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படைத்த படம்!...

Why do we need temples?

If God is omnipresent, then why do we need temples?

"Temple is for common man who is a Mandaadhikaari, who does not have the spiritual maturity to see God everywhere."

Read more...

Venus Electronic Bathroom Scale

Ordered Venus Electronic Bathroom Scale on 21-Sep-2014 (Sunday) from ebay. The model number is EPS-3799. Made the order for Rs. 999 from the seller weighingscale.

Got the mail on shipment of the product by 23-Sep-2014 (Tuesday). The estimated delivery date was 27-Sep-2014 (Saturday). But I received the product on 30-Sep-2014 (Tuesday).

The product was well packed. It had an outer cardboard box. Inside that found the sealed box containing the weighing scale. Unpacking it found the weighing scale covered with bubble wrap, two AAA batteries and a small user manual.

The weighing scale operates on two AAA batteries. The maximum measurable weight is 180kg and the minimum measurable weight is 2.5kg. The weighing scale turns on automatically once we step over it and turns off automatically after use.

The weighing scale looks pretty and operation is very easy. As of now, satisfied with the product.

Sennheiser HD 202 II Headphone

Ordered Sennheiser Headphones on 21-Sep-2014 (Sunday) from ebay. The model number is HD 202 II. The MRP is Rs. 2290.

Made the order for Rs. 1699 from the seller advaith-inc. Before the order googled about this headphone and found the reviews to be good.

Got the mail on shipment of the product by 23-Sep-2014 (Tuesday). And received the product on the same day (23-Sep-2014).

The product was well packed. It had an outer ebay cover. Inside the ebay cover, the product was bubble wrapped. Also it had the voucher.

The headphone was found in a sealed box. Unboxing it found the headphone, cable winder and a 6.3 mm adapter plug.

The headphone surrounds the ears completely and I felt comfortable for a continuous use of an hour. The bass is OK and it is surely better one than the earphones I used earlier to this. 

The headphone has a 3m cable. And it is one of the reasons I went for this headphone. It enables me to watch movies on TV without disturbing others. When the full cable length is not in use, the cable can be winded on the cable winder (that came along with teh headphone).

Aranmanai

A ghost thriller with comedy! With a great expectation got from reviews booked for a 10:00 PM show.

Movie was with the regular template (a haunted bungalow - a family comes there to revamp or sell it - and then the consequences peppered with comedies.) followed by many of the recent horror-cum-comedy films. And I couldn't resist myself comparing the story line with that of 'Chandramukhi' - a blockbuster movie from Super Star Rajnikanth.

Aranmanai with more familiar faces, some horror and comedy is one time watchable.

Capdase Car Mobile Holder - HR00-SP21

Ordered Capdase Car Mobile Holder on last Saturday (20-Sep-2014) from ebay. The model number is HR00-SP21. The MRP is Rs. 1699.

Made the order for Rs. 1499 from the seller advaith-inc. Before the order googled about this car mobile holder and found the reviews to be good.

Got the mail on shipment of the product by Sunday (21-Sep-2014). And received the product today (22-Sep-2014).

The product was well packed. It had an outer ebay cover. Inside the ebay cover, the product was bubble wrapped. Also it had the voucher.

The car mobile holder was found in a sealed box. Unboxing it found the mobile holder unassembled and a manual to assemble the mobile holder.

The mobile holder seemed to be good in quality. I am yet to fix it in car. Will update this post after some usage.

Srinathji's, Marathalli, Bangalore

Two days back went to Srinathji's restaurant for lunch. We were of 4 members. Just walked-in without any reservation. 

One of us is a pure vegetarian who doesn't even take onion and garlic. And this restaurant was his recommendation. Srinaji's restaurant serves vegetarian Jain food and they don't use onion and garlic.

We (the other three of us that includes me) were skeptic on the variety and taste of food served there that sans onion and garlic. But we were surprised on seeing the menu. The menu was quite exhaustive with Chinese, Thai, Italian, Mexican, Sizzlers, Indian varieties.

We started with soup, then starters. We had Veg Spring Clear Soup. And Veg crispy, Paneer kurkure kabab for starters. Soup was ok type not impressed so much. But starters were awesome. We all liked it. 

Then we had Paneer 65 gravy, Thai vegetable noodles and Hyderabadi biryani for main course. All the three were tasty.

We finished the lunch with hot chocolate and lassi. Ambiance was good. The pricing was OK and it came Rs. 1579 for four. 

23-Sep-2014:

Within a week of previous visit, we went Srinathji's restaurant for lunch. It was a treat by one of my colleagues for his marriage.

This time I tried Minestrone soup which was very good when compared to Veg Spring Clear Soup I had last time. Some of others tried Zuppa Di Spinnica Soup. 

Then we had Veg Crispy, Gobi Manchurian, Srinathji's platter for Starters. All tasted good.

We had Mexican Pasta, Butter Paratha, Methi Kulcha, Nan, Roti, Srinathjis Biryani, Dal Mughalai, Reshmi Paneer Masala and Veg Kolhapuri for main course.

And we finished with Dangerous riders!

We were of 10 members and it came around Rs. 4400.

Sigaram Thodu Salim, You can do it!

Recently, caught four movies on theatres - Jigarthanda, Anjaan, Salim and Sigaram Thodu.

Only with Anjaan, I was very uncomfortable on my seat. There were two reasons - first the seat I selected had a fault in it and second the movie itself. Actually Anjaan was forced on me by my boss (boss?? not office!!). 

Other movies are watchable in theatres. For me, Salim is the one who stood out. Salim is thoroughly engaging till the end (it was a 10:15PM show). Given the option of watching one more time, I would choose Salim among the three. Other two movies are one-timers.

Life is a Race - My Take

Life is definitely a race. A race not on who runs first but a race on who runs till the end.

NSC from post office, Chennai

I had bought a NSC (National Savings Certificate) 6 years ago which got matured by this year February.

To encash the certificate, I went to the post office (Ashok nagar, Chennai) where I had bought the certificate. By providing the photocopy of my own identity, I got the cash for the matured amount.

To encash the matured NSC, one had to

• Go to the post office where the certificate is bought. Timing:  Mon-Fri 10:00AM to 02:30PM, Sat 10:00AM to 12:30PM.
• Produce the proof of identity. And provide the photocopy of it.
• Get the cash if the matured amount is less than Rs 20000 or the cheque for the amount greater than Rs 20000.

My New Machine - ASUS X550LD

Bought ASUS X550LD (XX082D) laptop - Core I7 (4th gen), 8GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, NVIDIA GT 820M graphics card and 2GB VRAM. But with DOS. OS didn't matter a much as I am used to Ubuntu.

As on 17May2014, flipkart price was Rs. 55000. But I gave a try in SP Road, Bangalore. Got it for Rs. 54000. Got a ASUS laptop bag, INTEX wireless keyboard & mouse, and laptop keyboard protective film free along with the laptop.

Installed Ubuntu-14.04 LTS successfully. But the touchpad is not responding. Have to find a proper driver for that.

Aachis chettinad cuisine, Indira Nagar, Bangalore

Today we had at Aachis Chettinadu Cuisine, Indira Nagar, Bangalore. This restaurant is situated right on the Indira nagar double road. Got to know about this restaurant from Zomato.

The ambiance was decent. The cost was little higher. The service was good but can be improved a little. Since the restaurant is right on the road, there is no place for parking our car ourselves near the restaurant. But the restaurant provides valet parking. 

First we had Sweet corn veg soup and Chicken lollypop. Sweet corn veg soup was good and we liked it. Same with the chicken lollypop.

Then we had Kerala parotta, Kottu parotta and Mushroom pepper masala for main course. Kerala parotta was not that good. Also it didn't stand anywhere near to the actual kerala parotta. Kottu parotta was ok. Mushroom pepper masala was good which helped us to take Kerala parotta and Kottu parotta.

We paid Rs. 632 for two persons. 

A day trip to Hogenakkal from Bangalore

Last month, on a sunday (02-Feb-2014), we went for Hogenakkal from Bangalore. We started from Byrasandra, Bangalore at around 9:00 Hrs IST. We took Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Hogenakkal route.

There were two toll gates on this route. One at Attibele and the other near Krishnagiri. We were charged Rs. 40 at the Attibele toll gate and Rs. 85 at the Krishnagiri toll gate. These fares were for a to-and-fro journey.

We had to wait for around 1hour for my brother to join us at the Attebele toll gate. Also we took a short break at Sri Krishna Inn. It is on the left of NH7 towards Dharmapuri. It should be at the ~22th Km from Hosur. This is a perfect stopping where you would find fuel pumps, McDonalds, Sri Krishna Inn and good restrooms.

Then we spotted a limo car while we were at the Krishnagiri toll gate. We reached the entry to Pennagaram entry around 12:45 Hrs IST. The odometer clocked 176 Kms. We paid an entry fee of Rs. 30 there.

We reached the Hogenakkal around 13:15 Hrs IST. The odometer reading was 188 Kms. When we were entering the Hogenakkal, some people stopped our car in the middle of the road for collecting the parking fee.

Here is a catch and one should be aware of the parking in Hogenakkal. In Hogenakkal, there are two parkings. One adjacent to the bus-stand and the other is 'Hotel Tamil Nadu's pay and use vechice parking'.

The parking fee they collect is for the parking adjacent to the bus-stand. If the parking is full there, then we have to find parking in 'Hotel Tamil Nadu's pay and use vechice parking'. And the parking fee we pay at the Hogenakkal entry won't work here. Here we have to pay again for the parking. If we don't find the parking in 'Hotel Tamil Nadu's pay and use vechice parking' either, then we have to park the car on the road-side for which the parking fee is not required.

Since I had already read about this, from internet, I told those guys that I am going to park my vehicle in Hotel-TamilNadu's parking and hence I don't want to pay them. Then they told that the Hotel-TamilNadu's parking is full, we cannot park there and hence asked to pay them. Replying them that I shall pay where I was provided with the car parking, I just took the car from that point.

Went inside Hogenakkal and found crowded. We couldn't find parking anywhere. Waited for around half-an-hour and parked the car inside the parking area adjacent to the bus-stand.

It was around 14:00 Hrs IST. We decided to have lunch. We had packed lunch from home. So we searched for a place to have the lunch. We found Aaranya Park to be a good place for that. From the bus-stand walk towards the main falls and you will find this park on your left-side at aroud 500 metres.

Inside the Aaranya park, there were small tents with round dining table and seats made of stone inside. And there was water facility also. Cleanliness was a little concern. But it was manageable. Had the lunch there. There was an entry fee of Rs. 5 per person.

Opposite to the Aaranya park, there is children's park. There was an entry fee of Rs. 5 per person. The parks were very poorly maintained. Not worth for spending time.

From there, we walked towards the main falls. On the way, we were approached by the coracle riders. We avoided them there and went towards the hanging bridge. There was an entry fee of Rs. 5 per person and camera fee of Rs. 10 for the hanging bride.

The view from the hanging bridge was very good. Then we walked past the hanging bridge towards the main falls. On the way towards main falls there are many view points of the falls.

Then comes the 'Cine Sitra-aruvi' falls where people were taking bath under the falls. It is a small falls and is very safe. My brother took bath there. There was an fee of Rs. 5 to get through it. Even though the ticket they gave says that the fee is for taking bath, they were collecting for all people who crosses the 'Cine Sitra-aruvi' falls. We had to cross that falls to see the main falls.

We reached the spot from where we were able to see the main falls. There was an watch tower from where we could see the entire falls area. This time there were very few falls here and there. It would be a spectacular view when there is full water flowing on all the falls.

Down below the watch tower, we started for a coracle ride on the river. They charged Rs 800 for us. We were 5 adults and a 2 year old child. The boatman took us near to falls. As I had already read from internet, I was having a plastic bag covering the car keys and wallet.

The boatman told us that the depth under water would be around 40ft. It was really a thrilling experience to have the coracle ride between the rocks.

On the way through the rocks, we saw a person standing on the rock mimicking the actions of popular cine actors. The boatman told that the guy is dumb by birth. He comes here daily, and does something to attract the tourists for money.

Then we found localites standing on the sides of the river selling fried fishes. We bought some fried fishes. The fishes were very fresh and tasty. Also the fishes very cheap. They charged Rs. 20 per piece/fish.

It was a 45 minutes ride. Though felt little unsafe without life-jacket, it was a memorable ride.

On our way to car parking, we had parotta and fish at a local shop there. They charged Rs 15 for a parotta and Rs 40 for a fried fish piece.

It was 19:00 Hrs IST, when we started from Hogenakkal. We followed the same route Dharmapuri-Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore. There was huge traffic at Krishnagiri toll gate. It was around 21:15 Hrs IST, when we reached Hosur. At Hosur, I had to send off my family members to our native. Then we started to Bangalore. It was around 23:30 Hrs IST when we reached my home at Byrasandra.

Distance Metrics

The distance metrics mentioned below are based on my car's (Ford Figo) odometer.

• Bangalore (Byrasandra) to Dharmapuri = ~144 Kms
• Bangalore (Byrasandra) to Hosur = ~45 Kms
• Hosur to Dharmapuri = 99 Kms
• Dharmapuri to Hogenakkal = ~44 Kms

In total, we travelled ~380 Kms for this tour.

Directions

• From Bangalore take the road-NH7 to Dharmapuri. 
• At Dharmapuri take right to Hogenakkal. There is no need to get into Dharmapuri. The deviation is from NH7 itself. It should be at ~99th Km from Hosur.

Points to take care

• The road was good all the way. But there were some diversions in the Hosur-Krishnagiri stretch of NH7 due to road construction.
• The Dharmapuri to Hogenakkal stretch was also good. But it was single lane road.
• We started from Hogenakkal around 19:00 Hrs IST. And we found more traffic on NH7 (Dharmapuri to Bangalore). We took around 2 hours and 15 minutes to reach Hosur. You too can expect the same if you are to start at the same time as that of us. 
• Pay the car parking fee only where you park your car. Don't pay the car parking fee at the entrance of Hogenakkal.
• Pack your lunch to Hogenakkal. You won't find any decent hotels around mainly for vegetarians. 
• If you are fish lover, better buy fishes from the people you find when you are in coracle ride. Those fishes are fresh, tasty and cheaper. 
• Be careful while you enjoy the scenary of Hogenakkal falls. Though it may excite you getting closer to the falls, it is very dangerous also. Read http://hogenakkalstories.blogspot.in/2010_01_01_archive.html.
• There you will always find drunken groups and broken bottles. So take care. 
• The coracle riders may exploit you. The actual rate for an hour coracle ride will come around Rs 700. So bargain as much as you can.

Tolls and entry fees

• There was only two tolls we paid for the entire journey. 
• One toll at Attibele (Rs 40 for two way)
• The other near Krishnagiri (Rs 85 for two way)
• Pennagaram entry fee Rs 30.
• At Hogenakkal,
• Aranya Park entry fee Rs 5 per person.
• Children Park entry fee Rs 5 per person.
• hanging bridge entry fee Rs 5 per person and camera fee of Rs 10.
• Cine Sitra-aruvi falls entry fee Rs 5 per person.

Total expenses 

• The total expenses for a family of 5 adults and a child of two years old came around Rs. 2700. This includes diesel expense, coracle ride, tolls, entry fees, camera fee, snacks and drinks.

Shipping charge for "free shipping" products in eBay

Few days back, I bought a HDMI cable from eBay. The seller had advertised that the product has "free shipping" for local delivery within Bangalore.

But when on checking out the product, eBay had included shipping charge of Rs. 49. I didn't get why they added the shipping charge even though the product is to shipped and delivered within Bangalore.

I went on to purchase the product. I paid the shipping charges. Then I mailed the seller (epresent) seeking explanation on why the shipping charge is added for local delivery.

Below is the mail conversation between me and the seller "epresent".

me: It was said that the shipping is free for delivery within seller's city. The item location is said to be "Bangalore" and my shipping address is "Bangalore". Even then I was added with the shipping charge Rs. 49.
Can you please let me know why I was charged Rs. 49 extra for the shipping.
epresent: Dear sir from our side we offer shipping free for local deliveries but the system decides according to the postcode which order is local
me: Thanks for your response.
So I understand that there is a problem with the ebay e-commerce site. And because of this, you get the shipping charges even though you advertise that "shipping free". And customers are at recieving end ;-(.
If so, this is not fair.
epresent: We are here to serve you so please share your bank account details we will refund the Rs 49 charged thank you
me: I appreciate your attitude. I was more concerned on trust over money. I saw many such complaints on internet forums. Hence I just wanted to know where the issue is.
I would be more happy if you could fix this issue with ebay.

Kund Indian Barbeque, Indira Nagar, Bangalore

Yesterday we had lunch at Kund Indian Barbeque, Indira Nagar, Bangalore. This restaurant is situated right on the 100ft road. If your travelling towards Old Madras Road from Domlur Bridge, this restaurant is at the first left turn from the CMH Road Junction at 100ft road. This restaurant is at the corner and so small that you would easily miss.

Got to know about this restaurant from Zomato and gave a shot. The ambiance of this restaurant is so ordinary that you will get the feel of roadside dhabba. Price, it was Rs 625 for two persons.

For starters,we ordered for Tandoori Promfret and Mushroom Tikka. Mushroom Tikka was average. Tandoori Promfret was served half cooked. One side of the fish was cooked and the other side was not.

On complaining the waiter took the fish, cooked it and served the same. It would be embarrassing when you get the non-veg dishes served half-cooked. Felt the same.

For main course, ordered for Mix Veg Kadai Curry, Stuffed Masala Paratha, Garlic Naan and Kheema Naan. All tasted good.

மனிதனை கறைபடுத்துவது எது?

வெளியில் இருந்து உள்ளே போகும் எந்த வகையிலான உணவை எப்படி சாப்பிட்டாலும் மனிதனை கறைபடுத்திவிடாது. உள்ளத்தில் இருந்து வெளிப்படும் ஆபாச எண்ணங்கள், பொல்லாத சிந்தனைகள், கெட்ட நோக்கங்கள் போன்றவற்றால் தான் மனிதன் கறைபடுகிறான்.

பாவங்களோடு வாழ்ந்துகொண்டு, இறைவனிடம் எதையாவது கேட்பது, தொழுநோயுள்ள கையை நீட்டி தேனைக் கேட்பது போன்றது.
- ஏசு கிறிஸ்து

'எவ்வளவு' பெரிய நஷ்டம் ஏற்பட்டாலும், எந்தச்சூழ் நிலையிலும் நிதானத்தை இழக்காமல் கோபத்தைக் கட்டுப்படுத்துபவரே, அதனை முற்றிலுமாக அடக்கிக் கொள்பவரே உண்மையான வீரர்.
- நபிகள் நாயகம்

- தினத்தந்தி, 31-01-2014, வெள்ளிமலரிலிருந்து.

3 days tour to Kalpetta, Wayanad - Day #3

DAY #1: 25 May 2013
DAY #2: 26 May 2013

DAY #3: 27 May 2013
Got up in the morning. Refreshed, had breakfast at the resort. Checked-out the resort and started to the Banasura Dam. Reached the dam by 12:20 Hrs IST. The dam is around 19 Kms from the resort.

We are charged Rs 10 for car parking, Rs 15 as entry ticket per person and Rs 25 for camera.

Boating facility is available at this dam. From the entry to the boat jetty, it is around two Kms. This includes the stairs to climb over the dam. There is jeep facility from the entry to the boat jetty for which they charge Rs 100 for 8 people. We opted for walking.

We went for speed boating. The charge was Rs 500 for 4 persons. The good part is, here wearing life jacket is must.

Started from Banasura Dam around 14:20 Hrs IST. Reached Kalpetta around 15:00 Hrs IST. Kalpetta is around 22 Kms from the dam.

Had lunch again at Sulthan Bathery around 15:30 Hrs. We went to Hotel Mintflower again (we had lunch on Day #1 of this tour). Food was good.

Then started to Bangalore around 16:30 Hrs IST from there. Again we were lucky to see the wild elephants on the roadside of Bandhipur Wildlife Sanctuary. Also we witnessed deers.

Reached Mysore at 19:00 Hrs IST. Reached Electronic city, Bangalore on 27 May 2013 at 22:10 Hrs IST. The final odometer reading of my car stood at 670.2 Kms.

Distance Metrics

The distance metrics mentioned below are based on my car's (Hyundai Santro XL) odometer.

• Bangalore (Electronic City) to Mysore = ~150 Kms
• Mysore to Kalpetta = ~140 Kms
• Distance we traveled across Kalpetta for sight seeing = ~ 90 Kms
• In total, we traveled ~670 Kms for this tour.

Directions

• From Bangalore take the road to Mysore. 
• From Mysore take the Mysore-Kozhikode road NH212.

Points to take care

• The Bangalore-Mysore road is full of speed breakers. So be careful on this stretch. 
• Also the Mysore-Kozhikode road NH212 has some speed breakers which won't have any markers on it. 
• The Mysore-Kozhikode road NH212 goes via the Bandhipur forest. Be careful when you are inside the forest. Drive slowly. There are some speed breakers. Also don't blow horns. And you would witness wild elephants on the roadside. Wild elephants are really dangerous. So don't get down from your vehicle for photographs. We saw more elephants on the roadside.
• The road via Bandhipur forest is closed for the night time (9PM to 6AM). So plan your travel accordingly. 

Tolls

• There was only one toll we paid for the entire journey. That toll is for the NICE road to Mysore. The toll fee is Rs 80 (for single journey).

Verdure Resort

• Verdure Resort was a good place for a calm and peaceful stay. The service was good. They were easily approachable. They made us to feel comfortable throughout our stay over there.
• They charged Rs. 3300 for two persons in the cottage. This includes the complimentary breakfast. Tea, coffee, milk, snacks and anything excluding the breakfast was charged.
• If we were to take lunch/dinner at resort, then we were asked to inform them earlier. We took dinner on Day#2. And we informed them by that day morning itself. They charged Rs. 500 (2 persons) for dinner.

ATM

• There was an ATM at 3 Kms from the Verdure resort. Take the road towards Kalpetta from Verdure resort to reach this ATM. 

Total expenses 

• The total expenses for a family of 2 adults and a child of one-and-a-half years came around Rs. 12650. This includes 2 day stay at resort, entry fee, car parking fee, camera fee, petrol, toll, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks.

3 days tour to Kalpetta, Wayanad - Day #2

DAY #1: 25 May 2013

DAY #2: 26 May 2013
Woke up at 9:00 Hrs IST. Refreshed ourselves and had breakfast at the Resort itself. We were provided with puttu, veg curry, bread, butter and jam. The breakfast was complimentary.

Spent time over there at the resort by walking around and taking photographs. Around 13:00 Hrs, started to Pookode lake. The Pookode lake is around 10 Kms from the resort on NH212 towards Kozhikode. We were charged Rs 15 for car parking. Entry fee for the Pookaode lake is Rs 15 per person. And for camera they charged Rs 20. Spent sometime in the children's park over there.

And there is also boating facilities. But by the time we decided for boating, it started drizzling. Hence we didn't go for boating.

We had lunch at Hotel Sahara Inn. It is around 1.5 Kms ont NH212 towards Kalpetta from the Pookode lake. Hotel Sahara Inn is non-vegetarian. There is a vegetarian hotel 'Vigneshwara' next to it.

We had Chicken Biriyani, Paratha, Chicken Masala, Karimeen Polichathu and Meals. The food was good. The ambience was also good. Service was average. And price was ok. We paid Rs. 1264 for 4 persons. I would recommend this hotel.

We went to a view point on NH212 towards Kozhikode from the Hotel Sahara Inn. The view point is around 5.5 Kms from the hotel Sahara Inn. Spent sometime on that spot. The view was spectacular. Since the viewpoint is right on the highway one has to be very careful in parking cars and crossing the road.

From the view point we went to chain tree. The chain tree is around 2 Kms on NH212 from the view point towards Kalpetta. There is nothing special about this place. We just stopped over there and spent sometime chatting over tea in a nearby shop.

From there we headed to the resort which is around 12 Kms on NH212 from the chain tree towards Kalpetta. It was around 18:30 Hrs IST. Took some rest and had dinner at the resort itself. We have to inform the resort prior if we are to take dinner in the resort. The dinner was good.

Night we spent time by watching the IPL final (Chennai Supper Kings vs Mumbai Indians) and then by playing cards till the next day 01:40 Hrs IST.

DAY #3: 27 May 2013

3 days tour to Kalpetta, Wayanad - Day #1

Seven months back, by the end of May-2013, we went for a tour on Wayanad. That was a three days, two nights trip from Bangalore.

DAY #1: 25 May 2013
Started from Electronic city, Bangalore on 25 May 2013 around 07:15 Hrs IST. We took the NICE road to Mysore. There was a toll at 4.7 KM. The toll was Rs 80 for our Santro. Filled petrol at 8.3 KM. From then, we just followed the route showed by the Google navigator to Kalpetta, Wayanad.

We had to pass through Bandhipur Wildlife Sanctuary. We were lucky to see the wild elephants. One elephant was standing by the roadside. We slowed down the car to click some photos. By that time another elephant was crossing our car from behind. Also we saw an elephant herd at some distance.

It was around 14:30 Hrs IST when we reached Sulthan Bathery. And the odometer reading was 264.1 KM. We had lunch in Hotel Mintflower, Sulthan Bathery. We enjoyed the lunch at Hotel Mintflower. The food was good. The ambiance was decent. The prices are cheap. Below is the bill for the lunch we had. I would recommend this hotel.

From there, we started towards Kalpetta, Wayanad. We had reserved accommodation in the Verdure Resort, Kalpetta. We reached the resort around 16:15 Hrs IST. By then, the odometer reading was 293.3 KM.

The Verdure Resort is a private property covering a whopping area of around 70 acres on the mountain. There are many cottages across the resort. But there is enough distance between the cottage such that the cottages are not visible to each other. So the privacy would be there for each cottage. Also one would get the feel as in the mid of woods.

The cottage was very spacious and clean. The cottage had sofas and tea table in the front room, a double cot and TV in the bedroom, cupboard and dressing table in the store room and a very spacious bathroom.

We were four families went together in three cars. We checked in our rooms. The weather was cool. After having a quick refreshment, we all came out of the cottage. The children were enjoying themselves by running here and there. We were chatting and making fun on each other.

We walked to the canteen. Had tea with pakoda. Then played table tennis and badminton for sometime. Returned to our cottage around 19:00 Hrs IST.

One of our friends offered to treat us dinner for his birthday. So we decided to go out of the resort for the dinner.

We went to Hotel Haridagiri in Kalpetta which is around 5 Kms from the resort. Had to wait for sometime for the table. Had dinner and we were not satisfied with the food and the service. They had very less number of waiters to manage the crowd. The quality of the food is not worth for the price. Below is the bill for the dinner we had. I won't recommend this hotel.

It was around 22:40 Hrs IST by the time we reached the resort.

DAY #2: 26 May 2013
DAY #3: 27 May 2013