Mahabaleshwar trip.

Eleven of us innerwheel club members of Hyderabad Central left for Pune on the 6th evening by the Mumbai Express. we decided to have a pot luck dinner in the train.5 of us were in one coach and 6 others in another coach.As it was a vestibule compartment we kept going from one coach to the other as though we owned the entire train.All of us sat together enjoying the dishes prepared by each member with lots of care and concern.we kept chatting like college students till we realized there are other passengers who would like to call it a day.The next day early in the morning we reached pune and we found our agent who arranged this trip waiting for us with huge van.so off we left for our actual destination Mahabaleshwar.It was raining cats and dogs. we checked in to Bharat hotel. we had four rooms with three members in each room.Though it was foggy and raining a lot nothing dettered us from exploring the hill. when we reached the Harrison point and the Kate point we could see nothing except fog,mist and we were walking between the clouds as Mahabaleshwar was 3000 ft high.we next went to the table point we hire 3 tongas The horses galloped on the mire though scared i enjoyed the daring ride in the rain.
In the shopping area we found huge colourfull umbrellas This area stretched to 2kms
we find lots razais,blankets,woolen clothing a shop full of wooden stuff,.a shop full of cane items.
next day we went to Panchgani. This hill station is famous for strawberries,juices and jams The varities of chikkis can never be found any where. we were soon greeted by the wonderful smell of corn heated in the fire
There is a huge strawberry farm .We could not see it as there was heavy downpour.Though this was not the typical tourist season we want to enjoy every bit in this rainy season getting soaked to the skin, trying to share umbrellas etc.
We came back to Pune . There we found lots of Alfonso mangoes sold by vendors. One of my friends took a whole crate of it back home.i bought lots of juices.We carried all the nice stuff and along with it wonderful memories back home on 10th morning.Every season has its own charm we had a great time holidaying in the rainy season.

Munnar tea estates

Munnar trip.

We left for Munnar from cochin we reached there dinner time we had booked our hotel at the highest point where it was not possible to go by our mini bus.the hotel people sent us a jeep to climb the very narrow ghat road which was very dark. It was like an adventure for us. we had reserved two cottages as we were 11 members.The next day we went to the Munnar lake and took a spacious motor boat .Some members even ventured on the speed boat, I would’nt dare to. .We, then went on an elephant ride and had great fun. Every hill stations have some points to see we saw 2 to 3 big waterfalls one was called Vallari falls.It was a wonderful sight on the way to Devi kolam.we find vast areas of tea.estates.We even went to a big spice store. Kerala is famous for its spices , fresh banana chips and tapioca chips.We were there just for a day but I would like advice readers of my post that when one wants holiday in Munnar one should go for 3 days . Kumargaon is famous for its canals where people ride in boats through these canals It is near Allepey. Idikki is another important place .We were unable to go to these places.due to shortage of time.We had spent some time in Cochin too.

sunset scenery

scene from Cochin houseboat

cutural program of Kerala.

Our tour to Cochin.

We were 11 members from the I.W.C of Hyderabad Central travelling to Cochin to attend the South Asia Rally conducted by the I.W.C of Cochin. From the time we boarded the sabari express. we had immense fun we had potluck lunch spread out before us then we played tombola, anthaskhari ,and cards game. one group played rummy and the other played una who said 26 hrs of travel by train is a bore? When you have the right fun loving company time just flies off such a company is provide by inner wheel club members who believe in the bond of friendship .They feel support gives strength.
After 26 hrs of fun together we reach Ernakulam in kerala which is India’s God’s own country we could see huge areas of coconut trees ,thatched roof of houses.our coach came to take us to our hotel star lagoon where we got a service apt with three bedrooms.we dumped our luggage in the lounge and rushed of to the Cochin harbour where house boats were arranged we were off on a cruise in the back waters of kochi .we saw naval battle ships,naval quarters, the huge Chinese nets and the famous bridgeWe came to the hotel for candle light dinner.
Next day we attended the South Asian Rally at the Le Meridian hotel.
The cochin I.W.C expected 600 I.W.C members but there arrived 1200 members beyond their expectations but the host club did a marvelous job managing all their guests they arranged different hotels and 3 buses in each hotel to transport themembers to the Le Meridian.They were dressed in the typical onam saris white with gold . They welcomed us amidst drums . Each district performed a cultural programme like kathakalli, mohiniattam,thevyam etc.We had typical kerala food served in banana leaves for lunch the main items being avial,pulisheri,chakkapradhamam-a kheer.curries with coconut
The rally was of great success consisting of games,cultural programmes they had few members from srilanka and Pakistan.
We left for Munnar hillstation after lunch it took us 4 hrs to reach there.

our Nainital trip

Nainital is in the Uttaranchal state.The name Nainital denotes nine lakes of which one has access to only bheem taal ,sath taal, naukutchiataal and the nainital lake.here we do not find motor boats as they pollute the lakes. we have rowing boats,shikara and paddle boats The lakes are about 23 kms from each other.As in every hill station there is the mall road which is the shopping centre. My husband Mohan ,my son Srikrishna and i left for Delhi by air from Hyderabad and then we got into Sampark express, a 6 hrs journey by Ac chair car. Refreshments are continously served there. Late in the evening we reached Kathgodam 35km away from Nainital. An Innova car was waiting for us and it took us up the hill through the ghat road and soon we reached our destination,The huge white palace known as Manu Maharani.It was a colossal place We were looking at it with awe.we rested that night in one of its rooms. The next day we visited each lake and spent our time going in different boats. In the mall road we bought some sweaters The second day we visited the nanda devi temple and we want to visit Jim Corbett's park but it was close we were disappointed but we went to Mukteshwar which was situated on a very high level we had to climb so many steps to reach here to have darshan of lord Shiva. It was one of the oldest temples.This place was in the Kumaon region where a man eating tiger was killed by Jim Corbett.
The next day we went by cable car to the snow top it was an exciting journey.but it was not the season to see snow.we have different forms of weather in the same day we experienced the sunshine,rain and the cold air blowing all in the same day.After spending three days there we went back to Delhi and spent a full day sightseeing in Delhi and flew back to our place Hyderabad.

Naintal foggy lake