Tuesday, 25 October 2016

A Scintillating trip to Skandagiri

It happens most of the times that we look for things far from us but forget to see the beauty of things that are nearer to us, one such thing is Skandagiri. Ask any bangaloreans about places for a one day getaway in and around Bangalore first suggestion mostly will be Nandi Hills, however there is Skandagiri a lesser known trekking paradise to be explored as well.


(Warning: This trekking involves certain amount of risk as this place is not much explored and there seems to be a BAN for trekking as well recently it’s advisable to do proper enquires before you reach there.).

Skandagiri trekking is one of the most memorable trips for us for it is one such trip which took us very close to nature, this was one of our early outing days, as our planning committee is still in its nascent stage it did not take all the factors into account as a result we both suffered and enjoyed the thrill to its fullestJ. By mid-night our bikes took off from Mekhri circle and landed at cross junction after KIA, where if you take left you would go to Nandi Hills and towards right to Skandagiri. We hired a guide to take us till some point as the directions marked on the stones were difficult to identify in that pitch dark (it did not occur to our committee to take a torch with usJ). It took around 4 hours to reach the top for us (we were lost for a brief period of time), but this 4 hours were the most adventures time as in the dark with only our mobile phone and moon lights to help us every step was challenging. There are no clear markings or walk way and most of the way are covered with chest high plants through which you have to navigate.

Small insects chirping and prankster friend’s hissing sound from behind and sight of small twigs were all giving us a scare of life timeJ. After climbing boulder after boulder, crossing narrow lanes, pulling and pushing each other Step-by-step we reached the top at the moment to coincide with the beautiful moment of sunrise. Once we reached the top the sight was heavenly, we stood still for some time with no words exchanged then we all ran in different directions in the childlike excitement and waving our hands above us (even though it was numb in the chillness) and in the hope of catching the clouds which was just above our heads from one end to another, the scene of clouds acting us a white cap to the mountain top and from that altitude all the huge tress at ground level looked like a clove’s top and people were almost like a small dots moving forward and backward all these added to our excitement and we immersed ourselves into thinking of kings of heaven J and spent around two hours there.

After that we slowly started our descent, which was the painful part as our legs were not obeying our minds commands due to long ascent up the hill, as we climbed down we turned and looked at the mountain which was un-spoilt due to humans and was at nature’s raw form made us look insignificant.











Sunday, 23 October 2016

Varkala - Road Trip

Like the most of long weekend stories below starts with a planning committee (whose members mostly doesn’t reach a common conclusion) scratching their head to come up with the best get away plan. 60 hours plus gazing of computer made us like a motionless lizard on the wall and all the shouting of managers were like an insect squealing, these motivated us to give some physical activity to the body and decided to go on a road trip on our BIKES.

All of sudden one of the committee member came up with the name “Varkala Beach” and asked us to google it before saying no.


Googling “Varkala Breach” and seeing the images in the result interested us in, as with most of our trips this was also planned in short time interval however it would help to consider below while planning your trip:
  • Winter (December to March) is the best time to travel to Varkala. The average temperature in winters ranges from 22 to 28 degree Celsius. It is fit to go sightseeing and visit the glorious beaches.
  • The summer season (March to May) is very hot and humid with the average temperature ranging from a low of 25 degrees to an average high of 35 degrees Celsius.
  • Monsoons season is from June to December when Varkala receives a heavy amount of rainfall and has an average temperature ranging from 20 to 28 degrees Celsius.
  • Although google will show 680 Km one side but last 100 km will be too slow so please make sure to take some buffer time and try to reach before sunset.
What hooked us in were that waves of Arabian Sea touching the foot of the high cliff which seemed like a perfect shooting spot for an Indian movie dream song J , the beach walks, shops, Café’s, Bars & Open restaurants over the top of cliff with lots of food options ranging from cheap eats to mid – range are present, a mesmerizing view of sun kissing the horizon and slowly turning the light from orange to black from the cliff top café while sipping your favorite drink.









How/When/Where we started:
Three of us started our journey from Bangalore with 2 Royal Enfield classic 350cc :)  by 1:30 am

How long it took us to reach:

It took us around 16 hours to reach there (around 05:30 pm).

Where we stayed:

We stayed in SS Beach Resort which is right at the helipad or on cliff. It costed us around 2600 INR for 2 rooms with double bed for two people.

The Tour:
                   We started at around 1:30 Am in night and gathered at Bommanhalli, B’lore shell petrol pump to fill our tanks and a little check for brakes and air and started on NH7. We made some ground rules,

  •         The guy in front will keep on looking the guys behind in his rear mirror and will slow-down if in case not able to locate him.
  •          If the guys from behind is honking in a certain way then front guy should either stop or slow down.
  •      We’ll cover maximum distance in night as in days it will be sunny & crossing cities will be a issue.  

              After we crossed the city limits we revved up a bit and stopped for burger after 60 Kms at McDonalds in Shoolagiri by 2:30 am thinking that we won’t get anything to eat after that during night and then decided to stop at Salem which was 140Kms more to go. At Salem to our surprise many roadside bakeries were open and we refreshed ourselves with a street side masala tea in the cold weather and then started towards Madurai on NH44.

It was 5 am in the morning, the silence of highway and lonely stretch were slowly pulling our eyelids close as the only activity we did in our driving was to control the acceleration so we had to stop by at bus-stop and take some rest (Adviceà Do take proper Sleep/Rest the night before starting the trip, we did that mistake, you should not repeat).We took a power nap of around 15-20 Minutes and started our way again with full energy towards Namakkalà Madurai and took a stop at Madurai for 5 mins to fill our tanks again by the time it was 9:30 or 10 AM still destination was 300 KMs away as per our google maps. Though we were bike junkies it was taxing to drive too long still decided not to stop too often we reached at Warkala beach cliff at 5:00 Pm in evening.

By 5:30pm we got settled in our rooms as our hotel was just at the cliff, we changed and rushed towards the beach as it was the perfect timing for a walk at blue beach and watching  as daylight slowly dimmed and street lights turned on, then we went in search of a good Restra/Pub and we came to know that there are two such Restra which are having DJ night but to our hard luck they both were closed as a part of renovation but then we found a roof top restra just on the cliff and which was serving both foods & drinks, we took a corner table facing Arabian sea and finished our dinner by 11:00 PM in the cool brezze. We then came back to hotel which was 200 mtrs hardly and sinked into our beds for a peaceful sleep.

Next day morning we waked up by 6:00 AM in the morning and rushed down to beach where many people (Indian & foreigners) were performing yoga again for which Warkala is also famous for and we joined them in some basic warmup and some stretching exercises.

We soaked our foot in the beach and lost ourselves in thoughtlessness for some time then came back to hotel by 8:00AM had a very heavy continental breakfast which was complimentary from hotels side.
Then it was time for some sun bathing and for some trekking to reach to cliff top for luncheon in the Café owned by a European guy, variety of sea food coupled with some apt beverages and long walk made us drool for the food, it was feast to both eyes and stomach :) .

We came to hotel back started back to Bangalore by 11:30.

















Wednesday, 13 July 2016

A Exhilarating road trip to Kolli Hills

After a hectic office work over a month we wanted to have some time off and escape daily status calls and deliverables :)... As with most of the stories we decided to visit a hill station and as a friend suggested we thought a road trip on bike would be more thrilling.
After some googling we found a place Kolli Hills located in Southern part of the Eastern Ghats, few of its scenic images got us really excited.

How/When/Where we started:
Seven of us started our journey from Bangalore with four Royal Enfield classic 350cc :)  by 5:30 am

How long it took us to reach:
It took us around 7 hours to reach there. (around 12.40 pm).

Where we stayed:
We stayed in Silver Line Retreat Hotels. It costed us around 2600 INR per room with double bed for two people (we negotiated for additional bed).



The Tour:
                      As we are used to wake up early due to our morning shift timings we planned to start bit early so we all assembled near silk board. We stopped at shell petrol bunk in bommanahalli to feed our beasts :) and started towards Hosur.  

                     After we crossed the city limits we revved up a bit and stopped for breakfast at A2B in krishnagiri by 7 am. Then we refreshed ourselves with a street side masala tea in the cold weather just before Salem, we continued for another 100 kms and just before the mountain range started we had to pit stop for petrol as we are not sure if we would find any other pumps after that. 

                   Its after this our most thrilling part of the trip began even though from googling we found out that there were lots of hair pin bends we could not wait to experience the thrill of riding through it (cautious driving is advised) and it started one bend after another the count went on till 70. The feeling of cutting through the corners, wind buzzing through your ears and the gentle wind hitting your face are indescribable in words.


     By 1 PM we settled in our rooms in second floor and relaxed a bit then around 1:30 PM we came down for lunch. The Buffet was at 150 per head which was a standard South Indian Meal. After lunch we took a power nap and went for a nearby falls (MASI falls) and spent the rest of the evening there in the chilling drizzle then by 8 or 9 PM we came back to our hotel and freshened up a bit and to our joy we had a roof garden restaurant in the hotel and the staffs agreed to server our dinner there so we had our party running till late night in the cool breeze with some Bollywood songs :).


The Next day  we woke up by 6-6:30 am to the sight of clouds greeting us on our glass windows :). 

We had our buffet breakfast (175 Rs per head) and started towards Agaya Gangai falls. This falls had around 1000 steps stairway towards the foot of the falls, we started to climb down after we payed a short visit to the temple atop. 
Below are the clicks on our way to falls...





Each step brought us nearer to the nature as the wind sprinkled the falls water all over us and the feel of our bare heels touching the rock beneath, we held hands of each other and started a balancing act in the steep stairs, we slowly started to forget all our worries (appraisals, CTC's, variable pays, impressing manager and client, monthly innovations, etc.,). 
        As we reached the foot of the falls our minds went blank and we were just admiring everything that were there there. The sound of water falling from 300 feet above made our ears go deaf and the chilling sight of looking up the falls made the water droplets look like small pearls falling from sky and hitting our faces.Our admiration was disturbed by the thought that we need to get back to hotel and leave before it gets to dark to climb down the hills after climbing the 1000 odd steps upwards, so after all our group/single/selfie photo sessions we headed back to hotel just as we were about to start our journey back we were stopped by the heavy RAINFALL


 after a brief stop we had a complimentary black tea to freshen up a bit and started our beasts towards Bangalore thus ending a exhilarating trip to kolli hills.