Dandeli Reunion - Explore the Unexplored

Recently we planned a reunion of our degree(BE) project mates in Dandeli.We were meeting after nearly 19 years as a family group. We were six people in the project group and one person could not make it to the reunion due to personal work. We really had a great time visitng this place eventhough we missed the rafting in Kali river.  

Planning

One of our friends Nitin Kulkarni came up with an idea of reunion like this and we started to plan for the trip. We started to search for places for such an event. We considered Taarkarli beach, Mahabaleswar, Dandeli etc. Finally we decided to meet in Dandeli as it was convinient for most of the folks. 2 families were travelling from Bangalore,1 family from Belgaum and 2 families from Pune. As we had started planning one months in advance, we were able to book the bus/train tickets to reach to Dandeli. We searched for all the available resorts and different type of accomodation in or near Dandeli.   

Best Time to Visit

The best time to visit Dandeli is during winter from November- March.

How to get here

By Road
From Dharwar: You can get to Dandeli through Haliyal. It is nearly 55-60KM drive.
From Belgaum:                 1) Through Ramnagar-Ganeshgudi. It is 95 KM. This road is not so good
                                2) Through Nandgad- Haliyal. It is 106 KM. This road is better than the option above.
By Train
Nearest railway station is Londa. You can reach to Londa and get a taxi to Dandeli or Ganeshgudi. 

Where to stay
One can stay in resorts or homestays in Dandeli. Resorts are little expensive and provide good accomodation whereas homestays are less expensive and also provide good accomodation.

Resorts
There are many resorts available in and around Dandeli. some of them are provided below.
Bison River Resort
http://www.indianadventures.com/BisonRiverResort.htm

Hornbill River Resort
http://www.junglelodges.com/index.php/resorts/kali.html

Kulgi Nature Camp
http://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Review-g1156191-d2285756-Reviews-Kulgi_Nature_Camp-Dandeli_Karnataka.html

Kali Adventure Camp, Dandeli
http://www.junglelodges.com/index.php/resorts/kali.html

Homestays

There are many homestays available in and around Dandeli. Some good ones are given below.
Dandeli Jungle Inn
Contact Murali / Manju on 09845028667/09900671757
Landline number: 08284 232182
We stayed in this home stay and had real nice time. Very good for family. Murali and Manju takes care of the guest very well. Manju had taken us for bird watching and trekking.

Jungle Inn Dining Area

Jungle Inn Outside view

Play area for kids

Amara Homestay
This is the best home stay but we could not get accommodation here. They provide accommodation in tents as well. Next time plan to stay here.
http://dandeliamara.com/

Stanlay Homestay
http://www.dandelihomestay.com/


Things to do
Jungle Safari
This is nearly 2 hours open jeep safari through Anshi tiger reserve.You can spot different animals like Deer,Elephants,Bison,Tigers,Peacocks, Snakes etc. The jungle is very thick and has 2-3 view points. We were lucky to spot deers,goose and peacocks.

Picture from Moving Jeep

Deer Spotted

View from a view point in Jungle Safari

Syntheri Rocks
This is one of the locations where you can find different rocks. This is very good location and has a small water fall for taking pictures. One needs to climb down nearly 300 steps to reach the base of this location. While climbing up one can take a walkway (not through steps).

Syntheri Rocks

Rocks found around this area

Closer view

Natural Trail/Trekking
One can trek in the jungle to discover more about the jungle.Please make sure you have guide with you for the trek. This again is a cool experience.

Glimpse of flowers

Anthill

Touch me not

White anthill created in 5 days

Black anthill

Bird Watching
One can go to watch birds in forest. Hornbill is one of the major birds which is found around Dandeli.

Hornbill in flight

The great Indian Pride Horn bill. Very rare bird to be spotted. It is like spotting tiger in jungle safari

White breasted see gull and horn bill

Green breasted pigeon

Some bird

Green bird

Kayaking
Kayaking is available at Bison River resort. This is the first time I was doing kayaking and its really nice experience.

Boating

Natural Jackuji
Natura Jackuji is available at Bison river resort. This is great experience.

Rafting

We could not do the white water rafting as there was shutdown.

Camp fire
Jungle Inn and other resorts in the area arrange a camp fire.

Temple at Ulavi
There is a Channa Basav Temple at Ulavi.

Supa Dam
Supa dam is built on Kali river. It is built between two hills and gives a viewer a fantastic view.

Food

One can get good vegetarian and non veg food around Dandeli. Jungle Inn team provided us with very good food (breakfast, lunch and dinner).
If you are near Joida visit Nagaraj Naik's place for lunch or dinner. They serve great food.
Nagaraj Naik: 0948 063 5310. Please give a call at least 1 hour before reaching this place if the group is more than 4 people.

Games

We played following games during campfire.
1) Clap at 7: This game is played with counting numbers 1,2,3.....Each participant has to count a loud a number for his/her turn.When anyone gets a number 7 or multiple of 7 (14,21,28,...) or number with 7 (17,27,..) one has to clap instead of saying it a loud.The target is to reach maximum number as a team.
2) Kachchi Papayee, Pakki Papayee :Participants has to alternatively say a loud KachiPapayee or Pakki Papayee as per their turn.
3) Gobi Pukka, Kagi Pukka: same as above

Travel Tips

Plan to stay in home stays as they are less expensive and provide a similar experience as resorts.
The roads from Belgaum and Dharwar are not so good.
There are lot of agents who help in arranging tours around this area. Please make sure you have done good homework before you finalize on the stay.

Some links which will help

http://dandelimasti.com/

http://www.dandeli.com/

http://www.abhayaranyadandeli.com/acommodation.html

http://www.dandelitravel.com/Dandeli-Jungle-Stay.htm

http://www.dandeli.org/

http://dandeli.blogspot.in/

Adding a picture of the group.

Nitin Kulkarni,Baba Nadgir,Mohan Koti, Nitin Kangutkar,Mahesh Kulkarni,Mrs Kruti Nadgir, Mrs Gauri Koti,Mrs Prachi Kulkarni and Mrs Smitha Kangutkar.
Kids: Abhignya Nadgir,Aniket Nadgir, Sharanya Koti,Shrambhavi Koti,Sanika Kulkarni,Avanti Kanutkar,Natasha Kangutkar,Sharavani Koti

Water Falls Near Belgaum

Here's a blog on some of the waterfalls I visited recently near Belgaum...One thing I would admit at the beginning of the blog..that as it is water scarcity this year the water falls are not that attractive but Dudhsagar is Dudhsagar and you can not beat it. I'm not sure how I missed on visiting Dudhsagar when I grew up near Belgaum. All my school and college days have been in Belgaum..but I could not visit Dudhsagar which I think came in as surprise when I visited it this time....Let me start with the journey of the falls now....

Gokak Falls

This water falls is approx. 60KM(NE) from Belgaum. Easily accessible by bus,train, private vehicle etc. This falls is over the river Ghatprabha. There is very nice hanging bridge. As you can see from pictures the water scarcity is visible. When we used to visit this falls during my college days, the water used to be just 1 feet below the bridge...I did not capture pictures at that time :-(...
Food: There are few resorts on the way to Gokak Falls from Gokak. You can get good food.
Best Time to Visit: July- Sept
Gokak Falls in pictures

Gokak Falls



Hanging Bridge



Gokak Falls closer view

Gokak Falls from Hanging Bridge

Gokak Falls from Hanging Bridge

Do not miss: Gokak is famous for dessert called Kardant.If you have sweet teeth you should try this. 

Godchanmalki Falls

This is nearly approx. 15 KM south of Gokak falls. This falls is on river Markendeya.Easily accissible by private vehicles.  Vehicle access is not available beyond some specific point. One needs to walk for nearly 2-3 km before reaching the falls.You can find plenty of small falls if you want to get wet near this place.
Best Time to Visit: July- Sept
Godchanmalki Falls in pictures

Godchanmalki Falls I

Godchanmalki Falls II

On our way back we visited back water of Hidkal Dam. It is really cool place.




Backwater of Hidkal Dam



Dudhsagar Falls
This is one of the toughest falls to reach and adventures folks will love to visit this. This falls is on Mandavi river.

Best times to visit: July to Sept.
This water falls is 95KM South West of Belgaum

Reaching to Dudhsagar:
By Railways: Ernakulam Express which runs from Pune to Ernakulam on Saturday stops at Dudhsagar station (reaches Dudhsagar by 11.15 am on Sunday). Goa Express reaches Dudhsagar by 4.00 am.
Travel Tip: If you are travelling from Belgaum...you can get a ticket from TC office instead of standing in queue. The Pune- Ernakulan train leaves Belgaum at 7.50 am. Please reach to station by 6.45 am.
For return journey to Castle Rock or Belgaum: Goa express stops at Dudhsagar @5.15 pm.
Travel Tip: There are lot of goods trains which run during the day to reach CastleRock.
By Road: One can not reach Dudhsagar by any vehicle. Nearest place called Castle Rock is nearly 23KM from Dudhsagar. Once you reach Castlerock you can trek to Dudhsagar falls.
For the trekkers: Reach Castle Rock by train or vehicle. One can trek alongside Railway track. It is nearly 23 KM track and has tunnels (nearly 12-15).
Must have for Trekkers: Torch,Water, Food (you can not get anything to eat in Castle Rock or Dudhsagar except for some snacks.), Stick to walk. Watch out for trains.

We were lucky to have travelled through a goods train while coming back from Dudhsagar to CastleRock. The journey I'll remember forever.

One has to walk 2 km from Dudhsagar station to reach the falls alongside Railway Track.. 

Dudhsagar Falls in pictures

Where is water... it's Milk all the way.....Dudhsagar is real perfect name for this.

Dudhsagar Falls

Dudhsagar Falls



Dudhsagar Falls




Tunnel from Dudhsagar Station to Falls




View from Goods Train




View from Goods train


I really had great fun visiting these falls. Before you visit ...please make sure you are following the weather man for the rain. :-)



 

iPod to iPhone....it is possible.. :-)

Recently I converted iPod touch 4g to iPhone... Thx to Abhijit Patki for finding the Raisoo product.
I thought to share the information with my friend community through this blog....This blog below
is based on mobile service providers in India.
Features
1) Supporting phone app and message app similar to iPhone
2) Dual SIM card.
4) Supports most of the GSM networks within India..
Features not tested
1) GPRS
2) 3G support.
What you need for converting iPod to iPhone.
1) Jailbroken iPod touch 4G..refer the link below for jailbreaking your iPod Touch (http://makulkarni30.blogspot.com/2011/11/jailbreak-ipod-touch.html)
2) Raisoo New Peel T4 (for 4G iPods) (http://www.raisoopeel.net/buy/raisoo-new-peel-t4-4g-ipods-black/). This product support dual SIM cards... :-)
3) SIM cards with PIN removed. (Please refer to notes below on how to remove the PIN)

How to guide
1) Jail Break the iPod Touch
If you have not upgraded to iOS 5.0.1...luck is with you as there are some issues of jailbreak with iOS 5.0.1. If you have upgraded to iOS 5.0.1..do not worry there is lot of work going on to come up with jail break app..soon....
Jail Break your iPod as per the link above.
2) Order Raisoopeel T4 from raisoopeel.net or ownta.com
2) Download Raiso apps and install.. Please follow the steps given in the link below
http://www.raisoopeel.net/installation/
3) Remove the PIN from SIM card
a) Call your mobile service provider and get the PIN for your SIM if you do not know it already.
b) Goto to settings>>Security>SIM PIN and click to disable security. You may be asked to input PIN for confirmation.
c) Press OK/Enter to remove PIN security.
4) Insert the SIM card in the Raissopeel and connect iPod.
5) Access the Raisoo Phone application and Register your IMEI number with Raisso app downloaded in the above step.
6) Restart the iPod (if the iOS 5.01, then you have to use tethered boot using the software you used for jail breaking the iPod.
7) Start making calls and sending SMS.
I did transfom iPod touch to iPhone on 12/16/2011 and so far I'm finding it very interesting and robust.
Cost comparison
If you want a Apple iPhone 4g you might be paying more than Rs 30000. With this transformation the iPhone is ready with less than Rs 15000....
1) iPod 8 GB: Rs 6000 -Rs -8000
2) Raiso Peel T4 : Rx 4500($ 90) approx from Ownta.com.

So guys anyone wants to try some technical stuff as above... welcome to join the club...

JailBreak-iPod Touch

I successfully jailbroke iPod touch 4g...

Following is the small help for those who want to jailbreak iPod..

What you need
1. iPod touch 4g - iOS 5.0.1
2. Windows 7 PC
3. iTunes 10.5
4. Redsn0w 0.9.9b8 https://sites.google.com/a/iphone-dev.com/files/home/redsn0w_win_0.9.9b8.zip?attredirects=0&d=1
5. The previous ipsw file
http://osxdaily.com/2011/10/12/ios-5-download-available/
This is very important as the redsn0w does not support the latest version of ipsw file installed with iOS 5.0.1

Some terms you need to know before moving further
Tethered jailbreak vs untetgered jailbreak
Please see the link below for more information
http://osxdaily.com/2010/11/24/tethered-jailbreak-vs-untethered-jailbreak/

DFU mode(link below for more informatio)
http://osxdaily.com/2010/06/24/iphone-dfu-mode-explained-and-how-to-enter-dfu-mode-on-your-iphone/

The steps mentioned below are applicable to tethered jailbreak as the untethered jailbreak is not yet available for iOS 5.0.1

The untethered jailbreak is available for versions less than 5.0. Please do reasearch before you upgrade to iOS 5.0
Before starting with jailbreak please copy the ipsw file which is downloaded in #5 (requirements section)
to Apple >>software updates
Backup your iPod touch using iTunes before starting the proces.


Steps are provided below

1.Turn the iOS device off and then connect it to the computer
2.Launch Redsn0w and click the “Extras” button, then click on “Select IPSW” – locate the iOS 5 IPSW (not iOS 5.0.1) and click “Open”
3.Click “Back” to return to the original Redsn0w screen and click on “Jailbreak” as usual
4.Put the iOS device in DFU mode as redsn0w instructs, holding down the Power and Home button for 10 seconds, then release the power button but continue to hold the Home button for another 15 seconds or so
As the jailbreak works, the iPhone/iPad/iPod will reboot and you’ll get a notification that it requires a tethered boot, let the device boot up as usual and then put the hardware into DFU mode yet again so you can perform the tethered boot and get Cydia to work
5.Back in Redsn0w, go to “Extras” and select the iOS 5.0 IPSW again, then click on “Just Boot” at the top of the “Extras” menu to perform the tethered boot

Changing times....lead to changing policies....

It is often observed that changing times does not lead to change in policies within in India or it takes longer time for a policy change to be effective and the the policy update considered for the change is already Chnaged......:-)
We are seeing the change in the way people work (at least in IT)....due to some of the following major reasons
1. Inceasing traffic
2. Travel time
3. Pollution
4. Time for family
5. Technological advance
6. Shift work
7. Working for customers who are not in the same timezone as India.etc..

I tried to highlight some major reasons above and there may be many.....

The above reasons have lead people to Work From Home (WFH)...

With this blog I would like to highlight some of the things employees,employers and the Govt...can do to make it easier for people to adopt to changing times.

I don't want to go into the history of WFH so providing a link below for you to go through.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommuting

As can be seen from the wiki article there are advantages and disadvantages of adopting to WFH.

As more and more organisations start to adopt to the new trend in working my concern would be Govt and Employers not planning the change in trend. Also the concern with employees would be not utilising the time and trend professionally.

Employees should be professional enough to give 100% work during WFH...
Employers on the other hand have specific controls benefits for the employees working from home.
Govt could build a good policy around the new trend which actually saves lot of fuel costs...improves communities...allows physically challenged to take advantage of the change in trend...

Anna vs Manmohana

As Anna has ended his fast and the first step towards eradacating corruption is taken.... there is long way to go.....I wanted to put some thoughts on two personalities who were part of our lives for last 2-3 weeks...

Manmohan Singh
The higly educated economist and the man who got us the freedom from the socialism (Babu'ism) by implementing reforms in 1991. Due to MMS's reforms consumers have options to choose. In earlier days it used to take 7-10 years to get a Bajaj Scooter or to start a business due to license raaj. Money was not circulated to common man and people had faith in FD's rather than any other form of investment like the one which we are seeing today (mutual funds,bonds,stock market). People used to invest in these types earlier also but was not exposed to lot of people. Allowing foreign investment in lot of sectors made it possible for consumers to choose,learn and earn. Today we see best brands of cars on road (even though we have to go a long way in making a good infrastructure available for the growth...) and it is not now limited to the rich nowadays...anyone can make money with proper business idea and share it with people...the best example I can think of it, is Infosys.

In a way MMS got us freedom from License Raaj and socialism....

In the background of all this development there were some crooks who wanted to make money easily and loot ppl's money. They found easier way to make money as there was no thought given on the accountability, transferency and control of the institutes or individuals who were involved in making big decisions. They created a plan and executed it successfully by looting ppl's money and safely secured it in Swiss bank.

The stage was set for next revolution and Anna Hazare entered the stage.People were getting out of patience with everyday news of corruption of the so called Biggies. The Govt was trying its level best to save them as it would reveal all the trade secret of the business...there were arrests made...but with slow pace of movement after arrests. People wanted some thing to be done fast and people responsible for bad deals have to be punished.But nothing was happening in that direction... Anna Hazre and team were fighting to get good lokapal to be created so that the cases are resolved fast and people responsible are punished...

Anna Hazare
As social activist and a great leader along with his team, took a first step toward bringing the Lokpal bill. The method he followed was Ahinsa and fast ...in these days of crime everywhere no one thought this would be successsful...People started following him and we have seen nearly each and every city putting up an agitation against corruption... In the same time we have seem Libya,Syria,Egypt where people are using weapons to topple the Govts...Anna Hazare taught us that the Govts can be made to bow by Ahinsa...Anna Hazare's fast for 13 days and agitation did not see a single incident of fighting...

Hope the fight which is started by Anna Hazare against corruption continues and each and every citizen takes the responsibility of eradicating the corruption....

In a way Anna Hazre is trying to get us freedon from corruption...but we as the responsible citizens should act responsibly and commit not to give or take bribe. The battle has started but would need everybody's commitment and getting rid of "Chalta Hain" attitude.

Corruption...corruption....corruption

We are hearing about fight against corrruption everywhere in India....I would like share the following story and get some answers on corruption

A person riding a bike breaks the traffic light and due to which he crashes into a walking person who also did not follow traffic light...people on the street are scolding the person on the bike. Police catch holds of the person on the bike. He offers money to the police and police accepts it and let the person go.....

It is very simple story and you see ppl breaking the signal every minute (as walking ppl think it's there road and it is responsibility of the ppl driving the automobile to look and drive)


Who is corrupt in the above story?

Person on bike,Person walking, Police, Govt

In my my opinion all first three as Govt had installed the traffic light...

What is corruption?

Is it only paying the money?

Why there is corruption?

Is it due to person breaking the signal?

I know there are lot of ways ppl can be corrupt and has impact on the common people...I thought of this story and see what leads to corruption. In my opinion any bill will not stop the corruption unless and until people have discipline to follow it. If at all the lokpal bill comes into effect the story of ppl breaking the traffic signal does not change... There is no use in saying I'm Anna....We as people should try to bring that discipline, not insist for Govt to come with the bill...