Mumbai Trip 2018

Mumbai Trip in December 2018

Mumbai is the capital city of the state of Maharashtra in India.We decided to visit Mumbai during our 2018 December vacation.Since we had a few relatives there it was easy to plan the trip.We browsed some of the must visit places in Mumbai and also discussed about this with our relatives there.

We started from Chennai in Jet Airways.After a 2 hour flight we landed in Mumbai.Actually we landed in 1h 40 mins but it took time to come out of the flight and collect the baggage.Once we came out of the airport there is an Uber taxi stand where we boarded the taxi to reach Navi Mumbai.
We had lunch and in the evening visited an ISKCON temple,rock garden and few other near by places in Navi Mumbai.

The next day morning after having breakfast we started off in cab to R-city mall at 9.10 am.We reached R-city mall at 10.20 am.We directly went to Kidzania to buy tickets.We bought flexible 5 hours ticket for my son and 2 adult tickets for me and my husband.Since it was only 10.50 am ,we went to snow world since it is also situated in the same mall as my son was keen on visiting it.We got tickets for 11.15 am slot.We were given winter jackets,gloves,boots etc and were made to wait inside a waiting hall for few minutes which had lesser temperature than outside climate so our body will get accustomed to the change in temperature inside the snow world.We were then called inside the snow world..The area was comparatively smaller than the one in Chennai (VGP snow world.Only if you have visited the one in Chennai you can visualize it but if no comparison,it is a spacious hall)..There are statues of cartoon characters and snowman with whom we can click pictures of.Then there are two sliders,one is using a tyre you can slide and the other is normal sliding in the snow.There is an igloo house wherein you can go inside and click a picture.They play songs for which we can dance.Since we went in the first slot only 10 of us were there so the chillness inside was too severe that we came out in 20 minutes,stayed outside for 5 minutes and then again went inside.We came out after our 45 minutes duration.
We then had lunch in a nearby restaurant and proceeded to "Kidzania".Its definitely a must place in Mumbai for kids.Here kids have a chance to role play various professions like painter,fire fighter,pilot,reporter and so on.My son had a great time here after he got a chance to play the following roles:
1)Painter in camlin art studio
2)Robotics hand on workshop
3)Manager in Big Bazaar
4)RJ in FM
5)Reporter in Times of India
6)In Fire station
7)Kelloggs factory
8)As pilot
9)Delivery boy in Pepperfry furniture shop

There are many more such activities for kids.Five hours is definitely not enough.Few other activities are Maruthi driving school,dabbawala,Dentist,Nerolac paiting studio,Banker at Yes Bank and so on.

On the third day we went to Mumbai zoo located in Byculla East(details can be found in https://www.tourmyindia.com/states/maharashtra/byculla-zoo-mumbai.html) .Since it was Christmas on that day,we planned it in such a way that we were there at the ticket counter at 11 am.It is a small zoo with limited animals.One main attraction of this zoo is Penguins.They are well maintained in a cool snowy atmosphere.Other than that are not much wild animals found here.But looks like in the near future we can expect wolf,bear,cheetah etc to be there.By the time we came out,the zoo was heavy crowded since it was a holiday.We then had lunch and proceeded to Taraporewala Aquarium (Details can be found in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taraporewala_Aquarium).There were many species of fish.We then proceeded to Prince of Wales museum(also known as Chhtrapathi Sivaji museum).The museum houses Indus Valley Civilization artefacts, and other relics from ancient India from the time of the Guptas,Mauryas,Chalukyas and the Rashtakuta. Some of the galleries here include:

• Sculpture gallery
• Pre and Proto History gallery
• Natural History Section
• Indian Miniature Painting gallery
• Krishna gallery
• Himalayan Art gallery
• Decorative Metalware gallery
• House of Laxmi- Coin gallery

More about the museum can be found in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chhatrapati_Shivaji_Maharaj_Vastu_Sangrahalaya.

We then boarded the train at Chhtrapathi Sivaji railway station and reached Mulund where we were staying.

The next day we hired a tourist car and visited Hanging Gardens(which is merely a normal park with some floral decorations),Bandra Worli Sea Link,Mahalakshmi Mandir,Siddi Vinayak Temple,went for a marine drive and the driver showed the residences of famous personalities like Shah Rukh Khan,Amitabh Bachchan,Salman Khan,Rekha,Mukesh Ambani and so on.Due to severe traffic it was 8.45 pm by the time we reached Navi Mumbai.



On Thursday morning we started off to Elephanta Caves. We clicked some pictures near Gateway of India and went on a Cruise to Elephanta Caves.The cruise journey was really awesome and we had a wonderful experience of feeding the birds that flew near our Ship.It took around 45 mins to reach Elephanta Caves.We have to walk a long way in elephanta caves.There are many shops on the way which include everything from dresses,accessories,handbag etc.We had lunch in one of the pure vegetarian restaurant there and returned back to Gateway of India in the cruise again.While we were clicking pictures near the Taj Hotel we were reminded of the horrifying attack by the terrorist on 26th November 2008(10 years back)!!



On Friday morning we did some shopping in Mangaldas market and visited Kalba Devi temple.There are so many shops at reasonable price in mangaldas market.The next day we visited Bollywood film city.There we were taken around the film city in a van for 1.5 hrs wherein we could see some of the famous shooting spots.But my relative who accompanied had visited Ramoji Rao film city in Hyderabad who felt that for that fees they charged,what we saw was very less and that Ramojo Rao film city was far better than this.If this is the first time you are visiting any film city,then you will like it.Actually we crossed Sanjay Gandhi national Park to visit the film city but due to lack of time we couldn't visit there.

The next day which was our final day at Mumbai we visited Sri Balaji Mandir at Nerul,Saneeshwara temple,a Goshala which houses more than 70 cows and offered banana/cucumber and a Hanuman temple.We boarded our flight to Chennai at 9.20pm and reached Chennai at 11 pm.



One thing to keep in mind while in Mumbai is that there is heavy traffic and travelling from one place to another by road takes hell lot of time.Having said that,Mumbai is well connected by trains.If you want to avoid travelling by road and if you are fine to travel in a heavily crowded train,then your travelling becomes easier.One other point to remember is most of the sight seeing places like gateway of India,Aquarium etc are closed on Mondays.



Overall it was a memorable experience and we were able to cover almost all the prominent places during our short stay.My little son thoroughly enjoyed this trip and he would like to visit Kidazania again :-)

UAE Trip - December 2017

I was browsing the net when suddenly it flashed to me "Why not go to Dubai for vacation??"I discussed about this at home and yes everyone got excited and we started the preparations for it.
I had been following a vacation planner page for  sometime now(I don't want to mention their name here) and since their reviews were too good and they had won several awards in the recent days I suggested about them to my husband.My husband called them and since he too was satisfied we decided to contact them.They took care of booking tickets,booking hotels,planning our itinerary.

We left to Dubai in Emirates flight on 23rd Saturday,9.45am flight from Chennai airport and reached Dubai at 12.40 pm.A driver had come to pick us up at the airport and we got down at Jumeira Rotana hotel.We refreshed ourselves and being pure vegetarians,inquired people there,took a taxi and went to Akshar restaurant in Bur Dubai.We had an excellent pure vegetarian meal which did have an Indian touch.We then got back to our room and got ready for our Cruise
We went on a Dhow Cruise to see the beautiful buildings and the old souks on both sides of Dubai Creek.It was a great experience traveling in the Cruise for the first time.There was some UAE music played and we got to meet people from across the globe.Only thing since there were elders and my little son with us and both veg and non-veg dishes were kept next to each other,we found it little inconvenient.Since we had heavy lunch we somehow managed.
The next day we had continental breakfast in the hotel we stayed . A bus came to pick us up and we started off to Dubai trip. Unfortunately our bus stopped in between due to some fault and it was late by the time another bus arrived for transportation.The slowed down near the Emirates Palace and gave us a brief introduction on it.Then few of our co-passengers  got down at Ferrari world while others took some photos there and then headed to Sheikh Zyed mosque.
As in all mosques there are some dress restrictions to enter the mosque.Only those who follow it strictly are allowed to enter the mosque. It was indeed a huge mosque and also housed the world's largest carpet and chandelier.
The next day as our bus driver missed to pick us up(there was a total chaos with the tourism planner we had booked,guess it was our fate),we changed the plan.
We visited Dubai's miracle garden where 

Masinagudi Trip in November 2013

            Its been four years since we went on a vacation.We didn't want to miss the opportunity when at my husband's office a family trip was planned to Masinagudi. Though we were initially hesitant to take our 3 year old son to a hill station in this cold weather, we finally made up our mind..After packing our luggage which mainly included my son's items like his winter clothing,toys,food items etc we set out on our expedition!!!

           Along with my husband's colleagues some of  whom had come along with their family ,we boarded the Cauvery express at 9.30 pm on 20th November 2013..My son was so excited to travel in train and started asking 'N' number of doubts that flashed in his mind..There were two boys one elder to my son and one younger to him to give him company in this trip...We reached Mysore at  7.40 am  where we were picked up by 3 vans that were arranged for us..After having breakfast at "Om Shanthi" restaurant we headed towards Masinagudi!!

          Masinagudi is a stretch of bliss (forest in practical terms) between the Bandipur national park (Karnataka) and Mudhumalai National park (Tamilnadu)in India. With sunlight(during daytime) and moonlight (during nighttime) distilled through trees and silence punctuated with cries of the wild, Masinagudi offers hope and scope for weekenders looking for a stint in the wild and trekkers looking for tenacious terrain...

          On the way near a checkpost, our vans were surrounded by a group of monkeys which climbed on our van, fought with each other and did all mischievous acts amusing the kids in our van.We reached our resort "Jungle Retreat" at around 12.30 pm.The resort was spread over 35 acres of land and had lots of trees and plants all around..The resort owners had five cats and five dogs which included a German Shepherd ..After greeting us we were briefed about the resort and the area around.We heard enthusiastically as they told about the frequent visitors like the deer,peacock,Malabar giant squirrel and many species of birds.. The real fun started when we heard,in the recent past their resort was visited by elephants,bear and occasionally by leopards..We were given instructions not to go walk alone between our rooms and the reception area between 6.30 PM till 6.30 AM as there are chances of us encountering these animals and hence their resort security guards will accompany us.We were strictly ordered not to roam about, outside the rooms once we get inside after being escorted by the security..We could all feel a slight shiver in our nerves when we heard all this which of course increased when they said there are many varieties of snakes around which included cobras too!!!!.Those who carried food items with them were asked to leave them in the reception area to which we all obediently obliged since the reason they gave was food items attract rats which in turn would attract snakes!!

          We all then checked in into our respective rooms,had bath and went to the dining area for lunch at around 2.30 pm...After a short nap post lunch we had our coffee/ tea and set out for a drive to elephant camp at 5 pm. Five jeeps were arranged with each containing six persons..We first went to an elephant camp maintained by the forest department.There we saw how nutritious food was prepared for elephants in enormous quantity which included Ragi, herbs to name a few.We all watched in awe as the elephants were being fed..My son and other children were more excited when they saw the elephant chew a whole sugarcane..We then took photographs and continued with our drive on the jeep..We were taken into the jungle...The road was calm,there were no street lights..We were instructed not to make any noise in case we encountered any wild animals during our journey..It was 7.15 pm...Our jeep was moving on and on and on..My son was so obedient and cooperated well with us chatting with my husband's colleagues.We saw few deers, bisons, elephants while on the way..At one stage our jeep driver halted the jeep, switched off the jeep's head light and we waited..The other jeeps that were following us didn't turn up still. 

There was pin drop silence...Suddenly we heard a cry "Amma Badam(Almond)"..To our surprise it was my son asking me for almonds..He started singing this in a tone for nearly half an hour..My husband's friends started making fun of him saying where in the mid of the forest shall we get badam for you!

(Actually he is fond of almonds.Though we brought it for pur trip,by mistake we left it in the resort itself). After sometime he settled down and we all reached our resort around 8 pm. There we were shown a power point presentation of the animals and birds that frequently visited the resorts..We could all feel a sense of shiver going down our spine when they said in case when we are on the way to our room and should we be bitten by snakes we were asked to observe the appearance of the snake which bit us so as to be given the appropriate anti venom injection...Unanimously we all thought, it was extremely dark outside,after the snake has bitten we will be groaning with pain then how on earth can we observe the snake Having said all this they also asked us not to worry since such horrible incidents have not occurred in their resort earlier and we were just being given a precautionary advice..We were also asked to switch on the light outside our room so that wild animals will not come near our rooms..

With so many thoughts in our minds we had our dinner and were escorted to our rooms by the resort security..They had a torch in their hands while we had one...We were allotted room no 5,the last one in that row..Sriram's friends went to their respective rooms along with their families,we were the last one to be escorted to the room..Before we went into our room, i just asked that security whether everything was safe during the night time.The reply that he gave made us freeze literally but still we tried to be as brave as possible.This is what he said"Generally elephants used to come near this room during night time.Recently in the last two weeks we have also seen bears eating the fruit from the tree outside your room..Don't keep the doors open since there are chances of snakes getting inside.You can hear animals shout and scream at midnight in the forest..Don't be scared.Just switch on this light outside your room,so that animals don't come outside your rooms".Having said this he lighted his torch in the open area outside our room and told us"Can you see those two bright eyes,it could be of a leopard..But no worries it will not come here since your lights are switched on".So saying and wishing us good night he left..We really wished it should be a good night for us having heard all this!!!!

               Though we were frightened,we were really damn tired that all the three of us dozed off as soon as we went to bed..At midnight i suddenly woke up,the time was 12.45 am..I heard continuous noise"tap tap"...It was not the sound of animals..was just wondering what it could be.The sound was getting louder,i could feel a sense of fear within me...Gaining courage i turned to my left side to continue sleeping where to my surprise i saw three lizards on the top corner of the wall.It seemed like they were playing..On observing them closely,realized that the sound came from them..Laughing within myself i went to sleep..After sometime i heard a sound as if many frogs were croaking .But i couldn't hear any sound of wild animals roaring..May be i was not lucky enough to hear that sound!!!

          The next day morning after breakfast at 10 am we all chilled out playing outdoor games..While adults were playing crickets,volley ball and badminton children played football..We all then took a walk near the swimming pool .Their swimming pool is structured like a watering hole with a pebbled sloping beach like entrance to provide easy access and exit both for human use and just in case the odd thirsty or disoriented animal falls in.Then we visited the tree houses..Astonished by the way they were being constructed we all took photographs wondering how safe it will be for those who stay in the tree house!!!We all were then taken for "Interpretation walk". We were taken around the resort and shown the various species of trees/plants,endangered species of birds(which were in various colors like blue,yellow,orange to name a few),the places where elephants and bears frequent and so on..The walk lasted for a hour..Tired as we were all, we went to have lunch at 1.30 pm followed by short nap.

                At around 5.30 pm we all assembled for tea/coffee and were discussing about the next day's programme..We all then set out for the night safari.Like the previous day,we set out in jeeps each taking six people and were given the same instructions..This time i didn't want to take any risk with my son, so took almonds with us..On the way we saw many elephants,bison,few peacocks,a rabbit with its little one and deers of course...We were taken into the forest and waited for sometime switching off the the jeep headlights..Though our minds wished to see wild animals yet our hearts feared not to see them..Keeping fingers crossed we waited there!!!But unfortunately (or fortunately) no animal turned up...Perhaps since all the five jeeps followed each other due to the sound of the wheels they didn't come out from the bushes..We were taken back to our resorts..The journey through the forest was really an unforgettable experience!!!

  

Post dinner we were escorted to our rooms..That night too i heard "tok tok"sound..Me and my husband bravely peeped through the window each time we heard any noise..But no animal was visible..

    

        The next day we curiously inquired whether any animal was caught in the camera trap..But unfortunately since a leopard was found to have feasted on a deer in a nearby resort,they had given away the camera to them to be used for the next two days!!! After breakfast ,we packed our luggage and headed off to Mysore a 12.30 pm..We had our lunch at 2.30 pm and at around 4.15 pm we reached Mysore palace...While some of them preferred to take photographs outside the palace rest of us went inside...My son's eyes were filled with wonder when he saw the huge swords,the royal chair,their costumes and so on..Since i frequently play him the story of "Tenali Raman", he could easily relate the two..Besides he couldn't stop running here and there after seeing such a huge area..We also went to the palace museum..Though I had gone there twice or thrice earlier when i was young this time when i went i couldn't stop admiring the rich and cultural heritage of India...At the same time felt sad that due to western influence on our younger generation because of which they have started forgetting about our culture! We then took my son for a camel ride which was really a different experience not only for him but also for us...After taking a group photograph by a professional photographer followed by little shopping, we had our dinner at "Om Shanti" restaurant and boarded the 'Cauvery Express' train at 8.30 pm..

        Thus ended our three days trip filled with thrill and excitement.We reached Chennai safely on 24th November 2013 at 7.40 am!!!!