Year 2024

2024

Looks like the year was too busy and engaging that I could not find time to add any blogs this year. 

Although I have multiple blogs in draft state but none of them are in a shape which can be published. having said that I thought at least I should publish by year review blog like every year. The year review blog is like retrospect for me where I can go though all photos and videos. I could revise all the good and bad memories I had, also this helps me to make new plans and resolution for the next year. 

Year overview - 2024 was a mixed year for me. I had many good memories, frustrating moments and multiple moments where I wished this year would end faster. With the great support from my husband; I somehow survived my low moments. He had been my biggest strength for the year. I don't know from where he gets this endless love and patience for all the troubles I make.

When I started writing this blog, I believed the year wasn't good for me. But now, after finishing it, I realize it wasn't bad at all. I had many beautiful times, moments, trips, and celebrations. I received so much support and love from family and friends, which I hadn't fully appreciated. This changed my perception of 2024.

Glimpse of the year :- 

January - Warming up. :)

February - Strawberry farm, Mysore(Karnataka)

March - Karwar(Karnataka)

April - Vietnam and Patna(Bihar)

May, June, July - The fracture and the rest

August - Mauritius

September - Hampi(Karnataka)

October - Festival and family time

November - Pondicherry and Goa

December - Mulki and Coorg(Karnataka)

January - 

I don't remember if I had ever been sick on the new year day, but this year I woke up feeling really ill, so I had to miss the "family tradition" of having a picnic on every new year. I love this family tradition of picnic where we cook food within nature. This is good way to have family bonding and teaching kids life skills as well. What can be better than this to start a year. Even though I couldn't join them this time, I enjoyed looking at the photos and hearing their stories.

February - 

A day at strawberry farm - I saw many reels for strawberry farms near Bangalore, so thought of having this unique experience. I enquired multiple farms and finally concluded to one which was closest to our home. The experience was truly amazing. My son who does not eat strawberries also ate a lot of strawberries in the farm. I tasted the best strawberries of my life on this day. We might plan again next year. We bought a lot of strawberries too. I learnt couple of strawberry recipes, made strawberry jam. It was completely worth experience.

 

Mysore - We travelled to Mysore for a small family trip. I always wanted to stay inside the Brindavan gardens in Mysore. So, we planned for a 2 days trip to Mysore. We reached there in the afternoon and ate lunch. We went back to room and played card games. Around 4PM, we went to visit Sri Venugopala swami temple. Temple is on the bank of river Kaveri and you get a very good view there. Temple is also very beautiful, very similar to Vitthala temple in Hampi. In the evening we went inside Brindavan gardens, watched light show and other garden areas. In the morning, we spent some time inside gardens, had breakfast and then checked out. We then went to Balamuri falls and dam, water is very clean and view is serene. Water level was not much, so we took bath there. After that, we started back for Bangalore.

March - 

Karwar - Karwar is a seaside city and headquarters of Uttara Kannada district lying at the mouth of Kali river in the Karnataka state of India. I, my husband, my son and my sister in law; we all travelled together. We stayed in Devbagh Beach Resort in Karwar. It is a very beautiful Jungle Lodges & Resorts (JLR) propoerty which generally provide full board options. The food there is generally delicious. 

Since all the trains were full and we were not in mood to drive 10-12 hour for a 2 night trip, we decided to go by sleeper bus. All the known good buses services were full, so we booked the one which was available. It turned out to be a wrong choice. The bus journey was terrible, too much jerky, bad quality bus. My sister in law has motion sickness issue, she could not sleep whole night and also felt vomit sensation through out the journey. We reached Karwar in the early morning, we took an auto for the resort. The resort was very beautiful, we got 2 attached cottages with sea view. We quickly forgot about the bad bus journey after checking to out cottages with beautiful view. All the meals were delicious and definitely finger licking good. Next day morning 5.30 AM, the staff knocked at our door, and he said that turtles have hatched from the eggs and asked if we will be interested in watching them run to the sea. We got up quickly and got ready within 15-20 min. The experience was amazing. watching newly born turtles to find their way to the sea. I always wanted to have this experience in my life, one more wish list tick marked. :)

April - 

Vietnam - It won't be wrong if I say this was the craziest trip I ever had with friends. We (around 12 friends) went to Vietnam with families.  it was 9 days trip in which we covered 

Day 1 - Hanoi, 
Day2 - Ha long Bay
Day3 - Halong bay, 
Day4, 5 - Cat Ba, 
Day 6 - Hai Duong
Day 7,8 - Hanoi (day trip to Ninh Binh). 

We could not explore South Vietnam as we wanted to have more quality time and a relaxed itinerary. It was our first trip with this large friends group. We also spent 2 days at my friends house as well. It was amazing experience to closely watch Vietnam culture and hospitality. In Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam; we spent day in shopping and eating, from there we went to Ha long bay. Ha long bay is very scenic and will remind you of movie Avatar. From Ha long bay we went to Cat Ba. Cat Ba is small island and you need to reach there via boat. We spent 2 days in Cat Ba, The hotel we stayed had huge infinity pool facing sea, big play room for kids,  Sauna hot sprint bath(which we enjoyed a lot), they also had complementary amenities like foot spa and free kayaking; only Amber and I tried. Then we visited Hai Duong, where our Vietnamese friend, Diya is from, and enjoyed delicious home-cooked Vietnamese food while meeting their entire family. Next day we headed back to Hanoi. next day we did day trip to Ninh Binh while others stayed back in Hanoi. Our trip to Vietnam was filled with unforgettable experiences, craziness, good food, and wonderful memories with friends.

A detailed Vietnam blog is coming up very soon. so stay tuned for all the crazy details.

The Vietnam group

Bihar - We went directly to our village, Pararia(near Sasaram) in Bihar from Vietnam. This trip was pretty much about having family time. 

May - 

The fracture -  I got my first ever fracture of life. Doctor advised me not to walk or put any weight on the leg for 3 weeks. I was completely bed ridden for first 10 days, then slowly I was moving around with the help of wheel chair. Though I was enjoying the royal treatment of being served everything, it was very frustrating to be in one place all the time. However something intesting happened in May. I got my first tattoo. I designed my tattoo on my own and I wanted to get it done for a long time, but my husband never agreed to this ask. Not sure it was fracture or my frustation, but my husband agreed this time. 

June - 

June started with another great milestone for friendship. Our friends group, known as "The troop"; consisting 7 of us; got our first permanent tattoo done together. It was an exciting and memorable experience for all of us, as this held personal significance and represented our bond. The process was both thrilling and nerve-wracking, but we supported, pushed, forced each other throughout. Afterward, we celebrated this special occasion with a fun gathering along with my plaster cutting ceremony. 

 The plaster got removed on 8th June, just a day before my birthday. I was very excited. I was under impression that once plaster is removed I will be 100% fine and will be able to move around just like before fracture. But I realised that I was completely wrong a soon as the plaster was cut. I was feeling equal amount of pain while walking. We booked the Taj hotel for my birthday celebration but nothing was able to cheer up my mood up. Our friends and family got us surprise cake for us when we came back from hotel. That was very nice and made me  little happier. After talking to many doctors and family members, I realised that it will take around 3-4 months for my foot to return to normal.  While I was digesting this fact, Amber got dengue and he was hospitalised for 3 days. He became very weak even after the hospital discharge.

July - 

The recovery - We spent July in recovery mode, eating lots of fruits and good homemade food. 

August - 

Mauritius - I felt it is time to travel again after having taken lot of rest in July.  So I planned for Mauritius because I felt Mauritius will have least amount of walking.😀 

We stayed at a resort called "The Long Beach." The place was huge, with awesome infinity pools facing the sea and tons of free activities like snorkeling, kayaking, paddleboarding, board surfing, and glass-bottom boat rides. There were also multiple restaurants with delicious food, offering a variety of cuisines to satisfy our taste buds. They also had some events/live music in the evening which was cherry on the top. I was still worried and concern about my foot, and making sure I should not do anything stupid again but I could not control my dancing craving on the music they were playing every evening 😀. We stayed there for 4 nights but I could have spent another seven days without getting bored. We also got complimentary tours for north Mauritius, south Mauritius and Ile aux cerf island. We skipped one of the tours and spent a day in hotel because we believed relaxing worth more than city tours.  

September - 

Hampi - It's time for our family trip again! This year, we planned a visit to Hampi with Munna Bhaiya and their family. We stayed at a farmhouse called "Gopi Plantation Homestay." With a limited number of rooms, it was located a bit far from the main Hampi area, nestled in the middle of a vast, beautiful plantation. Although the last 2 km of the road to the farmhouse was in poor condition, the place had a charming, rustic appeal. The evenings were particularly enchanting, with a speaker available for us to connect to our phones and enjoy music. Additionally, there was a waterfall within walking distance, which we visited both in the evening and the morning.The farmhouse's serene surroundings and the natural beauty of the plantation made our stay truly memorable. We enjoyed taking long walks, exploring the area, and spending quality time with our loved ones. The combination of relaxation and adventure made this trip a great family vacations.

This was our second trip to Hampi, and we found the weather in September to be very pleasant. We enjoyed it more this time because it was cloudy, which made walking around Hampi easier. Although we had planned to visit new places we missed last time, we didn't have enough time. Since it was Munna Bhaiya and Madhu Didi's first visit to Hampi, we prioritized the main tourist spots.

October - Festivals

November - 

Pondicherry - We recently finished watching "Emily in Paris" series and especially the last season was all about french food. After watching that series, I really wanted to go to french restaurant to celebrate Amber's birthday. I was discussing this with one of our friends and he mentioned that "if you really to have french vibes and french food you should go to Pondicherry". That was it, I made that plan. I also decided to stay in a heritage french villa in french colony in Pondicherry. We made this as weekend only plan. We started early on Saturday. Since we were running before time, I suggested to go to Gingee fort on the way. Everyone agreed to visit Gingee fort. We thought it is just a simple fort which we will cover in 30 min. It turn out to be long trek and we were not planned for this. We were just following the board and walking, I felt this trek will never end. First Pinki gave up and sat on one rock, then Tatva gave up. Only me and Amber finally reached to the top of the fort. Overall it took around 3 hours to cover the trek of fort. 

Finally we  reached Pondicherry around 2.30 PM. We quickly freshened up and changed to go for lunch  at "Villa Shanti". Every dish we ordered was great. I ate way more than my capacity. After the lunch, we planned to walk in Promenade area. On the way we also purchased cake for Amber's birthday. 

In the evening, Amber and I went for massage, we had already explored/shortlisted few message centers before coming to Pondicherry and one was just walkable distance from the place we were staying. So, while Pinki and Tatva went back to room, we went for massage. After having great relaxing massage, we went for dinner, though I was not at all hungry but the food was so delicious that I again ate a lot. 

After coming back, we all were too tired. We had planned to stay awake till 12 AM but could not, and slept around 11.30 PM :) 

We woke up with non stop birthday wishing calls. We quickly got ready and cut the birthday cake of my love. After having a very delicious french breakfast, we went for some street shopping. We roamed around for an hour then went for lunch in one small cafe.

Goa -  The destination which each and every group plan to go is Goa. I had never ever been to any trip with my office colleagues but somehow this trip was planned and we executed as well. I never imagined that this was even possible.  It was short and simple trip. We stayed in north Goa at Morjim beach. Property name was Sandbank Beach villas . They had only villa properties, Villas are two story on the ground floor there is Living room and bedroom was in the first floor. In the whole group of 6 people only I was the one who went inside the sea and enjoyed the waves.   

December - 

Mulki - We went to Mulki last year for the beginners course of water surfing. My son loved the course and he wanted to come back for the intermediate course. So this time we decided to go for intermediate course of 7 days. Plan was for my son to do the course, while Amber and I will have relaxed free time. The place Mantra Surf club is located at river bank. In the morning they used to take us for surfing (in the boat) and in the evening there is option to either go kayak or do standup paddle or just sit-chill-relax. I thought 6 days will be too long, if we don't have any other location or activity planned.  But they just went too quick. We impromptu went for bull-race event which we found accidentally while driving for dinner. It was a great experience. Every meal we ate there was great including last day lunch at Machali. I feel, if I could erase one evening from that trip which was not that great and was bit emotionally hurting. Rest whole trip was wonderful.

Coorg - From Mulki, we directly went to Coorg where rest of our group had already arrived. We booked one villa in the middle of coffee plantation which had only three good rooms. Since we reached last we got the worst rooms. However, being a traveller we are used to stay in all kind of rooms/places, so we did not mind it much. 

     Komal had leg fracture and I hurt my foot thumb nail; we both could not go inside the plantation but the whole group did not go inside the plantation or had plantation tour because they did not want to leave us behind. We enjoyed campfire and dance in the evening; and lots of games during the day. We had so much fun being together that we did not feel the need of going out for any sightseeing or any other activity.  We also observed tons of stars in clear sky, this is kind of rare in the city.

There were many firsts for us in 2024 like my first fracture, Amber's and mine first tattoo, first whole gang(friends) trip, first trip with colleague. So the journey continues for 2025; will remember 2024 for many reasons. 

Thank you for reading.