Juwal Bose Says

Day 2.

It was an impossible task to get up and bath in the cold water. The power had gone due to some issue at the transformer and we didnt get our hot water. Thinking about bathing in the ice cold water made us all sleep more. But eventually everyone did venture with the cold water and it was a shivering experience.

Our first stop for the day after breakfast was Pykara waterfalls. But more than the waterfalls we did meet some thing very unexpected. Sheeps Big and small ones gracing at the foothills. Photo sessions followed with Mr. sheep as the hero. One of those was really friendly and were trying to push everyone with its forehead, friendly ofcourse.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

The waterfalls were not much of a waterfall. The water was muddy, but the scenery surrounding was beautiful.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

On the way back we took a small trek at shooting point, a place very scenic with grass covered hills.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

Me and Eldhose took small horse riding sessions across the hill. This one was much smooth and effortless than the one i took back in Munnar. On the way back I decided to give a treat for my marriage and we went to Maharajas Hotel to have food. It was an ancient hotel and view at the hotel was also magnificent.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

After lunch and some photosessions areound the hotel, we decided to make it for Dodabetta peak. We could see the whole cloud covered landscape from the top of the peak. There was an observatory tower from which we could watch the crowd miles away through telescope.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

This was very soothing as the white puffy clouds were having some kind of peace infusing effect on all. Just sitting there watching the clouds were wonderful. But it was time to return and visit our last stop – The lake. Meanwhile we did buy some 15 kgs of small apples hoping to make a deal of a life time. Those apples turned out to be tasteless, but Me , Abhi and Eldhose seemed to have eaten them all eventually. We had planned to spent rest of the time in and around the lake. SO some went shopping, some for boating and some of us went gaming I could not think of boating as i really wanted to walk on my legs the next day, hence i took some coupons for gaming and everyone joined in.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

The team took turns at the basketball game where they scored lots of points which eventually made them earn 3 smiley balls. Sujith, Marvil , Abhilash and Manju were really enjoying the basketball game and were disappointed as we didnt get more points. Rajesh and Sujith got this unfortunate job of pedaling with Eldhose and Manju

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

Thus we came to the end of this ever enjoyable tour. Although the team was loosing some members and many were going to end up else where, yet some moments will always be in our minds to remember and cherish.

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Team trip this year was to be something different as we had Eldhose married and his wife working with us. Hence the long time wish to make a 2 day tour was materialised. This called for a lot of planning and a lot more expenses. Full planning was done and perfectly executed by Eldhose courtesy of his college days when he did all the college tour organisings. Expenses were controlled with some wise decisions by the team. This time things were a bit more complicated as we had 2 offices at 2 different geographical locations. We had estimated 17 people to come and none to drop out as this was a premium event, but alas due to personal reasons many could not make it. Princy and Salini would have really liked to come, but there were more things that demanded their attention, hopefully next time we can have a full team event.

We needed to start at evening to reach mettuppalayam at early morning. Me and Dilip started from Palarivattom office at 8 pm to join the rest of the team for food at Aluva. After dinner we started off around 10 and reached Mettuppalayam at 3.30. We had booked accomodation at Asoka Inn. Every one were sleepy and most started sleeping even when we only had couple of hours to leave the place.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

Day 1

We had arranged breakfast also from there and took off around 6.30 to the railway station. The Nilgiri Express was waiting for us. We had booked tickets earlier (something very wise to do if you wish to really get seats) and only the day before they had got confirmed.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

Here are the details of the train travel. It was a steam powered engine, one of its kind. It was stopped once and restarted so it will be advisable to take this tour before they shuts down again.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

I cannot possibly explain the whole journey where a train snakes through mountains, enters long tunnels, clutches to cliffs and passes over georgeous water falls and coffee estates filling all around it.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

The 2 family got onto one coupe and all the rest were in another. Train had a 4 hour journey to make to reach ootty. It made many stops at different picturesque locals and stations where it also filled the engine with water. We could have photo sessions at these points.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

Some of those stops were extremely beautiful and looked like out of a wallpaper.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

But there were times when after few hours every one got contented and started sleeping off due to the last nights long journey. TA certain station the engine was changed to a diesel one and we continued onto ootty. We reached there to see ootty town covered with mist.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

Suddenly rain started as though to welcome us and we all were terrified if this was the end of all our fun. Some decisions were to be taken fast and we decided to check in at our stay. The traveler was already there and had reached hours before the train. Our stay was at a most picturesque local called green county resort, although not much posh, yet satisfactory.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

Misty mountains topped all around us ans we were all feeling the cold. Family couples were given individual accomodations when bachelors crashed into 2 rooms. After lunch we set off to botanical garden which needs to introduction. We spent a lot of time there even though partial rain try to play spoil sport.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

I hope the couples too had a great time. I felt like the odd one out here LOL.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

If you are interested in flowers and nature then this is your paradise. All kinds of vegetation was there and it was spread for acres.

From Ootty Csharks Aug 2010

We visited the Tea Factory after wards on our way to Dodabetta. That place made us buy some tea powder and home made chocolates for much higher prices than outside and made us late for the dodabetta entry. It had closed at 5 and we decided to call it a day. We had skipped rosegarden as everyone were feeling the cold and wanted to get back to the house. Had couple of beers and food at night and the team were terrified at the idea of a campfire. The cold was really too much for most of them but as the locals had later informed us, it was really low and a god given gift for us.

Woollen covers saved the day for us and we were all shivering while we slept that night. Next up Day 2.

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60 kms north of Bangalore is the summer resort called Nandi Hills. Also known as Nandidurga, it was one of the summer retreats of Tipu Sultan. Nandi Hills was popular with the British too who built bungalows and laid out gardens here. Today of course, it’s a hot favourite among Bangaloreans who find this an ideal get-away for weekends.

So our Raj Bar gang decided to have a getaway to this place, courtesy yet again Aby. Me , Anish, Abraham and Anoop were once again together inspite of our hectic schedules and differences in geolocation. Original idea sprouted through Anish who found that Aby and HL were available, seemingly for one last time as Aby was getting married soon Aby took the car and we bought some drinks on the way from forum. It was a long drive and no one really knew the exact location and hence we got lost couple of times, but this one was a real carefree run, so no one really cared.

From Nandi Hills

On the way we had those drinks and HL was really in form mixing drinks with coconut juice. This eventually paid off as he totaled later on at the summit in a vomiting series we mallus call ‘vaal’

From Nandi Hills

There were lots of monkeys on the way and everyone got really inspired. The path to the top is like that of a hillstation’s which make us wonder how the whole city rush has all of a sudden given way to such natural beauty.

From Nandi Hills

We could see clouds making huge shadows over the villages and also see bundles of rain pouring over specific regions.

From Nandi Hills

There was a temple at the summit and we spent a lot of time talking and discussing old days. There was a good restaurant on top where we had nice food along with couple of drinks.

From Nandi Hills

It was late in the evening when we decided to head back. HL who had turned off after his ‘vaal’ session came online as soon as we started our descent. He entertained us for the later stages of the journey by telling us some stories on complex relationships
At the end of the day it was a unique experience as we were all busy people who had some how found time to get together from all different places. Such events will be missed now that most of us are getting married this year. Yet, cheers to friendship!

another trip with these people

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We had a recent solar eclipse which was the longest for some decades to come. This made me realise that i had not posted about my Kanyakumari trip with my brother where the Sun had actually cheated on us.

The eclipse was beautiful and we watched the glory through some expensive video-graphic glasses as well as cheap Xray films. This one was an annular eclipse and hence the beautiful ring of fire was missed fro our place.

So me and bro embarked on this journey to KK, not in search of some search for inner meaning or greater spiritual good, but curious to see what the heck it was all about. It was holiday season being newyear and xmas week and we had not booked any accommodations. We thought it would be just fine to get on the bus and check out accommodations when we get there. Well we were wrong Now unless my good friend Shyam chand had not booked us tickets for the bus online through credit card over the KSRTC online registration we could have not even started the journey. It was total fun to walk into a fully crowded bus with as much people waiting outside to get in and claim our seats with a piece of printed paper. WOW! But although we got the seats, it was a pain and we could not get any sleep. We stated the journey at 9pm fro ernakulam and reached Trivandrum bus station at 2.15 am. We had some relaxing and late night tea. We found that the next bus to KK wa gonna start at 5.30 am. So we took platform tickets to the nearby railway station and tried to get some sleep on the benches there Now when we came back the enquiry officer didnt bother to tell us that the bus was at the other end of the bus station. We almost missed the bus as we ran to get the bus at the last minute and ofcourse didnt get any seats A main way point on the way was nagercoil, and we understood that we will have to make it back there to catch a bus back to Tvm.

As we started approaching the tamil district it started raining. It was drastic change in environments and system as we passed on from Kerala to Tamil nadu. We could only watch in awe at the robust cultivated land featuring all kinds of stuff. Bananas looked like coconuts It suddenly started raining and we were alarmed. Now some new info dawned on me, that always check the weather report before you venture into some natural beauty. We reached at KK early morning arounf 7.30 and started looking for accommodations. Those available were running at Rs1500 plus taxes and were premium non AC ones. After so walking around one agent came along and got us a normal room for Rs 500. I gave him 20Rs commission and saw that he got 100 rs or more from the hotel manager. We had to wait till the cleaning got completed for the rooms and checked in at 8.30. We walked around and did some shopping.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

We bought some seashells for Rs 50 each, a seashell garland for Rs 20 and white and dark ying yang pebbles for Rs 20 each. The shore area was full of shops and majority were selling sea shells. It was Sabarimala season and the crowd was full of ayyapans. We had expected to see some colorful crowd but were really disappointed at that. We could see the Vivekananda rock and the Thiruvalluvar statue.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

Idly vada costed Rs 25 and we were really hungry. To our disappointment we found that there were no beaches in KK. We had hoped to have dive at the ocean and spent some time swimming. We noticed a pebble catcher with e small sack who filtered the sea water and found pebbles and different colored stones. There were genuine looking pearl like stones being sold for Rs 10 each.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

We decided to go to the KK temple and got in the huge line. After some time we thought it was a waste of time and wanted to get out. In the on rush of the crowd we got into another line and were in front of the diety instantly. Now it cost us Rs 20 to take some kind of ticket and see her holiness Hmm. Outside the temple the prasadam was in the shape of a huge laddu. It cost us Rs 50 but then it surely made mom happy.
There was a building outside which was Ghandhi memorial and we took some time off to rest under it.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

Now it was time to visit the vivekananda rock. The line was huge but it was moving at a steady pace. There were 2 boats shuttling to and fro from the rocks taking visitors. We got it one of those and had a rollercoaster session untill we reached the rock.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

We could see the multicolored sea in a 180 degree view. The statue was very close but not accessible due to renovation work. We took some photos and planned our way back as we had to have some food. We had 3 chappathis and Chillichicken from the rarest of non-veg hotels around there. It cost Rs 185 and was a bad decision. It was evening and we were looking forward to seeing the Sun set. We approached the view tower and took tickets for Rs 3.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

But it was really cloudy and we could only catch half of the sun in the horizon.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

But we enjoyed the ravishing sea and its terrifying savageness.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

So we decided to stay for the night and try watching the sun rise early morning. We had the idea to try booking the KK express train and got into an internet cafe to check for schedules. We decided to walk to the railway station and check for the train details and if possible book a ticket. We found a beautiful girl at ticket counter and she explained that there is no need to book tickets as we could easily get sleeper tickets in morning itself. We bought pirottas and chicken fry from a local thatukada for Rs 65 and a KF beer for Rs110. After some freshening up we went for a walk and felt the night breeze.
We slept sound that night and woke up at 5.45 to see the sunrise. Sun cheated us bigtime this time around and it was no where to be seen. So we packed up and went to the railway station to board the train at 10.30 am.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

We had lots of vacant seats and had a relaxed journey back with bro sleeping it off on the upper berth. So we could not see the sun rise or set in its glory. I will be visiting KK again to see the view, but that time i am gonna check the weather in advance.

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Thats a funny heading, i know. But then i felt we were all a little bit older and reserved this time around for the team trip. May be it was because of missing Vijesh and the eye sore-ed Rajesh. But then it remains a fact that we all were older and when we saw the gang of college students enjoying under the waterfalls, nostalgia and old memories rushed in. So it was time for another Csharks teamtrip, another year completed for Csharks and a recession year at that too. As the majority didnt want to walk too much as last time it was full of trekking, we decided to keep it simple by visiting Munnar and near by places.
First stop was the inevitable Cheeyappara Kuth, waterfall on the way to Adimali.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

It was rainy season and both Valara and Cheeyappara waterfalls looked awesome. We had to pick up princy on the way as we were leaving early morning. My mother was there as a senior security officer for Csharks. Next stop was echo point, which was just an echo of the old spot. No more real echo, but the scenery was breathtaking. There was a confusion whether to go for boating or not, we decided not to. We had a shopping spree around that place and Abhi was eager to get going.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

Now it was time for the awesome tea slopes of Munnar. cannot explain their beauty as you just have to see the whole horizon filled with tea plantations.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

We had photo sessions around Echo point and in between the tea plantations. The leeches were severe trouble and all were suddenly over conscious. As usual i saw a leach trying to enter my shoes. Shyju got one attached to himself. Kailas came to rescue with a match. The next stop was Topstation. There was an entry fee of Rs15 per person and we got a discount at that place. We could get magnificent views of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This place actually belonged to Tamil Nadu.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

We walked down to the different view points and took some single photos. We also had access to wild oranges and we ravaged the orange tree. We enjoyed the beauty of the place for some time and decided to spent some time and have food at Kundala. Kundala had it all, but also had rain. It was a beautiful place with a dam, boating, a pine forest and horse riding. Initially it was raining and the boats were not being engaged.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

We decided to have some food. Breadomlete was the only option available.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

After food the rain was gone and team formed groups to go for boating. It was 1 hour row boating and pedal boating. Shyju and Abhi who led the row boat took some time to get used to the thing. They were initially going in circles.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

Me and Eldhose went for horse riding based on the excellent negotiating talents of Eldhose. I cant explain how the riding was on such an open forum, but lets say it was an unforgettable experience. I recommend all males try it once.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

On the way back we spent some time at Mattupetty dam and had some shooting practice. Some among the team had troubles with their stomach due to untimely food, but then it was sorted out. We had food at a basic restaurant at Adimali on the way back. We were curious of rajesh’s red eye but it turned out not to be a problem. Abhi had a bit of a altitude trouble when on the way back he had a stomach cleaning session.We were back early when compared to the other tours. We dropped princy at her place and got back safe to our office complex.

Other Csharks trip 1
Csharks Trip 2

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So this was the big event of the whole trip. I squeezed this one in and made everyone else follow suite. Let me tell you that such a trip attempt for 1 day visit from Mumbai to both the caves is something that is to be perfectly planned. We got in our Bus from Thane to Aurangabad at 11 pm at night which was Netha Volvo and the tickets ran at Rs450. We had the pleasure of knowing a tour agency who controlled the ‘Royal cars’ which had bus and cars arranged for travel. An Indica car with AC for the whole day cost Rs3000 and without AC it will be around Rs2000. (Royal Cars owner:9823533532, Mankesh Driver:9765449330). The AC was good and we were in shorts, all pumped up. We reached Aurangabad at 7am the next day.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

The indica was exactly at the spot where we were getting down, we had called the driver to sync up. Now we had to change and freshen up, this was something which we didnt plan ahead. So we had real problem finding a good accomodation for single day and it cost us Rs800, but could have bargained for less if we had time. After a superfast bath we left some of our stuff at the hotel room and started journey to Ajanta. Ajanta is 100 Kms from Aurangabad. Just before we reached Ajanta there was this local Dhaba where we had Poori Bhaji and Milk and it was damn economical.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

The driver told us that there was the Himroo handicrafts sarees available nearby which costed upto 11 lakhs per saree. The Abhi-Ash wedding bulk booked these ones from here, he said. Remnants of old forts and palaces were scattered all the way. We saw the Ajanta village which was enclosed in an old fort fence. We came to Ajanta valley where we needed to take tickets and some other passes. We gave signed agreement that our photos will be used for non commercial purposes. Also there was a ticket for using light inside the cave, which meant we needed to carry extra lights. If we dont have extra light the guides inside the caves had LED torches to help, but you needed to pay them.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

There are AC/non AC buses going up and down the road to Ajanta. You will need to take tickets for these too.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

Guys dont hire external guides, just buy the guide book for Rs20, dont offer anything more than this. The book depicts all the caves you need to visit and the total layout. The initial scene of the horse shoe cave structure was unique and you wont get to see something like this anywhere else. I cant possibly explain the caves and their architecture. There are loads of murals and sculptures inside the caves which are primarily Buddhist.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

In each cave you will get guides who will tell kinds of stories about the murals and how the cave was built. You can give Rs20 in each cave.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

There is a big reclining Buddha in cave number 26 and other good caves can be 9,15,16 and 21.
There is a viewpoint in the middle to the other side of the rived that flows below the horseshoe. There is this small hill which sits in the middle which offers good view of the whole caves structure.
But as we didnt have much time, we hurried back and even skipped the beer parlor at the bottom. Bargained with the shopkeepers around for some pictures of the caves and bought some to be framed later. Now we had to get back all the way to Aurangabad and the start for Ellora. So the driver was speeding away when suddenly one of the tyres was blown away.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

It was the driver who saved the day with his presence of mind and super fast tyre change skills. We skidded for 50 mts on the road until we came to stop. Ellora was 30kms from Aurangabad in another direction. We had our food in a near by hotel. The caves here was spread all around the place and there were Autos running among them. The caves are mixture of Brahmin, Jain and Bhuddha cultures. Hindu carvings were enormous and we just lost our ways inside Kailasa cave.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

We just get to think that these people had nothing else to do back then. Dont miss Cave 16-Kailasa, 6,10, 30, 31 and 32. We misses the Indraprastha caves which were a little far away. The driver had booked return tickets by phone and we saw Daulatabad Fort and panchakki on the way back. Panchakki is just a waste of time and effort, but daulatabad can be a hideous climb to endure. If you loose your step you are a goner.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

At Aurangabad we also had the pleasure to see the Taj replica, Bibi ka Maqbara. It was delightful for me to compare the structures as i had visited the Taj. It looked almost the same if you analysed from far away and thus didnt notice the size difference.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

The caves closed at 6pm, just in case and they are not open on 2 different days(mon/tue) respectively each week. We started back at 9.45 Pm and reached back at Thane at 8 am due to some delay with roadblocks.
We went for shopping the next days and saw 2 movies, Xmen Origins-wolverine and Terminator salvation. T-IV was an opening show at 7.45Am which we enjoyed in an almost empty multiplex with reclining sofa chairs. The journey ended when we got on train at 4.50 back to Kerala. The train journey was fun as we had this full gang of 150 ppl who got on this Garib Rath with out tickets. We had to adjust with them as they had missed their train and paid some money to the TT. These people were manual laborers coming to Kerala. It was so evident fro their expression that they considered Kerala like a heaven, like US for us. Amazing.

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Popularity: 63% [?]

This time it was my third visit to kumarakom. The place has some unforgettable memories for me and this time around it was no less. Here is the post on the earlier one. This time it was a houseboat trip arranged by Arun George for his marriage. Class mates from College of Engineering Chengannur were supposed to join up for the trip and visit him for marriage the other day.

From Kumarakom_May_09

I was the first one to reach the boat as timeliness was an asset with all my friends and they were supposed to reach the place at 11.30

From Kumarakom_May_09

I waited for them to join up and had a chat with the people of the boat. Here are the details on the boat if any one want to contact – Alumparanbil, Cheepunkal, Kumarakom North, 0481-2525797 (Soji-9846184654)
It will cost you around 11000Rs for one day trip on the boat. It had 3 bed rooms and sun deck with vcd tv on board. We had natural cocconut drinks on arrival and the food was commendably good.

From Kumarakom_May_09

It was the day of election results and thanks to hightech Jyothis we had live net on blackberry and laptop.

From Kumarakom_May_09

We had smirmoff vodka sponsored by AGT, but there would be no fun without the local Toddy So we came ashore at R-block, which was an artificial island created by Murikkan and taken over by the Govt. He had cultivated cocconut in the whole island and it was the hub for Toddy. We had 5 litres for Rs70/Ltr.

From Kumarakom_May_09

But just before having the drinks we decided to take a bath in the salty waters on vembanad lake. It was really shallow and we had some limited fun in it as the water was real salty.

From Kumarakom_May_09

Now inside the boat too the water supply was salty and i got informed that it was seasonal when the lake water gets salty due to onrush of seawater. Licenses for boat to travel was till 6 pm at night, after which they had to be ashore. So some of our friends were coming to join us at night, it was a tricky place to find as we were inside remote areas of the lake. But we ultimately found each other in the thick of the night.

Heated political discussions were there all through out the night when all the topics under the sun were seriously covered. I found myself sleeping on the sun deck that night as a watchman for the boat. It was fun despite the mosquitoes. Next day we arose to the magnificent sight of migratory birds in the fields near by.

From Kumarakom_May_09

We got ashore near cheepunkal bridge at 9am and were ready for the marriage at kottayam.

Popularity: 93% [?]

The idea was there when i first did my trip to wayanad. I selectively left out Chembra peak for the sole reason to conquer it with fellow trekker Anish. So we planned to execute it on the third weekend of March09. Anish came to my home the friday evening and stayed with us. The next day we had an official agreemetn signing of a court case which had been prevailing for some years now. That was a satisfying settlement as we were getting some money back. We started our travel on bus before after noon. We had to see Devraj as Anish had to collect a mural painting which dev was doing. At trissur we met up with dev and he handed over the 6 foot mural of ‘Ashtalakshmi‘ which pictured 8 lakshmi goddesses. Anish settled the payment and we took a bus to kozhikode where we planned to deliver the mural, get the Fuji camera that anish had a friend bring him from US. When everything got settled it was very late at night and we planned to book a ticket to wayanad. Although we booked our tickets we found that our seats were already taken, thanks to some real sloppy work by the people at the ticket counter. Duplicate tickets were given out for the same pair of seats and we were left out. We got a refund and waited for the next bus. We reached Kalpetta at nearly 2 am and started enquiring about lodgings. Alas all the lodgings in Kalpetta was booked. This was news and the reason was that during weekends people from bangalore make weekend getaways to this place and all locdgingd got booked on weekends. We looked around for some time and found that the onl y option left was to find transport to sultan bethery and find a lodging there. We waited at bus stand and then the magazines arrived. Bunch of people started sorting everything. We were amazed to find this activity and to our happiness we found that the vehicle was going to sultan bethery to deliver news paper. We got a ride and it was real fun as the vehicle was free rolling onto shops to throw paper kits over to them. At sultan bethery we got a lodge for Rs 450 which was not worth Rs150, but we had no complaints.

We started early after 3 hours sleep, took bus to Kalpetta where we enquired about any bus leaving in the evening in which we can book tickets back. But the timings were not right. So we had food and got on bus to meppadi were we got an auto to Chembra peak. We actually stopped over at the forest range office at meppadi and the officer there informed us that the permission was not to be given from there. We would get the pass and guides from the office near the peak itself. The auto guy took us to the ticket counter which was on the way upto the chembra estate.

From Chembra_Mar_09

The tickets were for Rs 1000 for hard trekking and Rs 500 for mild trekking. This was an overkill as i had made treks on Himalayas for much cheaper rates. They will provide a guide for the rate and we were charged Rs 500 and allotted the hard trek. We all know that no one will come trekking if they charge Rs 1000. The auto took us to the bottom of the estate for Rs 70. It was 7kms and it was fair enough.
We started our walk towards a look out post where we found another guard. It was a scenic poit from where we can see the landscape.

From Chembra_Mar_09

The trek was supposed to be 4 hours up and down if we took it at a stretch. It was 2100 feets climb to the top and we took turns to rest when the guide simply walked on. We saw some other gangs returning from the trek and some foreigners too. It was only after a while that we saw the peak for real.

From Chembra_Mar_09

The whole area was barren due to a recent wild fire. Actually there should have been long grasses which were 6 feet high blocking all views. But this time we could see everything and that really killed the fun. We reached the lake where the mild trekking will end. Had some chocolates and bananas and lots of water. Advise is to carry 2 bottles of water atleast.

From Chembra_Mar_09

The trek consisted of 5 tiers of mountain climbing one after the other. We could reast after each steep climb. It was kind of severe when considered to the other treks that we had made.

From Chembra_Mar_09

It took us 3 hours to reach the summit. After some initial troubles we had become accustomed to the trek and towards the end it just ended abruptly. Last stretch of climb was rocky and fun.

From Chembra_Mar_09

On reaching the summit every one lied down basking in the mild sun. Sun had gone behind clouds and there was good breeze. This was relaxing. No one spoke a word, we just rested there watching the beauty all around us.

From Chembra_Mar_09

We were feeling real hungry by now as we didnt take much food on the way and have not had a good nights sleep. Suddenly we found that it was going to rain. We both had new cameras and were terrified at getting wet. So we had to rush down to beat the rain.

From Chembra_Mar_09

So we rushed down and made it back in record time. We just beat the rain and reached our Auto ride whom we had called up on our way back. We got back to our lodgings and took some rest, food and refreshment. We cancelled the idea of going for the Air bus as it was really late. We took a late night KSRTC to my place and Anish exited at his Uncles place at Kozhikode. We both knew that this was the most severe trek we had performed yet. It was also kind of dry as the vegetation was all removed due to the fire. I think i will take a break from dry treks for a while and rather look for scenic places for the time being. Looking forward to a getaway in the coming months.

Popularity: 100% [?]

This is an old tale..about 7 years back. Then i was an engineering student and we were going Goa on the Sem 5 tour. Me being a bachelor with out any girlfriends at that time , joined forces with like minded individuals. People joining me were lijo (the not so famous but most naughty dude), Aby(need any explaination?), Dany (well he has his days) and we had expected HL (who was down with vomiting due to his unprecendented frenzy of drinking) and Rinu (who was cautioned by his girl friend). But from the lot of more than 50 ppl only 4 had the guts to actually do what we had planeed to do.

The tour party was going to see some churches (i forgot which) and we planned to follow our plans. we took 2 bikes, dani and lijo became the riders anf me and aby hopped on the back. The place we were heading was the red lit area in Goa – Vasco! No one knew anything about it, all we knew was the earlier week one of our batchmate from cusat was killed on the way back from there. So it was a dangerous trip..but then we had decided to see the place. Although we never had any plans other than to see the place all were afraid and no one really had the courage to ask ppl for the direction. Atlast when we asked an elderly man he told “Its not a very good place to go..you can go to another beach here which is beautiful..”. Well we were asking about the Marina beach there..But after asking some very serious looking ppl we found out the place

It was parallel to the beach and the main road was going straight. We needed to take a right turn but ppl were all looking at us and hence we missed it the first time. THen we came back and after some tries up and down we atlast made our turn right. We reached a road which was parallel to the main road. Now it was time to be afraid..what we saw ahead really made us rethink about the whole plan. We decided we had better run back. But it was too late…The moments that followed are considered one of the accomplishments that we all made in our lives…

Four of us were looking ahead the road we just came in. It ran parallel to a beach which cant be called a beach any more. It was the toilet and playground for all the children and elders alike. A vast open toilet! Some one has created a concrets barriar on the road so that no vehicle can move on but people can walk just through it. To our right it was the ocean and the filth and to the left it was a slum. AN advanced slum, can be called even a settlement. The road divided the ladies and the gents. Gents were there to the right on the sheds, some quarelling, some lying down..all looked like local gundas. THis was time to retreat!

To left some coir beds were laid in front of some house and all those houses had elderly women standing on the door steps. Some were sitting on the roads and all were calling out and talking loudly.. We never understood what they meant. A young boy approached us, he is the pimp. Well he staight away asked us if we were mallus. We denied it upright, but he told us that he was certain that we were.(so much for all those mallus coming here) We told him that we just wanted to see the place and have some beer. He told us to follow him and started wlking. We looked at each other and started following. Our knee was shaking with fear…we were walking closer to the slum. There suddenly became evident some small path between the huts. He entered and disappeared..we followed reluctantly. Ladies were talking loadly and screaming something..we walked in a brisk pace not to get lost. It was like a labyrith and god knows how deep we went it. The path was tangled like a huge serpent. Atlast we reacher a beer parlour in the middle of the settlement. All were scared to death by now. None of us knew the way out or how we reached there.. On the way here we had to make way for ladies to pass and they quezed us out pf th path even when we had made enough room for them. One even squeezed dan, like to check him..not so funny for him. So there were 3 tables and four chairs each. We sat on them and ordered beer. I never had more than a glass of beer. What was about to come made me drink one full bottle like water.

The boy has disappeared…what will happen now?
There was a bartender for namsake and he was just tuning the radio. I never had the guts to look upto his face. We gulped down some beer and waited. If girls come what should we do? We had decided that no matter what happens no one is going to succomb to temptations. We had to be back before our friend returned from their trips. No one should actually know about this feat unless and untill we disclose this ourselves. So we had this pact to resist all services offered!

The boy came back, he was followed by a lady who seemed veteran in the field. She looked good but only stood at the door. She had with her 4-5 girls. Small girls it seemed we were just looking at each other like we were not there in the scene. The lady was talking to the girl about how to canvas us or something. All girsl were nodding and acknowledging what she was telling them. She looked like a military commander giving orders..Me and lijo were on the exposed side of the table. The girls came to our table and began talking. We made negative ex-pressions, and told them we dont need any company. I kept on gulping down the beer. All were afraid and under the table our knees were shaking.

From the dialect they were talking we understood parts of the speech, also the body language helped us understand bits and pieces. They were telling wus what all we can do with then..menawhile they were massaging our shoulders also..i couldnot look upto the girl standing at my shoulder. All others told me that she was the most beautiful one. I was not feeling any urges for that matter, at that time i just wanted to get out of that place as soon as possible. ALl were thinking on the same lines and the boy approached. He asked for the last time if we dont need any company. We affirmed it and suddenly dani made his move. He told the boy that we had other friends waiting and once we get back we will come at night. The boy became happy and we became confused. We had no idea what dan was talking abt. Then the boy became more supportive. We asked it it was possible for him to take us around the place. He reluctantly said yes. We were customers for that night no? So we paid the bill and followed him. He took us to the end os the street and we had our day. On the way back we gave him a 50rs note and said that we will be back by 10 at night. His face lit up and he told he will be waiting for us…

He is still waiting..
NB: The area was closed down recently and ppl have moved to other location like vysag and mumbai.

Popularity: 66% [?]

From Drop Box

Now how can i explain Ramooji film city in a blog. Thats sheer injustice. Everyone should go and see this marvelous wonder. And always take your girlfriend with you..as the gardens and the locales are purely romantic. Again, its spread out to hectres of filmy complex.

Fake cities are completely rebuild for the song sequences..you will see airport, sub jail, hospital, court and what ever. China ,london, paris, newyork…and one huge collection of beautiful gardens.

So i wish i was not alone, but alas i was. So guys dont make the mistake of going there alone. Its huge and alone its sometimes boring. Then i followed upto charminar the returning day. One historical monument which we should all see. The huge looming historical magnitude. I bought postcards of all the main hybd places for 10 rs from a lady. She told me that i should go to Birla Temple. Actually i had planned to see Mecca masjid also. There was also one placce called laad bazaar where i thought of shopping hybd pearls.

Hmm anyways my auto driver told me not to go to the bazaar as the place was not good. He told that if you shop there you will be looted of your pocessions. That became evident when i stepped out of the auto. 3 beggars suddenly surrounded me. They held on to me and didnt let me move.

I told i am not gonna give anything..but they were adamant. This made me angry..if they were not this agressive i would have given something. So i tried this act of calling someone over the phone. They hesitated, but again held stand. So i felt helpless. Tourist will definitely curse india after coming to this place. Suddenly the other auto drivers words came to my mind…traffic police!

I went upto the traffic guy and complained..he scolded all very harshly. Now they also told him something in slang and then departed. thanks God, i am not going into the bazaar anymore. I even skipped visit to mecca masjid which was nearby. I could not try to attempt to talk across the street. So i watched the majids beauty from over the charminar. It was huge and lots of people were walking around. Suddenly the bell in the minar rang and the guard guy came hurrying down. He took a boy by his ear and scolded him. may be he rang the bell. Then only i saw the ball, it echoed inside the minar and birds flew all around.

From there i went to birla temple, the full marble marvel by the birlas. I had so little time as i had t catch the train back. I went to planetorium and got in to see the show. But then time was not there. Suddenly one fresh group of ppl came in. They were mallus..the guard made me move all over the place. Then i thought lets go with the flow and i walked out. The guard thought i was angry t his behaviour. He told me sorry and all but i said i am going out anyways. naughty me huh!

I got an auto and reached abck just in time for the train. THis was one good trip. But more was to come on the way back..guess what?

Popularity: 64% [?]