55,000+ Kms

Our Swift has already clocked 55,000+ kms on the stock JK Vectras in just over 3 years. Though bald on the side-treads, they just don't seem to give up on the tarmac. Wet roads - thats the only place where they almost close their shop - having learnt that on our return from the last Pondy trip with quite frequent lateral shifts and roll in the rain.

Safety first - comes to the mind immediately - thanks to the trigger happy driving style which almost every day pushes the loyal Swift to its limits. Internet shows various colors and creeds - talk about rubber grade, tread patterns, season choices, terrain specifics, driving styles, not to miss 'what does 185/70R14-88H means?' Narrowed the list to Bridgestone Potenza G-III, Yokohama ES100 and Michelin Energy XM1+. It's now time for some field work.

Most of the dealers in India are actually unaware of even the basics; with recommendations primarily based on the economics - which ones sell more! If the customers are young & racy, the funkier the tread pattern, the better the tyre. The deeper the customer's pockets, the latest in the foreign brands is the best one in the lot. The location of the shop also determines which tyre is better, and so does what the dealer has ready in the stock. Thank god we have internet and reviews from trust worth sources! No wonder anything sells here, all you need is 'Yes sir, this is the best; everybody is buying this only!'

Though hard to find, you also have a handful of genuine dealers who would not sell things to clear their inventory, or because something sells like hot cakes, or try to corner you to make a particular choice. Yes they are there to make a buck too, but not at your cost; they don't just do a job, they are passionate about what they do and know what they sell. They woud listen to you, understand your need, show you the range, state the pros and the cons, and assist you in making the choice - your choice and not theirs.

Call it luck or our hard search, after tumbling through dealers of the first kind, we finally reached the one stop shop for what we were looking for. All the top ones displayed, explained and compared.  It took us no time to strike the deal in line with the recommendation, and the Swift was up on the jacks. In all it took around 45 minutes to get all the work done including balancing and alignment, and we were back on the road, ready to roll again, full on life, with the shining new Michelin Energy XM1+! :)

Michelin Man Logo courtesy Michelin website.

Safari or Roller Coaster?

Late afternoon, good weather, friends, vehicle with full tank, zest to go out, good old memories - I think are enough to drive you outta home and seek adventure. As it is not  good planners, there was little that could hold us back at home. We hardly realized when our initial plans to go out on weekly grocery shopping turned into adventure trip to the Bannerghatta National Park. Flying over the new Electronics City express way and onto the nice road, we joined the Bannerghatta Road somewhere near IIM Bangalore. Headed straight for a while and took a right turn towards the National Park Office. Not sure of the exact route, I think we took the one right earlier than what we should have taken, continued for a while, and a while more, through some two or so small villages, before landing up at the park entrance. We were just on time for the last safari trip, and managed to grab the the tickets and headed straight for the queue.

A few minutes of wait and soon we were on the shabby safari bus. The driver choose to wait till he had enough "passengers" aboard before sprinting into action. Yes you got that right - "sprinting". I think he shared the genes with Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Loeb to a large extent, just happened to be born at the wrong place at the wrong time. The bus itself was almost in ruins - there wasn't any surface which did not sport couple of dents, there was no window glass that did not rattle, there was no seat which was not squeaking and swaying away to glory, and last but not the least - the combination of missing shock absorbers and the rally road inside the park - literally enhanced all the (mis)adventure! Almost all of the time I was protecting my camera from dashing it against the swaying seats or hitting the ceiling with me along flying off my seat, than enjoying the view and the ride. The only exceptions being the few predetermined stops enroute where the so-called-wild animals could be sighted because of the feeding centers in the proximity. Something is better than nothing - took the very opportunity in those exceptions to get a few clicks.

I guess our prayers were soon answered and the ride came to an end. For five minutes after getting off the bus we were still feeling the sway and the wobble. Awesome ride indeed, never to be tried again for sure. To make up for it, ventured in the zoo section, checked out a few cages. Cobras, Pythons, Rat Snakes, Peacocks, Parrots, Deers - Sambar, Chital, Black Bucks, a lone Zebra, Elephants, Jackals and Leopards were definitely a relief from the earlier joyride through the park. Though not anywhere near the quality and standards that one would expect from a national park, lotta people from different walks of life have adopted the various animals by pledging a donation for the upkeep of the facilities and the animals themselves. Thats is something really appreciable, though looking at the overall state of the park, we were not sure if the collections were really put to good use. It was already late in the evening, the twilight was fading away soon and we decided to wrap up the day and return home. Safari or Roller Coaster - it was definitely fun.     

Exploring the wilds..

Taking a break from the otherwise monotonous modern lifestyle does bring in excitement. Specially if the break is into the wilds, has tempting drives and awesome scenery. Thats what exactly we did over the last weekend. The wee hours of morning, may be not for everyone but surely for us - 04:30 am - were as hard to get up at as they were scary to think of in discussions the day earlier. Dragging our feet to the restrooms and constantly reminding and motivating ourselves about the trip that early in the morning, did pay us back by constraining our start up delays within 1 hour of the projected time. 06:30 am, and we were rolling fast on the Electronics City expressway to catch the NICE road just before Phase-I. The Mysore highway is virtually an extension of the NICE road in the early morning hours with very less traffic and enabling you to keep up a fast pace. A quick coffee break at Barista just before Maddur wakes up everyone for the upcoming trip, while the Rich Choco Shake revitalizes the body and the mind. Passing through Mysore city was faster this time - we did not lose our way even a single time as we have had multiple times in past!

It was the first time that I saw Sunflower plantations alongside the road on this route. Fascinating vast yellow fields full of sunflowers all looking in one direction at the same time is quite a view. We could not help choosing one such spot for breakfast which we had carried along. A bed spread in the open field with teak and coconut trees on one side and sunflowers on the others was a picture perfect setting. The weather complimented it all with cloudy sky and cool breeze. Back again on the road, we made a final stop at Gundlupet to grab a quick tea and headed straight for the forest.

The road between Gundlupet and Bandipur check post which was earlier a dirt track has now transformed into a neat road. From an average of 20kmph over earlier visits, we could now zip at 60kmph average. Both the Bandipur and Mudumalai were much greener due to rains, but still not "lush green". Perhaps it would take a few more rains from this monsoon to get into that state. No matter how many times you go through this route, you can't ignore the scenic beauty of the forest. Herds of spotted dears shying away from the onlookers, peahens crossing the road, to loner male elephants busy munching away on the forest vegetation, are abundant in these forests and a common sight with passer-by vehicles stopping over to have a glimpse.

Arrived at New Mountania at around 11:30 am and occupied the 3 rooms on the 1^st floor reserved for us. The hospitality of the staff is one of the best in the place. Settled down a bit, adored the place, and rested for a while before heading for the lunch at the cafeteria. Lunch, a bit spicy though, was full of variety and delicious. A little drive through Bokkapuram side, and a small walk from the Bokkapuram Temple till the Glen View resort, took most of our post-lunch time. The whole place looks carpeted in green with thick lush vegetation all around, cloudy weather with cool breeze gave it a quite a serene feel. Back to our resort for a quick tea and hopped on for the Night Safari through the forest. Stretching the limits of vision to scan through the forest vegetation in the hope of seeing some wild life in indeed tiring. But we finally managed to come across couple of elephants groups who saved our stretch-vision efforts from going waste. Seeing them up-close in the wild is quite an experience. Wrapped up the day soon with a camp-fire dinner and were off to bed in no time.

The day started early - in the wake of seeing deers in side the resort, who unfortunately decided not to turn up. But the monkeys with their early morning fun and frolic kept us entertained. A relaxed breakfast, settled up the bills, and we are on our way to Ooty driving through the 36 hair pin bends. Stopped at the Bison Valley to enjoy the view, clicked a few quick snaps before arriving at Ooty. Since it was still early for a lunch, decided to head towards Dodabetta before returning to the city. For some unknown reasons, the place was over crowded and flowing with lots and lots of visitors, which for sure gave us hard time finding a parking lot. Otherwise, the scenic beauty was at its peak - full cloud cover on one side, sunshine on the other, with clouds flowing swiftly in between. With weather becoming more pleasant, the road back to the city was full of flowing clouds among the tall trees on both the side giving a mystic touch to the scene.

Its Lunch time! Two amazing family dosas at the Nahar Hotel ensured that no one went hungry. After shopping lot of Ooty tea varieties and Ooty Chocolates, we soon started off the return journey via Gudalur. The Pykara lake was next on the list. We mistook a tourist spot for the lake, and started our climb up the hill thinking that the lake would be visible or approachable from there. Unfortunately, the lake was a 5km walk from that point. Fortunately, we were treated with the most amazing scenic view of the trip from the hill top. The breeze had turned into wind and the chill was beginning to show now. Stayed there on the top for sometime and enjoyed the view. The Frog Hill View was the next pit stop over the rest of the way through the forest. Stopped at the Gundlupet Coffee Day for refreshments and then straight at Mysore Palace for the the beautiful view of the lighting which makes the whole palace glow to its fullest glory.

The dinner was on our way back near Maddur - the MacD and Kamat are side by side at a petrol bunk and offer a decent choice. The night drive on the highway is fast - thanks to the neat roads. Reached Bangalore almost at the midnight. Tiring, but another great trip on our list! :)

How much is too much?

They say every day is a new day. And I strongly believe in that. After experimenting for quite a while now, having clicked around four thousand images, giving me 100 odd which I marked 'better', if not the best, than the rest, my D300s keeps hurling surprises at me every day. Keeping everything on auto mode is quite a good and safe way to shoot, but I could have bought a point-n-shoot instead. Having invested so much in the equiment, I think I need to up the risks and explore more. And there I was trying to tweak every setting one by one and checking the results for the differences. Switch the White Balance, and you get Blueish or Orangish images when you forget to flip it back to the correct setting. Switch off NR, and you get noisy images in twilight regardless of the ISO because you forgot to turn the NR back on. Suddenly the images are dark or burnt, I guess this time its the forgotten EV compensation from the earlier shoot. And the list goes on and on.

The good and the bad parts come hand in hand. Good that I have clicked all the images and they look fabulous in the small camera LCD screen. Good that I clicked all that shoot which I wanted to, when I wanted to. Good that I feel an eternal hapiness to hear the shutter release of a DSLR which I always wanted. Bad that the images look not-so-good when I download them to the PC. Bad that some have considerable and visible noise, some with wrong exposure, and some just do not look like the scene as I saw it with your eyes. Bad that most of them need composition correction. Bad that I would be spending five times the time in post processing the images than what was spent clicking them in the first place. I didn't bargain for that, did I?

I think I do not like post processing because I believe the images should be as natural as possible, as real as possible. There is definitely the other side - contrasts, saturations, highlights, midtones and the shadows, making the images catchy, vibrant, and surreal. I like them real, not surreal. To admit, the dark side did lure me in, and after exploring a few images in Lightroom, I did achieve the effects, though not to the level of professional, but quite acceptable. A little tweaking did help to bring out the depth in the images, taking them a little beyond the limitations of 2D. The little for me might be quite a lot for someone in the same way as someone's little is quite a lot for me.

How much is too much? Well, I guess thats what 'every day is a new day' is all about. Every day we learn something new. I think I would carry out my little bit tweaking and grow towards a point where all I need is the camera and the light..

Marshes and Swamps..

Wetlands.. Yep! That's what we are talking about. The words Marshes and Swamps remind us of the vast wetlands from NatGeo or Discovery programs, sometimes also from real life adventures, treks or other nature trips we have had made. But were those Swamps, or were those Marshes? Aren't the two same? Both have lots of standing water, some rotting and some healthy vegetation, lots of mosquitoes and alike breeding and buzzing in the surrounding regions, loud calls of toads & frogs from sun-set through the sun rise, a variety of ducks, geese and birds during the day, and what not!

Well, practically all is true about both. A Swamp or a Marsh can have fresh water, brackish water or even salt (sea) water. Typically, a Marsh has shallow waters from frequent or continuous flooding, mostly covered with low-growing grasses, reeds, typhas, and other herbaceous plants, and is void of any woody vegetation. A Swamp on the other hand, usually has very slowly moving waters deeper than a Marsh, may have a number of dry-land protrusions (or hammocks), and supports woody vegetation (like trees) along with the type of low-growing vegetation found in the marshes.

Marshes and Swamps are characterized by rich biodiversity they support and are critically important to wildlife habitats.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp

Turtle or Tortoise?

All of us have heard the story of the Rabbit and the Tortoise a number of times over our growing years. And as we grew old, there came Turtles. Turtles? Aren't they the same as the Tortoise? Or just the plural of Tortoise? Or a new species?

Long long back, the Chordates Phylum - animals having vertebrates or backbone, evolved and formed the Reptiles Class, who in turn evolved into Testudines Order. Both the Tortoise and the Turtles belong to the Testudines Order in the Animal Kingdom with 300 known species dating back to 250 million years ago - much older than evolution of lizards and snakes in the reptile family. So how do tortoise and turtle differ then?

In general, the Turtles are water dwelling - Marine Turtles whose primary habitat is the sea or ocean, and Aquatic Turtles whose habitat is fresh water bodies - river, lakes, ponds, etc. Then there are land dwelling testudines - the Tortoise. There's a third category called Terrapins, which are found in Brackish water. Turtles are also classified on the way they retract their necks - Cryptodira: those who draw their necks in under the spine, and Pleurodira: those who contract their necks to the side.

As all other reptiles, they are cold-blooded (ectotherms), they breath air and do not lay eggs under water. They come in all sizes - largest ones grow up to 6.6 feet in length with more than 900kg of weight, to smallest ones measuring 8cm in length weighing 140gms. Turtles and Tortoises are believed to have very large lifespans ranging from typical 50 - 60 years up to 150 years. There have been records and claims for longer lifespans too ranging up to 250 years. They have a color vision and are though to have excellent night vision too. They have rigid beaks with knife-sharp or serrated-edged ridges to cut and chew food. The tortoise have short sturdy feet to walk on land, amphibious turtles have webbed feet with claws, while sea turtles have flippers to help them move in the water. Turtles actually fly in the water - they use the front flippers like birds to generate the lift and the thrust, the rear flipper are used as pitch, yaw and roll. :)

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoise

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrapin

Bali, Day +7

Woke up with a deep sigh, actually we never slept. Still making list of things we wanted to do, places we want to visit, and those which we want to visit again, and finally convincing ourselves that we would definitely visit again. There's always a next time. Despite all odds, visiting Singapore again lures us out of the bed. Getting ready was short and quick, grabbed a quick bite at the breakfast and we were waving goodbyes to Aston Bali from our cabs on the way to the airport. Going through airport check took a while - only a few immigration counters are manned - and there's a airport fee of IDR150k per person (better to bring cash with you) - and picking up a souvenir to cash in on the remaining IDRs.

Make attempts to get a window seat on the north side with a clear glass as the take off leads you to the amazing scenic views of the Bali island - couple of volcano craters look fabulous from top - and you can also see two lakes high up in the mountains (I can't actually locate them on Google Maps). A quick in-flight snack and we caught up on the lost sleep. The flight from Bali to Singapore is a short one and soon we were gazing at the beautiful islands and the landscaping, and numerous vessels in the sea, just before landing at Changi. Passing through the airport formalities was a breeze, and we headed to Ikea on the Tampines road. Ikea is one of her favorite destinations wherever she goes; it's always on the must visit list. Walking through the huge store was an adventure in itself - you can practically find everything you need for a house under one roof. Picked up a couple of things, pack them tight in our rucksack-cum-cabin-baggage; went to the Courts right across the street for a quick lunch. Back to Ikea to catch a taxi to the airport.

Back at the Airport, caught up with the rest who had been to Mustafa. Went around the Changi Airport, checked out various shops - most of them with overpriced stuff; Do people really shop here? Fortunately, the drinks were quite cheap; they picked up a couple of bottles; Starbucks coffee, a bit of waiting for our flight back home, boarding and we are flying home now. Though being nastiest of the cities, being back in Bangalore does feel nice. Our gold fish, fighter, plants and Monu-Jumbo were as eager to see us as we were to see them.

Bali, Day +6

Yipeey! Its the Sports day! The time was fixed for 10am - an excellent opportunity to snore for a while more in the bed. Woke up lazily, had a light breakfast and waited for Ketut to come. He had arranged to take us to a contact of his who runs the local adventure sports on the Tanjung Benoa beach. In a few minutes he arrived with his cab, as enthusiastic and eager to take us to the sports site as we were to reach there and get into snorkeling and para-sailing. It took as around 15 minutes to reach there from our hotel. The beach was less of a beach, more of a mini harbor, with as many boats tied to it as there were those racing out in the sea. The place was lively with lots of people enjoying different activities - para-sailing, jet skiing, flying fish, banana boat ride, etc. Lots of people were wearing the diving gear which took our enthusiasm to the next level in anticipation of the snorkeling that we had planned. The tide was high and it was a good time to start our adventures.

After a short discussion with the adventure club representative - Uede - we learnt that the waters had become a little turbid compared to few days earlier. And it may not be very good idea to go in for snorkeling or the glass-bottom boat considering the not-so-good visibility of the sea bed at 6m to 9m. So what do we do now? Simple, suggested Uede - go for the scuba diving! Diving? We hardly know how to float in swimming pool water, and diving? What about the sharks? Piranhas? Crabs and all of those creatures? Well, not here, not in this part of the sea. The the Master Diver with us is over 25 years experienced, and will ensure our safety in all aspects. And we remembered - "Risk to Spiderman ko bhi lena padta hai, hum to sirf software engineers hain." And we were game for the dive. The Master quickly made us aware of the under-water sign language, breathing techniques and few tips; we put on our diving gear and were off in the boat towards the vast sea. I think we were quite away from the coast, there was no land around in any direction. The Master picked up a spot and dropped the anchor. Next we had our weight belts on, and I was the first to jump in. It looked pretty easy at start, but once you are in the middle of the sea in the water, waves splashing you against the boat, only your head above the water, and the water itself tasting salty, breathing is difficult indeed. Its the first time in your life you release that breathing which we take for granted, no not for granted any more. All of your life you have practiced and learnt to breath from your nose, involuntary, and now you have to change that in a minute - you have to learn and adapt to breathing from your mouth. Its not easy to start with - take a few long breaths under water and suddenly you realize the the air is not enough, and you try breathing little harder, and the face mask sticks to your nose, you cant breath any longer, you panic and wooh! There goes the breathing regulator out from your mouth and the salty water literally shakes you up inside out! I need a break. And climbed back on to the boat. Haah, I am safe now, for the time being.

We had limited time on our diving trip, and she was next. It took only 5 minutes at max for her to get used to the all the stuff that I tried for 10 mins, and before I could realize, she disappeared with the master in the water. I waited, and waited, and waited a bit more, it was 5 mins and she had not surfaced. Another 2 minutes, and she surfaced for couple of minutes to tell me how beautiful and calm it was under the sea, and went back in. I was amazed at the speed she adapted to the water, and ready to go at it again for the second time. Well, that definitely pepped me up. I went in after she came out. This time two breaths for practice and I was in with the Master. Every word she said about the world beneath the surface was so true. Its amazingly calm under the sea; all you can feel is your own heart beat, and hear the escaping bubbles your own breathing. The water was clearer than I expected, at first nothing was visible, but as I descended further I realized that I was already 6m down under. The whole world suddenly comes alive - the sea floor made of beautiful colorful corals all around you, and schools of different color and types of fish - small to large - just swimming past you as if nothing has changed. There are no words to describe the over whelming experience, you have to be in there to feel it alive. I wanted to stay there for ever, but I had a good 10 minutes under the sea. Back to the surface, back in the boat, and wished we had done diving daily for at least 4 hours for each day that we stayed in Bali. :)

Back on the shore, a quick shower with fresh water and ready for the next venture. Para-Sailing. This time, it was only her. The instructor quick got all the gear out, 5 minutes of instructions, still little hesitant but finally went up in the sky in a flick. It was a 10 minute long hovering over the sea and the coastal area, before exhibiting a precision landing at the designated spot! The joy of the flight along with the thrill of the adventure and happiness from the act was reflecting all at that very moment on her face. Wrapped up our things reluctantly at the adventure club, as we had to carry on to our next destination - the Turtle Island. It was a 10 - 12 minutes boat ride, arranged by Uede, to further north and north west of the Tanjung Benoa. Its a small island, funded by the government, primarily for the turtle conservation. They have a good collection of turtles - most of them come across to the island to feed during the high tide. There are separate tanks, I guess for breeding purpose or special care of injured / rescued turtles. What amazed us was the sheer size of turtles - though have seen it on Discovery and NatGeo - this is the first time we touched them and experienced them in the same water as us. Pretty inquisitive by nature, they all start squirming around you the moment you step into the water - small ones from the size of a hand to huge ones over 100 years in age and I guess around 50kg in weight. Try feeding them some sea weeds (the island authorities keep that) and they snap it right from your fingers. Note of caution: turtles have very strong snapping jaws, you and only you are responsible for your fingers! :)

Besides turtles, the place also has bats, python, osprey or the fishing eagle, one or two birds - mainly to attract tourists and spread awareness. You may see lot of school going kids on outing here, getting themselves familiar with the nature and the various species. The care taker staff is very polite and hospitable, and encourage you to touch and feel the different species, and built trust and confidence in conversing all wildlife around us. You may also donate if you like; the funds would be used for the upkeep of the place. There are various options - the payment can be done right there against a receipt, or you can get a receipt and go back to your hotel to leave the donation in a sealed envelop at the front desk, which the staff comes and collects against the issued receipt number. In all we spent an hour and a half there; tired, hungry, thirsty, but still full of enthusiasm to go on and experience more Bali. The were already getting the feeling that its our last day here, and were wishing if we could stay more. Anyways, we jumped in our boat to be back at the adventure club where Ketut was waiting and more than eager to find out if we liked the island. He dropped us back to our hotel, and was hesitant to accept any payment for the whole day he had spent taking us out in his cab. It was more of his kind gesture which he, in lieu of our association with him over all these days of our stay and outings in Bali, politely extended to us.

Back at the hotel, straight to the bar, ordered some amazing lunch, couple of drinks, cool breeze blowing right across your face, and it feels like heaven again. She decided to visit the hotel Spa for some relaxation therapy massage; I whiled away the time over pool (pool table!) and darts board. Went off to our room, rested for a while, freshened up, and back on deciding the dinner venue. We had tried almost all good looking places in the same lane as our hotel except one - The Tree. And that was the venue. No one else had return from their day trip till now, so we headed for the restaurant, located around 100m from our hotel. The food was simple - beef curry and vegetable curry - well cooked, low on spices, and fantastic. The live music made the place a lot livelier and turned the simple dinner into quite and experience. Started feeling a bit low, walked our last-leisure-walk back to our hotel, settled the hotel bills - part in USD - part in SGD - part in IDR and the rest in INR of the CC, booked the taxi for the morning ride to airport, and went for the last view of the sea shimmering under the moonlight. Sat there for quite a while, watching the endless expanse and never ending waves, the subtle sound of the breeze and cold sand beneath our feet. Back to the room and were busy wrapping up things, packing up luggage, and off to bed in the wee hours of the morning.. wished we don't have to wake up to go back! :)

Bali, Day +5

There are no excuses today. We did wake up early. More importantly, all by ourselves; got ready and headed for the breakfast. RM, who had joined us yesterday night from Singapore, were not in for the trip we had planned for today. Little confusion over the the taxi reservations, and soon we were heading towards the Besakih Temple, also know as the Mother Temple of Bali. Kintamani Volcano, or the Mt. Batur was next on the agenda, followed by evening at Luhur Temple at Uluwatu. Ketut was as usual our driver, guide and consultant for the trip. As we hurled out of the city limits and ventured into the hills, beautiful scenic landscapes ran throughout our journey till the temple. After paying up the entrance fee of 10k IDR per head and 5k for Cameras, you reach the parking lot. The temple association has had problems with locals from other areas of Bali over earnings from tourists, and thus do not allow anyone except them to be your guide to the temple. Going to the extent of telling you that you will not be allowed entrance at places inside the temple, they would give their best shot at negotiating their fees as well as a donation for the temple. Regardless of the fees, which is usually be around 50k IDR, it is a good option to hire a guide to explain you the history and parts in the temple, which otherwise is left to your homework on history lessons and relating it to the monument. We hired one. The donation is voluntary and we decided against it as the up-keep of the temple is covered by the government (as per our sources) and there is no shortage of funds.

Ketut had though well in advance for us and brought with him sarongs and belts that one needs to wear before entering the temple. He even helped us wearing them in the traditional style, which came out looking very funny on us indeed. The temple entrance looks grand - a flight of stairs running up to a huge gate - every inch has idols on either sides of the stairs - every one unique. A few steps on the stairs and you start realizing the beautiful view of the valley behind you, lush green and tantalizing your senses. Though I did not hear much of what the guide was narrating, but for sure the temple was complex, with many different sub-sections, different levels connected through stairs, each level with its own set of wonderful spires. Unique idols are spread all over the place - each adding a distinct attraction to the place. The main prayer area has three idols based on the Hindu mythology - Bhrama, Vishnu and Shiva - the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer. Recommended by the guide, we offered prayers in traditional style to the almighty, and took couple of shots of the place before proceeding. As you climb to the higher premises of the temple, the view keeps getting better and better. We saw a couple of more sub-sections of the temples before deciding to head to our next destination, rather quickly, as the it seems that the clouds had a big time plan to cover up Mt. Batur, and we did not want to delay things further and land up in the same situation as Tanah Lot temple letting the sun hide behind the clouds just at the time of the sunset!

Back on the interesting twisting road, up and down between the hills, and we were looking at the majestic Mt. Batur in no time. Clouds have achieved what they wanted, or what we feared; but we soon learnt that the it was not unusual for that place to receive a bit of rain during the day. The nature has molded the landscape in such a way that Mt. Batur on one side and a a continuous chain of small hills on the other side, separated by the Batur Lake in between, all form a kind of channel to drive in the clouds from one end and gather them up to do a fly-by over the cliff side restaurant - Lakeview - where we were standing right now - showering nice cold droplets all over. The restaurant serves only buffet lunch, no breakfasts, no snacks, no dinners. The food is Indonesian, and pretty good, though the service was a little slackly. The best part of Lakeview was the view of Mt. Batur and Batur Lake it offered from the open seating area - its right on a cliff standing on the Batur lake with Mt. Batur on one side and the chain of hills on the other - forming a closed end. The paths of the lava flow from the last time the volcano went active can be clearly seen as relatively darker areas than the surroundings. The crater was visible but not clear, even with our 300mm lens, due to very less ambient light from the ever-growing cloud cover. We gave our cameras another chance to shoot a couple more times at the mountain and the crater on our way to Luhur Temple at Uluwatu.

The drive was long, but beautiful and scenic - most of the times running through paddy plantations. We passed through the Seminyak town - from the glimpse it looked relatively posh than the rest of Bali - good branded shops on the roadside - also known for its stylish bars and legendary clubbing scenes. May be next time, we would put this town on our agenda too, for now lets rush to Uluwatu. The drive was made interesting by our cab driver Ketut, with information on the naming tradition of kids in the family. Balinese do not have a surname, and the first name is either Woyan (first child), Made (the second), Nyoman (third) or Ketut (the fourth). The second name is usually the given name; in Ketut's case, it was Suryawan - Surya referring to clouds, Awan means the clouds - since he was born on a cloudy day. He resides with his parents and wife and is blessed with twins - a boy and a gal - 8 months old now. We learnt couple of other day life things typical of Balinese culture from him too. And thanks to him, he did warn us to beware of Monkey Business at Uluwatu - a practice very common at the temple where the monkeys snatch any accessories you have - your hat, glasses, earrings, slings, etc., and a local helping you out in retrieving the same from them in return for some money. The arrived a bit late and hastily went in after paying up for the entry tickets and free sarongs n' belts which we needed to wears as a tradition in the temples. Sun was again behind the clouds, but the orange gleams piercing through the clouds in the background of the temple's silhouette was amazing sight.

The Luhur temple also features a Kecak dance, if I remember correctly, on all days, which is more like a very alive play of the Hindu scripture - Ramayana. Almost all the people who visit the temple gather around to see this performance by beautifully dressed local performers. There are separate tickets to enter the performance area, an open auditorium with multi-level seating arrangement all around the center stage. A handout is available along the tickets to read about and follow the sequence of events in the mythological story enacted by the performers. The performance was great - carried out in parts - each signifying an important part of the scripture. A fire-dance sequence is also a part of it and was done with live fire to give a very dramatic effect to the whole act. A must see if you are visiting that temple. It had gone dark by now, we roamed around a bit in the temple complex, before taking the cab back to the hotel.

While others headed to a dinner at Nusa Dua area, we headed straight back to our hotel. Asked Ketut to take us for the water sports tomorrow. A nice cold shower is such a relief after a long day. For the first time over our stay, we tried the local cuisine at our hotel itself with some good Mojito and Long Island Ice Tea. Both the food and the hospitality was great, so was the live musicians who played "I cant help falling in love" by our table side. Overall a well set evening, better than expected. Spent some more time talking a walk along the beach, couple of night shots, and dozed off dreaming of the wet sand under our feet, the touch of the sea waves and shimmering ocean under the moonlit sky..

Bali, Day +4

Ok.. Let me put the blame on my wrist watch this time - the alarm did not sound at all! When I woke up, the watch was in the running in the India timezone. I guess the timezone button must have got pressed while I was asleep and switched over from Bali local time to India time. And, we woke up late. For the third consecutive day, her dream - to jog on the beach in the early morning - got shattered. And we missed to go for the water sports. But what the heck! We enjoyed lazing around in the comfy confines of the bed. Missing the breakfast was not a big deal for us who are not used to having breakfast for quite some time (I mean in years).. But the thought of missing out the fun did provoke us out of the bed and hurry downstairs to start living another day in Bali. Grabbing a quick bite at the breakfast table, we went straight to the travel desk and the coordinator was more eager and enthusiastic than us to plan our day. Where in today's world do you get to meet such genuine people? In no time we were all chalked out for the Bird Park and the Bali Zoo for the day and back to square one after a quick stop-over at Kuta.

I have never been to a Bird Park before, but definitely have been to a zoo even though it was long back over my childhood days. At the most I have seen birds kept at home by some of my friends, and also seen them at the pet shops. Two things were very common at such places - one, the beautiful birds themselves, and two, the stink from their feathers and the poo they leave behind, which unfortunately, does not even go after regular up-keep of the place or the enclosure. I would relate all that to the big bird park now, and was sure to get both of them in a much amplified way - the beauty and the stink. All pepped up and ready to step in, we arrived at the bird park, got ourselves entry tickets which included an entry to the adjacent Reptile Park too. Our entry was greeted by a big and beautiful blue-golden Macaws, sitting on a small tree directly in front of us. It seemed to be not bothered by our presence at all even though we were just a few feet away - perhaps got used to people coming in and going out and has stopped giving any attention anymore. Soon there were more of the same spices, scarlet Macaw, a white Cockatoos, sitting on the surrounding flora, busy in their own activities, chirping and fluttering in a free world. A little ahead and you are in a whole new world of birds - some never seen before - some only seen on discovery - some just heard of - and all are there, right in front of your eyes. A few are in open, and the others in a range of enclosures - small ones, medium ones with little vegetation to create the natural environment effect, and large with complete trees and bushes and water bodies inside. Though the walkways are well defined, you can walk up to the enclosures to take a closer look. My camera could not be happier if it wasn't due to these birds; and of course, us too! The park is full of surprises - you find yourself walking along an small lake - coming to life with lots of pelicans, herons, egret, hornbills, and similar species - all in open, right in front of you - that you can stretch and touch them. No sooner had we formed our opinion of the best experience in Bali, we had another surprise in stock - Aviaries - not one, but a couple of them - organized as per the regions to where the birds inside belong to. Africa, Borneo, Papua, Java, Bali and others - spreading over huge spaces, perfectly landscaped with water bodies, trees and small hills with raised walkways above the ground to experience the rain-forest aviaries from above, with the birds flying and whizzing past your heads. No, I am not scaring anyone, it indeed is an exciting experience!

Almost everywhere around the enclosures, even within the aviaries, there are placards with detailed information on the birds - their scientific name, common name, habitat, preferred food, etc. And you have no difficulty in recognizing them throughout the park. In case of doubt or clarification, there is plenty of staff in the bird park whom you are ask all your queries. At places, the staff even promotes holding birds in your hands and getting familiar with it. We did it for the big preying birds - Great Horned Owl and the Brahminy Kite - the owl being almost 60cm in height, perfect yellow iris, as majestic as anyone could be, confident, bold and firm. The kite was more eager, responding to even the slightest sounds in the surroundings, constantly analyzing everything around. A truly amazing experience of a lifetime! Mandarin ducks displaying their beautiful plumage, Yellow Flanked Skinks sun bathing on the pathways, lead us to the restaurant section in the park. It semi-enclosure with three sides open to the park, and gave us the opportunity to have our (late) lunch with Peacocks which come on and off and roam around the tables in the seating area. The park also holds regular shows at fixed timings and we happened to sit through one of such programs - Meet the Bird Star - where a collection of birds are showcased with information on their behavior and specialties. If you get a chance to witness any of the shows in the park, they are definitely a go.

Right adjacent to the bird park is the reptile park - a comparatively smaller area - has one dark and humid alley or rather tunnel to walk through along with a guide from the park. I guess that maintained to provide an environment natural to the reptiles. A lot glass enclosures feature different reptiles found in and around Indonesia - from snakes, to tree frogs, to skinks and lizards. Similar to the bird park, there are placards with every enclosure to read and learn about the reptiles showcased. The tunnels lead you back to the open area housing Iguanas and a variety of Crocodiles in fenced enclosures. Holding the Iguanas in your hands is a cool thing - contrary to our beliefs of the slimy, slippery and yucky reptiles, they have a dry, rough and patchy skin, relatively cold, and are very silent and calm in your hands; perhaps they are used to it. Learning and seeing couple of more enclosures with different species of Crocs and a few pythons, we had finally finished touring the park. The whole trip to the parks is no immensely involving, that we hardly realized using up all the time - even the one we had planned for the zoo. What else? Though a bit sad about it, we had to skip the zoo; but eventually were happy on the fact that at least not even for a single minute in the trip around the park was in any way wasted - it was all worth it.

We are on our way back now.. all the way looking back the snaps we have clicked at the park.. Recalling the birds and the reptiles.. I guess we did not care whether it was Kuta that we were going to or Aston Bali. Arrived in Kuta well in time to catch up with other friends who had been to Ubud for some more shopping, only to learn that they were delayed by 2 hours or so. Planned to go to the local market which, unfortunately had closed early by that day due to local celebration for full-moon nights. Well, shopping never stops, whether one market is closed or not. And we found ourselves in the Discovery Mall, with a good coffee as the first thing on our agenda. The mall is well organized with almost all major brands as well as small shops and stalls retailing local products, mainly dresses and accessories, wooden artifacts, footwear, souvenirs, etc. The back side of the mall opens up on a beautiful west facing sea shore, giving us another chance to witness a beautiful sunset. Sat there for a while, I tried a few clicks and we were back in the Mall. By the time she picked up a new dress, and few accessories, and few footwear, and few living room decorations, and, ok ok, and nothing else, our friends had arrived. Dinner was next on the agenda, and Ifiori Ristorante was a good choice. An Italian restaurant with good food, good cocktails, good service, and I don't remember anything after that as I had Kamakazi running though my veins.

I think by default but involuntarily we have fixed on the our pre-sleep activities - the moon, sea, sand and beer in hand - comes naturally. And today was no different. Spent some time watching the endless sea.. waves shimmering in the moonlight.. with plans to visit a volcano and the mother temple tomorrow, we slipped into the comfy confines of the bed in a perfectly air conditioned room - the same place we woke up from. :)

Bali, Day +3

Though we had planned yesterday to start off the day little early, I guess the hotel rooms are too comfy to leave that early! With great effort we made it to the travel desk on time, SP were the next to join. Inquired about the trip around the island and decided upon covering Batubulan - famous for batik art and paintings, Mas - known for unmatched craftsmanship in wood carvings, Ubud - identified as one of the major arts and culture center of Bali along, and then traveling through the Monkey Forest to visit Tanah Lot temple before wrapping up the day. We finalized the day's itinerary with the travel desk and booked a cab to take us around. AS joined us soon over the breakfast and we were all geared up for the day outing. Our cab was already waiting for us when we reached the travel desk and were greeted quite warmly by our driver-cum-guide-cum-consultant Ketut Suryawan - who helped us settle well in the Toyota Innova. In no time we were unwinding the city roads towards Batubulan.

The stop over in Batubulan was at a big art gallery with an in-house unit for demonstrating the art of Batik Painting. The painting is finished in stages with wax coatings at each stage covering up areas on the base material to prevent the color bleeding. Each stage applies colors in the sketched areas on the material. Finishing the material is boiling it to remove all the wax revealing the beautiful colorful painting. We went around the gallery and came across a wonderful piece with five faces reflecting distinct emotions. Liked at the first sight, bought in the second. A little expensive, but surely worth it. Picked up a couple of silk scarfs too before heading out to the next destination - Mas!

As you start nearing the Mas village, a number of small and big roadside establishments catch your attention with amazing carvings. Though advised by Ketut on bargains and negotiations, we decided not to stop over for these shops and instead headed to a main wood carving gallery. Its was our first time looking and wood art, and I must admin that it is very difficult to make head or tail out of it. Every carving had something about itself and an excellent piece of craftsmanship. There were a few from the junior artist, but the difference between the them and the one carved by a master was quite evident. We learned quite a few tips about assessing the artwork like differentiating between the types of woods used, the finesse of the craftsmanship, etc. and the things made quite some sense in checking out the vast variety and hundreds of pieces of artwork. Carving of Buddha, Hindu gods, birds, dragons, reptiles, copulating humans, mythological faces, etc. were the main attractions - different shapes, sizes, and colors. The native specialty of wooden masks fascinated us a lot, with idol of meditating Buddha being the second thing that worked up its priority on our shopping list. But the particulars one we liked in the shop were of ebony wood and crafted by the master himself, were quite expensive and way over our budget. Even though we did not pick anything ourselves, the overall experience was quite appeasing.

It is afternoon now and in plain words, we all are feeling very hungry. Reaching Ubud was marked by our anxiety to reach out the first decent restaurant and cater to our appetite on an immediate basis. We soon found ourselves sitting at the Bumbu Bali local restaurant opposite the Ubud Palace entrance, and soon were concentrating on munching away to glory. Though the place did not appeal that much on the first looks, the food was good and delicious. Fully recharged now, the next destination was most obvious - the shopping streets - the main attraction of Ubud. The cotton dresses are unique, graceful and quite appealing. Picked up a few and realized in time that we need to refuel our wallets with more local currency as not all small-time retailers accept dollars. Found a ATM, unfortunately to realize that both the options for language selection - English and Bhasha Indonesian - resulted in Bhasha Indonesian! Did not want to take risk with our already constrained funds, delayed the withdrawal to a later time. So the tip is to make sure you refuel your wallets sufficiently before hitting any local market as your would find lots and lots of stuff that you wanna buy! Besides dresses, the place is full of unique handicrafts, copies of all wood carvings that you would see in any of the authentic galleries of Mas, masks, accessories, paintings, n' all. Our search for Buddha is still on - we are looking for neat Buddha statue which we liked in Mas, but all copies were below the craftsman ship that we were expecting. I think the main reason is seeing the best of the works which has raised the expectations. And now all copies are falling way below the expectations; even though they were dirt cheap, we could not make up our minds to settle on one. Bargaining is the key, start with 40% of the quoted price and you can easily settle up around that price. Thanks to Ketut for sharing the tip with us.

We had already hit our deadline to leave the place and be at the Tanah Lot temple in time for the sunset, though not by a very large margin. Tanah Lot temple is know of its beautiful and serene sunsets. Started soon to continue our journey.. The cloudy weather was not very appealing, continuously shaking our plans to see the sunset. Anyways, we crossed our fingers and carried on directly to the temple, dropping the plans to spend some time at the Monkey Forest as initially planned. A line local shops lead us to the entrance of the temple and the first view brought big smiles on our face. The entrance point is relatively on a higher ground gradually leading downwards to the beach on one side, and leading upwards on the right to a cliff top! A beach on one side, temple in the middle and the sea waves splashing against the hard cliff walls make up an amazing sight. The Holy Water Spring site was a huge rock on the beach with temple on the top and a small cave inside. The cave has a sweet water spring which did surprise us - there is lot of water around - all but salty sea water - even if you dig a well, natural filtration won't be enough for taking out all the salt.. But yet, the spring water is fresh water - sweet to be honest. Unbelievable! Offered our little prayers, took the blessings from the water, and started enjoying the scenery around. Explored the scenic surroundings for some time, enjoyed watching the sea playing with the rocks, sending waves across to us. Listening to the waves is altogether a different experience - brings a feeling of endless peace and tranquility - makes you feel relaxed and refreshed! Before we figure out, the time had run out, it was getting dark and difficult to shoot any pics too!

Ketut suggested to try out a Balinese restaurant near out hotel for dinner. Fantastic idea after a long day's outing, who could refuse! We got dropped in front of Kecak Bali - the Balinese restaurant at a stone's throw away from our Aston Bali. While we munched on the complimentary sea food crackers, our food was on its way to our table. The choose the typical Balinese preparation Ayam Betutu - a grilled chicken dipped in a bit of sauce served with white rice, while she choose to feast on her all time favorite Cap Cay - one of the few known vegetarian dishes. Good preparations, but a bit dry if compared to the Indian cuisine, but for sure not lacking in taste! Hitting bed was as usual preceded by a drink or two at the beach in our hotel, walking on the cool sand, the waves calling you out to the sea, sea itself shimmering like quick silver in the moonlight.. A difficult decision to go back to the room, but have to, got an early day tomorrow at water sports and birds park.

Good Night.. :)