Road Bike trip - Pune - Bhimashankar

This post is about the road trip we took from Pune to Bhimashankar. We started from Hinjewadi Phase 3 and the total distance till Bhimashankar was about 120 km.

We took the road via Manchar. Most of it is the Nashik Highway, so the road is good. Even after the highway, the road till Bhimashankar is good.

Bhimashankar temple is a Jyotirlinga shrine. We were amazed at the crowd over there. We had searched for a hote/resort online and we found one named 'Blue Mormon'. But when we reached there, it was completely full and we could not get a room. Obviously, it was a weekend, and so the rush.

Bhimashankar temple

The bike ride took us around 2 hrs one way. The road was good, the path was good and there were some good views along the way.

On our way back, we took a detour to Malshej Ghat. At Manchar, you can take one of the two raods, one goes to Bhimashankar and one to Malshej Ghat.

While returning from Bhimashankar, there is a turn at some village 10 kms before Manchar, and the road from there goes to Malshej Ghat.  This road goes through Junnar, where there is another tourist spot - Shivneri fort.

It was March end and it was already hot summers in Pune. This was the view on the way to Malshej Ghat.

View at Malshej Ghat

UK Photoblog Series - Bath

Bath , Somerset is a city, known for its natural hot springs and 18th-century Georgian architecture.
The most popular attractions are the Roman Baths and the Royal Crescent. But, as you will see in the pictures below, the whole city mesmerizes through its beautiful architecture.
 

Roman Baths

Hot Spring

The Royal Crescent

Cancun, Mexico

We made this trip in November 2014  to Cancun, a resort town facing the Caribbean Sea , in Mexico. It was a most wonderful trip. We stayed at the Westin Resort and Spa. The hotel check-in time was 3 pm and as we had arrived early at 9 am, so we had to wait till at least 1 pm to get inside the room. The hotel was good, with a couple of restaurants to choose from and had a good and long beach. Cancun has increasingly become a wedding destination and we were fairly amused by an Indian traditional wedding celebration happening at the hotel's beachshore. The weather was hot during the day, but turned fairly pleasant towards the evening.

This was our first time in Mexico, and we were a little apprehensive about the general safety. Cancun has been divided into a separate hotel zone where all the tourist hotels are located and the downtown, which is more of a local area. The hotel zone has been commercially developed for the tourists and it would appear like any other North American city. The downtown has some local market areas and small houses. Anybody who has been in South Asia can easily relate to them, but it might be a new experience for the ones from the developed countries.

Anyways, we were worried about the public buses being safe , but the hotel staff reassured us that they were completely safe and the easiest and cheapest way to go to downtown. There are two main buses - R1 and R2 that go from the hotel zone to downtown. The ticket is 1 USD or 10 pesos. The buses turned out to be very convenient and we must have made most of our trips within Cancun on them. The best part was that they were completely safe and ran 24×7.There was a bus every 5 minutes, even during the night, which made local travel totally convenient.

Visa - 
We had a US B1 visa and it was enough to enter Mexico.

City

Cancun is located in the Yucatán peninsula and is also famous for the Mayan civilization.

Chichen Itza

A famous world heritage site is the Chichen Itza. One of the new Seven Wonders of the World!

It has an interesting geometry. It represents the ancient Mayan calendar - each step is a day of the year.

Cancun Cenotes

 


Cancun Downtown

Coco Bongo 
It is the most happening clubs in Cancun. The shows and the crowd are simply amazing.

Cancun Beach

 

Mexican food

Who doesn't love Mexican food? And just soo cheap!!!! Lovveeed ittttt!

 
 

Places to see on transit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Part 2

Hey travellers,

On the part 2 of our transit through KL, we spent the night at a transit hotel called Concord Inn.
Then the next day, we again set out to KL Sentral to explore the city.

We had a few places in our mind, the Merdeka square, Sultan Abdul Samad Building, Central Market, KLCC Aquaria.

So, we took a LRT from KL Sentral. Most of these tourist spots are located just near the next LRT stop - Pasar Seni.

It was amazing architecture and a beautiful view at Merdeka square.

Merdeka Square, Sulatan Abdul Samad Building, Central Market

The LRT train

We visited the Central Market after that which is just a few blocks away from here. It is buzzing with local shopping and food options.

Other places we could have visited -

KLCC Aquaria - This is near Petronas tower and we could have visited this if we had spent a little more time in KLCC.

Batu Caves - This is a Hindu temple and a great attraction for many.  

KL Tower

Bahasa  Malay (Malaysian Language)

Some useful words though most people can understand English there -

http://wikitravel.org/en/Malay_phrasebook 

Hello.

    Hello/Hi. (Hello/Hi)
Please.
    Sila. (SEE-luh)
Please. (request)
    Tolong. (TOH-long)
Thank you.
    Terima kasih. (TREE-muh KAH-seh)
You're welcome.
    Sama-sama. (SAH-muh SAH-muh)
Yes.
    Ya. (YUH)
No.
    Tidak. (TEE-dah[glottal stop]) or tee-DAH[glottal stop], Tak (TAH[glottal stop])
Excuse me. (begging pardon)
    Maaf. (mah'AHF)
I'm sorry.
    Maafkan saya. (mah'AHF-kahn SAH-yuh)
Goodbye
    Selamat tinggal. (SLAH-maht tin-GAHL), Selamat jalan (SLAH-maht JAH-lahn)
Usage note: "Selamat tinggal" means "Safe stay," while "Selamat jalan" means "Safe Trip," so whoever is leaving uses the former expression and whoever is staying replies with the latter expression.

A sign that you will see everywhere - 

 

KELUAR 

Exit

Places to see on transit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Part 1

Hey travellers,

We already mentioned in our previous post about our transit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on our way to Bali from Mumbai.

So, we were excited to explore a new city. On our forward journey to Bali, we landed at KLIA(Kuala Lumpur International Airport) at 6:50 am. Our onward flight was at 4:30 in the evening, so we decided to set out of the airport and explore the city.

Malaysian Visa/Immigration -

We as Indian citizens, needed to obtain a Malaysian visa before we flew and so we had already applied for the Visa from VFS, Pune. The visa-stamped passport was ready for collection after around 7 days.
As we had a transit on our return journey as well, so we had applied for a Multiple Entry visa. It is normally valid for 1 year, but we were given the validity of just 3 months. It costed around INR 4000 each for us.

The immigration at the KLIA was fast. There were hardly any queues at that time of the morning and not too many questions were asked by the Immigration officer.

Travelling from/to KLIA 

The options are

1 - KLIA express - It is an express train and reaches KL Sentral in 28 minutes. The price is Rm 35 one way.

2- Taxis - You can book a taxi and head anywhere in the city. it will take you around 1 to 1 and a half hour to reach KL Sentral. The prices would be expensive.

3 - Airport Coaches/Buses - This according to us is the best option. That is if you don't mind sparing an extra 30 min for the travel. There are various Coach agencies available and it costs Rm18 for a return trip,(KLIA to KL Sentral to KLIA) and Rm10 one way.
The buses are comfortable, air-conditioned, clean and tidy and take 1 hr to reach the KL Sentral station.

If you want to go anywhere in KL city, you can reach KL Sentral station. From there, LRT, monorail, buses and other options of public transportation are available.

Where did we go?

Petronas Towers

The first thing that comes to mind when in KL is the Petronas towers. So, this is where we were headed.
We took the Airport coach from KLIA, reached KL Sentral, had some food and coffee at the Food Court there and then took the LRT to KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre). This is where the Petronas Towers are located. There is also a mall just underneath and it was a welcome respite in the hot weather.

The Petronas twin towers are simply breath-taking.

We headed back to KLIA as we doubted that the bus might get stuck in traffic and take more time. But we reached back again in 1 hr and so were early to the airport.
But we did not mind it too much because we had one more day to explore KL on our transit on way back from Bali.

So, stay glued for the next post.
Till then,
Keep travelling!

Wonderful Indonesia - Bali - Part 4

Welcome back travelers.

Here are a few more tidbits on Bali.

Other tourist spots -

There are a few other tourist spots, that we could not visit on this trip.
You can have them on your list when you plan to visit -
1) Ulun Danu Beratan temple - This is the one by the lake
2) Besakih temple - one of the largest temple in Bali
3) Jimabaran Sea food dinner
4) Ubud Monkey forest and temple
5) Gilli and Lombak islands

There are many many more, so if you have sufficient time, you can explore all the other places as well.

Transporation -

Most common transportation form for tourists has to be the taxi or a motorbike.
Taxis are not that expensive, book online for best rates. We booked through Kintamani travels. They have a whatsapp number and offer competitive rates. There is always the scope of bargaining in Bali for everything.
The 8 hour taxi cost us 450,000 Indonesisa Rupiah.

Motorbikes can be rented if you have an international driver's license. otherwise, you need to get some document from the Police and then you can rent the motorbike.

Food -

Food is spicy, very tasty and cheap. The Local Indonesian cuisine is mostly rice with vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. In one of the local food shop, which was bursting with international tourists, the vegetarian meal cost us as little as 18.000 Indonesian Rupiah.
Nasi Goreng is a popular dish.
Bintang is the local beer

Distances -

As Bali is a province, it takes 2-3 hrs to reach the tourist destinations from the main hotel areas. Most of the roads are narrow and give it a small city feel. The most popular area is Kuta, Legian, Sanur, Ubud, Nusa Dua.
If you search well, you can get very good Beach hotel resorts at a very reasonable rate.
We stayed partly at Prama Sanur beach Hotel and it was a wonderful stay.

Bali Tourist Map

So, now we are sure, all of you travel enthusiasts must already be planning for your next trip to Bali.
So, go ahead, travel, explore and see the world!!!

Wonderful indonesia - Bali - Part 3

Welcome back travellers!!!

So far Bali has been wonderful. Lets explore some more today.

Last Day at Bali 

Water sports at Nusa Dua

On our last day, we decided to do some water sports - the popular ones are Parasailing, Jet Ski, Banana boat, Fly fish, Sea Walk.

The one that we found most interesting and we had not heard of it before is FlyFish.

In this they make you lay down in a boat and drag it through another boat and it flies in air for sometime and then back to water. It is quite a lot of fun.

You will get an idea by looking at the pic below -

 Uluwatu water temple

Then we made our way to the Uluwatu water temple. This is a most beautiful temple, perched at the edge of a cliff.

Look for yourself at its beauty -

Geger Beach -

We also visited a beach called the Geger beach

This completed our 4 day trip. But, wait , there's more in the next post!!

Wonderful Indonesia - Bali - Part 2

Welcome back travellers!!!

Lets continue on our journey in Bali.

Second day at Bali

Water Rafting at Telaja Waja

On our second day, we decided to go Water Rafting at Telaja Waja. The place where this is done is quite far from the areas where most of the hotels are. In fact most of the tourist places in Bali are quite far from the hotel areas and need around2-3 hrs of travel one-way.

As Bali is quite cheap, 1 INR = 120 Indonesian Rupiah approx at this time, we used to book taxis for 
the whole day(8hrs) at around 450,000 Indonesian Rupiah. We will give more info on this at the end of our series of post.

Water rafting packages are also offered for Ayung River, but Telaja Waja is more popular and it is about 2 hrs of fun-filled rafting. So, if you love rafting, this should be one on the list when you plan to visit Bali.

The evening was mostly spent playing at the beach. For those who like seafood, a seafood dinner at Jimabaran is quite popular and can be a good option.

Third day at Bali -

Kintamani Volacano, Mt Batur, Batur lake

On our third day, the plan was to visit Kintamani Volacano. It is an active volcano, and tourists hike across the Mount Batur, starting at 4 am to reach the top to see the sunrise. But we are not one of the early risers and at the same time wanted to hike, so we actually started the hike at 12 noon. It takes around 2 hrs to reach the top. There are around 2000 tourists in the morning but when we went there we were the only ones. There were some we met on our way down , who were climbing to camp at night at the top.
 Below is a picture of the Kintamani Volcano from a distant view point.

Up and close to the crater.

Tired as we were after the hike, we decided to eat in this beautiful floating lake restaurant. (Mt. batur lake)

And the best food that you can have is obviously Fish, Fish and more Fish!!!

On our way back, we stopped for the famous Bali coffee tasting. They explain you how Luwak coffee is made(Luwak is an animal). The story is quite interesting. But we are not spoiling the fun by telling it here :-)

Lets explore some more in our next post.

Till then, Keep travelling!!!

Wonderful Indonesia - Bali - Part 1

Hey Guys!!!

So, are you planning a trip to Bali? Then you have come to the right place.
Let the Travelling Duo guide you though our own experience of the beautiful Bali.

First things First !!! 

How did we get there?

Well, we boarded our flights from Mumbai. The airlines was Malindo airlines. Yeah, we know, even we hadn't heard of them before. They are a collaboration between the Malaysian and Indonesian airlines and offered the cheapest rates on the travel portals. And, of course the transit was at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was a long lay-over, 9 hrs from here and 20 hrs while returning back. But the travel lovers as we are, we were not discouraged by the long lay-overs but were excited as we saw that as an opportunity to explore the capital city of Malaysia.

Visa -

We are Indian citizens, and Indonesia offers visa-free entry for tourist purposes to Indian nationals for 30 days. So, for Bali, visa was not an issue for us.
But as we planned to explore KL as well on the transit, we had to apply for Malaysia tourist visa.
We were not sure if a transit visa is needed for Malaysia if someone doesn't want to leave the airport on their transit, but based on experience, it seemed that the transit visa is not needed.

Exploring Bali

We have to admit that we used to think that Bali is a city of Indonesia, but infact it is a province and its capital is Depansar. The international airport is Ngurah Rai International Airport, also known as Denpasar International Airport, and is located 13 km south of Denpasar.

First day at Bali

We travelled in April 2016 and it was quite hot in Bali. So, on our first day, we lazed around quite a bit in the morning. Our hotel was in the popular area of Kuta, and if you want to enjoy the night life in Bali, this is the place. The street had a series of Night clubs and at night time this was surely the coolest place to be at.
So, back to the first day, as it was already afternoon, we decided to visit the famous temples of Bali.
Bali is full of temples, in fact our taxi driver told us that 81% of the population in Bali is Hindu, though apart from Bali, the rest of Indonesia has predominantly Muslim population.

There are quite a number of very famous temples in Bali, but we decided to visit just a few of them.
The ones we were keen on were - The temple on the lake and the temple near the sea and the temple at the cliff.
So, for our first day we short listed on the Taman Ayun temple(mistakenly thought this was the one on the lake - it actually is Beratan temple) and Tanha Lot - this is the one near the sea.

We know you are already starting to feel bored reading this long narrative, so we have decided to regrab your attention by posting some wonderful photographs of these beautiful places -

Taman Ayun

Tanha Lot - 

The tourists flock here to see the sunset. Its an amazingly beautiful temple near the sea.

Hope you guys are enjoying this so far. Lets keep exploring this place in the Part 2 of this post.
Till then, Keep travelling!!!

Bon Voyage!

Hello,

This is a welcome post from us - the travelling duo. We are husband and wife, and we both love travelling. This blog will take you through our travel experiences, hopefully in a fun and entertaining way.

So, keep glued!!!

The Travelling Duo