An unexpected holiday to the Niligiris

I was sad as Saju left for Jakarta on a long trip and this call from my chilhood friend Suchi inviting me to a holiday at Masinagudi couldn't have come at a more opportune moment. I jumped at the prospect of going on a holiday all by ourselves,of course our kids could'nt be left behind. This was something I had never done before.
We left Bangalore around 10 and there was peak holiday traffic on Mysore road. A breakfast stopover at Mac Donalds and we reached Mysore. There was a confusion on which road to take after reaching the Columbia Asia junction, I am always used to taking a right turn there and take the ring road to reach the ooty road near the mysore airport. This time we took a left and roamed through the city and reached the highway. Quick south indian lunch at Gundlupet and we were set for the forests.
It was just after the rains and the entire stretch of Bandipur forest was green and fresh. As we passed through we were on the look out for some wild animals, but as usual we could spot only deers and monkeys. After the Bandipur forests, we entered the Tamilnadu, end of the same forest, known as the Mudumalai.  Our destination Masinagudi, is just around 17 kms from Mudumalai. The winding road is a pleasure to drive with forests and the Nilgiris in sight.
We were booked in at the Zest Casa Deepwoods, a branch of the Club Mahindra holidays. The property is almost at the end of the road in the Masinagudi town. The town is a small place made famous by the tourists. However,  the place has still maintained its freshness. The surroundings are pristine, close to the famous Nilgiris. The imposing mountains are just lovely. The resort is located almost at the foothills of nilgiris. As any Mahindra resort, the ambience is kept as natural as possible. The resort is not very big in size and may have around 10 cottages I feel. A lovely feature of the resort is a stream that flows on one end of the property, though it is not a part of the property. It is just nice to spend sometime there, especially in the mornings. There are some stream facing cottages, they must be nice to stay.
There is nothing much for sightseeing at Masinagudi.  Most people visit Ooty which is just around 28kms away or take a elephant  safari at Mudumalai . We just drove towards Moyer dam, but couldn't find it, so we stopped near a temple, which was near a canal of the dam. With two kids constantly bickering, there is not much one can focus on exploring. We had some burgers etc at the only decent looking place, I do not remember the name of the restaurant though.
The resort doesn't have much to do in terms of activities, some two hammocks,  a badminton net and an unoperational swimming pool is all they have. They have some activies for the kids like finger painting etc. So we thought that would keep the kids occupied and we booked ourselves for a traditional massage. The resort people couldn't keep the kids occupied for 10 minutes and they were back, knocking at the doors. Nevertheless,  the massage was also nothing great and I felt as if we bathed in oil.
The next day, we checked out in the morning after breakfast. Masinagudi is an apt location for relaxation in midst of some sylvan surroundings. The combination of weather, sunny mornings and cool evenings also give a soothing touch. There are ample number of farm stays and resorts at Masinagudi, suiting budgets of all ranges. Enjoy the fresh air and the laid back atmosphere.

Holiday by the Mangalore coast

The first thing I looked forward to after the completion of my fellowship was a trip to my maternal home town (wonder if it is the right term). It has been long overdue and I was eager to take Saksham there for the first time.  It made me more excited because it turned out to be an all women holiday like women on wanderlust. Accompanied by my mom, her sis, my sister in law and two kids we set out to Gopady. That is the place to which my grandfather belonged to. It is around 30 kms from Udupi little short of Koteshwara and Kundapur. The best landmark would be the famous Anegudde temple.

Old vessels at maternal grandmom's place

 It was the end of May and we hoped to be welcomed by some rains but it wasn’t to be. It was hot but the breeze from the fields made it a little better. It is a pleasant feeling to be amidst the greenery, never ending views of paddy fields and the faraway roar of the seas in a calm peaceful village.

This is the closest we could get

Though there is none of the utilities that we normally are used to like internet or a host of television channels, it turned out to be one of the most fulfilling holidays ever. A perfect mix of sun,sand, culture and heritage. The most interesting part of the day was the morning walk to the Beejady beach, which was probably 2 kms away. Witnessing the sun rise and the local fishermen at work was a sight to behold. The walk took us through a number of paddy fields often frequented by peacocks on the hunt for some small insects. It was the first time that I saw these beautiful birds anywhere other than the zoos and forests. The neighbors there tell me that peacocks often dance at their front yard at the onset of monsoons. I was lucky to indeed see a few; sadly they felt the audience was not worth the performance.

Footsteps of Shri Vadiraja Guru of Sonda

Temples are a big draw here. Among the famous are the Anegudde Ganapati, Kollur Mookambika, Kateel Durga parmeshwari, Udupi Shri and the list goes on. We too went temple hopping for a day and visited many of them including Huvinakere, the birthplace of Sonda Shri Vadiraja (one of the 8 mutts of Udupi),Mangaladevi temple of Mangalore which boasts of a unique architecture, which is a delightful combination of the coastal and the Maharashtrian temple architecture and many others including the one at Saligrama. My memory is too limited to remember the names of each of the presiding deities at these temples, for me what matters is that it is a divine power, not the specifics of names. Another interesting feature of this area is temples dedicated to the evil, it is said that each house has an evil character associated with it and it is also worshipped. These places are called as Bhootada Mane (House of a ghost). It is something similar to what I found at Bali, where the evil is given offerings at each house step, the intention being, to appease the evil and bar its entry into the house and the temple.

Lovely view of the Arabian Sea
 from the lighthouse @ Kaup

How can I talk about the coast of Mangalore and not talk about the pristine beaches. There are a dozen of them which are famous and many of them known only to the village folk. A popular beach that we visited was Kaup or Kapu as it is locally known as. A beautiful beach with shiny sand, rocks, a bit of back waters and a lighthouse. You can actually climb up the lighthouse and witness some outstanding views of the Arabian sea and the western ghats. There is a small fee charged for that and the last entry is at 1800 h. The beach also has some water sports activities like the motor scooter etc plus some camel rides for the kids. Kapu is a great beach to spend time at.

Art and culture are indigenous parcels of any region; the coastal part of Karnataka is no different. The months of summer see a flurry of cultural activities like singing of Bhajans(devotional songs) or Yakshagana plays. Yakshagana is an art form enacting the Hindu mythological stories and is very popular in the coastal districts of Karnataka State. It often likened to an opera, due to its elaborate costumes, song and dance sequences, narration etc. The performance begins at night and goes till wee hours of the morning. I got an opportunity to watch a performance based on the story of Mahishasura and I must say it was amazing to watch those characters play in front of you. Due to its popularity, Bangalore and other cities also sees a lot of Yakshagana plays these days.

Thus ended a week long holiday but gave me memories to treasure for a lifetime.

Yet another wildlife encounter

It is my third post and the common link in all of them has been wildlife. By chance or by plan, can't say, but it is enjoyable definitely. Every time we go on these holidays I keep thinking to myself, what if someday, all these animals develop the kind of mental abilities that we possess and gang up and put us behind the bars in those cages. It is only our mental abilities that make us powerful, just imagine a lion with its prowess and add a pinch of mental ability, visualize the kind of mayhem they could unleash!! Scary right? I am also not a great admirer of seeing caged animals, but in spite of all this, I just read somewhere that wildlife and zoo trips are actually good.

Anyways let me leave all these thoughts behind and relive that day at Bannerghatta National Park (BNP), Bangalore. Its been quite a while since, we had promised Saksham a visit to BNP, and he has been excited about it and looking forward to see some "white animals" (I mentioned to him, that there were white tigers). Finally we get instigated by someone's trip and decide to make good use of the holiday on Good Friday.

We managed to get going by 1130 from Kundalahalli and reach BNP by 1245. Go straight after you hit the Bannerghatta road until you reach Bannerghatta Police Station junction, there is a misleading sign board there or rather we mistook it. BNP is ahead on the road with a slight left, but we took the road to Anekal and Jigani. That stretch is quite barren and we wondered if BNP was set amidst a barren land. Got directions from some localities and turned back and lost 1/2 hr. Anyways we reach there and devour the lunch we carried from home and getting going.

There are combined tickets for the Safari and the zoo, or rather it was like we get a free entry into the zoo with safari ticket. It costs you Rs 210/-  (weekend\holiday price) per adult. The safari timings are from 11am to 4pm, while the zoo remains open till 5:30 in the evening. The place has good facilities for parking and is also well connected by BMTC buses. Volvos(365) and Big 10(G4) buses ply regularly on this route.

There were lot of people waiting for the safari, BNP has provided good facilities for waiting and the whole process is done in a orderly manner, no people rushing and no standing for a long time. There are some 5-6 huts constructed with seating facilities. Appreciate that! The wait for Safari lasted no longer than 1/2 hr and we were soon seated in the safari bus. We managed to get seats just behind the guide, so manged to get a good view. The bus took us through the herbivore enclosure where there were some deers, sambhars and bisons (this is what we get to see in any wildlife safari) and move further ahead to the Bear enclosure and then move to the enclosures with tigers and lions. We could see a White tiger cooling off in his\her private pool, but the lions were busy dozing off in the summer heat. We could not manage to get a frontal view, and had to be satisfied with mere glimpses of sleeping lions, which was quite sad. These animals are so used to seeing buses whirr past them day in and day out, that they show no reaction and remain sleeping.

Well that was about the safari, which took about one hr or so and then we moved to the zoo. There is quite a variety of animals and birds like the white peacock,zebra, leopard, elephant, giant indian squirrel, hornbill, hippopotamus, cobras,king cobra and many more (my memory hasn't remain as strong). We got an opportunity to see a cobra gorging on a chick, it literally gulped it down. We probably would not get to see such events elsewhere other than on Animal Planet\Discovery, so I guess zoos are a form of education. The zoo has enough of outlets for snacks, coffee, tea, ice creams and soft drinks and a children play area too. After all this animal viewing, we left the zoo, though Saksham was quite reluctant to come out. 

We thought it would be a good idea to visit the butterfly park too, having come this far. By the time we reached that place, it was closed for the day. The butterfly park closes by 5pm and there is a separate entrance ticket for that. So if you are short on time or reach the park late, it is a good idea to finish the safari, then the butterfly park and keep the zoo for the end as it remains open till 5:30pm.

With that, we ended our one day wildlife odyssey. So till next time... I plan and plan and wait for another day, another place and some lovely memories.

Wildlife calling

The time for yet another short holiday arrived. The last one was in August, but it seemed quite sometime back. I get excited right from the time, we finalize a place, the entire process of doing some research on the place, bookings, packing etc everything enlivens me. This time the place was Bandipur and we decided to stay at Country Club Wildlife Resort. This would be the first trip to a wildlife resort and were looking forward to some wildlife sights, roars at night etc.

Accommodation at Country Club

@ the pool

Set off from Bangalore at around 6.30 am on a foggy January morning.  We deviated from our usual breakfast stop and had our fill of masala dosa, chow chow bath and filter coffee at Shivalli, just next to KFC on Mysore Road. No more stops and we reached Bandipur by 1230. The staff was welcoming and very hospitable and were led to our studio accommodation. The rooms are decent, with a sprinkling of the flavor of the nature, with paintings of wildlife in the rooms and come equipped with a fire place, which alas is not operational. Quick lunch and some sleep, we were ready to step into the pool. 

Tree House

It was Saksham's first time at the swimming pool and he was not very comfortable, the water being quite cold. Anyways hope he gets to love water eventually. Later on we spent sometime watching a wildlife movie, which is shown every evening at the resort, played some Table Tennis (after a long time.. evoked memories from school), warmed ourselves around the bonfire and retired for the day.

The next morning we were supposed to be going for a trek\nature walk to the nearby Mangala dam. But then, it turned out to be too cold to venture out without sweaters\woolens. Its gets pretty cold in the wild, we knew, but thought we could brave it out, we could not :(. And moreover weren't we supposed to be on a holiday? So why wake up early???? Seeing the better side. The day was spent in some countryside exploration, there are a couple of villages near the resort and the afternoon was for the much awaited jungle safari.

There are two options for safari, either with the Govt that charges Rs 300 per head for 45 minutes + Rs 1000 for any digital camera or the resort arranges it with the Jungle Lodges and Resorts and charges Rs 1000/- per head for 2 hrs. We went in for the second options, all in hopes of sighting some wildlife. The bus spent 2 hours or a little more than that, but guess the wild animals sniffed out the presence of some city dwellers lurking around and decided to act pricey. So we had to be contented with hordes of deers, sambhars, a lone elephant,  a mongoose and lots of monkeys. Well morning safaris have better chances they say... but then you got to wake up early. The safari timings are 6-9 am and 3-6 pm.

Next day was turn to go to Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta housing the Krishna temple, which is believed to be covered with Hima(snow) all through the year. The place was chill even at 12 noon with cool breeze blowing in. The temple is accessible only between 8 am -4 pm, as it is said that there is presence of wildlife on the road during other time. This place is a nice drive of 25 kms from the resort.

Other places that one could visit from Bandipur are Mudumalai forest which has a wildlife safari on a elephant back(18 kms) or Ooty which is around 75kms away.

So as all good things come to an end, this holiday too came to end but not without an cherry on the icing, which came in the form of scrumptious Jowar roti meals at Kamat Lokaruchi on our way back. And planning for the next trip begins!!!!!!!!!!!!

*All photographs courtesy my dear husband