RSS FeedCycling 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:
To The Less Known Hoysala Kingdom
Jun 25, 2009 Travel
Do you long for the feel of the rain brushing against you? Do you relish being out when it rains? And would you enjoy a dose of history to go with the freshness of the monsoon?
Then come and join us for the rainy-season edition of the tour of “Less Known Hoysala Kingdom”. We are heading to the fringes of Malnad. See the only Hoysala Temple that has not one but four shrines. Visit the beautiful tank with small shrines all around the water, surrounded by coconut trees in a quiet village. See the remains of the ancient town of Dwarasamudra strewn with carved rocks in a large open space.
It’s not me who’s travelling on the Hoysala trail, but Arun & Lakshmi, fellow travel bloggers are organising a two day tour to less known temples of Hoysala Kingdom on July 4th and 5th. For more details on the tour & registeration, click here.
Ananthapura, the place is well known for the temple of Lord Anantha Padmanabha. There are two specialties of this place – one, the idols of Lord Anantha Padmanabha, Goddesses Sridevi & Bhudevi are not made of stone/wood/metal, but are made of a mixture of more than 60 extracts from herbs/plants & other natural materials. The temple is built in the middle of a small pond & there is no external source of water to the pond except rain.
Second unique/strange thing of the place is, a crocodile lives in this pond where temple is constructed. It’s said that the crocodile is living there for years. During lunch time when called by priest, the crocodile comes out of the water & receives the ‘prasada’ from the priest. The legend says that – In 1942, the crocodile was shot dead by a British soldier. And the very next day appeared another crocodile which is present now. It’s said that the same crocodile is living in the temple pond since then. It was truly a ‘Believe it or not’ moment for us.
How to reach Ananthapura:
Our next stop was Madhur – temple of Srimadanantheshwara & Ganapati (siddi Vinayaka). Though the main deity here is Lord Shiva, his son Ganapati gets more importance/devotees. Our visit was brief compared to Ananthapura. From Madhur we started towards Bekal fort.
Two months after my bike trip to 
A student monk. He was more interested looking out of the class room instead of listening to the lectures.
Paintings inside the temple are huge, beautiful and very nicely done.
My visit was of very short duration. Just touch and go. This place is still there in my list of places to be visited :)
