Dandeli : an adventure destination

Tired and worn out but still the flashes of weekend trip to dandeli keeps me going and as i sit here in Office( oh yeah...I am so excited to pen down each bit of fun before it fades away) , I want to spill out and record each moment of this adventurous trip.

Dandeli is a picturesque city set amidst the backdrop of the Western Ghats. Dandeli city is located at the bank of river kali in Uttarkannada district, which is 117 km from Karwar, 75 km from hubli, 57 km from Dharwad, 481 km from Bangalore. It is very famous for wild sanctuary, white water rafting, Syntheri rock and forest resorts.

Since we had just 2 days on weekend for this trip , we were on customized itinary. we reached hubli by 7 am in morning and our jeeps were already waiting there , ready to take us on ride. All the more excited , I decided to sit in open cover jeep with 2 other group members and its the decision I am really proud of.
Travel by jeep with experienced guides who will take you on the adventure of a lifetime, and delve deep into the natural habitat was amazing. Dandeli was very far away from hubli and it took us 2 hours to reach the place. We had a bumpy ride in open jeep amidst the picturesque jungle of dandeli .I enjoyed standing on the jeep behind and feel the force of the wind against my face in early morning.The open skies and huge trees around , was totally a add-on.

After wonderfull ride , we reached Stanley's Farm , Our lodge . An ideal place to stay with farm settings in backdrop. You can find ponies, emu's , ducks , swan , dogs, fishes, crab, cows at the farm which gives you total rustic feeling about the place.

We started for first activity of the day, River crossing, which seemed very easy at first but very hard on muscles later. You need a lot of strength in arms to pull yourself forward on rope.

After a very delicious breakfast and lunch, we got ready with our raffting gear and jackets. As we sat on our rafts and listened to instructions from our instructor , i could feel the chill running down my spine. we zipped through the gurgling water , cutting and conquering it with our rowing skills. the first rapid , HORNBILL (yeah, tats was its name) , was level 4+ . Though the name of the river was KALI, the water was so sweet and crystal clear that we drank it and enjoyed the taste.

Thrilling , Mesmerising and guts challenging , After our dare devil act, we jumped over our jeep and rode back to our farm to enjoy the night amidst bon fire- tents and Stars :)

After having dinner , we were ready for more exploration and fun so decided to have a walk around jungle in dark . we switched off all our torches and talked about gosts and spooky things. Seeing the insects shining like tube and 2 eyes staring at us somewhere far from bushes , I was all spooked UP :P . we returned to camp and sat around fire to discuss more better and useless things .(though it became more of a debate ).

Early morning , we woke up and got ready to trek to SUPA DAM . it was a small 3 KM trail in all . But the early morning breeze and superb surrounding made it fun .

The view of supa dam was like a computer wallpaper stuff . we played childish games like throwing stones in the water with 3 ripples, 7 ripples etc. , sang the songs and even danced .

We tried an awesome home made dosa and chutney at one of the local place . A must eat for breakfast in dandeli and moved to conquer the last item on our list , water jacuzzi .

This was the second best part of trip after raffting. The gushing waters of river Kali giving you a natural massage . I realized , How powerful and mighty the nature is. It can be blessing in form of water and in next instant it can become a curse .I admire that we are blessed with such wonders around us and we ruthlessly destroy them .On our way back , we stopped on way to enjoy the Farms and nature's different shades .

With sad hearts we packed our tents and stuff to return to hyderabad. As I turned back for the last look of this place , I decided this is not the end and I shall come back here again . This place require more days to understand and appreciate it . hope to come here soon .

East Godavari Beach Trek : Antarvedi to Karavaka

There is always something about beach that attracts everyone towards it. In the noise of the waves, we discover the calmness inside heart .So I RSVP'd for this trek looking to find calmness inside and I got more than I expected .
We reached narsapur on 5th nov. after the much fun filled train journey ( how can i forget those ultimate games of UNO ) and started our trek from antravedi towards karvaka . Soon I realized that its Going to be a long and ardous trek with no fun and just a stroll along the beach in scorching sun . Though at the end i realized how much wrong i was . The beach at antravedi has been the most clean and beautiful beach I have seen till date. With almost no villager in sight , it was US , left to start our fling with nature .

The palm trees fencing on 1 side and gentle breeze caressing your face and body , you almost forget all your worries and start absorbing the beauty around you. We saw like millions of crabs on the beach and even tried to catch one ( believe me this is a skill, i still need to acquire ) .

Strolling bare footed for full 14 KM on first day and playing frisbee as we go along was fun. The day ended soon in the company of wonderful friends and lap of nature and we decided to halt for the day and setup our tents.

Though however mundane , Its always fun to build a tent with friends and play another tiring game of frisbee . We had a couple of knowledge sharing session courtesy arun (trek organizer) who taught us how to identify footprints of wild animals by drawing them on sand. Also had antakshri and senseless talks on random topics with all friends and watching the sunset over the trees.

The part I enjoyed most is sitting on beach in moonlight with foot in sand and watching waves come and go .Its like feeling closer to beauty of earth and admiring how beautiful the life is. To see those millions of jewels shining in the black sky and gazing at the glory of universe . It makes you realize that you are nothing but a tiny creature lost in this vastness of sky and water.
So after all the star gazing and identifying constellations , we started the remaining trek at 3 am next morning. Collecting shells as we move on , walking with crabs , finding fishes and finding Jelly Fish , rolling over the flower bed on the shore and riding on waves , there is so much to 2nd day that just can't be explained in words .I sang as i frolic barefoot in the water along the beach. We reached the village and waited for everyone to join. Played around with goats in the fields and ate watever stock was left with us (by jhansi, our food mart ) . we reached the bus station to continue our onward journey .

The best part of journey is watching the sunrise on the beach . Its like a feast to eyes to watch such immense activities of nature and assimilate them .

A holiday by a beach brought all the strength and pleasure after the much boring life of ours in city. Will cherish those moments forever .

Kundalika Raffting and singhad fort trek

I wanted to go for raffting from a very long time but was not somehow able to make plan. When i saw Kundalika raffting and singhad fort trek event on GHAC then immediately registered for it .
17 september , we reached pune and sytarted for our trek to Singhad fort trek .Sinhagad, is a fortress located roughly 30 kilometres southwest of the city of Pune, India. It is situated on a hill rising 800 metres above the surrounding countryside.Perched on an isolated cliff of the Bhuleswar range of the Sahyadri Mountains, its height above sea-level is 1350 metres. It was quite sunny when we started our trek and i was cursing the sun throughout but halfway through the trek the sun was covered by the clouds and it was much more fun to trek the hill now. Me and 3 other people from the group were much ahead the trek so we had ample of opportunities to explore off trails which added to much more fun. I learnt new tricks of climbing the steep places ( courtesy the experienced trekkers with me) . Finally we reached singhad fort around 5 pm in evening.

The view from top was exhilarating. The hill was covered in fog and mist. We were drenched in rain and fog and shivering from cold. it was a mystic experience and i can say that september is surely the time to go trekking this place.

 After having clicked a few pics on the top and being satisfied with our achievement, we started looking for something hot to eat and nothing can compare to the hot pakodas with chai. We ate like 3 plates of pakodas and 2 cups of chai in this awesome weather .

We returned back to pune by bus . while most of the people were resting, 4 of us in group had awesome fun playing cards whole night. morning 3 am , we all started our journey to kundalika for raffting. Here is a brief description of kundalika :
Kundalika is a small, relatively unknown yet extremely beautiful river of Maharashtra. It is located in Sahyadris in Maharashtra's highest rainfall areas. This along with the fact that the river is fed by excess water from series of hydroelectric projects and dams, most important being, Tata Power's Mulshi Dam Project, makes it ideally suited for White Water Rafting. A river stretch of 10 kms, beginning at village Saje has been found to be exciting yet safe for River Rafting.
So we all excited plunged into the raffting gear as soon as we reached there. After learning the few nuances of raffting , we started our river journey. there were 6 rapids in total of level 3 .

Since it was my first raffting, I enjoyed a lot. Falling in and out of raft, diving in river and floating with water etc. was soo adventurous. enroute to saje village , we enjoyed seeing majestic waterfalls and beautiful scenery. they were just icing on the cake to this wonderful trip .

With lot of memories to cherish and a group of wonderfull new friends , I just bid good bye to this place. hope to be here again to enjoy this naive beauty of nature .

Mallelateertham Trek

It has been a very long time since I had gone out on weekends so decided to join for Mallelateertham trek . here is brief description of the place :

Nallamala forest, We Hyderabadis are gifted with this place just about 180kms away ... a descend of about 500-600ft and this takes you to the spot which seems like a spring burst out of the seams of the heavens. Literally meaning a 'Shower of Jasmines', Mallelateertham is a waterfall showering from a height of about 110ft. A wonderful lush canopy covers the nearby areas.

As described , it stands true to its name.Playing with water is always fun and to top it with the exquisite beauty of nallamalai forest, a really tempting trek . We all started from hyderabad aroung 5 am in morning on one fine sunday and reached nallamalai by 9 pm. After listening to the instructions from the organizer , we started our trek into the forest . Though it was very sunny at that time , but the terrain and excitement of finding our way to last waterfall made us going .

Soon we reached our first waterfall and felt the sense of achievement . There were 6 more waterfalls to be discovered before reaching the final destination.

climbing the rocks and hills while following the water stream , seems like we were back to our childhood days . A little difficult terrain for first timers like me , made it more fun for us.

After 2 and half hours, we reached our final waterfall . we were so happy to have reached the destination after so much of trekking and hiking in sun that we immediately went into the waterfall .

The cool water of falls energised our spirits . We jumped in the last pond.Though it was a muddy pond , but the natural surroundings made us go all wild and natural. After swimming and having fun for 1 hour in the pond , we felt refreshed as if all the tensions of life have been swept away in the water . we took so many dives into the water and splashed it all around .

We were all very hungry so took out our stock of food and started devouring whatever we had. As i sat there , I wished if we can live like this forever amidst these trees, birds and waterfalls. Take bath in pond everyday and admire the wonders of nature.

We started back our journey as it was getting late . We soon retraced the path back in just one and half hour as we were now more familiar with the surroundings and trails.Since we were back soon so we thought of going further to srisailam and see the Dam gates which we heard were opened due to excess water in dam. I would really thank my stars that we decided to visit it. For the mere sight of it was majestic . We just stood there on the corner of roads staring at the flow of water from DAM . we can even feel the water breeze far away from the DAM .

 All the adventure , antakshri games and dance we had in bus took a toll on us and we were super tired . I cam e back home and slept like a baby after a very long time . It was the best sleep i had in ages .
An AWESOME trek , would love to go there again if i get a chance .

First Trek : Hampi on Wheels

There was always a traveller in me wanting to go out and never realized it before I went for my first trek. My first trek made me realize that how much i was missing from life . There is so much around us to learn and feel . So here is the brief desciption of my first trek to hampi.
One of my friend who is a trek organizer invited me to join on hampi trip . I RSVP'ed for it to try out the trek and it turned out to be an awesome experience .

So here is the brief description i read about the place which got me all excited and curious to visit it :

Hampi is the destroyed capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Located amidst a beautiful setting of small hills such as Matunga and Rishyamuka, the river Tungabhadra flows ferociously through the town. Hampi is glorified by the patronage of its kings to art and architecture. Housing the greatest talents of the time, the city grew extensively to become the capital of South India under the rule of Krishna Deva Raya. The city hosted numerous temples and buildings that spreaded over a radius of over 10km. Although the city is now in ruins, it is wonderful to visualize the wonderful empire located in a unique Deccan setting of hills, boulders, farms, forest and a river.

Well so we started for hospet by bus from MGBS bus station(hyd) and reached there on 23 july EARLY morning around 4 am. After a wonderful ride in auto to Hampi we reached our base and started a quest to Matunga Hills. Cool Early morning breeze and beautiful natural settings made it all the more fun.Seeing the sunrise from Hill top was like a dose to the eyes which are tired of missing it in city life .

After the sunrise , we began our way back to lodge to refresh and get ready for our tryst with the history of hampi. We hired the cycles and refuelled ourselves with heavy brunch .

 Our First stop was the museum in hampi showcasing the tools and statues of vijaynagar times . since all of us were driving bycycles for the first time so didn't know we will make so many stops to reach our first place .

The museum was not that much fun for us who were looking forward to more adventure so we quickly wind up there and headed to the other ruins on our way. After visiting few small ruins of temple and watch towers, we entered the Hazararama Temple in royal zone.The temple is known for its sculpted friezes depicting the Ramayana, in three tiers, running all around the main shrine, and the narrative sculptures of the Lava-Kusha story on the Devi shrine.We moved on to see Zenana Enclosure and Queen's Palace, Band tower, watch tower , queen's bath ,Elephant Stables, Guards Quarters and other small places and was trying to imagine the life of that place during vijayanagara empire. One beauty I can't miss upon is a Lotus Mahal , a  beautiful little two-storey pavilion, situated within the 'Zenana' Enclosure, is one of the finest examples of Indo-Islamic architecture .The Royal Enclosure was indeed majestic . this fortified area is scattered with a number of interesting relics, including the Mahanavami Dibba, the King's Audience Hall and a huge stepped tank.

Finally, On our way back , we visited the krishna and ganesha temple and returned our cycles. all worn out and hungry , we reached Mango tree ( a divine place for diner's at hampi) . Walking through the pathway light up by fireflies and sitting near the banks of tungabhadra , it was a mystic experience. we ordered an insane no of dishes and ate insane amount of food and thanks to the hospitality and rustic feeling you get in mango tree ( a never to miss place in Hampi ).

After sleeping barely for 3 hours , we got up next day at 3 am to visit the remaining places. We started with achyutaraya temple and Vittala temple. We saw the famous stone chariot at vittala temple and ruins of bazaars . We crossed tungabhadra river by a coracle ride , its a small circular boat , to reach anjaneya temple (the birth place of lord hanuman) . Coracle ride was the most fun part of the trip . Still can't help laughing at the scary expressions we had when we sat in it.

Back after climbing 573 steps of temple , we came back to visit Virupaksha temple and shop around in the hampi bazaar. I m glad that i brought a few brass items to cherish and remind me of hampi forever. Finally , the time came to bid adieu to the wonderful trip and return back to hyderabad.

Each stone and wall in hampi has its own history to tell . Make sure you get a glimpse of yourself in 15 century by seeing all the architectural beauty around Hampi . ADIOS HAMPI !!