The Year that was .... 2007

The name of our official- unofficial blog site I guess has become a misnomer now …… Year 2007 saw no treks, but pleasure trips all thru the year.
Thought this site needs a peek before the year ends and before the blogspot guys disable it (Not sure if they do it; but well, ……)


Highlights of ‘07:

Aagumbe --> Hunkal woods --> Barapole--> Gokarna--> Kushal Nagar--> Belur -Halebeid
Jan --> Feb--> Sep --> Oct 2 --> Dec1/2 --> Dec /22
* The monsoons chased us (or did we chase the monsoon ?) In fact till the very end ! We headed to Belur-Halebid wee after the depression in the bay crossed. Anisha was busy checking 24 and 48 hr weather forecasts and updates online. Must say they were pretty accurate – It was a bright sunny day at Hassan Dist.

* Green was the colour ! –Verdant green, bottle green, olive green, moss green, algae green, mint green … we saw it all. @ Aagumbe , Hunkal woods, Barapole and Kushalnagar. Nestled in the narrow lanes of the concrete jungle, most of us have turned colour blind – The grey cells are jus about capable of identifying hues of black, brown & grey …

* Never give Harini a camera !

* All of us love MAYA ;)


A quick recap...

-Aagumbe

Geographic Details : Westren Ghats, 75 km from Shimoga.
We hitched a train to Shimoga . Bus from Shimoga to Tirthahally and then a bus ride to Aagumbe. Bangalore – Shimoga is a 7hr train journey. There are buses round the clock that ply from Shimoga to Tirthahally.

This small town, shot to fame after the tele-serial ‘Malgudi Days’ of Shankar Nag. The serial was shot at ‘Dodda Mane’ a.k.a. Kasturi akka’s house. The house is a run down one yet there was something nice about it ....the wooden stair case, the huge portico, the quaint backyard, the attic, the cauldrons in the kitchen simmering on fire wood, the antique dresser and chest of draws …..
Perhaps the other reason for Aagumbe to be on the blip screen is the ‘Aagumbe Rain Forest Research Centre’. This research centre started by Romulus Whitetaker, researches and protects the endangered King Cobra.

We were to trek the cloud forest, but we were cautioned of the naxals and chose not to venture into the forest. But as per trek standards we did walk a lot – 16 kms roughly, but largely on a flat terrain. We were all set for the arduous trek though – tents, sleeping bags , dozens of oranges, zillion tetra packs of juice& flavoured milk, choclate and energy bars, bread loves …….we had enough stock to set up a small little food stall. And even after thrusting a lot of food down our oesophages, our rugsacks still weighed more than a couple of kilos.

Memorable moments archived …
* Mouth watering food at Kasturi akka’s house; so much so that Ravi would have two rounds of breakfast /lunch ;)
* The ride in the truck with empty egg crates
* Having lugged around the tents, we were determined to pitch them. We camped at the Research centre and this turned out to be a costly affair – Rs 250 per head !

Hunkal Woods < http://www.hunkalwoods.com/>

Geographic Location – Chikmanglur Dist . This place is 5- 7km from the Chikmanglur bus stand.We hired a tempo and drove down to Chikmanglur via Hassan. The drive a tough one – bad roads + raining cats and dogs + lousy driver + Mungaru Male songs ONLY.

This trip was Kalyan Akkipedi’s recommendation; so it ought to be a super duper place!!
Well, Hunkal woods is the name of the place were we stayed – it’s a 100 year old bunglow turned into a resort/holiday home. It’s a nice cozy big house nestled in the coffee estates of the Western ghats , completely cut off from the hustle and bustle ; no mobile network either !!

We were told that we would be handed a route map to the bunglow at the Chikmanglur Bus stand. The boy at the chaai stall did hand us a hand drawn map. It reminded me of the maps I had seen in Enid Blyton books ….must say was a perfect setting for a treasure hunt – misty and a cloudy morning, the sun was yet to peep from its slumber, narrow lonely lanes. We hardly started pouring over the map and somebody heading to the bunglow hopped into our cab – we really didn’t have to tax our grey cells with map reading thereafter …J

The approach road was a pretty bad one but worth the drive ….One is completely over awed by the greenery around. This is a perfect place to unwind - sipping on freshly brewed coffee amidst the valley- the imposing western ghats all around you and reading a book atop the machaan. The only thing that you can hear is the stream gurgling, the jungle fowl, the Koyal and the constant buzz of the cricket.


We entertained ourselves with some badminton, TT, flipping thru the artsy wartsy magazines and a host of card games. There was constant supply of piping hot food and kapi- we couldn’t have asked for more !!

Cadburys Celebration moments:

*The walk thru the coffee estates and the jungle in the rain. Atop a small hillock(of the Muthodi range) , the wind speed was some 6-7mph and was literally blowing you off, one had to sit on his haunches or squat to avoid being blown off …


Barapole < http://www.getoffurass.com/trip_paradise.htm>

Geographic location: Close to Coorg
This place was yet another recommendation from Kalyan. The USP of this place is the white water rafting in Barapole river. The adventure tourism group “Get of your ass “conducts this event thru the year barring the monsoon season.

Coorg is famous for the “Home Stay” concept and we stayed at one such place called “High Falls”. It’s a km from Irrupu falls. We didn’t have a road map this time and we did go round and round the mulberry bush – the best part being, all of us half way thru the cab ride had a hunch that we were headed the wrong way …… but after numerous stop overs and asking half – a- dozen people we did find our way to ‘High Falls’

The entire rafting experience was simply awesome – the rafting gear, the preliminary rafting instructions and trials of Forward paddle, Back paddle, Left Turn / Left Back, Right Turn / Right Back…. Actually a good deal of the paddling was done by the instructors, we were jus having fun and contributed a teene weene bit. We did experience an adrenalin rush when the raft went thru the rapids. (There is a name associated with every rapid - I forget the names though …..can jus remember Morning coffee …… )

Kodak Moments …

* The Chilli-capsicum debate!!
* The game of ‘lock and key’ and ‘Chain-cut’


Gokarna

This coastal town is 750 kms from Bangalore. Badly connected by trains from Bangalore - Road Travel is the only mode of transport
Bus from Bangalore to Mangalore /Udupi .Train from Udupi to Gokarna


The two main beaches here are the Kudle Beach and the OM Beach. There are resorts and shacks along these beaches. The shacks on Kudle Beach are more cost effective. The recommended place of stay and food on Kudle Beach is ‘Sun set café’.

Food you ought to try @ Sunset café…
* Banana Milk shake
* Chocolate toast + Hot choclate
* Baracuda Fish fry
* Ginger –lime-Honey tea : best recommended if you have a bad throat

The Gokarna town is a couple of kilometers away from Kudle Beach and best accessed on foot. The ‘patel’ points in the town are the Ganesh temple and the Shiva temple. The local priests are all out to make some quick buck by recommending a zillion pujas. The town otherwise is like any other tourist –town selling wares and articrafts for a ‘phirang’ junta they are reasonably priced by ‘phirang standards’ .

The Om beach and the Paradise beach are equally serene. We spotted dolphins too ! If one is lucky, one can hitch a boat ride from Paradise Beach to Kudle beach – and the ride in the middle of high seas is something that one needs to experience. It’s a nice feeling to go blub- blub- blob- blub with the waves….

This has been the longest trip so far and we perhaps went at the right time of the year ……..less of tourist crowd and we literally owned the beach. Its ideal for a nice swim and incase you don’t know swimming jus take a tube and float into the deep seaJ

We missed the sunrise and sun sets because of an overcast sky ……the moon did peep out occasionally. The beach by the moonlight with the western ghats dotting the sea line, the pleasant sea breeze and trance music playing in the background – zimply perrrfect !! I would say, this is a perfect ambience to ruminate or mull on something or come up with a whacko plan for a business or a play/movie ;0)

And oh! the other thing that you ought not to miss is the fishing ….. early morning walk along the beach and you would find the fisher folk cast their net and the rhyme that follows while they drag the net on to the shore. They don’t use trawlers and don’t have to go too deep for a catch …..a few feet from the shore is good enough for a decent catch.

Global gyaan from the trip
* The rhythmic trance beats and the sea waves are highly correlated!
* If you want to hear your mind, you need to hear the roar of the waves ;)

The whackiest thing on the trip …
* The modified version of “Harry”
* The special mud pack for Siva

Kushalnagar

This is 250 km from B’lore in Madekeri Dist.

The patel points for this trip were Byllakuppae and Dubare . We stayed over at Valley Dew Home stays. The place was a little of a disappointment coz of the food,but we nevertheless had a good time. The game of Scotland yard kept us pretty entertained.
And of course Siva’s antics .

Dubare we had read was an elephant camp and we expected to see a herd of elephants; we only caught the glimpse of an old tuskar. The poor old jumbo was tired of loading and off loading people from a joy ride round the park – The mahout sure did make a good living coz of the old jumbo.

Byllaekuppae is famous for the second largest tibetian settlement in southern India. The monastery at this place is a fairly neat one. The monastery houses a school and hostel and the little monks are taught Tibetian philosophy, scriptures and the Dalai Lama. The monastery houses a 6 feet tall statue of the Buddha, that is covered with gold plated leaves. It has a nice meditation hall too, but sadly tourists not conversant with the silent form of prayer have converted it into a mini entertainment ring. Nobody looses a photo opportunity in front of the 6 feet tall statue and the intricately painted walls.

To get a better taste of the tibetian culture, we went hunting for tibetian food – all of us had mentally prepared ourselves for a nice lunch with momos, tibetian soup et al. We were a wee late for lunch at most restaurants, but we did manage to have a semblance of tibetian lunch.

Key take aways and learnings :
* Siva’s Fav song : ‘Aa ante Kamalapuram… …. ’
* Secrect of Siva’s Glowing lips – Nivea for men Chap stick that costs 5 pounds !! ;0)
* The thief in the game of Scotlandyard is a lucky chappie, with way too many trump cards .


Belur Halebid

We were a little late in organizing for a trip and post numerous trials and attempts of booking accommodation / tickets we decided to visit out next door dist town. This place is famous for the ruins of the Hoysala empire. Belur being a Vaishnavite shrine and Haleebed being a Shivite shrine.

The ideal way to get to this place would be a train to Hassan and then a bus ride to Belur / Halebid. One could take a bus all the way to Belur as well. The first bust from Majestic Bus stand to Belur is at 4:45am; there are buses round the clock though.

The group in general was tired of the cab / tempo rides and therefore chose to board the big red town bus. The bus does stop at every little hamlet and takes its own pace to reach Belur – yet there was something nice about the bus ride. One can hire a cab, rick from Belur to Haleebed or hop into any of the buses heading to Halebid.

We intended cycling from Belur to Halebid , but were discouraged by tourist guides and we didn’t find any shop that would hire out cycles either. In hind sight, guess it was good that we didn’t find one ! Haleebed is at a distance of 16km and cycling on kuchha roads with the sun beating down, would have been a Herculean task.

The architecture @ Belur and Halebid is by and large similar. One would definitely need a guide to show you around the temple .The carvings at Belur and Halebid are more intricate than the ones at Hampi. What’s more amazing is that the entire architecture etc was done over 3 generations – Blue print--> prototype / pilot project --> execution. Must say amazing transition docs and six sigma processes in place !!

Terrific year indeed !! In addition to all the bonding that happened over these trips, faffing and bonding happened over Brew haa haaa , Barbeques , pot luck lunches , dinners and more lunches …….

What’s in store for ’08 ?


* Kanha National park – to spot Tiger - Tiger !!
* Silent Valley trek – to spot Jumbo
* Somnathpur – complete the Hoysala Jig saw puzzle
* Kottagiri