Gokarna — it is one of those places I’ve been to and would love to go again.
The waves, the relatively clean and quiet beaches, the sunset over the water, the beach, the sea life – it is quite the opposite of a typical Chennai beach! I’ve seen fishes of kinds (and jelly fishes too). I’ve seen beautiful stones and rocks – eroded by the sea and wind – leaving beautiful sculptures. I’ve had yummy food in those shacks where they let you hang around forever – yummy food facing the sea!
What more can I ask for? You could spend days walking around those beaches and find something new each day!
How to reach: Karwar is the nearest town. Any bus to Goa (from Hyderabad or Bangalore) should get you to Karwar. You could also get to Hubli and find your way to Karwar from there.
Said to have been the liveliest of all streets in Hampi, the Courtesans’ Street lies in front of the Achyuta Raya’s Temple – barely seen at the far end of the picture.
We, quite literally, stumbled upon this place after a day of touristy sight-seeing. We had seen the places every tourist saw – the temples, the ruins, etc., and we decided to walk around Hampi. We walked along the river, saw another set of ruins and climbed the hill. On the other side, lay the vast expanse seen here.
Of all the ruins, this was the most natural - devoid of renovations and modern props. The only place in Hampi where I felt the age of the place.
It was a long weekend and we decided to go to Goa for 4 days. Day 3, we decided to go up to Dudhsagar Falls, 60 km from Panaji. It was as unpredictable as it could be – riding along railway tracks, crossing streams, my great fall – by the end of the day, I’d say it’s definitely one of the crazier trips.
From Goa, travel along NH4A towards Ponda – proceed towards Molem beyond Ponda. Once you reach Molem, watch out for the signboard for Colem. You’d turn right there and ride to the end of that road (about 7km). You’d find a number of guides/pilots willing to take you on a bike (for about 360INR). They are not the best people to ask for directions – they are more interested in scaring you in to riding their bikes.
We decided to go on our own and turned left – thankfully, there were some very helpful local folks who gave us directions. Before I get on with our route, a couple of pointers – There are a number of routes to the falls and the easiest would be to take the train to the Dudhsagar station. The road looked quite used (relatively) – still, not your normal road. Be prepared for some tough and careful riding. If you are not game for riding, you should take one of the guides along or take the train ride. It was a moment of relaxed riding that resulted in my head injury. Enough of scares – let’s get on with the route!
Turn left at the Dudhsagar board at Colem and find your way to the manned level crossing. As soon as you cross the railway tracks, you’d find a mud road going up to your left. You should leave the tarred road and get on to the mud road into the bushes. When you go up the mud road, you’d reach an unused railway track. This unused railway track will lead you to a path right next to the railway track in use. You’d reach around the 49/500 or so signboard. Keep riding till you reach 46/000 and 45/900. You should also find a milestone that has 51 on one side and 50 on the other. Around that spot, you should look for a bridge beneath the railway track. Look for the steps leading down – you’d also find a path for bikes. Riding down that path will lead you right into the stream flowing below the bridge.
As long as it is not monsoon, the stream should be crossable – it was hardly ankle-high when we crossed it last weekend. Once you cross the stream, that path would join another road at right angle. Turn right at this road and ride on – it is not a short ride from there – at least 10kms, I’d say. Somewhere along this road, I had my near fatal fall – resulting in 4 stitches. Please ride carefully!
The mud road, with slopes – up and down – and stones, big and small – will be your riding challenge. Keep riding till you reach the board that points to the falls, and refreshments (a closed shop).
It is quite a short walk from there to the falls. You’d cross the water a couple of times before you can get right in front of the falls. It is one trip where the journey is much better than the destination (purely, my opinion). In fact, if you are game enough to walk 14 km, it would be one of the nicest walks you’ve ever had.
Two lazy weekends and I wanted to get out! I knew a group of colleagues were going to Kolad – a place known for river rafting on the Kundalika River. But then, I hadn’t signed up for it because I tend to travel in smaller groups – it’s pretty much been a group of two to four over the last 2 years. And as the week wore on, I was getting restless and my friend, who was going along convinced me to try when I said some people are dropping out! A mail and a ping later, I was on!!!
The train gave a lot of opportunity to get some slow shutter photos. The next morning, we got in to the bus and headed towards Kolad. We headed straight to the rafting spot – and soon we were listening to the safety instructions. I’d say that was the scariest part of it all! Example: If you get under the boat, kick with all your might! Ouch! It looked quite precarious to sit on the side and not in the raft – but once we were in, I realised it was a lot bigger than the average bench you’d find at a roadside tea shop!
A practice session and a splashing match was going on while we waited for all the rafts to get in to the water! The guides were definitely better at throwing water – and our guide threw water on us as much as he threw on the others. Soon, we were out in the river – it was sunny and someone wanted rain. Soon, it didn’t just rain – it poured cats and dogs. Got to say, being on a raft in the middle of a river, next to rapids – is one of the best places to enjoy the rain. The only thing I missed was my camera – couldn’t risk taking it along 
Once we were on the much calmer side of the river, they encouraged us to get off the raft and into the river! Not exactly something you’d want to do if you didn’t know to swim. But then, they pretty much dumped you off the boat – so, yes, for the first time in my life, I was in the water – floating, thanks to the life jacket. I’ve got to thank Pranav, the helping hand, who went out of his way to help me feel comfortable in the water – nice to have such people around you.
Soon we were out and were heading towards our resort – our bus stopped at the end of a road and we had to travel the rest of the distance in a jeep. It was indeed one of the most memorable transport (not the most comfortable, mind you!). A rusty, rickety jeep with seats coming apart – and, on top of it you go racing on a bumpy mud path with another jeep in equally bad shape! Weren’t we happy to be out of it!
A quick wash, lunch – and I wanted to get out. So, off we went – me, Sandeep, and Kiran – walking down a path to the river. Kiran was the one spotting all those little things – me dutifully following him to the subjects 
That reminds me of another – Satish – the ever helpful friend of Ram & Sandeep. He’d always find subjects for our cameras!
We were back soon and it was tea-time. While we were waiting for the rest of the group to gather for another walk, we had tea and took more pictures. I got one of my favorites from the trip – a macro of a flower.
Soon, we set off for another walk – a much larger group this time.
Other than the river and the rafting – nothing much out there. On the whole, a good place for a relaxed weekend. This trip was more about people than about photography
Quick notes:
Walk around the place – you can get close to the river too. A word of caution there – always one foot at a time! The river looks much shallower on the surface.
Be prepared to get drenched – quick-dry clothes, footwear that dry easily, and a dry bag for your electronics.
Get your directions before you leave – the places aren’t marked really well and mobile networks aren’t perfect out there. You’ll have to rely on the directions you have and the locals
When I started from Hyderabad, last Friday, the plan was to trek at Kodachadri. But I refused to go – I don’t want to donate my precious blood to the leaches there! I’d rather go there well prepared – gumboots et al So, having shelved that plan, we had to come up with an alternate plan.
I was already on my way to Bangalore, so I called up an old friend of mine who had a litter of puppies at home! After a photoshoot at his place, we moved on hoping to find gumboots in Bangalore – but then, it was getting late. So, we decided to go to Jog Falls (via Shimoga). I was eager to compare my photos with my pre-SLR days
We reached Shimoga close to 10pm (after a 6.5 hour bus ride from Bangalore) and found a room at one of the hotels opposite the bus stand. The next morning we left for Jog Falls – 2.5 hours from Shimoga. It seemed to be a sunny day – so different from our last visit when we were drenched by the time we reached the entrance! Though, the sunny day was to last for just about 10 minutes – I guess there is nothing called a sunny day at Jog! Yup, soon there was a heavy downpour – I began to wonder if we’d be able to trek at all!
We started once the rain abated – we had to walk a little further to find our way down – the normal path was closed because work is going on. They are laying concrete steps all the way to the bottom! God save this beautiful place once that’s done and the whole world can go all the way down to dump their waste! I’d hate to see this place get crowded and dirty.
Anyways, soon we reached the stairs (which is work-in-progress) – you get on it and start walking. It’s not like a trek anymore And then, all of a sudden, the stairs end! Well, they haven’t finished it yet. So, instead of concrete steps, you walk along gaping holes with iron bars sticking out! Their idea of making up for the lost adventure so far? I don’t know! But, if you are going there, you better watch your step! After walking around a number of such holes, I began to wonder if it was worth it all – this place looked so mutilated and here we were carrying our cameras and tripods …
There was point when it was pouring like crazy, the holes dug up for the stairs looked like a never-ending mess, and I thought we should turn around. But then, we moved on – and reached the base of the falls! I still remember standing there wondering if we should go on – the bag seemed heavier, the camera seemed bulkier, we seemed to be carrying way too many things … and it looked like the downpour would never stop. Looking back, I think I can begin to understand what climbers/trekkers feel when the weather isn’t the best!
Was it worth it – definitely! It’s such a great feeling the first time you step in to the stream after the trek – though, you’d get your shoes wet in the process! It’s not a good idea to walk barefoot because of the sharp stones. It is such an awesome experience to stand there in the middle of gushing waters and look up at the waters falling all around you – to be surrounded by nothing but rocks, shrubs and water!
Soon, it was time to make our way up -with the rain for company. It rained so hard… the waterfall turned brown… was awesome to look at! It had barely stopped raining when we were on the last stretch – a pretty steep climb. We made it over the wall and it started pouring again!
We waited for the rain to stop and then dashed to the hotel – only to find they had nothing interesting We got out
PS: v2 – is visit #2 not version 2
A visit to a prison that was! It was as close as I’d get to a prison – and it wasn’t as easy as I’d expected it to be. No, am not talking about the boat ride or the island itself. I am talking about the experience there. If you listen (mind you, ‘listen’ not ‘hear’) to the audio tour, you will definitely carry away bits ‘n pieces of the narration.
Alcatraz – the prison and the lighthouse (among other things), is now a tourist attraction – one of the oh-so-typical places to see when you are in San Francisco. I did feel bad for the inmates at times – to be able to see the free world and not be there – it’s worse than not seeing the free world at all! I walked around like an intruder – taking pictures like I was stepping into someone’s personal space.
April 28-May 2
After the great time at Sentosa, we returned to the airport, walked around the huge Changi airport and boarded the plane close to 6 in the evening. We were so tired, we fell asleep as soon as the plane was taxiing. I had no clue when the plane took off or when dinner was served – I was fast asleep! I got up only when the air hostess woke me up saying “good morning!” I had slept a good 12 hours And, it was evening at San Francisco, not morning. After a wash and ‘breakfast’ on the place, we got off at 7:45pm local time.
We got out and waited for the bus to get us to San Jose Hilton, about an hour away. At 8 pm, it was windy and cold! And this was supposed to be summer!! Thankfully, we had been told about the chilly evenings, and had warm clothes with us.
After a bit of delay in getting the bus, we reached the hotel at 11pm, ordered dinner minutes before 12 and finished dinner at 1am. By the time we got to sleep, it was close to 3am. Thanks to a call to the wrong room, I got up at 630am. The rest of the week flew by – with days occupied by work and meetings, evenings spent by walks in the cold streets No wonder I got quite a few pictures of the San Jose neighbourhood.
Friday evening, I moved to Mountain View – to the apartment – where I’d be staying for the rest of my visit here.
My first trip across the seas – I set off to US of A on a business trip. On our way to SFO, we stopped at Singapore for about 8 hours. A few of us went to Sentosa Island and here are the pics!
We got out of the airport, hired a cab, and off we were to Sentosa Island. We headed straight to Underwater World, my first visit to an oceanarium! If you are at Singapore, you should visit this place. It is simply amazing! You can touch fishes, watch soooo many fishes – large and small, pretty and creepy, slow and fast, …
It was such a lovely experience – walking through the tunnel watching the fishes go by… wondering how big they are… and wondering if they were really that big! There was also a group of elderly women there – enjoying the place as much as we were. It was a good reminder to live life to the fullest – right to the very last breath. I can still hear them call out to each other excited about some fancy fish they’ve seen!
Now, am waiting to go to Monterrey Bay – waiting for another great experience!
A much delayed post about my first trip this year – after mistakenly deleting my draft and having to reboot in the middle of the second unsaved version, here is my third attempt!
The first long weekend of the year was just two weeks into the year and I wanted to travel – the place was Gokarna. So, on Jan 11, we set off to Hubli from Hyderabad. The plan was Hyderabad – Hubli – Karwar – Gokarna. We reached Hubli and missed the bus to Gokarna! The bus to Ankola was ready to leave, and were told that we can reach Gokarna from there.
Soon, we were out of the concrete jungle and on to some nice roads. After a couple of stops, the bus halted for a break at Yeswantpur. We got to know that the Gokarna bus was the one right next to us and those who are traveling to Gokarna can get in, so we swapped buses midway!
Soon, we came to a long line of lorries and tankers hampered by work on the ghat roads, with passenger vehicles trying to get ahead of them. Before we were out of that, I had lost count of the number of tankers I’d seen. Finally, we reached Gokarna at 1pm!
After lunch, introductions, and a good wash at the hotel, we rested for a while and then set off
to the Om beach that evening. They (autos) charge 100 Rs to get to most of the beaches. The beaches are out of the town (except the main beach) and the approach roads are quite scenic. You travel on hilly roads and walk down to the beach
We walked around the beach and waited for the sun to go down for some sunset pictures. In the meantime, we went on a boat ride – saw the other beaches from the boat, trying to plan the next two days.
After the boat ride, the guys went for a swim and I had all the time to walk around the beach with my Olympus C770 and my friend’s Panasonic FZ50. Close to sunset, we climbed the rocks and watched the sun set over the ocean. After the sun went down, we got back, had an early dinner, and returned to the hotel.
Day 2: We decided to go to the Kudle Beach first. Another auto, another winding road, another beautiful beach. I’ve seen a clean beach before (think Pichavaram) and many dirty beaches (think Chennai). But, Gokarna is unbeatable for the amount of life on the beach – that is, life 
other than human life. You can find fishes, seaweeds; we found whalebones (according to Abhijeet) and colorful rocks too. You can walk around the beach all day and not be bored, i.e., if you look at all the little things around you.
We had our lunch in one of the shanties that offered Mexican, Italian, Israeli cuisines – at a very reasonable price. After lunch, we had some yummy apple pie (?) After lunch, I went back to relaxing in the shade and my friend spent time watching fishes in a pool of water (it ended when he saw someone peeing into his warm pool!)
I sat there watching the waves, the rocks, the beach, the people – and after getting into the water, my friend didn’t want to go to any other beach. So, he spent the day in the water – swimming, searching for fishes, seaweeds, crabs I spent the day taking pictures of everything.
Soon enough, they found a seaweed – and Amir crowned Abhijeet with the seaweed. Right 
away, we heard someone screaming “Thieves! Thieves!!” She came swimming, got her seaweed crown and swam back to her parents – much to our amusement! And when she got out of the water, she crowned one of the rocks as the prince and the guardian of the crown. Sweet! A few minutes later, the seaweed was back home in the seawater, thanks to Amir!
Another evening, another walk up the road, another day ends!
Day 3: It was time to return – but before our long journey back home, we had about half a day to spare. We decided to check out the Main Beach (aka Gokarna Beach) besides the temple as it was the closest and we didn’t have an entire day to spare. We’d also checked out – didn’t make sense to be carrying things around! We walked to the beach, and found a shady spot between two boats.
When I reached this beach behind the temple, I couldn’t but compare and contrast this beach with what I saw over the last two days. The Main Beach is something from which a traveler can stay away – it is the noisy, dirty, and polluted beach. The other beaches are equally calm, clean, and beautiful. The Main Beach is very much like one of the Chennai beaches.
The temple is surrounded by a lot of shops selling souvenirs, beads, bangles from camel bones, even tiger nails! I am not sure how aut
hentic they are – but, one thing that may put away local (ie, Indian) travelers is the price! Almost all shops seem to exist for the foreign traveler – I can easily find most of those beads/chains and bangles in Hyderabad/Chennai. Somehow, quite surprisingly, Gokarna still has the run-down, old town look – there aren’t many new, high-rise building. In fact, most of the buildings on the main street look as if they may fall apart anytime.
After walking around the town for a while, we decided to get back – had lunch on our way and reached the bus stand. We went to Ankola from Gokarna – which proved to be another crazy ride. From Ankola, it was another bus to Hubli. The new bus stand at Hubli was a disappointment – it was unused, dark, had very few shops, and was out of the town! If I go again, I will save myself the trouble and wait at the old bus stand. Another bus, another long journey, another day and we were back in Hyderabad. We rushed home to prepare for another day at work!
It is an amazing place for a relaxed weekend – the only thing that keeps me from going there every other weekend is the journey and the distance – It is a place worth visiting but not good for a weekend trip, at least not from Hyderabad.
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f="http://picasaweb.google.com/christelle1804/Gokarna/photo#5167805772833265762"> |
| From Gokarna |
A long weekend and I was raring to go someplace. I managed to convince my friend to get out on Saturday. When we found that the Bhongir Fort is just about 50 kms from Hyderabad, we decided to take our cameras out and go for a ride. We set out around 10am and after Uppal, it was a drive along the Warangal road – quite a pleasant ride with the rail lines along the road. It was quite a sunny day – though there were a few clouds.
We reached Bhongir and tried to find the entrance to the fort. If you reach a spot that doesn’t have the tell-tale fort walls, you’ve reached the entrance! We crossed the road, and started climbing this huge, single rock in front of us. After a distance, you’d find the steps! My friend was already cursing me for suggesting this place. Here and there, we’d find a shady spot – a welcome relief from the sun – and we’d sit down for a while to rest there. Once you’re up there, you can see the entire town – the bus stand, the railway station, the surrounding fields, and hills to the distance. It was quite a beautiful day – I’ve always loved watching the shadows of the moving clouds and that day was a treat for me.
While we rested half way up, we began to wonder if we should even go further. There was nothing up there – at least, nothing to indicate the presence of a huge fort – and, in front of us, was this huge hill (rock?) to climb! Yes, set your expectations right – this is no big fort. Especially, if you’re an outsider (like me) and you’ve been to Golconda, don’t imagine a similar fort. This one is more like a little outpost! We finally decided to climb the hill.
A few feet away, the rock had flattened out and there were these little structures here and there. We also found a cannon – and took a few pictures there. Further up, you’d find steps carved into the rock – makes walking a li’l bit easier. However, there are places where there are no steps and you are on your own. Finally, we reached the top – and, well, there wasn’t anything impressive. Other than a tower, a few remaining walls, and a newly built building, there isn’t much out there. So, after walking around for a while, we decided to get back.
On our way down, we stopped for a while near those walls – one of those walls was high enough to block out the sun – seated there shaded from the sun, watching the clouds go by, and watching a few other people who had come to visit this place…I got all those pretty blue sky pictures.
There is “Danger” written in quite small letters (in my opinion, not at all attention grabbing). If you are not careful, you could walk over a patch of grass to find yourself standing at the edge of the rock – with nothing to stop your fall. Though, you’d have to go out of your way to stand at the edge
After relaxing there for a while, we got back. An hour later, we were back in Hyd
Finally… Be prepared to climb this huge rock – without steps at places
Carry enough food and water
And you’ll find nothing but a view from up above.
A great place to get away and relax – nothing more, nothing less.
How to reach (Google Map): It is about an hour from Uppal X Road, Hyderabad. As you ride along the Warangal High Road, you can’t miss the fort. Of course, the town is named Bhongir (also known as Bhuvanagiri)
| From Bhongir |