Go West Young Man. Go West!!

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Well the trip to horsley hills is taking a little too long to materialize so I went out in search of other option. This time to Manjira Crocodile Sanctuary in Medak, except I did not manage to reach there at all due to miscellaneous reasons. But I did see a lot of stuff like the Medak Church, apparently a joint venture between French and English colonials in 1927!!!! It's a through and through Gothic church standing 175 feet tall and the story goes that all the materials used in the construction have been imported from France while the rest of the world was fighting its First World War. Its quite a thing to see in such a sad town (as in boring). All in all it looks like a miniature Frankfurt Church only more inaccessible.

Armed with Da Vinci Code and history buffs that we were, we tore apart the place looking for clues of Free mason's all reaching arms. Though Ram confirmed that 1920’s were a time that Rome was at its peak and no Illuminati can sponsor a church conspiracy I was not willing to give up. We saw quite few things and interpreted it to our means, like there was Mary Magdalene with a halo and Jesus on the cross was looking directly at her. Then there were birds all over the glass etching suggesting nature worship. Oh yes that’s one more thing, apart from the church itself there are three huge glass etching on the sides of the Church depicting the three stages of Life of Jesus. Which also have been imported apparently. Cameras were not allowed in so I’m sorry.

Then we went to the nearby Medak fort which is called Metukudurga by the locals. It was in pretty bad shape and can do with some help from the Archeological guys. Statues and Columns were littered like trash and the way to the fort was itself very confusing. About 500 feet high it gives a magnificent view of the otherwise boring town. Cameras were again not allowed but I managed to sneak it in and click some. hehe. There was a big time security issue since this part of the state is a terrorist stronghold. Just across is Karnataka and between them is Western ghats with rivers, ravines and rotting trees, so you know where not to go if u ever come here.

After some walking around and looking around we headed out for the Croc farm and due to some misdirection ended up in place different than our intended destination. This place has two Sanctuaries one for Birds and other for Crocs and the people who live here do not know the difference!! We kept asking for Manjira Sanctuary and they kept showing the way to Pocharam Bird Sanctuary. Anyways we went there saw some fish and peacocks and lots of monkeys. Due to monsoon the place was filled to the brim and that was good to keep the "tourists" away. After a lot of fooling around we headed back home and decided we will go to the croc farm coming Friday. So watch this space this weekend for some croc pics!!!

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