Honeymoon Trip?!

After marriage you wish to head down for a good and a great time, which most refer to as the honeymoon period. I also thought I would make the most of this hype and started planning way ahead for it. Choices were initially - India or Abroad. Abroad seemed like a great place to go to, but the major question posed was where?
Finally I choose Australia or Austria... but choices do not go hand in hand with what you have planned or what finally lands on your lap. I got the tickets booked after finalizing all dates and then suddenly found myself with redundant tickets and that too non-refundable ones as the marriage dates slipped by a month due to certain issues... :-(

Mangalore Trip

This was supposed to be one of those more planned trip, where we headed out with the much married couple... :-)
The plan was to go out to Mangalore, stay there and eat a lot of fish, while the veggie with us have their fill of the ocean and the beach. Ultimately it came to a showdown between JP and me and JP's unlogical thinking won the day and we headed out to check out the Jog Falls (without any water flow). The trip was very eventful, with Pranav at the wheels and trying to curse his way out of the ever increasing traffic hat was piling on to the ever narrowing roads :-)
Reached the Jog falls and went around monkeying there with the various viewing spots they have created (although they have shut off the way which leads to the base of the falls for now).

Trip to Bandipur Forest Reserve and BR HIlls

It started off as an unplanned activity, with JP deciding to check out his prowess on the car over hill roads and me being what I am agreeing to the adventure in it. We had decided to use the tents for camping out and taken the pick-axes along for safety purposes... :-)
Slept over at JP's place after packing the camping gear, woke up early at 4 in the morning and called up Fateh (who also wanted to tag along). Had to ring him a dozen times before he finally responded and we managed to wean him away from the slumber he was into.
Loaded ourselves into the car along with all the equipment and started off on the journey. The plan was to hit the hills by the early morning and reach someplace near Kemmenagundi or Chikmangalur by the afternoon. But plans changed midway and we headed towards the BR Hill range. Had a lot of fun along the way with stoppages and running around to get ourselves into the holiday mood; before we finally stopped at the Cafe Day for breakfast. Filled up gas in one of the modern filling stations of Mangalore Natural Gas and then decided to move on towards the BR Hills area. We had hit the hills...!!
It was a really wonderful trip through the hills, we frolicked around quite a lot before we finally reached the summit of the BR Hills area. Here, there was a hilltop temple and we went for a short trek onto the same. The trek turned out to be a real pleasure, as that area is where the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka meet and the hills on which we were trekking are no-mans land area sorts... :-)
Came back and went for lunch to one of the local dhaba's. It was real good with a British English speaking person, who served us the food and that too on the banana leaf with proper vegetables and eating with hands. He then sat with us and spoke about the places to visit and stay there. We finally decided to make it to the Bandipur Forest Reserve and sleep near that place, as JP also wanted to show us the wild animals which he had seen some dozen years earlier ... :-D
Had a good time searching for a hotel to stay in and finally landed up with a single room with an extra bed. The place was quite good and we enjoyed a lot at the same, the night was pleasant and we survived through it without any more incidents, except when JP woke up at night and wanted to take us through the forest to check out the "wild beasts" who would be roaming the place at that time. He managed to convince us of the same and we went on a night safari at 1 in the night ;-D

We then proceed the next night to Ooty and went again on a hike behind the top most peak there, along with a spurt of buying chocolates for all near and dear ones. ;-)

San Francisco and Beyond

This time in the US, I made quite a few trips to SF. That seems to have become my favourite haunt on the West Coast, with all the hustle and bustle of a live city and the exhilaration that you feel when coming in there. The City is LIVE!!
I landed in SFO and then there was the 4th of July celebrations. Went over to a house party organized by one of Wil-ta's friends and enjoyed the same a lot [even have some video's of the party, where all were trying to prove their muscle power to tear in 2 from the rib, old phone directories :)]. The celebrations we watched from near the Almo Park [yep same place where the 6 sisters reside]. Then I came back after catching the CalTrain and a cab to get back [obviously, totally drunk :P]
The next time was with a friend [Karan] and we went in his car. Reached without incident and then basically went to the tourist places of Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 and finally landed up at a bar called 'Revolution', after a trip to the Old WWII Submarine situated beside the Pier 39. Nice and fun trip altogether and enjoyed a lot :)
Then went over again to checkout Wil-ta singing a duet [just joking, Wil-ta and sing :D] with his band in 'The Elbow Room'. This was another of those fun trips and roamed around a lot. I like roaming on foot and had a lot of time to do that. Although had to comeback early due to the trains running only till midnight. Missed out on the band performance too :(
Another of the enjoyable trips I made was with a colleague, who took us in his CR-V to SF and around the Golden Gate bridge. It was a misty moisty morning with the fog covering the Bridge, but we managed to check some great spots and take some great pictures of the bridge and the surroundings.
Overall I should say, a great trip with great mini-trips around the place... :)

लॉस वेगास कि सवारी

I was in the US and then there were a couple of us who decided to embark on this journey to go to the Casino Capital called Las Vegas in the state of Nevada. It all started as a idea of going somewhere for the weekend and we ended up with finalizing on Las Vegas. It was a 9 hrs journey (according to Google Maps), which we could do in a rented car and I had the rented car :)
It turned out that I would be the only person who would be the driver as none of the other 3 had driven a car safely in India or the US [the less said of my driving skills, the better :)]. But, I was the only guy who had the car, so the others had to bear with that.
The journey start itself was uneventful, with us reaching a cruising speed of about 100-110 as soon as we touched the freeways. And then it happened. I was going around 80 miles on this stretch of a by-pass we had taken, supposedly a shorter route after filling up on gas, when suddenly I saw the traffic ahead was slowing down and coming to a stand still :(... and i just had the time to jam on the brakes and bring the car down a gear when we bumped into a car in front :). The guy came out flexing his muscles and I was a bit apprehensive, I also had got out and we shook hands and then with the cars at the back yelling at us, we slid with the cars over to the corner; exchanged numbers and drove off.
Reached Las Vegas sometime in the morning of next day at around 8 in the morning, after an almost 11 hrs journey with breaks and booked ourselves into the Extended Stay America motels. This one was near the casinos and we would not have had to walk too much, but still we had the car. The heat had started... and we could feel the same. Went on the car to the place they call 'The Strip' where all the big and famous casinos are situated. Parked the car in one of the free parking zones which are situated there in a breakfast and casino joint and went in to start with meals and games :D
Overall a great trip and we even managed to look up the Hoover Dam, which is shown in the movie 'The Transformers'. Will be putting in more about this journey in a better format later. Right now only as a placeholder :)

Cauvery Fishing Camp - Bheemeshwari

काउवेर्य ट्रेकिंग ट्रिप
Originally uploaded by gagneet.

We were to start on this Team trip (sponsored by the Company) early in the morning, when we would be getting a pickup near our house. Most of the crowd was arriving at the office complex and the rest would have to be picked up on the way to the trekking spot. Got a bit late due to the late arrivals at the office complex. Finally, we started off around an hour and a half late. The journey was good, with our former boss showing up in full regila of a mumbai bhai and acting in the same manner :)
Had a big session of antakshri on the way and enjoyed it throughly too. The journey was a typical bus road journey with the roads in fairly good condition till we finally began to approach the hills and then started the upward drive (on the way also went ahead and bought a bat and ball to play cricket with). We reached the camp around 11; after starting around 7:40 from near my place in JP Nagar. It was a journey of around 115 kms in total (one way). On reaching we were given the welcome drinks and then we got on to our journey/trek up the hillside. It was the first time I realised that I was not in form for such a thing :(
The trek uphill really stretched me to the limit and by the time I was on the top, my legs seemed to be shaking - weakness!! It seems like I have not been having any nutritious diet, but a diet where my palate is only satisfied. I need to improve on that. Climbing the lookout point, I actually felt my legs quiver under me. Then Rafi and JP came up and we decided to continue downhill and try to reach the river bank. We had almost made it till the end, when we finally decided to go back as the others would be waiting. The journey back was really a bad one, with me huffing and puffing all the way up. It finally ended with us drinking all the water in JP's bag and reaching the lookout point again. Had a quick photo session there, before heading back downhill, back to the fishing camp.
Lunch had been served there and it tasted really yummy after all that tiring stretch up and down hill. After that we had a long session of lazying around on the Web. This was a mesh of ropes tied to the ropes and one could jump up and down these to simulate a feeling of lightness which really was soothing... :)
After a lot of monkey sessions, we went on a gondola ride into the river. (the picture taken is of there only). The journey back was uneventful. And then we went for drinks at LoR. But, that being crowded, landed in Filling Station for a quick beer and vodka session. :D

Trip to Hyderabad

It just happened that Gautam and me decided to go on a car trip to the famed city of Hyderabad. Actually, it was more driven by Anshul, who wanted to go on a long drive and have the 'fun' of a car drive. Well! everything started off fine, we got up EARLY in the morning and got ready to leave for the city. It was going to be Gautam and I driving, with the back seat converted to a sleeping den. And so, promptly after getting off from home, I dropped off to sleep... :-D
The drive would have been almost uneventful, except that when I took over the wheel, things began to get wobbly. I realised that after we had driven a couple of kilometers, the car was dragging towards the right... [hmm!! now that was odd!! :P]. So stopped, at the nearest 'dhaba' that I could locate on the road side, and looked up the tires, and lo and behold!!, the front tire was bust. So we got down to changing the tire and finally managed it with a few superficial burns [the tire! the tire! it was hot stupid]. Just then when we finished and looked up what do we see but a 'puncture' repair shop right next to the 'dhaba'. Okie! don't want another of your wise cracks, we then went over to it and asked him to repair the wheel. With that done we continued the "almost" uneventful journey. Oh! yeah forgot to mention, that would have been the first day in both Anshul and Gautam's working life that they had woken up @ 5 in the morning and kept awake well upto almost 1 in the night [except for both catching a few winks now and then during the journey and @ Gautam's home]... :-D
Finally reached Hyderabad [actually Secunderabad, where Gautam's Dad has his official Railway's Mansion] and promptly plonked off to sleep. Woke up with the usual, Anshul yelling at us that we are lazy good for nothings and that her friend was coming to pick her up and she was going and... and... . So managed to pick our lazy bums and get around to looking decent. But, still Gautam managed to look like the GranDad to Anshul's friends, who mistook him for his Father... :-P
Went out to the [dirty, stinking] lake and also had some Ice Cream before that with Gautam, his Mother and Sister. Finally, had to keep awake till around midnight when Anshul finally came back preening like a hen and showing off her friend who had come back from the US to join MS India operations. The next day dawned and we went off to see the Nizam's jewels and the Fort. Jewels were Ok, there were a few rare pieces around [still am unable to comprehend why people crowd around these stones and are all Ohhh!! Ahhh!! when they see them]; they look nothing special to me!! So, we proceeded to the fort and went right till the top. There was a dance sequence being shot for some movie down there and we could make out some boy/girl [don't ask who] trying to get the dancers to get their steps right. Gautam and Anshul were as expected - exhausted [;)], when we reached the top and so let them catch their breath [oh! yeah the scenario below was also breath taking] while i had the chips and thums up from the utility shop there... :-)

Came back the next day with Gautam driving most of the way and I driving at the worst patches where he could not manage... :-P

Bangalore Weekend Trip

So it happened that I went on another fun trip to Bangalore...
It was just this long weekend, with a holiday on a Tuesday and Monday could also be adjusted with the various compensatory holidays. Just made the decision on the spur and a little bit of cajolling from Rishi and I was off with tickets booked and ready. The flight on Kingfisher airlines was as eventful as can be, after being served all the goodies and then getting on to the nice roomy cool seat to sleep. [Actually, I ended up reading a book - How would you move Mt. Fuji?]. This is one about how MS conducts interviews [the bad view] + how you can improve your traits and qualities to gain more in life and also confidently face any interview panel [the good view]. I have as yet to finish off with this...

On reaching Bangalore, was picked up by Gautam and Rishi [have to really do something about this, as I had ditched him last time he was in Delhi]. Went over to my old pad and had a good talk on things and what was going on, along with checking up the movie 'EuroTrip' on the home theatre. Went to sleep late and then had to get up early [5 AM] for the trip as it was scheduled to start around 6 AM. Reached the Office around 6, but as usual Nihit rang to inform that he had just woken up and would be there only by 7... :-(

The trip was arranged for a place called Kemmannagundi, then on to Jog Falls and Gokarna Beaches and back. This was supposed to be a 4 day trip [to be completed in 3 nights and 3.5 days :-)]. We started off fine and even reached Chikmagalur via Belur [saw the temple there again, just a short visit for Anjali and Nihit to admire it] around 12, a distance of around 230 KMs. After this we got lost in the scenic beauy of the places around. It was just too good a road to not stop and check out the scenic scenery being offered by the Baba Budannagiri Range of hills. We almost had a stop every 5-10 minutes or so, with each one of us popping out of the windows ready to take photos [i missed bringing my camera for the same... :-(]. Finally, we reached a point somewhat around 4 KMs from Kemmannagundi, where we reliased that we were trapped from the front by a simple land slide which had occured recently. [it had been raining intermittently for the whole trip making things look all the more brighter [although not for Nihit, who was driving and making all sorts of excuses for the potholed bumpy ride that he was conditioning us to :-D]. So finally it happened that we had to turn back with an extremely low fuel condition and go back to Chikmangalur [on the way picking up some fuel from a wayside shop]. Ate dinner at a place and made the mistake of not booking a room for the night, so landed up searching and finally found a somewhat decent place called Giri Lodge [room rent was 150 a night].

Woke up again next morning for a trip back to Kemmannagundi, taking the main state highway this time [which also turned out to be a scenic place, via Lingadahalli]. Kemmannagundi turned out to be a mystic place up in the hills with a good resort run by the Horticulture department, but it was full, one needs to book in advance, specially when going for holidays [contact: 08261-237126]. Nihit had decided on staying on, but the accomadation was not availble hence had to move onto Jog Falls, via Tarikere [route 206]. Jog Falls was a different kind of experience, it cannot be called all that awe-inspiring, but the place where the water actually becomes the falls can be seen enroute. This place was good. It did justice to the falls, with the gushing water and one can see that it is actually going ahead with strong currents, like they show on TV when a boat is about to go into the fall [reminded of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom fall]. The falls were deep and one were not able to check out the place where they actually meet the riverbed below, as the section was cordoned off.


Onto Gokarna we went then, following the route 206. On the way we stopped at a typical sleepy townside of Honnavar. This place is the ideal setting for when you wish to retire. Having all the amenities + the peacefulness of a small town. The stay was good and pleasant, also here bagan the process of bringing Nihit to terms with himself :-)

We had a long debate on this, which finally cumulated to the time we came back to Banaglore and Nihit agreeing to undergo a change if enough people told him so... :-D

All in all a good trip and enjoyed it throughly. The trip back was on IndiGo Airlines, this was an uneventful one and on reaching got picked up by Digjinder and Honey. Finally reached home at 0100 Hrs. Ready for the next day in Office... :-)

Belur Temples

This weekend I made a quick surprise visit to Bangalore to check up on some of my colleagues and friends there. It was an exciting weekend and I went around quite a bit, although was unable to meet up with most of the guys and gals there...
Went to a place called Belur, it is famous for its temple and intricate carvings of figurines. The temple is devoted to Shiva and depicts Shiva in the form of a lady, who came to kill a Danaav. It truly was a really interesting place and without the guide to go around with is not worth it, the guide informs you on what all is there and makes you see the intricacies which are in-built into each and every statuette which is present there. Also, he does give you a brief history of the place as to the fact that it took 3 generations and 103 years to complete the main section and that it is composed of soft stone carvings, which you can see from the light showered on the same as to the intricacy and fine work that has gone into making the same.

Also, the figurine of Shiva is in the form of a woman. This has been built in the prefect shape, with a symmetry of the forehead, nose and jaw and the complete face length equal to the width of the waist. Also, this is for all guys, if your wife or GF has a longer second finger, then she will be dominating, so if choosing a GF or a wife, first check out her second finger of the foot... :-D