Lake Placid – Nagarjuna Sagar near Hyderabad and Vijayawada

Imagine waking-up to the view of the rising sun from amidst a cluster of hills. The sight of the sun rays casting an orange spell on the waters readies youto jump out of the bed and gear Vijay up for an exciting day.
If you are at Vihar resort on the banks of the Nagarjuna sagar lake, a couple of kilometres before the Nagarjuna sagar dam, the fore said view is guaranteed.  The resort is maintained by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation  has 43 rooms, most of them air-conditioned. It has a outdoor camping option also.
The silence of the place is enough to take away any stress. Once done with admiring Nature’s beauty, one can hit the well equipped health club abd swimming pool. There is  a baby swimming pool also.  Those looking for adventure and fun can get into adventure sports such as biking rowing and trekking.  Situated 150 Km from Hyderabad, Nagarjuna sagar dam os one of the tallest masonry dams of the world. The resort on banks of the lake and enroute to the dam. Apart form the lake and the dam, there is the Ethipothala waterfalls. The well illuminated falls make  for a wonderful sight after sunset. The resort serves home style food including fish, and the buffet is popular.

Hire a regular ferry to Nagarjuna Konda or Nagarjuna hill. The Island around the hill is worth a look.

Visit the museum of the old Buddhist relics.

How to get there
Nagarjuna sagar is well connected by road from Hyderabad and Vijayawada. The nearest airport is Hyderabad, 150km away. The nearest rail station is Macherla 22km away on the Hyderabad Guntur lane.

“Queen of hills” is a pleasant and priceless gift for the mankind by Mother Nature.

Ooty also called as Udhagamandal is located in the western ghats at the state of Tamilnadu at an altitude of 2240 meters above the sea level. The splendors of beauty always makes a panoramic view of the picturesque mountains, its reserve forests home for many rare specious of animals and birds, its lovely weather a sanctuary for many nature lovers and honeymooners, its tea estates produces world class tea brands and rests as a green blanket to cover up the cool weather it gets. The major attractions at this blue hills is the colorful and mesmerizing scenery of flowers that line up in the flower show at the botanical garden. The mind blowing flower show starts at the mid of May every year and it holds all the beautiful and rare varieties of flowers holding different shapes like balls, baskets and many more. Apart from these flowers, vegetable carvings and fruits grown in the regions will be also on display. The “Queen of hills” is at its festival grace on this occasion.

Hordes of tourist from across the country and abroad will be visiting Ooty for this spectacular flower show.

There are some spectacular places to visit in Ooty, one of them is the pykara falls also called as the highest peak in that region. Ooty is also an exotic place for camp setters and mountain hikers and trekkers. Some family attractions are like children’s park, lake and rose gardens are always found with lovely families. Finally Ooty the “queen of hills” is a pleasant and priceless gift for the mankind by Mother Nature.”

Manas is wilderness beyond compare. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and bio-reserve, it is perhaps one of the most pristine, virgin and primordial wilderness reserves in India.

The Manas National Park, situated at the foothills of the Himalayas, touching the borders of Bhutan, is a tiger and elephant reserve.  Jeep and boat rides are available inside the park, but it is best explored on elephant back.

Morning elephant ride was one of the best that you might ever have. There was no rain but will be soaked to the skin as thick water- laden mist bathed the forest. The condensation in the thick jungle dripped to the ground, forming minute rivulets that crisscrossed the park, and gathered into little streams before forming a body of water.

Ferns and shrubs thickly carpet the floor of this unique wetland. Despite the elephant grass and undergrowth, a chance to see plenty of pug marks – tigers! There are even some rare sights of – a leopard and its cubs!

The wild elephants in Manas were shy and the tall, thick grass provided a good shield.  There are an estimated thousand elephants here, and they keep moving across the border between Bhutan and the Park.

Manas is also a bird watchers’ paradise. Bird songs and calls were a constant accompaniment throughout the ride.  Emerging out of the nowwet and dripping forest and we can head to the river Beki.   The Beki river bank was covered with fine white sand.

Beki River and Manas

The turbulent Beki river is fast eating into the soft soil of the fragile forest. The erosion has been devastating.

Large chunks of the bank crumble away and crash into the river, only to be whisked away by the strong currents.  The Mathanguri forest rest house, a heritage building built by the British close to the Bhutan border, is in great danger from the large-scale erosion.

This wonderful park has tremendous potential; it is beginning to regain its original glory.

Don’t miss to see this place, when you plan for Trip to India !!!

Masinagudi reminds of Malgudi, with its quaint old Mysore charm and the Kannada-laced Tamil spoken by its taxi-men. It is a small dusty town on The Nilgiris border with Karnataka. Small hotels and eateries have come up to cater to tourists who come to the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

The Nilgiris mountains boast of four kinds of vegetation: scrub, dry deciduous, moist deciduous and semi evergreen. Masinagudi is in the scrub and dry deciduous part.

Resilient

Though these dry forests are under stress, they are resilient. “These are carbon sinks (which absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide that causes the earth to warm up) even in drought”

It was very peaceful earlier. Elephants crossed the road in herds of about 100. But after the Singara Power House came up in ‘87 the population of Masinagudi went from 5,000 to 13,000.

Being only 250km away from Bangalore, the place has also been attracting “the software people on weekends since ‘88,” This has promoted resorts, which often play loud music which disturb animals. Speeding cars kill them and encroachments into the forests and animal trails lead to their depletion.

Taxis here are jeeps, mostly driven by local Kurumba tribesmen, who are also excellent trackers. A family of black langurs squat on the road, surveying the vehicles that have to turn around them.

The field office also has an elephant conservation camp, one of the two in the state. Masini, a playful baby elephant, searches us for sugarcane, with her trunk.

Some of the elephants are used for conservation and some of them are kumkis, who are used to chase away elephants that stray into human habitations.

To enjoy, you must head to Mudumalai at dawn. The rising sun melts away the mist around the peaks; their awe-inspiring rock faces towering high above us. Masinagudi, unlike most other parts of The Nilgiris, is warm. Tall grasses characterize the landscape. It is in these grasses that tigers breed and find their prey. Gaur, Tiger and Elephants and deer are found in the scrub, mixed deciduous forests and the swamps.

The fee for the van safari through Mudumalai is Rs. 25 per head. There are elephant safaris also available. A camouflaged noisy Swaraj Mazda van takes us into the reserve. These parts were teak plantations in the earlier part of the previous century. Lantana and sturdy grasses cover the area. National Highway- 67 passes through.

We can spot many a langur, sambar and chital, a peacock, a retreating herd of elephants and maybe a crested serpent eagle, but sadly no tigers.

You can enjoy the spectacular Moyar falls. The white waters of the river Moyar have cut a deep gorge. We can stand on a cliff, amidst rust- coloured grass. The morning sun cutting through the thicket of teak makes the whole place glow. On the other side, tall trees hang on to the cliff.

The lush green gorge below is visible between wisps of mist. The calls of birds are very different from the plains. The whole scene is resembles Pandora, from the film Avatar.

How to get there

Mudumalai is 39 km from Udhagamandalam (Ooty). It can be approached from the Mysore or Gudalur Road. Buses ply from Ooty, Mysore (90 km) and Bangalore. Coimbatore to Ooty takes a couple of hours by road.

Enquiries and, bookings for forest guest houses can be made at the Mudumalai Wildlife Warden’s Office on Sturat Hill in Ooty. For details call 0423 2444098.

Reference : The Hindu – MetroPlus

If you know about Goa then you would definitely have heard about its sandy beaches with their Panoramic views. But there are other things in this small Indian state that attracts tourists worldwide and makes it one of the hot travel destinations within India. Now what are these?

From the time Portuguese arrived on the shores of Goa Christianity is one of the leading religions followed. Though Goa was liberated from Portuguese colonial rule in 1961 but European architectural relics can be still be found in the form of the Churches found in Goa.

Churches in Old Goa are the most revered of the churches present in Goa. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and draws crowds for its magnificent buildings and many churches signifying the glory days of Goa. All the churches are maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.

So now let us take a take a sneak peek the various churches based in Old Goa:

Chapel of St. Francis Xavier: This is the most famous church in Old Goa and is dedicated to the memory of St. Francis Xavier. The corpse of this revered saint is also placed within the church. The building was constructed in the early part of the 16th century. After the old structure got degraded a new building having better architecture was built in 1884.

Church of the Carmelites: Built in 1621 this church now stands in its ruins. After the Carmelites were expelled from Goa for not taking the oath of Allegiance to the king this church fell into disuse.

Se Cathedral: It is the largest cathedral in Asia and took eighty years to get completed. Dedicated to St. Catherine it is the seat of the archdiosse of Goa.

The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary: Alphinsi de Albuquerque ordered the construction of this church on the site where Alphonso won a remarkable victory over the Sultan of Bijapur.

There are many other churches but these are the best of the best! So ‘Go Goa’ not just for the beaches but for the Churches bearing the Portuguese architectural wonder.

The Singapore night safari owned by the Singapore zoo as a separate entity, is considered one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country. One of the world’s famous tourist destination is located very near to the Singapore zoo. The plan for opening a night safari stretched over an area of about 40 hectare was first thought in the year 1980, thereby after much planning and considerations the night safari was finally opened for common public in the year 1994 and since then the popularity has only increased. The night safari was thus considered the world’s first nocturnal zoo.

The world’s premier night zoo gets far more number of visitors than the Singapore zoo or any other travel destinations in this city state. For majority of the tourists coming to Singapore, night safari is a pleasant way to spend evening and get the feel of a tropical location. An outing in this premiere night zoo would let you experience the real fun of night safari. Where you will get scope to peep into the wild habitat; right from looking a rhino in the eye to hearing the howls of wild hyenas. At present this safari comprises of over 1,200 animals of more than 110 exotic species. The animals are kept in 8 separate zones recreating different geographic regions.

When you are on a tour to a place of which you hardly know about, the first thing that strikes your mind is about a safe accommodation then comes the travel destinations and travel fare. Catering to this problem, there are many cheap hotels in Singapore with luxurious facilities. While some of these are in and around the famous travel destinations in the country, others are at the outskirts of the city and are easily affordable.

So after much waiting you got those few days leave for which you always aspired for? Want to make this into a dream vacation for you? But how could this be possible? Without being to the perfect tourist destination. So if this time you plan to spend your holidays in India, Kerala could be one ideal choice. Kerala is the perfect tourist spot for all types of tourists. Never mind whether it is a planned tour within a fixed budget or you have a hefty amount with you to spend anywhere anytime. Kerala offers a good scope of tourism to all.

The backwaters are the unique attraction for tourists coming from far and wide corners. With its fascinating beauty and undaunted serenity, backwaters make the perfect example for different water bodies like lakes, canals, rivers, channels, lagoons, etc. offering enough scope for the tourists to explore the natural beauty and bounty. For those tiring tourists coming from remote corners of India or other countries, spending some relaxed time on those luxurious backwater cruises could undoubtedly be a great experience. The houseboats known as Kettuvellam in Kerala are used to cruise over the mesmerizing backwaters. Without the houseboats it is impossible to explore the picturesque locations and amazing ecosystem. Some of the famous backwater destinations of Kerala include Kumarakom, Kovalam, Alleppey, Kochi, Kollam, Kuttanad and Trivandrum.

So what are you waiting for? Just make a trip to Kerala and spend some quality time lulling in its natural beauty and bounty.