Hyderabad Madurai Rameshwaram Kanyakumari, Trivedrum trip 2025

Itinerary summary :

Please note that all booking gs for flight,train and hotel were made in 3 months advance.

Day 1 ; Hyderabad to Madurai by flight. Arrived at 8.15 am at Madurai airport.

Checked in to hotel near to Meenakshi Amman temple at 10 am. Visited local temples and Nayakaar Palace.

Day 2 : Got ready and went to Meenakshi Amman temple at 4.15 am. There was long queue (free darshan) due to Sabrimalai devotees ( on 12th Jan 2025). Temple opened at 6.30 am and queue started moving slowly. Finally completed Darshan at 8 am.

Tip : Special Darshan ticket counter opens at 5 am, so  take either Rs 50 or Rs100 ticket, it's worth of it instead of waiting in queue for long time even if local people says that morning time Darshan will be less crowded.

Went to one temple located around 26 km by paying Rs 1400 to auto for 3.5 hours.

Day 3: Boarded train for Rameshwaram at 2.40 am from Madurai. Reached Mandapam at around 5.30 pm. Took auto for Rameshwaram 

For Rs 450. Checked in hotel at 6 am and after fresh up, proceeded to Agnitirtham. Took bath at beach and proceeded to east gate for 22 kund bath.

Purchased Rs 25 ticket and got along with queue for bath. It was awesome experience where temple staff will be pouring water on you.

After completing 22 kund bath, came to hotel in wet cloth, changed the cloth and proceeded for Darshan to main temple. Bought Rs 100 ticket and completed Darshan in 15 minutes. Got free Laddu prasad at the end. We had a nice breakfast at nearby tiffin center.

After 1 hour, we planned for Dhanuskodi. Auto wallah demanded Rs 1200 as part of package and I wasn't happy as he put time limit of 30-40 minutes at Dhanuskodi. Based on some other blogger experience decided to give a try by bus

. Got 7 number bus from agnitheertham side bus stop and reached to Dhanuskodi in 45 minutes. It was a bit crowded.

Spent around 2 hours there just roaming, walking, enjoying Rocky beach. It started raining hence decided to return to Rameshwaram. 

There was big crowd waiting for bus and moreover it was raining and there is no place for shelter. Suddenly saw one auto deboarding the passengers and he agreed to take us to Rameshwaram near temple for Rs 100 per passenger. There were total 9 passengers in this auto and finally reached the destination in an hour or so.

There are good north Indian restaurants at Rameshwaram,  among it, I tried tandoori roti(wheat flour) and dal tadka at a Punjabi restarant. It was tasty as I don't find wheat flour tandoori roti in Hyderabad, all are made from maida and not sure how come Hyderabadis like leather like roti Naan which is difficult to chew.

In the evening we took train for Kanyakumari from Mandapam at 9.30 pm.

Tip: book vehicle in advance from Rameshwaram to Mandapam or plan via bus.

Also get meal parcel from north Indian dharmshala etc. I got 10 phulka roti (with ghee) and bhindi fry for Rs 200. It was tasty.

Day 4: Reached Kanyakumari at 5 am , spent an hour at station for fresh up and proceeded for Vivekananda Kendra for stay. It's very good place for stay with full greenery and very good restaurant. We went to Kanyakumari temple, beac and wax museum. Couldn't dare to get in line in hot sun(Jan 14) for Vivekananda rock as queue (Rs 75) was almost one km long. Didn't notice Rs 300 queue at that time otherwise could have got into it.

Day 5. We started for Trivandrum by train at 8.40 am and reached Trivandrum railway sation at 11 am. Took prepaid auto and reached pre booked hotel near to west gate. 

Went to market near to temple and bought dhoti ( Rs 250), angvstra ( Rs 150), saree( Rs 500), skirt,blouse(Rs 900). We had lunch at Udupi hotel, near to west gate. After getting in new attire, proceeded for Darshan at 3.30 pm from West gate. Hardly 5 to 6 people were in queue.

Sharp at 4 pm, temple gates were opened, we got in main queue after security check. In an hour Darshan was completed. Crowd was less compared to Meenakshi and Rameshwaram temple here.

Day 5 We planned for Poovar island boating. Locals have given hint that local city buses ply till Poovar island. I wasn't sure of auto/taxi's as everyone asked if I have already booked boat or not. They quoted from Rs 500 to 1500 including waiting time for an hour. While Ola showed me fair of Rs 2.5k. 

We decided to give a try by bus. After lot of enquiry we found that bus will be available from platform no 10 of city bus stand near East Fort, not from main bus stand near Railway station.

Reached bus stand around 8.30 am, took help to identify the bus as there is no route number and destination is written in Malyalam.

We got the bus at 8.45 am, fair was Rs 43 and it took 1 hour 15 minutes to reach Poovar bus junction. From there we started walking towards boating point, meeting lot of touts. One guy offered for Rs 1500 for three people for 1.5 hours. I was adamant to give token money of Rs 500 and rest after completing the trip which they agreed once I decided to back out. Trip was memorable and worth of every penny I spent.

On my return to city, got another bus for Kovlam sea beach for Rs 25 fair. Bus dropped me at the main road and took auto for Rs 50 to reach beach, spent sometime and took auto to return to my hotel.

In the evening we took flight for home and trip was concluded happily.

 I booked hotels through Yatradham.org ( for 24 hour check-in Checkout timings) and agoda for quality hotels. Train bookings for Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari and Trivandrum  was done on the opening date of reservation window.

Story of my fissure treatment at Hyderabad

Somewhere in 2018, I felt some puss sort of discharge from rectum area. This symptom was intermittent which used to last for few weeks and then go away on its own.

After some research on internet, decided to meet one surgeon at Care Hospital Banjara hospital. Deciding a doctor is also difficult task as I got to know much later that we should consult a Proctologist for any issue in ano area. Doctor is very experienced and renowned one, did some physical examination around the anal area, suggested ultrasound for rectum area as he has doubt for Fissure in Ano. Ultrasound didn't show anything and since nothing came up from test, I stopped the further treatment. On my own I tried "Pilex" cream from Himalya and it stopped the pus discharge for almost 6 months.

This issue of discharge used to come and go, applying Pilex will suppress the symptoms for sometime but again it will surface after 5 to 6 months.

In 2023 end, I decided to start the treatment again and after lot of research and videos, I understood that I should consult a Proctologist. Consulted one renowned proctologist at Apollo Jublee Hills, his initial physical examination suggested that it could be fistula in ano. Suggested a scan where a camera sort of thing was inserted in rectum area and did investigation. It was confirmed that its fistula in ano and outer opening as well as inner openings are clearly visible. Surgery is the only treatment option and might cost around 1 to 1.5 lac.

After consultation, did lot of research on how surgery is done, tons of video is available with real surgery videos. After reading blogs, patients experience, I was only worried about renal incontinence issue post surgery, although its rare but possibility can't be ruled out.

During the internet research, a "Khsar Sutra"  procedure also kept coming in my search results but didn't pay attention much.

Research paper :https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3296345/ made me think about this procedure.

Khsar Sutra is basically Ayurvedic treatment where a thread is placed in the canal and left the wound to heal on its own. Its safer with respect to bowel incontinence issue.

Tried to find a good Ayurvedic doctor  in Hyderabad and it seems there are many, but found one Hitam at JNTU which offers ayurvedic treatment of issues related to rectum area including fissure. 

Consulted a senior doctor here, he also did one physical examination and he clearly showed the opening inside the canal and its outer opening in an screen. I was very impressed with infrastructure and expertise of the doctor. This diagnosis was much better and convincing then Apollo one. He suggested for Khsar Sutra and as my fissure was around 5 cm, will need 4 to 5 times change of sutra which is done every week. So in my cases , treatment will last for a month. Cost of treatment almost one third of allopathy surgery.

I opted for this treatment, went of procedure on 26th March 2024 at 7 AM ( clinic starts very early in the morning at 6.45 am). At around 8 am , procedure started, gave local anesthesia, in around 20 minutes, Senior doctor said that my procedure is done. I couldn't feel what was done, but it seems some minor cut was done and a thread was tied.

They put cotton gauge around the treated area, got a bed in the clinic and waited there till 11.30 am. Finally I was given antibiotics, pain killers, liquid for sitz bath, bunch of cotton gauge as white discharge will be there for next few days.

Other than dietary restriction to avoid constipation, I was asked to do all activities. I couldn't sit for longer hours due to minor pain and whitish discharge.

Week1( 2nd April): This week I didn't have much problem except for white and red discharge. I had to change gauge 5-6 times in a day. Try to get bulk of guage with absorbent wool cotton considering that you might need it for next 6-8 weeks.

I wasn't able to sit for a long hours , more than 2 hours in one stretch. On 2nd April my thread got changed. Doctor advised Ayurvedic antibiotics "Grab" as I was having stomach upset issue with alopathy antibiotics.

Week2 ( 9th April) ; This week discharge continued(with smell) and color has changed to yellowish with less redness. Thread was changed again and absolutely no pain during thread change. I was able to sit comfortably for long hours around 3 hours but used to take break after that. Ayurvedic medicines was continued.

Week 3(16th April): This week discharge continued (with strong smell) but amount has reduced significantly. This time I had slight pain during thread change and doctor said its due to track hole becoming narrow due to healing. I almost resumed all my normal routines. Kept taking rest after 3-4 hours of sitting. Minor intermittent pain , I think due to thread.

Till now I have been taking sitz bath after passing motion and also before going to bed.

Papikondalu Night Stay Trip

We planned for a night stay trip for Papikondalu in the month of Dec 2018. It was an awesome experience to be very close to nature, although there were some minor discomforts.

Our family ( me, wife, elder daughter 11 years and younger daughter 4 years) planned for this trip from Hyderabad. we had two options to start trip either from 1. Bhadrachalam or from 2. Rajahmundry.

we preferred from Rajahmundry primarily due to factor that railway station from city is a bit far from city.
Booked train ticket from Hyderabad in Simhachalan express, that reaches Rajahmundry at around 6 am. We had a plan for one night stay at Rajahmundry as we wanted to explore the city and next day  for one night stay trip to Papikondalu.

For day 1 , I booked a non ac retiring room at station at reasonable price of Rs 190 through online as our hotel check in time for Aditya Palace near Kotipalli bus stand was at 12 PM.
After quick fresh up and breakfast , we went for ISKON temple and Gautami ghat at around 9 am, took an auto from station to ISKON for Rs 60 and is around 3-4 km distance. Spent around an hour at temple and then went to Gautami ghat which is next to Temple. Gautami ghat is very calm place and peaceful environment makes you relaxed. Our kids enjoyed at ghat playing with water, spotting small fish. We had an option to go for boat ride for 20 minutes for Rs 300 but didn't opt as next day anyway we will be on boat. After an hour or so we came back to retiring room and headed for hotel for check-in. Railway retiring room was  ok for quick fresh-up, had spacious room and bathroom. Checked in to hotel and took rest until evening after having delicious Andhra meal in nearby restaurant.

In the evening we went to Pushkar ghat, just missed the aarti as we reached at around 7 pm. Pushkar ghat is around 2 from Aditya palace hotel and auto charged me Rs 50. Spent around 1 hour and then came by walk through the crowded market. Google map showed me a distance of 1.5 km to hotel via market route.

Next day our tour operator Godavari Holidays asked us to report at Kotipally bus stand at 8.15 am. we reached there and paid the rest of tour package amount Rs 7k in cash. he gave two slips one for boat and other one for hut and asked us to board a bus that would take us to boat launch station which is around 1.5 hours journey from Rajahmundry.

Selecting a tour operator and choice of place to stay out of Shivaka and Kolluru hut stay was a difficult task. I had to go through blogs/ reviews to make a decision between Sivaka and Kolluru. I found Sivaka huts better by comparing online photos posted by reviewers, hence decided to go for it. Now coming to tour operator, I was looking for AP Tourism package but it didn't have for night stay package but have for a day tour package. Telangana tourism has night stay package from Bhadrachalam but not from Rajahmundry. Now I was left of option for private tour operators. After going through reviews and website I considered Punnami and Godavari holidays. I was able to connect better with Godavari holidays guys who promised for one separate hut for 4 family members. We settled for deal of Rs 2700 per person and Rs 900 for 4 years child, total Rs 9k. Paid advance amount 2K through online bank transfer and remaining to be paid before tour starts strictly via cash.

After making advance payment, I had to collect written confirmation of tour details, amount agreed etc through email. It was quite evident that tour operator was reluctant to provide anything in writing, However he sent details from one gmail account of Godavari holidays after insistence.

Our bus started at 8.50 am   reached to boat ride point at around 10.30 am. after getting down from bus, we need to walk to the bank of river where multiple boats are waiting. Our boat name was written on receipt as "Mayuri -2", had some challenges in locating it but ultimately found and boarded it. Boat started very soon and served breakfast of idly and upma and it was good. We then moved to first floor of boat in anticipation of wider view of nature.

There were big soundbox , music was being played on the first floor. then one person from boat crew member started entertaining the tourists by dancing, engaging in some kind of dance activity with kids, adults. these activity was somewhat deterrent in enjoying the natural beauty. for all entertainment activity and announcements were made in telugu so i need to rely on fellow passengers so that i do miss important information. somewhat i wasn't comfortable with dance program and loud music being played. at the end of dance program i was forced to pay service tip of Rs 100 to the dance crew.

At around 12.30 pm, lunch was served on boat, it has rice, sambhar, daal, veg curry, pickle and curd. it was good and enjoyed it. it then reached to a place at 1.40 pm and were given 40 minutes to explore. after visit of this temple like place boat returned and dropped few passengers at Kolluru hut. Also picked up few passengers who were supposed to return back from yesterdays trip.

after 15 minutes of ride, we were dropped at Sivaka hut. i had to do followup with boat crew just to make sure that i will be getting down at right place. it was more of your consciousness , crew member wasn't paying any individual attention to passengers. i could imagine, if i am waiting crew member to come and tell me that your destination has come, i would have never landed to my destination, and quite possible i might have gone back to Rajahmundry. Also language barrier was a big challenge as they were not versed with english or hindi.

Now at Sivaka hut, I followed to the crowd for hut allotment, a small reception like place. it was full of chaos as large number of tourist were making request without following any queue. also these reception people had a challenge in understanding english/ hindi, After 15-20 minutes of my wait, they allotted me a hut C33, after collecting my hut receipt, mobile number and pan card details. i saw lot of arguments going on between tourists and reception guys over number of huts allotted, sharing of hut along with other family etc. Overall I felt you need to be lucky enough to get a hut at your terms which you agreed with tour operator. As your operator isn't reachable ( no mobile network), and you are at mercy of reception guys, they aren't polite ones.

One reception boy showed me my hut, it was very close to a row of huts primarily meant for bachelors. i could think of possible nuisances from bachelor group, but consoled myself that there were instruction that alcohol is strictly not allowed.

We kept our luggage, first reaction from family members weren't that great after looking inside hut. hut had around four mattress, two blankets, one light and a fan. somehow family settled. soon we saw tea is being served, grabbed 2 cups of tea , sat Infront of hut and had a sip of tea in calm place. Evening snacks was also served at hut and slightly family started liking the place. I went in search of bathroom and was a bit down after seeing the condition, it wasn't better than the ones maintained at railway stations. Anyway embraced the situation and prepared family as well for it. Roamed in the little colony of our huts, bought one mineral water for Rs 30 from canteen. took some snaps. It was awesome evening, very calm, nice view of mountains, river, liked a lot. Slowly at dawn, temperature was going down, took our jackets. Camp had a nice arrangement of drinking water, street lights, public announcements through loudspeaker( in telugu only). at around 6.30 or so they started selling bamboo chicken Rs 250/ half kg, bought one for family, it was good and there was huge rush to buy it.

Diner was served at 7.30 with chicken and egg curry, two veg curries. We enjoyed the food, also saw people carrying bottles of alcohols towards bachelor lane, got worried but accepted the situation. In the night i felt the entire bachelor lane of around 50 people were drunk, making loud noises among themselves, not a good scene, but refrained if coming out of hut. didn't feel good on overall atmosphere, although they didn't trouble us at all.

Next day got up early in the morning at around 5 am, went for a walk, felt good at it was engulfed in fog, sunrise was good, took lot of photographs. finished daily chores and had cup of tea being served since 6 am.
it was announced that breakfast will be served at 7.30 am, followed by a trekking to water flow, lunch will be served at 12 pm. those opting for Bhadrachalam drop should be ready by 12.30 as Krishna boat will be coming and for Rajahmundry, we should be ready by 1.30.

We had a nice breakfast of idly, chutney and upma. then started for water flow which was around 1 km from camp and had a slight climbing. in the rout saw orange trees with fruits tried to pluck one, got one. shared among our family, it was awesome. reached the waterflow at 10 am, it was very clean although not deep, hardly 2 feet , i couldn't resist of taking bath. enjoyed a lot . Came back to camp around 11 am, packed our baggage and proceeded for lunch. it was good lunch with chicken and fish.

Bhadrachalam boat came at 1.30 pm. camp guys asked to vacate the hut and wait near boat point. they didn't mention boat name, but said boat crew member will announce you name and tour operator name. again i need to be watchful not to miss my boat. at 3 pm, 3 boats came and one them were announcing my name, identified the boat, made our way through crowds. In the boat again there were entertainment program, dancing, they served tea and light snack. asked for service tip at the end. return journey on boat was completed in 1 hour 45 minutes. i asked crew member about the bus for return to Rajahmundry, but didn't got firm answer. moved to bus parking area, followed crowd, kept asking drivers mentioning my tour operator after some anxious moment, found my bus. my Idea , Jio didn't had network so couldn't contact tour operator.  Started bus journey and reached Rajahmundry Kotipally bus stand at around 7 pm.

Overall It was a pleasant experience.

Unwanted Promotional Call and SMS - Want to cut down ?

I have been always wondering how come all banks in India know my mobile number? These banks or their so called agents cum executives keep calling every day at least 2 to 3 times in a day despite the fact that my number was registered for DND with full block category since 2016. No matter how many times you ask them to stop, talk in rude manner no impact. Once my number was there in the system, it will call you with energetic tone to offer their product -- "Personal Loan", "Credit Card". On top of it off late I started receiving SMS as well.

Tired of everything , was looking for some option to stop it. Out of all these calls one was very irritating and disturbing was from Bajaj Finance. All I can imagine that this call was originating from Delhi, NCR location. I shared these details of unwanted call to Bajaj Finance customer care, their grievance department and to the last escalation level i.e MD. All the time I got a response that my concern has been forwarded to concerned department and call will be stopped in next 28 hours. Never mind they still kept calling and still calling. So frustrated from Bajaj Finance that I don't even consider buying any product related to Bajaj group now( this I conveyed to their MD) as well in email.

while doing search on google, I got to know that I can complain for unwanted call through SMS to 1909 in some specific format. This can be found at TRAI website. I tried this option and it wasn't that convenient as you need to copy the number and put dates in specific format when the call was made. You get a tracking number which wasn't easy to remember at all. I was getting updates within 7 days after lodging the complain, but update didn't have enough information what action were taken.

Then I got to know about DND 2.0 app from TRAI. Initially when I downloaded on my Android app, it didn't work, was unable to sign in despite providing all details. Later I updated my smart phone with latest updates available for android OS. Again I downloaded the DND app, this time DND app worked.

This app was very convenient for me to lodge a complain, not only for voice call but also to SMS. The moment I get a call for personal loan, I will cut the call immediately and go to the app and report the complain. This app has list of call logs and sms logs, all you need to do is select a specific call and select the category of unwanted call, put some description about call and submit it. So easy !!!!. You get tracking details of your complain through sms. It appears that app displays the status of last 10 complaints made.

The best part of the app is that you get the status of your complaints made with enough description of resolution. for example it shows that subscriber has been disconnected based on my complaint. If complaints aren't resolved, it shows the reason as well like CDR not matched( not sure what does this means) etc.

Overall with the help of app, I have been able to report the unwanted call very quickly and this has reduced the call significantly by almost 80% in my case. I still get call but once or twice in a week. I am hoping this will further go down.

Driving license in Hyderabad

I had my previous driving license from other state and its validity expired on on Jan 2016. Hence I had to apply for new driving license for
 2 wheeler with gear and LMV. I inquired from agent and the lowest quote I got was Rs 2500 and I will have to go to RTA OFFICE two times one for learner's license test and second for driving test.

I thought of giving a try on my own.From google search and RTA website , I came to know that first step was to clear online test. I booked online slot in Dec 2015. It costed me Rs 90 and paid through net banking online. Now the real challenge was how to prepare for exam. I got to know that there are books available to prepare exam and is available with Xerox centers in front of RTA office(mine was Attapur RTA) hence bought one for Rs 20 (Twenty). This book has around 800 questions with answers and was really helpful , had so many good information that a responsible driver should know. Since most of the information was new for me, I took some time to understand the questions and get to know the answers. It took me around 4 days with 2 hour each day to go through around 400 questions. After going through this book I was very confident that I know something with traffic rules. I would recommend all to read this book even if you are not applying driving license as it has many good information on traffic rules, signs etc.

Exam day arrived, reached with all xerox and original of my photo id and address proof to RTA. I had to approach to a counter to get a slip after showing my application form. from there I went to camera room where they took my photographs and digital signature.

I submitted my application form along with slip to a police officer who was conducting online test. My turn came for exam, I was given a desktop where he fed my application number and briefed me that I have 10 minutes to complete exam and will get 20 questions. Not sure if he told me that I need to have 12 answers correct in order to pass the exam. I started and voila, all questions were familiar to me, thanks to the book. after attempting 14 questions in five minutes I got a pop up on screen "Congratulations, you have passed the test...". I showed it to police officer who asked me to wait outside. After 30 minutes he called my name and gave a printout and this was my Driving License. 

Once we receive driving license , we are supposed to go driving test after a month. Validity of learners license is six months. I planned to go for driving test in Feb 2016 by paying fee online Rs 525 and driving track I selected was Kondapur. I googled a lot for driving test video and got couple of one from Gujarat, Bangalore and one for Kondapur track as well.  But I wasn't very sure what tests I had to give i.e. 8 track, H track etc for LMV and was totally clueless for two wheeler track.

Was also confused if I complete LMV test first, will they give me enough time to bring two wheeler and complete two wheeler test.

Driving test day arrived, reached to Kondapur RTA office, after few inquiries, I went to one counter to get slip. Went to another counter near driving test track and asked me to through the test by bringing my car. there are information on big boards what tests you have to take. I did 8 track test, H test and one more test where I was supposed to reverse back in narrow dead end lane, this I never saw in any online YouTube video. Completed successfully this LMV test. Now officer asked me to go for two wheeler test. A big question for me how do I get two wheeler immediately. I requested one gentleman to borrow his motorcycle and he kindly agreed. this was an easy one and finally went to officer to inform him that I have completed all my tests. Officer noted all my vehicle nos( four wheeler & 2 wheeler) and gave me a slip with a stamp which says I have passed driving test. almost after 10 days I received my original license through speed post.

Overall it was a very nice experience and felt good that I got driving license on my own. Hope this post should help to those who have plan to get driving license on his own. I haven't mentioned in details of documents required as its well explained in RTA site when you fill your Application form.

Thanks for reading this blog.

Transfer of PPF account from Post Office to SBI

I have opened my PPF account in the year 2004 at Post Office in New Delhi, subsequently I changed my job and relocated to Hyderabad. At the same time I got transferred my PF account from Post office, New Delhi to Post Office in Secunderabad. Believe me the process of transfer of PPF account from one post office to another post office is pretty fast(almost took 2 weeks).

However I was somewhat not very comfortable in carrying out activities related to PPF account with post office for example to update your passbook I need to stand in queue, when your turn comes the clerk will try to locate the register in which my PPF account entries are there(despite the fact that there is a PC on his desk). Not only that if you are paying via cheque, you need to go to Post office two times, second time to get your entries updated in your passbook(they will wait the cheque to be cleared before they put transaction in your passbook).

When I shifted my house from Begumpet to Attapur, maintaining the PPF account became a nightmare for me as my nearest Hyderguda post office didn't have PPF account facility. I started finding an alternative option for it. The only option I had to transfer the account to nearby nationalized bank. I zeroed on SBI bank.

I met to the branch manager of SBI bank and asked him the procedure for transfer of account from Post office to SBI. His first answer was Its not possible. My all dream shattered. I came back and tried to google about the possibility of such transfer. I got the information from SBI web site (try to search for PPF in SBI website) that PPF account can be transferred from Post Office to SBI and vice versa.

After 2-3 months I took the printout and again approached to Branch manager, this time he said I need to request for transfer at Post office where my account is. In my passbook also its mentioned that the above transfer is possible( i never read the detailed information in my passbook in past).

Then I approached to my post office and enquired with the clerk about the process. He again said its not possible. I immediately showed him the its written in the passbook. Then I was asked to talk to postmaster. Postmaster asked me to write a plain application , fill up the account transfer form SB(10)B and submit it with original PPF passbook. I also submitted photocopy of PAN, SBI passbook and address proof.

After one week I checked with Head post office and they informed me that its in process and by next Monday they will dispatch the transfer documents to SBI and may be after one week I can collect the passbook from SBI. Let me see what happens next.....

25-Jan-2012: Finally my PPF account got opened with SBI and I can see the PPF account balance online. I also collected a new PPF passbook issued by SBI.

Overall I am very happy with this transfer as I can deposit money and can see the balance online.

Thanks to all the people of Post Office and SBI which helped me during this transfer process.

My trip to Ellora

We planned to visit Ellora caves and Shirdi temple few days back from Hyderabad.I thought of taking the APSRTC tour package but dropped the idea because we prefer train journey.

I booked train ticket from Secunderabad to Auranagabad and from Manmad to Begumpet(Secunderabad) for return journey.

We started on Saturday evening from Secunderabad and reached Auranagabad on Sunday morning around 5 am. With the help of autorickshaw driver, we could find the budget hotel near to railway station.We took the budget hotel as we planned to leave for Shirdi same evening. Ellora caves are around 25 kms from Aurangabad. You have plenty of options to visit caves a)MTDC daily tour package (starts at 9.30 am and finishes at around 4 -5 PM) b) Taxi (it should cost you around Rs. 750) c) Auto (it costs around Rs. 500).

Apart from Ellora caves, one can visit Daulatabad Fort,a Shiv temple near to Ellora caves, Bibi Ka Makbara(replica of Taj Mahal). We first talked to an auto driver and was very co-operative and polite so decided to visit all places in auto. Weather was pleasant (22nd August 2010).

On the way to Ellora caves, we first visited Daulatabad fort. Its a very big one and probably its interesting for some one who loves history. We saw canons,museum, a temple (Bharat Mata) etc. We spent nearly 1 hour here and had to walk a lot.

Then we proceeded for Ellora caves.Before going to Ellora caves, auto driver took us to a Shiv temple(its a part of twelve Jyotriling). We could not go inside the temple as there was heavy rush due to Sravan month. Caves are around 1-2 kms from this Shiv temple. Parking space is very near to Cave no 16. We started visiting the Caves from 16. This is the biggest of all and very impressive. We were really stunned to see the stone work of our ancesters. How did they manage to make caves in rocky mountains and carve the statues. Its really amazing !!!. We then tried to visit other caves till cave no 6. By this time we were all exhausted as it needs too much of walking , climbing stairs. Overall it was too good and we really liked it.

After visting Ellora caves, Auto drivers took us to Bibi ka Makbara. Looks like Aurangjeb made the replica of Taj Mahal for his wife. Its a mini replica of Taj Mahal but its not made up of marble completely. Its worth of seeing.

We came back to our hotel around 2 PM after visiting all the above place.Our next destiny was Shirdi. Shirdi is around 154 Kms from Aurangabad and we have regular bus services from Central Bus stataion ,Aurangabad. We decided to start from Aurnagabad at 4 PM. We reached to Aurangabad Bus station at around 4.15 PM and in 15 minutes we got one bus for Shirdi.It took nearly 3 hours to reach Shirdi. More about Shirdi in my next blog....