7 Year Itch - The psychologists say that the affection, romance, love starts to fade a little between the couple after 7 yrs of being married.
Well, it's been 7 yrs since we r married...and no such itch found between us...atleast not yet. ;)
And definitely not with any other couple I know. Yet another myth!
To mark this wedding anniversary and to make this a memorable one, Preeti got my name tattooed!
It wasn't as painful as we thought...it was bearable. After lot of exploration on the right Tattoo studio, we found Xtreme Tattoo Studio in Hanumanth Nagar. They helped us decide on the Tattoo design and position.
As been our craze to plan a trip every anniversary, I started planning for a trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This time my friend Sameera and family were part of the plan. By the way, Sameera and Chandrika got married just next day of our wedding. So we planned the trip together...Chandrika did all the bookings.
We started on our 5 day long trip on Sat, 8th Aug in my car...our first destination being Rameswaram, we started this one long stretch of 610 KMs by 7:00 in the morning. We took Hosur, Krishnagiri route to reach Madurai.
After a good lunch break at Madurai, we got off the six lane NH7 and took Madurai-Rameswaram road which was a two lane highway with loads of traffic and some pathetic driving sense among the localites.
We reached literally the end of Indian Main land just before Pamban bridge that connects Indian main land with Rameshwaram, which is an Island.
We finally reached our destination (Vinayaga Inn) at Rameswaram by 7:00 PM...after a short outing around the town, we crashed after dinner.
On Sun, 9th Aug we started the day early by 6:00 AM and headed straight to Ramanathaswamy temple..it was a crowded place and the sea (Agni Tirtham) was filled with people taking a dip in the water. The atmosphere resembled kumbh mela.
Though we were supposed to start the temple rituals by taking a dip in the sea, we preferred to just sprinkle water on our heads, as it was polluted.
We were approached by a guide who offered to help with all the temple rituals for a charge of Rs. 500 per person. If you know Tamil and have the negotiation skills, am sure the charge would not be more than Rs. 200 per person.
Me n Preeti were prepared to take the holy bath in 22 wells inside the temple and wore the right attire. It is believed that each well has a significance in cleansing sins of various kinds. You'll find hundreds of people lining up near the well (ofcourse in a haphazard way) to get a bucket of water poured on them by the temple officials. However having a guide will surely help in bypassing the crowd & have a peaceful bath at each of the well, which is spread across the temple campus.
The guide took us around the long corridors of the temple & helped us take the bath in each of the well...the water in each well tastes different with varying temperature and salt n sweet content. The fresh water in the wells r clean. It was a great & soothing experience getting bathed in all 22 wells. Sameera & family preferred to just get some water sprinkled in each well. There were changing rooms to change to fresh clothes.
We then proceeded towards the main deity - Ramanathaswamy which is among the 12 jyotirlingam. We were taken in a special entrance & had a good darshan of the deity.
It is believed that lord Rama worshipped Lord Shiva to absolve the sin of killing a Brahmin - Ravana. And the lingam used to perform puja was build by Sita in the sand.
After a brief shopping by the ladies, we went back to the hotel by 9:00 AM with a nice n satisfied feeling of having visited one of the most important spiritual destination.
After having breakfast at the hotel we hired a jeep and traveled to Danushkodi, which is around 20 KMs.
The last 8 Kms of the journey was literally on the sands...very adventurous & a thrilling experience.
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One could see endless white sand with an amazing view and gives the feel of being in a desert.
The scorching sun and the humidity makes the going bit difficult. But the excitement and beauty of what you see keeps you go with the flow.
Though we couldn't actually get to the Ram Setu point, as it was restricted.
The beach was surprisingly calm with pristine blue waters.
Sameera & Nidhi couldn't control their excitement and entered water.
Srilankan border was just 15 Kms from the point we were at...it seems we could actually see lights across the border in the night time.
On the way back, we visited Kodandaramaswamy temple, which is believed to be the place where Vibheeshana (Ravana's Brother) surrendered to Rama & was throned as well.
After spending an adventurous time with remarkable natural beauty all around, we drove back to our hotel, had lunch and rested for couple of hours.
We then checked out hotel at Rameshwaram and drove towards Madurai by 4:30 PM.
Pamban bridge is a major attraction and lot of people stop on the bridge which is bit of a nuisance as it leads to traffic jams.
We reached Simap residency at Madurai by 8:00 PM. We had dinner at a nearby restaurant.
On 10th Aug, we started the day at 7:00 AM and walked down to the temple. As it was our second visit to the temple, we took Sameera & family around and showed them places. We had visited the temple last year same day, during our 6th year anniversary on the way to Kovallam.
Sameera & Chandrika were awestruck with the beauty of the temple. Sameera felt very peaceful & had a calming experience.
We had a good darshan, and felt blessed to visit the goddess on the day of our anniversary. Covering such a massive temple by walk drained us out and the prasadam served was a savior!
We had breakfast and started driving towards our final destination - Kodaikanal; and the fun part of the trip begins!
Kodai, known for it's chilled climate, beauty & greenery was a favorable destination to both the families to spend our anniversaries.
Me & Sameera along with other friends had visited Kodai couple of times (Bachelor days) before this trip, and we had set high expectations for the ladies.
As we started climbing up the hill range, the temperature kept dropping. The drive up the hill is a bliss with smooth tarred roads, mist all over, greenery & chilled air.
Me n Sameera had to fight and decide who would drive this yummy stretch, and as it was my anniversary my dear friend finally gave up.
It was a nice & happy journey with each of us feeling the freshness & beauty around.
We finally reached our resort Kodai Resort Hotels by around 2:30 PM.
After a quick lunch at the hotel, Preeti went for a Spa treatment, the rest of us chose to relax.
Meanwhile, Sameera & Chandrika surprised us with a cake & a small celebration that was so nice of them.
By evening, we went around the Bazaar street and did some shopping.
After a pleasant first day at Kodai, we ended our anniversary with a good dinner & a small party in our balcony.
As the clock struck 11th Aug 00:00, we wished Sameera & Chandrika on their wedding anniversary and extended the party till late in the night.
Day 2 at Kodai was for sight seeing & some fun activities.
We met at the restaurant for breakfast & wished Sameera & Chandrika again on their anniversary.
And the climate was getting better by the day, with mist covering the entire resort.
We started the day with some Horse riding, cycling & boating.
After a relaxing & rejuvenating time, the ladies were back to shopping spree.
After having lunch at a nearby restaurant, we started our sight seeing visits with Pillar Rocks. As the name suggests there are two huge pillar like rock formations. This is usually covered with mist and even this time we barely saw the pillar rocks.
Our next stop was Guna Caves, though one cannot reach the caves (access closed due to safety concerns), it's a view point which again was filled with mist & clouds.
We then proceeded towards Green valley view, and as the name implies it gives a breath taking view of the valley. The valley is deep & dangerous and is also locally known as Suicide point. For the same reason, it is now blocked for open viewing and could be viewed behind the barricades.
We couldn't cover few other falls & Dolphin Nose, as it was getting dark and were closed.
We headed back to our resort, spent some time in the sports section playing TT, Carom.
After a long n hectic day filled with fun & activities, we went to bed early.
12th Aug - last day of our trip, and it was drizzling.
The ladies were so happy as for the first time in the entire trip we woke up by 8:00 in the morning.
We visited Coaker's park that was right next to the resort. Coaker's walk is a 3 Kms walkway that gives spectacular view of the mountains, valley & the town.
Back from the walk, had a good breakfast, relaxed in the room for a while and checked out from the Resort.
After some photo session in the resort, we started our journey back to Bangalore.
Thanks to the wonderful company in Sameera, Chandrika & Nidhi. We all had a great time together celebrating our anniversaries. With such close buddies that we are, even the ladies found good company in each other. Nidhi with her innocence, pranks and the chatter box that she is, added more fun.
Initially when we planned for the trip, we thought 5 days would be quite long & hectic. But now we feel 5 days flew and was entertaining, adventurous & fun-filled through out; And so was our journey together for 7 years that progressed so fast.
