ಗೋಸಾಯಿ ಘಾಟ್ ಪ್ರವಾಸ

   ಹೀಗೆ ಕೆಲವು ದಿನಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತರೊಬ್ಬರು ಫೋನ್ ಮಾಡಿ, ಈ ಭಾನುವಾರ ಗೋಸಾಯಿ ಘಾಟ್ಗೆ ಹೋಗೋಣ ಎಂದರು. ನಾನು ಸಹ ಅದೆಲ್ಲಿದೆ ಏನು ವಿಶೇಷ ಯಾವುದೂ ಅರಿಯದೆ ಸರಿ ಎಂದಿದ್ದೆ, ಅನಂತರ ತಿಳಿಯಿತು ನಾವು ಭಾನುವಾರ ಬೆಳಗ್ಗಿನ ಜಾವವೇ ಹೊರಡಬೇಕೆಂದು. ಹೇಗೋ ಮಾಡಿ ಐದಕ್ಕೆ ಎದ್ದು ಕುಳಿತರೆ, ಸ್ನೇಹಿತರ ವಾಹನ ಬಂದದ್ದು ೮ಕ್ಕೆ, ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯವೆಂದರೆ 8-10 ಜನ ಹೋಗುವುದೆಂದು ನಾನು ತಿಳಿದಿದ್ದೆ ಆದರೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿದ್ದದು 40 ಕ್ಕೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಜನ.

ಗೋಸಾಯಿ ಘಾಟ್ ಕಾವೇರಿ ತೀರ

  

ಸುಂದರವಾದ ಬಸ್ಸು, ಆದರೆ ಕಡೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹತ್ತಿದ ಕಾರಣ ನನಗೆ ದೊರೆತದ್ದು ಕಡೆಯ ಸೀಟು. ನಾನು ನನ್ನ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತ ಇಬ್ಬರೂ, ತಿಳಿದಿದ್ದ ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ಬರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಕುಳಿತೆವು. ಬಸ್ಸು ಕೆಂಗೇರಿಯನ್ನುದಾಟಿ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಗಲಬೆಯ ಟ್ರಾಫಿಕ್ ಗೆ ವಿದಾಯ ಹೇಳಿತು. ಅಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಬಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಕೆಲವರ ಪರಿಚಯವಾಯಿತು, ನೋಡ ನೋಡುತ್ತಿದಂತೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಹಿರಿಯರೊಬ್ಬರು ತಮ್ಮ ಪರಿಚಯ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತ, ಇತರರೂ ತಮ್ಮ ಪರಿಚಯ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಡಬೇಕೆಂದು ವಿನಂತಿಸಿದರು, ಅದರೊಂದಿಗೆ ವಿಪ್ರಚೇತನದ ಪರಿಚಯವನ್ನೂ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಟ್ಟರು. 

ಕಾಶಿ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರ ದೇವಾಲಯ 

ಹೀಗೆ 7 ವರ್ಷದ ಹಿಂದೆ ರಘುಕುಮಾರ್ ಎಂಬುವವರ ಕನಸಿನ ಕೂಸು ವಿಪ್ರ ಚೇತನ. ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣ ಸಮಾಜದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಗ್ಗಟ್ಟು ಮೂಡಿಸುವುದು, ವೃದ್ದಾಶ್ರಮ, ಅನಾಥಾಲಯ ಇವುಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡುವುದು, ಉಚಿತ ಸಾಮೂಹಿಕ ವಿವಾಹ ಉಪನಯನ ಮತ್ತಿತರ ಧಾರ್ಮಿಕ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳನ್ನು ನಡೆಸುವುದು ವಿಪ್ರ ಚೇತನದ ಕೆಲವು ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳಾಗಿವೆ. ಈ ರೀತಿ ಈಗಾಗಲೇ ಹಲವಾರು ಸಂಘ ಸಂಸ್ತೆಗಳಿದ್ದರೂ ದುರಾಸೆ ಮತ್ತು ರಾಜಕೀಯ ಬೇದಗಳಿಂದ ಸಮಾಜಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಉಪಕಾರಿಯಾಗಿಲ್ಲ. ವಿಪ್ರ ಚೇತನ ಆ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಬಿನ್ನವಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಅದ್ಯಕ್ಷರೆ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಸ್ವಯಂಸೇವಕರೆ. ವ್ಯಾಪರ ಚೇತನ ವಿಪ್ರ ಚೇತನದ ಅಂಗವಾಗಿದ್ದು ವಿವಿದೊದ್ಯೋಗಿಗಳ ಪರಿಚಯ ಸ್ಥಾನವಾಗಿದೆ. ಗೋಸಾಯಿ ಘಾಟ್ ಪ್ರವಾಸ, ಮಾಘ ಸ್ನಾನ ಮತ್ತು ನದೀ ತೀರದಲ್ಲಿ ಸತ್ಯನಾರಾಯಣ ಪೂಜೆ ಸತತವಾಗಿ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿರುವುದು ಇದು ಎರಡನೇ ವರ್ಷ. ವಿಪ್ರ ಚೇತನದ ಕೆಲಸ ಹೀಗೆಯೇ ಮುಂದುವರೆಯಲೆಂದು ಆಶಿಸುತ್ತ ನಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಕಥನದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಂದುವರೆಯೋಣ.

ಭತ್ತದ ಗದ್ದೆ 

ಗೋಸಾಯಿ ಘಾಟ್ ಎಂಬುದು ಶ್ರೀರಂಗಪಟ್ಟಣದ ಹತ್ತಿರದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಒಂದು ಯಾತ್ರಾ ಸ್ಥಳ. ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಿಂದ 120-125 ಕಿ.ಮೀ ದೂರದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಈ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ ಕಾವೇರಿ ನದಿಯ ತೀರವಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಸಂಗಮದಿಂದ ಉತ್ತರ ದಿಕ್ಕಿಗಿದೆ. ಕಾಶಿ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯು ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ ದೇವತೆ, ಯಾತ್ರಾರ್ಥಿಗಳು ಕಾವೇರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಿಂದು ಹೋಗುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಬರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಮೈಸೂರು ರಸ್ತೆಯಿಂದ ಶ್ರೀರಂಗಪಟ್ಟಣದ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಎಡಕ್ಕೆ ತಿರುಗಿದರೆ ರಸ್ತೆಯ ಇಕ್ಕೆಲಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಬ್ಬು ಭತ್ತದ ತೆನೆಗಳ ಮೋಹಕ ದೃಶ್ಯದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಹಳೆಯ ಪಾಳುಬಿದ್ದ ಮಂಟಪಗಳು ನಮಗೆ ಗೋಸಾಯಿ ಘಾಟ್ ನ ದಾರಿ ತೋರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.

ರಮಣೀಯ ಕಾವೇರಿ 

ನಾವೆಲ್ಲರೂ ಸ್ವಪರಿಚಯ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಟ್ಟನಂತರ ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಓರ್ವರು ಸಮಯ ಕಳೆಯುವುದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಅಂತ್ಯಾಕ್ಷರೀ ಆಡೋಣ ಎಂದರು. ಕೂಡಲೇ ಎರಡು ಗುಂಪಾದ ಬಸ್ಸು ಅಂತ್ಯಾಕ್ಷರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳುಗಿ ಎಚ್ಚರವಾದದ್ದೇ ಗೋಸಾಯಿ ಘಾಟ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ. ಅಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಾಗಲೇ ಸುಮಾರು 11 ಘಂಟೆಯಾದ್ದರಿಂದ ಯಾರಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಮಿಂದು ಆಟವಾಡಿ ತದನಂತರ ತಿನ್ನುವ ತಾಳ್ಮೆಯಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಉಪ್ಪಿಟ್ಟು ಕೆಸರಿಬಾತುಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಟ್ಟೆಗೆ ಏರಿಸಿದೆವು. ಅಲ್ಲಿಯವರೆಗೆ ಅಷ್ಟಾಗಿ ಪರಿಚಯವಾಗದಿದ್ದ ಅನೇಕರು ತಿನ್ನುವಾಗ ಪರಿಚಯವಾದರು.

ನದೀ ತೀರದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಂಟಪ 

ಅನಂತರ ಧೀಕ್ಷಿತರು ಪೂಜೆಗೆ ಅಣಿಮಾಡಲು ಸಿದ್ದರಾದರು, ನಾವೆಲ್ಲರೂ ನದಿಗೆ ಹಾರಿದೆವು. ಬಹಳ ದಿನಗಳಿಂದ ಮಳೆ ಇಲ್ಲದ ಕಾರಣ ಅಷ್ಟಾಗಿ ನೀರಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ ಮತ್ತು ಕಲ್ಲೋ ಕಲ್ಲು. ಸೊಂಟದವರೆಗೆ ನೀರಿದ್ದ ಜಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋಗಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತು ಮಿಂದು ಆಟವಾಡಿ ಅನಂತರ ಪೂಜೆಯಾಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಪ್ರಾಕರದೊಳಗೆ ಬಂದು ಕುಳಿತೆವು. ಅಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಆಗಲೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಹಿರಿಯರೆಲ್ಲರೂ ಮನತ್ರಘೋಶದಿಂದ ಪೂಜೆಯನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾರಂಬಿಸಿ ಬಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದರು. ನಾನು ಕ್ಯಾಮೆರಾವನ್ನು ಅತ್ತಿತ್ತ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ಕಿಸುತ್ತ ಪೂಜೆಯ ಮತ್ತು ನಿಸರ್ಗದ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳನ್ನು ಸೆರೆ ಹಿಡಿದೆ. ಸರಿ ಸುಮಾರು 3 ಘಂಟೆಯ ವೇಳೆಗೆ ಕಾಸಿ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರನ ಸಮೇತ ಸತ್ಯನಾರಾಯಣ ವ್ರತವು ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣವಾಯಿತು. ಅದುವರೆವಿಗೂ ಮನೆ ಅಥವಾ  ದೇವಾಲಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸತ್ಯನಾರಾಯಣ ಪೂಜೆಯನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದ್ದ ನನಗೆ ಇದೊಂದು ಹೊಸ ಅನುಭವವಾಗಿತ್ತು. 

ಕಾಶಿ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರನೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸತ್ಯನಾರಾಯಣ ಪೂಜೆ 

ಪ್ರಸಾದವನ್ನು ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಿದ ನಂತರ ಬಿಸಿ ಬೇಳೆ ಬಾತನ್ನು ನದೀ ತೀರದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಸ್ವಾದಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಕುಳಿತೆವು. ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲೇ ಇದ್ದ ಕಬ್ಬು ಭತ್ತದ ಗದ್ದೆಗಳ ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡಿ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ವಿಧಾಯ ಹೇಳಿದೆವು. ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಮನೆಗೆ ಬರುವ ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹಲವರು ನಿದ್ರಿಸಿದರೆ ಉಳಿದವರನ್ನು ಜೋಷಿಯವರ ಮತ್ತು ಶ್ರೀಕಾಂತರ ಗಾಯನ ರಂಜಿಸುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಕೊನೆಗೂ ಸುಂದರವಾದ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಮುಗಿದೇ ಹೋಯಿತು. 

ಆಕಸ್ಮಿಕವಾಗಿ ದೊರೆತ ಪಕ್ಷಿ

ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮಿತ್ರ 

Trip to Portsmouth and South sea

On the day before we went to Portsmouth, I and my roomies all decided to go out for dinner and on the way back home, we were discussing about some banking terminology, this led us to talk about lending money eventually giving way to a discussion on superstition. It was a 3.5 hours discussion, I and one of my roomie argued on the topic saying a person cannot question everything to accept or reject, but he can only do it within his/her reach ( within his scope). but other roomie argued saying there is nothing such as scope and we cant just ignore our ancestors belief without knowing why they followed it.Most funniest part is the end of the discussion, we all realised it was 12 in the night and we had to get up at around 5 in the morning to go to Portsmouth thats where our journey begins.

You guessed it right, I was the last to wake up in the morning. We were all supposed to start from house by 6:15 as we had to reach the YMCA hostel by 7:45, luck was in our favor; though we had to run for it. We reached the hostel by 7:00 and all of our stomach's were singing rhymes with hunger. There was a supermarket nearby which took care of our breakfast (by the way it was sandwich and rice custard). At last bus started at 8:15 from the YMCA hostel. Its a 2.5 hours journey between London and Portsmouth.

HMS Warrior

Though most part of our journey was on sleep, here and there we did see few nice scenic places on the way. It was 11:30 by the time we reached Portsmouth or Pompey is its widely called. Weather was colder than we expected and I had to pull out my sweater and wear it. Unlike the previous one this trip wasn't informative, we decided to start with the famous dock yard in Portsmouth heading towards one of the biggest warship's built in 19th century. After a long discussion we purchased a group ticket and walked towards HMS warrior.


By the way for those who are wondering what HMS means its Her Majesty's Ship. Further historic details on HMS Warrior can be got by clicking on the link. As usual all my friends started with their camera, even before we could enjoy the grand ship.As soon as I entered the ship, first thing that came to my mind was the movie Pirates of Caribbean, and I started imagining myself as the captain of that ship Jack Sparrow.  By the time I came back to the real world,  my friends  had finished with their initial round of photographs.


One after the other, we went floor by floor we were amazed to see the amount of information that lay there for us to grasp, undoubtedly this was the best warship that I had seen ( though it was the only one that I had seen). In summary the ship was awesome. By this time all that we had eaten in the morning had got digested completely and was ready for the next course of action. Luckily organizers had prepared Paneer dish and Curd rice. Once our stomach was full, we wanted to rest a while, being conscious of time we rested in a queue for the dockyard boat trip. With a funny commentary on the boat we circled around the dock yard viewing the Spinnaker tower, HMS Victory, and many of the modern day warships, and also the passenger ships to Isle of wight and France too. This boat ride lasted for nearly an hour and was worth it.

HMS Victory

Next stop was HMS Victory tour, though this was older than the HMS warrior, we felt there were more people who were interested in viewing this ship due to its historical importance. For your information have provided the link. From there we went to a place called action station where 3 of us tried our hands on the tallest indoor climbing tower. Though we did not spend much of the time on other attractions, I felt these were modern age stuff and we can find it elsewhere too.

Action Station

Last it was the journey to south-sea which did have its ups and downs on my mood, but ended well with a calm pebble beach. Yes, we were the last to arrive back to the bus as a consequence we all had to sit with strangers. The first half of the journey back was an interesting talk on mythology with a roomie of mine which was short-lived. Second half of the journey was filled with surprise as I was involved in conversation with the stranger next to me, luckily the person was a she.

South Sea pebble beach

No doubt all our gang started teasing me as soon as we landed at the YMCA hostel and all the way back to home. Thus ended our Portsmouth and South-sea trip
.

Thames path walk from Richmond to Hamptoncourt

It was a bright sunny day and crowd was starting to pull slowly to watch the boat race which was about to start in few mins. After a long walk I decided to rest a while watching a wonderful painter who was busy painting the Richmond bridge.  The painting stood as though he does not need any more advertising for his skills. This rest time also included my lunch with a beautiful view of family who had come to watch the boat race.

The younger kid in the family which was having some chips fell down and started crying. soon her mom came and picked him up and started consoling the kid, you guessed it right I went for a flashback of my own childhood which was ended by the reality of 8 more miles to finish by End of day.
Richmond is a small town with few large houses and leisurely people. I was shocked to see so many people who had come for the boat race. Continuing after my lunch, I was soon approached by a group of kids who were watching puppet show reminding me of my own childhood lesson on puppet show( ತೊಗಲುಗೊಂಬೆ ಆಟ). Spent a few minutes watching English puppet show and then started walking again. Within few mins I had to come to end of the city view and was fast approaching a path in the bushes. This path soon gives a good view of marble house on the other side of the river.

Thames is pretty quiet in this region making it the best place for residence across the river bank and how nice it would be to have a school with a view of thames. Thats exactly what is there, St. James independent school for boys across the river. There were hardly anybody else on the path and it was partly cloudy too, to add to the pain my legs started saying enough for the day, had to rest for a few mins just before the teddington lock. Beyond the lock, thames becomes even more peaceful leading way to kensington town. Just before I approached the kensington bridge, there was a beautiful tree lined park which is part of Canbury Gardens.

Kensignton is a big town with a bit of history too, especially the market place,  I had a sneek preview of the famous market house and then continued on my path. Kensignton marks the end of two sided path for thames from thames barrier. I had to change the course and start walking on the other side of the river. From then on, it was really a boring walk neither were people around nor was the thames making any sound. Continuing on my path for more than hour on this stretch I came to Hampton court palace gardens, just before the start was a beautiful house called " The pavillion". After few mins of walk I was at the entrance of Hampton court, though I wanted to explore the palace completely, my legs gave up after 16 miles of walk on the same day. I rested for a few mins in front of the hampton court and then crossing the Hampton court bridge I went to the Hampton court station. While waiting for the train, I had my favourite orange candy from a nearby stall.

Needless to say, I slept all the way back home in the train and legs were complaining all through the next whole week, but the pain was worth the beauty of the walk.

source of map and inspiration for my walk : http://www.thames-path.org.uk/

Trip to Stone henge and Roman Bath

It was less than 6 degrees and everybody around was still asleep including myself thats when my alarm rang, time was 5 am in the morning. We had decided to go to Stone henge and Bath, 2 very good places on the same day in UK. I had the task of waking up my friend too. By 7:20 we were at the YMCA, there was quite a big crowd by the time we started from YMCA, I think it was around 50.  It was a bad start as none of us were able to grab anything for breakfast.

It was the first time I was seeing the sunrise in weeks. within few minutes we were out of the city life and was passing through the army quarters and country side. We had a wonderful guide who was introduced by the organisers. Forgot to mention, earlier in the day as soon as we came to YMCA, my friend wanted to take a pic in front a plant next to Gandhiji's photo. while I was taking the picture behind came a comment from Mike saying  the plant behind my friend was good. me and my friend both were laughing at this, now it was the same guy who would be a guide for us the whole day.

Starting from where we had left, Mike started explaining about the country side and the place that we were going "Stone Henge". Stonehenge is a  prehistoric monument located in the English countyside, One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones and sits at the centre of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial grounds.

We were there at Stone Henge within 2.5 hours and we were having about an hour to finish Stone henge and back to the coach. Almost all of them who came with us were hungry, luckily bread slices that i had carried early in the morning helped a lot, at one time we had even eyed the bananas brought by another gang. As soon as my friend saw the Stone henge first response from him was " this is the same picture which is on my Windows desktop", one other friend answered him, yes Microsoft stole it from here.

We spent some time watching and listening to the history of the place and of course taking pictures from all the angles. Even before we can think of we were back on the coach. Organisers were little upset as few of them came as late as 30 mins. It was a tight schedule as we were about to cover 2 places on the same day.  Starting from there, it was very nice country side that we passed through and althrough the journey we had nice hindi songs played by the guys behind us on their mobile. Every now and then Mike used to give us details about the place.

By the time we reach the Roman bath it was nearly 1 and all of us were hungry. But Plan was to visit the Bath first and then have our lunch. It was a tough feeling to carry our lunch and take photographs and roam around the roman bath. It was a wonderful ancient place, though I wasnt very interested in listening to the history, enjoyed viewing the exhibits. 

The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath. The complex is a well-preserved Roman site for public bathing.The Roman Baths themselves are below the modern street level. There are four main features: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and the Museum holding finds from Roman Bath. The buildings above street level date from the 19th century.

From there we went on searching for the River side park, and after huge effort of nearly 40 minutes, we were on the bank of river Avon. Overlooking the river and the Pulteney bridge we had our lunch. We were accompanied by a friend from meghalaya, to be surprise she was the first person from meghalaya whom I had met.  With all our energies refilled, we were ready to explore the city of bath. 

First thing that caught our eye was St.John's Evangelist Catholic Church. It was a wonderful church and one of the best that I had seen. we didnt get in as there was a mass going on during that time, From there I took my friends saying I will show them the Cathedral ( though I dint really know what it was and how to go).  It was a long walk and at last we saw a beautiful building which i convinced my friends that it was Bath University. But it was St.Mary Virgin church. 

Next stop from there was at the Pulteney bridge which is the next best thing in Bath after the bath and Abbey. We didnt spend much time enjoying the bridge. This bridge is the only bridge in UK which has shops built on the Bridge. From there we went to the Abbey, for our dissaapointment, the entry was closed for the abbey tower. Spent some time viewing the abbey and headed back to our coach.

Speaking to others from our group, we came to know that we had missed viewing Royal Carnival too. Back on our way we spent most of the time in talking as it was already getting dark and we could hardly see anything outside. Overall it was a short wonderful trip.

Thames path from Putney Bridge to Richmond

It was a wonderful journey from London Eye to Putney Bridge, that inspired me to continue with the rest of the trail. Finished writing my blog for the first length of the trail and slept deciding that I will start early in the morning for the next trail. But by the time I got up it was 9 already. Got ready fast and prepared a simple curry for the sandwich and packed it for my trip. Learning from my previous trip, also packed a bottle of water and some biscuits. By the time I started from home it was already 11.

It took me 2 hours before which I could reach Putney Bridge from  my place. Beautiful Putney rail bridge was in front of me within moments of getting out of station, Thames was flowing with more majestically today than what I had seen last time. Crossing over the bridge and over a few steps I was next to Putney Bridge, next to the bridge is putney pier where I saw series of boat houses, also read that this place is famous for annual oxford -cambridge boat race. The other side of the river is complete with the Fulham palace Gardens.

Crossing over a small footbridge I was completely out of city life, it was as though i was inside a tunnel made out of trees, the place is called Beverly Brook.

It was a tree lined mud path from there on, soon I approached an old building Harrods Furniture Depository. few minutes of walk after that i was next to the beautiful Hammersmith bridge, The bridge which has the history of not getting damaged even after several bomb attacks. After the bridge I arrived at something called Leg of Mutton Nature reserve, sadly it was fenced and i couldnt go through, that ended my mud path and I was back on to the road next to the under repair Barnes Bridge. It was a beautiful as I had seen in pictures, but now it was completely covered and was being renovated.

I could not bear my hunger anymore, hence sat there on a bench viewing the rowing boats pass through. The sandwich that I had brought from home, went inside one by one without complain. At this point I was thinking how better to plan if I go for a long hike with a Non vegetarian group. Thames path author suggested that it might be wet here, but since Thames was flowing more quietly now I could easily continue along the side walk. Beyond this point it was Chiswick bridge which had a very big path and I could see many joggers and cyclists around. After passing the bridge, its all luxury houses all long until we approach the Kew rail bridge. I was imagining myself staying in one of these luxury houses with my family, hope it doesnt stay just an imagination.

Kew rail bridge and Kew bridge leed you to Kew Gardens, which is welcomed by the beautiful Kew Palace in front of it. Thames get very wide beyond this point wherein we have the Grand union canal next to the Syon house. Thames path here is separated by a small stream to prevent illegal entrants to kew gardens. Once you pass the kew gardens you reach the Deer garden, heard there are lots of deers in this garden but i couldnt sight any. At the end of the deer garden, I saw a place where it was marked the standard time, this standard was used before the current GMT standard.

Across the other bank, I could see a beautiful village and a place call Gordon house which was beautiful. Walking along the path, I was near the richmond lock, where thames path was almost at the water level. had good look at the richmond lock, and Twikenham rail bridge.  As soon as I crossed the bridge, saw water flooding into the path, few joggers were returning back seeing the flooding, I was determined not to turn back, removed my shoes and went ahead. It was a few minutes of water walk for me, before which I saw a corner back to road. I was a celebrity here, few amateur photographers were capturing me on their DSLR. Gave them a broad smile and was back on road.

Richmond was a beautiful place with old houses, soon I was in front of a cricket stadium, rested there for a few minutes watching the match and headed towards the Richmond station.




I acknowledge the author of thames path for guiding me all the way through this source 

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra 

After 3 days of holidays there was no interest in me to go back to work and sit all through the day in front of the PC, but cant help it. As a sudden spark of rescue I found one of my colleague who started discussing about classical music, though he was not much interested in it, I showed little interest and he offered two tickets to a Western classical music by to one of the best Classical music Orchestra. I scanned through whole of my known people list who can potentially join me, but with no luck. My colleague had given me all the details including what time I should reach the station and how many minutes I might have to walk and where to buy a sandwich too. I Really appreciated it.

At last it was 6 and I could not find any and I decided to go alone. Though I was a bit late, I arrived at the Royal Albert Hall just in time for the show to start. I was paralyzed by the view the hall offered me, never in my life had I seen such a beautiful hall for a show. Two wonderful classical music shows, first one was Haydn's  military classic and the second one was Shostakovich's Tenth – one of the composer's most popular symphonies.

The Hall was completely full and audience were even standing to see the performance and it was a continuous 10 mins applause that we could hear at the end of both shows. I should really thank both BBC proms and my colleague who gave me the tickets and made me to visit Albert hall.

Thames path walk from London Eye to Putney bridge

It was a bright sunny day, I had decided to start early in the morning as I was very excited to do my first outing in London and the place chosen was a perfect starting point for my walking/hiking experience in UK.

London City, one of the famous city which I always dreamt of visiting was very new to me as it was only 2 weeks since I was in this place. I already had a task in hand to take a family for touring around London. Though it was pretty late that we started, reached the Waterloo station by 12 in the afternoon. It was just a small walk from there before which we could see the fantastic London Eye.

Within a few minutes walk we were next to world famous London Eye. At the first sight of it, I wanted to climb it but the queue in front of me pushed me back. London Eye is on the banks of river Thames, the source of my walk today. All through the path from London eye to Westminister Bridge you see lots of Street plays, I was amazed to see them. This is where I left the family to be on their own and went on my path having Putney bridge as my destination.

At the other end of the bank is the world famous London parliament house. I had always wondered when i will take a photo in front of this landmark of London. It was time now but i couldnt get a good view as my view was blocked by London eye. I decided to move ahead capturing the street plays and heading towards Westiministers bridge. It was a narrow path to cross the bridge below and the path was completely quiet. What a great difference between the two sides of the bridge, one side its completely filled with crowded people with lots of fun and on the other side its completely quiet and peace. With a few minutes walk I had a very clear view of the Parliament house captured it safely on my new Nikon Camera.

After this is a beautiful flying swan statue just next to the Battersea Bridge and on the other side is a nice statue of a family. Beyond this point thames

Wanted my own pic in front of the Parliament house tried to capture it myself but wasnt upto my satisfaction. Then a passer by helped me to place me in a pic in front of the parliament house. As I passed few steps ahead I could see the Lambeth's palace to my left, the home of archbishop of Canterbury. Church of St.Mary is next to this old palace. After I walked a while ahead and turned back it was the beautiful Parliament house, London eye and the Lamberth Bridge.

Soon after this we find ourselves next to the Beautiful or should i say one of the ugliest MI6 building. This is not very popular a building but it still has made its name by the ugliness of its shape.

Soon I was near the Vauxhall Bridge after passing MI6 building. There was a slight drift in the path and I had to deviate away from the thames path. It was already 2 in the noon, I couldnt starve myself anymore, on the way i grabbed a sandwich and bottle of fanta with potato chips. It was a strange sandwich that I had not eaten before, but couldnt help it, I had to eat. Once in between when I could look back towards where I started, it seemed to be like the London Eye has shifted banks. Continuing along the road I reached the Chelsea Bridge which was a very beautiful old bridge. Chelsea bridge leeds way to Battersea park, A beautiful park along the river thames with full of plant life. It also has a gift from japanes buddhist order a very beautiful structure " The London Pagoda". This has Buddha in four different positions on four sides of the sturcture.

At the end of the Battersea park it leads way to Albert Bridge and on continuing you can see some waterside boats used as restaurants.

path continues across beautiful newly built houses on both the banks. Few industrial buildings are also seen on the other bank. As I approached St.Mary's church thames path deviated on to the road again. Got lost here searching for my way back to the path, thanks to the old sign boards which still exists guides you every now and then.

walking along the road I could see an odd construction with old add's of coke. From there on I was back on the thames path starting with Wandsworth bridge and leading to Wandsworth park. A beautiful park with trees lined up like soliders on both sides of the walking path. At the end of the Wandworth park it leads to residential area which eventually ends up before the Putney Railway bridge. It was an awesome experience standing on top of the Putney bridge with a beautiful view of Thames river and enjoying my last sip of the drink. Crossed over the bridge and straight into the Putney bridge railway station. Captured the beautiful old railway station on my camera and the camera was back on its pouch. Soon after this I was welcomed by a district train sitting in which I payed my final wave to the wonderful walk that made my day happy.

Good Source that I had althrough my journey was a printout from the below webpage

http://www.thames-path.org.uk/thames_eye_putney.html Thanks for the person who wrote it.

yours

mitrashekar