In the beautiful mountains

It’s been some time that I’ve written a travelogue or for that matter anything. My recent tour of Manali, Delhi and Agra provided a beautiful opportunity for me to wake up the writer in me.

A week’s worth of travel and sight seeing and eating whatever is available actually made me crave for home made food. So much so that as soon as I came in I hogged the first thing that I was able to prepare.

As usual, I digress. Let me get straight to the beginning of the trip. Travel to Delhi and then to Manali.

Day 1, Delhi, Manali.

We had planned well in advance for the trip, so the flight tickets were booked to and from Delhi. On 27th evening we boarded the Flight to Delhi. Then sat in the AC bus to the inter state bus stand to catch the pre-booked HRTC Volvo to Manali. We later learnt that it was a big mistake to book the government bus. We left the bus stand at 8:45. The bus kept stopping everywhere and we reached our destination only at 11 am the next day. Landed at our hotel very tired and cranky.

Day 2, Manali.

Thankfully we had the hotel cab pick us up from the bus stop.
We had booked Sarthak Resorts in Manali (Naggar road). We had been there after our wedding (2+ yrs back) and liked it so much we booked it again. It is not too expensive and suits our taste as well as pockets pretty nicely. We had a valley view room so we could see the snow capped mountains through the huge window.

Most of the first day went in taking rest and in the evening we went to the Manali market. It got very cold in the evening (which we had not anticipated) and it was drizzling too. We did some window shopping and ate chats for dinner.

Day 3, Snow point, Solang Valley.

As the previous time, this time too we booked cab from the hotel for our day trips. The snow point is a point upto which civilians/tourists are allowed on the Rohtang pass road. I was very hopeful to see Rohtang pass but it was closed. The driver informed us that it might open in late May or early June this year. It differs every year and depends upon snowfall.

So we reach somewhere higher than Gulaba (which was our snow point last time) but there wasn’t much fresh snow. Whatever snow was present was pretty dirty due to too many tourists walking over it. As it had rained the previous evenings there was slush everywhere. My in-laws managed to enjoy a lot, but as I had seen better and fresher snow I was disappointed and moreover damn scared to walk on the ice. We also had to walk a long way and trek up the hill a little, as there were too many parked vehicles and our cab couldn’t go any further than a point.

SIL, her son and FIL opted to ride the horses up the hill. But my MIL put a brave face and walked with us and she trekked up the hill too. So obviously we had to walk back the same distance. There was and is nothing much to see in Solang valley except for the paragliding which didn’t interest us(me and husband) as we had done para-sailing here in Bangalore. So we decided to get back to the hotel and take rest. On the way we stopped at Kothi at the same restaurant where we had been last time for lunch. I still remember the distinctive and very tasty dum aloo that I had eaten in 2009. This time too it was delicious but due to the crowd I couldn’t enjoy much. But unfortunately I don’t remember the name.

Day 4, Manali local sightseeing, back to Delhi.

We had planned to do local sightseeing for half a day and leave for Delhi. We covered Vasisht (don’t ever fall for the Chingu trap*), Manu temple, Hadimba temple and Tibetian monastry near the market.
Later we caught the HRTC bus back to Delhi from the bus stand in the Market.
Now is time for some pictures.

Mist covered mountain

Snow point: On the way to Rohtang pass

Ponies to bear your weight

Another breathtaking view

Yak, the cow of Himalayas

Beautiful view from up the mountain

View from our hotel window

Marijuana on the roadside. I’m not gonna tell you where exactly

To be continued …

Why are we hurting those who are helping us save our ecology?

Read in the newspaper yesterday about the murder of Forest Office of Dandeli. Why? Because he was doing his job and asked the visitors not to feed the crocs. Which, we all can understand is quite sensible. He might have never thought it would cost his life. And what more, the Police department is still unable to bring the murderers to justice. Such a horrific thing happening in broad daylight and the people who broke law are not arrested depicts the sad state of affairs.

Here is the link to the Deccan Herald report on the protest of people of Dandeli for justice for the dead officer’s family.

And I think we need a follow up of what happens to the perpetrators, if they are caught and brought to justice, and if yes, what punishment did they get. Who were they and why they did what they did? I hope media will do a follow up and report this out.

Disgusted by this continued neglect of the authorities towards bringing the murderers to punishment and provide justice to the victims. I strongly feel that the Police Dept. should do act now to save the respect people have on them.

Here is a FB link.

Updated: On an unrelated note, I remembered the petition to save Hesarghatta grasslands. I urge you to please sign the petition. Check my post for more info. We need to start protecting and preserving whatever we have right now, for our children to be able to see the animals and birds we did.

State bird of Karnataka – Indian Roller

To those of you, like me, who didn’t know about the state bird of Karnataka.

Image courtesy: http://indianwildlifephotography.blogspot.in/

I’ve linked to the picture on Angad Achappa’s blog. Lovely picture right. Hop on to his blog for more amazing wild life pictures. Thanks Angad for the information.

Kotebetta climb

It was a beautiful morning. A bit too sunny for my liking, but it was beautiful nonetheless. According to our plan we headed towards Madapur from Somwarpet by around 9 am and reached Madapur 15 minutes later. Since we had a private drop-off, we chose to get down at the HattihoLe bridge (a little further from Madapur). It was me, S and our friend. The river HattiHoLe flows with such a melodious sound that it stayed with me for a long time. In Kannada we call it “jhuLu-jhuLu naada”. It is melodious and rhythmic. Made me want to take a dip in the water, but we had a much serious business at hand. Also, I couldn’t see a way from where we could get into the water. I wasn’t sure of the currents either. Better not venture into unknown waters.

We started on the beaten path taken daily by workers and owners at the estates en-route. Yes, there are a lot of coffee estates on the way. At some point we came across a signboard indicating the direction of Kotebetta and the distance.

Hatti HoLe - The river at the base of Kotebetta

Direction board at the base

We saw a hanging bridge on our way, which was very well-built. I personally have a phobia to step on anything that doesn’t hold still. It was a great experience to walk on this bridge while it swayed above the river in full flow. But we didn’t cross the bridge for our trek.

The hanging bridge

Then we walked through bushes, patches of forests and open lands trying hard to ignore the scorching sun. But he didn’t ignore us. We were tired more often and kept sipping water throughout the climb. The climb was made worthwhile by breathtaking view of the mountains around.

Me and our friend, watching the drifting clouds

The clouds drifted freely, making our view hazy but equally wonderful. We could feel the cool wind as we reached a considerable height. We also experienced clouds on our skin once we reached the peak. They drifted toward the peak, and we stood there, arms wide open as if to embrace the passing clouds. Meanwhile getting chilled by their cool.

Temple at the peak. Not the actual peak. The actual peak can be seen behind the temple.

There is a temple at the top and we observed that there had been a sacrifice the previous day for the deity. However, I wasn’t interested in going inside the temple. We watched the mountain ranges and passing clouds for a long time, after which the guys relaxed a bit on the low-lying rocks, S read Sherlock Holmes while the friend watched an episode of Friends. Yes, that is exactly what they did! While I was busy capturing their madness on camera.;)

After spending some time there, we decided it was time to climb down. The climb down somehow seemed never-ending. We got back to the bridge where there is a bus stop and had some tea at a nearby shop. In Coorg, private bus transportation is really good. Everybody seems to know everybody else. And people are very friendly, making jokes about things and generally being joyful. It was raining faintly and the bus we got into was a small one. The conductor loaded a bunch of bananas into the bus and I was surprised to see that he gave everyone in the bus a banana each while he ate one. Now, who does that these days?

We got down at our stop and walked back to my sister-in-law’s house for a hot bath and food, while remembering the wonderful trek.

Information:
Kotebetta literally means Fort-mountain. It looks like a Kote from far away, hence the name. There is no fort on the mountain. Google says it is the 3rd highest peak in Karnataka, next to Tadiyandamol and Brahmagiri. Madapur is located around 20 km away from Somwarpet. The buses which goes to Madapur from Somwarpet stops at Hattihole, and there are plenty return buses before dusk. Who knows you might get a banana or two too

Updated after a few memory refreshers from my husband I should give it to him, he has a great memory.

Which bird is it?

Bird captured in camera during Babudangiri to Kemmangundi trek

To the bird watchers and wild life photographers: any idea which bird this is?

Save a grassland, save nature

Spreading the word, to save a grassland in Hesarghatta (near Bangalore), which is a wonderful habitat for migratory birds. The place is under threat from Govt. which wants to build a theme park there.

Please share the news and stop a natural habitat from being exploited. Please sign the online petition and support the cause.

www.change.org/petitions/the-chief-minister-vidhana-soudha-bangalore-stop-the-development-of-a-theme-park-on-the-grassland-near-hesaraghatta?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=friends_wall

The majestic Savandurga monolith

I have done quite a few treks and trips before starting this blog. Those memories are fresh as ever in my mind. Since I won’t be doing much travelling until May, I thought, why not record the past here to relive the days I spent seeing new places or tiring myself out with a trek. This will be a series of posts in which I shall write about my past experiences on the road.

I’ll go back to my Savandurga climb, in this post. Sadly I am not able to find the pictures as I formatted my laptop a while ago. I shall upload them once I find them.

Savandurga is a monolith, considered one of the largest in Asia. With a height of 1226m above sea level, it is pretty huge and intimidating for a first timer. I have climbed it twice until now, and each time have had the feeling of having climbed to the top of the world. It was so exhilarating. And the fact that I haven’t climbed any other monoliths makes it special to me.

We hired a vehicle to reach the base, where there is a temple. I didn’t visit the temple though. I was more excited to crane my neck and see the huge rock in front of me. It is convenient to have a vehicle at your disposal as I’m not sure about the frequency of buses.

The first time I climbed it, we arrived late and by the time we reached the top it was past lunch time. But we couldn’t care less. I couldn’t care less. The feeling of having won the world and standing right now on top of it had crept into my mind. Endorphins do that to you, don’t they? To say that we were all exhilarated would be an understatement. It was pure bliss to sit at the mantapa and stare at the vast world behind me. I tend to get a tad philosophical at those times, where I get to be one with the nature. And I did have a quick introspection at that moment.

It was adventurous to sit on a rock that extends to form a sitting surface but a dangerous one. Sadly we had to start back, as it was getting cloudy and the sun started moving fast towards the west. We had our packed lunch near a tree.

We met barefoot village climbers both while climbing up and down. Now when the sun was going down, people who saw us still having lunch casually told us that it is a Bear territory and they come for a stroll during twilight. At first we took it lightly. We might have been fooled by the adrenaline rush that we still were in. Once we started climbing it soon became overcast and started to rain when we were still midway. It was so heavy we couldn’t move forward. The rock became slippery with the flowing water and we had no cover (its a rock remember!) We stood wherever we were and some took shelter under small rock projections but we all were aware that we soon had to reach the base. My heart started thudding with all the stories that the locals had told us. And we kind of lost the route to climbing down and that delayed us.

However, there was one villager who had became friendly with the boys and was talking to them and accompanying us. It is he who showed us the way back. When we finally reached the ground, we were soaking wet and terribly cold. We hadn’t anticipated the rain so no change of clothes. So the same clothes for travel it had to be. Thankfully Savandurga is quite nearby to Bangalore and we were a big group so we managed to have fun while shivering.

I would never forget the feeling my first climb gave me. I hadn’t done any treks before this. And now that I knew how it felt I knew what I would be doing in my free time.

I have done a second climb with another set of friends. We had been to the Big Banyan tree on the way and post climb stopped at a small lake where the guys took a dip in chilling water. Needless to mention that I loved this climb too. And would love it however many times I do it.

Why I can’t not travel

Some people can’t be alone and some people can only be alone, some people like staying at home watching TV or meeting friends in a mall or something for a party. We all have our reasons to do what we do. It mainly being, our like or dislike for something. That is the first reason for me not to stay at home all the time. Because I don’t like it. But it used to be a lot different earlier.

Flashback to my earlier days (say when I was in college). I loved being left to my own devices. I was mostly found with a book, reading or with a notepad and pencil in hand, sketching. I didn’t like meeting people (grownups to be specific) though I liked making friends at college I was not so conversative with others my age I met outside of class. To be brief, I didn’t have many options to spend my time and I made do with what I had at hand. Even in the so called parties and gatherings I used to grab a magazine and read cover to cover just for something to do to keep from talking mundane to others. I was simply not interested in gossip and no constructive conversation happens at such places.

If I come to think of it, I never once felt the need to just get out of the house and take a walk. That was how I was conditioned and being a small south Indian town, my place didn’t offer much avenues there either. And if I did it, I’d probably become talk of the town, me being a girl and all. Not that I cared, but my parents sure did.

Flash forward to now.
If I stay at Bangalore for more than 3 weekends in a row, I’m sure to feel stuck and irritated, like I’m caged. Too bad for a free-souled (ha! a new word). On second thoughts, I might have got that from S. Can travelling be contagious?
The idea of packing my bags and seeing a new place excites me. It is the ‘unknown’ that does the magic. How the experience of the same journey is different everytime tickles me, opening my mind for the games of snakelike paths.

Also scientifically, the more energy we expend in trekking/running/exercising, the more is the production of endorphins and adrenaline. They simply make you feel good and happy. Yes, despite all those sore muscles. So everytime I get back from a travel or trek, however short it might be, I am rejuvinated. Though I feel tired, there is a new found shine on my face and twinkle in my eyes. I acquire the zeal to go through life, like every day is new and the power of being able see things in a new light. It is so good it’s almost philosophical.

So yes, thats why I can’t not be on the road. If you are reading this, do drop in your thoughts. Why can’t you not be on the road?

Bababudangiri to Kemmangundi trek pics

Its coming late, however, its not like someone is waiting for me to post. I’m essentially recording my trips so I have something to look back and smile in my old age. That sounds like a plan

And the credit for all snaps uploaded until now goes to ‘S’. Please refrain from copying or using it without written consent from me.

Also here you can find the links for the trek details:

1.http://trektraveltadka.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/welcoming-the-new-year-in-the-hills/

2.http://trektraveltadka.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/bababudangiri-kemmangundi-part-ii/

 

So here I go.

Marching on - The beginning of the long walk

Spot the trail on the mountains

The shot taken from our campsite late in the evening

Stream at the campsite

On our way to the British bungalow

The British bungalow from a distance

Climbind down and on our way to Kemmangundi

The steep climb down to reach K-gundi

Sculpture at the park after climbing down where we got some fresh water to cleanup

Mishap on Ombattu Gudda trek

“A student from BMS college drowned in the falls while on a trek to Ombhattu Gudda with his friends.”
I’m sure by now all the trekking world knows the news. However, I don’t want to write about how it happened. The media has hyped a lot about how there were girls too in the trek (as if its a bad thing) and how the forest was infested with wild animals.
While I feel terribly sorry for the boy and his family, I also feel angry at their stupidity. Ofcourse this could happen to anybody anywhere. But when it happens at a tourist spot it is a different thing. When you deliberately go into a forest and get into wild waters, it’s not a joke.

I’ve made the first line bold so it serves as a warning to the amateurs who would want to venture out there for fun. Trust me S has been there and it’s the toughest trek in Karnataka. There is no trail for most of the way and the chances of getting lost are just too many. Forest is humid and houses lakhs and crores of leeches. There are bushes and trees everywhere and some trails can be misleading. Can’t get out without a guide/map/compass/GPS. These details have easily put off S from including me in this trek. But I guess the word ‘trek’ has become a fad these days and every other person thinks they can do it, even if they don’t know what it is. I feel sorry.

A little note of request/s from me or rather from all the passionate trekkers.

1. Please refrain from doing something you don’t have much idea about.
2. Please consult experienced people before planning treks.
3. Please hire an experienced guide, he might cost more but he also knows what he’s doing.
4. Don’t monkey around when you’re on a trek. You are out of civilized world and in the wild territory.
5. Pay attention to nature and your surroundings.
6. Refrain from infringing the wild life with loud shouts and music.
7. Please consider the word of caution as seriously as possible.
8. Always prepare for the worst.

Hope the boy’s soul rest in peace.

Update: Post by Poorna Prajna on the same. Also few more pointers