26th July 2010, 10:12
| #1 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Pune
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| Photos - a very short trip to Kerala - 22-24th Jul 2010 I had to bring my car back to Hyderabad, so I took a couple of days off and boarded a night bus from Hyd to Bangalore. From Bangalore, I took another bus to Mysore , and from there on to Calicut. Drove back from Calicut to Hyderabad a couple of days later. I am not intending to write a detailed travelogue as the route is all too familiar - Just wanted to pose a few snaps I took during the trip. On the way to Calicut, I had nothing else to do as I was sitting in the bus. So I clicked away when the weather permitted it . On the way back, I was in no great hurry to reach Bangalore ( night halt ) early, so I kept on clicking photos. I will keep posting a few snaps at a time .. Hopefully, I will complete the series in a couple of days! Most of the pictures on the onward journey were taken from a moving bus, so pl excuse me for some shaky pics.. Here is the opening snap - Marigold farm at Gundlupet.  |
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26th July 2010, 11:06
| #2 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Trivandrum
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26th July 2010, 11:34
| #3 |
| Senior - BHPian  | Very nicely selected the teaser pics  Ya, i still beleive that we have plenty of green down south of India to be explored esp around Kerala. |
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26th July 2010, 12:14
| #4 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Pune
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I reserved a ticket from Hyd to Bangalore (Sharma). Caught a bus for Mysore from Majestic, and then at Mysore I hopped onto a KeSRTC bus to Calicut.No bookings done for the mysore and calicut buses. The trip was quite hassle-free. | |
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26th July 2010, 13:00
| #5 |
| Team-BHP Support   | |
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26th July 2010, 19:52
| #6 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Pune
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| The first set: Hyd - Calicut Ok, let me first explain how I reached Calicut from Hyderabad. I booked a ticket with Sharma Travels on 21st night for Bangalore. It was a brand new Volvo, and the travel to Bangalore was quite smooth. The reporting time at Secunderabad was 8.15 pm - I reached there on time, but I ended up waiting for about half an hour after which I was asked to boad a minibus that took me to the bus boarding point at Lakdi ka Pul. It was raining reasonably heavily by the time the bus came, and so there was some push and pull to board the bus quickly. The bus stopped twice on the way to Bangalore. The first stop about 80-90 km from Hyderabad for Dinner ( I didnt have anything, just used the opportunity for a pee-break ), and the second break, a brief one, at around 2 am or so for perhaps a driver change and tea/pee break. I had GPS on in my mobile, and at least till the time I went to sleep, the bus was cruising at a very decent 80-90 kph on the highway. However, when I checked at around 3 am or so, the GPs showed me speeds consistently between 110 and 120 kph! I was sitting towards the front and through the gaps in the front curtain I could see that our bus and another Volvo were doing a race on the highway. While not entirely dangerous, I could see that some very competitive driving was going on. Around half an hour later, the bus stopped at Ananthapur to unload some Cargo, and the other bus also pulled up alongside - parallel to each other. And the drivers were chatting away and laughing. Obviously they knew each other well and they were having their bit of fun in the highway! Anyways, I was dropped at somewhere close to Majestic safely, from where I took an Auto for the bus station. Took a break at Majestic and eventually boarded a Volvo bound for Mysore. This was not the regular Airavat Volvo, but a blue KaSRTC one called "Ambaari". The driver was excellent at multitasking. While parked at Majestic, he was running around the bus shouting "Mysore, Mysore" and making sure that the bus was reasonably full, and also quick dashes to the side to open the Cargo hatch to load some parcels, and some bags as well. Then he dashes into the bus, and vends the tickets from his handheld. During all this time, the bus had to inch forward in th queue, and this was being done by another chap ( obviously some driver who is off duty and not in uniform ) - I thought he was the driver first, but when the bus was about to leave, this chap gets off and waves good bye to our "conductor" and he jumps into the drivers seat and sets off! And as the bus moved on, around the bus depot to the exit, he kept on picking up more passengers. I was wondering how he will give them the tickets now that he was in the drivers seat. My questions were answered soon when the bus stopped at a red light on Mysore road. He put the bus on handbrake, engines running, and dashed to the back of the bus to collect the money and give the tickets! I was mighty impressed and thought he would have fitted well in an IT Co. :-). Here is a quick shot from inside the bus:  Anyways, he was a good driver and took us to Mysore in quick time with steady, safe driving. I took a break in Mysore to have some nice Dosas etc, and when I came back to the bus station, I saw a KeSRTC Limited Stop FP bound for Mysore pulling out of the parking spot. I hopped in, and got a seat. Left Mysore at around 12 noon or so.  There was a lunch break before Gundlupet, and a refueling stop at Sultan Battery. The regular KeSRTC bus has two doors for the passengers, and I guess by design, it expects a passenger to help with closing ( and sometime opening ) of the front passenger door . For a good part of this trip, that duty fell on me as I had the seat immediately behind the door. Oh, and to make the task easier, they had fastened a piece of seat belt onto the door. All I needed to do when someone got off/got in and forgot to close the door was to lean a bit,grab the seat belt and pull it to bang the door shut. The driver always ensured that the door was closed before he moved the bus. Here is the invention:  Eventually got off at Kunnamangalam ( a few Km before Calicut - the IIM/NIT place ) at around 5.30 or so. This bus was a bit old and rickety, but was driven very well. The driver was real good. No overspeeding or dangerous maneouvers, one felt quite safe. Ok, some pictures now: A temple on Mysore road, Blr. Can you spot the dove cleaning itself?  I didnt take any pictures before Gundlupet as I took a brief nap. Once past Gundlupet, I started clicking away. A small dwelling in the midst of farm activiy:  A local vegetable shop:  A heavily overcast sky, and a rolling landscape with hills in the background. What else do you need? this must be heaven.  Another hut amidst a coconut grove.  Marigold everywhere! This area seems to be big time into flower farming, especially marigold. Lovely views all along.  The only problem with old gen KeSRTC buses is that when it starts to rain, you have to down the shutters ( similar to those in shops  ) It makes for a gloomy scene inside, and spoils any opportunity for snapping pictures outside.. More later! Last edited by Bigzero : 26th July 2010 at 19:57. |
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26th July 2010, 19:55
| #7 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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26th July 2010, 20:05
| #8 |
| BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Chennai
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| Nice Pics, to start with. The marigold farm looks so good. I am sure you have more to share. Please keep them coming. Waiting for your detailed write up as well. |
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26th July 2010, 20:08
| #9 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Pune
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| More pictures: Gundlupet -Wayanad Ok, some more pics: It could rain any time now..  More Marigold  The bus soon pulled up at Sutan Battery depot. I couldnt click any pictures inside the Bandipur/Wayanad wildlife sanctuaries as it was raining quite heavily. Here is the Sultan Battery depot:  Before the bus parked at the passenger terminal, the driver took it to the Diesel pump within the premises for refueling. It gave us time for a quick pee break. This board caught my eye - They are targetting 5kmpl. I saw a few more boards on this subject all around the depot.  More buses:  some sights along the road in Wayanad. Here is a small shrine.  Is Akshay Kumar around?  Somewhere near Kalpetta, imposing peaks in the background.  Quite Munnar-ish, this one.  How can a Mallu miss this?  |
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26th July 2010, 20:10
| #10 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
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26th July 2010, 20:12
| #11 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Pune
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Awesome? you bet!! All, thanks for the lovely comments. I have some more photos to share, will do it over the next couple of days. prince_pervez, if you look at the photo carefully, you can see a smaller english board on the side. They are campaigning for achieving 5 kmpl FE for KeSRTC buses. I saw another board with dos and donts for this, but couldnt click it in time. Sorry I didnt realize that the main board was in Malayalam. The board translate to something like "Intensive program for improved FE"... btw the last snap was of a Toddy shop Last edited by Bigzero : 26th July 2010 at 20:17. | |
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26th July 2010, 20:20
| #12 | |
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
So, now imagine how much does it really give. @BigZero: Seems you enjoyed thoroughly the views sitting in the elevated angle of the bus. Great pics. | |
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26th July 2010, 20:21
| #13 |
| Team-BHP Support | |
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26th July 2010, 20:29
| #14 | ||
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
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26th July 2010, 20:49
| #15 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Pune
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| Some more pictures from the same stretch A bus parked at S-Battery  Cant figure out what he is preparing. Any guesses?  This guy was struggling around the curves, and our driver patiently followed him, looking for an opportunity to pass.  Almost.. what are those folks doing there?  All along I saw a lot of kids in various uniforms. Looks like there are a lot of schools in Wayanad! ( and lot of kids too! ) This shop sells some local stuff. They have taken "go green" to new levels.  A few snaps from the ghats. - the descent to the plains below..    Last edited by Bigzero : 26th July 2010 at 20:52. |
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