Skip to main content

Scotland of India - Madikeri (Part I)

(Raja's Seat. Captured on Honor 4X. 1/40, ISO 100)

9th to 11th December, 2015

Before we get started, let's hear a quick word from our sponso-- nah, just kidding. But seriously though I want to make a couple of things clear. I do most of my editing on Snapseed mobile or Adobe Lightroom mobile or sometimes using Gimp (which is a free and open source application that you should check out if you are interested). I will try to add screenshots wherever possible and also the device with which the picture was captured and the metadata.

The trip

This is a trip that I will cherish for years to come. This was the first time that I went on a trip without my parents. My two friends and I planned for this in three days' time. This was new to me. Earlier, in other trips, there was nothing to do except to listen to my parents. No worrying about accommodation or food or more importantly, money.
We left Bangalore on 8th night and reached Madikeri on next early morning. And thankfully, we didn't have to worry about accommodation or food this time around because we stayed at my aunt's house. We all enjoyed the stay there.

Day 1 - Talakaveri, Abbey Falls, Raja's Seat

Our first day was quite productive. We covered all the three places in a day.

Talakaveri

(View from the Brahmagiri Hill. Honor 4X. 1/1585. ISO 100)
 
We started early. The bus facilities were quite good. We went from Madikeri to Talakaveri, then returned on the same bus. The place was good. And if you climb some hundred odd steps to Brahmagiri Hill you could see the panorama of magnificent Western Ghats hills. There was greenery all around. Although, to visit any hill station the best time would be after monsoon.

Abbey Falls

And then we had lunch at home, rested for a bit and left to Abbey Falls. It is a place which everyone should visit at least once. We have to walk for approx. 1.5 kms from parking space. But the path leading to the waterfalls is also so good that you wouldn't notice how far you've walked.

(On the path to Abbey. Nikon S6500. f/3.4. 1/30. ISO 220)

From the parking space you hear the water falling vaguely. Then as you move towards the falls it starts getting louder and louder. It's like those slow reveals in horror movies, except, this is good. And you finally arrive and see it for yourselves how mesmerizing it is!
 
(Abbey Falls. Honor 4X. 1/100. ISO 100)

Raja's Seat

(Raja's Seat. Nikon S6500. f/4.4. 1/200. ISO 125)
 
Raja's Seat is the most easily accessible place of all three. It is in the Madikeri city. And the best part is you can visit it at any time of the year. The place is best known for sunsets. But there's more to it than just sunsets. The flower garden is quite nice and peaceful. You can take the mini train ride while enjoying the tasty bhel poori or tomato slices. And then at night you can watch the fountain show. But I must warn you, it gets pretty chilly quite early. So, make sure you are packed.
 
(Raja's Seat water fountain. Honor 4X. 1/20. ISO 2400)

Conclusion

I have tried to keep it short and simple. I hope I gave you an idea of how my day was and how wonderful the places are. "Day 2" will come soon. Keep reading and keep supporting. Happy weekend!
Tags

Comments

  1. VarunSeptember 25, 2020 at 9:30 PM

    Fantastic 👌👌👌

    ReplyDelete
  2. SriharshaSeptember 25, 2020 at 9:57 PM

    Would love to go there with you sometime 😇. Great style of writing bro. Will be waiting for next post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Varun M RaoSeptember 25, 2020 at 10:44 PM

      Yeah sure we'll go there.
      Thank you! I'll notify when I post :)

      Delete
  3. Sharath SSeptember 25, 2020 at 11:54 PM

    Narration is impressive

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownSeptember 26, 2020 at 2:22 AM

    👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻awesome

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownSeptember 26, 2020 at 7:18 AM

    Thanks for refreshing my memory of Madikeri! Last time I went was with my students! As usual commendable photography Varun:-) Short, Sweet n Simple narrative.... Keep it up Varun:-) Look forward for more Places, more Photographs... ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Varun M RaoSeptember 26, 2020 at 8:29 AM

      Thank you 😊 More posts on the way. Glad I was able to do that 😃

      Delete
  6. UnknownOctober 1, 2020 at 8:13 PM

    Nice one bro 👌

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownOctober 1, 2020 at 9:02 PM

    It's too nice👌👌👌

    ReplyDelete
  8. yogheshOctober 9, 2020 at 6:21 PM

    I could literally sense the place as u describe... Good one bro 👍🏼

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Light Painting Technique

(Vidhana Soudha. Mi A3) This post is more of a guide type of post. So, I'll try not to make it boring. I'm going to talk about a mode called Light Painting, which you might or might not have heard of, but you would have come across the pictures at least once. I'm doing this post because some people told me that it's not possible to take pictures like that after I posted a couple of these on Instagram. It's totally possible, and anyone can do it. It's simple by the core. The name says it all. You paint with the lights.  So, how do you paint with light? A: You keep the shutter open for a longer time. What's shutter, and how do you keep it open? A: Shutter is the door to the image sensor where the image gets recorded. The sensor is our eye, and the shutter is the eyelid. The longer the shutter stays open the more light gets captured. These are just basics, there is also aperture that needs to be taken into consideration. What is aperture, you ask? A: It, to...
5 comments
Read more

The Basic Dos and Don'ts of Photography

 Are you wondering why the post that should have been the second is like the seventeenth one? That's what I thought when I started with this. But, here we are. I think the reason is mostly that this isn't an outright guide blog. It is a photography blog, sure, but not exactly a tutoring one. And as for this post, this will be a guide blog. An example of the usage of the Rule of Thirds  Let's start with the don'ts. I believe that it's easy to do something when you know what not to do. Don't zoom and take pictures: This is a pretty basic mistake a lot of us make while taking pictures. If you have the opportunity to move closer and take the picture then please do. Doing so ensures that your picture quality is maintained and you can further crop the pictures if needed. The exceptions to this are if your phone has a dedicated zoom lens and/or the processing of zoomed photos is extremely good on your phone (only Google Pixels have this, as far as I know). Don't ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why We Do What We Do?

  Before you start wondering if this is a photography blog or some philosophical one, let me just save you the time and tell you that this, indeed, is a photography blog. It's been a minute since I last wrote a blog. Too consumed, too lazy, too out of things to write, or at least, that's what I thought. But, I have tons to write about. Turns out I was just lazy. What makes us do or not do anything? What makes us wake up in the morning? Why did I start writing this blog that I had saved in drafts for over a year? The thought of doing something usually fills our head with a good feeling or a bad feeling. But the world as we know is not made of "Good or bad". It's normally the in-between. The world is filled with averages. "Average people are the most special people in the world. And that's why God made so many of them" -Michael Scott's Mom -Michael Scott [The Office] . I may leave you with more questions than answers by the end of this blog. I...
1 comment
Read more