Rewindng...

I was staying lazy over a year now. For the last one year no posts in my account, or may be acting too lazy. After marriage its true that I have traveled only a couple of times...First one was to find the remains of a bygone era and architectural beauty of Mighty Mahabalipuram. The second one was a trip to unwind the hecks and to enjoy the Magical beauty of Coorg. After a long gap I am planning to fill those travelogues in this page before its get erased from my memories...later i dont want to regret for that... :)

On the top of Nandi Hills...

Everything happened suddenly on a Saturday night (or Sunday morning). After a small party me and my friends were chit chatting on the terrace. The clock was showing 1 am. All of a sudden my friend suggested getting ready for a short trip. Any way the idea is good. Next problem was a convenient place. After a short ponder we end up in Nandi hills. We started our spree in three bikes. That was the thrill of the journey. The speedometer needle was dancing between 100 and 120 kmph in highways. After a short span of time we reached the foot of Nandi hills.

It’s true that we all were riding a bit relentless. But we enjoyed a lot. We pit stopped a while for tea. After a refreshing tea we got revived and moved on. The hilly roads were beautiful. We enjoyed each moment riding through curves and bends. It was a cool morning. All our expectations went in air coz there was no fog on the hills, still we continued riding.

We took the pass and entered the park. Hill is full of lush green trees. We started climbing up, gave me a feel of trekking inside a deep forest. The step seems endless. All of us became tired after some time. We found a nice place to rest. We took some photos and again climbed up. We found numerous monkeys on the top of hill. We started walking and explored a cave in a strange place(I believe that is Escape route). We spend some time there and continued walking. We went to the view point and were amazed. The view from the top was stunning. Roads appeared like lines drawn and buildings were much smaller than a match box.



All of us were feeling damn hungry and started searching for a restaurant. Thank god! At last we found one. We had nice meals watching the beauty of plains from the top. After food we started walking again and went to the Nandi temple. Nandi hills were Tippu Sulthan’s summer fort. Nandi hills are also called Nandidrug. There is a secret way built here meant for the kings to escape whenever an unexpected war is declared. This is called Secret escape route.
We then moved to the most interesting part of the place, Tipu’s drop. I was so excited to see that place were Tippu used to throw his condemned prisoners to death. It was a breath taking view from the top. Seeing Tipu’s drop I understood the theory of Tipu’s drop. I Was scared even just looking from the top and just imagine the feelings of prisoners.

There are so many attractions in Nandi hills. As we were in hurry to go back to Bangalore, we skipped everything and started descending. There is Nehru nilaya and Gandhi house on the top were Nehru and Mahatma used to stay. Also there is Bramhasramam were Ramakrishna Paramahamsa meditated. There should be something new to see next time when I visit this hill station, right? So I have no regrets this time.
Dear Nandi hills, See you soon….

Kettungal beach

One fine day I was sitting and watching TV at home. I was at my new home which is almost 20 kms away from my old house. I was totally unaware about new place and honestly don’t know the exact route. Suddenly the phone started ringing. It was an old friend of mine who stays nearby. I told my friend that I am in a complete boredom. He suggested me to go for a walk to Kettungal beach. That’s the first time I realized that there is a beach near to my home. I can’t believe that it was so near, about 5 min by walk. This news stimulated my spirit. Immediately I took my cam and set out for a walk. I saw one old man standing on the road. I confirmed the route and started walking towards the west. I can hear the thud of waves now. After a while I was able to see the sea from a distance. My mind started dancing with joy. It is the feeling of an average Banglorean who lives in concrete forests. The sun will be parting within few minutes and the dusk will arrive soon. I clicked some shots. I saw a large crowd watching sunset with a mournful mind. Some of the youngsters were playing cricket in low light. An old man sitting on a fish boat was enjoying the solitude. He was too away from the crowd. Unknown cormorants were creating beautiful black dots in the horizon. I stood facing the sea. The whole scene seems very gloomy. For some time I became a kid and started playing with waves. When i looked around i saw people rushing out from the beach.No more kids are left in the beach. I clicked some more photos and started walking back to my home. Any way I enjoyed my evening and decided to come back next day morning for taking some photos.
Here are some photos I clicked that day

My second trip to Wayanad- Edakkal caves.

Punchiri club of Calicut has provided me an opportunity to visit Wayanad again after 3 years. This time I am not alone, with a horde of people with different ages. We started our day out from Calicut. The bus was full of delight. Kids are really enjoying the trip. I sat beside the window and started memorizing my last Wayanad trip. Many things came to my mind. In this trip I will be covering a new destination which I never been to. Edakkal caves. I have heard a lot about this beautiful place from my childhood. I was a bit excited to see those remnants of a medieval age. First destination of any Wayanad endeavor will start with Pookkode Lake. We are following the same path. I was excited to see Pookkode Lake after long time. The main reason is the quietude of the place. Calm water with calm forest and mountains.

Pookkode Lake
Another view
After boating I went for a walk with my co-travelers. On the way we saw a Malabar giant squirrel on a tree. I took my camera and clicked a snap before it eluded into the deep jungle. I was happy because I had never seen a single animal on my last visit. Time has changed a lot in me and nothing to this serene place. It appeared quiet palatial to me.

Malabar giant squirrel

After our breakfast we headed over to the very unique Soochippara waterfalls. On the way to the cascade one of the localities showed me a spectacular creation of nature on the mountains. I was amazed to see that. I am not explaining that more. You can look at the picture below. I am leaving this to your imagination.

This unexpected discovery boosted my thrill to a great extent. This fact is very much true about travelling. I believe the thrill of travelling lies in these types of unexpected moments. So don’t plan a lot before travelling, just be there and decide the rest. J Finally we have reached the falls. The force of water is less when compared to my last visit, but the beauty of the twin falls remained the same.

Soochippara Twin falls

Main falls
This time I spend a lot of time in exploring the places near the falls. I started walking through the forest and explored another similar falls nearby. We waded and bustled for a couple of hours in the pool near the falls. Everybody was hungry after playing in the water and we left the place soon. We hit a restaurant very soon and had a delicious lunch. Then we prepared for our last and most awaiting part of the trip.
Edakkal caves
Edakkal cave is situated in Ambukuthi mala. No other transportation is available to the caves from the foot of mountain other than the Jeeps provided by kerala tourism board. If you are healthy enough you can prefer walking. It will take 3-4 hrs to reach the top. We were told that the entry to the caves is restricted after 4 PM. So we planned to go by Jeep. The journey through the winding roads was a mere adventure. In some places road was so steep. Nothing desist me for holding my breath at such places. It took nearly half an hour to reach at the top.
Inside the caves are writings believed to be from Neolithic men. And Edakkal caves are the only evidence present in south India describing about the pre historian civilization. We took the pass and entered inside. Most of the places inside the cave are not visible due to the poor lighting. I can hear the sound of water droplets falling from the roof. I stood contemplated watching the petro glyphs created by ancient man dating back to about 6000 BC. Not describing more about this spectacle, the snaps can speak to you more than what I can. The etching was not clearly visible at some places. Time and climate has erased a part of that. The oldest one may date back over 8000 years.

Ambukuthi mala

This cave was discovered by a British way back in 1890. He realized the importance and made a study on those rock carvings. The outside view of land from the caves was even more beautiful. We can see major part of Wayanad from here. Mostly youngsters come here for trekking. People used to trek to the top of the mountain to experience the bird eye view of Wayanad.

View from the top
I was thinking about the people who lived here in the pre historic times. But one thing was sure that they were good artists and little civilized too. My mind was full of Neolithic men and the beautiful etchings they created for the highly civilized world of today. One thing I missed this time was the trek to the Chembra peak. It is situated near Vellerimala which is considered as the second highest peak after Anamudi. Hope that will happen soon on my next Wayanad trail.

Sunset in a Tea estate

First Wayanad trip...

This itinerary was now taken from the pages of my personal diary. My first indelible Wayanad trip
We (My friend Jithesh and me) planned for a vacation outing to take a break from our hectic studies. After a lot of discussions we decided to hit the "Land of spicy hills" Wayanad. We started our expedition on one of the coldest morning of December from Calicut. The cold wind was piercing into my skin through the half opened window. The bus is now meandering through the winding roads. There are total 9 hairpin curves in this route. I was told that the view from the 9th hairpin bend will be a magnificent one in the early morning. I started waiting for that. When the bus passed 9th hairpin bend I looked outside and was surprised. It was panting scene. I am now on the top of clouds. Just for a minute the bus stopped and then it started moving again. We got down in Thalippuzha after passing the great entrance of Wayanad. Our first destination was Pookkode Lake.
We started strolling towards Pookkode Lake. As we hither towards the lake we saw many macaques frolicking on trees around. I was shivering in the extreme cool climate, but the brisk walk made me feel better. I took the pass for 5 Rs and started walking on the road beside the lake. One man named Ansar approached us and offered a horse ride around the lake. We politely discarded the offer because we prized the walk through the dense forest. The walk was nourishing and the verdant landscape remained tranquil. After the walk I decided to go for a ride in pedal boat. It was a great experience of boating between the green hills around. Our next target was Soochippara water falls. We headed over to kalppetta.
Soochippara water falls was 20Kms far from kalppetta. We boarded a Govt. bus from kalppetta going towards chooral mala. As we moved on we saw a group of tribal people on the road. Wayanad gives a lot of importance to its ethnicity. After a while the scene changed. We started travelling through the tea estates, a plethora of tea estates. This is very common in Wayanad. I saw the silver Oak vegetation planted alternatively in the tea estates on which herbs of pepper was cultivated. We got down in Elavayal and started walking. Soochippara is situated 2 kms deep inside the forest from Elavayal. We started walking and on the way we got a friend, Emmanuel. He gave us a short description about Soochippara falls. We enjoyed the rustle of serene forest and moved on. We heard sounds of unknown birds too. After a long span of time we started hearing the voice of gushing water. We raved towards the sound. The sound is now a bit closer. At last we made it.
We felt this like a serendipity coz there was no signs of humans there. The water fall was gorgeous and the small pond formed by water was adornment to it. We took off our clothes and entered the stream. The water was extremely cold. After some time we got adjusted to that. We started swimming to and fro. After a while we saw a dozen of tourists including two foreigners approaching us. We spend almost 2 hrs enjoying the beauty of water falls. We set back to Meppadi in a Jeep. Now its time to go to my friends abode. By evening we managed reaching there.

Home stay-My friends Estate home
It was a beautiful place with full of coffee, banana plantations and small streams. We had a special Wayanad coffee in the evening. This coffee is very different from the common one. To experience fresh coffee you have to go to the villages of Wayanad. After coffee we started walking through the coffee plantations behind his house. The sunrays are hardly coming inside the plantation as it is thickly inhabited. We saw a small stream inside the plantation. We started ascending to the top of a hillock. The view from the top was just amazing. The red sun was escaping behind the mountains in a great hurry. We watched the sunset for some time and experienced magic of dusk making pictures with trees and mountains.

View from the hill
Sunset

I saw coffee beans paved In front of the small house like a carpet. The quietude of the place was mesmerizing. My mind started singing a melancholy song. I don’t remember when I went to bed. Next day morning we went for a walk as planned. I saw several gleaming rays of sun pervading slowly between trees.
> December morning
Fog was omnipresent. Fallen leaves on the road reminded me about the seasons. We reached near the Karlad Lake. I saw the board of kerala tourism. After a while we started walking back to the home.
Our next plan was a walk to 10th mile. This plan was mainly to see the tribal people and elephants if lucky. We saw many tribal people there, but not a single elephant. My friend’s grandma has prepared a delicious lunch for us. After lunch went to the stream and took a refreshing long bath. By around 3 PM we backpacked our luggage and told goodbye to grandma and the lovely village.

A short safari…

A squint through the window brought me the refreshing sight of the woods. For a moment I was lured with the sight. A cool wind was lashing on my face through the small opening of the side window. I had passed many times through Bandipur national park, In fact more than 50 times from and to. This is the first time travelling in the early morning. The dawn is slightly up. The trees look elusive after a long shower. Sun rays are hardly finding their way to the ground crouching among the branches. What made this journey was a sudden breakdown of the vehicle near Mysore. Or else I would've reached home. But I have no rue for this late journey. I just had a look on my mobile, no signs of network at all. I heard most of the wild animals wander around in night and early morning. As the bus meandered across the forest I started gazing outside for the loom of animals.
The very first sight was a flock of deer roaming on the grassy fields. They were almost near to a dozen. I wish I could make a photograph if the bus stopped for a moment. I guess the driver is in great hurry, oh I forgot we are already late for almost 5 hours. I was in a lest about elephants blocking our way. I kept my eyes concentrated to the deep woods. And deer’s again, but this time they are less in numbers. They darted in to the jungle when the bus passed. I wiped the window for a better sight. After a couple of minutes one wild buffalo came in our way. I was excited to see that giant animal. He was bustling in the mud alone. When the bus passed by he turned his head towards the vehicle. His askance look was a good theme for a photographer. Just some distance away a nondescript deer was standing on the side of road soaked completely in rain. He remained in the same place for a long time.
A few seconds after crossing the Kerala border, the next was a breath taking sight. 3 elephants standing on a riverside few meters away from the road. They were inside the thick vegetation of bamboo. How sad that the scene lasted only for some seconds. Seeing elephants in their habitat is really luck in the jungle safari. In this very common journey it has come true. I remember my trip to Thekkady few years back. I have not seen a single elephant. My thoughts started haunting me. I leaned back on my seat. I could see some street lights outside and now there is less chance of seeing a wild animal.

I dont have any photos because this was totally unexpected and was not having cam

Belur & Chikmagalur

We decided to take two days off from our busy schedules and hit Chikmagalur on a weekend. Our destination was kalgude Estate, some few kilometers away from chikmagalur town. We nine guys set out in two cars. It was a pleasant morning when we started from Bangalore. As we meandered towards chikmagalur, climate changed suddenly. It started drizzling and continued all the way till we reached the place. On the way we had a small break for Food. Though we had our jackets everybody was soaked in the rain. We were shivering inside the car.

The grandeur beauty of villages hailed us when we approached Belur. Espy of the endless roads with the thick vegetation of trees on both side made a feeling of being in foreign counties. Our first visit was to Chennakeshava temple in Belur. Belur was the capital of Hoysala Empire with Halebidu situated in Hassan district. The art works in the Antediluvian Temple was unimaginative. The Dravida style rayagopuram at the entrance was built by Vijayanagar kings. It’s a surprise that the remnant from the reign of Hoysala kings endured till this time. It took 103 years to complete the construction fully. The temple has well maintained its ethnic pristine and contains a lot of ornate pillars. Less the words, better I am attaching some photographs of enchanting chennakeshava temple

Chennakeshava Temple

Temple Entrance
art works

We thought of visiting Halebidu also, but we were running short of time. We continued our journey through rustic villages towards chikmagalur. The verdant landscape was omnipresent. We can see farmers working in the fields despite of rain. A spellbound view of a field with full of flowers came in our way. We stopped the car to take some pictures.

Our next destination was Baba budan giri near to Chikmagalur in chikmagalur district. Baba Budan giri is a mountain in the Baba Budan Giri Range of the Western Ghats of India. Unique mountain flowers called Kurinji blooms in these hill ranges once in every 12 years and the last time this spectacle happened here was in 2006.Way to Bababudangiri was a maze. We were confused many times as the road bifurcated in many places. We hardly find any human being to ask the way. Somehow we adjusted to reach the top with the help of sign boards by Karnataka tourism department. The roads winding to the top were mesmerizing. The cool wind started lashing on our face when we opened our car window to see the landscape. It was difficult to see the roads as the mist was thick enough. We stopped in the middle of forest for some time and continued ascending to the top. There was plethora of mist present everywhere. We could see rain water gushing from the rocks made some beautiful waterfalls at some places. The moment the car stopped on the top, everyone bustled out to see the greenery. The vista of mountains was just panting. We were speechless for some time while watching the panorama of mountains. Clouds were sweeping on the hills. It is difficult to explain the beauty of the place and the feeling which we had that time. We had a feeling that mountains, clouds, mist and everything belongs to us. The drops were a medley of snow and rain and the meadows were tranquil.

From one traveler we heard of a waterfall ahead. We became anxious to see the waterfalls. The name of the waterfalls itself was quite pleasing, ‘Manikyadhara’. We drove up a little to reach the cascade. It was a scary place. Karnataka tourism dept has made steps and a watch tower for the tourists. Looking to the deep valley beside the waterfalls made us to stay a little far. So we decided to watch it from the steps. There were lots of monkeys wandering near to the falls. After spending a few minutes we started descending down. Now the rain is bit strong. The trees and mountains remained silent after taking a shower. We found a ravaged house on the way. We managed to take some photos there. The quietude of the place was adding some mystery to the building. Again we started descending to chikmagalur town.

Manikyadhara cascade

clock tower

Next is the journey to our dwelling as we planned early. We were in a hurry to reach kalgude (now Karthik) estate before getting dark. The estate bungalow is deep inside the forest. Moreover the roads are not so good to drive on.
Someway we managed to reach our abode before nightfall. We had our late lunch and relaxed for some time. The estate bungalow has all luxury amenities including swimming pool. The scene from the balcony was amazing. The house and the trees were completely immersed in the mist, but it was an adornment to the lonely nature of the place. The rustle from the woods was adding a blended beauty to the scene. The stay in estate house was unforgettable. We guys enjoyed a lot that night. Somebody told that any time a cheetah can come inside the estate. After that I became little scared to go outside the house.
It was a deep and long sleep inside the blanket. After delicious breakfast we started packing our luggages. We have to reach Bangalore before getting dark. Also there was a small plan to see the private view point which is on the top of the estate. The view from that view point was delectable. Heavy wind was throwing us back. We were not able to spend a long time there because the wind was too strong. A thick mist pervaded over the valley and soon we lost the sight. We left the place with a mournful mind. We had some snacks from chikmagalur town and soon started the return to Bangalore. I am sure that this beautiful piece of land in Karnataka will remain indelible in my mind forever

Bangalore road

View point

Kalgude Estate House