Sun Set at Alampara Fort - Fort Series 1

Am trying something new... well.. rather old... rather the new normal...

Write-up Comedy -1

Click here to know what is Write-up Comedy.


Alampara Fort by evening.

On one of the many trips down the ECR to Pondicherry....

Immediately my friend asked "Machan, Why many trips to Pondicherry?".. As if he don't know..

Those who know... know... those who don't know.. Let Peace Prevail on them 😎...


Photos for you:

Alampara - Fort. Hide and Seek with the Sun

So coming back, on one of the many trips to Pondy, yeah, we affectionately call it as Pondy.. The way we call Mahabalipuram as Mahabs, there was this board, indicating the route to Alampara Fort.

Don't know how i missed that board on my several trips and hence we decided to take the detour to Alampara.

Alampara Fort - Setting Sun is always a Joy for me.

Once you travel 91.2 Kms from Thiruvanmiyur RTO office towards Pondy, there will be a small board on your left, yes, if you travel beyond 91.2 KMS, you are certain to miss that board.😉.

Take the left and travel another 4 kms in the country road, in between there will be a small bridge over the Buckhingham Canal, please do drive through and continue on the same road.

Alampara Fort by Evening

You will arrive at the destination " On your Straight"... Hangover from Google Maps Navigation voice over. Kindly adjust. 😊.

We reached this "Oh once so Great and not at all place now".

Very nice place for taking photos and spend some solitary time seeing the Sea.

If you are traveling by the day, please do carry enough water, eateries, wear a cap or carry an umbrella.

If you are traveling by the evening, pls leave that place by 7Pm. 

My Companion 1 for the evening

Companions 2 for the evening

Companions 3 for the evening

Few more shots, before we wind up for the day..

But i sincerely left that place with a heavy heart...

You know why??? If so, please let me know as i DON'T KNOW WHY 😇

Like Stand-up Comedy.... Trying my hands, literally, in Write-Up Comedy - There is a Cow...

Yes, this is not new, but like the word which is in-vogue now, "The New Normal".. am trying to give this a try... What " Trying to give this a try ah??"..

Machan.... "YOU HAVE IT IN YOU DA..." "You Can do it"....

Thanks Nanba.... 

Am a big fan of Yogi and the Baggy, the Stand-up Comedians from Tamilnadu.

"Yogi is Alexander Babu and Baggy is...... Baggy"....

So here's what am trying to create...

How to write in such a fashion, so that, the readers can enjoy as if this is a "Stand-up .... Write-Up Comedy..

My friend told me... need to ask them, first... "Pls imagine me standing there with a mike in my hand." 

Super idea... Then machan...

 " Ahan... yellame naanga solluvoma.. neeyum konjum yosi... Machi".. 

(That's... You expect everything to be told, use your brain in tamil.... Doesn't it look like a Management Jargon...😈)

"Romba Thanks Machi".

Will start off with something like this and will try to improve along the way..

May be use more emojis or memes in the write-up, 😮emphaaaaaassssssiiiiizzzzing 😮certain words..

Yes I just tried to Emphasize ---- the word Emphasize..😁.

Sample as below:

My reference point is the many travels i did .. Pre Google Maps Era..

If we ask someone how to go to a place while traveling in the Highways, the erstwhile Google Maps.... Am referring to the people to whom we ask the Direction... 😂..

If it is near, then they will say ----- Neraaa poonga (Go straight in Tamil)

If it long, then it is ------ Neeraaaaaa Poonga

If it is too long.... "Yeah, you guys guessed it correctly" ----  Neeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaa Ponga

No emphasizing on "ponga" (Go in Tamil) only on "Nera"(Straight in Tamil)

Hence "Readers, PLEASE DIGEST"... Please.... No reference to that book which we all grew up reading..

Sample as below:

On one of the many trips down the ECR to Pondicherry....

Immediately my friend asked "Machan, Why many trips to Pondicherry?".. As if he don't know..

Those who know... know... those who don't know.. Let Peace Prevail on them 😎...

So coming back ------

On one of the many trips to Pondy, yeah, we affectionately call it as Pondy ----- 

The way we call Mahabalipuram as Mahabs,

Boopathi as Bunny

Sriram as Sri

Vijay as Vijay only ("Dei.. adhukku mela short panna mudiyadhu da" - Tamil for -You can't shorten this any more)

Yathindhar as Yathin

Seethapathi as Sunny ( As in SUN - SUNNY )😇... Got you... Dirty Minds....

there is this board, indicating the route to Alampara Fort.

Once you travel 91.2 Kms from Thiruvanmiyur RTO office towards Pondy,

Yes exactly 91.2 kms not a meter more or less, failing which you will miss the left turn.

So, when you there, "Turn Left,,,, Turn Left,,, Turn Left....)

That beautiful voice from GMaps..

Ada Okay ma... 

Will turn ma... 

Yes ma... taking the turn ma... 

please wait ma... There is a Cow in the middle of the road ma...

So, the fact gets established here again, if a LADY is talking.... IT's ALWAYS ONE WAY.. Until you OBLIGE and do as you were told.. Yeah... Universal Truth... Even if it is DIGITAL...

You will arrive at the destination " On your Straight"... Hangover from Google Maps Navigation voice over. Kindly adjust. 😊.

PS: The reason for me to use smileys, is just to give the readers, what's going on in my mind, while writing this. More like Stand-up Comedy.. This is "Write - Hence Read - up Comedy"

48 hours: Chennai - All Navagraha Temples around Kumbakonam - Chennai - With Family

So, this happened during March 2018 - 2 years now.

On a Thursday morning, my wife asked me

 "Ram, why can't we go visit all the Navagraha temples, starting tomorrow, early morning and be back to Chennai on Sunday Night".

Though i was delighted internally, as Riding and Driving are 2 of my 4 favorite past times. In fact, had an idea to sign up with Ola or Uber for a day as driver, just to get that experience. Still having.. let's see.

So coming back, i said "Yes ma, we can do that, but cannot start by Friday Morning, rather by 4:30 that evening, so that the children can finish their schools and we can start off" as if they are preparing for IAS and IPS.

PS: 2 years before, my elder was in her 3rd std and my younger was in her Play School.

My wife as shrewd as any women, realized that it's not the school but my office commitments. She left it at that.

The Techie in me, NOT THE KIND OF TECHIE WHO CODES, BUT THE KIND OF TECHIE WHO USES SPREADSHEETS, 😁, opened the MS Excel and created the following.

The following table might be handy for anyone who plans a similar trip, once we are out of this lock down.

One main thing to note is, all these temples are closed from 12 noon to 4pm and during weekends, they are open up till 12:30. Hence if you are planning your travel during the weekdays, please be wary of this.

Plan A:

Always have a Plan B.😆

Location and the respective Graha:

Decided to go with Plan B which was more comfortable, considering this being a family trip.
On the Day 0 night, according to plan B, we stayed at Chidhambaram. Booked ourselves at Hotel Saradharam. Booked the same through Goibibo.com.

Not so good rooms, after talking to Goibibo, we got a decent enough room. Thanks to them.

For bachelors and group of friends, this might still suit up, but certainly not for a family.

The car parking is spacious.

Old Hotel and it was showing in the rooms. Don't know how it is now, whether they had refurbished it or not.

But one thing, THE FOOD there at Saradharam is really GOOD. Will vouch for it. Again all these are 2 years before.

Would suggest Hotel Vandaiyar which is just opposite to this hotel is good.. Really Good. Would certainly suggest that, as i stayed there as well in another trip and that's for another blog.

Both Vandaiyar and Saradharam are in walking distance from the bus stand

So, we went as per our Plan B and reached Kumbakonam. Here had booked myself at Hotel Poppy's SET through Goibibo.com only.

Here one thing about Poppys SET is that, we accidentally found that hotel way back in 2013-14 and they were new at that time. Just opened. From then on, if it is Kumbakonam then it is Poppys SET only for many friends circle.

Good Place and with a Spaaaaacccciooooussss  Car Parking. Yes, its's that spacious. HUGE. We had lunch there itself. Good Food. They had closed their restaurant in later part of 2018, don't know whether it is open now. Please do check for yourself. Good Food, again.

Finished our remaining temples for the day and crashed for the night.

We started as per plan, 7am the next morning. Thanks to the kids, the co-operated well.

Had our break-fast at Balaji Bhavan. It used to be a small joint and with in 3 years, it became a boutique hotel now in the name of Vainav.

This is how it was:

and this is how it is now:

Wishing them Very Best to scale great heights.

Both Poppys SET and Vainav are in walking distance from the Kumbakonam Bus Stand.

So, we finished off the remaining temples and had reached Sri Krishna Vilas, Chidhambaram for lunch.

Please DO NOT miss this place for breakfast or lunch. Delicious Food.

Again, this was a small joint, when i used to visit Chidhambaram in the 2013-14 types and slowly it has morphed into a A/C Restaurant.

One thing which i noticed in several of my travels in the past several years, is that, somewhere between 2013 to 2018 there seems to be lot of people travelling which led many hotel establishments to develop multi-fold in those 4 to 5 years.

So after our almost 48 hours journey, we made it back to Chennai.

It was little over 48 hours.

Hope this might help people while they plan their travel in the coming days and which i WISH to happen ASAP.

For any further details regarding the trip plan, hotels, food joints in this stretch, please do ping me back. Happy to help.

The route map:

Day 1:

Day 2: