My Travels in 2004

Trip to Mysore with college friends on Jan 3^rd and 4^th. (Shatabadi Express)

Start to 2004 with a Mysore trip. Mysore sight seeing trip, places covered include palace, zoo, chamundi hills and KRS.

The best was the journey to Bangalore from Mysore in Shatabadi Express.

Trip to Mysore with college friends on Jan 3^rd and 4^th. (Shatabadi Express)

Start to 2004 with a Mysore trip. Mysore sight seeing trip, places covered include palace, zoo, chamundi hills and KRS.

The best was the journey to Bangalore from Mysore in Shatabadi Express.

KSTDC pkg tour to Mysore srirangapattana (Feb)

KSTDC pkg tour includes srirangapattana also.

Belur and Halebedu with friends. March 27th

It was a KSTDC pkg trip to Shravanbelgola, Belur and Halebedu. Belur and Halebedu very well known for their stone carvings built by Hoysala dynasty. Belur has more external beauty. Halebedu is known for its internal carvings. The Whole temple can be dismantled and reassembled again.

Bheemeshwari and village

We set off to CFC and my village. On a Thunderbird with my friend to CFC and my village. We managed to do some joy fishing @ the backwaters of kaveri. We took a dip in the pond near to my village.

Nandi hills: May 30^th.

One RX135 and TVS, I couldn’t believe that my 70 CC vehicle to pull me up to the top of Nandi Hills. I enjoyed the ride on the ungeared vehicle. Got drenched completely in rain while heading back to Bangalore.

Team building @ kanakpura road

This is an official one, we had a team building@Angana resorts.

Off to Coimbatore for a Friends marriage 20^th and 21^st June

I left Sunday early morning in a train to Mysore, from there took a BUS to Coimbatore. The best was the drive through the jungle of Karnataka and Tamilnadu border. Luckily there was a CAR rally going on, I managed to see some lovely rally CARS. The mountains very fully covered with thick green grass. The drive from Hasnur to Sathi was lovely.

Hyderabad trip official: 21^st to 25^th June

I just managed to check in to Bangalore, immediately I had to leave to Hyderabad for training.

The MIST, the Marriage and the …….. 26^th and 27^th June

I just managed to land my foot back to Bangalore from Hyderabad and I had to leave to JOG falls.

It was around 7 am in the morning. The complete hill was surrounded with mist. After some time we were able to see the World Famous JOG falls.

We hired a Jeep and went to each tip of the water fall Raja, Rani, Roared and Rocket.

The best moment of the trip was the when I managed to reached the tip or Raja Water falls, Raja falls doesn’t hit the any rock before reaching the bottom.

We managed to get down the water falls, Climbing back was little bit tire some.

We managed to get the buses in right time and reached Chitradurga @ 7 pm. Checked in to Hotel AMOGA international.

Got up early morning and ready to attend friend’s marriage. Afternoon food was awesome.

We left to chitradurga fort the very same day.

Back to Bangalore on the very same day.

Rafting @ Sita River with office friends: July 3^rd and 4^th

Set off to Hebri via Kudremukh. It was about 5:30 early morning when we left the office. Nobody knew the exact route to the Rafting site. The drive to kudermukh was awesome, lovely tea plantation every where and lit of drizzle on top of that I was sitting on the Top of the vehicle. I had to get back in after entering the forest range. There very so many waterfalls created due to rain. We managed to visit Kudremukh dam. We enjoyed the stay @ Bhagavathi nature camp. River sita flowing with full flow and a cottage next to that, you can’t ask for more than this. There were leeches all over the places.

We had to do some cooking for the dinner.

Got up early morning and left to Rafting site, which is about 48 kms approx from Bhagavathi nature camp. River Sita flows all the way from Agumbe. Rafting is conducted by CARE ADVENTURE GROUP with well trained experts. Rafting is done only during rainy season. River level was 5+, everybody enjoyed the rafting in sita river. We managed to spot some birds and a peacock while rafting.

This place is easily accessible through BUS. Probably the best time to visit is between July and August. Sugama has regular BUS services to the camp site.

CFC on bikes: 10^th and 11^th July

This was for the first time I was riding a geared vehicle for a long ride. We had booked log huts for stay @ bheemaswari through jungle lodges. We set off on Saturday early morning. All together there were 4 in the gang. I enjoyed the ride from Sathnur to Muthathi. Butterflies were hitting the visor of the helmet. One side of the road was with mountains and other side was with river kaveri flowing with full flow.

Lazing on a Hammock, I went for a quick sleep within 10-15 mins. I think that was one of the best sleeps I ever had.

There was no luck in joy fishing, went for a boat ride before joy fishing.

The evening barbeque was good. Sitting next to the river bed with camp fire and sipping my favorite drink. Only thing which was missing was some music.

The food @ jungle lodges was excellent.

Wake up call @ 6:30 am, we managed to do a little bit of trekking for 3 kms to reach the nearby watch tower. I view from Watch tower was excellent. All the mountains were covered with thick green grass.

Mysore trip with family: August 22nd

This was my first trip with my family members after a long time.

A visit to Mysore Zoo turned out to be worthy. It has just rained the peacock was @ it best, full feathers opened and dancing in the rain. The flood gates were opened during this time. KRS was almost full.

Sangam on bikes: Sunday September 5^th

Back to Kankpura road with RX135, could manage to sleep only for some time the previous night. We left at 7 am in the morning. It was around 11 am when we reached chunchi falls. We managed to get very close to chunchi falls. From there we left to Sangam which is around 10 kms approx. The water level was almost up to the chest mark when we crossed to the river. We reached this place called Goat’s leap. Water was gushing through the rocks making loud noise. The best was the drive from Goat’s leap to Sangam on Top of a mini bus and the chunchi falls

It rained heavily while coming back. We reached Bangalore @ 7 pm.

Bandipur trek – September 25^th and 26^th

I decided to join for this trip @ the last minute. There was only one seat left for the trip.

This is my second trip with Care. This is an all expense paid trip. I had never been to Bandipur before. We left to Bandipur early morning 6:30 am from City Railway Station. All together we were 20, including the organizing team and the Doctor. We reached bandipur at 1 pm. We had a safari in the evening. We had the sighting of spotted deer, peacocks, samba deer, Gaur and elephants.

Deer’s covered the entire area near our cottages @ the night. Eyes of the deer were shining in the dark when we used our torches.

Got up pretty quickly early morning, went for a morning walk. The mist had covered the mountains completely. Deer’s were running around the campus.

After the breakfast we went for a trekking to Gopalswamy Betta. Gopal swamy betta is the border of Karnataka. Madhumali and Kerla are very nearby to this place.

The trek was good. One the members of the crew managed to spot a tiger. We had covered nearly about 5kms I think.

Left to Bangalore from Gopalswamy betta @ 5pm and reached Bangalore @ 10:30 pm

Hostel trip 18^th and 19^th September

We left to Alnavar on 17^th night in Rani Chennamma express. Alnavar is around 70 kms from Hubli. I enjoyed the train journey from Hubli to Alnavar, both sites of the track lush green fields covered with mist and due drops. We reached Alnavar around 7:30 in the morning. BCH had already got ready for the trip. The warden had everything planned in advance. After a quick shower and breakfast we left to Dandeli. Dandeli is known for paper mill and teak wood. We managed to get into the museum @ Dandeli wild life sanctuary. Safari was not possible since the track was full of slurry.

We visited 3 power plants on that day. The view from ambikanagar power plant was too good. Water is allowed to pass through the tunnel and passes through 6 huge pipes, which in turn rotates the turbines. The river Kali was with full flow.

We stayed @ Dharwad and boarded the inter city express on 19^th September.

Karwar trip 9^th and 10^th October

Click on the link below for more info on this trip.

http://www.geocities.com/avalanchegopi/karwar.html

Bike trip Oct 22^nd, 23^rd and 24^th (AOF)

Click on the link below for more info on this trip.

http://www.geocities.com/avalanchegopi/Biketrip.doc

Oct24th: Final race of 2004 (Brazil). It was an awesome race to watch JPM final race with BMW Williams with FW26 and P84 taking a chequered flag. I have captured the complete race commentary.

@ Press conference this is what JPM had to say. It has been 4 years with Williams I have had ups and downs. There is nothing like ending a season with a win.

GKVK: November 7^th

There was an article about krushi mela held @ GKVK on Saturday. I thought that probably the best time to visit would be early morning, to capture the due on the flowers. Got up @ 5:30 am and left to GKVK. GKVK is approx 20 kms from my place. To my disappointment I couldn’t see any flowers in the show. Just thought of spending some time around the campus and head back to home. Then I was about to leave, thought of asking someone if there is any other garden in and around the campus. Headed 3-4kms deep inside the campus to my surprise, there is a beautiful garden.

Managed to capture some snaps of fruits and flowers on my Digi cam.

Nagarhole trip: 25^th and 26^th December

I had some thoughts of ending 2004 with a trip. Although I had been to Nagarhole twice in 2003, I have not stayed @Nagarhole. Thought to giving a try this time, this was my 3^rd trip with Care Adventure. The only difference, I was not alone.

We left Bangalore around 11:30 pm in Friday (24^th) and reached Nagarhole entrance @ 5:30 am on 25^th. Had to wait up to 6:30 am near the entrance, since the gates would be open only after 6:30 am.

After breakfast we left to Irrupu. Irrupu is 10kms from Nagarhole. We had a trek to Bharamagiri hills. The total trek distance was about 10 kms. The view from top of the hill was awesome. We had our lunch @ Bharamagiri hills. We returned to the base camp around 6 pm. After dinner we left to the Dormitory, it was almost like a night safari. We managed to spot some deers, a tusker and a gaur. We had a sound sleep after a tired trek.

Got up early morning and returned to base camp for a safari. Managed to get a window seat, on the left side in the safari van. The sun rays were still young piercing through the trees. Still we could see some mist covered the ponds. We couldn’t spot any tigers. Probably we weren’t lucky enough. You can spot deers everywhere in the jungle, I think you will get bored after seeing only deers everywhere. Our driver spotted a tusker, just got little bit close to the tusker. Quickly took some snaps with Flash switched off. Most of the animals get attracted to bright colors, light and a strong perfume. I would advise not to wear any bright colors, while going for safari or trekking in the jungle. Especially red color dress. An Irrupu wall is one of the most amazing waterfalls of Karnataka. The water was almost @ the freezing temp. When I stood below the waterfall, I felt that some body was throwing ice cubes @ me.

Back to base camp packed everything and left to Bangalore. While returning back we took a different route. Mysore à Srirangapattana à Bannur à Malavallià Kanakpuraà Bangalore.

Banyan tree and manchanbele dam: December 30^th

This was my final trip, although this is short one I guess. Took a deviation on the Mysore road to reach Big Banyan tree. This place is aprox 18-20 kms I guess, the road is not that good. Most the branches of the tree have fallen. Just took some snaps, after a quick round of snacks left to Manchanbele Dam. I didn’t have the proper idea on the route. Some people guided us to this place. Even @ this season, still some water is left in the dam. The back drop of the dam is Savandurga hill. Manchanbele dam is aprox 8 to 10kms from Big Banyan tree.