Trekking Unlimited — Mystic Velliyangiri Mountains – TamilNadu, India

My obsession with Velliyangiri Mountains started some 3 years back when I started hearing/reading about this mountain. The trip never materialized and it evaded me for quite some time until Shankar picked up this idea all of a sudden and called me if I am up to it. I latched on to the idea and said “Game ON”.

My cousins (3 of them – Shankar, Vignesh, and Arun) are based out from Coimbatore, closeby to the mountains and 1 of them (Vignesh) have been to this mountain before. So I pretty much do not have to worry about the logistics/planning.

On a perfect early Saturday morning, I boarded a private bus from the ever-busy Silk Board Bus stop from Bangalore and reached Coimbatore by Saturday afternoon around 12 PM. The National Highway (NH48) is a belter which made the 6-hour journey nice and comfortable. Coimbatore disappointed me being super hot and Shankar picked me up from the Gandhipuram bus stand and we went straight to my cousins home before gulping some tender coconut water and a couple of glasses of cold buttermilk. It is a general custom in most parts of Tamilnadu that people provide buttermilk/water for the needy people in the scorching summer heat.

One thing I admire in India is the hospitability that the hosts extend to their guests. In my cousin’s home, they were waiting for my arrival without eating and I was extended a warm welcome, provided an amazing south Indian food and had a good chat until evening to start our journey. In fact, I was treated like their own son which gave me many life lessons making me ponder that sometimes I am chasing the wrong priorities all my life.

After a sumptuous lunch and playing with Papa (I guess Labrador!!!) we then took two bikes and 4 of them totally started from Sundapalayam, Coimbatore to Poondi Temple (Foothills of Velliyangiri Mountain) where the trek starts. The journey was pleasant with farmlands and soothing climate with signboards warning of wild Elephants. The journey goes through Isha Foundation (a popular tourist destination now brimming with foreigners, thanks to the yoga cult that the western world adopted). NO, Not that Wild Wild Country thing!!!!

Isha Yoga Center, Did not take any pics, as it was all late night 😦

I had been to Isha Yoga Center before and hence I skipped visiting the same. If you are planning, I would strongly suggest you to first visit Isha Yoga Center sometime in the evening and have a dip in the swimming pool there and then head towards the Poondi Velliyangiri Andavar Temple (which is 2 KM from there) after visiting the Adiyogi Statue (112 Feet Statue).

Velliyangiri Mountains, for most of the people, is a spiritual trek and is revered as one of the holiest mountains in Hinduism dedicated to Lord Shiva (The Destroyer). Shiva is regarded as one of the supreme beings in Hinduism who creates, protects and transforms the universe.

I will leave it to your judgment on whether you would want to trek this place for your spiritual fulfillment (or) for its sheer beauty, but I would suggest in either case, this place is a must-go and an off-beat and one of the challenging trekking places in Tamil Nadu.

On the top of the mountain is a cave where a natural rock formation of a Shiva Linga (aniconic representation of Lord Shiva) gracing the cave. There are other deities sculpted inside the cave with locals administrating the cave with daily Hindu temple rituals happening throughout the day.

To reach the cave at the top, we would have to technically traverse through seven mountains and the cave is located at an elevation of 1778m (5833 ft) above sea level.

Most of the devotees trek barefoot, but we are also allowed to trek with shoes. One Caveat is women aged above 10 and below 45 are not allowed to trek this hill due to the religious sentiments. The trek is open every year starting February till May end and we can trek both day/night anytime 24 hours a day. I would strongly suggest starting climbing in the evening after 5 PM IST or at night as this place can get extremely hot and dry in the summer.

This hill has historical and mythological significance and there is a story associated with this hill which is quite interesting for history buffs. For Geography Buffs, feel free to skip this section 😀

History:

History says that there was a young woman (incarnation of Lord Parvati) who was madly in love with Lord Shiva himself.  She wanted to marry Lord Shiva himself and took an oath that she will die standing in penance if Shiva did not come within the mentioned timeframe before sunrise to tie the wedding knot.

On hearing this, Lord Shiva was mightly pleased and started descending from his holy abode of Mount Kailash (now in Tibet) and started his dart towards the South of India. The other gods, who realized that he might not return if he is married to this woman conspired and created a false sunrise (by lighting huge mounds of camphor) one day before the provided deadline.

Shiva who was just 22 Kilometers away (from where the maiden was — which is today called as Kanyakumari, the tip of South India) started walking back dishearted. Being morose with the feeling of guilt and dejection, it is said that he scaled this mountain in solitary and he sat here in a certain kind of despondency and anger about himself.

The maiden then left her body standing and there stands a shrine dedicated to this maiden at the southern tip of India for her absolute sacrifice, which is also an important tourist destination in India.

Since Shiva himself graced this mountain, this place is called as “Thenkailayam/South Kailash” and is revered by many.

My Experience:

Trek starts at Poondi Velliyangiri Andavar temple where Annadanam (Free Food) is served round the clock by devotees/volunteers. A bamboo stick is available in the base of the temple for a nominal fee (₹ 30 INR) and I would suggest buying one as this helps downhill unequivocally.

At Poondi Temple, Start of the Trek, See the Excitement 😀

At the entrance, there is a forest officer check post where plastics are checked. They ask all the devotees/trekkers to transfer the items and hence we would suggest you to avoid getting plastics in the first place. Try avoiding plastic mineral water bottles and load yourself with a good water bottle and load them with lots of water with Glucose. (you would thank me later!!).

As said earlier, this trek is a daunting ask for someone with an as sedentary lifestyle as mine and hence you can take cue with my experience in crossing the 7 exciting undulations to reach the summit.

First Hill is probably the toughest and is an energy-sapper. The first hill is full of steps, but steep ones. It takes out all your confidence and was it not been a temple, I would have cussed and foul-mouthed all day long. I still did, but it was all inside my head. I was telling our guys to keep going and not wait for me as I thought I would not make it. For a seasoned guy, the first hill takes close to 45 minutes, but it took more than an hour for us as we took frequent breaks.

We trekked on a no-moon day and started around 21:00 hours, but to our surprise, it was a serpentine queue. Right throughout the trek, there were mobile phones all around which acted as a source of light in the night hours. I never expected this crowd and was displeased as there were close to 2000 people scaling this mountain at night.

Pat yourself when you reach out to a place called “Vella Vinayagar Kovil”/ “White Ganesh Temple”, as this is technically the first hill that you had summited. There are shops selling soft drinks and beverages like Dry Ginger Tea, Lemon Juice, Butter Milk and other refreshments at the end of the first hill near the temple. Get yourself re-hydrated and let’s start the second one.

I assure you will get a mixed feeling of satisfaction and anxiety peeping in when you know that the first hill is completed and knowing that there are technically 6 more hills to complete.

You are on the second hill when you realize that the steps started to decrease and it will be a combination of steps and plains. It is comparatively easier than the first guy. However, there is a place called “Vazhuku Parai”/”Slippery Rock” where the small steps are carved in a rock. You have to be cognizant during this phase. Head further and at this point, I have started feeling better and my body started responding better for this trek.

End of Second Hill is when we reach “Pambaati Siddhar”/”Snake Charmer” cave. This is where “Paambati Siddhar” is said to have meditated as there is also a freshwater stream nearby.

Pambatti Sitthar Cave, 2nd Hill 🙂

Historically, “Siddhas” refers to the people who were early age wandering adepts that dominated ancient Tamil teaching and philosophy. They were knowledgeable in medicine, science, technology, astronomy, literature, fine arts, music, drama, dance and has documented all their learnings as poems/hymns. They are believed to be capable of defying death by attaining Siddhi and believed to be living in these mountains at a higher level of consciousness in a meditated state.

The third Hill is relatively easy as well and the route is interlaced with tree roots and hard rocks. We can understand that the third hill is completed when we reach “Kai Thatti Sunai”/”Clapping Hands Stream”. Mythology states that this stream’s force increases when one claps their hands, but I will leave it to your imaginations to visit and check that out.

It takes 60-70 minutes to complete the 2nd and 3rd hill together. We lazy bum’s rested in more than one place between the trek, we just rested more often than required and ended up taking close to 3 hours to complete these 3 hills.

The landscape of the mountain changes quickly after the 3rd hill and the lush deciduous thick canopy of forests changes to “Shola” grasslands. Fourth and Fifth hill turned out to be fun and chill as it was all plains. The weather started getting cold and I was enjoying this part of the trek.

Somewhere between!!!!

There were some shops here as well and we had a nice “Herbal Soup” and “Parutthi Pal”/”Cotton Seeds Milk”.  It took another 45 minutes to 60 minutes to complete this 4th and 5th hill if you trek without any stops.

Some people refer 4th hill as “Vibuthi Malai/Limestone Hill” and en route, we can find “Siddhar Ottar Samadhi/Ottar’s Place” which refers to a state of meditative consciousness At the end of the 5th hill, you can find “Bheeman Kali Urundai/Bheema’s Handful of Food”). Bheema’s Handful of Food is a unique rock in the shape of a huge ball which stands without any support at the end of the 5th mountain.

These names are quite intriguing and interesting providing wide reference to the legendary tale of Mahabharata.

Sixth Hill was a teaser to what awaits in the seventh mountain. All your romantic hillside strolls come to an end. We have to get downhill which is a steep one and then climb up.

This phase is called “Naalu Kaal Malai/Four-Legged Mountain”, where we literally have to sit and crawl with both your hands and legs to get down and hence the name. You can find this place with makeover bamboo shafts and at the end of the 6th hill, we can find “Aandi Sunai/Aandi Stream and “Brahma Theertham/Brahma Pond”. The sixth hill is relatively tough and it would take 45-60 minutes to complete this hill.

I strongly recommend you to have a dip at this pond and I assure you that this one would be a classic. You will feel energized after this dip and the aura would be unmatching. You would feel positive and all that stress and negative things that we had accumulated over the years dissipates as soon as we have a dip.

Its the 07th Hill, and you can understand it from my lousy photo!!!! No strength to really take a pic!!!!

Don’t feel threatened looking at the 07th hill and this is a final push and the scariest one. This one is damn steep, but at first sight, it would look as if the temple is reachable. It would turn out to be an eternal climb and would frustrate you till the last moment. Make sure you have plenty of Glucose/Water with you as will find this hill tough.

 

We took a lot of rests in the 07th hill and gulped glucose in each halt. After a strenuous 60-70 minutes of trekking, we reached the summit where a huge natural cave which in itself a temple was in our sight.

It was an overall enjoyable and exhausting uphill journey where it took 7 hours for us to reach the summit. We started at 21:00 PM and reached the cave at 03:15 AM. It will not take this long for others and typically for an experienced trekker, it should not take more than 6 hours. Since we were tired and we also rested midway and were immersed in our life discussions, we almost took a break close to 90+ minutes overall and that increased our overall timings.

At the top of the hill, we were welcomed by strong gusty howling winds which were both magical and scary.  The view was mesmerizing and the place was mystical but could definitely find some good vibes around. Being an ardent Shiva admirer and a mountain enthusiast, this place was perfectly laced for me to let my crazy soul unwind. Once again, I felt peace with myself, as with every mountain summits I reach.

Top of the Hill, but the crowd 😀

Since it was a no-moon day and there were so many people around, we had no choice but to climb down fast and reach the base before 10 AM. Otherwise, things can get pretty messy with the summer heat waiting to dehydrate and burn your feet if you are walking barefoot.

If you think that getting down would be a cakewalk compared to walking uphill, think twice. Downhill can get very tricky and more dangerous and if you make one little mistake, you probably can reach downhill must faster, but definitely not alive!!!. This is where you will appreciate the bamboo stick that you bought at the foothills.

We started downhill at 04:00 AM IST and it took another solid 5 hours to reach the foothills.

My downhill experience was mostly playing “High Jump”. I imagined myself being a fisherman, sticking the bamboo stick on each rock and after making sure it is fixed, propelling myself getting down with that support. Each step I took downhill was a jolt to my back and knees and I could hear my legs shouting at me indiscriminately to have a break.

Sipping “Sukku Malli Kaapi/Dry Ginger and Coriander Tea” in the morning wee hours was an absolute bliss which will echo in my mind whenever Velliyangiri comes to my mind.

At the same time, it was magical when we came downhill, as we were able to see the magical sunrise, Bheeman Rice ball, Siruvani Dam, Isha Adiyogi Statue (112 Feet high) which was hiding in the pitch dark when we were climbing uphill.

After reaching downhill, we were again offered Annadanam/Free Food which we gleefully accepted and headed straight to my relation’s home to heal my punctured legs 🙂

With lots of good memories and profound satisfaction, I guided my way back to Bangalore with these memories unwilling to fade away even in the mundane life ahead.

How do you Get There:

Coimbatore is the nearest city and is well connected by air, rail, and road. From Coimbatore, there are public buses and share autos plying to Iskcon Yoga Center and also to Poondi temple.

By car, you can directly reach the below location:

https://goo.gl/maps/XRkdeFCFLHVc7r6r6

Things to Remember:

1. Water Bottles. (Although there are natural spring waters in the 2nd,3th, and 06th hill, it is wise to carry the water bottles with water, as the streams cannot be reliable in the summers).
2. Sleeping Bag/Tent.
3. Glucose/Chocolates/Energy Bars.
4. Raincoat (only if you are trekking in the rainy season).
5. There are no accommodations both at the foothills/at the top of the mountain. However, there are very good accommodations near Isha Yoga Center and in Coimbatore.

Always remember to travel light.

Feel free to throw in your comments and your feedback and I would love to hear from your experiences as well if you have been here.

I would also love to help if you need any help setting up this tour and make this a memorable experience. See you next time and until then Ciao 🙂

Happy Travelling,

Wanderer.

 

Witness Sunrise at Makalidurga Hillock – Bangalore Diaries

Trekking Makalidurga, a small hillock (1,117m above sea level) almost 87KM from my home in Bangalore was always on my wishlist.

The wish evaded me though for some time until my friend called me and asked whether I would be in for the night trek to Makalidurga. I pounced on that opportunity without any second thought and the journey materialized.

Soon, a group of 5 members in no time got involved and decided to travel by car. Started our trip at 02 AM in the morning as we had multiple stop-overs to pick each one up. (By now, I understand the real pain of Uber Pool drivers) By the time we had everyone in the car, it was already 03:45 AM in the morning.

Google Maps promptly put forward its consideration that we would reach the destination around 05 AM in the morning and usually, he’s spot on. Another brownie to this trek is that it is well documented and the routes are pretty clear.

We navigated to the Makalidurga Parking lot and followed the below route.

Electronic City -> HAL -> ShivajiNagar -> Mekri Circle -> Yelahanka (Take a left here) -> Doddaballapura -> Makalidurga Parking Spot.

As soon as you reach Makalipura Parking, you could see the railway line crossing. There was even a forest official at the base of the trail. You could pre-book the tickets online on the Myecotrip portal (which by the way is a Karnataka Forest Department Website).

Temple at the Base – Starting Point

Spell-Bound with the breeze here!!!

Makalidurga Hill

We crossed the railway line and started our trek at Muthurayaswamy Temple around 05 AM in the morning. It was pitch dark with no visibility and torches were our only saviors. The forest officials cautioned us to follow the painted arrow lines along the route to reach the fort and the temple at the top.

The route is pretty rugged and secluded. The vegetation was scarce and notably, there are no signs of animals or birds or even reptiles for that matter.

It was pitch dark and we started climbing. Initially, the route appeared pretty normal with no real sign of danger but as it progressed, we could sense the danger as it was pretty steep and wild. As we were progressing, I could sense visible changes in my breathing pattern and it was getting difficult but not alarming.

Pics taken downhill – thanks to the sunlight!!

There was no real support to hold on to anything and it was steep, but at the same time, it was not unattainable. It was pretty reasonable but my mundane lifestyle backed by my desk job made it look difficult.

Heard from the forest officials that this trek route uphill is almost 4 KM and it would take up to 2-3 hours depending on our ability. The only good thing to rejoice is that we were marching aggressively and completed this trek in less than 90 minutes. One primary reason being, we don’t want to miss the sunrise.

Hyper- Emotional !!!!!!!!!!

The walk got interesting with sun-rays slowly penetrating and the backdrop being an artistic lake. The view along with the lake was completely surreal and we continued to march forward.

First View of the Ruined Fort Walls

Probably the Entrance!!!

I was now able to see the first glimpse of the ruined fort walls and told to my myself that we are near.  A couple of fort walls along with a temple at the top is all it was there, but the sunrise is impeccable.

Beauty is – The sunrays penetrates directly and falls straight into Lord Shiva

Small temple structure raised atop for Lord Shiva

Had a good time with my buddies and we started descending around 8 PM and reached the base at 09:00 AM. Finished the trip with a nice sumptuous Karnataka styled breakfast at one of the road-side restaurants and ended this trip in style.

Overall a beautiful half day trek ended at 11:30 AM and back to my classical sofa ways, idling my way out in the other half of the day.

Cheers and see you again,

Wanderers.

 

 

Zero to 17582 AMSL – La and Passes.

Should a man be contented with what he has or should we try being extraordinary? This particular query haunts me every time and before I respond, this ordinary guy always has perpetual love towards Ladakh.

Leh-Ladakh is not for the habitual, but for the crazy set of people. Keep reading if you are extraordinary or visit this page when you are ready.

There are some handful of articles which touch upon the do’s and don’t when you are in Ladakh. I have browsed the same pieces of stuff over and over again, so I am not going to make it more boring but will give away my authentic experiences and the novice snafu.

For an equatorial sweltering guy accustoming 18k ASL from 0 ASL is a shock to my system (both physical and mental) that cannot be explained. Anyways I will strive to add integrity. This journal is my perspective with the lessons accumulated from this foray and I will allow myself to avert the obvious contents I gazed many days before this expedition.

Trepidation took over as soon as I chose to confront Ladakh. It was not a conventional 10-15 day itinerary as we could not afford the time and we had to curtail to an 8-day trip and still draw the nectar out of the expedition.

Being an 8-day trip, our planning had to be precise. We narrowed down the places and since it was an 8-day trip, biking the world famous Manali-Leh roadway is not an option for us.

Deepak and Parthiban were up to this trip from my office and my friend Prasanna is always ready for this kind of a trip. So we 4 grouped up and started with the obvious of opening up the WhatsApp group titled “History in Making – Leh”  (yea, that sounds silly 😛 ).

DAY – 1 (Bangalore-Delhi-Leh)

Started at 02:00 AM from my home to Bangalore International Airport with mixed feelings and boarded the Jet Airways at 05:30 to Leh with Delhi as a stopover. Reached  T3 Terminal, Delhi around 08:00 and had an immediate flight to Leh (lucky me at the same terminal). Had it been another terminal I would have never made it, since this airport is so huge and intimidating.

This particular journey from Delhi to Leh will etch in my mind forever since it is the first time, I witnessed the snow-clad mountains. I may have looked silly the perfect analogy being an 8-year-old refusing to move out from his window seat of the moving train with his mouth open astonished, but I did not care!!

Leh is magically placed at an altitude of 13000 feet above sea level. There was even an announcement from the cabin crew subtlety warning us of the effects and consequences it would have on our body making me little hawky.

The Rinpoche Airport was notably small but had a Tibetan home feeling attached to it. We hired a cab from the airport to the guest house for 300 INR.

Small airport, but Cozy 🙂

We had to acclimatize and decided to give our body the time to normalize. I could see immediate changes, the breathing went short, Walking some distance made me running out of breath.

The hospitality was amazing and had a nice sumptuous meal and welcomed in by our guests. Unwinded at the guest house and then started to look out for the bikes and permits.

Ginger- Lemon – Honey Tea — The best tea I ever had and my affinity to this grew stronger each day 🙂

Do note that we need to take ILP (Inner Line Permit) even for Indians and that cost us around 600 INR.

Now, this is an ultimate and most anxious moment in my life. I have never in my life tried a Royal Enfield before and the first time I touch this bike is these rugged roads (I mean the real roads might take offense if I call these as roads!!!).

I musted my courage and gave it a try. I tried both Avenger and Enfield Classic 350cc. Avenger was not an option for me as I was not really comfortable given my height, leaving me with Classic.

Enfield was smooth and I instantly accepted the bike and were all set for the long and tiring challenge.

DAY – 2 (Leh-Khardung La- Nubra- Sumur – 140KM)

All our plans of starting at 9 AM went in vain as we all started at 12:15 PM after the bike renting formalities and obtaining permits and the ridiculous traffic at Leh.

Leh to Khardungla is just 40 Km with a clean stretch but the altitude gain is almost 5000 feet higher.

We started from Leh passed South Pullu (where there is a military check post and we need to show our permits). We halted there, had a routine Maggi and Chai and started to Khardungla.

South Pullu Village, Near the Army Checkpost.

Khardungla needs no introduction and is touted as the highest motorable road in the world (17582ft) but the claim is an arguable one.

Mana Pass along the India-Tibet border is the highest motorable road with a 18192ft above sea level.

But do I really need to care? It is one of the highest points and the boards claim so and that’s enough for me to rejoice.

Reached around 2 PM. The place where I first touched the snow and played like a child.

Ice-Capped Khardungla and a natural ice slider to rejoice — First Time Experience 🙂

Khardungla has a cafeteria, gompa (Buddhist temple), military Outpost and souvenir shop.

Hiking the gompa will be your highpoints. It just has 100-150 steps and you would have to catch up with your breathe if you try to climb. Nevertheless a wonderful experience to savour.

Buddhist Temple, Khardungla

Hindu Temple, Khardungla – Now, that’s called Diversity and we are proud of it 🙂

We then started our journey to the famous Nubra Valley. The ride from Khardungla to North Pullu village is a drivers nightmare. North Pullu to Nubra Valley road is a better. The views were fascinating and at each minute you will have to take a decision on whether to look mesmerized and get lost in the views or to look at the roads and be alive.

North Pullu Village, Khardungla to Nubra Valley

Sign Boards on North Pullu

North Pullu Dine-In Restaurant 😀

North Pullu to Khalsar offers all that you seek. Mountain pass, Valley, Snows, Zanskar River by your side, do we need more?

Dried Up Zanskar River

Khalsar Valley

Zanskar River, Near Nubra Valley

After Khalsar, the road to Sumur goes straight and takes left for Diskit and Hunder Valley.

It was 7PM we reached Sumur Valley and camped at Tiger Camp. After a wonderful but not so exhaustive ride had a really good bonfire at the camp and finally hit the bed.

DAY -3 (Nubra-Diskit-Leh – 180KM)

We were discussing our plans to our guest house guy named Jimmy and he told us that the road from Nubra Valley to Pangong Tso via Shyok is blocked (due to weather issues) and that made us change our entire plan and all our accommodation plans went for a toss. (Later we came to know that the route was opened a day before and cursed ourselves for not checking correctly and this is another story to rant!!!)

That left us with an option of going back to Leh and will make us probably lose two full days. But did we have a choice? Hell No, we gotta respect and listen to the mountains. She is mostly right.

We went to Sumur Sand Dunes, there were these local kids who accompanied us on the way. Had a really great time till noon and then started to Diskit around 12:30 PM. the road from Khalsar to Diskit right in between the Zanskar River is unreal. There was very less water in it and that gave us the access to that road.

Nubra River, Sumur Village

Went to Diskit Monastery with big Buddha statue showing us the way. From Diskit we started at 03:00 PM and had to cover almost 115km to Leh.

Diskit Monastery, Diskit Village (En-Route Nubra Valley)

That set us with the panic button and everyone raced to reach Leh before the sunset.

I was left behind as I stopped and rested for some time in North Pullu. I really freaked out around 05:00 PM realizing that I have not even reached Khardungla when the sun slowly disappearing and the darkness creeps in, lost my gloves Midway, cold and snow freezing my hand, not able to move my bike with exhausted and frozen hand, not a sight of help to seek, did not see any person for the last two hours, God that cannot be explained.

 

Reached Khardungla around 06:30 PM and I could see my friends waiting for me. Instead of heaving a sigh of relief, I almost went berserk and gave my piece of mind. The guys understood I am in distress and we moved on. I regret it now!!!

Then we made a pact that we move in groups looking at the side mirror and stop if someone cannot be spotted.

Reached our hotel at Leh around 08:00 PM. All our pre-planned accommodations are screwed and hence we took another room in the same guest house.

DAY – 4 (Leh-Shey-Thiksey-Hemis-Shakthi-Zingral-Changla-Durbuk-Tangste-Lukung-PangongTso – 225KM)

Starting late has become a habit for us by now and we know we again have a long run. We started from Leh at 11:00 AM and till Hemis the roads were fantastic (with Indus River casually flowing by our side). Once we reach Shakti, the roads went from good to worse and it was all barren with only puffs of dust flying all around.

Just to get an idea of what kind of roads we are talking about!!!  After a possible landslide.

It was undoubtedly my toughest drive and we took a couple of 5-liter petrol cans attached as there are no petrol bunks after Shakti.

The roads were so tough and bumpy that half of the petrol spilled over. My old Enfield bullet refused to climb unless I put him in first gear. Another 3 hours of the grueling ride, we reached Changla at 17590ft (claimed as the second highest motorable road) around 3pm and rested at Changla Cafe.

Momo’s and Maggi were soothing in that cold but were soon devastated after hearing that we are just halfway and there are another 3-4 hours to cover to reach the destination.

Started from Changla at 16:00 and the next round starts. Deepak’s Enfield started giving problems and hence we chose to exchange bikes.

This was my death moment, as soon as I rode that bike for some 3KM, could realize that the back wheel skids and to top it off, the normal back brakes weren’t as good as well.

I was terrified and stopped the bike for a minute, mustered courage and took off. This phase will my most treasured moment as I liked that fear that traveled within me.

Believe it or not, words are so powerful that can instantly change one’s mood and that’s a big life lesson I learned here.

When I was almost swearing that bike thinking my life is in danger, I saw this boarding from Indian Army.

There were so many captions all along, but I missed to take pic, blame it on our punctuality 😦

The energy levels almost shot up and suddenly after some time, I almost forgot the problems and my only goal was to finish my journey. I became so relaxed that I was racing first in the group and suddenly all problems with the bike in my head disappeared.

One of the crazy shigo saw en-route which made our day and made us going to Pangong Tso for sure.

We reached Tangste around 18:30 with another 40 KM. At least that’s what the board climbed.

It was pitch dark and we traveled like a snail. We were all visibly worried and we passed streams, glacial water retreats, missed our route near Phobrang, terrified near Lukung, then saw a board around 09:00 PM saying Pangong Tso lake in 4Km.

Now, this is an interesting part. We kept track of the KM and moved forward. We crossed 5KM and no signs of any people or lights near us. It was all pitch dark and wild dogs chasing!

Now we see a board saying “no entry beyond this points for all vehicles” along with warning signboards warning us of animals.

We then came to an agreement where it is dangerous to travel further as we are not sure whether we were coming in the right route and contemplating there could be wild dogs and snow leopards waiting for its prey. We turned and went back to the last village we passed and decided to take some room.

We went back to the Village where we saw a vehicle and they said us that it was the correct route and if we would have crossed the mountains, that’s where the destination is.

We tried to follow the vehicle, but that guy with a tempo was whizzing past us. We tried to catch him, but that seemed impossible. At least now we know that we are on the right route.

Around 10 PM, after crossing three dangerous life taking streams, the current was pretty strong, we finally saw the camp light and we became normal.

The tempo which guided us was waiting for us outside our camp just to make sure that we are safe and are on the right route. As soon as they saw us, they waved us goodbye and resumed their F1 race. Lesson Learnt – Indians may look rough outside but has a soft heart, the perfect metaphor being a jackfruit and definitely not an onion.

It was must be 2° C around the lake and sleep evaded us that night because of the cold and breathlessness.

DAY – 5 (Chilling in Pangong Tso)

We again changed our plan and decided to make it a rest day as we did not want to ride the bikes again. We decided to skip the moon land of Lamayuru and decided to spend in Pangong.

We saw the first glimpse of the lake and wow, that was the first time, I saw a blue, green, violet shades all at the same time.

Pangong Tso, Place: Spangmik

Pangong Tso is at an altitude of 14270 ft and is 134 Km long saltwater lake. One third is in Indian territory and the rest is in the Chinese territory of Tibet).

Got my feet wet and chilled around for a day like a boss. I and my friends discussed how it feels like to do nothing without any gadgets and open up some random conversations to get it going.

Campfires just next to the lake were surreal, but the winds were playing spoilsport.  Had a nice dinner and finally went to bed.

DAY – 6 (Backtracing Leh from Pangong)

We all decided to start early (pretty much was worried about the stream) early morning the currents would be low and ideal. That made us get our ass going.

Started at 08:00 AM, by this time we are all pretty used to the intense biking. Reached Durmuk by 09:45 AM even though we grazed the grasslands for a photoshoot. Went close to Yaks as one could get and one more photoshoot near the Indian camp.

Reached Changla around 12 PM and relaxed for a bit and reached Shakti by 02:00 PM. That was quite a ride (with no real big stops).

We decided to visit Thiksey Monastery (must visit place), chilled around for quite some time there till 6 PM (has some good restaurant and a souvenir shop) and then started to Shey Palace.

This is one of its kind of a place with rugged and ruined fortress and we need to climb to reach the top which has a Monastery and a brilliant bird view of Leh.

Shey Tibetian Temple, Inside Shey Palace

Shey Fortress

Feeling High!!!

Thiksey Monastery, en-route Leh

Buddhish Prayer Bell, Believed to cure diseases

Thiksey Monastry

We started again by 07:00 PM and reached Leh at 08:00 PM and ended the day with a chocolate smoothie at an Old Tibetan Market. Well, to be frank, it was neither a chocolate nor a smoothie!!!

We hired a room again and then decided on the night (roughly around 11pm) to visit Srinagar. Booked the ticket by air to Srinagar and as far as I remember, this is the shortest plan and booking an air ticket for a flight I have ever made which is going to depart in 05 hours!!!

DAY – 7 (Salaam Srinagar)

We waved goodbye to Leh and started to Srinagar by 06:00 AM. Reached Srinagar by 09:00 AM and it was quite pleasant.

We booked a humongous houseboat for a mere 3000 INR in the famous Dal Lake which almost had everything right including WiFi.

Boat House inside the beautiful Dal Lake, Kashmir 🙂

For the techies, without internet for 5 days this was an evil catch. Parthi was ecstatic with the Wifi part that he even refused to come out to have a dinner 😉

The entire scenes changed as I could see curfew almost everywhere.  Tourism was dull mostly because of the internal turmoil. The interaction with Kashmiris was entirely different from the Ladhakis and I am astounded how much diversity India offers in one state.

It is her diversity that gives her greater respect and I hope we never lose that.

A sight opposite Srinagar International Airport, J&K, India

We chilled around Srinagar, the shikari (boat) ride around Dal Lake was nothing short of a fairytale.

Skikhari (Boat) Ride, Dal lake.

DAY – 8 (Srinagar back to Bangalore)

This was the last day of our epic journey. We got the experience of the lifetime. In a nutshell, From being Happy, Ecstatic, Anxious, Fear, Frustrated, Scenic, Alone, tired, nauseated, I do not think any other trip could offer all of these.

Leh-Ladakh is truly a lifetime trip and gives you an utmost satisfaction and fulfillment – the second exact reason why I chose to travel.

But impromptu trip can leave you with frustrations and hence sort out your trip in advance for a lifetime memorable journey.

Things to Carry:

Taking a print out of this page and checklists will avoid you many uncomfortable situations.

• Inner Line Permits (to be obtained in Leh).
• Sleep bags (needed even if you have booked an accommodation) on a road-trip.
• Medical aid (Diamox) and other essentials. This is a must if you are going on a road-trip as the roads tend to slip a lot.
• Appropriate Clothing. Weather in mountains are volatile and hence I would suggest you carry all the clothes keeping all the weather changes in mind. Another suggestion is to check the weather in the weather app and dress accordingly.
• Copy of all your Documents. Since you are traversing and wandering near the Indo-China borders, this one will come handy.
• Passport Size Photo.
• Zip Lockers (As it may rain anytime, you do not want your documents to go for a toss).
• 2 Shoes and loads of socks ( as there would be many streams midway of the road).
• Biking Accessories (Biking Gloves, Biking Jacket, Sun Ban Glass, Arm Guard, Knee Cap, Balaclava). You can get all of these for rent in the shops around Leh. There are too many shops for you to check and bargain.
• Cash. Not many ATM’s are there in Leh and hence load enough cash for your travel. I would suggest using the ATM near the airport. Most of the transactions that you do in Leh-Ladakh will be in cash and not digital.
• Routes are well documented, but there would be no cell phone towers. GPS Tracker or offline maps would definitely be helpful.

 

Overall it was an expedition which I cannot forget and will etch in my mind forever. I hope I return soon to this magical alien land away from all the hustles and bustles of the city before it is too late and this land becomes another casualty of civilization.

Catch you guys on my next blog and until then a warm Jullay to all my friends.

Cheers,

Wanderer 🙂

Day Trek to Shivgange Hills

Another trek was always on the cards, but was somehow getting postponed with no particular reason.

At last, the trip to Shivgange materialized. Me along with 4 of my colleagues (JJ, Man, Sharath and Param) jotted our plans and started our one day trip to Shivgange.

We hired zoom car from Bangalore and started our journey around 5 AM. We were a touch late to start as opposed to 4AM.JJ agreed to drive (with others just not as good as JJ) happily agreed to let him take charge with the car with me taking the official map guide (of course with my Google gps buddy along).

In spite of having GPS along, destination played some nasty tricks resulting in getting some friendly banter with my friends.

Somehow we managed to get to Nelamangala and the destination is just 16 KM from there.

We decided to have breakfast near the detour. We had some decent breakfast at some Upahar. The food was not that great, but had no intentions to complain as I guess that would be the best we would have got at that particular place.

We took the detour and The scenery changed from big highways to country roads, but still big for the size of the country road.

We are now able to see the mountain that we are going to scale. We made up our mind for a hot and sunny day as we were exposed to a bright sun as early as 7:30 AM.

First acquintance- Shivgange Hills

We reached to the base of the hill around 8 and started our ascent. Initially there were all apprehension on all our faces whether we can do it. We even joked to return instead of toiling hard as all the mountain tops would be the same and what is the fun going to the top knowing what’s in store for us.

Fully loaded – not knowing what’s in store for us 🙂

The mountain looked huge and to top it the sun looked scary. We know we are going to get dehydrated soon and we loaded ourself with good amount of water bottles.

I had one bottle of water stocked for myself and in the spree of selfie clicks, I just forgot to take the bottle along, doomsday started.

The terrain is completely mixed. There are steps initially, followed by rocks cut in the form of steps, no steps, plain rocks and it goes keeping ourselves guessing.

 

I could feel the heat literally finding it’s ways through my head and i got dehydrated so easily at the very beginning of the trek.

Thanks to my cubicle job, I have lost all my stamina and climbing the mountain looked impossible. It was a wake up call for me as I thought I would climb this mountain like a piece of cake. All my previous climbing experience became a joke and seeing how demanding mountains can be,I understood how each mountains demands it’s respect.

But then I know, if I get set and see through the initial phase, I would be lot more comfortable. At some point, I let my friends go past me and I decided to climb at my own pace.

 

Initially the sun was vigorous but then I decided to leave my ego behind and respect the terrain.I was skeptical but I don’t want to give up. So are the others. We all decided that we are not going to back down.

We took rest in regular intervals and made progress. This trek though is not teasing as Skandagiri Hills. It is all one steep terrain and we can see from the bottom as how much more left to scale. Since it was steep from the very beginning, i believe there would a lot of cuss words from our gang flowing in the air forgetting that we are in the temple zone.

It is all steep climb all over and we have to be in decent shape to get to the top. There were some places we have to negotiate and it took us almost two hours to reach the top.

There are small shops along the way and one need not worry about the resources. Starting lime juice the range goes till red bull.

There are several spots on the way that makes this trek not boring. There is a small temple Midway, A rush spring (ganga like water which is considered holy) and some ruined walls and shades to rest.

There is a belief here that if you reach out your hand and you are able to touch the water, you are considered lucky and those who cannot reach the water have sins and have to surrender to the god to wash away their sins.

Forget about reaching the water table, We were not even able to see the water – you can all judge us (sinners of the sinners) and more logical persons like us will counter that with summer time.

Then there is a small detour that takes us to a small nandi hill. If you have no time, keep walking straight, in mid way you can find a Shiva statue with his better half. After taking some rest, we again resumed our walk. This place is a pointer for you to understand that you have already covered close to 70%.

From here the terrain changes completely. It is all steep with vertical rock. There are iron boulders on both sides for support with rocks cut for grip. Without these support, it is impossible to climb for ordinary people.

Bull atop . Now don’t ask me how it came here 🙂

 

Spiritualism is one driving force here in India that makes people do things which they would not not even considered possible. I see people with 70 and 80 years climbing this peak with only thing in their mind – faith. Had it not been devotion to Shiva, they would have possibly not even tried to climb a stair.

Different people, Different beliefs.. but i seriously don’t understand how that wrist band came there !!!!

Back to the place, There are monkeys all around and there were fair warnings from the shop keepers and those who descend to keep a stick with you and be careful with your belongings.

The monkeys here are very notorious and if provoked can be potentially dangerous. They return in groups and you know you now have to get into a gang war – which is the least thing you ever wanted.

I did not have the sticks with me and that prompted me to do the most stupidest thing in my life.

I crossed the boulders and then tried to reach to the branch of the tree to grab a stick. That’s when I noticed how far I came away with slippery rock with no support and down I see clear death if I do one small mistake.

People started shouting asking me to return and for one moment I was taken aback. I gathered courage, decided not to panic and hold on a bit longer. I somehow managed to come back to the grid and cursed myself to not repeat this stupidest act ever.

By now I am accustomed to the climb and I started to climb with ease. This was the most interesting phase of the climb.

We stopped at one shop and had a good snack. We were all hungry and munched whatever the shopkeeper offered and resumed our walk.

From here it is all one narrow path with steep climb. One Amusing thing is this place can get heavily crowded making you stranded for hours. Hence make sure you do not go to that place whenever there is festival.

We now see hope. We finally reached the much hyped big Nandi statue which stands at the top of the rock. There is no place to stand other than the nandi statue. It can max accommodate one more guy and that’s it.

Even with the safety boulders and steps , this place is shit scaring. I remember, we still have to be super careful, one small mistake here would be a ticket to heaven. It is amazing how one can carve a statue here. It still is a mystery.

Nandi (Bull) Statue

After taking turns visiting this nandi statue and still taking turns to shoo away monkeys, one taking responsibility of our belongings and to give away nothing to the monkeys and come out victorious, it was all both fun and extremely challenging.

Straight opposite to nandi statue is the Shiva temple. You have to come down from this single rock and climb another rock in parallel to reach the temple. That technically is the summit.

Temple which is not so brilliant, but still worth visiting 🙂

Shiv Temple 🙂

There is a small temple with one shop at the top. Not to take away, the entire monkey population was there like a boss. I could have easily seen close to 150 monkeys not shying away and waiting for easy targets. We took close to 2 hours to reach the top.

We were there at the top for some 40 minutes. It was hot but the breeze made it manageable and comfortable. The view was absolutely stunning. It is a dry area and the vegetation is pretty scant.

However you can get a good lake view from the top. It was more of a completion of this trek that bring us joy. There is a small cave in the top. The temperatures change at a second we enter these caves. We relaxed there for a while.

Lake in the form of hearts…hmm that’s interesting 😉

This is my place and stay away!

Stone Boulders

Technically summited 🙂

Then we started our descent around 11:30. The descent was however pretty easy but as I said we have to very careful with our steps. The sun was at it’s best and we saw people starting their trek. I assume they are either strong willed or entirely crazy to start at 12.

It took 1 hour to descent and we raced to the bottom. On the way back, we got a chance to look around more carefully and guess what we spotted an abandoned Temple with only ruins left behind.

Temple Entrance

Beautiful Ganesha 🙂

 

The temple was guarded by no one other than monkeys and we went inside and took some rest inside.

One more interesting piece of art 🙂

We almost reached the base from there and we signed off the trek with some really exhausted but fulfilled faces. We were back to Bangalore by 3 PM.

Until next tour, see you guys, cheers from all of us 🙂

Trek Details –

Height – 1330m above MSL.

Place – Near Tumkur, Karnataka, India.

Distance from Bangalore – 60KM.

How to Reach – Easily accessible from Bangalore. Government Buses available from Bangalore Majestic Bus Stand to Shivgange but I would advise you to rent a car from Bangalore or Tumkur.

Trek Distance – 2 to 3 KM

Difficulty Level – Moderate.

Things to Carry – Water Bottle, Sunglasses, Energy Bars, Towel.

Temperature – Min and Max. Mostly hot and humid at times.

Clothing – Wear light dress preferably cotton ,but remember to wear appropriate clothes as it is a temple and it may invite some unwanted looks.

Note – Please keep your bag sealed and do not carry any eateries in your hand. Have your backpack safe from the monkeys and carry a stick with you.

Ayubowan and Vanakkam SriLanka

How many times do you get a chance to travel internationally ? Well, at least not that much to an middle class Indian like me 😉

I have read somewhere that young Indians are the most travel-deprived lot and that is true in many sense.  We all have it in us to wayfaring and yet miss to take that one substantial step towards it, showing the company how much we love it and even going to an extent of making our company’s CEO precarious and edgy with his job title.

Why am i enlightened and sound like a monk ?

Nah, that ain’t me 😀

Okay, let me get straight to the point. I am all awakened by this thought and equally thrilled just by hearing that I am getting a chance to travel to this South-Asian Buddhist Island (Okay, an Hindu Ruler named Ashoka who later converted himself to Buddhism and then carved his Buddhist identity all over this tropical island) but still i got to give some Buddhist Yen touches in this article. The euphoria however was that we are all going for a trip in company’s expense (I know you all crave for this, but just that little coy to accept it – Yeah, I get it :D).

I always feel connected to this piece of land and the culture. Sri Lanka is a land of vibrant culture, a fusion of race and ethnicity, constantly battling itself between modernism and conservatism, flourishes mainly on tourism and with all one’s heart derives pride with its easy going and warm people.

It was a constricted weekend trip from Bengaluru and we started from our journey on Friday night. Both the airports (Bangalore and Colombo) had a queer co-incidence of five hour check-in time owing to its revamp and we all indubitably know the time we should be starting to the airport from the office (we joked how a day is lost thanks to the Bangalore traffic!!!).

Few Selfies and Free WiFi’s were the norm and that was how the day turned out to be.We finally boarded the flight around Sat 12:40 AM. It was a tolerable 90 minute flight and we reached the Bandaranaike International Airport around the wee hours. We were then escorted to the Taj Samudra Hotel in a cushy private bus.

Welcoming the guests in Sri Lankan Style, @Bandaranayake Airport, Colombo

I had a tug-of-war with my sleep as I do not want to miss what’s in store for us. I refused to close my eyes in the bus even though it is as early as 02:00 AM. I wanted to see how Sri Lanka is and what better chance than to gaze, sitting in the window seat and trying to capture and process every detail in my head.

With what I had seen, the roads are not wide but is free from traffic. It is well planned and the roads are almost straight and not as serpentine as in India.It is a relatively clean country with good roads (I am sure about the rest, but at least in Colombo). Its commercial establishments and housing structures are akin to India. We had a warm welcome at Taj Samudra.

Taj Samudra, Colombo

This is my first luxury hotel experience and to spice it up, things became aces. My room was not available at the moment i checked in and they offered me a suite room. I couldn’t believe my luck and I happily accepted the offer cosily and I headed straight to slumber.

Wow moment for me 🙂

I knew we did have a tight schedule and barely had time to explore. But little did i know that there are not much variety in Colombo.

We had a nice sumptuous breakfast at Taj and headed our way out around 10. We first visited Galle Face Beach which is right opposite our hotel. It was a bright and a sunny day (exactly as how they start the commentary in a cricket test match) and I was so much home (nostalgic of my Chennai Beaches and weather) and not quite understanding why others were constantly complaining about the sun.

Taj from Galle Face Road, Colombo

Nice and clean Beach, Opp our hotel 🙂

Colombo Port Harbour , Galle Face

Must watch especially when the sun is happily playing hide and seek 🙂

We were then outside our hotel and were busy negotiating with an Tuk-Tuk guy and I tried my luck talking in Tamil. To my surprise, the auto driver agreed to guide us the city tour with half the cost – just because I am from India and I spoke in Tamil. I was little hesitant with the generous offer and was not comfortable riding a Tuk-Tuk in an unfamiliar city fear of getting ransacked popping in my mind, after all we are all biased with prejudice and took an Uber ride (who took 200 LKR) to the Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple patting myself on my back having taken a safer option.

There were constructions all along (with high rise buildings) and luxury hotels. Colombo is an aspiring global city with almost 5 million people. It was just a ten minute ride to the Gangaramaya temple and the journey was beautiful with colonial age buildings adding that extra bit of flavor.  Right from the airport, Buddha is almost everywhere and welcomes us with his enchanting looks.

Buddha

One more, say Buddha

More Buddha

Another Buddha

Okay, Buddha again 😉

Omnipresent Buddha

Buddha everywhere 🙂

The entry ticket to the temple costs 300 LKR which includes (Gangaramaya Temple and Seema Malaka temple and the Park). We were posing for pics with Buddha and heard the locals suggesting us not to show our back to Buddha. The irony however is Buddha is present on all 8 sides and I cannot avoid showing my back and yet tried hard respecting their beliefs and dancing our way outside which might have looked funny to the on-goers.

Gangaramaya Temple, Colombo

Sneak Peak @ some random Photo Shoot, Colombo

We then visited the Seema Malaka temple which is situated inside the lake. The lake is polluted but the architecture and the statues were nothing short of brilliance. We could also enjoy a beautiful coast line view and a flurry of high rise buildings. It is mostly an assertion of economic race between China and India, both trying to establish their soft power over Sri Lanka.

Seema Malaka Temple, Colombo

I Seriously thought, this building has collapsed :O. Checked twice to see if the building is doing alright 😉

Hanging Bridge, Gangaramaya Park. Going to the park and seeing only couples around, boy that was a big mistake 😀

There is Pettah Floating Market and Gems Market, which I could not visit much because of the lack of time. It was around 1 clock in the afternoon and we had a official conference to attend.  I had to come back to Taj and this time I made sure to correct my previous mistake. I hired a local auto guy. As soon as he heard us talking in Tamil, his eyes lit up and said he was very happy to meet us and escorted us back to the hotel. Even through the war is over and the nation is now peaceful, there is a visible grief among Sinhalese and Tamils and rightly so with the amount of human rights violations in the name of Civil War.

I made up my mind to visit the missing puzzles in my next visit. Viharamahadevi Park, National Museum of Colombo, National Zoo, Colombo Deutsch Museum, Couple of Casinos, Ponnambaleshwar Temple, and some other churches and mosques were on my itinerary and most importantly wanted to explore the Eastern and Nothern provinces of Sri Lanka.

After all the conference and Gala night at Taj Samudra, we packed our bags and headed to Bentota on a Sunday early morning, which is touted as the best water sport destination in Sri Lanka. It was a two hour drive from Colombo. We could literally experience the changes around us – with the city madness leaving behind and the rustic country charm creeping in, I know we are all for a treat.

We reached Palapittya and headed to Cinnamon Island via a ferry. Madu River was enchanting and it reminded me of my trips to the Kerala backwaters. The scene was no different either. We traversed the Mangrove swamps shaping the whole journey surreal. One amusing point in the boat ride was when we literally had to dodge the bridges each time the boat passes it. Some of the clicks were from my friends, and i hope they don’t mind publishing some of their wonderful pics.

Madu River

Lucky are those who live nearby this heaven 🙂

Mangrove Swamps, Palapitaya

It was a quiet 20 minutes to the Cinnamon Island. We were shown how Cinnamon sticks were made in Sri Lanka and it was an interesting session for me to understand how it was all hand made with so much ease and perfection. Sri Lanka is an biggest exporter of Cinnamon and the best in-class cinnamon are exported while the third class products are consumed by the local market.

Kingfisher, Madu River

No captions can ever describe this bliss 🙂

Cinnamon Island

Scenic,Scenic and more Scenic 🙂

We then had our lunch at Golden Grill Restaurant en-route Bentota, which is again so Indian. We then reached the much hyped Bentota water sports club. I must say it had few little options to try (Jet Skiing, Banana Ride, Tube Ride) and I never thought twice to experience these rides.

Banana Boat Ride

God knows why this name!!!

We then went to Kosgada Turtle Conservation Project where we i saw the mighty Olive Ridley Turtles (which is there only at Srilanka and the Eastern Coast of India (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa) for the first time in my life. I have heard about a similar conservation in Chennai around their breeding season but never got a chance to see it. There are so little turtles left and preserving is an absolute necessity. There are Green Turtles, Loggerheads, Hawksbill’s and Leatherback to name a few. All of them are endangered species and are at an brink of extinction.

F*ck the world…Let’s play.

Nobody cared to ask my name, never mind 🙂

220 Kilo Heavy Weight Champion, don’t mess with her 🙂

Holding it First Time, and this guy already seems pissed off 😀

After a brief turtle study, we headed to the beach. The sand was pristine and the weather was perfect. It was quite a dream to be in that kind of a location. I was rendered speechless and was quick to settle at one empty portion, with my mind still as a clear water and was so sitting in peace.

May your feet take you where your heart want to go 🙂

Tropical Beach, I must admit..sitting at the shore and enjoying the breeze…quite relaxing 🙂

We then followed it up with a stop to the local market in the middle of the highway to buy souvenirs and to do a bit of shopping. Once again the guide was reminding us for an early check-in and we had to start early to reach the Bandaranaike International Airport.

The willingness of the company to sponsor such a high paying trip and to top it all, being as one family irrespective of the position one holds is highly appreciable. The highlight of the tour was that we all went as a group of 190 people and returned as a family of one. We started and returned as INFA GCS.

Hail GCS..I am sandwiched somewhere, spot me and i will give you 1000 bucks 😀

Cheers and happy travelling,

Wanderer.

Standing against the Time for 1000 years – Gangai Konda Chozhapuram

For many of us, our Dad is our first hero. What if a man decides to follow his dad’s steps ? For a man, whose dad re-wrote the history books by capturing almost half of South Asia and built an engineering wonder, Is it possible for his son to match his charisma, yet add a personal signature to it, is that not a tough ask ? Even if he constructed such marvel, will it stand defying time ? This structure is a living testament to the rich legacies of a forgotten Chozha dynasty and about an Indian king called Rajendra Chozha 1 (1012 AD-1044 AD), son of Raja Raja Chozha who replicated the temple his father constructed in Tanjore.

Well, everyone who had travelled to the southern part of India called Tanjore, knows about 1000-year-old big temple called Brihadeeswarar Temple, but how many of us know that there is an exact replica of this temple situated very close to Tanjore. Yes, i am talking about a temple called Gangai Konda Chozhapuram. This temple along with its counterparts (Tanjore Big Temple and Darasuram Airavateswarar Temple) comes under the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as “Great Living Chola Temples”.

Myself along with my brother decided to go to some place to just kill away the time. He had completed his engineering and we went to his college for his convocation (Yes, my brother is no exception, he comes from India and doing an Engineering is an absolute compulsion – You throw a stone randomly in India and the chances are that it hits an engineer 9 out of 10 times). After the boring convocations, we both decided to travel to some random place we haven’t been to. We just took a local bus and moved along centers. We took a bus from Tanjore to Kumbakonam and from there took a local cab to reach Gangai Konda Chozhapuram.

The replica of the Tanjore Big Temple is now standing tall for almost close to 1000 years exactly like its peer and has an even more special history attached to it.

Chozhapuram Temple Premises – UNESCO World Heritage Site

Gangai Konda Chozhapuram Temple

Chozhas in their golden time had controlled many parts in and around south India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, parts of Malaysia, now parts of Singapore,Cambodia and parts of Thailand (even today the Thai kings are crowned with hymns of Thevaram (a Tamil devotional song to Lord Shiva).

This grandeur temple is constructed by Rajendra Chozha at 1020-1025 AD and it took him 9 years to complete this architecture marvel. The stones and water are believed to be brought from Ganges basin and they built this temple as a symbolic gesture of their victory over the northern parts of India. Hence it got its name, Gangai Konda Chozhapuram (Triumph over Ganga by the Chozhas)

Notice the huge granite ball at the apex of this structure.

Another View. The sunlight slowly evades us transforming itself to a wonderful night effect.

It is said that the granites all the way from North of India was brought to the South Of India through Elephants, Horses, and Donkeys. The majority of the constructions materials were shifted and moved by these animals as there were no transportations at that time.

Carvings made out of a Granite Block. Shows the intricate designs and the artistic skills

 

Situated at 10 km outside Jayamkondan town, lies this temple quite and untouched.It is quite hard to believe that this exact place thousand years ago was the epitome of trade,prosperity and was the capital city for Chozhas for more than 250 years.

Archaeological Society of India (ASI) record that there was a major catastrophe that hit this area several years ago brought down the civilization which led to the downfall of this region. This place was the capital of Chozhas at Rajendra Chozha’s time. The archaeological society of India has unearthed many sites around this temple town and villages surrounding Ariyalur. Recent excavations reveal major palaces leftovers and ruins that belong to the Chozha dynasty. Yet this great temple stood against nature and time. Only the outer gopuram (temple tower) has been destroyed and only the base of the structure remains now. The ruined stones were later sent to build the Anaicut nearby (which is a small check dam) across River Cauvery.

As soon as we enter, we can see the semi-destroyed temple tower. One can only imagine, how perfect it would have been if the tower has held good. Nevertheless, you can see the perfect line from outside. From outside, straight inside the temple gate, you can see the inner temple tower along with the Bull Statue followed by the main God (all in one straight line).

Main Entrance Temple Tower

Observe the Straight Line – Pardon my lousy photography and disregard the crowd 😀

 

The main attraction is the huge Nandi Statue (Bull)  and is made up of one single granite. I will give the size of this temple and leave it to your imagination. The temple is made by placing 153 blocks of granites (adjacent to each other) and is 175 feet high and 95 feet width.

Bull Statue – One single Granite rock.

 

Another View – Bull Statue

Similar to Brihadeeswara Temple, there is a huge granite monolith (which weighs several tonnes). It is said that the huge granite was moved atop by raising a slope and then moved to the top of the tower with the help of the elephants.

After the Bull Statue, at the entrance of the main sanctum, we can see a sculpture called as Dura Baragar who are the soldiers guarding the main deity. This statue is also made up of a single rock.

Sculptures in the Main Temple Tower

Amazing Details shows their expertise

You can see a lot of Tamil and Brahmi inscription in the walls of the temple, but there is an interesting fact attached to it. The inscriptions display their valour, war strength, their culture, their generosity and other hero stones. It is also said in the inscription that there will not be any consecration for this temple and until today, it still holds good. It is said in the inscriptions that there would be re-incarnation of a Chozha king and once he is reincarnated, only then the consecration takes place.

 

Temple Blocks allocated for Hindu Gods.

It was getting dark and my phone was not good enough. So spare my photos 😀

To the north of the temple lies a huge Lion monolith called as Simhakeni (Lion Well). According to the history, this is a well and it is believed that Rajendra after the victory of the Ganges, brought water from Ganga and poured into this well to sanctify it. While some others say that this is also a subway to escape if there is a war. This subway is believed to be connected to the Big Temple in Tanjore and other routes to the coast in order to escape via sea.

Lion Faced Well. Some argue there is both a well and a subway. No Not the kind of “Subway” you are looking out for 😀

Chozhas were great patrons of art and architecture which is quite visible. The trademark Nataraja statue shows their skill, the Tanjore Arts and Museum justifies it, this temple acts as a testimony to it. It feels like I have travelled back time with some time machine and could very well understand how our ancestors would have once lived a rich life.

Dedicated Temple Blocks to each God

Another View

Temple Tower

The ancient civilizations still amaze me on how developed we were and how we had lost our uniqueness and ethos by trying to mimic the West.

Travel Tips –

By Location- about 10 KM from Jayamkondan village. 40 KM from Kumbakonam and 80 KM from Tanjore, Tamil Nadu, India.

Nearest Railway Station – Kumbakonam. There are cabs available outside Kumbakonam Railway Station and Bus Stand to Gangai Konda Chozhapuram.

Nearest Airport – Trichy International Airport. 110 KM to Gangai Konda Chozhapuram.

Nearest Metropolitan City – Chennai, formerly known as Madras is the capital of Tamil Nadu and is 255 KM far from Gangai Konda Chozhapuram.

Temperature can become very hot and sultry in the summer and hence wear light cotton clothing and keep yourself hydrated.

Travel with locals and experience the hospitality and don’t miss the traditional Tamil food served in a big plantain leaf.

You can collect souvenirs if you have a chance to visit Tanjore. Tanjore paintings and Tanjore Dolls and Tanjore Silk Sarees are quite famous. It is quite expensive as well and gives a run for its money. One local doll called Tanjore Thala Aati Bommai (dancing doll that moves its head the same way as a Bharatanatyam dancer) is a unique showpiece you can get and gift your friends back home.

Tanjore hosts a variety of places and you can combine your visit to nearby Tanjore and Kumbakonam. There are close to 100 big temples in and around this place. Tanjore also has the Asia’s oldest library,palaces,museum and art gallery. So head out and have a wonderful historical journey which is waiting for you.

Cheers,

The Wanderer.

 

 

 

Traverse Bengaluru by Walk – A bygone mode of travel

Walking 17k at a single stretch in the scorching heat (okay, not so scorching heat,remember i am in Bangalore) to reach my home. Does anyone who is sane does that ? Or some other nasty questions pops up like are you trying to stretch your dollar by being frugal ? Are you seriously out of your mind ? is what someone replies or at least thinks (out of courtesy) when they get to hear this story.

 

Bangalore is fastly catching up with its state of the art Metros and BMTC Volvo AC buses and you chose to walk!!!

 

Walking long distances has always been in my wishlists, but my thoughtful mind always challenged me that it is a Chimera. So the intriguing part in me asked me to try it out.Beating your own mental boundaries gives an ultimate kick i don’t want to miss out.

 

Done with  my office work, followed by a good and a first time Kannada movie at a posh multiplex, i really don’t know what else to follow with. Suddenly the idea of walking which was lying sedentary somewhere on my cerebellum suddenly switched sides to my cerebrum and without second thoughts i laced my shoes and started.

First Kannada Movie XP in theatres – For Kiccha Sudeepa’s charisma

With routes unprepared, I started at HAL Market. I don’t want to take the usual busy chaotic roads, instead planned taking a leisurely stroll in the quaint villages surrounding the mega city.

The walk never disappointed me and it was a new learning for me every single step. I thought reaching the destination would be a cakewalk, but my arrogance was completely washed away when i reached my 10k.

I started at HAL Market, walked along Yemalur village and via the Bellandur Lake and extended my walk to Outer Ring Road.

Bellandur lake side walk was quite an experience in itself. The weather was lovely but seeing the lake contaminated with chemicals and sewage made my heart heavy. The putrid smell was quite heavy and the industrial waste are not treated and are directly let into this lake. This lake water is a source of fresh water to the nearby villages and seeing the state of the lake looks pretty scary.

Totally Refreshing – Bellandur Lake View Road

The Other side of the lake!!! Observe the contrast 😦

Beautiful and Romantic – Does nature really need camera filters !!!

Believe me, it doesn’t snow in B’lore. But the dark side of Industrialization 😦

High end condos and lake side high rise apartments are on the rise on this stretch. There is a potential time bomb ticking and hope we realize it pretty soon.

Oye Bangalore!!!

Once i reached ORR, I took a left turn towards Sarjapur and walked straight. As soon i reached the Sarjapur road, my strength and my willpower was tested with every single step. I have never walked continuously more than 10k at a single stretch and this was constantly playing in my mind. But i never wanted to give up. I huffed and puffed and sweated a lot, sweared at myself for this decision, but kept moving.

 

This is tough. Do i really needed to do this ? If yes to whom am i trying to prove something ?  Every damn thoughts crossed my mind, yet i kept moving. By now i know i have made some good progress. After two hours of extensive walking, i have crossed 15K.

 

I took a right from Sarjapur Road, which headed to Chikkarayanahalli Village.The roads were quite and almost inundated with some rare passers by.My legs went to a state of numb, yet not completely exhausted, i decided to sit for a while sipping my mango pulp with a strawberry bun. After 5 minutes or so, resumed my walk.

Road Not Taken ?  Sarjapur – Chikkarayanahalli Road

Village Devasthana  – Simple, yet beautiful 🙂

Reached Chikkarayanahalli Village and proceeded my walk towards Gattihalli. Finally decided to take some much needed rest and halted under a nicely grown banyan tree. My thoughts were vivid. This is life. This is bliss.This is sheer happiness.And this is heaven.

Rugged Roads – I don’t have any issues as i am not driving here 😀

People fishing in a small pond, villagers taking their cattle’s to grace, Small children carrying wood stocks for livelihood, i mean how many of us would have really seen all these when we come on a trip to Bangalore ? We only get to see the pubs, cozy restaurants and the vidhan soudha and the Lal Bagh. The true laid back culture of Bangalore lies in these rustic villages. (I know within years ,these villages will soon fall into civilization, so move your arse and witness it before it is all over).

Real Happiness is walking in a strong breeze 🙂

The destination was peaceful, but it was a teaser. The road started seem like it’s never gonna end and with agitation and tensions internally building up, my pace started decreasing.

Now i am slowly running out of my patience and i wanted to close this deal. By this time i almost have no energy left in me,but still managed to reach Gattihalli village and then finally to Huskur.

F*#k, Looks like there is no end to this road…

Now comes the tricky part. I have been many times to Huskur town, and my home is just 3km from this place. Yet this fucking place confuses me every single time and i will end up.in the wrong.f route. This  time though i don’t have the luxury to try things out as i was completely exhausted.

My legs cursing me 😀

I hitched hike with a guy and that generous soul agreed and most importantly dropped me right in front of my home (well he would have seen my hopeless and tired face and thought that this guy would probably die if i leave him anywhere :P).

Completed Baby 🙂

HAL to Huskur – 17k in 3:30 minutes

It’s not about the destination that matters, but the travel to get to these destinations that we always savour in our life. This trip ended fabulously with some really sore legs but gave me an important lesson in my lifetime.

NEVER GIVE UP.

Hidden Temples in India- Temple with 10 Million ShivLingas

After a long time, I get to travel again.This time though, the spiritual mind took over me and we headed straight to Kotilingeshwara Temple (Temple with 10 million Shiv Lingas – Yes you read that right!!! don’t mistake me for a typo :P).

So I am going to start a new section from here on the mystic and unknown temples around India. India is a land of mysteries and cultures, hence we will discover these hidden treasures and try preserving its culture.

On a bright Saturday morning, i was on top of my voice asking people to get ready.This is just a one day trip from Bangalore and there are quite few places to cover nearby. The roads were in good shape (thanks to the Karnataka Govt.). The journey is two hours from Bangalore and slowly as the journey progresses, monotonous mornings and city madness steps out and peace and tranquility steps in.

Kolar or the “land of gold” famous for its gold fields holds a special place and a melting pot of cultures as it lies cross roads between three states. It is affectionately called as land of “silk,milk and gold”. I get to know many things about the gold fields and how locals still collect it from my cab driver. The Gold fields are now closed due to excessive mining. But the interesting part for me is when it rains, It rains gold for the locals. They use a special desilt technique to collect gold every time it rains and it is handy sum for their daily chores 🙂

Some temples worth mentioning here are Kolaramma Temple, Someshwara Temple, Kotilingeshwara Temple and Bangaru Tirupati.

We headed straight to Kotilingeshwara Temple. It was pretty amazing to witness the beauty in such a huge scale and I didn’t bother to count to authenticate the temple’s claim of 10 million (Kidding!!can never do that :P). It was so huge that I was awestruck and continued glancing one by one, finally stopped to see one huge monolith of Lord Shiva.

Huge ShivLinga Monolith 🙂

Amazing Bull Statue

With my Sis,Mom and little champ 🙂

Beautiful Landscape 🙂

Once Kotilingeshwara is done, we headed to ChikkaTirupati near Malur. From Kotilingeshwara we took the route of Tekal and then Malur and reached the destination.

The route was amazing, roads covered with lush green trees with sparse housing and lazy quaint villages. The clock seemed to slow down mercilessly on these villages and things seemed eternal.

Main Entrance, Chikkatirupati

 

Chikka in local language means small and this temple is a look alike the famous cash rich Tirupati. The  surroundings were serene welcomed us with birds chirping  along with some cool breeze. We visited this temple around noon ,but had a sizable crowd being a Saturday. This place had that rustic charm and the quiet villages around made this place even more intriguing 🙂

Chikka Tirupati, Malur, Karnataka

 

We headed home from there via Sarjapur. Good darshan and an awesome day to finish.

Some Travel Info –

Location – Kolar,Karnataka, India

Nearest Bus Stand/Train Station – Bangarpet/Hosur

Temperature – Hot and Dry most of the year.

Distance from Bangalore – around 80-100 km.

Places of Interest -Arthargange Caves, Kolaramma Temple (970 A.D), Someswara Temple (1335 A.D), Kotilingeshwara Temple, Kolar Gold Fields, Bangaru Tirupati, Chikka Tirupati, Tekal.

 

Back to my sofa sets and see you in my next column folks 🙂 Take Care.

Cheers,

Wanderer.

Refreshing Kolli Hills

Hola Friends,

I feel like writing another post and this time again, let me post some of the untouched and offbeat mountains in South of India. This time I was going crazy with all the mundane stuff happening around and I badly wanted to escape the city life. Okay, the voice in my mind was crying “Come on… pack you bags to Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, India”.

This time I had to be extra careful and plan everything in advance. (I was travelling with my wife and I don’t want any embarrassments :P). We took a car and started from Erode, Tamil Nadu and then headed straight to Kolli hills, which is in the Namakkal District of Tamil Nadu.

It was a straight 2 hour journey. The roads were beautiful and to be very frank , I never expected the roads to be good, and as always I was pleasantly proven wrong. It was hot and humid throughout our journey till the base and I was very much skeptical  whether I chose the right time to visit.

En Route Kolli 🙂

 

 

As soon as I came to the base of the hills, the entire scene changed. This is the best thing I like about the mountains. The scenario and the climate changes dramatically every second that we would be in total awe, how unpredictable the weather is.  It became cold by every passing minute and yes the calm and soothing wind offered me bliss and the much needed therapy.

Amidst nature 🙂

 

The untouched mountains, serene atmosphere and the chirping of the birds makes this place an ideal spot. It was cold and windy and we could hear every bit of the wild. All these animals were secretly asking us (more of threatening us) on how on earth could you possibly enter our limits.

We reached Masila Falls by morning and had a nice bath over there. The water was so refreshing and was loaded with herbals. It is said that this hill is home to some of the very rare herbal and medicinal plants which are used as Siddha medicines.

yeah, I broke loose 😀

We reached Semmedu  and 2 km from there and bang we could see the beautiful temple for Lord Shiva. Shiva is called as Arapaleeshwarar (here with his local name). I am no historian in any case, but still with my little sense of mind, I dated this temple could very easily be centuries old. As I searched some history, I understood that this temple was built in the 1st century A.D by a king named Valvin Ori. The Valvil Ori festival and the spring festivals are also known to draw huge crowds to the temple.

Arapaleeshwarar Temple (Source – Internet)

We offered some prayers and continued our journey to Agaya Gangai waterfalls. We need to trek downhill for some 2 km to reach this falls. There are steps nearby this temple which leads us to Agaya Gangai Waterfalls. We started our steep and treacherous journey and with 20-30 minutes of walking, we reached this beautiful spot.

I mean, I could have never really believed that there could be such a beautiful spot, until I reached here. The view itself was breath taking and i was really gasping for my breath. I had a nice good bath , but the force of the water was very high. The rails were put for a reason and i clanged onto that so tightly like an terrified monkey waiting to fall from a tree.

Hell Noo,I won’t leave that boulder

Then lies the bigger task – the most dreaded “uphill trek”, at least for my better half. She was like constantly asking each 100 steps, as how much more.. She would have obviously sweared a lot that day and even wondered how nice it would be if an auto ride would somehow magically take us above.

 

Alas and at last, we made it 😛

 

We reached the town that evening and we started shopping. There were flee markets all around Semmedu. We could see fresh jackfruits, pineapples, black pepper, spices and i gleefully loaded my bag with all of these. Being tired having travelled that entire day, we spent our night at a cozy resort and we decided to head back to the city the next day.

The entire trip was very fulfilling with unexpected surprises and loaded with happiness. I made a point that i will be back to this place very soon.

this is how I look after successfully completing my journey 😛

Some Useful Info –

Location – Kolli Hills, Namakkal District of Tamil Nadu, India.

Things to buy – Jackfruit, Honey, Pineapple, Black Pepper and Spices.

Temperature – Cold. (Max – 27 deg C and Min – 12 deg C)

Altitude – 1370 meter above sea level.

Places to Visit – Arapaleeshwarar Temple, Agaya Gangai Waterfalls, Seekupaarai View Point, Selur Nadu View  Point, Masilla Aruvi, Boat House.

How to reach Kolli Hills – Kolli Hills is well connected by roads and rails. It is 360 kilometers from the metropolis of Chennai and 260 kilometers from the IT city of Bangalore. The nearest city is Salem.

Best Time to Visit – November to February.

See you all folks next time with my other blog, until then its me signing off. Bye and have a wonderful day.

Cheers,

Wanderer.

 

 

 

 

 

Surreal and Mystic – VALPARAI DIARIES

We were all excited to regroup for yet another trip (almost after a year) – this time to Valparai, Top Slip and Parambikulam Tiger Sanctuary.All of them started from Chennai, me being the odd exception started my journey from Bangalore.We wanted to utilize this long weekend to the fullest (thanks to Gandhi Jayanti). As I was quite expecting the mad rush, I literally squeezed my way to get a seat to Hosur. I was all in the mood to travel with some nice rucksack.By 22:20 IST I saw my train coming (taking its own sweet time ). I think this has to do with its name 😛 Garib rath which in Hindi literally translates to poor man’s Chariot. I reached the Manchester of South India(Coimbatore) the following day 04:45 IST. From there I took a state bus to Udumalpet and it took a solid 90 minutes journey.

Day 1 – Namma Tamil Nadu, India

While my friends train was late by another two hours , I had no way but to wait for them at the station. The waiting turned sweet as I was interacting with all possible locals there and was killing my idle time.

I had a nice and a lip smacking breakfast at one of the nearby Kongu mess. We then hired a local cab and headed out to our destination. En route Valparai, we visited Aazhiyar dam. The weather was not pleasant and the sun was literally beating us. I thought we are at the wrong time of the year, but once we started climbing uphill, the beauty of Valparai and its cool climate welcomed us with open arms. I suddenly got a realization that i am in a wonderful place and it will give me great satisfaction and joy when i return back.

 

Perfect Lighting – Western Ghats

Valparai – Can’t explain the beauty..

We then visited Monkey Falls, and had a good nice bath for an hour. The water was absolutely fantastic and i never had the mind to come out of that falls. it was brilliant, but at the same time it was getting late and i had to return to my guest house and we departed reluctantly.

Our Guest House stay amidst the tea estates

Parle Agro Tea Estates

Beware Humans!!! (Leeches mind voice)

You could spot Nilhiri Tahrs, an endangered goat species which can almost climb vertically uphill. You can find these animals here at ease. These gifted species are found only in the Nilgiris Ghat sections in and around Tamil Nadu and Kerala. One should witness their climbs to identify its uniqueness and will put our humans climbing abilities to shame. It took me a while to realize that i had failed to capture them in my lens. Nevertheless that particular shot has been captured to perfection in my mind.

Nilgiri Tahr – Source (Internet)

One thing about Valparai is there are many cases of man/animal conflict and we have to return to the camp early, otherwise we face the risk of getting exposed to the big cats. There are several cases of leopards entering these small hamlets (we can’t blame them after all we are the occupiers of their land) and its advised not to venture out in the dark. Wild elephants, Boars, Bison are a common sight here and not to mention (those notorious leeches). Valparai is also blessed with constant rainfall, and is called as Cheerapunji of the south for a reason. It was raining that whole night voraciously and deep in our house we were busy drafting our plans to visit Athirampalli Falls the following day.

Day 2 – Enda Keralam

As the alarm yelled and finished its business, we started our journey early as we have to go a long way to the falls. En route , we visited Sholayar Dam. From there, it will take a solid 3-4 hour journey to Athirampalli and all we could see are the lush green cover and forests. There were no shops available this route and it is better to take your own snacks. As its a reserved forest, tourists are not allowed to carry any plastics around and there is a checkpost which monitors the plastic usage. you also need to enter the vehicle registration number and once the mandatory checks are done, you are allowed to enter into the forest.

Sholayar Dam

Ferry Ride…Worth every penny of it 🙂

As i was told, this particular falls was the backdrop for many Indian movies. It boasts of being called as the Niagara Of India. You need to sacrifice your blood if you plan to visit here. There are many leeches around this area. Its better to carry salt with you (as salt will kill leeches). The only good thing with these tiny creatures is they release an anesthetic when they bite, and that is the exact reason that their bite is usually not felt 😛

The falls was indeed amazing and there is a place where we can bathe. This is not exactly a falls but rather a river kind of place where the speed of the water is minimal and its safe for people. The force of the water was quite high when we went (believe me!! – at least that is what i heard from the locals) and once we were satisfied with our crow bath, we headed to our guest house back to Valparai.

To me, the visit to this falls was indeed beautiful, but if you are on a time crunch, it is better to skip this place as it takes an entire day to visit and get back to your camp. If you love raw nature at its best, it is a must go place on your itinerary. There are 3 major falls here , but the tourists are not allowed to bath , except the one i mentioned above.

Day 3 – Top Slip, Pollachi, Tamil Nadu

We needed to start early by 5:00 am if we wanted to reach Parambikulam Tiger Sanctuary. The guide told us that it will be very crowded and its advised to go as early as possible to book a safari. The safari starts by 07:30 and offers rich floras and faunas. We started by 06:00 from our guest house, but everyone in our gang was down with nausea and we had to halt the car inbetween many a times and the safari was already closed when we arrived. There are indeed a long queue waiting for the safari and we decided to go to Top Slip, which is just kilometers away from Parambikulam.

Top Slip was maintained by Tamil Nadu Tourism and there is a similar safari which is arranged by them. The cost of the Safari was around Rs 120 per head (but we need 22 people to accompany us and we had to wait till we get those required people). We can also hire the van for Rs 3000 and start our journey.

Top Slip, Pollachi

I suggest you better avoid this safari as it was a huge disappointment. The driver/guide should better be a F1 driver. Seriously he was whizzing past with that van, the result we couldn’t even spot a single animal. Forget tigers/mammals, we couldn’t even spot a single bird 😦

 

With happy moments and a filling heart throughout this journey, we left top slip and reached Coimbatore. While i was bidding adieu to those peaceful and enthralling mountains , another monotonous week was eagerly anticipating my return. All the best i can do from here is keep cherishing this wonderful trip and i had already started planning about my next trip.

One of those many crazy poses 😛

The Entire Crew 🙂

I strongly believe that these mystic mountains are calling and i am obliged to go. There mountains offer me solitude and teaches me many things in my life and i must be mad to ignore these teachings.

Stay Blessed,

The Wanderer.