Travel India with me: A new phase in my Life Starting a new phase in my life: Travel India with me I have been a writer, a poet, a tree planter, and a public speaker. All these hobbies took me places, helped me meet thousands of people, and traveled to several cities and villages. But I have never been a traveler. I have visited several cities but rarely seen the places that everyone wants to see at least once in their lives. I remember visiting Chennai a couple of times and…
@imransoudagar in October 2021
Starting a new phase in my life: Travel India with me I have been a writer, a poet, a tree planter, and a public speaker. All these hobbies took me places, helped me meet thousands of people, and traveled to several cities and villages. But I have never been a traveler. I have visited several cities but rarely seen the places that everyone wants to see at least once in their lives. I remember visiting Chennai a couple of times and I did not visit the famous reptile park, nor…
Traveling to a new city after a long time. It was a pleasant journey and I fell asleep on the bus. I woke up only when I reached my destination. I normally get sick in busses and I had taken a pill to stop myself from feeling nausea. I am sitting here and relaxing. I'll go on sightseeing soon.
A Tomb of a King! I am in the historic city of Bidar. I have been traveling and visiting all the historic buildings. I came across this amazing tomb. The style of architecture is Indo-Iranian.
I was at the Bidar fort and I found this big heavy chain on the door. It is the chain that is used to shut the door. It was huge and when I held it in my hand it was really heavy.
Solah Khamb Mosque I visited this mosque yesterday. It was built around 500 years ago and it still stands tall.
I have been traveling and visiting places I have never been before. It is a wonderful experience seeing ancient buildings and tasting new food. When I woke up today I was hungry and as soon as I finished my morning routine I walked to the nearest Kamat Restaurant. I ordered my usual breakfast which includes two pieces of Vada and Idli. Here is the photo of the yummy breakfast I had just a moment ago. Yummy crunchy Vada Well, as I was having my breakfast I overheard a man…
Guru Nanak Jhira Saheb I am at the gurudwar of Shri Guru Nanak Jhira Saheb. It is a beautiful Sikh temple that was built around 500 years ago. The main attraction of this temple is the spring which has been flowing since 1512 AD. It is said that Guru Nanak Ji visited the city of Bidar and the people complained about water and he touched his right foot and the water started flowing.
A beautiful flower in the garden. It is purple in color and looks really beautiful. I do not know the name of this flower. Can you name it?
Every bone & muscle in my body is aching! 😅 Why? Because I walked 22 kilometers today and had an amazing experience. Tomorrow I will be visiting a different place and it is further than the places I visited today. I hope I will be able to walk tomorrow.
Set Dosa! Not Pancakes I decided to eat something new today. I usually eat Vada for breakfast but eating the same thing every day is not good. So, I picked this delicious, thick dosa. It was soft and well made. It had a bit too much oil on it. Next time I will ask the server to use less oil. Try it if you have a South Indian restaurant nearby.
The Mahmud Gawan Madarsa This is an amazing building that once used to be a place of learning. It had 3000 books and thousands of students from across India would come here to learn. Now everything is gone but the building stays.
Dum ka Chicken 🍗 Had this yummy chicken dish for dinner last night. It was delicious. The chicken was soft, the spices blended well, and had the right amount of spices. Whenever I go to a new restaurant I make sure to try something new. This time I am in a new city and I was at this restaurant called Siddiqui's and to be honest, they have the biggest servings I have ever seen. A few days ago I had ordered Ginger Chicken and it had a good aroma of ginger. When I was ordering…
Choukandi!! An Octagonal Tomb of Hazrat Khallilullah the spiritual advisor of the Bidar Kings. Most times are squares but the tomb of this spiritual advisor is octagonal in shape. It is a beautiful building built at least 500 years ago.
A tiny flower has the ability to make you smile, to make you chuckle like a child, and to comfort you in sadness. Flowers are natures antidepressants.
The weather in this city is very good. The sun is shining but got as harsh as it is in my city. Today is my last day here and I will be going back to my city today. I will miss the adventures that I was having here.
Another successful day. I am happy with everything I did this week. I visited a new city, roamed around to see almost all the tourist attractions, and walked as much as I could. It was a great weekend. And now I am back at my home. I will stay here for a few days or a few weeks and then travel again. I intend to travel to all of the 30 cities in my state. It will take a lot of time and money but I am ready to do it all. Actifit has been a strong force that was keeping me…
Tea! I hated drinking tea and now I think I am getting addicted to tea. After every meal I have, I crave a cup of tea. After every long journey, I crave tea. I do not like being addicted to anything and I will make sure to control my intake.
A small Dam I was passing by this small dam and I saw that the water level was too low. The water level is too low because there are many more dams that hold water. We all have been using all our water. The rivers are drying up, the underground water table is also shrinking. We need to save water and plant more trees.
It's been a day since I have been back from my solo trip. I had to cut it short because I have an event this Monday and I had to come back home. I will try to go back to my solo trip soon. And this short break has given me enough time to concentrate on my feet. I have noticed that my feet are one of the most ignored body parts. We take care of our hair, face, knees, and even our backs but we always ignore our feet. I am looking at finding a podiatrist. A podiatrist is a…
Once someone said to me: "You can't be successful unless you learn to love Monday mornings." And I had replied with a straight face: "Well in that case, I hardly love any mornings" Yours truly. The Midnight owl
Bidar Over the last several days I have been posting about this historical city called Bidar. I was touring this beautiful city that is situated on a hill. The soil there is red and the trees are all green all year round. Bidar is just 119 kilometers from my city and I have visited it a few times in the past but never really took time to appreciate the beauty of this ancient city. In this post, I will be sharing general information about Bidar city. I hope this post will be…
The last few days it has been raining and today I went out for my daily walk but unfortunately, it started to rain. I could not walk in the park but I did walk inside my house. I know walking in a park is better and healthier than walking inside my house but I did not want to skip today. Today we had a low earthquake in our city. We usually do not get earthquakes so even when we get a 3.4 on the Richter scale. A few of my friends were worried that there might be a bigger…
Fish fry! My city has no sea nearby so we do not eat fish as much. And once in a while we go out and eat fish. Last night my friends and I went to a restaurant on a highway and we had our dinner. The fish was crispy and fresh. I enjoyed it a lot.
Special Kachori I had this special Kachori called Raj Kachori at Big Mishra's. It was good but had too much curd in it. One of these will fill your stomach and you will not eat anything else.
Biryani! The best food to eat when you are feeling stressed or tired. I had Biriyani a few days ago and it was delicious. The best Biriyani in India is from Hyderabad. Which one is your favorite?
The biggest drum I ever saw One of the places that I visited had this big drum. It had animal skin and the body was made of iron and wood. I tried tapping my fingers to see what kind of music it creates but sadly it was torn in the middle and it wasn't useable.
Beautiful work on marble I recently visited a temple and they had these beautiful marble windows that we're carved beautifully. This kind of work used to be done by hand but I am not sure if this was done by hand or by a machine.
Gol Gumbaz This is one of the tallest tombs in India. It is an architectural marvel. The building is made in such a way that if someone talks then their voice echoes. They say it echoes 7 times but I could hear only 4-5 times. It has been more than 500 years since they build Gol Gumbaz so it has lost some of its perfection.
10 Kilometres!!! 😇 I walked around 10 kilometers today. I walked all around the city and saw many beautiful buildings. It was a bit difficult to walk with my backpack but I managed it. And the best thing is that my feet is absolutely fine. I have no pain and no cramps. I have been doing some warmup exercises and they are helping me.
Ibrahim Roza & the Masjid I am at the historical Ibrahim Roza tombs and I am sitting at the masjid beside the tomb of the king. The masjid is smaller than most masjids I have seen in this city but it is beautiful. The stone carvings, the arches, the pillars are elegant. It has been built in the Deccani style of Indo-Islamic architecture.
Like Juice! And no it is not beer. It is just plain sweet lime juice squeezed right in front of me. I was getting tired and I needed some liquids to get refreshed. I usually avoid sweet and soft drinks.
A heavy dinner. A North Indian thali consists of tandoori roti, dal, paneer, vegetable curry, curd rice, and a sweet. It was delicious and now I am ready to retire for the day.
The dead do not speak but they leave their work for us to look at it, ponder over their art and create something new with our own hands. This is the grave of King Ibrahim Shah.
Have you ever rested under a tree? On a hot summer day when it reaches 40° Celsius and you have nowhere to go would you rest under a tree? I saw this man taking a nap under this beautiful tree. It felt peaceful and calm. I sat down to observe the things around me and it all felt so beautiful. The green grass, the tall trees, and the dogs playing around, and the breeze flowing through me as if I do not matter.
Such a beautiful day. It is quite calm and I am enjoying it. I am at a park and they have a pond. I wish I could swim but it has been years since I stepped into a pool.
The sun was setting and the bus in which I was traveling was fast. I wanted to grab a picture of the setting sun but the bus was too fast. I somehow clicked a few shots and I think this one came out really well.
Too much Chicken? Yesterday I was at a restaurant which is known for their special biryani so I ordered a plate of Biriyani. It was good. The taste, the flavours, the rice was perfectly cooked but there was one problem with it. There was just too much chicken and very little rice. But it was yummy so I ate it without any complaints.
Had a good dinner. I had not walked much so after dinner I walked for an hour. The climate in this city is cool and not too hot as in my city. Each city I visit now will be colder than the previous ones. The Nort part of Karnataka is hot and the South Karnataka is cooler.
Travel India with me: Badami Caves are amazing! 😇 I just finished visiting some amazing temples and caves here in Badami town. The caves are impressive and I was stunned at the craftsmanship. I will be writing a long post once I reach my hostel but I am still waiting for the bus. This is just a sneak peek. I will share more photos as soon as I get some free time and a good space to sit and write.
A beautiful temp at Pattadakallu I visited these amazing temples in Pattadakallu. These temples are made using sandstone. They were build in around 6th and 7th century. The stone on some of these temples has worn off but the majority of the designs, the carvings are as new as they were the day they were carved. I was mesmerized with the beauty and I couldn't stop wondering how talented the artists were.
Old monuments have a lot of steps and I think this is one of the reasons why they were healthy. Most people these days have a sedentary lifestyle and end up getting sick. I am one of those people who has a sedentary lifestyle and that is the reason I am traveling and trying to be on foot as much as I can.
Humans are small, tiny, but our brains are big and our fingers always itch to craft the unimaginable. I was astonished to see the creativity and the level of skills these 6th & 7th-century artisans had. They carved an entire hill to build cave temples with just a hammer and a chisel. These people were not just great at their skills but they were the greatest of all times. I spent some time in each of these caves and I felt calm and peaceful. By the time I reached the top, I…
Hand-carved stone wheel. I found this at a temple in Badami. If I remember correctly then the name of the temple is Shri Banashankari and there were a lot of devotees present at the temple. It always amazes me how skillful our ancestors were at their craft. Whatever they did they did it with perfection and symmetry.