What are your plans for the weekend? Just an obvious question on every Friday evening you ought to answer. You have landed in the right place searching for the answers.Ā Steps Together is our humble effort towards helping fellow travelers by providing as much info as possible and sharing the experiences of the places we visited.
Ranjani Somayaji
Born and brought up in a beautiful village of Udupi, I am currently working as a Technical Writer for an IT firm in Bengaluru. Apart from regular work and writing travel posts, I love quilling, crocheting, sketching, and working on stitch kit projects. You can find my works here.
Thilakraj Somayaji
IT Developer by profession. Photographer, vlogger, story writer, artist, and traveler by passion. You can find my Kannada short stories here. My role in this blog is limited as a photographer, vlogger, and Ranjani’s co-traveler.
The surreal feeling that we get near the calm beaches, an overwhelming emotion that embraces us after climbing the mountains, and the feeling of satisfaction that we experience after being one with nature is what inspires us to travel. Hope our words can motivate you as well.
Do not forget to comment or share your valuable feedback on Steps Together. Contact us at info@stepstogether.in if you love/hate our posts and opinions.
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Check out our top 10 posts:
1) Shivagange
2) Kuppali – Kavishaila & Kavimane
3) Male Mahadeshwara Hills (MM Hills)
4) Someshwara Temple & Kolaramma Temple of Kolara
5) Bettamugilalam
6) Gingee Fort
7) Shravanabelagola
8) Hampi
9) Mullayyanagiri, Chikmagalur
10) Mulabagilu Virupaksha Temple & Avani
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Check out our top 10 videos:
1) Chikmagalur Unexplored: Windy Mullayanagiri & enchanting route to Mahal – Story of clouds
2) Sringeri | Agumbe | Agumbe Ghat Road | Sharada Peetham | Karnataka Tourism | Steps Together
3) Hogenakkal falls coracle ride 2019 | Hogenakkal trip complete details | Tamilnadu Tourism
4) Murdeshwar and Maravanthe beach | Murudeshwar Temple | nh 66 | Steps Together
5) St Mary’s Island | Malpe to St Mary’s Boat Ride | Udupi Tourism | Karnataka Tourism | Steps Together
6) Baba BudanGiri Hills | Datta peeta | Tata Nexon | Chikmagalur | Karnataka Tourism | Steps Together
7) Kemmangundi | Trek to Z Point | Chickmagalur Tourist Places | Karnataka Tourism | Steps Together
8) Chikmagalur and Agumbe – A rain soaked drive through the Malenadu
9) Kuvempu’s home Kavimane and Kavishaila of Kuppali | Bangalore to Kuppali | Shimoga | Steps together
10) Shivgange betta | Shivaganga Hills | Day trip from Bangalore
Hey Ranjani, I was going through your blog, it is awesome.. It is good to see you exploring new places š Keep travelling..
Hey.. thank u so much for reading.. š
Ranjani and Thilak,
Glad to know our interests are alike š Stay connected
Even I had the same thought when I visited your blog.. Thanks for reading. š
You have an interesting and informative blog with details about every trip. I will look forward to more posts of your trips. š
Thank you,,,
Nice Ranjani. I always dreamed of traveling. And now after my wedding, me and my husband are doing it together.I’m glad too, to have a partner who shares the same love for traveling. š
Thanks for visiting my blog Swati.. good to know that our interests are similar .. š Enjoy..
Hey Ranjani…so nice to see ur blog…may u travel more in the coming days with ur partner š Do follow back if you like my space…i write a lot of travel stories too š take care!
Thank you so much for stopping by and for your wishes.. I will definitely read you travel tales..
lots of luck on your travel journey – together!
Thanks a lot š keep visiting..
sure I will!
Nice blog:) Enjoyed reading few posts; look forward to reading many more!
Thanks for stopping by.. you have a lovely blog too..
Nice posts you have here Ranjani! Keep writing more š
Thanks a lot..
Amazing blog ! Perfect for explorers who like to visit new places. Will definitely refer this while making my travel plans ! Great Work ! š
Thanks for stopping by.. š
Hi Ranjani, I have nominated you for the Liebster award. Check out the link http://coupleonquest.com/2016/02/20/the-liebster-award/
Thank you so much for nominating us for Liebster award.. It means a lot.. Will definitely try to reply for your questions in some days..
Hey Ranjani, my pleasure š looking forward to your answers
Your site has lots of information. I should start explore soon.
Thanks a lot Dileep..keep visiting..
Hey, I like the design and layout of your website as well as the information provided. Hampi is on my immediate travel bucket-list and your info is definitely going to help me. I am following you for sure š
Thanks for visiting. Glad that you liked my posts.. Hampi is on our travel list too. we will definitely try our best to capture as much info as possible in our Hampi post.
Hi Ranjani and Thilak,
I love to travel and have been to many places in India. I tend to follow travel blogs closely. Glad to find yours! I have started following your blog.
Thanks for following Steps Together.
Wow, nice blog that has some short, and long trips. Great job creating great stories.
Thanks a lot.. Keep visiting..
Hi, Thanks for following my blog. You have created a very good blog which is giving lead to many lesser known places of South India, a region very less explored by me till now. Keep sharing good stories.
Thanks a lot.. keep visiting Steps Together.
Thanks for the follow, Steps Together. May our paths intersect one day ! A close friend is also from Brahmavar, Udupi but the only time I visited Brahmavar, I fell sick š
Keep traveling & blogging.
Awesome sir… Really great to see your hard work… All the very best for your future endeavors…
Thanks for the supporting words…
Hello Ranjani, Thilak.
Thanks for the nice blogs. I am staying in BTM 2nd Stage (your starting point in one of the blog) and am planning a quick trip to Kanyakumari in my Nano during the long weekend of Holi. Me and my wife both love driving, and have done few Bangalore-Chennai trips in Nano. But I am a bit skeptical about visiting Kanyakumari in Nano as this distance is almost 650+ kilometers.
Was wondering if you faced any issues (engine heating, tire issues) with your Nano on long trips. How frequently did you stopped (we stopped just for lunch while visiting Chennai). Anything particular that you would like to comment, will be helpful.
Hi Ram,
Happy to know that you are planning for a Kanyakumari trip on your beloved Nano. We did the same route some years ago and it was wonderful. Hope you have already read our complete journey journal: http://stepstogether.in/2017/01/11/a-mega-nano-trip-to-kanyakumari/
What we suggest is instead of covering the whole of 650+ km till Kanyakumari in Single stretch, you can take a night break at Madurai as we did. Madurai too has a lot of interesting places to visit: http://stepstogether.in/day-5-madurai/
It’s not that Nano can’t do it, but it will be kind of tiring for the driver in our opinion. We have done close to 600 km stretch from Vijayapura(Bijapur) to Bengaluru in the past with our Nano, so if you are really keen you can definitely do it. And yes we recommend a break for at least every 2 hours so that both the driver and the car get refreshed. Please do read the threads we shared above and let us know your experience once you are back from the trip.
Happy Travelling.
Thanks for the prompt reply. Yes, I have gone through the two blogs you mentioned in the comment. We have finally decided to start early from Bangalore, will stay at Madurai and visit the temple. Next day we will continue to Kanyakumari. But haven’t finalized anything about the return journey yet.
Will update you about the trip after we are back.
Thanks
Hi Ranjani, Thilakraj,
I finally got some time to write this.
Here’s the details: There was a change in plans and I decided to include Kovalam as well to the trip (and I didnt regret doing so).
Since was farther than Kanyakumari, I decided to visit it first, as it will save 2-3 hours in the return trip from Kanyakumari to Bangalore.
We started early (say 4.30) from Bangalore, Had breakfast in Salem and continued. Crossed Madurai around 1-2 and reached Kovalam by 5.30 in the evening. Apart from breakfast, we took a quick (15 minute) lunch break and a 5 minute petrol break. Me and my wife took turns and drove our Nano till Kovalam without any issue. Our Nano had clocked about 750 kilometers till Kovalam.
Checked in to the hotel and ran to the beach for Sunset view.
Spent two nights in Kovalam, and then moved to Kanyakumari. Encountered so many windmills in the route.
Reached Kanyakumari by evening, checked in to the hotel and came out for the sunset view.
Next morning, visited Kumari Amma temple, then Vivekanand rock memorial. Returned at 4. Had lunch, visited Gandhi memorial and spent some time outside.
Next morning, left Kanyakumari at 8.30 am, stopped for a breakfast. Saw thousands of windmills till Tirunelveli. We kept driving on NH44 and reached Salem by around 5 PM. Had a light snack, and moved further. Reached BTM 2nd stage by around 8 pm.
The car did well (we didnt expected it to, however). Always kept checking the engine temperature gauge on the dashboard. Covered 90% of the journey on AC (it was really hot) in the to and fro journey.
Overall the trip was good, and we had a lovely family time together.
Thanks for the informative blog. We found it really helpful.
Thanks again
Hi Ram,
That was one good detailed travel experience. Glad that you had a wonderful experience and you shared it with us. Yes, we know that Nano is one hassle-free car from our own experience. Keep traveling. keep exploring new places.
Cheers..
Thanks a lot
Hello, Thilakraj And Ranjani, you have very nice vlogs as well as videos are also clear and informative.
This is Nilesh here Owner of Sixth Sense Holidays, Pune / Mangalore basically I am from Karwar, and I came to travel business to Show our beautiful Coastal Karnataka to People and this passion drove me to start my own Travel Company and to start a Travel Company is not very easy as to reach the service standard up to peoples expectations as it takes 10 yrs to reach up to here.
As I am seeing the same Passion in your vlogs and videos as I also was working with Corporates before.
As many of the people are seeing your vlogs and you must have many inquiries for that if you like to monitise your leads please cont me as I am doing B2B for many companies in Maharashtra, my mail ID is sixthsense.holidays@gmail.com and Cont no is 8265096058, 9890818553
Hi Nilesh,
Greetings from Steps Together.
Thank you for sharing your thought. We have noted down the points mentioned by you. Will surely reach to you in future.
Thanks.
Hello brother !
Iām Dr.Arun from Tamil Nadu. Iām just married couple of days back, and we dint get to go anywhere out of India since the lockdown and we like to explore India. Me and my wife are planning to road trip Karnataka. We actually booked room in coorg on 15th of this month, but unfortunately lockdown has been extended until 19th July . So we planned for a 10day road trip throughout Karnataka starting Bangalore till Dandeli or Gokarna .
If you could help us with some travel routes,some nice restaurants,some iconic places, by your experience . We have quiet seen all your videos and impressed by your videos. Since monsoon is hitting Karnataka and there is quiet a lot to explore in Karnataka we planned to road trip .
Thank you š
Hi Arun,
Congratulations and best wishes for your married life. Regarding your query, we are sorry that we don’t advice on the personalized plans for anyone. You can refer to our contents on YouTube and this blog for all the relevant details you need to visit any place mentioned by yourself.
All the best and Happy travelling.
Hello. I just watched your informative YT video on Manjarabad Fort, uploaded in 2017. I cannot get the background music out of my head. Could you please tell me the name of the song and artist? Thank you!
Really sorry that we are not able to help you on this as the video is too old to trace back. I suggest you use reverse track finding services like Shazam for this purpose.Thanks for showing interest.