A couple of towns in UK

 

A sales conference in London gave me some time to get back to UK and travel some more. We reached a day early and I took a walk around Cranford Park close to our hotel for stretching my legs after a long flight. The next day, we mostly hung around London along the river Thames. It has been over 10 years since I last went there but most areas still looked the same. We walked past the regular tourist spots not getting into any of them but having a good picnic. Photos with the Tower Bridge will never really go out of fashion.

After the 3 day conference, we were debating on where to for a day trip. I was thinking Dover & Canterbury but one of the local's suggested Brighton instead. A lazy beach town was definitely a welcome change after 3 days at the office. A couple of trains later we got to the town and walked over to the beach. The huge observation tower on the beach is easily visible to guide anyone to the seashore and the view from the Palace Pier is refreshing. To get to the edge of the pier we needed to go through the arcade. While places were still opening as it was early in the day, we were good to just soak in the sun. When it was time for lunch we found a vegan pub called the "The World's End". Also known for its retro arcade, a number of plant based burgers had all the vegetarians in the group really happy. The evening was spent at the Royal Pavilion - a formal royal residence built with Mughal influenced architecture that has been converted into a palace museum and gardens. Watching the opulence of the previous royals with some history lessons was a nice way to wrap up the day as we then got back to London.

On the next day, the rest of the group had their flight in the evening so they went to Oxford street to wrap up some shopping, I took off to Oxford city in pursuit of more sights instead. The day was 2nd of July and interestingly it was Alice's day (the Lewis Carrol wonderland gal). As parades with balloons and costumed wonderland characters ran along the town, I tried to get my bearings on places to visit in the city. I took a guided walking tour around the city to learn about the architecture and see some Harry Potter shooting spots. I then made a quick trip to the natural history museum and finally wrapped up the day with a long walk within one of the colleges in the city. The grounds had deer and a the hostels had a pub, convincing me that if I ever continued my education, Oxford would definitely be one of my preferred choices. 

The flight next day was surprisingly smooth. Heathrow had been facing the after effects of revenge travel so everyone who left earlier had faced crazy queues and massive delays but all I had to go through was a half an hour wait outside the lounge.

Photo Album Here

Dehing Patkai - Rains of Assam

 To be honest, I had never heard of Dehing Patkai before I booked, but with school holidays and the rest of the family heading out to Mumbai, I figured I could do a quick solo trip. I checked with the few wildlife trip organizers I knew and this one came up. I was happy to jump on to this. I was expecting a D850 I had purchased recently to arrive but it hadn't reached so I had to stick to my D7000. Since it was last minute planning, I missed the lens cover as well and all this came back to bite me pretty hard.

 

As I reached Guwahati and checked in the previous day to finish some work from home, my first sight was the hotel staff chasing away a massive spider out of the bathroom. Despite the intermittent rains, the weather was not harsh. As we started the drive out to Dehing Patkai on the first morning, the rains picked up. We stopped for breakfast and managed to see a watercock in the nearby fields. After checking into the hotel, we started birding in the Soraipung range. Consistent rains made things quite hard on the camera despite a lens cover lent to me by the organizer. Bad light and the nature of the terrain left us with fewer pictures than on a trip like this. However, we did see quite a few species over the 3 days and even came up on a herd of elephants as well during one of the sessions.

The area of course was phenomenal for the bird variety. Rains made photography difficult and with a refinery very close by occasional human disturbances were also expected but despite that there were many lifers for me in the trip. I finally saw a black baza, an oriental dwarf kingfisher and the chestnut winged cuckoo all that I have been trying to see in southern India but have not succeeded. The Austen Brown hornbill required a bit of a climb in pouring rain so I gave that a skip to not take any risks with a bunch of other trips coming up. Towards the end of the trip, we got to know an orange alert had been declared in Assam and as a response to that my camera died out. The hooded pitta had been teasing me with glimpses throughout the sessions and now the camera was almost dead it happily perched in front of me. I did manage to salvage some shots of it but there were plenty of other happier sightings. We wrapped up the last day with a few hoolock gibbons in the morning and a quick 2 hour session at Maguri Beel grasslands for a few babblers.

Photo Album

Leopards near Bhadra Reservoir

 

The previous trip to Bhadra had really blown my expectations of the place, so with a long weekend, I decided that it was definitely worth another visit to see if we could get another memorable trip here. The drive down was pleasant and I was prepared for the forest camera fees. It still feels unfair and given that it changes depending on the popularity of the spot makes it even more like a state sponsored fleecing exercise. The cottages still have some of the best views amongst all the JLRs though, overlooking the reservoir and this along with the increased sightings have made Bhadra wildlife sanctuary a more popular one which reflects in the higher prices.

 

The evening jeep safari started lazily with a few spotted deer, a monitor lizard, giant squirrels and a couple of raptors, but as the evening set in, things got more interesting as a female Malabar Trogon made an appearance and we found a leopard scurrying through at some distance. The next morning's boat safari was just as eventful, with another leopard watching us from the shore as we saw a few ospreys, grey headed fish eagles and great think-knees. No trip to bhadra is complete without watching the river terns on the island and despite the recent weather changes, there were quite a few terns fishing and hanging around the island.

After a few dips in the reservoir and some boating along the area, I spent the afternoon looking for birds in the campus. A lone tusker in the distance beyond the waters kept me company for a while and then a shama, leafbirds and a paradise flycatcher came down to the parking lot for a drink of water as the day grew hotter. That evening's jeep safari and the next morning's did not have any more larger carnivores, but we saw quite a few birds which kept the safaris fun. A crested serpent eagle swooped in for a kill which was hidden behind a log, a brown fish owl watched us lazily, while rufous woodpeckers went about their foraging without giving us a second glance. Malabar pied hornbills flew to their roosts in the evening and a few kingfishers flew by occasionally to keep us busy clicking photos. The trip was not as eventful as the last one, but despite that, it was still a fun trip to the backwaters.

Bhadra - 2022 Pics

The Bosporus and Istanbul

 

I have traveled via Istanbul a few times, but this was the first time I stepped outside the airport. The first few days were spent in meetings though we did get out to sample a lot of local food at restaurants as high profile as the Nusr-Et to the roadside eateries and sweet shops. I grew quite fond of the Turkish coffee and tea and spent quite a few catch-ups with one of the either. We were staying quite close to the Dolmabahce palace in one of the more active areas of town called Besiktas at a stone's throw from the Bosporus. With a bunch of eateries, artsy places and a vibrant party scene, the street was alive all night. I had a garden facing room which was still not too noisy, but the area was always buzzing whenever I walked out of the hotel.

 

 

After work was completed, I had a few days off to explore the city, so I started with Taksim square on the first evening that I was free. From the republic monument, I went in for a quick view of the Taksim mosque and then continued down Istiklal street popping into shops as well as landmarks as and how I came across them. The first major landmark I hopped into was the Church of Sant'Antonio di Padova, and further on were a bunch of churches, historical landmarks such as the Old Galatasaray post office and a bunch of modern shops all blending in with music, dance, tourists and food disturbed only by the occasional tram cutting through. I finally stopped at the tower of Galata and took in the panoramic views of the city and the strait from the top before walking back and closing the day. The way back to my hotel was a long 4 km walk, so I cut across on a cable car going through the city on its last trip which was another great view.

 

The next day started early for me as I got to the Dolmabahce palace as it opened and spent a good 3 hours walking through the largest palace in Turkey. With quite a few history lessons on Ataturk and the museums in its premises, the palace can be quite an engaging experience. After a quick lunch, I decided to take a ferry out to the Princes' island for the rest of the day. The ferry through the Bosporus was quite a fun ride with seagulls being fed by the locals, good views of landmarks from the strait and sales guys selling trinkets to the travelers in their own style. At the Büyükada island of the Adalar chain, I got off and went sight seeing. The houses and the local style looks right out of one of those old school movies, and a number of hiking trails let me walk through some of the more green hills to get to the Aya Yorgi church. The hike had delayed me so the church was closed, but without hanging around for too long, I got back quickly as I caught one of the later ferries back to Istanbul watching the sunset on the Bosporus.

The last day in Istanbul was reserved for all the tourist hotspots, so I started at the blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia watching the obelisk and other architecture on the way. Took the wrong bus and the wrong metro first, but then managed to get to the Sultanahmet Square to start the day. With a number of interesting places to cover, I spent most of the day walking all around the district. I wanted to go to the Basilica cistern, however it was closed for renovations so watched the sound and light show at the Cistern of Theodosius. The evening was spent exploring the Topkapi palace and the grand bazaar. To close the trip I took a dinner cruise through the Bosporus after sunset to see the city from the strait. The trip was a short and hurried one, but one that I did manage to cover at least the touristy city spots and mostly while walking.

Istanbul & Bosporus photos

Sunrises in the new year - Doha & Pondicherry

Doha Pics

Having lost most of 2021 and many travel plans to the pandemic and its multi faceted variants, 2022 seemed to bring in some normalcy to the craziness we had seen in the past 2 years. Business travel was opening up and I needed to go to Qatar for a week of meetings and quarantines. Having spent most of the previous year locked down at home, being locked down in the Marriott was a welcome experience. Not the most uncomfortable lockup I have been. Jet lag ensured that I woke up very early and meetings ensured I slept late. The cheery on top was of course was the sea view from my hotel room. I did not manage to explore the locales much in Doha due to the still restrictive restrictions but did manage to hang around the hotel beach and look at some good artwork.

A quick week later, I landed in Pondicherry for some time off with family. Staying at the club Mahindra there is always a relaxing holiday thanks to the beach proximity from the rooms. We did manage sunrises as well. The pleasant surprise here was that they had a turtle hatchery at the beach, and Feb is the end of the season for hatching. We saw a bunch of these hop out to the sea with help from the folks in charge. They also collect the eggs at night to re-bury them in a safe area away from dogs and naive tourists who may damage them. Due to this they knew when the eggs would hatch and where to follow the 'turtlings'.

 

 Pondicherry Pics

K-Gudi Jungle Lodges - BR Hills

With the new year bringing in a threat of lockdowns and restrictions due to Omicron, it looked like everyone wanted to go on a holiday before the next curfew began. We did not find too many open holiday spots for the year end but K-Gudi being one of the lesser known Jungle Lodges did have some availability. The drive from Bangalore is through Kanakpura and the bad roads made it longer than it should but the last stretch through the forest and hills is quite pleasant and peaceful since it does not connect any major hubs.

The lodges are as comfortable as the other JLRs and have quite a bit of bird life even in campus with us being able to spot blue bearded bee-eaters, common kingfishers, various woodpeckers, leaf birds, Tickel's blue flycatchers, rock thrushes, a scops owl and nut hatches within the campus itself. The safaris allowed us to see more raptors such as crested serpent eagles, hawk eagles, black eagles and owls. Mammal sighting though is quite tough given the hilly terrain and minimal line of sight, but we still spotted gaurs, a couple of barking deer, multiple giant squirrels and heard stories of wild dogs and sloth bear sightings.

In between the safaris on the second day, we managed to head out for a 45 minute drive through the forest to Sri Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple. The drive in the afternoon sun did not have any sightings other than a few turtles in a lake but the temple has some scenic views at the top. It is certainly a pleasant drive with almost no other vehicles. A lake near the parking area was also a nice place to spot more birds and deer in between safaris. We came back to Bangalore via Mysore road and despite being over 30 km longer it took the same time due to better roads. The trip was relaxing but quite a few of the other guests kept comparing it with Kabini and Bandipur saying sightings were far fewer. The animal sightings sure were lesser due to the terrain but it is a nice place to find birds in the winter.

More Pics from K-Gudi