Badaami Hampi Trip- November 4th to 7th, 2016

How can I not take a trip on my birthday, when I love traveling so much? What else can be a better gift for me, from me? I thus decided to go Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole and Bijapur. I initially thought of going solo, but then Akshata and Shreya also wanted to come along. Akshata insisted to add even Hampi in the list, thus extending it to a 4 day trip, which initially was planned for 3. Shreya couldn't join us for first two days due to some personal work, and thus Akshata and I boarded the GolGumbaz express from Bengaluru at 7 PM on 3rd Nov.

Day 1, 4th November: (Full day Bijapur trip)

We got down in Alamatti station, and walked towards the highway and booked a room in Ashoka Hotel. The rooms were decent and we got ready quickly. After having breakfast, we inquired and found out that we would get buses right in front of the hotel to Bijapur. We thus waited for not more than 10 minutes, and we boarded a bus.

It was 10:45 AM when we started, and it was already very hot. This part of Karnataka is too dry and hot compared to the south. We reached Bijapur at 12:30 PM and we walked towards Barah Kamaan, which took just 10 minutes. This was an unfinished building, just with the basement being done. We went to the watchman there and asked him to explain about the significance about this place. He said us the story about this and Gol Gumbaz, and how the king who constructed the Gol Gumbaz killed his own son, who had started building this monument. The reason why it's called Barah Kamaan was that it was supposed to have 12 floors, and this building was designed to such a height, that its shadow would touch the foot of Gol Gumbaz during sunset. (Distance between Barah Kamaan and Gol Gumbaz is about a km). The father was jealous that his son's monument, if completed, will gain much more publicity and fame than the one built by him (Gol Gumbaz) and thus he killed him when the construction was just being started. There is also a tomb of his queen in the same place.

Barah Kamaan entrance

Tomb inside the monument

Barah Kamaan

We took a lot of pics here and spent altogether an hour, and then started to walk towards Gol Gumbaz. It was hot and we had cane juice on the way, and we reached Gumbaz in 15 minutes. There were many people here than in Barah Kamaan.

We entered and climbed those 7 floors to reach the highest floor, where people were shouting to hear the echo. This was particularly nuisance and it was unbearable. They were all acting like uncivilized people, shouting at top of voice and making weird sounds. Without able to bear it, we climbed down quickly and came out of the compound. We went to the hotel just opposite to the monument and had our lunch. We then took an auto to the bus stand, since we were tired to walk and also, it was too hot. We thus reached the bus stand and boarded the bus at 3 PM.

Gol Gumbaz

A monument next to Gol Gumbaz

We got down near our hotel at 4:30 PM. The entrance to Alamatti dam was next to our hotel, and having nothing to do sitting in the room, we chose to go to the dam. We went to those parks there, and it was not very attractive. We came out quickly and went near the huge building complex near Mughal gardens, and sat there, watching the sun go behind the dam gates. It was a huge dam, and the water level was full.

A well constructed building near the dam

Red sky behind the dam vbidge

It was getting dark, and we had a few chats. We inquired people around there about visiting Badami and other places. From what they said, it was clear that the public transport was not to be relied on, for it's frequency was too less, and it's impossible to cover all those places in one day.  They suggested that it's better to hire a car, but that was going out of our budget. Seeing our confusion, one uncle there got us an auto driver for 1200 Rs for the full day trip. We thought it was a better option than all other and we agreed. We said him to come near the hotel at 5:30 AM and we started to walk back to hotel. We had dinner and went to sleep, since we had to get up very early the next day.

Day 2, 5th November: (Badaami, Banashankari, Mahakoota,  Aihole, Pattadakallu and Sangama)

We were ready by 5:30 AM as promised to the auto driver, but he was late by half an hour. We started the journey at 6 AM, and it took 2 hours to reach Badaami. He went through a shortcut, and it was a countryside journey which was pleasing to our eyes. We reached Badaami at 8:15 AM.

There are 4 caves, and only the first one has some carvings and structure, while the rest are mostly empty. The lake next to it was looking good, and we didn't have much time to go around and explore. Also, it was already sunny and we were too hungry. We left there at 9:15 AM and asked the driver to stop at a hotel for breakfast. He drove to Banashankari temple, where there were quiet a few hotels, and we had our breakfast there.

Badaami caves

One of the structures in badaami caves

Man made lake next to Badaami caves

Temple in the lake

This one is an old temple, and was nice too. There were quiet a few people, and we finished the darshan in 10 minutes. We then started again to stop at Mahakoota after a few minutes. This was a relatively big temple, with a Kalyani as well. There were no much people here. We were done with darshan quickly, took a few pics, had some guava and started the journey back, now towards Pattadakallu.

The roads were not that good here, and they were being constructed in a few places. It was thus very dusty, adding to the uncomfortability of the hot sun. We were glad that we did not come here depending on the local or public transport. In 30 minutes, we reached Pattadakallu.

This was very well maintained by the government, and it was a group of temples. The green grass all around accentuates the beauty of the red stoned structures. It was only 11:15 PM and it was very hot. We visited all the temples, though few of them were empty. All structures look mostly alike, but the minute designs are different from one another. We took quiet a lot of pics and spent more than an hour. We then left there by 12:30 PM. We were hungry, and we decided to have lunch and then resume the journey. We thus went to KSTDC hotel, and the lunch served was good.

Pattadakallu

One of the structures in Pattadakallu

Pattadakallu

Pattadakallu

Pattadakallu

Pattadakallu

We started the journey at 1 PM and reached Aihole in another half an hour. The structures here also looked very similar to Pattadakallu. We spent an hour here, visited all the temples and started again.

Aihole

We now headed to Kudala Sangama, and it was a little far. It took us 90 minutes in all, and we went directly to the temple. Here River Malaprabha confluences with Krishna, and this is also the sacred place where Basavanna gave up his life. Though the river was huge, it looked calm and the view was pleasant, since the sun was making its way to sign off for the day. We visited the temple and got the darshan, and then went to the Basaveshwara Aikya Mantapa, to see the place where Lord Basavanna breath his last while meditating. From this point, the view of the river looked beautiful.

Koodala Sangama temple

Aikya sthala inside the river

Krishna river

From here, it was only an hour's journey back to our hotel. We thus relaxed for a while near the river before starting the journey again. We had ice cream and started the journey back. We asked the driver if we can somehow reach the backwaters of Alamatti dam, and he said he will take us there.

It was 5:30 PM when he took us to the backwaters. Since the dam was full, it looked like a sea, with no land seen beyond the waters of the dam. The sun was almost near the horizon, and the sky was a beautiful orange color, with it's reflection in water. We took a few pics, and asked the auto guy to drop us back to the dam. He did so, and we paid him and thanked him for the day's trip.

Alamatti dam back waters

Sun setting behind the dam bridge

We went and sat near the complex again, for the evening was getting cool and we needed some relaxation as well. Sun had not set yet, and we waited till he went down and then the lights of the dam were on. We didn't have any interest in Musical fountain that was to happen at around 7:30 PM, and thus we walked back to hotel after having a round of chats and dinner in the hotel. We watched TV for a while and then slept.

Day 3, 6th November: (Reach Hospete and Visit Hampi)

We got up and got ready quickly, to leave for our next destination. We had found out that it will take about 4 hrs to reach Hospete from Alamatti, by bus. Shreya would join us in Hospete, taking a bus from Harihar.

It was almost 12 noon when we met her at the bus stop. From there, IB was a km's walk. We walked in the hot sun, and settled in the room. We thought of going out for lunch, and planned to have dinner in the IB and thus freshened up quickly and left for Hampi, which was about 20 minutes by bus.

We reached Hospete bus stand, had lunch and took a bus to Hampi. We first went to Virupaksha temple. It is a very huge temple and when we went, it was closed. We were informed that it will open in a while, and thus we took a small tour around the temple. We saw the inverted reflection of the gopura of the temple, which was shown by a pandit there. We also clicked a few pics, and then got the darshan of the god. It was around 2:30 PM, and we made a deal with an auto driver to cover important places before evening. He thus took us to some 8-10 places, which included Ugra Narasimha temple, Kadlekalu Ganesha, Lotus Mahal, Stepped tank, among which the last one was Vittala temple. It was almost dark when we were dropeed back to bus stand, and we took a bus back to Hospete.

Virupaksha temple

Akka Tangiyara Bande

Lotus Mahal

Queen's bath

Stone chariot in Vittala temple

Near bus stand, we went in search of rotti's, since the IB caretaker asked us to get just the rottis and he will take care of the rest of the things. We then took another bus and then an auto to reach IB. Food was ready, and Yennagayi palya was too good. We ate to our full and settled on our beds. We were tired and thus slept quickly.

At 12 AM, both of them woke me up with a cake and gifts!! Shreya had made a card for me and Akshata gifted a couple books. We were tired, and thus slept again within half an hour.

Awesome and tasty food @ IB

Birthday celebration! :)

Day 4, 7th November: (Full day at Hospete)

We didn't really have much to do today since we had covered Hampi the previous day. None of us were really interested in architecture and temples and thus we decided to spend time resting. Shreya's dad's friend was a government official (with whose influence we had got to stay at IB) and he visited us in morning around 9, and he took us in his car for Hospete dam visit. We got a chance to go till the other end of the dam, where there was another IB. From here we could get a bird's view of the whole dam and it was worth a sight. We thanked him for taking us there, which otherwise wouldn't have been possible for us to go there. He dropped us back to IB around 12 noon.

Hospete dam, as seen from Vaikunta Guest House

We then took bath, and these girls had plans of dressing me up in a suit and click pictures!! A terrible idea, and I was feeling a little too awkward in the suit, wearing the heavy jhumka and all that. Well, I had to listen to them and I was glad that it all got over in 30 minutes. We then spent next few hours lying lazily on bed and chatting.

Shreya had to leave around 6 PM, and our train was at 9 PM. We went to the bus stop and sent her off. While walking back to IB, we decided to spend some time near the dam, and when it was about to get dark, we went to the IB, and packed our things and got ready to leave after dinner. After a simple meal provided by IB caretaker, we thanked him for his hospitality and left to the station. After an overnight journey, we reached Bengaluru at 7 AM next morning.

Sun set seen from dam

Dam waters, and IB also seen upon the small hillock

Another birthday was spent well in a new place, and a long waited destination on my list was thus striked off! :)

Kodachadri Trek- October 22nd and 23rd, 2016

After our first event Kuduremukha that turned out successful as organizers, we now planned our second one to another famous trek destination Kodachadri. Suchith and I both hadn't been there and since we had all the contacts, we decided for this place. As usual, we left on Friday night, with all our friends - 27 in all including us. I had asked everyone to be on time since the distance to be covered was a little more, to reach the Kodachadri base on time. But still, we ended up leaving late, by almost an hour.

Day 1, October 22nd: (Trek to the peak and back to base, stay in home-stay)

Though we started very late, the bus driver was fast enough in taking us there at 7 AM, just half an hour late than we thought. We had talked almost whole night and hadn't slept. We went to the home-stay, freshened up and gathered for breakfast and packed lunch. Since we were a big group, it took more time. We were all set to start our trek by 9:30 AM.

Our home-stay owner had arranged a guide for us, and we only had to take forest department permission on the way. We were opting for forest route, and we had to be fast since we had started late. We wanted to spend some time in Hidlumane falls as well. Initial 2 km was jeep route and then the deviation came, taking right inside the forest.

Initial jeep route

For a few more minutes, the trek was easy. We reached a home in between, at 11 AM, and we stopped for a break. There was a small shop selling refreshments like lemon juice, cool drinks and some snacks, and everyone wanted to relax for a while before moving on. After a while we started again, and now the trek got a little difficult, since we entered the forest. We came across a few small waterfalls, and we walked along with the water stream. It was a little difficult to keep everyone moving, since they were all wanting to take pics all along the way.

Near the home, just before entering the forest 

Water stream

We finally made it to Hidlumane falls at 12 PM. This is the last falls in the forest route and of course the best of all. We didn't have time to play in water, and thus moved on after taking some pics.

Hidlumane falls

Here the group split to two. Few friends went ahead and the rest of us were behind and a little slow. We had many first timers, and the pace was not that great. After 15 minutes of trek from falls, the forest ended and it was an open patch of land. Sun was right above us and it was tiring. I had to lie to a few people that we almost reached to keep them moving. We then got another stretch of forest, which didn't last for long anyway. We couldn't see our friends anywhere ahead, so we decided to stop for lunch, in the shade of that last line of the forest.

After having lunch and a good break of half a hour, we started our trek again at 1:30 PM. There were no more trees to shade us, but the clouds above made it easy for us, shading us from the hot sun. We had to walk for about another km to reach the jeep road, and we finally reached there at 2:30 PM.

Trekking towards Jeep route

Some movie shooting was going on there and though I didn't want to stop there, it was kind of an unannounced break point, since there was a guy selling cucumber and lime juice. Everyone were tired, and wanted some break. We still had to cover half way more to the peak. Since it was jeep route, it would be much easier now. I forced everyone to start again, but getting them to walk fast was not an easy task. Few were very tired and slow, and we had to wait. Thus walking together, we reached the IB at 3:30 PM.

Jeep route, Before reaching IB

Jeep route

There was no way we could go to peak and then go back to base within another 4 hours, if we walked in the same pace. We thus said everyone to think and take a jeep down if they wished to, if they are already too tired and think that it would be difficult for them to walk fast. After 5 PM, even jeeps would be unavailable and they had to decide soon. And thus 9 of them decided to go back, while the rest of us continued to the peak.

We didn't give any break in between while trekking toward the peak. We also visited the Ganesha temple and then continued. We were still not sure of the other friends who had gone ahead after falls; no idea if they had reached the peak or not, and we were not able to reach them on phone as well. After much tiredness, we finally reached the peak at 4:15 PM, and found our friends there, much to our relief.

Almost near the peak

We couldn't spend much time here, since we had to cross forest department office by 7:30 latest. We thus decided to leave by 5 PM, and visited the temple and relaxed. We also took some pics and had some fun teasing each other.

At the peak

We started our trek down, deciding not to take any breaks, since going down wouldn't be that difficult. We had to go in the jeep route till the base, for about 11 km. It was getting darker, and we were trying to go as fast as possible. In between, there were 2 guys struggling to start their RE Himalayan, and Suchith tried helping them, but of no use. Without wasting much time, we walked past them and reached the forest office by 7:45 PM. The guide managed by giving some reasons and we were not queried by the officer. We were relieved now, and a walk of another 2 km took us to home-stay at 8:15 PM.

Sunset while trekking down

Dinner was ready and so was the hot water to take bath. People who had gone down by jeep were already fresh and relaxed, and we were now waiting for the bathrooms to be freed, with everyone reserving their turns one after other. We had dinner, and took bath at around 10:30 PM. Now it felt completely fresh and relaxed, and we went and sat in front of the fire. We were 6-7 of us, and we were singing songs. Specially Uday was singing one after the other, continuously without even a small break. This went on for about an hour, and one by one started getting into the room to sleep. It was 2 AM, with Suchith, Jeevan and I still sitting in front of fire, while Chethan was sleeping there on the other side. We then slept there, on the mats, staring at the million stars at the sky.

Day 2, October 23rd: (Visit Kolluru temple and Bheemeshwara falls)

We had informed everyone to be ready by 8, so that we keep up with our plan. But I myself got up at 6, inspite of an alarm at 5 AM :-P By then, few were already up and were getting ready. I expected we would be very late, but we somehow managed to leave by 9 AM, which was good enough. In the bus, some crazy friends had some 'sanmaana' program for me, by putting a shawl (which was mine), for organizing the event :-P

Home Stay

Our first stop was Kolluru Mookambika temple. We reached there in an hour and half and visited the temple. It was very sunny and we were desperate to go to falls, so that we can have some cool time. We started in bus at 12 PM towards falls, which was another hour's journey.

We had to trek for the falls for 2 km from the main road. There is a deviation, and the walk was on a plain mud road. It wasn't too steep anywhere though, so the trek was pretty easy. It was already 2 PM and everyone were hungry. We walked fast and reached Bhattara mane, while few of them were yet to reach. We all decided to visit the falls first and then have lunch. We were waiting for the others to arrive and then leave, but they were all no where to be seen. All my other friends left for falls, which is just a 5 min walk besides Bhattara mane. I waited for them for another 15 minutes, and they all came. They wanted to have lunch first since they were hungry and tired. I then went towards the falls.

The first sight of the falls was mesmerizing. It was very different form all of other falls that I have visited. It was serene, with no much water. Enough water to play safely. My friends were already playing in water and I, without even bothering to take pics, kept my camera aside and ran towards the falls. I just couldn't wait to take a couple pics as well, and I joined my friends who were already enjoying.

Bheemeshwara Falls

I thought I will come back with everyone else to Bhattara mane, have lunch and leave by 4:30 so that we can visit even Jog Falls. But I simply didn't want to leave the place, and just stayed in water
for more than an hour. Then my other friends came, after finishing their lunch. They also got into water and still I was not willing to go out of the water. My friends had to force me, since I was yet to have lunch and to change into fresh clothes before we could leave.

Bheemeshwara Falls - Tanmaya, Myself, Akshata and Chethan

I came back to Bhattaramane at 4:30 PM, with a heavy heart- Wishing I could spend more time in falls (Though I was the one who spent more time than others :-P ) Vatsa, Chethan and I had lunch quickly, while Akshata left with Pradeep and others towards the bus to change to fresh clothes. I settled the payment with Bhattaru and started the walk towards the bus at 5 PM.

One of the funny incidents happened here while walking back. A calf was running towards us, and Tanmaya got scared and she entered a plot of land through a small opening through the fence, thinking it wouldn't enter there. Chethan was already inside the plot with Vijay, next to a water stream. Me and Vatsa stood there near the opening, knowing well that it wouldn't harm us. Tanmaya stood very near to entrance with full confidence that the calf will not enter there, but to her surprise, it entered that plot, running towards her. She didn't know what to do, and she started shouting 'Chethan bachalo, mujhe bachalo'. Vatsa, Chethan, Vijay and I started laughing, seeing her screaming and then she started running towards an inclined land towards the road, trying to climb it with her hands. This was even more funny and we couldn't stop it. Meanwhile, the calf ran away into the plot, and then we guessed that it's home was somewhere inside that land. We reached the road laughing all through the remaining walk until we reached the bus, and for the rest of the two hours, we shared this incident with everyone and laughed until our stomachs hurt badly!

It was 6:30 PM when everyone came back and was ready to start. We decided to simply chuck the visit to Jog Falls and thought of moving to Bengaluru directly. We thus settled down in bus and then we started dancing for the music. The bus even had some special lights which gave a disco effect. We danced for almost 2 hours continuously, until we stopped for dinner at Sagara at 8:30 PM. We had our dinner and then everyone settled to sleep, without anymore energy to dance or enjoy. For the whole night, I struggled to get sleep, and I slept only for 2 hours. We were back to Bengaluru by 5:30 AM, and bid goodbye to everyone, hoping for another such wonderful trip with all of them again.

P.S: Pic credits to Shrivathsa Udupa, Yuvaraj Bennur

Mumbai Trip - October 8th to 16th, 2016

Prologue:

A trip for Mumbai was suppose to happen since 4 years.. we planned, and cancelled, and planned, and cancelled. My friend Shreya had gone to pursue a professional course for 3 months, and we never wanted to miss this chance to visit the city while she was there. We finally planned to visit at the end of her course, and booked all our tickets in august- 2 months to go. The excitement was there all through the waiting for the day, but when it neared, I couldn't believe myself that I was actually going to Mumbai!!

Day 0, October 8th: 

Morning 4 we get up and freshen up, and we went to yeshwantpur station. Even at 5.30 in morning, we were stuck for 10 minutes in front of the station. We somehow managed to get into the train with a seat on the upper luggage berth in general coach. We had our tickets reserved from Hubli, so till there we had to go in general coach. We were early, and were lucky to get a seat, be it on those wooden base. Seeing the crowd, making a journey standing was unthinkable! We settled on the seats and Suchith had come to bid us bye with a chocolate each for me n Raksha. He couldn't even get in to the train, and had to talk to him through the window :-P

The journey started at 6.40. To pass our time, we had M S Dhoni movie and it helped a lot. At around 12, the people sitting below were due to get down in Davanagere, and by then we, who couldn't any more have bore the wooden seat, decided to move down, and successfully got those seats. Ah,this felt much better and comfortable! :-P

At 3, the train reached Hubli. We took our bags and moved to our reserved berths. Raksha went to take a nap, and I also tried to sleep, only to get disturbed by a passerby in just 30 minutes. With music on, I passed the rest of he time, had dinner and we went to sleep. As always, I couldn't sleep properly during the night journey, though I had a comfortable berth!

Day 1, October 9th: (Mumbai tour and shopping)

Our train reached Kalyan at 5 AM, where we got down and took a local to Thane. Local in Mumbai for the first time - felt nice. From thane, we took an auto to Shreya's place, and reached there at 6.30.

The excitement of having come to Mumbai took over us and we didn't even rest. We took bath and got ready quickly, had our Breakfast Aloo Paratha and left.

Our first destination was Mahalakshmi temple. We reached there by local train and then taking a bus, only to find a really long queue! Even the whole day seemed small to get though the queue to get the darshan. It was the eigth day of Dasara. From outside only we prayed the goddess and decided to move on to our next destination Haji Aali Durgah. Here there was no crowd. We visited and then quickly headed to church gate.

Haji Ali Durgah

Local

We took a taxi from Church Gate to Leopold cafe. We were hungry, and had nice food. The ambience of the cafe was cool, and I wanted to take some pics. I asked the permission of the manager and he said me not to take more than 5-6 pics, because of security reasons. I took them, and thanked him for letting me take the pictures. He also gave me the Leopold post cards :-)

We then walked to gate way of India, and took a ferry ride to Elephanta caves. The ride was for more than an hour, and it was nice. We reached the island, and decided to take the toy train, and then started the ascent. There were about 200 steps, and it was very crowded. There was a deviation where there were less people, and we decided to explore that less crowded path. After a walk of 15 minutes, we ended up at a cannon, and we felt bad that we climbed up all the way only for this. We headed back and reached the caves, and out of 4 caves, only the 1st one had a few sculptures, out of which all of them were semi-destroyed. The remaining few caves were empty! We regretted going there (though all our friends had said there was nothing in Elephanta and not to go there, we still wanted visit it once and see for ourselves) and thought that we should have listened to our friends and taken their advice! We went back again in the ferry and it was 6 PM when we reached Gateway of India.

Hotel Taj as seen from Ferri to Elephanta caves

Elephanta island

Elephanta Cave 1

Gateway of India

Sunset time, Hotel Taj in silhouette

We went around the streets of Colaba, shopping for jeans, tops and accessories. This place had really good stuff for cheap rates. By 8 PM, we decided to go to Chowpatty for dinner, and took a cab. We had sandwich, Pani Puri and choco-chip kulfi at the corner shop on the signal. Food, or rather chats, in Mumbai is the best! We then went to marine drive, by walk for about 500 mts and settled down. Marine drive is the best place to hang out the entire night, and it feels soo pleasant to just sit there and listen to waves. We decided to stay for an hour, and left by cab again at 10.15 for the nearest station. When we reached home it was 12 AM. It was a tiring day, and we had sweat a lot. All 3 of us took bath, and tried on our new clothes, though we knew we had to sleep :-P they were all so pretty and worth the money. We then slept at 1.30 AM.

Marine Drive

Day 2, October 10th: (Shopping)

We didn't have plans to wake up early, since we had to go only shopping today, and all the stalls will open only after 11. Still, we woke up and got ready, had breakfast  and left at 11. We first went to Vile parle station and went to have lunch near Mitibhai college. We had Jinny dosa, veg cheese sandwich, a wrap and lime juice on those roadside shop, and all of them were super tasty, and we were tooo full. While walking back to the station, we shopped for a few things, and then headed to bandra.

Getting down at bandra station, we took a shared auto to link road. This is another crazy place with super cool stuffs. We shopped until 7 PM. We then took a cab, to experience Bandra-Worli sea link. It was a nice drive over the sea, and to look at the city from the sea side. We got down at Lower Parel station, and took a local to Church Gate, walked till Nariman point and settled down again in Marine drive. In all its awesomeness, it appeared to charm all the people who visited there. We had chapatis that we had got from home, and stayed there over an hour again. We took the same locals as the day before, and reached at 12, took bath, tried all clothes, and slept at 1.30 again!

Nariman Point

Day 3, October 11th: (Shopping again :-P)

It was suppose to be rest day, since last two days was too hectic and we were tired. But those stuffs in market will not let you do so, and we thought of visiting Bandra again, to finish our few left out items in our shopping list. We didn't have breakfast though, and since it was a holiday on account Vijayadashami, all of shreya's roommates were home and cooked festival food, which was very tasty. We then left to Bandra. Once again, the schedule of the previous day repeats, only for the fact that today, we reached home by 10.30 :-P We had to pick up the two-wheelers that we were hiring for he next 2 days, and we got the same at 11.15 pm. We got them home and slept by 12 AM.

Day 4, October 12th: (Drive to Matheran and Solanpada Dam)

We woke up soon and got ready. We had to leave by 6:30 AM, since we had to drive a lot for the day. We planned to return to Thane and not staying anywhere else, to save some money :-P So we started at 6:30 AM, packing our breakfast.

Our first destination was Matheran. We took the old highway and this road was not that good. A lot of potholes, and a lot of lorries on that early morning made the drive feel bad for a while. After a while, the road was good to drive without much traffic.

Morning ride

We reached the foothills of Matheran at around 8:30 AM. We had to cover another 8 kms uphill till we reached the road-end point. As we went up along the road, there were a few waterstreams, which hardly had any water. Whenever it rains, water flows down from hills and crosses the roads, thus forming mini waterfall next to the road, and this sight is awesome. But it had been more than 15 days since it had rained and thus hardly had any water in these streams. We reached the parking spot at 9 AM. We wanted to have the breakfast that we had packed, but there were too many monkeys near the parking area. We went inside a hotel, and the owner didn't allow us to have our packed meal, and insisted to buy from him. We had Vada Pav, took a few biscuits, had tea and we started to walk. We had to walk for about 2-2.5 km along a railway track, (toy train track) which was not used for a long while now.

Stream of water on the roadside

After a walk of about 30 minutes, we reached the town. It had many shops, and there were a few view points to be visited. We decided to check out a few and then decide if we have to go till the last one or not. The first one was quiet near, and we could hardly see anything from there. We then continued to walk for another 10 minutes, and we reached another view point. This one was good, and hardly any people were there. We realized that all the points are more or less same and thus decided to walk back. So we spent some time there at that view point, and then decided to leave. On the way back, we entered the park and thought of having breakfast, thinking there were no monkeys here, since not even one were in sight. But our bad luck was on and a monkey came and snatched our bread. We then decided to leave, thinking to purchase the bread in a shop and eat it somewhere else.

View from Matheran

We walked back to the parking area, clicking some crazy pics on the way. Our next destination was Solanpada Dam. We came downhill, and started our struggle with Google maps to find way. With a lot of confusions, we reached a nice wide road, and then the maps suggested us to take a right turn, which looked like a road to the village. We followed google's suggestion. On the way, we bought bread and some bananas.

View from one of the view points of Matheran

After a while, we were skeptical if we were on the right road, since there were no signboards for the place we were heading. We still continued in hopes, and ended up on a muddy road. After a short distance, the road abruptly ended to a big farm house. There was no one around. 3 girls and that farm house - pretty scary. We inquired the house owner, and he directed us to go on the other deviation, which was only 500 mts on that muddy patch. We followed what he said and finally reached our destination,

Nobody knows this place I believe. There was only a Marathi family, about 15 in number and were playing in water. The first sight of the dam was awesome. Before reaching here, we were cursing ourselves for having chosen this place, but now it felt it was worth taking the pain of coming till here with all those difficulties. We parked our vehicles quickly, and took some pics of the waterfall like structure of the dam and decided to jump in the water. There were about 4-5 guys apart form that family, and decided to have fun until the family stays, considering the safety factor. Without wasting much time, we got into the water.

After playing for a while, those family members were getting out of water and making their plans to move. We also came out of the water, changed into fresh clothes while they were still there. We then went to the other side of the dam, where the sight was beautiful. Clean and calm water, with a hillock behind- this place was perfectly hidden. We ate our sandwich and bananas, and by the time we finished, those family guys left. We now hurried to take a few pics and decided to leave. Though we wanted to stay here for a while, it wasn't safe enough since it was so secluded, and we started our drive back to Thane at 4:30 PM.

Solanpada Dam

Solanpada Dam

We were feeling fresh after playing in water, and the drive on that country side road was awesome. Until we reached Karjat, the road was empty and serene, after which the highway traffic started. We stopped for a tea break and resumed our drive, and without taking anymore breaks, we reached home at 8 PM.

Day 5, October 13th: (Drive to Lonavala and Khandala)

The schedule was same as previous day. We left at 6:30 AM, but we took a different route this time. We decided to hit the highway until expressway, and then switch to the old highway of Mumbai-Pune. Though early morning, there was too much traffic, and we reached the old highway by 8 AM.

We stopped for breakfast in between and had Missal Pav, which tasted good. Resuming our drive, we reached the curvy uphills of Khandala. The highways are well constructed and the roads are awesome, and the drive feels good. We reached Khandala at around 10 AM, and decided to take the turn to Rajmachi fort.

Road to some extent was good, and then the muddy road started. It was too horrible, and we had to cover 8 km like this. It was too bad and we couldn't drive at more than 10 kmph. We gave a break and the sight was good from there, but the fort was no where to be seen. Inquiring a few local people who happened to walk past us, informed us that we need to trek to the fort. It was too sunny, and we decided to return. We went a little ahead, and then took some pics and then took a U turn, and came back to the nice roads of the highway at Khandala.

Road to Rajmachi Fort

We then decided to go to Tiger point. We drove uphill again and reached there at 12 PM. This point was awesome, and the view was too good. It is situated at a much higher altitude than the Lonavala city. We took some pics, spent some time and decided to visit Bhushi dam. We started downhill and reached the dam at 1 PM.

View from Tiger point

View from Tiger point

There was no much water, and no water flowing from the dam, and thus there was no waterfall to play here. There were quiet a few people, and on inquiring some local people, we got to know there is a waterfall behind, for which we had to walk for about 200 mts. We went up and found a small waterfall, which was good. We didn't play in the waterfall, but just rested there by putting our feet inside the water and taking a fish spa. There was a small shop nearby, and we had Vada Pav and Maggi, thus finishing our lunch as well. We spent some half an hour there and decided to leave.

Waterfall at Bhushi Dam

We drove back to Lonavala city and stopped near a bakery to buy some chikki. We then had some juice and gola and started the drive back to Thane, since there was no more places which was worth a visit. We also didn't give a break anywhere and thus reached home at 5 PM.

I had to meet my friends Unnati and Trupti the next day, and since there was a free evening for a day, I decided to meet them if they were free. Raksha and Shreya were really tired and didn't wanted to go anywhere. My friends also agreed to meet the same day, and I went to Church Gate to meet them. We went to 145 Kalaghoda restaurant. The place and food both were good, and meeting them after 8 months also felt great. We then went to Marine drive, spent some time there and we left. I reached back home at around 12 AM.

Day 6, October 14th: (Shopping again :-P)

Today we thought of taking rest, Raksha said she wanted to do some home decor shopping. I said I can accompany her, since Shreya was not going to come with us and she had to pack up her stuffs to move to Harihar. We left home at 10 AM and went to Crawford and Kalbadevi Market. Decor and electronic items are indeed very attractive and cheap here. We reached the market at 12 noon, and didn't realize how time passed. I again shopped for about ₹3000 today, buying socks in wholesale rate, hand kerchiefs and a few Kurtas. Kalbadevi market is very good for Kurta's and Salwar materials. We spent a lot of time, and though we wanted to visit some more shops, we didn't have time and we had to rush. So we left the place with a sad heart - despite being shopping things for 4 full days. Yes, Mumbai is such a crazy place to shop!!

We reached back home at 6:30 PM. We had to pack and leave home at 8 PM to catch our trains back to hometown. Shreya had her train form Dadar, and we had it from Kalyan. We went along with her to help with her luggage and then got down in Kalyan to change our train. We boarded our train at 10:30 and we had another 22 hours to reach Namma Bengaluru!

Over filled bags while returing

Day 7, October 15th: (Train journey full day)

The journey in train is always nice, but something funny happened. Raksha got down of the train in Raichur and the train departed, thus she was left in the station :-P And she had no money and nothing at all, except her cell phone. She managed to get money from someone, promising him to transfer once she reaches home, and took the next train till Gooty, and then a bus to Anatapur, and again another bus to Bengaluru. Despite all this, she managed to come exactly at the same time the train reached the platform, and helped me with getting our bags out of the train (Yes, the train was really slow :-P) It was 12:30 AM when I reached home, after dropping Raksha to her PG.

Thus Mumbai was visited, seen, loved and now missed! No wonder they call it a city of dreams.  It is indeed a beautiful and fast city, and to imagine a life here seems a very good idea, though Mumbaikars say it only looks to be nice, but not actually to live here, considering the fact that there is no work life balance in this city. People are always in a hurry. Yet, There is something about this city that would sure attract you, and given a chance to visit again, you wouldn't deny it :)