My trip to DANUSHKODI( GHOST TOWN) in TN.

We were on a 4 DAYS road trip from CHENNAI- MAHABALIPURAM- PONDICHERRY- VALENKKANI- RAMESHWARAM- DANUSHKODI- RAMNATHAPURAM-MADURAI - CHENNAI in Mar 2020 just before the Covid lockdown was announced  by Indian govt.... The road journey  upto RAMESHWARAM  was awesome and needless to say about our stay at HYATT PLACE HOTEL, RAMESHWARAM ....After our Darshan at RAMESHWARAM Shrine, we planned for a drive upto Danushkodi.... it was during my college days that I visited RAMESHWARAM  and again I was here after 30+ yrs.... The place looked so different now, lot of development  caught my eyes too ....Now 3/4 good hotels have come up besides those Darmashala's that existed from ages for pilgrims visiting the Shrine ( Jyothirling).....

       DANUSHKODI, is an abundant town at the SE of Pamban Island in Tamil Nadu state. The town was destroyed  during the 1964 RAMESHWARAM CYCLONES and remained uninhabited  in its aftermath....The town is believed to be the place where  Lord Rama had ordered Lord Hangman to built a bridge which could carry his army across to Srilanka, were Ravana, the demon king kept Mata Sita  captive, as per the mythological story of Ramayana.Danushkodi , is also known as the last  land of India  and got Bay of Bengal on one side & Indian Ocean on other side.....it got a beautiful  stretch of newly constructed  NH road strip, designed using Galion box technology  of IIT, MADRAS to protect the road stretch from Tidal actions.

       

After we left the town of RAMESHWARAM towards DANUSHKODI, it looked so deserted..only few vehicles were driving that strip.... few kms of the drive on the new Danushkodi road was surrounded by jungle stretch on both sides of the road and some patches of water bodies ....As we returned that Ghost town of Danushkodi, the landscape was totally different....sands on both sides of the road and its turquoise  waters of the ocean welcoming us with all those ruins of the old Town of Danushkodi scattered here & there all across on both side of the road stretch...

After we crossed the uninhabited  town of Danushkodi, Ram setu starts .... to some extent of the stretch of road , vehicles r allowed & there after one need to walk down a 1km and half  to the edge of the road strip...it is said that earlier this road didnot exist & to reach the edge one had to walk down & mostly the bikers made their way down upto the edge and after that its Srilankan waters ....I had a personal realization, that as I entered Danushkodi, my mobile signal went of & some international  signal was noticed.... after we started walking down to the edge of Ramsetu, I saw so many Tamilians  walking the stretch barefooted  in scorching  sun ...ultra violet rays r so strong that I could hardly make out what I was capturing on my camera lens ...😀BSF  personal  stopped me from video shooting the zone too ....But the place is so picturesque  that no one can stop one's temptation  to film  it in frame

we really had a beautiful  experience  standing on the last Road of India ...... I personally  feel that each one who in taking on the long journey upto RAMESHWARAM, should definitely  add Danushkodi to their itenary  besides the Samadhi of our beloved DR.KALAM'S & his home at Rameshwaram town........

MY FIRST VISIT TO THE STATUE OF UNITY( GUJARAT)

We were travelling by road from Mumbai  to Patan shethra in NE part of Gujarat, thought to add a visit to Statue of Unity at kewadiya which was bit out of the way for us....We tried to do a bit of study of SOU  from YouTube videos  for all informations related to bookings  for the visit there , before taking onto our journey......

   By the time we were ready to hit the road , it was just 5.45am in the morning..Since  we had to drive from Navi Mumbai side towards the western express way there was lot of traffic jams even ar that early hours around Gorbandar road..... We made our first stopover at Palghar for breakfast...there r lots of good restaurants serving hot Doshas & idlis there ....it was quite chilling and mystic around Palghar ..... Then the drive continued up to Surat( Palshana) in Gujarat, from were we took a diversion route towards Rajpipla& continued  to Kewadia....Since  all bookings for visit to statue of unity has to be done prior online & even slot bookings for the high speed lift travel upto the neck portion of Sardar Patel statue , from were the view of Sardar Sarovar Dam can be seen from the view point inside the statue itself, we were bit in a hurry  to reach  the location by the time slot alloted  for us.... We stopped  for lunch at Rajpipla  & enjoyed the katiawadi  thalli  before continuing our journey  to kewadia.

We reached kewadia around 3pm & after parking our vehicle at the parking of SOU & then boarded the bus for SOU ....Now we had to walk almost 1 km distance thru' beautiful  landscape garden inside...It has been made comfortable  walkway with elevator lifts, and travelators fitted on the way upto the foot of the statue.

The cruise boat that takes people around on Sardar Sarovar Dam.

After reaching the base of the statue , we went around the museum displaying all information  related to the construction of the statue...Now its almost time to stand in queue  for the 2 high speed lift that takes people up to the viewing gallery inside the statue's body .....within seconds we were up on top of World's tallest statue..... it was very exciting  to see the Sardar Sarovar Dam view from there....After a short stay we thought to come down as we had to again walk 1km to the bus stop for the bus to visit the valley of flowers  that was in our package of Rs 350/- perhead... but we were unable to board the SOU buses from the stand as they were all overcrowded  ...then we hired the pink auto driven by ladies to Valley of flowers , but its our bad luck that we reached there around closing time, so just couldnot go around instead we thought to wait for the Glowing Garden visit which we had booked earlier ....Only as darkness set in  , The Glow Garden was illuminated...it was good but very small place ....just a few click of pics there we thought to push out to the SOU parking, where we left our vehicle ...The lazer show on Sardar Sarovar Dam was quite nice but we gave a skip to the Light & Sound Show at the SOU compound.... There r several other locations to visit at SOU like Cactus garden ,zoo , & few more sites but each place is separately priced for entry aswell camera's.....

        At Glow Garden at Statue of Unity.

Overall a good experience  at our first SOU visit...There r few hotels at Kewadia  but its very costly , so we thought to drive off another 1 hr & take a night break at Vadodhara  before we push off for Ahmedabad and Patan next morning. 

Our drive off to PATAN from MUMBAI.

       RANI KI VAV....

After the 2nd wave of Covid Pandemic in Dec'2021 we thought to go on a drive off to Patan in North Eastern part of Gujarat.  Since the distance we were expected to cover will be 1500+kms , thought to deroute our plan ie Mumbai to Kewadiya, which is 9hrs drive & check out the Statue of Unity there , before we make a stopover at Vadodhara for a night stay & next morning take on the drive to Patan via Ahmedabad & visit the SUN TEMPLE OF MODHERA & RANI KI VAV at Patan besides checking out the Patola Museum  there too & do some shopping too of Patola textile , before returning back for a night halt at Ahmedabad & then drive back to Mumbai ....This was the overall plan for the trip ....

      Patan is 125kms from Ahmedabad..We took the Vadodhara- Ahmedabad-Mehsana- Modhera-Patan route..... Vadodhara to Ahmedabad its a fantastic Expressway were one can enjoy the world class drive .....We started from Vadodhara after breakfast & reached Ahmedabad by 11am around & then our drive continued to MODHERA....we reached there around 2pm , since winter , though , sun was quite strong but there was chill in the air  but we were feeling hungry too but didnot come across any good restaurants on the way....Though , there were food stalls at the Sun temple site but I didnot like to eat bhujiya 's as its all oily stuff and settled for some fruits instead ..... 

As we walked up to the Sun temple located in a huge compound I was simply awestruck to see the awesome cravings on the walls & pillar ....the temple is made  of soft Sandstone but those cravings simply stands out & speaks about the artisans skills of by gone eras .... There is a stepwell too infront of the Sun temple .... marvelous  indeed ...we tried to captured every inch of its beauty in our lens.

        sun temple of modhera( gujarat)

 its truly amazing......

Next we left for RANI kI VAV  in PATAN .... it was somewhere around 4pm that we reach this UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE.

      RANI KI VAV, built in the later half of the 11th century  by Queen Udayamati, in memory of her husband  King Bhimdev 1 of the solanki dynasty. Its made in maru gurjara  style  of architecture  including beautiful  detailing of sculptures. Its basically a Well .... it is divided into 7 levels of stairs & designed like an inverted temple.500 main sculptures  & 1000 minor  found there .The Central theme  of the sculptures  here is Dasavataras or the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu. It is featured on the new 100 rs note of India... 

   

its simply  should be in everyone's  itenary  who ever wish to visit Gujarat...

it was  almost 5pm by the time we finished seeing the Rani ki Vav & now it was time for us to drive back to Ahmedabad  for a night halt ....hungry & exausted we simply didnot wish to continue late there at Patan after our shopping of Patola there, we didnot go to visit other jain temples around at Patan.

Our trip to MALVAN

After 2.5yrs of Covid Pandemic struggle thru' lockdowns & fear of infections etc, was mentally drained out & wanted to breakfree... it was 26th of feb 2022 when we just planned to drive down to Malvan..... Had a rough plan for our visit there ... We booked our stay at MTDC IISDA resort at Malvan a day prior , of our leaving from Mumbai..We started around 6am in the morning  via the Mum- Pune Expressway and henceon , Satara- kolhapur Expressway... Malvan is approximately 12 hrs drive from Mumbai.... It was Google map that guided us hence on from kolhapur  but it also takes shortcuts & put people driving into some difficulties😀...We reached kolhapur around lunch time & after a sumptuous kolhapur thalli we took onto Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary as we headed for Malvan....

By the time we reached Malvan it was almost Sundown time ....Just loved to click some beautiful  sunset pics from the private  beach of IISDA, MTDC resort before we checked in to our hotel room . Soon it was clear to us that MTDC have a facility of training, certification aswell Diving in high Sea here & my husband was very enthusiastic about attempting is first ever Deep Sea dive ....So after a cup of tea we finally decided that its my husband to try out the basic diving course here and we spoke to the instructors and finalized it all .... We were though very tired after 12 hrs drive off but still we had to sit late in the classroom , after dinner to watch a short film on diving & all instructions to follow during the diving ...then forms & bonds to be signed and were told that next morning by 7am each one should be there at their pool( India's deepest  swimming  pool) were each one will get practical training & instructions for Deep Sea Diving before taken to the high Sea for the Dive..... With lots of excitement in heart we both returned to our room for a good night sleep ....

swimming  training pool at IISDA

During the practice session at IISDA POOL.

 After an hour long training  in the IISDA pool , it was time to get mentally prepared to hit the high sea waters after breakfast  at the resort... The food at the restaurant was good & we tried amboli chutney ( a type of soft dosha) ...it was yummy ; Then all the participants were taken to the jetty nearby to board the catamaran ( MTDC owned) to ferry to the high Sea 40kms away from were the dive will take place.

catamaran that takes to the high seas.

The view of the resort from the pool of IISDA.

The jetty at Karli river bank from were the Catamaran is boarded by the participants. 

       Now its a wonderful  undersea experience to follow , ......

After all those  wonderful  moments  by 1pm they all reach back to hotel rooms.....After freshing up we thought to drive down to MTDC TARKARLI RESORT  to have lunch & enjoy that property too which is some 2/3 kms away....

The resort  too is very beautiful & location is too good ... 

Beautiful Tarkarli beach, Malvan.

     After an awesome Malvani non veg thalli  there we pushed off to visit the Rock Gardens  of malvan , bit shopping  near Malvan beach& jetty.

Rock Gardens at Malvan.

After  that we though to drive back to Devbaug  Sangam Beach to enjoy the sunset before we return back to our hotel room for some rest ....as its again12hrs drive back via Old Goa- Mumbai highway .... it had been quite refreshing trip to Malvan.