Travel Startups in India

I was there at a startup saturday a couple of weeks back in Bangalore. One of my friends started a company called MoneyBulb and the main idea was to go there as an advocate of my friend's company.
I enjoyed the few hours that I stayed there and got to meet exciting people with a lot of exciting ideas. Something that struck me was a lot of pitches from travel startups.  No doubt this is one of the most exciting and growing industries in India.
Whether it is the number of foreign tourist arrivals in India or the Indian tourists themselves, the whole scenario is undergoing rapid change.
First we got to hear about Mygola.com. This company recently got some focus because they won some initial funding for their startup. Mr Prateek Sharma , one of the founders of the company described how it all started and clicked for them. While this company is mostly focused on international travels and international customers, but it is a core startup from India.

Then we heard a nice talk from Mr Niranjan Gupta, the founder of via.com. Being a seasoned entrepreneur and having owned travel companies in the past , he provided a really insightful view into the travel industry. He mentioned how he has been involved mostly in the concept building while delegating the operations or backend coding or technology related stuff to others. Understanding of customers and their needs was the crux of his talk. His new and latest startup is called Trip38. No, I did not ask him why 38 ?

Next there was a very crazy kind of entrepreneur of Exploreall . WAIT !
Do not click that link because it seems his domain is taken over. Anyways, the idea was confusing. As a young entrepreneur he did a lot of stuff , and he wanted to showcase Andhra Pradesh and its tourist destinations and a lot of other stuff too. While the main idea was fine there was a lot of clutter and since we already have a lot of details on tourist places of Andhra Pradesh it was not clear what problem he was addressing.

There were a couple of startups focusing on the women travelers of the 21st century. The first one was Beautiful Journey. If you open their website you will see its really beautifully done. So the first impression goes well. In fact a detailed look shows the itineraries are also very nice, photos are delightful and refreshing. Even Shopping Options are mentioned. I hope this startup clicks well with its customer base. Of course the main part of any travel startup is the actual travel and the real experiences will soon spread by word of mouth to potential customers.

If that was a niche , here is another one called F5 Escapes. While the naming is clever and some neat Logo design , this one appears to be more under construction. Come on - we need more options to browse through. It also appears its mostly for short trips. Itinerary design needs work. In fact the one I opened , the itinerary was shorter than the inclusions,exclusions,refunds/cancellation etc. A definite turn away. I hope this improves.

A word of advice for both these niche startups was to expand the customer base to couples too. [ Not my advice]

One of the best ones was Trip Thirsty . Feeling thirsty for a trip ?? Well this is the link to go to. The founders have crafted a set of trips that are offbeat and will make you sweat. It includes adventure activities and trekking. The website is very nice and clutter free. I liked the concept of  who is going and who has done it. Although I feel a redesign is on the way because Icon based websites become difficult to browse with more content. However this niche will have some competition from the likes of Great Indian Outdoors. The founders mentioned a couple of names which I forgot. But I feel many companies can easily move in to this space.

Finally , there was some nice talk about B2B Travel and Hospitality. This link will take you to a facebook page. This mostly deals with responsibility and entrepreneurs should definitely be part of it. Even normal and frequent travelers and people in administration should take a look. Last year I had also mentioned something similar in a blog 'Traveling with Responsibility'.
I would be also be very happy to understand how Bali receives more tourists than Goa from a similar perspective.

Well that was all that I came to know from the Startup Saturday. However today I came across Plan My Travel. You will find a lot of travel ninjas here who will probably give you expert guidance and itinerary details where you want to travel. It seems a bit overwhelming at the moment with too many dollar ($) signs which clearly indicate its for foreign travelers. The Facebook group seems nice and I really liked the blog here on Sunderbans.

Finally I should certainly mention YellowLeg. The main business seems to be information on travel related books and helping to plan for travel. There are a lot of travel mavens and experts. The website is quite confusing but there is certainly a lot of information. The concept of travel ninjas are present here as well.

Kicks and Comments welcome.

Shivanasamudra and Male Mahadeshwara - Day Trip from Bangalore

A few weeks back we decided to make a short day trip to a local sightseeing spot called 'Shivanasamudra Waterfalls'.
This year with plenty of rains in this part of Karnataka, we were expecting a wonderful sight. The Shivanasamudra falls is actually made up of two waterfalls on the Cauvery River. One is called 'Ganaganchukki' and the other one is called 'Bharachukki'. We went to the Gaganachukki waterfalls directly because we did not really figure out how to go towards Bharachukki falls.

The first sight on the way towards the Shivanasamudra island was breathtaking. We stopped by to click a few snaps near the old broken bridge. It was almost flooded everywhere and the speed of the gushing water beneath was something to experience.

 Crossing the river by car from where the old bridge is visible.

 

Walking on the old bridge.

Soon we were in the nice parking lot of the 'Gaganchukki' waterfalls. This place is infested with monkeys and hence avoid all kinds of food.

The first view of the waterfalls is mesmerizing. With a lot of rainfall , the whole area was buzzing with the sound of water and the force of the waterfalls was something to enjoy. The area is now safely enclosed with guard rails and seating arrangements.

I clicked a few snaps from my mobile camera and enjoyed the splendor for a while.

 It was already a bit late and starting to feel hungry we decided to go to a nearby town Kollegal.
After lunch since there was a lot of time for us to spend we decided to visit the Male Mahadeshwara temple .It is situated at the top of a hill called 'Male Mahadeshwarabetta' . It is infact a very pleasant drive from Kollegal towards Kowdahalli and then to the temple.

The place is quite serene and with forests around its a very nice drive. The only aspect which pained me was that tourists visiting the temple or traveling in this area threw bananas to monkeys sitting near the roads. Probably they wanted to get some quick blessings from the gods ,but little do they realize that they are endangering the lives of the animals. The monkeys attracted by the bananas jump on the road to collect the food and vehicles going uphill or downhill have to show real good driving skills to avoid accidents.

Once inside Mahadeshwarabetta , forest entry fees have to be paid.  We just went around to visit the temple. It was a normal Saturday afternoon, hardly any crowd and quite nice. We left our footwear in the car ,parked it nearby and walked to the temple.

A very nice temple to visit especially if there is less crowd.

By the time we came out it was already evening. We drove down the hills of Mahadeshwarabetta and to Kanakpura. Evening time Kanakpura town was a very sleepy town with hardly any traffic.
We reached Bangalore early enough to grab dinner at a local chinese restaurant. A nice way to end the day.

Monsoon Road Trip of Western Ghats - 2013

Just like 2012 we planned to go on a Monsoon trip to the Western Ghats this year with my friend. The itinerary was like this.  
Itinerary
Bangalore -> Hassan -> Sringeri -> Agumbe -> Udupi
Udupi -> Agumbe -> Thirthahalli ->Bhadravathi ->Tiptur -> Channarayapattna -> Bangalore

Vehicle Details
Visa D90 features like fog lights, defogger ,AC etc.
Kilometres - 960 , approx 1/4 th of the distance in AC


Day 1: Friday
Starting off on a Friday evening ,we reached Nelamangala via NICE road very quickly. Once we were onto the Nelamangala-Mangalore highway (a toll road) it was very smooth sailing. In spite of some heavy showers during this stretch the lights on the road and the overall excellent road condition helped us to spped upto 150 kmph on my friend's Vista D90. This was his new car (just few months old) and I realized the great comfort of the this hatchback model.

The Bangalore Mangalore Highway from Nelamangala

With some great music on the car sound system and great roads we reached Channarayapatna in almost no time. But from this part the the roads were under construction and it was a bit difficult to drive. My friend Mrinmoy drove the whole way upto Hassan and we reached Hassan pretty quickly just around 9 PM. We decided to stay in Hassan for the night as it was necessary to get some good rest before the extreme test of Saturday on the ghats.

We found an excellent hotel called Sri Krishna Hotel at a reasonable price to checkin for the night.
It was already a bit late for dinner and we wanted to have some non vegetarian food so we headed out to seek a non-veg restaurant. We tried our luck at a nearby one and had a decent dinner.

Day 2: Saturday

Next morning we woke up a bit late , as it was cloudy and rainy outside. but soon the skies cleared and by the time we got ready for breakfast it was a beautiful day. Sri Krishna offers free breakfast along with lodging. Although there was very little variety and limited quantity it was a good hearty breakfast. We were happy to see that someone washed the car in the parking spot immediately on check out. But we had to pay around 50Rs as tips on too much nagging about the car washing. And that was the end of Hassan. I keyed in my friend's car for the first time to drive a bit. I was a bit amazed to see some of the new features offered in this car.
Soon thereafter we headed for Sringeri, a temple town that is nestled quietly at the entrance of the main mountain range. It was indeed a picturesque drive through some great roads. The abundance of greenery was particularly very appealing to the eye. 

Long Beautiful Route to Sringeri

I drove at a very modest pace because there were many twists and turns and too many places to stop to take some pictures. The rain filled up the lakes and the rivers and the crops on the fields against the blue sky is too much of beauty to capture in a camera. 

My friend's D 90

The route is too beautiful to describe

Vast Meadows

Beautiful Villages on the way

Who wants to stay in School. Its time to run away

 We reached Sringeri just a bit around lunch time. Its a small town which is quite nice except the main market area near the temple which is very crowded. We managed to get a decent restaurant and have some strange biriyani and then we drove off. We left the temple visit for our next trip.
Sringeri onwards my friend took over and we drove towards Agumbe.

The darkness of Agumbe

  Just at the entrance of the ghats there was a small check post where we were redirected towards a sightseeing place called Agumbe Sunrise point. Its a very beautiful spot on the road with proper parking facilities. We stopped there to take a few snaps and then we headed for the real mountains and the huge hairpin bends. The weather was good and so were the roads. It wasn't as hair raising as last years trip.

Agumbe Sunrise Point

Just somewhere we stopped by

We are about to cross the rainforest

  But it was a beautiful stretch of road after which we reached 'Seetanadi Nature Camp'. The gate was partially open and after inquiring we entered the camp. Its a beautiful resort by the Seetanadi river. The camp organizes forest walks and treks and has tents and cottages for accommodation. We would have loved to stay there as it was a beautiful spot, but it was pretty expensive. I guess this is one of the places to visit if someone wants to get close with nature at Agumbe and may even be lucky enough to spot a King Cobra.

Seetanadi - The land portion of it seemed like quicksand

 Taking a few snaps we proceeded towards Udupi which seemed to be the logical stop by for the night. Crossing Udupi we reached Malpe beach which is a beautiful place to spend the afternoon. Parking our car we headed for the beach just in time to enjoy the sun set over the Arabian sea.
After sunset we headed out to have some tea and then proceeded to Paradise Isle Resort. This is an expensive resort, but it was full off season and we got an excellent bargain for the night. The cottage we got was sea facing and was excellent in terms of cleanliness, towels , hot water ,toiletries etc. We had a quiet dinner at this resort restaurant and enjoyed some delicacies of the region with some old Bollywood music in front of the sea beach. There were a group of kids playing football in flood light and as we ate ,we watched and we reached a state of trance and bliss which I only hope to describe in words. Then we took a short walk on the beach before heading back to our cottage for the night.

Wow - what a sunset view

 Day 3: Sunday
Since the breakfast was costly in the hotel (Rs 170 per head) we got fresh and checked out.

View from Cottage of Paradise Isle Resort

View from Agumbe Sunrise Point

Time for some Photo shoot

 We got a wonderful hotel in Udupi and had a super breakfast. Then we drove back on the same route towards Agumbe. This time we just stopped for a short while outside Seetanadi Nature Camp and then headed for Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS).

The First Wrong Turn

 We were in for a surprise. According to google maps this was a mud road somewhere in Agumbe. First we entered a mud road that was nice and we reached a farm house. We met the farmer who gave us some directions and we met his dogs who were very surprised to see us. Even the cows were surprised and did not blink till we left.

Happy Cow

 Then we took another wrong turn which was indeed a wrong turn for we entered the forest and it got narrower and narrower till a point where a felled tree blocked the road. We decided a walk a bit to check out if there was anything beyond the felled tree. It was deep into the forest with heavy undergrowth and the thought of King cobras was just hinting us to take a U turn. That we did with a lot of difficulty because the road was so narrow there was hardly any area for a car to take a turn.

Wow this was the best green field I saw in a long time

This Area was so beautiful - not able to describe it in words

 The next time we were lucky to enter the correct stretch of road. But then the road was not very motorable for cars and so we left the car and decided to walk.This was indeed a delightful walk although we were not too sure where we are heading too till we saw this small sign.

Walk towards ARRS

The land is beautiful and so are the forests

  The ARRS was not something that we were expecting. But then I never had any idea of what I was expecting. It was a small hut , seemed like some lodging provisions with some pictures of snakes on the walls. We met a dude who said he is part of the NGO that ran the shelter.

Some weirdo put up this sign.

 He also showed us a Malabar Pit Viper that was resting in one of the bamboo logs below the tiles overhead. I was not very comfortable with vipers and decided to take a zoom shot.
The place seemed to be too bad to be anything like a research station. I was wondering whether they do anything related to snake venom collection for medicines , but then it was obvious they didn't. Anyways ,after signing the guest book we decided to return.

The Malabar Pit Viper napping happily

 Just as we started it started raining cats and dogs and the narrow path turned to a rivulet. But as we crossed this stretch what we saw was unbelievable. The clouds were on an open green field and the place seemed to be like heaven. This was the most wonderful sight I ever saw in a long time. I was too mesmerized to leave the spot.

The return walk from ARRS

Walking in the clouds

However soon thereafter the rain and cloud seemed to reduce and since we were completely drenched we decided to change our clothes. My friend already had a couple of leeches on his feet. I didn't find any ( but there were a couple of those which I found out that night) . We got into clean dry clothes and we headed for Thirthahalli.

Thirthahalli

The drive to Thirthahalli was smooth and nice. It was already 3 PM when we stopped by at a small restaurant to have a meal. My friend discovered a couple of more leeches that left a bloody impression in the restaurant. I started driving from Thirthahalli and then crossed Shimoga.

Sometime thereafter we stopped for a quick snack and tea.

 Afterwards my friend started the return drive and we managed to skip the highway and took a state highway to meet the Hassan road to Nelamangala again. The rest part was quite uneventful and my friend drove tirelessly and we returned to Bangalore safely.Reaching home I went to take a bath and then I realized the leech attack and the itching sensation. Anyways it was a memorable trip and I'm already yearning to go again.

Munnar in Summer

DAY 1
Munnar is one of the most beautiful hill stations in South India. Last summer we planned to spend a long weekend in Munnar. Since it was going to be a a fairly long ride we started off from Bangalore on a Thursday evening after office. Friday was a holiday because of Good Friday.

The first stretch of our journey was from Bangalore to Salem. This is a fairly good stretch with toll roads and good restaurants on the way. We stopped a few times to have tea or snacks on the way. One fine place I remember is the RFC ( an Indian version of KFC) just after Hosur. The ride was smooth in my friend's Scorpio. To top that it was a full moon night and the golden rays of the moon lit up the whole way. It was indeed a sight to watch.

On reaching Salem we were already too late for dinner. We decided to have a bite at Park Plaza. This place remains open all night and some food is always available. After spending an hour or so at the Park Plaza we headed towards the hotel that was booked. My friend had booked the "Hotel Silver Palace". This was a pretty decent hotel and the fare was not too steep.

That night we were already too tired after a long day at office and a long ride to Salem. We called it a day and went to sleep.

DAY 2
The next day we woke up early. We didn't want to get caught in the early morning traffic of Salem and Munnar was a good 300 kms away. We started off on the way towards Erode and soon we reached a Saravana Bhavan on the way where we decided to stop for breakfast. This is a nice place with shops , ATMs ,restrooms etc and a very decent breakfast. We were not sure where we are going to have our next meal and so we stuffed ourselves with Masala Dosas and Vada and coffee.
Thereafter from Erode we continued on the National Highway 47. The areas near Bhavani seemed very nice , but we decided to step up and leave that for another trip. The highway continued for several kilometres till we reached a major junction where we took a turn towards State Highway 166. This road is also mentioned as the Avinashi Mangalam Pollachi Road. This is where the fun began.

We stopped at a shop to get some provisions for ourselves. Entering a State Highway is like an eent that we must be prepared for. And we soon discovered that there is a railway crossing where a flyover construction is underway- except that there is no way to cross to the other side. After following a truck driver's formula ( go where ever others are going) we figured out there is an alternative mud road to cross over to the other side. Fortunately we were in a Scorpio and we managed to cross along with the trucks. Its difficult to cross in a sedan or hatchback at this place.

The rest of the State Highway was just an opposite experience. It was a wonderful stretch of road, although narrow but very scenic with green fields and maountains far away. And then we saw the windmills. It was simply too awesome to capture on a camera. The vastness of the fields with the windmills far and far away, light music and green fields - well we were near to heaven.

Windmills

We crisscrossed a few other State Highways and finally reached Udumalapettai. No wonder State Highways throw up some of the most beautiful scenes of the countryside and I would certainly take a SH route whenever I can.
Udumalaipettai was a busy town, we could feel the heat of summer and with several diversions due to many constructions it was pretty terrible.

The route from Udumalaipettai to Marayoor is a busy road again. Although not as much as the highway it seemed that holiday season has set in and lots of people are heading for Munnar

Enter Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary
There is an entry check point at Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary. Someone was collecting Rs 20 from all drivers and without understanding why we also paid up and then realized later it was not a regular ticket, just a tip or you can guess what. There was really no need for that. The first thing that we noticed on entering Chinnar was the big tamarind trees with ripe tamarinds. After resisting the temptation to grap a bunch my friends finally decided to move on. I am not very fond of raw tamarind so I was not that interested.
Chinnar Wildlife sanctuary is barren and arid with thorny bushes and very little green vegetation. One can easily make out that this is the rain shadow part of the ghat section. Although there is a beauty of the vast expanse , it is really not a place to visit during summer for normal tourists.

Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

Eravikulum National Park

 However soon afterwards further west is the Eravikulum national park and this place is green. The difference is especially visible coming from the Chinnar side. There is a sudden splurge of green and violet on the roads entering Munnar. The riot of colors set up our spirits. Then we crossed a path full of sandalwood trees.

Beautiful Flowers of Munnar

 The first sight on entering Munnar is the vast expanse of the tea estates. The route from Marayoor takes one through the famous Kanan Devan tea estates. Its all a stretch of greenery as if flattened by a huge cutting tool. Its bewildering initially and then it becomes a common sight in and around Munnar.

We reached Munnar late. It was so late we decided to go for some snacks before setting off for the hotel. We booked a hotel called the 'Cool Resorts' from a website called booking.com. This particular resort had very good reviews and a decent price tag. The best thing was that there was no booking charges.
After a heavy bout of snacks at a local restaurant we found our resort guy who came looking for us. We followed his motorbike because whatever directions he provided seemed too complex to follow. The resort is a small homely place and did not have any appearance of a hotel. In fact there were no banners to claim that it was the 'Cool resort'. Nevertheless we liked it immediately on reaching the place. It started to drizzle and as the evening darkness was setting in the cottage we figured out was really a serene place to be in.

We settled in with our stuff and soon tea/coffee was in place. The cottage had two rooms with attached bathrooms and a huge living room with dining , tv , kitchen etc and a wonderful inner terrace overlooking an estate.
The best thing about this place was that we did not even realize there were other guests in other cottages. Each cottage is at a distance providing complete privacy.
The flip side was that the beds were not exactly for two bulky persons and so two of us had to set our beds on the sofas at night time. We were a fairly large group and that was fine with the hosts.

Hills of Munnar

Dinner was some simle vegetarian food and omlettes. But the food was cooked very well and I must say it was much better than many of the restaurants in Munnar. It was late and with lots of gossip we decided to call it a day. It rained like anything and we slept like babies.

The Cool resorts, Munnar

Spice tree garden in Cool Resorts Munnar

DAY 3
My friend woke me up at 5:30 am. We had planned to go on a random hike. I am beginning to enjoy these leisurely random hikes to unknown places. Quickly I got fresh and we set off with the camera. We walked aimlessley till a point we found an entry to a forest. We saw vehicle tracks and a long mud road. Deciding to follow the mud road very soon we reached a place that was simply too amazing to describe. Huge trees and dark bushes outlined the path and the early rays of the sun was just peeping through the rows of trees. And not a single soul in sight.

Getting lost in Munnar

It was as if we suddenly landed in Jurassic Park. Even the slightest noise made by running water made us startle once a while.
We walked for nearly two hours inside the mud road till we reached a mud road crossing and a small thatched house. The house seemed to be empty so we ventured on.

Jurassic Park in Munnar - the rear side of Eravikulum National Park

By then the sun rays were stronger and we could feel our stomachs craving for breakfast. It was a fantastic place , out of nowhere and no one else anywhere in vicinity, but we had to return. Taking a few snaps of the place we decided to hike back.

Tall trees of forest

On the way back we met a local person at his house ,tending to some wonderful flowers. After a small chat we returned back to the resort.

A Summer in Munnar

 After a great breakfast we set off for a bit of sightseeing.
We started off on the Munnar Top Station Highway. We saw the Matupetty Dam on the way. Then we reached Echo Point. We stoped here for a while and enjoyed the beauty of the lake. This place makes echoes , but then its so crowded that its pretty difficult to get a serene feeling. One should probably go there only on a very rainy day with no one around.
With hundreds of shops selling everything from caps to pakodas and fried cashews and different kinds of mementos. After a long walk around the lake it was time to go.

Echo Point

Market near echo Point

The next stop was at Kundala Lake for boating. This was even more crowded than echo point. There were thousands of tourists and that resulted in prolonged traffic jam. We were too tired and decided to have maggi for lunch and skip the boating. With the sun beating down and the crowd and the smoke we decided to try out Top Station.

By the time we reached Top Station the weather changed and it started to drizzle. There is a series of steps to reach the end sight seeing point of Top Station. Buying the required tickets we set off. It was crowded but the weather was good and with the sun already setting on the horizon and rain clouds hovering over this place was the best sight we enjoyed in the day.

Top Station

Sunset from Top Station

Returning to the base point of Top Station and after a round of snacks we called it a day and started on our return to the resort. On reaching Munnar town we bought some chicken and the resort guys promised to arrange a bonfire. That they arranged pretty well and with a wonderful rainy weather it was a bumper evening.
The lunch was weak but the dinner was fantastic. The day ended and we wrapped up for our last night in Munnar.


DAY 4
We started the day late. After checkout from the resort we decided to accept the offer of the resort boys to check out the Spice Garden. That was indeed something that was wonderful. We also bought some local wild honey.

Spice garden in Cool resorts

Then we all wanted to go to a elephant camp near Matupett dam. Soon we reached there and bought the required tickets. This was again a heavily crowded place. We enjoyed the sight of the elephants till it was our turn to ride them. I am awed by these majestic creatures each and every time I see them. The ride was very short compared to the price of the ticket. But I thought its okay , at least the elephant should get a good meal. That I guess it did with hundreds of pineapples vanishing just like that. While on the short ride the elephant stopped for a while while the mahout pulled out a few hairs from its tail. Seemed like a couple behind us were getting into a hairy deal for elephant tail hair.  

Elephant Ride

Anyways by the end of the ride we were too hungry and decided to have an early lunch. Returning to Munnar town we bought some chocolates and other stuff . This time we found a nice restaurant inside Munnar called GreenLeaf and the food was very decent.

Then after lunch we set on our return path towards Bangalore. 

Restaurant in Munnar

The first half of the trip towards Marayoor we covered slowly enjoying the vast expanse of the Eravikulum National Park and its surroundings. We were amazed to see the violet flowers lighting up the whole valley. Not sure whether this is the Neelakurinji , the famous flower that blooms once in every 12 years.

Beautiful Violet Flowers

Towards late afternoon we crossed over to the Chinnar Wildlife sanctuary. This seemed much enjoyable now that the evening sun was setting. After numerous stops we saw a couple of tuskers far away on the open field. But the best part was when we were just about to exit from the park. An Indian Gaur or popularly called a bison crossed the road in a hurry. It was too quick to capture it on a camera. But that made my day.

Tiger Spider

Elephants, far away

While returning we decided to skip the State Highway since it didn't have any shops and had a few road diversions. Instead we decided to go via Coimbatore. This was a verybusy National Highway and it took several hours just to cross Coimbatore.
Around 10 at night after we stopped at a local Dhaba for some dinner we decided to skip the night journey and stay at a hotel. Our decision was influenced by the strange diversions of the National Highway under construction.
Buses and trucks came from both sides and without road markings we thought it can be pretty fatal at night. Good that we took the decision.
Next day we started very early and after a series of stops reached Bangalore by afternoon.