Sakleshpur Green Line Trek - Childhood dream come true

Ever since I visited Araku Valley by train when I was small child, I loved the railway ghat sections. The huge number of tunnels and bridges (since trains cannot climb anything more than a 1 in 100 grade, compared to automobiles which can easily do a 1 in 10) make for a very entralling experience.

So when my trek mates from the Kottebetta trek informed me about the planned Sakleshpur Green Line trek, I literally jumped with excitement. So I reached bangalore on friday morning and crashed at Sameer's place. In the evening we went to Neeraj's place. There were 16 ppl in the group, so we rented a 22 seater bus and started to Sakleshpur at late night, reaching by saturday morning 6 o'clock. After refreshments and introductions at the KSRTC bus station, we headed to the railway line. On the way we also made a brief stopover at a fort and took some nice pics.

From there we started trekking on the tracks. Since it was a ghat section, there was little to no place to trek beside the tracks, so we had to walk on the concrete sleepers. This was kind of a jarring experience since it took utmost concentration to step correctly, lest we trip over or sprain an ankle. The heat was also unbearable with little cloud cover. Added to this I was carrying a 9 kilo backpack. Anyway we met some workers on the tracks, who told us that since there was some accident a few days ago, all train services on that line were suspended. This gave us a huge relief and we started disregarding basic rules - like crossing bridges in small groups, not resting on the tracks themselves, etc.

After a couple of "photoshoots" in tunnels and on bridges, we stopped at a small waterfall to refill, and I heard the faint but distinct sound of a train horn. I almost brushed it aside since we were not expecting any trains, when I heard a louder second horn. Realizing what was happening, I started shouting "Train! Train!" and everyone scrambled to the side of the tracks and pulled the bags which were lying on the tracks. After a couple of seconds, a very long freight train rumbled past us. It gave us the shock of our lives, since, had it happened on a bridge, it would have been a total disaster!

Anyway we continued more carefully, while periodically listening for train horns or vibrations on the tracks to make sure we wont get caught on the wrong foot again. We passed through a lot of tunnels, the longest of which was more than half a km. There were no lights, making the inside of long tunnels pitch black. They were also occasionally damp, making the sleepers very slippery. My torchlight was woefully inadequate since it was very focused, forcing me to use my more wider cellphone light. Also since the tunnels were designed for meter gauge, and later converted to broad gauge, the space on the sides where we were supposed to take cover, in case of an approaching train, was much smaller than expected.

We had our lunch with bhel and bread close to a railway station. After walking for some more time, we reached a small stream. There most of us took a bath, and continued on our way.

After a couple of trysts with some more trains and maintenance vehicles, we finally reached the Yedakumari railway station. After some dinner, we settled down to sleep in a room in the station. The next day morning we woke up early and after enjoying the morning climate for some time, we started back to the highway along the jungle with the help of a local guide. Before starting we took a couple of precautions against leeches, which would be abundant in the jungle we were about to cross.

We moved downhill rapidly, and then came across a small but fast moving stream, with leeches on the banks. My shoes got completely wet, but I would not dare remove them given the abundance of leeches. After trekking for about 3 hours we reached a much bigger river, with the highway on the otherside which we crossed slowly. While we were waiting for the bus to arrive to pick us up, some of us went for a swim in the river. It was a very beautiful experience for me since it was waist deep water, with soft sand underneath. The water was also not too fast or stagnant.

We got on the bus and reached Bangalore amongst a *huge* lot of dancing and shenanigans. I crashed at Shalesh's place for the next day, and then started back to Hyderabad on monday evening.

Overall it was a great feeling about my childhood dream coming true. I still remember the time I spent wanting to walk the railway tracks of Araku valley (on the Visakhapatnam-Kirandul line) near my hometown. It feels so great to finally do something which you have given up on a long time ago, especially if it was a childhood dream!

Leech Attack! - How to avoid those little bloodsuckers

Leeches are pretty common to the Nilgiris. Since I suffer from an advanced case of Bdellophobia (a smug bastard's way of saying Fear of leeches), I have compiled a list of things which will help fellow sufferers in keeping the bloodsuckers away.

Note that Leech bites are pretty harmless. Since the leeches use a powerful anesthetic in their saliva, you will feel no pain when you are bitten. Also it contains a strong anti-coagulant, which means you will continue to bleed for a while after the leech drops off (on its own, or if you pull it away). Leech bites can also leave a mark on the skin. You might get some allergy to leech bites too.

Before we start off, I heard that some species of leeches in kerala can actually jump from trees. I dont know how to avoid them, and I dont care since I trek in karnataka mostly. Anyway for normal leeches, the below techniques can help a lot.

Leeches hate the smell of tobacco, so I use tobacco flakes (ghutka) to keep them away from my feet. I also wear 2 layers of socks with tobacco flakes in between each layer, and also spread it over the shoe. You can also rub some on the lower extremities of your pants. I also stuff my pant in between the two layers of socks to prevent any from creeping up the leg.

Finally if you see those blood suckers on your shoe/clothes/bag, how do you remove them? Since I am scared to death of even touching them, I use a pain spray like Moov, and apply it on the leech. This makes the leech drop off after 2-3 seconds. I heard that other sprays like deodorants also work, but never tested them myself. Also I dont think it is a very good idea to use a deodorant on a break in the skin.

After any trek in a leech infested area, I suggest taking a bath and examining the body for any signs of leeches. Also avoid keeping the bags or shoes near the beds, since leeches might climb onto the bed resulting in untold sleepless nights interspersed with nightmares!

Trekking in The Himalayas - Where the earth meets the Sky...

Himalayas had always been a trekking destination which eluded me. Sometimes it was my fitness level, sometimes the cost, sometimes the professional commitments - but whatever the reason, it was not happening. So when I saw the BMC posting for a Himalayan trek, I immediately knew I could not miss it. Thus started my tryst with the Himalayas...

After taking a flight to Delhi from Hyderabad, followed by a disastrous bus journey to Manali, we landed at the Hotel on Sunday Evening. Monday morning we started to Solang Valley by Sumos, where I did Zorbing. We then moved on to Rohtang Pass, where we played by sliding on the small patches of snow etc. Then towards evening we moved to the the Base Camp at 14 mod (at 3250m) in heavy rain, and retired for the night.

The next day we began our trek to the next camp at Ravalikoli at 3750 m. Initially the trek passed through the forest, but soon we were above the tree line in beautiful grasslands. we reached the Ravalikoli camp, which was surrounded by mountains on 3 sides, with small rivers originating from them - and combining to form a big stream which snaked past the camp, and distant snow-covered peaks on the 4th side. After having some hot soup, we played Dumb charades and then proceeded to rest for the night.

The next day we started our trek to the sacred Brighu Lake located at 4250m above sea level. After a couple of hours of climbing through grassland, rocky areas as well as some snow, we reached the majestic lake Brighu. We rested for half an hour near the lake and then ate packed lunch before starting our descent. On the way back, a couple of us, played in the snow by throwing snow balls as well as sliding in it. By the time we reached the camp at Ravalikoli, there was a heavy fog and visibility was reduced to less than 10ft. I then climbed the nearby mountain for a view of the camp, but had to return soon due to a lot of rain. We played song & dance for some time before retiring for the night. However, unlike the previous nights, it never rained, which was a big surprise, given the downpour that used to hit the tents on earlier nights.

The next day the sky cleared up completely resulting in a bright and sunny day. This made the return trek one of the most pleasurable experiences of my life. We enjoyed a lot by singing, dancing and plain freaking out on the way down. We walked through big meadows filled with exotic flowers, while sheep and horses were grazing peacefully. We reached the road, where we were picked up by Sumos and headed back to Manali.

I did some basic shopping that night, as well as visited the Manu temple. The next day we did white water rafting on the Beas River which was very exciting, especially when a couple of us, jumped into the river. In the evening we boarded the bus back to Delhi. After staying at my cousin's place in Delhi for a while, I reached Hyderabad sunday evening by flight.

This trek is easily the best among all the treks I had ever done due to the sheer beauty of the Himalayas coupled with the very diverse backgrounds and intellects of my team mates. I look forward to doing more such treks in the Himalayas.

Trek to Kudremukh - Touching the face of God!

It had been a very long time since I had been on a trek. This summer was a complete bummer, with temperatures soaring in Hyderabad and surrounding areas. So after the first monsoon showers, I decided to go on a trek. With none of my friends having the time to join me, I decided to go with a professional club, and the Bangalore Mountaineering Club (BMC) was the BEST among them.

So I started a day earlier and landed in Bangalore on Friday morning, and worked that day and then joined with the BMC team leaving for Kudremukh on Friday night. We reached Kalasa and were put up in a local hotel, as the local nature camp did not allow large groups (we were 35 people). The next day morning, we reached the base of the trek at around 9:30 am, and started the trek.

Initially the trek was on a muddy road for a couple of km, and then it branched out into the forest. While waiting for others to catch up a couple of us also took a detour to a nearby waterfall with a check-dam which was beautiful. Back on the way, after crossing the first stream, I realized that there were leeches all over the place due to the incessant raining in the past few days. I have a serious fear of leeches (I looked it up and the actual term is "Bdellophobia" :), and these were really big ones at almost 4-5 cms long (without any blood i.e.), wiggling around vigorously to attach themselves to the nearest blood source. After reaching a patch of dry rock, we checked our shoes and sure enough there were 2 leeches, which were quickly removed by my teammates (thanks guys! I was really really grossed out :).

After climbing for some more time, we could see the actual peak we were about to climb. It was awesome, like a serene giant, being engulfed slowly in milky white clouds. The mountains around were majestic. After some comparatively steeper climbing, we reached the peak by 2:00 PM and relaxed there for an hour while enjoying the lunch of chapattis & chutney which our BMC contact Ram had provided.

On a nearby mountain, we could see a herd of bison, walking slowly, and it felt very exciting seeing them. On the peak, I realized that I ran out of my 2.5 litre supply of water, having misjudged the strenuousness of the climb. So, I had to drink some water from a nearby stream directly - since I did not have any iodine to purify it, but it was very pure. We started our way back down, after climbing down from the main peak, I was deep in leech territory, so I started running all the way until we were close to the mud road, which was safe from leeches.

Four of us were lost on the way back on the mud road, and reached a local village. Two local women were kind enough to lead us back to the Bus. It was almost 6:00 PM by the time we reached the bus. We went back to the lodge and the next day we went to a nearby waterfalls which were very beautiful, before starting back to Bangalore. It was almost 1AM by the time I reached my friend's place in Bangalore.

I did not carry a camera with me on this trip, so the pics from my cell are subpar, I will put up the remaining pics once the remaining team members upload their.

I was very happy with myself for completing this trek, since my strength and stamina training over the previous 5 months had paid off handsomely, with me being able to carry a lot of weight uphill without getting real tired! Hoping to do a trek sometime real soon.

Out of Space on Picasa? Dont fret yet!

If you go on enough vacations, this is bound to happen sooner than later. You will be uploading pics and then realize that suddenly you ran out of the allotted 1GB on Picasaweb. And you dont want to shell out $20 for additional space! So, although you can go and delete old albums or some pics, it is very time consuming. For example I have over 20 albums and am not prepared to delete any in total. I tried going through them to remove less interesting pics, but lets face it - it is a very tedious task!

So here is a simple way, just use the Picasa software and use the "Import from Web Album" feature to download an album to your local machine. Then edit the settings and reduce the resolution to 1024x768, and then upload them back. You would have retrieved over 50% of the space from previous resolution!

Thats it... oh and while we are on the topic, check out my Gallery at http://picasaweb.google.co.in/chbhanukalyan :P

Getting safe water on Long Treks

Water is very essential during trekking, and neglecting that can cause serious dehydration. For short treks, you can carry most of the water you need for the entire journey in bottles. But for extended treks, this becomes more difficult, especially if camping or cooking is involved. Water is heavy, since a litre of it weighs a kilogram, it quickly overwhelms the carrier.

Water from natural sources like streams or by melting snow can be used for drinking and cooking purposes, however a few precautions are mandatory, to prevent unwanted diseases from drinking contaminated water.

The most effective of all these is to boil the water. The water need not actually boil for an extended period, just getting it to boil should suffice. This will render the water safe to drink. But this is also a complicated and time consuming procedure.

The other method is to buy Iodine beforehand at your local medical store. For a recent 3 day trek I bought BetaDine(R) iodine bottle for about Rs 113 at the local medical store. You can buy Tincture of Iodine also, but it has less concentration. It was a normal 100ml bottle, and can potentially clean hundreds of liters of water. Just add 8 drops of it to a liter of clear water, and wait for 30 mins for the iodine to kill most of the microorganisms. Iodine is not poisonous in higher doses, so you can safely increase the dosage without any side-effects. double the dosage, if you see visible contamination or if you want quicker response time. After 30 mins, there will be a slight after-taste to water due to iodine. I personally did not mind the taste, but for those of you who do, you can carry Vitamin C tablets. You must add them AFTER the 30 mins, otherwise iodine will not be effective (since the Vitamin C tablets convert iodine to iodide, removing the taste). I would suggest using iodine in normal water once before the trek to know clearly how you feel about the taste of it, and see if you need Vitamin C or not.

WARNING: Do NOT EXPOSE IODINE TO SUNLIGHT! It renders it ineffective!

Iodine tablets are also available I suppose, although I havent tried them.

I also suggest having a backup scheme to purify water, to prevent any unexpected incidents like the bottle accidentally getting exposed to sunlight or breaking.

Check out this link for more details on other water purification methods. Remember, by not carrying a lot of bottles, you are also not polluting the environment with plastic!

Trekking Essentials

Trying to go for a trek in the wilderness? Here is a list of the essentials you need to carry. Most of them will seem like overkill, but if an emergency happens you will be happy you have them! The list is incomplete, and I will be adding stuff regularly as I figure it out.

Navigational Aids:

1. Detailed and marked Map
2. Compass (optionally supplemented with a GPS receiver)
3. Cell Phone

Survival Aids:

1. Water proof Matches/Lighter with candles for easier starting
2. Flashlight
3. Knife
4. Rope
5. Cap/Hat
6. Water Purification tablets
7. Old News papers for Fire
8. Energy Bars
9. Jerkin/rain wear (against rain and cold)
10. Whistle (for communication if lost)
11. Local Enforcement official contact and details
12. Extra batteries (for flash light or camera)

Health Aids:
1. First aid kit
2. Sprain Band & Gauze
3. Sunglasses and sunscreen
4. Mosquito/Insect repellent
5. Disinfectant (For handwash)
6. Protection against Leeches

Comfort
1. Extra food and water containers
2. Extra clothes
3. Rain wear
4. Extra socks
5. Tissue paper
6. Wet Tissues

Miscelleneous/Entertainment:
1. Camera
2. Extra clothes

Treks with camping:
1. Tents
2. Sleeping bags/blankets
3. Campfire starting materials

Treks with substantial climbing:
1. Gloves
2. Shoes with proper grip
3. Bags with tight straps
4. tight clothing
5. Ropes
6. Pick axe

Trip to Nandi Hills

After a long vacation-less November, it was time for action again, and this time we decided to go visit Coorg near Bangalore during the weekend of Dec 6-7. However since the number of people got reduced to my friend - MJ, his wife - Sudha and myself, We had no option but to cancel the planned 2 day coorg trip and then instead planned on visiting Nandi Hills about 70 km from bangalore.

Since we felt a cab for 3 people was an overkill, we took my friend AJ's Pulsar 180, and Phani's Bajaj Discover to visit Nandi hills. We started at 1PM in the afternoon after having lunch at Swagruha near our friend's house. After travelling for 4 km on the Outer Ring Road, I was stopped by two cops. The Pulsar 180 is a Tamil Nadu registration vehicle, and my friend never actually paid the Karnataka state tax for it. So not having any kind of insurance/pollution certificate or tax reciept, he asked for a Rs 800 fine... or Rs 200 bribe :)). I paid the bribe and he warned me about more cops checking vehicles near the Hebbal flyover. I took heed to his warning and closely followed a lorry, and missed the bunch of cops who were stopping vehicles at the Hebbal Flyover.

Nandi hills is located about 40 km away from the newly constructed Bangalore International Airport (BIAL), and hence the road was a 6 lane one with a 80KMPH speed limit. The P180 was rearing to go and I cruised along, but not forgetting to check out for cops at the same time. We reached Nandi hills at 3:30 PM.

The place was extremely beautiful, although there were no clouds. We had a complete view of the place around. Nandi hills was actually a fort belonging to Tipu Sultan at one time. The rock formation was awesome, and we had a walk all around the place and took a ton of pics. We also took our trademark "in-the-air" pics, where we jump, and use a multi snap capture camera to take a series of photographs spaced about 300 ms from each other. The monkeys on the hill were a serious menace, with one trying to snatch a chips packet directly from my hand. and it would not scare at all.

We started back at 5:30PM from Nandi Hills, and it was almost 8:00 PM by the time I reached my friend's house, without any further brushes with the cops :)

Waynad - Trip into God's Own Country

I heard a lot about Kerala being a very scenic place to visit, but could never visit it. So, last week, when my friend AJ who stays in Bangalore and is the cornerstone of all of my bangalore based trips like Bandipur, Mudigere, Shivanasamudram etc, mentioned he will be moving out of bangalore shortly, We decided to have one more trip. After throwing around a lot of names, Waynad stuck.

Located around 300KM from Bangalore in Kerala, Waynad is a popular and scenic hill station. So three of us - vamsi, praveen and myself - from Hyderabad booked tatkal tickets to bangalore. The train arrived late by two hours on Saturday morning at 8:30AM. We joined AJ and Balaji waiting in a Qualis, and started off to Waynad. After paying an RTO toll of Rs 600 at the Kerala-Karnataka border - which surprised us completely, we reached our Hotel in Kalpetta at 4:15. We then immediately left for the scenic Pookode Lake. Since we arrived there at 4:55, and boating in the lake closes at 5:00, we could not get a row boat ourselves, but had a tourism employee take us around the lake.


The employee, over chitchat, revealed that there would be treks to a nearby mountain peak daily, and we were tempted to cancel the next day plans completely and go for the trek. But he warned us that there would be leeches, but we did not care too much for them - how wrong we were! After getting off the boat, we roamed around the lake, and at one point my friend balaji and vamsi waded into a patch of water which was overflowing onto the path. Rest of us decided against it, and instead turned back. We went to the canteen and saw a group of people trying to get a leech off a guys leg using a pair of matches... Alarmed we immediately checked our own legs, and sure enough we found two leeches on Balaji's feet. It had sucked a decent amount of blood, and after removing them the blood would not clot, due to some anti-coagulant that the leech releases.

We rushed to the hotel room, and thoroughly cleaned ourselves, and vamsi who was wearing shoes, found two leeches on his sock, but which, luckily, could not penetrate the skin. After this rude jerk, we decided that tomorrow's trek was a lost cause. We then had a beer followed by dinner, and played cards until 12:30AM and then went to bed.

Next day morning at 8:30AM we visited the nearby Banasura Sagar Dam, and then went on a speed boat ride around it. Then we went to a supposedly scenic view point, but it was covered in complete clouds and had a visibility range only a couple of meters - leaving us staring into the whiteness. Finding nothing interesting in the vast whiteness, we started off to Soochipara waterfalls.

After reaching the place, we had to climb down a lot of steps to reach the base of the water fall. It was a very picturesque scene, and the water fall was in full force due to the recent monsoon. It is basically a 3 stage waterfall. After playing around on the rocks for some time, we then took a different set of steps to reach the 2nd stage of the water fall. We could not get close to it, but it was breathtaking. Later we went to another path to a view point. It was almost 4:30 PM by the time we reached the parking lot again. We decided we did not have time to visit the Edakkal caves which close at 5PM.

After buying a couple of souvenirs, We then started back to the hotel and freshened up. Later at around 7PM we started the long journey back to Bangalore. On the way back our Qualis hit a big bump in the road, and one of the tyre's rim got bent, and started hitting the disk brake. So we had to replace the tyre and were back on our way. It was almost 2PM by the time we reached bangalore.

Overall it was a very nice trip, with a lot of interesting experiences. I am looking forward to visit the rest of Kerala some time soon.

Mallelatheertham Waterfalls - Paradise on Earth

After last week's trip to Ethipothala, I could not wait to go on another trip, and this time it was Srisailam's turn. Although I was itching for a bike ride to Srisailam, I could not get my hands on a proper bike to make the trip (My own resembling a bullock cart more than a bike). So my colleague, Chandra, and I decided to go to Srisailam on a cab. We started inviting friends and soon the number grew to 10 people. So we took a Qualis and my friend Raja's Maruti 800.

We started at 7AM on saturday, and picked up our friend AJ, who was visiting Hyd at Afzal Gunj. It was around 11:30 by the time we reached the Srisailam Dam, it was beautiful, but unfortunately there were no gates open, unlike NagarjunaSagar last week - which disappointed us a bit. But the view was impressive with the river Krishna snaking across the valley. After waiting for sometime, we had Lunch and visited Sikhara Darshanam (literally translated, it means view from the mountain top).

We could not make it to the Safari, since there was little time left, so we headed straight for Mallelatheertham waterfalls. It was 40km from Srisailam dam, on the way back to hyderabad, with a 8km diversion on a mud road. It was almost 3:30PM by the time we reached Mallelatheertam. There were some steps leading to the waterfall in the valley, but we could not see anything due to the dense growth.

After reaching the end of stairs, we saw the waterfall on the left. The waterfall was much smaller than my earlier experiences at Ethipothala or Shivanasamudram (especially the latter). But the scene was very beautiful. With water falling from a very high, almost vertical rock face into the green pond below, and trees all around, It was like paradise on earth. If God gave me a real estate contract to develop a new paradise, I would definitely start with this place!

We were able to get on to the base rock of the waterfall, beyond which is the pond. Getting on the rocks was very tricky since they were covered with extremely slippery moss everywhere, except at places with the most water flow. We made it under the falls and the water was hitting us like small stones. We had to cover our ears since they were the most sensitive part of the body with our backs turned to the falls.

After staying for about an hour under the falls we started back the long ride to hyderabad, and it was almost 11:30 PM by the time we reached home, But the waterfall was the highlight of the entire trip. Smaller than most popular falls but no less exciting, overall the experience was unforgettable. More pics are available here.

Ethipothala Waterfalls - The hidden beauty

It has been over a month since my last vacation at Shivanasamudram, and I was itching for some action. My friend and I decided to go to Nagarjuna Sagar, along with some of our colleagues. I was not too excited about this trip, since I have been to Nagarjuna Sagar more than 4 times before, including once on a bike. Little did I know that this trip would be an experience I wont forget anytime soon!

We took a Qualis, and started late at 8:30 AM from the City. It was almost 11:30 by the time we reached NagarjunaSagar. There were 2 gates open on the dam, which was spectacular. After roaming around at the foot of the dam for an hour, we had our lunch. Unfortunately we realized that the last Ferry to Nagarjuna Konda, an island in the man made lake, leaves at 1:30 leaving no time to catch it. So we decided to go to Ethipotahala waterfalls, about 15 km from the dam.

I have never been to the foot of this waterfall since I were never aware of any path leading there, and due to the warning signs about crocodiles everywhere, we did not venture closeby earlier. However this time a little kid approached us and said that he could take us to the foot of the falls. Initially Raja and Chandra went with the boy, while we stayed back not too excited about it. But they came back and told us that it was a must-see. So we too joined them, and the path was filled with crossing steams with moss covered rocks, making the mini trek very tricky. After about 30 minutes we reached the foot of the waterfall and it was beautiful. The waterfalls falls were filled with water due to the recent monsoon. The scenes were breathtaking. There were huge stones in front of the waterfalls on which we sat, only a couple of meters from the waterfall, with the water spraying on our faces. It was truly breathtaking! We stayed there till 5 PM awed by its beauty. However since this is in a valley, it gets darker much before sunset, so we rushed out of there by going through the same path, which somehow felt little easier on the way back.

We started the long journey back home at 6PM. I had a raging headache at that time. But overall I knew that this was one trip which was well worth it. Some of the pics are available here.

Shivanasamudra Trip

Recently South India was seeing a very strong monsoon. This made all the water falls in the western ghats much more beautiful. So my friends and myself decided to visit some waterfalls near Bangalore. We could not go for the Jog falls, India's highest water falls, since visiting them would entail a journey of over 6 hrs, which would be difficult in a 2 day visit. So we decided to go for Shivanasamudra waterfalls.

Praveen and myself started on Friday evening by train to bangalore. The Kacheguda railway station was marked by heavy security with sniffer dogs and metal detectors. But nevertheless instead of making us feel better, we felt more conscious of the fact that we are potential targets. But I digress.. After boarding the train and getting down at bangalore, Our friends AJ and Balaji picked us up in a Chevrolet Tavera at 7:00AM and we were off to sivasamudram.

Initially we went to one place where we could see the waterfalls. The waterfalls were in full force owning to the monsoon. We took a lot of pictures and then climbed down the hill to come closer to the water. We arrived at the banks, but the water was flowing at a very furious pace, and we could not actually get into the water, since a slip might earn us a ticket across the waterfall. After spending some time taking pictures we set off to another place at the base of the waterfall.

In this place, to reach the river, we had to climb down a lot of steps. The water was relatively much calmer, but still flowing fast. We got down into the water and lazed around for about 2 hours. The water was not too cold, and we were able to enjoy by sitting on the riverbed which was hardly 2 feet deep. There were a lot of people, but the excellent weather and the beautiful river with its waterfall backdrop made it more than worth it.

After getting out of water we had hot chilli bajji, and then started climbing up the steps, which was a drag. Then we headed back to bangalore, and after getting stuck in the traffic for a very long time, we reached home at around 8PM.

On Sunday we went GoKarting at Torq03 at E-Zone in Marthalli. The karts were in excellent condition, although it was pricey at Rs 150/- for 6 laps. We went on 18 laps total, and the track was also very nicely designed. The karts were skidding nicely too, which helped us go extra fast. Overall it was a very enjoyable trip.

SFO-Hyd on Jet Airways

I had taken the Jet Airways itinerary for flying from Hyd to SFO and back. Jet's level of service was pretty impressive, especially so since I was flying on the Boeing 777-300. The service was good. The economy class seats with the big LCD screens were even better.

However for someone flying from Hyderabad, by taking a Domestic Jet Flight between Hyd and Mumbai, the itinerary, especially the return journey part, is pathetic. I would say this is mainly due to the long and unnecessary stopover in Mumbai lasting about 9 hours. The worst part was that after alighting the SFO-BOM flight, a 22 hour journey, The domestic transit passengers were forced to wait standing for 3 hours for a combination of collecting luggage, customs, domestic terminal transfer etc. Then it was a wait for 6 hours at the domestic terminal. I could rant about the airport's "services" - like water dripping on people INSIDE the airport, but it would not be anything new for someone who used Indian airports.

Overall, although I hate to say this, this itinerary was the worst even though Jet Airlines was very good. I would prefer waiting a much longer time in Singapore airport while flying singapore airlines any day, than deal with the shitty Mumbai airport on any airlines. For someone flying out of Mumbai though, this is one of the best options they have got.

Trip to Yosemite National Park

This weekend Rags, Deepu and Rags Friend Kranthi and myself went on a trip to Yosemite national park. It was a 4hr drive from Bay Area. Yosemite is the first national park in the US established in the 1800s.

We started at 7AM and picked up the others. Around 10PM we saw a beautiful reservoir by the freeway - 152 - the San Luis Reservoir. There was a small side road to it, and we went on it and stopped there. It was very beautiful. However we could not stay for long as that would cut down on the time in Yosemite.

We arrived at the Yosemite Southern entrance from Freeway 41. Just after entering, we saw the Mariposa Grove closed to traffic, and covered with snow. We parked our car there and started walking on the Mariposa Grove for some time. We could not reach the grove itself and turned back after sometime, but it was my first experience with touching snow :)

After that we went to the Yosemite valley. The mountains around were majestic. We also got down by the side of the road and climbed down on rocks, almost 1 km downhill. From there we had a nice view of the waterfalls. Later we went to the Yosemite store in the valley and bought a cake to eat, as there was no other food available :)) Then we stopped by the side of the Merced river, where there was lots of people with grills and other stuff enjoying in the pleasant weather. By 4:00PM we started back by I120. The roads were under construction so we had to stop for almost 15 mins since only one lane was open.

Overall it was a very nice trip. I plan to visit it once again in the future and this time try to make a night stay at Yosemite to explore the valley completely. I have heard that camping here is so popular that they open these camp sites for reservation almost an year in advance, only to have them gobbled up in a few hours.

Transit in Singapore

On my way to San Francisco, I had 11 hr stopover at the Singapore airport. Although I heard that they give a 2 hr free tour of singapore, I was not too happy since that would leave me with a lot of time to kill.

Now I know I should have been sad that it was ONLY 11 hrs. There were enough places to see in the entire airport, which would take more than 11 hours. The tour which involved a 30 min boat ride which was very good.

What struck me as very different was the extremely tourist friendly nature of the Singapore Airport. They had free internet kiosks, free local calls etc. Everyone knows that most of the time people would not like to pay for such basic services in airports etc, not because of the cost, but rather the hassle of changing currency etc. Everyone was very enthusiastic to help the travelers. There was no apathy to be found, which is extremely uncommon in India. Monopolies ensure that even the private sector in India is apathetic, and dont even get me started about the govt.

I was told that the Singapore govt arranges this tours to increase tourism as it is facing significant pressures due to the moving of its strengths from hardware manufacturing to cheaper destinations like China. Whatever the reason might be, at the end of the day this approach works. I am definitely doing a stopover in Singapore on my return flight.

Hyderabadi Weekends Suck

Hyderabad has very few weekend getaways for its denizens. For me, Its always going to the movies, malls or to Necklace road. Pubs and Restaurants are not my thing. So it becomes very hard to just go to some place over the weekend and freak out. Complete weekend enjoyment is seriously lacking here in hyderabad. I had been to Anantagiri Hills, NagarjunaSagar. The only nearby place which I did not visit yet is Srisailam, which I am planning in the near future. Once these are over, you are pretty much forced to visit other cities for nearby destinations.

Bangalore comes to my mind all the time. Located near to the Western Ghats and Nilgiris, Bangalore has tons of places where you can be closer to nature and cooler temperatures. I had visited Nandi Hills in Bangalore, and a 650 KM bike trip to Bandipur, Trekking and Whitewater kayaking in Mudigere. The next weekend I am again going to bangalore for a trek in Antaraganga, and later to pune for the Good Friday weekend.

Sigh! If all else fails will just have to go to some resorts - which suck the least...

Trek to Anantagiri

This Saturday, my roommate and two of my colleagues decided to go to some place. After searching on the net and asking people, it turned out that Anantagiri Hills near Vikarabad, about 76 KM from Hyd might be the ideal destination for the weekend. At last count there were four of us - MJ Pavan my roommate, Ravi Sankar my btech class mate and colleague, Kanishk my colleague and myself.

So on Saturday morning we woke up at 4:15 AM. After dressing up, and packing in a ton of biscuts, cameras, route maps etc. MJ, Ravi and I started for Anantagiri hills at 5:40 on 2 bikes - MJ's Unicorn and my TVS Fiero. On the way we rendezvoused with Kanishk at Nanalnagar near Mehdipatnam. There was a lot of traffic on the way in the city, especially near Mehdipatnam where a flyover is being constructed. After wading through the traffic and then crossed Langer house. Once were were out of the city and near Moinabad, the road turned out to be of excellent condition and have a lot less traffic. This prodded me to floor the accelerator and went for about 40 KM at 90KMPH. About 10 KM from Vikarabad, I stopped as the guys have fallen behind, and then noticed that my bike's engine was leaking engine oil. It was a quite a scare, but anyway the bike appeared to be in running condition, so we continued to Vikarabad. We stopped to get some food in Vikarabad but it was not prepared yet, so we had some tea, asked for directions to Anantagiri and left.

We reached the temple near Anantagiri by 8AM and then parked our bikes in a parking spot. We then went down the stairs near the temple and into the forest. The forest was not very dense. Initially we tried our hand at proving that humans descended from monkeys. Then we came to a place where there was a small elevation in the ground similar to a small hill about 3-4m high. We tried to climb it and took snaps. After this we took a less traveled path into the forest instead of the bigger road-like path. Here had our first experience with some thorny bushes, and after strolling for about 30 mins or so, we came across a green patch of trees. It was a Eucalyptus plantation by some kind soul. There we found many birds like Parrots, finches etc.

Behind this Eucalyptus plantation was a small hillock about 12m high, It was grassy with a few trees on the sides. We decided to climb the hill - little did we know what we were about to face. The slopes were at a 45 degree angle and the soil was very loose with many small pebbles. It was difficult to get a good grip easily. At some places all we could hold on to were blades of dry grass. To crown it all there were many thorny bushes, although my jeans and woodland "tractor" shoes (which we named for its remarkable tread and extraordinary struddiness) saved the day - but not before i got struck by the branch of a thorny bush on my arm.

The view from the top was very beautiful. We took a few pictures and started down on a different side which was less thorny but had more incline. Although this was safer and easier than the uphill route we took, the downward descent made it harder. At one point the branch I was holding to broke and it make me slip a bit although it was not too hard. After that we carefully climbed down and found our way back to the temple.

In the temple they were installing a new idol of Lord Vigneshwara, and MJ helped them a bit. We saw a colorful puja mat there, but on closer inspection it turned out to be a design drawn with colored rice grain. After that we took a group photo and then went to the parking area. It was about 11:10 , when we started to move when Kanishk called me to check his back tyre. It was a biker's worst dream - a flat tyre. After enquiring we found out that the nearest puncture shop was 5km away. Kanishk took my bike and got the repair guy who took the tyre and then repaired it back at his shop and came back and installed it again. MJ, Ravi and myself were meanwhile resting in a small hotel/dhaba. After an hour the entire process was over and we started back. On the way back Kanishk was very pleased to see his bike do 100 KMPH.

MJ, Ravi and myself planned to go to the Ocean park while Kanishk had some work to do in the evening, so he left and we went to the ocean park. But we found all the rides and wave pools filled with children from 4 different schools. We decided against getting down into water and instead rode some non-water based rides like dashing cars, dashing boats etc. We started back at about 4:10 PM from Ocean park and it was about 5:00 PM when we returned home. Ravi then left for the 5:45 MMTS train to his place.

Overall, discounting the tyre puncture and Ocean park rush, it was a very good trip. I think now I know a place to take my friends who visit Hyderabad :). More pictures are available at Picasa





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