2009 was a year of planned holidays because of a new office policy. We were all asked to take a week off in May and September. While most folks cribbed that this was not a good trend – I was thankful that we were allowed to keep our jobs. Yes – it was the year of the recession! Lost of folks in the US were losing jobs and being asked to take a vacation was a lot better than being asked to move out – in my opinion! After a discussion with the Arien, we decided to see Wayanad and Mumbai. We also made a few short trips.
January 2009 ended with a trip to Mudumalai and Ooty. It was a surprise trip planned by the Arien and I liked it a lot.
Mudumalai
Day 1 (Anniversary Surprise Trip)
Day 3 (Part-1)
The next was a day-trip to Maidenahalli – a spot known for Black Bucks. This was a sudden trip and the Arien was all enthu and we spotted a few bucks, managed some amazing shots that look almost unbelievable, and had a nice time inspite of getting lost 
We also managed a trip to the Big Banyan Tree. We had visited the place a loong time ago on our bike and now we were back on our car. The Arien managed some good shots as usual and we had a good break.
Maidenahalli
Maidenhalli – Black Buck Reserve (Part-1) (Part-2)
Big Banyan Tree
The first planned trip was in May and we had decided to visit Wayanad. We wanted to stay at Vythiri but the price scared us. It seemed an awful lot for a room where we would not even stay – I mean, we usually spend the entire day sight-seeing and come back only in the evening. Anyway, we dropped the idea for the moment and stayed at a place that was reasonably priced and managed to do a lot of sight-seeing. The Arien, if I recall correctly, had also borrowed a SLR from his frend and so we were totally enthued. I was a lil skeptic ’bout the weather conditions as it was May.
Wayanad
Day-2-Muthanga-Eddakal-Sultan Battheri
Karapuzha Dam – Chembara Peak – Soochipoora Falls
Pookot Lake – Vythiri – Banasura Dam
Wayanad – Kuruva Island – Thirunelly
Our next trip was to Yercaud. This was planned for the Independence day long weekend. We booked ourselves at an expensive place and decided to take the train to Salem and then a bus to Yercaud. It was our first trip without our car and we missed it sorely. It was a nice trip.
Yercaud
Yercaud – In and Arnd (Part-1) (Part-2)
The second planned getaway was to Mumbai. We planned to stay at my aunt’s place in Kandivali and booked tickets by train. We missed the train by 5 minutes and after a lot of Tu-tu Main-main took a bus to Mumbai. It was a good trip.
Mumbai
Mumbai Darshan (Sanjay Gandhi National Park – Kanheri Caves) (Khandivali-Lonavala-Khandivali)
The last trip of the year 2009 was the impulsive trip to Hampi (World Heritage Site). We planned the trip between X-mas and New Year and had a weird holiday. Weird because we felt so low that we had to get back home! Something to do with seeing a city in ruins. Did not expect that effect or impact on us.
Hampi
Hampi Sight-Seeing Spots (Part-1) (Part-2) (Final Part)
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