Talakad, Karnataka, India

Destination:Talakad, Karnataka, India

Date : Friday, April 24, 2009
Group : 24, all from work place


Mode of Travel : Hired 22 seater bus.

The Beginning : The bus got delayed and hence we started around 45 minutes late from the scheduled time. There were others waiting en router. This delay was enough to make them restless. We collected our food from a place in JP Nagar
http://www.nammurahotel.com/

The plan was to have our breakfast at Kamat Upachar. But we got delayed and ate at something Sagar.

Upload the GPX file located at
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The ongoing journey in the bus was fun. People were energetic enough to play dumb charades. The games turned out to be really good. People were less troubled by the bumpy road on the last 30 KM because they were very busy in guessing the names of the movies and others trying to act.

Finally we reached Talakad at 1330. Sugarcane juice and coconut water were the choices followed by Lunch we carried with us. There were a lot of monkeys around us to grab the food. This was the only use of the cricket bats that we carried with us. Soon after that we moved towards Kauvery and did not waste any time to jump into the water. Playing with the valley ball in the water was the game and enjoyed well by all of us. The water was shallow and at the deepest point, water was touching my shoulders. A local guy suggested to not to go far in the water because there might be quick sand. Thus we maintained the limits. In some time it turned out to be great and others who were not knowing swimming, also joined us.

We came out of water after some time. There were good places to changes clothes and all. I had masala tea which was good and then we headed towards the temples. One of them was good and rest were ok. All of them are at a walking distance from each other on the sand path. There were cashew trees around us. The fruit of cashew tempted me and I tried to take out the nut from it. A sticky white colored fluid came out of it and I threw it off. The next day my ship turned white die to that. Thus, it is to stay away from the cashew fruit oil.

Beyond that, we spent some time playing cricket and hanging to the long roots of the old banyan trees. We left Talakad at 1715.

As always, I looked for the possibility of getting on top of bus. But the driver told that the trees will be very low and we get up after some distance. He stopped the bus after some time and many of us climbed the bus. Needless to say, it was again an awesome experience to travel on and not in the bus. However, the road was bumpy and hence few of us were sort of not very comfortable.

We stopped at a breath taking point to have a group photograph. One of the road was having lush green paddy fields and other side was a lake, both stretching up to horizon.

On return, we had the dinner at Kamat Upachar and reached the starting point at 2330.

Air Show, Aero India, Bengaluru 2009

Air Show at Bengaluru was organized from 11-15th Feb, 2009.

I visited there on 15th (Sunday). I think it was the most crowded day. Special buses were available from Majestic. Even then it took 2 hours to reach the venue (Yelahanka).


Facilities were bad. I paid INR 400/- for ticket. In my category, the number of chairs were not even 1/10th as compared to the number of visitors. It is a pain for peole with family and kids.


The air show of Sukhoi-30 and C-17 was exciting and would not allow to even blink the eyes.

I had seen many videos on Su-30. But looking it in front of eyes was completely a different experience.
All the pics here, are of SuryaKiran Jet. For me, Su-30 was too fast to capture in the frame. :)

Abhaneri, Dausa, Rajasthan, India

Destination: Abhaneri, Dausa, Rajasthan, India


Date: Friday 2 Jan 2009

Origin: Jaipur

Mode of Travel: Self Driven Car

From Jaipur to Abhaneri : I took the NH-11 from Jaipur towards Agra. This locally, is known as Agra Road. The road, near Jaipur is loaded with traffic at times. It also passes from the hilly area. So I wasted some time there in traffic Jam. Beyond that, the road is much better and the drive was comfortable. Cross Dausa and Drive further. There will be a Toll Booth and after that there is a left turn from which road diverts for Bandikui. This Crossing is known as Sikandra Chauraha. In case of any confusion, ask any local person for the way to Bandikui. Take the neft turn (towards north).


There is a toll booth again. Tell them specifically that you just want to go till Abhaneri and come back. The cost of toll will be less. By default, they assume that you are going further. Cross the Toll Booth and shortly there will be a small circle on the road. Take a right from there. 1.5 KMs ahead on this road, one can see the Harshat Mata Temple and the Chand Baori.

The Chand Baori (The Great Step well) : There were few folks from ASI and they offered me to give a detailed tour of the place. The name of the person is Mr. Gopi and he was knowledgable about the place. At the end he did not even ask for money. But I gave him a small amount.

In Gopi's words "This place was built sometime in 8th or 9th century by Maharaja Chand. Not only this step well, but there was a whole city at this place. Later there was a flood and the complete city got synced into water and covered by mud. Many centuries later, a traveller from Jaipur convinced the Royal family to dig this place and the result was there. This step well has more than 1000 stairs and while going ip it is very difficult to remeber the path that was taken to to come down. Water used to get collected at the bottom and then there was a whole setup that used to carry the water upwards and used to work as a shower for the king."

Harshat Mata Temple: Royal family used to worship here after taking bath at the step well.

In Gopi's words : "This temple was around 450 feet high and there used to be a lamp on the topmost point of it. An invader was returning after attacking near by places and he saw the light of the lamp. The result was, he attacked this temple, looted it and destryed everything."


The remains of the temples have been decorated in a nice fashion around the temple.

Abhaneri, the Place : It is another example of the perfect rural India. There are many Jugads on the road in this area. I hope, it is clear what a Jugad means. :), if not, see the below pic.

Bhangarh, Alwar, Rajasthan, India

Destination: Bhangarh, Alwar, Rajasthan, India


Date: Friday 2 Jan 2009


Origin: Jaipur


Mode of Travel: Self Driven Car


From Jaipur to Bhangarh: I took the NH-11 from Jaipur towards Agra. This locally, is known as Agra Road. The road, near Jaipur is loaded with traffic at times. It also passes from the hilly area. So I wasted some time there in traffic Jam. Beyond that, the road is much better and the drive was comfortable. Just before Dosa, there is a left turn towards North. This is NH-11A. Under confusion, ask the local people for the road to Ajabgarh. This road took me to Bhangarh. One has to take a left diversion to reach the place. Boards with proper directions are in place. Local people are also very helpful, in case of any help.


Bhangarh: There is a lot of text on internet which claims that this place is haunted by Ghosts. I went there and didn't find any Ghosts, but yes, the place is scary. The old and huge Banyan trees have something unusual in them. None of the buildings in the front has roofs on them. It is thought provoking that why just the roofs are gone? The walls are still in good shape.


The front entry has a board from ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) which says that domestic animals are not allowed inside. But, the place seems to be a heaven for local shepherds. I talked to one of the shepherds and she told me that the place is very good and very well maintained. Still no body used to come there. So, they rumored the story of Ghosts. Now, the number of visitors have increases but most of the visitors are still young couples who seek some solitaire from the crowded society. :)


The place if well maintained and neat. A big portion has a green lush grass ground. However, there are so many monkeys around that one has to take care while sitting down and relaxing. I touched almost every corner of the place. On the top, I noticed that a sadhu stays there. I was not concerned much so did not care to talk to him. Few of the temples are still live and worshiped.


This place is definitely worth a visit. If someone is passing from Alwar, Agar-Jaipur NH-11 or Dausa, this can be a good destination.