Scotland

Booked ticket on the coach (bus) for the journey (10 hours) from London Victoria to Edinburgh and for the local commute; in and around Edinburgh and Loch ness, hired a car from Edinburgh. It was a 3 day visit to Scotland.

Authur's seat - Edinburgh

Spend our first day in Edinburgh town which is the oldest town in Scotland by visiting mirror obscura (http://www.camera-obscura.co.uk) where you can experience all kind of mirror illusion, the royal mile, earth museum and Arthur's seat - A popular trekking site in the center of the city and provides excellent panoramic views of the city. It is relatively easy to climb; unfortunately we did not trek to the top due to lack of time.

Snow capped mountain Scotland

Second day, we started from Edinburgh around 7:50 am and via Blair castle (www.atholl-estate.co.uk) reached Loch ness at 12 and our first stop was at the Loch ness center and exhibition (www.lochness.com) . Spend about an hour before visiting the Jacobite fleet (www.jacobite.co.uk) for a 2 hour cruise down the loch. The cruise (cost 20 pounds) include 30 minutes boat ride, 1 hour castle visit and 30 minutes ride back. The Urquhart castle stands as mostly destroyed one with a information center build to provide visitors a chance to see a documentary about the castle history. 

The day was pleasant sunny day with temperature reaching up to 19 degree centigrade which made our trip exciting. Finally, we drove back to Edinburgh for the night; enjoying the view of snow capped mountains on the way.

Submarine at Lock ness Visitor center

Day three: What can one do on a chilly cold Monday morning in Scotland? I don’t know what would be your choice; we decided to head straight for the scotch whiskey experience (www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk) where one can know about whiskey history, preparation, different distillery types in Scotland (highland, inland...) and get to see an impressive whiskey collections, and finally enjoy whiskey sampling (Single Malt, Grain and Blended Scotch Whiskies). 

Edinburgh Castle

After our lunch at the Thai orchid restaurant, which is near the castle entrance, spend 2-3 hours visiting the Edinburgh castle. It was beautiful castle where one can visit governor house, national war museum, crown square, dog cemetery and St. Margret’s chapel which is quite popular with locals - many wedding happen here; can accommodate max of 25 people. One can also witness one o' clock gun.

Brighton, England

Brighton Beach

When we felt the good English summer may not last long, decided to head to one of the UK's top attractions - Brighton Beach. For decades it remains as one of the main attraction, so obviously for many reason as Brighton offers miles of beautiful pebble coast with a abundance of clubs, bars and restaurants.

Near Brighton Visitor Center

From London Bridge Station to Brighton Beach Station it took 1 hour & 20 min and 10 pounds for a return ticket, which is quite cheap during peak summer.  Brighton beach is 10 minute walk from Brighton train station.

If you are one of those, who enjoys shopping, visiting restaurant on a busy tourist place, or enjoy the fish and chips - traditional UK food, you will feel you are on the right place as you will see wide variety of options to satisfy your taste buds.

Royal Pavilion, Brighton

After spending few hours in the beach, visited the Royal Pavilion, which is a former royal residence located near the Brighton beach. It is built in the Indo-Saracenic style, which is prevalent in India for most of the 19th century.


Narrow shopping lane, Brighton

After lunch, experienced an enjoyable stroll through the narrow busy streets and in the evening hour, visited the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, which is located in the Royal Pavilion gardens.  It has rich collections exhibits and is free, so it is definitely worth a visit.


Street View - Brighton

Apart from the beach, Brighton offers a wide range options to spend a whole day including Brighton Toy Model Museum, Royal Pavilion and Brighton Pier - which offers restaurants, kids games and funfair.

Brighton, England

Stonehedge , UK

Stonehedge on Summer Day

On a fine English summer weekend, took a Southeast train from Waterloo station in London to Salisbury which goes via Vaxhall, Clapham Jn., Woring and Andover (pay 16 pounds for the 1 hour and 30 min one way ride).  A light shower welcomed us at Salisbury and after quick refreshment took a tour bus from Salisbury railway station to Stonehedge.  Bus tour bus ticket cost another 20 pounds, which included pass to Stonehedge and Old Sarum castle.

The bus ride (30 min) took us to a vast green meadow with few large standing stone forming a big circle in the middle of nowhere. So if you are one of those who just landed there with no interest in history, you will be disappointed for sure. But if you are explorer or history freak, you will appreciate the historic place. Nothing to say more about Stonehenge as it draws people from all over the world and there are many many stories about the significance of Stonehenge from astronomical observatory to sacred rituals linked to sun. But all that is known for sure is it evolved from a simple bank and ditches in Neolithic period some 5000 years ago to sophisticated stone circle.  So I will leave to you, to choose the story you wish to believe.

Stonehedge Tour Bus

On the lighter side, I was again reinforced that British loves curry as out of 4 or 5 lunch options at Stonehedge, there was rice with chicken curry with mushroom and green pepper. It is very hard to explain what food taste like when you get to eat something steaming hot between the summer afternoon showers. The yummy lunch at Stonehedge was priceless.

Old Sarum Castle remains

On our way back to Salisbury, spend two hour in Old Sarum, where one could see the remains of destroyed castle and destroyed cathedral, which is considered as mother church of huge diocese.  Once a busy town and latter abandoned due to lack of water and squabbles between church and military led to building of a new settlement by the river now known as Salisbury.

In front of Salisbury cathedral

In the evening hours visited Salisbury cathedral, a 13th century cathedral (www.salisburycathedral.org.uk) and which has Britain’s tallest spire; 123m. It also has one of the four surviving original magna carta. Happiness filed me when I came out of most beautiful cathedra and one which is considered the largest in Britain. After cathedral visit spend time in Salisbury, walking the market place, high street which had number small vegetable, fruit, flower vendor along side Chinese/Indian/Tai restaurant, Starbucks/Nero coffee shop, blockbuster and BH stores.

Original Magna Carta

At the end of the day, had a sense of being in a nice and quiet country side after being in busy London for some time.

Matanga Hill, Hampi

Vittala Temple

In December, had a chance to trek to Matanga Hill in Hampi, which was once the glorious capital of the mighty Vijayanagara Empire. The trek to the top of the hill was truly rewarding as it provide a breath taking view of the Hampi landscape. The flow of Tungabhadra in the hilly terrain, the rugged boulders and the ruined city of Vijayanagara among the lush green plantation is truly inspiring.



Boat ride Anegundi - Hampi

Most visitors prefers to stay in Hospet during their visit to Hampi as it satisfies the accommodation, food and road connectivity needs, but we preferred to stay in Anegundi a small and quite village on the banks of Tungabhadra.  From Anegundi we crossed the Tungabhadra River (at Talarikatta) in the small motor boat, to reach the Vittala Temple.  The short ride took 5 minutes and costed Rupees 10 per person (boat service available from morning 7 a.m. to evening 6 p.m.).  After spending an hour at Vittala Temple, a short walk took us to King’s balance, where one could see 12 Foot granite pillars with pair of stone rings to accommodate large scales. Here the kings of Vijayanagara on certain occasions, used to weigh himself with gold and precious stones, and distributed them to the priests. Going further, we reached Purandradasar Mandapam which is located at the banks of Tungabhadra overseeing the Anjandri Hill, where we had our first break. Sitting in the mandapam with cold river water flowing over our feet felt like heaven for the next 30 minutes. Finally we crossed few more small temples to reach the Achyutaraya Temple, which is also known as Tiruvengalanatha temple, located at the foot of the Matanga Hill.

Purandradasar Mandapam

Destroyed Temple entrance situated on the way to Matanga Hill

The trek to the top of the hill is bit challenging as there is no clear pathway or sign boards, directing us to take turns, but we were able to make it to the top in an hour. After enjoying the breath taking view of Hampi, we trekked down, to visit the Kodandarama Temple and Yantrodharaka Anjaneya Temple, where one can see Hanuman in a meditative or prayer position. Both the temple are so close to the  Tungabhadra that during peak monsoon season, the locals say,  the river water rises and sometimes reaches up to the temple courtyard.

Matanga Hill

 

View of Achyutaraya Temple

We came across locals and many foreigners especially people from Europe, during our trek to Matanga Hill and some recommended us to stay and watch the awesome sunset at Matanga Hill as we were heading down.

View of Virupaksha Temple

View of Achyutaraya Temple Tank or Pushkarani

Next we spend an hour riding in Tungabhadra river in a locally made boats are called Parisal (handmade round shaped Bamboo ferry). Finally we re-energized our self with tender coconut water drink before heading back to Anegundi for our night stay.

Parisal (Round Boat made out of Bamboo)

Trek Cost

Rupees 10 per person for one way boat ride to cross Tungabhadra (Anegundi – Hampi)
Rupees 10 per person to visit Vittala Temple
Rupees 10 per tender coconut
Rupees 150 per person for Parisal ride in Tungabhadra

Trek Duration

Anegundi - Matanga Hill - Anegundi approximately 6 hours.