Away from home for 3-4 days.

 

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del.icio.us Tags: travel,Valsad,Vapi,Bombay,Gujarat

I will be travelling to Bombay tonight and will be back on 23rd of this month, just few days. I will also be visiting Valsad, in Gujarat, about 150 kms from Bombay.

I had to leave my tender seedlings of Ochra, Basil, Lavender etc etc which I had planted using Coco peat for the first time ,with a neighbor to take care when I am travelling. They are doing well. :) I am so happy, the most difficult seed has been Lavender, but they have sprouted too. More about these seedling when I am back.

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Quote of the Day:
Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others.
--Robert Louis Stevenson

Nokia Sports Tracker

 

Nokia Sports Tracker is an application which comes with most of the new bunch of mobile phones from Nokia which contain GPS units. Which is almost every new mobile Nokia is releasing these days.  I used Nokia Sports Tracker, when I am capturing pictures on a trip and tag them with GPS co-ords, or when doing my routine walks (got to, reduce my mid a bit ;) ) or logging my journeys when I go on vacations. Its an incredibly beautiful applications, at least till recently at least.

I had few of my own wish lists for improving this beautiful application though.

Recently there has been a Beta of the Sports Tracker application, where Nokia has made few significant changes.

Now, the track also shows map overlay

Ability to rename the tracks.

Both the things are slightly problematic apart from occasional messing up the screen fonts.

 

1. The same maps which are used by Nokia Maps are used, but I don't think they are re-using the maps downloaded already. The screen at least says data loaded in kbs (no network activity detected like connecting to the network is observed). Its not yet clear to me if they are downloading the map while logging the track.

2. I renames few tracks, and the logs are useless I can not load the my GPS logs for those tracks. Don't use this feature you will make the data useless.

 

I agree that this is a beta release and many problems can be ironed out during subsequent releases or in patches. But, its quite simple things to have been checked before making even a beta release.

 

As a consequence of loading maps during the logging of GPS co-ordinates, the sports tracker has lost its speed. And I expect it to have a huge impact on my logging over extended periods. Some times when I am driving for 12-13 hours at a stretch, I expect it to consume all the memory, and when I loose network connection during my travel into the wilderness it might even freeze the phone.

A much bigger application, Nokia maps is more agile than Sports Tracker now. It would have been easier for Nokia to add logging feature in the map application than adding Map feature to the Logging Application.

Trafiic Police

Last evening I had to goto Hyderabad Deccan or Nampally Railway station as it is popularly know in Hyderabad, to see of a friend taking a train to Bombay.
Just in front of the railway station, I took the U-turn, and I was caught by the Traffic Police as its forbidden to take a U-turn at that junction. Mistake was clearly mine, I had not observed the puny little "No U-Turn" sign at that junction.

The police man asked me to step out of the car and pay the fine. I told him that I did not see the sign board, but will pay the fine. He took me to his superior where I asked them to write my fine and let me go as I had to go to the station. From what I observed, even though, I did a traffic rule violation, they were reluctant to write me a fine and let me pay the fine. They were rather interested to get some money (of course less than the traffic fine I had to pay) instead of making me pay for the fine. Ultimately, they let me go, with out loosing their face as my car registration is from Delhi.

The traffic constable was almost begging for the money to be paid, I walked off as if I did not observe his sorry face.

I felt really sad to see the traffic police in a state which makes them to beg for some money and be corrupt. I would have been so happy if they made me cough up fine instead of letting me go away.

Golconda

del.icio.us Tags: History,Monuments,India,Photo,Destruction of Monuments,Kindoms,Princly States,Kohinoor,Diamond,Moghul,Aurengzeb,Hyderabad

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Golconda according to the web site of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department, I quote :

"Golconda Fort was built on a hill in 1143 AD & was strengthened & enlarged between 14th & 17th centuries. It has a chequered history with all the trappings of intrigue & murders. It has palaces, mosques, a hilltop pavilion & magnificent tombs. The founder of the Qutb Shahi dynasty Sultan Quli was murdered at the behest of his son. The last of the Qutb Shahis, Abul Hassan was betrayed by his lieutenants, leading to the fall of the impregnable Golconda in the hands of the Moghals under Aurangzeb in 1687. The fort is famous for its acoustics & ingenious water supply & drainage system.

Located at a distance of 13 Kms from Hyderabad is a magnificent structure that reflects the genius of its builders with walled enclosures and palaces on the hillock. The fort was earlier constructed with mud and white cement, was later fortified by the Mogul rulers and well known for its acoustics, ingenious water supply and drainage system all over the world. "

Golconda has another fame to it's credit, The Kohinoor, the Diamond which is the crown jewel of British Monarchy was discovered in Golconda. Go ahead, Google it, you will get lots of interesting tidbits.

I visited Golconda, may be after 20-25 years or even more. It was a beautiful sight at first. Then my heart was thoroughly saddened to see the filth and destruction caused by the visitors to this magnificent and historically important monument.

In the evenings (starts at about 7.30 PM local time) there is a Sound and Light show arranged by the Tourism Department, which narrates the Saga of Golconda with Folk Songs, Gazhals and sound effects. Its worth attending every penny or cent which ever is your currency.

 

Here is the map of Golconda:

 

Here are the pictures from my recent trip to Golconda:

 

 

 

 

Now comes the ugly pictures. I want you to see and shame those people who indulge in these kind's of activities, destroying the environment and beauty.

 

 

 

 

Bhuvanagiri. Interesting places

del.icio.us Tags: travel,history,india,hyderabad,forts,chalukya

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Bhongir Fort

Just 48 kms from Hyderabad this magnificent fort offers the real offbeat weekend getaway for those who appreciate the rare things of the past.

The splendid historical fort with the awe-inspiring rock and the aesthetically fortified courts which have stood the ravages of time stir the imagination of the tourists

Bhongir fort was built on an isolated rock by the western Chalukya ruler Tribhuvanamalla Vikramaditya VI in the year 1076 and was thus named after him as Tribhuvanagiri. This name gradually became Bhuvanagiri and subsequently Bhongir.

This fort is located upon a single hill More than 500 feet high and spread over an area of 40 acres,It has a unique egg-shaped construction with two entry points protected by huge rocks

A moat encircles the fort, which has a wide underground chamber, trap doors, an armory, stables, ponds and wells

A deep gash in the rock was dammed up at several places, thus creating a series of reservoirs collecting rain water. Lotuses still grow in the pools today.

A panoramic view of the surrounding countryside is available from the fort area.

 

Bhongir is on the way to Warrangal from Hyderabad and is on NH-202. Road is fairly good and scenery beautiful. It is advised to travel to Bhongir in the evening, but, it is better to finish the climbing by 6 in the evening as the low light might be a problem once darkness sets in. Good shoes will reduces the strain on your legs. In summer, the rocks will be blistering hot.

Light cotton clothes, a better option. Umbrella's good idea too, but the winds can be a strain on your arms when you have umbrella.

The climb is moderately difficult.

Impressive.....

 

  The stairs take you through the history.

 

 

 

 

Bhongir town from the top. The noise from the bus-stand at the foot of the hills is ugly even when you climb up. Its a noisy and ugly experience. People litter, without concern about the value of such magnificent structure.

 

I saw these wild flowers on the way to the top. Pretty ear studs.

 

At about 6 in the evening thousands of kits and eagles over the hills and the fort.

Bhongir Map

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Other links related to Bhongir:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/183752819CfGOUK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhuvanagiri,_AndhraPradesh

http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/tree/21/bhongir.htm

http://wikimapia.org/country/India/Andhra_Pradesh/Bhongir/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hirsuteursus/page5/

 

http://sandeepchandna.blogspot.com/2006/07/bike-trip-to-bhuvangiri-fort.html

http://nharihar.blogspot.com/2007/06/kanushs-first-trek-fort-bhongir-june.html

http://www.geocities.com/veerabadran/Footplate/fplat3.htm

http://www.indiaprofile.com/tourist-attractions/andhra-pradesh/monuments/bhongir-fort-bhongir.html

http://www3.utsidan.se/cykelresan/dagbok_020212.shtml

http://picasaweb.google.com/luboslav.buch/081201NedelaBhongirFortTemple/photo#5141860228244697074

http://travel.chrisclicks.com/category/bhongir-fort/