Recap of 2016

When I look back at 2016 with respect to travelling, I must say that it went better than my expectations. This year saw an increase in the number of official travels (3 to US and 4 to Europe). Also, I spent a good amount of time in birding though I have a very long way to go with respect the understanding of avian species. I also could not match my travelling speed with posting and in the process ended up not writing about some places I visited. Here is the short overview of how the year went.The maps below shows that my trips were mainly concentrated at certain places in the globe!!

The year started with the official trip to Las Vegas for CES and then followed with a trip to Netherlands. Las Vegas was always a city that I wanted to visit but the visit to Netherlands allowed me to see the town of Hague and Vaalserberg (Three country corner of Netherlands, Belgium and Germany). I also happen to try skiing (In artificial skiing sloes)!!

Las Vegas

February

Busy month as I did local trips to Vedanthagal and Galibore. Also, went for birding to Ranganathittu and Hesaraghatta lake.

Small Pratincole at Galibore

March

Mainly concentrated on birding trips to Hesaraghatta and valley school. Finished the month with a visit to Kabini.

Kingfisher with Scorpion in Kabini

Family trip to Sikkim for 9 days covering Gangtok, North and West Sikkim. Also, managed a birding trip to Shivanalli. Went for a short visit to Netherlands but did not spend anytime outside official work.

At GuruDongmar lake in Sikkim

May

Driest month as I had to take my daughter for swimming lessons. Happy to see her swimming better than me!! Managed to still visit Turahalli and Valley school nearby for birding.

At Turahalli

Attending Apple WWDC brought me to San Francisco helping me to visit some old friends. I also had the first experience of visiting doctor in US.

At Merlin highlands

A day trip to Antaragange and valley school. Did my first monsoon trip of the year to a waterfall in western ghat.

Western ghat waterfalls

August

A family trip to Kukke Subramanya mainly for experiencing the track between Sakleshpur and Subramanya road. Did a birding trip to Shivanahalli.

Railway track between Subramanya road and Sakleshpur

September

My major travel of the year started from September!! It started with a local trip to Thottikallu falls and Gulakmale for birding. With Sankara I visited western ghats to climb Kavaledurga and few waterfalls. A family trip to Avala Betta was also done. Official trip to Netherlands brought me to the beautiful city of Groningen.

Avala Betta

Another major trip of the year was to Cambodia which turned out to be extremely great experience!! I had planned this trip 6 months in advance only to know later that my daughter’s holiday schedule did not match!! My daughter volunteered to “bunk” the class for the trip. Happy to see her being flexible than to just sit inside class!! Soon after coming from Cambodia, I went with Sankara on Thattekad trip. And then to my native place for Deepavali where I visited the Hoysala temples of Baggavalli and Vignasanthe on the way. A very busy month.

Angkor wat temple

During my Deepavali visit, a trip of Goa was also planned from my native place. I then went to Boston for official trip but managed to include New York in itinerary for personal visit.

New York skyline

Started with the visit to Gummanayaka fort. Went on a trek to Shingani Gudda and Udaya Parvatha in Shisila. And then I went to Netherlands for official visit. Was lucky to witness Amsterdam Light Festival and visit Rijks museum. After coming from Netherlands, I immediately travelled to Udaipur and surrounding areas for Christmas vacation with my family. A very busy month.

Ice skating at Amsterdam

There were also some downsides. I had planned a trek to “Valley of flowers” but two days before the travel I was hit by “mini dengue” washing out the dreams. Trek to Basile ghat flopped in February because of unprofessional behaviour of Bengaluru Youth Hostel co-ordinator. The trend of downslide in number of treks continued this year also which is something I am not able to arrest.