The nude man stands 17 meters tall. You are no more taller than his feet. As you look up at this face, you see nothing but the face and the blue sky. You cannot help getting a feeling of peace and harmony. The man standing at the top of the hill lived here a thousand years back. As you stand today atop the same hill, looking at the plains below, you feel elated, you feel serene. The valley looks beautiful as the sun plays a game with you lighting up patches of the fields below, taking along your eyes across as the clouds move. You just never want to leave the hill, when you are at the top of Vindhyagiri.

A simple 3 hour journey from Bangalore takes you to this 1000 year old Jain temple atop a hill – Shravanabelagola. A calm and peaceful place – this place is best remembered for its 17 meter high giant monolith statue of Raja Bahubali – famously known as Gomateshwara.

Inscriptions in the temple and various other Jain inscriptions across Karnataka date this temple back to 983 AD, built by a Ganga king. The giant statue stands tall above the temple roof, and can be seen around 5 kms from the hill. It is a delight for the eye. Even more amazing is the Mahamastakabisheka - a grand ceremony of bathing the Gommateshwara with milk, honey, sandal, and an array of other items. This takes place only once in 12 years – a must watch.

There are two hills in Shravanabelagola – the Vindhyagiri hill, which houses the colossus of Gommateshwara, and the Chandragiri hill – a smaller hill nearby, which where a number of age-old Jain Basadis are present. A trip to Shravanabelagola is incomplete without visiting both of the pair of hills.

The route from Bangalore is simple.

Bangalore – Magadi – Kunigal – Bellur cross – Hirisave – Shravanabelagola.

As I always say in my articles, take the Magadi road from Bangalore instead of the Tumkur road. This saves on time, and gives you butter smooth roads all through the journey.

The road from Hirisave to Shravanabelagola is a nicely paved village road with coconut groves all around, giving you a pleasant experience as you drive along. If traveling by bus, take a bus to Chanrayapatna from Bangalore. From here, a number of buses, share autos and jeeps are available to reach Shravanabelagola.

Travel tips:

• Neat and clean rest rooms are available at the bottom of the hill.
• You are expected to climb the hill bare footed. Socks are available for sale to fight the scorching heat in summers.
• Take my word for it – do not skip the other hill – Chandragiri. It is as beautiful as the bigger one.
• Jain eateries serving vegetarian lunch are present around the hill. If you need variety, you will have to drive up to Hassan.
• There is a coffee day around 35 kms before Shravanabelagola when you go from Bangalore – A nice place to relax over a cup of coffee.
• The complex closes by 6 pm in the evening. So, hurry up.

Now, over to some pictures…

Gomateshwara in the clouds

The temple

Stairs leading up to the temple

Raja Bahubali

Top of the hill

The second hill - Chandragiri

A view from the top

Related posts:

1. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram
2. The day we were chased by an elephant…
3. Madharasapattinam – A Review

There are no rocks, no hills, no greenery, no nothing! Absolute barren stretches all along. All of the long road, for the next 3 kms is visible right from here, and there is no sign of life. As the cab travels along the totally nondescript, long and straight road, bordered with nothing, you can’t help but doze off into dreams of wandering in lonely deserts in search of food and water, with strange lizards and cruel cacti looking on. The sun glares at your face, and you wonder what brought you here, of all places.

That will be how you can describe the journey in most parts of the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh. The journey to Belum caves was nothing different either. Approximately 275 kms from Bangalore, in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh lie the longest caves in the plains of India – the Belum caves.

In no man’s land, these caves pop up suddenly out of nowhere. Actually, they don’t even pop up. They are completely underground. Even when you purchase the entry ticket for this natural wonder, you would just be wondering where the caves are. Then as you enter the caves and move further, you realize slowly, they were right beneath your feet!

The caves are a natural formation of limestone deposits that cause interesting structures over the passage of time – a process that takes millions of years. Stalactite and Stalagmite formations can be found here. A completely underground passage way, large chambers and wonderful rock formations have been formed here, which is the reason for the tourist attraction.

These caves are the second longest in India (the longest ones measuring about 22 kms are Krem Liat Prah in the Jaintia hills of Meghalaya). As there is a lot of information about these caves on the net, I will just give you some travel tips.

• The caves are totally worth the visit. If you are somewhere around the region in Andhra, definitely make it a point to visit here.

• The total walk inside the caves is around 2 kms. It is hot (Outside air is pumped inside using compressors. Still you feel the heat). You will sweat like hell. Carry a towel to wipe yourself out. It is absolutely necessary.

• It is not advisable to drive here. Because, you might doze off as I had already mentioned. There is absolutely nothing scenic on the highway. You can see the road as far as your eyes can reach, and you can see nothing! Take a cab!

• Guides are available at the entrance. They take Rs.10. Hire one of them. One, they carry a torch to show you the way. Two, they tell you a lot of stories about the caves.

• Some places in the caves need some acrobatics to reach. Sometime you might have to crawl. Not too frightening. It might be difficult for the aged.

• There is no accommodation near the caves. You have to stay at Anantapur or Kurnool. Nandyal is also a nice place to stay. The caves are about 75 kms from Nandyal. Food is served in a small restaurant near the caves. Don’t expect too much – simple, tasty Andhra meals are served.

Now, over to the pics…

Entrance to the caves

Vinoth, Rahul and Karthik

A game of hands

Rahul, the devil

Near a man-made fountain

Details on the ceiling

Vinoth looking on

A secret passage

Details on the ceiling

Karthik posing

An underground chamber

Buddha statue outside on the plains

Karthik falling in

Enjoy maadi…!

Related posts:

1. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram
2. The day we were chased by an elephant…

After several minutes of walking (it should have been 60 minutes), and definitey covering a lot more than 3 kms, we reached a place that somewhat resembled a railway station. A steep climb up from the road took us to our planned starting point – the Donigal railway station. It was 4 am, and it was pitch dark. The station guards were asleep in the rooms, and we did not want to wake them up. We knew that trekking on a functional railway line was illegal, and were pretty apprehensive that they would drive us away from the station. Silently we tip toed to about a 100 yards away from the station entrance and sat down on the platform for the day light to start peeping out, so that we could start our walk on the tracks.

After about an hour, we started. Walking on a railway track is by no means child’s play. It is difficult, it is painful, and it is dangerous. One wrong step, and you would instantly fall down and bang your face into the concrete sleepers. We had to keep all our torch lights on while walking. The width of the sleepers was in such a way that the middle of our feet started paining slowly. Nevertheless, we knew we had to cover 18 kms of such track-walking, and we were prepared. We had to reach Yedakumari – our destination station by noon so that we could make it before dark to the highway. So, we continued our walk in the dark for the next 3 kms or so. That is when we reached the first bridge.

The railway track to Mangalore passes through some of the most picturesque hills of the western ghats. The train pulls up through these ghats chug-chugging along the bridges and tunnels. The whole stretch of the railway line passes through a number of such bridges and tunnels. Walking on these bridges is supposed to be the most thrilling part of this trek. You are high up in the hills, walking on the bridge, with ground at more than a 100 ft below your feet. You have nothing to hold on to, and one wrong step could leave you hurling down to the valley below. You have to be really careful and alert. And the tunnels are another story. If the train comes through when you are walking inside a tunnel, all you can do is wedge yourself in the small 4 ft space in between the speeding train and the tunnel wall, as the train brushes past your face. It is a shaky experience.

But we did not get to experience all the thrill. A metal sheet had been laid all through the length of the bridges, and it took away half the fun already. Walking on these metal sheeted bridges was a piece of cake. Contrast it with the earlier situation where you had to cross planks that were a foot and a half apart, and a couple of hundred feet high in the air. This track was previously abandoned, and train movement started here only in 2005. Around 3 to 4 trains pass through this route every day, most of them goods carriers. Since some repair work is going on in these tracks all the time, the railways decided to lay these metal sheets so that the workers can walk through the bridges easily without fear.

After walking for around 7 kms, we sat down to have breakfast. One of us had brought nice puliyogare, and the hunger made us lick it down to the last morsel. One thing I have to mention is, all along the route, a number of railway workers keep working on repairing the tracks. The kids in these groups keep asking you for biscuit packets. It would be a nice idea to keep some biscuit packets to give these kids.

Along the path, there were steep hills in some places, lining the track, and they had put metal meshes to keep the rocks from falling into the track. Rajesh displayed his monkeying skills by climbing up one of these meshes and posing for the camera.

As the day progressed, it was getting hotter and hotter, and the pain in our feet was tending to unbearable. We were looking for some kind of water source so that we could cool our heels. Soon we found one. A stream flowing through the ghats was good enough for us to jump into immediately. We played in the water for around an hour. The water was chill, and the stream was deep at places. But we had been to a lot of such streams in our treks, that we found no problem with it. The pain in our feet reduced a little, and we regained some of the energy lost due to dehydration. I should say that everyone doing this trek should carry at least 2 litres of water. That is what saved our day.

We had lunch at a small elevated place along the track. I had prepared nice tomato thokku the previous night in Bangalore, and carried it along. We had a feast on readymade chappatis and tomato thokku. A few packets of MTR ready-to-eat sambar rice packets also helped. Re-energised after the lunch, we started walking again.

As we were nearing the Yedakumari station, some of the railway offiicials who were inspecting the tracks stopped us to ask why we were walking on the tracks. They said we could be arrested for tresspassing on railway property. We had to blabber this and that, to escape from them. They warned us, and told us not to walk on the tracks. We sheepishly nodded our heads, and continued once they left. After walking 18 long kms, we finally reached the Yedakumari station, where a new shock awaited us.

By the time we reached Yedakumari, we were all panting and gasping. Our feet were completely sore and it pained like we could not keep another step ahead. We asked the guard in the station how to reach the highway from there. Shock! He asked us to walk another 4 kms, where we would get a forest path on the right. We had to walk into the forest from here, to reach the highway.

Swearing and cursing, we started walking again. This last 4 kms was the most painful of the whole trek. When we reached Yedakumari station, we had thought the trek was over, all the pain was over. But when we were told to walk another 4 kms, our spirits died away instantly. What a pain! Finally when we all made it to the start of this forest path, we could no longer stand. We all sat down to rest. There was hardly any energy left in us for the day. We were wondering aloud how we were going to make it through the forest to the highway, when our saviors appeared.

A jeep magically appeared on the forest path. It was some railway jeep, which was supplying gas cylinders for welding the joints in the tracks. We just casually asked the driver how far it was to the highway. He said 7 kms, and through the jungle, with elephants moving around. What??? We had expected the walk to be 1-2 kms, but never imagined it would be 7 kms. We were shell shocked. Then came the relief. The jeep guy offered to take us down to the highway. He said, it was dangerous to walk through the forest, and asked us if we wanted to hop into the jeep, so that he would drop us in Sakleshpur. We immediately jumped into the idea. What a relief that was!

Later we learnt that the jeep came there only once in 15 days. I don’t know if it was mere coincidence, or something else that the jeep came to the right place to pick us up at the right time of the day, as though it was waiting to carry us only. It was a long and bumpy ride to Sakleshpur. We had to cross a river in the middle, and the Mahindra jeep effortlessly accomplished the task. We also saw a lot of elephant dung along the forest path. In about an hour, we were in Sakleshpur bus stand.

That night, we stayed in a hotel in Sakleshpur, and the next morning, climbed a rustic and bumpy bus to Bangalore, with a whole lot of memories about an unforgettable and painful trek on the tracks.

You can take a look at the trail for this trek here. It has been mapped at TripNaksha

Related posts:

1. The day we were chased by an elephant…
2. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram

But before getting into the finer details of the story, let me take you to South Coorg, or Kodagu as it is known, where it all started, with an adrenaline pumping white water rafting experience in the Barapole river.

The Rafting

The upper Barapole river that drains the Brahmagiri range of hills in the Kerala-Karnataka border, gets its lion’s share of water during the Southwest monsoon. During this season, towns are flooded, bridges are broken and normal life goes to coma. So, when we decided to raft in Barapole in the middle of July, we were highly apprehensive if we would make it, thanks to the incessant rains which had cut of a large chunk of the Kodagu district from the rest of the world [Click]. However we were assured that this was the season, and rafting would happen at any cost.

So, five of us made it to Kutta, a small town in South Coorg, in my friend’s Fiat Palio Stile on a Saturday morning to conquer the sneering river of the south. The route taken was Bangalore – Srirangapatna – Hunsur – Nagarhole – Kutta – Iruppu. (Route Map) The drive through the Nagarhole sanctuary was scenic, where we saw dozens and dozens of grazing spotted deer, till our eyes were tired. We reached Kutta in less than 5 hours, and called up our homestay host, Mr.Timmaiah, who gave us directions to reach the homestay from Iruppu.

Travel Advice: If you head to Coorg for a river rafting experience, the best thing to do would be book a homestay. There are a plenty of homestays aroung the Kutta-Iruppu area, which give stay and food as a package. Call up the homestay, who can fix you a rafting trip in the Barapole, and there would be no hassles. We had a great experience at Irpu Homestay, with a friendly host, lovely mountain views, cozy rooms and home cooked food – all in a budget.

In no time we reached the homestay where we were greeted by our friendly host, Mr.Timmaiah. The homestay was seated amidst the green setting of the Brahmagiri ranges, and we could see white cotton clouds traveling innocently across the green background. We were surrounded by coffee plantations, and the sound of the gushing waters of Iruppu falls could be heard even from a kilometre away.

Soon after a hearty meal comprising of vegetable biriyani, aloo curry and chicken masala, we were on our way to the rafting site. The rafting takes place at a place called T.Shettigeri, which was around 15 kms from where we stayed, and a guide accompanied us all the way to here.

We were greeted by Kamal, who was our raft guide. After paying the organizers, and after signing some documents, we were given life-jackets, helmets and an oar. Kamal briefed us about the commands and safety measures. The whole thing was quite professional and he made sure everyone got it right. After 10 mins, we were in our raft, and out into the roaring river waters.

The gushing sound of the river water made us more excited and we looked forward eagerly what the river had for us in store. The initial few minutes was a practice session. Kamal gave us orders, and we followed it religiously. Forward, Backwards, and a lot more. We got a good hand at the commands soon, and set out on our raft. After a few metres of rowing, we were at our first rapid – the Morning coffee. It was a simple rapid, and the effort was miniscule though it flowed quite ferociously. Soon we were through it. Kamal kept giving us commands so that we cross each rapid at the right place and with the right momentum.

Rafting in Coorg

We came to a part of the river where the water was not too fast. Kamal said, if we wanted we could jump into the water. Oh my god! I was just thinking if I should jump, and the time I could decide, the rest of them were already in water! Now, I had no option. Slowly, I too got into the river. And wow! It was exciting to be for the first time in neck-deep water, with no land under my feet. Of course, I believed in those life-jackets. We stayed afloat for a couple of minutes, when Kamal ordered us back into the raft. All of my friends got in, and pulled me up into the raft. It was an experiene.

The next two rapids were a bit more challenging. We had to meticulously follow Kamal’s commands, and also balance our weight in the raft. The rapids were called The Grasshopper and The Wicked Witch. We were enjoying the ride thoroughly. Those in the front went in and out of water in each rapid. Soon, we were approaching our last and the most challenging of the rapids – The Milk Churner.

On the Raft

Kamal stopped before the rapid and instructed us. We were asked to sit tight, and follow his commands. This could be dangerous, unless we did it from the right direction. He told us where to swim to in case we were thrown off the raft. In a moment we were in the Milk Churner. The raft bounced up twice, angled to the right and pushed and pulled us as much as it could. We were all soaked in waves completely, and when we knew what was happening, we were out of the rapid. Phew! We heaved a sigh of relief, and thundered a loud hurray, for having done this adrenaline pumping adventure. We had a hell of a great time, and I was already thinking when I would do it again.

That night, we had a hearty meal, talking over the experiences of the day, and hit the sack soon after.

The Chase

The next day, we made a trip to the Iruppu falls, which was bursting with water. The mild and gentle falls I had seen in my previous visits was gone, and here was a monster. We had a nice fun taking bath in the waterfalls. We were back for lunch by 1 pm. Had a sumptuous meal, and started our return journey. We passed through Kutta, and after entering our vehicle details and signing the register, we entered the dark forests of Nagarhole for the second time in our trip.

The journey was mostly uneventful, with lazy looking spotted deers smiling and waving at us every 100 metres. We noticed that every group had a male and 3-4 females. We also saw a couple of barking deers, a sambar and a jungle fowl marching happily with its chicks. We were soon tired of spotting deers, and were traveling gradually at a slow pace in the Nagarhole forests, when the incident happened.

I was at the wheel, and my friend beside me. I was just looking at the road, as I was fed up of deers. All others in the car were fast asleep. My friend suddenly started repeating frantically, Elephant, elephant!! I just alerted myself, and looked ahead carefully. The road was empty. But, by the side of the road, there was a large clearing, and a huge elephant with large tusks stood there agitated. It’s tail was raised as if it was furious, and was angrily pulling down a branch of the nearby tree. I have never seen an elephant in the wild, and all I have seen are elephants in the temples meekly accepting coins from the devotees, and showering them with blessings

I slowed down the car and moved gradually towards the elephant to get a good glimpse of it. We were almost there, and the elephant was beside us on the road, facing the car on the side. Suddenly, the elephant got highly agitated for some reason. It shook its ears wildly, and gave a deafening trumpet. We were already scared. Someone nudged me to drive ahead fast, and I slowly moved ahead. Now, the elephant was just behind the car. I looked into the rear view mirror, and the elephant was moving towards the car.

A heart-in-the-mouth moment, and I stepped on the accelerator. The car slowly gained momentum. My eyes were fixed on the mirror, and I could see the huge beast running fast towards us with it head bobbing, and dust kicking out in all directions. We were clearly terrified.

I drove away as far as I could. The tusker charged for another 100 metres. Soon I saw a jeep coming in the opposite direction. I just could not think what the jeep guy was going to do. If the elephat had continued the charge, it would come straight and bang on the jeep. I didn’t want to think about anything, and kept driving. The moment the beast saw the jeep, he saw a threat fast approaching, and changed its direction. The elephant moved away from the road, and steered clear into the forest.

We stopped the car a kilometre ahead and thought what an escape it was! Had we been behind the elephant, with the elephant attacking us from the front, we would have had the day of our lives. Just as we had crossed the elephant, we were safe. But, the incident left a huge impact in our hearts. What more could we ask for? A drive through the jungle where we were chased by an enormous tusker. Phew!

We made it to Bangalore in another 4 hours, with loads to tell our family and friends.

More information on Rafting in Kodagu:

• Irpu Homestay – Mr.Timmaiah, Ph: 08274-244233, or +91 94486 47932
  
• I read about Irpu Homestay in Rohan’s blog.
• The place is 15kms before Wayanad. Good driving directions here.
• Information on Coorg Rafting at Getoffurass.
• Neelesh’s blog on rafting in Barapole.
• A nice writeup on a Coorg rafting trip organized by BMC.
• Photos from this trip on My Flickr

Related posts:

1. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram
2. Shravanabelagola – a paradise of peace

The route:

Bangalore – Magadi – Kunigal – Chanrayapatna – Hassan – Belur – Chikmagalur (See map)

I would say, the above route is the best to take to Chikmagalur, Hassan, Mangalore or anywhere on the west coast while driving from Bangalore. The Tumkur road has become quite notorious for its traffic, and having been on this road a couple of unfortunate times before, I had decided to skip this road at any cost. So, took the Magadi road in Bangalore, which straight goes to the Magadi town. The road to Magadi is pretty good, and I could easily do this at 80 kmph, given that there was no traffic at all. When we returned from Chikmagalur, I took the same route, and faced some traffic near Magadi, but nothing comparable to Tumkur road. And, when driving on Magadi road, avoid turning at the brightly lit and marked right turn to NICE road, and continue straight to the Magadi town.

After Magadi, the road to Kunigal is a dream. It is nicely laid and passes through some rocky hills on both sides. It is pleasure to drive on this road, especially in the night. By morning, you will have to negotiate slow moving villagers and cattle standing on the road, but in the night I could easily touch 120 km in my Santro. It took us around 1.5 hours for us to reach Kunigal.

The road from Magadi to Kunigal goes straight for a long distance and finally ends at a T-intersection. Here, take left to go towards Hassan. The right will take you to Bangalore via the Tumkur road. And, while returning back, don’t forget to take this deviation in the right to go to Magadi instead of going straight to Nelamangala.

From Kunigal onwards, the road becomes pothole-ridden for a while. You also get lorries coming from the opposite direction once in a while, and the road does not have a separator. But, this hardly bothered me. After a while the road conditions get better, and you can have a pleasant drive all the way to Hassan.

The Hassan to Belur road cannot be better. It is neatly paved and marked. The road is pretty straight and you can reach the limits of your car’s speed here. It hardly took us 30 minutes to cover this distance of around 35km. Near Belur, the road deteriorates for about a kilometre or so, but it can be tolerated given the condition of the rest of the road. Also, as you drive out of Hassan, you get to see a nice lake with mountains in a distance. There are some huge windmills over these hills. It is a sight to watch and capture.

From Belur, reaching Chikmagalur takes just around 15-20 minutes. There was hardly any traffic, and there were green fields all along, making the drive even more enjoyable. Anywhere after Chikmagalur, good roads are not gauarenteed, and you have to be quite careful driving. To go to Kemmangundi, there are two possible routes. From Chikmagalur take the Tarikere road. After about 10 kms, you get a left turn towards Mullayanagiri. This road can also take you to Kemmangundi. But, it is heavily pothole-ridden and best avoided. Instead, proceed further on the Tarikere road (which is in an impeccable state), and reach the Lingadahalli village in about 40 kms, from where you could take a left turn towards Kemmangundi.

The weather:

July is supposed to be the wettest month of the year in these parts. However, this year, the monsoon has delayed, and there were not much rains. Nevertheless, there was a slight drizzle all the time in Chikmagalur, which gave a pleasant feeling wherever we went. Also, since it was overcast all the time, I had a good time with my camera too. But I had been hearing that there were heavy rains in coastal Karnataka and Shimoga, which would ensure good inflow into the reservoirs, which in turn would translate into uninterrupted power supply. Bangalore, on the other hand, had absolutely no rains (except two 15-min drizzles for the whole month) till when I am writing this post.

The trip:

I am not going to talk about all the details of all the places we visited, since the information available on the world-wide-web is plenty. I would however point out what is specific to this season (July and raining), so that it helps anyone who wants to visit these places.

The first place on our agenda was Belur. The sky was heavily overcast and the imposing structure of the Belur temple was a delight to the eye and mind in the early hours of the day. We were in Belur by around 7 am. Yeddyurappa (Chief minister of Karnataka) had ordered that early morning prayers be offered to all temple deities across Karnataka, so that it rains in the state, and people around the temple looked quite brisk and active for a dull Friday morning. Belur is a symmetric and well architected structure when compared to Halebid, but the twin Nandi statues and the asymmetry in Halebid draw my heart closer to Halebid than Belur. I went on a photo-clicking spree and my friend Joseph quite liked the place too.

After spending about an hour in Belur, we decided to go straight to Chikmagalur to check-in into the hotel. We had already booked a room for two days in Hotel Planters’ Court in Chikmagalur. The room costed us around Rs.850. I would call the price expensive considering that the room was not maintained very well, and the bathroom fittings were leaking. All other hotels in the town were in the busy main road, and costed much less. But I did not want to risk a holiday in a completely crowded place, and at the same time didn’t want to splurge. The hotel looks good from the outside, and the location was a bit out of the main town, and the room was quiet and peacefull, and had wall-to-wall carpeting. Anyway, you have very few good choices to stay in Chikmagalur town, and Planters’ Court looked like the best we could get inside our budget.

The usually dull and dusty Chikmagalur itself look bright, green and lively in July. The drizzle does the magic. I would say, this is the perfect season for doing nothing, reading a novel, getting wet in the drizzle, playing in streams and the sort. The ideal place to stay in Chikmagalur, especially during the monsoons, will be in a homestay. The weather was perfect for just idling around in the courtyard of a nice and cozy place, and it has to be a hometay in one of these exotic locations of Chikmagalur. There are umpteen homestays around the place, and I bet these places would be like heaven during the monsoons, especially since it was only a slight drizzle. The homestays fall on the expensive side, but come as a package offering food and activities which I believe are worth the price. Especially if you are a couple set out to enjoy the beauty of Chikmagalur, I would advise booking a homestay rather than a regular hotel in the town. I don’t have any knowledge on the service or quality of these homestays, but I just noticed one called Nature Craft Homestay while driving to Muthodi, and the location was cool and I wouldn’t think twice to book such a place.

Coming back to the trip, we reached Planters’ Court around 9 am, and we were disappointed to hear that the rooms were full and we could get a room only at 12 pm (the chek-in time). We were ready to pay extra for an early check-in but unfortunately, there were no vacant rooms. So, we had breakfast in a nice South-Indian place adjoining this hotel, and left to visit Halebid and be back by 12 pm.

We had to drive back to Belur, and take the road on the left there which goes to Halebid. It took around 30 minutes for us to reach Halebid, and by this time the drizzle had become steady and continuous. By the time we took photos of the Gomateshwara statue on the left side of the main temple, we were completely drenched. (After this I don’t remember any time outside our room, when we were not wet ) We took photos of the temple in the rain. The carvings had become partially wet in the drizzle and looked magnificient. In another hour and a half, we were back in our hotel and checked in.

Hotel Planters’ Court has a restaurant attached to it, and we had lunch there. We were thoroughly disappointed with the food served there. We noticed that kebabs and fried rice were the only things that the chef prepares well in this restaurant. Any nice looking item on the menu should be best avoided. Adding to the woes was that the restaurant had a ‘Chicken Festival’ and a menu full of Chicken items. So, we ordered a fleet of chicken items, and were heavily disappointed. Anyway, KF Strong did some damage control for the afternoon

That evening we decided to head to Mullayanagiri, the tallest peak in Karnataka. The road to this peak is virtually non-existant. It pushed my Santro to the limits it can endure. This peak is a trekker’s paradise. But, the constant drizzle and thick fog did not encourage us for anything of that sort. We drove up, drinking in the beauty of the green-clad slopes. The hill is normally dried up in summer, when trekking is at its peak. In the rains it gets covered in green, but the fog plays around with you and your camera. By winter I guess this should be heaven. The drive up was one of the most frightening I have done. The road was hardly 2 feet wider than my car, and after that there was a deep green valley. I drove at the brim of an imposing mountain on one side and treacherous valley on the other, and it was an experience.

Once we reached the top and got out of the car, we had another shock. The wind!!! It was blowing like hell, probably a couple of hundred kmph speeds. We could not stand without holding the car. There was another Mahindra Jeep which had a couple of guys. They were inside the jeep too, not able to venture out due to the wind. We could see the South east monsoon winds literally blowing from the other side of the huge peak, carrying truckloads of moisture along with it. After a while I saw that my car was shaking! I had this fear that my car might get lifted off the ground, and might fly away into the deep valely below (imagine how strong the winds were…). We were at the top for around 20-25 minutes, and then started driving back downhill. A few metres down, and soon the wind was not so strong. We took nice pictures all along the way down. The surroundings looked magical and Joseph gave some nice poses there.On the way back from Mullayanagiri, we saw some nice sunflower plantations. It looked like all the flowers were turned and smiling at us. We took a couple of shots and drove back to Chikmagalur.

Joseph got a leech bite. We noticed it only when we came back to the hotel room. It was the first time for him, and he was quite tensed with the bleeding. We got some cotton and dressed the bitten area so that he could stop worrying about it. Adding to the problem was that he got cold due to the rains, and generally was not feeling too well. So, a warning to all those who easily catch a cold in the monsoons – beware! The next day he visited a doctor and took some medicines so that he could make it to office without problems in Monday.

We had a small sleep in the hotel and then went into the town for the night’s dinner. We found a place called Hotel Maharaja on the main road (I think the road is called Indira Gandhi road). It had some nice kebabs being made outside in the fire. We had some rotis, naans, and tandoori chicken. Dinner tasted exceedingly good after our stint with the wind and rains that day.

The second day in Chikmagalur, we decided to visit Kemmangundi. The drive was long, and the last 10km stretch was bad. On the way, we stopped at a beautiful waterfalls called Kalhatti falls. This waterfalls was a sight to watch. It was not something falling from great heights, but instead, this one came down in multiple steps through the forests, and there was temple at the base of the falls. The rocks at the base of the falls were carved with figures of deities, and it looked splendid. I remember a prevous time when this falls was crowded. So, make it a point to visit this place early in the morning especially on weekends.

Joseph was a bit apprehensive about climbing up the falls, but I did not hesitate a bit. Having gone on a good number of trips has made sure, I don’t much desitate to climb, get down, get dirty or get wet. Climbed up a few hundred feet, and here it was, the gentle falls making three nice streams down the rocks. The falls were very inviting, and if it was not drizzling continuously or if Joseph had come up with me, I would have taken a nice bath in the waters. Nevertheless, took good snaps of the same

Kemmangundi, with all the fog, rain and wind, failed to impress. The otherwise impressive hill station looked covered with a sheet of white. A few college guys and girls were enjoying a walk around taking pictures, and no one else there. We drove to Tarikere (10 kms) and had lunch there. It was already 4pm, and I wanted to visit the Muthodi sanctuary that day at any cost. The sanctuary was around 35 kms from Chikmagalur, and I pretty well knew that the sanctuary gates will be closed by 6 pm. Nevertheless, I wanted to test my luck whenever possible for any kind of animal sightings in the forest. We were not lucky that day, The person-in-charge told us that the last safari of the day had left (which did not surprise me), and we had to return. I made a note of the place, and decided to visit it early on the next trip to the coffee-land.

Thus our day ended with us returning to Chikmagalur. Had to visit the same Planters’ Court restaurant for dinner, despite the previous day’s woes. Ordered only those dishes which we knew would be good. The Chiken Malai Kabab was especially good, and we ordered two plates of the same. RC did some magic, and soon after, we were back in the hotel room and were fast asleep.

The next morning, we started back to Bangalore with nice memories of the lush green and mist covered hill-slopes, gushing water at the falls, long forest drives, Hoyasala wonders, and an overall exciting weekend. I have promised myself that I would be back to the lap of the coffee-country in spring this year, to have a more fulfilling experience of the Malnad.

Related posts:

1. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram
2. The day we were chased by an elephant…

If you thought Goa is all about beaches, you are wrong! Goa has something for all types of people. If you are the kind who wants to just laze around doing nothing, Goa is the place for you. If you want to party hard and rock the night, Goa is the place for you. If you are a fan of old Portuguese forts, Goa is the place for you. If you are a religious person, and want to do church-hopping Goa is the place to be! We decided on a mixture of these. We started our Day 2 with a visit to the famous churches of Goa. Click here for our Day 1 in the dream called Goa.

Dancing in the beach shack

To visit these churches, you will have to travel a good 30 kilometers from the Calangute area. We had our hired bikes and started out, braving the scorching sun, which grew hotter and hotter as the day progressed. The Old Goa, where these churches are located, is a small town, but with magnificient and imposing churches. The churches remind you of the glory of the past history – the Portuguese history.

Mammoth structures with impeccable architecture and soul-binding divinity – these churches will never fail to excite any person inclined to buildings. The only thing you will have to be careful and protective about, is the heat of the morning, which could easily make you tired walking around these huge structures. The long and stunning hallways of these churches leave one wondering how they were built in the first place, centuries back! We spent all the time in the morning watching the churches, and had lunch at a small restaurant in Old Goa. As would always be the case, we ate fish, fish and more fish. The fish never fails to amaze in Goa, which is another of the reasons why we felt so bad leaving the paradise.

Returning from our trip to the churches, we had very little strength left in us for the day. We had earlier planned to visit the Vagator beach, about which we had heard a lot, but on the last moment, decided against it. We took bath in the Calangute beach till we were tired, and till we had enough and more of the beach. It was an exciting experience. The waves are a bit strong towards the Baga beach, but it is not a subject of worry, since there are umpteen people in these beaches, and the Lifeguard is always there to help you in case there should be any problem.

Dil Chahata Hai fort

The evening was again time for a sumptuous beach dinner of chicken, prawns and fishes, not to mention the bottles of beers that went in. There was a live karaoke party in the restaurant (beach shack) and we were listening to all kinds of songs we had never heard till then. Buffalo soldier… song was the best of the lot – with a cheerful old guy singing, and he was indeed very good. People (read gals) in the restaurants also were excited by the song. There is no limit for excitement in Goa. They came towards our shack and started dancing alongside, adding to the mood of revelry. We enjoyed the whole of the night and went home tired and exhausted well after midnight, and again had a dreamy sleep. I had given instructions to everyone to be ready for the next day’s adventures at Vagator, and not to delay the start at any cost.

We greeted our last day in Goa, again with lot of expectations. I just changed my mind, and decided that we will ride to Arambol beach rather than Vagator, and visit the Vagator beach if we had enough time while returning from Arambol. The ride to Arambol was quite long. May be it is around a 35 kms from Calangute. But, the beach is well worth the travel. We rode and rode and rode and finally came to the spectacular beach called Arambol. It was paradise on earth.

Bikini babes and stunning damsels marked the Arambol beach. We had never seen so many hot ladies in bikinis, that we soon decided to ditch any other plan for the day, and just remain in the Arambol beach, and that was not a bad plan at all. One remarkable thing about Arambol beach is, the waters are so shallow that you can go quite a distance into the sea, and still the water remains at waist level. The waves are not too strong at all, and it would be a completely enjoyable experience. To spice up things, a great looking female and a guy got into water, and all our eyes lit up, and we wondered – Is this India…? We enjoyed our bath in the waters for another 2 hours or so. Time flew by, and we never wanted to leave, but we had to, since it was our last day, and we had to board our train late that night.

Actually, there is a small fresh water lake near the Arambol beach, which is a nice place to take bath in… but we had to walk quite a distance (about 2 kms) to reach this. It would have been a nice walk skirting the beach, and the place was at a visible distance only, but again as we had to leave that day, we decided to reserve the lake for our next trip. We took more eyefuls of the bikini babes, and had lunch again at a nice beach side restaurant at Arambol beach. Chickens, fishes and prawns again. On our way back, we saw that almost the whole of our day had been spent in Arambol alone, and no one regretted it. It was the best of the beaches. Not too crowdy, shallow enough, white and clear sand, and to top it all, bikini babes. A nice way to end our trip.

We came back to our room in Calangute, took a short nap, then woke up, bade farewell to our nice host, and started back to Panjim. Rahul bought some wine to be taken back to friends. We also bought a special cake called Bebinca, which Rahul said would taste great. But I warn you, it tasted just like normal halwa, and was grossly overpriced. So, beware.

We had some fruit juice near the station, and then boarded our train to Bangalore. It was one of my best journeys. All of our hearts were refusing to wake up from the dream called Goa… All we were discussing was about when we would make our next trip to Goa…

Vinoth is getting married, and I am moving to my own house in Bangalore… Balayya has shifted to Banashankari. So, practically we are all heading in different directions. But we have decided to come together (at least the bachelors) in December of 2009 to make our next week-long trip to the dream called Goa. Let us see if we make it to our dreams…

Click here for our Day 1 in the dream called Goa.

Related posts:

1. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram
2. The day we were chased by an elephant…

Vagator beach in Goa

Little did I know of this lovely Indian state till Srikanth, a friend of mine, came back from Goa to tempt us all with vivid descriptions and animated accounts of his three days in Goa. After listening to his account, we were all longing to hit the beaches as soon as possible. It catapulted the imaginations of us all beyond bounds, and soon I was on board the Madras-Vasco Express with 5 of my friends to an unforgettable journey to the destination – Goa.

In the train

By the time the train reached the Vasco-da-gama station, it was late afternoon. It would be a good idea to rent bikes to get around Goa, since the beaches and places to visit are spread quite apart. However, Vasco is a business city rather than a touristy one, and so it would be rather easy to take the Kadamba shuttle service from Vasco to Panjim. The Kadamba bus stand is just at a stone-throw distance opposite to the Vasco railway station. Just avoid the taxi touts and head straight to the bus stand to catch the shuttle. It is a 30 km journey which can take about 45 minutes. We got the last of the seats in the shuttle, and left Vasco to reach our first destination – Panjim.

Vinoth and Balayya

Panjim is written as ‘Panaji’ in English for reasons unknown to me; however the locals call it Panjim, (or exactly ‘Ponjie’). Panjim is a quiet and leisurely town, which is also the capital of Goa. The Kadamba bus stand is towards the northern part of the city, and has local buses that can take you to a lot of villages around the place. Also remember that this Kadamba bus stand is the place where you will have to come back to catch the shuttle service back to Vasco on your return journey. We had already booked our rooms in Alfa Guest House in Calangute beach, and decided to take bikes from here. We just had to ask around, and soon got three motor bikes, which we planned to use for the next three days in Goa. (It was the end of January when we went and we paid Rs.200 per day for each bike for three days).

The next half-an-hour of our journey was on the motor bikes. We rode through wide roads, narrow roads, climbed up, rode down, honked, overtook vehicles and enjoyed our ride, when we finally reached Calangute. It was a Saturday afternoon, and already we could make out that it was a world in itself. Indians and others, young and old, male and female, a lot of people were happily, either briskly or lazily, walking up and down the road leading to Calangute beach. It was a care-free life, away from offices, meetings, deadlines, appraisals and bonuses. A life full of excitement, or a life embroidered in peace – you get to meet both of these worlds in Goa. No wonder Calangute beach is called the queen of the beaches in Goa. We just spent some time in the room refreshing ourselves after the long journey, and soon hit the beach.

The dance party

It is a pleasure to walk on the Calangute-Baga stretch of beaches. Though crowded, these beaches have a lot to life in them. There are these umpteen numbers of touts who want you to take up one of the innumerable water-sport activities in the beach. There is parasailing, banana rides, water-scooters, dolphin-watching rides, and the list goes on. Every 10 feet, you get greeted by someone asking you to take one of these rides. We were tired and wanted to put off all that stuff for the next day. Being young and single bachelor men we were, we just liked the large crowd of the fairer sex in Calangute, both Indian and other, clad in beachwear and basking in the sun. We took eyefuls and kept strolling along the beach. Soon we found a place to get into water. We did just that, and enjoyed the cool waters of the beach, which was the reason we had come over five hundred kilometers from Bangalore to this wonderland.

Me, Rahul and Sim

A good thing about the beaches in Goa is that there are lifeguards stationed in every beach in the state. A bad thing for us is that their services end at around 6.30 pm, and they ask the tourists to leave the waters and come ashore. It was already near sunset that we entered the waters, and we thought it is wise to listen to them and came out after sunset. We decided to spend more time in the waters the next day. We just continued our bird-watching routine, and reached our guest house, and got ready for the night.

The night is the best time of the day to be on the Calangute/Baga stretch of beaches. There is a party mood lingering on the beach, and a long chain of beach shacks, each playing inviting music and live bands, make the mood even more enthusiastic and charged. There are tables put facing the beach and it is simply great to have a seaside candlelight dinner with your sweetheart, provided you have one. The unfortunate bunch of men we were, we had to be contented with each others’ company, not to mention the company of chilled beer.

Ravikiran

We chose a shack called Lucky Star which had a lot of people already (a lot of people means, the food and music is good J). A live band made sure all of the guests were on their feet, and a group of gorgeous females around made sure the night was good. Add it to the mouth watering, delicious food – chicken lollypops, kebabs, fish and rice… it was an unforgettable night. We also smoked an apple flavored hookah, which was the first time I did that, and it was a cute experience. We had gala time until around midnight, and reluctantly walked away from the beach to our rooms.

The first day in Goa ended in a rocking night and a dreamy sleep. The waters of the sea kept washing our thoughts through the night, and that we were already tired gave us a good night’s sleep.

To be continued…

For the continuation of this story, click here…

Related posts:

1. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram
2. The day we were chased by an elephant…

It was me behind the driver’s wheel, and three of my friends – Karthik, Vinoth and Rahul, in my Santro, we started the one-day trip to visit Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram. The planner in me had made all plans previously. We would head straight to Somnathpura, from there, would take the road to Talakad and finally reach Shivanasamudram so that we have all time left to enjoy in the falls.

We left our house in Koramangala at 6.30 in the morning,

and in an hour, we were on the Mysore road leading to Somnathpura. We were hungry by the time we reached Maddur, and had our breakfast in a small roadside hotel.

Just after Maddur, we took the left which goes to Malavalli. The road is good till Malavalli, and from Malavalli, we took a right to Bannur. The road to Bannur was virtually non-existant, and more so as we neared our destination. An SUV would have been ideal under these road conditions, however, my Santro was good enough for me to negotiate the stones and pits that call themselves roads.

In fact, from Malavalli you could head to Shivanasamudram if you plan to go there straight.

But our plan was to finish the far-away places first (also considering the roads).

We reached Somnathpura at around 10 am. From the outside it looks like a well maintained garden. But behind the compound walls is a magnificient temple that strikes you with the intricateness that is the cherised wealth of Karnataka. A Hoyasala temple, this is constructed on a raised platform, and the temple is actually star shaped.There are rows of sharp carvings made on the temple walls. Keeping up with the history of the Hoyasalas, the temple is made of Soapstone, and the typical intricate Hoyasala

carvings found in places such as Belur, Halebeedu and Amrithapura can be found here too. Each suclpture narrates a story and architecture enthusiasts would want to take all their time in exploring just the outer wall of the temple.

One sad part is that the faces of the figurines in the temple walls have been disfigured by the Muslim invaders, and part by the British, that most of the sculptures have a broken or part-broken head.

The interiors of the temple, again, has the typical smoothly carved pillars with detailed work on the ceilings. In fact, going by the looks of it, this temple is architecturally superior to the Belur and Halebeedu temples. It has three gopurams standing on a star shaped pedestal, which

in itself is a postcard picture moment. But I have no clue why the temple and the road to the temple have been neglected by the Government. The temple is just 25 kms from the sandal city of Mysore. The nearest town is T.Narsipur. Somnathpura would be a non-to-be-missed site in the Mysore-Srirangapatna circuit if it is promoted by the Government. Visit my album on Somnathpura

The road alongside the temple leads straight to our next destination – Talakad. Much has been told about this buried-in-the-sand temple around the web. You can find them here, and here.

The main Mahavishnu temple was a sight to watch, and the ASI is actually numbering the rocks there so that the remaining parts of the temple could be restored.

One interesting part of our visit to Talakad was this old lady called Mariamma. When we

landed in Talakad, a lot of guides swarmed around us telling us about this place. But was made it clear that we need no guide, because I had read enough about this place

already on the web. So, we first headed straight to the Cauvery which flows nearby, and took a small ride in the coracle.

These are similar to the ‘parisals’ found in Hogenakkal. After we finished our stint with the river, and had a sumptuous meal in a roadside stall, did we meet this interesting person, Mariamma.

As we headed back towards the forest to see the temples, this lady started accompanying us telling us the route. My friend started telling her we don’t need a guide, and I thought it is ok to have one. The way through the trees were confusing, and a guide would ease our search, I thought. So, we took Mariamma as our guide.

She has a punchline. “My name is Mariamma. What is your name?”, which she kept saying whenever she got a chance. Also she said, “Nanage ella gothhu”, meaning I know everything. She actually took my friends digital camera and took our shots. She gave names to the four of us. One was Salman Khan, one, Darshan, one was Upendra and the other, ‘Mungaru picture Ganesa’. We enjoyed her ramblings. She kept calling us Ganesaa, Uppi… follow me!, and it was real fun listening to her.

She said all trees around were cashewnut trees, and they would yield the fruit in November. Also, she was quite pious, and kept telling to fold our hands and chant the name of Shiva. “Shiva antha kai mugkoli…”.

I found Mariamma so interesting a personality, that I beleived somebody should definitely have come across her. I googled on the phrase “My name is Mariamma”, and to my surprise, got an account about her on the web, here.

We saw all the temples of Talakad. The main Mahavishnu temple is the most impressive, and the tales about Talakad are equally interesting too. We left Talakad around 2.30pm, and started for our next destination, Shivanasamudram. Visit my album on Talakad here.

Shivanasamudram, also called “Bluff” by the locals, has two falls, Gaganachukki and Bharachukki. I had learnt that Gaganachukki gives a good view, whereas, Bharachukki is where we could take a bath.

So, we tripped and bounced on so-called roads and reached Shivanasamudram, where we decided to go to Bharachukki first.

Bharachukki was a breath-taking beauty. Streams of water flowed exquisitely into the valley below and it was a sight to watch. We had to take a flight of steps to reach the foot of the falls. A bunch of people were trying to cross the stream there to reach under the falls, whereas another set were taking the parisal ride, which was here too. We soon crossed the stream and were right under the falls.

I had not known that there is such a beautiful falls near Bangalore and made a mental note to return whenever time gives way. We took bath in the lovely falls for more that two hours. We were so thrilled by the gush of water, that we decided to spend as much time as available at Bharachukki itself, and just give Gaganachukki a view. But by the time we finished

all the bathing and merry-making, it was around 6, and it was starting to get dark. Visit my album on Bharachukki here.

We headed straight to Malavalli from there, took the road to Maddur, and to Bangalore along the Mysore road, carrying along with us truckloads of pleasant memories about the temples, falls, and of course, the ever enthusiastic, Mariamma.

Related posts:

1. The day we were chased by an elephant…
2. Shravanabelagola – a paradise of peace

அய்யனார் சிலை

என்னுடைய Hyundai Santro நீண்ட பயணத்திற்குத் தயாராகிவிட்டது. நாங்கள் இதற்கு முன்னால் மேற்கொண்ட பயணங்களோடு ஒப்பிடும் போது இது மிகவும் சிறிய பயணம் தான் என்றாலும், போவது ஒகேனக்கல் என்பதால் எங்களுக்குள் மிகுந்த எதிர்பார்ப்புகள், கொஞ்சம் நடுக்கம் கூட நான், ஹேமந்த், ஸ்ரீகாந்த், ஜிபி, மன்மோகன் என்று எங்கள் ஐவர் குழு. காலை 7 மணிக்கு, பணஷங்கரியில் மூக்குப் பிடிக்க நாஷ்தா பண்ணிக்கொண்டு (ஹிஹி… பெங்களூர் கன்னடம் எட்டிப் பார்க்கிறது) பெங்களூரிலிருந்து புறப்பட்டோம்.

இணையத்தில் நிறைய ஆரய்ச்சிகள் செய்து, ஒரு வழியாக, ஒரு வழியைத் தேர்ந்தெடுத்திருந்தோம். ஓசூர் வரை சென்று, அங்கு சந்திரசூடேசுவரர் ஆலயத்தைத் தாண்டி, மேம்பாலத்தைக் கடந்ததும், வலப்பக்கம் திரும்பி, இராயக்கோட்டை நோக்கிச் சென்றோம். அங்கிருந்து பாலக்கோடு – பென்னாகரம் – ஒகேனக்கல். வழியில் பென்னாகரத்தில் தான் முறுக்கு மீசையும், வீச்சரிவாளுமாக வீற்றிருக்கும் ஐயனார் சாமி சிலைகளை முதல் முறையாகக் கண்டேன். காவல் தெய்வமான ஐயனாருக்குக் காவலாகச் சில காக்கிச்சட்டைக் காவலர்களின் சிலைகளையும் அங்கே கண்டது நகைப்பாக இருந்தது. இது தான் சமயம் என்று, புதிதாக நான் வாங்கிய SLR Camera-வுக்கு நன்றாக வேலை கொடுத்தேன். அப்படியே கிராமச் சூழலை இரசித்துக்கொண்டே ஒரு வழியாக, ஒகேனக்கல் வந்து சேர்ந்தோம்.

பரிசல்

வரும் வழியில் இன்னும் ஒரு தமாஷ்! தேநீர் அருந்துவதற்காக ஒரு சிறிய கடையில் நிறுத்தினோம். என்னுடன் இருந்த ஹேமந்த் என்ற நண்பர் கன்னடிகர் என்பதால், அந்தக் கடக்குச் சென்று மூன்று கப் தேநீர் வேண்டும் என்று சொல்வதற்காக, “மூரு மூரு” என்று சொல்லியிருக்கிறார். (கன்னடத்தில் ‘மூரு’ என்பது மூன்றைக் குறிக்கும்). அதற்கு அந்தக் கடைக்காரம்மா, “இங்க மோர் எல்லாம் கிடைக்காது சார்” என்று சொல்ல, நானும் என் தமிழ் நண்பர் ஸ்ரீகாந்தும் சடார் என்று சிரித்தது மறக்க முடியாது.

ஒகேனக்கல்லில் நாங்கள் காலடி எடுத்து வைத்தவுடன்,

பரிசல்காரர்

அல்ல அல்ல, காரை விட்டு இறங்கும் முன்பாகவே, பரிசல்காரர் ஒருவர் எங்களைச் சூழ்ந்துகொண்டார். “ஒகேனக்கல்லில் செய்வதற்கு இருக்கிற ஒரே வேலை, பரிசலில் சென்று பார்ப்பது, மசாஜ் எடுத்துக் கொள்வது – இந்த இரண்டும் தான் சார்”, என்று சொல்லிக்கொண்டு எங்களுடனேயே வந்தார். இங்கு கவனிக்க வேண்டிய விஷயம், ஒருவர் எங்களை அணுகிய உடனேயே, வேறு எவரும் எங்களை அணுகாமல் விலகிச் சென்று விட்டனர். இது இவர்களுக்குள் இருக்கும் ஒரு புரிந்துணர்வு ஒப்பந்தம் என்று நினைக்கிறேன். அல்லது, வருகிற வருவாய் பகிர்ந்து கொள்ளப்படுவதாகக் கூட இருக்கலாம் – எனக்குத் தெரியவில்லை, விசாரிக்கவும் மறந்துவிட்டேன். பரிசலில் சென்று ஒகேனக்கல் அருவிகளைச் சுற்றிப் பார்ப்பதற்குச் சிறிது நேரம் அந்தப் பரிசல்காரருடன் பேரம் செய்தோம். இறுதியில், ஆளுக்கு 250 ரூபாய் என்று முடிவு செய்து, பரிசலில் ஏறினோம்.

பரிசல் பார்ப்பதற்கு மிகவும் இலகுவாக இருந்தது. இந்தப் பரிசல்காரர்கள் அதை ‘அலாக்’காக தூக்கிக்கொண்டு நடப்பது சுவாரசியமாக இருந்தது. அநதப் பரிசல் என் போன்ற பெருத்த உருவத்தைத் தாங்குமா என்ற அச்சம் எனக்கு இருந்தது. ஆனால் என்னைச் சரியாக நடுவில் உட்கார்த்திவிட்டு,

சுற்றும் பரிசல்

மற்ற நால்வரையும் விளிம்புகளில் அமரச் செய்தார் அந்தப் பரிசல்காரர். இதனால், நேர்த்தியாக மிதந்து, எங்களை அழகாகச் சுமந்து, பயணத்தைத் தொடங்கியது எங்கள் பரிசல்.

ஒகேனக்கல் பாறைகள் நிறைந்த பகுதி என்பதால், நீரின் ஆழம் எல்லா இடங்களிலும் சரிசமமாக இருப்பதில்லை. சில இடங்களில் ஒரு அடிக்கும் குறைவாகவும், பல இடங்களில், 40-50 அடி ஆழத்திற்கும் நீர் இருக்கிறது. இதனால், ஆங்காங்கே பரிசலில் இருந்து இறங்கி பயணிகள் நடப்பதும், பரிசல்காரர் பரிசலைத் தூக்கிக் கொண்டு நடப்பதும், இது போன்ற இடங்களில் makeshift கடைகள் தின்பண்ட வகைகளை விற்பதும் ஒகேனக்கல்லில் வாடிககையான ஒன்று. இது போன்ற ஆழமில்லாத இடங்களில் பார்ப்பதற்கு சில நல்ல காட்சியிடங்கள் இருப்பதால் இன்னும் சிறப்பாக இருக்கிறது. நங்களும் பரிசலில் இருந்து

காத்திருப்பு

இறங்கி, முதல் சிற்றருவியைப் பார்த்தோம்.

நீரின் வேகம் எங்களை நிலைகுலையச் செய்யும் அளவுக்கு இருந்தது. ஒரு நிமிடம் ஆடிப்போக வேண்டியதுதான். கர்நாடகத்தின் கபினி, கிருஷ்ணராஜ சாகர் அணைகளில் இருந்து திறந்துவிடப் படும் நீர் வெள்ளமெனப் பாய்ந்து வந்து, தமிழகத்தின் சமப்பரப்பான நிலங்களில் கலப்பதற்காக மலையிலிருந்து மடவுக்குப் பாய்கிற இடம் தான் ஒகேனக்கல். அப்படிப் பாய்கிற நீரின் வேகத்தை அங்கே பார்க்கிற போது தான் காவிரியின் பரப்பளவு என்ன என்பது புலனாகிறது. Water gushing rapidly into the gorges of Tamilnadu is a sight to watch and cherish. கணக்கற்ற நிழற்படக் கருவிகள் அங்கே ‘க்ளிக்’கி, நீரின் வேகத்தை – வேகத்தின் நிழலைத் தமக்குள் பதிந்து கொள்கின்றன – பயண நினைவுகளுக்காக! மேலும், ஒகேனக்கல்லின் பரப்பு முழுவதையும் பார்ப்பதற்காக அங்கு ஒரு பார்வை கோபுரம் (watch tower) அமைத்திருக்கிறார்கள். அங்கிருந்து பார்ப்பது பிரமிப்பாக இருந்தது.

மீன் வறுவல்

இந்த stop முடிந்து மீண்டும் பரிசலில் ஏறிக் கொண்டோம். இம்முறை, பரிசல்காரர் பரிசலை 360 டிகிரி சுழற்றியது தான் சிறப்பம்சம். அவர் சுழற்றியதில் நாங்கள் எல்லாம் தலை சுற்றிப் போனோம். இன்னும், பரிசலைச் சில சிற்றருவிகளின் கீழ் கொண்டு சென்று எங்களை நனையச் செய்தார். இவை எல்லாம் எல்லா பரிசல்காரர்களும் செய்தார்கள். பின் ஒரு மணல் திட்டில் எங்களை இறக்கிவிட்டார். அந்த மணல் திட்டு தான் கர்நாடகா-தமிழ்நாடு அரசுகளிடையே சர்ச்சையை ஏற்படுத்தியிருகிறது – the disputed area – என்று சொன்னார். அது எந்த அளவுக்கு உண்மை என்று தெரியவில்லை. ஏனெனில், ஒரு மின் உற்பத்தி தொழிற்சாலை அமைக்கும் அளவுக்கு அத்திட்டு பெரிதாக இருப்பதாக எனக்குத் தோன்றவில்லை. அதை பற்றி எல்லாம் கவலைப் படாமல், நாங்கள் எங்கள் வேலையைப் பார்க்கத்

காவிரி

தொடங்கினோம். இந்த மணல் திட்டின் சிறப்பம்சம் (highlight), வறுத்த மீன்கள். ஒகேனக்கல்லுக்கே இது ஒரு சிறப்பம்சம் என்று கூடச் சொல்லலாம். எங்கு பார்த்தாலும் மீன் வறுவலின் வாசம் மூக்கைத் துளைக்கிறது. நானும் எனது அசைவ நண்பர்களும் மீன் வறுவலை ஒரு பதம் பார்த்தோம். மற்றவர்கள் சிப்ஸ் மட்டும் தின்று மனநிறைவடைய வேண்டியிருந்தது பாவ்ம்

இவ்விடத்தில் ஒரு விஷயத்தைச் சொல்ல வேண்டும். என் நண்பர்கள் எல்லோரும் நீரில் நீந்தி – விளையாடிக் கொண்டிருக்க, நான் கரையில் நின்றுகொண்டு மீன் தின்றுகொன்டிருந்தேன் (ஹிஹி… வழக்கம் போல…). அவர்களில், நண்பர் ஜிபிக்கு நீச்சல் தெரியாது. காலடியில் இருந்த மணலில் நன்றாக ஊன்றிக்கொண்டு, நீரில் விளையாடிக் கொண்டிருந்தவர், திடீரென்று கால் வழுக்கி, நீரில் மூழ்கத் தொடங்கினார். காலடியில் இருந்து மணல் சரியத் தொடங்கியதாலும், நீரில் current அதிகமாக இருந்ததாலும், அவரால் தாக்குப் பிடிக்க முடியவில்லை. ஒரு வழியாக, ஹேமந்துக்கு நீச்சல் தெரியுமென்பதால், அவரை இழுத்துக் கரை சேர்த்தார். நாங்களெல்லாம் ஒரு நிமிடம் அதிர்ந்து விட்டது அப்போதுதான். அதனால், ஒகேனக்கல்லில் நீரில் விளயாடும் போது, எச்சரிக்கை மிகவும் முக்கியம்.

பாய்ச்சல்

இந்த இடத்தை முடித்து கொண்டு மீண்டும் பரிசலில் ஏறி, ம்றுகரையில் இருந்த பாறைகளுக்குச் சென்றோம். இந்தப் பாறைகளின் இடுக்கில் நீர் மிகவேகமாகப் பாய்வது, குளிப்பதற்கு மிகவும் நன்றாக இருந்தது. நான் முதலில் குறிப்பிட்டது போல, இங்கும் வேகம் மிக அதிகமாக இருந்தது. நாங்கள் பாறை இடுக்குகளில் ஊன்றிக்கொண்டு குளித்தோம். ஸ்ரீகாந்த் மட்டும் எண்ணெய் மசாஜ் செய்து கொண்டார். நாங்கள் எல்லாம் தண்ணீரின் மசாஜ்ஜையே தாங்கமுடியாமல் திணறியபடி மகிழ்ந்தோம். 2 ம்ணி நேரம், நீரில் விளையாடிக் களைத்து, பின் மீண்டும் பரிசலில் ஏறிக் கொண்டோம்.

இது தான் இறுதிப் பயணமாக இருந்தது. ஒகேனக்கல்லின் கர்நாடக எல்லையில் ஒரு மலை இடுக்கில் நீர் பீய்ச்சாடித்துக்கொண்டு பாய்கிற கண்கொள்ளாக் காட்சியைப் பார்க்க மக்கள் எல்லோரும் அலைமோதிக் கொண்டிருந்தனர். முன்னர் சொன்ன வேகத்தைத் தூக்கிச் சாப்பிடுகிற அசுரப் பாய்ச்சல் இது. சிக்கினால் சின்னாபின்னமாக்கி விடுகிற இராட்சதப் பாய்ச்சல். அரண்டு

ஐவர் குழு

போகிற அளவுக்கு ஆர்ப்பரித்துப் பாய்ந்துகொண்டிருந்தது காவிரி. இது தான் பயணத்தின் கிளைமாக்ஸாக இருந்தது. பயணம் முடிந்து திரும்பிச் சென்று நண்பர்கள், உற்றாரிடம் வருணிக்க வேண்டும் என்றால், அந்த பாய்ச்சலையும், வேகத்தையும், அசுரத்தனத்தையும் அளந்து விவரிக்க வார்த்தைகள் கிடைக்காது என்பதால், நிழற்படக் கருவிகள் இறுதியாக ‘க்ளிக்’கிக் கொண்டன. பயணத்தை இனிதே முடித்த திருப்தியும் எங்களைச் சூழ்ந்து கொண்டது.

திரும்புகிற போது, இன்னும் ஒரு பொட்டலம் நிறைய மீன் வறுவல் வாங்கிக் கொண்டோம். ஒரு மாறுதலுக்காக, தர்மபுரி – கிருஷ்ணகிரி வழியாகவே பெங்களூர் திரும்பலாம் என்று திரும்பிய எங்களின் பொறுமையை மிகவும் சோதிப்பதாக அப்பாதை அமைந்துவிட்டது. சாலைப் பழுதுபார்க்கும் – விரிவுபடுத்தும் பணிகள் எல்லா இடங்களிலும் நீக்கமற நடந்துகொண்டிருந்ததால், காரை ஓட்டிய நண்பர் ஸ்ரீகாந்த் களைத்துப் போனார் என்றால், அது குறைவுதான். மீண்டும் பென்னாகரம் – பாலக்கோடு – இராயக்கோட்டை – ஓசூர் பாதையில் செல்வது தான் சிறந்தது என்பது இப்பதிவைப் படிக்கிற அன்பர்களுக்கு நாங்கள் கொடுக்கிற டிப். முழுதும் களைத்து, இரவு 12 மணியளவில் பெங்களூர் வந்து வீட்டில் படுக்கையில் விழுந்ததோடு எங்கள் பயணம் இனிதே முடிந்தது.

Related posts:

1. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram
2. The day we were chased by an elephant…

“Before starting, I whole-heartedly thank Rahul and Deepak of VLSI team, Digibee Microsystems, without them this mail carries no weight.  Rahul is from Kerala, is one of our colleague in Digibee. Got a big mustache, like most of the Mallu guys and a beautiful smile. (If I was a girl I would have described more he~he~). Throughout the trip, things were well organized and smartly planned, his brilliance lied in the fact that no one would have felt that he is organizing the trip. But all the work was done in the back ground. Deepak, the gigantic figure in Digibee. I always have wondered, how he possesses so much knowledge in many fields ranging from Sakura, cherry blossoms, which happens in Japan to Share trading. And a member of a social welfare organization called “DIYA”. He is not only big by looks, he is even bigger than his looks .”

The trip to Munnar was a long-planned one. We always wanted to go on a long weekend trip, and there seemed to be no near way of it materializing. When Rahul came up with his plan, there was a lot of enthusiasm, and I did not want this enthusiasm to fade out. So, I immediately jumped into booking the tickets and calling in for the arrangements.

It was festival season, and getting bulk tickets on a train was more difficult than getting a programme slot in Sun TV. But we managed on the Trivandrum Express in the last minute, and there was a broad smile in everyone’s face. The tour was sure to happen. The next moment saw me pushing Rahul ahead of me towards Simha, my project manager to get a two hours permission to board the train at 4.15 pm on Friday. Simha gave us no disappointments; he was ready with his instant broad smile.

The trip took off at 3.30 pm from office. We were all in the station at 4 pm. Murphy’s laws say there should be no event with no trouble. Our colleague Dinesh was the culprit now. He sent my adrenalin shooting up, just by being late. Everyone was at his toe-tips looking out for the guy, when a little figure appeared out of the large crowd in Central. That was Dinesh. He had some trouble with the auto-rickshaw and was quickly ushered into he coach.

Now, over to Madan.

“When we reached Ernakulam it was 3 pm approximately, there was rain to welcome us. I never been to kerala, it was my first time. There was a chill air around and just out side the station there was beautiful huge tree, I guess it was a banyan tree, which was really huge. All our eyes were rolling around to catch a glimpse of beautiful Mallu girls. We found one in station booking counter… he… he… cute face… I knew, we all are going to have a great time in beautiful Kerala… A bus was already arranged for us by Rahul, which is gonna take us to all the places in Munnar for the next two days. It was early morning around 5 am, I could barely see the houses and trees outside with street lights.  Each and every house had so much trees and plants around, unlike my Chennai city. They are generous to give space to nature and take 25% for them in their land. They love nature and conserve them. I found even the compound walls had some plants growing over them. Roughly around 6:45 am I was able to get a clear picture of the beautiful world, it was green, green and green everywhere. Just couldn’t see any other color. My love towards green took a peak. Most attractive part about Munnar, which is still in my eyes, is the foot stairs that I found in houses. Foot stairs were grey in color, covered with a very thin layer of green plants growing over them. The blend of grey and green was so attractive, that it gave an artistic look in front of many houses and churches.

Around 8 am in the morning the bus stopped and we saw a waterfall. It was beautiful to look at and felt that it can be even lovely to feel them. I wanted to play in that, and I had no concerns to about my t-shirt and trousers getting wet, well anyway it’s good to take a bath early morning he…he… I called up my friend Barani and asked him whether he likes to play in the waterfall too. He loved it. We climbed up some rocks, slowly moved near the water fall, took our hands forward and collected water in our hands. Then we slowly moved forward and in few seconds all our clothes got completely wet. It was funny and crazy. Later some of my other colleagues joined too Rahul, Deepak, Karthik Mohan, Murali, Thopi kumar, Balayya, Aravind, Adithiya, Vinoth kumar and Ayyappa. Then we all came down and took some snaps. I wanted to have some more fun in the waterfall again so I called up my buddy. I asked him if we can go once more. Again we went, played in the falls and at a point we both started shivering. I loved shivering too Because I know it’s very rare feeling, which won’t happen in Chennai. We moved down and some more photo sessions were happening. We had to stay in the same wet cloth for another 3 hours, till we reached our room in Munnar.

We found many waterfalls and water flowing over through the rocks. Amazing site to watch, with beautiful mountain top covered with tea estates. Fog kissing the mountain tops. There wasn’t a patch of soil, which is visible, because there will some plant covering it up. The newly grown leaves gave the most attractive light green. And the rain gives a pure look by washing it up daily, finishing touch given by The Master himself.

In the Bus, Balayya and Barani started dancing. We had a good music system in the bus, which gave more fun. Both Balayya and Barani are excellent natural dancers, full of expressions and good singers too.
I always wanted to dance but I never did cause I thought that I would look stupid if I do my stupid steps. I had the chance to knock my fever and shyness down and go crazy. I stood in front of Balayya, I was damn nervous to be there, then I did what ever steps Balayya and Barani were doing. I learned a lot from them, their beautiful expressions, and liveliness. Everything in them touched me. Day 1 dancing was imitating them. Day 2, I started creating my own funny steps, since there was no girls in the bus we should pair up with other guys and dance for duet songs. We pulled almost everyone to dance, though many resisted at the start, become lively and started joining their own dance. Most our time in the bus went in dancing and shouting at the buses crossing us (if the bus crossing had some girls in it our decibels will increase further more ha ha ha…) Athreya was capturing video throughout the trip while Deepak, Karthik, Ravikiran, Rahul were capturing pictures. All their work had helped to capture our happiness in a digital form, which would stay forever with our pleasant memories of them.

Throughout the trip, we got a company of a humble lover, who is the soul reason for the beautiful Munnar. Her touch was so gentle, like a feather touching my body. In Munnar, she takes a pleasant form, she won’t pour heavily on u. But she will have a constant drizzle, which is gentle and giving you the joy of thousand kisses. If she pours heavily, don’t mistake, she is happy meeting you and that’s her way of hugging you. He…he…

Rain Rain, come again…”

And that’s how we enjoyed and enjoyed and enjoyed, and finally we rode back to home. Thanks a lot to Madan.

Related posts:

1. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram
2. The day we were chased by an elephant…