Ramz
Ramanan Joined: August 28th 2007
Logged in: February 4th 2012
Logged in: February 4th 2012
Have a passion for travelling.
Other interests include blogging, nature, trekking, photography,swimming , cricket, reading, wildlife & Indian villages.
Wish to explore more places around the globe. Blogging since 2005.
Cheers,
Ramz
Travel Blog Posts
The Banasura resort
It’s now for a short trip to Wayanad in Kerala which is called God’s own country. This place is lush green among the mountains of the Western Ghats, at the top of the Deccan plateau around 75 kms from the shores of Calicut ( Kozhikode ) We took the overnight train to Calicut and thereafter a cab to the resort at Wayanad , a good four hour travel through lot of greenery. Located at a distance of 76 km. from the sea shores of Kozhikode, this pristine hill station is full of plantations, forests and wildlife dotted with resorts. Wayanad consists of 3 taluks - Mananthavady, Sulthan Bathery and Vythiri. The district headquarters is located at Kalpetta. This area enjoys superb climate throughout the year. The mean average rain fall in this district is 2322 mm. ... read more
View from ferry
We made a quick trip during the summer of 2010 ( May) to Shirdi and Mumbai. Having just four days on hand we went to Shirdi and then to Mumbai, It was a very short visit. One tour worth mentioning at Mumbai was the visit to the Great Elephanta Caves. A superb ferry ride for a little over one and quarter hour. We did take a lot of snaps on the way. Soft drinks, biscuits were sold on the dock and it was quite sultry. The Elephanta Caves are a great tourist attraction in the vicinity of the large Mumbai metropolis. The Elephanta island is located 10 km away from the Gateway of India at Mumbai. These caves house rock cut temples dating back to the 5th century. This rock cut temples were created by carving ... read more
On the way to Thiruvannamalai
Perhaps this was the shortest trip we have ever made. This time to Thiruvannamalai around 300 kms from Chennai which is famous for the Annamalai deity and the Ramana Maharishi Ashram. We set off on a Saturday early morning headed towards the National Highway - NH 45. The roads were good and being early morning no traffic and I could maintain good speed all the way. We stopped over on the way at Acharapakkam for break fast at Brindavan hotel, it was ok and then started off towardsThiruvannamalai.The road is straight till Dindivanam and here there is a right turn and a drive for around one and half hour’s before you hit the small town of Thiruvannamalai. Before we reach Thiruvannamalai we pass through the Ginjee fort We just passed through this magnificient fort as we ... read more
The statue and memorial
It was in November for a change we planned for a trip to the neighbouring state of Kerala. The trip was from Chennai by train . An over night train journey and by 10 .30 am we were in Varkala station. This part of south India is rich in vegetation and has plenty of rainfall. Rubber plantation , pepper and Cashew nuts are abundant.This is a small town along the beach which is very famous and picturique. My friend Rajeev had come to pick us up. He was my room mate in Bhopal and we had a good time way back in 1988 - 90. He has been calling me to visit his hometown where he has built a beautiful house. He works in Saudi Arabia and had come to India on leave. The beach is ... read more
Bryant park
Kodai is the spot we visited more than thrice and never boring. It is an over night journey from Chennai to Kodai road and then by bus from this sport for 3 hours. This was a sudden trip planned. It was for 4 days after the board exams of my daughter we all wanted a break as though we also wrote the exams ! Indeed the pressure was to that extent. We took the overnight train to Kodai road and reached early morning the Kodai road station. We hired a cab from here to the hills. We did stop over for a coffee break in between. The road to the hill top is good and the weather fantastic. It was peak summer in the plains and the cool weather was a great relief to all of ... read more
Shells at the museum.
It was a long time wish to visit the Andamans though heard lot of it right from child hood in books and through friends. It was again as usual in the month of May 2008 we set off to Port Blair from Chennai on the 10 th May. It was quiet humid and the flight took off at 6 am. We were all excited as in two hours from then we would be landing in the emerald islands and enjoy the enchanting beauty. It was 7 am in the clock after an hour of take off when we heard an announcement in the aircraft saying the "Port Blair airport was flodded due to severe thunderstorm previous night and we are returning to Chennai as flights cannot land! " It was a real disappointment and also some ... read more
The kanipakkam temple
Well, to go to Chittoor again, a busy town in the state of Andhra Pradesh - South India- was a long time wish as I had spent my child hood days here. The roaming around the hills, forests, going around the lovely Greamspet lake are still fresh in my memory though over three decades have passed by. My dad was a bank Manager here those days. We have even scaled the round shaped “Bodi Konda “which is at the town entrance. This is a massive sized rock mountain and at the top is a fresh water pond; I had climbed along with friends somewhere during the summer holidays of 1975! When i see this now I feel amazed as to how i made it to the top ! This was quite close to my house as ... read more
The Resort we stayed in - Naini Retreat
This summer May 2006 it was really a good trip to Nainital & Corbett National park. We set off by Jet on 11 the May'06 from Chennai (the capital of Tamil nadu state in South India) to Delhi and took the over night train to Kathgodam. This is the last rail head and after this, its only roads and hilly tracks. On reaching at 7 am headed to Nainital in a local taxi, it was a lovely morning with cool breeze and fresh air and greenery all around. As we started on the elevated road it stared raining and we stopped over for a cup of coffee, it was an udipi restaurant (a name typical to certain South Indian restaurants) at Kathgodam. The guy took 15 minutes to come back with coffee for us and we ... read more
From the top.
Nestled among the Javad hills - a part of the Eastern ghats - near Vaniyambadi town on National Highway from Chennai to Bangalore - is the scenic tourist resort of Yelagiri. A hill station of its own class. At about 250 kms away from Chennai and at nearly 1400 mtrs above sea level, Yelagiri is the perfect weekend getaway for the family and friends. This is a tiny hill station near Chennai just 4.50 hours drive, many are not aware of a hill station so close to Chennai!! The sleepy town is quite and calm only 4-5 hotels and they are good. A lovely small town amidst mountains and valleys with lots of tiny villages around the hills. The road leading to the hills has around 14 hairpin bends and this can be viewed partyly from ... read more
The Howrah Bridge
Come Summer and its travel time. The destinatin is Gangtok, Nathulla & Dargeeling starting from Kolkata the year 2007 during May. We reached Calcutta on a humid afternoon , after checking in the hotel were off to the local places. My friend Viswanath's daughter Sandhya accompanied us for the trip & was a good company for my daughter through out.The local trip started with the famous Howrah bridge, the botanical gardens were for the day one. The victoria memorial the land mark of kolkata was of course in the list. The second day stared off wtih a visit to the Belur Math where lies the memorial of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda. This is beautiful spot and the marble memorial is worth the visit. The second half of day was dedicated to the museum. This is ... read more
