Category: Food

Road Trip to North East from Chennai – Part V (Dec ’16)

Day 11 & 12: Cherrapunjee – Mawsmai Caves – Nohkalikai Falls – Double Root Bridge – Cheerapunjee – Dawki – Mawlynnong

Roads from Kaziranga were just wow. I very well knew my wife won’t be able to do double root bridge on the same day. So, we planned overnight stay at the bridge and so the previous night we had to stay elsewhere near to it. We chose PALA Resort, which was a big resort in Cherrapunjee with scenic views, and near to 7 sister falls, a few km to Nohkalikai falls and Mawsmai Limestone caves.

I wanted to try cycling from the resort to the root bridge. Roads were climbing down mostly, so it’s quite good to cycle all the way. However, our first stop was to Nohkalikai falls after seeing Mawsmai caves. So, my wife took the wheels and both my wife & my friend went to Limestone caves.

In the mean time, I reached Nohkalikai falls and the views were just awesome. What was more awesome was the shopping point and both my travel partners found a big shop which had almost everything they needed and also some showcase items, some shawls, etc. After shopping and loading the car with the items, we met few friends/tourist from Coimbatore and Chennai, whom we also met again at Mawlynnong, the place where both the gangs proceeded to.

The time came when we reached Double Bridge and the board reading “Living Root Bridge 3 KM”, my wife almost exhausted reading it but had no choice than to proceed. We had to carry our own bags with the next day dress, while I carried couple of carry bags along with cameras, she carried another bag which has clothes. NOTE: LESS LUGGAGE MORE COMFORT, plan it such a way.

The trek to living root bridge consists of 2000+ steps climb down & another 1200+ steps climb up. So, it’s a mixed bag and just not one way climb down and one way climb up. You will also cross couple of bridges which would be a thrilling experience as it’s quite narrow and also both are hanging bridge. The first 1000 steps itself would dehydrate you very much and your legs will start begging for rest. Fortunately, you will find few shops / villages enroute, so you can recharge by having black tea, fresh lemon drink, maggi etc.,. Crossing of the iron bridge, was a WOW moment as you will witness pure bluish water below, with cool breeze around. The second bridge was even more difficult to cross but quite safe. A fit person would be able to do the trek in 2 to 2.5 hours flat with couple of breaks. We manage to do it in 3 hours.

We booked our room at Serene home stay and it’s a basic one with couple of rooms availabe for the guests. We got a 3 bed stay with mosquito nets. After checked in and left my wife to catch her breath, Hari & myself went to check out the bridge which was hardly 100 mts away. There is a fee that has to be paid and after paying we went to visit the bridge and took few photographs and back to the room. During dinner time we met fellow travellers from Israel, Scotland & Russia.

We also met two lovely people, by then famous Honeymoon Couples Ramneek and Swatabdi who just out of nowhere started for a long trip on their Enfield bike, a day after their wedding. We were spellbound hearing their adventures in a bike who also made it to the rainbow falls, but said that they had to stay a day extra to make it. After hearing this we made up our mind that we wouldn’t be able to do rainbow falls, as we had to reach Mawlynnong next day.

Next day morning all 3 of us visited the double decker bridge again and spent close to an hour before we start our return journey to the base village. My wife managed well on the return leg and I took a detour at the single root bridge while they went ahead with the ascend.

The return leg took close to 3 hours and we managed to reach the base at 11.30 AM and we started our journey to Mawlynnong. Roads from Cheerapunji to Mawlynnong was good except few rough patches around Dawki.

Bunglow on the Beach, Tranquebar (Aug ’12)

Nothing could match the views you get from here and there is no other good place than this to witness the changing blue colors of the Sea. Overall a nice place to stay. We had lunch at this place during our visit to Fort Dansborg. This hotel is located in stones throw away from the Fort offering some majestic views of the sea shore.

Let pictures do the talking here…

South Indian Food in Delhi: Malgudi Restaurant, Rajouri Garden

In recent past I have been hearing about the South Indian restaurants coming up in Delhi. That’s a good sign for people like me who don’t want to change their food habits even after spending few years in Delhi. I couldn’t visit this restaurant when I went to Rajouri garden a few weeks ago.

Today, I had to visit a friend in Rajouri Garden to get a missing accessory for my tripod. So, I assured myself to visit the restaurant for sure.

Took a metro from Qutub Minar and changed blue line at Rajiv Chowk and reached Rajouri Garden metro station around 4 PM. After finishing the work, I went to Malgudi Restaurant. It is hardly 150mtrs from Rajouri Garden Metro Station. Just before the Malgudi, there was Pind Balluchi as well, another favorite restaurant of mine. A thought went through my mind to visit Pind Balluchi instead of Malgudi, as I prefer non-veg. But then made up my mind and entered Malgudi.

When you enter through the glass door, you will be welcomed by a South Indian temple Gopuram on your left. They have two dining areas, ground and first floor. Ground floor seemed to be little congested, but it will be felt only when you have so much crowd. Seating was quite comfortable and the lighting was pleasant.

But the interiors were the ones which I loved the most. All sides are filled with the pencil sketches of Malgudi. I haven’t seen them all but it looked quite beautiful.

Ahhh..! Let’s now come to the main part. The menu looked quite exhaustive with so many varieties. I was astonished by the variety of Idlis they had, 23 in all. I have seen several varieties in Dosa/Uttapam but not in Idly. But the price seemed to be on the higher side. So, I first ordered ‘Kerala Parotta with Korma’ and the taste was good. Coconut was extensively used in the korma. Then, I ordered ‘Chef Special Dakshin Masala Idly’. I had never heard of this variety. As expected, it was different with excellent taste. In this dish also, coconut was extensively used along with garlic and green chilly. The sides Sambar, Pudhina chutney, Coconut chutney tasted very good. It was overall an excellent food experience. Total bill amount came to Rs. 221/-, little expensive though.

Quick Bites:

Located in: West Delhi
Nearest Metro: Rajouri Garden
Restaurant Type: Pure Vegetarian
Cuisine: South Indian (Chetttinadu, Kerala, Tamilnadu)
Meal for 2: Rs. 500/-
My Rating: 9/10
My Favorite Dish: Chef Special Dakshin Masala Idly

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