ಶಿವಮೊಗ್ಗ: ಆಗುಂಬೆ

ಆಗುಂಬೆ: Sept 4th -5th
The plan for this trip was started from 2 weekes back, this was all started by new office colleague (kesava ), there was last moment of cancelling the trip as two of them fall sick, till last moment we were deciding yes or no..at last somehow we managed that we will go no more second thoughts.






We had planned to go in KSRTC and booked the tickets from Bengaluru -Agumbe direct, the departure was at 2200hrs, we all met in the Majestic Bus Stand. We were amazed to see that the bus started at sharp 2200hrs without waiting, which was good change after a long time..they started to keep up the time.






We reached Agumbe around 6am, enquired about the place in the busstand hotel, they told that is it a walkable distance you all can walk it is hardly 3km. We also decided to walk and enjoy the climate..while we started to enter the road which leads to the Kalinga (ARRS) we were welcome by two stray dogs...and they escorted us in the right direction which was strange and nice ..as we were walking one dog used to be in the front and another was backing us. After walking for sometime we rested and enjoying the morning mist of Agumbe in the open area..and the dogs stopped waited till we start the walk. We walked and walked..there was no sign of any human being at all and no the could started to cover us, the dogs also left us from there and suddenly heavy rain started pouring and now we started to run...the road from here was fine, we saw a farm house and went inside and asked about the ARRS and that the was the place..:-) at last reached. We were soaking in water and it was still raining heavily, unpacked the things to check if the bags got wet in the rain and to make sure the cameras are safe. After half an hour the rain stopped and we talked to one of the co-ordinator and they explained our program for the day, they told us to roam around the place around and you can find many frogs, insects, if lucky find the snakes and they told us they will take us a night walk in the road which came as many things happen only in night like we can see the Scropions in night with the help of Ultra violet lights, where the scorpions glow in ultraviolet lights.
After lunch we walked around the camp with the help of co-ordinator and found some exciting falls and water stream and did some macro shots of insects, spiders, bugs, while seeing all these we were also donating blood to the wild (leeches started attacking us and were doing their work).






After roaming around and taking photos of the insects, flies, lizards and spiders the time was 1730..we checked on the night walk, they told us that they will start after the dinner and that would be around 2030. We had dinner and got prepared for the night walk. Outside the camp it was very dark and with lots of leeches and rain, the walk was to be remembered for long time.

When we all came out of the camp and joined the road...the photo shoot started with the Bucket mushrooms the walk was for more than 2hrs and ended with bicolored frog.

I really enjoyed the walk and shot some beautiful photos...snakes, frogs, lizards, mushorooms. But was not able to shot the scorpions in UV lights, i didnt belive that watching the scorpions in the night with UV lights is so beautiful. Our luck it didnt rain while we were on the night walk and we were able to photoshoot very nice photos.






From this trip, i really felt i really need to have a Macro Lens and flash gun is a must. This was my first photoshoot trip purely, i have done many trips but for the mean of photoshoot this is my first trip and i really enjoyed a lot and i was in the right place to start my photoshoot trip :-).
This was a awesome trip to be remembered for quiet long time.

Brahminy kites @ Manchanabele Back Waters

Manchanabele dam is small artificial dam erected by the government of Karnataka on river Arkavati for irrigation and drinking water in the village of Manchanabele. The dam is insignificant in terms of structure or architecture. But the beauty is in the backwaters it has created surrounded by stone structed rugged hills. This is very good for family picnic, friends outing or couples. If you are going there in the day then do take tent or large umbrella to escape the sun. One can go do various activities here – starting from bird watching, hiking, rock climbing, boating, photography or spend time in leisure.

Elephant Census 2010

Elephant Census 2010 :
This was a very good experience and had real experience with the elephants, we were able to see approx 1000 deers and hundereds of elephants.

Bylakuppe -The Land TIbetian in South India

Bylakuppe is the Tibetitan Refugee resettlement, location of "Lugsum Samdupling" (established in 1961) and "Dickyi Larsoe" (established
in 1969), in the west of Mysore district. The nearest town is Kushalnagar in Kodagu in the State of Karnataka.
The Golden Temple in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, is a home for thousands of Tibetans living in exile and a center for Tibetan Buddhism in South India.

The Tibetian refugees make up a population of about 10,000. It consists of a number of small camps/agricultural settlements close to each other, and has a number of monasteries, nunneries and temples in all the major Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Most notable among them are the large educational monastic institution Sera, the smaller Tashilunpo monastery (both in the Gelukpa tradition) and Namdroling monastery (in the Nyingma tradition). The spectacular Golden Temple which is also a major tourist spot in the area.







Golden Temple is the main tourist attraction in Bylakuppe. Stepping inside the temple feels like walking into another world, and the noisy streets of South India suddenly seem to be very far away. Three beautiful golden Buddha statues each of 40 Feet namely Padmasambhava, Buddha and Amitayus look down at visitors above the altar.







This place is very calm and majestic sight, surrounded by its landscaped gardens. During festivals, the main courtyard becomes an open stage where masked dancers twirl in colorful costumes to the sound of gongs and massive ceremonial trumpets.
Tourists are welcomed to visit the monasteries and temples. Photography is allowed even inside the temple.