Some old trips - Mekedatu & Chunchi falls July 2004
Cauveri flows peacefully at SangamThis is one of the first trips I made from Bangalore. I don't remember a great deal of the incidents from the trip, except the tea from the way-side teashop. They made some amazing tea and hot chilli bajjees.
Sreejithettan, who is now married and working at Singapore came with the idea of the trip, and we decided to take that on the bikes. Sreejith (Mongs) joined us and so did my cousin Jatheesh. We took off on two bikes.
we climbed almost all rocks enrouteMekedatu is about 95 kms from Bangalore on the Kanakpura route. Once reaching Sangam, one has to cross the shallow Kaveri to reach the other bank. From here one would take a locally operated, archaic, bus that took people into the jungle and to Mekedatu.
Gorgeous MekedatuWhile riding up I remember seeing a board that read "Dangerous curves. Go Slow". I ignored them and in the next curve my bike swerved so much that the understeer took me almost off the road. As soon as steadied the bike and looked up, the next board read "You have been warned!". That was quite an eye opener.
Gentlemen at ChunchiChunchi was 5 kilometers from Mekedatu, on the way back to Bangalore and it was awesome waterfall silently tucked away in a hillside. We went as close as we could to the waterfall and enjoyed the spray of water!
The way-side tea shop!See my complete snaps here: Mekedatu & Chunchi- July 2004
The Village of Pelicans and Storks!
Part a recommendation from Sidda and Jo and part the excitement of having picked up my new bike, I decided to visit
Kokkare Bellur. Sidda said this place was about 45 kms from Bangalore on the Bangalore-Mysore highway and had an unusual presence of large water birds like Pelicans and Painted Storks.
My New Set of WheelsI started early at 7.30, on SAT the 25th of Jan 07, took to the Kanakpura road and the later diversion towards Mysore road. This stretch was awesome, not yet available for mass transport and the pain was to travel at 50kmph (I'm still under speed restriction) on such a good road. It took a good 85 kilometers to reach Kokkare Bellur, having taken a left-side diversion after Tippur and before Maddur in Mandya district (I'll let Sidda explain to me what moved this place another 40 kms farther).
Between the bustle of the Bangalore city and my destination were some typical Karnataka villages. Large stretches of land, now empty after the recent harvest, some which were being prepared for the next season.
It was quite surprising to be at Kokkare Bellur. As you reach the village, quite unexpectedly, you would find the trees full on Pelicans and Painted Storks - 'kokkare' in the native language which gives the village its name. I felt like being in a Harry Potter movie at first.
Touch DownPouched bills, webbed feet and a huge wing span - you can't mistake a pelican for anything else. After a quick googling, I think that the pelicans at Kokre Bellur are 'Spot-billed Pelicans'
Wikipedia: Pelecanus philippensis which is a vulnerable species among the 8 types of pelicans in the world. These birds are great fishers and magestic fliers often doing short distance migrations. Nesting on high perches, most of these birds had young ones.
Down on the ground, in a fenced area there were two young pelicans. These were being looked after by the local kids and they were only too eager to show these off to visitors.
Painted Storks
Wikipedia:
Mycteria Leucocephala are a work of art themselves. Painted heads, strong long yellow beaks with a curve at the end, long legs - a distinct bird again. I think these outnumbered the pelicans easily and gave more aerobatic displays to me.
I expected a lake of some sort close-by that keep these water fouls happy, but found none. There was a river that flowed by and may be these birds found this enough.
The blistering heat and an increasingly large gang of kiddos forced me to turn back early. The kids started playing on my bike, ate the chocolates I had carried with me and started demanding lessons on how to use my camera.
Abhi/Abhishek was at first a curious onlooker. Later we started roaming together he told me about the village and I taught him how to take snaps. See the
complete album on Snapfish.
Some old trips - Pondicherry July 2005
There was this realization that some of the trips I made have not been written about or the photos have not been uploaded. Since I feel the need to file these pictures for my own sake as well, I would file these in quick succession.
P O N D I C H E R Y - J U L Y 2 0 0 5In July 2005 we made a trip to Pondicherry - a union territory on the eastern coast of India. The plan was born when 4 travel-mates decided to bike down to someplace - Rahul, Prakash, Sidda and myself. After Pondi was picked up we were soon joined by 3 more - Rajesh who worked with Sidda and two of Rahul's friends- Ajith and Laijo. There were some plans made before the trip like (a) we would start early and (b) arrangements for stay at Pondi.
The Gang!This is one of my favourite trips for many reasons. I enjoyed every moment on my bike. I loved the energy and like-mindedness of all of us. I enjoyed the walk through the streets in Pondi, the boating through the mangrove forests at Pichavaram, bathing in deep sea and the trip in the fishermen's fibre boats. And thank God, some of best travel snaps I took came from this trip, a real encouragement for someone who just picked up the habit of taking pictures.
En Route to PichavaramA total distance of 304 kilometers from Bangalore, beautiful and good country-side roads and a great place to hang out with friends. I have posted
the snaps here. Take a look and let me know if you just planned to visit Pondi.
Done for the day! Back to shoreLabels: bike travel friends
