My Camera Log

Before heading to Marriage, plan was to visit Gokak waterfalls on the way (eventhough we knew that this is not the rite time to visit the waterfall).  Best time to visit is after Mansoon some where around August & September.   Tha Gokak waterfalls is around 125Kms from Badami and we may need 3 hours to reach Gokak. Its better to take Bagalkot route instead of Google Map suggested Route :P The Gokak waterfall is located at a distance of 6 km from Gokak town, in the Belgaum district. It also known as mini Niagara falls among the locals. The Ghataprabha River separated from the Malaprabha river by the Belgaum hills flows through the black soil plains before it enters the rocky belt of Gokak. There is a hanging bridge across the river, about 201 meters and its height above the bed rock is measuring about 14 meters. Only 30 people are allowed at a time inside the bridge (as per the notice board near the entrance gate!). Walking down the hanging bridg...

After exploring the caves of Badami we headed towards Pattadakal, which is just 22 kms away from Badami.  Public transport is not frequent on Badami-Pattadakal-Aihole stretch. It’s advised to opt for own transport! Even there are not many options for accommodation as well. It’s better to head back to Badami or Bagalkote. About Pattadakal: Pattadakal is a small town that is famous for its ancient temples. Owing to its incredible temples, Pattadakal was titled a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. Pattadakal is a bunch of temples build by the Chalukyan kings. Some of the temples were built in association with military victories. In date these temples come after the Badami caves. Pattadakal was a commercial centre and a meeting place for architects and sculptors from north and south India.   Most of the temples (idols inside the temples) were damaged, but only undamaged and attractive Nandi statue present inside the temple. If you are interested to know ...

Plan for second day of our trip was to visit Badami and Pattadakallu. Badami is around 40 Kms from Bagelkot and can be reached easily within one hour. After spending memorable time in Aihole it was time to explore Badami. Need one complete day to explore Badami itself. Last time when we visited this place we missed to explore the other part of Badami (behind museum on the way to Agasthya Lake).  Need more time and stamina to walk across this beautiful place. About Badami: Badami was the new capital post Aihole. Its earlier name was Vatapi. Its called Badami because of the red colour of the sand stone used in construction – which looks very much like that of Almonds (Badam). There are 4 important things to see in Badami – Rock Cut Caves, The Bhootnath Temple and the massive lake adjacent to it, The fort and the Museum.  All 4 are very close to each other. The Rock Cut caves – are amazing. Its created by scooping out rocks from the gut of the mounta...

This time trip to Badami, Aihole & Pattadakallu was not limited to driver over a long weekend, it was planned on the occasion of Sunil’s marriage. The day he informed about his marriage we planned for this trip and blocked our calendar J    For a change we decided to start our journey early morning instead of night drive.  It’s around 6 to 7 hours drive considering the number of breaks. We can reach Bagalkot from 2 different ways one is from Hubbali Highway and another one is from Hospete Road. Bagalkot District of Karnataka is blessed with some amazing historical sites of Ancient Indian History. These include destinations like Badami, Pattadakal and Aihole. These three places are located in the close distance and with can be covered in a single day, but if someone want to enjoy beauty of this historical place its suggested to plan it for 2 days. Because of last time experience (last time covered all these places on the same day and felt one day is not s...

Due to flight delay on very first day of our journey, trekking to Tiger’s nest was pushed to last day of our Bhutan trip. To be frank it was nice way to start new year, Trek to Tiger’s Nest !!  Base camp of Tiger nest is around 12Kms from Paro (hardly it will take 20 minutes to reach base camp). Better to start the trek early in the morning (around 8 would be fine). About Tiger’s Nest:  According to legend, Padmasambhava flew to the cave on the back of a Tiger. Taktsang literally means “Tiger’s lair,” which comes from an alternative legend involving the former wife of the emperor and Padmasambhava. She transferred herself into a Tigress and carried Padmasambhava from Tibet. Again, this is where Padmasambhava mediated but this time emerged in 8 different forms and why the Tiger’s Nest is such an important site among Buddhists. The monastery was built in 1692 around the cave where Guru meditated. Today, it is a cultural icon of Bhutan. A trip to Bhutan is not compl...