Moments

A trip in Karnataka during monsoon is challenging with incessant rains, minor landslides and damaged roads. Last time we did something like this was a trip to Chikmanglur in 2018. This year we were determined to do it again, despite similar weather predictions. However it turns out completely different this time. Let's jump into the first leg of the trip in this blog - Sakleshpur. Sakleshpur is a hill town in the Western Ghats, famous for numerous coffee plantations. So the choice of stay is invariably inside a plantation. There are tons of choices with wide variety - from homestay to resorts and wide price ranges - from budget friendly to luxurious. Our destination this time was a lovely resort Rosetta by Ferns. It is located midway between Hassan and Sakleshpur. Ah! there is a back story on why we chose this place. Should I talk about it here? Probably a whole blog dedicated to the journey from Bangalore to Rosetta. Read it here . So back to the topic - Rosetta by Ferns Sakleshpu

 Travelling on Indian railways was an annual affair for me during my school days. And that became more frequent during college days before the onset of cheap airfares and proliferation of airports all across India. After relocating to Malaysia, flights became a norm and train journeys were becoming a nostalgic past to cherish. So this year's India vacation was dedicated to train journeys. Apart from Vande Bharat Express, high speed train and the latest fanfare of Indian Railways, we were going to take half a dozen trains this month. One amongst them is a tourist attraction called "Vista dome" coach. Vista dome coach is an Executive chair car with lot of fancy features added to uplift the travel experience. To start with, the chairs can rotate 180 degrees. So you can sit facing the way the train is going, or turn around completely to sit face to face with fellow travellers. Even better is that you can turn half way and sit facing the extra large glass windows and admire th