There is a proverb in Kannada, "Doorada betta kannige nunnage", which literally translates to "The mountain far away always looks good" or something like that. The closest English equivalent proverb could be, "The grass is always greener on the other side". But for the sake of fun, we shall be using the Kannada version. Because people who try out this trek for the first time without experience and without fitness, they all feel that they should have just enjoyed the view of the mountain from below, in front of the Kukke Subramanya temple. But there is so much this trek offers that are way too difficult to put into words. I can only describe it as "Magical" I have been to KP (Kumara Parvatha) twice. But in this blog, I will be writing only about the first time. Everyone knows that the first time's always the best. There are two starting points to the trek. One from the Kukke side (the popular one), and another from the Somawarapete side starti

(Shallow Grasslands. Mi A3. 1/3200 sec. ISO 94)   Sometimes things can go wrong in so many ways yet the end result could turn out to be wonderful. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it is an amazing feeling. The first mistake was going on a bike with bad front brakes. More on that later. (Mountains of Western Ghats. Mi A3. 1/1513 sec. ISO 90)   Ballalarayana Durga is a fort built during the 12th century. All it remains are the ruins of the fort. The fee for the whole trek is Rs. 250. You can either just go to the fort or continue the trek to the Bandaje Falls. Going to the fort is easy. It takes only around 40 minutes. But to really enjoy the trek you need to go to the waterfalls. It takes around 2 hours from the fort. You get to enjoy the views of shallow grasslands. But there is no shade for resting. Most of the path is open grasslands. So, it might be difficult to trek during summer. We went in November, and still, it was very hot and sunny. We left Hassan at 6.30 and by

  The second and third days. It was just traveling that day. We had to climb to Tungnath peak the next day. So, we had to go and spend the night in a city closer to the mountain. There are camps and tents in places very close to the mountain but they are very pricey. And moreover, the demand was huge due to the holidays. So, we stayed in a lodge in Ukhimath. From Rishikesh, it took us almost 9 hours. And I got some good pics on the way. (River Mandakini. Canon 1500D. f/10. 1/400 s) (Somewhere near Rudraprayag. Canon 1500D. f/10. 1/400th s) (We also got to witness a nice sunset in Ukhimath. Canon 1500D. f/8. 1.3 s)     That night in the hotel we met a person with whom we had a nice, long conversation. He was so humble the whole time. He told us that he has traveled almost 90% of India. And he was talking about the dishes in Karnataka! Goes to show you that the more you see the modest you become. The next morning we left for Tungnath. The morning was nice. The first rays of the sun on th

(The Himalayas. Canon 1500D. f/10. ISO 400)   Day 1 - River Rafting Just wow! Never had I imagined that I would be traveling to Uttarakhand anytime soon. But we did go! And it was mesmerizing. We left Bangalore the previous night to Delhi. Traveling in flight at night was kinda fun. All the patches of light. The lights of civilization. The footprint we have left on this planet we call ours. Anyway, we reached Delhi at around midnight. We had booked a tempo traveller from Delhi for 4 days. We left Delhi right away to Rishikesh. The journey to Rishikesh from Delhi was a hell-ride. The road construction has been going on on the National Highway, and there was fog everywhere. Especially after 4 in the morning, the fog was so dense that the visibility was just 5 meters. We stopped at 5 near some dhaba, then left at 6.30. This delayed our river rafting. There was traffic all along the way. We reached Rishikesh at 10.30. From there we still had to travel for 35 km to reach the starting point

(Sunset over the city. Canon 1200D. 1/500. ISO 200) Mumbai Day 1  We reached Mumbai at around 9 pm. We stayed at my mom's friend's house. Their hospitality was so good that no hotel could beat that. It felt like we were in our own home. The next day we had planned to go to Elephanta Caves (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and some other places. But we ended up spending all of our time in just Elephanta Caves. It takes a lot of time just to get there on the boat. Also, we couldn't start early because we were all tired from the long journey. We left home at noon. (Gateway of India. Canon 1200D. 1/400. ISO 100) The boat ride starts from The Gateway of India. The boat left at 1:30 and reached the island at around 2:50. After de-boarding the boat we have to walk 2 km to reach the caves. After you reach there the whole thing seems like not worth the effort, especially when you are visiting Mumbai for the first time and there are a lot of other places you can visit. (Elephanta Caves. M

  From 23rd Nov to 27th Nov 2016 (Nikon S6500. 1/640. ISO 125)   Spoiler alert - this is gonna be a long series. But not to worry, I will break it down in parts and will try to make this as interesting as possible. So, shall we start? This was a family trip. This trip will remain in my fondest memory forever for so many reasons. One of those being this was the first time we went on a plane. In my personal opinion, there isn't anything special about traveling on a plane, except if it's a sunrise or a sunset. But we were all so excited to board a plane for the first time. We boarded in Bangalore and got off in Pune. From Pune, we went to Shirdi where we had rooms booked in Karnataka Bhavan. The rooms were cheaper and the food was nice. We reached Shirdi at around 8 pm. We checked in, had food, and went to the temple. The temple was surprisingly empty. We just walked and stood right in front of the idol. (A temple in Nashik. Canon 1200D. 1/400. ISO 200) The next day we went to Nas

  3rd October 2020. (Ermayi waterfalls. Mi A3. 1/250. ISO 58) Before we start - Some people suggested me to continue writing travel blogs and less of a tutorial kind of thing. And some found the tutorials helpful. So, it was a mixed reaction. I will continue doing both. Just mix them up and not make this boring. Thanks for all of your feedback. I do take it into consideration before writing my blogs. Okay, let's begin. Ermayi falls has been on my bucket list for so long. There has always been some work or other stopping me from going there. But this time I made up my mind. My friend and I went on a bike. The best thing about traveling through the Western Ghats is the amazing view it offers you. Especially the Charmadi Ghats. The curved roads taking you deeper and deeper into the forest. With amazing hill ranges on one side and water flowing over the rocks on the other, the journey just seems magical. (Western Ghats. Canon 1500D. 1/125. ISO 100) We took a longer time than needed to

(Nagarahole Park. Nikon S6500. 1/400. ISO 125) The Final Day - Iruppu Falls and Nagarahole National Park The last day of the trip was quite dull. We could only cover two places since both places were a bit far away. We hired a taxi from Madikeri; left home at around 10 after having breakfast. (And yeah, we covered 3 waterfalls in 3 days) Iruppu Falls (Iruppu Falls. Honor 4X. 1/153. ISO 100) Our first stop was Iruppu Falls. A hidden beauty in the Brahmagiri range, we have to walk for around 2 km from the parking space to reach this waterfalls. The path is kind of paved. So, it is easy to walk. Along the way, there are different boards informing us about the animals residing in that forest. There was a ramp to the exact water falling spot. We went and stood (and played) under that freezing water (I'm not sure if they're allowing that now). It was, quite literally, breathtaking. We enjoyed a lot at this place. Then we left for Nagarahole. Nagarahole (Deer in Nagarahole. Nikon S65

(Somewhere near Mandalpatti. Xperia L. 1/243. ISO 100) The 2nd Day - Mandalpatti and Mallalli Falls Let's start from where we left, eh?   We could only cover two places, but given the time constraints and no own vehicle, I think it is understandable. We had tasty food at home and there was no need to hurry. So, we enjoyed every bit and left home at around ten. Mandalpatti (Mandalpatti veiwpoint. Honor 4X. 1/1585. ISO 200) Although Mandalpatti is a fairly popular tourist place, the place has no (or at least didn't have when I visited it again last year) proper connectivity through public transport. So, we had to hire a jeep from Madikeri. You can also go to the foot of the hills and hire a jeep from there, but it's pricey. The road was very bad (as with any other hill station roads). To go there in a normal car would be a nightmare. So, up we went. There weren't many people up there, mostly because it was eleven in the morning and the sun was blazing. To be honest, Manda