Mumbai, my hometown, is surrounded by water on three sides. Yet, I have never really seen the sunrise. I am a late sleeper, and the few times I went to see it, there was cloud cover hence nothing much like a ‘sunrise’. The sunset here is awesome though. The Marine Drive parapet – sitting and watching the sunset is something I do very often.

The other day, I woke up early. Took the opportunity to go out to the terrace and do some yoga. You may not believe, but it was the first time I went to my terrace early in the morning. What a beauty it was… I am amazed I had hitherto never considered going up in the morning! I have gone up to see the sunset, the night sky, the full moon – how did I miss this?

Thankfully I have not missed the amazing wonder that a sunrise is, in some of these places I have traveled to.

Pondicherry

One of my first solo trips. Mumbai – Goa – Bangalore – Mysore – Coimbatore – Pondicherry – Chennai (transit) – Hyderabad – Mumbai. In Pondicherry, I got a sea facing, lovely, little, single room. I truly enjoyed the sea view. It was amazing for me as I am so used to the sun setting over the sea in Mumbai… and now a very similar view, but the sun was rising from the sea. First time, I truly appreciated the difference of the East Coast of India from the West Coast! 🙂

One of the best views right from my room

Coonoor

Coonoor was totally impromptu. I was in Coimbatore and wondering where to head… just took a local bus from the depot and I was enroute Coonoor. I had absolutely no warm wear and Coonoor turned out to be chilling. The temperatures were at 15 degrees… which is bizarrely cold for Mumbai folks like me! Thankfully a wonderful Canadian lady lent me her woollen socks. This way I spent the first night in some state of warmth. Later of course I went and bought a cap and socks.

I remember the mornings in Coonoor not so much because of the view but because of the aarti from a nearby temple and along with that the aazam from the nearby mosque. Woken by these I would tip toe out to the balcony and just take in the early morning cold in the Nilgiris.

View from my window…

Kanyakumari

Sunrise @ Kanyakumari is probably the most sought after experiences. To truly have a good experience here, I think it is important to take care of a few things. Firstly, check the right sunrise time. Don’t ask the locals, they don’t know. Find it out from some app or something.

I was told it was around 5.30 ish.. so along with almost everyone in town I headed off to watch the sunrise. There was absolutely no sign of the sun, at all. What really surprised me is that no one took advantage of the crowd to sell some foods. Cause not the smallest morsel of food was available.

I stood around for a while… no place to sit. Then headed off to a different area to watch from… again every single place to sit was completely taken. This was because I went on a public holiday weekend, hence I believe the place was totally over run by visitors. So really, really full.

I was there till 7.30 and sun hadn’t risen. Just some orange and red streaking in the sky ….. I had an upset stomach so just left after that, couldn’t stand anymore. This could have been brilliant as the huge statue of Thiruvallavur and Vivekananda temple in the sea would create an awesome panaroma with the rising sun. But a little planning is necessary if you go at a time when it’s really crowded. Probably on non-holidays it may have been a lot more enjoyable.

Not early morning, clicked this snap much later in the day. You can see the Thiruvallavur statue standing proud and the Vivekananda temple…. Would make for a dramatic sun rise!

Coorg

I was staying at a lovely coffee estate with a homely family. I thought I should experience the morning in the hills here. So managed to wake up and I figured out the East direction with the help of a compass app on my phone. Went to find a good spot to watch the Eastern sky. There was a big water tank here, so up I went and sat on it. This would be around 5.30ish… I am waiting… I am waiting… Really didn’t know when the sun would rise cause I sat around for at least 45 minutes hungry and slightly cold. Finally I did get to watch the sun rise. It was well worth it…

Later the family had a good laugh at the thought of me sitting on their water tank for an hour or so.. waiting for the sun. hahha. This may have been the most daring of my sunrise adventures. As you can imagine everything was dark when I went and sat over there… and then just waiting.. wondering what is going on…. did the Sun just forget to wake up….. 😉

Lot of trees, I could see the hills in the distance and the sun rose over them. Didn’t capture it on camera… I am a very reticent photographer.

Varanasi

A lot has been written about the sadhus and devotees indulging in prayers early in the morning on the banks of river Ganga. I am also very intrigued about various Aartis in the temples. Many new customs and rituals maybe seen across the myriad deities. As and when I get time to spend more time here, I would like to explore these. But in my 3 days that I was there, I took the opportunity to do my yoga up in the terrace. The soft sun shining on me, the placid Ganga, distant sounds of the holy city – an ethereal early morning.

What I love and truly value about travel…. 

Seeing the various sights and absorbing the happenings around me, is just one part of traveling. What I truly cherish while traveling are the habits. Some habits are completely rooted out while new ones are formed. These habits/practices I feel, have the power to sustain through my life and enrich its quality. Memories are fleeting… during the usual, daily tasks I don’t even remember them, but these habits that sink in – they are what decide the quality of my life.

Living in Mumbai for about 20 years, I had never been to my terrace early in the morning. During my travels a love for experiencing the early morning – doing my yoga, or just waiting for the sun to rise, has flowered. Few days back I very naturally just went up to my terrace and that is when I realized –  I am not the same person I used to be.

As I was sitting on my terrace taking in the beauty of the morning, all these various early morning adventures went through my mind. At the time I hardly even thought much of it….. but how precious they all are.