There was a lot of excitement palpable in the voices. Too many voices were trying to point to a direction. Few flashlights sprang into action trying to locate. One found it. The next moment others pointed to it too. There was about an hour left before the first rays of the sun would fill the land. The excitement in peoples voice was tearing through the early morning peace and the pitch-black surrounding. We had barely moved 100 meters. No one expected to be rewarded so soon. The cacophony though disturbing was understandable, we too had added to the chorus. Nobody minded, nobody cared. Except for the star of the attraction. The mahouts made the elephants to trumpet. The rhino had enough and could not take this chaos any more, very reluctantly it got up from its resting location. It was a scene to behold. Three elephants with two cubs chasing…
Vattakottai Fort – A Hidden Gem
Kanyakumari is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. At the southern tip of the Indian peninsula, where the Bay of Bengal meets the Arabian Sea. Throughout the year tourists throng this temple town and visit the nearby attractions, most notably the Vivekanand rock. However, this post is not about Kanyakumari. 8 KM from this town, is a picturesque but lesser-known fort, Vattakottai. It was commissioned by the Travancore King, Marthanda Varma during his reign in the 18th-century. The view from the fort is very serene. Waves are lashing the walls of the fort. You can easily be lost while gazing at the sea and the diving seagulls. On the other side, your eyes will feast on the hills of the Western Ghat mountain with dark green hue. On the bastion and inside the fort there are lush green lawns, with very few people around, its a good…
Somanathapura – A slice of history
The past week have been very hectic. You have put in long hours at work and came home tired. Did not get good sleep. Still woke up early, only to repeat the previous day. This goes on for a few days until your commitment is delivered. Then comes the weekend you have been longing for. Saturday is spent at leisure, doing nothing. Sunday you get up a little late, have your breakfast and then start thinking, what to do in the day, of what is remaining of it. You think of the possibilities. You love long drives, good food, have a flair for photography. So, driving is an option. Then you think of the odds. Its already morning and you have not planned. You have been to most of the nearby places that Bangalore offers. You want to be back by the evening to stay fresh for Monday. So, you…
A Weekend in Gandikota
Staying in Bangalore, the choice of weekend getaways that one has, Gandikota does not feature at the top of the list. The list is crowded with places like Coorg, Waynad, Ooty, Mysore, Sakleshpur etc. where there are enough sites and activities to keep the tourist busy for 2 -3 days, that they want to spend away from the daily grind of the metropolis. Staying options are aplenty in these places, ranging from the budget hotels to luxury resorts. These top of the list places pamper the taste buds of city dwellers, serving one or the other local delicacies, from some of the famous restaurant or food joints. You get none of it in Gandikota. What you get is a piece of history and natural wonder, in the lap of unspoilt beauty at a rural setting. The place is rough, rugged and hot, yet so beautiful and charming. It is one…
Tale of A Journey – Rudranath
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam At 4:45 AM the bus is almost full. We managed to get 3 seats, separated from each other. Few passengers are sleeping. In some seats, the luggage is waiting for the owner to come back, after a glass of tea. The temperature is soothing, not bordering any extremes. With 45 minutes to leave, the passengers engage in chit chat. It has been ages for me having heard such unadulterated Hindi. Use of English is at a minimum, almost none. Urdu words that city dwellers use so effortlessly are not spoken in this hinterland. It’s pure Hindi is what people speak. As we come to seek purification of our soul, it is expected of us too. Something that we may have learned in our school days, but hardly practice anymore. I had to put some effort to resurrect the old self in me, to cope with this changing demographic…
Misadventure on The Rocks
I had to switch off the torch, the sight in front of us was not what we wanted to see. It was pitch-dark. The screeching squeaking sound was unbearable. There was no end to it. We had pinned Leon to the wall, with me on one side and Paramita on the other and stood still as moving was not an option. It was the longest tunnel in the route, 410 meters and the passing train was the longest that we have seen. At least that is what it felt. We were in the middle of the tunnel, with the ends of it not visible. A goods train with four engines in the front and three at the back was passing by with countless bogies. On 18th July we, a team of 8 BCMTouring members from Bangalore went on a trek to Dudhsagar waterfalls in Goa – Karnataka border. Rajiv was the coordinator…
Himachal
It was 1999. I was out of my college and used to stay in a Calcutta suburb. One Sunday morning in October, I got a call from a club member informing that there was a slide show in the evening. The club was one of the many mountaineering clubs that we have in West Bengal. I had taken part in some trekkings with the club members in the past two years. This kindled the desire of travel, adventure travel to be precise, in me. Those were the days of slides, projectors and screens. It was customary to have a slide show after every expedition or any major adventure. The slideshow would start in the evening after sunset and would run for 2-3 hours. There used to be competitions for slideshows, conducted by various adventure organisations. Members of one club would visit another, as a guest, to show slides and tell…