Cape Disappointment - No disappointments there!

We went to Cape Disappointment State Park, WA on the Long Beach Peninsula last weekend on a one night camping trip. It has been a pretty mild summer this year in the northwest and last weekend was probably the hottest we hit this summer - around 80 in Seattle and hovering in upper 70’s in the coast. It was perfect weather for camping. It has been 6 years since we moved to Seattle area. We keep discovering new place in Washington state every year that takes us up by surprise with its beauty and diversity in landscape. I only wish the summers here were longer and hotter to enjoy these places more.


Our camp area was nice and sheltered. It was just perfect - not too open, not too secluded. The campsite had good facilities too - decent restrooms with hot showers and there was also a camp store. The charming little town coastal town Long Beach is about 3 miles from the park also. The best thing about the site was that it was right next to a beach. Yes, the beach was walking distance from our site.

Campsite

After all the list making and packing we took the sleeping and cooking stuff but had left our packed suitcase with clothes, on the bed back at home! We put up the tent, rushed to the town to get some clothes and toiletries. It was quite manageable after the quick run of shopping to buy the absolute necessities.

We enjoyed some delicious homemade ice cream flavours in a shop, checked out the town, stopped on a view point on the way back in the park and called it a day.

At night we made camp fire, cooked dinner outside and cuddled inside the tent to read books as the air got chilly outside. It was really cold late at night and early in the morning. But we were prepared with inflatable beds, sleeping bags and enough warm comforters. And all through the night we could hear the waves crashing in the beach. We came out of our tents around 7AM when the sun was already out and it was getting warm outside. 

Morning rays at the campsite

For breakfast we made pancakes, eggs and tea outside (the camp store was open early in the morning and they had milk). Then we hit couple beaches nearby within the park itself. 

We picked a very short hike to a lighthouse that had awesome views of the beach.

View on the hike to the lighthouse

North Head Lighthouse

It was time to eat again and we went back to Long Beach, strolled down the strip and enjoyed some good seafood. 

Long Beach, WA

The beach in this town also allows you to take your vehicle (that is if you have a 4x4 that will drive on sand) all the way to the beach and park it. Yes, it is a drivable beach and there are just too many mean sea gulls hovering for food there. Even though it looked tempting and cool we did not trust our mini-van on the sand.

Long Beach, WA

Grabbed some coffee, souvenirs and we headed back to Seattle. 

We had a great time and Cape Disappointment Park it definitely is a great place to camp.

If you are looking for places to camp in Washington state, check out this site: http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/

Travel - Madurai and Thanjavur, India

It was the last day at work before leaving for the much awaited trip. Packing, cleaning, planning at home and a lot more planning, delegating and meetings at work till 6 in the evening. I was running late for a meeting that Friday in the morning when I made that very short turn to park my car in a spot next to a wall, knowing I am making a mistake but didn't have enough time to remedy. The left side of the car hits something, I back up, I hear something metallic scratch my car, I go forward and I hear it again and after a few back and forth I park and car, get out and see that a metallic thingy that holds some pipe has literally cut my car horizontally across in the middle all the way from the passenger side door up till the gas tank opening. I didn't even have time to stand and worry about it. The day was so busy at work that I actually forgot about it until I came back to the parking lot in the evening.

More packing, cleaning coming back home in the evening, replying emails till late at night and then there arrived the sweet moment early in the morning when I saw that taxi arrive at our door to take us to the airport. At last it begins. A time to relax, kick back and take my mind off of work.

The journey:

We had to take 4 flights to reach our destination. (Seattle ->LA, LA->Dubai, Dubai->Chennai, Chennai-> Madurai). But that did not hamper our spirits a bit. I was actually looking forward to all the time together as a family without having to worry about the never ending list of house and office work. The travel was quite enjoyable and comfortable till we got to Chennai domestic airport. That airport has a long way to go in terms of usability and comfort. The airport was loud and chaotic. Constant announcements were made of boarding and departure of flights with an annoying and loud- “Your kind attention please’.

It was a little before 6 AM when boarding for our flight was called for. The humid air and the early morning sun hit us, as we went on a bus to the airplane and brought me back all the old memories of the innumerable sun rise I have watched from our terrace in Mylapore and how I used to love them. (even though I am a night owl now, I used to get up early during exam season in India). The 2 hours chaotic wait in the airport was forgotten and it felt great to be back.

Madurai airport has been extended/remodeled and it rocks. I hope they get international flights to Madurai soon. Other than that Madurai was its usual self, no other noticeable difference this time except it has gotten more crowded and more polluted. Bell hotel and the Jayaram Bakery (spacious, not crowded) in the bypass road were my favorites this time.

There is no better time than early mornings in India. The jet lag kept us awake in the early mornings and no complaint there. I loved waking up early - raiding the kitchen for food, enjoying the early morning silence, coffee and  the sunrise... ah, the sunrise. I realized how much I had missed those mild sun rays that hits you gently with a very mild chillness in the air. The rest of the day once the sun comes up in full swing (which starts about 8 AM), you get parched as a dog and see spots when you are outside is a whole different story. The power outages are no fun either. Now almost all the houses have back up batteries running few fans and lights that lets you survive the outages.

Short Trips from Madurai:

One evening we went to Melakkal (about 20 kms from Madurai) to see Vaigai river. After the good rain spell it had some water flowing and the water looked clean. We saw people making ‘oothu’ (digging hole next to the river to fetch clean water). The river bed was not as clean as I would have liked it to be.

Melakkal

One other evening we went to ‘Samanar malai’ - a large rock hill which has remnants of Samanar (Jains) living in many caves up the hill from the 9th century. They have carved steps on the rock now to climb the hill with railings to hold. You can climb all the way to the top to see a little water landing a few statues carved atop. The view from the top is amazing especially during sunset. There is a lovely little lotus pond on the foot of the hill with innumerable fish that just mob in when a morsel of food is thrown.

Samanar Hills or Samanar malai

Carvings on top of the hill

View from the top

Many books written in Tamil have references to Jainism and many are written by Jains. Thiruvalluvar is one of the prominent who is suspected to be a Jain. Apparently Tiruparankundram, Samanar Malai, Yanaimalai  and a lot more similar stone mountains around Madurai have remnants of Jain life there. And looks like there was a time when Jains outnumbered the number of Hindus in this part of the country. This piece of information is something I was not aware of and found it to be very interesting.

Thanjavur/Kumbakonam:

I wanted to do a road trip from Madurai to Chennai - stopping at Pillayarpatti, Karaikudi, Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Cauveripattinam, Chidambaram, Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram exploring the many temples for their architecture on the way. But we were able to only squeeze in a one day trip to Thanjai Periya Kovil (also known as Rajarajeswaram during the Chola period and more officially called Brihadiswara Temple now) and the Darasuram kovil (officially known as Airavateshvara Temple).

The sun was scorching hot with a vengeance when we arrived at Periya Kovil. But we braved it and experience was totally worth it. I have been to this temple once before but I only have a vague memory of it, one without any appreciation for the architecture or the history. This temple was built by Raja Raja Chola I in the 11th century.

Brihadiswara Temple

We also went to Darasuram temple in Thanjavur. The temple was deserted except for one group of french tourists. This temple was built by Rajaraja Chola II in the 12th century. The main complex is set to simulate a chariot on wheels drawn by horses. It has a resemblance to the big temple but is smaller and has a lot more sculptures and intrinsic carvings large to really small ones carved with details on the main structure walls, pillars and the porch.

Airavateshvara Temple

Airavateshvara Temple

Airavateshvara Temple

We quickly stopped by Thanjavur Palace built by partly by Nayaks around 1550 AD and partly by Marathas.

Thanjavur Palace

I have made a note to visit ‘Gangai konda Cholapuram’ in my planned road trip (whenever it happens) as it has another famous Sivan temple built by Rajendra Chola, son of Rajaraja I. The night drive back through Trichy on the 4 lane road was very scary. The driver hit 110-120 km/hr and I kept my eyes peeled open, looking out for any vehicle that is going to sprang up in the wrong direction or any pedestrian running across the road. These were common things that happened during our drive in the morning. So you really cannot lay back and rest that you are going on a free way.

Our stay was short this time, we spent exactly 17 days in Madurai, mostly spent at home with family. And home is the best place to be when at Madurai.