Honeymoon Diaries: Part 1: Tirupati via Chennai

We have been planning this since six months and dreaming about this ever since we started seeing each other – travelling together. The first phase of our honeymoon kept us dreamy-eyed for months and now that it was happening, it was hard for both of us to contain all the excitement. TIRUPATI!

Having heard a lot of stories about the temple from him, I really wanted to visit it and experience the divinity there. It was, indeed, God’s grace that we got to visit the holy place, right after our marriage, together. I confess going there had me extremely casual about the values it holds, but coming back had me transformed 360 degrees into a girl who was bathed in colors of divinity, continually chanting – edu kondalavada venkataramana govinda goooovindaa!

One part of travelling together, or in rather preparing for it, that I thoroughly enjoyed was packing for the same. It was like two amateurs planning up for a holiday, in fear of not leaving anything at home, carry everything that they saw around – including clothes they hadn’t wore in a century! Result – we were set with four bags, which we had to unpack later in the night to declutter.

Anyway, the adventure started the next day at 4 AM, as we had an early morning flight to catch. I am sure I was living my dream, breathing in the ecstasy of boarding our first flight together - 6E 285. Having arrived at Chennai, we took a taxi, which took us to Marina beach.

(Note: I might just go crazy writing hereon. This was THE first time I saw sea in my life!)

A huge, massive body of water – water till wherever your eyes can go – water so energetic, it brings you to life – water so loud - you want to sit by it and talk to it. Boy! I loved every bit of this experience. 

Hybrid, Orange Coconuts we saw at Marina Beach; obviously, we couldn't resist tasting the nectar it contained.

That's me! :)

Moving on from here, to quench our thirst for authentic, local food, we checked out a restaurant – Sangeetha – which served us the delectable, Tamil food on a banana leaf. I could not stop licking my fingers way after we had finished munching.

Biryani with Raita at Hotel Sangeetha

This point on, we had to rush for our train from Chennai to Tirupati – our first train journey together – this entire trip had plenty of surprises to keep us entertained throughout. Having reached Tirupati at 7:30 PM, we checked in a hotel really close to the railway station – Hotel Bhimas Deluxe. A decent hotel, which was comfortable for us to spend a night and move to Tirumala the next morning. In order to use the time we had at hand to the best, my husband proposed we should go to Kanipakam Vinayaka Temple in Chittoor (some 65 odd kms away from where we were staying). 

Kanipakam Vinayaka Temple

It turned out to be the best day we could visit the temple as it was Kartik Purnima that day – a blessing-in-disguise we were unaware about. We had the best pooja and the best darshanam that day and we returned to our hotel extremely content and satisfied. And did I talk about the beauty? You have to be there to feel the aura of the place - it's magical!

The best thing which could conclude our day right was great food, which we had at Hotel Mayura. The local food buffet we had there and the kind of service we received left us feeling blessed all through. We had our taxi the next morning to Tirupati. What happened there is something I’ll share in my next blog (that’s a complete record of experiences)! Till then, I will leave my readers with the feeling an extremely tasty fruit punch ice cream leaves in your mouth - glutted yet unsatisfied! :) 

Buffet at Hotel Mayura