[MX6]

Cool snaps of hampi. Wish you'd stepped back a few paces in that musical pillar complex to cover that in entirety. Else it's time for a wider angle lens.

Here's a friend's snaps of lotus mahal. He is a great talent and his name is Anand Yaligar. All copyright belongs to him.
Thanks Anand for giving your kind permission to post your amazing hampi pics here. Wish you join T-BHP someday and enthrall us with your photologues.
Lotus mahal during monsoons. There's more to it than what meets the eye.


Hampi. The place "ROCKS"


Art in full glory.


Architecture unparalleled.


My only trip to Hampi was ages back. I sported a kodak kb10 film point and shoot camera. Waiting for the rains to go back there again. It would be homecoming. The last visit was in 1995.

Thanks Anand again for your photos.

[micrographics]

MX6, request you not to hijack the thred.

continuing from my previous day :

Day 3 : 10-4-2010

After getting and having breakfast at Hotel Mayura, we set off to our next Destination - BIJAPUR

I was expecting that we will reach Bijapur in 2 hours time but unfortunately, just outside Hospet on NH13 leading to Bijapur was jam packed and we spent our next 2 hours in the Traffic jam which was moving at snarls pace. After getting out of this traffic and wasting valuable 2+ hours, we finally headed to Bijapur and reached Bijapur at 2 p.m. in afternoon.

We went straight to gol Gumbaz and enjoyed the beauty and construction of the place.

Here are some images :











On Day 3, my original plan was to cover maximum distance but due to traffic jam at Hospet, I was not able to do so and finally reached Solapur at 7.00 p.m. after having breakfast at Kamat in Bijapur.

The day 3 was dedicated to Traffic snarl at Hospet.

Will continue Day 4, soon....

[MX6]

sorry. Not intended to hijack. Just a stray post from my side!

[StarVegabond]

It appears to be a great Indian road trip
thanks for sharing, good naration, good pictures.

The Ugranaramha is not a single stone now. it has been restored viz broken hand, the strip around the legs, etc etc.

while waiting for the sloth bear, you seems to be carrying sniper of a camera. which one is it ?, lens ?

keep it coming

[srikanthpotluri]

why is this log so slow? expecting loads of pictures, especially cant wait to see the beasts

[Devil on Wheels]

Great pictures, excellent write-up, but where are the tigers???

[micrographics]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

It appears to be a great Indian road trip
thanks for sharing, good naration, good pictures.

The Ugranaramha is not a single stone now. it has been restored viz broken hand, the strip around the legs, etc etc.

while waiting for the sloth bear, you seems to be carrying sniper of a camera. which one is it ?, lens ?

keep it coming

The Camera I'm carrying while waiting for Sloth Bear is Canon 7D and Canon 300/2.8 Lewns and 2x+1.4x converters attached to it.

[micrographics]

DevilonWheels - Tigers will also come when I'll start writing on that particular destination.

For now..I'm writing next part of my Report :

Day 4 : 11-4-2010 :

We started from Hotel Lotus at Solapur and headed to Shirdi, our next destination. *** Photography inside the shrine is not allowed, hence I'm sorry there is no snap for the day. The road from Solapur to Ahmednagar is wonderful via Tembhurni.

Further the road from Ahmednagar to Shirdi is almost doubled leaving some small stretches and a narrow bridge where you definitely see traffic jam.

By 4 p.m. we reached Shirdi, checked into Hotel Sai Baba International - Manoj Kumar (Bharat) fame. The hotel looks like wonderful from outside but it is not the worth what you are supposed to pay. The rooms were smaller and bathrooms were like you are having bath in a small narrow lane, hardly 4 ft. wide. The hotel is a total disappoint but considering the proximity to Shrine, it is OK to manage if you are staying for 1 night only.

My original plan was to stay there for 2 night but I aborted my plan and changed it to one night stay.

After having some rest, we headed to Sai Baba's shrine which is opposite to the hotel. The queue was long and we waited for approx. 3 hours for our turn to get Darshan and after Darshan, we explored the surroundings and saw other places of interest where Sai Baba stayed, performed pujas etc.

Day 4 passed off without any major happening.

Day 5 : 12-4-2010

On day 5, we got up early and decided that we will go to Sai Darshan once again before starting off for Shani Shingnapur.

After having Darshan again, we started off for Shani Shingnapur but my kids started crying for breakfast and just outside Shirdi, we found one good restaurant named Hotel Pushpak and had Dosas and Mango shake there.

Here are the images :







After having breakfast and some fun in the lawns of the retaurant, we headed to Shani Shingnapur and after taking left turn from Raori, we were on a country side road with full of Cane Juice sellers.

I stopped at one of the cane juice sellers to quench my thirst and to show my kids how the Cane Juice is extracted using a bullock.





After having fresh Juice, we again started for Shani Shingnapur and reached the destination by 12 noon. After talking to one of the Prasad Seller, Me and my son had Bath and then visited Shani Temple and performed Puja.

The floors were hot and my kids were feeling unconfortable in walking on such a hot floor. Here are some images of Shani Shingnapur :







At shani Shingnapur, I tried locating the place which is mentioned in various blogs and books, where no one is having doors or locks in their house but unable to locate. May be I'll search next time I visit there.

After performing puja, we headed towards Aurangabad as it was quite late, we decided that we will stop at Aurangabad for the day.

Road from shani Shingnapur to Ahmednagar-Aurangabad State Highway is bad and after you reach the Ahmednagar-Aurangabad state highway, the road is smooth and is 4 lane. We reached Aurangabad at 4.30 p.m. and checked into Hotel Manor at Kranti Chowk. Had some rest and lunch and then asked the Hotel Manager for direction to bibi-ka-makbara and rached the place at 7.30 p.m. It was dark but the place was looking like mini Taj from outside.

Inside the place, the stairs leading to main building are or normal stone, the only building it made of Marble just like Taj of Agra but it is no match to the magnificent Taj Mahal of Agra which Shah Jehan built (father of aurangjeb). Here are some images from Bibi-Ka-Makbara :

Hotel Lobby at Hotel Manor, Aurangabad :













This end my Day 4 and 5.

Will continue soon with Day 6 report and further report of Day 7-11.

[micrographics]

Continuing from previous day :

After having mouth watering dinner at Balle Balle Open air Restaurant of Hotel Manor, we retired late that night and got up at 7 next day.

Day 6 : 13-6-2010 :

The Hotel Manor provides Complimentary Breakfast hence we decided that we will have breakfast at Hotel itself before starting off for Ajanta Caves.

At 9.00 a.m. after getting ready and having tastefully prepared breakfast, we started off for Ajanta Caves.

The road leading to Ajanta is narrow and 2 lane road but is good except some potholed parts.

We reached Ajanta at 11.30 and straight went to the Bus Stop and hired AC Coach (Charges per person is Rs. 12/- one way).

By 12 noon we reached the destination and started exploring the caves.

Here are some snaps :






































it took almost 3 hours to see all the important caves.

After visiting ajanta Caves, we returned to MTDC Restaurant and had our Lunch and started off again at 3.30.

On the way, we passed thru beautiful wildlife park just before reaching Kamgaon.

We reached Yavatmal at 10.00 p.m. after having a brief break at Karanja for Dinner and checked into a hotel on Highway itself.

Will continue remaining part of the report tomorrow after finishing my remaining images.

[micrographics]

Day : 7 - 8 : 14-4-2010 / 15-4-2010

We started earlier for our next destination Tadoba.

The road from Yavatmal to Chandrapur is 2 lane but in very bad condition with full of potholes.

Further, the road after crossing NH7 and towards Maregaon, is further difficult to drive because of numerouis Coal Mines on the way upto the entrance of Tadoba.

We took Yavatmal - Maregaon-Wani- Chandrapur - Tadoba route as advised by one of my friend.

It took almost 5 hours to reach Tadoba from Yavatmal because of bad roads and no GPS signal on the way.

Finally we reached MTDC Guest House at Mohurli at 12.15 p.m. and checked into our room. The room condition was OK and my Safari Guy visited me at 1.00 p.m. to inform me about the arrival of vehicle.

Here are the images from Tadoba :

Coal mines on the way to Tadoba



Indian Roller :



changeable Hawk Eagle :



Red Wattled Lapwing :



Changeable Hawk Eagle - Closeup :



Wild Boar :



Male Tiger in the bushes at Tadoba :



Tiger Cub on Mud Path :



Barking Deer (Female) :



Barking eer - Female pair :



Shikra :



Shikra Close up :



White Eyed Buzzard :



Barking Deer - Male :



Tiger on the Main Road :



Tiger Cubs :



Tiger in the Waterhole :



Tiger Close up :



Another tiger in the Waterhole :



Tiger showing Anger :



Tigress in Waterhole :



Tiger after spending 25 minutes in Water hole :



Another Tigress Shot :



At Tadoba, I planned to stay for 3 nights but due to excessive heat, I terminated my Tadoa stay one day in advance and we decided to leave for Hyderabad on 16th Morning.

We collected information for route to take for Hyderabad and left early morning from Tadoba to Hyderabad :

The route taken was Tadoba - Chandrapur - Ballarpur - Asifabad - Mancherial - Karimnagar (via Bellempally) - Hyderabad (Abid - Hotel Jaya)

We reached Hyderabad at 6.00 p.m. on 16-4-2010 and checked into Hotel Jaya International which was under renovation when we reached because of change in management and now this hotel is being operated by Delhi based Kukreja Group of Hotels.

The Hotel is good and central located at Abids - main Commercial centre of Hyderabad.

[micrographics]

Day 10 - 17-4-2010 :

On 17th we hired a Taxi from the Hotel Travel Desk for our Local Sightseeing programe.

first we visited Salarjung Museum and saw the one man collection or artefacts. Photography is not permitted at the Museum hence no image.

From Salarjung, we reached Kamat Restaurant at Lakdi Ka Pul to have our lunch and from there we headed to Goldconda Fort and spent almost 3 hours there in exploring the Fort and its history.

Golconda is a good place but I felt that instead of serious visitors, I found young girls and boys engaged in compromising positions spread every where without worrying about the other peoples. Atleast I saw similar things in Goldconda atleast 10 different locations. Archeology Department is doing nothing to stop such activities either with the help of Police or other law enforcing agencies. you can see first image of goldconda fort where two your pairs are sitting at the entrance.

At 4 p.m. we reached Snow World where the organisers have arranged Artificially created natural snow in an enclosure for visitors to play and feel the coolness of hills. The charges are Rs. 300/- for adults and Rs. 200/- per child of below 54 inch height.

The Snow World is a good place for fun but as I'm from North India, I did not liked the arrangement and method of keeping the place cold using Air Conditioners but I think there is no other way to keep the snow is its natural without using ACs.

Here are the images from Hyderabad :















An Unusual Skyline above Hyderabad :



Kids enjoying at Snowworld :









Outside view of Snowworld :



Charminar :



Famous Bangle Bazar of Hyderabad :



This ends my first Travelogue.

Next year-- I plan to visit Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Ajmer, Jaipur, Delhi, Agra, Jhansi, Khajuraho, Pench, Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Nagpur which I planned this year but cancelled.

I hope you like my whole travelogue and your comments, suggestions will help and prompt me in doing more and more long drives.

[StarVegabond]

Hi Micrographics

thanks very much for the wonderful photographs of the prince of the jungle. rated 5 star

i would have loved a bit more details about your stay in Tadoba, resort, food, people, hospitality etc.

also i would like to know the camera and lens you are using. the reason is that i am currently in the middle of my research regarding DSLR, lens filters, etc. Your experience sharing would help.

thanks,


EDIT: regarding our feedback, i have already rated this travelogue 5 star.

what is more important is the cheer, happiness and the the sense of enjoyment on the face of your children and wife and increase in family bond amid you because of this fun filled trip.

from the snaps, i can surely say that you managed to achieve these results.

regarding for your own self, you managed to go on a road trip, probably shot some great phographs, kept your near and read ones happy and return safe and sound.

[micrographics]

Star Vegabond,

Re : Stay, food, people and hospitality at Tadoba

I stayed at MTDC Resort at Mohurli Gate, Tadoba, They charged Rs. 1,500/- per night / per room + 10% Tax for AC.

Food : They have menu card and you can order anything listed in it depending on availability of RAW material. Food quality is good and you can't expect 5 star food in forest.

Re : People at Tadoba,

All of them are very co-operative and there are several people in Tadoba who are working as Conservationists and also as making stay and safari arrangements for you.

some of them are : Shalik Jogwe and Atul Dhamankar.

Re : The equipment :

Currently I've Canon EOS 7D camera alongwith couple of lenses. for wildlife, I'm using Canon 300/2.8 Lens with 1.4x + 2x converters.

For Landscapes, Architectural beauties, portraits, I'm using Tokina 11-16 / 2.8 lens.

You can contact me any time for any query on Photographic equipments by calling me at 9886082075.

I'm staying in Padmanbha Nagar, Bangalore.

Further the requirement of DSLr and Lenses vary depending on your budget and the tentative use.

Further, thanks for your comments.

I also want to know whether you have any T-BHP spare stickers, I want to have on my car as well because I believe is SAFE DRIVING only.

[StarVegabond]

Thanks very much for the details
I have noted down your mobile number, will contact you shortly once i have compiled all my doubts/needed clarifications.

i do not recommend you to keep your mobile number in a public forum
you may request a moderator and get it removed/deleted.

regarding the stickers, i have never bought any.
You may order it from Team BHP, refer the FAQ section how to order the stickers.

thanks,

[micrographics]

Moderators, please remove my contact no. from post # 28 of this thread.