"SWEET" dreams

I was travelling by train in sleeper compartment to Goa, for the first time without my sleeping bag and also i was not carrying any blanket.. but I had a very comfortable sleep.. by the way this one day trip to Goa is to meet my brother(chinannaya) and my gang..funny thing is two people who are celebrating birthday in this trip knows that I'm coming and surprise visit is for my brother :p
so back to my train journey..I drifted off to sleep reading a novel, though I had nothing to protect me from night coldness. Then all of a sudden I woke up in Bangalore airport . I thought I was dreaming, so I tried waking up but it did not work.I know I'm traveling by train, but I'm confused if I'm dreaming about traveling by train or about being in airport. it's like inception, felt like i lost track of reality. but whatever, I saw Chinannaya,Harika and Mohan when I was analyzing my dream situation. It was a one way traffic, in that only I could see them. I sat behind my brother and tried to touch his hand and see if he notices and to my surprise he turned back and smiled at me!
but he did not speak to me stating the obvious that he could not see me. but he felt something and he kept looking back smiling at emptiness as if he knew I was watching him. This is how I met him,because of his smile for the first time before 9 years and since then I became his little sister and a part of his family. you are family and I'm glad destiny brought us together annaya,Love you and can't wait to surprise you!

Dreams are sweet if they take you places where your heart longs to be..

Will update selfie once I meet them:p

Hampi-Gokarna trip

Jan 22nd,2016 18:00 hrs

I'm making use of every long weekend in 2016. January 26 being public holiday I'm going on a four day trip. First to Hampi for the half marathon. I took a sleeper bus to Hospet from Vashi.I don’t fancy bus journey and to add to that due to some mechanical problem the driver was taking us at 40 kmph. We reached there by 12 in the noon which is 4 hrs late.But I met a kannadiga girl and learned some basics of kannada to pass the time in the bus.To all my kannada friends “Heggiddira?”..:D

She helped me find a local transport to Hampi and I reached the Bib collection point.All my friends were waiting there.

We did not book any room priorly.Camping was an option in our hand so we haven’t bothered much.But one of our friend found this beautiful and cheap accommodation.It is a government guest house(Mayura Guest Home) in Kamalapur which is 4kms from Hampi and dorms are not open for online booking,so it was available even during peak time as very few know about that and most of the people prefer pre booking.We were 11 and booked one dorm with 10 beds.it costed us 1500 per day.So basically 150 per head for a 10 people gang.So cheap and the premises are so clean and beautiful.Only problem is you have to book the whole dorm even if you are not 10.But in my view it’s still a pretty good deal for 5 and above.

 You can call these numbers for finding out dorm availability @ mayura guest home(dorm tariff is not mentioned on the visiting card)

Hampi-

I knew Hampi was a heritage sight,but I did not expect the rocky muddy look of the village.It’s all red and stony around you.I’m not big fan of art but I fell in love with the rocks and the sculptures and how they were carved without missing intrinsic details.we roamed only in south Hampi,which is where all the historic monuments are.Pictures say more than words.Here are few pics I clicked in Hampi.

One more thing which I noticed is many of the constructions have stone layer as base and brick layer on the top!

My gang

Lotus Mahal

Elephant stable

Hazara Ram temple

Hazara Ram temple was my favourite in Hampi.Lot of carvings and each one has a story to tell!

He was pencil sketching a carving and was really good at it!

Coming to the run,I maintained a slow pace through out the first half due to my knee pain and I walked and ran sprints in the second half.I was able to finish 21kms in 2:48 hrs even though I walked for a while in the second half.Everybody finished less than their best time as the weather was so pleasant and the route was full of shade with trees and scenic except for a 3/4 km stretch where we have to run along main road.Overall I loved the heritage run and would love to do more runs with them.

Even though Hampi was Krishnadevaraya’s kingdom the only pic I found of him was in hospet bus stand unlike Maharashtra where you can find shivajis idols everywhere!!

Gokarna-

It’s a paradise.If you wanna enjoy exotic beaches without too much crowd then this is the place for you.You wonder if you are in a foreign land as foreigners outweigh indians in number.I met this old foreign woman carrying 4 lts of drinking water in bottles.Wondering,I asked where she was coming from.She said that she was getting drinking water for the day from Rama temple uphill where there are spring waters.She has been visiting Gokarna every year from quite a few years.No wonder she is visiting every year.I’m planning to go there whenever I wanna get solitude.

To reach from one beach to another you have to trek up a mountain and get down.Alternatively,you can take a rickshaw if you don’t have your own vehicle.We trekked and covered four beaches in one day.First comes gokarna beach which is not bad and bit crowdy compared to other ones.I slept on the beach for an hour or so,tired from previous day run and journey.Then we started trekking towards Kudle beach crossing Rama temple where you can find lots of people meditating.Waters are so pristine and blue.I got into waters only in this beach.It is of same ground level even if you go deep inside.Good place for swimming!

Beach stroll

After getting tanned and exhausted we started trekking towards Om beach looking for yummy food.We dined in Namaste cafe which is decently good and everything tasted yummy as all of us were starving.Then we continued to trek towards half moon beach where we crashed to camp.It was our sunset point with beautiful views.

Sitting there on the rock felt like sitting at the edge of the world and entrance of the infinite ocean.

Me lost in the sea and beauty

The red sun dropping into the sea and his colours diluting in the sky is a double treat with the reflection in the waters.The colours drifted from red,orange,yellow and finally to grey.The blue waters of the sea turned to grey but the cold winds touching my cheek hooked me on that rock for a little while more.Just when the day and excitement was about to end dolphins sighting geared me up.What a beautiful day it was,every next day seems more exciting than the previous when I’m travelling.Nature,it’s beauty and what it has to offer us is immeasurable.All we have to do is embrace it and leave no carbon foot prints.

Camping

That orange tent is my baby.I carry it everywhere I go travelling.Look at those three still sleeping..:P

Morning visit by tourists to half moon beach

I should tell more about half moon beach.Apparently,camping is not allowed on the beaches ,but half moon beach is one place where there is no patrolling due to it’s small size and lucky us that we reached that beach by sunset without knowledge that we were not supposed to camp on the beach.One of the best places I’ve ever camped and it was only 500m long(I’m bad at this,but it is definitely not longer than that)..Thats it!!..two restaurants on either corners behind the hills.I think you can book rooms over there,but we camped out on the beach and had food in the restaurant.An d also last but not least..Longest and brightest shooting star I’ve seen till date(5-6 sec!!).

Only drawback is you won’t be able to view sunrise from this beach due to mountains.Next time i’ll trek further up and explore paradise beach which I missed this time.

Gokarna,you are in my focus now and i'll keep visiting you,you beauty!

HeartBeat!!

I’ve mixed feelings about camping all alone on a hill.But my adventure and exploratory side dominated my scared part.I was sitting under this tree writing about anything and everything that is going through my mind 

Once a while I heard this strange scary noise which finally turned out to be a cute little bird.Good that I realised before it got dark else I would have spent my entire night wondering what is making that noise! Once the harshness of the sunrise dialled down I went to the peak for searching a camping spot.

I finalised a spot on the mountain which is on the right to Duke’s nose as the ground was more even there and I also I like the view of the Dukes nose from this hill.

That rocky patch was my camping spot

A couple of ladies came to the top followed by a family.The former pair surprised to see a female all alone and the later couldn’t see me clearly as I was on the adjacent peak.Although they were whispering I could hear them very clearly as there is nothing but a valley between us.They were wondering if I were a girl or a boy..thanks to my lovely hair style:P

I sat on the peak for a while more till sunset reading A feast for crows in my kindle.

When the family left after sunset I went to my selected camping spot and arranged my bedding.I did not pitch my tent as I wanna sleep under the stars and instead used my tent as a tarp.I lyed down waiting for stars to be up.

I could literally hear everything..Sound of wind,dry leaves dancing to the wind,dogs barking from the base village,distant train sound,my heartbeat..literally everything!!

It was scary.I was never so alert and aware of my surroundings as I was on that night.I have phone signal,so I called up a friend.After speaking to him for a while I realised that this is not how I wanna overcome my anxiety.So I kept my phone aside and I started to take in everything,I faced my anxiety and fears,I faced my excitement,I faced my freedom.I started enjoying the night more once I understood the sounds.I got connected with that mountain,that sounds,with the stars and the sky.I got connected with everything that is around me or in my mind.

I had lots of thoughts before I came for this solo trek.I wanted to make use of my time in planning my career,what I wanna do with my life.But in that moment nothing mattered.Nothing came to my mind.All I can think of was how the stars are showering their love to me,how all my senses are open and taking in everything to the core,how silence can soothe your soul.I was literally living that moment.I saw three more shooting stars that night and drifted off to sleep slowly.I woke up three times in between as I was so alert but all these times I was never scared.I just went back to sleep watching the stars.

I woke to this beautiful sunrise and it felt worth the trip just for this view and the heat.

Morning View:Aww man i really love the colours!!

The colours!!

Real heaven!!

View on Mumbai-Pune express highway

After enjoying the sun rise a little while more I headed back to base village Kurvanda. Once I was down I enquired for breakfast and this lovely family offered me warm water too to fresh up after being surprised that I camped all alone the previous night.I know I’ll get a yummy breakfast but hot water to fresh up was like heaven after two days of camping.I confirmed that they had pipeline connection for water supply and then showered happily.I was offered poha which is absolutely mouth watering.

Contact details of Vilas Borkar:(you can call him ahead for food if you are going to dukes nose,his house is beside Sai baba temple in kurvanda) 9823081680, 9075383998

This is how my solo trek ended, one thing which I realised after this day is that we have a lot of ability to connect to everything around us.. Once you get connected you own that place and nothing can ever match that level of resonance.

I wanna get connected with the whole world, to the nature, to the ultimate beauty.. Life!

Life is all about wonders and new experiences.2016 is going to be a wonderful journey for me and I wish all of you have a wonderful year ahead pursuing your own passions.

Disclaimer:All pic credits to me.Solo treks are not recommended,risky and dangerous.Please make sure you think all angles before you go to secluded areas.

In Love with Nature's colours!!

Tailbaila,one of the beautiful and secluded villages in Sahyadri's, a wonderful place to visit if you are looking for a very easy trek with mesmerising views.I came here with my dear friend and co-trekker Siva(Baba you missed a spectacular view) on a duo trek.It is around 33kms from Lonavala.It is accessible by shared vans from Shivaji Udyan or ST buses from Lonavala.We took a shared van till Amby valley which costed us 30 INR per head and took a ST bus from there which dropped us 3km from Tailbaila.It is a pretty easy walk even at peak mid-day as the road is all shady with trees on either side.

Enroute to Tailbaila

our rest point just before the village,not that we were tired.Just for the feel of it :P

That's Durgheshwar hill where climbers come for technical climbing.As me nor my friend do not have enough climbing skills we trekked just to the mid point where the partition can be seen.

Durgeshwar

TailBaila Village view from Durgeshwar

There is a temple constructed at the junction.It looks like a dead end from there,but go ahead into

trees and walk for 5mins and you can see spectacular view of Amby valley from this point

View from Durgeshwar

     

Amby Valley                                                 Amby Valley

It took us 30mins to trek up leisurely.Route is moderately steep with loose rocks,but overall it is a very easy trek.There is no place to camp on the top,except for the temple.

That's my friend Siva

We decided to camp in the village and pitched our tent at the starting point of the village.There is a vast dry grass land stretch with even ground surrounded by mountains as this is the last village in sahyadri range,so basically we can camp anywhere!.

Durgeshwar from side view..Me with a horn :P

There is a hotel at the entrance of the village,not a typical hotel,it's basically a home cooked food provided for visitors and they charge 100 per meal.I absolutely loved the food.We pitched our tent,but slept outside on a tarp in our sleeping bags as the sky view was spectacular.

Here I'm in TailBaila on a not so chilly winter night with a blanket of shining stars soothing me into sleep,but my heart refuses to drift away into dreams wondering if it could have a better view than this.To add to this shooting stars made my day and I can't imagine a better way to spend my new year.I woke around 5 in the morning.This time it's just moon and few stars.Attended to my nature calls in the moon light..:P. Village was still sleeping,So I lied down again looking at the moon and dozed off.Finally woke up again to the most beautiful colours of sunrise!!

Morning stroll!

This time we got a bus from village to Lonavala at 8:30 AM costing 40 INR per person.Siva had to leave to Hyderabad and I couldn't go back to Mumbai knowing that I can't see those beautiful colours of night and day lying in nature's lap.So I decided to go on a solo trek(which I was longing to try from a while).I chose a relatively easy and familiar place,Dukes nose to trek as this was my first solo.It is 10kms away from Lonavala train station.I bid my friend farewell and took a rickshaw to Kurvanda base village.I started trekking right away to the top as I know the route will be pretty clear.

I had enough supplies and local police station numbers (thanks for my concerned friend to share those details)and pepper spray to drive away insects if any.I was here before two years for rappelling with Mumbai Explorers.It took me 40mins to trek up as i started at peak mid day.I reached to the peak around 1pm.So here I'm on Duke's Nose resting just below the peak(this is the only place you get shade when it's sunny) for the next half day.

My rest spot for almost 8hrs!!

Selfie!!

I will camp on the peak at night.I'm using this half day to bring out the writer in me,hence this post.I created this blog years ago,but this is my first post.You can guess how lazy I'm in penning down my thoughts.I always wanted to blog about my trips,finally this solo trek gave me the push I needed.Hopefully I'll continue this and write about all my future treks and trips.All excited to camp on Duke's nose to take in all that nature have to offer me.

In LOVE with Nature and it's colours!!

I've been to many places in sahyadris,organised treks with Great Hyderabad Adventure Club(I'm so proud and thankful to be part of it,as my journey to Nature started with it and whatever skills I possess today is all because of the knowledge GHAC has imparted upon me)

Disclaimer:All pic credits to me.Solo treks are not recommended,risky and dangerous.Please make sure you think all angles before you go to secluded areas.