1st of May
It was a good beginning, with Jet Airways landing 45 minutes late from Chennai. I had to comment that the airline is always late. We drove home from the airport and it took a cool 40 minutes to reach home. Aqeel had to be shown around the house as it was his first trip.. impressed.. and I was happy. I had cooked my usual chicken biriyani.. relished by both Vijay and Aqeel. After the usual guftagu.. we took leave of Audrey and hit the road at 1230 hrs… it was wonderfull catching up on all what happened in the last 12 years.. Vijay tried his luck driving my car.. and he was so happy that he said that driving this car was like making love to the road.. Aqeel took off on that for the next few hours… reached Mercara at around 1530 hrs with a stop over for a cup of tea on the road.
After Mercara we got lost going to Nagarahole.. finally ended up on the road to Virajpet which ultimately is supposed to lead us further to Nagarahole. After a few u-turns we were on the road to Virajpet. Reached Virajpet at around 5 in the evening, had a cup of tea, bought enough potato wafers and banana chips fresh from the oven, enough to last us for a few bottles of drink and hit the road to Nagarahole.
At a checkpost we were so cock sure of our bearing that we continued climibing down the hills.. till I shouted “ guys we have lost the road.. there is no more road ahead”.. the smooth comfortable road was gone and we had big pot holes to circumnavigate.. I thought that this was something temporary and the road would be good soon.. it continued to get worse and after five kilometes.. we found some one on the road to ask directions.. we were told that we were on a completely wrong road and it was leading us into kerala.. took a u-turn and went back to hit the right road.. it was an ordeal.
By the time we came to the entrance of Nagarahole wild life sanctuary it was 1830 hrs. the forest guard was kind enough to say that we were too late and we had to come back in the morning.. and also that there was no place to stay for the night nearby.. he later felt pity on us.. used his own cell phone to make some contacts.. got us through to a original Coorgi.. who helped us get some accommodation nearby.. checked in to someones house which was something called a “home-stay’. The house was elegant and wonderful. Aqeel insisted on halal meat.. and it was only possible if he himself cut it. So the host had to go to the nearby market to get a live chicken home.. Aqeel had to cut it with his mandatory ‘allah ho akbar’.. and then we came back to have our mandatory drink. Aqeel has stopped drinking guys.. he is now trying to be a holy man. Vijay and me had a few drinks.. had home cooked food, and tried to go for a walk,, the only thing on my mind was the tiger which was being see of late in the buffer zone..,,, just a day before the tiger was seen sitting in our host’s garden for twenty minutes. We came back to our rooms in one piece.
Will get up at 5 in the morning to go to Wynad in kerala on the second leg .
2nd May
Up at 0445 hrs. hot water provided by an equipment which uses LPG to heat water. It was something new for me. It was pretty cold. I did not want to take chance with my usual cold water shower. The host of the ‘home stay’ unit had promised coffee at 0530, and we were not very sure if this promise would hold in the cold morning. But surprisingly bang on 0530 the host himself walks in with three cups of hot coffee. Impressed… yes. Out in the morning to the Waynad Wild Life sanctuary in Kerala.. did a good 20 kms in scenic hills. Further inside the sanctuary, we found nothing except a few bewildered deers who ran for life the moment they saw humans. It was strange, as animals in protected environments do not normally get scared of humans. I just think that the area is prone to regular poaching of some sort. Came back home for a nice break fast, and off we went to the nearby Irukku water falls. Parked the vehicle nearby, and climbed the hill. This time as usual we selected the most difficult way to the top, amidst huge rocks and water flowing in between. Incident free… and it was breath taking. The only problems was dried leaves.. which make the rocks slippery. I had the camera’s monopod handy as a support stick, as I completely forgot to pick up one before the trek. Up above there was a big crowd of picknickers who came by the normal steps. The water fall is also known as what is sacred to the Hindus.. the “Lakshmana Theertha”. We were more interested to see what is the way up to the mouth of the falls. We gave up after a 30 minutes study of the rocks. It was too dangerous and we were not prepared. Next time….
Back home and a sumptuous lunch with our hosts. A small siesta to debate on old age and its advantages (dis.,…..). Off to Nagarahole a gooid 11 kms. Nothing impressive, till we entered the forest. It was thriving with wildlife. And unlike Waynad, the animals here were not scared of humans. They just stood and looked at you. We got ourselves a dull and stupid guide.. we saw hundred of spotted deers, sambhars, wild elephants, boars, peacocks and wild fowls. One of the wild tuskers came as near as 10 mtrs and facing us… it was not a happy situation.. if he had to charge we would be finished. I reversed my vehicle a bit and prepared for a scoot the other way if he came any further. He looked at us a few minutes, and walked away. Once back home we had no strength left. Washed the car, had a drink with a lot of serious discussions, which usually takes place after the first drink. Aqeel who has stopped drinking was good company though.
3rd of May
Up at 0430 hrs for a nice hot cup of coffee at 0500. After saying adieu to our new found friends cum host at 0615 we hit the road. After a fifteen minute drive we entered the Nagarahole forest area once again. We expected to see animals returning to their abodes at sunrise. But on the road we only saw a few wild fowls, spotted deer and a couple of elephants. Just after the drive of 30 kilometres inside the forest we exited at a village where the government has an establishment for taming and training wild elephants. The people there were sceptic to let us in with cameras. After a little persuasion we got in and saw wild elephants caught for taming. They are first put in a logged pen with no much room to move for nearly three months. This breaks the wild spirit of the elephants. They even hurt themselves while they are there. Later they are let out to be under training with an expert mahout and a trainer tusker. We took a few pictures there and left. In the hurry we missed a right turn towards Kabini. So went on to put in an extra 40 kilometres. We arrived in Kabini to find a sleepy town with nothing much happening vis-à-vis wild life. We drove around the Kabini reservoir, and were guided on to a road towards the jungle lodge, which we presumed would be the place we would launch ourselves for a good trek. Unfortunately we hit very bad roads, but we kept going. The road led us to a Jungle Resort on the banks of the huge Kabini river. The river looked more like a huge lake. We could see herds of elephants and other animals around the lake. We had breakfast, but did not stay there as there were no trekking trails there yet. Tried to return on the same route, but found that the road works contractor had dumped huge piles of stones on the road for around a kilometre. We were stuck on one of the heaps of stones. My car was being butchered from everywhere. Thank God Audrey was not around to see this. We would have had a big showdown. Took the help of one of the smart villagers, who agreed to show us an alternate route. I knew this guy was going to rip us off for showing the new route. I began talking to him and convinced him that Aqeel was a Deputy Superintendent of Police from Delhi who has come to buy the Jungle Lodge. That was it.
After we left the mess called Kabini, Aqeel began insisting that there was an entrance to the forest from the Kabini side which he had used a couple of years ago. So we went round and round the area trying to find this entrance. We tried to go the Kerala border, but returned. Finally we gave up and continued the drive to Bandipur Wild Life reserve, hoping to arrive there to get at least a five kilometre trek. When we arrived there we found that the forest authorities did not permit any trekking inside the Bandipur area. We took a safari bus inside the forest, and returned to the car. The whole day was wasted doing nothing but driving around in search of trails. It began to rain heavily. We now continued our drive to the Mudumalai Forest reserve in Tamil Nadu. The drive was beautiful, but the entrance to the reserve was crowded and unorganised. We drop the idea of entering the reserve. We drove back towards Mysore. On the way we saw a few wild elephants with their calves. We took some pictures. Drove in the night. Vijay commented that I must be having a problem with my eyes as I tended to slow down every time I saw an oncoming vehicle with glaring lights. For the kind of confidence I have while driving during the day, this looked a little serious. I had never given thought to this until I heard it from Vijay. Any how we arrived at Mysore at around 2030 hrs, checked in to Royal Inn. Aqeel went to see his wife in Mysore, and so it was me and Vijay who sat for a drink after the tiring and wasteful day.
