Me and My Cam

A trip to Dandeli...

2010-04-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

Hey....There is a long weekend coming up in Feb...how about going on a trip suggested my friend on my IM. I was very much exited on hearing that given my liking for Trips and Treks but looking back at the way all the trips that were planned in my group were canceled recently I was skeptical about this one being executed. Since many from my group were nature enthusiasts I knew they would be up for it but since even they themselves were not sure about the work that would come up they were a bit hesitant to say YES instantly. So finally after numerous chain mails , chats, yes/no's and phone calls it was decided that five, probably 6(1 was doubtful) of us would go to Dandeli on Thursday the 12th of Feb.

Unfortunately only 5 of us made it to the bus stand as the doubtful one had to back out due to personal reasons. Without letting this set back dampen our spirits we set off in a positive mood, although one could feel a sense of uncertainty within everyone as to how this trip would unfold.We boarded the bus to dandeli at 8:30 pm. The journey lasts 12 long hours(around 480 KM). The roads are good and the latter part of our journey was enjoyable as we were welcomed to the western ghats with a blanket of mist with the sun slowly coming out of the horizon. We reached dandeli at about 8 : 30 in the morning. We had to go to The jungle lodge resort located in Ganesh Gudi Which was 25 km from Dandeli. So we boarded a bus to Ganesh Gudi which is roughly an hours journey. We reached the camp @ around 10. We had booked a dormitory. Since no one else was there we had the whole dorm to ourselves. After treating ourselves to an ordinary breakfast we freshened up, had a talk with the locals about the area and roughly planned out when to do what.

Panoramic view of the resort ambiance

After having an awesome lunch we went for a hike with one of the caretaker guiding us to the sunset point. The hike took about an hour. We had reached the top an hour before the sunset so had to wait a bit.As the sun slowly started to set our chatter started to die down as everyone of us were spell bound and mesmerized by the view.

The next day we decided to go rafting. Everything was arranged by the folks at the resort including the travel to that place. It cost around 1300 per head .We were(well i certainly was) bit tentative about rafting given my inexperience with swimming but some how I put on a brave face and agreed.Imagine my plight when they asked us to sign the papers that said the rafting folks were not responsible if anything would have happened to us. After listening to the instructions carefully we put on the safety gear and some pics later we were in the raft. on the Kali river.It was a 9km stretch with about 5-6 rapids the first being the biggest one. And I for one thoroughly enjoyed it even though I was a bit scared initially. I felt it was worth it.Tired from our adventurous experience we headed back to the resort for lunch cracking jokes about one another on the way back.

After another awesome lunch we planned to go to a place called Syntheri Rocks. Its a huge monolithic rock with the Kaneri river gushing by its side. One can actually see the effect of erosion that has resulted in hollows on this rock. It was a beautiful spot but another one of those spots that had suffered at the hands of irresponsible tourists.

When we were back the camp fire was lit and we all crashed there for a couple of hours.

The next day the lodge keepers had arranged a hike for viewing the birds around the place. As it turns out its one of the hot spot the for Bird enthusiasts. Luckily we were able to spot quite a few birds (the ones that fly of course :)). Also they had arranged for a small boat ride for spotting crocodiles. We saw a couple of them too.The second one of which I was definitely sure that it was a stone but the boat navigator disagreed. Thinking its not smart to argue with the one navigating the boat i agreed.

In the afternoon we came back to the dorm and got freshened up and since we still had a couple of hours there we finally got a chance to use the hammocks there. Only a the time of leaving did we realize how fun the whole trip had been. We also felt a bit pampered by the facilities given to us by the resort folks. A couple of places that we missed were the wildlife safari which was closed as the area had been identified as a tiger reserve and Kavala Caves which was also closed as it was the occasion of Maha Shivaratri with lots of pilgrims visiting it from the nearby villages but nevertheless it was an enjoyable trip.

Overall it was an awesome weekend getaway from the computer, laptop ,cubicle and C programs.

P.S The pics were taken from my friends cam and also my mobile as I could not take my cam.

Re-Union...

2009-12-23T06:44:00.000-08:00

Well no new pics this time....
HOWEVER, I have something new...
Me and a coupla my college friends are planning to have a re-union :) So yousrs truly(always wanted to use that phrase :P) stepped up to make a promotional/invitational video. So I took a couple of pics that I had taken in the college recently put them together,mixed it with a song and voila what do you get...a heartwrenching video with the right ingrediants that I hope will move my frineds enough to make it to the re-union....Havent sent it to anyone as yet..Let me know wat you people think...

On an unrelated note been trying to take some abstract pictures, pictures that tell stories...It will be up shortly....Until then...
Adios...(Sorry Chet :))

Random Shots

2009-11-26T03:03:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics that I have taken from my new Nokia N86 8MP camera. Somehow I am not that happy with the camera I feel I have been cheated. The pics dont look like they are from an 8MP camera. Either this or I dont know how a pic from an 8mp looks like...... :)

This one was taken at a cafe called Kalmane Coffee which serves some wonderful coffee.It can be found in most of the malls in Bangalore though I had been there for the first time.

The next four images were taken at a place called Sankey Tank. It has a beautiful park built around it and is a very calm place which helps you relax.

The next one is just the footpath as viewed from my mobile camera. I liked the symmetry and the perspective of the shot.

So folks until next time.......Keep clicking :)

Conquered TWICE!!!

2009-11-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

I can start by saying that I am an adventurous person who loves going trekking. So let me tell you about my favorite trekking destination. It is a place called Mulayangiri. (FACT FILE : Mulayangiri is supposedly the tallest peak between the Western Ghats and the Himalayas, it is also the tallest peak in Karnataka). I was lucky enough to scale this peak not once but twice. Once with my collage pals just after finishing college and the second time with my office colleagues. The first time I did not have a camera of my own :( but this time I was all ready to point and shoot but to my disappointment My batteries gave way, they used to discharge very quickly so again had to restrict my instincts to go on clicking. But still I maneged to get some nice shots.Yes and about the place It is very beautiful especially in the winter season around October time. The whole place would be covered with a blanket of mist so much to the point that If you stand under a tree you would be drenched with the dew drops formed by the mist hitting against the tree. Dont believe it well I have just the thing to make you believe.

You can see how the dew drops are formed on the thorns.It would have been more beautiful had I not shaken it in my over enthusiasm to capture the pic :)

The above two pics will give you an idea about the mist.

Here are some more snaps....
So from Mulayangiri we went to another place called Kemmangundi. It is also a very beautiful place.

This is the picture a spot in Kemmangundi called Z point. It is called so because the path to get on top is in the form of the alphabet Z as you can see in the picture.

This was about my last trip. So I am definitely going back to Mulayangiri once again....What about you...?

As Proud as A ............

2009-10-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

On my very recent trip to the Mysore Zoo I found this guy in a very happy mood....And My GOD you had to see the amount of people standing near his cage to a glimpse of him....So here are some of the glimpses that I got....

Still did not find time for the abstract shots that i mentioned in my previous update.....But all hope is not lost yet ;)

SunSet at Hebbal

2009-10-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

Hebbal is the name of the place where I live....Once when I was on my way to my friends place I saw the beautiful scenery of the sun setting and thought that I could take nice snaps.So the very next day I was back there with my cam in the evening and took these pics....Came out really well dont you think... :)

Looks like the Suns just Peeking to see who it is.....

This is one of my favorites....The formation of the cloud is so beautiful......Like a lightning strinking the tree....

Finally after the photoshoot looks the big guy himself got tired posing for me and left for the day...leaving me with some his most beautiful pics.....Till now whatever pictues I have taken are are good because the content itself was so good....For example consider the above pics...No matter who would have taken these pics they would still have come out very beautiful...Thats the case with most of my pics....So looks like its time for me to start experimenting with some abstract shots....
See ya later...

Trip to the Zoo... Part II

2009-10-08T02:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the continuation of my earlier post....

Looked like the "Love Birds" felt offended by me taking a quick pic....

No he is not dead....Just sleeping after a heavy meal I guess....

Look at him nibbling away.....

Felt bad after seeing this guy...He was looking so Out of place....

So this set completes my visit to the zoo....Will be back with more...Until then...keep clicking...

Trip to the Zoo...Part I

2009-10-08T01:54:00.001-07:00

No matter how many times I have been to the ZOO at Mysore I can never get enough of it(As i am a HUUUGE animal lover(note the extra U's)). That too this time it was the first time with my camera and I was as exited as Kid left free in a candy store.I wanted to capture the images of the animals present there.Personally I feel any picture that you take of animals will come out brilliantly as it captures their natural look unlike us humans(esp me who has to take a hundred pics to get one proper profile pic :P ).So here are the pics....

This one is my favorite and (I feel) the best image I have taken so far.Just love its Majestic look...

Looked like Mama had come to collect some food for junior...who BTW looked scared....

These two were dancing like crazy....If their intention was to get noticed then then they certainly did a good job.....

This cat was like a celebrity there with people jumping around to catch a glimpse of him...I also had him covered for the shot when some one shook me...And the pic came out like this...Nevertheless I liked the final outcome.

More coming up....

Murudeshwar II

2009-10-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of snaps taken in Murudeshwar.

All the pics here are my favorites...So this concludes my Murudeshwar trip....was very much enjoyable I must say....

Murudeshwar

2009-10-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

Continuing the trip I had mentioned in the previous posts...We reached Murudeshwar.One of the famous temples in Karnataka.One of the reasons it is so famous is because of the HUGE Gopura(The structure atop the temples found commonly in India).It is 18 Stories tall!!!Can you believe it....If you cant see for your self......

Well now aint that HUGE.....The Deamons face that you see at the bottom is to drive off any Bad luck(Our equivalent of Touch Wood :))

One more reason as to why the temple is famous because of the HUGE(and trust me when i say HUGE its really HUGE) Lord Shiva idol that is present there.

Here is one more pic of the idol.Like every God/Goddess worshipped in India even Lord Shiva is associated with an animal in his case it is The King Cobra.

This temple is bounded by the Arabian sea on one side and the western Ghats on the other....Which makes it even more beautiful.Above is the picture of the coastline.More coming up......

Kodachadri+Kollur

2009-10-05T21:33:00.001-07:00

Here are some more pics from my Kodachadri trip...

YES!!! hes back again....with yet another awesome pose....Well his last one for me actually :(

It is kind of a tradition in Southern India to have elephants at the temple so that the Gods can be mounted on them during the processions.Found this guy at Mookambika temple at Kollur....Beacuse of our(me and my friends) love for animals we ended up giving him around two kilos of bananas....but no regrets...

Here the BIG guy one more time......

Took this snap in the queue while waiting for our turn to get a glimpse of the Goddess...As it was customary to remove shirts in this temple for men(as in many other temples in South India) this guy was looking like a mini Poojari(mini Priest)

Here we GO!!

2009-10-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

I am starting this photoblog with one of the first pics that I had taken with my cam....This one was taken atop a mountain called Kodachadri.Found this dog at the top.Looked so very Innocent...One of the reasons why this is one of my All time favorites....