South India FAM Trip-2010

South India FAM trip-2010

01-16^th June, 2010

Team Members:

• Ms.Meenakshi Sharma
• Mr.Samir Pramanik
• Mr.Sahil Gupta
• Mr.Elesh Choudhary &
• Mr.Kamal Varma

Number of Days: 15 Nights /16 Days

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Routing: Delhi – Goa – Badami – Hospet – Hassan – Mysore – Calicut – Cochin - Kumarakom via Marari & Alleppy - Kovallam – Trivandrum - Madurai via Kanyakumari – Trichy - Tanjore - Pondicherry, Mahaballipuram - Chennai/Delhi.

Day 1, 01 June, 10: Delhi – Goa (By flight) – Badami (Drive about 300 kms / 8 hrs.)

Arrive Goa by Indigo Airlines at 1215hrs and after traditional “Swagat” or “Welcome” met our driver Mr. Dinesh Sood. Collected our bags from Airport and began our journey to explore this majestic land. We started our itinerary to explore the first destination of our itinerary i.e. Badami. And it was a stunning narrow single road drive through the Western Ghats towards our first destination. After driving for about 4 hrs, we reached in our hotel in Badami for check in at 2300hrs and had our dinner. Overnight stay at Badami Court.

Day 2, 02 June, 10: Badami - Hospet (About 85 kms / 2-3 hrs.)

Had our breakfast and later drove with our guide Mr. Nitin Koppollu to city tour. Our first destination was Aihole, renowned for its photogenic Durgi Temple or the fortress temple. Aihole temple complex consists of 120 temples.

Later drove to Pattadakal, a World Heritage Site has a set of nine temples Virupaksha temple, Kailasanartha temple, Mallikarjuna temple, Galagnatha temple, Kashi Vishweswara, Papanatha temple, Chandrasekhara, sangameswara and Kadasiddheswara temple built almost in a single file.

Further we moved on to the Badami Caves, that was the last destination in Badami. The cosmetic dance of Shiva Natraja depicted with eighteen arms was the best part of Badami itinerary. After sightseeing in Badami we came back to our hotel for lunch and took a small nap. Later drove to the Hospet and check in to our hotel, Krishna Palace at 20:30hrs. Later we enjoyed the luxurious dinner at 2300hrs. Overnight stay in hotel.

Day 3, 03 June, 10: Hospet – Hampi – Hassan (About 330 kms / 8-9 hrs.)

Had our breakfast and drove to the World Famous site of Hampi, renowned for its medieval era temples. Hampi is also known as the City of Victory, was the capital of Vijaynagar and spread in 66 sq. km. and around 2000 temples built in 12 sq. km area surrounded by hills. Hampi is divided into two portions, one for the royal families and another is for the local crowd, business men, and visitors.

We got an opportunity to visit the royal portion where there we saw the canals, step well, Lotus Mahal, Elephants stable, Queen’s Bath-the bathing area of queen, Lakshmi Narsimha temple, peanut Ganesha, Krishna Temple then Virupaksha Temple, Local Market area, Baddai Lingum and King’s Balance.

Further drove to hotel for lunch and site inspection. Later at 1545 hrs we drove to our next destination Hassan (about 08hrs drive). Check in at Hoysala Village resort at 0030hrs. Overnight stay at resort.

Day 4, 04 June, 10: Hassan – Saravana Bela Gola – Mysore (About 160 kms / 4-5 hrs.)

Had our Breakfast at 0730 and later drove to the Halebid, ancient capital of Hoysala. Our guide Ms. Veena Vaijyanti received us and visited two temples in this complex dedicated to King and Queen.

Further up, we drove to Belur where we explored Chenna Keshava temple built on win over. After sightseeing in Belur we drove back to Hassan city to visit two hotels, Southern Star and The Ashok and had our lunch there. Further we moved on to the Sravanabelagola. We climbed around 615 open rock steps. After visiting Gomateshwara temple, continued driving to Mysore (about 03 hrs). Visited Lalitha Mahal Palace. Check in at Windflower Spa at 1930 hrs.

Day 5, 05 June, 10: Mysore

Woke up at 0700 hrs and had our breakfast at 0730 hrs and drove to 102 years old Devraj Market famous for fresh fruits and flowers, which is exported to other parts of the country. Later we visited Philonima Cathedral and drove to Srirangapatnam to pick our guide Mr. Selvaraj Raj- a licenced Govt. of Karnataka experienced guide. Later we drove to the Trippu’s palace called summer palace. Visited Keshava temple, dedicated to the Lord Shiva- famous for its external and internal carvings and then drove to Charmundi Devi temple on Charmundi Hills, dedicated to Goddess Durga. Visited Bull temple is one of the largest monolithic rocks sitting Nandi- the bull statue. Drove back to city for lunch at Hotel Royal Orchid and had a small nap. Later we visited rest of the hotels and check in at hotel Sandesh The Prince at 2030 hrs. Overnight stay at Hotel.

Day 6, 06 June, 10: Mysore – Nagarhole - Wayanad – Calicut (About 280 kms / 7-8 hrs.)

After having our Breakfast at 0700hrs we drove to our most talked about itinerary of the whole tour. Reached our destination at 0930hrs and explored Orange County resort at Kabini (Nagarhole National Park, officially called Rajiv Gandhi National Park) renowned for largest Asiatic Elephant forest in the world. Further we moved on to the Wayand. Enroute we visited Jungle Resort which was the last destination of the Karnataka portion. Had our lunch at Vythri resort and moved on to Calicut also known as the Kozokode. Reached our hotel at 2000 hrs and had dinner. O/n stay at Kadavu Resort.

Day 7, 07 June, 10: Calicut – Thrissur – Cochin (About 200 kms / 5-6 hrs.)

Had Breakfast and moved on to visit Taj Residency. Further drove to Guruvayoor, one of the sacred pilgrimage areas in south India, dedicated to Lord Krishna. Later we moved on to Punnathoor Elephant camp. Every year in August, Guruvayur temple celebrates the festival of onam in a big way with the procession of all the 65 decorated elephants. Further we drove to Trichur and visited Vadakunatha temple. Later we drove to Cochin, the biggest city of Kerala. Dinner and O/n at hotel Brunton Boat yard.

Day 8, 08 June, 10: Cochin

Had breakfast and drove to city tour. First we went to Chinese fishing nets. Their size and elegant construction is very photogenic and the slow rhythm of their operation is quite hypnotic. Later visited St. Fransis Church, which is the oldest European church in India. Visited Dutch Palace also known as Mattancherry Palace. Later a short visit to nearby jews town- kashmiri emporiums, spice shops, restaurants and stunning narrow lanes. Later on we drove to Willington Island and visited all the hotels then we drove to Le Meridien had our lunch and visited the hotel. Later on we drove to Traditional Kathakali Centre. Visited hotels in Fort Cochin then after quick refreshment in Brunton Boatyard we walked down to Old Lighthouse Bristow at 2200 hrs for dinner and inspection visit.

Day 09, 09 June, 10: Cochin – Marari (About 40 kms /1 hrs.) – Kumarakom (About 25 kms / 45 mins)

0645 hrs went for cycling in Fort Cochin area and had an awesome time. Later enjoyed sightseeing in local markets, had a cup of tea at a local tea stall, morning prayers in temples and schools, etc. 0830 hrs had breakfast and visited Marari Beach resort and Abad Turtle. Later we drove to Palluthuruthy boat jetty/ alleppey, place of Muthoot Houseboat jetty. Later we cruised in Asia’a second largest Lake called Vembanadu also Visited Alleppey lake palace. During the boat ride we were served delicious lunch on board. Later we were dropped at Kumarakom lake resort and decided to go back to our hotels for check in. had our dinner at 2200 hrs. O/n stay at Kumarakom lake resort.

Day 10, 10 June 10: Kumarakom – Poovar - Kovalam (About 210 kms / 5-6 hrs.)

It was a beautiful sunny day, after having breakfast we decided to drive through the lush green paddy fields to poovar reached jetty of poovar Island Resort. And we left our hotel and reached there at 1530 hrs and had our lunch. Later we visited Estuary Island Resort and then Isola Di Coco. At 1845 hrs we left for Kovalam. First we visited Taj Green Cove along with Uday Samudra then we drove to Surya Samudra for dinner and inspection visit. O/n stay at Travancore Heritage hotel.

Day 11, 11 June, 10: Kovalam – Trivandrum – Kovalam (about 20 kms – 45 mins)

Had our breakfast and droved to Tapovan to unload our laggage and continued our drive to Trivandrum also known as Thiruvanathapuram, Capital of Kerala state. Visited Padmanabhaswamy Temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Gents are not allowed with jeans, trousers, shirts etc they have to wear the local dress Mundu and female have to wear Sari only. Later we visited Horse Palace museum and Napier Museum, Rare collection of archaeological and historic artifacts, bronze idols, ancient ornaments, a temple chariot and ivory carvings, Sri Chitra Art gallery. Later drove to Leela Kovallam for hotel inspection and our lunch. And we made out to touch the Arabian beach for the first time during our trip. At 1830 we drove to Somatheeram where we had Ayurvedic rejuvenation massage. Later drove back to Thapovan for dinner. O/n stay in the lap of Arabian Sea.

Day 12, 12 June, 10: Kovalam – Padmanabhapuram – Kanyakumari – Madurai (About 250 kms / 6-7 hrs.)

Had our breakfast and drove to padmanabhapuram palace and Kanyakumari-the south end of Indian Territory. Qquickly saw the meeting point of the three oceans (Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea & Indian Ocean) behind Bhagawatiamman temple. Later we drove to Sparsa for lunch and inspection visit.

And continued drive to Madurai, the second largest city of Tamil Nadu. We reached Madurai at 1915 hrs and visited Taj Gateway Pashumalai and GRT Regency. Later drove to Meenakshi Temple for ceremony. Meenakshi temple got painted in every 12 years with synthetic paints to purify the temple and 12 years is for 12 zodiacs. After visiting Meenakshi Temple we drove to Fortune Pandiyan for show around and had dinner in at our hotel Heritage Madurai at 0030 hrs.

Day 13, 13 June, 10: Madurai – Trichy (About 140 kms / 2-3 hrs.)

Had breakfast at 0730 hrs we left hotel and went for sightseeing in Meenakshi Temple which is about 2600 years old with 5 main entrance symbol of 5 elements of life. And then we say 1000 pillars hall with carvings of Lord Shiva, Vishnu & Brahma and story of Ramayana & Mahabartha on single monolithic stone. There is bronze idol museum and paintings etc. later visited Thirumalai Nayak Palace which is famous for its big pillars and Muslim and European architecture. After that we decided to go for lunch at local restaurants in Madurai. After visiting the local markets we started for Trichy at 1715 hrs. We reached Trichy at 1915 hrs. Later visited Rock Fort Temple and then drove to Sangam after show around we checked in to our rooms.

Day 14, 14 June, 10: Trichy – Tanjore – Kumbhakonam – Pondicherry (About 200 kms / 5-6 hrs.)

After having breakfast we enjoyed the spectacular view of the Trichy town & river Kaveri. Later visited Srirangam Temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu. And then drove to Tanjore also known as Thanajavur. We visited the World Heritage Site monument- Brihadisvara Temple, which has the highest & biggest Linga in Asia of 5 mts in diameter & 4 mts in height. It has 80 tones of single stone tomb, 1000 elephants & 2000 labour worked to put that tomb on the top with the help of 6 kms of ramp they made from the temple site. Further on visited Maratha Palce, Thanjavur Palace, Saraswati Mahal Library- a rare collection of 30,433 sanskrit and other vernacular palm leaf manuscripts and 6,426 printed volumes, besides a large number of journals. After that we had our lunch at hotel Sangam/ Tanjore. Futher moved on to another World Heritage Site, Dharasuram Ariavateshwara temple. At 2230 hrs we started our itinerary towards Pondicherry (70 kms 100min). Had our dinner and O/n stay in at Anandha Inn hotel.

Day 15, 15 June, 10: Pondicherry – Mahabalipuram (About 160 kms/4 hrs.)

After having our breakfast our guide was arranged by travel mate (04134200525 mob 098943 97823, 09751111326). We started our visiting Ganesha Temple, Vinayaka Temple, and Aurobindo asharam, white city of Pondicherry. Later drove to Aurovilla, Matri Mandir and moved forward to hotel Ideal Beach resort- Mamallapuram for lunch and site inspection. Later visited Shore Temple, which is just on the bank of Bay of Bengal.

Then visited Five Rathas, also known as Pancha Pandav, dedicated to Yudhistir, Bhima, Arjun, Nakul, Sehadev & Draupadi is sopping out of monolithic rock. Later we visited Arjuna’s Penance, Krishna Mandapam, Krishna’s Butterball, Ganesha Temple, Mahishasura Mardini cave temple and Varaha cave temple. And then we moved on to our hotel Chariot Beach Resort for dinner and our last night stay of South India Tour.

Day 16, 16 June, 10: Mahabalipuram – Chennai (About 60 kms / 1 & ½ hrs.) – Delhi (By flight)

Woke up at 0700 hrs and had our breakfast and drove to Chennai. Enroute we visited Dakshina Chita, a model township. One can see the different south Indian style of artificial homes, shops, audio video visual classes to explain about traditions, library, souvenir shop etc. later we inspected Hotel Comfort Inn, Sabri Inn, Vista Park, etc. After sightseeing we moved to Hotel the Grand for our lunch. We then drove to Chennai office to meet the team. As we didn’t had sufficient time left to visit any of the sightseeing places of Chennai, we just drive past through St. Thomas mount cathadral church, Marina beach, Swami Vivekanand House, Secretariat, Post office and from there drove to Chennai domestic airport to connect our flight to Dehli at 2020 hrs by Indigo flight.

Before leaving Chennai, every one of us was full of memories from this world where “History still lives with the present”.

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