Thursday, November 4, 2010

Travelling to Karnataka coast

One more travel to Karnataka Coast

1st Nov is always a holiday for Karnataka. So this time it means 3 days holidays because 1st Nov falls on Monday. Earlier I thought that I will not go anywhere. On Friday morning one of my friend told me that lets plan out for something within a low budget to coastal Karnataka. So the plan was to visit Karwar. I thought we can have 2 ways either (i) with my family in car or (ii) 4-5 friends in car. Both the options did not happened so my friend told lets go by train and buses (public communication). Friday evening we both decided to go and checked for the train time table. The train which goes to Mangalore was at 9.00 PM (Kannur Exp). We do not have reservation. It was already 5.00 PM now. Around 5.30 PM we decided we will meet at bangalore City railway station. Both of us reached there around 8.00 PM with all our packed things. My friend saw the queue which shows us we cannot even reach near the counter to book the tickets. Luckily one of the police man told outside there is a sale of open ticket and they charge 1/- or 2/- more. We went there and within 15 mins ticket got booked. Seeing the rush we thought we will get inside sleeper coach and will be ready for the fines. TT came and told us to get down in Mysore and go to the general coach as it was too much rush also and there is no place to stand even.
But we didn't go and sat near the bathroom. Midnight the TT came and told us to pay 710/- as fine but while giving us the Excess fare slip he charge 210/-. Now after Kukke the coach got almost emptied and we had a nice sleep till Mangalore (reached around 7.30 AM). We got down and thought lets go to one beach to spend time as our next train to Karwar was at 12.45 PM. We took the auto and went a river side and we crossed the river through ship (charge 3/-) and then crossed a small village to find the sea beach. Wow its really looks great but what  - sea beach.
We played there and then got ready to visit one temple in Mangalore. Went there through an auto and from there went to the Mangalore central railway station. We found that here auto person does not deny to go anywhere because there meter charges is compare to Bangalore. The other thing they will take to your destination but in different different routes where meter runs like it is running 100 mts race. Here we packed the lunch for me it is Egg Biriyani and Chicken Biriyani and for my friend it is veg Biriyani. We took our lunch in the train early because we have been exhausted by playing in sea.
This train runs through the coastal area and we get nice scenaries to see. It will cross through many tunnels and side by side to the forest. On reaching to Murdeshwar we thought why to go Karwar. Lets drop in Gokharna and then move to Murudeshwar and ahead toward Mangalore. So we got down at Gokharna and it was havily raining. Auto's told they will take 200/- to go inside the city. We saw one maxi bus and we paid 30/- for both of us and we were dropped in the city. There we choose a hotel (Kamat Hotel) and the room cost was 250/- including TV. So cheap right. But one thing the food and communication is really costly here. If I compare from Bangalore it will be 2 times more what we will be paying there. Evening we just walked around the city and had our dinner. I took on Fish meal which cost me 70/- Next day early morning we went to Gokharna beach and had a beach walk, playing in sea and trying to get hold of fish. We ruled out Om Beach beacuse auto's (only mean of communication or car) asked around 120/- one way. We spend our time in Gokharna beach and it was nice there. We saw some beach side hotels which are costly then Bangalore multicusine restaurants. We saw some foreinger who stays there and spend there time in these beach. You can get bike on rent and have a nice sea shore drive in bike. It was around 12.00 PM and we went to the "Atma Lingam" of Shiva. Mens are not allowed with banyan and shirts. Then we took the prasadam in the temple only (includes rice, sambar, curry, sweet). Then we went towards the hotel to check out and started for Murudeshwar. Wanted to see the sunset there. We got the bus till Kumta and then from Kumta to Murudeshwar. We reached there around 4.30pm and saw the  temple. It was bulit by RNS and seems good. Then went to the beach and had a nice time there. Evening I had the fish fry nicely. We need to ahead towards Bhatkal as there was no train stop in Murudeshwar. We have to reach Mangalore before morning. So we went to Bhatkal and there also the auto's are costly. Its only 1 km from the bus stand to railway station and they asked 50/- We thought lets have a meter jam for autos what we followed in bangalore. we walked and it took 20 mins to reach there.nice we saved the money. Then we took the train for mangalore junction (reached around 2.30 am)
We need to go Mangalore central for our train to bangalore and refresh ourselfs. We asked the auto and this time it was like disgusting. They asked 200/- for only 5 kms. Same concept as in Bhatkal METER JAM. We walked. Our resources was any people who were there for the roads. People were very less and it was only dogs who were staring us. Any ways after 1.25 hrs we reached the station and had a nice sitting sleep. Waked up, freshned and had breakfast. Train started around 8.40 am in morning and we saw some nice picturesque on this route. Crossed around 60 tunnels. Train used 3 engines to reach Shakleshpur from Kukke Subramanya. 2 engines for push and 1 for pull. Finally we reached Bangalore by 7.30 PM and it was nice trip overall.
As it is going too long so ruled out many things, but enjoy the photos.

                                          Rare to see flowers in a sea beach

                                          Seems like a tiny island......

                    A beach in Mangalore (don't know the name) but close to Railway Station

                                          Crossing a waterfall in Shiradi Ghats

                                          A scenic view of shiradi ghats

                                          Why Shiradi ghats is one of the best ghats in India
                   
                                          Few more reasons to know why Shiradi ghats everyone visits

                                          A train in between the Shiradi hills

                                          Shakleshpur - Shiradi Ghats starts here

                                          Shiva Temple in Mangalore

                                          Shiva Temple in Mangalore
                                           Kundapura railway station

                                          On the way to Gokharan, some passing river

                                          Temple in Gokharna

                                          Birds at Gokharna Beach

                                          Watch that, its a fish caught in the nets.

                                          Murudeswar Beach

                                          Shiva temple in Murudeswar

                                          Sunset in Murudeswar

                                          After sunset, fish to add its charm.

                                          Shiradi Ghats


Sunday, October 3, 2010

Vellore (Tamil Nadu)

On 2nd October 2010 me and my family do not want to stay in home. Previous night we were discussing to some nearby place resort within 20 - 30 kms and return back. One of my friend told me lets go to Vellore as he has some work and we can do the sight scene. I was not aware what to see in Vellore. Any ways searched in internet and found Vellore fort, Golden Temple and few monuments of Tippu Sultan are places to visit. So I thought why to start early. I usually start my trips around 4.00 AM. This time I thought to start by 8.00 AM.

To my surprise, getting ready and packing every for the baby it was nearly 10.00 AM. I was thinking what sight scene we will do now. Everything will get close by evening. But lets go atleast for a pleasant drive. So I started from my house at 11.00 AM. Taken the NH4 route (Kolar road) because from house there is a direct route to join NH4 after K.R.Puram so I avoided all the traffics. Maintaining a good speed of 100 - 120 KM/Hr. But there are lot of diversions so be careful while driving. Also take care with the trucks or lorry and the state buses. For all this I have slow down the my car so the average speed was 60 km/hr with one small break because my baby's diaper has to get changed. I thought that we will put our first break to some hotel near the Karnataka Andhra border. So as planned I reached the border around 1.00 PM and on the right hand side I found a hotel (Shanti Sagar Pure Veg). I stopped there and decided to have lunch there. The hotel was neat and clean and having childrens play area. We freshned ourself. My daughter (1 yr old) was playing in the children play area.

We ordered the food and the taste was good. By 2.00 PM we started again and reached Chittor by 3.00 PM and Vellore by 4.00 PM. We parked the car in the Old Bus stand. The vellore fort was opposite to the bus stand. We went to Vellore fort. As it was 2nd Oct so Museum was closed. As recently Ayodhya verdict took place the Masjid was also closed. I saw that the fort was an important place and it can be a very good tourist place but it is not maintained now-a-days. There is Tippu and Hyder Palace current conquered by Indian Force. So we cannot go there. A temple was there. There was nice panoramic view and playgrounds were there where guys were playing Hockey, Volleball. I thought that if this is coming under Archeological Survey of India then why it is not maitained and not published as a tourist place. But what I can do by only thinking, only I can do is put in blogs. We started from there around 5.00 PM towards Golden Temple (Sripuram). Seeing the crowd my wife told that we will not go inside because we do not know how my daughter will react to the crowd. I enquired and it shows that it will take nearly 3 hrs to have the darshan come back. Its already 6.00PM and I saw a counter written as Special Darshini Seva (100/-). I enquired about that and he told me that it will take 1 hr. I took 3 tickets and went inside. Truly you saved 2 hrs there because the crowd from main entrance to come the our entry gate it takes 2 hrs. 
Now the passage was same and we were going. In total we need to wald around 2 kms to return from darshan. In between around 6.30 PM we were stopped and not allowed to go forward. Tried to find out the reason and saw that they are taking down the Indian Tricolor and with due respect they are keeping it in a safe and sound place. After 15 mins we again start walking. There were few stops where you can buy Milk, Buiscuits. The lights are glown and to our surprise the Golden temple was looking like a heaven. I was feeling that I am walking towards heaven. We went inside the temple taking a complete round and nearly around 9.00 PM we came out from the temple (closing time). Luckly we have purchase the tickets which saved lot of our time and we concentrated our time on taking the photos in our eyes. Cameras/Mobile not allowed. 

If you want to feel the heaven visit this golden temple and try visiting in evening. The temple closes by 9.00 PM

I thought lets have our dinner inside the city and then start our journey. Around 11.00PM we started through NH 46 and NH7 (hosur road) and reached my home by 2.00 AM. 

While going distance covered 205.2 Km - Single Lane road (Average roads) - No tolls
While coming distance covered 235 km  - Double Lane road (Excellent roads) - Tolls to be paid

Friday, September 24, 2010

Bangalore - Udupi - Bangalore

I travel from Bangalore - Udupi - Bangalore from 18 Sep to 19 Sep, 2010. Checked with lot of resources for road condition and other details, but thought to have a blog where i can put my own comments.
It was like we friends decided to go Udupi from Bangalore to attends one of our friends house. But on 18th Sep its only two of us and we thought lets make it and check it how to go forward. We planned to start at 4.00 AM from my house. But as usual it was 5.00 AM to start from my house.
5.00AM - I started from my house (Horamavu) and went to Bull Temple road in Bangalore to pick my friend. He was ready from much earlier. Reached there around 5.30 AM and we decided lets go ahead. We have already thought which route we will go because I have done once the trip on this road. So as per plan we went towards majestic and then through metro (yeswantpur) we took the NH4 road. It was 6.00 AM
6.00 AM - Thought of giving food to the car and gone to Shell petrol bunk and found that that some offers are going on filling the tank. But they told us we are not eligible as we filled less amount. Anyways we started then toward tumkur.
6.30 AM - We found one toll, the road was great and fun to drive. The toll was running trial so it was free for us to take the road. We reached tumkur toll around 7.00 AM and crossed by 7.15 AM. We took NH206 (I decided earlier only to go through Shimoga). Trying to find some place to have our stomach full. After crossing the Tumkur city got a nice road side Dhaba (near to Gubbi). We ordered Idly (it was like plate in shape). With 1 idly we are done and had a nice tea and then move ahead of the journey.
7.45 AM - After this we didn't have so much break because we thought after crossing Shimoga there are some places to see and we can use this time to visit there.
10.00 AM - Reached Bhadravati and thought to have a tea there. It was my friend was driving and I thought it may be tiredsome for him without tea. We had out tea and inquired about the road condition. They said "Chennagidhini" (means good).
10.30 AM - We reached Shimoga and took NH 13 towards Thirthahalli road. As of now roads are good but with few pothholes. NH 13 is very single and narrow road. We reached Thirthahalli by 12.00 PM and thought to take the Agumbe Ghat road. So we left NH13 and took SH road (didn't remember the number). We came to Guddekeri and saw there is one hill Kundadri Hill. We moved towards there and started for the Kundadri hills. The roads are extremly narrow and very diffcult for two vehicle to pass. Honking is best way to ride on this roads so that the other person can stop where they have little space. It is one of the best scenary I have seen. Fresh natural air and we were inside clouds. Nothing to see but you will enjoy the wheather.
1.00 PM - Started to come down fron the hills and the steering wheel is now in my hand. It was so steep that I have to go in 2nd or 3rd gear. It is around 6 - 7 KM. We started towards Agumbe. We asked a local and he told the road. He asked for a lift to us and we provided. He said us that he has lost his cow from the past 2 days and it was new cow. He purchased it some 15 days back to have milk for his kids. Poor fellow he is searching his cow badly for 3 days full time. He left us in Agumbe. Agumbe saw that panoramic view good but it is a sunset point and we are in afternoon. So thought to move for food we returned back for around 10 km because we have seen a hotel there while coming to Agumbe. Had our lunch around 2.00 PM and started from there by 3.00.
3.00 - Through Someshwar - Hebri we came to Manipal by 4.30 PM and then called my friend to check where his house was. After lot of searching found his house and reached there by 5.30PM. Immediately went to Kaup Beach. Great time to visit and it was nice non-commercial beach. Around 8.30 PM we reach Udupi Krishna Temple (get closed by 9.00 PM). There was no rush. We had a darshan and thought of having prasadam there only. So all 3 of us had the prasadam there and then went to friends house to night stay. His house was like bungalow and had a good gardening. I asked him one plant so that I can take it to bangalore. In night only 3 of us decided we will go the Durga Parmeshwari temple in Kateel (36 KM from my friend house). We started by 7.30 AM and after having darshan we returned back by 10.30PM. We got a good rain while going and coming. Be careful to local buses. The y drive roughly and even does not honk in hair pin bens. Heard that same road goes back for bangalore. Tried to get the road conditions and we got mixed responses. We thought to cross the jungles before the night. We have already decided the route that is Udupi - Karkala. It will depend what time we reach Karkala to decide on the route.
11.00 AM - Time to visit to the function (friend's daughter cradling ceremony). It was a great arrangement and lunch was provided (non-veg). I was happy. They also had event organised. They also provided drinks but we do not take. There we heard that there was a petrol strike. We need to fill the petrol in our car. We called our friends to check the strike dates and got it it is next day. After lunch we went to fill petrol and most of the station shows NO STOCK. We found reliance bunk and filled there. We then started the return journey at 3.30 PM.
3.30 PM - Return journey. We thought that it is late by 1.5 hrs and that can make lot of difference. Luckly no rains these side. We reached Karkala around 5.00 PM. We thought here we will go by Shiradi Ghats route (though I heard that this route is too bad even after the repair but I wanted to see the route) because Sringeri route will be difficult to cover because it will be night and it is a Naxalite area. Charmadi Ghats are narrow routes does not  make any sense to me to drive in night so took Shiradi ghats through Dharmastala and reached Dharmastala by 6.00 PM. Near the Nelyadi where the road meets to NH 48 and started towards Bangalore. It was 6.30 PM. This is Western Ghats. Just after few Kms bad stretch started. My friend handovered the steering to me. It has tested our patience and driving skills. Basically there are no roads. The repaired sections also does not have any clue that when the roads got repaired. The only thing you will see big big pothholes and stones. As no rain was there we were able to see the pot holes clearly and measure the dept. The drive was too slow and with a/c because outside it was too dusty. In this road the state bus and trucks are king of the road and the local car/jeep are driving anyway. But my car I cannot hurt it like that. So moved slowly and kept my patience (because I was seeing how other vehicles are passing me in that bad stretched road). It was around 50 KM and we took 3 hrs to complete it because I do not want to hurt the car. So around 9.30 PM we reached Shakleshpur and from here roads are not good but not bad also managable at a speed of 80 km/hr. Be careful on the pothholes which comes oftenly. We were hungry and after crossing Hassan we found a hotel closing down near to Udyapur. We took the dinner there and then started at 11.00 PM from there. After that we reached Kunigal and we do not wanted to touch Neelamangala. So took the diverson towards Magadi and it was around 1.30 AM. Then through Nice road touched Mysore road and then to Bull temple road in Bangalore around 3.00 AM morning. My friend left for his house and I was in my house by 3.30 AM. Finally we made and it was a nice trip. Then I slept and get prepared for the office.
Finally I will say it was nice enjoying trip and also given shabasi to my car for excellent co-operation and manging the bad roads. Thanks to SX4.

Route Covered:
Bangalore - Tumkur (good roads with toll - traffic be aware)|Gubbi ( roads ok - 20% roads bad)|Tiptur (roads are good - 10% bad)|Kadur (roads are good - 15% bad)|Bhadravati (roads are good - 5% bad)|Shimoga (roads are good - 5% bad)|Thirthahalli (roads are good and narrow - 15% bad)|Someshawar (roads are good and narrow - 25% bad)|Hebri (roads are good and narrow - 20% bad)|Manipal (roads are good - 5% bad)|Udupi (roads are good - 5% bad)|Katapady (roads are manageable - 50% bad) - NH17|Karkala (roads are good, no traffic, narrow - 10% bad)|Belthangady (roads are good, narrow - 10% bad)|Ujire (roads are good - 5% bad)|Dharmastala (roads are good - 5% bad)|Nelyadi (NH 48 , roads good - 5% bad)|Shakleshpur (no roads, only pothholes and stones (approx 50KM) - 200% bad)|Kunigal (roads good , 10% bad)|Magadi (good - 5% bad)|Bangalore

Total distance covered 1047 KM from 5.00 AM (saturday) to 3.30 AM (monday)

Photos:
             Peter (right) - His bunglow and me (center) and Naveen(left) with my macho car SX4

                                               A scenic view from Kundadri Hills

                                           Top of Kundadri Hills

                                           Different angle in Kundadri hills
                                          Another scenic view from Kundadri hills

                                          From top of Kundadri hills
                                          Kaupe Beach, Udupi
                                   
                                          Me at Kaupe Beach

                                          Light House in Kaupe Beach

                                          Naveen and me (on phone) behind light house

                                  Kaupe beach and we 3