Blackforest - Triberg

Triberg (pronounced Tree-berg) is a small town in Germany, not too far from the Swiss border.

Things to see around here:

• First world's largest cuckoo clock
• Must-see. Situated inside a small village called Schonach, this cuckoo clock was the first "large"-est one built ever (There have been many others built that are larger than this, but this one is a must see, reasons being:
• This is run by a family, which has numerous hand-made cuckoo clocks. The family is very kind, and and more than welcoming in explaining the workings of the clock, and the history behind how it was made.
• We walked back to Triberg from here - The views were amazing - the houses very  beautiful, and architecturally very different.
• We missed the 5 o' clock cuckoo run, and the family was sweet enough to make the cuckoo come out more then once at 5:30. A special thanks to them for that! :-)

First world largest cuckoo clock

• World's largest cuckoo clock
• It's an ok place to see, if you have time. Good place to collect souvenirs. We tasted good wines here :-) Bought some too ;)

 

World's largest cuckoo clock

• Going to Triberg, and missing Germany's highest fall?? - A big NO! The trek to the falls is beautiful. There are 3 trails - Cascade trail. that goes along the cascade, a Culture trail (That takes you through many culturally beautiful places of Triberg), and a Nature trail (that takes you from through the dark blackforest).
• We did the cascade trail, and part of the Nature trail (due to lack of time). I would recommend that you stay at Triberg for a night, and do all the treks on one day, and visit the cuckoo clocks and other interesting (The hotel you stay at will give you a detailed pamphlet with things to see around).

 

The Triberg countryside

 

• Do check out restaurant around the MarkPlatz (market place). Good music, and even better - good food!

 

MarkPlatz at night

Villa Retreat and Kodaikanal

Now that I have become active on tripadvisor, I find little need to write too much about my travels on my personal blogs.

However, here is a review of The Villa Retreat, near Coaker's walk, that I wrote on tripadvisor.

Villa Retreat review

In short, the place is nice, and cosy, however, rooms are small (too small for what they charge, infact). And, what could be called a garden view room could end up being the "edge of the garden" view. Room service guys could annoy you by knocking too many times by shouting "saaaar.... saaaaar.." ..

All said and done, Kodai is a beautiful place, though! (But, if you have a choice b/w Munnar and Kodai, please choose Munnar. It's simply woow!).

We went to the Mannavannur lake near Kodai, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's around 30 kms from Kodai, the drive is scenic, and you get to see small villages with terraced slopes where the farmers engage in farming. The lake reminded me of a pic of Swiss that my friend had sent!

The Kodai lake is a good place to take a walk around. We really enjoyed the small hikes around the Pine forest too!

Manchanabele Reservoir - A weekend getaway

Visited: Beginning of 2012 (Yes, I am a lazy bum when it comes to publishing my trip journals)

A couple relative was visiting us from Chennai, and we wanted to go to places that were neither too far, nor too close to Bangalore. We drilled down to Manchanabele - It's a small reservoir near Bangalore, quite scenic, and a nice ride (Of course, once you cross the metro constructions!). And, there ain't many people who come there, so you definitely do not have to face the crowd.

The Big Banyan tree is on the way, and it's a good place to stop around for some time to relax. Here's an aerial view you see before reaching the reservoir: