2005-09-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

Best Travelogue

1) CODE: 10TRA
By:- Karthik L G
Journey to the Hills !!!

I had a desire to go on my bike somewhere far from home. Definitely there would be a lot of thrill involved. It was the month of December 2004 and I decided that I'l take off to Thirumala Hills. I thought I had planned the trip very well but later realised that it was a blinder.

December 10 2004, four days after my 22nd birthday - I woke up early in the morning and packed my bag with my camera,its charger, memory cards and a pair of clothes. I set off from my home as if I was goin to work. I had never informed my parents as they surely wouldnt have allowed me after the serious bike accident I had in July 2001. I went to Malleshwaram 18th cross Bus Stand where my close buddy Harsha was to join me. We formally begun the ride at 8 AM offering our prayers to this goddess here in our minds.

The weather was very chill and pleasant. There was a slight drizzle in the air as we started but later it cleared and the sun was out in full glory.This is Harsha in a 'straight out of bed ' unkempt look :)

I decided to take the Hebbal Ring Road and go via Kolar.The Hebbal Flyover is really amazing and supposed to be one of the best in Asia.

My good old Hero Honda CD 100 . If I look back on this trip I wonder how I could decide to go to far off place #!> on a bike #2> without a helmet #3> with a bike like CD 100 which has not so good speed and power. I guess it was just the madness and the desire for some thrill.

We soon hit the ring road.i filled petrol for 400 rupees. As Banaswadi was on the way I paid a visit to one of my colleague's palce. But unfortunately she had left for office. On the way somewhere near KR Puram we went to a church . This visit turned out to play a crucial role in the end of the ride which you will read later.

On reaching the end of the ring road near the ITI office we took a left towards Kolar.The weather was pleasant and the mood was jovial. We sang a lot of songs while riding. Harsha is a very good singer and has a wide repertoire of songs in kannada,hindi & english.It had been less than a month since I had got my camera and I was just beginning to enjoy photography. The sunshine on the water was nice to see. The sound made by the flowing water could be heard very distinctly.

We were stopping at a lot of places to capture those special shots.The ride was filled with songs and many conversations about a lot of things.

A fallen tree which blocked the road was being moved.

This highway here looks good in the daytime, but is considered to be one of the killer roads in the night.Nevertheless in the daytime the mountains in the backdrop add to the beauty. At around 11 AM we had breakfast at Hoskote.When we got ready to leave from here, I realised one of my memory cards was missing from my pocket. I searched the whole bag n pockets inside out, with no success. I thought it was gone and was about to start the bike. But Harsha stopped me and as a final attempt he went to check in the hotel we had been to. To my good fortune, it was lying on the ground untouched. Happily we resumed the ride.

This is a brick factory ( itke goodu ) where the bricks are baked.

I was driving at a steady speed of around 65-70. My bike can go max at 75. I had been to places like Chennapatna and Nelmangala on bike, but as this was a real long journey was enjoying evry bit of it. As the air goes into the ears at high speeds, I used a band which covers the ears (khaan patti).We stopped on a wayside tea shop to have some biscuits and water.We crossed into Andhra Pradesh State sometime at 1 PM. Stopped for lunch in a hotel. I dont remember the name, but it severs real good food and usually everyone who pass by this stop here. Andhra Food is famous for the amount of rice and the variety of side dishes served with it. It was a very filling and satisfying lunch.

Amazed to see the numerous mountains alongside.

Came across a train halted on the tracks.

The clouds making the shape of the hood of a King Cobra.We took a deviation towards hyderabad instead of Tirupathi. After around 15 kms I realised my fault and we had a tough time in communicating in Telugu with the locals and finding our way back.

We came across a water tank. Stopped besides it and voila in a few minutes we were on top of it. This was a lovely view of the fields beneath.

Me on the top who is scared of heights ;). Descended down and resumed the final lap of the journey. Just after a few mins the bike came to a sudden halt - it had run out of fuel and guess what to our good luck, the petrol bunk was just 20-30 meters away. Would you beleive it.

Finally after 10 hours at around 6 PM we reached the city of Tirupathi.It is a very crowded place. There was a real long traffic jam near a arailway crossing. It was really bad. I contacted my friend Vinay in Bangalore whose dad works for TTD. He was to help me find accomodation. We checked into the Thirupathi Thirumala Devasthanam lodges.It is a huge building which looks grand from the outside. Once we checked into the room I was badly dissappointed. It was not at all worth Three hundred rupees. I was furious and decided to check out immediately. We lost 200 Rupees as it had been entered into the records. I didnt mind this . We decided to go up the hills the same night.

The whole place starting from the bottom of the hills and the whole place on top is under high security after the infamous Akshardham incident in Gujrath. After the security checks we started the ride up. It was to take 45 minutes.

The ride was too good. I remember in January 2004 when I had gone to Tirupathi in bus with my parents, I had decided in my mind the very moment I was on this beautiful ghat section that I want to come here on my bike. My dream was being realised now. The feeling then is unexplainable. My friend was singing 'So gaya yeh jahan, so gaya aasma' from Tezaab . Just apt for the moment.Some of the turns were very sharp . But it was not at all challenging to go on a bike. A four wheeler offers gives more thrill in such situations. Never mind it was a superb feeling.

This was somehwere in the ghat section road.

By the time we reached the top it was 9 pm. We began to explore the hill pilgrim center. So much life on the hills. Its amazing.Harsha and me lost our ways in the crowd. He doesent carry a cell phone. None of us worried and for the next 3 hours we explored the whole of thirumala individually. Finally at about 12 midnight my phone was reachable and Harsha contacted me. We met and had dinner. The whole place never sleeps. There is life 24/7 365 days a year. These colourful bangles in one of the numerous stores.

View of the gopuram in the night. I got a call from my worried dad, asking me where I was. I told him that Il be back in a days time and not to worry.

There are people for darshanam all round the clock. We were not interested in darshan as I beleive that devotion should be in the mind and heart and one should do good to others. We were here for the thrill of biking and photography.

Another 'buzzing with activity' view .

Finally we caught up with some sleep at around 2 AM guess where.......... in a jeep. It was sooo damn cold. Very very chilling cold.Got up at around 5 AM. This golden gopuram is not visible from the outside and its not been photographed much. I managed to get this shot somehow from I dont remember where. We were quizzed by the security there, but then they let us soon knowing our harmless intentions :)

This one too is gold plated.

This dog here tells the whole story of how cold it was.

6 AM time again to explore. There was some change in the plans and we decided to leave thirumala to bangalore via Chennai at around 11 AM.Harsha went somewhere and got 4 Thirupathi Ladoos to take home.

The sacred kalyanis where people take a holy dip in the chill air before darshan.

People taking the mangalarathi.

We had a good breakfast in Hotel Mayura. Check out these giant masala dosas

The communication antennas and the tall wind mills on the mountains. Mountains on mountains.

The museum contains some very old historic idols, paintings, photographs, musical instruments and ayudhas.

Maha sudarshana murthy of the 16th century.

The 11th century Ganesha from Chitoor district nearby.

The sacred Narayana Pada. (Footprints of Narayana)

As I had clicked a lot the camera charge was very low. So after filling petrol yet again we spent about an hour there keeping the camera for charging. My sister called me from the US and she was shocked to know that I was here in thirupathi and more shocked when I told I hadnt informed anybody. When I told her that I'l be leaving soon via chennai, she blasted me and told me to go straight to Bangalore. I had to listen to her and so Chennai was scrapped. Know what exactly 16 days later Tsunami struck the coastal city. she still talks about her warning me not to go..dunno how its related ;)

This one here is one of the luxurious looking guest houses. These have to be booked earlier . Next time Im gonna come here !> drive by car 2> stay in one of these guest houses 3> a good equipment 4> a laptop for archiving the photos I shoot 5> probably a video camera 6> a long stay for 2-3 days , not a short one like this

A giant clock on the hills.

We started the journey back to Bangalore. it was around 11 AM. The ride downhill was a scenic one as we had missed out the view the previous night.

Roads winding around the mountains. The authorities have done a fabulous job in maintaining these roads neatly.

Imagine the work that must have gone behind this.

Other than the roads, for the benifit of the devotees who prefer to go to the top on foot, there are steps from the bottom to the top.

To protect against the sun and the rain the walkway is sheltered.

The deers on the hills

Lovely view of the rocks.

Birds eye view of Thirupathi, from the Thirumala hills.

We spent a lot of time clicking a lot of shots. This monkey here was cute.

Once again a nice formation.

This kalyani the Konda Kalva, is shown in many Tamil movies.

By the time we reached Tirupathi it was 1 AM. What takes only 45 mins took over 2 hours ..Thanks to my photography. Had a quick visit of the famous temple in Tirupathi Papa Vinasanam. Left Thirupathi for Bangalore at around 1:30 .

Numerous palm trees along the way.

Criss cross growth of the two coconut trees.

We came across the Heritage Diary Plant and had some refreshing flavoured milk

Palm Trees along the way.

Nice sight of the crane with its reflection.

This one taken by Harsha from behind while I was riding.

Couldnt resist taking some shots even though it was getting late.

A nice view of the highway.At around 4:30 PM we stopped for a late lunch , still in Andhra Pradesh. After a quick lunch (1/2 hr) we started back for what we thought would be the last lap.

We entered namma Karnataka atlast.

The sunsets were too good to be missed. So stopped just for a wee bit.

This one was taken somewhere in Kolar at about 6 pm. We were way behind our schedule as almost 4 hrs.It was beginning to get dark. The whole canvas looke a bit eerie as if telling us that something drastic was to happen. We decided it was gettin late n said no more photography, lets head home as soon as possible, as I was not used to drive in the night. Also the Kolar - Bangalore highway is one of the most dangerous n poorly lit road. Added to all this my headlight was very dim which almost didnt serve its purpose. At about 6-30 a Volvo bus coming from the opposite direction almost came in front of my bike, I glided my bike into the untarred sidewalk in order to avoid the collision. Cursing the damn guy , I tried to steer the bike back onto the tarred road without realising that the height difference between the sidewalk n the road was quite a bit. Due to this the bike going at 40 kmph which is not as slow as it looks like, lost the road grip n we fell flat on the middle of the road. My Jansport bag which I was hanging around my neck served as a cushion. I fell on top of it, my friend on top of me and the bike lay next to us. It all happened in a flash. Thank the holy god, we were alive and breathing, barring a few bruises on the palms and knee. I missed out on the photo - This explains the seriousness of the situation we were in :) We were speechless and in a state of shock. What if any vehicle was coming either in the front or back? What if we had got the slightest of impacts on the head? What if something had happened to either one of us? There were unending if's which haunted my mind. For your information I was not wearing a helmet , cos I never do.I knew how worse an head injury could get cos of a previous experience. Thanking god for his kindness and still in a state of shock we set out to Bangalore at a very slow pace cos the road was not at all visible cos it was completely dark.

I had lost the confidence in driving.Heading forward just a few kms away we came across some good samaritans in the form of Rajasthani truck drivers, who were heading from the Kolar BHEL factory to Jaipur. One of the guy by name Raju offered to drive the bike till bangalore , while I was in the truck for about 1 1/2 hrs. It was a different experience in its own. The way these guys drive thier trucks and the way they approach life. TheIr whole life revolves around the road n wheels, which is quite fascinating. We reached bangalore at 10-30 PM and due to the grace of the almighty my friend Harsha n me were alive .

This was not the end of it. There wa yet another piece of confusion waiting to unfold. The truck guys dropped me somewhere near KR Puram flyover and I met Raju there ( The guy who rode my bike with Harsha). The punch here was that he had dropped Harsha somewhere near the ITI campus.I took an auto along with Raju and went back to the ITI office (The truck proceeded - Raju was to join them in the ring road).

Shucks when I thought everything ends well, here starts another problem.Harsha was MISSING. He doesent know how to ride the bike confidently. He doesent have a phone too and my phone is OUT OF CHARGE. I thanked Raju for his kindness and asked him to leave as it was getting late for him. I waited for Harsha hoping he comes back but that was not the case. Luckily I had a charger with me and went to a shop and put my phone to charge...within a few mins Harsha was online. I was very new to this place and didnt know any landmarks. Luckily the church which we had been to served as a common meeting point. I took an auto there. Ahhh a big relief. He was there!!!

So finally for sure we started the last lap by hitting the ring road. The roads were brightly lit. There was no problem in riding, but the confidence was lacking. We recollected all the incidents that had happened through the trip - the petrol getting over near the bunk, the ghat section drive in the night, night exploration of thirumala, both of us getting lost, the nap in the jeep, early morning exploration, the photography, call by my sister, the drive down, the accident, the truck drive - and heaved a sigh of relief.

Finally reached home at 11-20 and went to bed as if nothing had happened.

The lesson I learnt from this episode was that 1> Never go on a long journey in a bike and 2> Proper planning required about accomodation, schedule . My next rendezvous with the hill shrine is gonna get executed perfectly.Tirupathi - Thirumala wait until I return next... :)

2) CODE: 17TRA
By:- Ricky Singh
II: Swartz Bay to Twassassen Bay

Swartz Bay to That-Bay-whose-name-I-always-had-difficulty-pronouncing (It is pronounced as T-w-a-s-s-e-n). These are the two ferry terminals. Swartz Bay is in Greater Victoria region and Twassassen Bay is in Mainland. I took most of my breathtaking pictures between two terminals (1hr 35 min. ride). Let the journey begin:

This is the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal Main entrance. The terminal is about 30 minute drive from my place and is located at the southern most tip of Vancouver Island. It's a pretty decent size terminal (I have seen smaller ones for God's sake)

This picture I took from the ferry terminal as I had arrived few minutes earlier . The thing that I like about this picture is that it shows the Bay's shoreline, which is really very beautiful. I also like how the ferry terminal is made in blue and white, keeping with the contrast of the surroundings.

In few minutes I will be boarding on the ferry through this glass gateway. As you can see the ferry has'nt even arrived yet. I remember the first time I went through such pathway was when I when I first came to US in 1992 and took the flight. Before that I had always used stairs to board the planes and was amazed to see that I went through the pathway and into the plane without even noticing. Though sometimes I miss those old, small aeroplane charm where you walk to the plane and then board it using staircase (just like all the Presidents do these days...I always wanted to turn back and wave too like them...ha ha)

The name of the ferry as indicated by this picture was "The Spirit of Vancouver Island". This is one of the big ferries with 7 stories (1 for buses and trucks, 2 for cars and 4 for all the wonderful souls). Also, the reason I took this picture is to mark the location so that incase the ferry decides to sink, I can grab this fast and jump before all the crew decides that it's girls and children first...ha ha...just kidding...Main bhi abhi bacha hee hoon...;)

This picture is taken from the uppermost deck and you can see how windy it can be there just by looking at the flag. Again I love the color asthetics. It looks like even the guy is sitting there just to add a little more red to white and blue.

This is a ferry very similar to mine but atleast 2 level smaller. Looking at the size of it, I can assume that this one maybe going to Nanaimo as that is the only other big city on the island where such big ferries can run economically. Sometimes, dolphins would come near the ferry and form an inverted V infront of the ferry and will accompany it for 20-30 minutes. Since Captain would be the first one to know about it, he/she will inform everyone on board and you should see how everyone sitting inside would rush outside to look at nature's wonder. The dolphins would entertain everybody by doing various flips as if they know that they are being watched and it's showtime. Isn't nature just amazing??

I just love this picture for some reason. Can you spot a tiny lighthouse on this tine little island. It was just such an awesome view that I could'nt help myself. Looks like a perfect postcard...

Just as the ferry was about to start it's voyage, I spotted seagulls flying over the ferry. I was so amazed to see how they fly, almost in a teasing way as if mocking us, that I forgot to click any pictures and suddenly realised that I should take atleast one. By this time they had started to move towards shore except one. Like me he/she (can't tell from so far...hello) was also travelling alone but it was not lost. It was as if he wanted to tease me more and kind of say "Try capturing me in your tine little camera". I clicked like 4-5 snaps but could'nt capture it. It would just fly away just at the nick of the time. But I too was relentless in my pursuit and the game had begun. Suddenly the ferry started to move and this seagull started to move towards shore and just as it was leaving I clicked ths snap and just about captured it.

Now my attention was diverted by a bunch of noises and gigling. Japnese tourists had come on board and they were like 14-15 and started clicking snaps of each other like crazy. Those familiar with Japanese would know how they love to click snaps with their tiny cameras which are way ahead of any cameras in North American market. I also like the blue wing area of ferry in this picture. Can you see that seagull in this picture too? I was following it when I snapped this one.

This picture I snapped from one level lower than previous ones as we started leaving Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal. You can imagine the size of the ferry just by looking at the awesome displacement of water left behind. Ah!! What a beautiful, sunny day it was....

Another perfect postcard picture. No words to describe this one, except that I see a speeding boat. Someone please give it a ticket...

That's Tsawassen Ferry Terminal. Vancouver is here, let the party begin...

3) CODE: 32TRA
By:- Pranav
My trip to Hampi!
This is as of yet incomplete...I intend to post an entire travelogue of my Hampi travel (travails?) as soon as I complete it:)

Disclaimer: most of the historical information I provide is colored by my biases - please do not regard them as the final word on Hampi. This travelogue is through my eyes, what I experienced and should be treated as such. All information regarding logistics, is however, factual and experienced firsthand.

A brief history of Hampi - it was the capital of Vijaynagaram, one of the richest empires in the 12-13th century owing to a flourishing trade economy. Good governance and infrastructure are the pre-requisites for any trading economy and Vijaynagaram had both. Trading was mainly in gems (especially diamonds from Golconda, Hyderabad) and I think cotton, tobacco and spices too. Under a ruler called Krishnadeva Raya (henceforth called KDR), Hampi progressed - both in terms of wealth and trade output. KDR seemed to be a proponent of globalisation and made sure his empire had a large chunk of the pie. He made a lot of money for his empire (some people who dont blv that so much money can be made, argue that there was a rainfall of gold and jems on Hampi in the 13th century, resulting in the wealth - and we all know that is hogwash:) ) and the money was channelled into:

1. Jobs for the rural poor - not much unlike the current govt schemes, with the exception that the money actually reached where it was intended for

2. Building temples - a note for the pseudo secularists here..KDR and his people were mainly Hindus and regarded religion as an uplifting factor..not something to be looked down upon. KDR was however, biased more towards Shiva, so most of the temples were dedicated to Shiva - we cant blame him for that...after all his policies were the ones that drew all foreign investment in. And before anyody screams about squandering money on building so many temples - this was not very different from the employment guarantee schemes floated by the govt today...in lean agri seasons, a lot of infrastructure is created using manual labour...to create employment for those people who'd have otherwise starved...in this case, the kings' religious leanings were satisfied...at the same time providing gainful employment to hundreds. I digress - but a brief note...the Indian forest department manuals clearly state that any work to be done in plantations or reserved forests should be labour-intensive...so if theres an option b/w 2 tenders...one offering mechanised and more cost-effective means of doing the work..and the other offering manual labour - more costly and slower way of doing work...the manual labour is to be chosen.why??It might appear very silly from a strictly capitalist point of view but it is to ensure that any development has a human face. It also makes a lot of sense to get buy-in from the locals who'd then have a certain amount of possessiveness for the work done...things they would'nt usually teach you at a mainstream b-school...I preen...:)

3. Social welfare schemes - especially doles to the unemployed. On festivals, KDR was weighed in gems and these were then distributed to the poor and destitutes. I immediately see 2 fallouts of this system, however good:
a. In the public interest, KDR might have run the risk of over-eating around festival time, resulting in obesity - which we know is the root of so many diseases (no wonder he ruled for only 20 years)
b. There must have been an incentive to remain a destitute...unless there was some kind of screening of the benefeciaries ... and assurance that the amount doled out was not more than what the gainfully employed were earning.
(Reference to this also in The Kings' Balance further down)

After KDR died, the empire was taken over by weak rulers who thought nothing of squandering money earned by their fathers and did not involve themselves in day to day governance. The money was there, the people were probably not so happy and the defences were weak...all of which made for an ideal reason for the Moslems sultans of the Deccan area to eye the wealth of Vijaynagaram. A few Sultans combined forces, attacked Hampi (which, as I shall describe later, was quite a protected place), managed to get in and, in true style of the Moslem invaders of yore, pillaged the city, sacked it, tried to deface all temples (thank the lords that KDR had built so many of them, that they probably lost interest after breaking a few hundred) and put to the sword most of its inhabitants who refused to convert. They say the river Tungabhadra was red for months with all the bodies dumped in there. The carnage all around was such that nobody had the stomach to live there ever after. Foreign investment, of course pulled out at the first hint of conflicts and trade stopped. Hampi was a dead city for centuries.

Till the treasure hunters discovered it. They say potfulls of gold and jewels were found buried quite often in the villages surrounding Hampi. After all the gold-digging was done and no traces of the wealth remained, tourists discovered Hampi.

Note: Much before the 12th century and KDR, the entire area was known as Kishkinda. This was in the vedic-puranic times (for the uninitiated - prehistoric times, when the story of Ramayana was being lived). Kishkinda was the monkey empire (though I tend to think they were not strictly monkeys but the Cro-Magnon men) and Rama had spent the monsoons in the caves in Kishkinda on his way to Sri Lanka to get back his wife from Ravana. There is an entire chapter in the Ramayana devoted to the time spent in this area, called the 'Kishkinda Kand'. This was where Rama forged an alliance with the 'Vanars' (crudely described as very strong monkeys) and got an army from them to fight the Sri Lankan king, Ravana. Many tourists only come for seeing the ruins of KDR's empire, and this pre-historic aspect is often overlooked - moreso because the caves are not half as glamorous as the amazing KDR brand of architecture. Decription of the prehistoric spots also follows later in this log.

Topography:
The entire area is extremely rocky - with huge boulders placed in strange positions or piled upon each other to form hills. Vegetation is sparse in most of the areas (they say the entire area was forested at some point in time, but its hard to believe, seeing the current state). There are patches of green, especially where the villagers have cultivated paddy and bananas - these patches form a striking contrast with the bare rocks all around when seen from an altitude.
Hampi is flanked by the Tungabhadra river (earlier called the mighty Tungabhadra - mighty no longer because it has been dammed by the huge Tungabhadra Dam further upstream. So what remains is a small river which is quite pretty - it does get wide enough to justify a bridge downstream, though). Most of the river crossing is done by Coracles - basket boats, described at an apporpriate point below, though I guess you can also swim through if you are an exceptionally strong swimmer!

Seasons - All of summers (March to June) and Monsoons (July to September, sporadically). Summers are not advisable in Hampi because I can imagine it would be really hot there then with all the rocks around. Monsoons would be beautiful but not good for all the climbing-clambering on hills. September-October is also dull season. The good season starts after October and Hampi gets totally amazing after November. The weather is quite amenable after October and carries till February. Foreign tourists start trickling in after mid-november and its totally crowded around December - Feb because everybody and his friend who carries a Lonely Planet on their backpacking trip to India has Hampi on their itinerary. its an overnights' journey from Goa, making it very crowded around Dec-Jan which is also the peak season in Goa.

The best time to be in Hampi is in November - not a lot of crowds, cheap and available accommodation, available seats on buses/trains and ambient weather.

My Trip
With tickets to home heavily waitlisted, the 4 days of Diwali holidays seemed to be a goner and I was not really looking forward to spending my time bumming around in Bombay - especially as most of my friends had been wise and booked their tickets to home much beforehand.

That was when another friend, Amit (who, like me, has invisible springs on his butts) and me decided to do a backpacking tour of some place off the beaten path. Hampi was one place I've heard so many people raving about and it was quite a shame that I had'nt been there, given my appetite for travelling. So Hampi it was. We downloaded a lot of material over the internet (a lot of it was only of a little help) and booked bus seats - we were lucky to get any...given the fact that this was heavy travel season.

Hospet is the closest town to Hampi which is reasonably well connected to the outside world. We found that there were direct buses to Hospet and Hampi is only about 12 kms from there. VRL is a very good service provider in South India with nice clean and comfortable buses - though it'd have been great if they had sleeper/AC buses to Hospet. A train, called the Chalukya Express goes from Mumbai through Hospet, but is quite heavily booked, so anybody hoping to do it by train should get their tickets well in advance.

Our bus (VRL) started around 1930 from Bombay an stopped quite a few times - for dinner just outside Bombay at a standard restaurant where the food was nothing worth writing about, a few times for fuel...in Belgaum I think, early morning and in a place called Illikal for breakfast. The restaurant here, Pink Palace (though there was nothing pink about it, just like Jaipur) served pretty good Dosas. We reached Hospet around 10am and spent some time drifting around and wondering whether to stay in Hospet or Hampi and whether to rent a vehicle from Hospet itself.

Hot tip: Dont waste your time in Hospet, unless you're coming in peak season, in which case it makes sense to try for hotel accommodation in Hospet and travel daily to Hampi. In November, when we went, we could not find anybody renting bikes/bicycles to Hampi around the main busstand area.

We hired an auto to take us to Hampi following reassurances by locals that accommodation and transport would be readily available in Hampi. Some locals told us not to pay more than Rs50, but we ended up paying Rs70, which was ok, considering that we also got some good advice from the autowallah (not that he would have remained sullen if it was Rs50, but our WTP-willingness to pay, increased) and he led us to our hotel - so we did not spend a lot of time looking around for hotels...given the number of houses in Hampi that double up as hotels, this choice can get pretty mind-boggling, but rest assured that most of them offer the same basic facilities, so take the first one you come to. We did see a bigger and more airy room which was slightly costlier but very affordable, but did not mind it because we hit out room only for sleeping at night - a bed, fan and a bathroom was all we needed (we had decided to be minimalistic on this trip).
There is basically one small stretch of road in Hampi which is the main marketplace. Behind this market is a jumble of lanes and houses which give rooms on rent. I am sure there must be proper hotels in Hampi, but I did not see any within the town - probably 4 kms away in Kamalapur.

We had a quick shower, lunch (many small eateries in hampi offering Israeli, French, Greek, Chinese, Indian and German options..though sadly not many South Indian eateries, esp as I was pining for good Idli-Dosa-Rasam type of food) and headed out to hire a bike. Following options are available:
1. Hire a bicycle - Rs3-5/hour or Rs 20-30/day
2. Hire ungreared bikes - Rs 100/day (fuel additional)
3. Hire geared bigger and more powerful bikes - Rs200/day (fuel extra)

We hired the geared bike for three days as I was comfortable driving them and knew that there were some steep inclines to be covered and we did not want to waste energy in just getting there. They give an approximate mileage of 50kmpl so 3 litres of fuel was sufficient. The bike hire fellow gave us fuel at a 20% premium as the nearest petrol station was about 5kms away in Kamalapur. The bike was, however, very new and good to handle.

Hot tip: Eating at these places is a spaced out affair - with all food being cooked probably as and when you order. So do not expect to get immediate service on ordering food. A cold drink can help you last the wait. The food is quite good.
Also, do haggle a bit before hiring out the bike - we managed to get Rs50 off for the first day as we had started at 1130am. The bike fellow would keep some documents as security. We got by with providing a photocopy of Amit's voter ID card, but they normally keep originals (I guess they were plain tired of haggling with us), especially if you're there in peak season. We got by without very strict control because we were in just before the season started.

We were quite confused about which spots to cover first and forming an itinerary as the maps did not give a very good indication of motorable roads. The Hampi temples are more in form of clusters which makes it easy for the tourist to cover them.

Most of the spots are outside the main town (its hardly a town, but we will call it that). The main town is made up of the main temple - Virupaksha temple and a small street outside it, where the eateries and bike-hire joints are concentrated. In the lanes inside are the houses which have rooms on rent, more eateries and anything else that a tourist could want in terms of victualling.

4) CODE: 53TRA
By:- Ms. V ( Vids )
Beauty – is it taken for granted?

‘Nanaimo is a beautiful city.’ That is what the tourist brochures claim. And there is no doubt about it either. Ever since I arrived in Nanaimo three weeks back, I have been left awestruck by its beauty. Its breathtaking scenery, its beautiful romantic sunsets, its calm yet mysterious waters; all make it seem like it is indeed paradise on earth. The aura of this city aroused my senses like none other. I was walking about the city, consuming in all its beauty. I desired to blend with my surroundings. Suddenly, I am jerked back into reality by the blaring noise of the bus horn. I look around me and realize that all the people are so busy going about their daily chores – running to school, driving to work, mending the garden – that they do not once stop to watch, touch or feel these precious gifts of nature that God has bestowed upon them. I wondered how people could be so indifferent to it all, so immune to this beauty. Was it because they were born into this paradise, they took this beauty for granted?

I think of Muscat, the city where I have lived the best part of the eighteen years of my life. Had I also been the same, and failed to recognize the beauty around me? Had I fallen prey to human nature too? I realize that I indeed had. Not once had I appreciated what I had been blessed with around me. Bittersweet memories from my past flash across my mind, taking me for a few moments to another time and place. It’s not that I had ever underestimated Muscat’s beauty. It’s just that I had never given it another glance. Now that I was away, I longed for the cool soft sands, the bare rocky mountains, the calm quiet beaches and the rough playful sea. A rustling in the leaves brings me back to this paradise again. Two cute rabbits and some graceful deer are playing about the trees and grass. I am immediately stabbed with a feeling of guilt. Never once had I stopped and gazed at the majestic camels that lived back home.

The two cities are not alike in any sense. Nanaimo is on an island, surrounded by water, covered with tall trees – pine trees, cedar trees, apple trees, acorn trees, trees I have never seen or heard of before. Muscat is in the desert, covered with sand, with the occasional tall date palms looking back at you from the horizon. Nanaimo has lush green grass wherever you look. The only greenery you’ll ever find in Muscat will be in the backyard of a house whose owners have a passion for gardening. In Nanaimo, you can feel the cold wet air brushing your face, but in Muscat, it’s only hot dry winds that will blow through your hair. Nanaimo is blessed with four seasons, ranging from times when the leaves fall off the tree to times when you have the occasional snowfall. In Muscat, it’s considered surprising if it rains for more than one day in a year. One city has what the other does not. Yet both these places are beautiful in their own respect.

As I stand here, looking around at nature’s wonders around me, I slowly find myself wanting to be less awed by it all. How could I let myself be taken away by this beauty, when I had always lived in somewhere equally beautiful? That is when it dawned on me that maybe it is not the case that people take all this beauty for granted. Maybe they have lived in this beauty for so long that it has become a part of them, and they really don’t need to stop to look at the rabbits play, or gaze at the sunset, or stare at the grey clouds that promise rain. I was a stranger to this foreign beauty and hence felt the need to acquaint myself with these gifts of nature. But for the people of Nanaimo, it had become a part of them, a part of their existence. All they ever needed to do was close their eyes and they would see the panoramic beauty unfold in front of their eyes, in the same way that I had experienced. I realized that the beauty of Muscat was a part of me and I never had to look far, but within myself, whenever I found myself missing home.

We are, after all human, and it is impossible not to be moved by beauty around us. Beauty is so powerful that we are not even aware when it becomes a part of us. Everything is beautiful. Everything. If something doesn’t seem beautiful, the first question you must ask yourself is why you think it’s not beautiful. You will soon realize that there is, in fact, no reason at all.

5) CODE: 63TRA
By:- Gaurav Rathore
Destination Ganpatipule...
Eyes wanted to dream but the sleep proved to be elusive for us. Probably our souls were too excited! Yes, we were about to embark on our new and the longest trip till date on bike...to the white sand beach of Ganpatipule..full 350 kms drive from Mumbai. We decided to leave as early as possible because we wanted to beat the traffic as well as the scorching heat of the sun. We went off to the bed at 1:30 am and we were plan ning to leave at 5:00am. Blame it on mosquitoes or the adrenaline that was flowing, there were no signs of sleep. When i was taking my (n+m)th turn on bed, I realised that even this fellow, Anurag was awake! And guess what he uttered in the middle of the night? "Its 3'O Clock, Chalein kya?" Now avoiding sun is OK but we also made a resolution few months back not to drive in dark! Some how I could convince him to continue his struggle with mosquitoes for one hour more! Alarm was set at 4:30 but we were off the bed at 4:00am. A round of chai (obviously prepared by me) followed by the map reading (i duly forgot the map in office but fortunately my friend brought it from there).

And there we were, on road at 4:45 am sharp. Resetted the distance meter which was supposed to show some large numbers this time, enveloped with the excitement, we hit the road. Withing 15 minutes of drive , i realised my blunder. I forgot to bring any jacket and at 5:00 the breeze was as cool as u can imagine. So, for the next one and a half hour, my destiny was to become an icy flesh. I was desparately waiting for the sun rise, this time not for the photoshoot but for its warmth. Although we were pretty early, still, as they say, this city never sleeps, and even at that time there was considerable traffic on road whose full beam flashes were causing some trouble to Anurag. First halt came after 81kms of drive. At a filling station, tank full and we were on road again after a 10 minute break. Roads were smooth and we were flowing on it. Sun showed its first sign at around 7:00 and it simultaneously put some life in me.

Our first halt came after 157 kms of ride at a stretch. This time it was our turn to get the refill. Filled ourselves with idli dosa stuff with tea coffe...bought a packet of "chingum" as Anurag pronounce it. and we were on road again.. After covering a mere 30kms we were forced to break the journey again! Reason? We were dozing off on bike! I can count atleast 3 occassions and even Anurag confessed that he too dozed twice! So, it was the time for the much needed Chai!

From there, ghats started which were not looking so beautiful as they were devoid of any greenry, but still we enjoyed those curves! We continued to float on the black beauty (roads) and our third and the final break came at 50 kms prior tp Ganpatipule (GP Pule as we call it). Anurag forced a 'kokam' sharbat on me and a round of bhurji pav followed...In the backyard of that roadside hotel , i spotted the beautiful location and literally dragged Anurag for a photosession and after satisfying the photographer in me we moved ahead...

As soon as we took the turn to Ganpatipule, the total scenery around us changed completely. Instead of large mountains and ghats, there was large barren land on both sides of the road with no signs of vegetation at all..We were nearing our destination..Just before 7 kms to ganpatipule, i clicked the snaps in front of a mile stone showing "Ganpatipule-7kms". Somehow i like to capture the mortals with different milestones..Strange na? As soon as we touched GP, we got a divine glimpse of the vast sea which promised a lot...We knew we were on the right place!

Now first challange was to get an accomodation as the fatigue and heat took its toll on us...and we had to book hotel for 13 of my friends including my room mates who were scheduled to reach there in the night....We decided on a tent in MTDC resort and more or less finalised it but the lady luck played the cruel joke again. It was available for just a day and we wanted it for two! From there the torture of finding a place for 15 guys started that too in 2'Oclock sun and after a drive of 350 odd kms! The three hotels that we spotted on the net were running in their full capacities and it seemed everybody on the earth came to ganpatipule to play holi as if it is the only place on planet where you can get the colours!

We were exhausted, tired, tortured and about to die and still without roof! Just imagine...two night stay under the open sky on the beach!
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When we were about to die under the sun after fighting for the accomodation, we decided to shift the gear from hotels to lodges and fortunately for us, the first one that we inspected was as good as a decent hotel. Without blinking our eye, we decided to make it our "sweet home" for the next two nights. Anurag insisted on a balcony wala room, although it was a bit costly than others, as if he was going to pose in front of it whole evening! By this time, we were dead tired, skipping lunch we were dead on the bed for the next 3 and a half hours.

Anurag was interested in seeing the beauty of sun set but he just forgot that we need to get out of the bed on time to watch it. Probably he satisfied himself taking glimpses of setting sun in his dreams! Finally we got up at around 7. After taking bath (this was the second bath of the day and there were plenty in the next two days!) we decided to take a leisurely walk to the beach which was just behind our lodge. Chewing peanuts, we set our foot on the white sand of Ganpatipule which was exceptionally smooth! Coconut water was followed by the long walk on the beach with occassional wading in the sea water. We were in no mood to immerse ourselves in water so we laid our backs on the rocks there. The waves were quite a distance from the rocks but they were moving towards us with each passing minute (high tide). With nothing planned for the evening, we were just gazing at the stars and the vast sea. Now, there is something very unique with the sea. Its vastness, on the one hand mesmerises you and on the other the same vastness frighten you. Atleast i experience this.

To make myself more comfortable, i took out my wallet and placed it on the rocks. After about half an hour of heavenly pleasure, the first sea waves touched the feet of the rocks and it was the time for us to go back. We were too hungry and had to make a few phone calls too...again a leisurely walk through the beach and to the STD booth. Time to pay Mr. Gaurav. Just a minute, where is the wallet? It must be sitting pretty on the rock?or take this...The rock must be completely immersed in the water by now..and with it my wallet must be somewhere in the midst of the sea! With these thoughts, I probably ran the fastest 800mts on this planet. I guess i clocked better than Wilson Kipketar that day! Now, my wallet was not as expensive as of any young lady as there were no lipsticks, nailpolishes and face powder, still it had credit cards, pan card, driving license and cash which by no means are lesser than the cosmatics! Fortunately when i reached the rock, there was still some time left for the sea to gulp it and i got back my wallet just in time!

After the drama, we were too hungry and decided to have dinner at MTDC restaurant. and the quantity was suggesting as if we were having dinner after ages! After dinner it was beach time again. One of the best feeling that u can have on earth is to wade bare footed in the sea water. The pleasure is beyond words. We returned to the room pretty late in the night and soon after started making plans for the next day. By this time, all my 13 friends joined us too. Before sleeping, we decided to visit another Shivaji's fort, named Jaigad Fort, which was 35 kms from Ganpatipule. As always we decided to leave early. Our bodies served us a clear cut 'NO' when it was the time to awake and we finally woke up at 8. As soon as we got ready to leave, we realised that my friends had other ideas. And within 20 minutes we were in the sea waves again. Without colours but plenty of water. Really a unique experience to celebrate holi on the beach! After 2 hrs of sheer fun, we were back to the room and another bath followed and soon after we were on road to Jaigad. Reached there in half an hour and like all other Shivaji's fort this too had nothing except walls. But the sea behing it was making things beautiful. Again our camera roll ditched us and there were no signs of life around the fort, let alone a shop to purchase roll.We were so disgusted that we decided not to click any more snaps and because of this reason we just have 12 snaps of this entire visit!

On our way back, we spotted another sea beach, yet to be named and probably yet to be touched by man (this is a slight exaggeration). We just love to follow non existant routes and followed another one to get to that beach and we were the only guys there! It seemed like a private property to us! Another encounter with the waves followed for the next 45 minutes and when our satisfaction quotient reached 200%, we decided to go back only to find our room mates missing from the lodge. We had no other option but to take another walk on the beach...Fortunately the fellows returned after sometime and in no time we were dead again....

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It was yet again a much needed sleep and we must have got a lot of blessings from our bodies specially the arse for this long sleep after torturing them brutally throughout the journey. Yet again we were planning to catch the sunset and yet again we missed the simple trick that getting up from the bed is pre-requisite to see the show! I woke up when all the friends were well dressed to visit the Ganpati temple on the beach. As an atheist, I was not too much inclined to go all the way to temple so I asked them to go ahead and convince them that I will follow soon. It was the time to hit the bed again but to my dismay this fellow Anurag got ready within no time (after his nth bath) and then forced me to follow the suit. 15 minutes later, we were moving leisurely to the temple. Somehow I always find it difficult to watch all the rituals there so I entered the temple and duly came to its verandah within no time. This time anurag sacrificed his 25 bucks there (to my surprise as he is also a non believer in god).

At this time, all got dispersed. Some were interested in ‘parikrama’ so they went ahead with it. Some were into their own zone, so we didn’t disturb them, while for us, it was ‘wading time’ again! This time another friend of mine gave us company. Another walk in the ankle deep see water, another stroll under the glittering sky or in short..another heavenly and unforgettable experience! 45 minutes and a round of coconut water later all were back from their respective zones and we finally halted at MTDC restaurant (I guess we two had every single breakfast, lunch and dinner at this place only and I enjoyed fresh lime water soda every time. No applause for MTDC required as you don’t need to have a mastery over this drink as soda is all that you need to make it!). Now we had plenty of time to kill, the whole night to be precise, and nobody was in mood to sleep early. We took atleast 25 minutes to select the dishes and the waiter took his own half an hour to serve. Still nobody complained. We ate till everybody’s stomach was filled to the throat. Now it was the time to go on beach again err..yet again.

Some of us were hell bent on having a bon fire there on the beach itself just to add to that ‘chill’ mood although the weather was not at all conducive for the fire thingie. The bonfire was as oddly placed as a 10-year-old kid in a Mumbai dance bar! Now somebody cried for the guitar. But as Anurag put it “...but I guess both rathore's and my prowess with the guitar was rather disappointing for the audience..so they continued with there dumb C”. Now, I am not at all a fan of Dumb C still just to extract some life out of it for myself…I came up with some imaginary movie names and left them all puzzled. One of them was “Hamlavaron ki toli aur raniyon ka mela!!”

After a lot of deliberation and persuasion, we dropped the idea of going to Ratnagiri as we have to come back all the way to Bombay and we didn’t want to ride during the daytime. Next day, Anurag was insisting on leaving as at 5:00 while I wanted to catch some sleep. Somehow I stretched the time to 6:15 am, the time at which we finally left for Bombay. Again no jacket and again the time for me to convert into an ice cream. This is one lesson I have learnt from this trip. Always go with a jacket even if u are heading towards the sun. By 7, I was totally frozen while he was having the cover of his newly bought jacket, which was again dropping temperature for me by 5 more degrees! At this time, we stopped for refueling and I snapped this opportunity to insert two ‘cuttin’ into my veins just to raise the temperature a bit. We rode on appreciating the black carpets of Maharashtra maintaining a speed of not less than 85 at anytime and in fact touched 107 at a particular instant! (But it was safe). Second stop was Chiplun where we had a ‘local’ burger but the guy charged handsomely for it. By 9’O Clock the markets were buzzed with activities and every now and then we were intercepting one of them. Now our sore asses started to give us trouble. Another halt to have bhajiya and chai. By 10 O’clock, sun was showing its true colors and with our helmets on, the conditions became all the more sapping. From there onwards, it was a continuous struggle with heat and thirst. Two more halts followed just to add substantial quantities of cold drinks and neebu-paani. We were exhausted by the time we were just 3 kms away from Panvel but our adventurist souls were still at large. We took a left turn in order to discover a new road hoping that it will take us to the beauty of Palm Beach road. We were horribly wrong. We were totally lost at 1:30 pm! After an aimless drive of 20 minutes (which at least I didn’t enjoy) we took a kuccha road and it infact took us to palm beach road but added another needless 10 kms and 20 minutes to our journey.

Finally we reached the flat at 2:00 pm sharp with a bottle of chilled water and another coke. The distance meter showed a whopping 815 kms of journey! He ended up with his sun burnt legs in cold-water bucket while I went off to sleeping mode sipping cola and watching the match!
Thus ended our 4th and most probably the last trip of the season…

6) CODE: 73TRA
By:- Colors
Asheville
Saturday dawned bright and sunny. The weather was awesome and our mood was on a cheerful high. After breakfast we started off but we got kind of disappointed to see that the spring has not yet arrived fully. The plants were still budding and most of the trees were still all twigs and branches. One of the biggest attraction of Asheville is the Biltmore Estate. It is a huge estate with acres of land that boasts of beautiful grounds, lawns and gardens. The highlight of the estate is an old Victorian mansion which is supposed to be America's largest home. We went there but were astounded by the entrance fee which was $40 per head. We decided the amount was not worth since the flowers were not even in full bloom.
We made a u-turn and went to the next stop, the Chimney Rock Park. As the name suggests, the park consists of a 315 foot tall rock shaped like a chimney located at 2300ft. There were numerous hiking trails of various lengths and difficulties. We took the shortest one...drive almost all the way up, ride up an elevator and then climb 42 steps to reach the top of the chimney :-). The road was narrow and winding...which reminded me so much of the roads in Sikkim specially as the surroundings were mountainous too (Smoky mountains). The elevator was quite amazing as had constructed it by cutting through the mountain...we had to go through a small tunnel to reach the elevator which took us 26 storey up in 30 secs. The view from the top of the rock was spectacular. One side of the rock was the rocky mountain wall and the rest faced the faraway mountains and down below we could see forest sparsely dotted with small villages. The rock also overlooked Lake Lure, which it seems is a man-made lake. There were a number of tiny nooks and fissures in and around the rock which had been made accessible by constructing wooden staircases. We stayed there for a while..exploring those quaint corners and 'view-points', enjoying the scenery, taking lots of pictures, and buying some souvenirs.
Our next stop was the North Carolina Arboretum which we decided to go via the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a long scenic road that connects the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with the Shenandoah National Park both of which are a part of the Appalachain Mountain range. It is supposed to be America's favorite drive and the ride is beautiful. It twists and winds up and down the mountains providing breath taking close-ups of the mountains and the rivers. The roads are in perfect condition and V had a great time driving the van. I too wanted to drive on the road, but since it was a big car, I did not feel confident enough. We were wondering how awesome the view would be during the fall season. V and me have thought of coming back here during Fall in the MR2 as the thrill of driving on the road would be best experienced on a sports car.
The NC Arboretum turned out to be a HUGE disappointment. The pamphlets boasted of acres of gardens and lawns with hundreds of varieties of flora. I guess we came a bit too early and like in other places, the flowers were not in full bloom. There were some patches of flowers here and there...but not much. There were a few gardens which seemed too small...good enough to be someone's home garden. The Vrindavan Garden is so much better than this. We took a short tour and didn't even bother to go to the green house.
Since we still had plenty of time in our hand, we decided to go to another place called Hot Springs. We expected some hot springs and S was particularly looking forward to take a dip due to the medicinal value of the mineral water. It was another long but beautiful drive and when we reached there we were met with one more disappointment. Though the place did have hot springs (we had started to wonder if maybe the place was just named so)...there were 12 in all. They had constructed hot tubs around each spring and enclosed them so groups of people normally book them for some hours. Since we reached quite late in the eve, all the springs were booked for the night.
We then headed back to the town, had dinner at the Indian restaurant there. This was a treat to us from S to celebrate him buying the car :-). We had no plans for the next day so we decided we will do river rafting, provided the weather was good.

The Bloggeratti-Travelogue