Sunday Special...

The best trips are those which are never planned. It started off as a thought and ended up as a great trip.

Engineering Exams are finally over. And the last man to finish his exams in our gang Dilip, arrived from Bangalore after writing his 1st Year Engg exams. The rest had finished theirs and yours truelly is of course the most free person on earth these days.

Finally after many days, woke up at 7AM (hadnt seen that time of the day since a fortnight i guess) and got ready for the trip. Like me are my friends, though i had told him to reach karkal previous night itself, Dilip was still sleeping in Mangalore. Had to wake him up by calling him and told him to reach Bajagoli at 9.30. Deepak was to join us there too.

Me, Priya, Sandeep and Sudhir started off from Belthangady. Since 2 Ds didnt reach Bajagoli in time had to pick them up from Karkal. Finally, "Super Six" started off after breakfast and shopping food stuffs, our first stop was Hanuman Gundi a.k.a Satannabi Falls. A picturesque falls and a great place to visit during rainy seasons.

Since the start was delayed we hadn't planned to visit Kudremukh but later on changed our plans. Drove straight to K'Mukh, now a ghost city. KIOCL, that Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd has stopped working after the Supreme Court order banning mining activities in the Kudremukh National Park. Our good friend Arun (who was Sandeep's classmate) was our tour guide there. He arranged lunch for at Co's Guest House(thats the first thing we look for, FOOD). From there, we went to a hill to catch the glimpses of the Western Ghats. And finally to Lakya Dam. Amidst this a brief stop over at Arun's house for a tea break.

Needless to say with 2 digital cameras we clicked lots of photos(If i develop all the photos, I am sure i will go bankrupt)

Had a great time till then, but the best was yet to come. Our car (Grand Old Amby) broke down on the way back just a few KM from the dam. Tried everything but the clutch wasnt working fine. While Sandeep went back to Arun's house to get the tool box, we tried to stop a couple of vehicle and tried to fix the problem but it didnt. Then came a twist the tale, 10 men driving 5 bikes appeared from nowhere and asked whether our car needed a push. They were from
B'lore and on their way to Dharmashtala. We obliged, one of the guy drove our car and Deepak replaced him on their bike. Bus aur kya ? Hamara Car aage aage, Paanch bike pichche pichche. They helped us reach home without any hitch. Can't imagine the situation if they hadn't arrived. But as they say, ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL ! Another great trip for me.

"Had fun ?" one of friend asked on return. Well, a picture they say, is better than 1000 words, so, uploaded the photos into my YAHOO PHOTOS. I think the link must have reached you by now, if u havnt recd still do mail me..

A Marriage, A trek and A hunt

No, No its not the name of any new hollywood movie. Its the summary of events of today, July 10th, 2006.

First the marriage - I along with my cousins Sudhir, Nanditha, Ganesh anna & Deepak attended one of our family friend's wedding in Chickmaglur. Caught up with friends from Bangalore there. It was a reunion of 6 of us who had been to Amarnath yatra last year. Also roamed around a bit in the dusty city of Chikmaglur and visited the golf course there. More time was spent of chatting and pulling each others' legs.

And the trek - (though i cant call it a true trek) - After lunch while Ganeshanna left for B'lore, Deepak suggested that we visit Mullayyanagiri. Its the highest peak in Karnataka. Since we had a vehicle we could reach the top of the hill easily. The scenary on the way to the hill was breathtaking. It was chilly and windy at the top there. Not many people come there during rainy seasons. There is a temple at the top of the hill for which we need to climb
around 300 steps. We somehow managed to climb these steps. Speedy winds, rain and fog made our climb a bit more difficult. Since i weight just above 50kg, my cousins were worried that i might just fly away due to heavy winds. By the time we went up and came down we were freezing and wet. Somehow got into the car and reached Chikmaglur.

On our way back visited a park (obviously to give some work to our digital camera) and Cafe Coffee Day (which actually hails from the city, it has its Regd Office here)

Now the Hunt - Well, the actual fun began here. This hunt is not about hunting wild animals. Its hunting of leaf called Marvala Paan in Konkani(Marasev,in Tulu and Mara Kesuv, in Kannada) This leaf is actually used in Konkani Cuisine (I think GSB people eat many leaves which even goats and cattles refuse to eat). Its grows between trees in the coffee estates. We had marked the places where we found these leaves, so as to pluck it on our return journey. The hunters (other three, excluding me - thats bcoz i dont like eating this leaf) Our hunters
did a good job (as evident from pics) and enjoyed the Marvala Panna Dangar at home.

All in all a great day..

Deep, Deep, Deep !!

hey, its not the jingle of Tajmahal tea bag. Its all about 3 people who are closest to me, DEEPAK, SANDEEP & DEEPTHI. I enjoy a lot with them . They are just too good people, lucky to have them as friends. Had a great week last week where all us had great fun at Kuntalpady. Thanks for being my friend Deeps ! :)