Hesaraghatta Grasslands

         When you know your brain is not responding to the daily life requests,your mind is wandering in and out of every unwanted topic,that's when you need to know that it's time to let your soul take you where it really wants to go. Hesaraghatta Lake and the grasslands was on my mind as the next short ride plan.
       Texted my frens in the morning,luckily all of them were jobless on a sunday afternoon.So we met up near Cubbon park and head to the new yelahanka town route,which was somewhat familiar path I new.When we reached the new town,then on we had absolutely no idea,so we took the help of the navigator to head to the lake.Even though it was it's just 30kms,the route was taking us through number of small villages.The smell of the land was changing now and then,some of the roads were so beautiful wanted to stop and take pics,but because my frens were riding bullets there was a limit for them too,to keep up with the slow paced Activa,so I just decided to absorb the scenery and the smells around me. :)
       Finally when we reached the lake,expected at least a little bit of water,but it was just barren land.We didn't venture out on the side tracks of the lake.
Pics Courtesy :Rahul,Praveen,Pradhumna

Hesaraghatta Lake

I was more eager to see the Hesaraghatta grasslands,it had captured my imagination from the time I had seen it on the net.I guess it's around 2kms from the lake,after the Adrash film and TV institute,take the first right which is a mud road,deep red soil of that land is a beauty in itself.Lots of stones on the road but my Activa survived it :)

Even though there was no shade the sun was not harsh on us at all,winter evening sunshine :) I had never seen such a open land before,that to so close to Bangalore.Felt so playful being there,so light :) :D 

Enjoyed taking a lot of pics of our bikes.

A relaxed evening. Joblessly taking every angle of our bikes trying to give all the possible effects,like shaking the trees to have the leaves falling effect :D Unfortunately the trees and their leaves were not as delicate as the boys thought it would be :D

 Lovely Evening,mind felt so fresh :) heading back to Bangalore was fun,took a better route,reached Jalahalli,mathikere and from there one straight road to mekhri circle. Spending time at places away from the hustle and bustle of the city always feels nice,brings back so much positive energy in you :)  Good bye 2012,this year has been so memorable in so many ways :) Loving the simplicity of living life :) All you need is to fill up your bike's tummy and head out to a destination in mind. :) 

Ride to Bannergatta National Park

     24th Dec turned out to be pretty special to me because for the first time I took my little sister for a ride.She didn't remember visiting  the Zoo and so it was a ride to Bannergatta Zoo :) Left home around 3:10,took us around 1 hour to reach,not much traffic,around 20kms from Forum mall.A lot of people due to the holiday season. They've improved the zoo quiet a lot.Entry to the zoo costs around 60 Rupees per person and for the safari 220 Rupees.We decided to just head to the zoo.

     There's a park for kids to play and a lot of shops to keep you munching on.There's a good variety of birds,really lovely ones.Enjoyed their chirpyness :) 

     The park is very clean,even the enclosures for animals.I would say the star of the zoo would be the leopard and then the Hippos :) The spotted deers look so peaceful and beautiful.

     Kinda felt sad for this Indian hornbill,because it was the only one in its cage,where as every other animal had a company.

     These southern USA turtles seemed to be the happiest in the zoo,so alive :) Then there were some more animals in the zoo.One can head to this place for a relaxed evening.The safari closes by 4:30 and the zoo is open till 5-5:30 I guess.Where ever my sister heads,she has to do some shopping,pulled me to the souvenir shop and we ended buying two Tiger T-shirts.It was around 5:30 when we left the place.As a rider didn't want to take the same route to reach Bangalore,so we took the nice road from Bannergatta to Kanakapura to enjoy the sunset.Open smooth roads gives you a different feel altogether. 

My Faithful Companion :)

    After reaching Bangalore we headed to Brigade road to check out the decorations which really puts you in a Christmas spirit when your in Bangalore. 

    And so this lovely day on Christmas eve ended beautifully.Everyday brings it own beauty and magic,all we have to do is to discover it :) Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year :)

Revana Sidheshwara Betta and Rangarayana Dhodhi Kare,Ramanagaram

         My frens and I decided to head to Ramanagaram for a one day trip.We reached the majestic bus stop by 11:15am,then thought why not board the train to our destination.I last boarded a train in 2001 and we would reach faster compared to bus.It was a filmy style moment for us,when we went to inquire for the tickets,got to know that we just had 10 mins to board the train.Bought the tickets and had to run all the way to platform 8 for our unreserved seats. :) Luckily the train hadn't yet arrived and once it did we were hunting for a comfortable place.If you want to admire the beauty of a place take the train.I felt as if I was transported back in time,before independence.Enjoyed the train ride.

We reached Ramanagaram in 1 hour.From the station we took an auto to our first destination to Revana Sidheshwara Betta around 10-15 kms from the railway station. 

       The auto driver took us through the plantations,it was a really nice feeling.Three girls being quiet and just enjoying the country side view is a rare moment.He dropped us right in front of the betta.

One can take the vehicle up to a certain point,we took the steps.The Temple is situated inside a cave.The climb is the biggest part of the journey.

Then came the view :)

Just couldn't get enough of the surrounding landscape :)

Steps,steps till you reach the top.At one point we were asked to remove our footwear and climb barefoot.

And then the views again :)

We spent some time on top.Since it's winter the sun wasn't to harsh on us and for the past two days it had been raining continuously in and around Bangalore,so we greeted sunshine with at most joy that day :) We visited the main Shiva temple which is actually not located on top,there's a another path we gotta take and the temple is inside a cave.Took the blessings of Lord Shiva and headed back up.By this time we were really hungry but didn't wanted to have  lunch on top due to the shrines.Getting down a hill with an empty stomach is one hell of a experience :D The leg wobbling from side to side being the best :D But by the time we got down the hill,we faced the monkey problem so we were in a hurry to leave and have lunch on the way to our next destination.There are frequent buses even though they do not go to Ramanagaram,we can get down at the next bus stop and catch the direct bus.Happy we found transport and we dug in to our lunch boxes and relishing the good home made food :) We got down at the next bus stop and decided we would take an auto to our next destination it costed us 200 rupees.Again munching on the way.

         View of the road from back of the auto.We ran out of water and we thought we would buy a bottle on the way,but we didn't find any shops :( The irony was we were heading to a lake Rangarayana Dhodde Kare where it's all water. The thought I had about this lake was we could spread a bed sheet sit by the flat land near the lake or on the rocks and enjoy the rest of our meal,but reality turned out to be completely different.It's a well maintained lake with boating as it activities there.Well,it was still enjoyable :) The auto guy got us right in front of the lake,even he hadn't seen the lake before,so climbed the stairs and had a look at the lake. Even here shade was hard to find.We decided to take the boat ride after 5pm when the sun begin to set.We just made ourselves comfortable at a spot and chilled out. :)

       The boat ride costed us 75 Rupees,worth the ride.We were very tired by evening but somehow we managed to paddle the boat.The sun had begun to set and was turning out to be a magical evening :) My friends had surprise for me that day,while I finished talking to my fren on the phone and turned towards them they had a cake ready for me,A homemade chocolate cake :) I couldn't ask for more on my birthday :)   

Enchanting views that's all I can say about it :)

Finally the sun had set on a wonderful day of my life.

     The last look at the place :) Walked down the road,caught an auto and head straight to the bus stop.Finally we bought two bottle of water! Waited for a while for a bus,because of cauvery water issue,there were less buses and so all the buses to Bangalore was croweded,we stood for the  entire journey and didn't know how the time flew.The KSRTC bus dropped us off at the satellite station and from there we head home. A memorable day,

      "On a boat in the middle of the lake with an enchanting view,with two great souls celebrating birthday with a home made chocolate cake.PRICELESS!!! :)" I still can't get enough of viewing the pics over and over again.A lovely way to bid good bye to this year :)