Monsoon at Fort Kochi explored..

Monsoons in all its glory down south and there we went exploring walking,getting drenched,drinking many a chai,walking through the scores of antique shop,getting the best we wanted..seeing all that we wanted,coz we will be here only after an year.

There were many a monsoons spent here down south..I think i need to to be a regular and tell you all the ups and downs of our journeys,in search of the perfect decor true to each place.From today on let me share some of our stories down south..the stories of the monsoon vacations..Monsoon takes you in to unknown journeys,make you dream all that you can..I did sincerely hope that the journeys become a sort of unending.But journeys have to end ,for you to take up new ones:)-

The many monsoon moods at Fort Kochi. We walked all the lanes of Fort Kochi, still there seemed more,in all the lanes and alleys still, when i left i thought i had left so much behind..that's the secret of FortKochi. I think i will never finish seeing Fort Kochi in my lifetime.

I think Fort Kochi is the one and only place which leaves you with its old world secrets.This time it was much more than a regular visit from Ernakulam. We decided to see the monsoon in all kinds of its moods at Fort Kochi. What if that meant staying at Fort Kochi for some days:)-

It was at ease this time in Fort Kochi,we explored each street by street what it had to offer,studied all its side streets and alleyways.The old world shops,the old world charm left behind by generations,the many weeping colours of walls,the heritage mansions and the plumerias all filled to its brim..and that's Fort Kochi.

 Fort Kochi  is still a small place but i really do not know whether you could fit watching all this in a day..Life doesn't get any better than this than at Fort Kochi.

as we walked the length and breadth of fortkochi

the tree must be more than a hundred years old

the petercelli street near the synagogue

the rain forest lodge,an initiative of the owner of the old harbour

murals on the walls

the lanes in the morning a weary look

the lily street famous for its redplumerias where anokhi and dal roti are..

under the tree

menu on the walls

vasco cafe

the old harbour

on the way to "kashi"

burgher street

hanging chimes

the old courtyard

waltons homestay

book stores in plenty

the peeling paints and old world charm

open windows

old courtyard

the one and only antique shop in fortkochi

loafers corner

the burgher street

and finally the david hall..near the Malabar house

there are lots more and lots more..i know its a picture packed blog post after some ages..i do hope you will travel with me to more and more of south..


all images Lakshmi Arvind..please ask permission to use them

The Shaheen Bagh,Dehradun

A post that has been put off for a long time due to the difficulty in sorting images and finding the best ones. A resort which we visited some months back in dehradun and had a nice and wonderful vacation. Hope this refreshes all my readers minds and enjoy the monsoons ...

Dehradun, in the foothills of Himalayas, is always a welcome escape from Delhi, especially in the summer when the capital's temperature soars above 45 degrees. Shaheen Bagh stands out as a great escapade to the Delhities.

Last summer we had a quick escape to the foot hills of the Himalayas, an idyllic retreat. The Shaheen Bagh is a Boutique resort in all sorts and the present owners are Mr Arun Gupta and Ms Sandhya Gupta. The interiors have not been changed by them and it remains the same as the past owners had maintained it.

Arun is an avid wild life photographer and spends hours chasing "the perfect" photo of the various birds that flock the area. I spent hours discussing and learning the finer points of photography from him. Sandhya, the beautiful and perfect hostess, makes sure that you are comfortable and holds classes for small children in the locality in the afternoon. She spent time playing with our daughter, Gayatri, while my husband and I prowled the grounds for photos.

Shaheen Bagh was previously owned by Alpana Khare and Bikran Grewal, both involved in the international publishing world having lived in London and having travelled regularly to Europe on business. Grewal is a passionate gardener and ornithologist and Alpana trained as a graphic designer and is a decorative painter, both are inveterate collectors of antiques.

They have travelled from the streets and bylanes of Fort Kochi to Spain, France, England and Afghanistan for the collection of the antiques. Their travels have helped them in a remarkable assemblage of furniture and botanical prints. The botanical prints framed shows the couples love for nature. They named their English styled cottage 'The Shaheen Bagh'' - Falcon's garden.

There is a vast living hall at double height and a huge library on the gallery that runs round three sides of the hall.Lovely hall and the sit outs and the huge bedrooms and pools and the gardens beckons me once more to be there...

View of the garden from the verandahplants welcome you on the steps leading to the entranceon to the side of the steps you can relax here in the gardenfront view of the entrance ,
the verandah has got lot of seating options,amongst plants and antiquesantique wooden phoenixa beautiful swing and the shadows welcome you in the morninga tea there was a blissRelax here ..beautiful grill and patterns and plants hangingcandles,antique vessels and lotus floating are all in the verandahas you enter form the verandah in to the main hall,on to the sides are the two beautiful rooms.

the blue room adorned in blue
the green room in shades of greena view of the main hallthe antique seaterthe dining areathe kitchen has tiles collected personally by alpana and grewal from different places of the world and wooden work areadining area,subtle light enchants me botanical prints and mirrors everywhere
sit out portion and grills
outside the main hall,facing the hills you have various seating options,to warm your senses and have teadoesnt this mesmerize you?the shadows?

the stairs coming down to the swimming pool area

the swimming pool where we had quality timeif you are not swimming,pl relax ,put your feet high and bask in the warm glorythe garden area,where i took umpteen shots,but its difficult to showcase all the images..just the walk areathe master suite where we stayed,the sofas were plush and cosy

shadows on the centre table

botanical prints on the walls,orchidsthe fire area in the master suite

the master bedroom with afghanistan kilms,srilankan boxes,big four poster bead and amazing shadows

the head board in the master suitethe lovely bath area,with green marbled area and ducks all around and some flowers,look atthe pool outside ,its fish pond..

these ducks accompany you while you take your bath

Do visit here and enjoy your time as we did...

For more information please visit here

Hope these images brought you into a different world,if so please comment and let me know...

All images clicked by Lakshmi Arvind ,except the overview of the resort and where not mentioned in the photograph are all images of the site shaheen bagh

please dont copy images nor save them

For more infomation,please do visit my other blog:here

will be updating more within a day