The entire course of our trip was divided into 4 days.
Day 1 and half of Day 2 - Bandipur
Day 2.5 to Day 4 - Wayanad
The start of the trip - Day 1
Everyone was in full enthusiasm in the early morning. All of us got picked up at our houses by 6 am and we hit Mysore road by 6.15 am. From then on we stopped to stretch our legs at a couple of places, once at a petrol pump when the Cab driver wanted a fill of Diesel and another one at a highway Chai-wala to have a cup of tea. We then proceeded to Maddur where we stopped at the famous Mylari Hotel for breakfast by 8.30 - 9 am. We had a stomach full of Sagu-Masala Dosas (speciality here - instead of Potato Curry inside, there is a Sagu filling) and Idlys and Vadas. Our next stop was at Nanjangud to stretch our legs. Also, there is a famous temple at Nanjangud which we visited for a couple of minutes. It is a really beautiful and age-old temple with lots of devotees flocking there by the hundreds. After some cool and natural Elneer (coconut water), we left Nanjangud and headed towards Bandipur, taking the Mysore - Gundlupet - Bandipur road. We stopped for directions a couple of times, but once we saw the signboards of Country Club Bush Betta (the place where we stayed), we were on track and reached our destination by 12 pm. We checked into our cottages, changed into swimwear and rushed to the swimming pool to beat the sweltering summer heat. After an enjoyable two hours in the pool, we headed to the restaurant for the simple, yet-tasty lunch buffet.
Breakfast at Mylari Hotel, Maddur
Beating the heat in the pool
Post-lunch we relaxed in our cottages watching TV till the wake-up call came from the club guys for the evening Jungle Safari. This was the first hands-on Safari for most of us (in an open jeep barely meters away from the wild animals) and we were all hoping we could see some Tigers or leopards crossing our path. The Safari was from 3.30 pm till 7 pm- nearly 3 and a half hours in the jungle. The Deer are as common in Bandipur, as what stray dogs are in Bangalore. We saw many herds pass by us frequently. We also got to see herds of Bison, a couple of wild boars, barking deer, Langurs, peacocks, Elephant herds, a Mongoose and lots of rare birds in the forest. The Safari ride is something I will not forget- a truly breathtaking experience in the forest. The guide who was driving the Safari vehicle was pretty informative and patient, explaining about where in the forest he could find specific animals, time and again warning our over-enthusiastic and noisy group of friends to stay quiet lest we scare away the animals ;-)
Spotted Deer in Bandipur - a common sight
Making our way through the forest path
We got back to the camp at 7 pm and chilled out at the club, playing indoor games such as Table Tennis and Snooker. After 2 double games of Table Tennis, the other friends continued the doubles games but Sandeep and I got bored and had a game of Snooker, which we ultimately abandoned when we got the aroma of the evening dinner from the adjacent restaurant ;-) All of us were tired and hungry after an eventful day. After a very heavy dinner (cursing the club for the ultra-spicy food that evening) we retired for the day.
Snooker Time!!
Day 2 - The end of the Bandipur trip - Wayanad beckons
We woke up to screams of camp guys and sounds of a Forest jeep rushing through the narrow forest paths. Our curiosity led us to see what was going on- we saw a herd of elephants thrillingly close to our row of cottages, right behind the fences of our Club area. Everyone wanted to get a closer look at the herd. The animals were frightened to the core, and rushed back to the jungle. We climbed an old, deserted Watch tower to get a better aerial view of the proceedings. After this small incident, we had our morning coffee/tea and set out at 6.30 am for a small walk-cum-trek with a camp guide inside the forest. We spotted a small herd of elephants near a water hole, feeding on the adjacent trees and plants. After quietly taking a few photos, we walked along a small lake and a cliff which runs alongside the length of the lake. The Club guides prefer to call this a natural Dam for some reason!!! maybe to hype it up. Apart from a full grown reddish-black centipede, there were no more wild animal sightings for us that morning- just a few paw-marks of a leopard, an adult bear and the claw marks of a peacock that the guide showed us on the muddy path.
The 'natural dam' we saw during the early morning trek
We returned to the club by 8.30 am and played cricket in a mini-playground for about 2 hours. By 10.15 - 10.30 am, we had breakfast, packed up and checked out of the club by 12pm. We left Bandipur, our next stop was Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta - a famous temple atop the hill. You can reach it by taking a deviation on the Bandipur - Gundlupet stretch of the highway. We wanted to visit it more for the scenic view from the top, and to spot herds of elephants on the hills (which we ultimately did) during the hill climb. Initially a few of us (including me) were hesitant to visit this place as we thought it would eat up time and spoil our trip itinerary by forcing us to skip future spots for that day. However, the visit was thoroughly worth the time we spent. Vehicles are allowed to climb till the top so there was no need to trek. After a heavenly 1 hour on the top, we descended and stopped at Gundlupet to draw some cash for our expenses from the lone ATM. We then had lunch at Udupi Upachar, the only (decent-looking) restaurant. The food was pretty bad, plus we got free cockroaches in the Curds cup that we ordered. After a brief altercation with the hotel manager, we proceeded on our journey to Wayanad, Kerala.
Mahesh, Ashwin and myself sharing a joke in Country club
The view from atop Gopalaswamy Betta
As soon as we entered the Kerala forest region, we began to spot wild elephants in the forests next to the roads, and got down on many an occasion to take photographs. We had to wait for a frustrating 1 hour at the Karnataka-Kerala border (the Kerala RTO checkpost) to get a tourist vehicle permit for our cab into Kerala, which we spent enviously watching private vehicles zooming into Kerala (white-board vehicles do not need any permit). By the time we actually reached Wayanad, it was around 5 pm. We asked passersby to help us out with directions to our next visit - Banasura Sagar Dam (supposedly the largest natural dam in the world). We reached Banasura Sagar by 6 pm, spent an hour at the beautiful place and headed to Mananthavady where we had booked our rooms- Hotel Brahmagiri to be precise. It was 8 pm by the time we made our way through the endless curving and twisting (but lush green) roads of Wayanad, checked in to the hotel and settled down.
NH 212- dense forests on either side of the road
Banasura Sagar dam at Dusk
The dinner at the ground-floor restaurant was pretty average- nothing to brag about. In fact the service was hopeless. Our order arrived 2 hours after we placed it. The waiters were hardly conversant in any language other than Malayalam- which made life difficult for us when we wanted to ask for or tell them something. In fact we faced this problem throughout the trip in Kerala, not only with the waiters and bell boys but also the passers-by when we asked for directions to places. I was always under the impression that Tamil and Malayalam are very similar. Being a tamilian I tried to converse in Tamil, but they hardly understood anything and neither could I make out anything said in their language :-( Coming back to the hotel, The only guy who knew English was the receptionist (fortunately). For all this they claim to be 3-star which I seriously doubt. Room service was prompt and on-time. The rooms were well maintained, but for one room which was stinking of naphthalene balls and another room which had some smoker previously using the room (residual smell of tobacco). Our complaints saw the hotel guys rushing to disperse the smell, armed with Deodorant spray cans but the Naphthalene ball smell unfortunately returned to haunt me through that night :-(
After that long dinner, we all returned to one of our rooms to catch the IPL action live on the TV set. I retired for the day halfway through the match. That was about Day 2
Day 3 - More of Wayanad, Kerala- truly God's Own Country
Our plan was to cover 3 places that day - Soochipara falls, Pookot Lake and Kuruva Island. After an average breakfast at the Hotel, we left for Soochipara falls by 8.30 am. We took around 2 hours to reach the place. The roads make their way through some exotic Tea estates which made for awesome scenery all through the journey. By 10.30 am we began the climb from the top of the hill to the waterfalls at the foot of the valley. We spent around an hour in the waterfall and climbed back up, huffing and puffing all the way. After a refreshing drink of cold water, we headed towards Pookot Lake, our next destination. This place was more commercialized, with boating and many shops selling Spices, 'Forest Honey' and many more local handicraft works.
Soochipara Waterfalls
Tea Estates on the way to Soochipara Falls
Pookot Lake - a very calm and serene place
One word about all these places - they all charge money around Rs. 20 to 25 per head but these places are well maintained by the Govt. authorities. The boating ticket counter had a long queue which meant we would only get our turn 2 hours later so we ditched the idea and just strolled around the lake to get some good pictures to take back home. After this place, we left by 2 pm for Kalpetta (one of the main towns in Wayanad) in search of a good restaurant for our lunch. We stopped at Hotel Haritagiri- once again the food was of horrible quality, overpriced and arrived an hour late. After waiting for an hour, imagine having to drink cold tomato soup with no bread crumbs in it, veg. Biryani in which the rice and masala was not properly mixed, Gobi manchurian which had so much garlic in it that it could have been renamed to Garlic Manchurian!, curd rice with loads of green chillies and very less curd and Peas Pulao with no green peas!! And yes, everything is served cold here! :-( Later we got to know that Hotels Brahmagiri (where we were put up) and Haritagiri are from the same "Soorya" chain of hotels- no wonder then that they were so similar in service!
Post lunch we left for Kuruva island on the other side of Wayanad (very close to our Hotel in Manathavady). After an hour-long drive we reached it with great difficulty (as usual). The authorities of Wayanad need to take a serious look at putting up signboards properly. Most of the times the passers-by try to be helpful but you end up going around in circles if you follow their directions- 2 people never give the same directions to a particular place. Sometimes signboards will tell you to take a right or left turn to a particular place, but ironically the signboard will be located after you pass that turn.
Once we reached the place,we found that we had to wade through 2-3 feet deep river water to reach the island, situated about a 100 meters away from our side of the shore. The island itself is not very big- just about half or 3 quarters of a square kilometer in area. It is uninhabited, harsh and has really dense vegetation, almost like a rainforest. The only company you can find here would be a few centipedes, millipedes or worse, leeches; not to mention, a few snakes here and there. We spent around 2 hours in this place. There was a raft ride on the river but by the time we reached that side of the island, it was 5 pm (and closing time for the island for the day). We waded back across the river and walked up the hill to our cab, sweating bullets all the while. We played '20 questions' along the way back to the Hotel that evening, to pass time through the hour long journey in the cab. As soon as we hit the main street of Mananthavady, all of us went shopping for some Kerala delicacies- a.k.a Banana chips, Jackfruit chips, Banana halwa, wheat halwa and coconut halwa. Heaving the massive (yet deliciously smelling) carry-bags we returned to our hotel.
Left with no other choice for dinner, we chose the same ground floor restaurant again. This time though, the service was fast, very fast. Instead of 2 hours, they took 1 and a half hours! What's more- they even served hot water instead of cold (in summer). I played it safe this time around and had a simple meal of veg. fried rice that night. Once again IPL kept us occupied till late at night. I had hit the sack early and dozed off by 10 pm while the rest of my friends watched the entire match.
Day 4 - End of the trip and back to our concrete jungle- Home Sweet Home!
We woke up pretty early in the morning, got ready by 7.45 and checked out of the hotel by 8.30 am. After loading all the luggage into our Tempo Traveller, we left for Edakkal Caves. This is one of the most popular tourist spots in Wayanad. Vehicles are allowed only till a particular point. From there, we had to park the vehicle and climb up the hill. We had an alternative- there were two to three jeeps ferrying 8 people at a time but we had to wait for our turn after paying 70 bucks. Mind you, this was Day 4 of the trip so almost all of us were tired. No one wanted to take the path walking. Finally after reaching the entry of the caves, we started our climb up the mountain. The caves were beautiful, and at one point we saw the age-old carvings on the rocks inside the caves- the authorities said the carvings were made in an era as early as 1000 B.C. Also there is a point where 1 huge boulder sits in between 2 other boulders creating a small gap through which sunlight streams in- it is this point which gives this place the name 'Edakkal' - which literally means the 'Stone in between' in Malayalam. At most places the steps are quite unevenly placed and there is only place for 1 person at a time. This meant having to wait for quite a long time at various points for one-way traffic to pass, more so because it was a crowded sunday with lots of people visiting. After reaching about 3/4th the distance, the climb became steeper and a bunch of us gave up and took rest on some nearby rocks while the adventurous ones in our group continued till the top. They joined us in about an hour, and we began the descent. All of us shopped for spices in a shop at the base of the Edakkal hill and then left the place. So much for Edakkal Caves
Inside Edakkal Caves
We decided to stop for lunch at Sulthan Bathery (a small town on the highway between Karnataka and the entry to Wayanad). We were already overshooting the budget and decided to stick to some simple South Indian restaurant. We soon found one which served us the ever-popular South Indian Thali. The food was simple and cheap, yet pretty decent here. After lunch we stopped at our final destination- the ruins of an ancient Jain temple near Sulthan Bathery. This was supposed to be constructed in 1000 A.D and was also being used by Tipu Sulthan for storing his war weapons and ammunition. The temple has been abandoned ever since. This visit marked the close of our stay in Wayanad. Though we had two to three more places in our original itinerary such as- Kanthapara waterfalls, Chembara peak and Meenmutty falls, we had to abandon plans of visiting them due to lack of time. I wish we had got one more day but alas, that was not to be.
We set course for Bangalore, leaving Wayanad at around 2.30 pm. We passed through endless kilometres of the Highway NH 212 (Mysore-Gundlupet-Wayanad). By now, everyone was dozing in the cab and all the excitement was over :-(
The ruins of the ancient Jain temple
We stopped at a place between Nanjangud and Mysore to quench our thirst with coconut water. After that our next stop was at Maddur- Tiffany's restaurant to be precise. After buying a few Maddur Vadas we continued our journey to Bangalore. We stopped again at Mc.Donald's and had quite a sumptuous dinner. The Bangalore-Mysore highway was packed with traffic- to my disbelief it had more vehicles than what I see on the Outer ring road in Bangalore. Not surprisingly, we were delayed by this pile-up near the NICE road entry. We fortunately took a detour and hit Kanakapura road via NICE road, and entered Bangalore near Anajanapura by 9 pm. Now as each one's house approached, it was time to say goodbye and experience the monday morning blues compounded with the post-trip blues :-(
The biggest fan of Mc.Donalds! - Ashwin
I will end my post right here. After an eventful 4 days, I now need to get some rest at home because I am back to office on Wednesday. Quite frankly I will end this post because there are other priorities now- I have to go and munch on Banana chips and wheat halwa- let me hope the stocks last at home for another 2 days ;-)
KK
3 comments:
Put some nice good resolution photos.. ;)
dabba nan magane hodskoltiya ivaga
Put some nice good resolution photos.. ;)
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