The wedding in India was just perfect. It was the onset of the monsoon season but i had blast with the cool winds and the almost non-existent sun, which was a relief coming from Dubai. The worst part about Bengaluru was the traffic. Let me put this in perspective now, a 40km trip took about 4 hrs. The hotel was not that far, but the traffic was horrendous. We were in the car for a better part of the day, longer than the flight from Dubai! This kinda cut into the sightseeing time! The kinds of food that we had during the wedding was just exemplary (not the right word, but can't think of the right one!). They served us breakfast, lunch and dinner on banana leaves which is the traditional way of eating the food. It was just perfect. All vegetarian food which, never once, made me miss the non-vegetarian food. 3 days later, it was time to fly down to cochin, on my first ever Indian low-cost carrier experience - Indigo! It was an experience to say the least! Enjoyed every moment, most probably due to the new aircraft i guess :) - there, thats the aviation geek in me kicking in, as i derail from the write-up at hand...
Upon landing in Cochin, the sun was striking down with no clouds in sight, yet there was a nice breeze which made it cool & comfortable. The ride to Kanjripally (where we would be staying) was about 4 hours, through the mountainous & narrow roads. It was just perfect! Natural waterfalls, greenery and then, the mist and the fog as we ascended into the mountains. We would be staying with family friends, who had a huge house in a farm, in the middle of the mountains! Again an experience not to be missed, there were trees all around, different plantations... Rubber trees, vegetable plantations... oh and the insects all around. Saw the unique touch-me-know plants, which upon touching, curl up and close. Also saw the glow-in-the-dark insects which was pretty cool. Had a lot of different kinds of food, including the famous Kerela fish curry which was spicy, as their speciality!! Also went on the House Boats which was really nice.
Finally, it was time to go towards Hydarabad! A city, with not a lot of traffic. I was impressed with the new airport. There was a lot of things to do in Hydarabad, but for me, it was time to relax there! Not to do a lot of things - except shop! Fun shopping time there. We were there for a very short time. Anyways, soon enough it was time to come back to Dubai, which i was dreading but had to come back to reality.
All in all, the trip to India was different, lots of good food and lots and lots of new things that i saw!
