Continued from here.
To maintain consistency, I'll write rest of the trip details using the phone itself!
Sept 4
So then, it was Sunday. Woke up in the most annoying way.
Got a phone call from the hotel people at 4 am. I'd set my alarm well past 4.30am. I'd lost at least half-hour of sleep and was obviously outraged at it. But couldn't protest since it'd be an unnecessary waste of time. Just had to let it pass.
Tried to sleep some more time. However, since I'd to get up in a few mins anyway, woke up and started with regular chores of any morning.
Was ready by 5 am. I'd half-hour to kill. Just laid down for a while, went downstairs by 5.25 am. Just 1 family was there by then. People slowly trickled in.
Got in the bus by 5.50 am. Bus started off at 6. First was some modern temple of Shiva inaugurated by the then PM, Rajiv Gandhi.
It seems the guide had announced the day before when I was asleep that he'd show 2 additional temples and hence will charge Rs 50 extra. This temple we were going to first was one of them. We were in Mangalore. Went past the Bajpe airport. The guide mentioned there was some mishap a few years ago & this airport was in the news.
Reached the temple at around 7 am. It was big and decent looking, but I wasn't that impressed. Mainly because the fountain in the temple was actually just a pond, filled with what looked like dirty water!
Left there by about 7.45 am. Next was Kadri. That was an old temple spanning a large area. Wasn't that great. I was in & out in a few mins. Nothing noteworthy.
Next was breakfast time. The bus stopped & the guide announced that there were 2 hotels Shivbagh & Shanbagh. We should go to Shanbagh, not Shivbagh. Got down, looked around for a moment and it became apparent that there wasn't any hotel by name Shanbagh! I guess the guide would've been very embarrassed and would be searching for a place to hide his face.
For me it didn't matter. Luckily they had dosas, so had a Masala dosa. Completed much earlier than others because most others had coffees and teas.
Started again and proceeded to Mangaladevi temple. Took very few mins. I was in and out in 2 mins! People took 20 mins!
One of the bus' tyres was flat, so the driver & his assistant replaced it with a well inflated one. By the time they were done, everyone returned. So continued to next destination, Sri Rama temple, which was on the way to Dharmasthala. Reached by 11.30am.
This was the second modern extra temple the guide had promised to show. This was much bigger than what we'd seen in the morning. I was in & out in 5 mins. Others, as usual, took their own sweet time of 30-40 mins.
Started to dharmasthala, the next destination. Reached at 12.30pm. We were told we had time till 2.30pm. That's a lot of time for me, especially at a temple! Had to do something that'd help kill a lot of time. There wasn't much to see there, except have darshan & have lunch.
It seems the free darshan would take 30 mins to an hour. There was a Rs 200 ticket, taking that'd reduce the waiting time by several minutes. I wanted to add minutes, not cut. So joined the free darshan line. Slowly and steadily, had darshan in not 30 mins to 1 hour, but 30 mins plus 1 hour! It was 2 pm already by the time I was out. I still had to have lunch, just 30 mins left. I hadn't taken any pics either!
Only saving grace was, there were others from our bus standing behind me in the line. It meant they were late too. But that didn't mean I had the right to delay as I wished!
Got into the free lunch line, got done in a few mins & was out by 2.25 pm. Just on time. Spotted the guide standing near the entrance & had a chat.
He suggested I go to visit bahubali, it'd take 10 mins to go by auto & 10 mins to come back. 5-10 mins to look around. Bus would start at 3 pm instead of announced 2.30pm due to the rush. I wasn't interested in visiting more temples. I already had an overdose & was quite numb. The suggestion seemed crazy. Just took some random pics.
Bus started at 2.55 pm. Reached kumaradhara river by 4.30pm. This was another extra stop. We seemed to be way ahead of schedule. Nothing great here either. The guide mentioned this river had some great healing/spiritual/magical powers. That means nothing to me. It was just a muddy river with a bit strong currents & lots of fresh water fishes. Ah, how I wished I could find a place that sold cooked fish!
Started to the next destination, actually the final one for the trip, Kukke Subramanya. It was announced we stay here until 9 pm. We'd reached around 5.15pm. Meant almost 4 hrs! Seemed like an eternity.
The old temple, Adi subramanya, closes at 6 pm. So went very fast & done with darshan in 2 mins. I should've taken my time by going slowly. There was no crowd, so I was out by 5.30pm.
Thinking what to do next, went in again & out again, 5 mins this time! Took some pics, started back at about 5.50pm to visit the more modern temple.
Several others seemed to be having difficulty in coming out on time. I couldn't understand why. Not my problem though, so moved on.
I was out of the modern temple by 6.15pm. I'd to take off shirt & banian here. Actually at dharmasthala and a few other temples too before this. It'd become common by then & I'd gotten used to it.
As suggested, I planned to have the free dinner at the temple itself. But that'd begin only at 7.30pm. Had to do something until then. Checked the map on phone for any interesting places nearby. Nothing! Except those 2 temples, there wasn't anything interesting in a few km radius! Again, missed the bike & wished to be back. 3 days was a bit too much.
There were only veg restaurants. I was quite disappointed. Only stores/shops around were the usual fancy items, toys, trinkets, etc. They're ubiquitous near any temple. What else could we find near a temple anyway. Just walked up and down the roads, window shopping.
I'd lost count of how many times I'd gone up and down the same road! Probably 10, 15 or even 20 times. I was enervated.
Got into the dinner line by 7.15pm. Had dinner and was out by7.45 pm. I'd at least an hour more! Spotted the prasadam counter. Had a laddoo. That could keep me busy only for a few mins.
Just to see if there were any other bored souls around, walked back to the bus to find only 1 family. That too I suspect, they were tired, rather than bored. It was just me. As I was walking along, noticed most people from our bus shopping & bargaining. I was interested in nothing there. Just wanted this to end. Walked around few more mins.
Came back to the bus by 8.40 pm. Put on the earphones & tried to sleep. The bus started by 8.55 pm. Earlier than planned 9 pm. I was pleased.
The guide apologized for any mistakes or inconveniences caused by him or the support staff. Probably they're told in their training to tell that. I felt it wasn't necessary. He said the bus would stop at the same place they'd stopped on first day near hassan.
I didn't want to be disturbed. Put on the earphones & increased the volume a bit too much. While I had my earphones on & music ringing, movies such as 'Dhamaal', 'Nee Sneham', 'Manasantha Nuvve', etc. were screened on the way for past 2 days.
Woke up at 12.30am because of a bump on the road that flung me up. Realized the bus had stopped and moved on. The movie that was playing earlier was over. People were fast asleep, the noisy brats too. Took off the earphones, switched off the mp3 player & slept.
Woken up by an announcement at 5.15 am. We'd reached B'lore. People got down at different places along the way - Rajajinagar, Majestic, etc. Contemplated getting down at Majestic, but thought of getting down at the last stop, badami house, since it was closest to our place. Walked over to the nearest bus stop. Earphones plugged in, music still thumping.
Reached home by 6.15 am. End of a wild journey. What was I thinking going for this tour.
I'd summarize my experience as amused first, bored & enervated later.
Apart from that, I was a bit disappointed with the mp3 player, impressed with my phone and even more impressed with the camera! Will probably post about those later.
Continued here.
To maintain consistency, I'll write rest of the trip details using the phone itself!
Sept 4
So then, it was Sunday. Woke up in the most annoying way.
Got a phone call from the hotel people at 4 am. I'd set my alarm well past 4.30am. I'd lost at least half-hour of sleep and was obviously outraged at it. But couldn't protest since it'd be an unnecessary waste of time. Just had to let it pass.
Tried to sleep some more time. However, since I'd to get up in a few mins anyway, woke up and started with regular chores of any morning.
Was ready by 5 am. I'd half-hour to kill. Just laid down for a while, went downstairs by 5.25 am. Just 1 family was there by then. People slowly trickled in.
Got in the bus by 5.50 am. Bus started off at 6. First was some modern temple of Shiva inaugurated by the then PM, Rajiv Gandhi.
It seems the guide had announced the day before when I was asleep that he'd show 2 additional temples and hence will charge Rs 50 extra. This temple we were going to first was one of them. We were in Mangalore. Went past the Bajpe airport. The guide mentioned there was some mishap a few years ago & this airport was in the news.
Reached the temple at around 7 am. It was big and decent looking, but I wasn't that impressed. Mainly because the fountain in the temple was actually just a pond, filled with what looked like dirty water!
Left there by about 7.45 am. Next was Kadri. That was an old temple spanning a large area. Wasn't that great. I was in & out in a few mins. Nothing noteworthy.
Next was breakfast time. The bus stopped & the guide announced that there were 2 hotels Shivbagh & Shanbagh. We should go to Shanbagh, not Shivbagh. Got down, looked around for a moment and it became apparent that there wasn't any hotel by name Shanbagh! I guess the guide would've been very embarrassed and would be searching for a place to hide his face.
For me it didn't matter. Luckily they had dosas, so had a Masala dosa. Completed much earlier than others because most others had coffees and teas.
Started again and proceeded to Mangaladevi temple. Took very few mins. I was in and out in 2 mins! People took 20 mins!
One of the bus' tyres was flat, so the driver & his assistant replaced it with a well inflated one. By the time they were done, everyone returned. So continued to next destination, Sri Rama temple, which was on the way to Dharmasthala. Reached by 11.30am.
This was the second modern extra temple the guide had promised to show. This was much bigger than what we'd seen in the morning. I was in & out in 5 mins. Others, as usual, took their own sweet time of 30-40 mins.
Started to dharmasthala, the next destination. Reached at 12.30pm. We were told we had time till 2.30pm. That's a lot of time for me, especially at a temple! Had to do something that'd help kill a lot of time. There wasn't much to see there, except have darshan & have lunch.
It seems the free darshan would take 30 mins to an hour. There was a Rs 200 ticket, taking that'd reduce the waiting time by several minutes. I wanted to add minutes, not cut. So joined the free darshan line. Slowly and steadily, had darshan in not 30 mins to 1 hour, but 30 mins plus 1 hour! It was 2 pm already by the time I was out. I still had to have lunch, just 30 mins left. I hadn't taken any pics either!
Only saving grace was, there were others from our bus standing behind me in the line. It meant they were late too. But that didn't mean I had the right to delay as I wished!
Got into the free lunch line, got done in a few mins & was out by 2.25 pm. Just on time. Spotted the guide standing near the entrance & had a chat.
He suggested I go to visit bahubali, it'd take 10 mins to go by auto & 10 mins to come back. 5-10 mins to look around. Bus would start at 3 pm instead of announced 2.30pm due to the rush. I wasn't interested in visiting more temples. I already had an overdose & was quite numb. The suggestion seemed crazy. Just took some random pics.
Bus started at 2.55 pm. Reached kumaradhara river by 4.30pm. This was another extra stop. We seemed to be way ahead of schedule. Nothing great here either. The guide mentioned this river had some great healing/spiritual/magical powers. That means nothing to me. It was just a muddy river with a bit strong currents & lots of fresh water fishes. Ah, how I wished I could find a place that sold cooked fish!
Started to the next destination, actually the final one for the trip, Kukke Subramanya. It was announced we stay here until 9 pm. We'd reached around 5.15pm. Meant almost 4 hrs! Seemed like an eternity.
The old temple, Adi subramanya, closes at 6 pm. So went very fast & done with darshan in 2 mins. I should've taken my time by going slowly. There was no crowd, so I was out by 5.30pm.
Thinking what to do next, went in again & out again, 5 mins this time! Took some pics, started back at about 5.50pm to visit the more modern temple.
Several others seemed to be having difficulty in coming out on time. I couldn't understand why. Not my problem though, so moved on.
I was out of the modern temple by 6.15pm. I'd to take off shirt & banian here. Actually at dharmasthala and a few other temples too before this. It'd become common by then & I'd gotten used to it.
As suggested, I planned to have the free dinner at the temple itself. But that'd begin only at 7.30pm. Had to do something until then. Checked the map on phone for any interesting places nearby. Nothing! Except those 2 temples, there wasn't anything interesting in a few km radius! Again, missed the bike & wished to be back. 3 days was a bit too much.
There were only veg restaurants. I was quite disappointed. Only stores/shops around were the usual fancy items, toys, trinkets, etc. They're ubiquitous near any temple. What else could we find near a temple anyway. Just walked up and down the roads, window shopping.
I'd lost count of how many times I'd gone up and down the same road! Probably 10, 15 or even 20 times. I was enervated.
Got into the dinner line by 7.15pm. Had dinner and was out by7.45 pm. I'd at least an hour more! Spotted the prasadam counter. Had a laddoo. That could keep me busy only for a few mins.
Just to see if there were any other bored souls around, walked back to the bus to find only 1 family. That too I suspect, they were tired, rather than bored. It was just me. As I was walking along, noticed most people from our bus shopping & bargaining. I was interested in nothing there. Just wanted this to end. Walked around few more mins.
Came back to the bus by 8.40 pm. Put on the earphones & tried to sleep. The bus started by 8.55 pm. Earlier than planned 9 pm. I was pleased.
The guide apologized for any mistakes or inconveniences caused by him or the support staff. Probably they're told in their training to tell that. I felt it wasn't necessary. He said the bus would stop at the same place they'd stopped on first day near hassan.
I didn't want to be disturbed. Put on the earphones & increased the volume a bit too much. While I had my earphones on & music ringing, movies such as 'Dhamaal', 'Nee Sneham', 'Manasantha Nuvve', etc. were screened on the way for past 2 days.
Woke up at 12.30am because of a bump on the road that flung me up. Realized the bus had stopped and moved on. The movie that was playing earlier was over. People were fast asleep, the noisy brats too. Took off the earphones, switched off the mp3 player & slept.
Woken up by an announcement at 5.15 am. We'd reached B'lore. People got down at different places along the way - Rajajinagar, Majestic, etc. Contemplated getting down at Majestic, but thought of getting down at the last stop, badami house, since it was closest to our place. Walked over to the nearest bus stop. Earphones plugged in, music still thumping.
Reached home by 6.15 am. End of a wild journey. What was I thinking going for this tour.
I'd summarize my experience as amused first, bored & enervated later.
Apart from that, I was a bit disappointed with the mp3 player, impressed with my phone and even more impressed with the camera! Will probably post about those later.
Continued here.
nee trip moodu breakfast lu aaru bhojanaalu laaga vundi. ee carbohydrates and proteins ni mention chesinanni saarlu kooda templea gurinchi raayaledu.
ReplyDeletemy dear son,
ReplyDeletei wished you to accompanied with me n attamma, five years back but u dint come. i thank all the goddess n gods grace on you for giving the darshans and you had all temple prasadams. this temple tour i liked very much. god has blessed you anand with this tour.
I wish you next tour with me to talla kaveri tour on 23rd r 24th of this month ,if it is convenient to you, when i come for your birthday time.
so pure veggi diet and temple visits for 3 full days...
ReplyDeletegreat achievement!!
Padmavathi garu you forgot me the sole reason behind this tour :). Anyways anand nice tour
ReplyDelete