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Last time we touched Nilgris Valley


After hibernating for months and months, we decided to wind up 2009 with a quick trip to Nilgris.  Headed to Ooty in the wee hours of 25th Dec'09 and with out wasting much time, we landed in Masinagudi by post lunch; after a quick nap and scrumptious meal, we joined our local guide Sasikumar for an evening safari. Though sighting wise, we weren't lucky, it turned out to be a pleasant get-away from the typical work and city traffic . Finishing up safari and Masinagudi activities, we drove up the ghat section to reached Ooty by 7

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Update'09

No longer i update anything **here** - at least for the time being. My server is gaining momentum after a recent crash ($x->0x0005HFHF)and did cost way too much in terms of data, which is why you might see broken links and blank pictures referred in my blogs.

Till i manage time to pull out those from my drive, please follow me on Twitter and Facebook

P.S - I do visit my friends page on a weekly basis and is quite updated with what's goin around on LJ world. Happy Blogging!
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2007 beckons

Sharing some of the my best moments of 2007 -


                                          

Bandipur National Park, Karnataka
Note - Will have to live with these antique photographs as am yet to click something new :)
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Life un-noticed


Bangalore outskirts, early 2007



I was aimlessly surfing through my old photographs and found this one. Since am not traveling these days and absolutely no photography, sharing this one.  Hopefully a month from now, i will be able to get back to my old weekend chores - traveling/photography and much more :)

Hope everyone is doing good!
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Newyear update


I am moving on to a state of hibernation in terms of blogging, photography and travel, which means for the next few months, there would hardly be any updates from me. Something else took over the priority list and for next six months, i will dedicate the whole of myself for the same - though i might drop into my LJ friends page  as and when i get time.

On an other note, I am getting engaged on February 2008.

Hope everyone out there had an amazing Christmas and New year. 2007 was pretty fruitful for me in terms of travel, work, achievements and photography. Infact i happen to meet and get along with some of the best people in this side of the world. Thanks everyone for your time. Now to sum up, looking forward for a brightful 2008 !!! 
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An insight into century-old monumental thenmala rail route

My last trip to kerala gave me a chance to explore the century old 13-arch railway flyover, thenmala and let me tell you that's a marvelous piece of art that the english men has left behind. And thats something which i call *engineering*



Just besides this rail route is the state highway which links to Tamilnadu and i had taken this route a lot of times with my family, but never found any quality time before to stop by this place. Better late than never, i made it last time when i packed my bags and headed  to Shenduruny wildlife sanctuary.

Upon reaching there around 7am, we parked our car between these giant pillars and started hunting for the way where we could climb uphill.Later with the help of some localities, we started our expedition with a cuppa coffee, thanks to the hospitality of people around. Just about 15 minutes of trek, you be right on top of this historical rail-cross, where one could get a semi birds eye view of the area which comprises of a  river to the right, forest, minor streams and endemic tree species on either sides.

Unlike normal tracks which we get to see, this is a meter guage which is very narrow in shape and with limited service. Of late heard even thats been shut down with the aim of expansion. We walked through the track for about 30 minutes and went passed couple of tunnels carved out of rocks.

In fact close to one hour of time, which we spend out here is just priceless :-)

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P.S - More views of this monumental pillar here and here

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It's about the white lion


Well, i was going through an interview article which Kevin Richardson gave to my company and let me tell
you that's a good piece of work. Amen to the folks who worked behind that. I really loved it

That clearly portrays Kevin's message on conservation and what/who inspired him to get into the track of wildlife.
Somewhere down the page, he talks about his project, The Whitelion and that's again inspiring.

Feel the thrill for yourself here - http://www.whitelionthemovie.com/trailer.htm

Let me sum up this post wishing everyone a very happy and safe Diwali !!!



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Thenmala expedition, Kerala





As mentioned in my previous post, its time for more photographs and write-up.
This time am gonna write about Thenmala, the eco tourism project and some interesting places near by.

Thenmala, as a place is widely known due to Thenmala dam, which is the center of attraction of this place.
There are lots of things to write about this place and the dam, which is built across Kallada river.

Things like  -
  • Second largest irrigation project in Kerala.
  • Longest reservoir in the state
  • Location - close to Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary
  • India's first eco tourism project
  • Boastful earth dam which welcomes you to this place
Any one visting this place make sure to visit eco-tourism project which is close by.
Just drop-in to their office. People will guide you from there on.

Main attractions here are divided in to multiple zones.

Adventure Zone
  • Elevated walkway | Mountain biking | River crossing | Rock climbing | Rappelling
Culture Zone
  • Restaurant | Shop court | Amphitheatre | Musical dancing fountain
Leisure Zone
  • The boardwalk | Sway bridge | Forest pathway | Sculpture garden
Other interesting things here include jungle trip in a battery driven vehicle(something which i liked about this place), trekking, deer park and boating by which you can explore the mighty ghats and it's inhabitants.

Once your done with all these and still have odd free hours, head to Palaruvi falls, which is about 16km from this place.

All in all i guess this is an amazing one day package.

Reference - www.thenmalaecotourism.com

Note - All these photographs are captured at 70mm because of which it would lack that complete wide angle effect,
          which again reminds me of buying a decent wide angle lens!!!


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