Chennai Weekend – Kancheepuram

Finally I got some time to blog about my kanchi trip
There are probably hundreds of web pages and blogs that have talked about kanchipuram – Tamilnadu. Here is my version….

It was saturday and the day was cloudy, it was past the breakfast time when my husband came into the kitchen saying lets make a trip to kanchi. The idea was not bad and afterall kanchi is only 2 hrs from chennai. Last time i went to kanchi was to pick sarees for my marriage (which also happens to be the first time) and i only had time to see the kamakshi temple after the shopping. We had a quick lunch and we were in the bus to kanchi by 2pm. The roads have very much improved from my last trip which was one and half years back.  

30 mins after we started, we reached Padapai, famous for its plant nurseries. Kanchi is another hour from here. One can spot some weaving and dyed yarn hung out, under the shades of trees as kanchi – temple n silk town gets nearer and nearer. We negotiated an auto for 175 bucks to tour around 4 temples and then leave us at the busstand. We went to ekambaranath temple, kanchi kamakshi temple, Perumal temple, Varadaraja swamy temple. The last temple is in the outskirts of kanchi town and we were fortunate to be there as the diety was taken around the streets when we visited.
Some of the photos from the trip are here





Things to keep in mind:
- All the temples follow strict opening and closing times. Either reach kanchi early in the morning or reach in the late afternoon.
- Bargain hard with the autowallas (remember its a tourist place)
- The priests in most of the temples try to be sentimental to get some money.
- One is not allowed to take photos in the main temple like everywhere, but photography is allowed in the temple premisis. Insist on ticket for camera charges.
- Take your time and explore every nook and corner, sure you will find some surprising stuff.
- The famous Saravanas is present near the busstand and off the gandhi road (the silk sari shopping road), also present is Adyar Anand Bhavan.
- If thinking of shopping ask an experienced neigbour/friend/relatives to recommend some good shops.
- Got time, do visit some weavers in the backlanes.
- Try to keep the temple town clean from your side.

Whole trip time – 7 hours.
Budget – shoe string (below 500 for 2 people).

Comments are welcome….

Rainy Days n Audit Days

It raining cats and dogs in chennai today..With most of the atriel roads and major junctions under major overhaul, one expect the traffic snarls at their peak. The weather is perfect to cuddle up with an interesting book, hot cuppa of chai and some mouth-watering pakoras, but work is work and i have to be at office.

There is an audit going on in the project by the client, so i dont think i will be able post anything in this week due to heavy work load. I made a visit to kanchipuram last saturday, so expect a photo blog on that soon.

Enjoy the monsoon in chennai.

Just Another day

Today is like any other day. I updated the Events page, There are quite some options to spend this weekend apart from OSO & ATM.
I was quite surprised to read in paper today that ‘Pokkiri’ is likely to get the best film award. I am not against remakes or Vijay, but should a remake film be given a ‘Best Film’ award???? I dont think so.
The volvo buses in chennai are making quite a buzz, though i didnt get to travel in them in chennai, i used to be a regular on them in bangalore. For some information on them do check the link http://bitterscotch.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/chennai-volvo-routes-and-timings/

Chennai Weekend – Vandalur Zoo

How was your diwali????

Mine was good – a bit of office :-), ran around my sis-in-law kids, progressed on my fillet crochet ( i know a blog on that is due), did a test swatch of my new yarn, gobbled festive food along with my fav dessert – gulab jamoon with ice-cream, saw some cricket and visited vandalur zoo. I am not into crackers and i really hated the mornings due to them. The neighborhood starts the fireworks at 3am and damn i lost some good weekend sleep. 

So some titbits on vandalur zoo this time, a calm and cool place to spend your day.

Arignar Anna Zoological Park, popularly known as Vandalur zoo is on NH-45, around 5 kms from tambaram. A local train heading to chengalput is a good bet to reach vandalur from the city. There are lots of buses too plying from various parts of the city. We took the bike and headed to NH-45 through the GST road. India still has to learn the highway etiquitte, so be careful while driving. There is a huge paid parking lot, so probs for all those private vehicals. The entry and exit are through a huge concrete structure, which is given a rock finish. The ticket is 15 bucks for adults and 10 for kids, as usual shell out extra money to use still camera and camcorder. Tuesday is a holiday for the zoo and expect the weekends to be crowded.

The zoo itself is huge (1000+ acres) and relatively maintained clean with helpers working all the time.  The zoo attracts classes and masses and a lot of clutter and crowd at the entry and exit is common. Once you walk further into the zoo, the crowd disperses and its relatively calmer. Its a good place to have a walk, talk some sweet nothings – i have seen lot of new couples enjoying a bit of privacy, have some soulful thoughts. The animal/bird collection is good and the kids will enjoy themselves, but remember its a huge place and involves some workout, so expect your kids to throw tantrums and asking you to carry them. I saw a caged van rattling around once in a while, probably for a safari or so (actually, i do not have a idea) you can check that out too. There is a small whale shaped aquarium at the exit to check. Though there is a hotel at the entrance and a ice-cream shop, literally nothing is available once you go a bit deep into the zoo, so do carry bottled water and few munchies. The zoo is in a litter-free zone and be careful before you throw away those empty packets and bottles, bins are provided for the same.

As for my comments about the place. Its very much away from the city and there is lots of green, spend some time to get some fresh air. Though maps of the zoo are placed around on huge boards, there are not much user-friendly, i would have prefered a hand-out with a detailed map for an extra cost atleast as an option at the ticket counter itself.

If you have visited the zoo and have some comments, do leave them here.

Link to wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arignar_Anna_Zoological_Park
On mouthshut.com – http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Arignar_Anna_Zoological_Park-74599-1.html

Finished Diwali shopping??????

I dont want to think of shopping in chennai during festive season. I made a short trip T.nagar last weekend, should i say its crammed??? or is there a single word that describes the roads, people and the rush thats always there despite the rain, shine, fesival season, marriage season or just another day.

T.nagar serves to all classes of people and gives you everything… shall i say pin to aeroplane Since its the first weekend after pay day and with diwali round the corner one can just imagine how T.nagar is… especially the usman roads. Thank god it was not raining else… i cant even imagine. The drilling in the middle of the road for constructing a flyover doesnt seem to affect the people and traffic at all. Pray for the guy who has to man the proclainer in the middle of the road with people crossing his work area all the time.

I went into chennai silks for some quick shopping since i didnt dare to put myself through sarava stores. I found sometime to visit raja thread stores before heading home. I was disappointed that the store doesnt stock circular knitting needles (The sales girl has no ides what it is, though i tried my best to explain her in my broken tamil). I dropped a sample of the yarn that i need for completing the tote. If they cant get, then i will make it a two color tote (No option…) Checked their yarn bin which is full of acrylic in different weights but nothing interested me. I finally bought a No. 11 knitting needle pair.

The events page is updated with new events in november, do check and enjoy the monsoon season.