Dec 04, 2007 03:21 PM
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Working in an MNC has its positive points as well as negative. The positive point is that you get all US holidays! So, we got a holiday on Tuesday, July 4th, the American Independence Day. We took Monday off(which was not difficult to get as it was a holiday in the US too.) We had four days for holidaying and we decided to go to Mangalore, Udupi and Shimoga from Bangalore.
I chalked out a perfect plan so that we cover as much as possible during those four days as we hardly get such easy long weekends. Starting early morning on July 1, in a Toyota Quails, we went to Halebidu temple, Bellur temple, Dharmasthala and reached Mangalore in the evening.
Halebidu temple is one of the well-visited tourist attractions of Karnataka. The temple is a masterpiece, studded with a profusion of carvings. Thousands of figures appear on its walls. The basement of the temple has the most richly sculptured figures. Horsemen, war elephants, gods and goddesses, court people, exquisite pillars – all carved out of stone. Scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata add to the grandeur. The basic architecture of the Bellur temple is almost similar to the Halebidu temple, apart from the grand entrance(typical of all south temples.)
To our disappointment the famous Dharmasthala was closed when we reached at 5 pm. It was supposed to open at 7 pm, so we decided to see other places. River Nethravathi flows near Dharmasthala. We soaked our feet in the cold water for some time and visited a nearby Bahubali statue and Ram temple.
The way to Mangalore was enchanting – with the river flowing on one side, lush green forests on the other, sudden heavy rain showers, and big and small waterfalls appearing after every few meters. We reached Mangalore in the evening and rested at Hotel Mayura on Kadri Hills. The hotel was not worth the amount of money we paid for the rooms, although, the food in the restaurant was quite good and cheap too.
We had planned to visit St. Aloysis Chapel, and Mangalore port, but both were closed. We saw Kadri temple that has lord Shiva’s temple at the center and temples of all other gods surrounding it. We got one pooja done at the temple. After that we went to Ullal beach. The waves were very high and they appeared brown in color. While we were having fun on the beach, it started to rain and we rushed to a nearby shed where fishermen were mending their net.
We also went to 1000 pillar Jain temple in Modibidri, which was a total rip-off, as there were no 1000 pillars in it; must have been 100 at max. They had counted all the pillars carved on those pillars too. Although the temple was built beautifully and had an element of tranquility in; we felt cheated because of the wrong name.
Then we started towards Udupi. On our way we stopped at Kaup beach(pronounced as Kaapu). This beach has a beautiful shoreline and huge rocks on which there is a lighthouse. The waves here were great too and splashed on the rocks. We reached Udupi in the afternoon, checked in to Hotel Durga International(real value for money) and went to Krishna Matt in the evening. Saw the pooja in which 1000 diyas are lit. The twinkling diyas looked awesome in the night.
Next day we had planned to go to St. Mary’s island from Malpe beach, but after reaching there we found out that barges to the island would not run till September because of bad weather – what luck – I was looking forward to this trip to the island and we had kept one full day for that. Disappointed, we started for our next destination Murudeshwar. On the way we saw the road where you can see sea on one side and river on the other - it’s a true miracle! Murdeshwar is famous for its tallest statue of lord Shiva. The statue is breathtakingly huge. But funnily, it has three hands instead of four – the sculptor somehow missed the fourth one!
We moved on to Jog Falls next. Monsoon is the best season to visit this place. It is the tallest waterfall in Asia and is enchanting. First, we saw the falls from where everybody else sees it – which was a fine view, but didn’t excite us as it was far from the falls. We hired a guide who took us to all the hot spots near the falls. He took us to a place; where you have to lie facedown on a protruding rock, and bend forward to look at the falls. It was dangerous, as a little slip would be the end, but the view was worth all the trouble. The wind was so strong that before reaching the base, the water flew in the upward direction like a spray. All our umbrellas got bent in the opposite direction!
That night we stayed at Sagar in an average hotel. Next morning, we had planned to go to a wildlife sanctuary in Shimoga, but as luck had it – it was closed on Tuesdays. So, we started our journey back to Bangalore. On our way we stopped at Shravan Belgola, where the world’s tallest monolith of lord Bahubali is situated. We had to climb some 650 rocky steps to reach the top. The view from the top of the mountain was quite good, but our legs ached due to all the un-planned, barefoot exercise, so all we wanted was to get-back. We reached Bangalore in the evening.
Few things to remember if you plan to take this route – it rains throughout the day during this time of the year, so take ample rain gear. Check the timings for all places you plan to visit before going, so that you can plan your day accordingly. Don’t wear sports shoes; instead wear rubber sandals or slippers. Wear shorts to avoid getting muddy. Go in a comfortable cab, as road is not very good at some places.
The best features of the trip were the lush greenery all around, waterfalls, heavy rains(if you like them), less crowd at all places(off-season), cool breeze, and beautiful scenery throughout.
Now the negative point of working in an MNC – August 15, the Indian Independence Day is also on a Tuesday, but we won’t get an off for another exciting holiday!
