Why Travel

If this question has ever pondered over your mind or if you have ever wondered why travelers travel, and continue to travel?

In a sense, one who does not travel much may need strong reasons to travel but a frequent traveler has a million reasons lined up already.  Well people like me, the ones passionate about travelling may not need a definite reason to travel. To me experiencing the journey itself is the most prominent reason for me to travel. I love to wander away like I've been bitten by a travel bug.

Such people have a thirst within them to explore that thirst can only be quenched by travelling to places.

Each of us circumstantially tend to lock ourselves up within the boundaries of daily schedules and cling to a structured lifestyle we create for ourselves. We program ourselves to a limited set of abilities, the ones we need to perform our daily tasks and continue to live in a state of monotony. We get accustomed to a robotic lifestyle which eventually turns our lives into a tedious routine. Human mind is such that it needs new things every day and life begins to get boring when boxed up into a routine.

I am not a machine, we cannot continue to function in a similar fashion forever, can we?

Well, travelling is ‘the best way’ to break a routine and set my soul free. It not just awakens my soul but also unleashes the spirit within me, that often snores away into its doom while in a deep slumber of ignorance. Among the numerous genres of travelling, the one kind that lets you explore a destination from a more detailed perspective is cultural travelling. It is one of the safe ways of travelling as well.

“Cultural travelers leave their home as it is and just carry themselves to a location where they don't belong”.

Cultural travelling is apt if you are keen in learning the numerous different ways to life. As you travel, you will be surprised to realize that there is no one path to life and no path is wrong. By exploring diverse cultures, you tend to broaden your thoughts' horizons. It is essential to blend yourself into their lifestyle to experience the culture of a destination. Cultural travelling lets you explore the deeper levels of a culture, unlike mediocre visits that just let you view a mere surface level of a destination. Every culture has numerous things to learn from as food, beliefs, traditions, rituals and lifestyle vary from one culture to another. Celebrating a festival or an auspicious occasion with the locals is the most effective way to explore a culture. You can relish the delicacies of the feast, witness the traditional practices, know the reason and purpose behind rituals and nevertheless cut yourself a piece all the joy, love and festivities of the occasion.

One thing I strongly believe is, “It's never about the destination but all about the journey, the lessons you'd learn through all your journeys". I begin to discover my abilities, my character, my nature, my true self and a lot more things about myself I’ve never imagined before. You will realize that love and humanity are two most precious things on earth that can never be substituted by other materialistic possessions. Try travelling to a place you've never been before, preferably the ones where technology isn't advanced. You could probably choose Great Himalayas or Africa or even the islands of Lakshadweep or maybe Cambodia. You will be surprised of your capabilities in handling people, places and situations. Most important of all you will realize how strong you are to face your inner fears. 

You will not just face your fears but stare them in the eye instead!

I choose to rejuvenate myself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually by travelling. Either hiking or trekking to camp outdoors or relax by a peaceful Sea shore or explore the monumental Heritage of historical wonders.

I keep thinking about travelling to places most of the times. I'd either be planning my next trip or probably researching places on the web to add them to my checklist.

Travelling has taught me numerous things about myself that no books could have ever taught me. I’ve begin to realize that my true-self comes to life only outside my comfort zone. All the missions become extremely easy to accomplish when I operate myself from outside of my comfort zone.

No matter how well one explains in theory, it could be understood intellectually but the void of experience will always remain. Certain things can only be taught by experience and one among them is travelling.

So plan a trip, book your tickets, pack your bags, get down there, live your moments and just experience life.

Play safe though, Good luck!

A Memorable Accomplishment!

What initially was planned did not go by the way it was executed, Most of my trips are that way, in fact oi love the that way. The twist in the journey is what makes it a more memorable one.

Initial Plan:

1. Dharmastala Sri Manjunatha
2. Kollur Mookambika
3. Kodchadri trek
4. Udupi Sri Krishna
5. Relax at Maple beach
6. Back Home at Bangalore 

DAY 1: 

Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala

Reached Dharmasthala at 7.30 AM on a Monday. Took a holy dip in river Nethravati and  moved towards the Sri Manjunatha  Sannidhi. It took about 4 hrs in the the special darshan queue which costs about Rs200. The normal darshan would have taken me double the time, i.e. 8 hours to get the holy glimpse of my Lord. It is usually crowded on Mondays otherwise there are times when I have had my lord's darshan in less than an hour on other days. Was out of the temple by 1.30 pm had Annadaana Prasada  at Annapurna and went to bus stand. Kollur was next on my list but unfortunately there was no direct busses from Dharmasthala to Kollur. 

A friendly bus conductor who heard my plan suggested that Udupi first and then Kollur would be more convenient from a transportation's perspective as he saw my backpack loaded with Camping stuff. There are plenty a bus to Udupi from Dharmasthala and last one departs at 8pm. I took the 4 pm bus and reached Udupi by 6.15 pm.

Udupi Sri Krishna temple is in the heart of the city. I checked in to Vyavahara lodge in Car Street, Udupi by Sri Krishna Temple. Strolled around the temple.and the city to get a glimpse of place and its people. Had dinner and returned to the lodge to get some rest.

DAY 2:

Udupi Sri Krishna & Malpe

I woke up to the sun rising by my side right above the temple which was just about a 200 mts away from my room. I reached by Sri Krishna temple by 9 am and I was done with my prayers and darshan by 10 am. There are plenty of matthas around Sri Krishna Temple. I checked into on of the matha by name 'Narasimha Theerta Matha'out of curiosity. I met the mathadeesha and he blessed me with some mantrakshathe and a laddu as prasadam.

I from there took a 30 minute rickshaw ride to Malpe beach which costed me Rs 120 one way.

The beach looked pretty clean with turquoise colored water and pleasant tides which was just perfect for a float.

Played to my heart's content by embracing each wave that greeted me with loads of love. There are numerous cafes an hotels on the beach for food and refreshments. 

There is water sports facilities that offer speedboat, water scooter, ferry ride and parasailing. 

Well the main attraction of Maple beach is St. Mary's Island. An island that is about a .30 minute ferry ride away from the beach. I did not make it to St. Mary's Island as it was it was 4 pm already and the ferry guy refused to take due to some lame reason. All he said was he will not take a risk in the evening by including a solo traveller. He was too adament about and requested me to come the next day morning. According to him mornings are fine but not in the evenings. I am stiull trying to make sense of what he said. Nevermind, I returned to lodge and started towards my next destination, Kollur. 

Left Udupi at 6 pm and reached Kollur at about 9 pm. Took room by the Sowparnika river and rested for the night.

DAY 3:

Kollur Mookambika & Kodachadri

Woke up before sunrise, i was all exited for the Kodachadri trek. You can trek all te way from the foothills if you have the time and energy. Im sure that will we an amazing experience. But this time i took a jeep which costed me Rs 375 from Kollur temple to PWD Guest house(Inspection Bunglaw).That is the last point for any vehicles and ahead of that is only by foot. The jeep ride took us about 2 hrs to reach IB. There are  a few temples and near he IB. and also seek accomodation if wished to stay overnight. 

The peak from there is about an hour climb and you have a ganesha guhe (Cave temple of lord Ganesha). The Sarvagnya peetha is at the peak and has an idol of Adi Shankracharya as the deity. Theroof of the mantapam has a Srichakra encrypted and the is surrounded by eight other chakras called the ashta chakras. At the peak I was in the clouds totally mesmesrised by natures serene tranquil. You can also get a glimpse of Arabian sea. you can return if you wish toor get more adventurous by visting the Chitra moola, the birth place of river Sowparnika. Its about a 30 minute down climd the hill into the forest and return to the peak will take about an hour. Its pretty steep and exhasting to climb back to the peak. 

 There is a cave in chitramoola which has a Shiva linga and nandi worshipped by some sadhus ages ago. but it looked like that places has sadhus visting pretty frequently. i didnt see any sadhus but saw some utensils and clothes that belonged to a sadhu.

I wandered away in kodachadri as much as I could and returned to IB by 3pm  and was in kollur by 5 pm. Caame to the lodge freshened up and visted Mata Sri Mookambika Devi temple. Soulfully bowed to the Goddess for a wonderful experience thanked for everything and left to  Bangalore at about 8 pm. Reached Bangalore at 6.30 am.

Ride Solo to Explore

Mind set - It all begins here!

Daily life was starting to get a bit hectic as the stress level indicators raised up the stress meter. All those suppressed emotions and feelings however tiny, were piling up to reach the heights..............THE HEIGHTS OF INTOLERANCE!

Deep within me, a whisper of my sub-conscious mind was constantly repeating itself. All it continued to say was, 

“Set me free, Set me free and Set me free”. 

I needed a break! I wanted to break free from the daily chaos that was driving me into insanity. On the contrary, I was planning a 'ride' to some hill station to drain all the stress in me and clear the clouds of chaos in my mind. With a little bit of research on the net, I decided to visit Wayanad in Kerala.

YES! Wayanad it is. Convinced that Wayanad was ideal I begun to create my road map.

I had then intended to leave on the following Saturday morning and reach back to my presumed chaos or so called reality by Monday night. It was a long weekend since it was 15th August - our Independence Day. All my brothers and sisters of India were in the mood of independence and I decided to celebrate our Independence Day by setting my soul free. I did that by loosening those strings which had held me back to a structured and scheduled lifestyle.

I packed my basics and sorted all that I would need. Dusted the saddle bags and my riding gear with a spirit of freedom. I could imagine myself as a bird locked up in a cage and knows he would fly away to his freedom the following dawn.

Initial road-map

Bangalore > Mysore > Gundelpete > Sultan Bathery > Wayanad > Gundelpete > Mysore > Bangalore.

Locations Checklist

• Chembara peak 
• Soochipara falls
• Edakkal caves
• Sunrise valley
• Himavad gopalswamy
• Nanjanagudu

The Ride

The start did not go about as planned and that’s a pretty usual scenario.
I hit the Bangalore - Mysore highway and decided not to take a break for the first 2 hours at least, however I was forced to pause my travel every now and then due to rains that kept fluctuating with its pour. I was forced to take breaks along the highway due to rains and that helped me to calm myself down every time my adrenaline rush blew out of its proportions. These pauses also helped to cool my tigress down (RE Bullet 500).

The Start

Droplets of drizzle

Canal - Srirangapatna

Within a span of 3 hours, I was at Srirangapanta and stopped by a small irrigation canal for a break. I stretched myself to the maximum only to feel all my muscles relaxing down and all the bones & joints getting back to their place. “I could sense a feeling that seemed like my soul was dancing out of those egoistic layers while climbing out of that filthy hypocritical pit we all live in.” I strolled a bit to see around the place where I had stopped. I couldn’t witness much of nature or landscapes there; however I was able to hear the sounds of the birds chirping as the water in the canal kept flowing. After a decent relax time I headed further towards my destination. I turned left just before I entered the Mysore city into the ring road to avoid the city traffic inside the Mysore city. You may want to explore Mysore if you’ve never been there before. The heritage city of Mysore, as it is called will let you witness the true heritage of Mysore's culture . Try not to miss the Mysore Palace, Brindavan gardens (KRS Dam) and Chamundi Hills which are among the prominent tourist spots of Mysore. There are numerous other places to visit in and around Mysore. I would say, the exploration of Mysore itself would require a good 3-5 days depending on the degree of detail you'd want to cover. 

Let’s not deviate into Mysore and its heritage, as we are already on the ring road that heads towards Nanjangudu and further until Gundelpete. I continued to ride along the road and reached a spot where I could only see fields of orange flowers for miles together. That pretty sight got me nostalgic and led me to my school times. It reminded me of those lines William Wordsworth said in Daffodils.

“Ten thousand saw I at a glance, tossing their heads in sprightly dance”.  

Gundlepete

What a beautiful sight that was. I did feel what Wordsworth felt or wanted his readers to feel. I felt it not by reading his poem but by sight of those fields covered with flowers, that reminded me of his poem. It was a sight of true splendor. I was mesmerized indeed. You got to see it to believe it! I stopped by there for a while to enjoy the sight of beautiful nature and not let the concept of time ruin the moment. 

I then mounted my bullet and headed towards Bandipur forest. Wonderful roads that twists and turns quite frequently with hardly any pot holes helped me cruise through the forest with ease. I then passed by the Bandipur check-post to enter the Bandipur wildlife sanctuary. I must have traveled for a good 5 mins into the forest and saw three elephant by the road strolling away like each of them being their own majesties.

Bandipur - As their Majesties stroll

Bandipur - A King-size Life! 

It seemed like they lived life king-size, but I’d say grass is always green on the other side. All kinds have their ups & downs. The next thought on my mind was, why am I even comparing wild animals to humans?

As all the three disappeared into the forest I moved ahead towards Muthunga wildlife sanctuary. Bandipur forest on the Kerala border is called Muthunga forest. Saw some spotted deers, herd of bisons some birds I’ve never seen before, hence I do not know what they are called. There is great scope for wildlife photography in Bandipur. You also have some jungle lodges and resorts to accommodate tourists here. You also have the wild life safaris that forest department offers. If you plan a stay at Bandipur, do not miss the midnight safari and the elephant safari. It will be a memorable experience for life. Passionate wildlife photographers will enjoy their time in Bandipur. So now let’s move on as that’s not our destination. 

Further ride to Sultan Bathery and up to Mepaddi, we are almost at the foot hills of Chembara. I looked at my watch; it was about to clock 6 in the evening. I looked up at the sky and the sun was almost on the verge of setting itself. Seemed like he was waiting for me to witness his unexplainable magnificence as he leaves for the day and let the darkness creep in. I desperately needed a glorious sunrise or a magnificent sunset and YO! the wish was granted.

I strongly believe that nature is the easiest way to enrich oneself. Soul blends into nature, further becoming a part of the nature itself. It is indeed a part of nature, but unfortunately the system we humans have created, fails every human to be a part of nature and encourages him to destroy the nature for his selfish greedy needs & deeds.

I was in Kerala, The Gods own country!

Mepaddi

Mepaddi

The color of vegetation there has a shade of green that is enriched to its fullest. 

An Eve in Mepaddi

I was in Mepaddi by 7pm and checked into a hotel called, ‘By the Way’. Quickly freshened up and relaxed for a while. I then stepped out to get some dinner, meet people, talk to them, and understand the lifestyle and culture. What I realized was people of Wayanad are very friendly people. The caretaker of the Hotel (Mr. Kannan) briefed me of the places, worth a visit and the roads I need to take. He was also sweet enough to provide me with a hand sketched road map made for tourists. That map was really handy and helped me travel with ease not having to inquire locals if I was on the right track. In the course of my conversation with him is when I realized that Chembara peak is closed for trekkers since an elephant had given birth recently. The officials from the forest department, who usually provide permission to the trekkers, were denying any trekking permits for the next 2 weeks.

The Map (Thanks to Mr. Kannan)

There is something beautiful I heard. It seems that when an elephant gives birth, the other members of the herd will surround the mother and baby elephant creating a circle around them to protect them for weeks together, during which no strangers are entertained around them. The herd could get really aggressive and that is why the officials deny all permissions to Chembara at such times. I was disappointed about not being able to make it to the peak, but that was OK. I pacified myself saying I have reason now to go back to Chembara sometime in future.

Soocipara Falls.

I had to change my plans to Soocipara falls instead of Chembara peak.

I got back to my room to get some sound sleep. I needed to relax my stressed eyes and strained muscles so I could rise early and take off to Soocipara Falls

My next destination was Soocipara falls.

I rose by 5 am the next morning and left to Soocipara falls. I did stop by on the way to witness the glory of the RISING SUN. 

MEPADDI

Reached Soochipara Falls. Its a good 20-30 mins climb down the hill to reach the falls.

Its treat to your eyes once you reach the the falls. Water falling in such force and from a height of 200 meters is a mesmerizing scenic beauty indeed. Soocipara falls is also known as Sentinel Rock Waterfalls.

Soochipara/Sentinel rock Falls   

Soochipara/Sentinel rock Falls   

Edakkal Caves: Tales of the Neolithic Age

Edakkal Caves is about 26 kms from Kalpetta. These caves are believed to be a settlement for the primitive men who belonged to the Neolithic age. Archaeologists conclude that this settlement belonged to an era between 8000 BC to 6000 BC. You will need a good 4 to 5 hours to explore Edakkal Caves. It makes me wonder of the human journey from then until now. The progress of man's mind in terms of human evolution left me amazed. I would recommend this place to all who are interested history and archaeology. Wikipedia claims to say that this is the only record primitive men found in India that belonged to the stone age. I took my own sweet time to explore Edakkal and left Edakkal by sunset. Reached the hotel to rest as I had to leave Wayanad the following morning. My next destination was Himavad Gopal Swamy betta.

Himavad Gopalswamy and Nanjangudu:

I left towards Gundelpete the next morning and it took me about 2 hours to reach Gundelpete. Visited the Himavad Gopal swamy betta which is an abode of lord Krishna. An interesting fact about this place is that temple at the peak is always covered with mist all round the year, hence its named with the prefix 'Himavad' (Full of Mist).

My next and last location was Najangudu. It is located on the banks of river Cauvery and about 30 kms from Gundelpete and 40 kms from Mysore. There is a temple of lord Nanjundeshwara and with huge number of devotees visiting this place.

Cauvery at Nanjangudu

Rejuvenated  - Ready to Return! 

I sat by the river and played back my journey on my mind, from the start. It was an amazing experience indeed. The movie of this trip's experience that played in my mind, made me smile and only smile. I was now all set and ready to return to civilization and its chaos. I started towards Bangalore after the Sunset on the banks of Cauvery and reached Bangalore a couple of hours before midnight.

Just like all my trips are memorable, This "solo ride to explore" is a memorable one in its own way.