100,000 kms on Indian Highways, 6 treks & a Couple of Flights

ampere · 18th April 2010, 06:59

Nice to see the whole family on the wild road !
Mom, dad, kids and Shakeela !

Nice photos ! As you say, in spite of Monsoons, it does not look that green.

akaushik · 18th April 2010, 10:04

what an epic smartcat , I am your fan!! you made me to think twice about my perception that " I am the most freaked traveler around... " But you are an extreme case!! And now I am setting up a new target of clocking more then 100 thousand kms on highway ;-)

SmartCat · 18th April 2010, 11:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by MX6

Aha. Was waiting for the snap of a snake. Good one there. I love snakes.

Dude, you are a bit weird!

"I love Gobi Manchurian" is OK.
"I love dogs" is OK.

"I love snakes" is not OK! Do you speak ParselTongue like Harry Potter?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampere

As you say, in spite of Monsoons, it does not look that green.

Your scenary pics actually look better. Which month was that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by akaushik

you made me to think twice about my perception that " I am the most freaked traveler around... " But you are an extreme case!!

By that definition, hvkumar is about 10 times crazier than me - he has done 10,00,000 (6 zeroes) on Indian highways and documented most of it.

KRRaj · 18th April 2010, 11:40

I did this Rail Trek/Walk last year and it was nice fun. With full fledged train traffic running now, we should be prepared for another sort of adventure meaning a Train coming at you when you are on one of those bridges!!

We got caught in 2 tunnels when a train came hurtling... jumped to the sides.. awesome experience..

SmartCat · 18th April 2010, 12:08

KRRaj, are you serious? That is both illegal (tresspassing on railway property, endagering lives of passengers on the train etc etc) and suicidal. I guess I need to send our resident "mommy" Binny to your house to give you a nice big lecture.

Quote:

We got caught in 2 tunnels when a train came hurtling...

Now we know how we got the idiom - "If we see light at the end of the tunnel, it could be the headlights of the oncoming train".

ampere · 18th April 2010, 14:15

Now its discouraged on those treks.
You can avoid the train through the tunnel, but bridges ?

Smarcat, I dont remember which was the month when we did that trek.

MX6 · 18th April 2010, 14:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat

Dude, you are a bit weird!

The below pics would explain.
The bigger the better. But my dream is to wield a cobra like this someday. I've touched them though.

100,000 kms on Indian Highways, 6 treks & a Couple of Flights-p1010522.jpg

Here's a pet. It's called Snappy. Small it is, but can bite off your palm.

100,000 kms on Indian Highways, 6 treks & a Couple of Flights-snappy.jpg

ampere · 18th April 2010, 15:01

Man MX, forget holding the slimy one !
I had trouble watching the snap itself !

Ranjan Sharma · 18th April 2010, 15:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by MX6

Here's a pet. It's called Snappy. Small it is, but can bite off your palm.
]

Really sad to see these reptiles kept as pets. I love reptiles too, but I would prefer seeing them where they should be.

Whoever's pet it is, please advice him/her to be careful of reptile savers. There is heavy fine for keeping reptiles as pets, including Jail.

SmartCat · 18th April 2010, 17:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by MX6

The below pics would explain.
The bigger the better. But my dream is to wield a cobra like this someday. I've touched them though.

Oh, you can just come down to my place then. The area where we are staying in Bangalore is called "Nagarabhavi" (roughly means Cobra's Well). Snake and mongoose sightings - even inside our compound wall - are common. Do a Google search for "Nagarabhavi Snake". Our cat had even killed a small snake and got its dead body to us to show off.

I have never seen a cobra though. The ones that come to our compound have a brownish skin and hardly 6 feet long.

One year back, when I had parked the Optra outside our compound, a snake apparently went into the bonnet - that's what a few bystanders said. Street dogs had surrounded the car and were barking furiously. We called up a snake catching volunteer's phone number (he is a software engineer by profession) and he came over to our place. First, we shooed away the dogs and then I got into the driver's seat (seriously scary this one, can the snake get into the cabin from the engine bay?). I started the engine and moved the car slowly to the centre of the road. The volunteer then opened the bonnet slowly.

Guess what we found inside the engine bay? Our 3 month old kitten

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ranjan Sharma

Really sad to see these reptiles kept as pets. I love reptiles too, but I would prefer seeing them where they should be. Whoever's pet it is, please advice him/her to be careful of reptile savers. There is heavy fine for keeping reptiles as pets, including Jail.

This looks more like a private zoo in USA or Australia (look at the gori and her uniform).

ampere · 18th April 2010, 18:13

The story about Yedakumeri goes that when the meter guage train used to run, a guy with food would run from the base of the hill to the station and that would be sold in seconds. The next round was only after five six hours.

I dont know how true is this? But was a part of major trekking folk lore.

Cat, Pramod,

Did you ever come across this story? May be we can validate this with the current BG version of trains running.

neo45007 · 18th April 2010, 19:15

Its Just Awesome ! Great photos !

SmartCat · 18th April 2010, 20:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampere

The story about Yedakumeri goes that when the meter guage train used to run, a guy with food would run from the base of the hill to the station and that would be sold in seconds. The next round was only after five six hours. I dont know how true is this? But was a part of major trekking folk lore.

Cat, Pramod, Did you ever come across this story? May be we can validate this with the current BG version of trains running.

Never heard this "treklore", but could be true. The only way to get to Yedakumeri is from the National Highway which is a 6 or 7 km vertical trek. There are no villages closeby either. Makes you wonder why the authorities built a railway station in the middle of nowhere.

Quote:

Originally Posted by neo45007

Its Just Awesome ! Great photos !

Thanks Neo. How is Morpheus doing?

StarVegabond · 18th April 2010, 21:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by neo45007

Its Just Awesome ! Great photos !

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat

Thanks Neo. How is Morpheus doing?

Hey cat who is smart, i think you are becoming more predictable now
i had imagined that you would ask this question

, anyways, a good question, let us see what neo has to say.

pramod · 18th April 2010, 22:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat

Never heard this "treklore", but could be true. The only way to get to Yedakumeri is from the National Highway which is a 6 or 7 km vertical trek. There are no villages closeby either. Makes you wonder why the authorities built a railway station in the middle of nowhere.

Hey, some light on thus:

There are a number of villages on the other side of the hills. Not towards NH48 though.
From Yedakumeri Station, you have a route uphill, which leads you to villages on the Saleshpur - Somwarpet road (ShukruvaaraSanthe, ShaniwaaraSanthe road). This trek was around 2.5 Hrs uphill. So, i am sure, a local person can do this downhill with idli-vada on his head, in a hour.
I had done my trek in 2003, when i was in 6th semester Engineering.

Smartcat -- I am tempted to post some of my trek snaps here. Kindly permit me to do so

18th April 2010, 06:59	#601
ampere Team-BHP Support Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 17,952 Thanked: 12,944 Times View My Garage	Nice to see the whole family on the wild road ! Mom, dad, kids and Shakeela ! Nice photos ! As you say, in spite of Monsoons, it does not look that green.
	() Thanks

18th April 2010, 10:04	#602
akaushik BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 172 Thanked: 9 Times	what an epic smartcat , I am your fan!! you made me to think twice about my perception that " I am the most freaked traveler around... " But you are an extreme case!! And now I am setting up a new target of clocking more then 100 thousand kms on highway ;-)
	() Thanks

18th April 2010, 11:40	#604
KRRaj BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 514 Thanked: 35 Times View My Garage	I did this Rail Trek/Walk last year and it was nice fun. With full fledged train traffic running now, we should be prepared for another sort of adventure meaning a Train coming at you when you are on one of those bridges!! We got caught in 2 tunnels when a train came hurtling... jumped to the sides.. awesome experience..
	() Thanks

18th April 2010, 14:15	#606
ampere Team-BHP Support Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 17,952 Thanked: 12,944 Times View My Garage	Now its discouraged on those treks. You can avoid the train through the tunnel, but bridges ? Smarcat, I dont remember which was the month when we did that trek. Last edited by ampere : 18th April 2010 at 14:19.
	() Thanks

18th April 2010, 15:01	#608
ampere Team-BHP Support Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 17,952 Thanked: 12,944 Times View My Garage	Man MX, forget holding the slimy one ! I had trouble watching the snap itself !
	() Thanks

18th April 2010, 18:13	#611
ampere Team-BHP Support Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 17,952 Thanked: 12,944 Times View My Garage	The story about Yedakumeri goes that when the meter guage train used to run, a guy with food would run from the base of the hill to the station and that would be sold in seconds. The next round was only after five six hours. I dont know how true is this? But was a part of major trekking folk lore. Cat, Pramod, Did you ever come across this story? May be we can validate this with the current BG version of trains running.
	() Thanks

18th April 2010, 19:15	#612
neo45007 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 226 Thanked: 33 Times	Its Just Awesome ! Great photos !
	() Thanks