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Biking trip to Srisailam

The fresh air. The cold nip of the morning breeze. Riding in silence and early morning darkness. Jumping over unseen and unheard speed breakers. Letting the throttle go full revs once on the highway. All this is happening to me, and I can't help but smile to myself with content arising out of bliss. Life could not get better.

And thus began another biking trip to Srisailam, a small hilly town around 230 kms from Hyderabad, in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Good roads. Nice weather. Ideal for a weekend drive I would say.

The road we took is more commonly known as the Srisailam highway, going through Kalwakurti, Achampet, Farahabad, Mallelatheertam onto Srisailam.

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Saturday
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The tiger outside the Farahabad Tiger Forest Reserve. Going inside was a missed opportunity since none of us six knew how to speak telugu, and the game reserve personnel there could not understand a single word of hindi/ english. Next time I go out in Andhra Pradesh, I vow to at least learn some bit of conversational telugu.



















The first glimpse of the Srisailam Dam, and the Krishna river on which it is built. As can be seen from the pictures, the crest gates are closed now. Next trip to this place will have to be during the rainy season, when water is flowing through the gates.




































Glimpse of the main entrance to the Srisailam Devesthanam. One of the twelve Shiva jyotirlingams, and houses the idol of Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy. Later we found most pilgrims to the place addressing each other with the term "Swamy", whether they were respectful, or irritable.


















And then we went for a boat ride on the dam lake.





































We also found the pilgrims in various meditative moods. Most of them seemed to be Shaivites and they were beginning to gather for the Maha Shiv Raatri coming up next week.



















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Sunday
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We left early on Sunday morning from Srisailam with the intent to visit Mallelatheertam on the way back.



Another view of the Srisailam Dam, from another view point.
















Found this strange place. Seemed like there was some coal mines long time ago. Makes for some wonderful backdrop.














And then it was onto Mallelatheertam and its jungles. Yes that is what it has, coupled with a small waterfall.

The unmistakable signboard inviting you to the waterfall. Its around 8 kms inside from the state highway, and is only a dirt track. There is a village inside through which we need to go. Also there is an admission fee for vehicles somewhere midway. Additionally we need to pay a token amount to go down to the waterfall (5 rupees per person). There are some 300+ steps down to the waterfall.









But being in the adventurous way, we decided to roam the jungles, climb trees, fight forest fires and generally monkey around.






































And then we found the waterfall. And happily it not being the rainy season, we quite merrily jumped around and lazed too under the waterfall. And have to admit that the falling water was cold, and pinched us like a million needles. All in all, one of the best refreshing baths I have had in a long time. Beats a spa anyday. Add to it that it was all in the open, some of us under near-nude conditions of clothing.

December 22 - 25, 2007

4 days. 1400 kms. 2 bikes. 2 riders. And lots of places. Description of the saga follows.

December 22.

5:30 am
- I manage to meet Randhir, half an hour late from the earlier designated time.
- Early morning mist on the highway. Loads of traffic. Riding under the lights. Covered barely 30 kms in one hour.
- Stop at the sign a bit out of the city saying 495 kms to Pune. Sunlight begins to show us the path more clearly. Its nearly 6:45 am

7:30 am
- Cruising at 90 kmph, when suddenly a cruiser with two people overtake us driving at 100kmph and we give chase.
- next 30-40 kms was spent in hot pursuit with bikes running at 100 kmph +, maxing out at a little over 115 kmph.

8:30 am
- Stop for breakfast. A quaint little dhaba. Puri and subjee. Just 2 more truckers besides us.

10:45 am

- Covered 250 kms when this scenery hit us.
- Not a single soul around for miles.























- Naidurg. 100 kms from Sholapur. Was sorry that we did not have time to visit.






11:00 am
- Indapur Co-operative sugar factory. Uses sugarcane from the plantations around.
- The transportation medium
- Our bike speed a measly 20kmph for 15 mins



12:15 pm

- Lunch at Kamat Hotel (not part of the chain of Kamat hotels I think)
- Fill up bike tank. Check air pressure in tyres. Zoom. Time 1:00pm

1:30 pm

- eeks! We have been dozing on the bike for the last half hour. Bike speed 60 kmph.
- realized our folly and raised speed.

6:00 pm
- Sholapur road outside Pune. 4 lane. Metalled. Divider in between. Drove at 115-120kmph for what seemed like 10 kms. Fulfilled the heart's content.

7:00 pm
- At friends place. Tired. Bums itching. Paining. etc, etc but the heart glad.


December 23

1:30 pm















- Jump into the water. But had nothing to change into.

2:30 pm
-Lions Point. Lonavala. 60 kms from Pune. 625 meters from sea level.















- Butta. Juice. Cold drinks. Against this background.

4:30 pm
- Fighting steep climbs. Non-existent roads. Not a single soul in sight.
- Mulsi Dam lake. Calendar moments.


December 24 & 25

- Random shots

These signs were visible on the part of the highway NH9 when it was part of Maharashtra state.











- Grape vines. (Probable next destination - Nashik. The wine valley of India)












- Awesome pic against the sun. Photographer - Me.














- 7:30 am on Christmas Day. Morning mist. (not fog or smoke!)











- Probably forgot to add. 100kms of the highway went through Karnataka also.













3:00 pm on December 25, 2007.

I barely managed to shrug off the shoulder pack, before collapsing on the bed. Having traveled 1400 kilometers, I realized driving in city traffic is much more taxing on your energies than the highway. The last 30 kms just outside and in the city totally wore me out. But yes! The elation remains to this day. Long standing desire done. Next target - Himalayas.

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There are some pretty high resolution pics in this post. Click on them to get a larger image.

Nagarjuna Sagar Dam n Ethipothala Falls

It had been ages since I went out of town on a pleasure trip of any kind. So the law of averages took over and I landed up in the midst of a relaxing day out with friends.

The ferry which ferried us to the museum situated on the island.

This formation looked a formidable presence on the way to the museum.

Just beside the landing of the island on which the museum was situated, this above water channel looked like something out of the Discovery channel programs on wildlife flora and fauna in dense African Jungles.

Not too much of a garden flowers fan, yet I find this pretty beautiful.

And finally the much talked about Nagarjuna Konda museum. We were not allowed to click pictures inside so had to be content with this picture. The museum contains depictions of the evolution of man since the stone age, as found from the Nagarjuna Konda valley area nearby.

This man was ready to give us a ride on his small coracle like boat, before the guard came and shooed him away. It was interesting to watch him pull his boat using two ropes tied from end to end. Some skill.

The Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. You can find a better picture here. It is the world's tallest masonry dam and is built on the Krishna River.

Various views of the Ethipothala falls. It is not big by the standards on which a fall might be judged. But when you are standing 50ft away from it, it really is big.

A downstream view of the same Ethipothala falls. I don't about others, but every time I get to get into water, there is this bliss that descends on me. As if all the worries of the world have been washed away by the flowing water and life is to be lived anew devoid of all burdens.

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The above pics are high resolution and you may download them for your own use.

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Listening to: Guns 'N Roses - Human Being.mp3
via FoxyTunes

Can I Fly??

What a stupid question that is! Obviously I can't, right?? The more insightful (fastidious) of people around me would be wont to think that I want to be an escapist. Or probably a hermit?? Who knows.

It's like asking can I walk on water?? No. But from a story that I heard, rather read, as a child a certain disciple of a certain teacher walked on water while the teacher could not. The reason: the teacher preached his students that they could do anything if they had belief in self. So while this particular student accepted the lesson without further thought, the teacher himself could not. Ergo, the result.

Coming back to the topic, I believe I know how it would be like to fly. I have this recurring dream where I am falling, falling, falling,... that's it. Nothing more to it. I am falling, full stop! So when I wake up and am in my rational state of mind, this mind that has been fed with "science" and "reason" since long past tells me this - flying is the opposite of falling. As in where there is a sense of weightlessness, there would be a sense of extra pressure on the body. Something that I observe when going down or coming up in the lift (I am trying my best to completely stop using the lift now-a-days).

But the romantic side of me tells me, flying should be devoid of burden. Being able to glide with the wind rushing in your face. Twist your toes so to move in another direction. The whoosh! And the superman dive from the heavens above to the ground below. Stopping millimeters above the ground and then lazily moving back up, nary a care about the open arms of mother earth ready to engulf me forever. Fly up to the heavens and say hi to stars, the night sky full of them and crystal clear. Will they twinkle for me *sigh*.

The only people who really get the thrill of flying are those in the Air Force, flying those almighty hurricanes. That is their job, but what a job!

The question remains, where do I want to fly to?? Nowhere, far as I can think now. It is supposed to take me closer to the inertia. I want to see what the astronauts see. I want to see the world at a glance, know it for what it is - a teeny weeny piece of dust in this universe, whose distance even when measured in parsecs need to add the prefix 'giga'. I want to able to show the same thing to every individual who thinks that a piece of land is his exclusive property. Oh! And I definitely want to fly over the Bermuda Triangle and find out the reason why it gobbles up all the things. I mean, no clue as where this list of 125 aircrafts and this list of ships vanished. There are theories here, but then they are just that - theories.

And then I want to stand, or maybe sit, in midair while Mt. Fuji erupts in all its fury (oh by the way, Mt. Fuji is in Japan and last erupted back in 1717).

And I want to fly with the jumping dolphins (the ones that I saw off Coco beach in Goa).

And I would like to find out if I really to fall onto something in my dream...

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"It is only at the end of many births, the man of wisdom surrenders to Me, realizing that Vasudeva is all. But it is very rare to come across such great souls."
The Bhagvad Gita [Chapter 7 Verse 19]

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P.S. An analysis of my dream reveals that on the night I have that dream of falling, I seem to have done some "heavy" physical exercise, so when my body and the constituent muscles relax during sleep, I dream of this particular dream. Looks like with the loosening of the muscles, I keep sinking deeper into the mattress... :D

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