When all around the globe, things were coming to a standstill, I chose to travel. Having a sibling in Bangalore and Trivandrum, we planned to get together for Holi at Bangalore and enjoy the long weekend along. All booked we packed our bags, but to our sadness just a day before we got informed the one at Trivandrum could not join us, due to leave cancellation. Still, making no changes, we packed stuff and remained awake the whole 6th- 7th night, to catch an early morning flight from Delhi to Bangalore.
The flight was at 5.50 AM, and such and early flight kept me excited for two reasons- one, it was the cheapest and second, I would get the chance to see the beautiful sunrise being in the sky. In this super excitement, we reached 3 hours before the departure time at the airport, completed out security check in no time and then just slept as many others in the security hold. After the long wait, finally we boarded, took off and flew up cutting away all the beautiful clouds around.
Up in the air, around 6.30 AM, the sky started changing its colours, and appeared the sharp yellow celestial body from behind the clouds.
Landing down at Bangalore, finally we reached our destination around 11 AM. We were welcomed with a plate of donuts and an idea to go drive down to see our brother in Trivandrum, over the weekend. The plan got set and decided to drive to Trivandrum through the night, starting at 6 PM.
From Bangalore to Hosur to Salem, we halted for dinner. A roadside restaurant, serving their special dosas and sambhars, treated us fine for a quick bite.
...and then the journey continued. After the long 11 hour drive, we reached our destination at 5 AM in the morning. Deep in the lush green hills of Kerala, surrounded only by nature, stood alone the immense institute, from where we had get our partner out, to spend the day together.
After repeated wake up calls, warden efforts, we could finally get along after an hour and then further drove to our hotel- Hotel Rohini International.
Finishing the breakfast, we started our day. As we stayed a little away from the main city of Trivandrum- in the outskirts of the Trivandrum district, we drove long to reach the main hub, which almost made it to the lunch hour. Reaching the city, we had lunch at a nice punjabi restaurant- yes they served punjabi food!
Followed by the lunch, was the time to explore the sea- the beautiful and clean Kerala waters at the the beach down the cliff. It was a beautiful view from the cliff, but sand attracted us. The cliff high and gave us the thought to find a way to drive down to the beach- although having no idea if that was actually possible or not.
Still we followed the google maps and all through the thin lanes, we reached an end, which was still not at the sea level, but lower than the cliff. Patting our shoulders, we walked down the steps and enjoyed the good longs clean beach till it grew dark.
Back from the beach, was the shopping time. Although it was late but the shopping couldn’t be avoided. Just as always, once again South India treated us with nice silks and cottons, giving a satisfying and quick shopping experience.
The beach, the shopping and all the long drives had played well in getting us late enough to get any dinner, so decided to stop directly at the famous sweet shop. The sweet shop which had traveled all the way from West Bengal to Kerala bringing the delightful sweets. Being a group of people all with a very strong sweet tooth, it sounded too difficult for any of us to put a stop in the list of sweets we ordered.
Crossing all the cities and highways, we reached our destination in Bangalore around 9 PM, a day day before Holi.
We reached, but still it was not the end. The following day was the end of travel for the rest, but my trip had more fun to come. Next for my was Hyderabad, where it was the Wings-India 2020, which was work for me.
To get prepared for the upcoming things, the night of 9th- 10th again passed without much sleep.
The drive to Trivandrum in the night gave us beautiful views of the sky through the panoramic roof and the drive back gave much more views through the windows. Ups and downs through the hills, lead to the large green farmlands, with long stood coconut trees and windmills spread along a wide area.
All packed and buckled, we reached the airport to catch our respective flights, which were picked up to be scheduled closely.
Seeing around all in masks and gloves, sanitizer bottles on all counters, did gave worries of catching the infection, but the lust to travel over-ruled it all and hence flew to Hyderabad in the noon.
Landing down, came in with work. The holiday was over, but as I say, it’s never over for me. Picked up stuff- took the taxi- got the cargo- went to hotel- reached the exhibition venue- did my papers- back to hotel and rest. The sun got set in the clouds and the sky grew dark giving me the urge to make it bright.
Having a rooftop restaurant in my hotel, I climbed up for the dinner and enjoyed the relaxing breeze with a good view.
Finishing the work, for the evening stroll, I drove to a place near the begum bazaar- which was known to be open till late. The market was set-up in a fort structure, with many shops selling perfumes and hukkas. It was a beautiful piece of architecture, but under renovation. There was no specified parking lot, but as it was little late in the evening and the road was a bit free, parking on the roadside was also fine to do for a while. The shops looked glittery with all the shinning jars and had some very nice scents to buy.
After the shopping, it was the time to see some of the night life of Hyderabad. A famous place, the 10 Downing Street, was just nearby and so I hopped into the pub in no time. It was an ages old pub, with all the bar stoles, tables, music and drinks. Yes the pub was costly, almost double to what we get at other places, but good to have an experience.
The next day started the event for which I was at Hyderabad. An early start, with a long day the exhibition venue, could be tiring, but wasn’t, as the exhibition gave some nice things to explore with an amazing aerobatics show.
Day 2 of the event also started the same, with the same exhibition area and the aerobatics show by the Indian Air Force.
The flight was interesting. As always I had taken the window seat and was curious about my co-passenger, who turned out to be a simple lady who was a first time flier. The lady was scared, confused and anxious about the happenings she would experience. We talked all through the take-off process and she was all at ease. The flight went in fun listening her stories and sharing my flight experiences, and soon we landed in Hyderabad.
The show ended at 5 in the evening and was followed by a dinner night at the Taj Banjara, so no more pub hopping for the day.
But the dinner ended early and then was the time to walk around the Hussain Sagar Lake. Yes, Hyderabad is safe at night, you would never feel vulnerable, at least in the commonly crowded areas. The lake area was full of family crowd with kids playing around and having ice-creams. A delicacy to enjoy was the Hyderabadi pan and the Irani Chai, which was easily available at the roadside stalls.
The day time of the 3rd day of the event, again was spent at the exhibition and the evening was the shopping time.
Back to the hotel, the day still had more to give, a night aerobatics show, with light trails, the best of the trip was to capture this show- which is actually a very rare thing to happen.
Being in Hyderabad and not buying pearls is something which couldn’t happen for me. So with a local colleague, to help get a better bargain, I went to a nice jewelry shop giving a fine quality and nice variety of pearls. The shopping took long and further ended the day with a dinner at the hotel.
The sun rose up, and we were served with a quick bite, which disappeared in no time and the rest of the flight time passed in a deep sleep.
The sweets were enough to get a filled belly for all of us, so we finally called it as the day end, looking up for a hectic next day- as we had to drive back to Bangalore, and reach in time. It was a race against the time!
The 4th day of the event or the last day of the trip, just passed in tiredness further. All the days before had given a lot happenings, leading to an exhausting end. In the afternoon, wrapping up all, with a lunch at a local restaurant, I moved to the airport, for the flight back to Delhi, with all the relief of getting back fine and a thought of no further travels soon.
The hotel staff turned to be very nice to us, don't know for what reasons, so we just enjoyed the extras- early check-in, complimentary breakfast on the first day, extra guest and the breakfast served at our ease.
The evening was again the time to explore another place- “Over the Moon”. It was a nice place in the high class area of Hyderabad- the Jubilee Hills, with a beautiful rooftop area to enjoy the weather with fine drinks. The place offered a huge variety of drinks at a regular price and the food too tasted good.
Once again, the day ended at sharp 12 midnight and so drove back to the hotel.
The next day came in with much more happenings. The day was inside the hotel room, with all work online and a lunch, that tasted amazing and had a relishing variety to offer.
Also, as it was the aviation event to happen, the sky gave some amazing objects to be captured- the practice sessions of the air-shows in the evening.
The place was decent, but too punctual about the time, they turned off lights at sharp 12 AM and all were sent out in no time.