Showing posts with label neyyar dam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neyyar dam. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The High Five - Pick of my Pics

Ask a mum to choose her favourite among her children!! Blogadda gave me a taste of the same feeling when I decided to participate in Travel Photo Contest, since I had to pick 5 photos from my collection of travel photos.

I travel for 3 reasons. To Ride/drive, to capture the frames and to explore the unexplored places around me. I take loads of photos of the places which I visit and it was difficult for me to select the one which I like the most.

Kerala - God's own country has no dearth of beautiful landscape and this prestine state is bestowed with diverse landscape engulfed between Arabian sea in the west and the Western Ghats in the east. Lots of rivers, backwaters and lakes criss cross the state.

At certain places, lakes ought to meet sea and wherever this happens the landscape is beautiful. What if, the sky too is generous to provide a splendid backdrop with the setting sun giving the brightest of possible colors to the whole scene. The resultant frame is this. 


This image taught me that pixel count does not matter much against natural splendor as this image was shot in 3 Mega Pixel camera. This beautiful sunset was captured at Veli, a beautifully landscaped tourist village near Thiruvananthapuram during one of my regular visits there.(View more of Veli by clicking here)

Many a times when I see the advertisements of 3D screensavers of the flowing rivers, as pop ups in some of the websites, I had wondered whether there will be any such scenes in real life. Little did I knew that such places exists very near to where I reside. One fine sunday afternoon, while I was on a boating trip in the beautiful Neyyar Dam, it was raining 3D screen savers around me. I cherish this picture a lot and I believe it is the sky which gave that perfect finish to this frame.


Eventhough this dam has been one of the favourite picnic spot right from the school days, I began to really appreciate its beauty once I began to capture frames and as was rightly pointed out the picture tells the story. (See more of this place here)

Why is it that we never gets bored of the beaches even though the waves are repeatedly doing the same thing at all the beaches. There is something special and two beaches are never the same. Even the same beach has different feel each time we go there. I too goes to beach every now and then and my camera always captures those moments. One of those shots reminded of another way to touch the sky. Yes, all of us are taught to aim for the sky, and to reach the sky we need to fly high or in a lighter note, we can take swim to the Horizon, where sea touches the sky. Can we take a walk to the horizon through this bridge


This was shot in a place called Beypore, where there is a long sea bridge, extending almost 1km into the sea. (To have a glimpse of this port town, click here)

Carving sculptures in rock is an art and only master crafters can do this precisely. Then can we call water a master crafter. Who else can do such a craft work on these rocks.


This photo was captured from the unheralded Perunthenaruvi, where water flows through these rocks creating lots of patterns over the years. The place is so beautiful that I just spend almost a day sitting here just enjoying the water, the sound of gushing water and the master craftsmanship. (To see more photos of Perunthenaruvi, Click here )

Worship or rather belief in God, be it in any religion, according to what I have understood is to make one humble, to make one feel being monitored by some divine powers so that one leads a life of peace and harmony without hurting other fellow beings and not becoming so much proud of the material possessions he/she has. I too thank God for letting me find happiness in exploring places, shooting down pictures and for having a loving family behind me, supporting me always, be it in my profession or for pursuing my hobby. I treasure my visits to unexplored places as much as I treasure this one photo, since the lovely little kid of my friend showed me how one can pose so perfectly atop the hills of Panchalimedu.


The trekking experience in the Panchalimedu was unparalleled as we really felt like being so close to Heaven once up there. (More pics can be seen here)

I thank Blog adda for tempting me to enter this travel photo contest as a result of which, I literally travelled through many of pictures in my collection, reliving those moments before finalizing five which I showcased above.

Contest result announced - you can view it here
And the important thing for me is that the judge has made a special mention of this post. 
Thanks to Blogadda for giving me this distinction !!!!!. 
I really value this, for it is the first time I am participating in a blog related context

Thanks to all my readers tooooo!!!. 
I create content and you give life to it.
Please do keep visiting and help me know your views on my travelogues

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Screenshots Galore - The Neyyar Dam

  

Located just 20 km away from the heart of Thiruvananthapuram is the Neyyar Dam. A place which most of the school's in the city chooses for a one day picnic, I too have memories of a school trip to this place during which time our interests were mostly in experiencing the boat ride, the statues at the park, the climb up the watch tower and above all a visit to Lion safari park. Many of the Trivandrumites must have a nostalgic relationship with this wonderful place.

As we grew our interests changed, our perspectives changed and the very purpose of the visit changed. Got a chance to visit this place again, this time as part of a local meeting of a popular automotive forum. The weather was perfect for photo shoots and I did not miss the oppurtunity either. This place is surely a picturesque one as is evident from the shots below.

Eventhough this place is close to the busy city, the terrain change is quite evident once we crosses Kattakkada town. The sky was giving the perfect back drop 

  

Once nearing the Neyyar a small river flows by the side with the trees on the river side giving the roads a special attraction and the drive soon becomes quite an exciting one.

  

There is a ticket counter at the gate, where we have to take passes for the vehicle to be taken in.
  

Inside the main building there is good park with lots of life like statues, a crocodile park and a swimming pool.

After taking the ticket, did I come to know that my friends are waiting near the watch tower. The way to the watch tower is outside this entrance. So I proceeded to the watch tower.
  

The dam site began to appear in front of me.

  

Soon I had to cross a small bridge which was right in front of the dam. Managed to click from inside the vehicle amidst the terrible honking from one of the tourist vehicle behind me.
  

Passed the Dam site and proceeded uphill through the narrow road

  

The upward trail was interesting since it first passed through thick vegetation.

  

Soon the thick vegetation gave way to the vast dam site and who wouldn't love to have a drive through a road watching this scenery and breathing fresh air

  
The watch tower was soon in sight and I parked the vehicle there. Wonder how many times I have seen this place, but still I don't feel bored to be here. 

  

The view from top of the watch tower is really amazing. But didn't bother to climb up as my friends were waiting in the nearby restaurant.

The view of the dam from this point is also superb.

  

A KTDC (Kerala Tourism Development Corporation) restaurant is nearby which happens to be the only hotel here. The restaurant location is good.

  

But the goodness ends there. Facilities inside are poor and food is average.

Still it proved enough for a meet of automobile enthusiasts and we had lunch there. We came out of the restaurant and soon a poll was taken to find out the activity to chose. The boat ride starting point was visible from here.

  

We could see a boat returning after a ride through this beautiful ambience.

  

The waves created by the boat on the still water was giving it a special attraction.
Another was leaving with full load of passengers.

  

May be because of the beautiful real life stills which we witnessed from this point, most of the people opted for a boat ride over a visit to Lion safari park, where the number of lions has gone drastically down, if the locals are to be believed.

After taking tickets (less than Rs50 per person) we were waiting for our boat to arrive, when I spotted this beautiful building coming up in the other shore. 

 

Our boat came and we started our ride soon.

  

The greatest attraction of this drive is that where ever we look we feel as if it is a 3D screen saver for real. It is impossible to clearly describe what we saw. Just have a look at this pic

  

As the boat kept on moving the screenshots also varied. The mountains in the back drop were a treat to watch.
  

  

We also went near the lion safari park, but could spot just one lion. After a complete visual treat for about 45 minutes we were nearing the shore.

  

Still the ambience was ideal for photography

More discussion followed mainly on automotive gyans. Went to main building where other's steeds were parked. We can get another view of the dam from here.

  

Last but not the least, the sight of all the steeds of the autoenthusiasts provided another occasion for a photo shoot.

  

Quick Facts
Name of Place; Neyyar Dam

How to reach: 
Catch any bus from Thiruvananthapuram central bus terminal (near Railway station) to Neyar dam

Entry fees: Less than 100

Activities: Crocodile Park, Dam site, lion safari park

Ideal for: One day picnic.

Where to stay: Better to stay in Thiruvananthapuram, at Kovalam or Poovar and make a day trip here as there are no good resorts/hotel near this place.

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