Friday, July 31, 2009

Cricket match for fun

Our team has planned to play a cricket match for fun. Its decided to make two teams and play. Bachelors Vs Married/Engaged.

We rushed to the Manyata ground by 4:30 and Bachelors team got first batting. We scored 88 runs in 10 overs. There were many funny incidents in our married team fielding.

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It started getting dark by 5:30pm and the clouds covered entire sky. Married team scored 38 runs in 4.2 overs. There are very nice players in married team and the game became very interesting.

But, unfortunately the match was abandoned due to unexpected rain.

Anyways, it was fun to play with team members. I think we should play more often.

Funny photo

I went to lalbagh road to buy a helmet for my friend. I saw this at the entrance of the shop.

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Monday, July 20, 2009

My Crazy Dream

I was interested to go for a trek or go for a tour from past 3 weeks. I have been planning and cancelling the trip from past 3 weekends. This weekend also some of my friends are busy and some had already planned with their team etc. Finally, I made up my mind to go somewhere this weekend even if it is alone.

Coming to a little different topic. Recently I have seen a Telugu movie Akashamantha. In the movie Prakash Raj has a crazy dream. One midnight, on a full moon day, stand in the middle a pond on a boat and shout “OOOOOO”.

I too have a crazy dream. Stand on the top of a hill and shout OOOOO… I wanted to fulfill again that this weekend and also finish my thirst of going somewhere. I could go by bike. But, there is no kick in that. So, I borrowed a cycle from my teammate Satya. Initially I thought it’s a bit hard. But, I wanted to go with it how much ever hard it is. Pramit (another teammate) agreed to pick me up if something goes wrong.

On Friday evening, I went to nearby super market and bought Pulpy Orange, Water Bottle, Biscuits, Bread, Jam, Bananas, Cucumber.

I packed all the food items and cycle kit (2 extra cycle tubes, spanner set and screw driver) in a bag. I tied the cycle pump to cycle barrel and the bag to the carriage. I started at 6:30 AM. It was pleasant weather, cloudy and drizzling very little. And the cool breeze was blowing from my back helping me to cycle easily. I took service road till I crossed Devanahalli. I took a small break at 8’o clock. I Had idli and a cup of milk to energize myself. After 27km, I saw a temple on a small hill. 22km journey towards the left hand side is needed to reach Nandi hills after crossing this temple.

I could see some some hills covered with fog after I took a left turn.

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The road is covered with big trees on either side. 

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Its a superb experience to cycle (alone) on that road and especially when it drizzles. I was very lucky enough to get that wonderful experience. The road was empty and  I could see 1 or 2 vehicles once in 5-10 minutes.

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A hotel “Nandi Restaurant” is located at the foothills of Nandi. The hotel is quite neat and tidy. I had a big glass of hot milk and took a break for ½ hour. It was 10’o clock when I started cycling from Nandi restaurant. The first 3 km towards the hill was not very steep. But, the last 5km was very steep. It took almost an hour to cover the last 5 kilometers distance.

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Did you see the mountain is covered with fog?

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The tough time starts from here. The last 5 kilometers was very hard. Edu sakkath hard magaaa... :-)

The last 3 kilometers were curvy and steep.

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I observed many people smiling at me while I was cycling. I sat on the side wall for a break, one couple also stopped there for a break and they were very surprised to know that I cycled from Bangalore :-)

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I took a snap at 1km stone. Do you see 59 on the side of it? It means Bangalore is 59 km distant :-)

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One more kilometer to reach the destination.

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This is not a kilometer stone, its an altitude stone.

I felt extremely happy when I reached the top of the hill. Shouted HURRAAAYYYY......

There is a park on top of the hill. I took an entry ticket and entered the park.

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There is a Tippu’s Rest House near the entrance. The park is very nice completely covered with trees. The place is not too much crowded so it was silent and the weather was pleasant.

The welcome arch to the Nandi hills.

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There were many monkeys on the hill and on the way. But, I think they got used to the tourists. They were silent and not annoying.

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A pond inside the park.

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A pleasant way into the greenery.

I went to the view point and shouted OOOOO… My crazy dream has come true. I took some snaps from the view point.

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There is a big bull near the view point.

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An uncle recognized me that I came on a cycle. He appreciated the effort. Uncle came with a very big group and asked me to take a snap with the kids.

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There is another temple on top of the hill.

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I started cycling back at 2:30pm. I stopped near 59km stone and there were some folks taking snaps. I asked them to click a snap for me. They were surprised to know that I cycled from Bangalore and cycling back now. I told them about my crazy dream and then he clicked a snap for me.

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The first five km from the top of the hill was very slant. I was little scared while cycling down because the cycle breaks are not very efficient as bike.

On my return trip, I have seen 2 cyclists going uphill. I waved at them to encourage. I have seen many couples going towards Nandi hills to pass their weekend. Its becoming peoples favorite hangout now a days.

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I reached hotel Nandi by 2:45pm. I had my lunch and took a break till 3:30pm. I saw that my cycle back tire got flat tired. Luckily there was a cycle repair shop nearby. I got it patched and started cycling.

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The wind was blowing against and it became little hard to cycle. After going 5 more kilometers I observed that the back tire air was reducing. So, I pushed the cycle till next village (approx half km). There was a cycle repair shop and the fellow told me that the patch did not work and a new patch may not work. I gave him the new tube and told him to change the tube. Then I started cycling back. The wind was blowing against my direction and it was high. It became very hard to cycle. I took a break after devanahalli and had a set dosa. Finally I reached my home at 7:30pm. It was a very very nice experience and I utilized my weekend to the max extent by fulfilling the crazy dream. Thanks to Satya and Pramit for the support.

All the photos were taken with my phone Nokia 5130. Surprisingly all the photos clarity is good.

In Conclusion,

Distance Covered: 56+56 = 112km

Onward Journey time: 6:30AM – 11:30 AM (5 hours)

Return Journey time: 1:30PM – 7:30PM (6 hours)

 

I said in the beginning “I wanted to fulfill my dream again” because, I have already done this on my last trip to wayanad and shouted OOOOO on chembra peaks.

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