Amazing Queensland Amusement Park

After a “Terrific Trip To Tada” in January, it was time for some action again. It was not that we were totally idle during the break. Some of us had been to Tirupati and almost all of us to the Golden Sun Resort in Mahabalipuram. But it was time for “our group” to pack bags and set out again for a picnic. This time we chose an amusement park – Queensland Amusement Park – in Chennai.

As usual the unity in diversity could be seen. The ten people who were part of this amazing amusement park trip were:

Arun (Haryana)
Luma (Rajasthan)
Gaurav Sunkar (Maharashtra)
Nitesh urf Naughty (Delhi)
Raghavendra (Karnataka)
Rahul (that’s me) and my friend Apoorv (representing Uttar Pradesh – two in number as we had to portray the high population density in our state!!!)
Shyam (Kerala)
Suresh (Andhra Pradesh)
Sougato (West Bengal)

We got up at 6 A.M. in the morning. Plans were to have our breakfast at 7 and reach IIT main gate at 8. After futile attempts to draw any other class member for the park, we dropped the idea of hiring a bus. We reached the park by public transport – government buses (From IIT to Guindy, Guindy to Poonamalle, Poonamalle to the Park) - which were no less comfortable than our own vehicle would have been.

We reached the park by 10 A.M. and purchased the entry ticket. Being a group of IIT students we were able to get Rs. 50 off on the entry ticket (Rs. 300 instead of 350). The day was hot and being a Sunday, there was a lot of rush in the park, which unfortunately made us, wait longer for some rides.

The first ride we went on was as shown in the pic below!!! (Oops, I forgot the name.) But it was like a giant wheel, though not exactly similar. It was for the first time in my 23 years of life that I was going to try something of this sort. RBI (who was also a first timer) had gone for the ride before most of us. And he came out vomiting!!! I found the ride good – giving a sensation as if you were flying vertically up in a rocket and then down.
There after we went for simulator – I had experienced this one in Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. But here, the effects were more predominant – with fans blowing at times. The best part of this ‘ride’ was that although this was a ‘mild’ one, RBI ended up vomiting again!!!
After having neembu-paani and ganne ka juice, we went for go-karting. These people were offering only one round and I was told that the cars weren’t accelerating :-(. This was the first time that I was go-karting and I found it okay.

After some other rides and lunch, it was time for slides. Yes, the park had some water slides and the wave pool!!! We spent around two hours in water. By this time, the sun’s fury had also reduced. And so, we returned to the dry rides once again.

This second phase of dry rides was very very exciting and one full of anxiety. The only trouble was that some of us – RBI (still thinking of vomiting!), Naughty (who had slept for just 2 hours last night), Shyam & Luma (tired) were reluctant to go for rides. These people kept on sitting at a place where as the others went to explore. The first ride we went for was the Centrox. Centrox machine is available at only three places in the world – one of which was Queensland. It was for the first time that I saw the practical application of Centrifugal force where I was the subject matter concerned. Suresh and Arun had already enjoyed the ride. If one would look at it, one would tremble at the very thought of being vertical (83 degrees from horizontal). After much ado, Gaurav (Sunkar) and I went ahead to try it. It was real fun and we experienced not even a quarter of the fear we were anticipating. I would have loved to do it once more had it been allowed. Sougato went for this ride after the two of us.
After Centrox we headed for the Free Fall Tower. This one was very deceptive – I would say the reverse of Centrox – which seemed more dreadful than it was. This one was terrific. We were seated on the lower bench where our feet were dangling in the air. Imagine yourself at a height of 75/150 feet with absolutely nothing below your feet. For the first round, we were taken to only half the height of the tower. I was reluctant to look above or below. The only thing that was running in my (and hopefully others’) mind was – Abe kitna upar leke ja raha hai? Kab rukega? And finally it stopped. And after 5 seconds or so, we were falling with acceleration due to gravity – ‘g’ – 9.81 metres per second square!!! Then was the grand finale – we were at 150 feet – eyes were having a visual treat but the heart was about to get an attack. And the machine made us feel twice like we were going to fall but kameene maja le rahe they humse. Sab chupp they. And finally it happened. Free fall from 150 feet to the ground – what a relief it was to place the feet on the ground. And all of us who were on this ride (Arun, Apoorv, Gaurav, Suresh and I) were of the same opinion – that each one was thrilled to the core.

After the free fall we went to take on another challenge – Columbus. Though it was a very common ride, I had never experienced it earlier. Sougato also caught up with us on this ride. This too was terrific, man. It was again a thrilling experience. My god. What a feeling in the stomach and the head – too much!!! And RBI missed an opportunity to vomit with this one!!!
After Columbus, we went for the cable car. But since the queue was long we decided to skip it and go for roller coaster. Sunkar and I were in the same ‘car’. This ride was again deceptive. When the car would go up, it felt as if it would leave the rails and would take-off. With so many twists and turns, I was afraid that the car would leave the track. But finally we were on the ground once again – safe and secure.
Queensland Amusement Park is more than an ordinary amusement park. It has some exclusive rides, which thrilled us to the core. Being just a day before our “group’s” people started leaving for their homes, it was our last trip as IIT students and I am sure it would have given lasting memories to all of us.

MBA Class Trip to Kalpetta, Waynad

DoMS, IIT Madras - MBA Batch of 2008
Class Trip…
From Coromondel to Malabar Coast…
From Bay of Bengal to Arabian Sea…
From Eastern Ghats to the Western…
From the Land of Sunrise to that of Sunset…
From Tamil land to that of Malayalam…
To God’s Own Country…In Our Own Country…
To Kalpetta,.. Waynad…

Complete Photos on: http://picasaweb.google.com/rahuldangra/Waynad ...

WHEN? 29th February 2008 – 4th March 2008
WHO? 22 Students of MBA Batch of 2008 – 13 guys & 9 gals
HOW & WHERE?

INTRO
It was afternoon of 29th Feb. At a time when I should have been excited about the trip, I was struggling with my team-mates to somehow complete the Mergers and Acquisitions presentation which was to be delivered on 5th March – the very next day of our return to Chennai. But as always Parkinson’s Law was proven true this time as well – “work expands to fill time” – and we decided to complete the presentation on 4th March itself. (The ppt making continued till 1:15 PM on March 5 and was to be presented at 1:45PM on the same day!!!)

DAY 0 – 29th February 2008
GOING TO CHENNAI CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION
Initially we had planned to go to Chennai Central station individually but then the news spread that IIT authorities (transportation department) had arranged the institute bus (an application in this regard had been submitted earlier) for us to go to the station.

We had booked tickets through bulk booking – Train No. 2685, Mangalore Express. The train was to start at 5:30 pm but it was late by 1.5 hours. We spent time taking snaps, playing cards at the platform…In the train we again spent time playing card games like Bluff, Donkey, Judgement etc. At around 8 pm we had delicious dinner – arranged by “toco” from “Agarwal Bhojanalay”.

DAY I – 1st March 2008
AFTER REACHING CALICUT
We reached Calicut at around 6:30 am. After getting down at the station we had ‘breakfast’ at Calicut station. A bus (Bus no. KL 10 / Y 1010. I remember it!!!) was waiting for us (this was to be with us till our return to Calicut station on 3rd March).

Along the way, the view from the bus was quite good. It is said, “the grass on the other side is always green”. Here I found that grass/plantations on my side were green too!!

REACHING WAYNAD - KALPETTA
Two and a half hours in the bus and we were in Waynad(Kalpetta, to be exact – Waynad is the district name and Kalpetta its headquarters). The hotel rooms had already been booked by “TOCO” in Chandragiri Inn. Three people were to stay in a room. Suresh, Arun and I stayed together. The rooms were decent enough (spacious, well furnished, neat) with very good bathrooms (with all taps in proper places and in working condition!). The service (providing drinking water) and hospitality were also good enough.

We had lunch at Udupi Restaurant which was at walking distance from Chandragiri Inn.
Since our train was late, we could only start visiting places after lunch. We set out for Edakkal Caves at 1.00 PM.

EDAKKAL CAVES
Climbing to the top to reach the caves was not easy. The sultry climate made it tougher. Initially, we had to walk on steep paths till the point where tickets were available after which there was no proper way. We had to find one on our own although at some places “stairs” were provided for easy access to the next level. After reaching the top, we had a photo session. In an attempt to be in a photograph, I hit Meghna on her injured toe (The first-aid box came into use now!!!). After spending about 45 minutes at the top we started to move back down to the ticket counter. Towards the end of it all, I found my feet trembling (due to lack of sleep, I was more tired than I would have been otherwise). Somehow managed to get into the bus after which we started for Soochipara Falls.

SOOCHIPARA FALLS
We had to walk down to get to the falls. Initially there was a way but towards the end it again got lost (seems like they make roads initially to attract tourists and then leave it when they feel that people won’t go back to the starting point!!!) – with only rocks and more rocks to be seen. Some of the guys took a bath in the falls. Raghuram and I being the only LMOs (Lean Men Organization…wanna join???…visit http://www.lmo.com/) started shivering sooner than others.
A few people could be seen slipping and hurting themselves a bit, due to the slippery rocks.

CAMPFIRE
After coming back from the falls, some of us ordered Maggi - the taste was simply superb – thanks to Lavanya. We also had a campfire where most of us performed something (from hip hop dance to singing songs). We had dinner at the same place – it was ‘made-to-order’. The dinner (North Indian) too was grrreat – daal, rotis, aloo subzi, one tomato dish and chicken – it’s difficult to say which was better than the other.

By the time we finished our dinner it was completely dark. We spotted some constellations in the sky – the one I had seen in ‘Swades’ – the Orion – and also the Saptrishi.

ON WAY BACK TO THE HOTEL
This could be one of the perfect examples of customer delight – when you get something good at a time when you don’t expect it. The bus had a good lighting system – colored and blinking. Opposite to the popular concept of having “dance floors”, we had “dance ceiling” in the bus. (No..no..we danced on the floor only!!!). And most of us rocked on dance numbers. It was real fun – so much so that we were upset when we reached our hotel!!!

DAY II – 2nd March 2008
MATHUNGA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
The challenge that had been put to us the previous night was to get ready by 5 am today, as we had to leave for Mathunga Wildlife Sanctuary. It is said that chances of sighting various animals are higher in early mornings than if you go late. So we had to get up at around 4 am which was like getting up at midnight. Since buses were not allowed in the area (we could spot some SUVs), we hired ‘Mahindra’ Jeeps (run by the authorities there). We spotted elephants, bisons, foxes, monkeys and deers in the forest. The driver also showed us the foot prints of tiger/leopards/lions and told us that they had been on the road before we came.
Near the entrance of the Sanctuary was a water-body with flowing water. We had a photo session there as well.

KURUVA ISLANDS
This was the part of the trip which I enjoyed the most - a group of islands which are surrounded by rivulets. These streams are to be crossed to get to another island. We also enjoyed rafting here and climbed on a house tree only to find that it was locked. Nothing much to describe here – pics would tell the story better.

BANASURA SAGAR DAM
This dam is located 21 km from Kalpetta in the Western Ghats. It is the largest earthen dam in India and the second largest in Asia. We decided not to go for boating here as we were to do that the next day. The view from the top of the dam was good especially the sunset.

DAY III – 3rd March 2008
POOKOT LAKE
We visited this lake on our way back to Calicut. This beautiful lake nestles in the lap of mountains surrounding it. Boating in the Pookot Lake was a memorable experience. Tall trees and dense forests lined the pathway around the lake. Besides the regular pedal boat, we also enjoyed rowing the kayaks – which was a new experience for all of us. There was also a children’s park which made some of us get into the ‘child state’.

MOVING BACK TO CALICUT
After Pookote Lake we got into the bus to move to Calicut. Since we had some time, we decided to visit a beach there. We missed the sunset as we had to catch the train at 5:30 pm – Train No. 2602 –Chennai Mail. The train was on time. Unlike our ‘to’ journey, seats in the ‘fro’ journey were scattered all over the train despite the fact that we had gone for bulk booking. This was due to less number of seats available at the time of reserving the berths. But that did not dampen our spirits. We (where I was located) sung songs, took snaps, played cards, had dinner and finally slept (got very good sleep that night).

DAY IV – 4TH March 2008
BACK TO CHENNAI
We were back to Chennai. In fact, the train was before time (may be Laloo Prasad wanted to compensate for the delay in our first journey). We went back to IIT by MRTS (Mass Rapid Transit System) – which is nothing but Chennai local train. After taking snaps at the main entrance, we waited for IIT bus to go inside.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE / LESSONS LEARNT
All in all it was a nice trip.
My image of Kerala being a safe state for women (like Tamil Nadu) is gone.
Kerala is not just sight seeing. It is adventure as well.
Stay away from people who are injured!!!
Girls need not necessarily take more time to get ready. It is worth mentioning that at none of the places we got delayed because of the girls. They were always ready in time. (Was this an exception??!!) I must Congratulate them for this. Well done gals!!! Keep it up!!! Asutosh…are you reading???
Hand your camera to others before you speak out “Photo Lo”.
Thanks to all those who took snaps and sacrificed being in them.

Terrific Trek Trip To Tada

WHEN? 10th February 2008

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WHERE? Chennai>SriKalahasti>Tada Falls>Chennai

WHO?

From Left to Right:

Raghavendra (aka RBI) where again BI for his middle and surname

Amit (aka AKG) where KG = Kumar Gupta although I prefer calling him A-KFC-G for his fascination for KFC chickens!!!

Arun (aka Jat)

I

Dinesh (aka Kaka)

Shyam (aka Bloomberger – for he did his summers in Bloomberg USA)
Nitesh (aka Naughty)
Luma (aka Lums)
Suresh (aka Stalin) took this photograph...

(From back to front - Arun, Dinesh(right), AKG, Naughty, Luma, Shyam, Suresh, I)

The coincidence was that our group was almost a representative sample of India – Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Delhi, Bihar, UP, Haryana and (should i say it Luma?) Rajasthan.

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HOW? A hired SUV – Tavera

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WHAT?
We never knew it could be sooooo interesting, thrilling, wonderful, adventurous and terrific trip. Even these adjectives aren’t doing justice to the experience all of us faced during our trip to Tada Falls. We were a group of 9, 2nd year MBA student at the Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, setting out for a day’s journey to SriKalahasti and Tada. This is how it went:

We were planning for an outing but the problem was where to go. When one thinks of 1 or 2 day tour from Chennai, Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram seem to be the places coming to the mind by default. But we wanted to explore (the word is totally justified) more areas. Thanks to the internet (i think someday it will be called Googlenet and internet users-Goolizens or Googlers (instead of netizens). , Naughty came across a place called Tada Falls.

We could find many things on the net mainly the blogs – what to do, what to take etc. Accordingly, we had imagined what the place would be like. But most of us who went there would agree that it was not the place but the “way” (was there one!!!???) to the place that made the trip so very much interesting.

We had hired a Tavera for the trip. People have rightly mentioned in their blogs that there are no roads and have accordingly advised not to take private vehicles (small and medium sized cars) there. I agree with them. You can take your own SUV or hire one. Sub Urban Trains and Buses from Chennai are other options which we did not explore much.

We got up at mid-night (for us, 5:30 in the morning is akin to midnight!!!). Got ready by 6:45 am. Had breakfast in our mess. And left IIT at around 7:30. The travel agent had suggested that we leave at 6 in the morning. Going by his standards, we were late by 1.5 hours. We planned to go to SriKalahasti first. It took us about two hours to reach there. On the way we strained our vocal cords singing songs. I agreed with Arun when he said that the “generation gap” could be seen by the way different people were singing songs of different ‘eras’. AKG, Luma predominating on one side and RBI, Suresh, Shyam and I on the other. Arun (and unexpectedly for me) Naughty were in the transition era.

(RBI and I)

We reached SriKalahasti at about 10 am. In order to cut the waiting time, we purchased tickets for darshan. Naughty had already gone there the previous week-this helped us to some extent. We had good darshans. After spending about an hour in the temple, we started (back) for Tada Falls.

(SriKalahasti Temple)

We reached the base camp (i donno which is base camp 1 and which is base camp

2). We took our vehicle till where it could goJ. There was another SUV ahead of our vehicle and at some points of time it reminded me of Jurassic Park where one car followed the other (we were also driving at almost the same pace).

We started trekking at 1:20 PM in the afternoon. The first 2.5-3 kms. was normal ‘walking’. The best part of it was that God had his umbrella (clouds) on us!!! Otherwise walking in the sun would have been a tedious task and we would have been drenched with/in sweat. We took lots of snaps on the way to the falls. So much so for the first 3 kms.

And then we came to “Hollywood” (I wonder if those people have seen this place!). Rocky terrain and water stream flowing. There was no road/path/way (whatever you call it). We had to make/search one on our own.

We reached the falls at 3 PM Took bath. Got fresh. Had our lunch. Took lots and lots of snaps. And started back for the base at around 4:30 PM We took some snaps again on our way back. We started for Chennai at 6 PM And reached IIT at 9 PM.

(With Suresh (Above) & With Amit)

As far as my personal story is concerned, it was a bit different from others and because of others (i’ve written “because of others” because had i been alone, i am not sure whether i would have been back!!!). My Woodland shoes were so supportive for the first half of the trekking. They provided an excellent (i mean it) grip on the ground. But on my way to the falls, i slipped into the water (once and then, often) and then it seemed to me as if some one had poured oil on everything that i stepped on. I was able to move just because of these-Luma, Arun, AKG, Suresh, RBI, Dinesh, Naughty. They were there for me at a time even when my Woodland shoes ditched me (no comparison with shoes please, don’t take it that way. I wanna show what friends and friendship means).

("Dagabaaz Joote")

(Under the Falls)

I was not feeling like eating something despite the fact that i was feeling hungry!!! (donno why!) It was Suresh who fed me (“fed me” because usne mujhe apne haathon se khilaya (pata nahi English me kaise likhoon!!!)). That was a wonderful experience for me. And i have thought of this – when i go home now, i’ll ask mummy to ‘feed me’ (i know i am 23+, still i think it would be a experience in itself).

Also for the first time i put on a cut sleeves (t-shirt?). It was a beach wear which ma-pa had brought for me from Goa.

I also broke my specs partly (though they are functioning now but i’ll have to go for a new one). And my hands are feeling the trip much more than my legs. That’s because i had to use them for crawling on the stones because of the wet slippery WOODLAND shoes!!!

I had many new experiences during the trip. But i think there’s nothing new in it. The more you explore the more new experiences you have.

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Thanks to all those who made sacrifices by taking photos and videos on the trip by voluntarily eliminating themselves - especially RBI, Dinesh, Shyam and Suresh.

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My First Journey by Garib Rath - H. Nizamuddin (Delhi) to Chennai

I was to go back from Meerut, my home town to Chennai, where I am/was doing my MBA. I was excited to travel by this train - The Garib Rath - from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Chennai which ran only on Monday. I had my batch-mate Amit traveling with me.

I found the concept of Garib Rath something similar to the Low Cost Airlines. I would rather call these trains "no-frills" Rajdhanis. All coaches are AC - with just two categories - 3rd AC and Chair Car. Although there was no pantry car in the train, food facility was available. We also paid a nominanl INR 25 per berth for the bedding - a blanket, a pillow and a sheet - I found it similar to the low cost airlines where you need to pay even for water. The ticket for 3rd AC was around INR 900 as compared to around INR 1500 in case of a of a superfast train.

One thing which a lot of people would agree to is that the name of these trains is a misnomer - As said by Amit during the journey - "Jinke naam pe ye trains chali hain, wo to zindagi me kabhi ksafar nahi karenge is se."

The number of berths in the train was also more. In 3rd AC there were 75 berths in Garib rath as compared to 64 in a normal train.

All in all it was a comfortable journey at a nominal price. The train is not yet popular and seats were vacant. As time would pass, people would become aware and the train would have higher occupancy rate.

The areas of concerns are the odd timings - departure from Nizamuddin at 4 PM in the evening. And also the frequency of the train - it needs to ply more number of days in a week and that too on "sensible" days like Saturdays than on Mondays.

I agreed with Amit when he said that the concept was good but the name needs some change.

Tour to Hyderabad And Srisailam - Phase III

DAY V

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The day was reserved for Ramoji Film City (RFC) - something exclusively in Hyderabad - not to be missed. RFC is about 30-35 kms from the city. That is to say, it is away from the main town. The best way to go there is to book tickets with a Travel Agent. the ticket for entry is rs. 300 and the tour operator would charge you Rs. 150. So it would be an expense of INR 450 per head. But the cost is worth it. you would see things which you won't see anywhere in India (as far as my limited knowledge goes).

There were "buildings" (only the front nothing behinf it) which could be shown to be 'London' or 'Los Angeles' in movies, Hospital shown in Munnabhai MBBS, Airport, Railway Station, a Market, Central Jail, a Highway etc. which were used for various movies.

Besides the sets there were other things as well. Like the flight simulator where you were enclosed along with other people in an air conditioned chamber and you would feel as if you were in a spacecraft.

Also, there was the Wild West show which was a fight and bombing show - another thing which I found unique and interesting.

There was also a 'world tour' where we were made to sit in a "monorail" (as in bhoot bangla in appu ghat in Delhi but this one could accommodate 8 or more people). It was also wonderful.

Other shows included 'The spirit of Ramoji' which was more of a circus. We didn't like it too much because you could see that stuff in any circus - It was not something to be shown in Ramoji.

We were also shown how movies were made - how editing, mixing etc. took place in the film industry - This too was very unique and interesting.

All in all we had fun at the Ramoji Film City. It needs one full day and is worth the visit.

RFC truly justifies its tagline - It is "An experience of a lifetime".

While coming back from RFC, we asked the bus driver to drop us at Abids which is a market in Hyderabad. There are a few malls here and also the "Brand Factory" store is situated here. After spending some time in Abids and havind our 'dinner' at McDonalds we went back to our hotel.

DAY VI

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We got delayed on this day due to some personal reasons. We started for Paradise at around 1 PM and had our Lunch there - aaloo biryani.

From there we went to Jagdamba Pearls to buy some pearls and after quite sometime headed to the Citi Center mall. As I was not feeling well, I asked my parents to visit the mall and the @home store opposite to that whereas I returned to the hotel.

We had our train in the night. And afetr coming we had to pack and get ready for the journey back to home.

All in all I would say that Hyderabad is one of the places I wouldn't mind getting a job in. It is a wonderful place. Yes, it has certain issues, but tell me which big city does not have?

Hoping to see Hyderabad again but with many new places, malls and fly-overs.

Tour to Hyderabad And Srisailam - Phase II

DAY III - SRISAILAM
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We set out for Srisalam in the morning at around 7 AM. We had hired a Qualis for the purpose. By car it took around 4.5 to 5 hours to reach Srisailam from Hyderabad. I had seen a blog earlier about staying at Srisailam. Searching for an good as well as an economical accommodation was not an easy taks. The AP Tourism hotel was charging about INR 1000 per night in Srisailam. In the blog, I had read about Ganga Sadan & Gowri Sadan - that they were neat and clean, as well as economical. AC room was for about INR 700-800 and non-AC for INR 500. The info on the blog was really helpful.

WHAT TO SEE IN SRISAILAM

Srisailam is mainly famous for one of the 12 Jyotirlingams of Hindus that is situated there. There is also a cave temple which we did not visit as people with me were not very enthusiastic about going there.

You have a DAM there on the River Krishna which is also called as Pathal Ganga. Fortunately for us, 5 of the gates of the dam were open on the day we reached Srisailam. The gates had been opened only 1/2 days back. The next day when we were returning to Hyderabad only 3 of the gates were open. The view of the water falling and then rising due to the curve made at the base of the dam was splendid. The gates would generally open in the rainy season as the river would be flooded with water.

For wild life enthusiasts, there is a Tiger Reserve in Srisailam. In fact, the whole belt from Nagarjunasagar to Srisailam - that area is a tiger reserve - under the Forest Department. Since none of us were interested in wildlife, we skipped it. Although we fed a lot of monkeys on the way to Srisailam and back.

There is a ropeway to go down to the river. There you can enjoy boating.

You can see beautiful sceneries form the ropeway area.

ACCOMMODATION

If you do not have a contraint on the budget, you may go for Hotel being maintained by AP tourism which can be booked in advance. You may also go for Ganga sadan and Gowri Sadan Hotels but these cannot be booked earlier. So if it an off season, you may take a chance but if you are visiting on a weekend or special religious occasion, you may book AP Tourism hotels in advance.

WHAT WE DID

Actually it was my plan that we go to Srisailam for 2 days as people I had talked to had said that it was a nice place. So after we reached the town, we booked rooms in Ganga Sadan and had lunch in the restaurant there. Thereafter we set out for the ropeway. There was nothing much to do there. Once you got down to the river, the only source of "entertainment" was boating - which we did in a steamer for about 15 minutes. And then after coming back to the top, we went back to the hotel.

I felt that I was the only person who was enjoying the scenic beauty of the place. I captured the beauty of the place in our camera.

In the evening, we went to the temple. There was a long queue for the darshan despite the fact that it was a week-day. We took tickets for special darshan and thus saved some time. Probably the long queue made us realize that the temple was quite famous. Otherwise we were taking it for granted.

The temple precinct was quite large.We must have spent 30-45 minutes in the temple after coming out of which we went back to the hotel, had dinner and slept soundly to get rid of the tiredness (We had traveled 5 hours in the morning!!!).

You may also go to Srisailam by AP Tourism tour bus. I think that would be more economical as well as convenient for those who just want to have darshan and additionally ropeway/boating.

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DAY IV
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Since we did not find Srisailam very interesting, we set out for Hyderabad the next mornning. After coming to Hyderabad, we visited the CHARMINAR and the bazar near it which is famous for bangles etc.

We also visited the HITEC CITY area (where offices of many IT and other companies are located), saw the "Cyber Tower" building, visited "SHILPARAMAM" - the handicrafts 'village' (in hitec city area!).

From there, we went to LUMBINI MALL in Banjara Hills mainly for "Brand Factory" - 120 brands - discount - 365 days etc. (For more details search the net ;-)).

Thus ended Day 4 in Hyderabad...

Tour to Hyderabad And Srisailam - Phase I

I was in Hyderabad for the past two months doing my training in an Info tech company as a part of the MBA program. My family was to come to Hyderabad for visiting the place and also Srisailam which is one of the 12 Jyotirlingams (Temples of Lord Shiva). I met them at the hotel - Hotel Ashoka.

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Hotel Ashoka was economical. The double bed room(AC) was for around 1100INR and suite for around 1300INR. The tariff was reasonable in a city like Hyderabad. The hospitality of the staff was also commendable. What was lacking was the service - too slow and sometimes even nil.

But the location of the hotel was a definite advantage. Being at Lakdi-ka-pul, most of the sites were aprox. at a distance of 5 kms. or so. except Golkonda fort which was about 10-12 kms.

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For those who are planning to visit hyderabad, I would recommend them to book a hotel in the "Lakdi-ka-pul" area OR "Tank Bund" area.

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THE TOUR

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DAY I

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On the first day, we had hired a Toyota Qualis for city sight seeing. But I would recommend people to visit places in autos as they would prove to be a lot cheaper than the Qualis.(The Qualis took 1600INR for 8 hours and 80 kms) The only thing you would need to take care of would be that you visit all nearby places at one go. Also if there is a alrge group of say 10 people, they would have to travel separately. In my view, that should not be an issue as travel time would be too less.

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The first place we went to was the SALARJUNG MUSEUM. You would do well to leave your camera outside the museum either in your car or deposit it at the counter in the museum compound. The entry ticket was nominal around 10 or 15 INR per person. The museum is very large and would comfortably require 2 hours (may be more) if you are interested in those sort of things. The main attraction there is the CLOCK. It is better to go at 11 A.M. or 12 noon as the clock will strike 11/12 times. Otherwise say at 1 O clock, you would just observe the main attraction for a while as the clock will strike only once. The museum is a good place for those who are really interested in history and other forms of arts. But for most visitors, it is just an addition to the list of sights. At the museum, you would find snack stalls. There are watercoolers and toilets inside the Museum which are well maintained.

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After the museum, we headed to the NIZAM JUBILEE PAVILION. Unlike the Salarjung Museum which is maintained by the govt., this museum, popularly known as PURANI HAVELI, is under private management(as told to us by the person there). This "private" thing explains the high entry ticket rates. INR 70 per person.

But I would say that entry to this museum is worth the money. I found it better than Salarjung. It has all gifts that the Nizam received from others on completion of 25 years of rule. Most items are either in Gold or Silver. Precious stones and Pearl items can also be found. Here you would also see a hand-driven lift which was made for the Nizam.

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Next in line was the CHOWMOHOLLA PALACE(INR 25 was the entry fee per person as far as I remember). Here you would see items like dress of begums and other items that were used by the Nizams. (These places were not covered by the AP Tourism sight seeing tour which I had taken earlier). Also you would see the court(darbar) of the Nizams and other exhibits.

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HUSSAIN SAGAR LAKE was the next thing we went to. We went for boating in the plan which alighted us at the Buddha statue. We stayed at the Buddha ststue for abou half an hour and then came back to LUMBINI PARK

(Entry INR 5 per person). Just adjacent to the Lumbini Park is the Laser Show. The Laser show is a must watch. it is something not to be seen commonly. the entry ticket to the Laser show was INR 30 - VALUE FOR MONEY - is the least I can say.

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After the Laser show, we headed towards the Hotel. We had dinner at "Sukha Sagara" (Pure Veg. Restaurant) which we would have called "Sukh Sagar" in the north. We got good (if not very good) north indian food there.

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Everybody (except me) was too tired as they had traveled the previous day in train. So had a good night's sleep.

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DAY II

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We started day by visiting the BIRLA TEMPLE. It was near to the Hotel and we reached there by walking. Cameras and mobile phone with cameras are not allowed inside the temple and need to be deposited at the counter before you start climbing stairs for the darshan of the main deity - the same as at Tirupati. From the temple you would get a magnificent view of the city of Hyderabad. But since you dont have the cameras, you cant capture that.

A stone's throw away are the BIRLA SCIENCE MUSEUM AND PLANETARIUM. I did not visit it with my family due to lack of time. But I had been there earlier. I would suggest people to go there only if they have extra time or if they are science fanatics. Otherwise one may easily skip these 2 destinations.

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From the Birla Temple we hired autos for Golconda Fort. Each auto charged us Rs. 200 for a 2 hour stay at Golconda and going and coming back to Birla Temple. I think it was a good deal. Golconda fort would easily take around 2 hours to visit fully. When I had gone with the AP Tourism package, I had not even seen half of the fort. So although it was a second trip for me, I saw many new things there - even a temple in the fort.

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Climbing and returning the fort would drain all the energy. Although there are water taps at some places, I would recommend people to carry some drinks with them while ascending the fort. After we came back to the base point, the guide which we had hired told us that we had climbed about 320 steps and unclimed the same number. This in addition to the distance we walked between the steps. I would say, I found this place most interesting in Hyderabad. You would get good locations for photographs. In my case, it was a dilemma.

Either I had to listen to what the guide was saying or pose for photographs. I chose the latter as they would last much longer than the memory of what the guide was telling. I also had to plead to one of the family members to stop listening to the guide for a moment and take a snapshot of mine. I would say I succeeded to some extent.

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After a two hour trek on the fort, we came back to our autos and asked them to take us back to near Birla Temple where we had our Lunch at around 4 P.M.

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Then we hired autos for NTR GARDENS. It is a nice place to spend time in the evening - to eat drink and be merry. We also had the water slide there which was nice. NTR GARDENS, IMAX MALL and EAT STREET are near to each other. From NTR we went to IMAX by walking and from there to Eat Street by autos. The autos took INR 20.

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Eat Street is a place by the side of the Hussain Sagar Lake with a lot of eat joints. On wekends, it seems as if the whole of Hyderabad is there. I would suggest that people visit this place at night/in evening as the view is very nice with lights getting reflected in the lake. Also you can have your dinner here - all sorts of dishes are available - Chola Bhatura, Bhel Puri, Kulfi Faluda, Chinese, Pizzas, Burgers and a lot more - Something for Everybody.

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From Eat Street we went straight to the hotel and started packing for our journey to Srisailam the next morning.