When childhood pals meet...

Its been almost nine and a half years we completed schooling and its almost five years, we had visited a place together. After Kodaikanal in 2005, its Pondicherry now!

Its been a long pending item, which we had achieved now. We missed our other guys, but still we six managed to make it. It was like married guys being single for one day and singles feeling even younger and surprised by the mature talks of the latter ;). The talks about our school were still fresh, still remembering and cherishing the good old days we were in school.  It was great to see how we have transformed ourselves from how we were in school to how we are now. Altogether, it was a pleasant holiday! Lets see when we meet up again! Sometimes these kinda activities give us a sigh of relief from our routine...aint it?

I am in a world...Experiencing the change!

Its been a long time, I blogged here. I was lazy, rather. I have been experiencing a lots of transformations in self for the past one month. Been seeing new things, people, workplace and of course the culture variance. Sometimes its nice, sometimes its difficult, sometimes wondered, sometimes excited, sometimes bored, sometimes no thoughts...

I am in a world where people believe in rules be it in roads or anywhere. I am in a world where I feared to travel alone. I am in a world where I did not eat idlis or dosas in the morning but corn flakes. I am in a world where I rely on the internet and GPS. I am in a world where I was cooking full time. I am in a world where I am not @home.

Its almost a month since I flew all way from Bangalore to San Diego here in the United States for a short term assignment. Its been a new experiment through out. Be it the flight travel or landing in a foreign land or travelling alone in a taxi to a unknown place, the FIRST experience is always a mixture of all the expressions I could think off. Now things are settling slowly and I have started to explore in this world. I am now trying out the different varieties of food here - American, Mexican, Thai, Chinese etc. Of course, I had these flavours in Bangalore but I had preferred or relied mainly on my native rather. I still have a long way to explore out here!

See you then!

The Road Now Taken - Madikeri to Bangalore!

This is a continuation of my previous post "Exploring Coorg!"

Now it’s that we have spent one day in visiting places in and around Madikeri. Our plan was to cover some places during the return journey and reach Bangalore before 9 pm, so that we could have a good sleep and avoid the tiredness on Monday while going to office. I mean we can be in office without working but cannot be restless in office.. he he!

July 19th Sunday 10:30 am, we vacated the home. We had our breakfast in one of the hotels on the way and then headed to Dubare Elephant camp which is around 20 kms from Kushal Nagar. We had to cross Cauvery River, using the boat service to reach the Dubare camp. Unfortunately, due to heavy rains, the river had higher water levels and the boat service was cancelled. So we could not visit this place. We then headed to Cauvery Nisargadhama which is also on the way.

Cauvery Nisargadhama is also located on the banks of the river. We had to reach the place by walking over a hanging bridge. This place is more or less like a park. It had tall bamboo trees all over. It also had a deer park. After spending some time over there, we then headed towards Bylakuppe.

Before starting this trip, I had just browsed and found that there is a Tibetan monastery. I was startled. Why would a Tibetan monastery be in Karnataka? I got the answer when I reached there. It seems the Indian government has given land for the Tibetan people who had come to India some time back. They have their own way of living, culture and tradition. The whole place looked like somewhere else. I could see monks or students with their unique maroon colored cloth or uniform. There is not only a monastery, but other facilities like hospital, petrol bulk, school, college etc. They have their language printed on all the hoardings, boards, public addressing etc. About the monastery, it’s amazing. I mean, it’s really different for me. This is the first time; I have been to a pilgrim center other than a temple, church or a mosque. The prayer hall is totally colorful. It has three tall statues comprising Lord Buddha at the center. The walls have the pictures of the different disciples of Lord Buddha. They have their own preaching and they are explained in the walls as well. It was more like a meditation hall, where we can sit and meditate for some time and of course, I did close my eyes for some time.

July 19th Sunday 03:00 pm, we started our journey back to Bangalore. We had our lunch on the way. We had literally been worn out and all unknowingly went in to deep sleep as we started our return journey. It was before Mysore, we all woke up. We didn’t want to visit any place and were keen to return. We stopped at Maddur in the evening to have a taste of its well known famous snack – Maddur Vada! We had Maddur Vadas in “Maddur Tiffany” which was on the highway. Of course it was different from the conventional Vadas we eat in Tamil nadu.

July 19th Sunday 08:30 pm, we reached Bangalore and our journey ended with last longing memories of this trip!

Exploring Coorg!

This is a continuation of my previous post "The Home stay experience in Coorg"

July 18th Saturday 10:45 am. After our breakfast, we were just having a walk amidst the coffee plantations. Our plan was to go to Thalacauvery. It was around 50 kms from the estate where we stayed. We started our trip around 11 am. On the way to Thalacauvery, we witnessed the natural scenic beauty of this Coorg district. On our way, it rained heavily. Thalacauvery is located at a hill which is 4000 feet above the sea level. Bhagamandala is a place at the foothill. We reached Bhagamandala around 12 pm and to our excitement, the road to Thalacauvery was blocked. We were all very disappointed. It was because of the heavy rains, Cauvery is overflowing above a low leveled bridge and this was the only way to head to Thalacauvery. I thought our 50 kms travel would end in vain. Thanks to a local, he said that there is a boat service sponsored by the temple to cross the river and from there we can hire a jeep to and fro to Thalacauvery. It was really a different experience.

July 18th Saturday 12:30 pm. We stopped the Qualis, walked a few distance and crossed the river using the boat service. On the river bank was the temple. It was of Kerala style. I guess most of the temples in Karnataka and Kerala are of similar architecture, unlike the ones in Tamilnadu. We then hired a jeep. It was an eight km travel in hills from this place to Thalacauvery. As we started, it started to rain and gradually it turned heavy. On the way, we could see small waterfall and the natural Cauvery water flowing down all over. As we headed further to a higher altitude, the presence of mist couldn’t be avoided. The area was fully covered by mist. It was a very refreshing scene – full mist, raining and chill – all at the same time. The jeep driver stopped at one place and said that we reached the place. I couldn't see anything but mist. The whole temple was hidden. It’s a nice experience. I felt I am in Kulu or Shimla, though I have not been there. This place was believed to be the origin of river Cauvery and a temple was built and now it’s a tourist place. There is a view point as well above the temple. But we could view nothing except the mist. We clicked a few photographs, of course to fill our personal portfolios. We returned back using the same jeep, took the boat, crossed the river, returned to the Qualis and started our journey towards Madikeri.

July 18th Saturday 04:00 pm. We had our late lunch in one of the hotels in Madikeri. After that, we headed towards Abby Falls, which is around 5kms from Madikeri. Since it was monsoon time, Abby falls was overflowing. There is a hanging bridge which is built approximately 50 metres from the falls. The water fell with such a force that the water splash has made us completely wet, when we stood on the bridge. It was again a must visit place in Madikeri.

How is it possible for us to return Bangalore without getting Coffee Beans? So it was purchase time then. We stopped by a shop – “Ganesh Coffee” recommended by one of my room mate’s colleague. My father has specifically asked me to get the Coffee Bean from Coorg. Each of us got a kg of it and we headed towards our next spot – Raja Seat.

Raja Seat was like a park similar to the conventional parks found in other hill stations. Except that it had some historic identity. It seems that in the olden days, the king used to sit there and watch the sunrise and sunset. We could only see the mist. We returned to our home around 7 pm. We had already ordered for our dinner. As you know, Coorg is famous for its variety of dishes using pork. I did not have pork, instead had asked to prepare Chicken. We had a simple but awesome dinner – A few chapattis, rice and curd with Chicken curry. It was very cold outside. The rest of the night was spent chatting, listening to music. I had a very good sleep, really!

I will end my scribble here. The return trip would follow soon.

The Home stay experience in Coorg!

Coorg as already known, is famous for Home stays. This is an idea where in people stay in homes and the house owners provide food and all the other facilities. Its like a feeling that we have a holiday house somewhere in a remote place. This is the continuation of “The Road Not Taken – An exciting journey to Coorg!” I thought I should describe my experience of one such home stay in this space.

July 18th Saturday 05:45 am, the sky was dull and grey. It was still raining. We reached the Beta Cad Estate after seeing the sign board. The road was very narrow. I could smell the aroma of Coffee all over. In a short distance, I could see a house with red tiles on the roof. Some 50 meters aside was the in-charge’s house. The place was in the middle of the coffee estate. I hope you could just imagine the scene. I could see tall trees and coffee plantations all over.

After a while, came in the in-charge with his umbrella on. He showed us inside the home. I don’t have words to describe the home. It’s simple, old and neat. It had a living room, two bedrooms, one kitchen and a verandah. There was no power since 3 days. The cottage had a UPS backup, so that we remain uninterrupted with the power cuts. The living room had a television. Its walls were not left empty, but filled with portraits and paintings. One part of the space was occupied by the dining table, with plates neatly arranged. An olden styled cupboard was there nearby, which had a provision to keep the plates, cups & saucers, spoons etc. On the other side was a sofa and besides was a book shelve, which had some informative books about Coorg and its culture. I didn’t have time to read it though! Each bedroom had an attached bathroom. One of them was a master bedroom. Both of them had a night lamp and an almirah to keep the clothes. The beds were all designed in olden style. It was of wood. The floors were all covered with big carpets. It was very soothing for the chill weather. One of the bathrooms had this manual heater, where in from the back side of the house, they heat the water in a vessel with woods and the tap in the bath room is connected to the vessel. The kitchen was filled with all the utensils that we require. It had a gas stove, a microwave oven, a mixer and a mini fridge. Hope I didn’t miss anything. I was just enjoying the facilities they have provided. It’s a perfect place for a family who plans for a weekend break.

We were all very tired as we didn’t sleep well during the travel. No sooner we laid on the bed, we all slept. We all then got up by 7.45 am or later. Coffee and break fast was ready by then. I should say I am more or less addicted to Coffee/tea, and especially the coffee they gave, I liked it very much. No sugar more, no less. It was no strong, no light. It was just what I wanted. I went to the verandah, sat on a chair with my coffee and started to admire the cool weather and the natural scene that surrounded the lonely house. After that, I had bath in the hot water. Wow bathing in the hot water, amidst the cold rainy morning….mmm…no words… Do you think, this is a routine work, we normally do? No, No…that too in the weekends, the probability is very less, you see.

The breakfast was ready then. They had prepared Coorg style Idlis, Sambhar and chutney. We were so hungry that, we didn’t even comment on the taste, though it tasted good. The Idli was a little different. They had added grinded cocunut to it. In fact, there had been a shortage in Idlis. People who came last to eat, had to manage with only 2 or 3 idlis. Fortunately, I was the first to eat! He! He!

Our plan that day was to cover Thalacauvery, and the tourist spots in and around Madikeri. It is the headquarters of the Coorg district. I will scribble more on that in my next post.

The Road Not Taken – An exciting journey to Coorg!

Life had been the same for the past six months – same job, same project and same salary. I desperately needed a break. I wanted to relax. It has been more than a year; I had gone for a trip outside Bangalore. I was asking my roommates for an outing since then. It took so long for us to decide as one week or the other, one or the other person was held up somewhere or the other. Finally, it became a reality last week. Even then we had to go with one absentee, Raja. We had planned to spend one weekend in Coorg district. Many said that, the time we had planned to go is when the monsoon is at its peak. Even I felt the same. But on the other side, I was thinking, why should we worry about this? Can’t we manage this? Are we taking our family, to worry about the weather? Even the newspapers showed the photographs of the flooded areas of the Coorg district. Yet, we never backed off our plan. We didn’t want this trip to be called off because we knew that it would be difficult again to gather people. I had invited my ex-room mates also for the trip and few of them have tentatively agreed for the trip.

One of my room mate – Karthik had arranged for our stay in a lonely cottage which is inside a coffee estate. As usual we did some googling about the place, saw some photographs, made some analysis…the usual techie thing. It will be my first experience staying in a coffee estate. Everybody was excited as it’s our first visit to the Scotland of India as Coorg District is otherwise referred as. I packed my bag with one jean, a short shirt and two Ts, along with a jerkin and umbrella. I thought I would bring in my speakers, so that we can hear to some songs from my mobile in the cottage.

July 18^th Saturday 00:05 am, the Qualis, we had booked had arrived. We loaded the Qualis with all the snacks stuff, our luggages, speakers and finally ourselves. The vehicle started to move towards Maruti Nagar to pick my ex-roommates. I was accompanied by Arun and Karthik. In another 20 minutes, we were in front of my friend’s house. Karmegam and Magesh were the other guys, who will join us. My other ex-room mate, Vasanth, whom had already told his non availability for the trip, was standing in the terrace waving hands to us. I just asked him, one more time if he could join us in the trip. In 10 minutes, he came down with his luggage. So finally, six of us were ready for the excitment and fun. It was 1 am when we reached the Mysore road. The route was Bangalore – Mandya – Mysore – Kushal Nagar – Madikeri and the distance is around 300 kms. The Bangalore – Mysore 4 lane high way was just awesome to ride. I could see some bike riders as well on this cold rainy night. For the first hour, we chatted and slowly the voices dropped off as the time rolled.

I was half awake, seated beside the driver, trying to give him company. We stopped twice before we reached Mysore for a tea break. The weather was chill till we reached Srirangapatna. After that it rained through out. I thought, if it rained continuously like this, we should just stay in our cottage and not go out anywhere. We reached Kushal Nagar around 5 am in the morning, it was raining. The estate name is Beta – Cad Estate. Our driver spoke to the estate-in-charge to know the exact routes. The road was really bad here with too many ups and downs and water clogged here and there. Some 10 kms after Kushal Nagar, at the right side, the driver could manage to see a small sign board stating “Beta Cad Estate”. We were in the estate around 5.45 am.

I just saw my scribbling till now, and it had come to three paragraphs. I think I should stop till this post the remaining in parts. The rest of the journey would follow soon.

Wanna naturally pump your Adrenaline ???

“Its already 12.30pm, Saturday!!?”

“So?”

“Isn’t it boring for you, wasting the whole day sitting idle ?”

“Yeah, man, Saturday sucks!! All movies watched…and also bored off with the Forum, Garuda etc..?”

“Phew...Weekend and No entertainment make Jack a dull boy.”

"Then How about an outing?”

“Yeah an adventurous one.”

“Trekking!!?”

“Hmm why not water rafting?”

“Near Bangalore?”

“Yeah, Bheemeshwari. An ideal place for water rafting”


We six guys decided to head to Bheemeshwari this time for a new adventure. We have heard of this place but hardly knew about its ins and outs. Its approximately 100 kms from Bangalore via Kanakpura. We had no other option other than booking a resort as rafting is provided by them with all the safety and guidance. Its good idea to book in advance as it is in demand. The resort is open only on Weekends and other National holidays.


We started from Bangalore around 7 am. We had to reach the place before 9.30 as the rafting time would start around 10am. We managed to reach the place in time though the road was very narrow and not good after Kanakpura. The resort was not very attractive in the front. The gate was closed. Yes, entry is open only to those who had booked in prior. No spot bookings.The place was close to the river. It had tent houses, volleyball court, hammocks here n there. Well the resort looked okay inside. Hmm...We were interested only on rafting. We did not care all about that.





We were all given life jackets to wear on. For each raft, there was a trained guide. He gave us all the instructions, on how to row forward or backward etc. Each raft would carry six to seven people excluding the guide. We dragged/ carried the raft till we reached the river and then sat on the raft. Our mission started.


At the beginning the water was running normal and the travel was not very thrilling and I thought...oh is it for this we came for? But soon we got our adrenaline high. Yes, as we proceeded the water was running very fast and ferocious. It had twists, turns, ups, downs. In between there were rocks. Actually I do not have the right words to express the scenario. Wow it was a beautiful place and was really adventurous.

The whole experience took approximately one and a half hours. They had arranged a jeep by which we returned back to the resort after rafting. A normal lunch was provided and after that, we returned Bangalore by evening.


This is a must visit place and ideal for people who wish to go for a one day outing near Bangalore and return early.


Warm Regards!


PS : The snaps were not taken by us. Its preferrable not to take cameras during rafting for the reason they will get wet.

Weekend Gateway - Wayanad

I would like to share some of the moments we had spent during the Wayanad Trip on August 4th and 5th.

It was a very cold Friday night. Though the whole Bangalore city was silent after the late night pubs, we guys (8 in number) stayed awake, to head towards the God’s Own Country, Kerala’s Green Paradise, Wayanad district. It was 1.15 am, when we started the journey on a hired Qualis. We took the Mysore Road. The road was very clear and was a very comfortable drive for we reached Mysore in just 2 hours. By then all our eyes started to roll in and we were all disturbed again when our vehicle stopped. It was 5 am, when we reached Gundlurpet. Our driver was fully exhausted, so he had stopped for tea. We all took tea and started our journey again. All guys were awake by now and we all witnessed some deer on the jungle roads which led to Kerala. There had been very frequent showers as we entered Kerala. As time rolls, we were able to see the natural beauty of the greeneries with the mist playing an apt role. We reached Kalpetta around 6.45 am, the place where we intended to stay. This place is 270 kms away from Bangalore. We booked three rooms in a lodge, where in we refreshed ourselves.

Day 1

We were all ready for the excitement, by 8.30 itself. We decided to hire a guide from the Department of Tourism, so that life would not be complex on the roads less traveled by us. We had our breakfast and were waiting patiently for the guide, who is expected to arrive office around 10 am (Government job naa !!!). The charges for the guide is 350/- per day. When the guide came and introduced himself, we were surprised to see him, as he was very formally dressed and looked like a techie with a French beard. I was mislead by the way the guides in Tamil Nadu look.

We had a seat vacant in our qualis, as if we had anticipated the guide in advance. We all took our seats and we started our day trip. The first place, our guide insisted to visit was Edakkal Caves. This place was approximately 25 kms from Kalpetta. We reached the scenic point in another 40 minutes. We had to go to the trekking point through a government aided jeep service. It was 50/- for eight persons for upward journey. We all got to the jeep and in another 10 minutes, we reached the place. From this point, we had to trek on the hill. It was an amazing trekking experience. It is advisable not to take kids or old people as the path is so steep. When we reached the top of the hill, the guide directed towards the cave. Man, it was an amazing scene inside the cave. Edakkal in its own words means a rock which is in between two mountains. The local guide says this place had been formed due to the earthquake, some thousand years ago. He also says there had been inhabitants living here. And all those were parts of history. We were also able to witness some of the carvings on the rock. The toughest part of the trip was to get down the hill. God, it was a tough task as the rocks were slippery due to the frequent showers. We had our refreshments when we returned down and we were all more excited as our next place is a waterfall. The guide directed the driver towards Soochipara Waterfalls, which was approximately 28 kms from Edakkal Caves.

It was a rainy day throughout and whatever we looked all appeared green and that is indeed Kerala! There were tea plantations all way, as we headed towards Soochipara.
We reached the place around 1 pm. We had to walk around 1 km flat and another 1 km down the hill to reach the falls. It was again a trekking adventure. The paths were very slippery and it was mist all over. We could here the sound of the falls as we head towards it. No words to describe the falls, it was breath-taking. The waterfall was so forceful that one could hardly take a bath. One should be very careful while walking, as there are leeches all around this place. It was heavily raining when we returned back. This was really a tougher one as we had to climb up the hill to reach our way back. In spite of the heavy rain, cool climate, all of us were drenched in sweat. That was indeed a good exercise for us!!

It was 2.30 pm and all of us were very hungry. We stopped in a town to have our lunch. It was already 4 pm after our lunch and we headed to Pookot Lake, which is another 15 km from that place. We had to rush because the boating tickets are given only till 5pm. We managed to reach the place by 4.45 pm and got our tickets. The Lake was a small one surrounded by mountains. It is indeed a must visit location. We went for a rowing boat as all of us were very tired by now. The boating time was around 20 minutes, after which we decided to comeback to our lodge.

We had dropped the guide on the way, where he intended to get down and reached Kalpetta by 6.30 pm and our one day excitement had come to an end.

Day 2

We decided to return to Bangalore as early as possible, as we had our friends from Chennai, who had to catch the Chennai Mail. We had to check out the lodges early by 7.30 am to avoid the rent to be paid for the second day too. Life cannot be that easy. Yes, one of the vehicle tyres had a puncture and it took an hour to get ready. We were all waiting outside the lodge. It was raining on this day too. After everything is set, we headed towards Karapuzha Dam, which is approximately 15 kms from Kalpetta.

This dam is an earthen dam, which is an ideal picnic spot. After spending some time there, we decided to return back to Bangalore.
Karapuzha Dam

On the way back to Bangalore, it was after Gundlurpet and before Mysore, we could see those sunflowers and other flowers along the sides of the road. It was a perfect landscape.

In Mysore, we made a visit to the palace. We had our lunch in Mysore and we went to Sangam, SriRangapatna. There we spent the afternoon playing in the river bank. After an hour of bath n fun in the river, we rode our way back to Bangalore. It was around 7pm in the evening we reached Bangalore. Thanks to NICE Road, as we could avoid the heavy traffic on the Mysore Road.

Two days of fun n excitement had come to an end, but those memories remain in our heart forever which can be cherished always.