Explore. Dream. Travel

Monsoon Diaries - Dudhsagar

2015-03-02T09:41:00.000-08:00

"Bangalore Ascendars" has become so popular these days that getting a registration confirmed is as challenging as a Tatkal reservation. The moment we saw the pictures of night camping near the waterfalls, the bucket list got updated with Dudhsagar. Dudhsagar has become one of the popular tourist destination in recent days, thanks to the likes of SRK and his Chennai express, within 2 hours of the mail being sent, there were close to 60 registrations and yours truly was one among the shortlisted few :-)

We boarded around 9 PM from Bangalore City Station. This being my third trek with BASC, I started seeing familiar faces. There were quite a few trekking groups as well. After introductory sessions on whereabouts and other follow up questions, we started to play Rummy, an usual proven method to break the jinx and get acquainted with the group. As luck would have it, I managed to win first three rounds and was termed hat trick hero. Instant popularity you see. :-)

Day 1 started with not so good idly breakfast at Kollem station. As the trip was planned very late, and being season time, the tickets in Chennai Express were already in waitlist. The train was jam packed as expected and with no options left, we had to force ourselves in along with our luggages. Though it was a good experience, if you are planning for a trip I would recommend to book your tickets well in advance to avoid the hassale.

The majestic Dudhsagar

Finally as the train stopped at much awaited Dudhsagar station, nearly half of the train got emptied. It seemed like we were on a pilgrimage to Dudhsagar. While the dudhsagar was as majestic and as breathtaking it is , all the excitement vanished in thin air to see people littering the place and not respecting nature. It seemed as if majority came here to drink. Only drink. The place is so littered with plastic cups and stunk to the core. Our very first thought was to move away from the place. We started to walk in the railway trail towards Kollem. The route was scenic with occasional train movement alongside making it more exciting. The frequent downpours reminded us that we are in a monsoon trek.

The Monsoon Green

We stopped for lunch at Sonhaeli and took the forest trail towards Mulem. There were quiet a few streams to be crossed. After a long walk through the forest, we reached Kulem and from there took a cab to Mulem where we packed Fried rice and noodles for dinner. Heavy rains accompanied us through out the journey to Tambdi Surla.

The best part of the trek was the stay in abandoned jungle lodge which looked haunted and was in unusable state. It resembled the scenes from scary movies, you are inside the car with wiper dancing to the tunes of heavy rains surrounded by the eeriness of the silent forest. We were given assurance by people who stayed here in previous treks. Rooms were lit using torches, floors swept, Odomos applied and sleeping mats covered the floor. To my left was a huge brown jungle lizard staring right into my eyes and a pile of garbage on to my right. Can't ask for a more dramatic night with the sleeping movement on plastic bag creating sounds similar to that of a croaking frog on one side and the hush hush voices of talking ladies on the other side. Despite all the distractions, thanks to the tiredness, we all had a very good sleep.

The abandoned jungle lodge

Next day, the trek to Tambdi Surla water falls started by 6 AM sharp. It was an easy trek except for the nonstop rains making the trails slippery. Few preferred to carry their bags while many left it unattended in the jungle house. Tambdi Surla seemed to be the tourist destination for many near by schools and colleges. It was an hour of walk inside the forest before the beautiful Tambdi surla falls unravels itself. It seems like the hidden treasure of the forest. The intensity and water force were alarmingly high, but that didn't stop us from getting into it. After few failed attempts to photograph the majestic beauty, I gave up and decided to get drenched. A refreshing bath at the natures lap after a tiring journey is always a moment of bliss.

Should I say stop littering or stop drinking ??

Later we trekked down in no time, got freshened up and visited the Mahadev temple before calling it a day. We boarded a bus to Belgaum from Tambdi. The short travel through the village roads, with heavy rains made the trip even more memorable. With more than half of us filling in the entire bus, eatables passing back and forth, the villagers had a strange/puzzled look on their face. Even they seemed to enjoy the scene. Finally as our stop arrived, it took more than 10 minutes for the entire group to get off the bus with our luggage. We ordered our dinner and went in search of Kunda, a sweet that Belgaum is famous for. It is prepared from milk and khowa and came it two variants of white and brown. We shamelessly tasted Kunda in all shops we entered, before stacking up few kgs.

Finally the sun was down. Dinner was packed. The train arrived. People played UNO. There were lots of jokes made, funny moments shared, legs pulled. As the clock struck 12, it was one of the folks birthday and we had a short celebration of Kunda cutting. Two nights back we hardly knew each other. Now here we are celebrating the birthday like friends. You meet as strangers, speak random stuffs, discuss about treks, languages, movies and share interests and end up as good friends. I believe that's what makes traveling with strangers more exciting.

`Prem.

Omkar Hills - A lesser known weekend getaway

2014-12-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

Omkar hills is one of the lesser known place for weekend getaway and it moved right up in my travel list ever since I read about it. Primary reason being the distance, which is much closer compared to my daily commute distance. And it is easily the most leisure ride. With Anirudh moving to Bangalore and Shiva was also in town for a weekend, not to disappoint them, we decided to visit Omkar hills and if time permits drive back through Turahalli forest.

Needless to say that we started late and with other folks taking their own time, we started from Udupi garden signal at 8 AM. No confusing routes accompanied by usual blissful weather, we drove through Banshankari, Uttrahalli and reached the hills around 9 AM. The temple looked completely different from South Indian counterparts which I have seen till date. It looked more of a tombstone structure with outsides painted completely in white. Unlike traditional south Indian temples there wasn't any detailing or vibrantly colorful looking outer walls. It was plain and simple. The Omkar hills hosts all 12 jyotirlingas under one roof. There are 12 gopuras each representing a Jyotirlinga.

Bangalore at its usual best

A sense of calmness and peace sets in once you step inside the temple. Inside the temple are 12 Jyotirlingas of Shiva, each taken from different place around India. A 30 minute stride inside the temple talking history about shiva and a short photoshoot, we were done with the visit. Yea we had prasadam too.

Love for Windows

Outside the temple is the famous giant time clock where we ended up spending more time than planned discussing various theories about the purpose of its existence. The ride back home was through Turahalli forest roads, which felt like any other traffic free highway road drive. As we entered the city by 11, traffic has already set in and It took another hour to reach home.

The time machine

Ideal for a weekend visit. Takes not more than 2 hours. Must visit place if you are in Bangalore. Plan to start early so that you can return before the traffic kicks in.

Photo trek to ChitraDurga

2014-09-09T05:27:00.000-07:00

Chitradurga a.k.a 'Kallina Kote', was my second trip of the year, which also happened to be my second one with BASC [ Bangalore Ascendars ]. The registration mail read “Photography Trek to Chitradurga” and I signed up instantly. It was a 2 day trip and we left Bangalore by 11.30 PM in Hospet passenger and reached Chitradurga around 6.

The core of man's spirit comes from new experiences

After a brief intro and group photo at the station, we headed towards KSTDC, Mayura hotel. Our stay was in the dormitory accommodating 8 people. Though maintained by government, the quality of rooms and service are way above govt standards. Budget hotel and located at walkable distance from railway station and fort makes it an ideal place for stay.

The Nandhi statue, Chitradurga

We got freshened up and started the exploration by 9 AM. The entire fort was built of stones and we took the first pit stop at a open space which seemed like a prison top. It offered a view of entire city scape and the majestic windmills surrounding the city. Sticking to the theme of photo trek, we moved around clicking pictures that looked interesting and exciting, not bothered about its historic significance.

The Sculptures of Chitradurga

As the temperature was getting hot and humid, we decided to climb the peak before noon. The rocks were slippery, climb was harder at slopes but we made our way to the top. One more session of photos taken and we headed back to the temples where we had an awesome curd rice + pickle + buttermilk combo for lunch. The plan for second half of the day was to visit the OBAVVANA KINDI, followed by climbing to the fortress top which offered the best view for sunset photography.

The Dwarapalikas a.k.a gate keepers, Chitradurga

Glorious sunset, golden lights and Windmills of Chitradurga against the backdrop filled up the frames as we had our third session of photoshoot. The descend down was adventurous and memorable as we got delayed and ended up doing 2-3 hours of night trek with torches in a route less travelled by. We dined and hit the bed early as we had to start at 4.30 AM next morning to catch the sunrise at JOGIMATTI peak. Turned out the journey was longer than expected and we missed the sunrise. Nevertheless it was a good and exhausting trek to the peak which reminded me to work on my fitness levels.

The Song shoot - Namo Namo madesha for the movie Kothi Raja

The timing of the trip was perfect that we happened to see the shooting of the song sequence for the Kannada movie 'KothiRaja'. Meaning 'Monkey King', this is based on the real life story of Jyothi Raj, who hails from this place and is famous for climbing Chitradurga fort without any safety harnesses.

Windmills of Chitradurga

Post lunch, we checked out the hotel, had an awesome full meals. The exit plan was to make our way to Adumalleshwara caves via fort. Climbing the fort with luggages on was the toughest part of the trek. The terrains were harder and the sun was no kinder. As we passed through the caves, the descent started and finally led us to the plain lands down the hills.

The glorious sunlight

The last part of the trek was Chandravalli caves. We hired a guide this time so that we don’t miss out on the details. This turned out to be a worthy idea as the place has so much interesting history associated with it. The cave is 80 feet underground and the guide beautifully explained how sages here used to meditate, secret escape passages for prince and how messages are carried in and out at times of war. We had ice candies and took some photos as the sun descended. The trip ended with last minute tension filled sprint to catch the train.

The Team

Just 2 days, but we bonded well and had great fun. We shared jokes, made friends, played pranks, envied full frame gears, discussed movies, shared food, photographed moments, tested our fitness levels.

All this came at a price of 750/-.

New Year Ride - Shivagange

2014-09-02T11:07:00.001-07:00

Over the years of stay in Bangalore, traveling somewhere during new year sort of became a habit. To keep up with the tradition, this year we decided to drove to SHIVAGANGE. The choice of place came from "Nomads", an android app that has a good collection of weekend getaway places around Bangalore.

Witnessing the proceedings

As usual, started late and reached the place by noon. Generally places with minimal human presence has always been our choice of preference. Turns out that it was "Shiva Rathiri" and the place was flooded with devotees. With sun scorching straight above our heads, we started to climb. The initial climb with carved out foot steps was easy, but got steeper and narrower as we proceeded ahead. We took few pit stops under the shades of the rocks, witnessing the aerial view of the beautiful landscape. Thanks to the buttermilk shops en route, helping us quench our thirst.

The view from the top

As the path got too narrow, over crowding led to congestion as people descending and ascending wanted to move forward without giving way for each other eventually leading to jam. After some delay we finally managed to reach the temple top. There were huge idols of Shiva and Parvathi standing tall facing the city.

The Entrance

It was a sad scene to witness the place fully littered with plastics and garbage. Further up the hill was the famous Nandhi statue, the main attraction of Shivagange. Seeing the congestion on the top and people taking the alternate routes alongside monkeys, I decided to skip and head down for lunch.

Too Crowded

Had an awesome Tomato rice at one of the shops near the temple. The owner suggested a temple ( the name which I don't remember now ) on the other side of the hill. Riding through the village roads in search of the temple amidst the lush green agricultural lands on the either sides during sunset is quiet serene. Undoubtedly the best part of the trip.

Witnessing the sunset

Shivagange would be an ideal weekend getaway place, if only visited during non peak hours.

Kudremukha - A Trek to Remember

2014-04-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

I had been an admirer of Neelima ever since I landed on her blog. Reading through her travelogue will not only make you jealous but inspires to take up travel more seriously. One such post talked about how she managed to do so many treks, traveling with various travel groups and thats how I got introduced BASC - Bangalore ASCendars. With no second thoughts I liked their FB page and registered in their group ( free registration ofcourse ) , just to realize later that unlike other groups, they are one of the most active and passionate group which travels every weekend. If you are looking for luxury and comfort BASC is not the place to be. I kept on ignoring the travel updates from BASC. Kudremukh was one such mail which I would have ignored on any normal day. It came on a day where I was too pumped up reading many travel blogs and I had no second thought whatsoever and registered. The difficulty level was Medium to Hard and as a prerequisite you are expected to have done similar treks to be considered eligible. Luckily we had Kumaraparvatha and Kodachadri on our conquered list.

Picturesque grasslands of Kudremukh

There was the confirmation mail with our names and a list of todo items. We gathered at majestic by 10 PM and exchanged smiles and hand shakes. It took sometime for us to get comfortable with new faces as we two were the odd ones in the group not knowing kannada. The next day started with sight seeing of Kudremukh iron ores followed by Hanumangunde falls and a quick stop at Ganga moola which I decided to skip and rest in bus as I drained out completely during the ascend from falls. It was almost by lunch we had breakfast ( yummy puliogere and neer dosa ) and headed back to the home stay. The roller coaster experience of 11 km ride on complete mud road in a fully packed jeep brought us to home stay. Rice, Sambhar, Papad and Pickle lunch at homestay filled our stomachs. With half of day to spend, the plan was to trek to Durga dibba / Devara dibba hills which the organizer claimed to be a trial version of the larger trek to come tomorrow. This was my first experience of trekking with rains on and off. Sometimes there were occasional drizzles, sometimes heavy downpour. Truly an experience.

There is beauty all around us. You just need to look.

Passing through the slippery terrains and slopes, finally we reached the peak and found ourselves in the natures lap with the passing clouds and greenery all around. BLISS is the word. Later in the evening we had a dip in the cold stream removing away all the weariness in the limbs. The evening was well spent with introductions, card games and seniors ragging the first timers. Dinner was served and we hit the bed by 12.

It feels good to be lost in the right direction

With packed lunch boxes, GPS gadgets to track the route, wireless devices to communicate, ropes to cross the streams, we set out at 6.30 Am to the most awaited 22Kms trek of Kudremukha. I was excited to beat my previous best record of 15 Kms. The first milestone was to trek to Gomukha peak (1625 m) followed by Kudremukha. It was tough, sloppy and slippery at places. The monsoon wasn't that kind at times. But the inspiration to proceed further was right there, whenever we took a moment and looked around. And being one of the slowest and photography enthusiast didn't go well together. Every time I stop to shoot Girish will be right behind poking me to move forward. Unlike experienced trekkers we didn't pack much of eatables and the group which moved fast had plenty of reserves which would get over by the time we reach them.

Say NO to littering

This is when my tastebuds realized left over particles of Krack jack can be so delicious. People were gracious to offer some eatables while others became close enough to pluck it and eat. The atmosphere was very friendly and never like we had just met. People were sharing their previous trek experiences and striking poses and the mood was lively. You can never stop being amazed at such a serene landscape and breath taking sceneries. Finally we made it to the peak ( 1850 m ) and after the usual group photo shoot, we had the much awaited lunch by the stream and we returned back.

Leeches. Ahh, how did I not mention about them. During this entire episode, they had a great time finding, and sneaking into our shoes. There was heavy blood shed all along the trials. I too had few bad bites which still remains as a souvenir.

Tired and Worn out

We made it back to the homestay with sore legs and tired body, but a happy heart. Met new people who shared similar interest, made friends, pushed the body limits both mentally and physically , Kudremukh is definitely a trek to remember.

"In the end

my shoes tore,

feet became sore,

but heart said

lets do it

once more."

Contact - Arun ( 08263214235 ) is the local guide who arranges weekend treks in Kudremukh.

Channapatna - The Land of Toys

2014-04-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

Couple of months passed in 2014 and thanks to my laziness & procrastination I still have a backlog of travel posts to update. Channapatna was the first among them which happened way back in August 2013. It has been in the todo list for quiet some time. After going thru the usual workflow of reading blogs, browsing photos, gathering friends the date got finalized. As usual it was a delayed start around 8 AM but the weather was very kind on us. Bangalore weather when at its best can even make the office ride enjoyable. It was one such day and that combined with the awesomeness of the NICE road, the experience was pure bliss. No one was in a mood to rush and even the fastest bike was clocking at 20 Km/h.

NICE road has always been nice

We stopped at for breakfast around 10 somewhere past NICE road and had idly vada sambar. One of the spiciest sambars I ve ever had, ending the course with a cup of coffee. Finally sun woke up around 11 and we had no choice but to speed up the ride and reached the temple around 11.30.

Navaneetha Krishna Temple

The Navneetha Krishna temple features the childhood version of krishna in his crawling posture. The belief associated with Navaneetha Krishna Temple is that worshipping here will eliminate "Putra dosham". We also happened to witness the ritual of people donating coconuts/rice and other stuffs in weights equal to their kids. There is a huge weight balance, and they donations are weighted equalled to the weight of the kid.

Navaneetha Krishna a.k.a Kulanthai Krishna

Soon before the thought of where to have lunch arose, the iyer announced that there will be a anna thaanam today. Lucky indeed. We happily ate the served Besi bellabath and curd rice accompanied by potato chips.

We were done by 2 and since Channapatna is famous for handmade toys, we set out to buy some souvenirs. Since I wanted to shoot some landscape, myself and few others rode to kanva reservoir while others were busy exploring the toy shops. The cloud play at the Kanva reservoir was quiet dramatic and I managed to click few HDR shots and as usual failed portrait attempts of Jai & Puhal.

Surreal dreams at Kanva Reservoir

While we were busy shooting, the other group managed to find a wholesale manufacturer who built toys in his house. It was a kind gesture from him to greet them with coffee and also explained his business. The bulk purchase was complete and meanwhile we too were done with kanva reservoir, as planned we met at the Kengal Anjeneya temple which is on the junction of Kanva reservoir entry. It was a festival day and the temple was obviously over crowded. We had a quick glimpse of Anjaneya and set out on the final lap of our ride.

Kengal Anjenaya Temple

The return journey was equally pleasant till we reached bangalore by 5.30 at Banngerghetta road. Crossing Banngerghetta road during peak hours is a challenge in itself. Adding to the challenge is an bus breakdown which made traffic move like a tortoise. After putting all the driving skills to test, performing matrix stunts in the non moving traffic we managed to reach home by 7.30. A day well spent.

Solo Travel, Kannada Certification and much more

2014-03-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

Solo travel. I never knew something of that sort existed till I landed accidentally ( luckily ) on one such travel blog. Ever since that I was curious to explore the joy of traveling solo. Eventually I happened to see many of that kind in Twitter and FB who preferred to travel solo which increased my curiosity to try it atleast once. But as always laziness and procrastination made sure I didn't.

Champakadhama swamy temple

I had borrowed the 17-70mm macro lens to shoot flowers at the Lalbhag flower show. We also planned a ride to Bannerghetta National park the next day hoping to shoot some butterflies in action before returning the lens. Owing to laziness everyone backed out at last moment and surprisingly me being the most laziest decided to ride solo. I started at 8 AM and the initial signs of traffic free roads, soothing breezy weather and added solitude made the ride more enjoyable. Thanks to the pleasing climate the speed never clocked beyond 50Km/h. To add to the bliss had Idly Vada drenched in Sambhar for breakfast.

Pleasant Surprises

The first surprise of the solo travel happened when I took a wrong turn which lead to a temple instead of park. Wrong route leading to a temple seemed like a divine blessing, I switched plans and decided to explore the temple. The CHAMPAKADHAMA TEMPLE dedicated to incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The atmosphere and lighting was good, and with the cloud patterns inviting for a HDR shot, I clicked few shots of the temple. I got to know there was another temple at hill top. It took about 10 mins of uphill trek to reach NARASIMHA SWAMY temple. Amused by my photographic antics, the lady selling water bottles outside the temple suggested me to visit the ANJANEYA temple located at a distance of 3 Kms on the other side of the hill.

The trail looked suspicious as I couldn't see any traces of crowd heading towards the temple. I still took my chance and walked for 2 Kms into the forest till I spotted this.

Beware - Bear ahead

All alone in the jungle, unable to read kannada, my mind interpreted the poster as BEWARE - BEAR AHEAD. Mission abort, I said to myself and returned back. Disturbed a couple asking route who were trying to have some private time in the jungle. The grandpa who was looking after his grazing cows assured me that I was on the right path which prompted me to start all over again. This time it was a 4 km walk till I spotted a similar sign board with a TIGER in it. No more adventure. Walked back all the way to where I started. Luckily when I almost called it off, I met a passerby who was heading towards the temple. I requested her to take me along and she gladly agreed. She doesn't know English and in my case its "Kannada baralva". But we still managed to have conversation which lasted for 30 minutes. As the long walk came to an end, I took some photos of the temple and I bid adieu and thanked her for making my trip more memorable. I also clicked a pose of her. She certified that my Kannada ain't that bad. I was back at the base around 11 AM and as planned I visited the butterfly park and caught some butterflies in action too.

"5 varusa, ee kannada sakku" , She said.

Did I enjoy traveling solo ?

Well I did enjoy. There was ample time for introspection, freedom of taking decisions, relaxing and most importantly getting lost in the nature. And as always happiness is not in the journey but the experiences that you encounter in the journey. The experience of being helped out by a stranger, joy of conversing in a fairly known language made my day.

Photos

Valley of Tridax seen on the way to Anjaneya Temple

Narasimha swamy temple

Sculpture of Lord Anjaneya carved on the footsteps of the tank

Sacred threads tied around tree in Anjaneye temple

I did visit the butterfly park

A run to remember

2013-07-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you ran ?? Let me guess, was it to catch bus, may be at your school sports day, probably on a lonely night chased by stray dog. Ever thought about running a marathon ? No ? Me neither.

But I had an opportunity to photograph one such event which ultimately changed my perception towards running. Ananda yana translating to "happy journey" is a marathon event organized by a running enthusiastic group named "Runners high". keeping aside the objective of the run which is for a social cause, few moments left me with a great interest for the sport.

Age - Just a number
This was my first marathon experience and given my preconceived notion that marathon is meant only for physically fit runners, I was surprised to see people from all age groups participating in the run. Kids accompanying their parents, well built-fit-adults and to my amazement watching the age old grandma's and grandpa's in action with their beautiful smile was a perfect bliss. When there is passion and determination, age becomes just a number.

There is no secret ingredient

Marathon can make a great picnic spot too

Every participant deserves to cross the finish line
While many of them were professional runners who managed to complete their run, there were a few inexperienced finding it quiet difficult. With their body starting to give up few meters before the finish line, these runners went back and joined them clapping, encouraging, motivating and kept pushing them to complete the race. The very gesture of ensuring every participant deserves to finish the race is a great moment to watch. And photograph too.

Spreading positive energy
Nevertheless to mention about the environment, it was so energetic. The mood was very pleasant and energetic with volunteers actively cheering, the music band with high volumes, people dancing to the music, kids helping runners with water, there was so much of joy and energy all around. Though I was never a part of the run, I could feel the positive energy and the enthusiasm in me.

Passion
One common factor which I observed and can relate to is their passion towards running. No one worries about the outcome. It doesn't matter whether they run fast, run far, finish first or last. They just run. It is not the result but the process they enjoy doing. Once you are passionate about something, the process excites you more than the results.

When people ask why do I photograph, I really don't have an answer. Its quiet difficult to explain how I feel creating a picture. So I asked the same question to google - "Why do people run?" and ended up with this quote.

It felt good being an observer. May be I should run a marathon to experience how good it really feels.

Cheers,
`Prem.

An adventurous trek to Kodachadri

2013-02-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

Kodachadri trek is unarguably one of the scariest & most adventurous trek I ever did till date. Hope it remains the only scariest trek. Ever since Kumaraparvatha happened, we always wanted to relive the experience of carrying the backpacks through the foggy mountain trails with lush greenery on either side. Thus Kodachadri happened.

Refractions of Nature

Route - Bangalore -> Shimoga -> Jog Falls - > Kollur -> Kodachadri -> Hidlumane -> Nittur -> Bangalore

Jog Falls & Mookambika Temple -

The experience at the Jog falls wasn't very great. It was a not-so-much-monsoon season and there was hardly any water in the falls. Bad time to visit Jog falls. Special prayers & poojas were happening in Mookambika temple, Kollur. The temple was over crowded & took a long time in the queue to get darshan. Interesting trivia about this place is that only males without any clothes on top are permitted to enter.

Raja stream at Jog falls

The mistaken identity -

It was approximately 12th or 13th break, we decided to have lunch before the chapati masala cross its expiry time. Running low on water, and still 5Kms more to reach the peak, we were cautious not to waste water. The lunch was filling & when the water bottle was taking its turns amongst us, Mohan was lost in the conversation and involuntarily reached out to the bottle on the other side of the bag which had the Diesel for the camp fire. Dharani was quick in pointing out, but not that quicker in preventing Diesel reaching his stomach. Mohan took over the rest of the water bottle, goggling & burping all along the way. Muthu meanwhile worried about the reduction in quantity of the Diesel for camp fire.

Into the wild

Scary Adventure -

Unaware ( rather I should say careless) of the fact that camping is prohibited, we carried heavy tents all the way up. Being warned by the locals that the rangers on rounds will take away the tents, the only option we had was to opt for stay in Battermane. But that would make all the efforts of carrying the backpacks all the way up go void. We found a flat surface 3 kms trekking down & laid the tents by 6 PM. Unfortunately Battermane had no parcel services & we were asked to be there at 8.15 PM for dinner. It was completely dark by 7 PM, we started climbing through the forest. 12 people trekking in the forest at night with small LED torch lights surrounded by complete darkness, it was scary. The most scariest of all came after completing dinner, when we walked to the terrace. It was complete pitch black. We trekked down very carefully on the narrow trails, each one ensuring the other doesn't get lost. Could have been a cakewalk for Bear Grylls, but still one of the scariest episodes. It was a great sense of relief after reaching the camping site. Scary adventure indeed.

Condition of my shoes upon reaching the top

Windows Xp'd

Hidlumane Falls -

The timing at which we reached Hidlumane falls was perfect. It was long walk, scorching sun chasing on top, hardly any shades to hide and finally at the end of a tiresome trek you find this hidden treasure awaiting. The bath at Hidlumane falls was very much refreshing taking away all the tiredness in the trek. Personally I would suggest to trek from Kollur, so that you can experience the sheer joy Hidlumane Falls offers. We spent around 2 hrs at this place.

Lost in Nature

Trek Information -

Total days - 3. Dec - 29 to Dec 31.
Day 1 - Jog Falls in the morning. Sight seeing at Moogambika Temple and stay in Kollur.
Day 2 - Trek from Kollur to Kodachadri.
Day 3 - Trek from Kodachadri to Nittur. Return to Bangalore.
Trek Routes - 1) Via Kollur 2) Via Nittur 3) Jeep Route.
Distance - approx 20kms.
Contact Numbers - Rajendra ( 9449145540 )
Network Signal - zero.
Food & Accommodation ( Day 1 ) - Hotels in Jog falls & nearby places. Kerala style restaurants in Kollur. Plenty of lodges in Kollur.
Food & Accommodation ( Day 2 ) - Packed lunch ( we got chapathis ) at Kollur. Yummy dinner & breakfast at Battermane on the hill top. Accommodations available at Battermane & PWD house on pre-booking. Dinner at Battermane gets served at 8 and you need to tell in advance. Couple of Buttermilk vendors along the trial route. Not much of water streams due to lack of rains. 'Hotel Santhosh' at 5kms if you trek from Kollur. Accommodation available at Hidlumane( 5kms ) if you trek from Nittur.

Cheers,
Prem.

Lepakshi - A place of Architectural Brilliance

2013-01-08T02:08:00.000-08:00

Most of the travel plans happen when you are there, sitting in office & suddenly the life-getting-monotonous feel strikes a chord inside you. This time the search for weekend getaway ended up in 'Lepakshi'. Lepakshi is a small village located in Anantpur District, Andhra Pradesh. It is approximately 125 kms from Bangalore. Anything less than 250 kms in single day is a perfect choice for bike drive. So we set out for a Saturday ride on 4 bikes.

Someday before the trip happened, I stumbled upon this inspirational video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXkQT-w5Km0 by Dewitt Jones where he says while photographing a geographic location, he questions himself - "What am I falling in love with" ?. I decided to try that out & the results were pretty amazing. So instead of going on a spree clicking the photos of the temple, we tagged along with the guide listening to history behind the architecture. Few portions were unclear as the mode of communication was Telugu. But nevertheless after the tour, I had a fair idea of what should I photograph.

The history behind the name 'Lepakshi' is that, when Sita was abducted by Ravanan, the bird Jatayu tried to help her. It got injured during the fight & fell dying in this place, later found by Ram & Laxman. Hence the name Lepakshi which in Sanskrit is 'Rise o Bird'.

The Veerabhadra temple located in Lepakshi is built in Vijayanagar architectural style. Each sculpture carved has a piece of history associated with it, which sometimes is unbelievable yet interesting. We were amazed to see the modern design patterns that we use in our interior decorations carved in the pillars dating centuries back. On the road, there is a huge Nandi, carved entirely out of single monolithic stone.

Bhringi , a three legged is considered as the dance master of gods. The story goes like he is an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, he ignored to worship Parvathi. Parvathi being outraged cursed Bhringi to become thing and completely emaciated. Bhringi became so weak that he could not even stand in his own legs. Shiva moved by Bhringi's request, granted him an additional leg. Hence Bhringi is always seen in all sculptures with 3 legs.

The swing pavillion placed to the north of the temple. Four tall pillars support a square roof surmounted by a circular vimanam. A Hanuman slab is placed inside.

Carved out of a natural boulder to the west of the shrine, this seven-hooded Naga shelters a black-polished lingam cradled in its ribbed coils. A saptamatrika panel is placed below to the right.

The story of Unfinished Kalyana mantapa is very interesting. Virupanna, the king's treasurer had an idea of building a temple & laid out the execution plans while the king was away. As this place was nearing completion, the king returns just to see his treasury empty. He aborts the construction & orders the treasurer to be blinded. He being loyal, blinds himself & throws his eyes to the wall across. You can still see the stains of two eyes on those wall near the Kalyana mantapa, which are said to be the marks made by his eyes which he himself dashed against the wall.

One of the main attractions of Lepakshi is the hanging pillar. It is of great architectural importance that, one of the British rulers wanted it to fix it & a slight movement has caused damages & cracks in the adjacent pillars. We literally tested the hanging pillar by passing a towel cloth right through it. Marvelous indeed. You can find the image here.

The kalyanamantapa is the place where the wedding between Shiva & Parvathi is assumed to have happened. There are rich information carved in the sculptures depicting the presence of God's like Brahma, Devas & others present during the wedding.

The big granite Nandhi bull is on the main road, about 200 metres from the temple. It is carved out of single monolithic stone.

Route - Bangalore –> Yelahanka –> Devanahalli –> Chikaballapur –> Bagepalli –> Lepakshi
Distance - 125 Kms from Bangalore
Approx time - 2.30 hrs
Travel - Started from Bangalore @ 9 AM and reached Anantpur by 2 PM. ( Including multiple pit stops for coffee). Started back @ 6.30 PM and reached by 8 PM.
Road condition - Except for the last stretch of 2 Kms, its a complete NH drive.
Food - There are quiet a few Dhaba's on the highway close to Anantpur junction.

A must visit place if you are in & around Bangalore.

Cheers,
Prem.

Destination - Coorg

2012-11-17T04:17:00.001-08:00

It was a much awaited reunion amongst our friends after a long gap of 2 years.This time it was 3 day trip to Coorg. Unlike other trips, where the decision of place & time happens couple of days back, this time we started the planning well in advance. Multiple mail exchanges , googling for resorts , homestays, enquiring travel cabs, reading blogs , etc .. Finally we zeroed in on Capitol village Resort, a homestay with 4+ rating in tripadvisor, recommended by friends dad. With his government-employee-banking-sector discounts, we were told that rooms were booked. We left Bangalore by 12 mid night & reached Coorg at 6 AM.

Coffee plantations

First disappointment - Among 3 who planned to start late owing to work, unfortunately one missed the train. He took the next train to Bangalore.

Second disappointment - Adding to it, the evening train too trolled our plans by a 4 hour delay.

Third & the Best - Coorg at 6 AM was very refreshing & exciting until the shocking news came - "Cauvery Lodge" is where the rooms are booked & not luxurious "Capitol Village Resort". There is a reservation office opposite to the lodge named "capitol village" and hence the miscommunication.

Our Homestay

No one was in a mood to stay at lodge. Despite early morning drizzles we were in hunt for a homestay, and managed to find rather cheap one at 6 Kms away from the bus stand. It's not exactly a homestay. The cardboard + thermocol typed house had 8 cots & the attic of owners house had 8 cots. The homestay is located at mountain base. The view from the homestay is very scenic with green agriculture fields running through the base of the misty mountains. The homestay took care of the food as well. (4Kg of Chicken & Fish + Rice + Rotis).

The Attic

We relaxed on day 1 waiting for the latecomers to join. Trip started with visiting TalaCauvery. There were occasional rains throughout the journey. It was all foggy, usual hill station effect. We climbed till the mountain top, had a refreshing Bajji & Tea before called it a day.

Enchanting entrance to Tala Cauvery

On day 2, We packed lunch & traveled all the way to Somwarpet till the base of Kumaraparvatha. After finishing up the lunch, we did a quick & short trek for around 3 kms before rains started. It was "Malalli falls" for the later half of the day. One of the breath taking waterfalls that I ve seen. To reach the falls, you need to do a 6km trek into the forest. Then again 5 Kms downside to get to the base of the waterfall. The water levels were very high that we got drenched standing 50 meters apart. It is a must visit.

Majestic Mallali falls

Checked out the home stay with a group snap on day 3. The plan is to visit Bylakuppe and Mysore palace on the return. Had our breakfast at Kushalnagar and reached Bylakuppe by 11. It felt like entering into an all together different world. The place is calm , beautiful & vibrant. Spent almost an hour or so admiring the beauty and debating the architecture and history. Lack of time meant the Mysore palace visit was cut short to 30 minutes. Finally we reached Bangalore by 8 PM.

40 feet high Buddha statues at Golden Temple

The expenses came around 3K per person. More than the journey & sight seeing, break from the regular life schedule, without laptops & gadgets, spending time with friends, made the trip memorable. Few more snaps from the trip.

Refreshed by rains

View from Tala cauvery

Vibrant Kumaraparvatha

The trails at Kumaraparvatha

Cheers,
Prem.

Weekend Getaway - Nandhi Hills

2012-08-13T12:31:00.001-07:00

The Plan:
2 bikes, 4 people , 60Kms, 1/2 day.

The Route:
ORR -> Old Madras Road -> Hebbal -> Devanahalli -> Nandi Cross -> Nandi Village

The Lodge rooms in the entrance

The Travel:-
Heard people saying you should be reaching the hills by 6.30 to enjoy the sunrise & view. Nevertheless we reached late around 7.30, but we had a great experience of driving through fog & mist. Its monsoon season, so no clue about sunrise. One of the simplest routes, hit hebbal flyover, drive straight. We stopped near Manyata Tech Park to fill fuel, and made another stop at Devanahalli for morning tea. Watch out for the route board reading Nandhi hills on the left, missing to do so took as additional 2 Km's. Keep straight on the Nandhi road thru the Nandhi village till you reach the T junction. Nandhi hills on the left & Bhoga Nandeswara Temple on the right. We headed back to Bangalore by 2.30 PM.

ORR -> Old Madras Road -> Hebbal -> Devanahalli -> Nandhi village -> Nandhi Hills

The Place:-
Nandhi Hills:-
This place is a perfect bikers paradise for a weekend getaway. This is my first time experience driving thru the mist & fog. So it was thrilling & exciting. Ideal time I would suggest is 7 or 7.30 , so that you can get a feel of fog & by the time you are done with exploration, the fog clears around 10. This place attracts quiet a lot of people. Spotted few bicyclers & handful of Kawasaki Ninja's. Main spots are the water Tank, wood houses, Tippu's fort & 850 year old temple on the top of the hills. We reached the base by around 11 & had breakfast & headed to Bhoga Nandeswara Temple.

Misty mornings

The huge tank with mist cleared.

Bhoga Nandeswara Temple:-
Located on the right side of the T junction, takes about 15 mins to reach this architectural place. Interesting fact of this place is that these temples were built by kings of 5 dynasties. The perfect symmetry of the inside tank & the surrounding speaks for themselves. Here is more info about the place- http://bangaloregetaways.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/bhoga-nandeeshwara-and-arunachaleshwara-temples-nandi-grama/

A must visit, if you are in Bangalore.

Bhoga Nandeswara Temple

Fog and the mood.

Cheers,

Prem.

Kone Falls on Wheels

2012-07-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

The Plan:
6 people , 2 bikes , 50Kms , 1 day.

The Route:

Tiruvallur -> Uthukottai -> Nagalapuram -> Puttur

Green agricultural fields en route to Nagalapuram.

The Travel:

When you have all day to spend in Uthukottai, a place in the TN - Andhra border, Kone falls might be one of the best place to visit. The route is pretty straightforward, a straight stretch without any deviations & the highway roads with hardly any traffic makes it a pleasure to ride. Keep driving until you hit a left at about 10kms before Puttur. Kone falls is at 2kms from there.

Tiruvallur -> Uthukottai -> Nagalapuram -> Puttur

The Place:

First thing you will notice is the monkeys surrounding the place. Some demand food, while few others are smart enough to rip off the covers of parked bike & search for food. There is main stream beside the temple dedicated for visitors to drench, but by the time we went, there was hardly any water flowing. So did a little trek, climbing up the mountains to reach another stream with a small pool. Even though the stream was not that great, it looked a ideal place to bath, but we still climbed one more level & found out a better place. Had some fun for around 2 hours and returned back.

Altogether, if you are around Chennai & want to spend sometime away from the city on a weekend, this is an ideal place.

First waterfall upon climbing the rocks

View of the district from Hills

Green all the way. [ Little harsh sunlight though ]

Climbing some more rocks,we have the second water fall forming a pool.

The pool.

Smaller water streams as well.

Cheers,
Prem.

Ride to BR Hills & Gopalswamy Betta

2012-07-09T12:29:00.001-07:00

Travelogue has taken a hibernation mode for past couple of months. As usual caught up with the blogger laziness syndrome. So with the usual excuse of will-blog-frequently, updating the travel report on 500 Km ride to B.R Hills & GopalswamyBetta.

The Plan -

7 people, 4 bikes , 500 Km's , 2 days.

Himavad Gopalswamy Betta Hilllock Temple

Day 1 -

Started from Bangalore at 7 AM.
Had Breakfast at Shoppers stop at 7.30 AM
Reach Kanakapura by 10 AM. Headed to Shivasamudram via Malavalli and reached there by 12.30 noon. Had lunch there itself & started by 2.30 PM to B.R Hills via Kollegal & Yelandur route. Reached the Jungle Lodges around 5 PM.
Dropped our luggage's at VGKK school & after relaxing for an hour, headed to Biligiri rangana temple located on the top of BR.Hills. Reached there around 6.30 PM.
Returned back & had dinner at hotel around 8 PM( There is only one in the locality & they serve only meals for dinner ) situated en-route to BR Temple.
Night stay at VGKK hostel.

Misunderstanding ??

Day 2 -

Started from VGKK Hostel at 7.30 AM.
Hot Tea & breakfast ( Idly, chutney ) at Jungle lodge junction.
Drove thru the ghat section of B.R Hills & reached the jungle lodges at 10.15 PM.
Reached ChamrajNagar around 11.30 & stopped at Gundulpet for lunch around 1.30 PM.
Reached GopalswamyBetta by 2.15 PM & spent around an hour @ the temple & returned back to Gundulpet by 4.30 PM.
Headed to Mysore and reached around 6.30 PM.
Stopped at Maddur by 8.30 PM for dinner & resumed @ 9.30 PM for the last stretch to Bangalore.
Reached home by 12.30 AM.

Lined Up for the Ride

The Stay -

One of the worth remembering memory of this trip is the stay at VGKK school. This looks more like a hospital from the front, but they do have guest houses in the rear. The charges were quiet cheap & their definition of basic - independent house with 3 decent sized cots. This school provides free education to the local tribes residing in the area & works in the upliftment of local people & the amount from us would be utilized for their studies. Mr. Arun Kumar (09902319473) is the caretaker of this institution & he shared his experiences & the way school is managed. We had a good time, sitting in the middle of the school ground with temperature hitting low & eventually we experienced fogs coming out from our mouth while speaking. Morning was very refreshing as we had the view of sunrise, slowly penetrating its golden lights through the mist. Along with our charges we donated some amount for the trust & collected brochures from Arun. All together it was a great experience. I would strongly recommend this place.

Golden lights. Those were the huts we stayed.

The Route -

Bangalore -> Kanakpura -> Malavalli -> Shivanasamudra -> Kollegal -> Yelandur -> BR Hills -> Nagavalli -> Chamaraj nagara -> Terakanambi -> Gundlupet -> Gopalswamybetta -> Gundlupet -> Mysore -> Maddur -> Bangalore

The Route : A- Bangalore , B- B.R Hills , C - GopalswamyBetta , D- Mysore

The Good Experiences -

Stay at VGKK school.
Ghat section ride thru BR Hills.
Dinner at Maddur resturant was superb. This place is famous for Vada.
First time 500 Km's in my bike.

Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra [ VGKK ]

The Bad Choices -

Bad season to visit Shivanasamudra. Very hot place & the water level in the falls was very minimal.
Ghat section ride within BR Hills is not as greenish as expected. Idle time should be around August- September.
Perfect time to visit GopalswamyBetta is early morning. The trekking has been banned now. The maximum time that you can spend is 45 mins, a pass given at the entrance of Gopalswamy Betta temple. Riding at noon, all you end up with is, scorching sun above your head as contrast to the misty fogs you see when you google for GopalswamyBetta.

Biligiri Rangana Swamy temple

Tea shop on the BR Hills Junction

Morning Dews @ 6.30 A.M

Clouds & light playing hide & seek during up hill drive to Gopal swamy Betta.

Himavad Gopalswamy Betta Hilllock Temple

Cheers,
Prem.

Thattekere Lake & Mahadeswara Temple on Wheels

2012-01-22T05:01:00.000-08:00

Travelogue in new year started with ride to Thattekere lake, a place located around 25 kms from Bangalore. It has been in a long time to-do list, ever since reading the eye catching trip report of Prashanth. Also it has been close to 8 months ever since I took my Yamaha out of the city for a ride.

The bicycle tales

Earlier plans to start by 6 AM has been pushed to 7 AM owing to the laziness & the weather ensured that we start by 7.30 AM. Meanwhile, the two bicyclers were in middle of their first journey in cycle which started around 5 AM. Amidst the weather which constantly made patterns of dew in my helmet fibers, we set out in three bikes with two pillion riders. We made two stops before reaching the Bhannerghatta Road - one at HSR petrol bunk to fill fuel for the bikes & one at Tea shop near Shoppers stop to fill fuel for our stomach.

Its a straight route from Bhannerghatta road without any turns till you hit the Bhannerghatta National Park deviation. Turn left and head straight for about 7 or 8 kms until you spot the next deviation. Take right, which me missed to do so, causing an extra 5 kms travel before we realized that we took the wrong route. From that its pretty much a straight road for around 10 kms, travelling into the villages with a scenic view. Its better when in doubt ask the villagers for the route.

The Enchanting Lake Entrance

Around 8.30 AM , we stopped for breakfast at some roadside hotel in Bhannerghatta. Reached the lake by 10.30 AM. The last stretch of ride thru the village roads is just awesome. Will be more enjoyable, especially if the weather is bit cloudy. After a few inquiries, finally we reached the much awaited place, kept out of the city, less occupied by people and obviously clean & calm. On the entrance you find Madheswara temple and few steps down the slide, the scenic lake. The bicyclers went in for a swim to get rid of the tiredness of 5 hrs of cycling. We just wandered there for some time , took some snaps & started back.

Lake View

Some more from the Lakeside

Lakeside View

On the return, we made a visit to Bhannerghatta National park, & my desperate attempt to capture a butterfly finally got fulfilled. We reached back home by 5.30 PM.

The moment

Pack foods, drive in with family, eat, spend time, watch the birds, & what more, Thattekere makes an ideal picnic spot which you will not regret visiting.

Cheers,
Prem.

Weekend Get Away - Chikmagalur

2011-12-13T04:41:00.000-08:00

Almost a year, ever since I updated my travelogue. There has been a couple or more bike rides happened in the mean time, but acute laziness in me has kept me off from updating them. Rode on wheels to weekend getaway spots in Bangalore, starting off with Mekadatu, followed by Kanva Reservoir, and an adventurous ride to Br Hills & GopalsamyBetta, but were forced to cut short it to BR Hills. Luckily the travel stories were documented & blogged by Ram & you can find more of his travel stories here.

This time it was a 3 day trip & with various suggestions flying around for, we finalized the plan for Chikmagalur & Kemmankundi. Nature Nirvana Home Stay was booked for accommodations and we started around 10 PM , hoping to reach by 5 AM. Driving in the hassle free NH made the driver excited & with the speed he was driving we would have reached Chikmagalur by 2. We stopped at Coffee day around 12 for a break & chitchat & finally reached Chikmagalur by 5.

The adventurous or rather scary I would say, is the 7 km descending ride to the Nature Nirvana Home stay. With poor roads which only Jeeps can make it, foggy morning where nothing in front is visible & and the probability of making a slight slip being extremely high, it took around 1.5 hrs to travel 7 Kms.

The Route -

Nature Nirvana Plantation Home Stay :

The place - Except for the tiresome ride , the place is very calm, scenic and pleasant.Great mountain view. The people here deliver a great hospitality & comfort. Camp fire with unlimited barbecue in the cold is a pure bliss.

The food - Awesome , Unlimited, non-veg, different varieties, most importantly filling.

Activities ( Indoor )- Within the premised there is Shuttle court , Basket ball , Cricket. Given the dampness of the ground extra care is needed while playing else you mind end up injuring your knees.

Activities ( Outdoor ) - They organize day trips to Kemmangundi , Baba budengiri and other travel spots. Also close to the stay, there are couple of places at walk able distance. Spent day-1 on exploring the nearby places ,the waterfall where we spent most of our time relaxing, ending with a sunset at viewpoint. Day 2 was more of a uphill trek to the close by peak and some encounter with Leeches followed by great gyan session by one of a fellow friend.

Chennakesava Temple, Belur - On the return, we had a visit to Chennakesava temple, Belur. The history behind the constructions & carvings of the temple left us dumbstruck. If you are visiting this place, I would recommend to have a guide explaining the history behind this masterpiece. Winded up our lunch at Kaamath on the way & reached Bangalore by 8 Pm.

The Cost - It costed around 5K per person, for 3 days. Inclusive of travel & accommodation.

To sum it up, except for the 7km ride, it was a fun filled and relaxing weekend.

Click here to view the album.

Regards
Prem.

New Year Trek - Kumaraparvatha

2010-01-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

When we planned for a new year trek, we never imagined that it would come out this well. We decided to trek Kumaraparvatha, one of the highest peaks in Karnataka. As usual last minute planning tried to screw up things but that made the trek more enjoyable and adventurous than ever.

Trekkers : Prem , Ram , Logesh, Mohan , Bala , Uma , Vicky ( Who made it all the way from Kerala )

Till Dec31, we did nothing other than booking tickets for 10.00 pm bus and paying the Tent advance.

5.30 Pm : Mother nature started its new year celebration with heavy downpour.

6.30 Pm : No signs of rain to stop and while we were thinking off to scrap the plan , Vicky was desperate to do justice to the 700 Rs he spent for his volvo.7.30 Pm : With not much choice left , Ram and Mohan set off amidst heavy rains to pick up the tent from JayNagar and head to Majestic. Me and Logesh left to Marathalli for purchasing food & medicine, leaving Vicky @ home to clean the odanjufied horlicks bottle.

8.15 Pm : Left in auto to K.R Puram railway station which is around 3 kms, to catch Lalbhag Express @ 8.55 Pm. Reached at 9.00 Pm coz of heavy traffic.

9.00 Pm : Asked for three tickets, we were given only one by mistake. With minimal time left we boarded the train without tickets for two with the hope that we wont be caught by TTE.10.00 Pm: Reached city junction and in urgency took the back exit. While Ram, at majestic driver kalla vilunthufying to delay the bus for us.

10.20 Pm : Reached majestic and looking for platform 5. All we could find was 1,2,3,4,7,8,9.

10.40 Pm : Finally we were able to get hold of the bus. After a few abuses from conductor and driver, the most memorable trip ever started.

Our trek was an exact ditto of http://srikanth-darpana.blogspot.com/2008/12/kumaraparvatha-trek.html . We were literally crawling for the next two days. :-) Not a place to be missed if you are in and around Bangalore.

Cheers
Prem.

Trip to Wyanad

2009-04-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

Wayanad, One of the memorable trips of my life. Every time we plan for a weekend trip, we end up sleeping in our rooms. This trip was not planned neither organized. All happened in just 2 days of time. We started @ 7 AM in Toyato Qualis that we booked. The route is pity straight forward Bangalore-->Mysore-->Gundelpet-->Kalpetta.. Reached wyanad by 3.30 ... Wayanad is a place of hype. Not all places are as exciting as mentioned in other blogs. Few places that are worth spending time out here are

1. Edakkal caves- Located on the way to kalpetta, this place is a gud trekking spot. Nearly takes 2 hrs to climb 1000 feet & reach to the top of the peak.

2. MeenMutty Falls - Must see location. 2 hrs of tiresome trek down the forest, you ll find the exciting sound of waterfalls providing a exciting scenic view. Be sure that you take up your first aid kit, coz this place can really mess up things if u are careless. Climbing up ll take out all your energy & all you can find is Kerala coconuts sold at Rs.20. Thirunelveli la alwa 100 Rs nu solra mathiri la irukku...

3. Sunrise valley -Located few km from Meenmutty falls, this is a view point. Similar to the one in kodaikanal, but too good to watch.

4. Chembra Peak - Even though we didn have enough time to cover this location, it is a great trekking place not to be missed & it requires almost half a day to complete the trek.

Rest of the places like pookote lake, Banasura Sagar Dam, view point,tea estates are just like anyother tourist spot. My advice would be not to spend much time on these places. If anyone is planning for a trip to wyanad, I would suggest them to stay in hotel "Wyanad Hights". One place where you can experience maximum hospitality with affordable price. Thilakan (09605224326) is the caretaker who did everything to us to make our trip enjoyable. The entire trip costed around 2500 Rs.

P.S : Thankfully all things went as planned. If the weekend trip got canceled, we had plans to register for the bungee jump that was conducted the same week which resulted in mishap. Who knows,may be I will not be sitting here typing this post... The Butterfly Effect!!!...

Cheers
Prem.

Technorati Tags : wayanad , Edukkal caves , Meenmutty falls , Chembra Peak , kerala , Adventure , Trek , Travel

Shristi Adventure Camp

2008-12-25T12:16:00.000-08:00

After having our product being released last week, the organization decided for some team building activities. With various teams opting for different places, our choice was Shristi Adventure camp. This camp provides outdoor activities for various programs like team building, leadership qualities etc.

It is located at Tumkur Road almost 60 km away from the city. This is a one day camp and we were asked to pick any one of the days from Friday to Monday. As none of the teams were interested in camping on weekends, Monday was our choice. As always Monday mornings are blue, I struggled to wake up at 5.30 and managed to reach office in time. Delayed start due to few people & the increasing appetite for food, made the 2 hours of bus journey very boring. Anyways we guys boarded the mapillai bench & had a nice nap. Once we reached we found the place was deserted & gave the feel of jungle. Few kms of walk through the forest, we reached the camp. It is a private property covering 56 hectares maintained for adventure camps & team building activities. Breakfast was served & we had our tummies full.

Now its time for some activities. The entire group was divided into 3 teams & activities were planned such that points were allotted for each activity. The events are spider web, Island hopping, Parallel Bridge crossing & pipeline. At first sight, it seemed to be boring & nothing to do with team building. But once we started doing it ,it was full fun & enthusiasm with each one developing a strategy to handle the problem. Me & vijay (my teammate) came out with a different approach in Island hopping, ended up injuring the knees of the instructor :( After completing each activity, juice was provided, as though we did something useful. The facilitators wanted us to be hydrated every now & then. Last event was the mountain hiking where we covered almost the entire place walking for 2 hrs. The scenic view of the mountains & the lake were the best parts of the trek. Our team won by scoring maximum points. It was a nice experience altogether having fun & entertainment for the whole day accompanied by some good food. This was my first trekking experience & I really enjoyed it. Expecting a few more treks in 2009 ...

Cheers,
Prem.

Flying High !!!

2008-11-21T00:52:00.000-08:00

With almost 3 months of stay in bangalore Life was boring and mechanical.Home and office were our daily routine.All the weekends we either used to sleep or visit the nearby shopping malls to pass time.So we decided to take a break. This time it was adventure sports the PARA-SAILING.

We had no clue of what this sport is to be. We googled for more info and the registration form read you must register five days prior to this event.Since it was someday in the mid week our plan got cancelled. So we registered for the next week. Para sailing is conducted in HOSKOTE lake. None of us knew how to get to hoskote , so we phoned up the instructor and got the directions. It was really a tough task to wake up at 7 but I managed to do it & we started off at 8 am. We took the bus to marathalli from BTM water tank. It was just 15 mins of journey in the early morning with no traffic on sundays. From there we went to KR puram cable bridge bus stand. As per plans we boarded a 316 bus and took tickets for stop next to mandore. Hancharahalli is the place I guess.

We reached there at 9.30 and were really hungry. All we could do is to fill our tummies with tender coconut as no hotels were there. On the right was our expected landmark Andrew wood craft and we walked straight. The route to hoskote lake was pretty interesting. We took up the straight road as suggested by the villagers.No parashutes were found on air yet we moved believing that we have taken the right path. And finally we were there at HOSKOTE lake. To our surprise Hoskote is a dry lake with few goats nd buffaloes grazing around. There is no such registration process as well. we were the only participants over there. Declaration forms needs to be filled before taking the flight. Its just the formality that comes with every sporting activity.This is how it works, The parachute is hooked to the person and a long rope is attached to the person with other end of the rope being attached to the jeep. With the favourable wind conditions it lifts the person when the jeep is acclerated and you will gain height. It was my turn. Me being afraid of heights , it was really a great thrill to para sail.

Prayed to all the kulatheivams that nothing bad should happen. There is nothing to worry about since there are few trained professionals. With the general rule lesser the weight greater is the height I was going much higher and higher. This is the time. You are up in the air , flying like a bird , clicking the aerial view at an altitude of 300 meters above the ground level. I was just shouting screaming and enjoyin the flight. But all joy lasted for only 2 minutes.I wished it could have been a few more minutes in air. 350 bucks is quite large sum for just 2 minutes but it was a different experience cum adventure altogether.It was not as adrenalin pumping as expected. Dont forget to visit the rose gardens that are well maintained on the way to lake. The parasailers are planning to organise an event in december in which the proposed height factor is 600 meters and charge is 500 bucks. If anyone is really interested here is the contact number of the instructor 9886797597 (Neeraj is his name) .Gonna try bungee jumping next...

Cheers,
Prem.