• Food - People - Places

    Dosas. Only 36 Varieties Available

    What do ‘Volvo’, ‘Bheeman’, ‘Paper egg butter’, ‘Navanandana’, ‘Duck Lasoon’ and ‘Ruby Pai’ have in common ? Seemingly unrelated? Not until you visit the famed ‘Pai Brothers Thattukada’ in Cochin (Kochi or Ernakulam). These all different dosas among the fast food joint’s 36 varieties of dosas. The only place in the world one can get such varied types of dosas. Spending the New Year night away from home meant more travels for us in 2010. Without planning for it, in 2011 New Year also we were not at our home. Hopefully this year also, we will be footloose. The first…

  • Food - Hotels - Places

    Four Days in Andhra and No Andhra Food in Sight

    When travel turns to be an ‘industry’, it comes with all the perils of standardisation. ‘One-day package’, ‘two-day package’ with a set list of things to see and do. Hotel staff rarely knows places other than these. Most taxi drivers insist there are no other interesting places. Not to mention the standardised Punjabi menu most restaurants offer. After returning from Araku valley to Vizag city, our choice of Rushikonda beach resort turned out to be a good. On a hillock overlooking the beach, this APTDC resort offers comfortable stay. We had figured out a few places in and around Vizag…

  • Arts & Culture - Places

    More on Araku Valley and the Friday Market

    The sprawling fields of oilseed plants form a carpet of yellow flowers in the valley. Making it the more exquisite are the sunlight and the shadows cast by the clouds. Araku Valley is indeed about simple beauties and timeless pleasures. The Friday Market The Araku town comes alive on Fridays as the tribal men and women come to the town to sell their produce and buy their grocery and other stuff for the week. From salt, rice, vegetables, sweets and savouries to bangles, cloths, bags, soaps, seeds, knives and vessels, this weekly market is one-stop shop for all your needs…