I see that my last post was 7 days ago...n that is surely not how one goes abt maintaining a blog...moreso a new one...even moreso when one claims to enjoy writing so so so much...
Well truth is, I've kinda been busy decorating around here...finally got me a profile w/ amazingly long lists...n then there's that daily grind...pursuit of bread n butter...
BTW, Discipline is not exactly my middle name...love of writing notwithstanding...
Anyway, the reason I'm here right now is to write abt a trip me n my friends took last weekend -- no, wait that was last to last weekend -- to Chikmagalur. Actually that's what triggered this whole idea of putting up a blog, so I owe it...to write abt it. Moreover I've been terribly guilty abt this whole feet-dragging over the past coupla weeks...my conscience is hyper-active just like me...
But as they say, better late than never...
Before I launch into my trip ;-) I must confess that my posts are mostly semi-spontaneous -- I mentioned in my previous post that I dun own a compy, so what I do is write everything down neatly, longhand. Actually, neatly is a total misnomer here...I've always known that my handwriting was bad, but I never knew it was so awfully crabbed! I actually had to spend hours deciphering this mess, before hammering it out on the keyboard.
There's one more clarification...the title of this post...
I thought it my moral obligation to make things clear right at the very outset, lest smone get the wrong idea...I mean one wld be tempted to look at the name, n rush to book the tickets...there aint no chicks in Chikmagalur...so relax n read this post...
Of course buying those tickets wont be disappointing in any way whatsoever...there's tons of beauty around, but it doesnt walk on two legs ;-)
So back to the trip...
We started off Friday evening...intending to spend the whole of Saturday & Sunday covering the...
Well, the trip was laid out pretty neatly n efficiently before we left...day one wld consist of going to this waterfall called Doda Hebba, Z-point n surrounding areas...Sunday, Baba Bundangiri, Mulyangiri, and time permitting, the temples at Belur. Well, lucky as we were, time did permit n we managed to catch those amazing temples at Belur.
Prior arrangements had been made -- n very efficiently too -- by our team members. Tempo traveller was arranged for...acco taken care of in a lodge. Initially a lot more ppl had signed up for this trip, so we were planning to book two rather luxurious Innovas, but at the very last minute, a few guys bailed out. So we had to book a Tempo traveller instead. Needless to say we lost our advance. But I must mention that inspite of this, we ended up saving quite a bit of dough...
But still, in case any of you r planning to plan a trip, make sure nobody opts out at the last moment...even if they do, atleast their share of the moolah doesnt!
We're all human...we live n learn...atleast smtimes ;-)
So the night drive went peacefully...we had planned to see a few movies, but the damn DVD player bailed out on us...it wldnt play any DVDs! It did relent by playing a VCD, but the movie wasnt too interesting...so everybody decided to do the next obvious thing instead...which was to crash! I woke up sometime during the night...at around 2 or so...I sleep very little when I'm travelling...
Anyway, when I woke I found the TT nicely parked in sm small town, w/ the driver fast asleep at the wheels! I was pretty shaken...but when it all sank in, I was glad he was sleeping at the wheel while not driving the damn thing!
The result was we reached a little late...according to our original calculations, we were aiming at around 6-6:30 in the morning, but we cld reach the hotel only at around 8ish!
We took a short break...freshened up n took to the hills at around 9. It was just amazinggg...I mean those majestic mist-laden mountains rolling out ahead of us...beckoning us w/ green open arms! That's the great thing abt natural beauty...it hits you straight in the heart...I was at once going thru the usual feelings of divinity, lucky-to-be-alive routine. No I'm not trying to belittle the experience. It really was an amazing sight...those lush green mountains laid out in front of u like a beautifully soft green velvet...
I dun blv in God, but its times like these, which is the closest I've felt to spirituality...
The drive up the mountains was quite long...took abt 2-3 hours...but it was worth every minute of it...the journey too! We were snapping up the scenery...both metaphorically n literally! But sadly a lot of the pictures turned out to be just junk! Mother Nature's not to blame here...the fault lies entirely in our lap...n on our ability to handle the equipment! Luckily, we clicked a lotttttt of pics...n by the law of averages, quite a decent number of them turned out good.
What you click is not what you get!
Another lesson learned!!
The TT wldnt go beyond a pt, so we had to trek the rest of the way...which was a wonderful experience in itself...mountains, cliff covered w/ greeen greeen trees, even at the height of summer...
Looking arnd, on more than one occasion, I felt like tossing away my ID, backpack, career n all over one of the cliff...grab a few sturdy branches n lots of twigs to build a nice little shack...n live like a hermit, far away frm that maddeningly ugly jungle we spend our lives in!
Back to the trip...
We were to rendezvous at this supposedly very beautiful waterfall...which BTW did not disappoint us in the least bit. We were disappointed abt one thing tho'.
Leeches.
We had come armed to the teeth, thinking we'd be engaging in sm very close quarter combat. But none of those slimy worms turned up.
The result being, we're left w/ a stupidly large stash of dettol bottles...
But there's plenty of time...m sure all this ammo wont go waste...there r lots more treks n lots more leeches to run into...
The waterfall was amazing...just sheer bliss...n very very slippery...
U know what...this post's becoming terribly long...n I'm not even thru w/ describing the pre-noon session of the first day! N there's still too too much left to say...frankly, I'm enjoying writing abt it...if I cld help it, I'd love to ramble on...wax eloquent abt everything we saw n did. But I dun blv a lot of ppl wld have the patience to wade thru this already mammoth post.
Whatshisname once famously said -- a picture is worth a thousand words.
So what I'll do is I'll let those damn pics speak for themselves. Before that I'd like to apologize for the quality of those images...green-horns that we still r...n sm of them were snapped on a pathetic 2MP cellphone camera!
N oh BTW...if you require any info abt going abt arranging a trip to Chikmagalur, in terms of travel/acco info, do drop me line. I'll be glad to be of any help I can...
U can find the pix here
Intend to put a lot more of them, but will do that gradually...net's damn slow at my end these days...
Well truth is, I've kinda been busy decorating around here...finally got me a profile w/ amazingly long lists...n then there's that daily grind...pursuit of bread n butter...
BTW, Discipline is not exactly my middle name...love of writing notwithstanding...
Anyway, the reason I'm here right now is to write abt a trip me n my friends took last weekend -- no, wait that was last to last weekend -- to Chikmagalur. Actually that's what triggered this whole idea of putting up a blog, so I owe it...to write abt it. Moreover I've been terribly guilty abt this whole feet-dragging over the past coupla weeks...my conscience is hyper-active just like me...
But as they say, better late than never...
Before I launch into my trip ;-) I must confess that my posts are mostly semi-spontaneous -- I mentioned in my previous post that I dun own a compy, so what I do is write everything down neatly, longhand. Actually, neatly is a total misnomer here...I've always known that my handwriting was bad, but I never knew it was so awfully crabbed! I actually had to spend hours deciphering this mess, before hammering it out on the keyboard.
There's one more clarification...the title of this post...
I thought it my moral obligation to make things clear right at the very outset, lest smone get the wrong idea...I mean one wld be tempted to look at the name, n rush to book the tickets...there aint no chicks in Chikmagalur...so relax n read this post...
Of course buying those tickets wont be disappointing in any way whatsoever...there's tons of beauty around, but it doesnt walk on two legs ;-)
So back to the trip...
We started off Friday evening...intending to spend the whole of Saturday & Sunday covering the...
Well, the trip was laid out pretty neatly n efficiently before we left...day one wld consist of going to this waterfall called Doda Hebba, Z-point n surrounding areas...Sunday, Baba Bundangiri, Mulyangiri, and time permitting, the temples at Belur. Well, lucky as we were, time did permit n we managed to catch those amazing temples at Belur.
Prior arrangements had been made -- n very efficiently too -- by our team members. Tempo traveller was arranged for...acco taken care of in a lodge. Initially a lot more ppl had signed up for this trip, so we were planning to book two rather luxurious Innovas, but at the very last minute, a few guys bailed out. So we had to book a Tempo traveller instead. Needless to say we lost our advance. But I must mention that inspite of this, we ended up saving quite a bit of dough...
But still, in case any of you r planning to plan a trip, make sure nobody opts out at the last moment...even if they do, atleast their share of the moolah doesnt!
We're all human...we live n learn...atleast smtimes ;-)
So the night drive went peacefully...we had planned to see a few movies, but the damn DVD player bailed out on us...it wldnt play any DVDs! It did relent by playing a VCD, but the movie wasnt too interesting...so everybody decided to do the next obvious thing instead...which was to crash! I woke up sometime during the night...at around 2 or so...I sleep very little when I'm travelling...
Anyway, when I woke I found the TT nicely parked in sm small town, w/ the driver fast asleep at the wheels! I was pretty shaken...but when it all sank in, I was glad he was sleeping at the wheel while not driving the damn thing!
The result was we reached a little late...according to our original calculations, we were aiming at around 6-6:30 in the morning, but we cld reach the hotel only at around 8ish!
We took a short break...freshened up n took to the hills at around 9. It was just amazinggg...I mean those majestic mist-laden mountains rolling out ahead of us...beckoning us w/ green open arms! That's the great thing abt natural beauty...it hits you straight in the heart...I was at once going thru the usual feelings of divinity, lucky-to-be-alive routine. No I'm not trying to belittle the experience. It really was an amazing sight...those lush green mountains laid out in front of u like a beautifully soft green velvet...
I dun blv in God, but its times like these, which is the closest I've felt to spirituality...
The drive up the mountains was quite long...took abt 2-3 hours...but it was worth every minute of it...the journey too! We were snapping up the scenery...both metaphorically n literally! But sadly a lot of the pictures turned out to be just junk! Mother Nature's not to blame here...the fault lies entirely in our lap...n on our ability to handle the equipment! Luckily, we clicked a lotttttt of pics...n by the law of averages, quite a decent number of them turned out good.
What you click is not what you get!
Another lesson learned!!
The TT wldnt go beyond a pt, so we had to trek the rest of the way...which was a wonderful experience in itself...mountains, cliff covered w/ greeen greeen trees, even at the height of summer...
Looking arnd, on more than one occasion, I felt like tossing away my ID, backpack, career n all over one of the cliff...grab a few sturdy branches n lots of twigs to build a nice little shack...n live like a hermit, far away frm that maddeningly ugly jungle we spend our lives in!
Back to the trip...
We were to rendezvous at this supposedly very beautiful waterfall...which BTW did not disappoint us in the least bit. We were disappointed abt one thing tho'.
Leeches.
We had come armed to the teeth, thinking we'd be engaging in sm very close quarter combat. But none of those slimy worms turned up.
The result being, we're left w/ a stupidly large stash of dettol bottles...
But there's plenty of time...m sure all this ammo wont go waste...there r lots more treks n lots more leeches to run into...
The waterfall was amazing...just sheer bliss...n very very slippery...
U know what...this post's becoming terribly long...n I'm not even thru w/ describing the pre-noon session of the first day! N there's still too too much left to say...frankly, I'm enjoying writing abt it...if I cld help it, I'd love to ramble on...wax eloquent abt everything we saw n did. But I dun blv a lot of ppl wld have the patience to wade thru this already mammoth post.
Whatshisname once famously said -- a picture is worth a thousand words.
So what I'll do is I'll let those damn pics speak for themselves. Before that I'd like to apologize for the quality of those images...green-horns that we still r...n sm of them were snapped on a pathetic 2MP cellphone camera!
N oh BTW...if you require any info abt going abt arranging a trip to Chikmagalur, in terms of travel/acco info, do drop me line. I'll be glad to be of any help I can...
U can find the pix here
Intend to put a lot more of them, but will do that gradually...net's damn slow at my end these days...
6 comments:
Thanks for stopping by moonstruck. Must tell you that i have ancestral connection with a tiny hamlet in chikmaglur district. I have this certain memory of climbing the path towards baba budangiri hill on a winter morning and realising how eerie silence in daylight can be. The wind blew while my shoes rustled against mostly dry mud and i kept looking back to check if my fellow mates, from whom id taken a comfortable headstart, were following me! And the world felt like one unending open possibility albeiet a silent one! I could have walked forever. Ah!
Divya thnx for paying a return visit! N since u're the first person to comment on my brand new blog, u've just won urself a deliciously big bar of chocolate! :)
BTW, r u still in touch w/ that hamlet? I hope u r coz that whole area is breath-takingly beautiful...everytime I'd look over a cliff, I'd want to chuck everything urban n go live there like a hermit...in that vast undulating expanse...that lap of lush greenery...
As for that silence u mentioned, I actually find that very soothing...esp the delicious shade under a tree on a hot afternoon...u can hear the trees rustle, as if they're conversing in sm alien tongue...n then there's the incessant chatter of insects...n birds, beckoning u...onto still greater mysteries...
Sigh!
I so envy u...
Chikmagalur is indeed a heaven on earth…we(me and my gang of 5) made a weekend visit to this place & Kemangundi in Nov 07, we were welcomed by the Shantifalls enroute to Kemangundi…it was a pleasure to hear the water flowing, if not play in the water the most amazing feel was the water brush through our feet….ah what a feathery touch that was…. We had lots of plans for this trip I made a detailed time slot with the places to visit ……….but to my surprise when we reached our room, post lunch all I could see was my folks crashing….I bet it was also nice just unwinding urselves in a closed cosy room with cosy people…I guess my friend Priyu would agree if I had to say this was THE BEST trip that we have had off all the monthly trips we have been making…..the Z point, the so called trekking we did on that strech….not to forget need to mention every trip I would think I will enjoy this trip head to toe…but I end up being the care taker for this bunch of monkeys with me…..
I guess trips are the best way for us to unwind ourselves from all the hectic days at work n home….. High time I start blogging my trips as well.
Raj…enjoy every moment like there is no other moment to come…and that will be the best moment, that makes all your moments best moment
Geetha, u're using my blog for YOUR posts...it's high time u got ur own ;-)
But seriously...it looks like there's a lot u want to say...u shd start blogging urself...n besides, as u mentioned, u make these monthly trips to all these wonderful places...there's plenty of ammo right there for ur blog...
Of course it's always a pleasure getting comments frm u...thnx again...
hey hey....I have a blog of mine...just that we have never penned down our trips...I'm more in to photography....Chikmagalur trip reminded me of some nostalgic moments so....kya bhai tumbhi...
Geetha, I was only prodding u to start blogging...u were literally brimming w/ nostalgia...it'll be nice to read abt those wonderful moments :)
BTW do post ur pix anywhere? If so pl lemme know where...wld love to see them :)
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