Pichavaram

Pichavaram is the second largest mangrove forest in the world. The unique vegetation here has attracted a lot of tourists and movie makers here.

Solo roadtrip to Cuddalore

My first solo road trip to Cuddalore from Bangalore. Visited Silver beach in Cuddalore, Pichavaram mangrove forest, Chidambaram Nadarajar temple and the Poombuhar.

I started early from Bangalore and the road was good till Krishnagiri. From there the four-way road ends towards Tiruvannamalai. And the state of the road is really bad. The last time I was on this road was somewhere around 2014 and nothing has changed from then till now. The road is under construction and the lanes are shifted. No road signs, road ending abruptly etc.

After Tiruvannamalai, the road faces a different problem. There are a lot of houses just next to the road and these people use the road like there own personal space. Once I honked on a lady crossing the road with a pot and her reaction was epic. She had a thug life attitude as if I was honking at her while she is sleeping in her home peacefully.

The best thing about this road is it looks all green around. And as always when you blindly follow Google Maps without knowing the route it always surprises you. It took on a small road with sugarcane fields all around. The road was so narrow that only my car was able to pass on it.

Reached Cuddalore by afternoon and had lunch with my host. Took some rest and then the hit road again to visit the Silver beach in Cuddalore. As the sun set slowly, the beach started becoming so beautiful.

Had proper rest and planned to visit Pichavaram the next day. I wanted to visit Pichavarm for a long time now. But it was a total disappointment to me because I had huge expectations. After Pichavarm stopped at Chidambaram Natarajar temple.

Since I am living in Bangalore and most of the Tamil books are not yet available online, each time I visit Tamil Nadu, I take care to go book shopping the old way. I luckily found one book stall outside the temple. Stocked my shelves with 7 books. I am a shopaholic when it comes to books.

Our last stop on the trip was Poompuhar. It has a sad scene about this place. It's in complete ruins without any maintenance. As a taxpayer, it irritates when taxpayers money is thrown away like this.

Silver Beach

Silver Beach

Sunset @ Silver beach

Silver Beach

Sunset from the road

Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad was declared as India's first UNESCO heritage city. The old Ahmedabad is dotted with beautiful monuments and bird feeders. The Sabarmati river which runs through the city is well maintained and clean. I can only compare it with Coovam river of Chennai which stinks when we cross the river. The riverfront park is so nice and seeing people coming there at nights to relax was so relaxing.

Adalaj Stepwell

Sabarmati Ashram

I liked the way, the whole ashram is maintained. Sabarmati Ashram started by Gandhi at the river banks of Sabarmati river. I liked the narrative of the museum. There were questions like

• Why did Dandi March become a milestone in the national struggle against British colonialism?
• Who took over the leadership after Gandhiji's arrest?
• Did Gandhiji settle in favor of the mill owners?

Sabarmati Riverfront

One of the amazing things I witnessed in Ahmedabad is the Sabarmati riverfront. All I would do was compare it with Chennai's own Coovam river.

National Handloom

Fashion Street