Tour of Allepy

DAY 1, Saturday 11th August 2007:
This time it was a planned and well executed short tour 2 Alleppy. Its around 71 KM from
Kochi and takes around 10 Hrs by bus from B'lore.
But our purpose of visit was for its spectacular snake - boat races held on the second
Saturday of August, every year @ Punnamada Lake in Alleppy. This competition - the Nehru boat race takes its name from India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who inaugurated in 1952. It is excitement all around as snake - boats , each manned by over a hundred oarsmen, cut
through the waters like wind. This time it was 55th edition of the race & 55 boats participated out of which were 18 snake boats.....A single snake boat(Chundan) will be measuring over 100 feet in length, with a raised prow. And needs 100-117 member crew...WOW thats a lot.....i need not say its a once in a life time must visit event.

Technical Specifications
Tracks – 4 tracks of 10 M. wide from East. Track length – 1400 M
Chundan(Snake Boat) :Amaram- 5 Persons ; Nilakkar-5 Persons
Total no. of team members- 111

The boat race gets away from 2 PM and ends @ about 6 PM ..well we had got a VIP pass
on the island Nehru Pavilion ...all thanks to our freelance photographer friend Salil who had
arranged it for us...... if u don't have a pass then don't even think of coming 2 this place ...well on
this day Punnamada Lake will b jam packed with almost people coming from various parts of the
world 2 visit the biggest boating event in India. Finally it was as usual the Kumarakam boat club
sponsored by SBI which won 4th time in a row....Well even the other boats had sponsors like cox
n kings, Thomas cook.etc...well now thats what i call Globalization. And the people capacity was
around 50,000.
@ around 7 PM v headed back 2 Alleppy town ...now was the time 2 have some Idiyappam
Kadala and Puttu well these r some of the famous dishes of Kerala which i never found in B'lore.
Then headed back 2 KTDC yatri nivas where we had stayed..its pretty economical place 2
stay as a room cost around 385 INR.
DAY 2, Sunday 12th August 2007:
Alleppy has large network of inland canals earning it the sobriquet "Venice of the east".
These large network of canals provide Alleppy its lifeline. Now it was our turn 2 see around.....so u got lots of option 2 move around Alleppy.... well the best is hiring a houseboat which may cost
around 7000 INR 2 about 35000 INR......yes and its worth it for a 24 Hr ride for 10 people......ya
u get 2-3 bed room house boat .....some boats with first floor having a balcony and some with
TFT screen n Dish TV in it. Almost all these house boats have kitchen as they take u 2 a 24 Hr ride they provide u with full time meals n snacks. And the best of all house boat what v saw was a big floating conference room....ya u get it with all the facilities even AC fitted in 2 a boat....

But we had hired a boat for 1000 INR for a 5 Hr journey 2 Vembanad lake towards
Chambakulam.......Its the Kuttanad area......The boat can b stopped anywhere u wish so our
forst stop was for Kappa(tapioca) & fish curry along with local Kallu(Toddy), is a thick white sap
that comes from the bud of the coconut palm. The but is nicked and receptacle strapped below it,
It fills up overnight & is collected in morning. The man who does it is known as the Toddy topped
and he is a good guy 2 know :-)
........Passed around some Paddy fields which lie below water level....in and around u will find
water ....boat......nature......water ....boat......nature......water ....boat......nature......water
....boat......nature......Its a good place 2 hang around from busy citi life......

Got back home packed bags n got back 2 Kochi by train ....now that 1 Hr Train journey can
also b memorable if u stand @ the door n travel.
Reached Kochi by 6PM and had 2 catch a bus back 2 my base B'lore.

Well these 2 days was truly a great experience in Venice of the east though it was my second visit to Gods Own Country this year.
The total cost of tour was 2150 INR inclusive of travel, stay n food.
Special thanks to Salil and Raijo for guiding the tour. Sai and Salil for these extraordinary photographs.

Mysore

“Always try different things in life and try to take decisions in the nick of time”.
This quote of Steve Jobs inspired us to get off to Mysore .

Some how managed to get Raghu's car few hours before ....and Prashanth as usual was ready for
game and we 3 finally set off on 19th May 2007 @ around 7:00AM from B'lore towards Mysore
without having any preplanned schedule.

Try to catch by NICE junction through Kanakapura road n get in touch to Mysore road SH18.
Have Breakfast @ Kamath's near Janapada Loka which is around 50 KM from B'lore.
Try out early morning buffet which costs around 60 INR with unlimited food.
Reached Srirangapatnam, which is about 30 KM form Mysore @ around 9:30 AM .
Places to see :
1: Sangam - spot where Cauveri and some other 2 rivers club n dance to the beats of nature. Try out Teppa(a small boat made of bamboo) ride which cost 10 INR.
2: Gumbaz – A well built marble architecture where Tippu Sultan's family rests in peace, including Hyder Ali's tomb.
3: Tippu's Summer Palace – Made up of wood n amazing paintings on wall.U will even find Tippus sword n some other belongings like his royal dress, coins, thrown etc..

Then v entered the fort area which had.
1: Ranganathswamy Temple – Ancient temple with amazing Hoysala Arcitecture.
2: Colonel Dungeon – This is the place where Tippu kept his prisoners.
3: Then a place where Tippu's dead body was found.
All these places r well maintained n the parking costs u around 20 INR in each spots which will
costs u around 100 INR but u can compromise for good roads n well maintained gardens.
Then moved to Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary which is around 10 KM from Mysore.
This 0.6 Sq.KM bird sanctuary situated in the bank of river Cauvery. About 25 different types of Birds, Marsh Crocodiles and water dogs also find here. The best time to see is between April to Nov. It costs u around 25 INR for a boat ride with guide.

Moved to Mysore @ around 2:00 had a tight lunch n visited to St. Philomena's Church ,this
church has amazing architecture of roman style.
Then checked out Zoo which costs 25 INR,
SUGGESTION : Well this is one of the best Zoo in Asia, well maintained with lots n lots varieties of animals and birds. Since it takes lot more time to cover the entire Zoo, so checkout the Zoo map first and visit those animals n birds which u have never seen before. U can ever hire a battery driven vehicles available in site Zoo, if u need to cover the whole Zoo.

Then got up with my friend Ajay who helped us to hire a hotel room @ city center. Hotels r
easily available but for ur precaution try to book ur rooms.
He took us on a ride of Mysore city well its truly a drivers paradise with no traffic n good roads.
Had a good hangout on Chamundi Hills which is 8 KM from Mysore where u can get a 365
degree sneak preview of Mysore from top. The best timepass is to count couples hanging out here n there. Well after the couple count the great Mahishasura (a large demon)statue will b waiting to greet u on hill top it is bcoz of this demon that Mysore got its name. Do visit a large Nandi and Chamundeswari on top coz half of the young crowd gets settled here n there.
Got down back to town n visited Dasara exhibition zone.
Day 2 : 20th May 2007
Had a good tight breakfast @ the famous Mylari hotel , well it will b a bit tough to get seats
since the seating capacity is just 20 & its world famous in Mysore our friend Ajay guided us the
route...coz even its pretty tricky to find the original Mylari as in n around u may find duplicate one. Idly n Dosa r the only items available here.
Visited Mysore palace – This is a must visit spot n will cost u 20 INR only.
This palace was build around end of 19th Century @ a cost of 15Laks. Its amazing architecture
comprising of its painting, marble floors, wooden ceiling embroidery, furnitures n the court room with gold coated pillers.

Moved to Somanathpura this place is around 40 KM from Mysore n well maintained by
Archaeological Survey of India(ASI). It has a beautifully constructed Keshava temple built @ 12th century by the Hoysalas. The entry costs u 5 INR only. Its a must visit spot.
Returned back to Mysore n visited Karanji Lake .The entry costs u 10 INR. This place has an
amazing cage where u will b let in to check out birds in their natural habitat. It even has boating n a butterfly island. But the only drawback is u need to walk around 2 KM to get to reach as vehicles r prohibited in the park area.


@ around 5:00 left Mysore n got back to Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS). The root cause of Cauveri
dispute.
Places to see here Aquiraum, Brindavan Garden , Musical fountain & not to miss the giant
KRS DAM iteslf. U can even have a look @ the parking area as it is one of south India's biggest
parking area(Check out the snap,bottom-center)

Headed back to our base Bangaluru @ 7:00 PM with a BANG...
NOTE: We did not cover any modern day hang outs like commercial shopping areas, Bowling alleys, Fun parks etc..etc...such spots r available in Mysore but would b waste if u go from B'lore to Mysore to visit these spots as such places of modern entertainment r available in B'lore itself.
The total cost of 460 KM tour was 1200 INR inclusive of travel, stay n food.
Special thanks to Raghu for his car and driving our car throughout our 460 KM journey . And Ajay for guiding in and around Mysore.

Shravanabelagola , Halebeedu-Belur and Chikkamangaluru

All of a sudden we decided to move out of Bengalooru on weekends.
This time it was a historic tour to Shravanabelagola , Halebeedu-Belur and

Chikkamangaluru.

Four of us left B'lore @ around 6:00 AM 28th July Saturday on the way 2 Hassan.
On the way u may find around 100 tourist boards provided by Karnataka Tourism to guide u .
Which takes u to Shravanabelagola almost 190 KM from B'lore...we reached there around 11 AM.U need to climb around 650 steps cut-out on rock, to reach One of 7 wonders of India n the Worlds Biggest Monolithic image(57 feet) of Sri Gomateshwara. This amazing piece of Architecture was build @ around 988 AD and still stands tall in its full glow welcoming each one. After reaching on top its time to take ur breath as u will be 470 feet above ground level.
Opposite to that hill u will find yet another hill(Chikka Betta) half the size of this. Here u may find lots of Jain Basadi and some caves here n there. It takes around 3 hours to climb and get back down.

From Shravanabelagola moved to Halebeedu which is around 70 KM from that place.
First thing that welcomes u here is Hoysaleswara temple which was build around 11h century. This place was the capital of Hoysala dynasty which ruled Carnatic zone for about 300 years. The Archaeological survey of India(ASI) has maintained the place in a very good manner n restored the temple beauty as it was 1000 years ago. Its best that u hire a guide, as n when he explains about the magnificent architecture we can just follow up with those art works n try to understand. This place is a must visit. In and around u may find some Jain Basadi, well one of the basadi has well polished 12 pillars where u can see ur own image on each pillar. The pillars has been lathed well that the images differ from one another.

Next @ around 5PM reached Belur which is around 20 KM from there. Here stands the
magnificent Chennakeshava temple. Even this temple was build by Hoysalas. Well we hired a guide here also. A guide will cost u 130 INR. And no entrance fees anywhere where we had visited upto now. ASI has maintained all these places superbly with no cost form the visitors........One of the specialties of Belur temple was all those 54 special statues around temple. One major thing to be visited here is a prototype pillar or we can call it an index pillar, the reason all most all the sculptures which u can find on the temple can be found on this single pillar. As it took more than 100 years to build such temple they had done a prototype of it on a single pillar. There is also a 42 feet gravity pillar standing on its own. This pillar is standing on its own weight for the past 100s of years on only 3 sides from the 4 side u can pass a piece of paper. (This is a great proof for Vastu calculation as at that point there is zero Earth vibration)

The Hoysalas had build around 54 such temples of which only 3 stand tall today Halebeedu,
Belur and Somanathpura (Which we coverd in our last tour to Mysore). We had covered almost all of those now so what next......we still had one more day left..........???? moved on to Chikamangaluru, 20 KM from Belur n halted that night u may find lot of Lodges here so its not a big deal for staying @ night.

Next day 29th July Sunday moved on to check out some coffee estates around Chikamangaluru.
At around 10 KM in any direction u may find coffee estates. But we were on the way to
Baba-budanagiri Hills (BB Hills) which was around 40 KM from there, so decided to check out this place. I had always heard about this controversial place in news. But let me tell u there is nothing much to see in BB-Hills just a cave where u will find datta peetha and darga in a single place so i think u got the controversy rite. But again its a must visit spot for all nature lovers as u can touch clouds and can find water falls here n there. 100% pure Oxygen is available here in nature absolutely free. Guys like us had some breathing problem as there was no pollution in air, this was the time v missed B'lore. But as i told u its a high sensitive area u may find cops almost everywhere. The temperature was around 10-15 degrees. And the visibility is around 10 meters so cant afford to drive above 10-15 Km speed. We stopped at every 10 KM entered some coffee estates....if u find some loopholes in fencing then u may check in some guys coffee estate n pluck some coffee seeds as {Prashanth did} but beware of DOGS.We enjoyed that place till 12 PM then headed back to B'lore. On the way to B'lore u will come
across Yagachi Dam(1 KM form Belur) spend some time here if u have not seen water for long time.
On the way there r lots of sunflower n marigold farms so again {Prashanth} found a loop hole n plucked some flowers for his girl. Well u will find Dhabas from Hassan so no problem for food.
Reached B'lore safe n sound @ around 7 PM to WOW greeted by nice traffic on Tumkur road and WOW what a polluted air. Finally feels good to b home.
From Historic monuments to Hill stations it was yet another joy ride.
The total cost of 650 KM tour was 750 INR inclusive of travel, stay n food.
Special thanks to Lohith for guiding this tour and for a special breakfast @ his house in Channarayapatna.
As usual our Driver Raghu for driving 650 KM for 2 days and Navigator Sheikh for his backup driving.
And special thanks to Mr.Satish Koppar for his 800cc Audi car.