The new year has begun and it obviously has to start with a bang. For me travel is what gives me peace, and so I kicked off the new year with a family road trip to Ganpatipule in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. It’s a really small coastal town roughly 7 to 8 hours from Mumbai with beautiful beaches, the renowned Ganpati temple and amazing local food to offer.
Creating memories is an essential part of all my trips, but by that I mean not just in my mind but also loads of pictures and videos. This trip I decided to test the Asus Zenfone 2 Laser phone on it's camera capabilities and let me tell you I have come back super impressed. Anyway the Asus Zenfone 2 Selfie phone had really left a mark on me but in a phone at 2/3rd of it's price too, Asus hasn't compromised on the features one bit. Once again Asus has wowed me with the picture quality, so much so that I left my camera in my room on most days. Let's start with my favourite picture from the trip with my better half trying to do a take on Gerua from Dilwale inspired with the scenic beauty ;-)
For a 5 mega pixel front camera to give colours, clarity and depth as you can see, that too against the sunlight proves how superior the camera is. The button at the back of the phone is so convenient to use for selfies like this. While it has become a standard feature on most Asus phones, every time I use it it only makes me realize how convenient it is and I wonder why none of the other brands are incorporating this feature.
Now it's time for memories from my favourite place at Ganpatipule which is the beach. I got some precious moments with my little one which were all captured beautifully. Aryaa had a lot of fun though initially she was a little hesitant, but when she got a little used to the waves and the sand, she simply loved it. She jumped into the water, played with sand and when she thought no one was looking, she tried eating the sand and drinking sea water :-). These pictures and videos were taken during sunset and before it got absolutely dark, but notice how the camera uses every bit of the light available and highlights the features.
The phone has a 13 MP rear camera and it was brilliant how with the laser-assisted auto-focus I could lock the focus on anything in no time which Asus claims is 0.3 seconds. This feature worked brilliantly while shooting videos. I also loved the sound quality of the videos I took, which was thanks to the dual microphone with noise cancellation feature.
You all know that I am total foodie so the other highlight of the trip was the local Malvani cuisine. We did not eat at the resort we were staying at on any of the days. Trying out different eateries and the local fish, prawns, chicken and egg (no Mutton was available which was disappointing) preparations was our focus. The thalis at Samir restaurant are highly recommended and there was nothing to beat that one experience.
The chicken masala fry is another popular dish in Ganpatipule and all the restaurants serve that dish. You must try it out. When it comes to snacks, the wada pav and misal pav are what you definitely have to have.
Coming to why most people visit Ganpatipule - The Ganpati Temple where the 400-year-old Ganpati idol is said to have emerged from the ground. This temple is a must visit for Ganesha followers.
No cameras or mobile phone cameras are allowed to be used inside the temple, so I could get no pictures from the inside. However, I got a picture from the outside in the night mode and the picture turned out really nice and vibrant as you can see. Sitting inside the temple gives you a real sense of peace and we spent quite some time there which I recommend you to do too if you plan to visit the temple.
Last but not the least, a mention of the beauty of the place. One of the days we randomly drove around to see of there was any road that runs along the coast and voila we found it. We then parked our car on the side and adventurously walked down and got some great selfies along with videos of the coastline.
If you are looking for a new phone and are a travel junkie like me then the Asus Zenfone Laser 2 is a highly recommended one from me for reasons that you can see :)
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