After arriving in Mumbai before sunrise and not being able to check-in online, I decided to visit Gateway of India just as the sun was coming up. I was contemplating whether or not to go back to Pals Hotel to try and check-in but if my room was not ready, I would have to step out again.
So I decided to just finish my sightseeing for the day by going for the Elephanta Caves tour early in the morning itself. The tickets for the tour are sold inside a small complex housing different tour agencies near the Gateway of India itself.
I bought a return ticket for ₹260 ($3/€2.6)
The first ferry sets off from Gateway of India to Elephanta Island (also called Gharapuri) 9AM onwards, and the last ferry leaves Elephanta Island at 5.30pm to return to Gateway of India. Elephanta Caves is closed on Mondays, so plan accordingly.
After purchasing the ticket, you wait near the back side of Gateway of India
One by one, boats come to the dock and leave only once enough tourists fill up each the boat
It took about 30mins for the boat I was assigned to fill up, so the boat did not set off sharp 9AM
We finally set off, and my boat was the first tour of the day
These are the types of boats used to ferry tourists
One of the popular activities on the Elephant Caves tour begins while on the ferry journey itself.
After not traveling anywhere in 2024, I began 2025 with a trip I had been planning for months prior. When Coldplay was going to play in Bangkok in 2024, I read rumours about the British band bringing their Music of the Spheres tour to India. So I held back from spending way too much just to go see Coldplay in Bangkok.
Tickets went live on BookMyShow on September 22, and although I struggled to purchase tickets, luckily I had a friend who got one for me. As luck would have it, the tickets arrived just a few days before I had to leave for Bangalore, and so I took the train to Calicut to meet my friend and got my entry tag.
I have already published the blog post about the Coldplay concert in Navi Mumbai, so now I’m going to begin my Mumbai series with all that I saw in the few days I spent in India’s financial capital.
Past midnight, I took an Uber to Bengaluru’s Terminal 1, which is now all domestic.
My flight was with Akasa Air
I booked with Akasa because at the time of booking, I got a fare of ₹3591 ($42/€39) including luggage and meals — which I thought was a good deal. More importantly, the flight was supposed to depart at 8:10 AM and arrive in Mumbai at 9:50AM — which I felt would have been a perfect to start my day and check-in to my hotel. Then one month prior, I get an email from Akasa Air saying due to a schedule change, my flight time was changed to depart at 3:50 AM and arrive at 5:35 AM! Grrrh 🙄
I didn’t have any check-in luggage since I crammed everything into one backpack to save time waiting for luggage
But while passing through security, I was sidelined and asked to take out an old mini mosquito bat that I was carrying. I was told that I would have to keep that in my check-in baggage because a device that can create electric shocks cannot be allowed on board. I told the guy it was old and not very strong but security wouldn’t allow it. So there, if anybody is wondering if mosquito bats are allowed in hand baggage on flights within India — the answer is no. I ‘gifted’ the security staff my old mini mosquito bat and walked to my gate.
Other than that, there were no delays and I didn’t have to take a bus to get to the airplane either
I don’t think there is a single moment when BLR airport isn’t busy nowadays
This is what counts for in-flight entertainment in a budget airline these days — a phone holder and a pull-out tray to place tablets 😊
For my meal, I pre-booked a chicken cafreal poi
Sadly it was served chilled but other than that, it tasted good. Cafreal poi is a Goan (originally Portuguese) dish — basically meat stuffed bread pockets.
Before I begin, I wanted to inform my readers that the below photos are from a visit I made to this temple back in 2020. I waited to post this after I was done with my Vietnam series… but then I forgot.
Anyway, I had heard about Sree Thrikkaikkunnu Mahadeva Temple from a relative who told me about how big it was. There weren’t too many blogs, articles or vlogs about the temple. I mean, it’s not a tourist attraction or a popular pilgrimage site, but despite its age and size, it doesn’t see as many visitors as Peralassery temple does — which I guess is mostly due to its famous step well which people of all faiths can see.
Sree Thrikkaikkunnu Mahadeva Temple is located in the town of Koothuparambu and is 23 kms from Kannur Railway station. The locality the temple is in is called Kottayam (not to be confused by the city of the same name in central Kerala).
This is the entrance one sees when getting on to the road off the main Koothuparambu highway
The grounds of the temple spans over 2 acres
The temple has two sreekovils (inner sanctum) and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. You can read about the mythology surrounding the temple on this website.
The temple is hundreds of years old, but even the temple staff I spoke to couldn’t give me an approximate era
Since this temple became a popular spot, they have rates for photography and filming
You have to pay Rs. 100 for photography and Rs. 300 for videography. But like with most temples, I was told I could not photograph inside the inner sanctums.
So I just stayed outside to be safe
I had come to the temple with my cousin sister, her husband, their daughter and a friend. They wanted to shoot some classical dance sequences for their daughter and my cousin’s husband, who is a music teacher, wanted to film a music video for his flute performance here.
The temple is constructed using local red stones, which have gotten some modern upkeep over time
From the back
I know these photos may not give you a good indication of the size of the temple
So I decided to step out of the temple grounds to take out my drone.
These steps lead you to the adjoining lake
It’s a pretty big man-made lake
I took a drone shot of the lake
This was around 5pm
An old tree at the footsteps of the lake
My cousin’s husband continued taking videos for their daughter’s dance
(Unfortunately, for reasons cited below, my cousin’s family was unable to obtain enough good shots to complete the dance performance)
This is a tighter crop
I was told I could not fly the drone above the temple and so I assured them I would limit the flight to just outside the gate.
If you want to see what the complete structure looks like (cropped in)
My cousin sister’s daughter and friend are the two green and red specks you see on the left side.
I took one parting shot before leaving
We had to end filming because some local guy who was sitting by the temple entrance objected to me flying the drone near the temple, just as I was done taking the final shot. He created a ruckus and accused all of us who had come for filming saying we were not allowed to film like this. Mind you, the actual temple staff member who we paid the filming fees to, had left the temple by now (it was a Sunday).
My cousin’s husband tried reasoning with the guy, but my cousin sister said he could be drunk. None of us wanted to create a scene on temple grounds, and my cousin’s young daughter also got scared. So we all left the temple rather upset after having our evening ruined.
So just be careful about such people if you are planning to visit this temple for photography or vlogging. If you get a receipt from the temple office after paying the fee, hold on to it until you leave the temple site.
If you want some more footage, Kerala Tourism has some glimpses of the temple exterior in their video:
My cousin sister’s husband managed to record his flute performance which uses most of the drone footage I could take (watch it in HD):
