Visit to India - Part 1 - Delhi site Seeing

India being the closet country to Sri Lanka, have always been in my list of countries to travel. Some of my friends wanted to do Himachal it opened the doors to visit the country. Well this was the first time I organized an overseas tour. It was not an easy task. Some who were so sure of coming disappointed me at the last moment. Luckily one of my university friends joined at the last moment otherwise this would have been a loss of money for me.

So, we contacted an agent form India, Sampuran Yatra and the agent was Priyanka. We decided on that as it was much cheaper to get it directly from India rather than going from a Sri Lankan agent. Everything was booked in advance. So, we got a good offer for the package and we extended our stay to 9 nights to include Delhi and Agra as well. (Advice make sure you customize your packages so you can get a better rate, book the flight in advance, there can be good offers)
So, we left Sri Lanka and there were two first time travelers. Everyone was excited as this was going to be a new adventure specially in a foreign country. The flight time was around 4 hours and we landed in Delhi airport very early morning.

Our cab driver was Sanjeev. He was to be our driver and throughout the journey. There was no sperate guide as such, but he will take us to the locations, and we had to manage the rest by our own.  The vehicle was a Toyota Inova. There were 5 of us with luggage for 9 nights.  The vehicle was spacious but not enough for the luggage. What they do is to tie up the luggage into the hood rack. This was a routine job for the driver whenever we changed hotels which was frequent.
For the morning it was relatively cold. It was around 5 a.m. We had the Delhi city tour planned for the day and we were to stay the night in Agra. As it was very early, and we came straight from Sri Lanka we went to a hotel and got two rooms just refresh ourselves and get a small nap. It was a budget hotel and not very comfortable though. But it was the cheapest option and we only had about 3 hours. (Note that the normal hotels in India is not the normal ones we get in Sri Lanka. Their standards are relatively low. So, if you are booking, make sure you go for the best that you can afford).
So, after an almost small rest we went out and Sanjeev was waiting for us. He packed our luggage and off went we on the Delhi tour. We had 4 main stops planned for the day before we headed towards Agra.  Below is a small description of the places we visited.

1. Rashtrapati Bhavan - is the official residence of the President of India located at the Western end of Rajpath in New Delhi, India. It is supposed to have a 340-room main building that has the president's official residence, including reception halls, guest rooms and offices, also called the mansion and consists of 130-hectare (320 acre) Presidential Estate that additionally includes huge presidential gardens (Mughal Gardens), large open spaces, residences of bodyguards and staff, stables, other offices and utilities within its perimeter walls. In terms of area, it is the largest residence of any head of state in the world.

2. India Gate - is a war memorial located astride the Rajpath, on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi, formerly called Kingsway. It stands as a memorial to 70,000 soldiers of the British Indian Army who died in between 1914–1921 in the First World War, in France, Flanders, Mesopotamia, Persia, East Africa, Gallipoli and elsewhere in the Near and the Far East, and the third Anglo-Afghan War. 13,300 servicemen's names, including some soldiers and officers from the United Kingdom, are inscribed on the gate. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the gate evokes the architectural style of the triumphal arch such as the Arch of Constantine, in Rome, and is often compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and the Gateway of India in Mumbai.

3.Gandhi ghat - is one of the main ghats on the Ganges River in Patna. Ghat in India means a fleet of steps leading to a river. It is named after the leader of the Indian independence movement Mahatma Gandhi. The ghat is famous for its Evening Ganga Aarti a kind of ritual prayer.  It is also associated with the immersion of ashes of Mahatma Gandhi in the river Ganges.

4. Qutub Minar - is an iconic monument which spells out the narrative of Delhi like no other. It forms a part of the Qutub Complex comprising the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Alai Darwaza, Alai Minar, Ala-ud-din's Madrasa and Tomb, Iron Pillar, Tomb of Imam Zamin, Sanderson's Sundial and Major Smith's Cupola. The tallest brick minaret in the world is said to have been designed on the lines of Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan. Situated in Mehrauli - the heritage storehouse of Delhi, the site is also the venue for the annual three-day Qutub Festival - a gathering of musicians, artistes, and dancers.

The weather was relatively cold on the day, specially during the morning and the air looked brownish maybe because of the fog that covered Delhi few weeks back. It is always better to carry your passport around and if you are from a SAARC country you get a concessional rate to enter the monuments. Only place that charged us was Qutub Minar. They do not even allow a tripod to be taken (They took my selfie pole as it had a tripod and they charge separately for videography)

Rashtrapati Bhavan was a highly restricted place. We only had a view from the outside. The Columns indicated a British architectural style. The building was huge with well maintained gardens. It is famous for its bells. Various Indian elements have been added to the building. These included several circular stone basins on top of the building, as water features are an important part of Indian architecture. There was also a traditional Indian chujja or chhajja, which occupied the place of a frieze in classical architecture; it was a sharp, thin, protruding element which extended 8 feet (2.4 m) from the building, and created deep shadows. The dome, in the middle, reflects both Indian and British styles. In the centre is a tall copper-faced dome, surmounting a very tall drum in several sections, which stands out from the rest of the building. The dome is exactly in the middle of the diagonals between the four corners of the building. The dome is more than twice the height of the building itself.

Indian gate was also another place that any Delhi visitor should stop by. It’s a photographic spot and is a place you should not miss during your visit. You can find many Indians with cameras on their hands asking you to allow them to take your photos and the photos will be printed at an instant and given to you for around 30 Indian rupees. It is a kind of business that they do.

Gandhi ghat was a quite place. Since is a spiritual place it is good for a break from the hassle of the city. You need to take your shoes off when you enter the monument. The place is covered in flowers and you can hear chanting of Hindu bhajans. The path was aligned with quotes from Gandhi.

Qutub Minar is an architectural complex. It depicted Islamic style of architecture. Built as a symbol of victory for Muslim invaders over the Hindu land, Qutub Minar served as a victory tower when Muhammad Ghori took over the Rajput king, Prithviraj Chauhan, in 1192. Later Ghori’s viceroy, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who went on to become the first ruler of Mamluk dynasty began the construction of Qutub Minar. The lotus borders carvings, garlands and looped bells were incorporated from the local sensibilities. The tower has five tapering storeys superposing with a spiralling staircase of 379 steps. The lower three storeys consist of cylindrical hilts of red sandstone, separated by rims and balconies, with Muqarna truss. The fourth column is made of marble and the fifth is built of marble and sandstone with engravings of Quranic texts and decorative motifs. There are inscriptions in Nagari and Parso-Arabic characters on the walls of Qutab Minar which document its construction and reconstructions by Tughluq and Sikandar Lodi between 1381-1517.

The minar is said to be tilting about 65 cm from the vertical but is considered safe with the experts wanting constant monitoring so that the rainwater seepage doesn't affect its base. Back in the day and even today Qutub Minar stands as an inspiration for several towers and minarets built after it. Chand Minar built in 1445 in Daulatabad, Maharashtra was inspired from Qutub Minar.

It was a long day and there were 233km from Delhi to Agra. It was the evening and almost the office time and it took us more than an hour just to enter the highway to Agra. By the time we reached Agra it was night. We had some trouble in finding our hotel. The day before there had been a fighting between Hindus and Muslims. Agra is predominantly Muslim. There racism is so high that the hotel did not allowed our driver (who was a Hindu) to use the bathroom. (I advise not to go to that Hotel named Taj Palace). Internet was cut, which reminded me of our former president Maithripala Sirisena.

As it was a long day we were waiting to go to bed. The hotel only released hot water when we requested. That was also not that hot. But they had a good meal for dinner as we were booked on half board basis. We had a vegetarian thali and we ordered some chicken to go with it. (Thali is a dish where you have little of rice, chapati, some curries, salads, papadam all in one plate made into compartments). We had a hearty meal and went to sleep as we had a long day after site seeing in Agra.

Visit to Gerandi Ella

I do not have a travel partner or a specific travel group. I go with anyone to place I have not been and if I like the person or the group, I will travel again with them. Rana was one such group which is headed by Chamara Weeratissa and Udara Randika. I have been to Thoranakotha and Elgin with them before. Ever since Chamara let me know whenever they go somewhere, and I join whenever I can. So, after a long break I joined Rana to visit Gerandi Ella along with some others I known to me Rane, Rukshan, Sajith, Geeth, Sayu and like in every trip some new travelers.

I have seen photos of Gerandi Ella before and in fact I have heard it as a trek that was challenging but with a beautiful view. So, when I asked Chamara whether there are seats available and he said yes, I happily jumped in knowing them and wanting to cover the location.

So as usual we met at the Fort station around 11:30 p.m. There were many others going to different locations and Fort being a meeting point of many we met some other travelers and bade farewell before we went on our own ways.

As usual I had a good nap although the sleep of others was distracted by the bang bang music that was emanating from the buffle set of the vehicle. I heard we almost went on a different route before we reached Hunnasgiriya around 4:30 a.m. As we were little early, we all slept inside the vehicle till the shops opened for us to get something to eat and prepare ourselves for the journey.

After about a nap of one hour, we went out, had some hot tea as the temperature outside was bit cold. There we were net by Laksiri and his brother who came separately on their own bikes. We headed towards Kalugala after refreshing and got out of the vehicle and changed our clothes and prepared for the hike.

Udara had been there before so he acted as the guide for the trail. It was a long trek from the place we got down to the point of commencing the trek. It was a mini trek itself and from there it was a very steep trek uphill. With all the travel I have done still I was panting. With few stops on the way we finally reached a flat land where we had our first glance of the waterfall.

The area was covered by paddy fields and there were chena cultivations. Many we came there it was very sunny, and the villagers were out working. Laksiri and his brother had already started climbing up as they wanted to come down on the same day. We spent a considerable time admiring the view and getting ready for the steep climb uphill.

After a waiting Rukshan started the climb and some of us followed. It was also a very steep uphill climb through grasses. Luckily Chamara instructed us to wear long sleeves and come and this protected me from getting serious scratches. While we were searching for a path suddenly out of nowhere a buffalo charged at us. I guess it is because of the red colour and the noise that we were making. Had it not been for the rope that tied the animal, one of us would have had a serious injury as we were clueless of a place even to run with the grasses and the steep hill. It was indeed a narrow escape.

After the adrenaline rush, we started climbing up as we found the pathway. As it was dry, we didn’t have issues with leeches and the path was not that slippery. Let me tell a bit about Gerandi Ella.

Gerandi Ella is a cascade of waterfalls and it is in the Kalugala area which is in Udadumbara region. Geradni literally means the rat snake as the fall of water resembles such. The total height of the cascade is about 200-240 m. This could be seen along the Mahiyangana road. This consists of 5 main segments. It is nourished by a branch of Hasalaka oya that flows from the eastern edge of the Knuckles range which is known as Gerandigala.

I would consider this as a medium to difficult hike as it depends on the season and because of some vertical climbs that needed to be done. There are two such climbs that has ropes fixed (Thank you for that) and you need to be bit careful and is bit strenuous. This is where you need team effort. Everyone helped each other passing bags and helping each other to climb.

We had a bath on the top of the 2nd segment on our way up and spend some time to refresh ourselves. It was from there we had the send climb with the rope which was bit strenuous. Once we completed that the way up was another vertical climb. We reached the top around 4 p.m. which was strange as in most of other hikes it is late by the time, we reach our destination. It was very sunny and all of us went near the stream and had a nap which was much needed after the strenuous climb up.

There were three teams that camped up during the day and one team came and went down on the same day. This included Luksiri and his brother as well and they have taken a totally different route. I met Sherman whom I have only chat on FB. There were some others who were firends in Facebook but could not recognize so there were no encounter at all until I came home and saw the updates.  I already had a bath and our team moved away from the stream and went towards the top and set up our camp there. It was getting colder and after we had some food of bread, biscuits we went towards the stream to drink some tea and for the others to get a bath.

I would say this was a kind of “Luxury” camping as we had all resources we needed, water, wood and most importantly the time. We were just lying down enjoying the cold and relaxing ourselves listening to the soft sentimental music of the JBL.

From the top we could see Kehelpaddoruwa boarder. Dumbanagala, Yahangala, Deanston and the range of VRR are in the vicinity. From the top we would see the Udadumbara town, Mahiyanagana and the kalugala region. Sorabora wewa, Ulhitiya wewa and wellangolla patna could be seen from a distance.

We lit the fire towards the evening and had a good campfire and then prepared noodles for dinner. It was poya and hence was a moonlit night. It was amazing to see the moon emerging through the clouds and was an ideal time for night photography and light painting. It was fascinating to see the lights of the houses below as tiny dots on a black blanket. The night was cold and the fire gave some form of warmth. Except for the occasional howls that we heard at a distance, the night was quiet.

As I don’t eat noodles, I had some I had some bread and settled myself into the tent to have a nap. It was indeed a cold night. Our tent only had 3 and the ground was not even. Not enough warmth inside so I basically had to wrap my towel around my legs to keep me warm. Had to have a pee break in the middle of the night and few other also were awake because of the same reason I guess. I would not call its a comfortable sleep as my back pained because of the rough terrain.

I woke up at around 5:45 a.m. Two of others were already awake trying to light up the fire. I was roaming around to take some snaps as the sky was really colourful with shades of orange, red and yellow. When we were losing hope of a sunrise, the sun suddenly appeared as a ball of fire out of nowhere. As I always say, every sunrise is different, and it made us all awe with open eyes and mouths. There was a drone flying around and we also managed to get some group photos.

We had tea in the morning with biscuits and chocolate (With Raana we usually have excess snacks most of the time). And we were idling for a long time until we decided to go down near the stream to cook meatballs and have a bath. After the breakfast we started climbing down. It was almost noon.

The sky was sunny, and we had to come down along the same steep pathway we came up. Downhill was scarier and we had to make use of our butts to slowly come down and it took more time than we thought. When we reached the third segment I jumped into the water as I could not resist the temptation to enjoy that water on my body. So, I had a quick dip till the others came and it was a refreshing bath till we came all the way down to the vehicle.

It was almost a never ending walk even on the main road and Rana and me who were at the back almost put a Turbo and hurried our steps to reach the vehicle. At the vehicle we had bread with Jam, Cheese and some even had ice packets.

We all wanted a bath, so we stopped near the stream down and had a short bath and headed towards Digana where we had a decent meal and finally, I said goodbye to the gang from Lewella where I came back to the quarters.

Travelling is my hobby a kind of stress buster that keeps me going and stress free. It helps me to take a break and gets connected with Nature. It is also an opportunity to meet new people, explore new places. This was also such a hike that came with the same bundle of benefits.

As Ibn Battuta said, “Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”  I hope my story entertained you and inspired you to do something new. Let me thank Raana for inviting me and all my  team members who supported throughout to complete the journey without any injury.

It has been a while since I last wrote. Until I meet you in another blog.

Cheers.