Weekend gateways from Chennai!

As my Chennai rendezvous continues, lemme write about few of my favorite weekend getaways from chennai!

 Mahabalipuram:

Its rare for you to go to chennai and not visit Mahabalipuram or Mahabas as chennaites love to call it. The place is 60 km south of Chennai, and this 7th century historic town and was once a bustling seaport during the ancient era and also is a UNESCO world heritage site, famous for its rock cut shore temples and the lone light house on top of the hill.

The resorts I recommend:

The exquisite Radisson BLU resort Temple bay is the one to look for. The staff is extremely friendly and takes good care of you, try the delicious pastas at their restaurant The Wharf, simply amazing!

Radisson BLU Resort Temple Bay.

Radisson BLU Resort Temple Bay.

Tranquebar:

Tranquebar or Tarangambadi as it is commonly known as is a small township famous for its culture and heritage and is a short drive away from Chennai. The township is of historical importance and was a part of Chola and Pandya kingdom, later Danish East India company took over the township with the construction of Dansborg fort; every brick and soul of the town speaks about the ancient Danish aspirants in India.

The resorts I recommend:

The Bungalow by the beach: The bungalow by the beach faces the mighty Bay of Bengal on the other side and makes you feel you are in some other country. Words won't be enough to do justice to the place and its beauty! watch out for yourself.

Bungalow by the Beach.

One of the rooms.

 Pondicherry:

It would be shame on anybody's part staying in chennai and have not visiting Pondicherry. This beautiful french colonial union territory doesn't need any introduction neither I am gonna write any.

The resorts I recommend:
Villa Bayoud Sea View Heritage hotel: You can gaze endlessly at the sea sitting in the balcony and sipping wine.The property speaks of their french ancestry from every corner and the food served at their sea facing restaunt is lovely! More than anything you will love this hotel for its ambiance. Fun, food,wine and sea!

Villa Bayoud Sea View Heritage Hotel

Pondicherry for me will be incomplete without a visit to the le cafe, a sea facing french restro cafe, the food isn't great or something but the ambiance, "hold the hands of that special person, don't say a word and just stare at the sea"!

Le cafe!

Yercaud:  

This quiet hill station on the shevaroy hills has an aura of its own. Apt for an weekend gateway, this beautiful town is full of waterfalls, coffee plantations and plenty of outdoor activities to keep you busy.

The resorts I recommend: Its surprising to find Grand Palace Hotel and Spa at such a small place and I must say they are doing an amazing job!

View from the hotel.

Grand Palace Hotel and Spa

Ciao!

A foodie in Chennai!

Cchhennai(as SRK pronuances) was the city which offered me the very first job of my career and like any "straight-out-of-the-college-kiddo", I also boarded Chennai express and landed in this religiously, mysterious city, much to the dismay of my friends who thought I am sending myself to Kalapani! Anyways!

The moment I landed, I was in for a rude shock! Some of the free advices of my friends were indeed true! The city was completely different from what I had imagined as compared to a metropolitan city(I was previously in Bangalore so you can understand) and it all looked quite traditional and religious. I cursed myself, Miss over-smarty, what will you do now?! The word by word description of chennai by Chetan bhagat in 2 states were floating in my mind! Holy crap!

I paused for some days! I had a new job in hand and it would be an absolute stupidity in the time of recession to resign immediately and go back to Bangalore! so I decided to watch things for a month and take call accordingly. I was mentally prepared for the heavenly boring life ahead!

Chennai had other plans for me!

The day I joined my office I had meet these two awesome personalities(both of you, yeah you know I am talking about you!) who sensed my discomfort, sympathized me with me and promised to make me feel better! And the coming days became memories to cherish forever!
If you are going to this city for the very first time, don't worry, the city has lots to offer and you certainly wont be disappointed.

These two friends of mine showed me the other side of chennai not known to the rest of the world! I like to call myself "slapster foodie" and can't eat the same dish for the second time! though I love the humble idli and dosa, the world famous punchline "you only get Idli dosa in chennai and nothing else", did scare me a bit! My friends sensed my worries and made me realize it not the case. though they were heavenly amused to see a girl gollping copious amount of sugar in the name of Jalebis in Sahukarpet and the other one, well he is a classic case! he hunts for biryani in a chinese restaurant! he never understood why people talk about food all the time!God bless him!

So, just in case you are also like me, who dream about food all the time, I know my blog is at your rescue.Hold your breath and visit all the places I have mentioned, I bet you will love it!

The only city without any party deadline is chennai! yes! it is the only city without any 11.00 am party deadline like Bangalore or other cities. you can party all night! and the beach parties are to die for! try out for yourself!

The city has something to suit everyone's taste and  serves a wide array of international cuisines, Italian, Continental, Chinese or apna Indian! Try the traditional chettinad chicken delicacies or the beach side snacks at Beseant nagar beach! its heavenly to just sit on the sea shore and cherish "chrispy mirchi bhajji" and "onion pakkodas". There are lots on your plate than the simple idli dosa, if you still don't find anything login to zomato or burpp! its that easy!

When this travelcoholic cum foodolcoholic is taking about food, lemme suggest few of my favorite restaurants.

Tuscana Pizzeria serves the best Italian food in town especially Pizzas! mouth watering! you can gorge on them endlessly.

The perfectly thin crust pizzas at Tuscana Pizzeria.

Chinatown, Cascade and Mainland China serves delicious Chinese cuisines!(Indo-Chinese actually, who eats authentic chinese in India?!) the fried icecream at cascade and chilli lambs at chinatown are a must try!

Fried icecream at Cascade.

If you are someone from from northern part of the country(I hate to use the term north indian-south indian, sounds so racist!) and missing the tadka dal, butter chicken, palak panner and the endless butter made dishes, Zaica,Copper Chimney,Pind and The great Kabbab factory at Raddison Blu are your best bet! the hot gulab jamuns at Zaica still makes me so dreamy! :-)

Jakob's kitchen, Dakshin at Park Sheraton, Anjappar, Dindigul Thalappakatti, Kaaraikudi express are well known for the authentic south indian and chettinad cusinies and their Biryanis are on the not-to-be-missed-list.

Chettinad chicken biryani

Sarvana Bhawan and Muragan Idly shop deserves a mention if you are looking for a traditional breakfast with the filter Kappi!

Wanna grab a beer with friends or party?! Head to Fusion 9, 10 Downing street, Zara, Auqa and Pasha at The Park are few of the alcohol serving restaurants.
P.S. Alcohol is not served openly in Chennai and is governed by strict regulations. Yeah, its a huge setback to any city in the year 2013.

The foodie in me will take about food all day and night! need to take a break now, to gorge on some more food may be!

The chennai rendevous will still continue.

Ciao!....:-)

Travel diaries-pondicherry!

Le Cafe, a sea facing restaurant-Soul soothing!

Yummy chocolate factory!

One of the dream houses!

Beach!

Random beauty!

Don't think too much, just go!

ok guys, this is our debut blog! wish us luck!

Travelcoholic was born as a result of my boredom!(life+job). I was a confused kid, didn't knew what was I doing in life! the question why are you doing this in particular roli, fetch me no answers! I was a lost child!
One fine day I decided to give a shot to entrepreneurship! don't get too excited, the company never made profit, and it bombed! too much ideation, passion, money and energy went into streetseven but I guess it wasn't the right time! no excuses, I failed!

Tired and dejected, I was sitting in my room, staring at the fan, I thinking of going somewhere out off the town as I desperately needed a break! but where should I go? with whom? most importantly what about the budget(I had the last few pennies left in the account).

Wish I had a travel company I could have earned and roamed wherever I want! and make new friends!Suddenly a tubelight flashed in my mind, why can't I start one now?!

Bingo! what was I doing all these days! I kind of slapped myelf! I love to travel, have seen almost every part of the country,from jaipur to arunachal, from shimla to kanyakumari, I have seen it all! why didnt this idea came to me before?! As someone has rightly said its never too late for whatever you want to do, I took some time to streamline the idea and finally launched "Travelcoholic".

So what do we do?! we take you out of your monotonous life! office, presentations, home, meetings, kids, boss,loans and blah blah! we have so many priorities in life which keeps us busy "always"!!!we get so lost in fulfilling our social priorities that we forget our bucket list! Yes, everyone of us has a secret bucket list isn't it!I want to go here, go there,do this do that! why aren't we doing it?! we just have one life! there so much to see and discover than just sitting in that air conditioned office!

That's where "Travelcoholic" come in! our job is to inspire you to break the monotony of life and go for that trip of lifetime! a place you so long cherished to go! Just drop us a mail to us and rest is our headache! the only thing you have to do is apply for your leave!(that we cant manage)!

So what are you thinking?! drop in your mails at roli.2787@gmail.com or call us at 8105353546.

Don't think too much, just go!.....:-)