theladywanderer

Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple - Uncover this ancient temple at the base of Nandi Hills It was a regular lousy Sunday on a weekend and suddenly we (family of enthusiastic travelers) decided to go on a long drive around Bangalore not more than 4-5 hours and return back same day. One of my good friend cum trek enthusiast had been on a Nandi hills trek previous weekend and had told me about this beautiful temple which is at the base of the hill. So without a second thought, we set off on a long drive to visit this temple and it was really worth it. Distance from Bangalore to this place is around 60 km, which might take around 1.5-2 hours by car (one-way journey). We had started immediately after lunch and were there by 3:30 PM. Drive until Nandi hills is a known route for everyone. However, once you reach the junction to take left to Nandi hills, drive straight on national highway and you can put on google maps now, which will take you right outside temple. This is a temple located in Nand

Its monsoon time of the year. My favorite season as nature will be at its best – the slopes and mountains covered with lavish greenery, lakes flooding with muddy rain water, and the waterfalls turn glorious due to ample rains.  Unfortunately, we are locked down at home and cannot venture out to enjoy the same as we all are braving through a tough pandemic. While working at home as I peep through the window of my home, I watch rains with strong chilly winds, nose buds get alerted with the mud smell and trees swaying in this beautiful phenomenon of nature. All this was indeed provoking me to write something on monsoon.  My last monsoon diary was on Jog Falls which is indeed the best place to visit during monsoons in Karnataka. At this time of the year, I could think of yet another best monsoon trips I had with my family few years back– Paithalmala. But back then I hadn’t started my journey into travel blogging hence didn’t pen it down. Its time now  J . Paithalmala Hill Station is one

Our last day of porting was at Port Klang, Malaysia. Port Klang is a town and main gateway to sea into Malaysia. In fact, it is one of the largest ports in the country. While getting down from the ship, we could see huge trailers parked in the dockyard just like what I had seen in movies. We had to walk a bit to reach bus parking lot. Here again just like Langkawi, many tourist buses were parked and lot of tourists were there. It took some time for us to spot our Chariot tour bus. Finally we found our bus and hopped onto it to commence on Kuala Lumpur City tour. Batu Caves This was the first spot of the day. This is a hill hosting a series of caves and cave temples within. Its name is derived from the Malay word Batu meaning “rock”. This cave is also one of most popular Hindu Shrines here dedicated to Lord Murugan. You can see long tall standing gold plated statue of Lord Murugan from a far off distance. Another important part that will catch your eye are the colorful steps to wa

We woke up today and observed that Costa Fortuna was already docked up at Swettenham Pier in Penang.  Just like any other day, we freshened up, had breakfast and started walking along with rest of the people outside the Pier.  Our group was waiting for us and once all had gathered we started walking towards our tour bus. We were introduced to our pretty tour guide who was very enthusiastic in showing us around Penang. We were told that today’s tour also will be for approximately around 5 hours since we need to head back to ship by 3 PM. Penang is a beautiful state in Malaysia. Penang is mainly famous for George Town which is a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for the graffiti’s/street arts on the walls. Our guide told us that she will try her best to cover prominent places in this speculated time and we started walking towards to bus. We passed by very famous Penang's clock tower. Wat Chayamangkalaram This is one of the famous Thai Buddhist temple in George Town, Penang.  As y