14th July 2010, 18:03
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edit: added photo of SH1 - Anandapuram to Thirthahalli This one is from SH1 and this is how it was in some patches   Last edited by ExtremeTorque : 14th July 2010 at 18:14. | ||||||
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, but ET you got to nice positions, great snaps.
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14th July 2010, 19:41
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14th July 2010, 19:50
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14th July 2010, 21:41
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14th July 2010, 23:38
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15th July 2010, 10:22
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15th July 2010, 10:39
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15th July 2010, 10:57
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| Found some more from Day 1,2 & 3. The approach bridge to Jog  I have a severe hangover of this:  Up close the Rani  The greens are eye candy for sure  This is a newly built culvert  Kind words from visitors to the Dodda mane (Malgudi house)   Slurp!  Coming up, Day 4: The unkempt ruins  |
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15th July 2010, 11:07
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15th July 2010, 11:29
| #25 |
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15th July 2010, 11:30
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15th July 2010, 12:03
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By the way awesome snaps and narration. You are forcing me to go to the western ghats. | |
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15th July 2010, 12:38
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15th July 2010, 14:54
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16th July 2010, 09:52
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| Day4: Agumbe>Shimoga>Harihar>Hospet>Hampi The Russian ‘spirit’ did wonders to a sore back!  A good nights sleep and we were up, fresh as flowers, followed by checkout and a sumptuous breakfast at the hotels in house restaurant. The Bisi Bale Bhath and coffee need special mention.   50 bucks to the watchman and my stallion was sparkling clean!  After a few enquiries and remembering our TBHPians inputs, we decided to take the Harihar route instead of the Chitradurga route to Hospet. Also, before we set out, we were told about the BJP/Opposition bandh and were very apprehensive of being stopped in our tracks at major destinations. With fingers crossed, we hit SH26 to Harihar. This came (yet again!) as a blessing with ample of flora and fauna on the way and very minor demonstrations at key towns.   SH26, initially, for 36 KM’s out of Shimoga is not so good with chipped surfaces every 5-6KM’s, but we could maintain a steady 70KMPH due to the lack of traffic, in the early hours. Then on (from Honnali) it was a peaceful drive with smooth roads except for the numerous speed bumps – which are a real kill joy. But hey, we were not complaining as the weather and the scenery made up for it. Just before reaching Hospet, SH25 joins NH13 near the Tungabhadra reservoir.  There was a never ending line (at least 2KM) of stationary container and mining trucks. We luckily had enough place to the left to inch forward and could see a very narrow railway crossing. Now we knew why there was this serpentine queue of mammoths.  Hospet, unlike other towns was full of action despite the bandh, but all restaurants looked closed and I quickly dished out my notes to look for Hotel Malligi’s number (I had a strong haunch it would be open). A quick call confirmed that they were open and we straight headed there for lunch. Though I did not really enjoy the food (too spicy for my liking), the rest of the company said it was the best food they had throughout the journey. Also, it looked like a good hotel for a few nights stay, as suggested by TBHPians. The only reason we didn’t opt for Malligi while coming was because we felt the price is a bit on the higher side (1500 per night) and no extra bed allowed saaaaaaaar. Lunch over with, we rushed to catch a glimpse of the Hampi ruins (UNESCO world heritage site - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampi[/COLOR]). The weather had changed drastically and we were being bogged down by the unrelenting heat.  Prashant’s wife was not doing too well and decided to stay back and explore the market. Since we had only a few hours, we decided against a guide and explored most of the ruins by foot and key places by car. Virupaksha Temple  We never take these seriously - chalta hai  Hampi naksha    Kadalekalu Ganesha - monolithic   Rock formations   Bhima Dwaram    One very sad thing, we observed, was that despite being classified as a UNESCO world heritage site, these beautiful ruins (especially near the virupaksha temple and market) were heavily littered. There were a lot of enthusiastic foreigners from across the globe (we could tell a few Brits, Gringo’s, Auzzie mates, Germans, Spaniards etc by their accents) coming all the way to explore these sites and here we are, literally ripping our heritage apart. I remember an instance where we were walking past the 7 Jain temples, followed by a German sounding couple. A few feet away, a little guy comes and starts defecating at the steps of this structure. We could see the German’s freezing in their tracks. Also observed was a lot of discarded plastic and once inside the ruins you cannot miss the reek and stench of feces/urine. Another aspect, which is often noticed in tourist destinations with a heavy foreigner presence, was the locals trying to rip them off. They quote almost double what they quote to us. Done with the virupaksha temple and many other surrounding places of importance, we headed back home (with a sigh!). This time, to avoid NH13, we took the route via Anegundi, Sangapur and Gangawati. From Sangapur to Gangawati there is a small stretch of about 10KM that is being repaired. Rest of the road to Raichur was excellent. Harnessing natures power  The roads  Somewhere between Sindhanur and Manvi, it started pouring and I could see a few tractors parked to the left. We were trailing a lorry whose driver suddenly realized there were tractors on the left and suddenly swerved to the right, pushing an oncoming Elantra off the road. Due to the heavy sludge, the driver lost control while trying to come back onto the road. I was certain he would skid and hit me when I hit the brakes and stopped just a few feet from the tractors. The entire vehicle (Elantra) swerved a full 180 degrees and came to a halt between the tractors, before hitting the kerb on our side of the road! Man! One lucky guy!!! The locals immediately gathered and looked like they were ready give the man a good thrashing. Me and Prashant immediately go out to check on him and convinced the locals that it was not his mistake. They finally let him be and we moved on. The rest of the journey, it was raining (pouring, literally) which made the drive back a bit strenuous and the fear of aquaplaning made me keep the stallion below 70. All signboards reading Hyderabad – x KM’s seemed to look like ‘WELCOME BACK TO REALITY’ or ‘GO TO WORK TOMORROW’. Well that’s the way the cookie crumbles, doesn’t it? The end. Arun |
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