DocDivaTraveller

I dont know about you but I have grew up reading Enid Blyton books. I had been introduced to reading at a very early stage by my Mom and I had been a voracious reader ever since. Of course my taste and level of books progressed over the course of time. However I had been hooked to Enid Blyton for a very long time. I mean I have read Famous Five and The Secret Seven way till late than I should have. There was no book of hers in my school library left! What can I do, I was determined to finish them up all!

A fairytale house..

One of the very reasons I used to love her was the setting of her stories..Yes the English countryside. The lighthouses, the slopped roof homes with fireplaces....etc etc. The English countryside had long been on my bucket list. However visiting the UK won't be very soon. I have lots more interesting places lined up before that!

My childhood paintings used to be like this picture ...of course sans the windmills. A sloping roof house with a tree and lake and grass all over!

When I was researching for Amsterdam, I was smitten by the pictures of the Dutch countryside. They looked simply out of the pages of a fairytale book. So I coaxed my travel planner to include a short excursion to the countryside. Since we were very, very short on time, we tried to squeeze the district nearest to Amsterdam, Zaandam. Our first very stop in Netherlands after was Zaanse Schans and the Dutch countryside impressed us more than we could have imagined! It was even more beautiful than what I had seen in the pictures!

Beautiful gardens.

After arriving in Zaanse Schans, we walked all over the meadows. We saw the windmills and breathed the chilly air. Then we saw the houses. Ah! The quaint houses! They were red or green coloured with slopping roofs and chimneys. I still don't believe my eyes that people actually live in them. Every house had a pretty flower garden in front of them. These houses looked as if they were part of some exhibition!

Look at the cute wheel barrow!

I bought a porcelain windmill souvenir for 5 euros!

Stopping at a cute restaurant for a cuppa

I had told you about the gorgeous wooden houses!

Look at the curtains of the windows!

The Dutch settlement on the other side of the lake..

It was rainy and windy so we could not take as pictures as we would have liked. However I treasure the ones we took! I feel we have not done justice to our trip to Holland. I would definitely love to come back here (not that we have the money to go for repeat travels but would still like to think of a possibility)

All set to take the bus back to the city

The Amsterdam Centraal station was quite big!

I have pledged to click photos with these Hop On Hop Off buses in every possible city in the world!

The area of canal cruises..

Contemplating whether to take the canal cruise or not!

We then took the bus back to Amsterdam Centraal. We walked around the canals contemplating on whether to take the canal cruise or not. More on that in the next post. The countryside remains my most favourite part of our Dutch trip.

Denim dress: Only
Purse: from Dubai

Aah! The Dutch countryside!

I could stare at this view forever!

From all what I had researched, I had really high expectations from the countryside of Netherlands. Since we were visiting in summers, there was no chance of tulips but the tall grass, the lakes, Dutch houses and the windmills had my heart racing. I was dying to visit them!

We were really on a whirlwind trip in Holland. I mean we had just fourteen hours and we had to extract the maximum out of it. We followed the cardinal rule..the farthest should be covered first. So after the immigration checks, we bought the I am Sterdam card which was an all day bus pass for 13.5 euros each. However buying that card took two hours. I mean even after all the research we had done beforehand as to which pass would be the best for us, we simply did not know what to do when we landed there!

Just outside the Schiphol Airport...fnally got to breathe Dutch air!

There were many reasons. Firstly we needed a pass that had access to the countryside and not only in Amsterdam city. Secondly we had intended to use the train to go to Zaanse Schans, the nearest district in the countryside. The train pass was of 15 euros. Unfortunately on that very day, trains were not operating from the airport. Now we never thought this way and did not have a Plan B!! Moreover the kisoks at the airport accepted credit cards only and hubs was sceptical in using his card at the very first go. We had a long vacation in Italy ahead. With so much confusion, we lost two precious hours. Also the girls at the kiosks knew about Amsterdam only and no one could guide us about Zaanse Schans. Finally we bought the bus pass for 24 hours outside the city and stomped out of the Schiphol airport.

getting into the Airport Express

Walking in the Leidseplin area towards the Amsterdam Centraal

The Airport Express bus took us to the centre of the Amsterdam city. From there we were supposed to take another bus to the Zaandam district. Our Airport Express bus dropped us at the Leidseplein stop from where we walked to the Amsterdam Centraal station. In between we got a glimpse of the canals and the wide IJ river. After that were a lot of escalators up and down, some running and hopping in my heels and gusts of chilly wind to reach the bus stop. There we waited for the 891 bus to take us to the countryside.

Our bus to Zaanse Schans...the IJ river in the backdrop. It was too foggy and misty for clear pictures!

It took around 25 minutes to reach Zaanse Schans. The entire bus was empty except for us and a couple who were hungrily making out! Once my partner remarked that they were so much into the act that the man had to repeatedly adjust his pants :D

The chilly wind at Zaanse Schans!

Once we reached, I was overjoyed by the greenery of the Zaandam district. It was a 10 minute walk from the bus stop to our destination.

Zaanse Schans is an open air museum that has eight working windmills at one place with a lake and beautiful Dutch neighborhood all around. We selected this place to get a feel of the countryside as this was where we could see so many windmills at a single place.

Following the trail..

Tall and itchy grass..

We took the trail and started walking on the grass. The grasses were tall and itchy and the surface wet. After we made almost to the end, we realised that we had gone quite far from the windmill area. We again walked all the way back.

Picnic by the lakeside..Recharging ourselves by gobbling some knick knacks.

All the running and walking had made us hungry. We sat by the lakeside and gobbled whatever knick knacks were there in our bag. Energised, we walked to the windmill area. I was overjoyed by the sight of typical Dutch houses and of course the windmills.

The gorgeous Dutch countryside

The iconic Dutch windmill...this one is a small model, though a working one

Dutch houses, lake and windmills...the scenery could not get better...

Skirt: Next

Top: Dresslink.com

Neon Pink Purse: from Dubai

For keeping up with the change of fashion trend, more and more women buy many kinds of hair products such as closure, bundles and wigs. Weave and bundle are different names of the same products. Closure and weave can be used together to make a wig. A wig is one of the products that is easiest to use. If you want to buy some of these hair products, I recommend Maxglam for you. They provide all of these hair products such as cheap lace front wigs, cheap hair bundles, lace frontal closure and short curly weave. Any size of style can be found in their site. No matter how good is your hair product, a good care always can not be ignored. With a good care, your hair product can be used for longer time. Today we are going to talk about how to wash human hair.

Firstly, we will talk about how to wash human hair weave. The first thing you need to do is to fill the sink with warm water. Then comb the hair until it is smooth and tangle-free. Next infuse the weave in the sink and apply some shampoo on it. Keep in mind to shampoo the hair in the vertical direction gently. You can see the water become dirty, which means it is getting rid of the residue. After that, you should put the conditioner on the hair also in a vertical motion to avoid tangles. Leave the conditioner on hair for about five minutes. Put the weave in the sink and wash again. If your hair is in curly or wavy hairstyle, then I recommend you scrunch the hair after washing, which can retain the curly pattern. Brush the hair one last time to prevent any tangles. Hang the hair on the hanger to air dry. This is about how to wash weave.

To wash human hair wig, the first thing you need to do is to gently comb it out. Make sure that you are only using a comb designed for wigs. For stubborn tangles, applying a spray conditioner can help loosen them. There are some difference between wash a weave and a wig. When you wash the weave, you can infuse the hair in the water. While washing a wig, I do not recommend submersing your human hair wig in a basin of water, which will cause tangles. To wash your human hair wig, start by getting it wet under running water. Let cool water flow over the hair from the base to the tips until it is wet. Gently squeeze to remove excess water. Apply a small amount of shampoo to the palms of your hands and apply it on the hair. Do not twist, rub or massage. Then use cool water to gently rinse all shampoo from the hair. After that, apply some conditioner to the wig. Leave the conditioner in the hair for 3-5 minutes. Thoroughly wash the hair and finally, you may apply a small amount of argan oil treatment throughout the hair to add vibrancy, moisture and protection to the hair.

Remember that you don’t need to wash your hair products for many times, or the lifespan of them will be shortened.

Kerala has lots of places to explore out of which Alleppey, Munnar and Thekkady top the list. That goes without saying that Kochi is usually the anchor destination because of its international airport. However that means you need at least one week to touch the main places. We were on a whirlwind trip; just for 5 days and hence we had to squeeze as much sightseeing as possible in those precious days.

We explored Alleppey in a single day and skipped spending the night on a houseboat. That could have been easily arranged but we were too fond of our hotel to let go of its comfort and stay on the swamps instead. We skipped Thekaddy altogether (it was not remotely possible) Munnar though quite far was on our list.At least two days are needed for Munnar. But as you have read before, we did the unfathomable...a day trip to the most loved hill station of Kerala!

After a bus journey of 6 hours, we had a speedy Malabari lunch and then hired a taxi for the entire day. So what if we could not take the feel of Munnar...we could at least cross the spots from the tourist' list!

Our first stop was the Botanical Garden. It was a huge area with every possible type of fauna. Right now I am particularly obsessed with succulents and that was my favourite section.

We visited the tea plantations on the way. Our next stop was Madupetty Dam and we loved it. It reminded us of the Tehri Dam. The reservoir is huge and the dam is the main source of hydroelectricity ; producing huge revenues for the state. The surrounding areas are famous for spotting wild elephants although we were not privileged enough to spot them. The greenery around was incredible. Since it was winters, an envelope of mist was hovering over the lake. That haze produced an undescribable drama.

On the way to our next location, we were shown a few movie shooting sites. The rain had imparted a new definition of green to the vegetation all around.

Our last stop was the Ecological Point. Again it was a man made picnic spot which was picturesque nonetheless. The Madupetty lake had provisions of boating. But we were neither interested nor we had time. After roaming around for quite a bit, we urged our driver to drop us at the bus stop. It was five in the evening and almost dark.

There was a different drama altogether at the bus stop. The locals were unable to guide us as to which bus went directly to Kochi. Everyone (including the officials) had a different opinion. Finally we realised that since it was quite late (as per hilly area standards) there was no direct bus to Kochi. The last one was at 4 30. Bummer. Any of the buses which we gonna take required at least two changes. So we decided not to waste any more time; as delay meant lesser frequent buses. After a real tiring journey, we reached Kochi just before the closing of dinner. Steaming hot delicious food. That was the only thing needed after a long, exhausting yet fruitful day.

Blazer: Zara

Sweater: Zara

Sunnies: Fastrack

Boots: Forever 21

Skirt: Levi's