park was exciting, if not fun. Even in the darkness we could make out that the plantations had given way to forests and the roads had worsened to dirt tracks in certain places. The best part of the ride was when we spotted a  wild tusker standing  besides the road. His massive white tusks shone in the pitch darkness when our headlights flashed. He was least perturbed and happily stood there as our bikes passed by. That was indeed the most exciting part of the ride. A kilometer ahead we spotted another one, this time a female. I seriously wished, I could capture them on my camera. Had I even tried to do it, I do not think I would have been alive to write about this wonderful motorbike expedition into the Mocha hills of Coorg. :)

Crossing Hunsur and Srirangapatana, we stopped at Maddur for a late dinner and then sped fast to reach Bengaluru streets well past midnight.

Coorg does offer lots of options for the traveller and tourist alike. With lots more places to see and a few hills to trek am sure my fourth visit to the coffee country is not far off.

Signing Note: Drink coffee, smell pepper and ride forever...!!

Route- Bengaluru- Maddur- Mandya- Srirangapatana- Hunsur- Kushalnagara- Madikeri

Distance- 270 Kms

Route- Madikeri- Kakkabe- Virajpet- Gonikoppa- Hunsur- Srirangapatana- Mandya- Maddur- Bengaluru

Distance- 310 Kms

WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS.....!!!

The Silver Lining...!!

 

A beautiful evening sky. Coorg. December 2011

Engrossed...!!

Dolphins Nose Viewpoint, Coonoor. August 2011.

Kurumbgad- Off the Indian Coast...!!

On my last visit to Karwar (see here), I did miss out on the islands off the coast, namely, Devbagh and Kurumgad. This time however, my destination was Kurumgad and decided to give Devbagh a miss. An overnight journey from Bengaluru got me to the beautiful coastal town of Karwar. After being picked up from the jetty below the Kali river bridge it was a 25 minute boat ride to the island. As the boat moved away from the Indian mainland, many islands and islets propped up in the vicinity. Of these only Devbagh and Kurumgad have proper habitation. The other islands are Sanyasi island (uninhabited), Lighthouse island a.k.a Devgad island (2 government employees stay on the island and take care of the lighthouse) and Anjadive island (undertaken by the Indian navy).

                       

Kurumgad island get its name from the fact that it looks like a Kuruma (tortoise) from a distance. The island is owned by an individual and has a beautiful resort, The Great Outdoors nestled on it. After disembarking from the boat, it was nice little climb to reach the top of the island. The vistas were stunning as I went higher and with the mainland at a far distance, the island seemed totally isolated with just the blue waters all around. The island has a beach and a Narasihma temple apart from the resort. The resort offers tented huts, children's play area and numerous hammocks to slip away into a dream. The sunset view from the dining area is a stunner as it has a panoramic view of the Arabian sea with the other islands in the distance.

After checking out my tented hut (it was only my second experience inside a tented hut), I headed to the beach which was a trek of 15 minutes through the wooded pathways.  En route to the beach I also saw the Mystery creek, which was formed due to an earthquake ages back. With very few visitors on the island, the beach was devoid of the usual touristy crowd. The beach was quite small and with tides hardly touching my knees, it seemed more like the banks of a river rather than a beach. After having a splash in the waters for an hour I decided to go tube surfing. Even though it can termed kid's stuff, it definitely was fun. I decided to give other activities like banana ride and speed boat ride a miss. After treading past the creepers, the outgrown bushes and the small rocks in the hot sun, I headed back to the resort and all that I wanted was a bottle of beer.

         

                                


Mystery Creek

Sanyasi island as seen from Kurumgad beach

The beach at Kurumgad

The expansive view of the azure sea and the setting sun from the dining area was truly a blissful sight. I could see the flashing light from the light house island in the distance.With music playing in the background and a bottle of beer being gulped down, it was indeed a splendid evening. The night stay inside the tented hut was fun with the sound of cicadas and crickets everywhere.



Light house island as seen from Kurumgad



Can you spot the moon?

My next day began early with a guided island tour. A long trek through the forest pathways with exceptional sea view on one side took me to Narasimha temple and a beautiful view point. During the month of January the temple takes a festive mood and that brings in a lot of devotees from Karwar and Goa. As the small group followed the nature's trail, we also had a chance encounter with a glimpse of a reptile that snaked past us and also saw a few small turtles taking the same pathway as ours. We also spotted a ruined fort wall and a canon during the trek. The island was ruled by many dynasties including the Vijayanagara empire during the earlier centuries.

After breakfast it was time for  dolphin spotting and the same small group hopped on to a motor boat in search of the dolphins. From Kurumgad island, the boat moved towards the Sanyasi island and all pair of eyes on the boat went searching for that elusive jump from the dolphins. After a long wait the dolphins showed up and that too in good numbers. Even though that jump remained elusive throughout, they did appear above the waters on many occasions. A beautiful sight indeed. Capturing them on my camera was a tough affair as they dipped back into the waters within a flash of a second. Spotting them was tough and capturing them on my lens was tougher. Post the dolphin ride it was time for fishing. With the rods available at the jetty, many went fishing and I climbed back to the resort. It was hot and sultry after the boat ride and with the sun right above my head, it wasn't getting any better. After lunch, I lazed around the resort and then had a peaceful sleep on one of the hammocks. With the trees helping me from the blazing sun, it was a nice siesta.

With the setting sun in the background, the boat ride back to the mainland was absolutely magnificent. Shades of red spread all over the horizon, the sea transformed from blue to orange and the picture looked as perfect as a Michelangelo creation.



Island escapes from India need not always be the Andamans and Lakshdweep as there are lesser known and relatively less explored islands like Kurumgad, Devbagh and many more which can definitely make holidaying a memorable experience. Even though Kurumgad island didn't offer many activities on its menu card, it definitely stands out as one of the best options for a not so expensive island holiday.

Signing Note- A stunning place to keep gaping at the horizon forever...!!

Route- Bangalore- Tumkur- Shimoga- Karwar- Kurumgad

Distance- 530Kms