Bengaluru Hampi Honnavara

Bengaluru Hampi Honnavar

15-17 February 2026

Hampi was in my bucket list for a long time, eager to see the stone chariot, pushkarini, Narasimha statue and lot of temples nearby

As there was no direct train from Kochi booked ticket to Bengaluru from there to Hospete and to Hubali and by bus to Honnavara enroute to Mangaluru

Day1 

Kochi to Bengaluru reached there morning, had breakfast from Hare Krishna hotel very near to the entrance of railway station.  Most of the important places are well connected by metro Green, purple and yellow lines, took the ₹250 day pass.  went to ISCON hare Krishna, as it was Sivarathri devotees were coming for the morning Pooja, after darshan moved to Vidhan Soudha,a massive building with huge expanse of lawns took some pics, from there took an auto to Bengaluru palace, entry ticket was pricey ₹300 and photography was not allowed so didn't go inside, but the palace was very beautiful from the outside, took some pics and moved back again to Hare Krishna hotel had veg thali.

After lunch went to Tippu's summer palace, very colourfuly done walls with wooden pillars & balcony, Bengaluru fort is nearby a fort with massive walls and wooden gates

Lalbagh botanical park spread in about is about 240 acres with a lake and falls, falls can be seen only at specific time with a duration of 15 minutes, strolled in the park last place was Agara Shri Jagganath temple, almost identical to the Puri Jagganatha temple, as it was evening Pooja time could not enter the temple as it was crowded with devotees as our train was at 9.30pm went back again to Hare hrishna had veg biriyani, took the luggage from the cloak room boarded the train to Hospete

Day 2 

Hospete reached early morning, took a shared auto to bus stand,boarded the bus it's a 30 minutes ride to Hampi bazar

Hampi does not have good hotels or resorts, but most of the houses are converted into homestays. Ranjana homestay was nearby ₹1500 for 1 night it was very close to Virupaksha temple

Tuk tuk is the main mode of travel around Hampi as all the places are nearby we took an tuk tuk to see most of places around Hampi starting from temples, bhojanalay, pushkarini, Vittala temple,Krishna temple and market, stone chariot, Narasimha statue, under ground Siva temple, Badava Linga, Queens bath, Lotus mahal, elephant stable, kadalekalu Ganesha finished our ride at Hemakuta hill to see the

Day 3 

Matanga hill was nearby so wake up early it was a 30 minutes hike to the hill on the way we got a guy from Pune with torch, few foreigners also was climbing up, all the way was clearly marked, but it was little difficult in the pitch dark. On the way we took few breaks and reached the top, a few of them was already there and waited upto 7am to see the sunrise, a tea vendor also came to serve hot tea, masala tea and boost, took some pics and went down

Achutaraya temple was below Matanga hill so we planned to see this and few places on the banks of Tungabadra river went up to Purandara Dasa Mantapa, coracle ride point and went back to our homestay and checked-out

Virupaksha temple is only place among the so many temple were there was idols and poojas rest of the temples we saw didn't have any idols so no usual poojas

Have Anna prasadam and spend some more time in temple, by 3pm took the bus to Hospete bus stand and from there to Hospete railway station, train to Hubli,reached there at 8.30pm had dinner as we have booked railway retiring room, and our check-in was at 11pm, but the attendant allowed us to check-in by 10pm

Day 4 

Honnavara got the bus to Honnavara, went to Kandla Sharavathi board walk, a nice board walk thru the Mangroves, moved to Murudewara temple got darshan at 3pm reached Mangalore at 8 pm

 

honey hunters

Honey hunters

location : Chinnar kuth, Mankulam 

Honey is sweet, but the process of getting the honey down from the tall trees is a labourious, risky and most dangerous job i have ever seen

The group of 4 Muthuvan community is from Urulanthanni, saw them in the morning, with machetes, and they cut few big & thinner bamboo reeds 

Thicker ones are spliced and they began to make wooden nails, which is used to climb the trees, this nails are connected with thinner bamboo reeds so that the can climb the trees with ease

After 7 pm they started with the nailing work, the process was stopped because of the light from the moon was a hindrance. In pitch black at about 2.30am still hearing the noise of the wooden hammer hitting the nails, bamboo torches, slightly lit to ward of the bees was taken up

Collecting honey combs are done by 2 persons, one with a gunny bag on a long bamboo pole will hold this below the comb, supporting team on the ground with torch will guide them , and the other person with a pole will pull down the honey comb to the gunny bag, stings are common and they are not bothered about this

A this was a job entirely under darkness no videos

After collecting the comb the team will extract the honey, filter and store, got about 10 litres, took the same to Anakulam, but didn't got any buyers so returned to Mankulam

The cheeni tree had 4 bee hives 1st one was taken on day 1 and without any sleep these guys again made nails for the 2nd day collected honey combs from 2 more hives the last one was left behind as it was small, this ended at 5.30 am, so a 48 hours job without any sleep

 

Meesapulimala

 Day 1

Meesapulimala was a dream location, only accessible thru KFDC packages, 1 day trek 2 base camp, 3 Sky villa 4 Rhodo mansion, lot of groups are running camps @ Rs 3600 for base camp, a facebook / whatsapp post announced a budget rate @ Rs 3000 , i.e KFDC trek fee + jeep fare 

Base camp is with 15 - 20 tents shared by 2 persons, food : evening tea & biscuits, dinner cappathi, ghee rice and chicken curry, breakfast bread n jam, lunch veg meals

Our group was a team of 12 reported at Munnar jeep stand, took the jeeps and moved to KFDC office to collect the pass moved thru the Silent valley tea estates, reported at the first check post, stopped at Silent valley shooting location with accasia trees with a background of hills , spend some time there, this is the last place to get any things you need, had tea and a baji from the lone tea shop.

A 1 hour ride takes us to the base camp, beautiful landscaped place , a wooden hut, a steam of water, hikers was coming in batches , about 60 people were there for the hike

Our tents were a bit far from the main tents, 3 man tents ,4 common toilets was also nearby

Camp fire were lit for the big group, we have also a camp fire very near to our tents, informed the KFDC officer that it may be lit when it gets dark/ after dinner.

 A small introduction of hikers and stories of past hikes, one persons love for travel was very interesting, going for international trips without the informing family, with help of Jio international SIM. A posh karshakan aka farmer, traveller, expressed his true love towards travel with an advice, go see places, nothing can stop you, you have to overcome all barriers, loved his tag line ' small trips, a couple of drinks with friends, even a holy smoke by any chance ', most of them were 50+, after dinner campfire was lit, antakshari in 2 groups had a gr8 time , fun, laughter, and tears, smoke from the camp fire, back to tents a chilly sleep inside the sleping bags temperature was about 10 c

Day 2 

Jeeps will be ready for viewing the sunrise , so alarms at 4.15, after morning rituals, breakfast of bead n butter. 5.15am started the off road ride, a 5km ride to Rhodo mansion from there we have to climb the steep hill to see the sunrise, took about 20 minutes to reach the top all waiting for golden rays, the wind was lashing and struggled to get got shots, but got some nice pics, a clear sky we saw most of the peaks Chokramudi, Anamudi, Kolukkumala, Elapetty and some unknown moutain ranges, Anayirangal dam, in a distance saw Idukki dam, upto 7am all had a nice time enjoying the 360 ° views

Meesapulimala is the 8th moutain so 7 to go not so hard climbs, the hiking paths were easy , open area dotted with carribean pine, planted earlier, now culled as it's hampering the growth of shola vegetation and some red rhodohendron flowers, a beautiful stream crossing, most of them filled their water bottles here, occcassional stops at available shades which was hard to find, got chocolates, peanuts, cashew & dates to boost our energy.  

A way back was a different and short reached Rhodo mansion by about 11.30 off road back to base camp, had lunch waited for our group so the first jeep can move back to Munnar, said bye to all, reached Munnar by 13.45pm KSRTC bus to Aluva

  

Varkala

Varkala 2.o

February 4-5, 2024

day 1  

After searching places in Mararikulam beach front, for a 2 day trip, as room rates are at its peak, started searching places in Varkala, zeroed in some places for accommodation, got info about bike rentals, kayaking, country boat rides in mangrove forest

Guruvayoor - Trivandrum train was at 5.15 as it was Sunday got seats for all, reached Varkala Sivagiri station by 9am 

Hyundai i10 for Rs 1500 per day, moved to Sea Pearl Chalets a nice accommodation at South cliff with 180° views of beach, 5 mins walk to the beach @ Rs 2000, we were the only occupants out of the 11 chalets

After check-in moved to Anjuthengu ( Angengo) fort, built by the British, hanging bridge nearby, back to chalet

Sunset at black sand beach couldn't find not much black sand as the waves have taken most of the beach

Varkala beach have the following adventure rides, floating bridge, paragliding, catamaran, sea rafting, scuba diving, kayaking, boogie boards, jet ski, banana ride, bumper ride, speed boat, crazy sofa, all terrain vehicles

Night vibe at North cliff is like mini Goa minus the pubs, most of the cafes have live music and most of them serve fresh sea food, almost all the cafes are occupied by foreigners, dinner at Olappura restaurant, back to room, it was a night with clear sky and stars all spend time on the beach benches

day 2

Morning walk to beach, lot of changes from my last visit, there were lot of laterite formations the sea, with sea weeds,but the sea have receded so beach is very wide, not much waves, spend some time in the waves

Sivagiri mutt was 2 kms from Varkala beach, went there a calm n quiet place of Sree Narayana Guru, all his personal belongings on display, free food is served in morning, noon & evening, had a nice noon prasadam 

Kappil beach a unique place flaunted by lake and sea on either sides, its on the way to Paravoor, Nedungolam mangrove forest

Mangrove forest, with mangrove tunnel is a place we can do kayaking, country boat ride, enquired with some of the operators and booked at Mangrove nest ₹ 2500 for 6 persons 

Our oarsman handed over our safety jackets, decided to start at 4.30 pm so we can be at the sunset point. Started thru the narrow canals and moved thru the mangroves and tunnels of mangrove roots on the way we saw kayakers infront, reached an open place, not so deep, all kayakers was having fun in the water, Vinod also jumped in floated in the water, after this moved to view the sunset, had a nice golden sunset, back at our drop off point at 6.45

Back to Varkala railway station, Vinod have booked tickets in Trivandrum - Mangalore expressreached home at 1.45am

New Delhi - Agra - Amritsar

New Delhi - Agra - Amritsar

2023 November 4 - 11

Delhi was a dream destination, so started charting dates, searching trains, finalised for Nov 4 to Nov 13

As budget travelers booked sleeper tickets to & fro New Delhi, Delhi to Amritsar bus, Amritsar to Delhi train. Booked Hotel Peace Point a small hotel near New Delhi 5 mins walk from station. Amritsar accomodation booking window was 15 days, booked at Saragarhi Nivas a SGPC run NRI guest house with all amenities like a hotel 500 mts from Goldentemple 

Booked Hop on Hop off bus :

Delhi - Agra - Mathura - Vrindavan

Booked Hop on Hop off bus : 

Delhi darshan

Booked Hop on Hop off bus : Amritsar - Wagah 

4.11.2023 12.40 pm Ernakulam boarded Sampark Kranti express

6.11.2023 6.15 am reached New Delhi 

DAY 1 6.11.2023 

Yamunaghat

Ladakh budha vihar

Jama masjid 

Agrasen ka baoli 

Masjid khairulamanazil

Purana qila 

Safdarjung tomb 

Qutb minar (light & sound show at 7pm)

We used all sorts of transport cycle rickshaw, e-rickshaw, auto, metro, bus, DMRC app was very useful for getting down at stations for interchange

DAY 2 7.11.2023

by HOHO Delhi - Agra bus

Agra fort 

Tajmahal 

Mathura

Vrindavan 

Picked up from our hotel at 8 am moved thru Yamuna expressway, a stop over for breakfast, reached Agra fort at 12pm, only 1 hour was only given to explore Agra fort, we missed the bus, took an auto to Taj Mahal, no bags are allowed, only mobile phones and cameras.  

Taj Mahal, symbol of love, an exquisite work in marble, usual photo stops one near the entrance and one at the platform infront of the fountains, we got about 4 hours moved around all corners of Taj, not much people on the Yamuna side and the backside. Taj would be more beautiful on sunrise and sunsets. Taj opens 30 mins before sunrise and closes 30 mins before sunset. A ₹200 ticket for viewing the masouleum which is inside the Taj, we didn't opt for this.

Mathura the birth place of Krishna is high security area no ele gadgets allowed, a Barbari masjid mosque like building with 3 domes and a temple below that structure, a new temple nearby, spend sometime as aarti was going on

Vrindavan have numerous temples as it was very late could no see any instead took to a diety and a poojari, spend some time there and he explained the importance of donations and returns some fell and others just moved out, reached hotel at 2am. Delhi - Agra is about 200kms ride

DAY 3 8.11.2023

HOHO Delhi darshan bus 

Birlamandir (Lakshmi Narayan temple)

Lal qila (Red fort)

Rajghat 

India gate

Kartavyapath (Raj path)

Indiragandhis home 

Qutb minar 

Humayuns tomb 

Lotustemple 

Akshardham temple

Rama Krishna Ashram metro was the pickup point, a guide was on the bus, informing the important places moved around New Delhi, a brief stop over at India gate for lunch.

Akshardham temple,6th largest temple in world, no ele gadgets allowed, it's like a small heritage township, the temple is spread in acres surrounded by waterfalls, The domes with intricate work in sand stone and marbles a must visit place in New Delhi. 

Akshardham metro was nearby took tickets to Central Secretariat the nearest metro to see India gate adorned in colorful lights 

Delhi - Amritsar bus was from ISBT Kashmere gate 10:30pm. The uncomfortable journey just 1 feet leg space and over the head just six inches, a volvo bus converted as sleeper, honking all the way, somehow got some sleep reached Amritsar at 6am

DAY 4 9.11.2023

travel mode : HOHO Amritsar

Maharana Ranjith Prathap Singh statue 

Durgiana temple 

Govindgarh fort 

Khalsa College ( drive pass)

War museum  

Attari (India ) Wagah (Pakistan ) border

Golden temple opens at 3 am, saw long queues when I reached at 6am, have to cover your head when you enter the temple complex, bags are frisked by Sikh security guards at all entry points. Amrit sarovar the sacred pond, temples, big and small, dedicated to different Hindu deities are located around the pool.

Free shoe, baggage counter & toilet complex outside the temple.

Free bus to and from Amritsar railway station.

The colorful Hop on Hop off double decker bus was parked at Maharaja Ranjith square, boarded and moved around Amritsar, lunch break at Govindagarh fort moved to Attari / Wagah border this place was thronging with people, separate queues for men & women for security checks. Wagah border have a mini stadium first sections are for VIP's and the rest for public. Patriotic movie songs are played and girls have the opportunity to dance on the border. Beating retreat border ceremony starts at 4.15 pm in winters and 5.15 pm in summers.

The ceremony unfolds with march past of BSF jawans, opening the border gates, lowering the flags & closing of border gates. 

The emotion at the viewing gallery, literally swell with true pride as you cheer for your country, the feeling must be euphoric, cant be explained truly in words, too good, its going to be a very special memory of my life.  

After the ceremony the people will be running behind the BSF jawans for selfies, back to our accomodation at Amritsar

Golden temple and all entry points are immersed in colorful lights,at night and it's feast for the eyes

DAY 5 10.11.2023

Golden temple 

Harmandirsahib 

Jalianwalabagh 

Khairuddin masjid 

travel mode : walk

Amritsar was having thunder, lighting and showers in the morning, after the rain stopped, went to Jalianwala bagh, a historic garden and memorial in memory of the massacre, moved to Khairuddin masjid, back to golden temple in queue for darshan, took the steps leading to the top of the temple, and sat inside the temple with kirtans in background.  

Took the free bus to Amritsar railway station, boarded the train to New Delhi at 18.55 pm

DAY 6 11.11.2023

Rashtrapathi bhavan 

Lodhi gardens 

Sarojini nagar

travel mode : metro & auto

Rashtrapathi bhavan is open to public for Main building, Museum, Amrit udyan ( August - September) Change of guard only on Saturday online booking window is one week.

We got entry for main building, reached at gate 37 after security checks moved to Rashtrapati bhavan saw the horses participated in change of guard. 

A guide took us thru Asoka hall, the meeting rooms, banquet hall after that photo ops infront on Rashtrapathi bhavan, when we moved out we can see the Jaipur column to celebrate the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi and as a token of allegiance of the princely state of Jaipur to the British Crown.

Lodhi gardens the place we missed on our 1st day in New Delhi, a beautiful place, home to the tombs of several rulers from the Lodhi dynasty that are architectural marvels, moved around the gardens took an auto to Sarojini Nagar 

Diwali eve the place was jam packed with people on the move flanged by textile shops, a small shopping, off to New Delhi railway station collected the bags from cloak room boarded Kerala express at 20.10 pm, reached home on 11.11.2013 Monday 17.10 pm 

Food : Karims hotel, Jama masjid roti and panneer masala and rest of the days we were mostly on street food Musambi, Orange, sugar cane juice, charmuri, bananas, panneer sandwich, masala dosa, veg thali, fried rice, kersar malai, masala tea, tender coconut and free prasad from golden temple langar rotis, daal, rice and kheer

Travel gear Decathlon forclaz 60, forclaz 40, forclaz 20 back packs

Reels

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reels day 1

reels Qutb minar

reels Purana Qila

reels agra fort

reels Taj Mahal

reels Lodhi garden

reels India gate

reels Amritsar

reels Rashtrapati bhavan

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Mannavan shola

The Anamudi Shola National Park consists of three Shola reserve forests Mannavan shola, Pularadi shola and ldivara shola 

HATS is a trekking society run by Ajeesh, had attended few treks had a great time, saw the WhatsApp message announcing the Mannavan shola trek, booked my seat as it was only for 10 people 

Last trek was a long time back to Ranipuram in 2019 then Corona came so after a gap of 3 years nice to have a trek again to get fresh air and beautiful views

Day 1, 25th February 2023

6.30 am Bus from Kaloor to Munnar reached Munnar at 10.30, had breakfast idli, sambar from a tiffin stall, Ajeesh also reached Munnar, a Tamil Nadu bus to Marayaoor was on the bus stand reached Marayoor after 1.30 hrs drive thru the winding hairpin roads with tea estates on both sides

The last leg Marayoor to Kanthaloor, a KSRTC bus came, boarded the same. Justas Chetan came at the same time at Marayoor and we boarded the car reached Kanthaloor, Nest Cottages perched on a small hillock with nice views of the mountain ranges

Anoop has already checked in, Sajan, Shyam, Santhosh, Anil also reached on time to move to Brahamaram view point a 2km walk. A beautiful place dotted with trees, tree house, thatched sheds & view of Marayaoor from the view point, and a nice sunset, Joy reached the view point after some time 

Kanthaloor was with cool breeze when we came in, and continued the same thru the night might be around 15-20 C but not so cold. A good dinner Chapati, chicken curry & veg stew. 3 bed rooms with double beds ample space for 3 people and extra beds & blankets for the rest, not a nice sleep with Dolby snoring from both sides of the bed

Day 2, 26th February 2023

Woke up with black tea, and moved out on the cold breezy morning with Anil to take pics of birds, seems he got 2 new birds 

Rufous bellied eagle & bar winged flycatcher shrike

Dosa & chutney for breakfast, Mannavan shola forest office a few Kms from Kanthaloor, a guide accompanied us started trek thru usual trek paths and deviated to a new path reached a small waterfall, spotted a pug marks on the way, by 12 O clock we reached the 1st view point spend some time and moved on to the next to see the tip of Anamudi peak the 2nd highest peak in Western ghats 2695m, as we have to reach by 3pm as it would be difficult to get bus from Kanthaloor, started to move down and reached down by 2pm.

Anil dropped me at Marayoor got a bus to Aluva - Metro to home

Kanthaloor a nice place to unwind, good weather, good cottages, only BSNL & JIO connectivity,most of the cottages provide free Wifi