Polo Forest Day Trip

My camera was feeling lonely for the last few months.  So, I thought to explore a nearby, unseen place for a photo-tour.

We left for exploring one such place last week early in the morning at 6 am. With my better half, a couple of like-minded friends.

We headed towards Gandhinagar. The morning was charming. The day was agile. Full of energy and cold. A lovely combination of nature’s energies. So we thought to explore it for an even longer time. Before we realize that we are going too far than planned, my car found itself close to Polo Forest near Vijaynagar that is 160km away from Ahmedabad.

Now, Vijaynagar has a special place in our hearts. Coincidently, we were there exactly a year ago. But this time, it was different.

Beautiful weather. Cold morning. Warm, big-hearted people. A lovely trek and whole new experience.

We hired a guide who led us for 3 hours trekking. Saw several places. Got to know the forest little better. There were 400-year-old temples and its stories of construction and destruction.

The guide was a warm person. His name was Dalsukh (meaning “Happy Hearted”). He charged just Rs.250/- and gave his 110%. He was not much literate, did not go to school yet he was a good communicator. He knew some English words as well. He was polite and had good guts about how to relate with visitors. He ensured that we get ALL the information that we should get. He entertained us and enabled us to have a great time.

It didn’t just remain a photography tour morning but became a unique day of my life. Took some photos but spend significant time before the camera. These days I’m enjoying being before the camera as I’ve lost 13kg in the past year.

So, posted the photos on Facebook. Here’s the link if you want to have a look.

There’s a sweet thing about posting the photos over FB. I have a LOT of friends connected via Facebook. Each posted photo album is an opportunity to interact with them at a more personal level. The reason is simple. People need a reason to interact. And photo albums are good reasons, isn’t it?

Traveling, photography, exploring new things and conversations.

So, the album I posted started a conversation with Tanmay Vora, a close friend who has written an awesome post about lessons learned from photography. Very thoughtful 12 lessons. Liked all of them. Thinking about it:

“Photography is an opportunity to be spontaneous, observe the situations as they are, align our actions to pick the right perspective and act upon it.”

A cool, fresh day, spontaneous outing, some photography, and memorable experiences. Read my review on TripAdvisor too.