The Chronicles of Travelling Sisters—Panchgani

This year is going to be all about travelling, seeing places, and visiting folks. My sister and I were due for a break and our first thought was Goa. But then later, we remembered ‘Panchgani’! Yes, that place has sweet memories for both of us. (Church camps and sweet fellowship!) And my birthday was near, so we were like, “Why not?” And off we packed our bags and left for Panchgani early Saturday morning with great excitement!

Panchgani is a hill station not far from Pune and takes about 2 hours to reach by car. We took the bus and we landed in Panchgani a bit later than usual, thanks to a small adventure on the way. (That’s for another post.)

We had made reservations in a place called ‘Eco camp’ owned by a couple. This place is beautiful, nestled near the edge of a cliff. It is covered with greenery and bright flowers. You can see the hills at a distance and the valley (if I may call it) and a lake. You have the option to stay in a tent or in cottage room for 500 rupees per night! We opted for the room.

The market is close by and we walked to take a look at this quiet place that I have come to love. Panchgani is famous for chikki, jams, syrups, and peanuts. Well, when we reached the market, we bought as much stuff as possible home. J

For us, it was a perfect weekend gateway. The beauty mingled with silence was magical. It was so good to be away from the fast-paced life and take in God’s creation. We sat on the bench that evening and watched the sun set behind the hills. We woke up early next morning to witness the sunrise but missed it because we were busy feeding the house dog! :P

After breakfast, we packed our bags to return to Pune with our minds refreshed, our hearts grateful to God for His creation, and with a renewed perspective about the necessities of life!

Thought I’d end this post with these verses from the Bible:

“I will extol You, my God and King, and bless Your name forever and ever.

 Every day I will bless You and praise Your name forever and ever.

 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.” Psalm 145:1-3

The Chronicles of Travelling Sisters—Bangalore

This post is first in the series of many posts that will follow. My sister and I always dreamed about going to different places, exploring cities, and meeting family and friends we know of. Initially, it was all talk, talk, and talk. Finally, one day, we did pack our bags and began our journey, a series I will call, ‘The Chronicles of Travelling Sisters.’

Our first destination was Bangalore. Located in our dear home state, Karnataka, we booked our tickets to this city one month prior to our departure. We traveled by KSRTC Airavat Club class and boy, was it a cool ride. It took us 14 hours to reach Bangalore. But, it took us an hour to enter the city itself.

Let me tell you, this city is enormous and well populated. We reached the Majestic circle as it was the final stop. Public transport is pretty decent and within 15 minutes we were in a local bus on route to another part of the city.

One thing I noticed was the many number of colleges and churches. Every place seemed to have a college and a church neatly tucked in. You either had places called as Bannergatta road or Bommanahalli or something like Cox Town or Frazer Town. The difference is striking.

There were parts of Bangalore that immediately reminded me of Pune. But compared to Pune, everything in Bangalore is huge and big. Another thing I noticed was the n number of Cafe Coffee Day outlets. They had CCD lounges out there. Ok. That was something new for me.

Travelling in the city at peak hours is maddening. Since, I experienced it firsthand; it was amazing to notice the amount of time it took to travel from one part of the city to another. Folks here keep a buffer time of one hour when travelling. Lesson learnt: I will not complain about the traffic in Pune.

Food here is fantastic. Christmas night, we went out for dinner with our family friends to a famous steak place. Wow, the flavours were superb! The portions—enormous and the ambience—homey. 

One place that needs mention is the Electronics city, a huge IT hub. I was impressed with the amount of IT companies situated in that part of town. Not to mention the security backup for these companies. There is a long stretch of flyover (about 9 kms and more) that connects Electronics city to Bangalore. You can cut much traffic travelling on that bit of road.

Krispy Kreme: How can I forget this place? Thanks to our dear friends who took us there. This place is famous for doughnuts. I usually don’t use this word, but the doughnuts were ‘awesome’.

Before we wound up, we walked through the famous M.G. Road and drove through Brigade Road. By the time, we reached Majestic circle to board the bus back home; my sister and I were pretty satisfied, though a bit tired.

Next stop, I guess will be Mumbai. That is one place I want to explore.