Raavan – Mani Ratnam’s Ramayana

    This was one movie I had to write a review on. Mani Ratnam’s modern day rendition of Ramayana has very little in common to the original epic we are used to hearing but the basic premise remains the same- love, bravery and later betrayal.

Major story line spoilers ahead. I guess this would have been Mani Ratnam’s rough draft of the movie:

    Ram is posted as a police officer in Lalgarh and comes there with Sita. Lalgarh is a strong hold of Raavan, a Robin Hood type character with a tinge of Naxal tendencies. Laxman and his group of motley police officers gang-rape Surpanika, Raavan’s feisty sister who later as commits suicide as per the requirements of the script to stoke Raavan’s evil side. Raavan promptly kidnaps Sita with an intention to kill her, but desists due to a strange fascination with her. An incensed Rama meanwhile teams up with Hanuman and scours the forests for his beloved wife.
    Raavan’s adoration of Sita grows on by ever growing day and he asks her if she would stay with him in the forest. Hanuman meanwhile finds Sita but ends up getting caught. He warns Raavan to surrender Sita and spare all his people a gory death. Not wanting to end up dead, a few others convince the rebel leader to send his brother, Vibeeshan to talks along with Hanuman. Rama now shows himself to be a sneaky character and dispatches Vibeeshan with finesse and a 22 mm revolver.
    With all options of peace dead and buried, a climatic end ensues with Raavan and Ram poised precariously on a burning suspension bridge. Sita begs Raavan to spare Ram’s life and in return promises to stay with forever. Touché! Raavan obliges, but Sita returns to her beloved husband who wants her to take a polygraph test to prove herself. Sita heads back to find Raavan, but her husband tails her and puts an end to the dreaded bandit.

    Add in a few human emotions, songs, exotic locations and you have got yourself an authentic Bollywood script in three paragraphs! BTW I hope Mani notices this blog and invites me to co-author his next movie script. I am sure I could add a few twists here and there.

    Abhishek Bachchan seemed ill at ease playing Beera and his portrayal of the rebel was less than convincing. For folks down in the south like me who happen to grow up with tales of rebels like Veerapan and his murderous deeds, the portrayal seemed to lack the anger and attitude required. I wish there had been a fast-forward option to skip his dance sequences where he seemed totally ill-at-ease. Ragini is not a role that a lot of current Bollywood actresses could have done justice to, and I would say Aishwarya has done a decent job. The eyes are meant to emote fear, but Aishwarya tries to do that by breathing hard! Vikram seemed to fit right into the role of police officer who is ready to do anything to get his wife back and then ask her to take a polygraph test once she is back. Only problem he seemed to have was acting in Hindi.

    What shines in the movie is Mani Ratnam’s unique storytelling. This is not the run-of-the-mill Karan Johar movie where all the dots are connected. You are left to make some basic assumptions on why certain things are happening the way they are. Rehman’s scores in the movie seem nowhere near his best. The camera work is great and the landscape where the movie was shot is breadth-taking. Overall I think I liked the movie. Shoot me now...

North India Trip – Chandigarh and Delhi

    We had journeyed into the biting cold of rotang and gone until Darcha on our little adventure. Here is what happened earlier on our quest to reach Leh.

    Here is what happened on our way back. While returning from Darcha, we were better equipped to stop and enjoy the snow at Rotang. Spent some time there and headed back to the wretched road to reach Manali in around 3 hours. Guruji, our beloved host, suggested that we bathe at the Vasisth temple hot water spring and we had a gala time obliging him. Felt hungry right after the bath and had a great dinner in a hotel in front of the temple.

Himalayas for you

Day7:
    We woke up early the next day and headed to manikaran, a hot water spring around 80 kms from Manali. The hot water spring here is hot enough to cook food for lots of people coming to the gurudwara where it is located. The few brave souls who entered the water didn’t linger as the acidic water causes a burning sensation and make you feel giddy if you stay there for a long time. We had a light breakfast at Manikaran and later stopped over for tea at Kasol on our way to Chandigarh. Kasol is infamously known as the local drug den and we could see a few people smoking joints here and there.
   On our way down, we hit a major traffic jam and could only go until Bilaspur before light faded. Stopped around 10 kms before Bilaspur city for tea where the dhaba owner came forward with local information regarding that place. I would like to thank all the very helpful people in Himachal Pradesh who generally come forward for help if they realize that you might need it. We stayed at the Bilaspur local fisheries guest house. The respect and salaams make you wish you worked for the government; almost.

Leaving Himachal Pradesh

Day8:
    We left for Chandigarh early after thanking the officer in charge of the fisheries. We had to travel until Delhi that day. Until then, I knew Srini to be a rider who didn’t take a lot of risks. But seeing him step on the gas trying to reach Delhi before sunset, I realized he could step it up if the situation demanded.
    Chandigarh is a model city where there is no need to ask for directions. There is a board at every junction indicating which part of the city you are in and explaining all routes and directions. The heat did dampen our enthusiasm, but I found that the rock garden in Chandigarh to convey the message that ‘art doesn’t need brushes and canvas or soapstone, even broken household stuff would do’. The master pieces that Nek Chand created in a shack are now the cynosure of the entire city. Reached Delhi at around 9 p.m. and settled into our friend’s place for the night.

At Rock Garden, Chandigarh

Day9:
    We started off the day with a visit to Qutb Minar, the earliest and most prominent example of Indo-Islamic architecture. The 72.5m long tower is the world's tallest brick minaret and was completed in 1386 by Firuz Shah Tughluq almost 200 years after work began. I would suggest the audio guide for any first timer there who is interested in the history of the place.

Cousin Srini at Qutb Minar

   Very close to the Qutb is the Alai Minar, an unfinished tower that if completed would have been twice as tall and broad as the Qutb Minar. Alauddin Khilji, the driving force behind the Alai Minar died before the first floor was completed and his successors did not deem it necessary to continue work on the tower.

Alai Minar,Qutb Minar in the background

   The nearby 7m tall Iron Pillar is one of the world's foremost metallurgical curiosities as it 98% pure wrought iron and a testament to the skill of the ancient Indian blacksmiths. It was built at the time of Chandragupta Vikramaditya and has withstood corrosion for more than 1500 years.

Iron Pillar

    We next visited India Gate, one of the largest war memorials in India. It commemorates the 90000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives in World War I fighting for the British Empire. Now it is just a place to hang out with friends and have ice-cream. We bought lots of litchis that served as our lunch. Srini wanted to take a picture with one of the jawans but was asked to ‘bugger off’. Entertaining.

    We later visited the Red fort and stayed for the Light and Sounds show which explains the history of the city from Shahjahan’s time to Nehru giving his speech of freedom from the ramparts of this fort. The show gets pretty boring with time and one advantage of having an SLR camera is that things never get boring. Srini used the time to catch up on lost sleep. Later visited Chandini Chowk for shopping and stopped by at Parantha street for dinner. Fabulous kulfis you get there.

Red Fort

Day10:
    Our second day in Delhi and the weather had been great so far. I wanted to visit the Delhi Metro once to find out how the entire system worked. Srini flatly refused to accompany me and told me that he was prepared to wait until the Bangalore metro was up and running. One thing I noticed is that even though the infrastructure in Delhi is way better than most other Indian cities, there are way too many cars on the road. And that’s why the Delhi Metro is such a vital cog in the city’s infrastructure.
    One possible reason to seeing so many cars on the road here is that petrol is cheap here and CNG is cheaper. Enabling your car for CNG fuel ensures that taking your car out is almost as cheap as taking your bike out. And what would you prefer considering Delhi’s extreme climes – car or bike? This seems to have resulted in a strange fetish among Delhi people to own a car that is at least one level more than the neighbour. Strange! In comparison, Bangalore folks don’t care or don’t know who the neighbour is!
    We moved to Srini’s friend Sagar’s apartment for our last day in Delhi. We knew we were in safe hands when the first place he showed us in Delhi was Khan Market.  Torn between gazing at the amazing cars and the hep crowds; the cars proved just too irresistible. We later had authentic North Indian chat at Haldiram’s. We were all set to leave the next day, but by that point in time, I was totally in love with our capital city.

P.S: Thanks to the gods of Delhi for the great weather while we were there. You can now revert to the usual.

North India Trip - Himachal Pradesh and beyond

    Once Srini, my cousin and I decided go on a long bike trip in North India, we began the stretched out process of planning for it. We wanted to go as far as possible along the Delhi-Chandigarh-Manali-Leh road and back on Srini’s rusty dependable CBZ.

On the way to Rotang

Here is a sketch of how it went. You can skip this part unless you are planning a similar trip:

Day1 - Start from Bangalore to Delhi (2061 kms) by train.
Day2 - Boring train journey with bad food.
Day3 – Reached Delhi and unpacked the bike. Left for Chandigarh (250 kms) and visited Kurukshetra on the way.
Day4 - Leave for Manali from Chandigarh (350 kms). White water rafting and amazing ride.
Day5 –Leave for Rotang from Manali (50 kms) and stay at Khoskar (70 kms from Manali) for the night.
Day6- Going further into the wilderness. Visited Keylong (110 kms from Manali) and Darcha (145 kms from Khoskar) before returning to Manali.
Day7 – Hot water spring bath at Manikaran (80 kms from Manali) and stayed put at Bilaspur for the night. (Manikaran to Kullu-30 kms and Kullu to Bilaspur-154 kms).
Day8 – Back to Delhi. Visited Rock garden and rose garden in Chandigarh. (Bilaspur to Chandigarh-135 kms and Chandigarh to Delhi-250 kms)
Day9- Qutb Minar, Red fort and India Gate, Lotus temple and Chandini Chowk.
Day10- Travelled in the Delhi Metro. Visited Khan Market and dinner at Haldirams.
Day11- Shopping at Palika Bazaar. Got the bike packed into the train and set off to home in the evening.
Day12 – Another train journey.
Day13 – Reach Bangalore by 7 a.m. Back to usual grind.

Day1/2:
We left Bangalore on 28th May at around 10 p.m on the Sampark Kranti express. Srini had already loaded his bike into the same train that morning for 2200 rupees.  After spending the next day planning, sleeping and eating uncooked railway food, the blistering north Indian heat welcomed us into Delhi. We were desperate to get out of the heat; got our bike back and pushed it to a nearby petrol bunk. The first thing that impressed me about our capital was the well connected roads and infrastructure. We hit the karnal road and left for Chandigarh immediately. Stopped at Rasoi dhaba a k.m into Haryana and got our first taste of simply exquisite authentic north Indian cuisine.

In front of a 3 km long tunnel before Kullu

Day3:
After travelling in a car for more than two years, I took some time getting used to bike travel. We reached Chandigarh at around 7 p.m. Srini played the student card well and got a 50% discount at Plaza hotel.  One cardinal rule I would add for bike travellers in India is to pretend you are students; gets you the best rates everywhere.

River Beas in full flow

Day4:
We left for Manali at around 8 a.m. You know you have entered Himachal Pradesh when the pleasant breeze of the mountains replaces the heat of the plains. They say that the journey is more important than the destination and we had a gala time on the way to Manali; be it rafting in the cold waters of Beas river and having chilled beer with the owner afterwards or travelling through a 3 k.m. long tunnel just before Kullu. Reached Manali at around 9.30 p.m. and settled into the cosy house of our host – Das Guruji.
Guruji is an 80 year old ayurvedic doctor who still zips around Manali in his Santro. His secret: Wake up on time, sleep on time, eat on time and eat nutritious food. In that case, any software engineer is destined to die early.  Guruji seemed glad to have visitors and chatted with us way into the night when all we wanted was sleep.
 

Normal work day in Manali

Day5:
                We have a great sight awaiting us on waking up- snow clad peaks on the road to Leh, our final destination. Our plan to go to Leh hit a serious roadblock when we learnt that all roads to Rotang were closed every Tuesday for repairs. The policeman in charge ignored our pleas that we would not be able to read Keylong/Darcha before end of day. I spent time exploring the nearby hills and working on my photography skills with Srini as my guinea pig. Finally the policemen relented and let us go ahead at around 4 p.m.
    The road to Rotang, which is at an altitude of 15000m, was bad with plenty of places where you could puncture the bikes if you drive carelessly. It took us two long hours to reach Rotang and we were too cold and tired to even touch the ice, let alone play with it. Exactly not how I imagined my first visit to an ice clad peak.  Those images of people playing in ice faded as we had a tough decision to make- whether to go ahead towards Keylong in the fading light or restart our journey from Manali the next day.

Me at Rotang pass with furry rabbit

Rotang pass

    We decided to head forward after some discussion. Around a k.m. into the drive, the roads were replaced by one foot streams caused due to the melting ice and light started fading fast. Srini started vacillating that we should have gone to Simla and the relatively easier Spiti in Kaza valley; I wanted us to go forward in spite of these difficulties as this was to be our adventure to script. It was at these times that both of us pushed each other to our physical limits and I was thankful to have somebody I trusted. We headed forward to Khoskar around 20 kms from Rotang.
    A few more kms into this treacherous ride, a few people warned us about a muddy stretch where their 4 wheel drive had almost got stuck. Once we heard this, Srini rode very carefully expecting any slush of water to be quicksand. And our bike almost got stuck at the exact same location they had warned us about. Fortunately the CBZ came through under these exacting conditions and we went forward to the welcoming village of Khoskar for the night. Never were we so glad to see a dhaba or a village or have a cuppa. The untidy little room were rented there probably costs a lot less than what we paid, but we would have paid a lot more for that at that point in time. We were now officially in the midst of an adventure.

On the way to Keylong

Day6:
    We woke up in the morning to find that Khoskar was a beautiful little village surrounded by snow clad mountains on all four sides. Took some great pics. We met a Delhi Constable who had come to Khoskar through the Kaza valley all the way from Simla. He advised us to go to the famous Chandrataal lake on that road. He warned us that he had to get the help of a crane to extricate his new alto car from 4 feet deep pit of water where it had got stuck. Both Srini and I made a mental note to avoid that route all together and headed Darcha.
    We filled up petrol in Tandi, around 5 kms before Keylong. Ideally for a Leh trip, this would have been the last location to fill up the tank. Darcha is around 35 kms from Keylong. Throughout the way to Darcha, we came across breathtaking valleys and mountains and stopped at regular intervals to take pictures.

The beautiful little town of Keylong

   Written on a board in the treacherous way to Leh – “If you are married, divorce speed”. Not that you can ever find smooth roads to accelerate there! Our Himalayan adventure ended at Darcha but both of us looked back at the mountains one last time promising ourselves that we would one day return to complete the journey to Leh.

Liked my blog on the first part you the trip?? Here's what happened next- North India Trip Continues

Kumara Parvatha Trek - Day2

      We started out on saturday morning at Kukke subramanya and trekked all the way to the Mantap( about  an hour away from the Kumara Parvatha peak) to spend the night. Here’s what happened on day two of my trek.
      We woke up early and could hear, I could have sworn, was a cheetah cub calling out to its mother. Lenin wanted to check it out but I was sure we’d only become breakfast to some cheetah/leopard out to feed her cubs. Now that I look back at the incident, I have managed to convince myself that it was actually some bird because the implications what a feline could have been hunting near mantap are too gory to imagine. To this day, Lenin says that he would have checked it out if he had had a knife. It’s earned him the sobriquet of “Cheetah Hunter” amongst our trekking group.

The would be cheetah hunter - Lenin

      We headed towards the peak at around 6.30 in the morning and soon reached what we thought was the KP peak. We learned that it was a false peak named Sahayadri(I think). The next peak was indeed the right one and we finished up our last loaf of bread and chocolates over there and turned right to trek to Bidahalli(near Somwarpet). On the way we met folks who had chosen the opposite route for the trek i.e. from Somwarpet to Kukke. They warned us about a tough trek route ahead. I did likewise. While the trek from Kukke to the KP peak is a scenic one with mountains and streams, the other trail from Bidahalli is thru dense forests and some steep hills and tougher to climb/descend too.

Deep in the jungle

              A long trek always manages to teach you something about yourself. How you react when you are tired, without food and water? How angry you get when something does not go as you had planned? I learnt that not all things can be planned. Just to enjoy what nature throws at you! Also knowing the general direction of your destination helps when you aren’t able to make out the trial. We had a similar experience after descending 2 kms from the KP peak on our way to Bidahalli where the trial seemed to vanish at a steep hill going downward. We wasted around half an hour retracing our steps to ensure we had taken the right route. I think this was the only point in the trek where in we were not sure what to do. We split up – not a great thing to do for a group of three - Yogesh went back to check for alternative trials, I descended the hill and Lenin was in the middle directing the search. Ultimately he found the trial at the bottom of the hill before I did.
      The rest of the trek was done in relative silence as nobody seemed inclined to speak and waste energy unless necessary. But somehow Yogesh’s enthusiasm for taking photos was not dimmed. Walking amidst the huge trees and shrinking streams is a surreal experience that kind of shows you your place in nature’s scheme of things. We reached the forest check post at around 2:15 p.m. and we were ravenous. We had to trek for a further 4 kms to find any signs of human inhabitation. We asked for food at a few places in the village but no luck. Frustrated we trudged on and soon stopped for rest just before the tiny village ended.
      A few minutes later, a boy walked past with what seemed like a cucumber in his hand. Food! I called out to him and talked about mundane stuff like his name, school etc. while planning to get him to part with the cucumber. He seemed a bit apprehensive at first and replied only in monosyllable to our questions. Lenin and Yogesh insisted that my long hair had started to frighten kids and it was time I cut it. I just pretended not to hear them. Yogesh continued to converse with the kid and convinced him to not only give us the cucumber but also get a few more. The boy gave us the cucumber he had and ran back. We were not too sure about seeing him again.

Feeling the pangs of hunger

  We used the salt we had bought for the leeches to add taste to the cucumber. By the time we were done, we could see the boy returning with two more of the precious vegetable. He also had the good sense to add in a few guavas. Dear boy, you have more kindness in your heart than all the adults in your village put together. If I ever choose to believe in miracles, I promise to make you my archangel. The boy ran back home with a smile on his face, a more than generous tip and our heartfelt gratitude.

Trek done. Waiting for the Bus

      The last bus from Bidahalli is around 3.45 p.m. We got in just in the nick of time. We headed towards Mysore(via Kushalnagara) to my place instead of returning to Bangalore. I know for certain that my mom hid her surprise well on how much I ate that night. Home sweet home after an amazing trek. I promised myself that I would soon trek the route from the other side i.e. Somwarpet to Kumara Parvatha to Kukke. That, I am sure, would be even better …

Some Useful Info:

•  Bhattar’s phone no: 9448647947. Please call him up in advance to inform about you visit.

•  List of items that I suggest you plan for if you are a trek organizer: Dry food, glucose, fruit juices, some citric fruits, first aid kit, knives, bread, butter and jam, bananas, chocolate, salt to avoid leeches, torch, emergency whistles, insect repellant, Camera.

•  You can hire tents in Bangalore at getoffurass or the Bangalore mountaineering club

But like they say the most amazing things in life don’t always need pin-point planning. Get your ass to Kumara Parvatha. I promise you’d have an amazing time there as well.

Liked the second Part?? Here's what happened earlier Kumara Parvatha trek - Day1

Kumara Parvatha Trek - Day1

           Kumara Parvatha(also known as Pushpa giri), situated around 280 kms from Bangalore near Kukke subramanya, is around 5600 feet higher than sea level, a trekker’s paradise and once of the most scenic places I have ever seen. Having never organized a two day trek before, I have no trouble recalling how I managed to botch up quite a few vital ingredients of the trek.

         




Sunset at the Mantap








What originally started as an eight member trek whittled down to five after rumors of the king cobra and a treacherous trail at Kumara Parvatha went round. Two more withdrew a day before the trek for personal reasons. In spite of an alluring temptation to cancel the trip citing the dropouts, the final three warriors stood resolute: Me, Lenin (my college mate) and Yogesh(my colleague).

            We had booked tickets in the KSRTC bus to Kukke leaving Friday night. I decided against taking out my swift as we were planning to start the climb from Kukke and make the descent on the other side at Bidahalli, Coorg. Come Friday, Yogesh and I had a client deliverable to complete. Pressed for time, we couldn’t hire a tent, buy provisions or supplies satisfactorily – these contributed greatly to our fall later. Have you ever been on a trip where you aren’t sure it’s on until the bus conductor hoots and the driver puts his foot down on the accelerator? Nope. At least hope you understand how I felt!

            Reached Kukke at 4 a.m., rented a room and slept for the next 4 hours. Skipped the customary temple visit in the morning and started the trek immediately after breakfast. The way to the top is very picturesque. The valleys and the peaks proudly let you know why nature is personified as a woman. Our next pit stop was the famous Bhattar’s house situated midway to the peak, around 4 hours from the Kukke. More than the free lodging (for around 50-60 people), delicious meals and other mundane comforts, it’s the willingness to support and help people that sets the Bhattar household apart. This place is an oasis for the weary trekker. Many trekkers camp near the Bhattar house for easy access to food and water. Thank you Mr. Bhattar, you simply rock!

Yogesh trying to build up some energy 

                     




       We left the Bhattar household at around 4 p.m., paid the entry fee at the forest department and headed to the Mantap – the place where we planned to stay the night. Mr. Bhattar had kindly lent us mattress after we informed him about our plan and warned us about the strong winds at the Mantap. To all you folks who read blogs and think the Mantap is some sort of Kalyana Mantap that can house around 12 people – brrrr, snap out of it. Take a tent if you want comfort! The Mantap is a shackle, a stone hedge sort of a structure that couldn’t accommodate more than 5-6. And unluckily for us, it was already occupied.









Why nature is personified as a woman

    



                Our hopes faded when we saw quite a few people already settled at the Mantap. And we had no hope of making it back to Bhattar’s house as darkness descended quickly on the valley. With only a few stars around, rains seemed imminent and sleeping under the moon was not something we were looking forward to. We reached the mantap and made a few enquiries. Fortunately for us, the others were sensible enough to bring tents. We heaved a sigh of relief.  The mantap was all ours for the night!

 No Kalyana Mantap this!





            Bread, jam and butter never tasted better for dinner and the campfire we got going enlivened us in more ways than one. The trekking group from Tyco industries pitched tent beside the mantap and we discussed about other possible treks in Karnataka and Kumara parvatha peak. They informed us about another group that had gone to camp at the peak to catch the sunrise. And thanks for the warning regarding the heavy winds Mr. Bhattar, the gales were a bitch. Dearly held on to the mattress and bed sheet against the howling winds throughout the night.

Liked the first Part?? Here's what happened next kumara parvatha trek Day2

Bangalore to Chitradurga trip

I had been planning a trip to Chitradurga for almost a year. While returning from Goa, where we had been to last Christmas, my friend showed me the dim outline of a fort and a mountain beyond and said “that fort is awesome, you should plan a one day trip here”. I vowed to myself to answer the beckoning calls of the awe-inspiring fort.

My swift was raring to go and so was I. I only had to persuade four other software engineers that this would be a worthwhile trip. No easy task this! After weeks of politic maneuvering and cajoling, pointing them to other blogs praising Chitradurga, they agreed. My troupe was now ready: Anand, Malai,Sandeep and Rajesh.

Being the only driver in the group, I had my task cut out. Chitradurga is around 230 kms from Bangalore and I had never driven around 500 kms in a day. We left home at around 7 a.m. I usually drive like my life depends on it (which in a city like Bangalore- it does). The speedometer touched 150 kmph in NICE road. My grey beauty zoomed on and we soon hit the Nelamangala stretch where even going at 15 kmph was an achievement. We had breakfast at Kamat( near Tumkur) and reached the fort at around 11.30.

The impregnable fort is designed in the shape of a snake to confuse invaders. The outer walls of fort are surrounded by a large space that would have been filled with water along with a few crocs and poisonous snakes during an attack on the fort. Our guide next led us to the first landmark in the fort: The gun powder grinder - A marvel of ancient engineering this. Young elephants were used to rotate giant wheels which churned gun powder.

This fort seems to be battle ready even today. Secret locations from where defenders could repel and shoot at invaders, giant walls that still bear the marks of Hyder Ali’s cannons - you can imagine how tough it might have been for Hyder’s soldiers to attack this place.

On the way to the top, we were able to see Jothi Raj (a.k.a Kothi Raj – Translation: Monkey Raj) perform some breath-taking stunts on the ramparts and boulders. A stone quarry worker who struggles to make ends meet, he practices rock climbing with a burning passion and desire. If you visit Chitradurga, find some pity in your cruel city hearts and leave this guy a good tip.

We next visited Onake Obava point, where a brave house wife killed Hyder’s guards to thwart a surprise attack and save her homeland using her onake(a pestle - iron pole used to grind rice). I could imagine a husky housewife dispatching soldiers in that narrow entrance in what can only be described as a grim and macabre fashion. Women those days seemed to be made of sterner stuff! Alas, we all know the fate of such brave souls: death. At least they had the decency to name that fort entrance after her.

The final part of the trek included a climb to the top of the fort. More like a crawl in which I held on to dear life on one hand and my sneakers on the other. Three of the guys backed out even before we got started and arguably missed the amazing 360 degree view from above. I realized it would take at least a day cover the entire fort, our guide had conveniently shown us only the most important locations.

We later visited Chandravalli caves – Dark (don’t forget your torch), dank and the smells of bats is pervading. There is a narrow path in the deepest location that leads to the treasury (If you can consider bat barf treasure!). Personally I did not have the heart to make that wretched crawl.

We had lunch in Chitradurga and later headed home to our beloved Bengalooru. I was totally tired by the time we reached home after the hectic drive, rock climb and cave exploration; a pleasant and satisfied tiredness that hits you only during such an amazing trip

Bangalore to Kudremukh trip

Bangalore to Kudremukh trip

Day 1 – Sravanabelagola and Halebid

Finally urge to blog gets the better of me! So here’s a travel guide sort of a blog about my trip to Kudremukh trip for 3 days along with my friends. The first thing that hits you when plan a trip to Kudremukh is that there are no hotels or affordable places for lodging. Fortunately I managed to find a long-forgotten-distant relative working in the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company and booked rooms in the company guest house. We were all set for the trip!

Left Bangalore via NICE road at around 8 in the morning towards the monstrous nelamangala road traffic. We were a boisterous group of around ten college mates and beer started to flow soon enough in the morning when I informed them that late breakfast was in store due to delayed departure.

First pit stop was Sravanabelagola at around 1 p.m. The colossal nude statue of Gomateshwara is a 57 feet monolith. Majestic is the only word to describe it. I was particularly impressed with the hoyasala architecture of using supporting structures to hold the massive stone walls. The view from above is surely worth the climb.

Had lunch at Hassan and reached Halebid at around 5 p.m. (just in time actually; the temple closes at 6 p.m.). I have been to many temples but Halebid blew my mind the first time I laid eyes on it. The grandeur of the sculptures, thought, vision and hard work that went into building that temple over a period of 150 years is seriously unparalleled. If you are a first time visitor, don’t forget to hire a guide.

The two massive Nandis in front of this multi layered temple, the imaginary creature Makara, the pillars in the dancing hall, combined with the intricate design and attention to detail on each of the sculpted images makes this temple the greatest example of Hoyasala architecture. And O-boy, talk about the planning and vision of the ancient hoyasala kings. In the software industry, we struggle to gather requirements properly and close projects in time!

Left for Kudremukh via kalasa at around 7. Be careful about the route you take as the roads to Kudremukh might be blocked due to landslides. We finally managed to reach the guest house in a totally exhausted and drenched state at midnight.

Day 2 – White Water Rafting and Hanumangundi falls.

Daybreak greeted us with a very heavy downpour and we were well advised by everyone in the guest house to avoid the Kudremukh peak trek altogether. My co-organizer and I didn’t want to let the folks know that we had somehow planned the trip to exactly coincide with the cyclone ravaging the west coast. We decided to go the Balehole for white water rafting.

I chose the first row for rafting and it certainly satiated the thrill seeker in me. Going through the tiger rapids and the rush of adrenalin just before the rapids is not something that can be put into words. Last word: Do it!

We later visited Hanumangundi falls in the evening. The gush of water forms a mesmerizing cadence of a sort. A few brave souls who entered the water and waddled around for sometime were the first ones to see a real leach at work! (On ourselves that is). There are streams for almost every mile between Kudremukh and Hanumangundi falls. We ended up making quite a few stops on the way and also took a few very good snaps at Kadambi falls on the way.

The way to Hanumangundi falls is full of prime grazing lands and we were fortunate enough to see the native fauna: a herd of bison and later glimpsed a few sambars. This place is totally a treat to any connoisseur of nature. Thankfully Kudremukh has not been commercialized and its eco-system destroyed like a few other hill stations!

Day 3 – Trekking at Kudremukh.

Kudremukh is after all known for trekking and no trip over there would be complete with out it. We choose the shortest trek of around 8 kms to Kurinjal peak. We took around half a kg of salt to avoid the leaches and smeared it on our shoes, legs and arms. The leaches attacked with a vengeance and we finally ran short of salt. I now wonder what the leaches feast on when there are no humans around.

The trek route was filled with mist and we could not see anything beyond 20 feet in all directions. Heavy downpours eased visibility and let us see the landscape beyond for a few moments. Nature at it’s pristine best.

The guys finally got tired of removing leaches from their feet and threatened to head back just a km before the Kurinjal peak. I obliged knowing that if I refused and moved forward, any black eye given to me later wouldn’t have been coincidental at all. Back at the tempo traveler, we finally removed all the leaches (or so we thought) and headed to Nature Camp for tea.

We left for Bangalore at around 12, had lunch at Hassan and finally reached home at around 9.30. The trip exceeded all my expectations and we all left with a sense of satisfaction. I should take my Swift the next time I visit Kudremukh. Now that would be some trip!