gayatriganesh

I went to Chapaner and Pavagadh in November last year. Pavagadh is a mountain in the Panchmahal District of Gujarat, near Halol. We drove to Pavagadh by car from Vadodara; it took us less than 4 hrs. The mountain has a winding road that goes a little more than halfway up, to a small settlement called Maachi. Here, we stayed in a hotel and climbed up to the top of the mountain, where there is a temple made for the Goddess Kali. There is ropeway that leads up to the top.

Before the road winds up to the mountain, are the beautiful mosques and Fort of Chapaner. There are 5 mosques within the fort and considering that they were built in the 1600s , they are all in good condition. The carving is wonderfully intricate and yet the structure is unmistakably Moslem.

There is also an excavation site that resembles the site at Harrappa in the Indus Valley (now in Pakistan). There were clear indications of a settlement with water cisterns and rooms that were underground, probably filled in with years of soil erosion.

All in all, it was an idyllic holiday.

I went to Lakshadweep (its a collection of 1lakh islands in the Indian ocean off the coast of kerala). Needless to say, It was Beautiful. I went a few years back, when I was in school. We first went to Kochi (Kerala) and from there we took a ship to the first island, Minicoy. from day 1, I fell in love with the place. The islanders are so far removed from city life, theyre refreshingly simple.

We swam in the sea, drank tons of coconut water, ate lots of coconut meat (no fish, coz im veggie and lazed around. The nex island we visited was Kalpeni, then the capital Kavaratti. If anyone wants to go to the island by air, then Bangaram island has the only helipad available. Its also the only island where booze is allowed.

This is one place definitely worth going to. But plz remember that the island is a protected area for nature. Plz dont litter and dig up corals.
cheers
g