Finally Made it in 3 years...
Cross-posted here
I am the last person to sit and jot down whatever I ve been upto on weekends, but this is one of an exception. Its been 3 weeks since the trip to Hassan, but let me give it a shot. The memories are fresh and beautiful.It was a long pending trip in fact. A Wipro friend had been inviting us over to her place in Hassan since 3 years, and for reasons best known to us the trip happened only 3 weeks ago. Chaitra had almost given up on ever seeing us in Hassan, till she finally challenged me to get all the girls to the Kempe Gowda bus stand and that she would take over from there. With some last minute ticket booking (thanks to KSRTC online booking) we managed to get the tickets on a wed night. Bus was to start at 820 pm on friday, and most of us wouldn't be surprised if I told you, we kept the bus waiting, cause we reached there at 830.
So there we go, chaitra takes over from here. She is our tour guide cum host for the weekend. Total 7 of us off to hassan - chaitra (kannadiga n wiproite), shivashankari (tamilian & wiproite), Tina (malyali and wiproite) and the engicos, Reema, Elizabeth, Dechen and Myself. Reached at 2 am and headed straight for chaitras home. Ate upma at 3 am and went to bed. We knew the driver was going to pick us up again at 9. But all of us including chaitra knew it well that 9 was an impossible target. I Went to Hassan with minimum expectations, cause all I had heard of hassan so far was that it has a satellite control centre (ISRO). As luck would have it, we ended up seeing everything in and around Hassan and only the gates of the ISRO centre.
To our surprise we were ready by 9am on Saturday, but the driver wasn’t there. He arrived at 930 odd and we headed straight out on the highway to Chickmaglur. A pleasant drive, with beautiful sunflower and marigold fields on either sides awaits you. First stop was at Yagachi Dam (excuse me if got the names wrong, actually most engicos who know me, surely know my habit of confusing names). Clicked some nice pictures and got back into the car. Next stop was Kalhitgiri falls. A small but surely magnificient falls to see. Did a small trek through the mucky path to see the falls from a height. Next winding up the curvy road the vehicle drove us to Kemmanagundi hills. A beautiful hill station at a height of bout 5000ft above sea level. A much deserved break from the dust and pollution of Bangalore. Walking through the clouds to the topmost point of the hill (as reema puts it) was
awesomeeeeeeeeee. Then we thought we were heading downhill for a good grub, as we couldn’t find a decent place to eat uphill at Kemmanagundi. Luckily our host had packed loads of fruits n snacks for us, and we finished it off in no time. Inspite of all the munchies we were too hungry to think of another place to see, but the driver insisted that we see Baba Budangiri hills while we are already there. Kemmanagundi and Baba Budangiri are adjacent hills, not sure which one is higher than the other. Baba’s Shrine is a famous pilgrimage spot for hindus and muslims. When we reached the Baba’s shrine, the thermometer would have surely read a single digit, and the clouds covering the hill restricted the visibility to barely 4-5 metres. But all the hunger and the biting cold was forgotten when we saw this amazing shrine carved inside a rock. (brought back memories of the college trip to Manali). Inside the shrine people offered locks to the saint (a Baba who is believed to have spiritually disappeared while lost in meditation. Hindus believe he went to Kashi and muslims say he went to Mecca). The locks were opened once your wish was fulfilled. And yes we all prayed to baba for some food, and surely enough he gave us the most delicious bread omlet, I ve ever eaten. That was the last spot for the evening and it was already 7, so we started our 2 hours journey down the hill to Chickmagalur. Ate dinner in Hassan and went to bed at 11, dreaming of the heavenly places we had visited.
Sunday morning start was much hurried as we knew we had a lot to cover and just a few hours to start back for Bangalore. As we didn’t want to miss out anything, we arranged for the return ksrtc bus to pick us up from Shravanabelogola, as it was enroute to Bangalore. In the morning visited two temples belonging to the Hoysala rule (Belur and Halebid). Both temples were so similar in their architecture, that I can hardly differentiate when I look back at the pictures now. One of them was famous for the statue of a perfect woman sculptured to the last detail of perfection. (For all those who will ask me now for the vital stats of this perfect woman go google.). After the temple visits we headed for chaitras home and her mom had prepared the most amazing curd rice I ve ever eaten. (being in south India for 3 years now, I still cannot stand curd rice, but this was again an exception). The best part of our trip was yet to come. The icing on the cake was the visit to Shravanabelagola, a must see for all, the largest monolithic statue in the world. Up a hill again but this time climbing 800 odd steps, to see the statue of the Jain God – Lord Bahubali.
Reema, tina, chaitra and Karthik (he joined us on day 2 of our trip) was the first to reach up hill while dechen, Elizabeth, shiva and myself crawled up 15 mins later. From up the hill you get a exhilarating view of the entire district of hassan and the surrounding places. We spend some peaceful moments up the hill taking pictures of the beautiful scenery and started down hill. Sitting in the bus back to Bangalore, I m sure all of us were pondering over the same questions - Will I ever come back to hassan again? Why didn’t this happen 3 years ago? Would this have been possible if not for our wonderful host? Would we ever know so much bout ancient India and its cultures and religions – if not for this most unplanned and yet so wonderful trip to Hassan.
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Swirl Sniff Sip
When in Rome do as the Romans do. But when in Nashik, do what we did. Have some fine wine.
I have always enjoyed the taste of wine on my palate but this experience was quite different. Mostly my knowledge of wine was limited to Vinho Porto but this was some eye opener. So, if in Nashik do not miss out on the wine tasting at The Tasting Room @ the Sula Vineyards. Six fine wines combined with a little bit of education(and bias if you are female) for Rs.150 only...definitely a steal. Optionally one can opt for the Rs.100, five wine option. The wines on offer for the six wine option were ...
White (Blanc)
1. Sula Sauvignon Blanc
2. Sula Chenin Blanc (this one we unanimously liked and recommend)
3. Sula Late Harvest Chenin Blanc (a little too sweet)
Rose
4. Sula Blush Zinfandel
Red
5. Dindori Reserve Shiraz (one of their finest)
6. Sula Zinfandel
The tasting includes a super micro mini tour of the vineyards where-in you get to see the crushers, the fermentation chambers, storage tanks and the bottling plant.
Ok back to the wine tasting and the informative bit. I hope most of this information is true and the guy across the bar wasn't giving us 'pilla'. The only i-know-something-about-wine-thanks-to-Wikipedia soul was Melissa and she kept the guy busy with her questions about "corked wine", "wine legs" and what not. I dunno if it were the questions or that she was the only girl amongst us .... but rounds 1 to 6 she always got served the patiyala peg while we din't. Grrrrr.
During the tasting session we learnt a few things about wine drinking...here are 10 random things i noted down.
1. Wine on the palate is usually dry, semi-dry or sweet and as we learnt very sweet too.
2. White wine is served chilled (6-10C) while red wine is served at room temperature or like the guy put it..European room temperature(15-18C)
3. How does one hold the wine glass? While drinking white wine one must hold the glass by the stem so that body heat isn't transferred to the wine while for red wine one can hold the stem or the bowl(you rather not). Well well Wikipedia tells me, ISO has standardized a series of glasses for wine tasting. Beat that!!!! ISO 3591:1977
4. The different wines would classify as white, red, table, rose, cooking, sparkling....and the list goes on.
5. The Swirl, Sniff and Sip - Once served you must swirl your wine glass(not a good idea with a full glass) to help oxidise the wine and sniff immediately to drown in its aroma. And yes then importantly sip it or if in a hurry ....gulp. :) The sniff part gives one an indication of how the wine would taste. e.g. Dry wines would have a more pungent aroma. And yeah if you wanna feel more intellectual after you swirl take a look at the legs(of the wine). I think its an indication of the alcohol content.
6. The color of the wine doesn't come from the grape juice coz it's clear but it comes from the presence of the skin during fermentation and the time duration of the presence. At Sula it's 16 hours for Rose wines and 6 days for Red.
7. The alcohol content for most wines @ Sula is 13%.
8. The year usually indicates the year of harvest while the name is usually derived from the Grape variety.
9. The taste of the wine not only depends on the grape variety but also the climate, the soil and the yeast culture used....and yes the storage(e.g. oak wood barrels) and the time.
10. One round of tasting sure gives you a nice feeling in the head...round 2 would leave you just right.
We were so into the place that we went back at night. This time however you have to buy by the bottle, pint or glass. The wine tasting hours are between 11:00 am and 5:30 pm. After that the Tasting Room is open till 11:00 pm for service and purchase(on the weekends) but make that 10:00 coz the lazy and politely rude(by switching the lights off) bartenders shut the place down. So you need to get there by 9:30pm if u want to slip in a drink. The eats on the menu are nothing to boast about but one can find handy cheese dips, assorted nuts, cheese, crackers and wafers. I would personally highly rate the tasting experience but not the wine-dining one unless you are one for the ambiance.
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Nashik ... a city to fall in love with
Destination Nashik. Hildon, Clyde, Mel and myself decided to spend the weekend away from the noisy city of Pune. En route to Nashik we went to a place called Bhandardara which boasts of being one of the most beautiful hill station in Maharashtra, with it's still virgin landscape unadulterated like most other. One can enjoy breathtaking views of the peaks, valleys, lakes and waterfalls besides boating and swimming in the dam waters. The must-not-miss place for sure is the Bhandardara Dam. Bhandardara is a must visit for all, nature lovers or not, with the rainy season being the best time of the year. The roads in Bhandardara are excellent and the drive worth it. But the road getting there from Sangamner aint the best.
Places to stay: Ananda Valley(tad expensive), MIDC (Lake View). Restaurants aplenty including the MIDC canteen.
How to get there: 190 Kms from Pune. Detour off Sangamner(150 kms from Pune) and drive for about 50 odd kms.
Places to stay: Ananda Valley(tad expensive), MIDC (Lake View). Restaurants aplenty including the MIDC canteen.
How to get there: 190 Kms from Pune. Detour off Sangamner(150 kms from Pune) and drive for about 50 odd kms.
Nashik is a further 70 kms from Bhandardara. The route passes through Ghoti(a village where-you-feel-you-are-lost) just before hitting the Mumbai-Nashik highway(NH4). On this highway one always feels like he is in the wrong lane. Worst piece of highway to be driving on. 22 kms later comes the pilgrimage city of Nashik.
We all instantly fell in love with the city. Broad clean roads, fewer pedestrians, lesser traffic, much lesser noise amidst the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations...and at first look a city better planned. Well i do come from Goa but 3 years in Pune has made me learn to value all this. The weather at this time of the year is great but the best time to visit would be the winter months and you better be well equipped. And yes the Pune-Nashik highway is nothing short of picturesque
Places to visit: Infant Jesus Shrine on the Pune Nashik road, Sula Vineyards - The tasting room, DadaSaheb Phalke Memorial, Trimbakeshwar(about 40 mins+ from Nashik)
Things to do: Wine tasting(very informative and happy experience), Gliding at the Deolali flying club(Pune Nashik road, Rs. 300 per head, flying time 10 mins), Pilgrimage to Infant Jesus Shrine/Trimbakeshwar.
Places to Stay: 5 Star - The Taj
Affordable(Pune-Nashik road): (Rs.700 -1800 for an AC room) Panchavati Elite, Kamat, Dwarka, Shanti Inn(Opposite Fame Cinemas - This is where we stayed, new, clean, safe and very good AC rooms :) ), NasiKlub(you need to know a member to stay here)
EatOuts: Panchavati Elite, Kamat's, Ginger, McDonalds are some of the ones i know of.
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