92Kms in 71/2 hrs and unanticipated, unexpected pain

Camera used - Nokia 6300 mobile phone camera

Being a teacher has many perks one of them being the vacations (Diwali, Christmas and summer holidays). This December 22^nd, 23^rd and 24^th were reserved for my long distance ride. As planned earlier I hit the NH 17 connecting Ponda (Goa) and Mumbai at 5.30am on 22^nd on my TREK 3700 mountain bike. The destination - Sawantwadi town, 92 Kms away.

Prawns Catch (Near Panaji)

The early morning start has advantages, you have the road all for yourself (no mad traffic) and sun is it’s cooler self. Within 10 minutes of the ride my body generated enough warmth to withstand early morning winter chill. The Konkan terrain is a challenge for any cyclist, there is hardly any level stretch, and the route is a continuous cascade of ups and downs. Some of the climbs are real steep.

At 7.30am I was riding past our capital city Panaji. Another hour and this city would come to life with office goers and tourists.

lone cyclist over The Mandovi Bridge

Barge carrying iron ore

After 60Kms and 3hrs 30 minutes of riding I halted for breakfast at road side eatery, while feasting on Bhaji-pav I felt dull pain in my ankle ligaments (both legs), I did not pay much attention and proceeded with the same enthusiasm and this was the big mistake! Further on, the pain became sharp, I had to slow down. I couldn’t understand the cause of this pain. I readjusted the saddle height but this did not help, the damage was done. Now the frequency of climbs seemed to increase and they seemed steeper too!

The pain Location

Breakfast Point

At 11.45am I reached Goa Maharashtra border, with 16kms and one challenge of Insuli Ghat on the outskirts of Sawantwadi to go. At the base of the ghat I dismounted wondering whether I should ride the ghat or push the bike all the way up. Finally I decided to ride the Ghat. The steep climb of 3Kms was painful, but I did it (I know this may seem full hardy, but this being my first long ride and I wanted to finish it on the bike).

I made entry into Sawantwadi at 12.45pm and at 1pm I reached my sister’s place, where I had planned to stay two nights. The plan for the next day (23^rd) was to do 50Kms of exploratory ride around Sawantwadi. But the pain and swelling of ligaments was discouraging. I thought an evenings rest would relax the ligaments and swelling and the pain would just disappear. But I was wrong again, next morning the swelling and the pain were very much there, so, instead of bypassing riding plan I rushed to a physician. As expected the physician prescribed a painkiller and anti inflammatory tablets with an ointment to apply on the affected area. In doctors opinion the problem was caused due to continuous uphill riding.

Moti Talav (Pride of Sawantwadi)

I spent that day (23^rd) lying on the couch, recuperating and watching TV at my sister’s place. The pain killer helped little, by evening the swelling had reduced but ligaments were still RAW. The next day (24^th) was to be my return journey retracing all the climbs and slopes.

Pancham Khemraj Sawant Bhosle - Maharaja of Sawantwadi during British Raj

Kadak Laxmi

The idea of giving up and returning on bus was unacceptable for me; I was determined to ride back. I had another doubt regarding the injury, I felt my shoes (simple liberty shoes without laces) also played some part causing the injury, so, I purchased a new pair of canvas shoes with slightly rigid sole and low ankle cover.

Third day the alarm went off at 5am. I sat wide awake in my bed probing the ankle, the swelling had reduced further but the pain persisted. Ignoring, I took bath, had hot cup of tea and some biscuits. Against my sisters suggestion that I should take rest for one more day and leave on 25^th, off I went to my bike. I had to be back home on 24^th, since I was to leave for Hyderabad on 26^th morning.

The return journey started at 6.15am. I rode in relaxed manner, not putting any strain on the injured part. The new shoes seemed better. I rode all the climbs using the lowest gears. The return journey took 8 hours and I reached home at 2.15pm

Before my next long distance ride, I need to educate myself regarding the anatomy and precautions to be taken to avoid such an injury!!!!!!

The White Splendour (Cruising through South Goa)

It was Anil's idea to cruise through South Goa, with the aim of photographing the early morning happenings, typifying life in Goan villages. Our cruise began at 6.30 am on 4th Sept. 2008, from Ponda, passing through Chinchinim, Betul, Balli, Chandor and back.

Earlier, on all the trips I would concentrate on photographing birds and other wildlife, this time in Anil's company I ventured into photographing people centric moments (which happens to be Anil's specialty) . I managed to frame some fisher women and a lone PILOT (motorcycle taxi operator) at a one of the bazaars on the way.

Later at Betul jetty, while Anil chatted with and photographed the fishing trawler crew, I trained my lens on the other creatures busy at the jetty. I watched a flock of Median Egrets in their brilliant white plumage, confusedly flying in circles over the water surface. I could not understand as to what the flock was up to. Each bird would circle down to the surface and then suddenly take off, a few meters away a Brahminy Kite in flight, elegantly scooped away a fish.

Were Egrets taking fishing lessons from the Kite? the flock progressively moved farther away, simultaneously circling and probing the water surface and finally landing into the shallow waters.Voila.....! I realized that all the time the flock was judging the depth of the water!!!!!!!!

Chilling out at tilari (Sachin we missed you and you missed this one!)

In the darkness of the evening of 25^th Oct, Raju, Donald (Don) and I pitched the tent near the edge of a cliff in Tilari ghat. The memories of two years ago came flooding, Sachin had come down from US of A then, and the same trio along with Sachin had spent the night with Dhangars at the very same spot. The dinner that night was dal prepared in goats milk, chicken curry, fried chicken and rice all in dhangar style. We slept in their tent and it had rained heavy later that night. http://mtmyndd.blogspot.com/2006/11/nightout-with-dhangars.html

This time the trip was a special one for us; we had driven 100Kms from Ponda (Goa) to put to test the tent that we had designed and Raju had built. It took us 45 minutes to erect the tent in heavy cold wind that blew across the plateau. The tent was yet another example of Raju’s excellent craftsmanship, 8 pieces of 2 inch PVC pipes with elbow joints forms the skeletal structure of the tent. The tent body is made from thin and tough plastic sheet (the type used to cover truck cargo).

As we stood there in the dark of the night admiring and scrutinizing the structure, we realized how cold and heavy the wind was. The tent looked robust enough to withstand the wind but we were ill prepared for the cold.

The vast open space around and crystal clear starry night transformed the mundane into special, For, Raju’s Kaju (Feni) tasted like premium malt whisky and Don’s beer like Champagne. Even the dinner of Bhaji and bread (Courtesy Don) was like a feast.

By now the chill had penetrated to our bones, after cleaning up and scanning the surrounding grass land with the LED torch (yet another of Raju’s avishkar) we hit the tent floor and called it a Good night.

The wind brought the tent to life, the plastic sheet made funny rustling sounds through out the night, a slightest of our movements added to the fluttering sounds and the whole tent seemed like a live creature that had engulfed us. We slept lightly, only entering deep sleep very early in the morning.

Don was first to wake up followed by Raju and then me, plastic bottle filled with water we went in search of a hide out to answer nature’s call. Freshened up we managed to dismantle the tent in flat 15 minutes. Our mission was a success!

Loading our belongings into the car we headed for Tilari-nagar village. The whole of village life seems to be concentrated at a junction on Tilari - Belgaum highway. The junction comes to life every time a bus or a truck takes a halt and driver and passengers rushing for quick bite at one of the two hotels. We broke our fast savoring the hot and spicy Usal pav, Upit and Sheera.

The rest of the day we spent walking around on the plateau. We had a mid day bath in cold and clear running water at the top of the water fall.

For lunch we were back at the junction, with full stomachs we headed for the dam where we had a power nap that energized us for our return drive.

Narkasur

The evil faces are lined up for sale. Every year around Diwali, the youngsters all over Goa will busy themselves constructing the NARKASUR EFFIGIES. The effigies are then burnt on the night before Diwali. This is supposed to be a symbolic act of ending all the evil.

The colorful scary masks will be fitted on huge torsos constructed using metal rod skeleton filled with hay and covered with jute sheets.

Hundreds of such effigies will be set ablaze on the night of 27th this year.

A large number of youth clubs around Goa are busy making the effigies of this mythological demon, oblivious to the activities of the real demons who are on the rampage in the state.

In the capital city of Panaji an Advocate is brutally attacked for speaking up against a minister. In another place near Ponda a Village Sarpanch is bent on converting a pristine village into a garbage dump, not caring for the environment and peoples sentiment.

In Ponda a minor girl is lured, blackmailed and raped by a gang of young men.

The real demons are busy busy
We are happy burning the effigies
Ending the evil only symbolically.....

The Chorla Trek

We could see Keri Dam partially lost amidst the fog in the valley below, as we snaked up the winding Chorla Ghat road. Half way up the Ghat Mandar, Utkarsh, Omkar, Kaustubh Rohan and Me poured out of the car. Standing at the edge of the road all of us took the in the refreshing air and the scene below. Omkar got busy clicking the tiny flying dragons. 15 minutes later we moved on climbing up higher.

KERI DAM LOST IN FOG Our second stop was past the Wilder Nest nature camp, from this point we had a good view of twin waterfalls. Exploring the surrounding area Rohan noticed some pug marks and concluded they belonged to a wild boar.

ASIAN FAIRY BLUE BIRD
At 9am we reached at the top and broke our fast at the only road side eatery. All of us feasted on Bhaji and Pav. After parking the car near the hotel we set out on the trail that would lead us to an old fort near a village called SADA.
The trail takes off from Goa – Belgaum highway, right at the entrance we were greeted by mixed bird calls, we had a fleeting glimpse of yellow browed bulbul . IT was hard to spot any bird as they were very well camouflaged by the thick canopy overhead.
We walked along taking the richness of the vegetation and the creepy crawlies wandering across our path. After about a couple of kilometers the terrain changed the tall trees gave way to open grass land and shrubbery. Small rivulets crossed our path. Omkar went berserk cliking the dragon flies and damsel flies. Rohan found some interesting toad which he carried on his palm, showing off.

The rising heavy clouds darkened the horizon as we reached the Volcanic Plateau ( called SADA in Konkani and Marathi). A lone pair of Malabar Crested Lark chased each other across flower dotted rocky terrain. We could see the thick curtain of rain on the adjacent hill top. None were carrying rain gear except me and Omkar. I had a rain jacket and Omkar an umbrella. We bundled three cameras and a binocular into my backpack and I wore the coat, at least the equipment would be safe now.

It started pouring and every one rushed in the nearby bush. It was quite a site to see Rohan, Omkar, Kaustubh, Utkarsh and Mandar huddled under single umbrella. The rain coat provided good cover for the equipment but the water trickled through the open zip wetting my front.

As there was no sign of rain receding we decide to walk back. By 1pm we reached the hotel, drenched to the core. After drying up a little bit we settled to feast on piping hot rice plate served at the hotel. While having the lunch I noticed a little dark lump between my first two toes . I dashed out and on closer scrutiny I noticed total of 6 tiny lumps on my legs and realized these were leeches gradually getting fatter on my blood. The sprinkling of salt did the trick, each leech crumpled and collapsed on the ground. Blood continued pouring from the wounds caused. Rohan and Omkar had a couple of leeches on there ankles. The rest of them were lucky.

Wounds cleaned and lunch bill paid we started our back journey. It rained all the way back home.

Feathered Bouquet from Sawantwadi

Sawantwadi is a small town 60Kms from Goa's Capital - Panaji. I spent three days (2nd, 3rd and 4th Sept 2008) during Ganesh Chaturthi at my sisters place in this town. Amboli a popular Hill Station is just 28kms away from Sawantwadi. Here are some snaps of birds that I captured in my sisters backyard and en-route Amboli.

PURPLE RUMPED SUNBIRD (male)

PURPLE RUMPED SUNBIRD (male)

PURPLE RUMPED SUNBIRD (female)

PURPLE RUMPED SUNBIRD (female)

Pea Hen (Indian Peafowl)

MALABAR CRESTED LARK

PIED KINGFISHER

Ignored,Cornered,Wasted!

A common site around our town. Ignored, Cornered, Wasted!!!!!!

Birding on the Move

On the Sunday afternoon 6th of July Jagdish and I did a round about trip Betoda-Kodar-Dabal-Betoda, covering 25 Kms on the motorbike. We did birding while cruising along.

On the way we would stop at the slightest hint of a flutter in the tree, wait by the road side for the bird to show up, this method proved highly rewarding and we saw Malabar Pied Hornbill, Gold Mantled Leaf Bird, Scarlet Minivet, Chestnut Headed Bee Eater, Pied Crested Cuckoo, Common Hawk Cuckoo, Spotted Dove, Common Iora, Orange Headed Thrush, Eurasian Black Bird, Small Green Bee Eater, Yellow Wattled Lapwing.

We could capture a few of them in the digital trap. Capturing the Pied Crested Cuckoo, Common Hawk Cuckoo and Eurasian Black Bird was difficult. The cuckoos are more often heard than seen since they seldom come out in the open. the Eurasian Blackbird is a very sensitive and shy Bird making it difficult to photograph.



Scarlet Minivet Male

Scarlet Minivet Male


Pied Crested Cuckoo


Common Hawk Cuckoo

Common Hawk Cuckoo

Eurasian Black Bird (Race nigr0pileus of peninsular India)

Eurasian Black Bird (Race nigr0pileus of peninsular India)