City of Pearls , Visiting Charminar

1:00 AM Viduruwan Suvinith 0 Comments

There are some places that steal your mind and heart  because of those sense of history , scenic view of the place

Charminar which constructed at end of the fifteen century is a magnificent place located near Hyderabad city which calls old city. This structure is a one of highly noticed land mark in India. I would say popular next to Taj Mahal in Goa. 

Charminar name derives form Urdu which translated to  Four Pillers. Charminar is a structure which these eponymous pillars  are ornate minarets attached and supported by four grand arches.

Enough of history lesson , if you interested you can read them later , 

Chaminar look from distance
As Hyderabad is a city which has equal Hindu and Islam cultural influence with Mogul and Hindu kings rulers ,As later it wasted ruled by mainly Islam Moguls  you can see more influence of Persian and Mogul Architecture patterns. 

Charminar and surrounding area predominately based on Muslim society , People , Food and selling goods are show casing the same.

Chaminar is adjustment to Laad Bazaar
(Photo Custody :- http://www.renuka-voyagerforlife.com)

Entrance to  Laad Bazaar

One of the unique things that I have noticed around Chaminar is the vibrant colors of  Bangles and Fresh water pearls.

Bengles and other goods

Perls

It was a wonderful trip. me and my friends got into bus from the city at the morning withing 2 hour ride we were able to get into Charminar.

on the way to Chaminar by Bus
At the entrance you will see a board which describe things about  Chaminar


Chaminar at distance ,,,


Once you get inside after paying entrance fee , you will get into a narrow staircase located inside pillar / Tower. After climbing around 400 steps you will get into the terrace. Which is having plenty of enough space to walk down .





Inside of balcony / corridor 


OK ! enough taking photos , warning form the security :)


Journey to the Center of the Earth : Ravana's hidden underground kingdom

8:01 AM Viduruwan Suvinith 0 Comments

Every time when I'm reading Jules Verne's 'Journey To The Center of the Earth' , I was dreaming about having my own adventure. But I never thought it is gong to be ended up like this. 

Someone may think travelling to  Ravana's hidden underground kingdom is not big deal. believe me it is gonna be one of life time experience.

We never went down more than 1.5 Kilometers but trip was very adventuress , challenging and exciting.  When my buddy Nipunu invited me to join with them , I was start getting nightmare about this. Because hiking is not one of my favorite.  But it was a one of longest nightmare i ever had. ;P 

This trip, I would say one day trip. You need to get into Ella. there are few nice articles written in Lakdasun, I would say you will find more details on there about the navigation to location.

We went to Karandagolla , around 8.30 A.M and met the guide . A villager called Metthananda , Metta is in his mid forty and very talkative chap when it come to Ravana related subject.

Here we have started our little adventure , 2km hike trough the Jungle 
Though Metta agreed that he will not take another team with us earlier  , he took another team with us. But our team was very collaborative on cleaning the road as well....  

Clearing out the path 

After a walk , here we come to entrance of  mystery world. It is no more than two by two hole in ground covered by bushes. 

The cave Entrance

you may find  the entrance rather small and deceiving . With a little struggle you can get inside to small room where five people can comfortably fit in, Please watch out your steps as ground get slippery and full with sharp edged rocks. 

So now you have to climb down ten meters where you will come to a another room , This is the place where you see last bit of the day light  from the entrance.  I would say this is the point of no return. 

Ready for adventure ... at point of no return.
As we were novice to caving we were very anxious to get in. I think this is something that need to be avoided. Because as you go down you have to climb down ninety degree tunnel . Where you may face lot of lose stones and soils. 

Entrance to ninety degree tunnel where you have to enter back first

As you go down towards to Nildiya Pokuna , the path is  mixture of narrow tunnels and open spaces . so it is time to get excited.


Once you climbed  down , you will get into a hall which is large enough to fill by entire city. You can not see boundaries of the hall  , as there are no lights inside. It is pitch black !

The lights you see are from other team , probably few kilometers away .

As you go down towards ponds , path get slippery and sandy. 

Here  come , the ultimate treat for all your hard works ! Nilidiya Pokuna , 

I would say the pond is wider  around 75 feet .Water of Pond is  crystal clear and you could actually see the bottom with proper lights.






I would say , Nildiya pokuna and cave is just a part of the bigger cave system. As Meththa (Guide) said there are few other caves adjacent to this.

it took around five to six good hours for entire trip , however we lost  track of time. We were covered in mud when we got up. So we went to near by waterfall and had a dip in the cool water while tasting  village refreshing Kitul Toddy.

The Gang