#momblogger Archives — FORBABYNMOMMY

Exploring the wonderful Pink City of Rajasthan – Day 1

Jaipur aka Pink City was formed by Sawai Jai Singh in 1700’s. It took around 4-5 years to complete the construction of the Pink City i.e. construction of main roads and main areas of the city. Present day it’s the largest city of Rajasthan.

Do check out my previous post where I have given details about different regions of Rajasthan we have visited and how we planned this trip.

After check-in to hotel and relaxing for some time we started our tour after lunch. We stayed in Jaipur Marriott. The property is quite big with 300+ rooms. We stayed in Executive room on the top floor and the view was quite good.

There is one restaurant ‘Okra’ which serves good and quality food. We had daily b/f and dinner at this restaurant. There is one more restaurant/bar where you can have high tea or drinks.

Service is very good; we missed our high tea on the first day and requested them if they can send at least tea to room as we were really tired after the tour. We were surprised when the room service came with a big tray.

The chef has sent fresh aloo bonda(aloo Vada) with a sandwich, some cake, cookies etc. Everything was tasty and fresh.

First day we have visited Jaigarh Fort and Nahargarh Fort. These forts are situated above Amber Palace and there is a way to reach Amber from Jaigarh fort which was used by the queens in case there is an attack.

First, we went to Jaigarh Fort and the main attraction in this fort is worlds biggest cannon named ‘Jaivana’. The weight of the cannon barrel is said to be around 50 tons and 4 elephants were used to turn the cannon from one direction to other.

It is said that the only time it was fired they have used around 100 kg of gun powder and 50 kg of cannon ball. When it was fired it travelled a distance of 30+ Km and a small lake was formed in ‘Chaksu’ were the cannon ball landed.

This fort has its own water harvesting system as well, as water scarcity is there in Rajasthan from long time so they use to clean and store a lot of water.

There are small museums inside the fort one displayed the swords, shields, guns, and also a 50kg, cannonball with other smaller cannonballs. Other one has photographs, stamps and other stuff of royal family.

There is a small garden which is quite well maintained but cannot be accessed by public, one can see that from fort walls.

Many movies were shot in this fort/garden area.

View from here is amazing you can see Amer palace and Maota Lake, we can also see the Nahargarh fort walls which are spread over several km. Roads to this fort is in good shape but it’s a single road broad enough that 2 cars can pass.

Timing of this is from morning 9 to 5 in the evening. Ticket price is Rs 100 per person. One good thing about this place is you can take your car inside the fort, ticket price for car is also Rs 100, driver fee is included in car fee but if you are driving then you have to take ticket as we were told that driver can not step out but our guide managed it for that time ?

From here we went to Nahargarh Fort. Opening time is same as Jaigarh but it opens till late in evening due to sunset point. Ticket price is Rs 50 pp and Rs 50 is for car parking. There are 2 parking places one is inside, and one is outside so if you want to visit the sunset point and parking is available inside then do park inside else you have to walk extra.

Best time to visit this fort is in the evening time, you will witness amazing sunset and can click some amazing pics, when we were there a couple came for there pre wedding shoot.

There is one restaurant Padao as well which is operated by RTDC and they charge Rs 100 pp as entrance fee. Our guide said that the food quality is not that good, and we can get the pic from outside as well, so we didn’t went inside.

There is a wax museum at the entrance of the fort and the ticket price is Rs 500 pp, they have built a ‘Sheesh Mahal’ small palace made of different color glass and few other attractions.

We didn’t visit this as well as the price is more, and we don’t want to visit wax museum as we have seen Madame Tussaud’s in NL and Sheesh Mahal is there in City Palace as well.

Nahargarh Fort

In the main building of this fort there are around 9 rooms which are exactly same created for 9 Ranis(queens) of that time king.

We can even climb on the roof of this building and the view is just amazing.

While returning back from the fort to hotel in the evening we visited the Pink city. The city building are well maintained and are maintained by the government. No one is allowed to do any other color inside the Pink city.

Pink city has 7 gates to enter/exit, the wall of Pink city and the gates are still intact and well maintained. This city is well planned city and was constructed as per ‘Vastu’. There was no modification done with any of the buildings(there are new constructions but old is as it is).

We missed taking pics at night as our guide said that lights will be there till late night, so we went out around 11 PM one of the gates was closed so we have to take a de-tour and found that the lights are off.

I am not sure if they close some gates at night daily or it was due to Covid they closed it. There are lights which lit the full pink city at night and the lights are turned off by 10-10.30 PM daily.

This concludes our first day out of 10 days. Keep following my blog and Instagram for day by day trip details.

Experience with Borosil Oven- Prima 60 L OTG

My baking experience with borosil oven Prima 60 litre OTG

Baking is like a therapy for me, I started baking in oven after my little one was born and it worked as stress buster for me.

That time we bought 21 L LG microwave convection oven as we were not sure how much we would be using it. But my love for baking kept growing and I kept on learning new new recipes and trying in my small microwave .

I have baked breads, cookies, buns, pizza, bati and many more items in my LG microwave .

But frankly I was not so satisfied with microwave oven baking as end results were not up to mark. As it was 21 ltr oven I need to bake limited quantity every time. So my baking time and electricity consumption was increasing.

So we finally decided to buy proper oven and our search started with all available brands.

What we searched before buying oven?

Capacity
Temperature settings
Reviews
Multiple uses
Baking time
How much you can bake in one go

Why above points are important !!

It’s really important to decide how many ltr oven you need to buy as per your baking requirements, here you should consider future needs as well. You won’t be changing your oven any time soon
Temperature settings is important as there are many recipes that need higher temperature. In many ovens the max temperature provided is 200 – 220 °C
Reviews, user feedback is also important as good looking and feature pack product does not mean it’s good.
We should always consider oven which has multiple features like bake, toast & grill are most common one
Timer is another important feature as if you want to bake multiple trays in one go then you might need longer time to cook. Many ovens come with just 60 min timer
How much you can bake in one go, again if you want to make large batches and want to cook it in one go & if you have smaller capacity oven then it will consume a lot of time & energy

After our search we finally decided to buy Borosil – Prima 60 L OTG as it was one of the few which fulfill almost all of my requirements. So let’s see why I choose to buy Borosil.

Features

It has multiple functions that includes convection, rotisserie, grill, bake and toast
As it’s Borosil it has borosilicate Double Glass Door
Adjustable Temperature Control 90° – 250°C, max temperature is 250°C
0 – 120 minutes mechanical timer, it was really important as when you are baking for many people your oven can bake continuously for 120 minutes
It has keep warm function, which will keep oven running at set min temperature to keep your food warm
Power Indicator automatically turns on when the timer is set
Motorized rotisserie for uniform grilling function available in Borosil Prima Oven Toaster Griller
12 Stage heating options in Prima Oven Toaster Griller
Illuminated chamber helps in baking as you can keep an eye while you are baking.
As it’s 60 ltr we cam keep multiple trays at once

Items included with Borosil 60lt

1 Removable Crumb Tray for better cleaning
1 Cooking Tray
Grill Rack
Handle to take out Cooking Tray
Rotisserie Rod Set
Rotisserie Handle
Recipe book
Instructions manual

My experience with Borosil Prima Oven

Very easy to operate as it has four knobs for setting temperature, mode & heating rod and timer to adjust as per your recipe
For easy assistance it comes with a guide book and recipe book with all details to understand your oven
It’s quiet spacious to bake multiple items. I have baked around 25-30 medium size cookies in two trays, two cakes in one go, lasagna, breads, baked vegetables.
One point to mention, baking time increases little more if you are baking more items in one go.
Illuminated chamber is really helpful to keep a check on items baking. I would say it’s really important as I have worked with another oven without light bulb and it’s quiet tough to see the baked level without taking out tray.
Big double glaze glass on front so it’s quite easy to keep an eye on every corner of the tray.
Initially there was uneven heating issues so I was getting some dark and some light color cookies. In my case it was thermostat issue and got it fixed.
But still to avoid that you can change the tray directions when you see it’s getting darker at one end.
Oven overall weight is not heavy so you can shift on your own if required.
Oven thermometer is must to know the exact temperature of oven as it’s always less or more then what you have set. You should get a good quality one else temperature issue will be there.
Oven trays/wire rack quality is ok, but can’t keep heavy pans like Dutch oven or iron tawa on the wire rack which is required in sourdough baking.
Overall a happy customer as I love baking in my oven and every oven behaves differently so you will get use to when you bake.

For more product reviews check here.

Soya Dosa – Super Crispy & Healthy

healthy food

Soya is included in my daily diet, so I keep trying different recipes of soya. This one is easy to make and it taste amazing!!

You would love this crispy dosa with coconut chutney. Let’s jump on the recipe.

Ingredients

Dosa

— Rice/ Idly rice – 120 grams
— Urad dal – 50 grams
— Soya chunks– 100 grams (grind well in mixer)
— 1 tsp – Red chili powder (as per taste)
— 2 tsp – Salt (as per taste)
— 1/4 cup soaked poha

Coconut Chatni

— 1 Coconut
— 2-3 Green chili
— Salt as per taste
— 10-20 kadi patta
— 2-3 dry whole red chili.

Procedure

Wash & Soak Urad dal and rice in separate bowls overnight or around 7-8 hours.
Grind dal & rice separately in fine paste.

Add soaked poha in rice while grinding, to make it more crisp and good golden brown color.
Mix both the paste in one big bowl and keep in warm place for minimum 5-6 hours for fermentation.
It should double in quantity after 5-6 hours.
After the fermentation process add 100 grams of soya chunks powder.

Add salt, red chili powder as per taste
Place iron dosa tawa or non stick pan if you don’t have dosa tawa on high flame
Heat it well, check by putting few drops of water, should evaporate quickly

Pour one big spoon of dosa batter on it and spread it to form round shape
Once its semi cooked add some oil and let it cook well
Cook on low flame for some time and dosa will start coming out easily. For crispy dosa this step is must
Take out dosa with thin steel spatula and serve hot with coconut chatni
You can add fillings of Vegetables, paneer in this dosa if you like

Coconut chutney

Chop coconut into small pieces for easy grinding
Add coconut, green chilies, kari patta, salt in mixer jar and grind into fine paste

Take out in a bowl and Now Make tadka for the chutney
Take oil in small fry pan, add rai(small mustard seed) when it’s hot. Add kari patta and two whole red dry chilies
Now add this tadka to your coconut paste

Enjoy this yummy and healthy chutney with your crispy Dosa 🙂

How to explain importance of Immunity to kids

Immunity building in our kids is an important aspect we parents work on as children are growing up. The steps we take should begin at an early age. Children also need to understand what it is all about.

It is obvious that their little minds are curious to know, why we need to work on building immunity. My daughter is going to be 4 years old and she has started asking questions and we try to explain her in the simplest way possible of building immunity while indoors.

How to explain kids in simplest way, importance of Immunity.

Be Open– Answer their questions in the best possible way you can. Educate them with love and kindness. They will be curious to understand how nutrition and immunity works.

Interaction– Talk to them about it and how being healthy is important.
Balanced diet– Importance of eating healthy food that makes them strong. Including fruits, milk with a supplement like PediaSure that has 37 essential nutrients for complete and balanced diet and dry fruits.

Hand wash– Washing hands is one important habit inside or outside home. We taught our daughter how to wash her hands properly like rubbing individual fingers, b/w fingers and from clean back side as well.
Wash hands before and after eating food, after play, etc.

Quick learner– Kids are quick learners and they understand easily if you are open with them. Give them age-appropriate information so they have the right information from you.

Just like we want to protect our children from diseases, it is important we also protect them from wrong or incomplete information. We must answer their questions to the best of our ability.

These are some really simple ways you can teach kids the importance of immunity and how we can inculcate clean habits. Staying healthy and taking proper precaution is the only way to stay safe from infections.

The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not reflect the views of any brand. Any omissions or errors at the author’s end does not assume any liability or responsibility on any party mentioned in the blog.

Kadhi Kachori – Treat from my native

Kadhi kachori is one of my favorite dish from my native place Ajmer Rajasthan. We grew up eating spicy kadi kachori every weekend, so life was missing something here far from home. How can anyone stop me making my childhood favorite items, so here is recipe for favorite kadi kachori.

Ingredients

Dough
2 cups Maida( all purpose flour)
4 tbsp Ghee (thick)
Salt as per taste
Cold water for kneading ( to make soft dough)

Dal filling
200 gram moong dal ( soaked for 4-5 hours )
2 green chills
Spices –
1 tsp red chili, 2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp amchoor Powder, 1 tsp saunf ( coarse powered) , 1 tsp mint powder salt, 1 tsp garam masala & one pinch asafoetida
1 tsp grated ginger

Kadhi
100 gram gram flour (besan)
400 ml water
Salt as per taste
Spices –
1 tsp red chili, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder & pinch of hing
Lemon & curry leaves
2 green chili’s & Coriander for garnish

Procedure

Kadhi

Take gram flour in a big bowl and add 100 ml water slowly, keep whisking to avoid any lumps. It will form a paste like consistency.
Now take 300 ml luke warm water and add it in gram flour paste and mix properly.

Put all the mixture in a big pan and bring it to boil, keep stirring while it comes to boil.
When it start boiling, slow the flame to low speed.
Let it cook on low flame for half an hour, don’t forget to stir in between few times.

Cook for 10 min and now add salt and tadka. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Consistency should be thick, so if you feel it’s thick add more water.

Take two tbsp oil in a small pan and heat it. Add hing, rai, jeera & kari leaves and put off the flame.
Now add red chili powder and keep it on one side.
Add one lemon to your boiling gram flour kadi and keep stirring.

Filling
For filling take soaked moong dal and blend it coarsely with green chili and ginger.
Now take two Tbsp oil/ghee in a pan and add asafoetida (hing) .
Add coarsely blend Dal and cook it on low flame, keep it steering continuously as it can stick to pan if left unattended.
Add all spices and keep stirring. Now keep it aside and let it cool.

Kachori
First make your dough, take flour in a bowl, add salt and ghee.
Now mix properly and knead it with adding cold water slowly.
Make a soft Dough not a tight one.
Keep it for rest, meanwhile get your filling and kadi ready.

Make small balls out of dough and keep in covered. Take one ball and roll into small puri size.
Take it in your hand in the way shown in picture. Now add two spoon filling to it and close slowly with the help of fingers, check picture for reference.

After closing, press gently with side of palm and flatten it (Check picture for reference).

Heat oil in kadai for frying.
To check if the oil is hot, put a small ball of dough in it.

If it comes up instantly means oil is ready. Now put your flame on medium and add kachori slowly.

Two or three at a time as per size of your kadai. After five ten minutes, flip the kachori and low your gas flame. Cooking on low to medium will ensure proper frying.

Let it cook till golden brown and then take out. Crispy kachori are ready to serve with hot kadi and green chatni.

How to prepare homemade sprouted ragi flour?

I started giving ragi porridge to my daughter after she started solids, she really liked her ragi porridge. Things to make sure before starting ragi porridge when you are making it at home is ragi should be properly sprouted and you can keep changing the consistency of porridge as per age.

Homemade ragi flour is best for babies.

Ragi powder is really good for babies and is full of nutritional benefits. It is rich in iron and calcium and one of the richest source of protein. It helps in weight gaining for babies and easy digestion. Ragi is quite fulfilling meal for a baby.

So how to prepare sprouted ragi flour at home?

Ingredients

Ragi/ Finger Millet (1 kg or as you require), if you have Organic one then it’s even better.

Process

Take ragi in a big bowl and pour sufficient amount of water to wash it properly.
Strain the water to remove impurities that comes up.
Repeat the process 3 to 4 times until you get clear water .(remember this step is really important as ragi comes with a lot of impurities)
Now add some more clear water and soak it for 6 to 7 hours or overnight.
Sprouting ragi- Now strain the water and keep Ragi in a Muslin cloth or steel bowl with little opening to allow air flow.
You have to keep it overnight for Proper sprouting.
I use to keep in bowl and keep turning upside down after a few hours to avoid smell.
Now you can check your ragi would be fully sprouted.

Ragi
Impurities floats up
After 3_4 Wash
Strian and soak again
Soaked ragi ready for sprouting
Sprouted ragi

Making ragi flour

Now you have to keep sprouted ragi in sunlight for 2-3 days to dry it out. This is to prevent it from spoiling due to any kind of moisture
Then dry roast the sunlight dried ragi on slow flame in a pan, this will dry it out even more and make it crispy and easy to grind
Cool it and grind into fine flour

Ragi flour

Your ragi flour is ready and now you can use it in any form like make porridge, or mix it with wheat flour and chapati or cookies. Do try and share with hashtags #forbabnmommyblogs

You can buy these beautiful colorful bowls here.

I am taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa. You can read my other articles for this #MyFriendAlexa campaign here #forbabynmommyblogs .

Importance of dental check up & hygiene for kids with – Clove Dental

As your baby get her first tooth and you start with solids, dental check up and hygiene should start. It’s really important to make a habit of brushing and taking care of their teeth during each phase of development from baby teeth to permanent teeth.

Apart from brushing and taking care at home, regular dental check-up is also important to maintain the healthy teeth no matter what age they are. We should start dental check-up .as early as they get their first teeth. There are many reasons for taking regular dental check-up for you and your kids.

Reason for regular dental check-up.

Proper Advice – During dental check-up you can get proper Advice from your doctor, how to maintain their dental hygiene. Proper way of brushing, step by step method, and kids learn quickly with this way. Tips to select right brush and toothpaste, and how to encourage them for regular brushing.
Prevent from tooth decay and cavities– It is really easy to get cavities and tooth decay for kids as they love having sweets and chocolates. So it’s really important for regular check up to avoid at an early stage. Avoiding such cavities can damage their tooth structure and can result in infection and advance dental procedure.
Healthy development – Regular check-up Ensures their teeth and mouth are in good shape and condition and this helps in future with proper alligned jaw and strong teeth.

How to brush properly

I am taking Adya for dental check-up regularly and this time I visited Clove Dental after attending the detailed informative session at Clove Dental Conclave. I was really impressed how easily the whole check up was done with my fussy toddler.

Why I choose Clove Dental?

When it’s comes to your kids, you always want to be sure you choose the best for them. Clove Dental is the largest network of dental clinics in India. Clove Dental is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and technology and quintessential dental surgeons. They are known for their hygiene, clinic safety, transparency, ethics and customer service. There four step protocol guarantee that each instrument and surface that comes in contact with patients is well sterilized prior to the next patient’s consult.

All the staff and Doctor was really calm and easy with my daughter. Infact she was not at all ready for the check-up, and was throwing full on tantrum. Doctor talked with her and tried to convince her and done proper check-up with explanation of how to do proper brushing.

I was really impressed how much patience they have and not even a single time she was angry with kid, apart from her tantrums.

Doctor explaining her proper way of brushing.

Three main reason to choose Clove Dental

Quality

Quality being the core value of the organization, the dedicated quality team ensures they provide highest quality services to their patients and keep working on quality improvement.

Robust policies & protocols are mandated for the clinics.
Bi-monthly internal clinic reviews are done to ensure the clinics adhere to the set guidelines such as Clove’s four-step sterilization process.
SWOT analysis of each case is done using proprietorial methodology developed in-house by a team of Dental Specialists, to assure that the best dental treatment is provided to the patients.
Review of every patient feedback is done to assure high patient satisfaction.
Monthly biological spore testing is done at every Clove clinic to verify the adequacy of the sterilization cycles, which is then sent to a third party for microbiological testing and sterilization monitoring.
The team ensures that all clinics comply to the Radiation Safety protocols and radiation safety devices such as lead aprons and thyroid collars are used.
Dosimetry badges are provided to the dental team for radiation monitoring, that are sent to a BARC accredited TLD Personnel Monitoring Laboratory.
Team meets regularly to review the performance data, identify improvement areas, carry out and monitor improvement efforts by a consensus-building process.

Sterilization

Clove doctors are trained in strict sterilization procedures, which are adhered to, in all clinics.
All clinical instruments are cleansed, sterilized in autoclaves, and stored in sealed pouches to ensure 100% sterilization. Sealed pouches are always opened in front of patients.
Clinic operatory areas are chemically sterilized and all surfaces are treated with disinfectants after each patient visit to ensure 100% sterilization.
Dental chairs are equipped with one-way valves that prevent oral fluids from flowing back into the chair tubing, ensuring 100% sterilization.

Sterilization process

Equipment and Technology

Clove’s modern clinics offer the latest advantages in dental technology and equipment. Clove doctors are continually trained in the use of advanced technology and equipment, and in clinical best practices, to ensure that patients benefit from the advantages available today.

Computer guided anesthesia technology – enables dentist to deliver anesthesia precisely where it is needed and exact dosage required for significant pain.
Dental chairs- Imported dental chairs prevent cross-contamination to ensure the patient’s well-being. They are equipped with retractable valves that prevent oral fluids from flowing back into the chair tubing. Most dental chairs allow the backflow of these fluids into the tubing. Though the tubing is sterilized after a treatment, it is far more effective to prevent oral fluids from passing into the tubing in the first place.
Rotary Tools – Imports world-class rotary tools from Germany and Japan, which are used for drilling. They enable doctors to drill with greater precision, so the plaque and bacteria present at the site can be thoroughly removed. This allows fillings to properly attach to the cavity wall. As a result, fillings last longer.
X-Rays-Clove clinics use the latest x-ray technology to diagnose oral health problems in a painless, non-invasive way. Though exposure to radiation can pose health risks, Clove uses sophisticated, portable x-ray equipment that limits this exposure to negligible levels. Clove clinics also use lead aprons and lead thyroid collars to protect doctors and patients from radiation. Finally, Clove clinics adhere to the ALARA (As Low as Reasonably Achievable) principle, as defined by the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations 10 CFR 20.1003. The principle directs medical establishments to identify and use ways to minimize the exposure of medical personnel, patients and clinical staff to radiation.
Water Filteration System-Clove clinics rely on reverse osmosis (RO) filtration systems to ensure the safest possible water supply.
Sterilization Autoclaves- Autoclaves sterilize dental tools by subjecting them to high pressure, saturated steam. Clove’s autoclaves are imported from international manufacturers and Clove doctors are trained in and adhere to strict protocols for the sterilization of tools.
Dental consumables- Dental consumables are the medicines, materials and small pieces of equipment used in dental procedures. Clove Dental clinics use consumables such as bonding agents, cements, files and curing lights from leading suppliers like European Ivoclar Vivadent and U.S.-based 3M, Kerr and DENTSPLY.

Clove works on there key principals Integrity,respect and trust. They maintain high standards and provide best services with so many success stories. You can undoubtedly visit Clove dental for your family.

Regular check-up is must for all kids and adults so start now if you haven’t started yet.

Coorg – Scotland Of India

Coorg is also known as Scotland of India due to its vast natural beauty, hills and cold climate. Coorg was on our travel list from long time the time, the time when we came to know about Orange County Coorg, I remember it was in 2013. After we move to Bangalore it was our top … Continue reading “Coorg – Scotland Of India”

Coorg is also known as Scotland of India due to its vast natural beauty, hills and cold climate.

Coorg was on our travel list from long time the time, the time when we came to know about Orange County Coorg, I remember it was in 2013.

After we move to Bangalore it was our top most priority to visit Coorg but again delayed as I was pregnant ?. So, after delivery and baby is big enough to travel long distances & buying our first car it was time to visit Coorg.

Done some research online, trying to find some nice home stays and luckily, we found one in our budget on MMT(MakeMyTrip). It was Silver Brooks Estate; this home stay is run by a couple Revathi & Yogesh. Yogesh was in hospitality business for long, so these guys knows what all things are required and how to manage and maintain a property effectively.

Route we took was – via Mysore highway till a round about from where we need to take exit on KSR Road then Belagola – Yelwala – Mallinathpura – Hunsur – then on Mysure – Medikeri Road till Kushalnagar. Continue on same road via Suntikoppa – Kedakal – Boikeri.

It was around 250 Km from our home and took us 5.30 – 6 hours with 2 stops. Our first stop was at Kamat Lokaruchi – Ramanagara, it’s around 50-55 Km 1 hour drive, nice clean toilets and very good food.

Parking is on the road side. Second stop was Café County which is around 125 km from Kamat Lokaruchi and 70-75 Km from out stay. It’s café cum restaurant here you have snacks coffee or full lunch/dinner as per the time.

Service and cleanliness is not good, less staff and until you call them they won’t bother to come to your table, so better find some other place if you want a second stop.

We had one of the cakes with coffee (don’t remember the name) but it was delicious. Small but clean toilets 2 type of sitting options i.e. inside and outside.Other than these 2 stops we stopped at 2 attractions before Coorg.

1. Namdroling Monastery:

Namdroling Monastery is center of Tibetan Buddhism, it’s very calm and peace full place. There is a parking facility outside the monastery behind the shopping complex. Entry is free, there is large beautiful Buddha temple in the center of the complex. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens.

2. Nisargadhama:

Nisargadhama is an island formed by river Kaveri. This place is situated near Kushalnagar. There is ticket to enter the island, you have to cross an hanging bridge built over Kaveri.

The island has lots of bamboo trees and some activities like zip line, place to sit, small tree house kind of. The place is not maintained very well. There is boating facility as well but when we went the current in Kaveri was strong due to which boating was suspended for some time.

There are lots of shops here, all kind of shops like Gov. Silk shop, food shops, toys etc. The main entrance is little hard to find as it’s a small way b/w the shops which leads to the place to buy ticket.

After all the stops and soaking all the natural beauty on the way we reach out home stay Silver Brooks. Believe me it was amazing, exactly what was shown in the pics and the hospitality was just great. Revathi guided us very well and was available all the time for help.

The house is created from scratch inside their estate, look and feel was of old housed. Revathi informed us that they have used reused the old materials like the pillars, doors, swing, chairs. Means they bought the things from some old home and restored it to give more traditional and old age feeling.

This home stay has 5 rooms I think 2 in the main building 1 on the right side which has its own private entrance and site out area, room is also little big and 2 at the start near the parking which are smaller than the other 3.

Cost of room includes B/F and dinner which is home made by 2 talented cooks. Food was delicious, it was a buffet with authentic flavors. There is an open kitchen which means guests have access and can cook their food or snack.

It’s kids friendly place even for infants, the cooks cooked special food for our daughter, the staff is very friendly and help full.

For more detailed review please check my TripAdvisor.

We stayed for 2N/3D and felt that we could have stayed one more day. Most of the time we have spent in home stay relaxing, interacting with other guests. But we also went for some sightseeing to the places like Abbey falls, Raja’s seat & Madikeri Fort.

Abbey Falls:

Is around 14 km from the home stay and you have to pass the Madikeri city, but don’t worry there is not much of traffic like what we have in Bangalore ?. Route is beautiful as it’s a ghat/mountain road 2 lane.

There is a parking little ahead of the main entrance to the falls. There is toilet facility as well in the parking area. To reach to the main falls you have to decent some steps and slope.

The area in front of falls is quite small and in tourist season when the falls are at there peak it will be difficult to find a spot to click some good pics. Spent less time there as it was over crowded, took few pics and came back.

One main issue there is due to some stupid people which park their cars on the road side which leads to traffic jam, so be prepare for that.

Madikeri Fort:

It is around 8 Km from home stay and it is near to Raja’s seat. So, you can cover both the place in one go. You can either park your car in the parking area in front of Raja’s seat or inside fort and walk to one of the places. Distance b/w these places is around 1 Km.

Fort is old and now kind of Gov. office, there is one small museum inside the fort on the right side just after entering the fort. One can stroll on the fort walls, but there is nothing much to do here.

This place lacks proper sign boar, or any kind of guide like some printed material or some guided tour. Due to these reasons it’s very less time consuming.

Raja’s Seat:

Is a kind of valley view point or sunset point.

Kings of Kodagu use to sit here to relax and watch the mesmerizing sunset with beautiful valley view that’s why it is called as Raja’s seat. It has beautiful garden at the start with fountains. Safety measures are good with railing on stairs and on the edges.

There is bon fire facility available in the home stay but went there in after rainy season, but it still rained so couldn’t do it.

To shop from Coorg is special Coorg wine, which comes in different flavors like ginger, chilly, mixed fruit, dates and many more, price range from Rs 500-1000 also spices. There is one government shop on the road which leads to Raja’s seat.

We really enjoyed our stay in Silver Brooks and Coorg tourist spots and the long drive from Bangalore.

Visit Month – August

Note - All pics are from our trip and clicked by us.

Drive-in Beach Kannur

Kannur has one of the most beautiful beaches we have visited till date. It’s also known as ‘Crown of Kerala’ due to various reason and its geographic location. After we bought our first car it was my husbands wish to drive the car on a beach and splash the sea water while driving through the … Continue reading “Drive-in Beach Kannur”

Kannur has one of the most beautiful beaches we have visited till date. It’s also known as ‘Crown of Kerala’ due to various reason and its geographic location.

After we bought our first car it was my husbands wish to drive the car on a beach and splash the sea water while driving through the waves (just like what we use to see in movies). So, while planning our holiday he came across Kannur and immediately it was his first preference to visit this place.

After doing some research for route & stay, we finalized one home stay through Airbnb. Our home stay was located right on the beach, well not exactly right on the beach but stone throw distance.

It was around 310 Km from our home, we started early but not that early around 5.30 AM. With kid it’s hard to leave very early, you keep thinking if you have kept all the required things for your kid or not till you sit in the car and leave.

What we have started doing is we pack all the luggage a night before and arrange it in the car, only thing we leave for the morning is the food item and ourselves ?.

This leads to less hassle in the morning to arrange the stuff, less sweating which leads to fresh mind and body to start the long drive. We took 2 stops one for B/F and another a loo/tea break, also it helps in relaxing the legs which is required if only one person is there to drive.

Coorg Gate Karnataka — Coorg Gate, stop just before entering Kerala

The route was quite straight forward till we reach Kerala, then some ghat section comes through the beautiful jungle. Our second stop was just before the ghat/jungle section at Coorg gate, that’s the only restaurant on the right side. It has ample of parking, nice clean toilets (w/o health faucet).

The route we took was –

Mysore highway till Krishnarajasagara road, then from there Bilikere – Hunsur – Gonikoppal – Vayathur – Iritty – Mattanur – Kannur

Most of the road is in good shape till we reach kannur but just before kannur there is road and new airport construction going on so there are some diversions, mud road etc. otherwise no issue at all.

With all the stops and road condition it took us 7-7.30 hours to reach our home stay, by lunch we were at our home stay.

We booked Ivorycoast’e home stay through Airbnb and believe me it was simply awesome experience with our host. Our host is simple, humble, polite and friendly guy who will help you in every manner.

Ivorycoast'e Kannur — Balcony of our room

They serve fresh, homemade Kerala style food at very reasonable rates. We didn’t go anywhere else for any of our meal. If we are out somewhere then we finish that site and came back to have the lunch and then after some rest head back to another place.

Another benefit of our home stay is distances from the places to visit, it was like in the middle of Muzhappilangad Beach and Kannur Light house & St. Angelo’s fort. Ivorycoast’e has 6 rooms, 3 on ground and 3 on first with porch, balcony, garden area with table chairs kept.

(For more detailed review of the property visit my TripAdvisor)

Here you have your B/F, Lunch/Dinner served which you can enjoy with cold breeze coming from the sea and magical sound of sea waves.

Thottada Beach is just 50 mtr away from the Ivorycoast’e, it’s beautiful, clean, calm beach. It’s located behind the residential area so not many people come here. In the morning we saw only 4-5 people doing there morning walk or exercise. You can easily enjoy your time with family and loved one’s w/o worrying about any kind of disturbance.

Ivorycoast’e is mostly popular with foreigners which come here to relax for 10-15 days and explore the local culture. When we were there Theyyam festival was being celebrated in a near by temple. Our host was kind enough to take us to witness the festival.

Believe me it was amazing experience.

Other than relaxing at our home stay we have visited Kannur light house, and St. Angelo’s fort and the most important place for which my husband had planned the holiday i.e. Muzhappilangad Drive in beach.

Muzhappilangad Drive in beach is one of the largest in Asia. There is entry fee of I think Rs 30, it’s around 5 Km in length so you have enough space to drive your car or find some place away from crowd. The beach is very clean, its awesome experience driving your car on the beach (as per my husband ?).

Muzhappilangad Kannur — Beautiful sunset

We have visited in the evening to witness sun set and it was amazing experience. It was special as it was my daughters first beach holiday. She was initially afraid of water as it was too much of water coming and going also it was her first time on beach. After some time, she was enjoying her time playing with sand.

There is one thing one must be cautious about i.e. washing the under body after driving the car in sea water.

Second day of our visit we went to see Kannur light house and St. Angelo’s fort. There is also a museum below the light house which has a collection of different types of lights used in different types of light house etc. there is ticket to enter the light house and museum which is reasonably priced.

The view from the top is quite magnificent you can see sea at one end and greenery at other. Even in sunny day it was very pleasant on the top due to cold breeze. There is separate ticket to go to the front of the compound sort of walking space with garden at one end, it’s good for morning/evening walk beside the sea. Parking is available on the premises which is free.

Timings are – 10 to 6

There is documentary played inside the museum, in local language and English which gives more information about the history of light house and types of light houses.

For St. Angelo’s we have to first pay the entry fee as it is located in cantonment area, then there is parking that one has to pay. Entry is free. It’s a Portuguese fort built in 1505.

St. Angelo's Fort Kannur — View of Arabian sea from fort

There is ample space inside the fort and has a cliff like end of the fort. There are watch towers on the walls and a chapel in the premises.

From one the walls of the fort we can see the port where the fisherman park their boats. Fort has some beautiful trees inside it’s an ideal place to relax, watch sunset and enjoy the breeze. School children comes here for picnic or visit to learn more about history.

We have really enjoyed out stay here, it was amazing experience in the home stay with amazing homemade Kerala style food and in the town with amazing long drive from Bangalore.

Visit Month – January

Note - All pics are from our trip and clicked by us.