Rügen - Germany's largest island!!

Rügen (Ruegen in English) is Germany's largest island. It is located in the Baltic Sea, measuring an area of 926 sq.m (double the size of our Pondicherry) with a population of 73,000 (one-tenth of Pondi's 808,000). Rügen is located in one of the most popular holiday and recreation areas within Germany and has more tourists per resident than any other location in Germany. It was a dilemma whether to spend the entire weekend or a day at Rügen, but due to team's majority decision ( mine & Arasu were on the minority side), we went for a day (First mistake of the trip, there are so much to enjoy at Rugen, one day is the least)!
Left our home (awesome Hamburg) at 636AM on 25-July-2009 to reach Sassnitz. Sassnitz is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, home of the famous largest chalk cliffs of Germany, the so called Königsstuhl ("king's chair" in English). These cliffs are up to 161 m high above the Baltic Sea. The undisturbed beech forests behind the cliffs are part of the national park, consisting of only 30 sq km, the smallest national park of Germany. Again we did a good planning (me and Pradeep) and it was worthy. The travel time to Sassnitz was 4h30mins and we were there at 1100AM. Caught a bus to Königsstuhl and got down exactly middle of the forest, I trusted on the DB plan (DB is the German's national carrier and its site gives plan and timing for anyplace in German), we saw the driver and all the co-passengers giving a bad look, but we got down, it was drizzling too (Second mistake of the trip - believing DB timetable)!! No one was there in the vicinity and there was an old forest checkpoint, where there was a lady guard, sorry she was a lady Hitler to say, I had never seen a rude lady in German like that, she must have wondered what these 5 Indians doing in the middle of the forest!! She guided (not even one word in English) to walk 2kms from there to reach Königsstuhl! Rain started heavily and there is no cover to run, I thought a wrong day to come Ruegen; nowhere a Bus came and the lady Hitler said : get into this bus and reach Königsstuhl; the bus travel was 10mins, rain was pouring down!! Spoke with a co-passenger (English speaker), and they suggested to walk a distance to reach Victoria view point and then walk down 450 steps to reach the bottom of the cliff, the Baltic sea shore. We were singing "rain rain go away...come again another day..." and walked up towards the Victoria view point.

It was a beautiful view of Baltic sea, we can see the complete horizon, rain at few places and drizzle at few places over the sea, wondered how it would have been if it was a bright sunny day!!! Took the wooden steps and touched the Baltic sea shore, a beach which is 90% transparent, without a wave and of complete marbles, no sand, strange isn’t it!! The beauty of White Cliffs from there was magnificent, enjoyed the view with umbrella in the hand and it was a different experience. Came back to Königsstuhl bus stop and took Route # 20 to Sellin, it was a 1h30mins drive crossing Prora and Binz. All were dossing, I didn’t, I was thinking why the weather is playing spoilsport, there was no enthuse among the guys, all dropping and shrugging, and wondered whether this trip will become a flop (Third mistake of the trip - worry towards a flop)!!
A common rule through out Germany: don’t take granted that the weather is bad or good, it may flip-flop at anytime, we too faced the same! Got down at Sellin, sun started peeking out of the clouds, there was a sudden hope in air... walked across the Wilhelmstrasse (Brigade road of Ruegen), magnificent buildings, posh bungalows, unique restaurants, souvenir shops (Arasu clicked this snap when I was checking how the cow boy cap fits me, thanks to him, it was perfect). The Wilhelmstrasse leads to a 40 meter high cliff where there is a steep staircase or an elevator to the promenade or pier to the South Beach. The sea and the bridge, a magnificent view, with the Sun started smiling together with us, the trip came alive!
The pier (sea bridge) is of 394 meters, longest pier on the island of Ruegen. The beach was beautiful, perfectly arranged matrix of Strandkörbe (roofed wicker beach chairs which are a very common German tool on beaches), a funfair with kids drives, shops selling sausages, hotdogs, a perfect location for German summer vacation. We walked to the end of the pier and enjoyed the walk; it was amazing to stand 0.3Kms from the shore of the sea on a wooden bridge! Our plan was to catch the return train from Bergen, the capital of Rügen at 725PM, for that we should leave Sellin at 550PM, again a bus drive of 1hr. There was an advertisement for 10mins RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) Safari, a drive propelled by Yamaha engines (2 x 250 hp) with a Maximum speed of 100 kmph on the cold Baltic Sea! No one was that daring to take it, except Arasu. He was damn crazy to enjoy it and by that one group left the pier towards the sea (below snap is taken at that time). On seeing the stunts the pilot did over the sea, our little hopes of taking the ride faded, really... but Arasu was so adamant, he decided to take it alone, the whole team had a dilemma and finally with dual thoughts, we accepted. We went and spoke with Kathy (the lady who was organising the trip), she was a native English speaker and I was happy that she spoke real good UK English; she said we have to wait 30mins. I casually started discussion and came to know that the team lives in Sassnitz and leaves for the day to Sassnitz at 6-630, sudden change in plan, asked her why cant we join with you back home and catch the train from Sassnitz at 705PM. She was reluctant and said will discuss with Alex and get back. Alex is the pilot and when he got back a team to shore after an awesome show, told OK and we were ready for a drive not for 10mins, it was for 20mins from Sellin to Sassnitz, the same distance was traveled by bus for 1h30mins. We decided to meet at 615PM and started playing in beach. The water was shallow, transparent, and clean, a superb weather added glamour to the evening and we enjoyed in the sand cliff at the beach! Reached back Kathy and the team, they were also ready for closing the day, Kathy distributed a pair of wind-jacket and life-jacket to all of us and we were thrilled to start the drive. Introduced with Celicia from Canada and she was so helpful. All set and done, a crowd of 100+ Germans swayed their hands from pier saying tchüsse (bye in German), I told Arasu "it seems this is our last bye and so many have come to see that!!". We were standing behind Alex, having a good view of his navigator, controls and especially the speedometer. He pulled the throttle and we zoomed into the Baltic sea, speed was 30, slowly he increased the speed, it was 50 and I can see that the water is moving faster than 50kmph, was confused, but dint think much, enjoyed the drive: bright sun shining on you, a 10meters inflated boat raising its nose now and then a meter high over the big waves of Baltic sea, and often the water spilling on my sun glasses. The drive was more than 20mins and Alex did some stunts on the way like: lifting the boat nose, raising to the left and then at once to the right, 270 degree turns, it was an awesome experience, thrilling but real fun!! Once reached Sassnitz, I enquired his speed, he said 50 KNOTS, a sudden rush in my thoughts-how did I calculate a speed over water in KMPH, really stupid, may be the thrill made me to think idiotic! Made a rough calculation (50*1.8=90), it was 90Kmph, over water! Rushed back Sassnitz bahnhof to catch the train back home, a thrilling experience at Rügen, will never erode from our mind!
Most of us would have read "The 3 Mistakes of my Life" novel by Chetan Bhagat. He dint end the story with an appreciation for the mistakes or decisions. But our trip was different, even though we did three mistakes (see above) but it ended in a very happy thrilling note, we appreciate it...

BERLIN - "Ich bin ein Berliner"

A dream comes true, a trip to Berlin-Germany's largest city, the capital of Germany. It needed a meticulous planning to tour this wonderful city (useful site: http://www.visitberlin.de/), as we saw the volume of places to cover and the travel time (4hrs) from Hamburg, we decided to stay a night and spend a complete weekend on the trip.

DAY I: 04-o7-2009, Saturday

We left Hamburg on Saturday morning and reached Berlin via Schwerin by 1030AM. It’s always wise to plan a trip itinerary and go with few queries to the info center, we did the same. We got a city map and the more important train network map (S and U bahn). The Hauptbahnhof (central station) itself is a tourist destination. The S-Bahn platform is in the fifth floor of the station and getting to your platform for the desired train itself needs a skill and it was fun too. We covered few places by foot (as they are near to Hauptbahnhof and weather was good): Haus der Kulturen der Welt (The pregnant Oyster), Schloss Bellevue (A Palace Fit for a President), and Siegessäule (Wings and Weapons).
The pregnant Oyster is a beautiful building with curved and suspended roof, an architectural wonder; open on both sides, it appears to float in mid-air without support!! The Schloss Bellevue is the official residence of the federal president in Berlin.

The Siegessäule, with its golden statue of Victory, is one of the most imposing landmarks in the city, and reflects the city's history in remarkable fashion. There is a small museum depicting entire Europe and a stairway to a viewing platform on the column, it offered a wonderful panoramic view of the city.

Then we took an S Bahn to reach the outskirts of Berlin, the Olympic Stadium. The same stadium hosted the 2006 final match of FIFA World Cup between France and Italy. I never thought in 2006 while watching the finals that one day I will visit this place!! But the happiness didn’t sustain for long as we saw the below poster and couldn’t believe our bad luck, anyways, the outside view itself was majestic; I visualized how it would have been jam-packed on that FINALS game!!!

On the way back, I spotted this ---> instruction on an "automatic toilet", it was indeed craziness, read and enjoy (click the photo to maximize)...

We took a U Bahn and reached a station called kaiserdamm and visited the place which 99% of the Berlin tourist never visit!! It is called Funkturm (Berlin's Eiffel Tower). The Funkturm's steel structure, which is based on that of the Paris Eiffel Tower, was built in 1924, and the tower was first operated in 1926. It is 150m tall and gives a panoramic view of the city at a height of 126m. Due to maintenance, we were not allowed to go up and we dint bother too, as we were expecting to see Berlin from a height of 203m, read on from where it is from :)

Each one of us were tired and exhausted, reached back to the center of the city, Potsdamer Platz, where the City hostel was waiting for us!! It was a wonderful place to stay and was soothing. No idea, how the rain God came to know that we were sheltered, there was a hailstorm for 1.5hrs and it gave a perfect time for us to relax. Sort of worry started, how to execute the evening plan and the clouds paved way and Sun welcomed us to see Berlin! We roamed Potsdamer Platz sometime and saw the city life of Berlin. Continued our roam towards the Parliament house - The Reichstag, it is the seat of the German Bundestag or federal government. There is a big glass dome on top of the Reichstag; the dome has a 360-degree view of the surrounding Berlin cityscape. The main hall of the parliament below can also be seen from the cupola, and natural light from above radiates down to the parliament floor. A large sun shield tracks the movement of the sun electronically and blocks direct sunlight which might bedazzle those below. General public is allowed inside the Reichstag after a vigil security check and only to the visit the dome, it’s a normal seen that one need to wait in a long queue to enter the Reichstag for a minimum period of 1-2hrs. As we are always lucky, the rain helped us and there was less crowd and we stood in queue only for 30mins and reached the dome very soon. We saw the sun set while waiting in queue and the beautiful dusk from the top of Reichstag. Started climbing the dome over a sloping ramp with an audio guide in English, it was too good, once you climb up, an automated message will tell exactly the history of the city landscape in front of view. The finishing remark of the audio tour is the best, it goes like this "The transparency of the glass symbolises the transparency of the German Democratic State", indeed it was transparent!!!
The dome depicted that the places around 360 degree from the Reichstag has its own history, it was amazing. We spend enough time in the dome reading the history and viewing the second world war devastation snaps and were one among the few to leave the dome at 0000Hrs (closing time of the dome). The day went off well with few ups and downs in the schedule as it always happens in a trip. I love that mode of rescheduling the plan with a limited time frame in mind, the challenge is unique and I love to face and beat it!!!!

DAY II: 05-07-2009, Sunday

Checked out City hostel at 900AM and went direct to Sony Center, the latest addition to Berlin's modern infrastructure. Got interested to see a 3D German movie in IMAX 3D Screen and booked the ticket for 1130 show, spend 2 hrs roaming the Brandenburger Tor (TOR is Gate in German), Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (Place of Remembrance), Unter den Linden (Berlin's Most Beautiful Avenue).
The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin's only remaining city gate, is the true symbol of the city. The sandstone construction, built from 1788-91, has 12 Doric columns and is based on the propylaeum of the Acropolis in Athens. On both sides, six Doric columns support the 11 meter-deep transverse beam, dividing the gate into five passageways. The Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (means the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe), situated in Berlins city centre, the memorial was built recently in 2000 near the Reichstag and the Brandenburger Tor. The design envisages a Field of Stelae, 2,711 concrete blocks of different heights, structured in a grid pattern and covering nearly 19,000 sq.m of gently sloping ground.
The Unter den Linden, Berlin's magnificent boulevard, the centerpiece of the Old Berlin, leads to all the famous places there: US Embassy, Kennedy museum, Madame Tussauds (wax museum in Berlin) etc.
Rushed back to the IMAX for the movie and it was a different experience, after My Dear Kuttichathan (1983 Tamil 3D movie) this was my 3D movie, 26years to break the gap, that too in Berlin, life is beautiful isn’t it??
Reached Alexanderplatz, the most famous square in Berlin. Alexanderplatz is a must see place, the most important places of interest are in a distance of few meters: Fernsehturm, Berliner Rathaus, Berliner Dom.
The Fernsehturm, lies in the center of Alexanderplatz. We need to buy the ticket to go up the tower and the waiting time to get into was 2Hrs , we decided to go around Alexanderplatz.
By foot reached Berliner Dom, a beautiful church partly destroyed in WWII and reconstructed. Couldn’t go inside for a short tour as we needed to be there on time at Fernsehturm.
The Fernsehturm (TV tower) is the highest building in the city, and one of Berlin's biggest attractions. Its total height is 368 meters, with a viewing platform at a height of 203 mts. 203 mts travel in lift took just 34 secs (6m/s), and the view from there was awesome.

It was 430PM and there was a dilemma whether to go to East side of the Berlin wall, place name: East Side Gallery, portraying Graffiti Art on the Berlin Wall. I was the one compelled everyone and finally we reached the gallery, it was beautiful graffiti work on the Berlin wall and saw the east side checkpoint. Rushed back Hauptbahnhof to catch the 530PM train and we were 15mins early, a wonderful trip came to an end. I was pretty satisfied with the trip, and was recounting the famous quote - "Ich bin ein Berliner" ("I am a Berliner") from John F. Kennedy on a June 26, 1963 speech, I was there on July 04, 2009 ( after 46 yrs and 8 days) !!!

An evening in Buxtehude - Germany's country side

It was an invitation from my client AEROTEC, to go for a short tour of Germany's country side and we decided to visit Buxtehude, 50kms from Hamburg in the state of Lower Saxony. Horst, GM in Airbus (husband of Susanne, AEROTEC) joined us in the trip. We set off from our office to Altes Land, the biggest contiguous fruit orchard in Central Europe – extends over 143 sq km (55 sq mi). 76.8% of the trees are apples, 12.7% are cherries. We visited the Luhe - Schulau Fahre, the ferry point and had a nice view of Luhe river merging with the River Elbe. We stopped at a Cherry plantation and had fresh cherries from the trees, raw, it has its own taste!!
Altes Land is so fertile, thanks to Elbe. The fertile land led to the development of a culture dominated by farming. The villages are known as Marschhufendörfer, a special kind of village where the farmyards are set along a street with the land directly behind them. A characteristic feature is the richly-decorated half-timbered farmhouses with their elaborate gateways. Horst said, the gateway is called "Wedding Gate", the gate opens only for a married couple!!

Horst shared so many information about Airbus, Hamburg, Buxtehude and the best partner for a trip. I had great time discussing with him. He suggested us to go for a walk in the village and picked us from another point, which is around a km away, the walk was gorgeous, so beautiful that I didnt want to go in car.

We crossed the small town called York and it was too cute. York is the town where Horst stays for the past 25 years, he said the charm of the town, never allowed him to think to move to a new city, he showed the beautiful old houses built on the dyke, it was indeed a treat to eyes. We reached buxtehude and the weather was not that great, it rained sometime and hence we cancelled the plans for a walk in Buxtehude.

Horst and Susanne are the best german couples -I have met in this four months of short stay; they are made for each other, my impression of german couples changed considerably after meeting them! they are together (like our parents) for the past 30 years and they have a son "who lives with them" eventhough he is 24. Strange facts for a German family, but it is TRUE :)

Susanne booked an indian restaurant for dinner. Both the Germans enjoyed the indian food and its taste. Horst was much interested to know about our culture and rich heritage. I proposed him to tour our India, both of them nodded - a German nod, means sure!!! I will be happy to host them in India and will show them, what our country is...

Neuschwanstein Castle Conquered!!!

Was King Ludwig II a madman or a genius? Think about it for a second. On one hand, the King spent all his fortune and then some to build fairy-tale castles for his personal pleasure. On the other hand, Bavaria is now the top tourist destination in Germany, thanks, in large part to...well, you know, the same guy.
Now, more than 140 years after the foundation of Neuschwanstein had been laid, it has become one of the most photographed, most famous, and most talked about castles in the world. Many people are familiar with Neuschwanstein without even knowing it. What do you think the sleeping beauty castle in Disneyland was modeled after?

I visited Neuschwanstein on 30May09 with Naresh, Sushanth, Pritesh and Shekar from Stuttgart. It was a 3Hrs Ford car drive by Naresh (including our breaks in a beautiful lake shore and a cute unused railway track for more than an hour) and we reached Shwangau, a tiny village at the bottom of the hill from where I could see the castle in the distance. All I could say was, "Wow. How the hell did they build this in the 19th century?" The view was magnificent. And it was about to get only better. We got the tickets for 8Euros p.p, it was a 15:10 English tour of the castle (you cannot tour the castle on your own), so we decided to take the bus instead of 25 or 40-minute walk up the hill to the castle or the other option of horse carriage. The bus drive was 5mins and they dropped us in a common point from where we can go to the Castle as well as to the Marienbrücke (or Queen Mary's Bridge - named after the kings Mother). We decided to visit the bridge and then the Castle.

The Marienbrücke (brücke is bridge in German) was an engineering wonder in it's day, built in 1866, it was an wooden bridge later steel reinforced. It spans the Pöllat Gorge at a height of over 100 metres (300 feet), and below is the spectacular Pöllat Falls, an alpine stream that plunges 50 metres (149 feet) into the valley. The view from this bridge is the most spectacular photo the average tourist can get. If you have Acrophobia, pls be cautious!!! The best place to enjoy the height, with the info in mind that its a 140yrs old one with wooden blanks! The views were awesome, the sad part was we admired the view, took lots of snaps and returned to Castle. After my trip, my collegue told me this fact (may be it is helpful for my friends who read this and visit there):

One can take even better photo shot if he walks to the other side of the bridge and climbs up the mountain. It seems, the trail gets pretty rocky and steep, about 10 minutes into the climb, notice a cross. From the cross, one can notice a loose trail going up. A thin wire blocks this trail, just step over it, and continued to climb. The higher one climb, the better the views of the castle, it seems. I missed it, may be I can state this as another chance to travel Neuschwanstein :)

The castle tour lasted only 35 minutes, and it wasn't anything special. Some interesting facts of the Castle:

• Ludwig II was a big fan of Richard Wagner and he surrounded himself with paintings of characters and events from Wagner's operas.
• One room I found really impressive; between the living room and the study room, the King built an artificial cave! What a wild imagination!
• Be warned that during the tour of Neuschwanstein, you ascend a total of 165 steps and descend a total of 181 steps.
• On the floor of the Throne hall ther is a mosaic of concentrically ordered animals and plants, it was awesome.
• While going up the spiral staircase, pause for a moment and look up when you reach the top - you will see a huge carved Palm Tree supporting the roof of the staircase. This is a little 'hidden' item that the guide doesn't point out!
• The guide also doesn't point out that Ludwig was arrested halfway up the main spiral staircase. (I got this info from the Official guide book I bought from the castle store!)
• Historical info: King Ludwig II was certified insane and his uncle took over the regency in 10Jun1886, on 12Jun1886 he was arrested in this Castle steps, and on 13Jun1886 his body floated in Lake Starnberg together with the psychiatrist who certified him insane, by the way, still his death is a mystery!

On return, we wished to go to the falls and started climbing down, by 20mins we reached the bottom and the view of the bridge from there was magnificient. We relaxed sometime and trekked down hill parallel to the transparent water stream. It was too good, reached our car and got back to Stuttgart thinking that the trip got over...

Nopes, just a 15mins drive, we spotted a lake (Weissensee) and decided to visit it. It was so beautiful, the best place to be in sunset, with calm big lake infront of the gigantic Alps... no words to explain the view, better enjoy the below snap! The trip's best conclusion :)
King Ludwig II intended Neuschwanstein to be "one of the most beautiful [places] ever to be found." With all the modern publicity and fame, I had high expectations. And you know what, Neuschwanstein lived up to the hype but the important point is :

It is incomparable to our great Indian palaces and forts, may be, poor King Ludwig II never heard about our country and expertise!!!

As many asked what 'Neuschwanstein' means, I thought I will add few facts about that:

The name Neuschwanstein means "new swan rock" and swans are another reoccurring theme throughout the castle. The swan was the King's favorite animal. They are found in everything from woodwork to fixtures in all shapes and sizes.

A trip to Nanjangud & Melkote

It was a beautiful saturday morning when we (me and Srini) left Bangalore in his Santro to Nanjangud and Melkote. It was around 700AM we left marathahalli and it was a calm drive in the (old)airport road, less traffic and no pollution. We topped up at the Shell (quality petrol for the Santro) near Rajarajeshwari nagar and zoomed in the mysore road. We took a break at kamat on the mysore road and the breakfast we delicious. It was hygienic, neatly served and we loved the ambience of the drive in. We reached Mandya and from there the mysore road was not that great. There were so many speed breakers, that too without any signboards and were too steep (not like the regular highway speed breaker, believe it was introduced by the villagers for their own purpose to slow down the vehicles). Finally we reached Mysore by 1030AM and we approached the ooty road to reach Nanjangud. The narrow road was a state highway and not well maintained.
The distance from Mysore to Nanjangud was around 23 kms and we reached by 30 minutes. On the way we both admired the trial railway track where there was a dummy train (no seats) parked. Nanjangud is a temple town on the banks of the river Kapila and is also called as "Dakshina Kashi" (southern Kashi). Our motto was to visit the Sri Raghavendra swamy Mutt. We enquired a few for the route and reached the matt.
Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt which is called as Preteeka Sanidhi is situated on the road to the right of the Nanjundeswara temple. The uniqueness of this Mutt is one can find an idol of Sri Raghavendra Swamy instead of the usual Brindavana. We met the manager and the hospitality he provided was mind-blowing. He told about the story of the matt and how the idol of Sri Raghavendra Swamy was brought to the temple. He took us to the Moola Brindavanas (mortal remains) of 5 saints belonging to Raghavendra swamy mutt lineage known as Pancha Brindavana. He explained us about each one of the five saints and their uniqueness, we were amazed when he uttered that he himself belongs to that lineage!! We discussed in length about the aradhana preparations and future plans for developing the matt, he was keen to the statement that "never ever the development of the matt should destroy the rich old culture and its divinity".
We left Nanjangud without visiting the Nanjundeshwara temple, decided to come back to Nanjangud once again and visit. We drove back to Mysore and had lunch at a good restaurant. The food was of good quality and we enjoyed it. We were comparing the qulaity and price of the food we got in Mysore with that in Bangalore, its incomparable. We left Mysore by around 200PM to Melkote.
One should be careful in taking the correct left turn before Mandya in the Mysore-Mandya road to reach Melkote, otherwise unnecessary time wastage will happen inside the Mandya town. Melkote is 41 kms from the Mysore-Mandya road and the drive was awesome, sugarcane fields covered both sides of the road and it was lush green.

The Karnataka road direction board indicated that the same road can take us to Saravanabelagola. On the way I clicked this snap below, we felt very bad on seeing the mode of transport these kids take every day to their school. We reached a junction from where there were 3 roads splitting out, we enquired and got the way to Melkote, one another road led to Saravanabelagola. From there we were able to see a hill and a temple over it and assured ourself that this is the place where we are talking about. Actually, a trip to Melkote was in our minds for a long time, more than 2 years. It is said that it will not be easy to visit Melkote as per our wish, it needs the call from the Cheluvanarayanaswamy and we thought this saturday (Dec 20, 2008) was that day!!!

Melkote is one of the sacred places in Karnataka, also known as Thirunarayanapuram, one of the four sacred places of Vaishnavism in Southern India. It is built on rocky hills known as Yadavagiri or Yadugiri overlooking the Cauvery valley. This is the place where Mani Ratnam shot his famous dance sequence for the song Rakkamma in the movie Thalapathi and the Barso Re(some parts) song in Guru, as well as the marriage approval sequences in rajini's Padayappa is also shot here. The main temples here are the Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple and Yoga Narasimha swami temple (above the hill).

We reached Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple and came to know that the temple will be opened by 400PM, went to Mukya Dwara - Unfinished entrance pillars built by king Krishnadevaraya, we were interested to visit the place, as we have seen the place in many films. It was beautiful and neat.

There were so many tourists like us came to see this unfinished work, we discussed ourselves "if this place was not shown in the films, whether we all will be here to see this??". We also saw the Akka & Thangi Kola nearby and it was beautiful. Legend has it that the ponds were built by 2 sisters for the people of Melkote. But the elder seemed to have calculated her expenses. Henceforth the people do not make use of the Akka kulum and hence its water is salty whereas the water of thangi kola is sweet!!!

We then started to climb the hill of Yoga Narasimha swami temple and it was around 400 steps to reach the top. We reached the top at 430PM and came to know that the temple will be opened by 530PM, we both were tired and got a nice place to relax sometime enjoying the cold breeze, without any noise and air pollution, it was a divine feeling altogether... it was a beautiful location, large landscape beow you and the horizon can be seen with a haze around it!!!

Srini had a quick nap and I was just admiring the temple and the surroundings. By 530PM the doors were opened and we had a nice darshan of Yoga Narasimha swami. The entire temple in top of the hill is constructed like a fort, may be thats why they call this place as Mel Kote (a kottai on top). We walked down the stairs and reached the land, it was getting dark and we started our travel back to Bangalore, back to pavillion, where the city life starts again...

Hi all,
I was reading a blog and felt interested writing one for myself. I love travelling and was working from Bangalore, India. Now I am working for Airbus at Hamburg, North Germany. While I was in India, I have explored the state of Karnataka in the weekends and holidays. Now, exploring the Germany and Europe! I will try to pen few of my experiences here, enjoy reading...