ಇತ್ತೀಚಿಗೆ ಬೇಳೆ ಬೇಯಿಸುವುದು ಕಷ್ಟವಾಗಿದೆ. ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ಬೆಳೆಯುವವರು ಕಡಿಮೆ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಬೆಲೆ ಕೂಡ ಅಧಿಕ! ಕರಾವಳಿಯ ಹಲವಾರು ಮನೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ತೆಂಗಿನಕಾಯಿ ಮರ ಸರ್ವೇ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಹಲವು ಬಾರಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿಯವರು ತೆಂಗಿನಕಾಯಿ ಮಸಾಲೆ ಹುಳಿ ತಯಾರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ನಾನು ಕೂಡ ಊರಿಂದ ತೆಂಗಿನಕಾಯಿ ತಂದು ತಯಾರಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಇದನ್ನು ತಯಾರಿಸುವುದು ಕೂಡ ಅಷ್ಟು ಕಷ್ಟವಿಲ್ಲ. ನಾನು ತಯಾರಿಸುವ ವಿಧಾನವನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದೇನೆ (ಅಮ್ಮ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಟ್ಟಿದ್ದು). ಮಸಾಲೆಗೆ ಬೇಕಾಗುವ ಸಾಮಾಗ್ರಿಗಳು:
೧) ತುರಿದ ತೆಂಗಿನಕಾಯಿ ೨) ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಜೀರಿಗೆ ೩) ಘಾಟಿ ಮೆಣಸು - ೪ ಸಾಕು ೪) ಕರಿಬೇವು ಸೊಪ್ಪು ೫) ನೆನೆಸಿದ ಹುಣಸೇ ಹಣ್ಣು
ಮೊದಲು ಒಂದು ಪಾತ್ರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಮಗಿಷ್ಟವಾದ ತರಕಾರಿಯನ್ನು (ತುಂಡುಮಾಡಿದ) ನೀರಿನ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಸೇರಿಸಿ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಬೇಕಾಗುವಷ್ಟು ಉಪ್ಪು ಮತ್ತು ಚಿಟಿಕೆ ಅರಿಶಿನ ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಬೇಯಿಸಲು ಇಡಿ. ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಸಾಲೆಗೆ ತಯಾರಿ ನಡೆಸಿ. ಮೊದಲು ತುರಿದ ತೆಂಗಿನಕಾಯಿಗೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಜೀರಿಗೆ ಮತ್ತು ಘಾಟಿ ಮೆಣಸು ತುಂಡರಿಸಿ ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಮಿಕ್ಸಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ರುಬ್ಬಿ. ನಂತರ ಮಿಶ್ರಣಕ್ಕೆ ನೆನೆಸಿದ ಹುಣಸೆ ಹಣ್ಣು ಮತ್ತು ಕರಿಬೇವು ಎಲೆಗಳನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಿ, ಮಿಶ್ರಣ ಸಣ್ಣವಾಗುವವರೆಗೆ ರುಬ್ಬಿ. ಇಷ್ಟಾದ ಬಳಿಕ ಹುಳಿಯ ಮಸಾಲೆ ರೆಡಿ. ಅತ್ತ ತರಕಾರಿ ಬೆಂದಿದ್ದರೆ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಮಸಾಲೆಯನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಹುಳಿ ಕುದಿಯುವವರೆಗೆ ಇಡಿ. ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಬೇಕಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಬೇಳೆ ಕೂಡ ಸೇರಿಸಬಹುದು ಕೂಡ ;-). ಇಷ್ಟಾದ ನಂತರ ರುಚಿಯಾದ ತೆಂಗಿನಕಾಯಿ ಮಸಾಲೆ ಹುಳಿ ತಯಾರು :-). ನಂತರ ಅನ್ನಕ್ಕೆ ಕಲಸಿ ಉಂಡು ಆನಂದಿಸಿ! ಇಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲದೆ ಇಡ್ಲಿ, ಗೋಧಿ ಹಿಟ್ಟಿನ ದೋಸೆ, ನೀರು ದೋಸೆಗೂ ಈ ಹುಳಿ ಒಗ್ಗುತ್ತದೆ.
ತೆಂಗಿನಕಾಯಿ ಮಸಾಲೆ
ಪಾಲಾಕ್ ಹುಳಿ
ಹುಳಿಯನ್ನು ಒಂದೆರಡು ದಿನ ಇಡಬಹುದು. ಹೆಚ್ಚು ದಿನ ಇಟ್ಟರೆ ತೆಂಗಿನಕಾಯಿಯ ವಾಸನೆ ಹಬ್ಬುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ಮಸಾಲೆ ಸೌತೆಕಾಯಿ, ಕುಂಬಳಕಾಯಿ, ಬೀನ್ಸ್, ಅಲಸಂಡೆಕಾಯಿ, ಪಾಲಾಕ್ ಸೊಪ್ಪು, ಬಿಟ್ರೂಟ್, ಹೀರೆಕಾಯಿ, ನವಿಲುಕೋಸು, ಹೂಕೋಸು ಮುಂತಾದ ತರಕಾರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಒಗ್ಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಬೆಂಡೆಕಾಯಿ , ಬದನೇಕಾಯಿ, ಮೆಂತೆಸೊಪ್ಪು ಮುಂತಾದುವುಗಳಿಗೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ.
ಅರೆರೆ ಏನಿದು ಹೊಸ ಬಗೆ ಅಂತಾ. ಎಂತದು ಇಲ್ಲ ಮಾರಾಯ್ರೇ, ಅಮ್ಮ ಹೇಳಿ ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಹೊಸ ವಿಧಾನದ ಚಹಾ ರೂಡಿ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದೇನೆ ಅಷ್ಟೇ. ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಮಾಡುವುದು ಸಹ ಇದೇ ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆದರೆ ಮೊದಲು ನಾನು ಬೇರೆ ತರಹ ತಯಾರಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ. ಈಗ ಅಪ್ಡೇಟ್ ಆಗಿದ್ದೇನೆ :-).
ನನ್ನ ಹಳೆಯ ವಿಧಾನ ಹಾಲಿಗೆ ನೀರು ಬೆರೆಸಿ ನಂತರ ಚಹಾಪುಡಿ ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಕುದಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ. ಇದರಿಂದ ಹಾಲಿನ ಖರ್ಚು ಕೂಡ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಚಹಾ ಪುಡಿ ಕೂಡ ಅಧಿಕ ವೆಚ್ಚವಾಗುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಇತ್ತೀಚಿಗೆ ಅಮ್ಮ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿಗೆ ಬಂದಾಗ ನನ್ನ ಫರ್ಮ್ವೇರ್ ಅನ್ನು ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ ಹೊಸ ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ತಯಾರಿಸುವಂತೆ ತಿಳಿ ಹೇಳಿದರು. ತದನಂತರ ನಾನು ಚಹಾ ತಯಾರಿಸುವ ವಿಧಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಫುಲ್ ಚೇಂಜ್ ;-). ಮೊದಲು ಚಹಾ ಪಾತ್ರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನೀರಿನ ಜೊತೆ ಚಹಾ ಪುಡಿ ಸೇರಿಸಿ ನಂತರ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಕುದಿಸಿ. ಡಿಕಾಕ್ಷನ್ ನಿಮಗೆ ಬೇಗಾವುವಷ್ಟು ಖಡಕ್ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ. ತದನಂತರ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಒಂದು ಲೋಟೆ ಹಾಲನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಬೇಕಾಗುವಷ್ಟು ಸಕ್ಕರೆ ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಮತ್ತೊಮ್ಮೆ ಕುದಿಸಿ. ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿಸಿಯಾದ ರುಚಿಯಾದ ಚಹಾ ತಯಾರು :-). ಈ ವಿಧಾನದಿಂದ ಚಹಾ ಪುಡಿ ಮತ್ತು ಹಾಲಿನ ಖರ್ಚು ಕೂಡ ಕಡಿಮೆ. ಚಹಾದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಒಂದೆರಡು ಚಕ್ಕುಲಿ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಮಳೆ ಸುರಿಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೆ ಅದರ ಅನುಭವವೇ ಬೇರೆ :-). ಸಧ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಫೋಟೋದಲ್ಲಿನ ಚಹಾ ಸವಿದು ಸಂತೃಪ್ತಿ ಪಡಿ ;-). ಚಕ್ಕುಲಿ ಅಮ್ಮ ತಯಾರಿಸಿದ್ದು, ಮಳೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ :-).
ಚಹಾ
ಸೂಚನೆ: ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಚಹಾ ಕುಡಿದು ನಿದ್ರೆ ಬಾರದಿದ್ದರೆ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಲೇಖಕರು ಜವಾಬ್ದಾರರಲ್ಲ ;-)
ಕೊನೆ ಹನಿ: ಸಕ್ಕರೆ ಡಬ್ಬಿ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲೇ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಳ್ಳಿ ಕೆಲವೊಮ್ಮೆ ಸೇರಿಸಲು ಮರೆತುಹೋಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಇಷ್ಟೆಲ್ಲ ತಯಾರಿಸಿದ ನಂತರ ನಾನು ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ಸಲ ಶುಗರ್ ಲೆಸ್ ಚಹಾ ಕುಡಿದಿದ್ದು ಉಂಟು :-(. ಹಾಗೆ ಸಕ್ಕರೆ ಡಬ್ಬಿ ಪೂರ್ತಿ ಸುರಿಯಬೇಡಿ ;-).
Western ghats are beautiful places to visit all time around year. During monsoon season, they are paradise on earth while during sunny days they are best place to trek and relax for some time. It has got vast bio-diversity and waterfalls with pure aqua. That is the reason why UNESCO recognized Western Ghats as world heritage site along with Amazon rain forests. During our journey along Kuduremukh ghats we had glimpse of Tunga river at many places. Tunga river along with Bhadra and Netravati rivers, originate at Gangamoola near Kuduremukh. All three rivers are termed as sisters. Out of the three, Netravati rivers flows via Dharmasthala, Bantwal and finally meets Arabian sea at Mangalore. Unfortunately there has been stupid rampant effort to divert some portion of Netravati river towards east despite reports of severe damage to Western ghats :-(. Tunga river flows towards HanumanGundi waterfalls then Shringeri and finally merges with Bhadra at Koodli near Shivamogga. At this place they flow as single river Tungabhadra and meet Bay of Bengal. Sirimane waterfalls is not as vast as HanumanGundi but equal in beauty though. The waterfall has source from one of the stream originating from Western ghats and plunges with absolute beauty. The stream water finally merges with Tunga river at some place nearby. I am not sure why is it called so, may be Sirimane is village name.
Sirimane waterfalls is 14kms from Shringeri town. One has to drive along narrow road through dense western ghats to reach waterfall site. You will enjoy the beautiful hillocks all along the path. As mentioned earlier, this visit was not planned. But as I glanced through the signboards near Shringeri, I felt like visiting the place. Even father was OK. From Shringeri, after 1km towards Karkala along NH-13, one can see clear signboard directing to Sirimane falls. 6kms from here, you will reach Kigga and from Kigga the roads are not good. Recent torrential rains have completely destroyed roads. Also they are very narrow and difficult for even two cars to negotiate. Also the curves are steep and forest is highly dense. If you are hiring a long bus, you may have to walk for 4kms since bus cannot negotiate further. 30 minutes drive from Shringeri, we reached Sirimane falls and heavy rains started pounding. We were really in middle of dense forest and could hear gushing water despite of heavy pouring rain! There is parking fee as well as entrance fee levied in waterfall site. Few steps down, we reached majestic waterfall site. It was plunging with thundering sound. Only difference was less height as compared to HanumanGundi falls. Also HanumanGundi falls is situated in middle of relatively dense forest as compared here. As always, I tasted the water :-). That is the first thing I do as I reach waterfall site. Despite the gushing water, one could easily take bath nearby due to manageable geography. Also it is wonderful experience having headbath beneath waterfall plunge ;-). At this velocity of torrent, it was not possible to have head-bath though!
DOWNSTAIRS VIEW
THE TOP VIEW!
SPLASH!
BOUNCER :-)
The water distribution from top is not uniform here. The rightmost part had the powerful plunge while the leftmost was like minor stream. As I neared the powerful part of the plunge, the strong wind generated due to energetic plummet, started pushing me hard. It was difficult to manage since the rains were also heavy. My umbrella almost flew away and somehow held on to it ;-). Watch out for silent leeches :D. They can hold on to you at anytime. It had bit some tourists too! Since we were traveling to Malnad under heavy rains, I had carried Odomos to avoid leeches. Luckily, none of them bit me this time too even if I was wearing dhoti ;-). After enjoying pure natural magic, I went near viewpoint to have distant view of waterfall. I shot many milky ways too! Even mother enjoyed with me :-).
FULL MILKY WAY
MILKY WAY SPLASH ;-)
DENSE RAIN FOREST
This picture was featured in incredible India g+ page. It is page where some unique pictures from India are shared among vast number of followers. This picture which was shared in g+ Landscape forum was shared in incredible India page where many people appreciated the picture. It is really honor for me to unknowingly feature this picture in incredible India page for second time. Hope you will also enjoy the milky way ;-).
MILKY WAY FROM VIEW POINT
When to visit:
If you want enjoy the glory, visit during peak monsoon season. If you feel like taking bath, visit around Oct-Nov timeframe. No buses available, you have to make your own arrangements. I believe you can even hire auto from Shringeri. Don't miss Kigga temple also. If you are driving, be watchful since roads are not so good after Kigga. Signboards to site are laid very clearly and no need to panic even if you feel like getting lost. Humans are feeble along the way due to dense forest. And finally do not miss to taste sweet water of Tunga river stream ;-). No food options available nearby waterfall site except for small churumuri shop :D.
Around 3:30PM, we headed back to Kaup. We enjoyed those delightful western ghats for one more time ;-). Also there was heavy rains at intermediate places. Due to downhilling, we reached our native early at 5:30PM. As we reached the sea-level, Sun welcomed us with bright rays :-). The rains in coast had completely receded by then. I also enjoyed the distant view of Kuduremukh ghats but did not take any snaps. Recent statistical reports suggest that some place along Kuduremukh ghats has surpassed Agumbe as highest raining place in south India. It has not been made official though ;-). Probably met department want to sample for few more years. Last time I did lament not visiting Sirimane falls and it has finally ended now :-). End of day, one more travel, one more waterfall and all anxiety eliminated. That's power of western ghats! We always regret not visiting some more places nearby and this time it was not different. We could not visit Horanaadu Annapoorneshwari temple as well as Kigga temple due to dearth of time. Nevertheless, it opens up one more opportunity to travel again :-).
We were getting ready to camp at Dudhsaagar falls after long 15km walk from castle rock to dudhsaagar. Just relaxing along the railway tracks, this dusk show off by nature caught my eyes ;-). I tried grabbing picture but things were not properly exposed. Hence grabbed 5 shot HDR and composed the picture. The google+ photo editor did some more fantastic job to correct the picture. The western ghats at near end was properly exposed along with the sky at distant end. The start burst of Sun is again due to diffraction from aperture blades due to high 'f' stop. I could not correct the Sun flares (need to learn few more techniques!). Eventually I am happy with the picture and big thanks to g+ photo editor! Hope you will enjoy the mountain picture ;-)
WESTERN GHATS VIEWED FROM DUDHSAAGAR WATERFALLS!
Speaking of mountain, hear the beautiful music by Soundlift "The Mountain". As always feel his brilliance with blend of orchestral and synthesizer and experience the mountain ambiance ;-)
Traveling and driving has been my favorite pass time for many years. Nowadays I am even used to drive 600kms a day as a consequence frequent travels. That gives me immense happiness and an opportunity to meet new people and explore new places. The next day of our travel to Murudeshwara was focused on visiting Shringeri temple but Sirimane waterfalls was not in picture at all! I brought it to picture ;-). We wanted to start early but usual hiccups delayed journey by an hour and we finally started around 9AM. The morning was exactly mirror image of previous day :D with heavy rains pounding our village till 8:30AM. We started our journey in mid of heavy rain itself :-).
Shringeri is 90kms from our village. The same route as I visited HanumanGundi last time. The only problem was deplorable stretch from Belman to Karkala. Other than this stretch, the road from Karkala to Shringeri was well paved as per my past experience. As we traveled interior towards Karkala, the rains started receding. It means, the rains were pounding only coastal belt but not the interior parts. We were getting ready to travel through the craters of Belman-Karkala stretch. Voila! what a surprise ;-). The road has been patched up recently :-). Even then roads were uneven and few small pot-holes were present which were resistible! We could reach Karkala in 20 minutes. Had it been the similar situation as last time, it would have taken 45mins or more. The road after Karkala is simply majestic :-). Even our car enjoyed too! Also dense forests and clouds added more glory to our journey. The distant rain forests were looking so pretty :-). The same scene as I visited last time except for less rains. Last time, it was raining tremendously heavy which was typical pounding rains of western ghats. Shringeri is around 58kms from Karkala and it takes 90 minutes to cover due to narrow roads and up-hilling of western ghats!
Few kms after Karkala, we entered Kuduremukh National Park gate where actual western ghats starts. One has to take pass to enter national park premises and same has to be handed over at the other end. The authorities make note of each and every vehicle that pass through the park jurisdiction. Authorities have printed many rules and regulations on the pass to follow the guidelines in park limits. Majority of them are not to litter the park and maintain sanctity of place by preserving peace of wild animals.
I was enjoying the uphill of Kuduremukh ghats with beautiful nature and powerful pull of CRDi engine made it easy to climb the grades. Western ghats driving is mesmerizing experience by itself especially during monsoon season provided roads are healthy ;-). Rains and clouds are pretty much easy to manage unless it is not cloudburst :-). In middle of ghat section, we took small break in one of the water springs and my father offered to drive. I shot many videos till Shringeri :-). All through the journey it was the pretty western ghats which filled our soul and made us forget everything rest. Of-course we were attentive while driving ;-). Despite presence of feeble people, the problematic part was adamant cattle and crazy dogs :D. The cattle were mainly cows which used to cover entire road. At-least there used to be 8-10 minimum in number :D. They rest happily in middle of highway taking role of break inspectors ;-). Due to rains, most of the land surface was wet. The only warmest portion was the highway due to plying of vehicles. Hence they used to occupy entire width of road. At times we had to park vehicle and dispel the cattle manually :D. When we neared them to dispel, they were pleading for food :-). That was cute sight to watch. At some places we fed them with bananas too! Next is crazy dogs resting on the road for same reason. But they used to get out very soon but some of them lethargically used to wake up and move away cursing us :D. Some of them pose like heroes standing profound at the edges of road :D. Overall great entertainment despite adding delay to our journey! Apart from these sights, at many places there were landslides due to recent torrential rains. Also retaining wall of the highway had collapsed at some places. At these places it is impossible to glide the vehicle out of road or else you will end up in one of the gorges! Watch out for rushing trucks along the curves and blind spots. Even they are adamant to avoid slipping down the roads due to heavy load :-(. A note in Kuduremukh pass also requests drivers not to honk in park jurisdiction but inevitably you need to honk at each and every curve gently to get rid of such surprises. The truck drivers rush downhill to gain sufficient momentum for climbing the uphill. Recent newspaper reports cite that forest department has cleared hurdles to widen such narrow highways. The same pictures as shared in one of previous blogs.
Along the highway, one can spot small Ganapathy temple. Bus drivers stop at this place to have brief blessing to uphill without obstacles. During my childhood days, up-hilling western ghats were considered tough and risky task due to narrow roads. Many travelers used to seek blessings before starting up-hilling. As a result many ghats have small temples just before actual ghat starts. Even broader shiraadi ghat has chowdeshwari temple :-)
Kuduremukh National Park jurisdiction ends 7kms before Shringeri and one needs to hand over the pass obtained during start journey. Around 11:30AM, we reached Shringeri temple. Rains had receded but there was thick cloud cover. There was normal flow in Tunga river. Slightly larger crowd due to weekend. We also visited the protected monument temple where shiva, durga and ganesha are deities. The mahapooje at main Sharada temple concludes at 12:10PM and later we had lunch in temple itself. I had hefty full meals and it was tasty too :-). My father wanted to visit the centers maintained by math authorities but we realized it late. Unfortunately it is closed for public visit by 12PM and would open only by 5PM. We had no choice to leave for the day since we had to pack for our next day travel to Bangalore. After brief purchase of books by father, we started back to our native village.
THE PRESERVED MONUMENT
THE BIG COW! SEEMS TO BE INDIGENOUS
TUNGA RIVER BASIN
ONE MORE VIEW!
The write-up turned out to be bit lengthy again and part 2 of the post is covered here.
Navaratri is one of the energetic days for me. Most of the durga temples in my native will be heavily crowded especially the Kollur Mookambika Temple which is right beneath beautiful Kodachadri Western ghats. The last night of Navaratri, we were in Mysore Palace :-). As expected, there was huge crowd. I have been here plethora of times during Navaratri days and non festival days too! Never captured the sparkling Mysore palace with lights. This time Rajesh wanted to visit Mysore during Dasara time and hence we visited Mysore on Sunday. That gave me an opportunity to capture glittering Mysore Palace. I do not have a wide angle lens and grabbed whatever could be with 18mm ;-). So here are some pictures from lightened Mysore palace. Hope you will enjoy the same ;-).
THE ENTRANCE TO LIGHT!
HAD THERE BEEN NO PANDAL, THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT SHOT ;-)
CULTURAL PROGRAM
ILLUMINATED DURGA AT ONE OF THE STREET!
It's quite easy to take such pictures. Only thing is shun off the flash light. I guess even with soft flash, we can get far better results. When the frame is entirely filled with such picture, the camera's light metering evaluates really poor. As a result, the exposure goes beyond 1/5s which may not be desirable. The camera evaluates based on entire frame and it is time for our brain to do metering ;-). These are situation when one needs manual intervention in light metering. If we look at the picture, we really do not need people too fill our frame. The interesting matter is only palace lights. The solution is to restrict light entering image sensor by under-exposing way beyond -1.6EV. This can provide beautiful effect wherein people are darkened out while we see only shining palace :-). The second good thing is that by underexposing, we can get greater depth of field and considerable shutter to compensate shakiness in midst of heavy crowd. EOS-550D does not produce favorable results beyond ISO-800 and hence with f/7.1 gave me 1/30s shutter. With this shutter speed, it was easy to shoot a steady shot. If you can afford cameras which can provide faithful image beyond ISo-800, its great :D. But higher shutter speed may not provide glittering look. Only solution is to practice and experiment a lot when you have an opportunity ;-).
THE VISTA!
Nowadays, I have stopped cribbing about not having wide angle lens. Wherever possible, I bracket panorama shots and stitch with Hugin. The annoying part is the barrel distortion at middle :-(. Nevertheless the picture has come good except for the distracting platform at left and flying whistle in middle ;-).
Here are some highway landscapes shot during our drive back from Bangalore to Kaup. The roads are well paved from Nelamangala to Ballupet and the beautiful curvy, snaky roads tempted me to grab some pictures. These pictures were taken while driving and don't expect depth of field. Due to movement, to have steady shot, 1/200s or higher was required and hence DOF restricted to f/8.0. Unfortunately, the new highway numbering has been done only in re-constructed stretches. The 2 lane stretch from Hassan to Bantwal still carries the old name NH-48. There is plan to four lane this stretch even! There is proposal to linearize Shiraadi ghat road on similar lines as Mumbai-Pune highway by carving out tunnels along western ghats. Although, the stretch from Hassan to Bantwal seems to be tough ask for four laning, some construction companies have come forward to take up the work. The work may not commence in near future though ;-).
KUNIGAL BYPASS
YEDIYUR
My main attraction was to capture some footages from brand new Channarayapattana bypass. Surprisingly, the bypass road is only 2-laned. My initial guess was that land acquisition would have hit roadblock for constructing 4-laned bypass. However, the guard rails are already erected and restricted to two lane boundary. Also there was no sign of furthermore work progressing along the bypass road. Eventually its 2 laned highway and not 4 laned which may not be scalable for future. Since the interior road which passes through Channarayapattana town is 4 laned, NHAI would have restricted bypass road to 2 lane, just to facilitate truck traffic (or cost?). Nevertheless, the highway is evenly laid and can have smooth journey all along. Barring few stretches, the section is upgraded as per NHAI standards. The work is on in remaining sections (even at night) to finish the patch works so that tolls could be collected sooner!
THE NEW STRETCH STARTS!
HIRISAAVE TOLL GATE! AS OF NOW FREE ;-)
SNAKY NATIONAL HIGHWAY-75
A MILLION MILES BEHIND
BRAND NEW CR PATNA BYPASS BUT ONLY 2 LANE
WELL PAVED NH-75
VIEW TO THE FUTURE!
ALMOST HASSAN!
A BILLION MILES BEHIND :-)
The stretch from Nelamangala junction to Hassan is very good for driving ;-) except for toll booths! Everything comes at price ;-). Get ready to cough up 90 bucks if you wish to drive along the highway ;-). Also brand new toll gates are erected near Hirisaave & Hassan junctions and survey is on to fix up toll rates ;-). So the total bucks may ascend all the way upto 180 :D. Despite the toll rates, it is really worth driving along the stretch. Since my father was driving, I could grab many pictures and videos :D. Almost 10GB of data ;-). Will share small video if possible with good music :-). As of now, enjoy the short video of driving along brand new Channarayapattana bypass!
Back to caption :D. When looking at the horizon along the highway, it is difficult to judge distance beyond it. So as per calculus, road at the horizon is tending to infinity ;-). Instead of infinity, I say it as 'Million miles away' ;-). Speaking of million miles away, I remember the beautiful travel music by German musician Ulrich Schnauss "A Million Miles Away". My all time favorite travel music from past many years ;-). The music was featured in GT4 for PS2 gaming consoles and hence I am sharing same link. Hear, enjoy the ambiance and chill of music and experience brilliance of Ulrich Schnauss
From time to rest its now time to eat :-). Along our journey from Bangalore to Kaup, we had glimpse of everything from beautiful roads to nature and water spots all along. Also some humorous scenes too :-). After finishing tasty South Indian meals at Aditya hotel near Uppinangady , my eyes caught those cattle snatching hay from parked truck :-). There was huge haystack on parked mini truck and it was so much packed that lorry was almost invisible :D. The cows nearby truck started dragging hay towards their mouth and they enjoyed chewing them. The truck driver chased them away but the adamant cattle returned again wagging their tail :D. Who can miss the tasty treat ;-). Perhaps even truck driver would have realised later that there were only few of them and would not affect overall quantity! [infinity-x=infinity ;-)]. Enjoy the pictures ;-).
There is so much to eat, time to attack :-)
Hmmm. So yummy, let me pull some more :D
You had enough meals, now let me enjoy. Do not post this picture in News Paper :-)
I love such scenes and makes me happy too :D. Always be happy in life and enjoy such small things you come across :-). That will keep you always refreshed and healthy ;-).
It has been year long since we visited Aanegudde siddhi-vinayak temple near Kundapur. We do visit the temple every year. There were so many hurdles which prevented us to visit the temple. This time, father was adamant to visit and seek blessings of Lord vinayak. I requested him if we could extend till Murudeshwar :D. He agreed under condition that I alone would be driving. Thats fair deal except for I cannot shoot landscape while driving. We planned to start around 8AM from Kaup but as always turned out be late by an hour. Murudeshwara is 115kms from my hometown and really great place to visit. I love the ambiance, landscape, shiva statue as well roaring Arabian sea of Murudeshwara.
It all started with heavy monsoon rain early morning 6AM. It was so thick droplets and I enjoyed the rain with raincoat ;-). Also visited full flowing streams down coconut plantation. Good thing is myself and father are both experienced monsoon drivers and wipers of ritz add smoothness to journey by clearing windshield perfectly. Around 8:30AM, rains started receding but when I looked at Satellite pictures, thick clouds had covered entire coast which indicated further rains. Even father was OK to drive despite of heavy rains. We started exactly around 9AM and drove towards Kundapur.
Anegudde temple is around 40kms from our hometown. Wonderful temple site with beautiful nature. Also shiva temple beneath the hill is constructed around a lake which makes it delightful to watch. The journey was smooth however the uneven roads added delay. 10:30AM, we were in Anegudde temple and unexpectedly there was crowd despite being odd time. This temple is visited by many people from all over Karnataka and consequently is crowded most of the times. We had darshan of Lord Vinayaka and it started to rain heavily again. We also visited the Shiva temple beneath. Not many people are aware of this temple but it is really worth visiting the lake temple. Here are some pictures from both the temples.
AANEGUDDE VINAYAKA TEMPLE
LAKE TEMPLE BENEATH
We started our journey towards Murudeshwara around 11:30AM. There comes bad roads after Kundapur. They were really craters. It seemed like recently some meteor hit the highway :(. Also water filled pot-holes made it difficult to judge their depth. Still drove carefully and most of the time 1st or 2nd gear (too much fuel consumption). After nearly 5kms of hell, there starts the heaven :-). The beautiful rivulets along the highway were magnificent to watch. We could not stop anywhere due to time constraints and heavy traffic. Especially I missed Mabukala bridge and Hatti kudru. Both the rivulets were flowing with full vigor. Those sites were absolutely stunning to watch with full muddy water :-). Thats the real indication of heavy rains! After sometime, we reached Maravanthe beach :-). I requested father to drive till end of beach and he agreed to drive :-). I shot some videos and many pictures including panorama bracketing. It was also drizzling and Arabian sea was fully showing off with great energy. Also powerful winds tended to push us off the road to river :D. It seemed like Sea wanted to take revenge on river for teasing it ;-). Never dedicated time here, some day will spend full evening in this marvelous site. Enjoy some pictures!
THE UNIQUE BEACH OF INDIA ;-)
THE DELIGHTFUL SOUPARNIKA RIVER
After nearly 20 minutes of delight, I started driving again towards Murudeshwara. In contrast to what predicted, it seemed there was heavy overnight rain but not during day. It was only drizzling which was managable. After few kms of joyous ride along beautiful Uttara Kannada landscape, there starts one more stretch of hell :-(. The stretch between Shiroor to Bhatkal was completely tortured with craters bigger than the previous one. Our car again slowed down to 2nd gear most of the time. This time it was long tough drive which was around 12kms :-(. Both the stretches added almost 30 minutes of delay. After Bhatkal, the roads are once again smooth till Murudeshwara. At around 1:30AM, we reached Murudeshwara. The town is 2kms interior from main National Highway. We were aware that temple would be closed from 1PM to 3PM and hence I drove to apsarakonda waterfalls which is 17kms from here. The roads were again very good and we reached in matter of 10mins. It is believed that apsaras used to rest in this tiny waterfall site during mythological times. Last time we visited the place, it seemed like tap water but this time it was showing off with full glory ;-). The main source of water seems to be from nearby hillock and hence only alive during monsoon times. As we neared the place, the beautiful sight of Kasarkod beach attracted me. Few snaps here, we neared apsarakonda waterfalls. It started raining torrentially as we reached the waterfall site. Oh my god, that was so thick. I thought those droplets would pierce my old umbrella :D. I shot some videos under the heavy rains :-). After sometime, we reached the parking lot again. While downhilling, we came across many seasonal water streams which were beautiful to watch. This stretch of Uttara Kannada (Bhatkal to Gokarna) receives torrential rainfall during monsoon season. Despite the inclement weather, the sight looks so beautiful during monsoon season.
THE BEAUTIFUL KASARKOD BEACH
APSARAKONDA AT ITS BEST!
THE MILKY WAY ;-)
THERE ARE LOT SUCH EN-ROUTE :D
It is now time to head back towards Murudeshwara. There was fierceful rain for about 30 mins and I enjoyed the drive in heavy monsoon rains for sometime. The rains receded after some distance. On the way, we prayed lord vinayaka of idagunji from distance itself. We did not have time and hence skipped the temple visit. 2:30PM, we were in Murudeshwara town. We had lunch in one of the hotel and by that time temple had opened. The best thing during this time of year is absence of crowd. Due to heavy rains, people barely visit the place and people like me enjoy to full extent ;-). We easily had darshan of Lord Murudeshwara in matter of few minutes. We skipped walk to hill statue instead went all the way to 18th floor of pinnacle to have aerial view of town and shiva statue. A nominal fee of 10Rs is levied to reach the top floor of pinnacle. Having had good glimpse of aerial view, we started back to Udupi.
THE PINNACLE!
OM NAMAH SHIVAYA
VIEW FROM TOP OF PINNACLE
THE GLORIOUS MURUDESHWARA BEACH
It was required to start early due to bad roads. We encountered Mangalore-Mumbai Matsyagandha express near National Highway. I felt like boarding the train and travel all the way to Karwar :-). Konkan Railway as well as Sakaleshpur-Subramanya train journeys are the most beautiful train journey I ever had but I do not have snaps of former one. Never miss the mesmerizing Konkan railway journey from Mangalore to Goa during Monsoon season! My next target is travelling along the Briganza ghats from Castle-Rock to Panaji which passes through the Dudhsagar waterfalls. On the way we enjoyed the beautiful sight nearby shiroor where one could see Sea and western ghats closeby. Due to lack of time, I had to skip many places :-(. We again enjoyed energetic Maravanthe beach and rivulets nearby Kundapur. Also to our luck, the rains had receded completely but there was thick cloud cover. At around 7PM, we reached our home. We could not visit many places including Idagunji temple, the glorious sharavati river basin, top of apsarakonda hills as well as could not stop nearby beautiful rivulets all along. Still, a great day of travel it was :-).
The routes to these places are mentioned in my 2 year old blog.
There is bunch of HDR and panorama trials done which documented here.
There were lot things to capture as timelapse especially the storm raising from Kasarkod Beach. No time and no timelapse eventually this time :-(.
Two videos this time and full HD too ;-). One is aerial view of Murudeshwara temple and other is from apsarakonda waterfalls. Watch and Enjoy!
