Motorcycle Diaries - 2 - Mekedatu

A few phone calls, a quick but supposedly an organized plan made on Friday night. We were set for Bheemeshwari. I had read that Bheemeshwari is located between Mekedatu and Shivanasamudram. So the plan was to go to Bheemeshwari and then Shivanasamudram. Davu on his Bajaj Caliber and Jalan and me on my Unicorn. We started off at 7 in the morning, b

reakfast at Adigas on Bannerghatta Road we set off at about 8.15 am.

A dream drive on NICE road which is no less than the Mumbai Pune Express

highway lest the mountains through which the Mumbai Pune highway runs. A left on the NICE Road towards Kanakapura on NH209 and you are moving towards Bheemeshwari. We saw sign boards of Karnataka Tourism pointing to Mekedatu which seemed to be the closest point and took a decision to visit Mekedatu. At Kanakapura you get a small diversion to left. This is what you need to take to reach Mekedatu.

This was a thoroughly rustic drive, deep down the villages, narrow roads, mud houses with not so strong roofs, the smells of dung used for mopping the veranda floors in the villages, the villagers going around adorned in their traditional attires and the children waving to the by passers. The smiles on their faces are so animated that you cant but resist waving your hand back at them. Everything looks so adorable and I it simply feels good.

After about two and half hours drive we reached Mekedatu. 'Meke' in Telugu means Goat and 'Datu' means Cross. Literally this is a place where the river becomes so narrow that even a goat can cross over. This place you reach first is called Sangam. 'Sangam' means

a join of two or more rivers. At Sangam, Cauvery and Bhadravati are the two rivers that join to form just a single river, Cau

very. We need to cross this river at the Sangam in a 'coracle' to reach the other side. Once you reach the other side of the river, there is a bus awaiting you to take you to Mekedatu. This bus seems to be like the most antique collections of Karnataka

Tourism and I bet no other bus would be better suited for the kind of terrain it is from the river to Mekedatu. Its sturdy and easily driven on terrain. We missed on clicking the pic of this bus, but surely one of the best pieces to be produced by Tatas. Once you reach the spot, you need to go down the stairs and there is a pleasent surprise awaiting your senses. The very sight of watching water gushing at speeds through this narrow gorge makes leaves one stupefied. At this spot alone the water is gushes at a jet speed and then after about 200 metres it enters a slightly wider area where the speed reduces. We took a detour on the rocks to reach the area where the speed of water had slightly reduced. The rocks here were so different. Very smooth and I wonder how they were like that. It would be probably because of the erosion of the river water. Though they were smooth, they did not seem to be slippery. We spent some time around and then decided to push off. This was surely a wonderful place to be in.

Then we paced our vehicles towards Bheemeshwari which was about 25 km from this place. We had to reach a place

called Muthaati. We reached this place and wanted to have lunch and were told by the villagers that we would get it at a resort which was about 6 km from this place. We went about in search

of this resort. This was Jungle Resort which I had read about. However, you need to reserve a room in advance here without which there is no entry here. Moreover, this is the main attraction in Bheemeshwari as Jungle Resorts have a package which includes various activities like rafting, trekking, fishing etc. We had to resort to a roadside hotel for some food. It was rice and sambhar cooked on firewood. The taste was good and the waiter chacha more than happy to serve this delicacy. He asked me atleast thrice if I liked the food and I nodded a big 'Yesss'. That was the it. We started back on our way back to Bangalore. Bheemeshwari was kind of disappointing as we did not have much to see here. I would suggest one should do an advance booking and come to this place.

All in all this was another great trip I had. Mekedatu and Bheemeshwari are 2 destinations very close to Bangalore and make up for a good one day outing. Another one to add to my list of destinations and kudos to my friends who made this happen !!!

Motorcycle Diaries - 1- Wayanad

The very title here is an indication of what this post is going to be about. Yes it was my first ever bike trip. Another enduring, animated, serene and blissful experience to the wish list.

60..65..70..engines stroking 3000 rpm...the bikes roaring on the dark roads; zooming past the wide paths me, Shreyas and Anuj set off on our bike trip to Wayanad. Dinner on the way on

Mysore road at Kamat's and a night halt at Hotel Mayura in Srirangapatinam, just enough to accomodate three of us in a room but at 450 bucks was worth, considering the time for which we had to halt. We freshned up in the morning, a cup of tea and we started off at 6 am to Wayanad, Via Nanjangud, Gundulpet, Bandipur. It took us no less than 3 hours to reach Wayanad that too with pit stops on the way to enjoy the drive.

Once we crossed Gundulpet, I felt like I have entered into a different world altogether. I saw stretches of pink, orange, white - the eye catching sight of marigold flowers was astonishing. After Gundulpet, the roads narrow, enough to accommodate just two heavy vehicles. On both the sides you would lose sight of the surroundings as the trees become denser at every passe. The Bandipur Tiger reserve is one of the biggest reserves in India. It has a good tiger density. It is surrounded by four other national parks, totaling a area of more than 8000 sqkm. Too much of facts..So here we were driving through this bio reserve, a sensation in the truest sense. We were lucky to sight peacocks, deers and monkeys. As we moved closer to the Kerala border, the bamboo trees on both sides of the road, made a gate like formation as though waiting to welcome us.

We touched the Kerala border with a board reading 'Kerala State Welcomes You -NH 212". We were now hardly about 30 km from Wayanad. We were still travelling through the dense forests but now a part of Kerala and it was called Muthunga Wildlife Sanctuary.We reached Wayanad, freshned up, planned our trip in consultation with the guys in the reception at the hotel. We had decided to cover three places for the day. After a good lunch, we started off for Suchipura Falls.

Suchipura Falls was about 40 km from the place where we had stayed. It

was again a joyous ride through the mountainous area and the enchanting tea estates sprinkled with the drizzling rains. The very sight of these tea estates leaves an indelible impression on the mind. I still feel the freshness of the place when I write this today. We reached Suchipura falls. The entrance to this place was so narrow that at a time only one bus could go. I still wonder how these buses managed to come here, 'Salaam' to the drivers who drive in such tough conditions. The whole place

was surrounded by mountains and the dense clouds were settling over these mountains. We climbed down to the falls and it was .....I am speechless. Awesomeness and indeed this was the sight which I had never ever witnessed in my life.It seemed as though the gravitational pull of the earth was not normal here. Water was gushing and the very force of it hitting the boulders around that area spilled the water on us. I just wanted to stay there for some more time but we had to finish other places too. From here we went to Pukada Lake. This was a small lake with boating. However, only 2 boats were operational because of the shortage of water jackets. We still enjoyed the place for the Kerala banana chips and some hot Bread Omlette. From there we went to the View Point. It is the tallest point in Wayanad and the end of Wayanad district and beginning of Kozhikode district. At this point we were 55 km off Kozhikode. Well as regards the View Point, this was again unique.

You could see caps all around, curves and bends and vehicles running on them, size no more than an ant. From there on we went to see a place called Chain tree. Legend has that there was a Britisher who tied up a Soul or Atma (as they call it in Hindi) to this tree with a chain so that it did not

trouble him. Wonder how true this is? When I was reading about this place, it was like a tale. From there on we grabbed a tea and then proceeded on our way back. We reached Wayanad and then decided to grab a drink at the nearby Prince hotel as our hotel did not serve drinks. We went to this place but it was shoddy and decided to stick to the stuff we had carried. 3 pegs of Blenders Pride and a deep sleep after a long and little tiring drive throughout the day. This was our day 1 in Wayanad.

Next day we decided to go to Kuruvu Island. There was a confusion whether this was open or not. After talking to people and nobody being certain about it, we decided to drive down to Kuruva Island. It was again a 40 km drive. We drove down and this time again the experience was different. I wonder sometimes how could things be so different within a stretch of a few kilometers.Well we reached Kuruvu Dweep to find out that the road to reach this place was under construction and this place was closed. We had to come back. But no regrets as we had thoroughly enjoyed our drive through the dense jungles of Wayanad.

We packed our bags, vacated the rooms and after a light lunch, started on our way back at 3 pm. Now was the actual tiresome part and boring too. Tiresome because we would have to drive continuously and boring because we were getting back to our routine. But we were determined. We drove with an hourly break. On our way back we had our dinner at Kamat. We had the traditional Kannadiga meals which was unique again. Jowar Roti with Baigan Sabji, a combination which I had after a long time. Rains played a spoilt sport at this moment when we left from Kamat. The visibility had come down and I drove with a great difficulty and managed to reach back Bangalore.

Truely Kerala is called Gods Country. You need to drive through the landscapes, see as far as your eyes can stretch, hear the sounds of the jungles and feel it in your nerves.... Here is a gist of the trip expressed by an amateur poet....

Engines stroking and the bikes roaring

With a feeling of gaiety we sparked off on our bon voyage

Driving on the wide roads away from the city traffic

Was a bliss of its sorts

The morning dawned turning off the dark night

The shades of colors becoming prominent with every kilometers drive

Orange, Pink and White were the shades of Marigold

Stretching a span till the eyes could see, they were all over

The roads narrowed and the jungles widened

The forests only became denser and colder

The sight of peacocks and deer at a point blank range was adorable

The silence of this place was very audible

The bamboo trees were umpteen in numbers

Their branches creating a labyrinth as though waiting just to welcome

The destination was beckoning

But felt like the journey should never come to an ultimatum

Every passe was a unique panorama

From thick dense forests to tea estates

To waterfalls to a valley

The vista of Gods Own Country was a mesmerizing story...

काश मैं लिख पता...

छोटी छोटी चित्रायी यादें
बिछी हुई है लम्हों की लौ पर
नंगे पैर उनपर चलते चलते
इतनी दूर चले आये
कि अब भूल गए है -
जूते कहाँ उतारे थे

एडी कोमल थी, जब आये थे
थोड़ी सी नाजुक है अभी भी
और नाजुक ही रहेगी
इन खट्टी-मीठी यादों कि शरारत
जब तक इनहे गुदगुदाती रहे

सच, भूल गए है
कि जूते कहाँ उतारे थे
पर लगता है,
अब उनकी ज़रुरत नहीं...
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जो लहरों के आगे तुम देख पाते तो तुम जान लेते मैं क्या सोचता हूँ,
वो आवाज़ तुमको जो भिड जाती तो तुम जान लेते मैं क्या सोचता हूँ,
जिद का तुम्हारा जो पर्दा सरकता तो खिडकियों से आगे भी तुम देख पाते,
आँखों से आदतों की पलकें हटाते तोह तुम जान लेते मैं क्या सोचता हूँ.

मेरी तरह खुद पर होता जरा भरोसा तो कुछ दूर तुम भी साथ-साथ आते,
रंग मेरी आँखों का बनते थे जरा सा तो कुछ दूर तुम भी साथ-साथ आते,
नशा आसमान का जो चूमता तुम्हे भी, हसरतें तुम्हारी नया जनम पाती,
खुद दुसरे जनम में मेरी उड़ान छूने कुछ दूर तुम भी साथ-साथ आते.

Courtesy - Movie Udaan

In the lap of mother nature...

Mumbai Monsoons....Yes they are different, offbeat, incomparable.........And imagine what when you try getting closer to nature...the feeling is incomprehensible...... a far cry from the web of complexities.....I wonder why things need to be the way they are or rather why cant things be the way we want them to be....Can it not be that we are just allowed to wander like nomads to tread unexplored paths...live a life like them for sometime....
So here we were all set on our nomadic exploration to Peb fort. None of us had an idea to reach the place. We just left. We just knew that we had to start the trek from Neral. A quick nap of 2 hours in the night, followed by packing up for trek, a chai at Andheri Station, a local till Dadar, changing platforms from western to central to catch a local to Neral, just to find that we had missed one and had to go via Badlapur to reach Neral.
We reached Neral, packed some Vada Pav, fruits as we had read that we would not get anything at the top. We started walking towards the base village, Anantwadi - a few kilometers from the station. We asked the autowalas for a drop to the village but they demanded random money. We started walking past the Neral station and asked some villagers for the route. We were lucky to be guided by a villager upto the base point. Walk is definitely a good option provided you get a guidance and over and above that you have a serene and beautiful weather enroute. Just keep going straight till the mainroad and then you would find the base village right in front of you.

To start the trek, you have a less tedious route and a short route (so to say). The lady who had got us till the base village showed us the short route and we decided to take that. We walked past some sights - the farmers tilling their land, a group of oldies squatting and probing the intensity of rains, Bhaskaran clicked a pic of an old lady and she probably tried to thank him in Marathi but had only he understood that, children nagging us to give them 'Khau' (meaning sweet), and then a stream which soaked the lands and and made it arable and its flow which was the only audible thing there...

We started walking in the direction given to us by the lady and found we were going no where. After a while, we found a villager there who was fetching water from the stream, asked him for the way and he told us that we were traversing a wrong route. Then we found another villager with his herd of cows - grazing on the lush green mountains. We asked him if he knew the route and he claimed he did not. However, we convinced him to show us the route and we were off. His parents had rightly named him Jeetendra, also called Jumping Jack in Bollywood. The swiftness with which he walked past the tall grass turf, barefoot was commendable indeed. For him it was just another climb and for us it was kinda tough as the grass was tall, the path not clear and it was slippery too.. However, we managed to reach a point along with Jitendra from where we had to go all ourselves. We were joined in by another college going group at this point. Just one thing to be kept in mind. You would see a lot of electric poles there. Keep following them from the foothill. They will guide you to the right way.

We were told by the other group that we would see some white arrow marks on the way and need to follow them to reach atop. We lost those marks and were wrong for the second time now. However, to our fortune, the other group had also traversed our footprints and missed the route. The group also had their teacher who had visited this place but could not remember the route and she called up her assistant to find the correct route. To our surprise, we had the Idea mobiles working there. Aditya Birla saved us I say !!! Then we got back all the way to the point from where we had started. It was a new beginning. Now, instead of 3 we were 15 and we just followed this group. I would like to make special mention of this teacher, who was a 47 year old lady and at this age she displayed a tremendous stamina, enthusiasm and a strong will power. There is always something new to learn whenever I go on such adventures..
Through the thick dense banana trees, banyan trees, some thorny shrubs and amidst humid weather conditions, we were making our way towards the top. We finally reached atop the valley. A cloak of clouds was slowly settling over the mountains now. The blanket slowly draped the mountain where we stood. I was feeling the clouds in every breathe. I felt like the only thing to do was to move along with these clouds to stretch across the mountains under my arms. I lept forward, took a long breathe and just flew...I just wish I could. The clouds became denser, unable to carry the water in them anymore and they showered it on us. It had started drizzling and the feeling just ecstatic. I had accomplished what I was here for. A monsoon trek.....

Then road ahead was tough and I had already dropped down my arms as I am generally scared of heights. I almost decided to stay back. However, the teacher insisted that I should come along and not to fear as they were there to help out. I dared and took a step ahead. To every step I took here, I remembered GOD :). I climbed the treacherous rock with the help of Santosh who was the trek coordinator. This was a major hurdle and after that things were not so tough. I was slipping quite often, my shoes not supporting me and hence was a little scared. Santosh however claimed that it was not my shoes but it was mind that I was slipping. But somehow with a slipping mind I managed to reach the point where we were supposed to. We did not go to the fort, but to a cave. We had our food there, relaxed and started on our way back.
I was a little slow while coming back as it was raining and the surface was really slippery at points. On our way back was another adventure awaiting us. Guess what?? We were lost again. We called for help but in vain. We looked for the right path but were unable to find one. Finally Bhaskar managed to find the way and we were successfully out of the trap. We reached the foothills at about 6.30 and took a train back to Dadar.

This was one such wonderful experience which I would never forget.

An Inspiration I sought...

Only when I came across a blog yesterday shown by my friend Nehil, did I realize that I should start writing this blog again....So here I go...I swear to stand by the very name of my blog........
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