Thadiyandamol trek, Madikeri.

Lot of us have visited Coorg/Madikeri. If not, we have atleast heard of the famous "must-visit" places there. A few to name- Kushalnagar- the Tibetan monastery, Golden temple, Madikeri fort etc etc... 

A few may have been to these much less talked about, but truly intoxicating places like the ones i visited this time.

Who can decide if the company we travel with matters or the place itself? In my honest opinion, it is both - coupled together to give you a completely exotic and memorable experience.

My friends , this time, insisted we visit some trekking place and fortunately enough, we finalised on Thandiyandamol :) [Some info about it : It stands at an altitude of 1745 m, about 1.5 hrs drive from Madikeri]

How it began?

We had booked a cozy and nice home stay in the heart of Madikeri and it dint take more than an hour and half for us to reach Kakabbe- the village from where our trek began. To reach Kakabbe isnt too tough because the localites guide you till the place, or even better, take a local bus from the Madikeri bus station till Kakabbe. 

We were told that the trek is an 8 km one (one way)  and we were all well eqipped with food, water and other essentials for this. Good or bad, our driver ( of a 21 seater vehicle) decided to stop about 2 kms before the actual starting point coz the vehicle couldnt really go till there. So, here we began!

On your mark... get set... Go!!

The lush green surroundings of the coffee estates was very welcoming. I took a deep breath and filled my lungs with the purest air and it was so soothing and fulfilling! We all started flashing our cameras to take pics in different poses- Fun it was!

We were told that the place has leeches, so cautiously, we marched into the marshy forest area- singing and howling in the group. 

I wished for one thing then, that if god were to grant me a wish, i would ask him to give me the potential to capture the beauty of nature AS IS and frame it somewhere and preserve it for the rest of my life! Such was the beauty of the place- the sounds of nature fell on our ears and it was so soothing- crickets here and there, birds chirping - oh man!!

We stopped in between because my friends got bitten by leeches and we had to dress that wound- usually it is best if we use salt to knock off the leech, and then apply lime stone on it to stop bleeding. 

We had trekked half the distance and it started to rain- it was a pleasant shower, truly refreshing and it infact, wiped off our fatigue! We proceeded, unperturbed and unshaken by the wildness of nature only to explore the greener stretch of the place!
  

Hues of nature- mindblowing! Different shades of green on the mountainous stretch of land was captivating and there we saw the peak - our destination, emerging out of the clouds. It energized us with the thrill to reach there ASAP. So we continued.

As we continued walking, we found few small streams of water- chill cold and so refreshing, so we splashed them on our faces. 

We reached a plateau like region and from there, the peak's view was the best. From here began the steep stretch of land-not too steep though. From here, we took abt an hour and half to reach the peak- i.e. our destination.

What a splendid view it was! The clouds had formed a blanket on  the mountain range and we waited as the mountains played hide-n-seek with us- only to catch a glimpse of the awesome beauty! Here as we stood, it began to rain slightly more than it did sometime back. With nothing to shelter us, we decided to descend- unwillingly :( .

Descent was a little more tricking coz the rocks there were slippery, but we managed with a big stick in hand for our support. On our way back, we were lucky enough to spot a small snake- my only ambition was to see one such creature atleast :) and that was fulfilled! As it poured heavily, the leeches became more active and started to show up more now. We had to be extra careful to escape from them. We stopped every now and then to check if any of them had got on to our shoes so that we could knock them off. Some still managed to get onto us and they sucked quite some blood ! 

We took about 2 hrs 15 mins to reach the peak and roughly about 2 hrs for the descent. So a total of 4- 4.5 hrs trek it was, covering about 18 kms!

It was indeed a pleasure to see mother nature at her best! After the trek, my mind seemed to have cleared up, and I felt fresh and ready for our next day's event- River Rafting!!! ( more about it in the next post)

Kolkata-Sikkim-Darjeeling trip

It was always on my wishlist to visit a place which had snowfall, beautiful lakes and nice dense forests. I used to wonder if any one place had a mix of all this! I was surprised pleasantly to find this great combo on our trip to the North-eastern part of India covering Kolkata, Sikkim and Darjeeling!

We chose the best time - Autumn, to visit this spectacular place. Our journey started from Bangalore, reached kolkata the same day (through flight) , stayed over night at Kolkata.

I was simply thrilled to see the people there!!Each one had a similar looking face- square jaw-lines and small fish-like eyes- so typical of the people in North-east! It was an amazing welcome at the airport by our tour guide who led us to a hotel near Howrah bridge. 

It was about 11 in the night and we headed out to by the famous Rosagulla at K.C Das. It was truly amazing to eat a tin full of it at that hour- we just dint wanna miss Kolkata's delicacy.

Next morning, we had a local sight-seeing to the Victoria memorial, Ramakrishna Mutt on the banks of the serene Hoogli river, and then to the Kali temple and Dakshineshwar. 

Ramakrishna Mutt is such a spectacular and must visit place!! It has a divine power which you can feel as soon as you step in there. The silence in the whole ashram is such a soothing one.. I felt like it drove away the noise in my mind! Splendid place, indeed!

After this, we started towards our destination next- Gangtok!!

The last point of flight being Bagdogra, we were asked to take a cab till gangtok which is about 4 hrs from Bagdogra.

Weather at Bagdogra was quite a humid one and it kept me wondering about how it will be at Gangtok. All along the road sides were tall Eucalyptus trees in the army controlled regions of Bagdogra.

From Siliguri, the Teesta river was running along our road-side as if following us till our destination :) The light blue shade of the water and the light golden brown sand- woww, wat a scenary!

I really dont know how the weather changed from humid to chill as we reached Gangtok- so chill that our thermals, stockings, jackets, caps dint help us beat the cold. Obvious means would be to indulge in some hot drinks ;) but we chose to enjoy the weather in its true form :) 

The hotel rooms were all made of pine wood and it gave a tree house kinda effect with its all-wooden furniture. The striking features were the Buddha idols and some Fengshui stuff at the reception- these gave us a glimpse of the Chinese and Tibetan influence on the people here. Not to mention the fabulous view of the Kanchenzonga from our hotel room window!!

My FAQ was this-- "bhaiyya, yahaan pe kya famous hain?" and for this, our driver in Gangtok looked at me and hesistantly answered - "Liquor! yahaan Liquor sasta padega... duty free hain!"-- FYI ;)

To talk about the people and their hospitality, i would prolly write a separate blog. Coming to the attractions @ Gangtok, our next day's trip was planned to cover Tsamgo lake and Baba mandir.

Often called Changu, the Tsamgo lake is a spectacular and a must-visit place in Gangtok. Its attractions being many, the best one is the Yak ride and the lake itself with mountains on the backdrop. We got lucky with the snowfall which just then had begun- like tiny pearls spread all over the lake surface, it just kept me busy capturing as many fotos as my memory card could accommodate! We hired some extra warm clothes and purchased some masks and jackets coz we were told that at Baba mandir( being the highest point in Sikkim -14200 ft above sea level), the weather was chiller!

Baba Mandir has a tale to tell about a great warrior with special never-before-heard of powers. (Google for more info). As we entered this region, a feeling of sanity and spirituality crept in- oh, it was indeed a great feeling!

Back we drove towards the hotel and saw some landslides on our way back- this did make us hault for some time there but I have no regrets coz it gave the photographer in me some more time to keep clicking :)

Our next day's trip was to Darjeeling from Gangtok by road- again the Teesta river following us till she bid adieu to at Siliguri.

Darjeeling welcomed us with the narrow, hilly, curved, steep roads and a bunch of freshly pluck carrots :) (We bought it from a roadside vendor- it was so fresh and tasty that given a chance, i would get back home a bag full of them). The green tea estates and the not so chilly but pleasantly cool weather was really a treat! 

Our hotel was in the busy market place near the Mall road and we saw so many people here (mostly tourists) crowding the tiny shops with bags full of purchases! Not bad, huh?

Shopping here was FUN!! So many things to buy and so less time! However we managed to buy some semi-precious stone jewellery and loads of woolen stuff!! Shawls were getting sold like hot cakes in almost all shops- trust me they were so good and affordable that it tempted me to buy 4!!

The next day's plan was to go to the Tiger Hills for sunrise- whoa!! We started early morning at 4 am all equipped with cameras and warm clothing- the weather now was growing so cold that i burried my hands inside the pocket of my jeans and still shivered and went numb! I did manage to capture some sunrise pics and the mind-blowing view of the Kanchenjunga as the sunrays fell on it soon after the sunrise.Trust me, it was an amazing place.. Beyond Kanchenjunga, we could see the Annapoorna peak and far beyond that was the Everest-- could see just the tip of it using the telescope.

Next, we went to HMI- The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. This place gives a wealth of info about the dos and donts of mountaineering and also displays a variety of gadgets and must-haves for a trekker! I felt thrilled to see them all.. It tempted me to enroll there for Everest expedition!(calls for a fitness check and bank balance check, u know!)

After all this, the last thing on our list was a visit to some tea estate in Darjeeling. To go there was one part of the pleasure and the next best part was to sip a hot n nice cup of tea there! It was really a divine experience and I had about 3-4 cups of tea- each of a different variety!

That was all on our list, and we reluctantly started back to Bagdogra. The return journey was in a jeep till Bagdogra and all along the sides of the road were Orange trees! Amazing view!!

Back in Bagdogra, everything seemed so timed and monotonous.. Flight at 2:30 pm, Reach Kolkata by 4:30 pm, stay overnight there and then leave to Bangalore next morning. Huh!!

I truly enjoyed this trip. If u ask me, Gangtok is THE BEST  of all.. love to go there again!!

Some more info about the how and when to go there can be found here: http://sikkim-darjeeling.india-tours.net/ 

Innovative Film City- an indulging experience with family!

Thinking of some perfect weekend get-away with family? Then, IFC is the right option!
Not too far away from the heart of the Bangalore, it takes about an hour approximately to reach Innovative Film City . The journey to this place is  pleasurable along the well laid Mysore road. [Landmarks:Toyota motors factory,Bidadi Industrial Area, Coco Cola plant.]

Once you reach there, you will simply be amazed to look at the amazing art on the walls of the entrance!! It is unique and fortress like with picture posters of movies on it. Colorful with the banners of the items they offer, it truly is a royal welcome!

At IFC, you have an option to choose the kind of ticket you wanna purchase: a combo 799, combo 899 or just 50 bucks entrance. My suggestion is this-if its a gang of all youngsters, choose between 799 or 899 combo offer which allows u to play almost all of those games there. But if it is with some elderly folks that you are going, take just the 50 bucks ticket and pay later for each of the games they play. This way, it is a reasonable fare.

The tickets have the items printed on them, they also provide you with a map which comes in handy there as there arent any indicative sign boards. (cud spot a few only). At each of the game counters, they neatly punch on the ticket to mark ur entry to that game (innovative indeed!) 

The first of the attractions is "Mirror maze": a dark hall with  mirrors confusing your way out - the maze effect comes there- a good one i must say! With the staff guiding and misguiding you in there, it was fun to make our way out.

The next in the list was "Dino park", "Fossil Museum" and "Fossil Hunt". From outside, Dino park scared me with its sounds but it wasnt scary inside. Infact it was a neatly done park like place with tall bamboo all over giving you the forest feel and a few roaring dino models. They had descriptive boards telling you abt the species and habitat of those dinos.

The museum wasnt too great but worth a visit. The fossil hunt was an utter waste- all i did there was some gardening skills in the process of searching the fossils.      

The next best thing was the Karting event "Velocity": a small lap but some fun! They have 2 varieties of cars: a family car (capacity:2 members, lower speed limits) and another smaller car (capacity:1 member, better speed limits and power). 

After this was the "Mini Golf" and "cartoon city"- not so great.. but good fun for small kids. Cartoon city offers some games for kids like dashing cars, some other littlr games which we dint check out much.

The next good thing was the "Aqua kingdom"- an artificially created beech (more like a water pool. There was a DJ type playing some music to keep the people lively.. Everyone was so lost in their world that none paid attention to the Music or his DJying. But i call it good for a reason that it is really well made with a feel like u r on an actual beech- with some benches to relax and some stalls selling beech tees, hats and swim wear!

Louis Tussad's museum was the next item- a very nice try to immitate the Tussad's museum in London.  I personally dint like it and laughed at the statues there: Pierce Brossnan - the 007 guy looked so pale , Angelina lost her identity (no big fat lips) , Mother Teresa looked like an African-American lady, Marilyn looked so non-magnetic. 

The next of the items are "Haunted Mansion", "Roller skaters", "Ripley's believe it or not"- all these were just for time pass.. But yeah, Skates wud be fun if we had some time for it i guess.

A few more items there were Funplex 4D animation etc etc which we dint check out as we ran out of time.

I would say the over all feel was great for a very big reason that IFC has atleast a thing or two to offer for every age group. The place is clean, sofisticated and classy. The food courts are commendable and a nice thing in the whole of IFC was the drinking water availablity- was really needed in the scorching sun!

I would rate it a 3 on 5 .. making it a place to visit! Plan now n visit there once atleast.. get the virtual feel of it @  http://www.innovativefilmcity.in/!

Prologue to my travelogue!

This blog is my first ever travel-blog.. I wish to share my travel experiences here.. Some reasons y i chose this media: its the best way to put my fotos + elaborate about the places i visited.. more descriptive way.. Am sure all agree on this..

Another reason- quite straight fwd again: to showcase my review/comments and experiences of travel.. So here it is! Am sure it will  need some morphasis which i promise to do as i progress.

PS: SafarSoFar my travel blog - travel to places i mean.. n not travel thru the journey of life! Dont be misled by my poem thr! ;)