Trip to Hampi with friends Deepa and Shivakami - 25th May to 31st May 2000

This was our first trip together with out our family or any organization's assistance (No guardians). So it was a great trip towards independence and to learn about our past.

We were put up at Hospet which is the nearest railway station and place to stay when any one visits Hampi as Hampi is just 12kms from Hospet. This was a trip with my friends Deepa and Shivakami.

We used to take daily morning bus to Kamalapura which is a half an hour drive from Hospet. Kamalapura has the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) office. On our first day which was a Friday, entrance to all the temples was free. So we went by ourselves without much guidance and we walked and walked seeing only major temples, but best are those which most tourist don't even see as these temples have been destroyed during the great war (Battle of Talikota - 1565) and so they are not worshiped any more, but they tell us a great story just by looking at them. So our first day at hampi was the worst day, as we did not see what we came here to see. Well we were tired and felt wasted. We did not plan well. and Hampi is vast and dry place.

So the next day we walked from Kamalapura which has few other must visit monuments like Queens bath Lotus mahal and Mahanavami Dibba, well in Mahanavami Dibba we were tired and we were resting and Deepa found a Gardner working far away, he was the Only other human other than us there, she went behind him and found out that he is a ASI employee and had accompanied archeologist during some of the excavations here. He showed interest to show us his work place THE GRAND VIJAYANAGAR EMPIRE, which would take minimum of 2 months to study. but we had just 3 days. So he agreed to show us some "not so visited" places in Hampi. We started visiting unique and beautiful monuments and we got special permission for the next 3 days from the chief archeologist. So special permission to see recent excavations. it was wonderful experience, the guide with us explained us so well it was as if we were living it. He told us a story about Tanaliramakrishna and his King Krishnadavaraya who ruled this place. He said this story when we were at Mahanavami Dibba.

Mahanavami Dibba which is said to be Krishnadavaraya's Palace, the building is not there now because it was believed and analyzed that the palace was built using wood and during Talikota war with the Muslim invaders, that they might have burnt the place down. The story goes this way. Once King Krishnadavaraya asked all his ministers in the office, if any one can build a taller building than the King's Palace in one day. Tanali Rama Krishna went on top of a mountain which is opposite to the King's Palace and placed few piller's and a slabs on top of it. When the King got up early in the morning he saw a shelter on top of the mountain so he call's his help to know about the structure that had come over night. His help had no clue. When he meets his office to find out if any one were successful in building a taller building than his palace. Tanali stands up asks him how the King missed the sight of the tallest building when he got up early morning. So smart was Tanali, even till date Tanali's shelter which is called as Tanali Rock can be seen from anywhere in Hampi.

The best time visit Hampi is just before Monsoon as it windy and not so Hot. During sun set the big big boulders give Hampi its beauty. During Sunset we were at Mathanga Parvata well Mathanga is a Sage and Parvata meaning Mountain. Sage Mathanga's daughter's name is Pampa hence Hampi. At sunset we could witness the Golden days of Hampi, the huge boulders were shining like Gold with the sun's rays falling on them. During those days Hampi was in its best time, they were selling gold like vegetables are sold today.

The next 2 days with our guide Basheer we walked in the morning and evening we hired 2 bicycle me in one as I had to double one and Deepa and Shivakami peddled by turn. We cycled on rocks (rock biking). I was having time of my life. We could cover more excavated places and saw much more. We saw lot of foreign tourist in these "not so visited" places. They had come to Hampi just like us to learn the great culture sadly they were all foreigners. I have observed something in this trip we Indians never give any importance to the great things that we have but those foreigners who have come from far away land stand in front of one monument for hours together with a book in their hand and appreciate each and every inch of the sculptures our forefathers have created. When we do that study we will understand that we were no less than the great empires or civilization of the world.

There is an ASI museum in Kamalapura. I advice all to go to this place first and see miniature model of the entire Hampi that have been excavated, which will give a better knowledge of the place.

Well we saw about 58 monuments in 5 days and still we have managed to see just 20% of the Ruined city. I give all the credit to the ASI as its only because of them that we can see our history in front of us as in monuments and stories sculpted on its boulders. Before ASI started excavating 99% of what we see today was under sand and mud and only one Virupaksha Temple was intact, which is worshiped even today.

Do visit Hampi it's yours and mine.

Picture Source : www.hampi.in

Trip to Himachal - June 2008

Mahesh wanted to take time off from his work for a week or so. We were thinking which place to visit in the month of June (beginning of Monsoon). We like ‘soft’ adventure activities so we searched on the internet and found Paragliding and Rafting in Manali and best time to visit for such activities was between May – June. So we started planning our vacation at Himachal Pradesh. We found Chandigarh to be the nearest connecting city to Manali. Since Shimla is a crowded city we decided to visit Kasauli instead which is 65kms from Chandigarh. It took 3hrs from Chandigarh to Kasauli by road. Kasauli is a quite hill town, with not much tourist and tourist spots. There is this “Manki Point” (that’s how locals call it) which is in a Air force Base,( High security, no cameras or Bags allowed) There is this Hanuman Temple on top. From the Air force Gate to the temple should be 1km walk …last 500mts there is a steep climb to the top, with the mist and the sounds of temple bells on the way were a motivating factor to reach on top. Legend has it Lord Hanuman’s feet brushed on this hill on his way to get Sanjeevani Herb for Lord Laxman. Apart from this there is nothing much to see… we went exploring this town by foot … It was getting foggy and sunny every 2mins so it was fun walking, gazing at some of the colonial houses. We stayed here for 2 days. 3rd day we had a long 7hrs journey by road to Manali. We took a less used route till Gagash, (not a short cut) to reach Manali.
We took SH9 instead of NH21 from Dharampur > Kunihal > Arki > Bilaspur (before entering the town take right) > Gagash on NH88 > Mandi Dist on NH 21 (we had our lunch at Hotel Raja) > Sundarnagar (bypass) > Pandho Dam > 3kms tunnel > Autt > Kullu > Manali. We reached Manali in the evening and we were tired after a long journey.
Day 1 We started early for sightseeing tour of Manali at around 8.30am which is early in this part of the world, which gave us a good head start or else it gets crowded by around 10AM on words. We 1st went to Hidimba Temple. The temple is surrounded by a cedar forest. Temple has intricately carved wooden doors. It has three square roofs covered with timber tiles and a fourth brass cone-shaped roof at the top. In the same premise there is Ghatothkach Temple. Ghatothkach is the son of Hidimba and Bhima (one of the Pandavas). Then we went to Vashist Kund, which has Hot springs just 10 steps from the Temple. Then we went to Tibetan Gompa and Van Vihar, which is a mini forest of deodar trees, River Beas flows through it. River Beas flows through the center of Manali – Kullu. It starts from Rohtang Pass. Since it was lunch hour Van Vihar was not that crowded. We had our lunch at Original Sher-e-punjab dhaba on Mall road, which was recommended by someone else in the World Wide Web. It was good recommendation we enjoyed our lunch. There are 2-3 Sher-e-punjab dhaba’s on mall road, we did not try the rest. After lunch we proceeded to Manu Rishi Temple. This is 3kms from Manali. This temple is dedicated to Rishi Manu from whom human race is said to have started. This land was known as 'Land of Manu' and was later renamed Manali after him. Legend has it that when Manu Rishi came to this village he requested for a glass of milk, the lady of the house could not provide him milk as her cow had gone out to graze. Therefore Manu Rishi told her to milk the calf. To her surprise the calf was able to provide milk then he told the villagers to dig the cow shed and to their surprise they found idols of God… these idols are kept in Manu Rishi Temple to this day. There is a co-operative house where they sell shawls beside Manu Rishi Temple where we got a shawl for factory price.
Day 2 we had kept for Rohtang Pass which is 51kms from Manali. Our driver had advised us to start as early as 4am as roads leading to Rohtang pass is narrow and most of the time there are trucks stuck. As per his advice we left at 4.30am our hotel had given us packed breakfast. We were asked to hire jump suite as it will be very cold on top. It took us 4hrs to reach Rohtang pass as the road was blocked for some time coz of trucks. On our way we could see snow capped Himalaya. It is majestic. 'Rohtang' in Tibetan language means a house of corpses. Perhaps this name has been given to the pass due to the chain of accidental deaths that occurred here from time to time. The weather is unpredictable and fast wind blows in the afternoon. The pass remains open from June – December. This time Boarder Road Organization had cleared the road in the month of April itself. Even in the month of June there were portion of mountains covered in snow. We enjoyed sliding and falling on snow as it was our first time seeing snow. We were at Zero Point at altitude of 13050 feet above sea level. The same road leads to Leh which is in Ladhak, which has the highest motor-able road in the world. On our way back we saw Rahala Falls and we did para-gliding at Rohtang… They charge much more than Salong valley but scenery is beautiful at Rohtang than at Salong valley. They charge around 600/- but can reduce if bargained harder. Rohtang Pass takes almost entire day and it’s a hectic journey to the top and return.
Day 3 We wanted to do white water rafting today as weather was not permissible we decided to visit Naggar Castle and Art Gallery. The house and art work of Nicholas Roerish is in a pictures location, we enjoyed this trip. Castle too is beautifully carved in wood in typical Himachal architecture. Castle is now restored and converted into Hotel and Restaurant by Himachal Tourism Department. We had our lunch in the same castle which has amazing view of the hills.
Day 4 We left Manali and returned to Chandigarh (9hrs by road). Back to Mumbai.

My Recomendation:
Place to stay: Kasauli - Hotel Kasauli Regency, Kasauli Castle, Kasauli Resort.
Manali - Snow Valley Resort.
Place to Eat : Kasauli - Gyani Da Dhaba (Dharampur), Hotel Hemkunt Kasauli
Mandi - Highway Hotel: Hotel Raja.
Manali - Mall road Original Sher-e-punjabi. Snow Valley Resort
Log Hut area.

Anshi Nature Camp - Dec 2007

We came to know about Anshi Camp from a friend of us, who had been there. So we planned our trip from Mumbai to Goa and Holiday in Goa at Majorda Beach for 3 Nights, then we had arranged for a 4 Wheeler from Goa to Anshi (NH17). our driver did not know the route to Anshi, so we did our research on Google and with help of Google earth we found out that before Karwar , we have to take left at Sadashivgad a small village, then on we were waiting for sign post which we never saw , we were looking for Kadra, we were not sure if we were in the right track...road is bad...we found Kadra and saw a signpost which read Kadra dam. That's good now next stop is Anshi town. we saw a shop and stoped to ask him he said this is Anshi with 1 shop, a house, and Forest Range office... Shopkeeper said we need to take next right to reach Anshi Nature Camp. At last we reached. Since we had not got our confirmation letter regarding our reservation, we were asked to go back to Range office and confirm on that, and they said they would keep our lunch ready. Anshi town has one phone (solar phone) so range office confirmed our reservation at Dandeli office and all done and we were hungry and got hot hot lunch, relished it and relaxed on the hammock. and hour latter, care taker cum trekking guide told us he is free to take us for a trek. We went for a 5kms trek and was nice nature walk. Don't expect any local animals to visit you. Anshi is the only forest in India where Black Panthers are found, later came to know there are only 7 in number, so they are no where to be seen... View from the summit was breath taking. We realized there is nothing other than trekking at Anshi, so next day we decided to go to Dandeli, Kulgi Camp (where we had been in 2006) and went for a mid day Kali River rafting for the second time, It was refreshing... since it was our second time on the same controlled rapids we did not have that much thrill as we had when we did for the first time... anyway was a day well spent. then back at Anshi and relishing dinner and next day after breakfast we decided to go to some beach near Karwar. By the time we came near Karwar it was lunch time and decided no point going to beach so late as we may get stuck in traffic in Goa in the evening ( that's what our driver suggested) so we had our lunch Karnataka - Goa border a expected Udupi Hotel. On the way we purchased Goa souvenirs, cashew, Wine and reached Narayan Kaka's house where we staid as our train was booked next day morning.