tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26409159339973367342024-02-06T20:34:30.602-08:00A Reminiscence of thoughts....This blog is a write up of my travel and my experiences around these travels.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18251843798912977360noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640915933997336734.post-71597881596363671112011-01-11T11:30:00.000-08:002011-01-11T12:10:42.043-08:00Of the Birds of Nalaban and the stretches of Salt Waters of Chilika<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6LZrUgnl_gEz7DxtthCeOjOP6jxM1Nr6gU_0R9U0cbYeBIbfN2KWVHq6DBN1-D2I_m0CrkqeC_Fzs4Unm9oDmUL_pT78P6GVNRnIrPWPOUvipHxN6MKtjYRE8pJlcBA9JsTX2GkUBu_T/s1600/DSC00015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6LZrUgnl_gEz7DxtthCeOjOP6jxM1Nr6gU_0R9U0cbYeBIbfN2KWVHq6DBN1-D2I_m0CrkqeC_Fzs4Unm9oDmUL_pT78P6GVNRnIrPWPOUvipHxN6MKtjYRE8pJlcBA9JsTX2GkUBu_T/s200/DSC00015.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3i0BtHNPW_HVhF6WtkSD0-H9lWjGyR4Tk6XP37Fj-qjNl9layLnQtS1Ip9Xua96xgq31ad8j7moh1Wgs9BqR_Xbv9Ws6JcvtpkUW6eHw7e1yFM22Njm5Sde_aVIFzue9WE-lXXZJVkvd/s1600/DSC00003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3i0BtHNPW_HVhF6WtkSD0-H9lWjGyR4Tk6XP37Fj-qjNl9layLnQtS1Ip9Xua96xgq31ad8j7moh1Wgs9BqR_Xbv9Ws6JcvtpkUW6eHw7e1yFM22Njm5Sde_aVIFzue9WE-lXXZJVkvd/s200/DSC00003.JPG" width="200" /></a>This post is dedicated to the nomadic, long awaiting, a pastoral and a thoroughly adventurous bon voyage. Ever wondered how good or bad is it to travel alone. A friends wedding was more than a reason I could have had to plan a journey to a place I had been longing to go to. A two and a half hours flight from Bangalore to Bhubaneshwar and then a stretch of 60km from Bhubaneshwar to one of the 'Char dhams', Jagannath Puri that took about two and half hours. Char Dhams are the four holy abodes that are widely revered by most of the Hindus. The journey from Bhubaneshwar to Puri took such long primarily because of the single lane road. The main deity in Puri is Shri Krishna. The temple is humongous and we just need to be aware of the Sadhus who normally would catch you at the gate and talk about taking you to the shrine directly by passing the crowd. Just do not heed to their talks. I visited the temple and then there was a Maha Prasad being distributed at nominal rates. I had the special Khichadi served at this temple and was off to Puri beach. Puri beach is clean and beautiful but having seen a lot of beaches on the Konkan and Kerala, this did not come as a great enticement to me. I left Puri and reached Bhubaneshwar by 7.30 pm to attend my friend's wedding. Having attended the wedding the next day, I had planned to visit Chilika lake on the next day of the wedding. I was told by the people in hotel that I would get a bus from 'Barmunda' bus stand.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAvZwdJyXhluSdwuE-WTiN_o4OwSO_gVOvccRsqxJkqciOdNMG_BrbZEqgJSVVl-iJBjjq55hEeLqezd1gtMkJYG7npF9aOkNzHdehCyB6RH6N-pwtfGkCiZzXtd_IePAZMP1sDDDHzcv/s1600/DSC00071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAvZwdJyXhluSdwuE-WTiN_o4OwSO_gVOvccRsqxJkqciOdNMG_BrbZEqgJSVVl-iJBjjq55hEeLqezd1gtMkJYG7npF9aOkNzHdehCyB6RH6N-pwtfGkCiZzXtd_IePAZMP1sDDDHzcv/s200/DSC00071.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PtQHknCqJOuRK_vBiCDr91nJRCjwgOfIXaQHaji_wBTmedSasDsWIDa3LFDCPpBBraf-qWOnh-q_CrHtyWAIc3cbSGvkpgO_jfnrgDThde6AEQT1IxXKEkg7G2IBg7lKnfbhG2Fvj3o6/s1600/DSC00063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PtQHknCqJOuRK_vBiCDr91nJRCjwgOfIXaQHaji_wBTmedSasDsWIDa3LFDCPpBBraf-qWOnh-q_CrHtyWAIc3cbSGvkpgO_jfnrgDThde6AEQT1IxXKEkg7G2IBg7lKnfbhG2Fvj3o6/s200/DSC00063.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PtQHknCqJOuRK_vBiCDr91nJRCjwgOfIXaQHaji_wBTmedSasDsWIDa3LFDCPpBBraf-qWOnh-q_CrHtyWAIc3cbSGvkpgO_jfnrgDThde6AEQT1IxXKEkg7G2IBg7lKnfbhG2Fvj3o6/s1600/DSC00063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>At 4.30 am I took an auto to Barmunda bus stand thinking I would catch the earliest bus. However, the first bus was only at 5.30 am and I had to wait for an hour. I sipped a cup of hot tea and some favorite Parle-G biscuits at one of the tea stall. The buses here are privately operated and they wait for the bus to get full to start off. So by the time the bus left Bhubaneshwar it was almost 6 am and the village I had to reach was called Balugaon which was about 100km form here. However, now the road was a four lane one and it took just about two and a half hours to reach this place. From Balugaon I took a tempo to a place called Barkul which is about 6 km from Balugaon. The auto guy dropped me till the Orissa Tourism office. I went to their service desk and inquired about the various options to visit the bird sanctuary. So there are primarily two attractions in Chilika lake, one is Kalijai temple and Nalaban Island which is the bird sanctuary. They operate individual as well as combined to and fro tours to both these places. Being a weekday, there were hardly any tourist and my motto of the trip was to visit the famour Chilika Bird Sanctuary. Chilika is the biggest salt water lake in Asia and it has these migratory birds start coming in from November and be here till about February. December and January are the best months to visit this place. So I decided to hire a motor boat alone and payed a discounted price of Rs 1350 for a marked price of Rs 1500. However, here is where I thought a bigger group would have helped share such a big amount. But having come all the way and not seeing this sanctuary was a big NO NO. The sanctuary tour is a round about 3.5 hours tour. It was slightly foggy even at 10 am and as I was travelling deeper towards the Nalaban Bird Sanctuary it was only water everywhere. I could hardly see a stretch of land. As we approached the sanctuary, we started getting a glimpse of a few birds who were perching on the trees that grew in the water with their branches protruding out of water. Till ambit of my vision could stretch I could hardly differentiate water and the skies. Such awe-inspiring was the sight. We reached the bird sanctuary. However, you cannot go too close to the birds as they tend to fly away. At this point I realized the importance of having a camera with high zoom, infact a DSLR and now I have decided to buy one before my next big trip. However, I did click a few snaps but to my misfortune they were not that great. I am not a photographer either so all the more bad :). Then we returned to the office. I had the yummy Orissa special prawns curry for lunch and then there were a group of people willing to go to Kalijai Temple. I too decided to go with them. That was like a 2 hour to and fro trip. We left the bank at 3.15 pm and were back by 5.15 pm. I had to catch a train for Howrah from Balugaon at 7 pm. I reached Balugaon and boarded the train. Penning down a verse for this experience<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAvZwdJyXhluSdwuE-WTiN_o4OwSO_gVOvccRsqxJkqciOdNMG_BrbZEqgJSVVl-iJBjjq55hEeLqezd1gtMkJYG7npF9aOkNzHdehCyB6RH6N-pwtfGkCiZzXtd_IePAZMP1sDDDHzcv/s1600/DSC00071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAvZwdJyXhluSdwuE-WTiN_o4OwSO_gVOvccRsqxJkqciOdNMG_BrbZEqgJSVVl-iJBjjq55hEeLqezd1gtMkJYG7npF9aOkNzHdehCyB6RH6N-pwtfGkCiZzXtd_IePAZMP1sDDDHzcv/s1600/DSC00071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElikxrYXRv40ee_1mTsuYBQIh2YYrlfYaR7Fyq74ilkOwk49hAIS58YoC91LfCG-f_x_YQeZaeVbVeXacR6boexVWlXtpjTL8YCWYHZpw-GCYoWFV9Bup2Qn1D0Wx0nGPjw3YASStB1hO/s1600/DSC00119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElikxrYXRv40ee_1mTsuYBQIh2YYrlfYaR7Fyq74ilkOwk49hAIS58YoC91LfCG-f_x_YQeZaeVbVeXacR6boexVWlXtpjTL8YCWYHZpw-GCYoWFV9Bup2Qn1D0Wx0nGPjw3YASStB1hO/s200/DSC00119.JPG" width="200" /></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">An expedition that stirred my kinesthesia</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Omnipresence of dampness was an epitome of nirvana</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Till the ambit of my vision could stretch</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I could hardly differentiate the water and skies</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Birds so unwary and unperturbed</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Had traversed miles along to reach Nalabans</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There were umpteen varieties</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0wdLfk4ReViscovi-hWfGPuTA7K037eOs4BlCxMfEq4xcEoXFmOjDX75cwnayZgKVWl4ZT46tvsow0PUsHYhuuqnhkSATJRAISl3mUgHLAP_YRPHJQHRDQ8GQSjaZHMkpnqT7R6uJW3V/s1600/DSC00113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0wdLfk4ReViscovi-hWfGPuTA7K037eOs4BlCxMfEq4xcEoXFmOjDX75cwnayZgKVWl4ZT46tvsow0PUsHYhuuqnhkSATJRAISl3mUgHLAP_YRPHJQHRDQ8GQSjaZHMkpnqT7R6uJW3V/s200/DSC00113.JPG" width="200" /></span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And only if you were an ornithologist would you be able to identify</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Everytime I get closer to nature</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I discover new things</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And this time it was about coexistence of man and nature</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">God save the nature from the fury of man</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Else it will be in no less time that we will stranded amidst a barren land...</span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I would recommend one and all to visit this very beautiful place and experience the bliss of solitude. Anywhere I go I only wish I had a day extra or a day had forty eight hours :)....</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: medium; text-align: justify;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Till the ambit of my vision could stretch,I could hardly differentiate the water and skies...</div></div></td></tr>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18251843798912977360noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640915933997336734.post-42573685615162119862010-09-21T10:37:00.001-07:002012-03-28T20:46:36.787-07:00Motorcycle Diaries - 2 - Mekedatu<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLJu3NUadMtTh8RIb_diwx6wYzrilYjvrwFRKz9OOkz1Bh3p2je37K7Uz3sq_DAlqpKgAshuTxYMvV3LbuWs3_n0ava0bUDzBXvI2WfBF47WMKUOrmOmOY6atsuxZbfwyQ96FF2duLaTr/s1600/DSC01207.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519832079163860434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLJu3NUadMtTh8RIb_diwx6wYzrilYjvrwFRKz9OOkz1Bh3p2je37K7Uz3sq_DAlqpKgAshuTxYMvV3LbuWs3_n0ava0bUDzBXvI2WfBF47WMKUOrmOmOY6atsuxZbfwyQ96FF2duLaTr/s200/DSC01207.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A few phone calls, a quick but supposedly an organized plan made on Friday night. We were set for Bheemeshwari. I had read that Bheemeshwari is located between Mekedatu and Shivanasamudram. So the plan was to go to Bheemeshwari and then Shivanasamudram. Davu on his Bajaj Caliber and Jalan and me on my Unicorn. We started off at 7 in the morning, b</div><div style="text-align: justify;">reakfast at Adigas on Bannerghatta Road we set off at about 8.15 am.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A dream drive on NICE road which is no less than the Mumbai Pune Express</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519825933455151570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxCS66JofTezCwkeYAppFWkcNNRjWHQy2D3Vg-gxtZbLh4HqMiN1iax_5Z76zf2v_iLvanrVBaTBgIzMuai26tlP92m5gUh-RDeDHh84wl-GRFj93SusxCnpXg93uzAxDqOqJ4b7LKiFQ/s200/DSC01086.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 150px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 200px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">highway lest the mountains through which the Mumbai Pune highway runs. A left on the NICE Road towards Kanakapura on NH209 and you are moving towards Bheemeshwari. We saw sign boards of Karnataka Tourism pointing to Mekedatu which seemed to be the closest point and took a decision to visit Mekedatu. At Kanakapura you get a small diversion to left. This is what you need to take to reach Mekedatu.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519829031169703538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFmzAlTV0uZ5f6fxya1cl0_BPSGv9WJzVqqCdds2SmEYO7Gi3hegdnKjkOqEWgKbGVh7KfYpfE87z5ZHJ1JK_mYTladFUwcBjrSqkj5N32QWaklGnUAwRkxM8NNXUXp85BiprxIKCRgkw/s200/DSC01181.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 200px;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This was a thoroughly rustic drive, deep down the villages, narrow roads, mud houses with not so strong roofs, the smells of dung used for mopping the veranda floors in the villages, the villagers going around adorned in their traditional attires and the children waving to the by passers. The smiles on their faces are so animated that you cant but resist waving your hand back at them. Everything looks so adorable and I it simply feels good.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">After about two and half hours drive we reached Mekedatu. 'Meke' in Telugu means Goat and 'Datu' means Cross. Literally this is a place where the river becomes so narrow that even a goat can cross over. This place you reach first is called Sangam. 'Sangam' means</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519833100124702610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOStt6-eiAzGBH7fljhrX1HEyfT6x_m6ZtQo6pLApK1LbThISuPnLvB7ni-BK9FgyBC6AITb8D-Ip_yLTe1tLVcz6w0tl6jb_gPdWw9cqvi-T_mAJ0JQJtagW0Txn4O-rcCBu8lBUmpWRm/s200/DSC01236.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 200px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">a join of two or more rivers. At Sangam, Cauvery and Bhadravati are the two rivers that join to form just a single river, Cau</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519835404807784370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1doUqM6gF_CZ2Q7DRP3I5WQ1uAVqBxcv-MI9xzMH6qgg8Yf9xoL-7G6gNJA-OjxjH11pKl9Q0TLXsal1tDyF44TNKSSYbevup1yMgvVogAtXJBltMaxRePBwM4KHHs_1NnnK3l9xuE6Or/s200/DSC01238.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 150px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 200px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">very. We need to cross this river at the Sangam in a 'coracle' to reach the other side. Once you reach the other side of the river, there is a bus awaiting you to take you to Mekedatu. This bus seems to be like the most antique collections of Karnataka </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tourism and I bet no other bus would be better suited for the kind of terrain it is from the river to Mekedatu. Its sturdy and easily driven on terrain. We missed on clicking the pic of this bus, but surely one of the best pieces to be produced by Tatas. Once you reach the spot, you need to go down the stairs and there is a pleasent surprise awaiting your senses. The very sight of watching water gushing at speeds through this narrow gorge makes leaves one stupefied. At this spot alone the water is gushes at a jet speed and then after about 200 metres it enters a slightly wider area where the speed reduces. We took a detour on the rocks to reach the area where the speed of water had slightly reduced. The rocks here were so different. Very smooth and I wonder how they were like that. It would be probably because of the erosion of the river water. Though they were smooth, they did not seem to be slippery. We spent some time around and then decided to push off. This was surely a wonderful place to be in.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519836266210904530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_92VzrQiuXeXCbJ44K_ttGQCt67pMvA_KRUnz38veYT11HjrlBM7rCkolFZWUHb5KUYRNSjHZtZldbwSfzgHRcOXlM5-cTmmK4oADR1tqJ39yHChady9wwYmbEQRaOu2g2RzGGrpT2LLU/s200/DSC01242.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; width: 200px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Then we paced our vehicles towards Bheemeshwari which was about 25 km from this place. We had to reach a place </div><div style="text-align: justify;">called Muthaati. We reached this place and wanted to have lunch and were told by the villagers that we would get it at a resort which was about 6 km from this place. We went about in search </div><div style="text-align: justify;">of this resort. This was Jungle Resort which I had read about. However, you need to reserve a room in advance here without which there is no entry here. Moreover, this is the main attraction in Bheemeshwari as Jungle Resorts have a package which includes various activities like rafting, trekking, fishing etc. We had to resort to a roadside hotel for some food. It was rice and sambhar cooked on firewood. The taste was good and the waiter chacha more than happy to serve this delicacy. He asked me atleast thrice if I liked the food and I nodded a big 'Yesss'. That was the it. We started back on our way back to Bangalore. Bheemeshwari was kind of disappointing as we did not have much to see here. I would suggest one should do an advance booking and come to this place.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All in all this was another great trip I had. Mekedatu and Bheemeshwari are 2 destinations very close to Bangalore and make up for a good one day outing. Another one to add to my list of destinations and kudos to my friends who made this happen !!!</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18251843798912977360noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640915933997336734.post-40214021835881105382010-08-25T11:14:00.000-07:002010-09-23T20:46:58.148-07:00Motorcycle Diaries - 1- Wayanad<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u><br /></u></span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The very title here is an indication of what this post is going to be about. Yes</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> it was my first ever bike trip. Another enduring, animated, serene and blissful experience to the wish list.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512757365626425010" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: justify" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4AsXLS6SM63YCeUvwSe7nAa1iVJLxxK94kEmSemIOF3oSvK75X0zWBHCZ0OeAdhbZcJnifHVVcRMt3CJePtJy56TMeK3HY3T5G32HJ8MPF72twTTaK0fasnVXhq5m2EnU2WF32Tt6EI9/s200/2010-08-14+08.45.47.jpg" border="0" /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">60..65..70..engines stroking 3000 rpm...the bikes roaring on the dark roads; zooming past the wide paths me, Shreyas and Anuj set off on our bike trip to Wayanad. Dinner on the way on</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Mysore road at Kamat's and a night halt at Hotel Mayura in Srirangapatinam, just enough to accomodate three of us in a room but at 450 bucks was worth, considering the time for which we had to halt. We freshned up in the morning, a cup of tea and we started off at 6 am to Wayanad, Via Nanjangud, Gundulpet, Bandipur. It took us no less than 3 hours to reach Wayanad that too with pit stops on the way to enjoy the drive.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Once we crossed Gundulpet, I felt like I have entered into a different world altogether. I saw stretches of pink, orange, white - the eye catching sight of marigold flowers was astonishing. After Gundulpet, the roads narrow, enough to accommodate just two heavy vehicles. On both the sides you would lose sight of the surroundings as the trees become denser at every passe. The Bandipur Tiger reserve is one of the biggest reserves in India. It has a good tiger density. It is surrounded by four other national parks, totaling a area of more than 8000 sqkm. Too much of facts..So here we were driving through this bio reserve, a sensation in the truest sense. We were lucky to sight peacocks, deers and monkeys. As we moved closer to the Kerala border, the bamboo trees on both sides of the road, made a gate like formation as though waiting to welcome us.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512759469330801346" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: justify" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt04ecY7DNnedcdlsd6q5Uzt1GDl0EILt_yRCN7bWKozu-6DSpg1-SRLDdrdh428mdWlFcGyrls4LAcUrcJsDbglSnZH3tZa24RXDP4xH8c6d4R198EXW29FjfvZYhFVg5AfF2HMoxTc-B/s200/2010-08-14+09.17.06.jpg" border="0" /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">We touched the Kerala border with a board reading 'Kerala State Welcomes You -NH 212". We were now hardly about 30 km from Wayanad. We were still travelling through the dense forests but now a part of Kerala and it was called Muthunga Wildlife Sanctuary.We reached Wayanad, freshned up, planned our trip in consultation with the guys in the reception at the hotel. We had decided to cover three places for the day. After a good lunch, we started off for Suchipura Falls.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Suchipura Falls was about 40 km from the place where we had stayed. It </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512760980456380194" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: justify" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSg2_s-_KVXXyGeHj5_cC8YURSxz3vyEKWEWhpcGGT2MAdumjLbAEbzrI5kVCSscyO7kdYn2k-c7GOR9-GCukUSvJ2D7CSiDH7Q1r4wX7Y_xDrSwn5K0PHesNpAM26HCmuKVfS8ZsRHym/s200/2010-08-14+13.52.19.jpg" border="0" /> <div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">was again a joyous ride through the mountainous area and the enchanting tea estates sprinkled with the drizzling rains. The very sight of these tea estates leaves an indelible impression on the mind. I still feel the freshness of the place when I write this today. We reached Suchipura falls. The entrance to this place was so narrow that at a time only one bus could go. I still wonder how these buses managed to come here, 'Salaam' to the drivers who drive in such tough conditions. The whole place</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512762089799522482" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: justify" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVmKZEFb6vJhmwyygXTPEW2dIY7g08_PAiLp4srkivpQwrzeFU_Y9mJbNmiJV-vLiO7wcZWDqexYPECIJKHTTPfPlTlr_YbARGuV2Pirx2Gh7QTJMNDcs6zhVVnY8RgqBuAkJNvZRY7vL/s200/2010-08-14+14.44.54.jpg" border="0" /> <div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">was surrounded by mountains and the dense clouds were settling over these mountains. We climbed down to the falls and it was .....I am speechless. Awesomeness and indeed this was the sight which I had never ever witnessed in my life.It seemed as though the gravitational pull of the earth was not normal here. Water was gushing and the very force of it hitting the boulders around that area spilled the water on us. I just wanted to stay there for some more time but we had to finish other places too. From here we went to Pukada Lake. This was a small lake with boating. However, only 2 boats were operational because of the shortage of water jackets. We still enjoyed the place for the Kerala banana chips and some hot Bread Omlette. From there we went to the View Point. It is the tallest point in Wayanad and the end of Wayanad district and beginning of Kozhikode district. At this point we were 55 km off Kozhikode. Well as regards the View Point, this was again unique.</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512762864677506514" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: justify" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhjx9BMNTscH2Cklb8fhqNyJzxxCovYuWKI1oHp-9ST4596TSHsGZ6UyWYUDzwdW_VHRHNj-B6vE7nvEJoBwi72bg6eHjpnrxj7cotVnrHChm3w5LQOQl0DfJOE_ExgzGQN9Boi_V8MgRX/s200/2010-08-14+17.23.15.jpg" border="0" /> <div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">You could see caps all around, curves and bends and vehicles running on them, size no more than an ant. From there on we went to see a place called Chain tree. Legend has that there was a Britisher who tied up a Soul or Atma (as they call it in Hindi) to this tree with a chain so that it did not </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">trouble him. Wonder how true this is? When I was reading about this place, it was like a tale. From there on we grabbed a tea and then proceeded on our way back. We reached Wayanad and then decided to grab a drink at the nearby Prince hotel as our hotel did not serve drinks. We went to this place but it was shoddy and decided to stick to the stuff we had carried. 3 pegs of Blenders Pride and a deep sleep after a long and little tiring drive throughout the day. This was our day 1 in Wayanad.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Next day we decided to go to Kuruvu Island. There was a confusion whether this was open or not. After talking to people and nobody being certain about it, we decided to drive down to Kuruva Island. It was again a 40 km drive. We drove down and this time again the experience was different. I wonder sometimes how could things be so different within a stretch of a few kilometers.Well we reached Kuruvu Dweep to find out that the road to reach this place was under construction and this place was closed. We had to come back. But no regrets as we had thoroughly enjoyed our drive through the dense jungles of Wayanad. </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">We packed our bags, vacated the rooms and after a light lunch, started on our way back at 3 pm. Now was the actual tiresome part and boring too. Tiresome because we would have to drive continuously and boring because we were getting back to our routine. But we were determined. We drove with an hourly break. On our way back we had our dinner at Kamat. We had the traditional Kannadiga meals which was unique again. Jowar Roti with Baigan Sabji, a combination which I had after a long time. Rains played a spoilt sport at this moment when we left from Kamat. The visibility had come down and I drove with a great difficulty and managed to reach back Bangalore.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Truely Kerala is called Gods Country. You need to drive through the landscapes, see as far as your eyes can stretch, hear the sounds of the jungles and feel it in your nerves.... Here is a gist of the trip expressed by an amateur poet....</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Engines stroking and the bikes roaring</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">With a feeling of gaiety we sparked off on our bon voyage</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Driving on the wide roads away from the city traffic</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Was a bliss of its sorts</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The morning dawned turning off the dark night</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The shades of colors becoming prominent with every kilometers drive</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Orange, Pink and White were the shades of Marigold</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Stretching a span till the eyes could see, they were all over</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The roads narrowed and the jungles widened</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The forests only became denser and colder</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The sight of peacocks and deer at a point blank range was adorable</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The silence of this place was very audible</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The bamboo trees were umpteen in numbers</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Their branches creating a labyrinth as though waiting just to welcome</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The destination was beckoning</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">But felt like the journey should never come to an ultimatum</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Every passe was a unique panorama </span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">From thick dense forests to tea estates</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">To waterfalls to a valley</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The vista of Gods Own Country was a mesmerizing story...</span></i></b></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></div><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18251843798912977360noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640915933997336734.post-551108613116140992010-08-06T08:36:00.000-07:002010-08-06T22:35:42.890-07:00काश मैं लिख पता...छोटी छोटी चित्रायी यादें<br />बिछी हुई है लम्हों की लौ पर<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBRahbZB_OVdcFHIQuqtGLsGLFBvunTvHC6rO8bChvwzaluTNWpbsvFb0On18sLl5dBqxqd9JU5yzKCzY3TU_TQd-kCcaPyCiAY1FbesDFoNoFMBRoCSZ6nrsAz0mSmHphDDq20MGp3hXm/s1600/udaan_movie_still_1.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 414px; height: 392px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBRahbZB_OVdcFHIQuqtGLsGLFBvunTvHC6rO8bChvwzaluTNWpbsvFb0On18sLl5dBqxqd9JU5yzKCzY3TU_TQd-kCcaPyCiAY1FbesDFoNoFMBRoCSZ6nrsAz0mSmHphDDq20MGp3hXm/s200/udaan_movie_still_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502535353532693746" border="0" /></a><br />नंगे पैर उनपर चलते चलते<br />इतनी दूर चले आये<br />कि अब भूल गए है -<br />जूते कहाँ उतारे थे<br /><br />एडी कोमल थी, जब आये थे<br />थोड़ी सी नाजुक है अभी भी<br />और नाजुक ही रहेगी<br />इन खट्टी-मीठी यादों कि शरारत<br />जब तक इनहे गुदगुदाती रहे<br /><br />सच, भूल गए है<br />कि जूते कहाँ उतारे थे<br />पर लगता है,<br />अब उनकी ज़रुरत नहीं...<br />-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />जो लहरों के आगे तुम देख पाते तो तुम जान लेते मैं क्या सोचता हूँ,<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwo-41pAxmx3rj0gGbPhmPBFEluvAIeaX_E7hgcY5L4Kf2j995AV7Rdo5J-LM7XS0Vb9uSXJNw7jLBKbJ3sb6bj2ZRgevrB3tU969StteNNPkJpTl0VBm5P78HDWRKj-qdGmS8L6na04dA/s1600/thumb_udaan+%287%29.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwo-41pAxmx3rj0gGbPhmPBFEluvAIeaX_E7hgcY5L4Kf2j995AV7Rdo5J-LM7XS0Vb9uSXJNw7jLBKbJ3sb6bj2ZRgevrB3tU969StteNNPkJpTl0VBm5P78HDWRKj-qdGmS8L6na04dA/s200/thumb_udaan+%287%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502536777987264178" border="0" /></a><br />वो आवाज़ तुमको जो भिड जाती तो तुम जान लेते मैं क्या सोचता हूँ,<br />जिद का तुम्हारा जो पर्दा सरकता तो खिडकियों से आगे भी तुम देख पाते,<br />आँखों से आदतों की पलकें हटाते तोह तुम जान लेते मैं क्या सोचता हूँ.<br /><br />मेरी तरह खुद पर होता जरा भरोसा तो कुछ दूर तुम भी साथ-साथ आते,<br />रंग मेरी आँखों का बनते थे जरा सा तो कुछ दूर तुम भी साथ-साथ आते,<br />नशा आसमान का जो चूमता तुम्हे भी, हसरतें तुम्हारी नया जनम पाती,<br />खुद दुसरे जनम में मेरी उड़ान छूने कुछ दूर तुम भी साथ-साथ आते.<br /><br />Courtesy - Movie UdaanAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18251843798912977360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640915933997336734.post-18111395062968804832010-07-22T10:50:00.000-07:002010-08-06T08:36:06.968-07:00In the lap of mother nature...<div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtVZjs79wN1NUqKYYpqlZVI3Q3NwQftMGQqlTFMnxNpMDZlwhO4IZ8lL2_uL_zEAuYJiU7x11WxMvp6WVDLpa_ClUYw-OD5lfUjf8aH23fVPcuW4XJO7Tr7jqf2xgPnVZoED1eAu2uS8X/s1600/DSC00200.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 320px; float: right; height: 240px; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499442142607424514" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtVZjs79wN1NUqKYYpqlZVI3Q3NwQftMGQqlTFMnxNpMDZlwhO4IZ8lL2_uL_zEAuYJiU7x11WxMvp6WVDLpa_ClUYw-OD5lfUjf8aH23fVPcuW4XJO7Tr7jqf2xgPnVZoED1eAu2uS8X/s320/DSC00200.JPG" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:100%;">Mumbai Monsoons....Yes they are different, offbeat, incomparable.........And imagine</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">what when you try getting closer to nature...the feeling is incomprehensible...... </span><span style="font-size:100%;">a far cry from the </span><span style="font-size:100%;">web of complexities.....I wonder why things need to be the way they are or rather why cant things be the way we want them to be....Can it not be that we are just allowed to wa</span><span style="font-size:100%;">nder like nomads to tread unexplored paths...live a life like them for sometime....<br />So here we were all set on our nomadic exploration to Peb fort. None of us had an idea to </span><span style="font-size:100%;">reach the place. We just left. We just knew that we </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixDehtDTbhyphenhyphenF-o2t50dmw8ijO0TtUCNWg8yzBJBnNEac834XNzoeW0DbpDvBsR4PMkbzq5DBbTRB-p1S-p24AiYA22xy7hnOXfaqJSwx-xhSQHGN2VoJ9SQp9z0i9STgugP-xXxcuFWiIT/s1600/DSC00203.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px; float: left; height: 240px; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499446630328196898" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixDehtDTbhyphenhyphenF-o2t50dmw8ijO0TtUCNWg8yzBJBnNEac834XNzoeW0DbpDvBsR4PMkbzq5DBbTRB-p1S-p24AiYA22xy7hnOXfaqJSwx-xhSQHGN2VoJ9SQp9z0i9STgugP-xXxcuFWiIT/s320/DSC00203.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;">had to start the trek from Neral. A quick nap of 2 hours in the night, followed by packing up for trek, a chai at Andheri Station, a local till Dadar, changing platforms from western to central to catch a local to Neral, just to find that we had missed one and had to go via Badlapur to reach Neral.<br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">We reached Neral, packed some Vada Pav, fruits as we had read that we would not get anything at the top. We started walking towards the base village, </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Anantwadi - </span><span style="font-size:100%;">a few kilometers from </span><span style="font-size:100%;">the station. We asked the autowalas for a drop to the village but they demanded random money. We started walking past the Neral station and asked some villagers for the route. We were lucky to be guided by a villager upto the base point. Walk is definitely a good</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> option provided you get a guidance and over and above that you have a serene and beautiful weather enroute. Just keep going straight till the mainroad and then you would find the base village right in front of you.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiawDnKHj4502MwWM1iEsqR15XnYDcqDARs5uBoZfZ9GlV3ksFdl63GryU-RGy_zJCed066veLWt3HWcTnVpHSIxqsqRvv7v8Sw-bn0ffYRxF1LZH0fp4RhRhzhV3ch0L5s-3acCnj22pU3/s1600/DSC00221.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px; float: left; height: 240px; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499448699242456226" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiawDnKHj4502MwWM1iEsqR15XnYDcqDARs5uBoZfZ9GlV3ksFdl63GryU-RGy_zJCed066veLWt3HWcTnVpHSIxqsqRvv7v8Sw-bn0ffYRxF1LZH0fp4RhRhzhV3ch0L5s-3acCnj22pU3/s320/DSC00221.JPG" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br />To start the trek, you have a less tedious route and a short route (so to say). The lady who had got us till the base village showed us the short route and we decided to take that. We walked past some sights - the farmers tilling their land, a group of oldies squatting and probing the intensity of rains, Bhaskaran clicked a pic of an old lady and she probably tried to thank him in Marathi but had only he understood that, children nagging us to give them 'Khau' (meaning sweet), and then a stream which soaked the lands and and made it arable and its flow which was the only audible thing there...</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivfZNjNPdGa3G1rBPyT-ISQFz7nPfd7cBVsyK84plPhfpVC6zRewTNu2ss_QlRTKiBRqEVoKQuw8nrEH4GcQyYNv7quOSYaDBSBQzBhFTGCtkcx07-3-3cIx6qPCTVu-b9bX9exv-HrPpX/s1600/DSC00211.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px; float: left; height: 240px; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499447077757411650" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivfZNjNPdGa3G1rBPyT-ISQFz7nPfd7cBVsyK84plPhfpVC6zRewTNu2ss_QlRTKiBRqEVoKQuw8nrEH4GcQyYNv7quOSYaDBSBQzBhFTGCtkcx07-3-3cIx6qPCTVu-b9bX9exv-HrPpX/s320/DSC00211.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />We started walking in the direction given to us by the lady and found we were going no where. After a while, we found a villager there who was fetching water from the stream, asked him for the way and he told us that we were traversing a wrong route. Then we found another villager with his herd of cows - grazing on the lush green mountains. We asked him if he knew the route and he claimed he did not. However, we convinced him to show us the route and we were off. His parents had rightly named him Jeetendra, also called Jumping Jack in Bollywood. The swiftness with which he walked past the tall grass turf, barefoot was commendable indeed. For him it was just another climb and for us it was kinda tough as the grass was tall, the path not clear and it was slippery too.. However, we managed to reach a point along with Jitendra from where we had <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCpbPFOJoG70EeO0__nTzYkG1GhJU0_Zc0qLDA7d9bo74tIakqZYi1ezmTjxylaig3zHKBeRMPCiZkicf7cyo0SGim9FypznCGcRbb6WTzAjkaI1PfSksYBtwifFBt3OF3iGQzVN2hJmF/s1600/DSC00244.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px; float: left; height: 240px; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499449916319665538" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCpbPFOJoG70EeO0__nTzYkG1GhJU0_Zc0qLDA7d9bo74tIakqZYi1ezmTjxylaig3zHKBeRMPCiZkicf7cyo0SGim9FypznCGcRbb6WTzAjkaI1PfSksYBtwifFBt3OF3iGQzVN2hJmF/s320/DSC00244.JPG" border="0" /></a>to go all ourselves. We were joined in by another college going group at this point. Just one thing to be kept in mind. You would see a lot of electric poles there. Keep following them from the foothill. They will guide you to the right way.<br /><br />We were told by the other group that we would see some white arrow marks on the way and need to follow them to reach atop. We lost those marks and were wrong for the second time now. However, to our fortune, the other group had also traversed our footprints and missed the route. The group also had their teacher who had visited this place but could not remember the route and she called up her assistant to find the correct route. To our surprise, we had the Idea mobiles working there. Aditya Birla saved us I say !!! Then we got back all the way to the point from where we had started. It was a new beginning. Now, instead of 3 we were 15 and we just followed this group. I would like to make special mention of this teacher, who was a 47 year old lady and at this age she displayed a tremendous stamina, enthusiasm and a strong will power. There is always something new to learn whenever I go on such adventures..<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPmQo0rFM4-ZwMdO09T9yjOUpy5P2SgabxO8zN83-kGTKP8-jg3TxP3HIuXebT1rjvZVuL8aoxtm_n-c79nP6YAsiFYpgoa3vpem_ncxFSjsKY4IwFPBVxrfVOBFT1wet69QBEZu7U_9Or/s1600/DSC00259.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 240px; float: left; height: 320px; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499450917860904290" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPmQo0rFM4-ZwMdO09T9yjOUpy5P2SgabxO8zN83-kGTKP8-jg3TxP3HIuXebT1rjvZVuL8aoxtm_n-c79nP6YAsiFYpgoa3vpem_ncxFSjsKY4IwFPBVxrfVOBFT1wet69QBEZu7U_9Or/s320/DSC00259.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;">Through the thick dense banana trees, banyan trees, some thorny shrubs and amidst humid weather conditions, we were making our way towards the top. We finally reached atop the valley. A cloak of clouds was slowly settling over the mountains now. The blanket slowly draped the mountain where we stood. I was feeling the clouds in every breathe. I felt like the only thing to do was to move along with these clouds to stretch across the mountains under my arms. I lept forward, took a long breathe and just flew...I just wish I could. The clouds became denser, unable to carry the water in them anymore and they showered it on us. It had started drizzling and the feeling just ecstatic. I had accomplished what I was here for. A monsoon trek.....<br /><br />Then road ahead was tough and I had already dropped down my arms as I am generally scared of heights. I almost decided to stay back. However, the teacher insisted that I should come along and</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkY42Mnq3VzcoXvp9z-HgPNpzrlSwmif0wWUYt_hBGm4rqN4lvy6FvCIohbKNo_JhqcPRg_l2wP6K_MqXzp38R3PrDan-uG960_E-9VJ6mWwrApXi50PK1Fz-Mwuu75Otqd4YJqEZg4TC/s1600/DSC00270.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 320px; float: right; height: 240px; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499451555425920466" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkY42Mnq3VzcoXvp9z-HgPNpzrlSwmif0wWUYt_hBGm4rqN4lvy6FvCIohbKNo_JhqcPRg_l2wP6K_MqXzp38R3PrDan-uG960_E-9VJ6mWwrApXi50PK1Fz-Mwuu75Otqd4YJqEZg4TC/s320/DSC00270.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"> not to fear as they were there to help out. I dared and took a step ahead. To every step I took here, I remembered GOD :). I climbed the treacherous rock with the help of Santosh who was the trek coordinator. This was a major hurdle and after that things were not so tough. I was slipping quite often, my shoes not supporting me and hence was a little scared. Santosh however claimed that it was not my shoes but it was mind that I was slipping. But somehow with a slipping mind I managed to reach the point where we were supposed to. We did not go to the fort, but to a cave. We had our food there, relaxed and started on our way back.<br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">I was a little slow while coming back as it was raining and the surface was really</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> slippery at points. </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10h9_oOnKvh8a7Tkv9rK54FuhufIQYtWsGIrcRwqP5Zt20EAHMKcYMnyaowSL9O83KE7k5K8VCW6e92Y3Z0GQnmBneIe1YVruD3XKFNdm1blD2HWQlXZjFjqDSFg2uQ3KEA90rA2GxhT-/s1600/DSC00309.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 200px; float: right; height: 150px; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499453339543247666" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10h9_oOnKvh8a7Tkv9rK54FuhufIQYtWsGIrcRwqP5Zt20EAHMKcYMnyaowSL9O83KE7k5K8VCW6e92Y3Z0GQnmBneIe1YVruD3XKFNdm1blD2HWQlXZjFjqDSFg2uQ3KEA90rA2GxhT-/s200/DSC00309.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;">On our way back was another adventure awaiting us. Guess what?? We were lost again. We called for help but in vain. We looked for the right path but were unable to find one. Finally Bhaskar managed to find the way and we were successfully out of the trap. We reached the foothills at about 6.30 and took a train back to Dadar.</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />This was one such wonderful experience which I would never forget.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18251843798912977360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640915933997336734.post-7039968026914720932010-07-09T12:00:00.000-07:002010-07-10T02:25:43.711-07:00An Inspiration I sought...Only when I came across a blog yesterday shown by my friend Nehil, did I realize that I should start writing this blog again....So here I go...I swear to stand by the very name of my blog........<br />,Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18251843798912977360noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640915933997336734.post-16439056699358701862008-12-25T09:54:00.000-08:002010-09-24T12:47:27.560-07:00Of the Whirls and Swirls.....<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Now this is another one of the wonderful experiences I have had so far. Surely a once in lifetime experience.....Who had imagined that rafting would be such a fun indeed....Now I am an amateur poet and want to express the experience by means of a poem......Please bear with me.....<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">We started off in the dark of night</span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_5DKWySX2OqPGUZwFJLQx2q4k0P7CveYkTL8l486Kjk7Dsit1cI3zHV1tyOZyFso994W04MQQlCPpnc94u2E_lxAeWkBx7PwPxTThuoyD-uhdehcYSsEtpMZ0OQ1W_RLP48rEW2MxNAs/s1600/Haridwar1.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_5DKWySX2OqPGUZwFJLQx2q4k0P7CveYkTL8l486Kjk7Dsit1cI3zHV1tyOZyFso994W04MQQlCPpnc94u2E_lxAeWkBx7PwPxTThuoyD-uhdehcYSsEtpMZ0OQ1W_RLP48rEW2MxNAs/s320/Haridwar1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492287575049574946" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">Th</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">e highway paving the way with its lights</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">With no traffic we jet past the city</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">Alongside the dawning amiability</span></div> <div style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />The morning was foggy and cold but pleasant<br />A hot <span>adrak chai </span>was beckoning<br />I wonder anyone could resist it<br />And we were tempted to have two cups indeed<br /><br />As we moved, the fog only got denser<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11DsRvdvqlupzDbDZS_O823PIARTDatshngcdyR4A4TPgxK82yDTFN-9xtwDh9VtKEglFPq8JG1dDqnMdJdz-Esj_0C97GFf7u_XqkX656So7a29WjXhkBl-6ZHzryJl1UZzjXu1Ypd75/s1600/Haridwar4.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11DsRvdvqlupzDbDZS_O823PIARTDatshngcdyR4A4TPgxK82yDTFN-9xtwDh9VtKEglFPq8JG1dDqnMdJdz-Esj_0C97GFf7u_XqkX656So7a29WjXhkBl-6ZHzryJl1UZzjXu1Ypd75/s320/Haridwar4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492288228574953234" border="0" /></a></div><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">Blurring our visibility</span> <div style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The irresistible picturesque sugarcane fields caught our sight<br />Only hoping we could have stayed there for a little more while<br /><br />We drove past Haridwar to reach Rishikesh after a six hours drive<br />And now had to reach Shivpuri, a small town uphill<br />A sixteen kilometer road so narrow<br />The twists and turns were coarse shrugging mud off its contour<br /><br /></div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">The sight of Ganges flowing between the mountains was awe-inspiring</span> <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />With some patches of water gushing and some lull</span> <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />The raft was ready and instruction were clear</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />'Ganga Mata ki Jai'</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;"> was an orison</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">Confronting the mighty tides and the ice cold water</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">We sailed along sometimes to the left and to the right</span> <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />The successful first encounter with the rapids</span> <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />Made us determined and enjoy the roller coasters, double swirls, golf courses</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">A dip in the Ganges and dribbling away along with the stream</span> <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />A fifteen feet dive into the water</span> <a style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH6p3NRRUQ-nRC534Si0yp3XDdVKdBFmv5IdTkmQnE9MI1Hzihy_wzzxAfS1Ikoz6XVITKkY6RlrQP9ZrcJiEl4-W8QkhqxZKImOQrSg9JbussTIUJCRHSpg_SxleNEUgCd1R3m-CHA1Q-/s1600/Haridwar3.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH6p3NRRUQ-nRC534Si0yp3XDdVKdBFmv5IdTkmQnE9MI1Hzihy_wzzxAfS1Ikoz6XVITKkY6RlrQP9ZrcJiEl4-W8QkhqxZKImOQrSg9JbussTIUJCRHSpg_SxleNEUgCd1R3m-CHA1Q-/s320/Haridwar3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492287890162970050" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">A sight of cliffs talking to the mountains</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">Had all left an indelible impression</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />A </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">reflection of enduring animated illustrations</span> <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">Imprinted on my mind forever</span> <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />An experience of life time it was</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;">And I still live with those memoirs anew</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> ...</span><br /><br /><img style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/j1011130/LOCALS~1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /><img style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/j1011130/LOCALS~1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.png" alt="" /><br /><br /><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18251843798912977360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640915933997336734.post-25575702744032519522008-12-24T22:36:00.000-08:002010-07-10T02:24:16.809-07:00Into the hinterland.....<?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"></o:p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italic; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ccffff;">Unplanned we started off </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italic; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ccffff;">To destinations unknown and unaware </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italic; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ccffff;">As the mystery unraveled</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italic; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ccffff;">We stood dumbstruck with jaws wide open</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italicfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ccffff;">We were on the shore before the boundless sea</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italicfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ccffff;">The waves splashed and receded away </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italicfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ccffff;">Taking away the sand under our feet</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italicfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ccffff;">It seemed as though someone was snatching away something</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italicfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ccffff;">It was time we were unable to decipher</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italicfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ccffff;">Time passes away but the memories will live</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italicfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#ccffff;">In retrospect shall we all cherish them and cheer…..</span> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">So here I go about writing our next post on our recent trip to Shrivardhan, Harihareshwar and Dive Agar. Experiences worth cherishing and to live with this memorabilia will always be an inspiration of sorts in retrospect. A destination unknown with paths not treaded so far, it was a mysterious journey into the hinterland of the heart of Konkan patch of Maharashtra. Now that’s enough of an introduction……</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Surraj, Ku<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZxoi_w0HfAmTccQotF5E2l9Uj07Nhg69uxQcDPW4qoHymQd6lKZKmiO8htkP1avT8ONPIHLUZ5M689b4yTxkDz86FW6FKsOkkkCrxBOu1cIbKwK4_JEHCYihkqt8rO-keo_iwAaMXjQ2h/s1600-h/DSC00507.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283315821857725218" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZxoi_w0HfAmTccQotF5E2l9Uj07Nhg69uxQcDPW4qoHymQd6lKZKmiO8htkP1avT8ONPIHLUZ5M689b4yTxkDz86FW6FKsOkkkCrxBOu1cIbKwK4_JEHCYihkqt8rO-keo_iwAaMXjQ2h/s320/DSC00507.JPG" border="0" /></a>maran aka Kums, Jayaram aka JK, Deepak aka DB, Bhaskaran aka Boss and me, Anirudha aka Deshu. We started off from Andheri W station to Kurla and then to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus abbreviated as LTT, people belonging to Mumbai may be familiar for a train to a place called Mangaon 173 km from here. We got the tickets for unreserved compartment and were waiting an hour in advance so that we get place in the train when the train is parked in the bay. However when many like-minded come together you have a total chaos and that is what I clearly witnessed that day. Many people were already waiting there and unfortunately you do not have a system of queue for getting into the general compartment as you have for the buses in Mumbai. The train was parked and the whole lot of the people rushed to the doors, opened the emergency windows, and tried pushing people through the emergency windows just to get hold of a seat.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>As I was carrying food packets and water, I could not rush through the crowd. Surraj, Kums, JK and Boss pushed through and we were lucky to get 4 seats in that jam packed train. We had not had lunch so far and then Surraj and DB distributed lunch. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">A buffet in a moving train and that too in a general compartment…could you ever imagine …it was fun again….</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><img alt="" src="file:///E:/Harihareshwar/DSC00507.JPG" />Well we were still dissatisfied and PET maange more was the call of the moment….we stuffed ourselves with whatever came in the train from samosas, bhel, chikoo n I don’t remember what not…We reached Mangaon at 6.00 p.m. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">We came out of the station and caught an auto to the bus stand to go to Shrivardhan. However there was this alternate option to go by Trax. We enquired with the driver of Trax and he said he would take us to this place called Mhasla… We taught this would be a faster means to reach our destination and resorted to taking a Trax. The journey from Mangaon to Mhasla was awesome. The road was making its way through the mountains, the wind was blowing cold on us and we were like trying to gaze through the dark to try hard to find where we were moving… We reached Mhasla at 7.15 only to find out that the Tum Tum or 6 seater autos were not plying after 7 to Shrivardhan. So we enquired with a guy around and waited for the bus to Shrivardhan. We got a bus at 7.30 p.m. and traversing through the pitch dark forests we reached Shrivardhan at 8.30 p.m. We had already contacted a cottage owner over phone and once we reached there we thought we will look for an alternate stay option. A person was very eager to help us through one of his relatives who was going to receive him at the bus stop. However, the guy did not turn up and we waved him a goodbye and started off to the place where we had decided to go. We called up Mr. Bhagat who was the owner of this cottage called “Sawali”. We reached to a point and could not proceed further to find this place. So Mr. Bhagat sent Kamlakar Kaka to receive us. We could see a middle age hospitable guy who had come to receive us on his bicycle. We enquired with him about getting food and drinks on our way to the cottage. He briefed us on that repeatedly and in a detailed manner. Very contradictory but true of course it was. He was like repeating the same thing again and again till he got an assurance that we understood what he had to convey. He was all the time talking in Marathi and as I was the only person who knew Marathi I had to bear him. But to be frank I really admired the marketing skills he displayed. Given a product to market and a KT session I think these villagers will do a very good job of selling. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-P7vUVFSHEWbcqb1baiprxyKEk07Wq_7RnKMuNyrd3a606jKdf8fr2CPGHWT4n2kng1UoDIzHOygF7pG8p6IWbVXlEOhpX2AN80BnYDk6qt4bfBVmd2QFpdq7UImXuRXAOMwE5AMzzgLC/s1600-h/DSC00567.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283321503580046626" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-P7vUVFSHEWbcqb1baiprxyKEk07Wq_7RnKMuNyrd3a606jKdf8fr2CPGHWT4n2kng1UoDIzHOygF7pG8p6IWbVXlEOhpX2AN80BnYDk6qt4bfBVmd2QFpdq7UImXuRXAOMwE5AMzzgLC/s320/DSC00567.JPG" border="0" /></a>Finally at 9 p.m. we reached the cottage. Sawali in Marathi means shadow and that was the name of the cottage. The very name had a feeling of warmth in it. it was a good 2BHK + Hall cottage. Then Kamlakar Uncle had got us an auto to go to the market to get drinks and other stuff. The Mansaharis meaning non-vegetarians wanted to enjoy fish for their meal. So me and JK pushed off in the auto to get the stuff from the market. 2 quarters of Smirnoff, 1 Bacardi White Rum, 2 Bacardi Breezers – Jamaican Passion and a quarter of Signature Whisky – my all time favourite. From there we went to a restaurant to buy some fish fry and prawns. You know “Shakaharis” have a problem as they generally do not have enough variety to eat from and this is what had happened that day as no veg starters were available at this restaurant. This is precisely the reason why I have taken a conscious effort to change to a “Mansahari”. Meanwhile Surraj, Kums and DB had moved off to the seashore and made the arrangements to sit there. Also the warmth was pouring in the form of yummy Chicken Tandoori cooked by Kamlakar uncle’s wife. I still cannot forget the aroma. An absolute WOWWWWW……..Kamlakar Uncle had told me that he would keep the dinner in the room once it was done and also warned us not to stay on the beach after 12 because there was patrolling going on because of the recent Mumbai terror attacks. These terrorists have shook our nation I say. Its time to wake up..oh I am sorry!!! I generally get emotional about this topic. Me and Kamlakar Uncle had a short discussion on this issue. We all realize that something has to be done in this regard but no one knows what and how we could be of help.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Me and JK reached <i>‘Sawali’</i>, collected the stuff from Kamlakar Uncle and along with Boss pushed off with our stuff<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>to join our people on the seashore. The beach was a 10 minute walk from the cottage. The weather was at its best last few days in Mumbai and we witnessed the same weather on the beach. The area was very clean and we were the only people on the beach…yes ‘the only people’ on the beach. It was pleasing. The sound of the waves which hit the shore was very eminent. This was totally unlike the scenes you witn<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2E4CSvcoQCwEHTq1ataJJZYh-hs9zQ_N-WHaDJwBTvH_HtHspGn5rTYC19h-YJvgtHhiwWbKxUl-R4g7cn4JqwHTAlQd48TZELd-niZpswL3jMcKWbZWHCcV_gYkIcTT5Z6pJZrZtkzc/s1600-h/DSC00518.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283316706363940338" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2E4CSvcoQCwEHTq1ataJJZYh-hs9zQ_N-WHaDJwBTvH_HtHspGn5rTYC19h-YJvgtHhiwWbKxUl-R4g7cn4JqwHTAlQd48TZELd-niZpswL3jMcKWbZWHCcV_gYkIcTT5Z6pJZrZtkzc/s320/DSC00518.JPG" border="0" /></a>ess at any of the beaches in Mumbai which are clumsy, dirty with waste strewn all over and…..do not want to describe it further because Mumbai is ‘meri jaan’.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Now it was time for the spirits to get our adrenalin running high and for some emotional stuff out of us....It was booze time. It was a ‘Cheers to our friendship, to some of the best moments we have had together so far and to the very place itself’. As usual Boss got a high in 2 pegs. We had to pack up and leave the place by 12 and so did we. We went back to the room and then had 2 more pegs and were off to sleep.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">By 7 o clock the next day Surraj, Kums and DB were out of bed and took a stroll to the beach again. Me, JK and Boss got up late. We had ‘Kanda Poha’ for breakfast, settled the bills and pushed off to Harihareshwar. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKfrmjuAgLODR8WJp0a6bTItHzD6FaVIPdB7MHLG_OYEkEx294rrLTB4ACJrmBp0D8PGw73iqFp7wuenNqkJ6x4oOvC_UpN7xAb2qMMvnMSAHQApE-oGX-tfndQvOPl27M30MBusHRLe8/s1600-h/DSC00537.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283319449465602706" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKfrmjuAgLODR8WJp0a6bTItHzD6FaVIPdB7MHLG_OYEkEx294rrLTB4ACJrmBp0D8PGw73iqFp7wuenNqkJ6x4oOvC_UpN7xAb2qMMvnMSAHQApE-oGX-tfndQvOPl27M30MBusHRLe8/s320/DSC00537.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhVoKElxO3CVKwOMuuA2XoDGZvkmRZo0weIQjaZVYVnQzb2xsvXVLvedS89RSbY-gVLQAwReM08Thuy8nCxB4EQSVaUU_-bTZONvYiJmYSjwuZwUsQiUAO4xf8CxLRWhlXaY1lT7ofoNj/s1600-h/DSC00534.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283317436705781586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhVoKElxO3CVKwOMuuA2XoDGZvkmRZo0weIQjaZVYVnQzb2xsvXVLvedS89RSbY-gVLQAwReM08Thuy8nCxB4EQSVaUU_-bTZONvYiJmYSjwuZwUsQiUAO4xf8CxLRWhlXaY1lT7ofoNj/s320/DSC00534.JPG" border="0" /></a>18 km from Shrivardhan we took a Tum Tum (6 seater) to Harihareshwar. It is a sacred place adjacent to the sea and is otherwise called Dakshin Kasi. The design has been made similar to that of Uttar Kasi temple. First worship Kal Bhairav and then there is a way from there itself to Harihareshwar temple. Once that is done you need to take a ‘Pradikshna’ to the temple. This is one of the best part that one could ever imagine. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaL3djymE-zN3rI0gSaWfWkIoFMPG940lb-nxLzgNEIPetjotKmlk1F05YWbIoz3K881XTL3iCQyFK3-aHJbkbA4MnnXRA0akYa5oKIkcMS8MOp2rQ4YgPj7ZtzNK3HYrhrAIthqSfkCfl/s1600-h/DSC00578.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283328588071434578" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaL3djymE-zN3rI0gSaWfWkIoFMPG940lb-nxLzgNEIPetjotKmlk1F05YWbIoz3K881XTL3iCQyFK3-aHJbkbA4MnnXRA0akYa5oKIkcMS8MOp2rQ4YgPj7ZtzNK3HYrhrAIthqSfkCfl/s320/DSC00578.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">For this we first need to climb a mountain top. From there you have steps that take you down to the other side of the mountain facing the sea. You see boulders, rocks small and big and water splashing on these. These rocks have an altogether different look and that is probably because water has eroded them off their surface. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaX7oDAp3Rckrz2xesI260dZeoeVVxMcBoY4dE2g6xgePQJeHUj0_IhrpZFAyTBOzwXm7-CWSW_3B6NkicWzAuV5zv02p4VdEPgTTWEWkvlK8uIFNKVwXuMmrH0lW9d2gfEUz3Vg93koM/s1600-h/DSC00608.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283330116813077714" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaX7oDAp3Rckrz2xesI260dZeoeVVxMcBoY4dE2g6xgePQJeHUj0_IhrpZFAyTBOzwXm7-CWSW_3B6NkicWzAuV5zv02p4VdEPgTTWEWkvlK8uIFNKVwXuMmrH0lW9d2gfEUz3Vg93koM/s320/DSC00608.JPG" border="0" /></a>There are huge craters on the rock but they themselves create such a beautiful design that you the right word here incantation. Infact we were all exulted by the very serenity of the place. You know the very feeling of going close to the Mother Nature; you just got to experience it. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPpPiPMTGs52wIYJNgsR6PNB7vTDMEagmwXYnc8AZWgoDt9tEqiGO4wIZj94aH0zVcK6pJh7Cl6UC5euU1p9a-tP4n4WhyphenhyphenLUqz7gt7jnCXZaZv3Z1AxHvIP96S_DDWi6CW5Q0CK2O3YXjS/s1600-h/DSC00584.JPG"><br /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">From there on everyone was eager to get into the water though I was not and decided to stay back to take care of the belongings and also to enjoy the <i>bliss of solitude</i>. The guys undressed and then wanted to have a running race. Boss emerged as the winner with the first runner up being Surraj. The natural constraints however did not permit JK and DB to come bac :P. Just kidding….Well we were at the beach for a while and then pushed off back to Shrivardhan. We had our lunch there at a road side home cooked food restaurant. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguoOWX6hH8PMt1Jj6gZEHMJ42dpkoz_vbNfdxlVm9ufzBEV7NInmI1ZcaikCXWEimKwTDXn1jzGT5ZJgl_WZXP6HCkgA7l-AB4xDwyej5_ZNbYRMLJmQef0WDEcq-ttIMXUr4hxxmbH1uL/s1600-h/IMG_1622.JPG"><br /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwO6MXfLHg-9NxpCoAWLKMor5nwTHcY5b4aUqBzoDMR-hXAuOBNafFDlOebFmyraPjZwxYoOZcwR9HC4DpDVLvhyphenhyphen4YWmx4ZxVo2kVYdH4Tmma2FWywNsfbnXHVZu8AXNZy97o1UjW19C-i/s1600-h/IMG_1594.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283330738640773634" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwO6MXfLHg-9NxpCoAWLKMor5nwTHcY5b4aUqBzoDMR-hXAuOBNafFDlOebFmyraPjZwxYoOZcwR9HC4DpDVLvhyphenhyphen4YWmx4ZxVo2kVYdH4Tmma2FWywNsfbnXHVZu8AXNZy97o1UjW19C-i/s320/IMG_1594.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">It was 5 p.m. and we had to decide whether to go to Dive Agar or back to Mumbai. Considering that we would not be visiting this place again, we decided to go ahead with the former option. We immediately decided to take a Tum Tum to Dive Agar. It was tough negotiating with the auto guy but he finally did not decline to come down a rupee below 200. We too gave in and pushed off.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmx22rA4jNmE2CW18_imdA5zElofeLPLvYz8eQ2HYnxXM3BXWgGvRdDqBtG6NNGINPPVTmQF0YzAnT3vRWmbwtYFXKYuz-y4UqH7pFnoTwjPTVmmf9hBEqE6NgDqd69EgTpaxkyGDVn2v/s1600-h/IMG_1648.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283336082232449362" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmx22rA4jNmE2CW18_imdA5zElofeLPLvYz8eQ2HYnxXM3BXWgGvRdDqBtG6NNGINPPVTmQF0YzAnT3vRWmbwtYFXKYuz-y4UqH7pFnoTwjPTVmmf9hBEqE6NgDqd69EgTpaxkyGDVn2v/s320/IMG_1648.JPG" border="0" /></a>Now here we were moving once again on a route which left behind imprints in our memories that would not leave us for a long long time. The road cutting across the hills and the sea running adjacent these hills to gulp us just in case we were to fall off….no that was not so scary….it was rather bonnie, scenic, splendiferous...the sun was shedding its light and the night was making itself bright…We reached Dive Agar at 7 p.m. It was pitching dark then. This place hosts the temple called <i>Suvarna Ganesh Temple</i> meaning golden temple of Lord Ganesha. The history of this temple is quite interesting. The golden idol was found in 1997 when the ASI people were digging at this place. The idol was gifted to a King in 11<sup>th</sup> century AD and was buried underground then. We still had an ho<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicrp1uOhFdJrKfPCC-1_q8tqh-0vc7QbLepyrbaD7fR63tIaw4ZKXK8qn2JOvDyOaz2aW31LvJ4ejgUq-0VgzojbSfbWMYHsvIbx2BW0rigObn8_gbGvKxAXr_fyRg26eYLg0R5BRV-QcF/s1600-h/IMG_1641.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283335703700736866" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicrp1uOhFdJrKfPCC-1_q8tqh-0vc7QbLepyrbaD7fR63tIaw4ZKXK8qn2JOvDyOaz2aW31LvJ4ejgUq-0VgzojbSfbWMYHsvIbx2BW0rigObn8_gbGvKxAXr_fyRg26eYLg0R5BRV-QcF/s320/IMG_1641.JPG" border="0" /></a>ur left to take back the bus to Mumbai. So we decided to go to the beach which as per locals was a 10 minute walk from the temple. We started moving towards the beach. We were at a point which was very narrow and pitching dark. It was as though we were shooting for a horrow movie. The scenes of Raaz, REC and all the horror movies we have watched so far flashed across at that moment. Believe me it was shit scary. DB was scared and did not want to come along and so he decided to stay back at a road side hotel at the mouth of the deadly street. We cruised along slowly and slowly with the torch that showed us the way. However, the beach was nowhere in the site. Then the road split into two more roads with tall grass all over on the sides of the road. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBkJOWcD8iexBSIE7-EfBW1i8eXIGsgFjikGiwvA4CUUcxfuWAxKT5mou4XnB-VlizJikso35jJQux8EBz3ZQe-BKv2QlnMoJe-PCRSTCo51oxhW0jPDCRszABJbYwQo9quOSVvPRS7Yl/s1600-h/IMG_1654.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283336400690406594" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBkJOWcD8iexBSIE7-EfBW1i8eXIGsgFjikGiwvA4CUUcxfuWAxKT5mou4XnB-VlizJikso35jJQux8EBz3ZQe-BKv2QlnMoJe-PCRSTCo51oxhW0jPDCRszABJbYwQo9quOSVvPRS7Yl/s320/IMG_1654.JPG" border="0" /></a>Now it was even more perplexing. We had no clue which way to go and because we did not have enough time we choose to go back. Boss was a bit disappointed as he is person who likes to explore new things and ready to risk at it. Well the majority of us wanted to go back and we joined DB at the tapri, had good tea and left to the bus stop. There was another half an hour before the bus arrived. We played Dumb C till then and then boarded the bus at 8.30 p.m. This was a direct bus to Mumbai but to our misfortune the conductor said that the seats were already booked and we need to stand and go throughout for 6-7 hours before we get down. Now that was impossible and so we decided to get down at Mangaon and take either a train or bus from there. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The bus journey was another experience of its sort. People pouring in inspite of being aware that there were no seats, singing songs along the way, playing songs on their mobiles to the full volumes, some limping, some others catching up a fight in order to get a place and some others just having a peaceful nap…Meanwhile me and Boss thought of taking some snaps. Though Boss could click good snaps, I could not. I am not that good a photographer you see..Well we reached Mangaon at 10.30 and now we had 2 options, either to take a bus or take a train at 12.00 am. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElACwKXyQ8Ta6SECCyq3XI3bIX4zLYu21rpjNoNbK8IkfAmSupbSvHV_Y6N9-DqOEHq7Ecj0_cjMOzxcsIIT4PJ1xDg_NeSg7nZm4BkJko01GBKFWAGLMfI-KW4OKTFaY5ezvcP7yTORC/s1600-h/IMG_1672.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283336942765916642" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElACwKXyQ8Ta6SECCyq3XI3bIX4zLYu21rpjNoNbK8IkfAmSupbSvHV_Y6N9-DqOEHq7Ecj0_cjMOzxcsIIT4PJ1xDg_NeSg7nZm4BkJko01GBKFWAGLMfI-KW4OKTFaY5ezvcP7yTORC/s320/IMG_1672.JPG" border="0" /></a>We thought the latter would be a better option. We went to railway station only to find out that the counter would open 15 minutes before the train timing. So we decided to take a nap till then. Meanwhile Boss, Kums and JK got some stuff packed for dinner and joined us at railway station. At 11.30 types we came to know that the train was late by an hour and would come by 1.00 am. We waited and shared our experience about our trip and recorded them on the videos. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">It was total fun all in all. We were told by some of the people on the railway station that the general compartment would not be full as this was a holiday special train. To our surprise, the train was full and the people were reluctant to open the doors of the general compartments too. We were struck with no other option but to climb the reserved compartment. We found an entry into the reserved compartment and got in. We tried to make ourselves comfortable near the bathrooms and wash basins. Meanwhile the TT had come and we had to shell out extra pennies in order to allow us in stay back in this reserved compartment. After a while all of us got seats and we were off to sleep. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">At 4.45 am in the morning we arrived at Dadar, took a local back from there to Andheri and reached our rooms at 5.45 am.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">All in all a trip which was totally unplanned but worth sooooooo much more than just a memorabilia…..</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18251843798912977360noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2640915933997336734.post-89949511102768719062007-08-14T02:14:00.000-07:002007-10-05T07:26:53.751-07:00Dream as if you'll live for ever Live as if you'll die today<strong></strong>Dream as if you'll live for ever<br /> Live as if you'll die todayAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18251843798912977360noreply@blogger.com0