The Wandering Soul's Wander Tales..

7 Travel Videos : Inspiration From Around The World

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Wed, 02 May 2012 04:11:00 +0000

I am sorry but I might just make it impossibly hard for you to sit and work today. Either that or you will be inspired. As for me, I am bouncing between being highly inspired to being terribly depressed! Inspired for what can be done and depressed for I am writing about it instead of doing it!

Here are seven awesome videos that always make me want to pack my bags and get lost right away!

1. Blank Spaces

This video represents everything that adventure is to me! The location and filming is top notch. The music sets the mood perfectly and well the spirit, it is everything. Blank Spaces was a finalist in the Your Big Break competition a global search for the next great filmmaker but frankly speaking I liked this much much more than the winning entry. Hey, c'mon who doesn't want to name a ..okay I'll let you see.

2. Way Back Home

Never knew all this could be done on a mountain bike. I keep my eyes glued to the screen as he jumps onto anything and everything and lands back safely. It goes without saying the locations and music are awesome.

3. Kadinchey

Kadinchey means "Thank you" it seems. My heartfelt thanks to Nick for making this video. Sounds of a country is an innovative idea and the execution is perfect. It just transports me to the land of the Thunder Dragon. The song and the little girl will stay with you, for long.

4. Make it Count

Running was never so much fun, ever more so when you are running in different countries, flying across borders, jumping into natural pools and it is all paid for! The background score sets the pace for you to fully immerse yourself into the joy that comes from travel. Oh, the awesome quotes will make you think and will make you smile!

5. Move

We've all heard "The great affair is to move". Rick seems to live by it. In just over a minutes he takes us places and it is a ride you don't want to miss!

6. Where the Hell is Matt?

It's been more than 4 years since Matt shot this video. It has done millions of rounds over the internet. Today you can see him do the jig for Visa commercial too. But even today it is impossible not to smile when you see this video. It is a pure joy to watch Matt do the funny dance around the world with a huge smile plastered on your face. What is so nice about it? Go figure! Maybe we all want to just dance.

7. Reclaim Your Life

One of those ads that asks the right questions! Seriously, what would you remember?

Which one was your favorite?

Did you feel like packing your bags reading this post? (Please Please Please say yes! *Praying*)

Any other awesome videos that you know of? Tell me in the comments.

10 Pictures and Stories of Ruins from Across India

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:53:00 +0000

When I saw the movie Tomb Raider as a kid, I was fascinated by the Cambodian Ruins they showed. The fascination intensified when I learned they had maintained Ta Prohm in the same way they found, shrouded in roots. Of course it is a different story altogether here in India, the ruins are not maintained, they are just left. Following my quest to take the road less traveled, I guess I have developed an intense fascination for the abandoned and ruined, for no one cares or writes about them. Ruins have been a fascination ever since. Who knows what treasures it held and what treasures it still holds unknown to us. What memories could've been and what stories stay untold. Through out my journeys across India, never have I consciously missed an opportunity to pay a visit to the disintegrating monuments. So here's a list of what I saw and what I heard.

1. Temple en route Vellagavi - Legend has it that the erstwhile local Robinhood of surrounding area of Kodaikanal hid treasures under this tree. Some claim the kings of yore had buried a huge treasure here. Legend also has it that the treasure has to be retrieved only after following some seven stipulated steps else death would befall upon those who tried in the incorrect way. Either way everyone believes there is treasure buried deep here, under the roots, under the tree.

2. Orchha - There isn't a greater place in ruins that I have seen so far. Every monument here is standing the test of time, on its own, for the government took pains to maintain only very few of the remains. When the king undertaking the construction of these giant cenotaphs died abruptly, the construction was never continued. Today, the grandest of the envisioned cenotaphs lies in neglect and rots inside. Bats take shelter, crooks play inside, even the guards wouldn't bother anymore, for it lies outside the boundary.

3. Rani Ka Vaas, Bhuj - The devastating earthquake that shook Gujrat in 2001 left a trail of destruction in its wake. It is surprising to see this building still standing after the damage it survived. While Prag Mahal managed to retain its strength and shape, Rani ka Vas was destroyed beyond repair or so I would assume. Today it stands shattered and totally in neglect, as a stark reminder of the forces that be, of the one who destroyed and of the one who can probably revive it.

4. Abandoned Havelis of Churu - This place is from a different time and place altogether. It is a small dead part of a town that is otherwise lively. Giant havelis that hosted the rather large joint families of those days lie abandoned and done for now-a-days. The property is split between a complex branch of family tree that no one cares enough neither to sell nor to maintain. Of course it is difficult to sell, for, a gazillion cousins got a room each of the haveli. Dead pigeons fall in front one door and a dead dog in front of the other. One such magnificent haveli boasts of 1100 windows and doors but no one care, no one bothers. The rich owners, the marvaris have left the place and are thriving elsewhere in the world, not here.

5. Hampi - The glorious erstwhile capital of Vijayanagara Kingdom was a fabulously constructed city it seems. The Dravidian temples and palaces won the admiration of travelers from far away lands it seems, until it fell into the hands of the Deccan Muslim Confederacy. Hampi was pillaged endlessly and ruined until the city was abandoned. Today all that remains is the ruins, in a reasonably well preserved state. Even then, the ceilings are falling and the walls are cracking. Not because of some muslim confederacy attacked but because the ruins are not valued enough by those in power.

6. Chiktan Fort - Deep inside a valley, by the raging Indus, with the mountains in the background, stand the stones of a fort that was. I dare not call it a fort for it is merely stones stacked up one one another now. Historically significant, today the significance is no more than a landmark in the far distance. Built by Pakistani craftsmen in the 16th century, today the neglect and natural forces have reduced the fort to rubble.

7. Ghost Town of Kuldhara - Legend has it that Paliwal Brahmins, the occupants of a part of Rajasthan were very adept at business and agriculture. They were thriving and were growing to be quite rich and powerful which worried the Dewan(Prime Minister) of losing his authority and so he levied outrageous taxes upon them. Either that or the fact that he developed a liking towards the chief's daughter, which the paliwals did not traditionally approve of, decided to leave the village overnight. Kuldhara, along with 83 other villages, were abandoned overnight. Today Paliwals are scattered elsewhere and no one has been able to find the 84 villages either. Legend has it these villages are cursed that no one can survive in them, which is probably why Kuldhara still remains a ghost town.Or the myth might shatter if some historian shows some interest.

8. Ghost Town of Dhanushkodi - While the previous ghost town is shrouded in mystery, this ghost town screams of a tragedy. The high intensity storm of 1964 came on its swift wings and took away an entire train full of passengers and an entire village into oblivion. The estimated casualties were 1800 dead people. Today the area has been declared unfit for human habitat but few fishermen still struggle to live off the sea while these walls stand in the sand, as a memory of what happened earlier.

9. Rosary Church, Shettihalli - Of all the ruins that are still standing, this has to be the most fascinating according to me. The church was built in 1860s and when the dam was constructed in 1960s, the village had to be rehabilitated upstream. But the church remained. Not only did it remain, it survived. It survived the wrath of monsoons and of summers. Jaggery and egg mixed in mortar gave the walls its strength is what few claim, the strength to stay submerged during monsoons and emerge in the dry season, year after year.

10. Abandoned houses on Leh - Kargil Highway - I don't know when. I don't know how. I don't know why. I just know they are abandoned houses. War casualties or bunkers maybe, they are just abandoned. No one stays there, except for the walls and bricks and the mountains and the ghosts of the past.

And if you are wondering why this fascination with ruins, your guess is as good as mine. I don't know! Or maybe it is because it lets my imagination run wild.

How I failed miserably on the Great Himalayan Cycling Trip!

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 05:48:00 +0000

It will be almost a year to the tragedy this July, the Himalayan Cycling trip tragedy. If not a tragedy I can only call it a farce. Now when I look back and think of the things that I did, I was wondering what the hell I was thinking anyway.

That's my bike taking rest as I click, and fellow team member going ahead.

The power of a bored mind and a crazy idea is way too great than you and I can fathom. When I was done having all kinds of crazy adventures and the adrenaline wasn't rising high enough, I decided it was time to do something a notch above my usual crazy adventure scale. Out of all the things thrown at me through "The Wall" on facebook, I somehow managed to pickup cycling as my next adventure. Because a friend or two unwittingly posted a video or two on mountain biking, I assumed "The Universe" was telling me something, I was so glad I finally communicated with the Universe, under the guise of listening to my heart I was actually listening to Facebook!

Well it could've been the funniest thing if not for the other things that went awry on the trip. Spirits were flying high, I put together an awesome team, printed T-shirts with a logo that I personally made, then we went shopping for the missing gear, learned how pack/unpack bikes, transport them and a lot of other things. Well it seems what I forgot in all this was that to bike in the Himalayas, you just don't need some branded imported bikes and stuff. You also need some stamina and strength. Before I fall flat on my nose, let me brag, even if it lasts just for a second.

I have taken pride in the fact that I have never ever entered a gym or went through any sort of physical training so far in my life. Only the treks that I have done are about as much training as I get. I am not even regular on those treks these days because I if I don't write on my blog or publish a photo, the world will end, no seriously! So I was so busy planning the routes, shopping, bragging everywhere of the Great Himalayan Cycling Trip, that I totally forgot to train for the trip, at all! Well this could've been the only funny thing, if not for the other things.

So when we assembled the bikes back and started cycling one evening, I felt the head wind to be far greater than expected, the weight of the backpack on the cycle to be pulling me back and the smallest gradient to be much more daunting. I thought I was just too tired today and I will get used to it. Either that or my body hadn’t acclimatized yet, we were cycling at an altitude of 3800meters directly. Next day when I was feeling terribly weak, the saner thing to do would’ve been to take a bus and go to the next camp, but no, I am the mighty Neelima, how can I give up already, so I went ahead cycling. Only to fall sick immediately, my body temperature was rising and my heart was beating so fast and loud it could be heard back in Bangalore.

We took rest for a day alright then did some major offroading on a new route, which got me excited. I was still sick but was determined too, I fell, tumbled, got up, and went ahead for the next 12 kms. It was good fun. We continued the ride for another 40kms which was good fun too and I finished the day on the bike.

The next few days everything I did was just a trigger for something that could go horribly wrong. While still struggling with fever and a mild case of common cold, we sat one night to have chilled beer in the cold night. Only after I gulped down one entire bottle, the brilliant mind of mine shouted “Hey, shouldn’t you be having something warm for your cold?” But the damage was done already. Next day, the four of us were so hungover we couldn’t get out of the bed till evening! Days later when I was telling my story to a German, he stopped me and said “So you were planning on biking for two weeks in Himalayas and then summiting a 6000 meter peak and this is how you were keeping yourself fit?” Hmmm. Good question!

After advising everyone on the team a thousand times about the importance of taking care of your health in the Himalayas, to me it deemed fit to disregard my own advice. By now I was royally sick. Sick enough that I needed some support to walk long but I still managed. I hitchhiked my way to the subsequent camps while the boys rode and joined me every evening.

Now it would’ve still been fine if I was continuing what I was doing, hitchhiking my way out of Spiti but how can the adventure end already. I had to make matters worse, so I took my cycle and headed towards Chandratal, on a trail that hasn’t been cleared yet, for yet another true off-roading experience. But my condition was so pathetic, every small stone that got under the tire was giving me a headache and if I fall, I’d fall straight into the valley, tumbling like Jill! So I thought devil may care, I’ll leave my cycle unattended here and walk to the lake. I walked 16kms and then I dropped dead the moment I saw a huge 2km climb to the lake. It was here that my condition took a turn for worse. Since I couldn’t move a group of bikers agreed to take me back to base camp the next day after an agonizing 24 hour wait. During which time I wondered if I should have made that call to home when I had the chance. Later I started coughing so bad I scared myself to death with thoughts of pulmonary edema! Thankfully a group who had been touring in Spiti through BNHS offered to take me back to Manali.

Sitting alone in Manali, I was still coughing blood and the doctor’s medicines weren’t working either. It was only then that I decided that the adventure was over. I flew back home, rested, cried, recovered, screamed and then packed my bags again for another adventure with a week, which is why I call myself the wandering soul. ;)

It may sound like it was a ruined trip but to tell you the truth, it wasn’t. Until about the last few days where I fell life threateningly sick, it was great fun all along, the views, the company and the experience. Without all the helpful folks in Spiti, BNHS people, the bikers and my dear friends, it could’ve been a real tragedy, but thanks to them, it is just a story now.

I have learnt a thing or two about planning an expedition and preparing for it. Next time I will plan another crazy trip and this time I will finish it, or so we hope! And I write this because, this blog is not just about all the sugar coated sweet moments of travel. Half the times when I travel or go for an adventure, I keep thinking why did I ever get into this! I want you to know it is perfectly alright to doubt your sanity when crazy things are happening around you, but I also want to tell you that these crazy things is what makes for a great story years later! Imagine if someone wants to write a book about you, give him some material, won't you?

13 Pictures of Incredible Clouds from Western Ghats!

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:10:00 +0000

First time I saw white fluffy cottony clouds below me, through the flight window, I almost cried! That's how much I love clouds. There is something so inexplicably magical and mysterious about the white wonder that comes and goes and makes everything around it look so beautiful. I never knew these kind of views existed in the real world and even if they did, I wondered they must be in some place exotic quite far away. When I saw photos of clouds in Western Ghats I didn't believe it, until I saw the magic unfold in front my eyes. Today I have been blessed enough to have a collection of photos of clouds from Western Ghats, it has been 3 years since I started trekking and I have seen clouds very few times. Of those few times I had even lesser time to shoot the clouds, but many misses later, I think I can show you a quarter of the actual opulence through these captures of mine.

One of the most beautiful things I have seen so far in all my travels is clouds drift into valleys. This was seen quite recently around Kodachadri during sunset.

When I say good things come to those who wait, I am not kidding. See what we saw just because we waited it out. A Brilliant show of clouds and colors at Narasimha Parvatha during Sunset.

Way back in 2010, I had my heart skip a beat. That was after all the first time I was seeing clouds beneath my feet. Shot at Kodachadri during Sunset.

When the greens, whites and reds put up a show together, you can do nothing else but stare with wonder. Shot at Kodachadri last weekend during Sunset.

While the Sunsets always have been much more dramatic, Sunrise brings calmness that nothing can compare with. Mornings are serene, solemn yet extremely soothing in its simplicity. Sunrise at Narasimha Parvatha.

At times, the camera sees much more than I do. The camera captures, I imagine. Both of us together can work wonders I guess. Sunset at Narasimha Parvatha brought pink shades along with the greenery.

Walking along the clouds was always just a metaphor I thought. What did I know that such places do really exist, we haven't lost all yet. There is still a lot that can be preserved. Evening walk along the ridges, along the clouds, enroute Kodachadri.

Looking down at the trail we came through last night, if only we were still there while clouds kissed the sky! Ridges around Kodachadri, one morning during sunrise.

When we wake up to views like this, how can we not think Life is Beautiful? It is such a beautiful world all around us. Sunrise at Narasimha Parvatha.

Layers and layers of mountains in the far distance and only those who managed to rise high, rise above the clouds to enjoy the view. From inside it is nothing but blinding mist! Life's lessons taught with subtlety at Kodachadri during Sunset.

I always imagined if we jump into the clouds, we won't pass through, just how we saw in the cartoons as kids. I wonder how it would've been it were actually true, jumping into the clouds and float away along. Narasimha Parvatha magic at Sunrise.

It is quite difficult to see such clear clouds during monsoons, it is all misty and view is obscured. But the clouds are around nonetheless, sometimes they open up to show the green valleys beyond. Taken at Tadiyandmole one day.

I turned back a million times before I left. I was afraid the clouds might vanish in a split second. But they didn't, they stayed, until they left that is. But here in my mind, the clouds will be beneath my feet forever, Thank you Western Ghats, without you my life wouldn't be the same! Thank you for showing me the beauty that I never knew existed! Sunrise at Narasimha Parvatha.

30 Before 30! :)

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 03:32:00 +0000

So the title gives away that I am not 30 yet. ;)
I have just few months and 3 years to accomplish things on this list. Not that this list would be my guiding light for the next few years, but since making a list is so much fun and striking things off the list is even more fun, I made this list. What do you think?

How many of these things do you think I will be able to complete? How many should be done? Any suggestions that I might add here? What's on your list if you have one? Don't worry if you are over 30, you can write your 35 before 35 or 40 before 40 lists!

Sometimes I do crazy things for just as less as a good photo or for something as much as an awesome memory!

Go to Ulan Bataar
~~Take a solo trip~~ ( Take a solo trip )
Summit a 6000m peak or above
Learn how to swim and dive into a natural pool
Finish a mountaineering course
~~Ride a camel in the desert and then stand on it!~~ ( Ride a camel in the desert and then stand on it! )
Learn a new language(Indian, preferably Tamil).
Get a stamp on my passport of a country which at least five people should ask me where it is
Spark a fire like Bear Grylls
~~Cycle in the Himalayas~~ ( Cycle in the Himalayas )
~~Have my photo published in a magazine~~ ( Have my photo published in a magazine )
~~Trek in a desert, along the beach, on the mountain~~ ( Trek in a desert, along the beach, on the mountain )
~~Go to a place where you can see clouds below your feet~~ ( Go to a place where you can see clouds below your feet )
Finish the 100 Strangers Project, twice!
Cross from one Country to another on foot
Go Couchsurfing
Surf in the sea
Get a tattoo in some weird language
Set foot in every state of India
Go to Pakistan
Ride a SUV in the mountains
Stay with indigenous tribes in their forest
Taste at least five kinds of local liquor(only two done yet)
Walk on a frozen lake
~~Give a talk on travel to a live audience~~ ( Give a talk on travel to a live audience )
~~Have my face published in a news paper~~ ( Have my face published in a news paper )
Have a successful gallery show
Win/Get invited for an all-expense-paid trip to any place exotic, abroad
Welcome the 30th year in the Himalayas :)
Quit my current job and enter the world of Travel & Photography full time!

The Legendary Monsoon Pilots of Goa!

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 05:12:00 +0000

In a drunken stupor he said. "Go ahead, few more kilometers and the pilots will take you along"

When the ride is this awesome, who cares about the destination?

At this point we were enjoying just being there, the moment was extremely funny and totally unexpected. We were supposed to be watching wildlife in Dandeli but here we were in Goa. We were supposed to reach Dudhsagar Waterfalls and this man here says the pilots will take us. It only amused us because so far everyone has been saying it is not possible to reach Dudhsagar Falls, the streams will be swelling and no vehicle can go near it. If I forgot to mention, it was pouring cats and dogs every few hours. It was peak monsoon.

I knew it had to be true because during my Cycling Trip in Goa, I cycled along that 10km stretch to reach the base of the waterfall. It is a beautiful track passing through the dense forest of the Bhagwan Mahavir WLS and we crossed streams one too many times. It must be true. Those streams must be raging torrents now. Jeeps wouldn't go through. So when he said the pilots will take us, we had a good laugh and went towards Colem anyway. We had nothing else to do after all. We were randomly driving across the streets of Goa.

Once we reached Colem, I started explaining with great pride, how we crossed the river here and entered the sanctuary to cycle across the dirt track. Before I could finish the story, they appeared! It was actually true, they did exist, the monsoon pilots of Goa! The man was sure enough drunk in broad day light but he knew what he was saying. We had to give that to the old man.

They called themselves pilots but what they actually mean is they will drive you to Dudhsagar falls on their motorbikes. Each person sits behind each one of these so called pilots on their bikes. They said they have another way to go to the falls, the jeep track is flooded but they can take us.

Momentary lapse of judgment is what I call, the thing which happens to you when you travel. You put your trust in complete strangers hoping everything will work out fine. The bikes didn’t even have proper brakes and the route was something that would do for a good action chase sequence. After all, who in their right mind would go drive on the gravel next to the railway tracks? When I say next to railway tracks all we had for the tire to tread is about 30cms of gravel in water. Next to it, the land sloped down. Needless to say the fall will be fatal. There was no road. We were offroading in the rain, sitting behind riders whom we knew nothing about and bikes which seemed like were from another century.

I chose an elderly person assuming he wouldn’t pull off any stunts. He didn’t. But he asked me to sit still and no sudden movements as we might fall into the valley next to us. Everytime we passed between the poles next to the track I froze in fear. When I say between the poles I actually mean between the poles. You know how the poles are supported, the inverted Y kinds? We were riding through that gap. Seriously, I am not joking, the rain, the tracks, the valley next to us and the series of bikes whizzing past – it would’ve been a great thing to see on screen. But of course since I was experiencing it first hand, it all looked not so glamorous. But deep inside the adventure had me thrilled greatly.

I thought I had seen the best, but the best was yet to come. They stopped at one point and asked us to cross the tracks and wait on the other side. We did. Only to find them ride out of the tunnel below the track which had raging water flowing knee deep! Oh My God! When did I enter a movie sequence I wondered! I have seen some crazy rides but this one tops everything I have seen and been through!

It was as scary and as exciting as you imagined and more. I am not showing you any images because some things are best left to imagination. (Truth to be told, I didn't and couldn't take any pictures. ;)) Later we walked up a small hill through the slush to witness the monsoon glory of the milky white legendary DudhSagar Falls. While coming back on the same track later, the novelty had worn off and I was now smiling at the incredulous yet extremely entertaining journey we just took.

Next time around if you are there, meet the pilots. All you can do is to say your prayers and hold on to your dear life as the pilots take you on a ride of lifetime. Actually you are putting your life in their hands. But hey, there isn't a thing called a safe adventure.

Everything about that trip was legendary, I mean how many times have you seen a rainbow like this?

One of the Tunnels near Dudhsagar, everyone should trek here once. No, this is not where the pilots drove through. That was another tunnel below.

15 Lessons of Life I Learnt from Travels

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:40:00 +0000

Life teaches us lessons in many ways. But we choose to understand only when it is told in a way we like. Years of education and years of corporate life didn’t teach me what travel taught me in few years. Here’s what I learned.

1. Step into the unknown, you will be rewarded

It is okay to take risks. In fact it is a good thing to take risks. There can be only two outcomes. If it goes well you will have an amazing experience and if it doesn’t you’ll have a good learning to take back with you. Everyone warned me against going to Sikkim in monsoons but I did anyway. That was probably one of the best trips of my life till date. It is okay to take risks. It pays off well half the time!

2. You always had it in you, you just didn't know

The thing about travel is it forces you out of your comfort zone. Travel makes you do things you never thought you could do. It shows you the strength you never thought you had. I never thought I could travel solo, until I did. So next time I find myself wondering if I can do something new, I’ll just go ahead and try it.

3. Luck favors the bold

Again back to Sikkim, looks like that one trip taught me lots! Despite the bad weather we proceeded towards Gurudongmar Lake after many days of wait. The day looked no better. The roads were totally deserted and it rained all the time. But we went ahead anyway. Just as we reached the lake, the sky cleared, the sun shined and the lake dazzled. The army guys posted there said it hasn’t been sunny in days. Looks like lady luck smiles on those who dare. Oh wait, I think it is who dares wins! :)

4. Destroy your prejudices and look beyond

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness” is what a very wise person said. I thought so many places were boring before I visited them. But every such place only managed to surprise me and change my opinion. What was I thinking anyway in forming ideas without knowing anything about those places? Having an open mind can not only make travel better but also it can make our lives easier and better. Appearances can be deceptive, next time I will try not to judge a book by its cover.

5. Smile is the universal language

A smile can take you a long way. If you are traveling most of the time, being grumpy is not an option. Smile is the universal language, everyone can understand it and the best thing is, it is totally free! Next time around, smile at that lady in the store or that bus conductor. I promise you will feel good.

6. Don't give up, fight till the end

We have seen countless movies and million matches where the game turns around in the very last moment. That is the secret of success, never giving up, until the very end. In Sikkim, last year, most of the roads reported landslides. Our driver was happy to know that because he thought he could take us back to Gangtok and take leave. But we refused. We wanted to go see it ourselves. He and his friends mocked us for our ignorance. But once we reached the landslide area, the army had just opened the road. It was cleared. “In your face losers!” is what we thought.

7. Patience is a virtue

Before I used to travel, I had the patience to last about a second. Every second I had to wait for the bus irritated me and anger was a constant companion. Then I started waiting at the airports to catch the flight. Today if I have to wait, I wouldn’t mind, I will write a post meanwhile or maybe just catch a nap but I certainly won’t go crazy like I used to earlier.

8. Good things come to those who wait

Because I am oh-so-patient now, I don’t mind waiting. Oh wait, I told you that already. So now-a-days I am in no hurry to rush somewhere. I take my time, like that weekend where few of us patiently waited for the sunset. We didn’t know something good would come, but we waited. And just as expected, a brilliant scene was unfolding in front of us. The rest, who left, missed the clouds, not us, because we waited.

9. All things happen for a reason

After years, if you sit down and correlate all the events, in most cases it turns out everything that happened, happened for the best. I certainly don’t mean resign to your fate and do nothing. But when despite your best efforts things go wrong, wait it out, something good will come out of it. When I fell sick and had to miss the Stok Kangri Trek, I went to an unlikely destination. That was super fun and today I get my chance again to summit the missed mountain. Now that worked out well, didn’t it?

10. Happiness is only real when shared

Truer words have not been spoken. We all are social beings after all. I come back and share my stories with you, with my friends, with my family. We have to share, share our love, experiences, knowledge, curiosities and happiness. Only then it makes our life worthwhile.

11. Be thankful for what you have

It is quite easy to take everything for granted without appreciating its value. When we travel, we see how fortunate we have been to have what we have. There are many people who don’t have access to half the conveniences we enjoy.

12. We don't need half the things we think we need.

When you live out of a backpack for a month you’ll understand how less we actually need to live. And when you come back and try to clean your room, you’ll understand how much of rubbish we have accumulated under the illusion that we need so many things to live.

13. Silly is so much fun

Being silly is the best way to have fun, seriously! When my friend said she wants to stand on the standing camel, we all had incredulous looks on our faces, both my friends and the camel owner. But she did stand on the 8 foot animal and then she fell down from that height too. Later I stood on it as well. It was so much fun!

14. Change is constant, nothing will go as planned. Enjoy it!

You can’t plan your life. Heck, you can’t even plan a two week trip and expect everything to happen accordingly, let alone a plan that will stand good for a 100 years. Change is constant, embrace it. Without that surprise at the corner of the road, life will be quite drab, don’t you think?

15. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger

There are so many times during travel when we feel scared. “Why didn’t I stay back at the hotel tonight?” “Why didn’t I choose a safer destination?” “Why didn’t I inform someone I am coming here?” “Why am I here instead of the comforts of my home?” But every mistake you do is a lesson learned. Every bad situation you got out of only made you stronger and wiser. But please, just don’t repeat the same mistake again! ;)

My Little Secret (on How to get started with Travel)

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 20:25:00 +0000

Because it is women’s day, I thought I’d let you in on my little secret! My little secret is about how to get started with travel. I get a lot of mails asking if I could take them on any trip along with me. I get equal number of mails saying how they want to do what I do, travel like I do. The point of this post is not to brag, but to tell you how, read on.

Let’s take a trip down the memory lane, let’s go back to 2008. I had just come back from Ladakh and I was crazily obsessed with the idea of travel and adventure only with no means or resources to do so. I knew I wanted to travel and explore but I just didn’t know how. A turmoil, rather the size of a cyclone in my mind was keeping me restless, how I do I go to Himalayas, how do I camp in the wilderness, how do I be safe, when do I, how can I, what should I and so many more questions were killing me. So how did I overcome these problems?

To tell you the truth, there’s no secret. Would it surprise you if I said, it was by trial and error? First I pestered my friends to come along. They couldn’t keep up or rather didn’t want to keep up with my voracious appetite for travel. Then I considered going for a trek with some adventure group but I didn’t know how safe it would be for a girl to go trek in the forest with strangers but I took the risk and it paid off well. Today I have so many wonderful friends who trek along with me. Then I decided to go however possible and it just so happened that I found company and when I didn’t, I went ahead anyway.

Even after going to Ladakh and going for few treks in Western Ghats I still wasn’t sure I’d be able to go to Himalayas anytime soon. But when the Roopkund trek was announced, I registered. Believe me, it was such a big deal and there were butterflies in my stomach whenever I thought of the fact that I actually signed up for a trek in the mighty Himalayas and that too a high altitude one at that. But all that anticipation turned into admiration when I reached Himalayas, I had reached home after all. Before I took that step, it was a big deal to go to the Himalayas and once I took the first step, I wondered, what was the big deal at all?

Don’t tell me you weren’t scared to come to an unknown city and earn you living. Don’t tell me you weren’t scared by the thought that your family isn’t close by to take care of you. But you did survive alone in the big city, didn’t you? When it comes to a crunch, we all find a way around the problem. Just go ahead and take that trip you’ve always dreamed of. Age is not an issue, money is not an issue, time is not an issue and above all, gender is not an issue. If we truly want to, we will find a way. If you don't believe me, see what Deepa Mallik did despite being paralyzed waist below..

There is a reason why we can’t understand what the other person means when he gives us a good piece of advice. His knowledge comes from his experience and until we experience it ourselves, we’ll never understand what he meant in first place. It is quite easy to assume that since we are traveling so much, we can guide you on the path to eternal wandering. But that is so not true! Frankly, I do not know the answer. I cannot tell you how to travel. You have to find your answer. You will face problems and you will overcome them in your own way, it is not necessary that the same solution will work for both of us. It is not necessary that we will both face the same problem to begin with. But you already have crossed half the hurdle by making up your mind that you want to travel. Crossing the other half just requires you to take that first step. If you will never take that step, you will never know what could’ve been.

I promise, there will be no looking back after that!

P.S – It’s nice to say all this but it doesn’t mean I am suggesting you throw caution to wind and set out. Travel, but be safe. :)

Here’s few places where you can start.

Bangalore Ascenders – I go for treks around Western Ghats with them, good bunch of people.

Indiahikes – I go for Himalayan treks with them, good locations and good crowd.

Youth Hostels Association of India – I go with them for some interesting events like cycling, trekking across desert. Comfortable arrangements. A little old school but definitely worth the experience.

Chennai Trekking Club – Used to go with them for a lot of adventurous treks in South earlier. Not sure of the present condition and crowd.

Bangalore Bikers Club – I have never been with them but they do have a lot of events and crowd for folks interested in cycling

A heavy dose of inspiration to explore the unknown – BCMTouring

A Wikipedia of travel and trek information and travelers - Indiamike

The Varanasi Paradox!

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:33:00 +0000

By now you probably know of my extreme prejudice when it comes to new places. You have read about how I thought Rajasthan was boring and then Tamilnadu. Only to be proved royally wrong by both these places. Well all I can say is the saga continues. But the only reason we all travel is the uncanny ability of these places to throw surprises at us when we least expect. We are left with eyes wide open as we see what we never thought we would find.

About time I realize travel is not just about photographing every pretty thing I see. Sometimes one needs to let go and let the place take you by surprise in its stride. As you guessed it already, at first I was not interested in Varanasi. The place has been photographed to death. There is no scenery, just a heavy dose of religion and culture that I care less about. There wasn't much work for the camera. And because I wasn't looking through the viewfinder, I observed so much. As I heard the old man who was rowing the boat, I couldn't help but think, “What a paradox!” And later I again thought the same! Here’s why.

1. You’d think you can’t live freely but apparently you can’t die free either!

The river was gently flowing and the boat was going along with the flow. The old man had little to do other than keep the boat close to the ghats. At times he was merely reading the names of the ghats as we passed by. Occasionally some of his words would catch my attention. He said even death comes for a price here. I looked up interested, he continued. He went on to say that these ghats were owned by Dom Raja and he collects tax for each and every dead body that comes to the ghats to be cremated. Without wood from the Dom Raja, the cremation is not considered complete and one just doesn’t attain mukti or nirvana like that. Death taxes have to be paid and wood has to be bought. Here we stand at one of the oldest and holiest cities famous for releasing the soul from earthly existence and putting an end to reincarnation but it appears you can only buy freedom, even in death! The paradox heightens even more when we think of all those people who come to Varanasi just to die. They wait for their last breath at Mukti Bhavan and god save them if they have no money, for the journey would get them nowhere closer to escaping the eternal cycle of rebirth!

2. The holiest city is also the dirtiest city!

Since childhood we’ve all learnt it over and over again, cleanliness is next to godliness! But here at Varanasi, the age old learnings go for a toss. Or maybe it is this resilience to filth that makes Varanasi the oldest living city. The river is polluted to the maximum or maybe the holy Ganga can take a lot more. But the true paradox here is when people come here to wash away all their sins by taking a dip in the holy waters or is it a case of two negatives turning positive? The river takes anything and everything and dissolves in itself, anything from burnt bodies to dead cows to sewage to all the offerings in the name of prayer. It is not just the river but the entire city is mired in loads of garbage. I always imagined something holy to be insanely clean. I remember the festivals that we celebrated at home and how important it was for everything to be sparkling clean for the puja. But here at Varanasi, it is a different world altogether!

3. You’ll encounter two kinds of people in a day – the sweet and the sour

I think you’ll agree with me, it is hard to empathize with hawkers and those ridiculously irritating autodrivers, anywhere! To many, a tourist is an easy prey to make some easy money. In the first instance, we got into a share auto along with a Buddhist monk. That was our first day in Varanasi and we really didn’t know our way around. We asked the autodriver if he could take us to the ghats and as expected he quoted an obnoxious amount. We were almost ready to pay as the monk took us by surprise. He was really old and his words were barely understandable but he spoke, he scolded the autodriver for trying to con us and he told the right way and the cheap way to reach the ghats. Few days later when an auto driver dropped us at our guesthouse, he was asking for more than we had agreed for initially, which is when the other man who was with us in the share auto, actually came back to tell the driver the agreed price. In all my travels, this has never happened to me before, definitely not twice at the same place. So turns out, in Varanasi not everyone is trying to con you!

4. Things get stolen in an instant yet the shopkeepers along Vishwanath gali are where your belonging are safe

The catch in visiting the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple is that no bags and belongings are allowed with you into the temple. The fact is that this temple sits in the heart of a tight maze of narrow cobblestoned passages lined with numerous shops. You never know when the shops end and where the temple starts. And the biggest surprise comes when everyone in Varanasi tells you to be safe and extremely watchful of your belonging as they have a tendency to find their way into the thieves’ hands (or is it the other way round?) but it is seemingly perfectly okay to leave your valuables with the shopkeepers here without any receipt. Things surely work in a different way around Varanasi, it is not just said but many people actually do leave their stuff with the shopkeepers.

5. Birth and Death are just two sides of a coin, equally embraced and celebrated.

Nowhere have I seen death to be embraced as dearly as it has been here in Varanasi. In a day you’d pass by at least three processions of weddings and two processions carrying a dead body. Everywhere else there is such strong taboo surrounding death, cremation and burial grounds and ashes. Women aren’t even allowed to enter cremation grounds usually. But here death is an everyday affair and everything exists side by side, the holy river, the holy temples, the burning ghats and burning bodies. You can walk into Manikarnika Ghat where the bodies are burnt, have a cup of tea while you see bodies wrapped in white being brought to be burnt. Then you can probably head to Kachori wali gali and have a feast. Later you can go by your day. This is not possible elsewhere in India.

Everything I saw puzzled me. It didn’t make much sense but that is how it is in Varanasi, the city has evolved for so long and so have its traditions, a class apart from anything I have seen or heard so far. There is something to Varanasi, I still do not know if the feeling is unsettling or is it of wonder! I call it the “Varanasi Paradox”.

How in the hell do I manage to get so many leaves?

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:08:00 +0000

It’s no magic, really!

It is surprising how no one will raise an eyebrow when someone says they took two months off from work because of marriage. And if I say I took a month off from work to travel, the first reaction is something akin to utter disbelief. That concept apparently doesn’t exist here! For the past three years I have heard this question time and again, every single time I meet a new person and every single time I meet an old friend. It gets as irritating as it is funny. Travel is perceived as a time pass and not as the life changing experience that it actually is. This makes someone who travels look like an idiot wasting his life having fun instead of doing something important like watching TV or wandering in the mall. They keep telling me, “I don’t have as much time as you do! “. In my head I retort back saying “I don’t have as much tolerance as you do for the mundane!”

If these are the non-believers there are few others who assume things. Assumptions that I get paid to travel or that I get additional leaves or that I am in the travel industry or my personal favorite, that I don’t work at all, and I am on a perpetual vacation(How I wish it were true!).

Quite recently a friend told me, he took a long break of a year or so to sort out few things, during that time he did travel a lot and came back to start afresh with a new job. He cleared all the technical rounds and then came the dreaded HR round, where someone tries to figure you out based on few questions, and how do they really do that anyway? But the point is, he didn’t say he was traveling during the break, he told sob stories of family problems and he landed the plush job! He says they don’t understand. I agree, they don’t understand, after all how is it possible to assume all these things about me when it is really quite simple.

So how in the hell do I really manage to get all those leaves then? Let’s do some simple math here.

Number if weekends in a year – 52*2 (Saturdays and Sundays)

Number of public Holidays – 12

Number of Leaves at work – 25

Total – 141 days!

There, is the mystery solved?

What this means is, in a given year, most of us are on leave for almost 40% of the time. We can travel for almost three months in a year. If you apply for a leave of 5 days, you are actually getting 9 days including the weekends. This means in a year you can go for 5 major trips of 10 days each. So you can go to Ladakh, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Andamans and one trip home, all in one year! And if there’s a festival or a public holiday around the corner, include that as well and you will get even more! See, it comes down to planning in the end. How well we plan in advance decides how many vacations we get. Now you know what’s the first thing I do at the beginning of the New Year and in case you don’t, I check the list of holidays, weekends etc and already decide when to go. Where to go is decided on go!

Being in Bangalore certainly has its advantages. Most places around here are just a weekend away. The treks in Western Ghats are doable in two days. Friday night we start and Monday morning we are back in office. No leaves to apply here, it is a weekend right?

Saving up the leaves and encashing them when I resign is not an option for me. I use up all my leaves and more if required but certainly wouldn’t let them be unused. My hometown is also just a weekend away, so there isn’t a need to apply leaves to go home either. All the leaves are used only for trips, not because I felt lazy in the morning to go to office or didn’t feel like working. If those were my excuses for taking a leave, then I wouldn’t have been writing on this blog today. I wouldn’t have traveled as much as I did.

You take all these leaves as well, you go home, get married or do something else that ranks high on your priority list. My priority list pretty much consists only of travel and that’s what I use the leaves for. There isn’t really much difference between what you and I do. You take leaves, I take leaves, we all take leaves, just for different reasons so don’t judge me next time when I tell you I am just back from a vacation.

You know when they say if you really want to do something you’ll find a way and if you don’t want to, you’ll find an excuse. That is true! I find my way to travel somehow. What about you?

More rants and related posts:

Top Five Annoying things to say to a Photographer
Travel and the not so pink and rosy side of it!
Food for Thought - Travel and Conscience!

The One..Hundredth..Post!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:58:00 +0000

One Hundredth Post!

One of those shots that I never imagined I'd take. Taken during the Final Face-Off at Canon - Better Photography Photographer of the Year 2011 Competetion

Wow, it would take me sometime before the feeling sinks in. It would take me some more time to digest the fact that I have been blogging for three years now. I have been meaning to do this post for at least three months now and yet something or the other, worth mentioning has been popping up leading to me delaying the post just so that I could include it.

Let me start by thanking you, incredible readers, for reading my experiences, liking my rants and not to mention the extremely positive response to my photography. I have to tell you, without the initial support here I wouldn't have been the photographer that I am today. Over the innumerable messages and comments I received telling me I have inspired someone to travel more, is often times the reason for the smile on my face.

But the actual reason there could be even a blog here and a 100 posts is our incredible country with its incredible diversity! Like I said, several times before, I never knew India had such abundant natural scenery. My dream destination was always Switzerland or some place in Europe, until I traveled within our country that is. Since that life changing trip to Ladakh, I haven't been able to get enough of Himalayas or Western Ghats or more such phenomenal scenery of our country. I have shared only 25% of what I have seen and I have seen not more than 10% of what our country has to offer! There is so much more that has to be seen and it will be seen, in the years to come.

There was a time when 1000 hits seemed to a cause for celebration, today the pageviews border close to a lakh and a half, a reason to celebrate indeed. There has been a gradual increase in the search hits as the blog reached a page rank of 4. And also almost 65% of the traffic is new visitors while the remaining 35% do feel the blog is worthy enough to be revisited again.

So what's been happening?

Well, there are a lot of things to smile about. Few months earlier I was invited by Club Mahindra for their blogger's meet, and that's some recognition as a travel blogger. Few days before that I got an invite from Getty to be a contributing photographer through the Getty-Flickr Contract. Not that I am terribly happy with their pricing, what I am really psyched about is the fact that Getty thinks my photos are good enough to be sold, there must be some truth to it!

Later that year, my 100 Strangers Project (which has been rather dormant much to my dislike) was featured in Deccan Herald with a small photo of mine. I'll admit it, it was always a dream, to be featured in the newspaper! ;) Meanwhile Indiahikes approached me if I could guestblog on their site on photography. While I do not consider myself a master, I do have a thing or two to share. You can go through one of my published posts here.

Article in Deccan Herald on the 100 Strangers Project

Then came the biggest surprise when a professor of mine invited me to speak about my travels at my alma mater, IIT Madras. Going back and seeing my professors show such interest in what I do was really amazing. I think a few more people now know how amazing the scenery is after that talk, well I'd say mission accomplished!

Then came the biggest surprise of all, I was declared the theme winner for Canon-Better Photography Photographer of the Year 2011 Awards. The category I won was Landscapes : Play of Light. With this came an opportunity to travel to Mumbai and force myself to shoot something drastically different. Being the hesitant person that I am when it comes to shooting portraits and people, I had to photograph "Spirit of Mumbai" in three days. While I narrowly missed the "Photographer of the Year 2011" title, what I learned was that I could probably tell a story next time I travel instead of plain landscapes. The thought doesn't seem so daunting now that I did the same for three days, a step closer to being the Travel Photographer that I imagine to be. The experience has been spectacular and it demands an entire post and I shall oblige.

The Award Winning Shot from Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.

So what next?

As I read through my old posts and the new ones, the sense of wonder seems to be lost now. I used to carefully choose words imagining myself to be a poet and write nonsense which ultimately managed to evoke the emotion but today it all seems plain text with no emotion that I write. Although the photos now seem to be technically correct, the charm is lost.

I seem to be riding on the laurels of being at extraordinary places at the right time, but soon the world will run out of extraordinary places and I, eventually will have to find my artistic vision to stand out. I am at a point where I feel the creativity, if there was any, is stagnant, the quality of the creations is not changing, for better or for worse. In the coming months I sure do intend to find my vision, my style or the lack of it and go back to those ignorant captures.

And I still haven't made up mind if I want to be a photographer or a travel writer or something else in between. It sure seems like an exciting time but it is also a time where I need to focus, focus on one thing that I want to achieve. So while try to focus, I will try to wander less and be present more. But this wouldn't stop me from writing more often, since I now seem to have all the time in the world till I decide.

Amidst all this, a realization dawned by observing the masters, one doesn't master an art because he is talented. He masters it because he practiced, he stayed at it with perseverance. There are many days when I feel this isn't going anywhere, but the end of the year showed some promise. With much practice I might just reach where I intend to be. This 100th post is a major milestone for me because I never expected to get here when I started but miraculously, one post at a time, today I'm here.

Sometimes I digress for no reason, and if you have managed to come till this line, you are one of my prized readers. Thank you, once again! :)
And while you are here, Congratulate me, won't you?

2011 was the Year of Crazy Times.. as always

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:11:00 +0000

So we all had a great year, did lots of travel, took lots of photos and met lots of people. I’ve had a similar year but it’s no fun reading about all the good stuff. So here’s my sarcastic take on what I did in 2011.

They said watch, because it is special. So turns out that was the last sunset of the decade and the next day’s sunrise would be the first sunrise of the next decade and all that jazz. That was how New Year’s Eve was spent, freezing in the deserts of the Rajasthan. Then I thought I had enough of sand, let’s get an overdose of salt. So where did I go, to the salt flats of Rann of Kutch. Salt on my face, salt on my camera, salt beneath my feet, salt in the air – mission accomplished! Somewhere along I pretended to be a detective too, talk of wishful thinking!

Pristine Dunes around Desert National Park

That was January, and since I am so good at keeping my promises I swore to myself that I will not make that next trip until I sell some photos or articles from the Rajasthan trip. I almost kept my promise till February end but who am I to break the tradition of breaking promises. I had some weird idea of fun, to float in ruins of a church, to camp in the car by the roadside on a highway, to touch three states and three National Parks over a period of few hours - all of this in just under 36hours. That was February.

The road through Nagarhole National Park

Come March, I was again under another illusion that the summer heat will keep me home. I was dreaming of blogging regularly, processing hundreds of GBs of photos and then god laughed at my plans. Since three hobbies weren’t enough and since they weren’t taking up all of my time, I had to add another to the list – cycling. Despite all that travel and photography I was under the illusion I still have money left and I went ahead and bought mountain bike as well. You read about that killer ride, remember? This was the month where the moon would be closer to earth and by some logic I figured I’d shorten the distance a little more by climbing some hill top, but only after riding in the dark, being chased by countless dogs, disturbing entire villages in the process and grilling kebabs at ungodly hours of 4AM.

Cycling down from Nandi Hills in the dark after the Super Moon Rise!

What kind of a biker are you if you never really crashed, so it was time, to fall from the bike. I forgot what these things called brakes do ever so conveniently on just the place you might really need them, on a steep curving downhill ride. You know what happened again, don’t you? ;)

Cycling along the KamRaj Sagar Dam in Ooty, before the fall

And because Ooty was graced with my presence and Munnar was feeling bad or so I assumed, I went cycling to Munnar as well. Munnar treated me well. It asked me to go to Thekkady on cycle for a joy ride, and then rolling terrain happened. Nobody had really tested my patience for a long time, so it was time to take the test, 110kms of ups and downs on a cycle. Turns out I barely passed. Also turns out you don’t go to lakes on foot. Apparently you have to cycle through fields. That was April. The only thing missing in all this grinding was a bloodbath, so we went and fed the leeches to their heart’s content on a trek that didn’t happen to be.

Misty Kukkal, in the surroundings of Kodaikanal

The crazy ride from Munnar to Thekkady started on a pleasant note, like this

By May, I somehow manipulated all that I saw to be signs from the Universe telling me to cycle in the Himalayas. As a preparation for that we celebrated a mass tire puncture ceremony on the Hesarghatta Lake bed, a whopping 6 out 7 cycles punctured. Spending the day fixing punctures is so much fun, no really! Oh meanwhile I also thought what would be more fun than a summer trip to the hottest place, so spent a week in Tamilnadu.

What was left of Hesarghatta Lake, in the far left corner was where we had the tire puncture ceremony

Sunlight streaming through Madurai Meenakshi Temple, during Summer

I was rather sane in June, did a small trip to Hampi where we spent more time eating and drinking than sightseeing. Oh wait, did I say sane? He he!

Craziness was at its heights in July. Once in Spiti, first I thought let’s cycle, then I thought not! Then I thought let’s drink, then I thought let’s fall sick. Then I thought let’s walk then I thought screw everything and came back running home. Then I thought why I came back so thought let me go somewhere else. Then I thought let’s go somewhere where there are bad roads, mountains, rains and landslides and no tourists! So much for the want of adventure!

Magical Land of Spiti

Fantastic landscape around Gurudongmar Lake, Sikkim

August and September were quiet.

Missing the flight once wasn’t enough. I had to do something else too. Check in and Board a flight 10 minutes before departure, true story! No seriously, totally filmy ishtyle running in the airport and all that! But before almost missing flight, first I had to see the pink flowers and only pink flowers, only to not find flowers after a straight 16 hour journey. And because I didn’t get to see pink flowers I went to see the waterfalls in October.

Four waterfalls in two days, Unchalli Falls gushing to glory

Morning in the forest of Corbett

Walking on mountains was getting too boring it seems which is why we did a dash along the west coast. Walked 41 kms on the beach and on the rocks! Later that week, I got chased by wild buffalo and as if that wasn’t enough, the next day was the day of hiding from the lone wild elephant. That was November.

Light Painting along the beach, where we camped for the night, Gokarna to Honnavar Beach Trek

The ranges as seen from Ballarayana Durga Fort, on a trek to Bandajje Arbi Waterfalls

After such rocking time, the last trip had to bring in a greater surprise. As I wandered along Varanasi and Orchha, I was asked to shut up twice, no kidding! I know how much I can talk and I know how irritating it is when I hear someone yaps non-stop. I guess the last lesson I learnt from the year was to put these two together and stop yapping so much. ;) And December's gone just like that.

The famous ghats of Varanasi

That was 2011! After all these crazy times, what beats me is I actually found company to do all these things. The world is full of crazily awesome people and here’s to a crazy year and hoping for more fun times in 2012.

Tso Moriri To Pangong via Chushul, Through The Road Less Taken!

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:15:00 +0000

All roads lead to Pangong!

Well with Ladakh, once is not enough, twice is not enough, an entire lifetime is not enough. Ladakh is the stuff dreams are made of. Road trips can never be the same again, after a tryst with this gorgeous piece of land set in high heavens!

Most of us who have been fortunate enough to travel to Ladakh would've visited the dream like yet totally real Pangong Lake. We would've crossed the almost always snow clad mighty Chang La and would've relished that hot cup of tea and the warm welcome from the Indian Army atop. We would've gradually descended into the Changthang only to have our heart skip a beat at the first sight of an electric blue strip and would've said a silent prayer hoping Pagal Nallah wouldn't turn crazy by the end of the day.

Those were the days of yore it appears. Pangong today is a different story altogether. After dear Aamir Khan showed the world what a heavenly lake could mean, the repercussions were kind of disappointing to say the least. Hordes of tourists, a million tents/rooms and a gazillion vehicles all along the 7km stretch from Lukung to Spangmik is what awaits today at the tranquil location. The first time, save for a few visiting vehicles along the shore, there wasn't a single piece of evidence suggesting human presence in the area. No tents, no resorts, no roads, just the awesome lake and the mountains. Today I see some sort of sheds by the shore too. Why don't we build a bridge on top and then maybe an underwater resort too!

Whining apart, Pangong still remains a work of art, beautiful and wonderful by all means. I just need to find new ground and new perspective, which is why I took the road less traveled to rediscover the magic of the azure waters.

As of today there are two approaches to Pangong, one from Lukung, which is one end of the lake. The other one is through the other end, via Chushul leading to Khaktse, Merak, Man and finally to Lukung. This route skirts dangerously close to international border making the journey all the more exciting. This way we'd also be able to see the entire 40kms of Pangong that lies with India.

Here are the details of the route in detail.

Route - Tso Moriri - Mahe - Nyoma - Loma - Tsaga - Rezang La - Chushul - Khaktse (Pangong Start) - Merak - Man - Spangmik - Lukung (Pangong End)

How to reach - Retrace the route from Tso Moriri to Mahe bridge. At this checkpost after crossing the bridge, take right. Left goes to Karu and then Leh. Right goes towards Pangong. Proceed on this route till you cross Noma and reach Loma, where you find another checkpost and a bridge. If you cross the bridge, you'd go towards Hanle. Keep left, you'll reach Chushul.

How many days - The journey can be comfortably finished in a day. Be sure to have an early start at Tso Moriri so that you can enjoy the route without hurry.

Things to note - Although the route if now officially opened for domestic tourists, it still doesn't have a lot of takers except for some crazy travelers. Chances are you might not see any vehicle the entire stretch. If you are lucky you'd cross an army vehicle or two. Be prepared for any emergency. Carry extra fuel and food as well. Chushul will be the only major settlement you'd come across over the entire day till you reach Pangong.

Inner Line Permit - ILP is available at the DC office in Leh. Either you can get it yourself or your travel agent can arrange it for you. Only your names will be required. Be sure to include all these names in the ILP to avoid any problems - Mahe, Nyoma, Tsaga, Rezang La, Chushul, Merak and Man. Since this route goes along the Indo-Sino border, Border Police can reject permission anytime.

Who can go - As of today only domestic visitors can get the ILP for this route. If you are planning this route, make sure all are Indian Nationals and carry valid ID. Foreigners are not permitted on this route.

Condition of the route - Although this is the shortest way to reach Pangong from Tso - Moriri, it will take a long time due to the road conditions. There is well laid tarmac until Loma but after that the road condition slowly deteriorates and becomes almost invisible by the end of it. As the tarmac disappears, you can see tracks ahead and follow them. There are stacks of stones all along the route to let you know the direction. Follow them as well. An hour or two after you cross Chushul, you will be treated to the first glimpses of the mighty Pangong Lake, tracks might disappear around here but you be sure to take a left here at this junction. You would see a road going to right but don't be tempted to follow that, that will lead you to China!

Now I'll let the photos speak!

The fact that this route is so less taken already makes it feel like some exotic land. The colors of the mountains and the salt marches only add to the scene! Towards Nyoma.

The mountains turn purple around here and the colors are unbelievable, have to be seen to be believed!

As the purple disappears, the sands appear. In the distance you can see High Altitude Desert! As you enter the army area, barricades along the road, you find stallions here and there and a dead carcass by the road side to remind you of the awesome remoteness you are traversing though.

"This is a notified firing range Do not enter into it as it can endanger your life" the board says! Some thrill it is, to be in place such as this!

The desert hasn't left us yet, but neither has faint remnants of greenery. Green grass along the foothills of mammoth sand mountains and a lone Kiang wanders along.

The rivers keeps us company all the way until Loma, where we finally part ways. But until then what a charm it will be. The lonely road, mountains all around and the meandering of one gorgeous River alongside.

After Loma, the Kiangs can be found every now and then along with other wild animals. Keep your eyes wide open and I promise you will spot something spectacular.

The road has long disappeared and these tracks are all that remains of a previous quest by some other traveler. Follow the tracks all along and they will lead you to your destination. By now greenery is gone, wildlife is gone, the road is gone and all that is there is this barren magnificent vastness.

Somewhere before reaching Rezang La Memorial I see this pile of horns by the side and it absolutely freaks me out! The winds blow at a high speed swooshing past my ears and there is not a soul around, not even any signs of civilization. My heart beats fast as I get out of the SUV and walk alone towards the pile expecting anything to jump at me. I take this photo and scurry back to the jeep as if something chased me. Heart beat returns to normal and we drive away!

In the vastness, there lies a speck of color in the desert. As you come closer you will see it is a memorial in honor of the Rezang La War Heroes. A sad story of valor and gallantry you will find out as you read the boards there. Do stop over and take a look.

And we finally arrive at Chushul, you'd be surprised to find it to be a rather big village. Just around the village you will be able to see the Chushul Salt Marshes where the endangered Black Necked Cranes migrate to, every year. You will also be able to see Spangur Gap.

And the first view of the destination. The blue strip of the amazing Lake now will keep you company for the next 40kms showing you all kind of shades of blues! Like I said, don't take the right, it will lead you to China!

The landscape is out of this world as you reach the shore, the mountains welcome you, gentle waves invite you the extravaganza and the clouds don't want to be left out, they will create some drama too! Sit on the white sand and enjoy the serenity!

There, in a single photo so many shades of blue! What happens over the next two three hours, I can't explain in words. The route is just a track going by the lake side as she decides to change her color according to her changing moods! Many a times you'd feel like you would just drop into the lake but the mud holds its ground and let's you pass. Long after this first view you will reach Khaktse village, don't panic if you don't see anybody for a long time. After Khakste, you will cross Merak where you will find a checkpost, then Man, Spangmik and
you have arrived!

A Scary Day and a Haunted Night at Pelling, Sikkim

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:21:00 +0000

We all have fears, many reasonable and so many unreasonable. We all want to face our fears too but it is easier said than done. Never in my life had I to face three of my biggest fears in a span of 24 hours. At the end of it, I am still scared of those. Old habits die hard is all I can say!

For all the traveling that I do, it’d be easier to travel solo. It is terribly impossible to put together a team at the whims of a dreamy wanderer. But the only reason I never dared to go solo was because of these fears.

Spending nights in dingy hotels in strange places freaks me out totally.
Seeing a dog a kilometer away would have me in a paranoid frenzy(this applies to any moving creature that I can come across, as harmless s it could be)
Walking all alone in a thick forest where even light barely manages to get in gives me the chills.

It can come as a surprise to you that these are my fears considering all the crazy adventures I had so far and yet the truth remains that I never had to actually face these situations on my own. But the universe decided it was time for me to face my fears when I was in Sikkim this July. I felt the quest was incomplete at the end of a week spent in North and South Sikkim which is why I decided to explore West Sikkim as well. But the catch was I had to do it alone.

I was just as much anxious as I was excited about the journey ahead. While everything else about traveling solo had me excited, the fact that I might exactly be in one of these situations was worrying me. But with great passion comes great courage. ;)

The first two days spent in RavangLa were brilliant. I enjoyed freaking people out when they learned I came all alone during off season. There wasn’t another traveler in the town and most of the hotels were closed down while a few stayed open because the owners had little else to do. I stayed at a hotel run by an old man who assured me there was nothing to be scared of and his assurance worked well also because the top floor was actually a family residence. I was dreading the night but I managed just fine and was still alive the next day morning. Phew, I was glad to have survived the first day and night as a solo traveler.

Two days later I was on my way to Pelling and I was expecting something similar there as well. But the fact that Pelling was much more famous than RavangLa meant there were lot more hotels and lodgings in this place. Pelling is situated at a height of 2150m in West Sikkim and offers a splendid view of Mt. Kanchenjunga. It also forms a base for many who proceed towards Yuksom for treks further up. It was so popular with the tourists that the village wasn’t any quaint settlement but the exact opposite. The entire mountain side was Pelling – Lower Pelling, Middle Pelling and Upper Pelling!

Knowing I would be traveling to Pelling the next day, the elderly gentleman at RavangLa offered to arrange accommodation with his friend in Pelling and I obliged. As it turns out it was a good hotel located in Upper Pelling high up the mountain right next to the forest. I took a morning taxi from Ravangla to Geyzing village and from there took another shared taxi to reach Pelling by afternoon. The entire village had worn a deserted look with the roads empty and the tall hotels closed. There weren't any tourists as well, except for four foreigners I came across.

First, The Dog Scare!

I still had the whole afternoon to myself, so I thought let’s walk to the nearby places, meaning Pemayangste Monastery and Rabdentse ruins, both 4 and 5 kms respectively from Pelling. It was a lovely afternoon to walk around and so I set out to Pemayangste first. The subtropical forests of Sikkim are very dense with thick undergrowth as well. In monsoons, you can only imagine the plushness of the foliage. This forest also supports a variety of fauna. The road to the monastery goes along such forest and I had to deal with inch sized some sort flying beetles or some insects but I carefully managed to reach the monastery. Had a good time exploring and talking to the monks there. My first excursion as a solo traveler went well I thought, with a good feeling I was walking down the road when my heart skipped a beat! I saw a dog sitting in the middle of the road. Good thing was it was a friendly dog. The sad thing was it was a friendly dog. As soon as I came near it, it started wagging its tail and was all over me. I couldn’t shout and couldn’t move either. I tried talking to the dog, asking it to sit down and calm down. Before you think I am a freak, you should know I never liked pets and have never had any animals around me. With great difficulty I managed to calm the dog and walked away. It felt like forever and my heart was pounding for few minutes after that. Can’t imagine the situation if the dog would’ve chased me, heart attack? ;)

Pemayangtse Monastery is one of the oldest monasteries of the State. It was originally established by Lhatsun Chempo, one of the revered Lamas to have performed the consecration ceremony of the first Chogyal (Monarch) of Sikkim. This ancient monastery belonging to the Nyingma Sect has been considered as one of the premier monasteries in the State.

Second, The Freaky Forest Scare!

Okay, so that was the dog scare, I thought I felt half more brave than earlier and ventured into the broken entrance that led to Rabdentse ruins. The visitors block at the entrance was deserted and there was broken glass everywhere, the furniture broken and the building abandoned. There was just vehicle standing at the entrance and no one knows I came here in case something happens. The ruins are at a distance of a kilometer or so from the gate and there is paved trail leading to it. The ruins are supposedly spread all across inside the dense foliage and on top of the hill are the ruins maintained by the Govt. As I started walking along the forest trail, I was kind of dreading the eerie feeling that was creeping into my mind. For someone who has spent so much time in forests, you must be wondering why I was so scared. Well all the times I was in forest, I was never alone. Always in a group! Being alone in a forest is really scary, I tell you. Sound of forest is like the creepy background score of a movie if you are all alone. There was absolutely no one along the trail and the forest was really dense with very little light entering, not to mention the looming dark clouds which were about to burst any moment. After the scary walk, there was light all of a sudden. I had reached the ruins and it was in a clearing on the hill top. As much I was relieved I was still dreading the fact that there could be an unfriendly dog around or maybe thieves. Luckily there was the caretaker family cleaning the lawn. While returning I took another hiking trail through forest which was a bit open, I reached the road head and breathed a sigh of relief. Barely escaped another heart attack!

Rabdentse was the second capital of the erstwhile Kingdom after Yuksom and till the year 1814 A.D., the King of Sikkim ruled from this place. Today, the ruins lie hidden from the main road at a walking distance from the Pemayangtse Monastery.

Finally, The Horror Scare!

I thought I was done with the scares for the day but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The biggest and worst scare was yet to happen. Like I said earlier, I was put up in a hotel in the far corner. The hotel was a huge five storey building and I was on second floor and the only occupant of the hotel apart from few hotel staff put up in the basement. The hotels next to this were closed and there was no other tourist staying in Upper Pelling. Safe to say, there were not more than half a dozen travelers in Pelling. By evening it was raining heavily and by nightfall, it was still pouring outside. Initially I had planned on keeping the television and lights on the whole night while I tried catching a wink. Unfortunately by midnight, there was a short power cut and after that the cable network conked. There was this eerie silence of the night with the rain still lashing outside, the insects screeching and the occasional creaking of wood. I was freaked out beyond measures, remembering scenes from all horror movies I had seen and imagination played a major part! I was painfully aware of the deafening silence inside the room. The phones were out of order and even if I screamed the voice wouldn’t reach the basement. I was up all night playing the same four songs on my mobile and was so so so glad to see the first rays enter the room. This has to be the scariest night ever! Next night, it was still raining, the phone was still not working, I was still alone but the tv was working. Got past somehow and live to tell the story! ;)

And this was the view from my Hotel room. Staying in Upper Pelling, the views were superb till the light lasted. Then after dark, the horror story begins! ;)

Too many scares for a day, don't you think? I was traveling solo in Sikkim for a week during offseason and this was the freakiest day of all! At the end of it, having faced my fears, I think I still am scared of all these things. :)
Have you had any such scary experiences during your travel?

Six reasons why Off Season is the new Season!

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:23:00 +0000

Well, having a smooth trip where everything goes according to the plan can be nice and all that but the human psyche sure does enjoy a misadventure or two! I mean, what are you gonna tell back home? I had the most amazing perfect trip ever and that's it? For me, (mis)adventures define travel. I take the road less taken, do the crazy, if I come out with flying colors I do have a great story to tell and if I fail, I still have a great story to tell!

While there are many ways to get yourself into trouble like giving into masochism and entering the forests in the absolute wrong time just for the pleasure of it, which I am sure most of my trekker friends in Western Ghats understand. I wasn't a traveler earlier. I was a trekker which meant I had little to do with the over crowded over sold tourist destinations and the noisy tourists. I was happy wandering in the valleys and mountains with little or no human presence apart from us trekkers. Then I started to travel and reality hit me hard. Even though India holds an abundance of natural scenery, the all pervasive tourist crowd and bad planning only makes it hard for me to enjoy the scenic beauty. In a bid to avoid this, I started traveling slightly ahead of season of just after season. It worked, well to an extent it did. Although, lately I have been traveling off season to places and I have to tell you, it is an awesome experience! I'll tell you why.

1. You get to see what few have seen before.

I went to Chhattisgarh in summer when everyone said it was a bad idea. I went to Sikkim in monsoons when everyone said it was a bad idea again. But both the visits have been extremely fruitful. I got to shoot the fishermen on Indravati River with the falls in the backdrop which I still consider to be my best shot. During the peak season, the waterfalls are in full flow and flooded totally. In Sikkim, I saw much more than that. The monsoon beauty of the place and its wonders were indescribable. There were wild flowers and green grass all around Gurudongmar for one. I haven't seen any such photos of the place so far and I think I might be one of those few travelers to have seen that. Last year in Goa, we discovered the so-called monsoon pilots of Colem who will take you on a ride of your lifetime to Dudhsagar falls.

This would interest you more if you are looking for experiences rather than ticking boxes on your to-see places list. I know Sikkim is famous for grand views of Kanchendzonga, Goa for its beaches and Chhattisgarh isn't on the tourist circuit at all. But who set in stone so and so are the only things to do and places to see and the best time to go? I personally don't understand the concept of Off Season. Well to me if the locals are able to survive, so can you. You'll see something different than the usual. If you market that, off season will also become the best season. Just put up with few discomforts and you are good to go. Explore!

2. Accommodation comes for dirt cheap prices.

This possibly can be the best thing about traveling in Off Season. The accommodation comes so cheap, a backpacker can live in luxury during this time. All the hotels and resorts slash their prices to almost peanuts compared to the peak season charges and if you are good at bargaining , you have an added advantage.Off season is the best time to try out hotels normally I wouldn't prefer or can afford. We stayed in luxury in Goa and accommodation in the usually sky high charging places of Sikkim was dirt cheap, so was in Chhattisgarh and Ladakh too.

3. Business out of their minds, the locals are much more laid back!

This is definitely an advantage to the travelers who are looking to connect with the community and learn about the locals in the places they visit. When I was in Sikkim, during peak monsoons, with no tourist traffic, all the vehicles were used as public transport for locals. Without the crazy demand for vehicles to go for the sightseeing tours, the drivers were taking a break. One such driver, whom I had hired to take me to few waterfalls was Sonam. He had no rush to go back, and he patiently waited while I took out my tripod and shot long exposures. I asked him many questions of his village life and he asked me so many of our city life. In the end, we concurred the grass is always greener on the side. With all this interaction I came to know of one thing, that the boys give dowry to get a bride here in Sikkim.

5. Have a few adventures here and there!

Well, let's face it, it is called off-season for a reason! The heat is too much, or the cold or the rain. With excess, there is almost always going to be some problem. And then, considering the traveler that you are, you will somehow manage to get across the problem. Then it surfaces, the pride that you have managed to survive another (mis)adventure. Like, when I went to Mannavanur Lake in offseason, it was raining like hell, we had no shelter or tents, only a tarpaulin sheet to save our lives. But the sheet wouldn't hold against the lashing rain, so one of the villagers suggested we take shelter in the school for the night and get lost early next morning. We were drenched to the core, had the lake all to ourselves, had lovely conversations with an old couple who were serving hot dosas in the night! Well, you know things like this don't happen when there are a horde of tourists all around. It is rare that you get these kind of experiences when you pay for it, because you can't really be sure if people are being nice to you because it is their business to be nice or are they genuinely being nice.

6. Well people, there are no people around!

This has to be the biggest advantage for me! I know not many feel this compulsive need to be alone in places, but I, for one, hate the crowd. I know it makes me sound like a unsocial being, but it is the truth. I can't stand the ubiquitous crowd, the screaming children, the screeching vehicles, the loud conversations and many more such things that come with a crowd at a serene place. The reason travel is so special to me is because it makes me feel special. Being in places where few have been to, seeing things few have seen. When a million others are seeing what you are seeing, it isn't special anymore. But when I travel offseason, I get to have the entire place to myself. There are no people getting in way of my camera either (very selfish, I know!). It is just absolutely wonderful to see nature with no distractions, just plain nature.

Not just these, but another reason why traveling in offseason is good for the traveler who intends to gather experiences rather than few postcard pictures is the fact that you get to see the problems faced by the locals and the ways they get around it. Like for instance, how do the people of Pin Valley manage to stay disconnected to the world for six months when it snows or how the people of Sikkim manage the incessant rains on the mountains and the really really bad roads. When we understand their problems, we do have a better respect for them.

What do you think? Is it worth it, traveling in off season? Share your views and off season travel stories!

P.S - Point 4 is missing! I didn't realize it until a reader pointed it out. You didn't realize it too, did you? ;) Well, why don't one of you give me another reason, we'll add it! :))

In Search of Light at Corbett - Club Mahindra's Bloggers' Meet!

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 08:45:00 +0000

The noise is deafening but I am much thankful about the ability of human brain to totally phase out the distractions and transport one to a different time and day altogether. This Diwali, the sound of crackers is slowly fading out as the gentle echo of the flowing river is ringing in my ears. A vision forms in my head, of a huge glass window, of a comfortable bed, of green forests beyond and a charming river called Kosi. A week before, I spent few days in the foothills of Himalayas, wandering in the dreamy realms of forests around Corbett.

Few weeks ago, when I was invited for a blogger’s meet hosted by Club Mahindra, truth to be told, I was more excited about meeting fellow bloggers than being in Corbett itself. I think I had forgotten what it felt like, to be in forests. I thank Corbett for reminding me of the grandeur of the woods! I thank club Mahindra for taking me there to begin with.

The first thing that struck me as we reached our rooms was the view, it was gorgeous! Usually resorts almost always do have a good view, but the reason I liked this view so much more was the resort’s proximity to the river and the cozy feeling surrounding it. The nights were comfortably cold as opposed to the piercing cold winter nights which made it possible to walk by the river side and watch the hills beyond till late nights. While the mornings were quite pleasant, nights were spectacular. Starry skies used to surround us as darkness descended. Whiling away time waiting for shooting stars and watching the moon rise over the hill reflecting the silvery glow in the flowing waters were some of the best memories of the trip. To think that there was a time when darkness used to scare me! [Frankly speaking I still am afraid of darkness, well in weird places. ;)]

If that was about idling in comfort in nature’s lap, the eclectic mix of people was just as fun with varied conversations and discussions. With social media experts to naturalists and travelers to photographers, the group had it all. What such different people brought along with them were such different perspectives. Few were happy watching the colorful avifauna, while few were interested in observing spiders and insects, few were busy trying to spot mammals, few were enjoying being in the forest and I was busy light stalking.

Like I said earlier, I had forgotten how it felt to be in the jungles. The moment we entered the jungles of Corbett, the show began! The forest came alive. The golden glow of the early morning sun and the greenery painted an unforgettable picture. I was gaping at the jaw dropping scenery unraveling itself at every turn and every once in a while when I turned back, something like this was happening!

The gleaming beams of sun rays from behind the leaves left me almost blinded at many occasions. Yet, I tried and tried to see through the lens, if not my eyes, the lens could have been burned for sure! Sunbursts, they are called, and I tried my best to capture as many as I could. Whenever the vehicle stopped for the bird watchers to observe, the sudden calmness instigated a desire to the listen to the song of the forest.

Next day, driving though the verdant jungle of Sal trees, I was all too eager to spot some magic again. Of course the light didn’t disappoint me! Golden glow and faint silhouettes was the picture being painted today by the gods. Watching the streaks of rays through the canopy, I was smiling involuntarily. As much trouble it was, waking up at ungodly hours to reach the forest by the golden hour, it was all worth it!

I came back charmed by the forests and stunned by the play of light, a photographer’s delight! Don’t you agree?

A Different Kaas Plateau - Photo Essay of Landscapes from surroundings!

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:28:00 +0000

Date of Journey – Oct 5-6th 2011

Kaas, Ghaas aur Bakwaas was how one of my friends described our recent trip to Kaas - Kaas because we went to Kaas, Ghaas because there was a lot of it around and Bakwaas not because it was Bakwaas but because we had so many PJs that kept us cracking even after a tiring day. I cannot think of a more succinct yet appropriate way to describe my short photography trip to the plateau of flowers. For the uninitiated, Kaas Plateau is a table land in Sahyadris that plays host to a stunning variety of flora during the months of September and October. The entire plateau is covered in a spread of colorful flowerbed.

So what do you do when there are no flowers at Kaas? First, you sulk, then sulk some more, then gear up and scout for locations around. I am pretty sure you will find something to suit your liking too, just like I did! ;)

I came to know of Kaas’ existence two years ago and being the landscape photographer that I am, it fared quite high on my must visit list. The catch being there was only a small window of a month when the flowers bloom and it so happened I couldn’t visit the plateau during the past two years. This year, however I was quite adamant on making the trip happen and at the right time. So much so that I kept a tab on all forums, asked people who had been there this year, made and cancelled multiple plans waiting for sunshine, pink bloom , rains, mist and what not. But as always with travel, you can be sure of nothing until you get there.

One fine day it occurred to me, I have waited too long and it was time I made the visit. It has been observed that mid-September to mid-October is the time when the flowers arrive in full bloom spreading all across the plateau. I was in luck I thought, called up a few friends and reached Satara after a rather long journey during the Dussera holiday.

If you can’t outdo something then you could do the same thing different to set yourself apart. Now most of you would’ve seen these extremely awesome photos of Kaas by Nature Lyrics dude. Landscape photography is half talent and the other half luck, being at the right place at the right time. For me to take at least half as awesome photos as his, I really had to have some crazy super luck, which I obviously didn’t have, which is why the flowers were gone, there was no sunshine, there was rain and the few of flowers left were white in color and almost inconspicuous.

So I had undertaken one of the longest bus journeys of my life to come to a plateau with no flowers which is famous only for its flowers. The first day when we all reached Kaas, my disappointment was quite visible. I wasn’t even photographing that evening. So much for a photography trip! Luck hadn’t abandoned me completely though, I was fortunate to be in company of other shutterbugs who thought it would be good to visit Kaas again early next morning.

My thoughts on the way to Kaas the next morning were “Kaas betrayed me”! Then I thought “Challenge Accepted!”

The good thing that came out of our unsuccessful visit the day before was the knowledge that flowers weren’t there. While many other vehicles whizzed past the other table lands before the main plateau, we spent our time looking for locations around Kaas, there were many. The grass was green with few wild flowers scattered here and there. The morning light was lovely, sunshine brilliant with blue skies and scattered clouds.

Often, with our minds set on something we ignore everything else around it. Unless forced we don’t see the beauty around. This trip taught me a valuable lesson that sun shines after it rains and you just have to wait for it. And to succeed as a Landscape photographer I need to keep looking for new perspectives of the same old. If there were flowers I wouldn’t have captured the photos that I now have and would’ve done something that has been done to death so far! I, for one, am quite happy with the photos that I managed to capture of Kaas and its surroundings.

Fact File :

Location – Kaas Plateau, Maharashtra

Nearest Town – Satara, buses stop here and accommodation is also available

Distance – 25kms from Satara.

Suggested Time of Visit – The flowers bloom right at the end of monsoons. The spectacle lasts not more than a month. So far, it has been observed mid-September to mid-October is when the flowers are in full bloom.

Precautions – The heavy influx of tourists seems to have already taken its toll, the bloom retreated much early this season. Please refrain from trampling the flowers, plucking or littering the natural wonder that Kaas is.

Chasing Rainbows - A Photo Essay.

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:18:00 +0000

If you have been following my facebook page, you'd already know my craze for rainbows. If not, I tell you now that I have an extreme liking for the colorful rainbows appearing out of the blues. There are few times where I really get ecstatic and spotting a rainbow is one such time. Ask anyone who has been with me on such trips and you'll know. I will be literally jumping out of excitement when I see the colors arch across the sky.

There is something magical about seeing the pretty colors in the sky or maybe it is just the rains that have just stopped and the sunshine trying to sneak in through the dark clouds. Whatever it may be, it presents such a pretty picture it is hard for me to stay calm in such moments. All the times I have seen a rainbow, I have been spotted going hysteric, be it Roopkund trek where we saw a rainbow below us in the valley or be it Dudhsagar where the rainbow was an almost 360 degree arch going around the bridge. So here they are, a few of the rainbow pictures I have managed to capture in the last year. Hope to see many many more in the coming years.

A Rainy Evening at Belur

Rainbow in the Clouds! Kodachadri memories.

This rainbow, started below the bridge by the stream, went over it and then went below the bridge again finishing an almost 360 degrees. Super excited I was at seeing this one near Dudhsagar Falls.

It was a tiring day, we walked a lot and yet the campsite wasn't anywhere in sight. Just as the evening was about to end, this beautiful arch appears in front of me and turns out we had reached our campsite then.

After a tiring day of Outbound Activities, I couldn't ask for more. One Rainbow sets everything right. That's Avalanche Lake in Ooty.

It was a bad bad day, if not for this rainbow in Ladakh.

How to salvage a ruined weekend or Awesome Kodaikanal

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 18:54:00 +0000

Date of Journey : 22-23 April 2011

The unknown is always an enigma. When the best laid plans go down the drain, it is merely an opportunity to embrace the uncertainty in all its glory. That weekend was yet another testament to the fact that universe has its way with things and if you are patient enough, you will almost always know the purpose of everything that has gone wrong.

Morning rays reaching the Mannavanur Lake waters.. Experiencing the monsoons big time in heights of summer was the highlight of the two day trip.

The outside scenes were a hazy blur as I barely opened my eyes. It was a lovely morning and I was expectant about the three days that were to be spent in the realms of mountains and greenery. The morning haze was just lifting as we started climbing on the ghat section to reach Kodaikanal. Given the crazy biking muse of late, we couldn’t help but discuss the idea of returning back on bikes here on a later date. The 36kms long ghat section was a lovely drive albeit full of traffic.

Woke up to this view!

Kodaikanal at an altitude of 2030 meters is invariably cool most of the year and I fell in love with this place already as you’ve read before. Today was no different and I already had a good feeling being back here. Kodaikanal is no different and hasn’t been spared from the ubiquitous tourist crowd. But why was I to care, I was headed to the lovely woods after all.

The reverie came to a shattering end when we found out our permission to trek was cancelled. We had three days and nothing to do. I made no effort to restrain the disappointment. I swore, I cursed and I thought of a wasted weekend. But today I was to know that attitudes are contagious. Arvindh and Nitin were hell bent on making the best of the situation and soon I was laughing along with others about the situation. What followed for the next two days can only be described as LEGENDARY!

After considering many options, we decided we would go with Kodai Mani to camp near lake called Mannavannur Lake and trek from there to Kookal Lake the next day. It was costing us extra but what the hell, we might as well have some fun if that’s all we were getting. We chilled out the whole afternoon watching the mist come and go. The weather did everything it could to keep my spirits high, it was cool and misty and a brilliant day to do nothing. If you know me, you’d know that I am not a person who is in favor of doing nothing on a vacation. Not that there is anything wrong with chilling out, just that I’d like to utilize every single minute to explore the awesomeness that is around. But today I was forced to do nothing and I was actually enjoying the joblessness.

It was 4PM and we were still waiting for Kodai Mani to take us to the lake. While we waited we took a tour of Kodaikanal Lake and watched the mist come down from the mountains and chase the boats on the lake. Soon enough I could hear loud noise suggesting some commotion on the lake surface but couldn’t make out what it was until huge raindrops fell on my cheeks. I was in a fit of frenzy because I had my camera with me without any cover to protect. I ran to a vegetable stall nearby when they were also busy covering the vegetables and a sweet lady offered me a plastic cover as she smiled. I smiled back and that smile lasted till I reached Bangalore. Officially the adventure had started! :)

Mist came down from mountains and engulfed the Lake

And then it started chasing boats!

It was summer and I expected Kodai to be cool but certainly didn’t expect such rain. The first rains of the season brought all that was expected of it - the fresh scent of earth, dew drops in the air, mist through the forests and unrivaled greenery. We were headed to Mannavannur Lake, 40 kms from Kodaikanal and the route that leads to it was exquisite. The forests around this hill station are thick and verdant and rains can only make it better. We were passing by high terraced villages with green fields spread on mountain slopes. We hardly saw any traffic and it was absolute pleasure watching the forest go by through the tinted window.

It was almost late evening and I knew I wasn’t going to see the sun set given the cloud cover. But who knew I would see something even better! Consider a vast ground of rolling grasslands all surrounded by high mountains in the distance and right in the middle of all this lies something sparkling. The first sight sparked such enthusiasm I cannot describe in words. That is where we would camp for the day, right by the Mannavannur Lake side. Normally this lake wouldn’t be as spectacular, but today the whole mood was perfectly set by the rains and low lying dark clouds, cool winds and not a soul in sight. We went hysteric watching such beauty and then it rained. Then it rained more. Then it rained more and more. It was dark and we were drenched to the core and then lightning struck! A loud thunder and a second of light in the dark night and then more lightning while we wandered in the open grounds! We rushed back to the nearby village to take shelter at the village school.

The first view of our probable campsite, presenting Mannavanur Lake!

Where was I, Scotland?

We walked in the rain along the dirty road to reach a small place where an old couple seemed to be preparing something hot to eat. We were proved right and minutes later four of us found ourselves fighting for a piece of smoking hot delicious omlette dosas that were being served by the sweet old day. Sitting in the hut, on wooden benches eating hot dosas served on banana leaf over some conversations was a perfect end to the day. Later in the night, the rain stopped but I was woken up many times by scary neighs of horses, the thumping footsteps of running horses, barking of dogs and some other noises that I didn’t recognize. All this, while we were sleeping outside, well I was glad to see the morning light and boy! It was lovely.

Mist never left our side, morning view from the school

The mist seemed to be moving in a gracious curve over the hill top and I couldn’t wait to run back to the lake. And run we did, only to find more awesomeness. The mist was lying low while sun had come up above the mountains. We spent another two hours by the lake and then we returned back to the old couple’s place for more tasty food along with some funny conversations. You would’ve read about that stranger, if not read it here.

Now, we had a vehicle with us, two more days to spare and no plan. I had been to Kookal Lake earlier and I suggested we all go to that lake today. After a hearty breakfast we proceeded along yet another exquisite leaf strewn forest route to the lake. It was much different from what I had seen last time, of course the difference being the magic that the monsoons lent to the place. Everything was green, I mean green green! The shola forest beyond the lake was lush and in its prime. On the other side of the shola forest was high mountains and grasslands. I knew this because I was here before. The weather was so perfect for just lazing around. Armed with my camera we wandered along the green pastures, we walked upto the village for a friendly banter with the kids there. We told them we had no place to stay for the night and they came up with a brilliant plan. They said each one of them would take two of us and we could stay with them in the village for the night. Sweet kids!

Along with the cattle, we were lazing around Kookal Lake. Beyond those shola forest lies the temple and the peak.

The greenery, the intermittent rain, the mist, the mountains and the joblessness were proving to be therapeutic. It felt great to be there that moment. It felt as if time could stand still, that was where I wanted it to freeze. By afternoon it started to rain again and I was in no mood to go back yet. I suggested we go trek to the temple on the peak behind those forests in the rain. After much persuasion everyone got to their feet and we entered the forest as thick as the dark tresses of the lady. It was pouring and as soon we entered the forest, the slimy black creatures got to work with an intensity that left only five out of the sixteen trekkers on the trail within the first 10 minutes. The leeches there were blood thirsty as if they were starving for ages and they attacked us with a rigor that could only be matched by the fiercest warrior! Blood was shed, I tell no lies.

The Leech Effect, not for the weak hearted! ;) It doens't hurt though, trust me.

The ordeal lasted a good 45 minutes before we reached the grasslands. Wet wood worked like a charm to scrape the leeches away. I removed my shoes and walked up the mountain in the rain barefoot. Since I had seen the view from top already, I wasn’t in any hurry to reach the top. I walked slowly enjoying the mountains and the rain. We reached the temple on top and as it rained more we started to gorge on what little food we managed to carry. Winds blowing on mountains at an altitude of above 2000meters in the rain was cold but we spent a good two hours on the top shivering to the core and yet reluctant to leave the magical mountains, yet.

While the guys held the rain poncho over my head, we all go out of the temple to get some shots of the views around

Kookal Lake, Adieu!

When we left, we did so with a heavy heart for the trip had almost come to an end. We dreaded the thought of going back to the leech territory but it would be relatively easier now that we can run faster downhill. With Nitin at the lead, he started running. And so we all had a small trail running exercise in the woods and we crossed the leech territory in a record 10 minutes. It rained and rained as we deleeched our shoes and body by the Kookal Lake. After changing into dry clothes, we set out to reach Bangalore.

I would find myself at these lakes again in two months. I took my family this time and the lakes were lovely as ever. An almost ruined vacation turned into a beautiful exploration. A simple choice of not letting our spirits down led to having a ball of time enjoying the rains, during summer! In such rains I don’t know if we would’ve managed to do the trek anyway. Everything happens for a reason, don’t you think? :)

Route : Kodaikanal - Poomburai - Mannavanur - Kukkal(Kookal) - Kodaikanal

Photo of the Week - Watching the Rainbow!

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:48:00 +0000

And my quest of chasing the rainbow continues.... :)

We were trekking deep in the Chamba Valley of Himachal and the campsite never seemed to arrive. It was almost 5 in the evening, we were walking on slippery slopes, while it rained. And then, just as we arrived at the campsite, a sliver of sunshine and a colorful rainbow welcomed us, the joys of trekking!

The Wait for Light at Dhankar Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 19:08:00 +0000

Three years ago, when I held my first camera all I would care to do was click. There is a mountain, click! There is a river, click! There flies a bird, click! Click! Click! Click! Now, almost three years later I wait before I click, I wait. I wait for the light, I wait for the angle, I wait for the idea. Years from now I'd expect only to think and not wait. A real artist would make the best out of any given situation, of course such days are long ahead of me. But today, I would wait at Dhankar Lake. I am almost always in a hurry in all my journeys. I never waited around a place to think, compose, wait and click. But today for the first time I would have the opportunity to do so. Light changes everything.

Dhankar is a small hamlet resting on one of the mountain tops in Spiti. Dhankar has an old monastery sitting dangerously on a cliff and also 5 kms from here, on the other side of the same mountain lies a small lake, called Dhankar Lake. If you are feeling quite adventurous, you could just climb up the mountain above Dhankar and get down the other side. This is the steeper trail used by the sure-footed sheep and goats while normal people can trek for about an hour or so by taking the trail that goes above the new monastery. The trail is well marked till the lake.

Well, so to speak I was waiting for the golden hour but reached the lake much earlier than that. There's some dirty left over water that I see but I kept walking anyway hoping to find more water. As I walked further, I saw more water. There is a lake indeed and is reasonably well fed. Now as I walked here and there, climbed up and down over the course of the evening the lake showed it various colors or rather the light brought out the various colors of the lake. See the photos below to see the transition over a period of 3 hours.

As I first saw the lake, it was green.

I walked by the lake side and now the water was reflecting the blue of the sky!

I walked from the far right corner and I climbed higher from the lake, to see it change color again.

I was now sitting right on the other bank and the sun was getting ready to go down, as the water turned a nicer blue.

I was waiting for the winds to stop so I could see some reflections and it happened just before sunset.

The sun was setting, casting the much appreciated golden rays.

And the final farewell. three hours later after seeing many colors of Dhankar Lake.

The Extremely Eventful Month of July 2011.

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 04:28:00 +0000

We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us - John Steinbeck

It was a journey, a wild journey in all senses – personal and literal among others. We’ll talk about the journey in the literal sense while we’ll need another post altogether to see how I made the journey of self exploration.

I planned to cycle and I ended up sick.

And I ended up backpacking when I planned to trek.

I dreamt a dream and I made a plan to fulfill those dreams. An elaborate plan to mountain bike in the remote areas of Spiti for two weeks and an attempt to summit the 6150m peak of Stok Kangri in Ladakh for the next two weeks was made. It would be an adventurous month I hoped. But then life happened.

Started in the Deserts somewhere and ended up in such greenery.

I learnt a lesson which I already knew. Life happens while you are busy making other plans. I fell sick high up in the mountains, life threateningly sick! Who knew I would carry an infection from Bangalore that would aggravate to gigantic proportions later ruining my adventure? After three days of cycling, everyday was a battle against fever, cold and bad cough. After a few more days it was crazy fever and worst possible cough. I never had such bad attack of cold in the past years that I can remember.

I was just a kilometer away from Chandratal when my situation took a turn for the worse. There I was sitting right next to the lake, unable to even move or eat or drink. My heart was struggling to pump blood and the fever running high. I don’t know what it is – a tragedy or comedy. At such altitude, I am battling not AMS but some kind of infection.

With the help of strangers and friends alike, I managed to reach Manali still in a very bad shape though. At that point I knew I wouldn’t recover in time for the trek anyway, I had to cancel the trek plan and come back to Bangalore to recover.

That one week I spent in Bangalore recovering was the most depressing week ever! While I was very glad to have my health back, I didn’t expect the adventure to come to such an anticlimactic end. In a desperate bid to salvage the rest of the leave left, I frantically looked for things I could do within the next week. Either Sikkim or Andaman was the only option left given my travels across the country.

There, that is how fate comes into picture, also the power of mind. I’ll tell you how.

When I signed up for the Stok Kangri trek, I wasn’t too sure I wanted to do it. But I registered anyway. If I had a strong urge to do it, I probably would’ve recovered somehow. Subconsciously I always wanted to go to Sikkim but never dared to go. That’s when fate intertwined with the subconscious leading me to my destiny – exploration. Yes, when I think about it, that is what I love the most about travel – exploring new limits. It is because I enjoy the spirit of adventure that comes with exploration, I trek or cycle or walk or ride. After much deliberation I was on my way to Sikkim amidst torrential downpour.

What happened over the next few days was nothing short of being legendary! Yes, there were landslides. Yes, there were roadblocks. And last but not the least, Yes, there was rain. But what came along with all these troubles was that the whole of Sikkim was for me and a very few fortunate travelers to explore the monsoon magic. There was no traffic, no hawkers and no sky high prices. It was just us and the locals enjoying their monsoon break before the so called season starts again.

Taking chances everywhere, we moved from place to place and were never disappointed. The misty mountain tops, the wild flowers, the raging streams, the screaming cascades, the greener than the green forest canopy, the damp forest floor and monsoon magic in all its glory was all mine to enjoy. I totally loved the idea of such exclusivity.

Waterfalls. streams, cascades, brooks everywhere, everywhere!

Wild Flowers bloom everywhere, monsoon special

Aren't we glad we took the trouble and came here in Monsoons!

I have truly come to believe that luck favors the bold. Even when it was raining whole time, just for three hours the weather cleared up right when it mattered. It is another crazy story how we even managed to reach Gurudongmar Lake, one of the world’s highest lakes at 17100ft. Until then, I had forgotten how sunshine feels and what blue sky means but not that day. The blue skies made their grand entry not forgetting their partner in crime, the sunshine. The lake was shimmering in a turquoise blue right under the brilliant blue skies with white clouds creating some drama. Gurudongmar was so beautiful and the weather just perfect. I would not try to put in words for words do no justice to the work of art by nature.

Despite all that happened in the month of July, aren’t we smiling now!

And this is where I end up! *All Smiles*

The Himalayan Adventure - Cycling from Spiti to Manali.

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:35:00 +0000

I have been making the customary visit to my home(read Himalayas) every year and this year was no different. I had made grand plans of exploring Ladakh more or probably the North East. But since when have best laid plans gone as planned. A Mountain Bike had appeared out of the blues forcing me re-plan everything.

During my last visit to Spiti. I had seen quite a few foreigners cycling in the awesome valley and I was very tempted to do the same. Even more so after the Goa cycling expedition. But never did I imagine I would be actually doing that the very next year.

I bought a brand new Mountain Bike convincing myself that I am going to put it to good use. And knowing me, if it hasn't blazed on the homeground, it hasn't been put to good use after all. We can't let that happen now can we? So here I am. Trying to cycle in the most awesome place - Surreal Spiti. Covering more than 500kilometers, including two awesome lakes and two high passes and lot of monasteries, golden mountains and blue skies, we set out to experience Himalayas in a new way. We will be cycling between 10000 to 15500 ft over a period of 10 days.

We designed a logo too. We got them printed on jerseys. While that is not the only thing I will be doing this July. I am not back until next month. Mobile connectivity is limited but I will try to post updates on facebook as and when I can. Do follow me to get regular updates on the team's antics and maybe an occasional photo!

You can follow me here - http://www.facebook.com/TravelWithNeelima

Well, see you next month because there is going to be dead silence here until then! :)

This is where I would be Cycling!

The Logo

In blue and yellow

Bike before boxing it up

Anecdotes from Ladakh - The Aryan Descendants and the Storm.

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:44:00 +0000

Luck favors the brave.

Tonight it was going to be a full moon night. For a month before that day I meticulously planned the trip to detail so I would spend this day by the shores of the glorious Pangong Lake. The moon would shine in all its glory and so would the lake. It was a dream since my first visit to the lake way back in 2008.

I was thinking about this while I saw the storm gaining momentum high up in the mountains. A traveler has no fixed plans, even more so in the mighty Himalayas. Weather played spoilsport. All my meticulous planning was blown to dust as the weather created havoc. With great difficulty the trip even took off. Today I wouldn’t be going to Pangong after all. I was visiting the Aryan Settlement of Ladakh, a village called Dah.

As we reached the checkpost at Dah, I asked the guard at the gate how to go to Dah and he replied with a curious alacrity “up this mountain”. I asked him how long it would take, again with a cheeky smile he replied “we do it in just about 20 minutes, you might take much more time“. Well I respected him for the job he was doing else I would’ve really told him off, in my mind of course. It was still raining and if we go ahead, it would be into the troubled land of Batalik. My parents said they will sit in the car and if I wanted I could go up and come. But the only problem was, there did not seem to be a path to the village and what if I get lost on my way up.

Well anyway, the weather didn’t look any better than it was before and it showed no signs of getting better either. Well trekking up a muddy mountain with loose rocks everywhere, in the rain, so close to the Line of Control, all alone wasn’t something I fancied to do. But I kept saying to myself that you cannot turn back after coming all this way neelima, go ahead. Dar ke aage jeet hai, hai na?

In the rain I started to climb up the mountain. Since there was no trail, I followed the stream which was flowing down. It was quite a steep ascent, but as I went up, the rain stopped. Then I saw some plastic lying around, so I was close to civilization after all. After some more climbing I finally saw a house, and then the village.

It looked deserted. The village was on top of the mountain, where they had houses and fields in front of the houses. There were higher mountains all around. There was another stream which was flowing wildly in the valley. I see no people yet, till the sound of drums broke the eerie silence. I went ahead to find a huge gathering who looked quite colorful and it seemed like they were celebrating something. All the ladies were dressed in some sort of colorful traditional attire with huge flowers on their head. The men were wearing colorful caps. Happy to reach the village and see the people I went and sat next to an elderly man.

He smiled at me. He told me today was Budh Purnima(which falls only on a full moon day), a very sacred day for them and they are celebrating the festival. They were transferring some holy scrolls from the village of Dah to another village Biama. The people of Dah, Hanu, Biama along with two more villages are said to be descendants of Aryans, or maybe those left behind from Alexander’s army or people who migrated from Gilgit of Pakistan long back. Well they certainly don’t look like the rest of Ladakhis. Their features were distinctly Caucasian and they have been preserving their racial purity by marrying strictly within the community. Apparently their language is different too. Well what do I know about their ethnicity and background but they sure are an interesting lot. Someday I should start bothering about people I meet during my travels too.

Two days later I was at Pangong and the night was almost like a full moon night. Except that it was so freaking cold I couldn’t get anywhere near the lake after dark and spent the night warming up in the blankets. Few more days later I came to know that the villagers of Dah don’t wear the traditional headdress and costume everyday. They only do that upon request from the visitors and they visitors apparently have to pay them for doing so.I took a lot of photos too, for free! Well, wasn’t I glad to have taken the chance and going upto Dah the other day? And things happen for a reason, don’t they? For instance, like the trip schedule being goofed up so I land in Dah on that particular day.

Luck surely favors the brave.

Landscapes from Hampi, not the ruins!

noreply@blogger.com (Neelima Vallangi) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 08:08:00 +0000

The ruins of Hampi have charmed many over the years. I thought it was just the ruins that deemed the place magical. Last weekend I discovered something else. It was not just the ruins but the whole setting that made Hampi the surreal retreat that it is. Boulders of gargantuan proportions stacked in impossible formations over one another was the first impression. That could have been all that Hampi had if not for the gentle Tungabhadra River that flows through the main bazaar far towards the distant mountains.

As the sun sets in the west, the mountains become mere silhouettes while the sparkling waters of Tungabhadra take on a different hue dancing to the symphony of light. If that was the magic of sunlight, moonlight isn’t any less either. Yesterday it wasn’t a full moon day but it was almost there. Vast and wide open spaces interspersed by a river here and a rock there giving you a front row seat to do nothing but gaze at stars is why the place is so chilled out. There might not be many trees to give you all the shade but the land isn’t devoid of greenery altogether. There are green pastures of grass by the foothills of the rock formations. And if the clouds decide to play along, you cannot ask for a better setting. The blue skies, the white fluffy clouds, the brown mountains and green pastures. Just about the perfect for a landscape photographer like me. :)

I spent two days last weekend in Hampi. Of all the time spent there, it would be safe to say half the time was spent gazing at the river/clouds/rocks/mountains and the rest was spent gazing at the amazing ruins. True story! Yes, it goes without saying the ruins were amazing.

Ruins you would have seen many. Now see the spectacular scenery of Hampi.

Sunset colors over the Tungabhadra River

The brilliant clouds I was talking about

Fields around Hampi

Sunset Shadows in the River

Rocks of all sizes everywhere

River Crossing Point

Ruins and the Landscape

Scenery around Daroji Bear Sanctuary

Tungabhadra River