8 Photo of the week - Sparkles and Sunshine at SivaSamudram Falls

The best things in life are often right in front of our eyes. We just need to be observant enough!


Shot last weekend on a day trip to Sivasamudram Falls near Bangalore.
The sunlight filtering through the canopy above was creating beautiful sparkling patterns on the falls and it lasted only for a while before the magic was lost. Luckily it was staring right into my face from my vantage point.
I hope you enjoyed the view too!

17 12 images and A Dozen Vignettes : From my Past Trips

A Friday treat for you all –12 amazing images (according to me of course :) ) from my trips over the last two years.

1.Let’s ironically start with a sunset! Well sunset is the start of a beautiful night. 
Here’s one memorizing one of the best evenings spent in the lap of Himalayas! 

Shot in September 2009 at Bedni Bugyal, Gharwal Himalayas as the last of the day’s light disappeared. 

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23 Ombattu Gudda Trek - Wilderness Personified!

As I lay down and stared at the trees above, a firefly was glowing! The stream flowing around us was creating a perfect harmony. I was at peace and I was asleep. It is the timeless moments such as these that beckon us time and again back to the wild.

A BEAUTIFUL COEXISTENCE!

So it was happening finally - A year after it came to my knowledge that there existed the mysterious jungles of Ombattu Gudda, A year since I’ve been yearning to climb the peaks of Ombattu Gudda - It was happening finally today on Nov 14th 2009. This time I ganged up with the Chennai Trekking Club aka CTC in short.

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23 The Roopkund Rendezvous - Trek from Bedni Bugyal to Bhaguabhasa - A Date with Snow Capped Peaks!

Didna to Bedni Bugyal through Ali Bugyal<<

Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again.
Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping.
And the vision that was planted in my brain still remains,
Within the Sound of Silence!

With Kali Dak rising just in front of me, I walked towards it only to reach the end of the meadow and a slope. It was now that I screamed my lungs out. In fact I was hysterical as I shouted out to the guys.

- It is at Ghora Lautani that you first hear the sound of silence. After a night above the Didna village and another night at Bedni along with many other hikers, Ghora Lautani offers one, the much awaited feeling of isolation from civilization!

Day 3 – Bedni Bugyal to Ghora Lautani
Day 4 – Ghora Lautani to Bhaguabhasa

KALIDAK AND OUR CAMPSITE AT GHORA LAUTANI

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13 The Roopkund Rendezvous - Trek from Didna to Bedni via Ali Bugyal - A walk to remember!

Lohajung to Didna<<>>Bedni Bugyal to Bhaguabhasa through Ghora Lautani

Statutory Warning – Prolonged exposure to the bugyals (high altitude grasslands) can lead to awe-inspired delirium. Traveler discretion is advised.Oh, if I forgot to mention, Ali Bugyal is known to be Asia’s most beautiful grasslands

SEE WHAT I MEAN? - LONE HIKER TOWARDS BEDNI BUGYAL

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3 Waterfalls - It's all about Waterfalls

There is a definitive charm to the sparkling rivers and gurgling waters. Yes, Yes, I love Waterfalls. Considering I am a water sign, I just love it when I’m around any water body. And Western Ghats (mostly) feed my fascination to endless bounds. There is still a lot to cover but here are some of the waterfalls that I have seen and loved. I will keep adding to the list as I travel further. Click on the images for the links to the travelogues.

Hogenakkal Falls - The smoking Rocks

- 20ft high falls and spanning over a 500m gorge in numerous falls.
- 180 kms from Bangalore
- Forms on Cauvery River, Tamilnadu
- India’s Niagara Falls

Chitrakot Falls – India’s largest Falls

- 96ft high falls (spanning 200 meters in monsoon)
- 40 kms from Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh
- Forms on River Indrāvati
- Yet another India’s Niagara Falls

Tirathgarh Falls – The white wonder

- 300ft high falls cascading over layered rocks
- 40kms from Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh
- Located in the Kanger Ghati National Park
- Best visited after monsoons

Jog Falls – India’s highest

- 830 ft high falls
- 103 kms from Shimoga, Karnataka
- Forms on Sharavathi River
- India’s highest plunge waterfall best visited during monsoons.

Hebbe Falls – Tucked in pristine wilderness

- 250 ft high falls in Chikmagalur district, Karnataka
- Two tiered falls, Chikka(small) Hebbe and Dodda(big) Hebbe
- 259 kms from Bangalore, 42 kms off NH-206
- 13kms transport by jeep and then 30 minutes of hike to reach the falls.

Kalhatti Falls – A shrine waterfall

- A small waterfall near a shrine
- The bigger upstream version can be reached by trekking
- 34 kms off NH-206
- Located in Chikmagalur, Karnataka

9 Time for a Change!

It's been more than a year since i started this blog of mine in an attempt to record my travels and publish my thoughts too. But with the inspiration of many, this blog has become a travel blog and the love you all showed me motivated me to write more and write better (i hope! :))

I don't know why I had named my blog as "Pondering Musings or Quintessential Drifts?" but I never felt like changing it to something more meaningful suiting the content. Now after 28 posts I see that I might continue this passion for much longer than I had anticipated and it is time to take it seriously.

As a first step, I am changing the title of my blog to THE WANDERING SOUL'S WANDER TALES.. something related to travel atlast. Please update your blogrolls in case you have blogrolled me.  :)

Also I would like to mention fellow bloggers U Sandeep, Arun and Vamsee who inspired me in the very beginning to maintain a travel blog - U Sandeep with his amazing stories of the wild treks, Arun with his organized and informative travel tales and last but not the least Vamsee with her lively stories and breathtaking pictures.Now of course, the list has grown long

Before I knew it, I was totally sucked into this awesome world of blogging and it has been an awesome experience ever since. All you lovely people, Thank you so much for the encouragement and support over the past year and I hope you continue to show me the love in the years to come as well. 

And I would like to ask you for your feedback too. Please tell me what you like and what you don't like about my blog? An opinion from a friend yesterday got me thinking about this. How is the layout, load time, navigation, content, something that irritates you? What are your suggestions? Do let me know and help me make my blog better!

Cheers,

~The Wandering Soul