SUN RISES OVER VARANASI ON A WINTER MORNING

morning sunrises are refreshing just as the sunsets are soothing.
getting up early is an humongous task while on a holiday, but a worthwhile experience. I would rather stay awake until morning light than to sleep to get up.

In the above pic, sun rises over the religious capital of India, Varanasi on a winter morning.

The early morning boat ride is one of the best experiences of Varanasi, One arrives at the ghats early in the morning say 5 to bargain your boat ride. The ride lasts for an hour or more untill you see the sun rise and people thronging the banks for a early morning holy dip. Once the early light creeps in you realise that the whole tourist population are on the river too.

more morning pictures in this post: Varanasi - Authentic India
Trip Date: Jan 2007

FORT KOCHI - CULINARY ADVENTURES

Fort Kochi is a haven of fine restaurants, unique in style and abundant in variety. It is definitely any food connoisseur's destination. This is my first such culinary trip where we went about from one restaurant to another on our hired cycles. depending on the prices, you choose to have either the starter, main course or the dessert. not necessarily in that order.



The beautiful Malabar Junction restaurant in the Malabar house hotel
our main course destination, we had three curries with rice. a lamb, a fish curry and pork vindaloo. thick and absolutely delicious. This one is a must visit

for its laid back ambiance and the food of course.





kashi art cafe also is a must visit for its arty space and some home made pastries.



Brunton Boatyard is the alpha of it all. expensive dishes do come with their signature offerings yet we stuck with the desserts. Do try it for some authentic kerala recipes which it claims to offer.






Tea pot is another must visit for its quirky setting and theme with different tea varieties, very European.







As the name board reads, this place is really old, we were served home made food in the same room where the family dines. Had some delicious roast chicken,

check this out for lunch.



the cheapest destination, masala dosas in udipi style. very India coffee housish



kerala style food after a boat ride.
one handy reckoner was this article in outlook traveler on cochin's culinary delights.

All the restaurants are on fort kochi within a kilometer's radius, You can hire cycles to move around. On the mainland near the boat jetty you will find lot of agents offering countryside boat trips and kerala style meal on the boat package. One should haggle to get a good deal. They usually transport you to the starting point of the boat ride in a 4 wheeler. The package includes a ride through narrow water lanes in a canoe as well as the motor boat ride in the lake.
Trip date: May 2007

REVIVING SUNSET CAFE

Sunset at the Fort Kochi Boat Jetty. This was just after when it had rained, on a sweltering hot May afternoon in Kerala. The next post would be on the culinary experiences we had while here.

New Year @ Puducherry

Restoring to posting pics again starting this year.
i know i have missed last year's new year destination and a whole lot of other places. but i'll pick them and post randomly.

so this new year's was at Pondicherry!
i made a trip to this place six months back during peak summer may.

but then, this is how new years is at Pondy.

there are lot of beach resorts on the outskirts of the town having their own packages ranging from 2000 to 3000 for a couple, everything seemed like attending a wedding reception, wanted a more private place for a nice dinner, so headed to the french colony enquiring at all the heritage hotels, killer expensive it turned out to be ranging from 4k to 6k with some places already sold out.

so strictly adivse one to have a definite plan for the night.
otherwise you see the local youth recklessly driving along the lanes yelling the arrival of the new year. rather spend the nite with your folks sipping over your drink reminiscing over the past year, which we did finally.