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Category: Road trip
Apr
23
Wayanad – A trip to God's Own Country
I finally visited my last remaining southern Indian state “God’s own country” Kerala. A group of us six dudes went for a road trip to Wayanad. This was to be my first tryst with the Kerala, and boy it wasn’t at all disappointing.
We booked a Tata Sumo, and started around 6.15 AM on Saturday, 19 April. By the time we were done with the pickups of everyone it was already 7.30 AM. We then took the route of Bangalore-Mysore-Gudalur-Wayanad. We literally zipped all through Karnataka, and took the NH 212 to Wayanad from Gudalur(or Gundlupet).
En route to Wayanad, we had to pass through the Bandipur national park and the Mathunga national park. It was lush green and dense, however, we could only witness Elephants during our journey.
We reached Sulthan Bathery around 1.30, and were throughly surprised that it was pretty humid and wasn’t at all what we pictured it to be. So we moved ahead to Kalpetta, which is further 25 kilometers from Sulthan Bathery.
At Kalpetta we checked in to Arun Lodge. We got decent double bed rooms with a clean toilet and a TV (the bare minimum for stay) for just 440 INR.
Later in the evening we went to the Pookot lake, the images speak the rest of the story. After Pookot we went to the Banasura Dam. I guess this place is a must watch for visitors; it is the biggest earthen dam in Asia. The reservoir and the partially submerged hills tell a story.
On our return we were greeted by a sudden downpour, something which we hadn’t expected after the warm day that had been. There were moments when the visibility of low and I was perturbed by the rain. However, it all calmed down and we were back in our cosy rooms in a while.
Food in Wayanad is way cheaper than Bangalore; a typical South Indian breakfast for the 6 of us with a cup of coffee each could cost us less than a 100 bucks! I also discovered a top-notch bakery known as ‘The Walnut Cake‘. You could treat yourself at the pasteries, Jew Chips, Plum Cake, Cookies, Fresh chocolate and tarts. It was mouth watering and yum!
The next morning we checked out and visited the Soochipara Waterfalls which are around 17 kilometers from Kalpetta. The journey to this place was filled with tea gardens; shining golden under the sun light. This waterfall varies from 100 ft to 300 ft in hieght, its a great place to take a shower the way liril models do, and even try rappling. Do remember the journey to reach the bottom of the falls itself is quite tiring because of the sun and the stairs.
On our way back up to the hill; we treated ourselves to Pineapple slices. My friends ended up buying almost the whole stock on the urchin selling them!
We now moved to the last destination of our trip to Edakkal Caves. This place is around 25 kilometers from Kalpetta. The name Edakkal means ‘Stone in between’, the main cave has a huge rock stuck between the walls forming the cieling. The cave is said to have engravings dating back to around 4000 B.C. It was discovered back in 1890 by the SP of Malabar. For more information visit: www.edakkal.com
My friends decided to venture further up from the cave to the hill top, while I decided to wait for them. Sensing the change in air, I felt it was going to rain so I came down to the base, however they were stuck there. What happened next was a huge downpour which resulted in addtional slipperiness to the pathway. They had a tough time coming down, however, they did enjoy the thrill and the risk in that!
Being the last place, we then had lunch on our way back at Sulthan Bathery, finally we reached Namma Bengaluru at around 10 PM ready for another week at our offices!
Something really special about the whole trip was the presence of a guiding angel to tell us which direction to take whenever we were confused with the route. In the middle of nowhere there would be someone present to tell us which way to take! Maybe thats why it is called God’s own country
[1] Carry extra change of clothes, and good canvas shoes for trekking.
[2] Arun Tourist Home, Kalpetta. Phone: 04936 – 202039
[3] Distance from Bangalore is around 280 kilometers. It takes around 6 hours on road to Wayanad.
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Feb
02
Sinhagad Fort
Finally I could visit Sinhagad (or Singhad) Fort today with a friend of mine. We started at around 8.30 AM, and it was almost a 90 minute bike ride from SCMHRD campus to Sinhagad Fort. The morning was quite cold, and we both shivered our way to the top of the hill.
Reaching the top, we were welcomed by a hot cuppa of tea by a local villager who runs a tapari. We then moved ahead to circle the fort and cover all the outposts which perhaps were strategic locations for soldiers of Shivaji around 400 years ago.
The history of the fort is about the exploits of Shivaji’s Commander Tanaji Malasure, he led Shivaji’s army to capture the fort which has strong outposts on three sides in the Battle of Sinhagad. The fourth side is like a cliff, and they captured the fort from the Mughals a la Lakshyastyle. It is said that Tanaji used giant monitor lizards to climb up the fort from the cliff side, during the battle Tanaji was seriously wounded and died at the time of victory. Since then the Fort which was then called ‘Kondana’ was renamed as ‘Sinhagad’ or The Lion’s Fort.
The fort is also famous because of Lokmanya Tilak’s house on top of it, built in 1915. Today it houses the Doordarshan transponder, and is a tourist spot.
We visited the three key outpost points on circumference of the fort, it was a treat to the eyes, and lovely sight. The ruins have a story to tell, and tracing the path of once brave soldiers in history is an experience to live. I did manage to click a good number of photos of the trip, can be visited at : http://picasaweb.google.com/ankur.mehrotra/Sinhgad
The Fort is also an amazing place to treat the taste buds with authentic Maharashtrian food sold at various small shops within the fort compound. I ate jhunka-bhakari (jowar roti and besan veggie), with matki curd and lemonade. While the bill was on the higher side, it more than worth it(especially the curd, it was yum!).
If you are going there, suggest time would be either sunrise or sunset, you could also opt for a trek from the bottom of the hill.
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Apr
30
Monkey Trouble
It was a boorish weekend, I didn’t do anything of consequence at all. Didn’t study either! Having said that, I shall post about a short trip me and a colleague of mine made to the Big Banyan on the Mysore Road in Bangalore.
We intended to drive to Mysore, but around 30 kilometers from the city, we changed our plans to visit a relatively unknown picnic spot called as the Big Banyan, which actually refers to an old Banyan tree said to be around four hundred years old spread over 4 acres of land.
In the sweltering Sun, the shade of the tree came as a respite, and we took a bench under the cool shade. We could notice a number of members of the simian family taking rounds at the park. As I was describing the dislike I had for Monkeys to my colleague and how I had troubled the brutes with my air gun and pellets in my childhood, a small member of the same group just came near me. It scowled, and I felt that maybe she knows the atrocities I committed at her brethren years ago. For no provocation on my behalf, it just came up and sat next to me on the bench, needless to say I was suddenly very alert. We decided to get up and move, and that’s when the monkey lunged forward and indicated that it wanted a sip of the Minute Made Orange Juice which my colleague held in his hands. We threw the bottle and moved ahead, laughing and wondering why the animal first scowled at me when I never had the bottle with me in the first place.
So long, the return trip was cooler and nice, and we were home by six. Hope to post the pics soon(without the monkey)!
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Mar
05
Road Trip
Another journey and another destination, yesterday a group of us 7 dudes went out for a road trip to Belur, Halebidu and Shravanabelagola from Bangalore.
We started early and reached our first juncture Shravanabelagola 140 kilometers from Bangalore, this place boasts of a 58 feet Monolith of Gommateshwara Bahubali, which is carved out of a single stone in around 982 AD. This monolith resides on top of a Rocky hill named as Vindhyagiri, with over 650 stairs reaching to the top.
After a not so easy climb, the top of the hill greeted us with cool breeze and plenty of inscriptions written by Jain piligrims over the ages. Apart from just the monolith the temple on the hilltop also has different chambers having sculptures of 24 Jain Tirthankaras.
Returning from the hill, we opted for lunch at a Marwari Jain Bhojanalaya(which was on the left side of the entrance to Vindhyagiri). Needless to say, the meal was sumptuous and satisfying.
After this, we moved towards the next two stops of our excursion. The next stop was Halebidu, around 80 kilometers from Sharavanabelagola, this place boasts of an exotic ancient temple with an unmatched artistry and workmanship.
Started in 12th century under the Hoysala dynasty, this temple was never completed due to constant plundering of Malik Kafur who was a general of Aluddin Khilji. The word Halebid means a ruined city.
As some of the pictures reveal, artwork is left incomplete at many places in the temple; most notable with outlines being present but the actual image missing/incomplete. I wonder the real story of an artist behind an incomplete sculpture left in time…never to be completed.
The final stop was Belur, around 16 kilometers from Halebid. Belur was once the capital of Hoysala Empire, our destination was the Chennakesava Temple. This temple was started in around 1117 AD, and one of the prominent features are its Pillar Sculptures which show intricate carvings on stone; down to the details of depicting hair strands in a bun!
A lot of the outer temple carvings are based on mythological legends and Vishnu Avatars. After eavesdropping on the description of different images by a Guide, I moved within and was amazed to see exquisitely carved pillars within!
As all good things must come to an end, we decided to return. It took another 4 hours to return back to bangalore, and that is how our excursion came to an end.
All photos have been taken on a Canon Powershot A540
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