A quick plan, yet a long list, a long route and an abrupt end ! Our trip to Somnathpura.
A week we echoed each other's rant of 'its been so long since', since we traveled. The much awaited long weekend was closer than ever and we found ourselves in a 'Waiting list' of an average of 300. We seemed stuck right in the middle of a huge slow moving mass of people all trying to squeeze their way out of Bangalore. So, we were forced to drop our backpack plans to Pollachi or Coimbatore. Instead we decided on a long road trip to places around Mandya. It seemed exciting, and in one evening we made out our long list of places to visit - the grin was back on my face 'coz it was again me who made that list, i was impressed.
So it began at 6 am in the morning, mornings are terribly shortened due to Naami - my dog, she is just the morning drug that one would need to be all awake ! After our futile plans of ensuring she doesnt slither out from under the gate, we just gave up as usual and requested our neighbours to keep an eye on her.
Our first bus to Mandya - the 'saarige' took us straight to Mandya - made it seem like a hop, hop and hop. It took us only 2 hours to reach Mandya. We waited at a local bus stop at Mandya gorging down oranges and very hopefully throwing away the seeds where there was mud. There was no sign of the bus but a huge crowd waiting for the same bus made us feel all right. The wrong stop! everybody started running towards the bus which had stopped a few yards away, it was a race ! Atleast we didnt have to carry mounds of bananas and rice that everybody seemed burdened with though they were all running with as much ease. We made it to the bus and not many really got in, the crowd around us simply took to the steps that lead to the bus top...wow! We managed one seat, and this was to a place called " ", aftrer a while i let Pradeep sit, but then i immediately found myself another seat, but never found myself sitting ! tucked away in a corner seat right above the tyre kept me mid-air through the journey....i quite liked it, and wasnt anymore jealous of the people upstairs !
Now, another bus ?! to Somnathpura? and this is when i knew there was no way that KSTDC still exists there, and no way Somnathpura is going to be our base for the next three days trip that we'd planned. However, all along the journey the vast stretches of paddy fields made the journey peaceful and absolutely enjoyable. Even after changing three buses we did not for once discuss fatigue or boredom ! It was infact great, loved every bit of it. Probably you should be coming a heavily polltued place like bangalore to truly appreciate it, but most times people dont even acknowledge the difference, its lost !
Somnathpur, was beautiful and just like any other hoysala architecture that we have been seeing so much of off late, the sculptures were intricate and unique. Further down we walked to a recently built temple ! we walked for a qurter kilometer by the cauvery river, i havent seen untapped, undammed cauvery flowing free, it was picture perfect - the new temple was a speck amidst shades of green...in every direction you looked. And wow ! we even got some prasadam made out of 'ginn haalu' (cow's milk immediately after a calf is born) - that just made the trip for us...ok, this just made the trip for us - 'we washed our hands in the stream' !
Yes, KSTDC was closed down, probably it did good to keep the sanctity of the place, people did not stay there for long, so lesser plastics and trash. Good, our next destination was 'Melkote' and the locals casually said its another three buses to Melkote from there, we decided to head home - blamed it on Naami !
A week we echoed each other's rant of 'its been so long since', since we traveled. The much awaited long weekend was closer than ever and we found ourselves in a 'Waiting list' of an average of 300. We seemed stuck right in the middle of a huge slow moving mass of people all trying to squeeze their way out of Bangalore. So, we were forced to drop our backpack plans to Pollachi or Coimbatore. Instead we decided on a long road trip to places around Mandya. It seemed exciting, and in one evening we made out our long list of places to visit - the grin was back on my face 'coz it was again me who made that list, i was impressed.
So it began at 6 am in the morning, mornings are terribly shortened due to Naami - my dog, she is just the morning drug that one would need to be all awake ! After our futile plans of ensuring she doesnt slither out from under the gate, we just gave up as usual and requested our neighbours to keep an eye on her.
Our first bus to Mandya - the 'saarige' took us straight to Mandya - made it seem like a hop, hop and hop. It took us only 2 hours to reach Mandya. We waited at a local bus stop at Mandya gorging down oranges and very hopefully throwing away the seeds where there was mud. There was no sign of the bus but a huge crowd waiting for the same bus made us feel all right. The wrong stop! everybody started running towards the bus which had stopped a few yards away, it was a race ! Atleast we didnt have to carry mounds of bananas and rice that everybody seemed burdened with though they were all running with as much ease. We made it to the bus and not many really got in, the crowd around us simply took to the steps that lead to the bus top...wow! We managed one seat, and this was to a place called " ", aftrer a while i let Pradeep sit, but then i immediately found myself another seat, but never found myself sitting ! tucked away in a corner seat right above the tyre kept me mid-air through the journey....i quite liked it, and wasnt anymore jealous of the people upstairs !
Now, another bus ?! to Somnathpura? and this is when i knew there was no way that KSTDC still exists there, and no way Somnathpura is going to be our base for the next three days trip that we'd planned. However, all along the journey the vast stretches of paddy fields made the journey peaceful and absolutely enjoyable. Even after changing three buses we did not for once discuss fatigue or boredom ! It was infact great, loved every bit of it. Probably you should be coming a heavily polltued place like bangalore to truly appreciate it, but most times people dont even acknowledge the difference, its lost !
Somnathpur, was beautiful and just like any other hoysala architecture that we have been seeing so much of off late, the sculptures were intricate and unique. Further down we walked to a recently built temple ! we walked for a qurter kilometer by the cauvery river, i havent seen untapped, undammed cauvery flowing free, it was picture perfect - the new temple was a speck amidst shades of green...in every direction you looked. And wow ! we even got some prasadam made out of 'ginn haalu' (cow's milk immediately after a calf is born) - that just made the trip for us...ok, this just made the trip for us - 'we washed our hands in the stream' !
Yes, KSTDC was closed down, probably it did good to keep the sanctity of the place, people did not stay there for long, so lesser plastics and trash. Good, our next destination was 'Melkote' and the locals casually said its another three buses to Melkote from there, we decided to head home - blamed it on Naami !
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