Tadiyandamol

Saturday morning was again memorable for us. We were at Virajpet bus stand by 6 AM on Saturday. Our bus to ‘Kabbinakaadu’ junction was at 6.45 AM from here. We walked towards private bus stand and ‘Anuradha’, the bus, came at 6.45 AM. It took roughly an hour to reach the Kabbinakaadu junction.

At 8 Am we were in the junction. Five minutes after we got down, a 4x4 Bolero Invader came to pick us. We had called ‘Honey Valley’ by 6 in the morning from Virajpet to inform that we will be coming by ‘Anuradha’. I had already booked a 10 bed dorm there. It was an unforgettable journey of 3 kms. No vehicle other than jeep is drivable here.

We reached Honey valley by 8.30 and freshened ourselves and had breakfast. At 9.40 AM we were walking uphill in a new route to Tadiyandamol. Group lead by a guide from the home stay. It was around 11 to 12 kms and the route was exciting. It took the air out of us and we reached the top at 2.30 PM.

All of us were tired by this time. We took rest and had some food. Honey Valley people will give picnic packets on request. It will contain cucumber, tomatoes, bread, cheese, biscuits etc. In addition to this we had carried some other junk food.

[After 3-3.5 hours of walking form honey valley, we reached a flat ground near a waterfall. This is the place where all the routes meet. From here it is a single path leading to the peak. The waterfall at this place is the last source of water. Filled the bottles and took some rest here. This is also a good place to camp. It took an hour from here to the peak.]

We started walking down at 3.30 PM. This time we descended in another way leading towards ‘nalku naadu’ palace. It was around 6.30 and it was dark when we reached this place. Borrowed a cell phone from another group of trekkers and called Honey Valley for a jeep. It was 8 PM when we reached the estate. Had a filling dinner after freshening up and had a good sleep. Outside it was terribly cold.

Got up at 7 Am, had breakfast and a pick –up truck dropped us at the junction. We were at Virajpet by 11 Am. Took a Volvo bus (Starts at 11.20 Am from Virajpet) back to Bangalore. We reached here by 5.30 in the evening.

Details:
Route: Bangalore -> Virajpet -> Kabbinakadu junction (if going to Honey Valley) or Ask for aramane stop .

Cost: Rs 1,250.00 if going by bus (Bangalore-Bangalore)

Team size – 7

Trekking length +/- 20 kms.

Date - 02-12-2006 and 03-12-2006

[We took a Rajahamsa from Majestic at 12 AM to Virajpet. From Virajpet to Kabbinakadu Junction we took a private bus ‘Anuradha’ which leaves at 6.45 AM. ]

[A ten bed dorm at honey valley costs 1,500 rs per day, veg food per person around 250 rs per day, transport from junction to the estate is 80 rs. The place is very nice to stay and experience]

Photos :
All photos by Chethan.

Flowers @ Honey Valley

View from the peak

A water fall on the way

Yana, Unchalli Falls, Magodu Falls and Sathodi Falls

When Maheshwar called me on last Wednesday afternoon to ask if I am interested for a weekend trip/trek to Yana and surroundings, I said 'Yes' without a second thought.
Friday night at 10 PM I, Maheshwar, Kamesh and Vinod assembled at the entrance of Majestic bus stand. After buying some fruits, we boarded the bus to Sirsi at 10.30. Had a good sleep in the bus and reached Sirsi at 9 Am on Saturday.

We refreshed ourselves at Sirsi bus stand. Had breakfast at the KSRTC canteen and hired a jeep to go to Yana and other places as public transport to these places is not reliable. Yana is ~40 kms from Sirsi. It took an hour and a half to reach the starting point of the 'walk' to Yana. It is nothing but an abandoned jeep track of 2 kms. But a beautiful scenery unfolds as you walk past the last turn. There are a few huge clusters of rock. 'Bhairaveshwara Kallu' and 'Mohini Kallu' to name a few. We were told that there are around 30+ rock structures in the forest. The bigger stone cluster is taller than 490 fts.


There is an old temple of Shiva at the base of 'Bhairaveshwara Kallu' which is very silent and looks like a place with lot of positive energy. There are cement steps towards a stream. We walked in there and took a dip and that was worth it. Again walked back to the Jeep.

It was a 45+kms journey to Unchalli falls from Yana and the roads were really in bad condition. It was 4 Pm when we reached the view point of Unchalli falls. We had to walk a Km to reach the view point. After this Vinod and Kamesh went find the route to the base of the falls and two of us walked back to the Jeep. They found the route and again we descended around 2.5 Kms (It was a steep decline) to reach the stream and we camped there Saturday night. Found two flat stones, collected the firewood, lit the camp fire, had the food (Fruits and dry cup noodles) and slipped into the sleeping bag. That was the deep sleep, we woke up at 5.30 in the morning, had some chocolates and started back towards the view point at 6.45 AM. We reached the jeep at 7.30 AM on Sunday morning from here it was a 70 kms journey to Magodu falls.

Again came back to Sirsi , had breakfast and proceeded towards Magodu. Magodu is a wonderful falls and even there we tried to trek towards the base of the falls. Myself and Maheshwar did not complete the trek and returned from half. But Vinod and Kamesh completed and told that it was very challenging.

From here again we traveled 40 kms to Sathodi Falls and I have to say that this is the dirtiest place we saw in this trip. Mainly because lot of people consider this place as a public bathroom and they take bath with verity of shampoos and soaps. Also lot of families come here with cookers, cooking ranges etc and cook food here and eat and dirt the place around. There are also a lot of liquor champions with their crates of beer.

From Sathodi we started towards Shivamogga and the Jeep dropped us in the railway station at 9.15 PM. It was a sleepy train journey towards Bangalore and we reached Majestic railway station at 5 am on Monday morning.

Team Size : 4 Team : Myself, Kamesh (Mars Adventures), Vinod and Maheshwar
Details : Took the 10.30 Rajahamsa to Sirsi from Majestic. Sirsi is the central point for all these places. Best thing is to hire a jeep from Sirsi and go to all these places.

Signing off -Prasanna

Photos:

Yana - 'rocks!!!!!!!!!'

Unchalli Falls - From the view point.

Unchalli Falls - From the place where we camped.

Magodu Falls - From the view point

Magodu - Another view

Sathodi Falls

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta

There was a huge discussion at Platform no 7 of Bangalore Railway Station among us. Maheshwar was arguing that it’s not advisable to go by train to Mysore at 12 AM as the crowd was not happening. And he said he will be coming by bus and meet us at Mysore on next morning. Finally we decided to go by train :). 4 am on Saturday morning we were at Samarth's house. Our actual plan was to reach Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta (H G Betta) at 7 am so that we can feel the mist.

Road less traveled.

But it was 6.30 when all 6 of us got stuffed into Samarth's small Zen after a beautiful Breakfast. It took 3 hrs to reach H G Betta. It’s in the mid of thick forest, we could see elephants roaming around at a far distance. After spending time there we started towards Bandipur National Park and reached there at 11.30 am. Came to know that the open jeep safari was at 4 PM.. all of us wanted to come back to Bangalore on the same day. So took some rest there and went for a drive till Madhumalai (from here its only 30 kms to Ooty.). On the way we saw wildlife like elephants and dears. After all these we reached Mysore at 4 PM. Had some dosas at Mailari Hotel and took Volvo to Bangalore at 5.30 PM. Back in Bangalore at 9 PM.

Interesting parts of the trip :

* The "train to Mysore" at midnight.

* Maheshwars photography and rock climbing skills ( he climbed over the top of the car to take photographs).

* 6 Hefty people can travel in a Zen for 250 kms. Details: Distance from Mysore - 90 kms Route: Bangalore - Mysore - Gundlupet - H G Betta (ask any localities for the route and they will guide you)

Expenses: 460 rs per head.

Team size: 6 Members: Samarth, Maheshwar, Keshav, Srikanth, Prashanth and myself.

Note: Please make sure that you reach H G Betta before 8.30 in the morning or else you will miss the thick fog to which it is famous for.

Signing off -Prasanna

Photos :

Gopalaswamy Temple

View from the temple

Wildlife at Bandipur

Nandi Hills

Nandi Hills ------ Happy that there are other dirtier places around.
Yesterday I had been to Nandi Hills with my Family. Main intention was to teach Shashinna how to dive. He is none other than my elder first cousin. He bought a sparkling Silver Indica Turbo a week ago and I had been showing off (At least I think so..) in that till now. Yesterday finally he decided to take the real ownership of that.
Coming back to Nandi Hills, nothng more to describe a 'would have been good' hill station near to Bangalore (60 Kms from Mekhri circle). Lots of flora and fauna in addition to that there is lots garbage sprung around. People come here from Bangalore to have food and throw the waste around.
But it’s good on a misty cold morning when it is less crowded. Nothing else...

Also we are planning to go to Coonoor/Wellington this weekend.. Still have to plan…

Andaman

Crystal clear water, sparkling coral reefs, dense forests…….just feeling the wind on my face by walking against it in the empty beach of Havelock Island… On my left side is the endless Bay of Bengal and on my right side are the thick and dense tropical forests. Suddenly I could feel someone tapping gently on my shoulder and telling something, I came out of my thoughts and it took some time for me to realize where I am….. nothing special around me, the same wooden cubical, those 17” lcd displays….. there was message on the screen saying that the download is complete.

Now I am sure that this is my office and I was shamelessly sleeping on the first Monday morning after I came back from Port Blair.

Day 1(19th):
As I told in the previous post we left for Chennai by Rajahamsa on 19th May at 9 PM from Majestic.

Day 2(20th):
We reached Chennai by 5.30 in the morning. Took an auto to airport paying 200 rupees. We reached airport by 6 in the morning and the flight to Port Blair was at 7.20 AM. Around 7 AM we were waiting in the lounge for the announcement from Air Deccan staff. Finally there was an announcement in Tamil at 7.30 to board the flight. We are in and exactly after 30 mins of scheduled departure time we are airborne.. thanks to the punctuality of Air Deccan.
Around 9.30 we were at Vir Savarkar Airport of Port Blair. Shafiq was waiting outside to receive us. He had arranged accommodation for us in a lodge facing the sea at a place called Atlanta Point. We took bath and had brunch and went to the Cellular Jail. I was stun seeing the place where our freedom fighters were punished, made to work till they become unconscious, were hanged till death….a feeling of sorrow and guilty passed through my nerves.
Came back and took some rest. In the evening we went to Shafiq’s huge wooden house and went for some rounds in the clean wide streets of Port Blair.
Slept early that day.

Day 3 (21st):
Woke up and saw that the sun was already up to a certain extent. Thought that we were already late and looked at the watch … one more shock.... it was just 5.45 AM.. all of us finished our preparations and took a boat to Ross Island from Water Sports Complex Jetty at 8.30 AM. It’s a 10 minutes boat ride.
Ross is an abandoned Island where no one lives. It was the center of British rule in Andaman. We can see a lot of old ruined British buildings of olden days. Its one more monument. There is a beautiful beach called Ferrar Beach on the other side of the Island. Came back to the hotel at 11 am and we went to Samudrika Museum maintained by Indian Navy. In the evening we visited Corbyn’s Cove Beach which is one among the popular beaches of Port Blair. From here we went to Wandoor beach in Shafiq’s Red Accent ViVa. The 25+ kms journey was good and full of greenery on both sides of the road. Spent time till evening and came back to the hotel at night. We watched the sound and light show at the Cellular Jail in the night which was marvelous. But no Cameras were allowed. Ruins of an old church at Ross Island

A Moment in Ferrar Beach.

A lazy sunset at Wandoor Beach.

Day 4(22nd):
Took an auto at 5.45 AM to Phoenix Bay Jetty, where we had to catch the ship to Havelock Island. 6.30 AM Ship came to life and that was my first ship journey of life. Enjoyed the journey and reached the Island at 10 AM. Went and checked in at Bay View Inn Resort. Took some rest and spent some time in the knee deep beach right in front of out cottage. In the afternoon we went to Radhanagar Beach, which is one among the most beautiful beaches of the world (That’s what the islanders say !!!). Back to the hotel at around 6.30 PM and it was raining like hell… had Dinner at 8 and said good night to Havelock.

At Havelock Island, view from the cottage.
The Radhanagar Beach

Day 5(23rd):
Woke up to see heavy rains outside. Knew that our plan of snorkeling was screwed to the core. Just waited till 2 PM to catch the ship back to Port Blair. There were no tickets and somehow Aziz (Guy arranged to pick up us and guide us) managed to get us in to the ship without tickets. Reached Port Blair by 6 PM and did nothing except walking in the empty streets.

Day 6(24th):
Took a boat to North Bay Island where we could see corals. We did snorkeling and saw a lot of beautiful and colorful corals. And in the afternoon we visited Viper Island and went for a cruise ride around Port Blair.

Corals at North Bay Island.

Day 7(25th):
Good Bye Andaman, but will be back for sure. We missed out a lot of places out of which Rangath (tribal Place) and Barren Island (a live Volcano) were important.
We were in the airport by 9 AM. Flight took off with a very common delay of 40 minutes at 10.30 AM (Long live Deccan, I do agree that it was very low price we paid.)
Back in Chennai at 12.45 and all flight were full to Bangalore, took Shatabdhi Express to Bangalore at 5.30 PM from Chennai Central.
Reached Bangalore City Junction Station at 10.30 PM .

Details:
Team Size -3
Members - Harsha, Maheshwar and Myself
Expenses per Head – 6,600 (Flight charges Chennai – Port Blair- Chennai, booked almost 55-60 days in advance) + 4,700 for all other expenses. .
First two days we stayed in a budget hotel @ 400 Rs per day. The stay at resort in Havelock Island coasted us 500 Rs. Last two days we stayed at one among best hotels of Port Blair at 1250 with AC and extra bed.
Food is not very cheap. It’s almost similar to Bangalore. It’s a Heaven for people who eat sea food. But even vegetarians can manage without any issues.
We have not spent even single paisa for transport on land. Thanks to Shafiq.

Note: Have a good company like I had….. or else it might be boring.

Aerial View:

Andaman Calling - Just waiting

Just waiting.....few more hours to go to catch the bus to Chennai. I could feel excitement in Harsha's voice when he called yesterday. Myself, Maheshwar and Harsha will be flying from Chennai tomorrow morning... Hope I will be a nice experience to all of us .
I know that Shafiq is also eqully excited to receive us there..
Though I told Harsha that I am not at all excited, I know that I am.. to see the kala pani, the jain the crystal clear water and the coral reefs......lot many things.
Mahesh spent his hard earned 45K on his new bride, the Nikon D70s... Even I am eager to experiment with his new possession.
Hope to rock as usual and return safe.

KODACHADRI

Rakesh is improving..definetly....He is rapidly graduating from a feet to a millimeter.....thats nothing but the distance between the vehicle he is driving and the vehicle in front of him.

This long weekend we had been to Kodachadri for a trekking.
Day 1:
We started from Bangalore at 6.15 AM on Saturday. We reached Tumkur within one and half hours and had the famous tatte idli breakfast there. From here we had to go to Shivamogga (Shimoga) via Arsikere, but we decided to go via Chitradurga because road was good that way. Cost of this decision was extra 100 kms. We reached Nagara ( A small town with a fort built by Keladi Shivappa Nayaka) by 5 in the evening and had coffee at Krishna's cousin's house. Then We went to Devaganga (An old swimming pool which is only 4 ft in depth and which never dries out of water) and took bath and played in water for an hour. From here we drove to the fort and just went inside and came back because it was pitch dark. Had a good 'Malenaadu' style dinner and slept at 12 AM.

Day 2:
Morning 3.30 Kitty woke us up saying that we have to get ready by 4 AM so that we can start early. Just peeped into the kitchen and I was surprised to see Kitty's cousin cooking 'uppittu' for us to carry for breakfast. That was a nice to the power of N 'uppittu'. Took that and started at 4 AM. All of us were full flat for the couple's hospitality. And also we felt guilty for troubling them.
By 4.30 we were near the starting point of the jeep-track to the peak of Kodachadri. We parked the car near someone's house and started walking. We walked around 2-3 kms on the track and then we found a way which goes in to the forest. We took that way it was intersecting the jeep track a some points. So we were sure that we are taking the correct path. It was a good decision to take that way.
After walking for 8-9 kms we reached the IB on the peak. There are a few temples some houses. These houses serve as hotels also as they serve breakfast and lunch. The jeep track ends here. From here we have to walk around 2 kms to reach ' Sarvagna Peetha' where Swami Shankaracharya was worshipping. From here we walked around 1.5 kms to 'Chitramoola' which is nothing but a cave where you can find some 'Sadhus' even now. This is a hard trek where we have to walk down through a steep decline which is slippery also. But the place is worth the effort. From here we can have a clear view of Kollur temple.
From here we walked around 3-4 kms to reach 'Agasthya Teertha', which is a 8-10 ft water fall with ice cold water. Took bath there and walked back to IB.
From here we hired a jeep to go to the place where we had parked the car. The ride was even more exciting than the trekking. This coasted us 600 Rs for 8 kms.
We reached the place where we had parked our car at 3 PM and we decided to come back to Bangalore the same day.
We reached Bangalore at 2 AM.

Route : Bangalore -> Tumkur -> Arsikere -> Kadur -> Birur -> Shomogga -> Hosanagara -> Nagara -> Kodachadri Forest gate (On the way to Kollur)
Vehicle - Zen (Manu's) Team Size - 5
Team - Manu, Chethan, Krishna (Kitty), Rakesh and Myself
Total Expence per head - 1000 Rs
Trip Meter - 600+ kms

Note : Perfect for a long weekend, You can also visit Kollur and Murdeshwar.

Photos:

Trekking Route - 1

The Team

The Mist

Above the clouds

Sarvagna Peetha

Sunrise

Bye Bye Folks

Signing off

- Prasanna

SHIVAGANGA

Shivaganga is a mixture of trekking spot, a weekend get-away, temples and lot of enjoyment!!!!. Nine of us had been to this place in six bikes sometime ago. I do not remember the date exactly, but I do remember that it was sunny Sunday.

We assembled near metro in Yeshwanthpur. From here the destination is nearly 50+ kilometers away. Had breakfast in a kaka hotel somewhere in between. We have to take a left turn from Dhabaspet and from here actually the beauty begins. Its nearly 10 kms ride on country roads. Took some photos. We reached the place and we parked the bikes in front of a small shop and started climbing uphill. It took nearly 2.30 hrs and the way we walked had lot of old ruined temples and old buildings. The view from the peak is very good. But there is a huge fleet of monkeys which will snatch food items and bags from you. So be careful and do not carry hand bags, plastic covers etc. Better idea would be carrying a backpack.

Route :
Fix the asembly point near Metro in Yeshwantpur-> Nelamangala Signal(around 15 Kms)-> Dhabaspet (around 20 Kms) [info: There is a big fly-over, do not go over that, take the road which goes besides the flyover, right undr the flyover is Dhabasper, take a left turn from there] -> Shivaganga (around 10 Kms)
Team size - 9
Expences - Rs 100 per head. (excluding the fuel)

Photos :

A Temple

Some old Constructions

The Walk

View from the Peak

A Nandi

TALAKADU

TALAKADU

It was an immediate decission taken by us in a jobless evening that we all will go to Talakadu. Ok the destination is decided, now the question of the carrier. Went and spoke to the travel desk at office to spare a Sumo for 5 of us. The Facilities guy and the Travel Desk supervisor overheard us............two more got added to the team.
Morning 7..swiped the card and filled the Sumo's mammoth stomach. Journey begins at the slow pace towards Mysore Road. First pit-stop is Kamath Lok Ruchi in Mysore Road......Hogged ragi dosa, masala dosa and vadas.......our stomach is too filled.
Right here Rakesh could not stop himself from asking the driver for the keys.......driver gave the keys and the tone and style of sumo being handlled was comeletly changed.. The huge truck like sumo began acting like a small bike which can squeez between the traffic...the drive was like the game of chess....wherever there is space..(even 15 cms.!!!!) sumo will just pass by... Hats off to Rakesh...Finally all of us arrived in Talakadu in ONE SINGLE PIECE.
Talakadu is a beautiful place. According to the stories told by the localites..it was a beautifule temple town which was covered by sand because of a 'SHAAPA' given by a lady to the King. The department of archiology has excavated the sand in some places and they have found a lot of ruined temples and also they have re-built it .
If you walk down a kilometer further there is river Cauvery . You can play in water since it is not soo deep. Also the localites will take you for a ride in the 'HARIGOLU' .
Details:

Route - Bangalore->Ramnagar->Maddur-> Malavalli->Talakad. (Total Distance from MG Road is around 130 kms - One Way)

Vehicle - Sumo. Team size - 7. Totla Expenses - 800 per head.

Photos:

Paddy Fields

Paddy Fields

An Idol

A Temple

Stone Rings

YERCAUD

Yercaud

Lovely Drive

As decided a week ago, this Saturday morning again we hit the roads. We started from our office in St Marks road at 9 AM. We reached Hosur at 10.30 and had breakfast at Saravan Bhavan.

This time the vehicles were Rakesh's Esteem and Chethan's Zen. From Hosur roads were lovely till Krishnagiri, which made us to take an immidiete decision that roads in TN are far better and advanced than roads of Karnataka , but roads from Krishnagiri to Dharmapuri again forced us to take our words back. From here till Selam roads are in not- so-bad condition. But some streches are really beautiful and of international standard(!!!!!!!!!?????).

The drive was eventless and surroundings were dry and the sun was very very hot. We reaches Selam at 2.30 in the afternoon and had lunch there. From here Yercaud is ~40 kms. At 3.30 we started towards Yercaud and it too nearly 2 hrs to finish the strech of 40-45 kms. The ghat section is narrow and very steep consisting of mant hair-pin curves.

There is a watch tower on the left side of the road nearly 10~12 kms before Yercaud. This gives an excellent view.

We satyed at Sterling Resorts and the rooms we got (300 series) had a very good view of the valley. The view is really good and one can sit in the verandah at night for hours watching the lights of Selam city.

We went for a drive at 8.30 pm to a nearby temple and lost our way. But the drive in windy, empty and curvy roads at night was an unforgetable moment.

Next day (Sunday) We went Pagoda Point , Kiliyur Falls and Montfort School. You can not enjoy if you consider Yercaud as a place with many attractions, but you can enjoy the drive and stay there.

We started back to bangalore at 2.45 from Yercaud and reached Bangalore at 9.30.

Data :

Teamsize - 9, Vehicles - Zen and Esteem, Total Expenses -1,500 per head, Trip Meter Reading - ~600 kms. , Stayed at Sterling Holiday Resorts, Yercaud.

Team : Keshav, Chethan, Rakesh, Nagesh, Sridhar, Prasanna, Manu, Kamal and Mrs. Kamal (Rashmi)

Route : Bangalore -> Electronic City->Hosur -> Krishnagiri -> Dharmapuri -> Selam -> Yercaud

Photos :