Weekend Gateway, Alibaug

Alibaug! Most of those who are staying in Mumbai have been to this place and but I still feel the need to write my experiences, and you ask why? Because I had different experiences than just living in a resort or chilling by the pool or a beach. Yes, I did chill on a beach too, but this was something to remember. I had some clips from this trip which I have compiled in a video below.

I and my colleagues were looking for a weekend gateway in December and after surfing (on the internet) through many places near Mumbai like Matheran, Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani and Lonavala; we tabbed on Alibaug. I never had been to Alibaug before and surprisingly none of my colleagues did. We started searching for economical hotels or places to stay. After searching and making calls at few places, we found someone very welcoming. It wasn’t a hotel or resort, it was a cottage. We did go through the pictures of that cottage on their website, and it looked pretty decent to stay. So we booked the cottage with some advance money through bank transfer and we pack our bags.

We stayed there for a day, but it was one of the memorable trips. If you do not know how to reach Alibaug, here’s how:

Step 1: Wherever you are in Mumbai, Reach Churchgate Station.

Step 2: Call a taxi and ask them to take you to the Gateway of India.

Step 3: At Gateway of India, ask someone where to buy the ticket for ferry rides (Most of the times there are plenty of police security around Gateway of India, so they will surely help you.)

As I remember, it cost around 150/- rupees to buy a return ticket to Mandva. Yes! To go to Alibaug, you take a ticket for Mandva. You can take a public transport bus to Alibaug after getting down from the ferry. The ticket for that public transport bus is included in the ticket you bought at the Gateway of India.

If you find that the buses are too crowded, you can opt for a six sitter vehicle; tell them where you need to go and they shall tell you a price. (Make sure to bargain) they call that six sitter vehicle as “Sitara” (God knows where that came from?)

Anyways, the place we booked was pretty much away from Mandva, so he charged us 750 rupees, and the whole Sitara was ours. It took over an hour to reach the place. FYI, we booked a cottage in Chaul (which is in Alibaug). Chaul has a very interesting history, which you can find on Wikipedia. We told the sitara driver about cottage and he knew where it was. Mostly the Sitara drivers are locals, so they know where the cottages, hotels, and resorts are.

On our way to Chaul, Alibaug, we had no idea where the driver was taking us, because we were just traveling through an open space, in some areas there were no roads. Sometimes we were driving through farms, sometimes we were driving through a village. (but we were not as scared because we were 12 people together!)

Anyways, after wondering where we are going for an hour, we finally reached the cottage at Chaul. And everything that we saw at that place was pleasing. We were happy with our choice. It was spacious and most importantly, Clean! there were swings to play, there were places to chill and play outside.

The place was surrounded by betel nut trees. Basically, it was the cottage that was situated in a “wadi”. A wadi is a place which is like a farm. But on this farm you don’t grow crops, instead, you grow trees, hundreds of coconut trees, or flowers or vegetables or betel nut or doub palm trees (locally known as taadgollas). Basically, everything that is grown in wadis is used to make money by the locals. In short, that’s the crop they produce in bulk. 

Best part, there was no dining table inside the house. The dining table was outside the house, right under the palm trees.

There was a special house in the same premise that was ‘only’ kitchen. The rooms were only for sleeping and yes there was a TV, but who cares about the TV when it’s so beautiful outside. You just have to tell the manager, what you want to have for your meal, whether it is vegetarian or non-vegetarian, but in advance and he shall manage it. All meals were cooked on a chullha! That made the meals so delicious and you can have as much as you want!  In villages like Chaul, people have home grown chickens, and freshly caught fishes (whichever fish you demand, it’s going to come right from the sea) We were so happy that the manager and the owner of that cottage were such a humble and warm person! And even if it felt like the middle of nowhere, it was such a safe place to be! We were out in the night till 1:30 AM, that too with only moonlight and torches. What were we doing? Making seekh kababs on a koyla sigree and making a bonfire all by ourselves and dancing around it (needless to say, it turned into a Garba after sometime).

Our day’s schedule was something like this, we left our house in the morning, reached Chaul by afternoon, had delicious and unlimited food, relaxed a bit, had our evening tea, and we decided to stroll around the village to see what else do we find there.

After we walked a through the village looking at people’s colorful houses and their gardens, mandirs and stepped wells, we were tired.

 We asked a villager about the places we should visit. They suggested us to see the Revdanda beach which was nearby from wherever we were (god knows). So we decided to keep walking. We walked almost for an hour since we left our cottage. After all that we reached the Revdanda beach. It happened to be Heaven on earth. There was no one except us on the beach. The beach was pristine clean and untouched.

The air quality, the sound of the waves, pleasing sunlight, the cool and soft sand under our feet; It just felt like some sort of cleansing therapy. We laughed, ran around and collected shells; saw little as well as big crabs. We felt so pure, we forgot all our worries. Our hearts were at peace. Even now, whenever I think about that experience, I smile. Well, that’s why we travel you know; So that in the times of restlessness and despair, we could cherish and relive such moments and get the energy back.

There is also an old fort on Revdanda beach. It isn’t maintained and is only remains of the fort. 

We moved ahead on the beach and got on a bus to Birla temple.

You cannot take any belongings inside the temple, not even your wallet. So, someone had to wait outside with all our belongings. The temple is made up of marble and is surrounded by a well-maintained garden. Birla temple was another place where we felt peaceful. Our bodies were tired from all the traveling and walking but we were happy with all these experiences.

After visiting these two wonderful places, we decided to head towards our cottage. This meant we were going take a bus to the Revdanda beach, walk the entire beach, exit the beach and walk for another hour to reach our cottage. When we left home, it was daytime, but by the time we reached back to the Revdanda beach, it was evening. We witnessed an amazing and most memorable sunset ever! 

And when we started walking towards by our cottage, it was dark, and there were absolutely no street lights and we didn’t realize it while we were going to the beach. As colorful and cheerful the village looked in the afternoon, the spooky it looked after sunset. The dogs were barking at us and we were walking as fast as we can. Plus, we found it too difficult to find our way back in the dark! We were scared but still laughing at our own situation.

Finally, we reached our cottage to find the uncle setting up our delicious dinner!

Next day we headed to the kashid beach, which was again, far from chaul.  We played water sports like banana rides, parasailing, and speed boating and horse riding. We also chilled on a shack and had food on the stalls.

That was our last day in Alibaug, we went back to our cottage freshen up, had our last chullha cooked lunch, and headed back home. While we were riding back home on a ferry we saw a beautiful view of Gateway of India, and the Taj hotels.

Batu Caves, Malaysia!

I love when (good) unplanned things happen while I travel, for e.g. visiting a place that wasn't on the list. After staying in the clouds at Genting Highlands, we headed to Kuala Lumpur. During our stay at Genting Highlands, our local guide got the news that a huge protest is happening at Dataran Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur. The plan was to visit Dataran Merdeka Square, National Mosque, Cricket Field and High Court Building. The route to all these places went through the city center, where the protest was taking place. Our guide decided to let the protest cool down in some days and visit these places later. Unfortunately, by the evening, we were told, that the protest will go on for next three days. This meant we were not going to visit any of the above-mentioned places during our stay in the country.

So, to compensate the change in the plan, we decided to go to Batu Caves. I had seen a lot of beautiful pictures of Batu caves on Instagram. And I was extremely happy that I am going to visit the beautiful caves and click a picture of the giant statue of Lord Murugan.

On arrival at Batu caves, I was disappointed that the giant statue of Lord Murugan was scaffolded. We saw a long staircase going to the temple of Lord Murugan. However, I decided to climb the stairs to temple. And man-o-man, it was a great workout. There are 272 stairs, which I thought wasn't much, but those were the steepest stairs I climbed in my entire life. My heart was beating so fast, that at a point; I felt it would pop out of my chest. (Bad decision to not to take rest in between).

TIPS:

• If you are planning to climb those stairs and go up to the temple, make sure you take rest in between. It would be highly recommended to breathe properly. Continuously talking while you climb, will tire you quickly. Wear comfortable footwear.
•  One more very very important thing that you must take care of is the monkeys. There are a lot of monkeys up there, who are not much afraid of humans. Take care of your cameras and other belongings. Avoid feeding the monkeys, chances are, too many monkeys would gather around you.
• If you plan to go inside the temple, you will have to take off your shoes. Make your family member/ friend take care of your shoes when you go inside. You don’t want the monkeys to take your footwear with them, do you?
• Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated at Batu caves in  January/ February (Depends on which month the full moon day falls). This place is overcrowded with devotees on these days. (Check the dates and information on Wikipedia Plan your visits accordingly to avoid the crowd.

When I was returning from the temple, I saw another cave which is called as Dark Caves. You can buy tickets for 35 ringgits (that’s what I remember). Those caves have some special species of animals like spiders and bats. These caves are ecologically very rich. However, you cannot go unattended. There are guided tours to these dark caves. I totally missed the tour in the Dark caves, they were closed when we reached there. I am going to provide a link to this gentleman’s blog post HERE, make sure to check out before you go. You also might want to check THIS link to know more before you decide to visit the Dark caves.

Batu caves are made up of Lime stone.

Inside Batu Caves

Enjoy the Beauty Inside the Caves!

Beautiful Cityscape outside Batu Caves

So, that’s it for this post, guys! I hope you enjoyed reading this post and found it helpful to plan your trip. Make sure to press that G+1 button below. And don’t forget to share it with someone you love, because Sharing is Caring! Chao!

Much Love,

Chitra XOXO

Genting Highlands, Malaysia!

After we spent three amazing days in Singapore, it was time for Malaysia. We proceeded to Malaysia by bus from Singapore. It takes approximately 1 and a half to reach Johor which is in Malaysia. Before reaching Johor, we have to get down at the boarder of two countries, for the immigration, security check and board the bus back again.

 Our first stop in Malaysia was Genting Highlands. It takes another 4 and a half hour to reach Genting highlands from Johor. We had to drop our bus and take Asia's longest and fastest Cable car to Genting Highlands. It was quite an experience though! On your way to Genting highlands by Cable car, you will see thick forest below your feet. It is fun to watch those lush green Malayan forests, see a variety of tall trees and monkeys jumping over, from one tree to another! 

As we were travelling further and at higher altitude, everything below and around us started covering up with fog! There was a point where we could not even see where we are headed or where we came from. Any of the cable cars those were ahead or behind us were not visible. And this continued till we reached the cable car station. Cable cars do not come to a complete halt, neither while you board nor when you get off. They only slow down and you will have to get down in that time. So you have to be a little extra careful, in case you have children or senior citizens with you (plus your luggage). There are attendants to help you to get down however, but I had to tell you, so that you’ll be ready.

The cable car doors are not much wide, neither there is a lot of room for your huge bags to fit in, so you might want to pack a separate and smaller bag, wherein you pack a couple of clothes (warm clothes preferably)and your valuables only.(depends how many days you are going to stay at the hotel). So, does that mean, you have to travel in Malaysia with such a small luggage? No! You can keep your entire heavy luggage in the lockers that are provided at the parking lot at the bottom of Genting highland, (just before you get into the cable car), and it is safe! There’s a reason why you should not carry huge bags to Genting Highland, which I will explain to you very soon!

We stayed at the 'First World Hotel'.  It was fun to stay at that hotel because; it has 7351 rooms, which means the hotel rooms are very compact. Bathrooms are not spacious too! There’s reason why the architect had to design the rooms this way! It was originally only casino. 

For your Information, Malaysians love gambling! And this man Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, built a casino and with time, his casino became famous. Soon, there were many people visiting this famous casino from far lands. So, he expanded the casino to a hotel. His major earnings were made from casino and wanted people to spend more time in the casino and not in their rooms. Rooms are only for resting, and that’s the reason the rooms are small in dimension and large in number. There is barely any space for bulky luggage. However, there are Delux and Super Delux rooms available if you need spacious ones. To read and know more about the ‘First world hotel’ and its history; I have put some links below:

First World Hotel

Genting Highlands History

genting highlands information 

Even if you don’t want to gamble, you must visit the casino! The guard at the entrance may ask for your passport. If you are Muslim, you are not allowed to Gamble or even enter. (As told by my local guide) if you are underage, you are not allowed. (You should be 21). So, don’t forget to keep your passport with you. J I did go inside and saw how people can gamble in different ways, and I am sure, you must have seen all types of gambling in the movies.

Apart from Casino there are many Game zones, shops, Live performances in the Restaurants, Starbucks, rides, Snow World and Ripley's Believe it or not and yes an indoor theme park! What is the fun part about staying here you ask? And what did I enjoy the most? Getting lost in this HUGE hotel! But don’t worry! The direction boards will guide you!

I don’t have much photographs from Genting Highlands, however I have some clips taken, so I am putting the video here.

P.S: I have edited a video for the first time and I have put together all the clips I had, long story short, I am not a Pro. (In case you are good video editor, please forgive me).

Hope you enjoyed reading and watching! Please share with someone you care. Because sharing is Caring!

Much love,

Chitra Takle XOXO

Singapore! My Travel Story

Hello lovelies, wish you a very happy new year! Hope you all had a blast celebrating Christmas and New Year! with this new year, I have something new on my blog! Yes, this is my first ever travel post and I am super super nervous while writing this. In November 2016, I and my mom traveled three countries in South East Asia and here is my experience in Singapore! If you have any plans to travel there, this will be helpful! So, let’s get started!

Day 1

Singapore is two and a half hours ahead of India and it takes approximately six hours to reach, from Mumbai. We landed on Changi airport, Singapore. After checking in the hotel we went on a city tour. First we took the Singapore river ride where we saw all beautifully built skyscrapers at the edge of the river. All buildings are commercial once, also it is said that, higher is the skyscraper the wealthier is the owner. 

 We also got to see the famous Merlion statue, which happens to be the identity of Singapore. The city was named after the name Singha, means Lion. Many years back when a warrior, (who happens to be the first King) stepped on this land, he saw a Lion at his sight and he named this land as Singa-pore. It is said that this Merlion protects the city and brings many tourists every year, which contributes a considerable amount in Singapore's Economy.

 Of course when you go near the merlion statue, you get to see many things around it, like Marina bay hotel and the Esplanade auditorium. Next we rode the Singapore Flyer and enjoyed the view of city.

I forgot to mention this was my third time in Singapore and was visiting the city after 17 years! Of course, it means that, I was a child back then and the city has changed drastically now, so I had to make a visit!

We also took a tour around the parliament house, City Hall, Orchard Road, Fountain of wealth, the Suntec city and Esplanade auditorium.

 After all this, we were very tired and decided to head back to our hotel to rest. We stayed at the ‘Premium Inn’, which happens to be a very good Hotel on beach road and many attractions in Singapore are just 8 to 10 minutes away from this hotel.

At night, we went for night safari. That's a place where you have to take a tram ride and of course, you are not supposed to get down from the tram even if the tram takes stops in between. There is an audio guide in the tram that tells you on what side the next animal will be. The audio guide provides information about all the animals you will see around. The ride takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes. After the ride we headed for the show called as ‘Creatures of the night’. It is a fun show where some reptiles and small animals perform.

In my entire tour, what I found interesting about attending these shows is, you get to see people from all around the world sitting at one place, and chances are; you get to talk to another tourist from some other country. I cannot tell you how exciting it is to talk to some complete stranger about their lives and family. One thing you will definitely feel while you travel is that, it is more important to be a good fellow human being for this world to be a good place. We may belong to different countries and different culture but, in spite of differences; our lives are more or less similar. You will certainly feel connected as a human and as a traveler.

Day 2

Anyways, Moving on to next day, we spent our entire day at the Universal Studios which was indeed Fun! 

My favorite ride at universal Studios was the transformer ride at the Sci-fi city. It certainly is mind blowing and something that no one should miss! When you take a ticket at universal studios, you will be handed a map of the whole place and a schedule for all the shows and meet and greets. This schedule would tell you where would you get to see the streets shows and at what location you will get to meet your favorite characters and take a photo with them. I managed to attend the ‘Rockfellas’ show and the ‘Sesame street show’. Apart from the street shows, there are some places where the shows are inside the buildings and you can only see them at prescribed timings. For example, 'Lights, Camera, Action'; it is a live show, which is hosted by ‘Steven Spielberg’. It gives you a feel of being in the movie itself. Let me not spoil what scene it is (nothing from Titanic) but it surely some awesome action happening in there!

At Universal Studios, I took first ever roller coaster ride in my life. In fact there are two roller coaster rides. let me put a picture down here.

These are actually two roller coasters with separate entrances. The Red Track is just Twist and turns and the Grey one (the cyclone) is where you turn upside down and lot more (Yayks!)

In these roller coaster rides you can definitely see the tracks of roller coaster, so you know what is going to happen to you next, but same is not the case in the adjacent ride and that's, ‘Revenge of the Mummy ride’; where you cannot see what's going to happen to you next. So, that's one of the many fun rides. Apart from this we visited Lost World (Jurassic Park theme), Far Far Away (Shrek), Madagascar, Hollywood and New York. And that was it for the second day.

Day 3

On third day we took a cable car ride to Sentosa Island. Yes you will see another Merlion statue there but that’s not the original one.

There are many things to see at sentosa Island (Yes, Universal Studios is also at Sentosa Island). We first visited Madame Tussaud's, do I need to tell you about it? It was my third time at Madame Tussaud’s but first two times was in London. If you have been to Madame Tussaud’s wax museum London, you need not to visit this one, because it is much smaller and many statues are not included in Singapore.

 Only addition I saw here, was India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So if you want to see a grander Madame Tussaud’s wax museum? Go to London, Nothing beats that! Also there is a small boat ride inside the same building, called images of Singapore, it literally takes 2-3 minutes.

Then we walked down to Marine Life Park, which is the largest oceanarium in the world, which contains 100,000 marine animals of over 800 species. 

By this time we were very tired but, there was something relaxing to attend and I believe everyone must! It was a spectacular night show called ‘Wings of Time’. We took a mono rail ride from the aquarium and since we had a lot of time before the show, we went to the manmade beach. The show takes place outdoor at the beach, and is a combination of water and laser.

You can find the whole show on YouTube. But I would suggest not to watch it if you are going to visit there soon. Anyway if you do watch it on YouTube, it won’t be that great, because watching it live on a beach, with so many people, with good Audio quality, and with lovely breezes is quite an experience.

Day 4

I was really excited for the third day because, we were going to visit the place I came to Singapore for! 'Gardens by the bay'. I love plants and nature in general, so I was very excited to visit Gardens by the bay. I wore a nice, georgette maxi dress that day, and guess what? it was a bad choice. Let me tell you why. Gardens by the bay. according to me consists of three main parts, first is 'flower dome', second one is, 'Cloud Forest' and third is super tree. 

Everything fine with the super tree but flower dome and Cloud forest are Air conditioned and the temperature inside these domes is very low. At least, for someone from Mumbai, it was very cold. So in case, you are going to gardens by the bay, make sure you wear something that covers you. Trust me, it says that indoor temperature is 23 to 25 degree Celsius but it is much cold than that! Especially, at the Cloud Forest.

One more tip: If you come out of any dome and will be going back inside again, make sure to take a stamp on your hand at the exit or you will not be allowed to enter again. If you want some great photographs at this place I suggest you to visit it at the morning time around 9 am, because it starts getting crowded later. Also, if you are carrying DSLR/ Professional cameras, know that your lenses are going to get foggy after you come out of the Domes, so you are going to have to wait for at least 20 minutes for the lenses to clear the moisture after you come out. Make sure to carry a lens cleaning cloth with you. 

Gardens by the bay look beautiful at night time too. Someday if I visit Singapore again, I would want to visit the Garden at night. However it wasn't possible in this trip because we had to leave for that afternoon! It was time to say goodbye! Our next stop was Malaysia!

My travel story in Malaysia is coming soon, so stay tuned! Till then, share this post with someone is going to visit Singapore; or may be someone who is not!

If you like this post, make sure to hit that G+ button! Also, don’t forget to recommend it to those who love and care, because Sharing is Caring!

Much Love,

Chitra XOXO