KT - Guess what???

Last week I went to Puttur via a different route .
Wednesday evening at 7 PM, took a NWKSRTC bus from Majestic to Chitradurga.
Reached Chitradurga at 1 AM. Went to my cousin's house and slept well till next morning 5 AM.
We left Chitradurga at 6.30 AM and drove to Puttur via Shivamogga, Thirthahalli, Aagumbe, Karkala, Mudabidre, Buntwal, Mani and Puttur. The roads are in worst possible condition at most of the stretches.

KT – What’s in the name?
Just 8-10 kms before Mani is a place called Kalladka, and there is a hotel serving this famous beverage - The Kalladka Tea.
This is served in a glass cup and you can see the separate layers of milk and tea. Stir it up and take a sip...to feel the unique taste of KT. To add more flavour, you can also try biscuit rotti, sanjeera, goli baje and what not...!!
The tuppa dose (Ghee dosa) and masale dose are also quite famous here.
Finally, I forgot the name of the hotel. If I am not wrong, it’s Sri Lakshmi Vilasa, which is on the left hand side when you are coming from Mangalore towards Mani.

An Adventure

Myself and Shiva drove a 98 Maruti 800 from Puttur to Bangalore last Sunday (4th Oct). We left Puttur with a tankful at 1 PM and reached Whitefield at 11 PM. We stopped for Lunch (East End, Madikeri), evening coffee (On Hunsur by-pass) and Dinner(Kamath Lokaruchi). Car returned an amazing FE of 19 kmpl (The car has no AC).
Maximum speed we attained is 80 kmph, that too for few seconds :).
Now the main reason to call this journey as an adventure; the car was old, ill serviced, no AC, no music system, no wheel alignment and a slight smell of petrol in the cabin. But all went well and now I am driving this car to office every day. Good Enough for a city drive for some time.

Total Distance : 380 kms
Duration : 10 hours :)
Route : Puttur -> Sullya -> Madikeri -> Kushal Nagar -> Hunsur -> Yelval -> Shriranga Pattana -> Mandya -> Ramnagar -> Bangalore

Jogimatti

Yesterday at 6 AM we started to drive towards Chitradurga. It took nearly 4 hours to cover the distance of 220+ kms. Had breakfast at my cousin's house and went straight to Jogimatti.

Jogimatti, a mini hill station with highest wind flow in Asia(people there say so !!!)  is situated at 12 kms from Chitradurga. It’s nothing but a group of hills. There is a narrow winding road to the top of the hill which takes you through thick shrubs and nice vegetation. May be because of the fast winds, the trees and other plants are shorter than normal here.

There is a watch tower on top of the highest peak. Just climb that and you will have an awesome view on the surrounding valleys. The wind is so strong that you need to hold the railings to ensure that you are not blown away. The view is so good that one can spend 2-3 hours easily on top of the watch tower.

There is an IB (Inspection Bungalow) on the top and general public is allowed to stay there with proper permission and with a nominal charge. There is a check post at the beginning of hilly road and you need to take permission there to enter the area. If you are driving to the top, then you r vehicle needs to be registered.

There is a trekking route (12 kms) through the forest. Planning to do this before December 09. There are a lot of Leopards, peacocks and bears in this area and chances of sighting one are high compared to other places.

If you are ready to pack your bags, wait, the IB is under renovation and it will take some time for re-opening. And, now there are only few beer cans and very little plastic derby around, please do not add to that. This is one of the most clean and green places I have ever seen, let it be like that and enjoy the beauty.

Note: if you are looking for a park or a proper hill station, stay away. It’s not yet up to the mark. Mornings are quite misty and cloudy during September to January and I think it’s the best time to visit.

Photos : (From my 2 MP Sony Ericsson Mobile)

Nehru Zoological Park - Hyderabad

“Catch bus no95 from the Medical College bus stop near Women’s College, get down at Nehru park bus stop” , politely he guided us with a big smiling face at Koti bus stand. He, in pure white dress, aged around 50 years,  is as usual at his best in service of the people. We had bought “Travel as You Like” pass costing Rs. 25, is a daily pass in all normal buses till midnight ! Perfectly we landed at the Nehru Zoological Park bus stop, on Bangalore-Hyderabad highway.

Arch kind of structure welcomes us at the entrance. Al mosts in every section of the park we can find the scripture like “Inaugurated by Sri, N.T Rama Rao” ! Pay a 25 rupees for the adult ticket, for camera pay another 25. Pay Rs. 500 if you wish to take your personal vehicle inside park, else park outside !! Visitor vehicles, run by CNG, are available at the entrance of the park to go around the 5 km circumference of the zoo park. I didn't try it as I walked around the park myself ! There is a train which circles around the park in slow motion, train ticket being Rs.15 for each adult.

A statue of Deer attracts us just inside the entrance. For me it was cafeteria situated in arms distance had more attractive power !!

I was searching for a map of the park which I could see after walking a little bit. Park is built on the sides of Mir Alam tank that provides water for the park. Park can never have water scarcity problem throughout the year. There is an outer ring road covering entire park, besides this train track is laid down. On the left side of this road, first we can meet our ancestors, then elephants and then lion, tiger, bear safari facility and so on as depicted pictorially by the layout map. 

 

We paid Rs. 25 for lion-tiger safari. They took us in completely grilled Swaraz mazda vehicle for around 15 minutes. Don't get into the mood  to imagine yourself in a African safari commonly shown in Animal Planet. It is no way comparable to that ! Around 3-4km area is divided for Lion, Tiger and Bear and these animals of the Zoo are allowed roam freely in this area in a cyclical order. Rest of the time they have to live in a small world, thats all !!!

Rest of the park has rest of the animals of animal kingdom!! I won't rate this zoo as the best zoo I ever seen, but 'ok' can be sufficient!! 

There were people with lengthy Canon and Nikon camera hanging on their neck, always looking upwards with a hope that they can catch some flying action of bird! After an hour I found them in cafeteria having snacks. We too took some refreshments and left to other parts of the zoo, came back again to the same cafeteria after nearly an hour. The lengthy lens group consisting of young and old was still chewing samosas, finally landed up having several round of group photos! I chuckled myself, left immediately to see rest of the animal world !!

 

Now, don't ask me questions such as which camera you used, what is the mm of zoom lens etc. I have no answer to any of your queries. But let me tell you in short, a secret. I took all my photos in Hyderabad with Nokia 5130 Express music mobile having 2MP camera!!!

TrAPC New Look...

Yes....now we are more serious about TrAPC.

As a first step, i am giving a new look to TrAPC. You can subscribe to each post of the TrAPC, will be directly delivered to your email ID. You can read the blog in your favorite feed reader of your choice.

Recent traps (i don't call it as a 'trip'....its trap !!) are added at the top of the blog for easy navigation. Just click on it, respective trap will open in the same page.

TrAPC has become more interactive. Comment forms are easily accessible. One can directly email to the author of the trap post. You can share, you can bookmark, you can digg and what not????

Search form searches for the TrAP spot within TrAPC as well as member blogs. For example, just type "Kumara Hill" and check the result !!

Hope TrAPC looks beautiful with the header collage.

All TrAPC related activities, future plans, rules and regulations, events, membership requirements, member information will be published in this TrAPC blog.

I prefer to start everything by making of a T-shirt with TrAPC name etched on it !!!!!

So watch out this space !


Leave your feedback in the comment form..........

cheers
murali

Grand Canyon

Last one month I was in an official trip which helped me to realize one of my dreams - The Grand Canyon!!!!!!!!!!!! .

I visited Boston, Phoenix and Danbury as a part of this trip. But the Grand Canyon overrides all these places.

We drove around 250 miles from Tempe (a suburb of Phoenix, AZ) on a Saturday morning and reached the place by 12.30 PM. Spent nearly 4 hours there and reached the hotel back by 10 PM same day.
What a sight that was!!! pictures will not do the justice for the beauty of the place. There is a trekking path of 11~12 miles (not sure of this distance) which takes you from one side to another. We walked around 3~4 kms in this path and I want to complete this if I get a chance again. We walked on the ridge for a few kilometers and the view of the valley changes dramatically form point to point. Grand Canyon is at its best during sunrise and sunset. The day we went, it was a little cloudy and photos are not very clear. But the memories of this place will be there with me forever.

 

Tale of two weekends

Monday Again!!!
I drove to my hometown (a small village near Puttur, Dakshina Kannada) twice in last two weeks. Here is a summary of my experiences during both trips.

Week 1:
All of us wanted to go home to attend a function. Getting tickets booked in the bus or the only train was out of question because of opening of schools. So decided to drive from Bangalore.
It was 4.25 AM on 27th May when I brought the Innova to life. After 2 minutes of idling, slowly rolled out of our house at Whitefield. It was 5.30 AM when we reached Nelamangala cross. Crossed Kunigal, Chennarayapatna and we were at Kamath, Udayapura by 7.15 AM. Roads were fairly good, but the 4-laning work is in progress. Be careful about the monstrous Volvos coming from opposite direction with high beams. They will not bother to stop even if they see you frantically flashing lights. Best thing to do is pull over and stop if you see an oncoming bus in the wrong side from opposite direction.
Had chow-chow bhath and dosas for breakfast and left Kamath at 7.45 AM. Took the bypass to Hassan and drove via Sakaleshpur. Once we crossed Sakaleshpur, we were surprised to see the Shiradi ghat having fresh layer of tarmac. Las time when we travelled a year ago, it was like a good offloading experience. At 9.30, we were at Dharmashtala cross. Took a right and drove towards Dharmashtala (20 kms from NH 48) and reached at 10 AM. Took rest in my aunt’s house for nearly two hours and drove towards Puttur, a distance of 50 kms and two hours. At the end of the trip, trip meter A was showing 380+ kms.
Return Journey was by the same route. Left Puttur at 10 AM and reached Whitefield at 6 PM. With a lunch break at Kamath again.

Log:
Kms Travelled: ~800 kms
Vehicle: Innova G4 Diesel - which is 2 years and 25000 kms old.
Mileage in this trip was 11.5 kms. Dual AC on all the time.
Do I need to explain the good ride quality, reliability, car like handling and capable of moving more people with comfort. Overtaking extra large Gas tankers was a breeze. Tried cornering once or twice and found that it is not safe to do in a car like Innova.

Week 2:
Had to go home in the very next weekend.
Again we started at 4.25 AM on Saturday. Almost the same schedule till Sakaleshpur. This time we drove directly to Puttur. Reached Puttur at 10.30 AM.
Only difference this time was the vehicle we drove and heavy rain. After crossing the Shiradi Ghat, we encountered heavy rain for 30 – 40 minutes. Could not see anything other than tail lights of the truck which we were following. Felt good to see such rain after 2-3 years.
While coming back I took the wheel from Puttur. When I was squeezing myself in to the driver’s seat, I felt that there is some water in the foot well. Bent down to check, wow, it was almost half bucket of water. Failed to diagnose the source of water. Went to a nearby shop and bought a sponge to put the water out. Stopped at Uppinangady, wiped out water from foot wells and moved towards Shiradi Ghat. Again it started raining heavily, could feel cold water in the foot well again. I was not wrong; it was same amount of water. Again, stopped and wiped the water and moved. Fortunately, the rain stopped and there was no more water accumulation below driver’s seat.
On return drive, we left Puttur at 12 PM and reached Whitefield at 7.30 PM.

Log:
Kms Travelled: ~ 800 kms
Vehicle: Indica Turbo DLX – 3 years and 50000 kms old.
Mileage: 16.5 KMPL with 100% AC
Again, do I need to explain the pathetic in cabin noise, bad pickup, poor braking, vibration and finally, good economy. But I found out a way to overtake quickly, keep the car always in 2000 RPM, it will fly. But if you plan to overtake when you are doing below 2K RPM, it’s an attempt to suicide. So, whenever you want to overtake, shift to whatever gear required, keep the car in 2K+ RPM range.
When you bring the car to life in cold mornings, it sounds like a tractor and emits thick black smoke like a tile factory chimney. Only good word about this car is the economy and low cost of ownership (really??????).

Foot Notes:
Be very careful while overtaking in the ghat section. Do not overtake in curves.
Leave Bangalore early in the morning to beat the traffic till Nelamangala.
Careful about the oncoming bus traffic.
Do not try cornering if it rains.

Chitradurga

I visited the famous fort of Chitradurga this weekend.This is my 4th or 5th visit to the
fort, but first time with a camera.We started from Bangalore at 4 PM on Saturday and reached Chitradurga by 9 PM with a break of 30 mins. Sunday morning at 6 AM, went to the fort. It was a couldy day and the weather was awesome. Went to some parts of the fort which are not generally visited by the tourists.This being summer holiday time, crowd was bit more.

Needless to say, NH4 is beautiful as ever. Construction work is going on in some unfinished streatches.
Route : Bangalore -> Nelamangala -> Tumkur -> Sira - > Hiriyur -> Chitradurga (NH4)

Distance from Bangalore : 220+ Kms

Time : 4.5 Hours from Whitefield, 2.5 Hours from Nelamangala

Photos :

**

Horanadu, Sringeri and Dharmasthala

Holiday Session of 2008 December was celebrated with a drive to Native Place (Somewhere near Puttur in Daksina Kannada) via Horanadu, Shringeri and Dharmasthala from Bangalore.
We started on 25th Morning at 5.30 AM. It was foggy and visibility was very low. Drove towards Nelamangala and then towards Hassan. Stopped at Kamath, Udayapura for breakfast. This restaurant was serving good food once upon a time. Now the 'good food' part is history, but still it’s one of the best available hotels in that stretch. After reaching Hassan we drove straight towards Chikamagalur via Belur. You don’t have to enter Hassan city, take a bypass which joins Beluru road.
From Chikamagalur, Horanadu is around 96 kms. And the roads are not really in good shape. Reserve at least 2.5 hours for this journey. Ask for the directions whenever you have any doubt and then proceed as the roads are somewhat confusing. The roads take you through dense forests, curvy roads and Blue Mountains. It’s a wonderful drive.
We reached Horanadu temple at 2.20 PM after a drive of nearly 350 kms. This 'Annapoorneshwari' temple is famous for the 'prasada' available there - The stupendous and steaming hot lunch.
We took the 'darshana' and had lunch. It was the one among the tastiest lunch I ever had. After spending sometime there we started driving towards Sringeri. Sringeri is 66 kms from Horanadu. The roads have directions at some places. Take advice of locals on direction even at the slightest doubt. We reached Sringeri around 6 PM. One of our relative had booked a room for us. Washed ourselves and went to the 'Sharadamba' temple by 8 PM. The pooja gets over around 8.30 PM.
After the pooja is over, we had dinner in the temple and then proceeded towards 'Jagadguru's' residence on the other bank of river Tunga to see the pooja he offers to the goddess. This pooja will be continued till 10 PM. It’s a wonderful and peaceful sight to see, try not to miss this. Came back to the hotel and slept immediately.
Got up at 5.30 AM on 26th morning and went to the temple after freshening up. It’s a beautiful sight to see the temple shining to the early morning rays of sun. Had the darshana and went to 'Malahanikeshwara' temple which is located on top of a hill near the main temple.
We came back to the temple for the noon pooja, had lunch, packed our bags, loaded them in the car and left towards Dharmasthala at 3.30 PM. Dharmasthala is 105 kms from Sringeri. The road takes you through beautiful dense forests of 'Kuduremukha' range. The single road has sharp edges and huge potholes. To add to that the attitude of Bangalore registered vehicles coming from Dharmasthala was sad, they continued the same 'Bangalore attitude drive' and did not want to get down from the road to make way for other vehicles, if it is a Mangalore (KA 19) or Udupi (KA 20) registered vehicle, you will be amazed to see their road manners.
We reached Ujire (10 kms before Dharmasthala) by 6.30 PM and stayed at my Uncle's house nearby. Next (26th Dec) afternoon we went to the temple, stood in the queue for 4 hours, had darshana, had lunch and drove to our native place near Puttur at 5 PM.
It was 7.30 PM when we reached home.
We drove back to Bangalore on 4th Jan. Started from Sullya at 2 PM and reached Bangalore at 10 PM with 2 short breaks of 10 mins each and a 40 mins dinner break at Kamath, Ramanagara.
That’s all about travel now.
Some inputs on Indica Vista and I10 :
* Drove Indica Vista Quadrajet for 70 - 80 Kms. Vehicle is hardly 2 months and 2500 kms old. Observations : Rattles from somewhere behind the dashboard, Wiper not working, notchy gearshifts, wonderful engine, good pickup, great response, less cabin noise, road presence, space enough for a kabaddi court inside and a steering with good feedback.

* Drove I10 same day for 80 kms. Its 1.1 L fully loads with ABS, Airbags and even a sunroof. Observations: Need to take a lot of care in highways, with 4 people on board and AC on it needs proper planning to overtake even a bicycle, nice interiors, no rattling noises and a good City Car.

Route Taken:
Day 1:
Bangalore -> Hassan (190 Kms) -> Chikamagalur (140 kms) -> Horanadu (94 Kms) -> Sringeri (66 Kms)
Day 2:
Sringeri -> Ujire (105 Kms)
Day 3:
Dharmasthala -> Puttur (~50 kms) -> Native (~15 kms)

Drive Back to Bangalore:
Puttur -> Sullya -> Madikeri -> Kushala Nagara -> Ilavala -> Srirangapattana -> Mandya -> Bangalore

Vehicle: Innova

Photos:

Sringeri Temple : View 1

Sringeri Temple : View 2

A Crane at my home :

Spider Web :