Place: Purandar fort, Maharashtra
Mode: Cycle Trip [120 Kms] (Pune - Saswad - Purandar - Saswad - Pune)
Date(s) of Travel: May 30, 2009
You can read more about the place here: Purandar
My Experience:
1. Me and my office colleagues started to Purandar from Pune around 4.00 AM. We reached Saswad around 9.00 AM. Riding the cycle in the 4KM ghat was a horrible experience. It was almost impossible for me since my stamina sucks.
2. Reached Purandar village around 12.00 PM. It was hot like hell. Even then I made my mind to take the trek and managed to reach the top around 1.00 PM.
3. Started back to Pune around 2.00 PM and reached back around 7.00 PM. But it was tiresome to ride around 120 Kms in a day. Tried some glucose, electrol nothing worked. Other Avid cyclists were encouraging me a lot and that kept me pushing and able to finish the trip as well as trek.
Thought of Day: Life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving. - Albert Einstein
Place: Kodachadri and Udupi, Karnataka
Mode: Bus Trip (Bangalore - Shimoga - Kodachadri - Kollur - Udupi - Bangalore)
Date(s) of Travel: December 24 - 28, 2008
You can read more about the place here: Kodachadri
My Experience:
1. Me and my office colleagues started to Shimoga from Majestic Bus stand, Bangalore at Dec 24, 2008, 11.00 PM. We reached Shimoga the next morning 6.00AM and again boarded a bus to Kollur by 6.10 AM. We got down at Kodachadri cross at around 10.00 AM. The Bus travel between Shimoga and Kodachadri cross was so tiresome as it was going through western ghats all the time. By the time I got down, I was so tired and worried about the Trek. :)
2. From the Kodachadri cross to the foothills, it was around 4-5 Kms. On the foothills there is a hotel called santhosh and we ate breakfast over there. Food was bit costly, but was good.
3. Then we started to trek through the hills around 11.30 AM. The mountains are filled with lots of trees and because of this we didn't felt the heat. We did take a lot of breaks. We have to cross mountains by mountains and the picturesque hills was so good to see and experience.
4. We managed to reach Kodachadri by around 2.30 PM. There was a temple and few shops were also there. There is a mud road path too where jeeps can travel. We stayed at a priest house, where they provide food at a minimum cost.
5. We went to Agasthiyar theertha, which it is a small stream where we took bath. The water was freezing cold and rocks were so curvy. In the evening we went to the peak also called Sarvajna Peetha to experience sunset. We could see a small temple of Adi Shankaracharya where he did meditation.
6. We stayed overnight at the priest house and it was damn cold outside. It was a nice experience. Next morning, we started to trek down at 8.30 AM and reached the hotel at the foothills by 10.00 AM. From there we went to kollur, which is 20 Kms from Kodachadri cross.
7. In Kollur, we stayed at a hotel for sometime and went to river to take bath and went to Mookambika temple. After taking Darshan, I alone started to Udupi Via Kundapura by 7.30 PM.
8. I reached Udupi by 10.00 PM and when I started looking for a hotel, it was a big shock for me. I checked around 7 hotels and no rooms available in any hotel. But with gods grace, I could get a hotel in a place called Parkala which is around 10 Kms from Udupi.
9. Next Day Morning, I went to Malpe beach. From there I went to Malpe Shipping Harbour and could able to see a ship building yard too. Then, I went to St.Marys Island by boat which is around 40 minutes drive from Harbour. The Island was too good and the water was clear. There is a shop in the Mid Island where they sell fried fish. In the evening I went to Krishnan Temple which is very famous. After that, I boarded a overnight bus from udupi and reached bangalore next morning.
Thought of Day: Brahma (God) is real, the world is an illusion, Jeeva (atma) and Bramha (god) are same, not different - Adi Shankaracharya.
Place: Skandagiri, Karnataka
Mode: Bike Trip and Night Trek at Kalavarahalli
Kms: 75 kms from Bangalore
Date(s) of Travel: December 7, 2008
You can read more about the place here: Skandagiri
My Experience:
1. Me and my colleague Chethan started from Palace Grounds by bike at Dec 6, 2008, 11.00 PM. We went through chikballapur route and reached foothills by around 1.00 AM.
2. On the foothills there is a temple and a mutt. There is a pay and park facility available and there are few guides also available. Since chethan has already been to this place we choose to trek by ourselves around 1.15 AM.
3. It was damn cold and fog everywhere. The hill was bit steep and rocks everywhere, but trekking in the night with Torch was a nice experience. We took some rests in few places. We could see a lot of people and there was traffic jam over there too.
4. We managed to reach the peak by around 4.15 PM. There were group of people everywhere and even some having campfire. It was almost like seeing a new civilization.
5. There were some people who sell hot tea and Omelette. It was freezing cold over the top and I started even running nose. There is a Lord Ganesh Temple at the top and we sat there for sometime to protect ourselves from cold.
6. Around 5.30 AM, Sun started to come out. We could see the clouds very near to us and it was a thrilling experience.
7. Around 8.30 AM, we reached back the foothills and back to Bangalore by 9.50 AM.
Thought of Day: Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time - Steven Wright.
Place: Seoul, South Korea
Mode: Thai Airways (Via Bangkok, Taipei)
Date(s) of Travel: Feb 2, 2008 to March 23, 2008
You can read more about the place here: Seoul
My Experience:
1. G. Prabhu and Krishnamoorthy helped me a lot during pre-travel activities like purchasing and send-off. Thanks da. Thanks Navaneethan for lending me a digi-cam.
2. First time flight experience was good. But I feared almost all the time.
3. First to Bangkok, Thailand. I had only half-hour to catch the connecting flight to seoul, but the boarding pass queue was very long. Finally flight got delayed by two hours.
4. Flight did a stop-over at Taipei, Taiwan for 45 minutes. I roamed around the Airport for some time. It was good.
5. Finally I reached Incheon, Seoul. When the flight got landed, every korean in the flight shouted "Welcome to Korea". They love their country very much as like everyone in the world.
6. Immigration people didn't allowed me and put me in the suspect room. Oh my god, I couldn't understand their language. [:)]. Finally, police verified and allowed me. (Reason: HP Business in Korea and I had a long colored hair in the Passport Photo).
7. It was -10 Degree C in seoul and I could experience snowfall. Traveling in Subway Train was a real good experience. Lot of people asked me, "Are you an Indian". When I say yes, they reply with joy "We love India". Oh Great.
8. I tasted korean dishes like Kim Baap, Vivim Baap(My favourite), Pibim Baap, Kimchi and Bean Soup. Soju Drink and Sundae are really great to have. I too tasted Mexican food. You could find a lot of Indian restaurants too. Korean people love Indian food.
9. While coming back, I took a three days vacation in Bangkok. It was nice experience roaming around the city. Khao Son Road night life was ultimate. Simply Thai is great.
10. Finally came to Bangalore. Same Traffic all the day. :)
Thought of Day: Travelers Never think thay they are the foreigners. - Mason cooley.
Place: Ramanagaram near Bangalore.
Mode: Bus.
Kms: 50 kms from Bangalore. (On Mysore Road)
Date of Journey: January 30, 2008, Wednesday.
Read about the place here: Ramanagaram
My Experience:
1. I woke up late in the morning, but Nishi dropped me so I could managed to catch the bus.
2. Since we went on a weekday, we were only there. That was good.
3. The whole place is surrounded by mountains and forests.
4. There are some shops at the entrance, where you can get drinks, and some food stuffs.
5. The activities like Rappelling, River crossing and Rock climbing are organized by skilled people. They are providing this service as a whole package including food and camp fire.
6. Everyone was enjoying a lot, except the day was too hot.
7. Night Trekking was really good, but lot of people did not turn up becoz of tiredness.
8. In the evening, camp fire was good as I was watching only :)
9. The dinner was good with some drinks sponsored by one of the section manager. :)
Next day, I could able to go to office only in the second half. Overall it was new and a fun filled experience for me.
Thought of Day: Known is a drop, Unknown is an ocean.
