[Fauji]

[quote=airguitar;2436613]July 2011

Constant attention at work and at errands at home were getting to us. Let's visit Horanadu, we thought. We hadn't heard good things about the Silent Valley Resort, so decided to either opt for a stay at CKM or at Mangalore.

AG,

Wonderful is the word and the pictures are treat to eyes!!!!. Good that you did not stay in Silent valley. It is miserable. Next time you plan to go to Horanadu stay in this nice home stay called Upasana in Samse. Looks pretty amidst tea estate and have heard good word from my friends on this.

Calendar

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

This road joins the Kalasa-Sringeri road after a few kms. You will reach Sringeri via Basrikatte. I've taken this route a few years back and it was bad then.

Addy, this is a good news. Thanks

Originally Posted by ampere

Wow that is some info flowing from you guys!

I think you should start a BHP trekking club!

Very nice details and sure that bridge looks scary!

You bet!! We should have one

[Rajesh K R]

Hi AG, Addy & Fauji saab,

There was a photo in the vijaya karnataka kannada newspaper showing the Bhadra bridge submerged completely.

This was maybe around 3-4 days back during the pounding rains those areas witnessed. No word in the media about the present situation though. You guys have any info on this? Also, is there any other road approach to Horanadu ??

AG, i enjoy going thro' your & Fauji Saab's TL's as it always has a fair share of pics of Greenery and nature.(Viz : Malenaadu) !!

[figo_united]

Fantastic pics again airguitar!
Loved the moist green pics! The bridge is indeed scary!
There are a lot of falls in that area, getting to know a new one very often.
Anybody has a list of the major ones there?

+1 to ampere's suggestion

[airguitar]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

Hi AG, Addy & Fauji saab,

There was a photo in the vijaya karnataka kannada newspaper showing the Bhadra bridge submerged completely.

This was maybe around 3-4 days back during the pounding rains those areas witnessed. No word in the media about the present situation though. You guys have any info on this? Also, is there any other road approach to Horanadu ??

AG, i enjoy going thro' your & Fauji Saab's TL's as it always has a fair share of pics of Greenery and nature.(Viz : Malenaadu) !!

Thank you for all the kind comments folks. Rajesh, This photo was taken 4 days back : 17th July. The water was inches below the bridge as I mention. It sure looked it'd be submerged if it continued to rain the way it did. After reading your post, I googled a bit : here's what I found : perhaps I got lucky - the bridge got fully submerged on the 18th

Rain disrupts normal life [Hubli] | Times of India, The Newspaper | Find Articles at BNET

[Rajesh K R]

Originally Posted by airguitar

Thank you for all the kind comments folks. Rajesh, This photo was taken 4 days back : 17th July. The water was inches below the bridge as I mention. It sure looked it'd be submerged if it continued to rain the way it did. After reading your post, I googled a bit : here's what I found : perhaps I got lucky - the bridge got fully submerged on the 18th

Rain disrupts normal life [Hubli] | Times of India, The Newspaper | Find Articles at BNET

AG,

Have a look at the article & photo in the news paper which i was referring to. It is the 17th July edition & this photo must have been taken on 16th. My guess is you must have crossed the bridge after the water levels came down a little bit.

Article view

[piper.gates]

Originally Posted by ampere

Wow! @Ag can't imagine what monsoon can do to all the water levels!
Allow me to add just one snap of the same location of Ayyanakere lake.

Attachment 566870

Awesome!

Still rocking if you would have take it with a little long exposure, but still, the view is really good.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by piper.gates

Awesome!

Still rocking if you would have take it with a little long exposure, but still, the view is really good.

I could not change exposure times! It was a point and shoot. (Actually it was a still shot from a Sony Handycam SR11.)

But yes even I liked it very much. More so, what my eyes experienced cannot be captured at all! It was surreal there and then.

[airguitar]

And the winds, the strong winds atop the lake is a MUST experience..

[airguitar]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

AG,

Have a look at the article & photo in the news paper which i was referring to. It is the 17th July edition & this photo must have been taken on 16th. My guess is you must have crossed the bridge after the water levels came down a little bit.

Article view

Quite possible, Rajesh, Thanks for sharing.

[airguitar]

Unfortunately, have been too busy ( at times ) or too lazy ( at other times ) to keep filling this in. However, as the year draws to a close, I shed the lazy pounds to update this, apologies for the delay.

The first one was a 1 day trip to Kemmannugundi from Bangalore and back- the view is from near Z-Point which is a 3.5 kms trek from Kemmannugundi. We started at around 7 AM and came back by 11.30 PM. The highlight was the trek to Z-point. This was late mid May.


The last 4 are from an impromptu Nalknad trip just after the monsoons. Bangalore - Madikeri - Napoklu - Kakkabe - Palace Estate ( stay )- Nalknad palace - Cheyyandane - Chelavara falls - Virajapet - Ammathi - Dubare - Kushalnagar - Bangalore. Don't miss out visiting Chiklihole which is a 2 km diversion off the main road from near Nanjarayapatna ( Dubare -> Kushalnagar ). I'm sure many of you know : the gardens at palace estate are lined with old french cannon balls that was unearthed years back. The black and light grid is the Gunhole at Nalknad palace. Do read "Chikaveera Rajendra" by Masti Venkatesha Iyengar for a riveting interpolated/dramatized story of the last of king there.

The waterfall is the private waterfall within the estate.


The fourth one is a picture from Dubare - the elephants are paraded at around 4/4.30 PM.

[airguitar]

Apologies, I don't know why the edit option was disabled within 15 minutes : will have to make another post apologies.

This set is from K.Gudi ( #1-2-3-4). Civet cats scratched the roof all night, the safari driver got too close to an elephant and there was a wild goose chase to spot a tiger whose face had apparently showed up from the bushes. #4, is a Paradise Fly Catcher, Rufous Male, shot from a moving car.


A YOUNG GAUR


NOSEDIVING, JUNGLE BABBLER


DON'T GET TOO CLOSE, AIGHT ?


PARADISE FLYCATCHER, RUFOUS MALE.




This was from a trip to Udupi : Bangalore - Agumbe - Hebri - Udupi -Malpe - Kateel - Sakleshpur - Bangalore. We were chased by a Rufous Treepie ( not sure if we parked below a tree where it was nesting ) for a few seconds..


SUNSET, MALPE BEACH



The drive up Kundadri was scary, just after the rains that day in September, 0 vehicular traffic, dense undergrowth on either side, very narrow road, kept us guessing if we were heading the right way all along.
Bangalore - Thirthahalli - Kundadri - Thirthahalli - Jog - Bangalore. Don't ever miss out buying out pineapples around Jog or between Jog - Sagar. Ever!

This trip was after one Mr. Fauji called up to say Linganamakki was open. The original idea was to reach Bhatkal/Murudeshwar on day 1 and return via Kanuru Kote, Kargal, Jog falls, but didn't materialize in the end.

DRIVE UP KUNDADRI


JOG FALLS

[airguitar]

Photography begins at home, or near home These were taken en route to trips, within 3-4 kms of home.

WATER LILIES


EGGS OF PADDY FIELD PIPIT





These photographs are from the Bangalore - Dharmapuri - Mettur - M M Hills - Kollegal - T.Narasipura - Mysore - Gundlupet - Gopalaswamy Betta - Bandipur - Masingudi - Bison view point ( half way up the 36 bends ghat ) - Bangalore trip.

This was done in February, I don't know if it was the right or wrong time, the temple was very crowded due to the Shivaratri celebrations. The cleanliness around the temple and parking area was very discouraging, possibly due to the number of devotees coming in - felt a touch disappointed. The temple premises, however were clean and and it soon realized it was a jaatre ( village fair ) of kinds with the chariot and elephant all decked up. The temple itslef was very crowded, but you do get the sense of the power of the lord looking at how devoted folks are.

Gopalaswamy Betta : we reached pretty early around 7 AM to savour the "mist" but they have permanently changed the rules : you're let in only at 8 AM from the checkpoint. Elephant attacks, we are told. The priest himself comes in much later 9 AM ish, but is very thorough in his practice : much like most Vaishnava temples, you get to hear a brief sthala purana ( tailored to teh language of the visitors ). I don't mind the protocal - the views are fabulous and your mind clears up. Could spot a bison at a far far distance through the zoom lens.

Unfortunately, many people think of this as another picnic and spot and were dancing to "Munni Badnam Hui" and the like, playing loudly. It's a bit like someone who asked if she could feed biscuits to deer in Nagarahole. I'm not going to say I'm holier-than-thou to the misbehavers, but I'm seriously worried that everything will be gone in the next few years : all that will be left will be resorts, homestays, highrises, 6 laned roads and 4 star properties. Sometimes, I wonder, I should stop traveling and do my bit. But, my enthusiasm gets the better of me :(

SUNSET, KOLLEGALA


DECKED CHARIOT, MALE MAHADESHWARA TEMPLE


SUNFLOWERS NEAR METTUR



One of the longer ones this year was the Ganeshgudi solo. It was a 4 day trip

Bangalore - Haveri - Sirsi - Yallapura - Hubli ( Stay )
Hubli - Kalghatgi - Gokarna - Yellapura - Bhaagavathi - Handali - Ganeshgudi ( Stay )
Ganeshgudi ( stay ) [ Minor trip to Kulagi, BP Dam and Supa backwaters ]
Ganeshgudi - Dharwad

Some photos from a first-time birder [ I mean, I do a lot of backyard birding that's all ]. Some of the better ones. There are many more + a few more details that I'll post in the next installment. Amazing how much you can do in Dandeli and around in a day.


JACKAL BY THE ROADSIDE, BHAAGAVATHI



TRIBESMAN STATUE, KULAGI



FEMALE MALABAR PARAKEET


ORANGE HEADED GROUND THRUSH


ORIENTAL WHITE EYES, SPLASHING


PUFF THROATED BABBLER


SUPA DAM BACKWATERS, BAPALI VILLAGE.


WHITE BELLIED BLUE FLY CATCHER


YELLOW BROWED BULBUL

[airguitar]

Don't miss the AneJhari view point near Kulagi. Fantastic valley-view + it's also supposed to be a leopard sighting point. Kulagi Nature camp has very clean rooms/accommodation. It's being given a makeover with additional/big rooms coming up in the Timber trails annex.

On the Kulagi - Bhagavathi road, don't miss the BP Dam backwaters. It's pristine, inhabited by peacocks. You need to park your car at the checkpost and do a 400 metre trek to the backwater. It's beautiful.

Road updates were already posted by me on another thread here : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...a-kannada.html

Back at Ganeshgudi, I was the only chap on the entire property - good food, laidback birding made the 2 days. Not to mention long walks on the main road. We also went on a coracle ride on the Kali, sighting hornbills.



The below photos are from the Bangalore - Thirthahalli/Vihangama - Sigandur - Jog falls - Kumta - Yaana - Idagunji - Murudeshwara - Maravanthe - Ottinane - Udupi - Mangalore - Sampaje - Madikeri - Talacauvery - Mysore - Bangalore trip.


At Yaana : Do drink the kokum juice at the local shops, delicious at rs.7 a glass. But don't buy the kokum concentrates though : they sell it at 120+ rupees per bottle. I *suspect* it's actually the more famous Vanasri Kokum, but the bottle labels are removed and sold at a higher price. A bottle of Vanasri costs about Rs.50.

Also at road fork at the top, don't make the mistake of getting down from the other side, lest you end up on the Sirsi side when you have approached from the Kumta side

At Murudeshwara, stayed at the Naveen Beach resort, was very disappointing with a few dozen powercuts in the night and a few more problems.

Holebagilu


Thumri


Shack@VIHANGAMA, A GREAT DESTINATION DESPITE NUMEROUS VISITS


YAANA


YAANA



Discoveries/Recommendations of the year( from my experience or from my family's ):
1. Soan Farms : Moodabidri
2. Ottinane view point
3. Simha Farms Near Kodachadri
4. Pilikula Nisargadhama

More updates coming later this week

[KarthikK]

Those are some mind- blowing photographs @airguitar I loved them all. Brilliant thread, rated a well deserved 5 stars. Please upload some more photos for our viewing pleasure

[himavanth_m]

Great pics and great travels. Your experience well be very helpful to people like me for choosing destinations. Thanks a lot for your travelogue.

To top it all off, the pics are excellent.

Originally Posted by airguitar

FEMALE MALABAR PARAKEET

One question though. Just curious. How did you know that this is a female?