Le Pakshi

After a break of few months from photography,i was looking out to shoot something and by chance i got to know that a photography enthusiastic group called Bangalore Photowalk was planning to have a photowalk at Lepakshi which i was longing to go for from a very long time.

Camera + Lenses + Memory Cards + Batteries : Check

About Lepakshi
Distance : 125 kms from Bangalore
Mode of Transport :
1. Train :
Hindupur passenger train starts from Yeswanthpur at 8 a.m and reaches Hindupur by around 12.30.
15 kms away from Hindupur is Lepakshi.You can hire an auto or board a bus to reach Lepakshi.

2.Bus :
You can get bus from K.R.Market.
3.Own Mode Of Transport :
You can go via Airpot Road –> Doddaballapur –> Hindupur –> Lepakshi

Ok now back to the journey.
We boarded the Hindupur Passenger express from Yeshwanthpur Railway station which departs at 8.00 a.m.

This was my second photowalk with Bangalore Photowalk group.
19 out of 20 members turned up and the train journey started.
Few minutes later we got into introducing ourselves and discussing about so called photography,lens,camera gear etc.
It was now time to take out our camera gears and start clicking.
We were all over the coach near the doors,windows trying out to capture few interesting subjects.

Train reached Hindupur at around 12.30 p.m.
After a round of introduction we headed towards the bus stand.

Any eateries/Fast food at Hindupur railway station??
Answer is: No,You can find small departmental stores to grab some biscuits or chips.

Destination : Lepakshi.
Mode Of Transport : Auto.

After a 20 mins auto ride,we reached Lepakshi.
Our next task was lunch.Luckily we found a small hotel just infront of Lepakshi temple.

Ambience : 6/10
Food : Only Veg
Quality : 9/10
Value for money : Yes.

Just after a few minutes,all the cameras were out and everyone got busy shooting the local people there.A large people had gathered there.

Now it was one thirty and we had to leave by four.So everyone rushed towards the temple and we had spread all over to get atleast a few good shots of this temple.

About Lepakshi :

This Vijaynagar architectural style temple is dedicated to Veerabhadra which was built by the brothers Viranna and Virupanna.
A huge Nandi bull made out of a single granite stone is one of the attractions in Lepakshi.
As per the Legend, the Naga of the Nagalinga was carved out of a single stone by sculptors while they waited for their mother to prepare lunch.

The weather was favorable for photography which isn’t usually the case as its too hot in this part of Andhra.
Adding to the weather,cloud patterns was also a plus point.
Now the only things going through most of our minds were Aperture,Shutter speed,ISO 🙂

As soon as you enter the main entrance of the temple you see a wall infront which indicates that the temple wasn’t planned.

Everyone was busy shooting and in no time the clock striked 4.
But i felt why so soon? We can spend some more time.
But we had very less time and had to move to the Nandi sculpture which is said to be carved out of a single rock and believed to be the largest Nandi statue in the world.

After a small snack break we headed towards the Nandi statue which is around a km away from the Lepakshi temple.
After a few shots there and a group photo.The rain gods started pouring down and we rushed towards the bus stand and luckily there was a bus standing heading towards Lepakshi.

All in all,its a heaven for photographers interested in architectural photography.

We headed towards Bangalore from Hindupur at start 6 p.m. and reached by 8.30 p.m.

A set of pics:

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Journey to the Valley Of Flowers (Phoolon Ki Ghaati) – Episode 2

After a tiring journey from Delhi to Haridwar with tea and Parle G biscuits for our dinner at 2.30 am.
The next day agenda was to meet all other trek members at the Haridwar railway station by 6.30 am.
We woke up at 6 and by 6.45 we were all set to move.
We reached railway station at 7 and had a round of introduction with our diverse trek group where people hailed from Tamilnadu,Mumbai,Delhi,Bangalore.
Had a cup of tea and started towards our destination for the day.

Day 2 :
Agenda : Reach Joshimath.
Distance : 250 kms.
Road Condition : Not very good and Risky due to unpredictable landslides.

Three vehicles were hired and we started off from Haridwar.It was cloudy.
I was visiting Haridwar for the first time.Our trek friends ( two of them) were accompanying us in our vehicle had visited this place a lot of times.

Harki Pauri : The Ganges is so wide (approx half a km long).
After travelling through the plains and crossing the Wildlife sanctuary between Haridwar and Rishikesh.We reached Rishikesh,had heard about this place a lot which is famous for its rafting especially.We continued our journey ahead Rishikesh and we were amidst the Himalayas now with Ganges gushing just besides the road.The roaring sound was enough to scare anyone.
It was breakfast time now.Our driver stopped at a dhaba on the banks of Ganges.

Breakfast :Aloo Parantha with half a packet of butter ,Pickle and Curd
Taste : 9/10
Ambience : 6/10

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After fully loaded we again were back onto our journey.
The road was bad in some stretches due to the landslides.
We went higher and higher and the roads became narrower in some places.
The weather was overcast.Rudraprayag where two rivers meet to become Ganges.An awesome sight it was with water of different colors joining together.

Next Pitstop :For Lunch
Food : Maggi,Aloo Paratha,curd
Taste : 5/10
Ambience : 6/10
Now we realised that we were running late and will not be able to reach Joshimath before sunset.Now a question comes to all our minds :
Why is it necessary to reach Joshimath before it gets dark.
The same question came to my mind too.

Answer:
Its a landslide prone area where landslide can happen anytime with huge boulders rolling down to the roads.Driver said that he will try his best to reach Joshimath.

But the road condition was very bad and the road to Joshimath closes by 6 just before 20 kms of Joshimath.

Level Of Excitement : Very High
Risk Involved : Very High
Pure Adventure.
Now we were entering the Chamoli area.Ok if you have not heard of this place.
Chamoli, the epicentre for the devastating earthquake that ocurred in 2009.
The road was just opened as a landslide had occured a few days back which had closed the main road for few days.

Next question,
What if we get struck in a landslide.I will be experiencing the same in a few days to come.

Its a two way national highway ,after landslide the road becomes so narrow that it becomes hard even for one vehicle to passby.Our vehicles tyre was at the edge of the loose mud with Ganges flowing violently below us.
We reach the Army area from where Joshimath is 20 kms away.We had to reach Joshimath at any cost on the same day.Another surprise was coming our way,it started raining heavily.
Rain is the main reason for Landslide to occur.As the road was closed,driver was a bit skeptical whether to proceed or not as it was very risky to move ahead.He somehow convinced the post guard and we decided to move ahead.For the first time in my life, it was like i am in a battlefield where anything can happen at any moment.

Scenario :Its raining heavily.
A boulder comes rolling down onto the road and we are missed by a whisker.
Silence everywhere in the car.Everyone hoping that we reach safely and if by chance a landslide occurs we will be stranded with nowhere to go.
After the last hairpin bend driver says ‘We guys were lucky’.Everybody breathed a sigh of relief.

So an adventurous,breathtaking ride to Joshimath came to an end.

Stay tuned as the journey proceeds with loads of breathtaking and adventurous experiences.

Journey To The Valley Of Flowers (Phoolon Ki Ghaati)

The Valley

I got to know about this beautiful place called ‘Valley Of Flowers’ in my schooling days.

How?? Discovery channel.

The first thing comes to my mind is, this place might be somewhere outside India.But to my surprise , this place was in India. It was indeed a treat to my eyes by watching the bed of flowers spread all over till your view goes.

This place was in my wishlist of Places to see before I die. But i wasn’t sure when will I be able to  witness this place.

Years passed by.
June 2011.

The plan of visiting Leh – Ladakh got scrapped which was getting planned from Jan 2011 as most of the friends had backed out.One fine afternoon ,my friend is browsing for some places in India.Suddenly i get a call from him.

A : ‘Ready for a trek to Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib somewhere in August’

B : I was like surprised. ‘ I said fine,Lets Go,but before that we need to apply for leave’

We sat and figured out the total expenditure  and everything was finalised.The final hurdle was getting leaves for a week .So we approached our manager and informed her,she didn’t confirm about approving our leaves.We applied for leave and were ready to book the tickets.

The next question was:Now only we both ??
Won’t we get bored??

So we called up few guys,negative response from all sides.We decided whatever happens, we shall go and after booking the tickets, it was confirmed that we are going there in August.

Time flew by and we were only a few days away to witness the so called ‘Heaven On Earth’.

Last moment shopping,Checklist of stuffs to carry and the most important thing was :Camera + Lenses + Battery -> Packed.

I was boarding the flight for the first time and all excited to witness the mighty Himalayas.Boarding was done .I got the window seat and i was all set to take some photos from the plane.But i had forgotten to switch off my camera last night and the battery had drained out.We reach Delhi at12.30pm.Our train to Haridwar was at 2.30 pm from Hazrat Nizzamuddin.We boarded a taxi which was good enough and we were at the railway station by 1.30.Had lunch and went ahead to the station.

First announcement :

‘Your kind attention please,“The train going to Haridwar via Delhi is running late by an hour.”The time was 2 o clock.My friend went off to sleep at the platform.I thought let me charge my battery near the plug point.After half an hour,we hear another announcement which wasn’t good Train is running late by 3 hrs.We were done.And lost hopes if we would be able to reach Haridwar or not.The train arrives to the station at 5.30 pm .We board the train and it leaves the station by 6.30.

First time, I was forced to believe that i was in India where they say that there is no respect for time.The train chugs with a speed such that even  a guy riding a cycle can overtake the train and stopping now and then wherever it wants.

Now we were hungry and to our surprise there was no pantry in that train.We waited and waited,Finally a guy come to take our order for dinner.We had  veg biryani ,about the taste i must say taste doesnt matter when you are hungry.It was 1o.We thought we would reach there by max 12 am. By the way the arrival time of this train at Haridwar was 8pm.

I couldn’t sleep as we weren’t sure when will the train reach Haridwar.Finally the train reches Haridwar at 1.45 am in the morning.Thankfully we had another group from Bangalore who came to our resuce , who were joining us in trek.We had asked them to book a room for us which was just opposite to the railway station.

With our huge backpacks we reached the hotel and it was humid and hot even at night.We were hungry at 2am in the morning.We called out the hotel guy and asked him if we could get anything to eat.
We were lucky to have a cup of tea and Parle G biscuits.Now the next day plan was to reach railway station at 6.30 am  to continue our journey.The clock strikes half past two.We switch on A.C ,set alarm in our mobiles and doze off to get up early.

The Day 2 journey will be an adventurous,thrilling one.Stay tuned as the journey continues towards the ‘Heaven On Earth’ with loads of excitement and thrill…….. 🙂

Stay Tuned for what’s in store as the adventurous journey moves ahead.