My Camera Log

Maldives is the first place which i picked to visit after tying a knot to my life partner 😊 Preparations were started well in advance and more importantly it was first trip after marriage and one should make sure everything will go as planned. Considering the busy schedule during the marriage time, decided to contact some travel agency to plan our trip. Found ‘pickyourtrail’  while surfing on net, got immediate call from one of the team member after i shared my number. Right from my first telephonic conversation with their representative (Dwaraka) I felt that I am dealing with the right people and after couple of more discussions, customised few plans as per my requirement and I finalised my trip with them to Maldives.   Some interesting facts about Maldives:   The Maldives is made up of around 1,190 individual islands, scattered across the Indian Ocean, just below India and Sri Lanka. Some are so small that you'll have to zoom way in on your Google map ...

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...