RSS FeedThe pier of Southend-on-Sea
Apr 11, 2011 Beach, England, One day outing, Photo Essay, UK
The pleasure ride on the longest pier in the world.
Southend-on-Sea, my visit in 2009 to this coastal town 40 miles east of London was a completely unplanned or unexpected. I just jumped in when a friend asked me to join them on a day trip to this place. Only things which I knew about this town were – it’s a coastal town and there’s a fun park. After loads of wonderful time in the fun park, we headed to the beach. That’s when I saw it – the longest pier I’ve ever seen. A bit of searching on the internet told me that, Southend-on-Sea is home to the longest pier in the world, “The Southend Pier” which is 1.34 miles (a slightly longer than 2 kilometers). Here are some photos which I took during my visit.
Another small pier during low tide.
Pier, train and low tide.
Walking in the slush is not a pleasure thing, but it opens up a different world.
An onlooker
I Was Here: Malpe Beach
Feb 25, 2011 Beach, I Was Here, Karnataka, Udupi, West Coast
After a tiring bike ride 450 KMs on the previous day, I was here roaming around on Malpe beach on a Sunday morning. The beach was void of tourists. Only people on the beach other than us were the fishermen returning home. A group of fishermen were hauling the boat back to the shore. Their ladies helping them in folding the nets and other small odd works. Though tired, there was a sort of contentedness in their faces.
It was almost three years ago in 2008. Here is the link to the posts on various places I visited over 4 days of bike trip covering 1200 KMs.
Cycling in Seven Sisters Country Park
Nov 9, 2010 Beach, Cycling, England, One day outing, Travel, UK
When I landed in England last year February, one of the things I wanted to do was to either buy a bike (cycle) or go on a ride on a rented bike. During my first visit to Swindon, I had almost decided on buying one. But had to be content with just visits to the bike shop – reason being duration of my stay was less than 3 months.
Luck was with me and there I was back in London after two months. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity this time. Instead of buying a bike I decided to visit a place where I could rent one to roam around. Few rounds of searching on the web, I decided to visit Seven Sisters Country Park situated in the South Downs National Park .
The day started early on a Saturday. After enjoying the England’s rural landscape through the windows of the trains (London to Seaford via Lewes) and then a short journey by bus to the Park Centre. The day was cold and overcast. We hired bikes for half day and started our exploration. First visit was to the beach – cycling was fun in the cold with the cliffs on the left side and river Cuckmere to our right.
Seven Sisters gets the name from the seven brows of the cliffs made of chalk. The cliffs are receding at about 30-40cm each year on average. The process is intermittent with major falls occurring after heavy rain or rough seas, often two of three times per year. (source)
After spending some time on the beach and savoring the majestic view of Seven sisters, it was time for cycling through woods in Friston Forest. The biking path was clearly demarcated through the woods. After biking in the open on the valley floor, it was a different experience to pedal with green covered all around.
Post lunch it was a long walk to Cuckmere Haven which is on the other side of river Cuckmere. On the way back home, tired legs won hands down against the eyes to savor the English rural landscape. And it was a much needed rest during the return journey. :)
Useful links:
Manjeshwara & Someshwara
Aug 14, 2008 Beach, Kasaragod, Kerala, Pilgrimage, West Coast
We stopped at Kasaragodu for lunch. From there we went to Manjeshwara, the birth place of Govinda Pai, one of the well known poets of Kannada literature. It was around 3.30PM & Sri Ananthapadmanabha swamy temple was closed. We had to be content looking at the sculptures outside the temple. There were lots of sculptures of snake god (Nagarakallu, in Kannada) – of different sizes & shapes. We were told that the place is well known for ‘Nagamandala’, worshipping the serpent god which is an all-night ritual.
Our next destination was Someshwara. Sun was drifting down, while we sat on the beach looking at the endless waves & munching some snacks. The beach was not much crowded as it was a weekday. While few roamed around, some more sat like us getting mesmerized by the play of the Sun & the Sea.
After Someshwara before reaching Surathkal, we visited couple of more temples – Kudupu, again a temple of Ananthapadmanabha Swamy & Polali, temple of Goddess Rajarajeshwari. Kudupu is approximately 10 KMs from Mangalore on Mangalore-Moodabidri route. Polali is around 20 KMs from Mangalore and can be reached by taking a left turn at Kaikamba (when coming from Mangalore).
Day four, we were back on our saddles for our return journey. We started from Surthkal at 6.30 in the morning and decided to reach Mangalore & then take NH48 all the way till Bangalore. First of of the journey was wonderful, riding through the twisty roads – the wonderful mountains Western ghats – Shiradi ghat. Once we crossed Sakaleshpur the road became straighter & straighter, boring & more boring. Somewhere near Sakaleshpur, Srik got a call from his office asking him to reach office as early as possible. We dropped plans of visiting couple of places on the way & rode down straight to Bangalore.
That’s the end of our 4 day ride to West Coast.
PS: And this is my 100th post :)
