Travelogues

Wild Cactus at Anza Borrego State park

2008-05-28T04:41:00.001+05:30

Cedar Creek Falls San Diego, Trail from Ramona

2008-04-02T20:56:00.007+05:30

Hiked down to Cedar Creek falls. Instead of taking the trail from Julian, I took the lesser known trail from Ramona. The trail down from Julian has an 8 mile unpaved stretch. Taking the train from Ramona, I could avoid that. Since I live in San Diego, the drive down to the trail was a short one.

Here is the google map route for the trail and some photographs from my trek.

Carlsbad flower fields photos

2007-05-25T01:38:00.000+05:30

Photos from Carlsbad Flower Fields

Photos from Kite Festival at Zilker Park, Austin Texas

2007-03-06T21:55:00.000+05:30

HigginBothams Chennai, One of the oldest bookstores in Chennai

2007-02-06T21:01:00.000+05:30

Higginbothams Bookstore is one of the oldest bookstores located on Mount Road in Chennai. Driving directions

Tiger Dance or Hulivesha

2007-01-31T21:13:00.000+05:30

Tiger Dance is a unique form of folk dance in Dakshina kannada that fascinates the young and the old alike. Since tiger is considered as the favored carrier of Goddess Sharada (the deity in whose honor Dussera is celebrated), this dance is performed during the Dussera celebration. It is also performed during other festivals like Krishna Janmasthami.

Technorati Tags: Tiger Dance, Hulivesha

Palakkad, nelliyampathi or nelliyampathy

2007-01-31T21:07:00.000+05:30

Nelliyampathy is located close to Palakkad and has beautiful vistas from the top of the hill.

Fort Aguada at Goa

2007-01-31T00:54:00.000+05:30

Photo of Fort Agauda in Goa taken during one of my travels

Rocky Mountain national park: Estes park

2007-01-31T00:46:00.000+05:30

Photo taken at Rocky Mountain National park. We entered the park from Estes park entrance.

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo Statue at Point Loma, San Diego

2006-07-17T06:22:00.000+05:30

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo led the first European expedition to land on the west coast of America. Cabrillo National Monument was established to commemorate his accomplishments. The location of the statue gives a magnificent view of the San Dieogo city.

Rock climbing near Bangalore : Ramangaram

2006-07-12T01:37:00.000+05:30

Located 50Kms from Bangalore, Ramanagaram provides the best locale for rock climbing enthusiasts living or visting Bangalore. It is perfect for weekend rock-climbing or camping.It has some really good cliffs, which are ideal for rappeling.

Candolim Beach Goa

2006-07-05T23:23:00.000+05:30

Candolim is a beach is located in North Goa. Candolim beach is located between Fort Aguada and Chapora. There are some great restaurants on the beach for those who are interested in Goan Cuisines. The beach is full of shacks, which one can rent at rs.100 perday. The shacks have plenty of supplies of cold beers and one can go in for a massage if interested. Fort Aguada is pretty close from Candolim beach and one could rent out scooters/bikes to explore them

Lepakshi wall paintings

2006-07-04T06:16:00.000+05:30

Lepakshi, which is located close to Bangalore (Closest railroad is hindupur) presents some of the best example of wall paintings or motifs from the Vijayanagar Era. Posting some of the wall paintings from the temples of Lepakshi. The best way to get to Lepakshi is to drive down from Bangalore. Driving directions to Lepakshi from Bangalore.

Russian Submarine at San Diego Harbor

2006-06-30T00:09:00.000+05:30

One of a fleet of diesel electric submarines the Soviet Navy called “Project 641,” B-39 was commissioned in the early 1970s and served on active duty for more than 20 years.
300 feet in length and displacing more than 2000 tons, B-39 is among the largest conventionally powered submarines ever built. She was designed to track U.S. and NATO warships throughout the world’s oceans. B-39, assigned to the Soviet Pacific fleet, undoubtedly stalked many of the U.S. Navy’s ships home ported in San Diego. Now, less than 20 years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall signaled the end of the Cold War, she will be berthed on San Diego Bay amidst her former adversaries. Soviet Project 641 submarines, classified as “Foxtrot” by NATO, are essentially larger and more powerful versions of German World War II era U-boats. Low-tech but lethal, she carried 24 torpedoes while she was on patrol-some capable of delivering low-yield nuclear warheads. B-39 carried a crew of 78 and could dive to a depth of 985 feet before threatening the integrity of her nickel steel pressure hull. The Soviet and then Russian Federation’s navies deployed these submarines from the mid 1950s through the early 1990s. They played a part in many of the Cold War’s most tense moments including the Cuban Missile Crisis

Source : sdmaritime

Star of India, San Diego

2006-06-30T00:07:00.000+05:30

Photos of Star of IndiaThe Star of India is the world's oldest seafaring ship. Built in 1863 at Ramsey Shipyard in the Isle of Man, it was an experimental design utilizing iron instead of wood. Launched as Euterpe, a full-rigged ship named after the Greek goddess of music, the ship's initial voyages involved some rough sailing. Her first trip included a collision and mutiny. She came face to face with a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal on her second journey. Her topmasts cut away, she barely made port. Following that, the first captain died on board and was buried at sea.

The waters finally quieted and it was smooth sailing during numerous uneventful voyages and several "change of owner" transactions. She served as a cargo ship to India, a passenger vessel hauling emigrants to New Zealand and a commercial salmon fishing and packing facility. Her name was changed to Star of India in 1906 and after 60 years of solid performance in 1923, she was towed to the San Diego bay. Saved from the ax or torch by concerned historians, she sat in port for over 50 years until funding helped renovate the tired old lady which was once a star. In 1976, the fully restored Star of India put to sea for the first time in fifty years, under the
command of Captain Carl Bowman. She sailed beautifully that day, to the applause of half a million fans, ashore and afloat. Since then, the Star of India has sailed on numerous special occasions.

Now part of a maritime museum tour, you can visit the Star of India. Admission is under $10. There is metered parking throughout the week, and the museum is open daily. This is not the official museum web site. Call first for hours and admission prices or visit their web site on line.

Technorati Tags: Start of India

HMS Surprise, San Diego

2006-06-30T00:04:00.000+05:30

Pictures of HMS Surprise. Photo of HMS Surprise.HMS. Surprise is a 179-foot full rigged ship. Her designers and builders made a painstaking effort to recreate a 24 gun frigate of Great Britan's Nelson era Royal Navy. The result is a replica vessel unmatched in its authenticity and attention to detail. Originally christened H.M.S. Rose when she was launched in 1970, she served as a sail training vessel operating out of several East coast ports for over 30 years. the ship underwent extensive modifications for the production of the film in 2002. The museum acquired the ship in October, 2004. Plans include restoring the ship to seaworthy condition, but she probably will not be ready to sail until 2006 at the earliest.

Technorati Tags: HMS Surprise, Photos of HMS Surprise

Canyon Lake, Arizona

2006-06-28T04:52:00.000+05:30

Located approximately 16 miles outside of Apache Junction on state route 88, Canyon Lake is Salt River reservoir lake. Canyon Lake offers beautiful mountainous scenery and various fish such as the walleye, largemouth bass, yellow bass, rainbow trout, bluegill, channel catfish and crappie. It has a designated swimming site and a pair of boating ramps. The three recreation sites at the lake -- Acacia Picnic Site, the Palo Verde Recreation Site and the Boulder Creek Recreation Site -- are open year round and available at no charge.

Hazaara Ram temple

2006-06-28T02:09:00.000+05:30

The Hazara Rama Temple temple built within rectangular complex lies at the heart of the royal centre. Dating from the early 15th century, the hall of the Hazara Rama Temple has finely carved basalt pillars depicting the incarnations of Vishnu. Around the exterior walls of the hall are three rows of sculptures illustrating the main events from the Ramayana.

This temple now unused is situated in the royal enclosure of the city and was probably the king's private shrine. The enclosure walls of the temple are exceptional in that they are carved both on the outside and the inside.

The outer friezes depict horses, elephants, dancing girls and infantry in procession. The inner panels show scenes from the Hindu epic, the Ramayana. On the walls of the god's sanctum are two rare depictions of Vishnu as the Buddha.

Though the temple is small in size, it is a fine example of the skills of Vijaynagara sculptors, who have very artistically coaxed filigree and lace out of Deccan stone.

Northeast of the Hazara Rama Temple is the Zenana enclosure, which may have been, used either by the king or his military commander. Recent excavations have unearthed remains of places to the west of the Hazara Rama Temple.

Virupaksha Temple at Hampi

2006-06-26T22:39:00.000+05:30

This temple bears the stamp of the Vijayanagar architecture and it stands as a shrine of worship in Hampi. Although of earlier origin, it received considerable patronage from Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagar Empire. It has a 160 foot high gopuram from the 16th century. This temple dedicated to Shiva has several mandapams and murals. Some of the shrines in this temple go back to the 12th century.

Grand Canyon : View from South Rim

2006-06-26T11:20:00.000+05:30

Grand Canyon, view from the south rim at sunset.

Elephants Stable at Hampi

2006-06-26T05:47:00.000+05:30

Elephants stable at Hampi. This was used to housing the elephants which the King of Hampi maintained.

Hampi : Shivlinga at Hampi

2006-06-26T05:44:00.000+05:30

Shivaling at Hampi, this shivlinga is next to the ugranarsimha statue. This is one of the few sculptures which escaped destruction by Islamic Invaders.

Leepakshi Stone Pillars

2006-06-23T04:46:00.000+05:30

Stone pillars at Leepakshi

Leepakshi

2006-06-23T04:44:00.000+05:30

Nandi at the entrance of leepakshi

Kanchi Kudil

2005-10-08T07:49:00.000+05:30

A traditional house in kanchipuram, it has architecture of times, spread out courtyards, a food court, traditional crafts to see and buy, soft string instruments in the backdrop…One of the most popular historical tourist places in Kanchipuram, Kanchi Kudil was born of a desire to turn ancestral property into a place of tourist interest. Once here, tourists may get a feel of the life as lived in a historic place as Kanchipuram. While temples and monuments index the cultural life of a city, the real soul of a place is to be found in its people and their homes. Revisit a world of old-fashioned hospitality.

The House
This is a 90-year-old house, authentic in old-style architecture and functionality. It affords a glimpse of the life of an agricultural family in a small town - the master's room, room for the women and children, room for the gods, open-to-sky courtyards, verandahs, the backyard with agricultural implements. Added features are descriptions on the history of Kanchipuram and its temples, traditional music as backdrop and a stock of exquisite handicrafts for the tourist to buy.

Kanchi Kudil charges a small entrance fee of Rs.20 (US$ 0.5) to the tourist. It is conveniently located on the road leading to the Kailasanather Temple.

Kanchi Kudil is located at: 53A, Sangeetha Vidwan Nainar Pillai Street(Old Putheri Street) Kanchipuram TamilnaduPhone: +91 4112 27680

Hampi

2005-10-06T02:12:00.000+05:30

Here are some of the photos from the magnificent ruins of Hampi the seat of the Vijayanagara Empire. These photos don't do justice to the place since Hampi is a place "to be experienced" and not to be just seen. I reached Hampi early in the morning and when I went into the ruins, I was transferred into a kingdom in the past. Your imagination just runs amok looking at these ruins and wondering what a splendor Hampi would have been at its peak. The stories and legends about the wealth of Hampi add to the aura. Photos of Hampi.

The Shiva temple at Hampi The Lotus Temple at Hampi The Shiva lingam at hampi

Find above the Hampi photo gallery, photos that were taken by me during my visit to Hampi. More Hampi Phots here.

Kailashnath Temple

2005-08-24T02:34:00.000+05:30

The Kailashnath temple situated at Putleri Street 1.5 km from Kanchipuram. is an ancient temple fine specimen of the Pallava architecture. The Pallava king Rajasimha started the temple in the 7th century AD and was completed by his son Mahendra. It is the oldest structure in Kanchipuram and the finest example of Pallava architecture in South India. The foundation of the temple is made of granite while the superstructure is carved out of sandstone.

The circumambulatory path around the sanctum is made in such a manner that it requires visitors to climb the up and down a flight of seven stairs and to crawl through narrow ways.

The temple is adorned with the sculptures of the Lord Shiva in 64 poses, which presents a picture of different aspects of mythology. The fresco paintings embellish the inner walls of the shrine. The temple is unique in its architecture and is viewed more as an architectural wonder than as a holy place.

It is not a major pilgrimage center. Pujas are offered regularly here to the Lord Shiva-Kailashanatha. The festival of Shivaratri is held here once every year.

Comments by one of the readers(anonymous)

The Kailasnatha Temple (or Rajasimhesvara Temple) is the largest and the most important of the temples built by Rajasimha Pallava. He built this sandstone temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, in the late 7th century. It is the oldest temple and one of the most beautiful temples in Kanchipuram. This temple has sub-shrines around the main shrine. There are about 53 sub-shrines, which are a double walled structure, with niches whose interiors are decorated with remarkable paintings in vegetables dyes . Since vegetable dyes were used they got faded but some of them retain their splendor. Though we have lost a large scale of painting, the left ones speak the story of the excellence and technical skill in their making. The damage of paintings is considered to be due to the neglect and unawareness, as the paintings were found to be covered with thick layer of lime wash and even plaster. The existence of these paintings under lime plaster was first noted by Prof. Jouveau Dubreil. These paintings were made in fresco style and the ground for the painting has been prepared by a rough sand lime plaster which has been laid on the coarse-grained fine plaster to receive the paint . Yellow and red ochre’s, terrevete, ultramarine, lamp black and lime have been found in the pigments. Since the pigments used in these paintings are mainly earth and mineral colours they have retained their tonal intensities . The unawareness about the treatment carried out on the paintings like the coating of lime wash resulted in their loss which could have been averted. But now, with the development of material conservation we should not only try to conserve them for posterity but also restore it to regain the losses.

Temple photos

Folks,
We are have a zillion hits on this site trying to find out more information about Kailashnath temple. If you have any additional information, please add it to the comment section. I will make sure I add it to the main article.

Lepakshi

2005-08-23T04:59:00.000+05:30

The Vijayanagar Empire caused a number of monuments to be built and patronized in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The ornate Lepakshi temples being one of the popular temples of that era. Lepakshi is a small village, which lies nine miles east of Hindupur in Anantapur District of Andhra and is famous for its temple of Veerabhadra, and is also a renowned place where the best specimens of the mural paintings of the Vijayanagar kingas are available.

Architecture
The flat stuccoed granite ceilings of the Vijayanagar Empire provided a suitable background for frescoes as seen at Lepakshi. This temple is a notable example of the Vijayanagar style of architecture, and is built on a low rocky hill, which is called Kurmasaila so called because the bill is like a tortoise, in shape. An inscription on the exit of the outer wall of the temple records that one Virupanna constructed it in the 16th century.

The beautiful sculptures on the prakaram attract the pilgrims' attention. These include 14 forms of Siva, like Dakshinamurthi, Ardhanareeswara, Tripurantaka etc. The hall of creepers is another excellent work of art, which has provided perennial inspiration to textile designers over the years. About 500m, North-East of the temple stands India's largest monolithic Nandhi, measuring about 8.25m long and 4,60m high.

LEPAKSHI is a small village, which lies nine miles east of Hindupur in Anantapur District of Andhra.

Lepakshi is famous for its temple of Veerabhadra, and is also a renowned place where the best specimens of the mural paintings of the Vijayanagar kings are available.

This temple is a notable example of the Vijayanagar style of architecture, and is built on a low rocky hill, which is called Kurmasaila so called because the bill is like a tortoise, in shape. An inscription on the exit of the outer wall of the temple records that one Virupanna constructed it in the 16th century.

Leepakshi is also very famous for Leepakshi print Sari's. The designs on the temple pillars can be found in various sari borders and are called "leepakshi border" saris.

Photos

Oracle CRM Blog

2005-06-19T22:28:00.000+05:30

Oracle CRM Blog located here.

Yedakumari Railway Trek. Sakleshpura railway trek.

2005-03-15T23:41:00.000+05:30

Gundiya to Sakleshpura railway trek

How it all began

This has been one of the best treks that I have ever done, which had an element of surprise, spooky villagers, risky bridges, really eerie tunnels full of Bats :O, forest fire and not to forget the best of jungles, waterfall and streams. Seen em all in a matter of 1 ½ days, wow what an experience.

It all started when me, Biju, Vishu and Sanju went on a four days ride cutting across Karanataka. On the way back, we did the Ghat sections from Mangalore to Sakleshpur and I knew I am gonna to come back to this place, to trek and see the nature at its best.

So when I saw the idea of a trekking group to be formed at my company, I jumped at this opportunity. One of the first posts was the dream trek that I wanted to do, one of the MUST Do’s that I had in mind. So the core team got together to work on this really difficult trek.

The planning was immaculate, regular meetings, status updates, and delegation of responsibilities WOW, never done such professional work even for projects. We actually had used collabsuite and conferencing facilities so people from all the different places could join for the trek planning. It was really crazy and credit should go to Pradeep for taking the initiative in putting all the people together.

On the last ride to Coorg with the 60KPH gang, I happened to mention about going for this trek. Freya and Vikas said were immediately interested with Vikas dropping out on hearing the group size of 35.

Night before the trek
March 11th, 2005. 10:00PM

Friday night, everybody assembled at OTP to begin with. Camping gear, backpacks, sleeping mats, food everything organized by the core team, got everything together and loaded the bus at 10:30PM. By 11:30PM we had finished our loading and getting people to settle in the bus and started for Gundiya. Thirty Trek enthu people all raring to go, a few of them experienced and a lot of first timers.

I couldn’t sleep all night cos was very un-comfortable in the bus. Buses ain’t fun any longer once you are addicted to riding.

Morning 6:30 we reached Gundiya, the spot where were going to start our trek. Gundiya is some 30 Kms from Sakleshpura towards Mangalore. The entire team loaded their respective tents and sleeping bags onto their backpacks.

The Spooky Surprise (Start of the railway trek)
March 12th, 2005 7:30 AM

There was a surprise waiting for us at the very first corner that set the trend for the entire trek. There was some village function, most probably animal sacrifice happening in one of the farms, with all villagers lined up and one of the guys all dressed up in traditional tribal costume with a HUGE sword. We kept a safe distance because the entire scene appeared very gory and did not want to really upset or disturb the locals.

I did my best to get a good photo of the guy with the sword, but really did not fancy being chased around by a guy carrying a huge sword with me carrying heavy trekking gear. So had to be content viewing the spectacle from the distance.

After a trek of around 500 mtrs we hit the dirt track, and dirty it was, as bad as a beach. The dirt was making the trek very difficult and we hardly managed any speed. My new pair of Reeboks gone for a toss in a matter of few meters, man !! Riding definitely is better.

Just when I thought it wouldn’t get any bad, the incline started getting worse and we were panting. Still another 5 KMs to go on this track and we had hardly covered 1 KM. I was cursing myself; I am better off with bikes I told myself.

The dirt tracks , getting worse.
Supposed to be one of the trek leaders and I was myself lacking in motivation, but then I put up a brave face. Seeing rest of the gang speeding the way up, I got some motivation and pushed myself up. We climbed steadily with a couple of breaks for breakfast and all to hit the railway track. By then the group had split into two groups, one that was heading ahead and our group that was at the back. We kept communication between the two groups using my walkie-talkie and they were really a great help.

At around 11:30AM we hit the track, so we had taken roughly 4 hours to cross this dirt track with 30 min for breakfast.

Again another curious site was awaiting us on the track, we saw trucks running on the railway track!! Yes trucks with modified wheels that ran on railway tracks. They were being used for moving the construction items along the railway track.

A walk of some 100 mtrs leads us to the first tunnel, and I had heard sordid stories about tunnels being infested with bats. I thought discretion is the better part of valor so started acting like a sweep insisting that the group cross the tunnel and that I will be the last one J. So I was the last one after Freya to enter the tunnel. The strategy seemed to work and by the time I entered the tunnel the bats were pretty much used to the new guest and were actually very receptive LOL.

This was the first tunnel that we came across, tunnel number 27 and length was less than 150 Mtrs. Around ten more to go, the longest being more than 500 mtrs and pitch dark

Once we crossed the tunnel we hit the first bridge and it was really an awe-inspiring sight. With the gorges at the bottom, a gap of a foot and half between the pliers, it definitely was risky to cross.

Each one of us walked gingerly across the first bridge, while people at both sides of the bridge clicked snaps of each one of us crossing the bridge. But this was only the first one and there were about 20 more bridges to cross :).

The trek along the railway tracks
12th March, 2005 11:30 AM

So finally the railway trek had well and truly begun. But the tracks were nowhere as desolate as we had been told to believe, it was full of workers from all over India working on relaying tracks. The people around were all waiving at us and insisting that we take a picture or two of them and we happily obliged. There were kids running around us posing for snaps and demanding biscuits.

The best part for me was to see workers standing on cliffs, with their machines breaking rocks and at the same time waving to us.

Reminded me of a scene from Kaala Phattar.

Workers posing for photos.

The terrain was like this for a few kilometers till we entered some of the more lush green part, with trees and waterfalls all around us. After a couple of hours of trek our legs were really tiring and needed to break for lunch. This is when my two-way radio came in for the rescue, I was able to touch base with the gang at the front and ask them choose a good place for lunch. And they could not have chosen a better place for lunch than the a soothing waterfalls. By the time we reached the waterfalls, we could see half of the gang enjoying a bath in the cool waters.

Had lunch around 2:00 PM. What a place to have Lunch!!! After getting fully recharged we head along the tracks for the final journey to Yedakumeri station. On the way I could see Freya looking back at one of the hills consistently and later we could see smoke coming out of the hills. The hills were on fire and the forest fire was spreading!! We were really far away from the hills to be in harms way, but we were definitely in a spot of bother.

Forest Fire.

The Fall

All along we had encountered some 20 bridges and some 10 tunnels. I was feeling really good that the trek had gone without any incidents. There was this final bridge that we had to cross over before reaching Yedakumari, with the station in sight and half the group already there the people at the back hit the pace. I was at the end, a sweep you might say, just then I saw one of the buddies (Kaushik) ahead of me put a wrong step and fall in between the pliers!! It was his backpack that saved him from falling down, the backpack stopped the fall and he was left hanging between the pliers. Quickly I ran over the bridge to his rescue. Funnily enough nobody was really upset or scared rather everybody ended up cracking jokes after making sure Kaushik was okay.

Camping Site
12th March 2005, 5:00 PM

Finally all of us reached the camping site, which is yedakumari or Edakumeri station at 5:00, well ahead of darkness. Had been warned that it is IMPOSSIBLE to trek in the night and that we have to make it to the station before the dark. This issue had been playing on my mind all throughout the planning and in course of the trek. We were really glad that we hit the station in good time with enough light.

The station was getting a face-lift with workers families staying close by. We met up with couple of another trekking groups from Bangalore, who were also doing the same route, albeit in opposite direction. The workers at the station helped us a lot with boiling water and also some sambar rice for dinner. The day long trek and hunger made this, one of the best dinners I had in a long time, with ready to eat MTR mixed veg curries and home made rotis courtesy Freya’s mom. After we finished our dinner and we were admiring the sky and we could see the hills were on fire at a distance. We could see the flames jumping out from behind one of the hills and what a sight to behold in the dead of the night.

The trek back to 250 KM Milestone
March 13th, 11:00 AM

We had a relatively relaxed morning next day with roughly 2 hours of climb down the hills to hit the highway. We had asked our bus driver to wait at a spot, which was 250KM milestone from Bangalore. We started the trek back from the station at around 11:00 AM. It was again a treacherous climb down the hill towards the highway. On the way we hit a couple of very beautiful streams.

So it was a beautiful ending to an excellent trek(Green route trek). Had lunch in Sakleshpura and reached Bangalore by 9:30 PM.

Total distance covered around 18 Kms.

Bus route : Bangalore --> Hasan --> Saklespura --> Gundiya (Our trek started here)

Trek Route: Gundiya --> Yedakumeri station --> 250 KM Bangalore Milestone Route Back: Sakleshpura --> Hasan --> Bangalore
More photos at http://www.lonelywanderer.com/
Some more reading
www.keadventure.com/travel_advice
http://www.iiap.res.in/personnel/baliga/public_html/doni.html
http://www.iiap.res.in/personnel/baliga/public_html/trek.html
http://usandeep.tripod.com/trekking/sakleshpur.html
http://www.iitb.ac.in/~mountain/net_stuff/instructions.html

Technorati Tags: Sakleshpur

2005-03-10T17:05:00.000+05:30

Elephants at Wayanad, santuary