[octane78]

Hi all,

This is the first time I am attempting to write a travellogue and post some pics which is from a simple point and shoot Canon (Please excuse the picture quality as it cannot be compared to the pictures taken by other esteemed members).

The occassion: Our 1st wedding anniversary on 25th October 2010.

Destination: Anywhere in Karnataka.

We had not planned this trip at all and since me and wifey had already applied for a week's leave we were not really sure what to do. Initial plan was to stay at Hyderabad on our wedding day which is on Monday and celebrate with our families which was done and by 3:00PM we decided we shall go to Bangalore and decide which places to visit as we know that there are a lot of places worth visiting in and around bangalore.

We deided to hit bed by 9:00PM and get up early by 3:00AM and start our journey by 4:00AM on the 26th. Wifey packed the luggage and I was trying to sleep but was unable to do so as I work in teh night shifts. At 12:00PM I get frustrated and get out of bed and check wifey who is almost asleep and since I got up ask's why am I unable to sleep and I say blame the night shifts. I ask her ok since I am unable to sleep how about starting now and wife was .

She ask's me are you ok to drive now and all and after a brief discussion and convincing her that ill be able to do it she finally agree's after 15 minutes. We immediately get ready and pick our luggage and throw them in the back seat and start at exactly 1:00AM.

The roads being empty we reached outskirts within 45 minutes and speed off on NH7 towards Banaglore.

Must appreciate NH7 for smooth buttery roads and a lot less traffic when compared to other highways in and around AP. We were doing a comfortable speed of 100 - 120 KMPH on our trusted Santro XING which crossed 1,00,000 KMS.

It was day break when we reached Anantapur bypass the time was roughly 5:30AM.

Some pics from the highway.

Day break at Anantapur



Day break at Anantapur



Day break at Anantapur



Butter smooth NH 7



Hanuman Idol on the bypass



Hare Rama Hare Krishna temple on the Anantapur Bypass









Highway to Bliss

[DMehta]

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[octane78]

Thanks DMehta.

I am not exactly sure about the total length of NH7 but from Hyderabad to Banagalore the total distance is close it 560 KMS.


After crossing Anantapur stopped at a petrol bunk and tanked up Maverick (My Santro XING). Total Mileage from tank full to tank full until now was roughly 18 KMS with AC on through out.

By 7:30 AM we reach the outskirts of Bangalore and stop at a way side Udipi restaurant and had a hearty breakfast of Idly and Dosa. Spent some time relaxing and then call up my wife's cousin to get directions to his place and he was quite taken aback that we did an overnight trip.

The actual fun starts now we entered Banaglore and I started the GPS on my Nokia X6 which had OVI maps and we were following the directions which was completely wrong as provided by my wife's cousin .

Spent nearly 30 minutes on the phone with wife's cousin to get a proper direction and we spent nearly 3 hours to reach his place and by the time we reached his place it was almost 11:15AM.

We quickly showered and since wife's cousin was away at work he ordered lunch for us which was quicky devoured and had a blissful sleep. We get up at 6:00PM in the evening and go to M.G.Road with wife's cousin and as this was first Banagalore trip for wifey she managed to do a bit of or I rather say a lot of shopping and we returned home with some food as Wife's cousin's wife was away at her home town. Had a good dinner of dal, chawal and some potata curry and we went off to sleep.

No pictures were actually taken as we forgot to carry our camera during our shopping in Banagalore.

To be continued.

[idlebrain]

Octane - Belated wishes on your first anniversary.

Thank you sharing the pics. Even though its the same sun here, it gives me wonderful feeling to see the sunrise at my native place being some thousands of miles away. thank you for sharing the pics.

@DMehta - NH 7 is the longest highway in India connecting Kanyakumari (TN) in south to Varanasi (UP) in North with total stretching 2369 kms.

[octane78]

Originally Posted by idlebrain

Octane - Belated wishes on your first anniversary.

Thank you sharing the pics. Even though its the same sun here, it gives me wonderful feeling to see the sunrise at my native place being some thousands of miles away. thank you for sharing the pics.

@DMehta - NH 7 is the longest highway in India connecting Kanyakumari (TN) in south to Varanasi (UP) in North with total stretching 2369 kms.

Thanks Idlebrain for the wishes and for the information regarding NH7.

[octane78]

We get up early next morning by 6:00AM and the plan for the day was to visit Mysore and then Medikiri (Coorg) and spend the night there.

Initial plan was to go to Ooty buit upon wife's cousin's insistance we decided to visit Coorg. Called up one very old friend of mine who is in Bangalore to check if there is any accomodation that we could book in advance in Coorg and promptly within half an hour we get a message with the details of Jungle camp. So we inform the pperson we would be there by late evening.

7:30AM we start from our cousin's place and he was leading us on his Thunderbird till Mysore highway so we bid good bye's and hit Mysore highway. We filled that tank again for Maverick and we start our journey and it started raining cats and dogs.

On Mysore highway



It was raining cats and dogs and visibility was getting to be a bit problematic











Some temple on the way with the picture of you know who

View along the way




Soon we were getting hungry and me being a typical night shift guy I am not used to being up so early and would never prefer eating so early but this day was an exeption and I was feeling hungry. We saw a board on the right hand side which read Kamat Lokaruchi and I immediately suggest to wife that I have heard reviews about this place on T-BHP and it is supposed to be a ncie place so we go in park the car and check the menu. We find some new items listed which was Medu idly and Neeru dosa so we ordered one each of them and devoured them and I must say they tasted simply awesome.

Medu Idly was awesome

Neeru dosa served with sweet coconut chutney was out of this world.


We finished our breakfast and started towards Mysore and inbetween we reached Srirangapatnam and we stopped to explore and we picked up a guide and fixed the price with him and he first takes us to some cottage industry showroom .

Wife got busy and I was getting impatient and tell her that sweet heart we are on a exploring trip and not a shopping trip and wife half heartedly gets back to the car and we ask the guide not to stop us at any shopping and to show us places, which he promptly does.

Some pics around Srirangapatnam
Entering Srirangapatnam




Tipu Sultan's body was found here.



Tomb Of Tipu Sultan






Canon Balls

Canon


After looking around this place we were really bored mostly because of the rain as we could not explore the place much. We spent close to 2 hours in this place and decided that we head to Mysore.

To be continued.

[octane78]

We reached Mysore and went straight to the Maharaja Palace and since it was just a week after Dussera we were able to see the Golden throne used by the kings. It was one magnificent throne weighing roughly 230 Kilos or something in pure gold. Wifey was so happy to see all that gold in one place. We were not allowed to take pictures once we entered the palace.

We hired a guide and just for an hour of the tour arund the palace he charged us 400 INR. It was well worth it because we came to know a lot of history regarding the palace.

Once we finished the tour of the palace wifey started shopping in the shops that are located outside the palace, mostly gifts for friends and relatives.

Wifey purchased some ancient coins (I dont know if they are genuine) worth 700INR and I am really not so sure if they are worth so much. We started towards Chamundi hills to have a quick darshan of the deity, but alas the rain gods had no mercy on us and it was raining non stop so we thought it was best that we do this on our return journey and sped off towards Medikiri. The drive was completely in rain and visibility was also low. It was quickly getting dark and we called up Jungle camp to check if it was ok coming now and needed directions and we were in for a .

After reaching Medikiri we still had to drive 28 KMS to reach this place and we could not drive down in this weather as it was raining so we decided to reach Medikiri and look around for a place to stay.

It was raining all the way and as we were going uphill it was completely foggy and visibility was 10 - 15 %, so we were driving very slowly and finally reached Medikiri and it was still raining cats and dogs.

We went around teh town looking for a place and finally found a place called "Green heaven" which had decent rooms and for 900INR a day and since we were exhausted we did not want to look any further and ordered some food and crashed for the day.

Some pics from the day
Mysore Maharaja Palace

The flag on top of the palace made of pure gold weighs around 16 Kilos as told by the guide



2 Lions together in one picture

Your truly and the better half

View from Chamundi hills




To be continued.

[octane78]

The night in Medikiri was peaceful and we got up early the next morning around 8 and contacted the hotel staff if we could get some guide to show us around the place.

A special mention here for the owner of the hotel who was an retired army personnel. He was very impressed that we drove down from Hyderabad to see Coorg. This person suggested that it would be an expensive affair if we hire a guide and suggested that we take along a person whom he knows who would show us around the whole day for just 400INR. We were pretty impressed and took his services.

This person is a well known jeep mechanic who regularly services the Hotel owners immaculately maintained MM540. The guides name is Ravi who amused us with his knowledge on the surrounding places and jeeps. This guy was so hilarious that at the end of the day left me and wifey in uncontrollable laughter. He was speaking in a mix of broken english, hindi and Kannada which we dont understand.

The guide first showed us the place called Raja's seat which had a good view around and then we took a ride on the to train after which we were shown some tombs. Both these places were not of much interest for us and we were getting bored and then we went to a place called Abbi Falls which was magnificent. We did not notice that our camera's battery got drained and we had to go back to the hotel for recharging the battery. Once we charged the battery we went to a place called Dubbare Elephant camp.

This place was awesome near river Cauvery. We were surprised to find river rafting being organised here. We immediately booked a slot for us and purchased some shorts and a brief intro about what to do and what not to do was briefed to us. So me and wifey got into the raft and there was one guy who was behind to ensure that the raft goes in the right way. We rafted for around an hour and during the time when we were rafting we were rowing against the tide and we reached a point where wifey wanted to get our picture clicked and we stopped rowing and because of the tide we were drifted back to the point where we started rowing and I get angry at her as we were exhousted rowing that stretch against the tide and we are back to square one. Wifey gives a stupid grin and all is forgotten. We again row back and get off the raft. Ordered some fried rice and bread omlet and devoured it as all the rowing drained us of our energy. After eating we went to the elephant camp which was on teh other side of Cauvery and watched a few Elephants and came back and started back towards Medikiri.

We reached Medikiri and then drop the guide off and park the car and went for a walk around the town. Wifey wanted to but some spices and we ended up buying spices for 2 years . These shops had some home made chocolates and home made wines in different flavours. So I ended up tasting 8 different types of wines and finally bought 5 different flavours and came back to the room and ordered some food and called it a day.

Some pictures of the day.
View from Raja's seat


View from Raja's seat








Toy train

Enjoying the ride on the toy train.





Maverick in all its glory

Tombs

Tombs













Abbi Falls

Abbi Falls













Some water falls on the way






To be continued.

[octane78]

Pictures from Dubbare Elephant camp

This was the sight which greeted us when we reached the camp

Posing before we got into the raft



Rushing water



Wifey asks to stop rowing so that we could take a snap and we get drifted back to the point where we started rowing.

Asking wifey not to stop again for pictures as the rowing was getting tiring and wifey completely ignoring it.



We had this for lunch and it was rejenuvating after the exercise with rowing we had.



Crossing the river towards the other side to see teh Elephants.

Elephant

Elephant
















To be continued.

[octane78]

We had a blissful sleep last night and got up early by 7:00AM.

Plan for the day was to vacate the room and drive towards Mysore and visit Chamundi hills and visit the deity and then drive back to Bangalore for the night.

We checked out from the room by 10:30 and started towards Mysore and upon reaching Mysore we visited Chamundi hills and finished our darshan and then started towards Banaglore. Initially in the moring we had a light breakfast and our main plan was to halt at Kamat Lokaruchi and devour Neeru dosa and Medu Idly. Plan went accordingly and we reached Kamat and finished our lunch at around 5:00PM.

Our plan was to reach Bangalore and visit my friend Mamtha who happens to be a very old friend of mine. She suggested CCD on 100 feet road which I have no idea where it was located. So plan was to call her once we reach bangalore so that she could guide us accordingly.

Around 6:30 we reached Bangalore and then started our trauma. Upon reaching Banaglore my friend suggested that we come to her place which is near Old Madras highway (Not sure what the palce was called). So we started following her directions and we were directed to her place within no time (Read 3 hours).

Lesson learnt never ask a girl for directions.

In between we also asked her the place where she wanted us to come and said we will somehow manage and then turned on my untrusty OVI maps on my Nokia and as usual it ditched us again. So we took around 3 hours to reach my friends place .

Finally after reaching her place we ordered food and caught up on old days. It was good meeting up with an old friend after a long time. We had our food and since we were already tired and our friend offered us to host us for teh day we readily agreed and hit the bed.

We planned to leave next day back to Hyderabad, and we got up a little late and got ready and left Bangalore around 11:30AM and the weather was absolutely great and it drizzled for sometime and was cloudy all through out. We reached Hyderabad by around 9:00PM as we were in no mood to come back but we had to come back so with the memories of the short holiday and a heavy heart we drove back slowly towards Hyderabad.

Thanks you all folks for going through our experience.

Till the next holiday.

Rest of the pictures.

Night view from our hotel room in Medikiri

Night view from our hotel room in Medikiri

Day view from our hotel room in Medikiri

Just before departing from the hotel

Roads from Medikiri towards Mysore

Roads from Medikiri towards Mysore



Road towards Mysore

Road towards Mysore

Picture in front of a statue



View from Chamundi hill

On our way back towards bangalore



Entering into Kamat Lokaruchi

Medu Idly

Devouring

Exiting Kamat

A train passing by

Bangalore metro near M.G.Road

Searching for our friends address

Searching for our friends address

Searching for our friends address

Finally reached our friends place

Thats my friend Mamtha and my wifey

Thats Mamtha's 2 younger sisters with wifey

[octane78]

Last set of pics of our drive from Bangalore to Hyderabad
Our journey towards Hyderabad and out of Banaglore



An interesting ad on the way



Scenery along the way

Scenery along the way

Scenery along the way

Scenery along the way

Accident being cleared







Out journey started with taking these pictures and ended with these.

Hare Rama Hare Krishna temple on the outskirts of Anantapur

Out journey started with taking these pictures and ended with these.


Till next time sayonara

The end.

[idlebrain]

Nice pics, thanks for sharing. Seems you had a wonderful vacation.

The statue in your pic at Chamundi is 'Mahishasura' and the white palace is 'Lalit Mahal Palace' built by Wadayar kings and now its part of Ashok Group of hotels. Lot of telugu, tamil, hindi pictures shot in this palace.

[octane78]

Originally Posted by idlebrain

Nice pics, thanks for sharing. Seems you had a wonderful vacation.

The statue in your pic at Chamundi is 'Mahishasura' and the white palace is 'Lalit Mahal Palace' built by Wadayar kings and now its part of Ashok Group of hotels. Lot of telugu, tamil, hindi pictures shot in this palace.

Thank you Idlebrain for the information regarding the Mahishasura. I was not able to remember what his name was when I was penning down the travellogue.

Thanks you for your comments and we did have a lot of fun on the trip and we did a couple of other trips one being to Konaseema and another one to Tirupathi which would be penned down soon and share our experiences.