Funny when I look back...my only intention in starting this blog was to maintain a travelogue of sorts. To have something to show the grandkids many years later, when I become a doddering old wreck and they keep stealing my dentures repeatedly. Then I'd point a bony, trembling finger at them and say "Yesh, I may need denturesh now, but when I wash a young man, I did sho many thingshs...conquered the highesht peakshs and shwam the depthshs of the oceanshs" and then point them to http://kaushik578.blogspot.com so they would be suitably humbled, and creep back to my room with a heavy heart and replace the dentures.
I am, of course, making the obvious assumption here that I will at some point, before I produce grandkids, graduate from gallavanting around the neighbourhood to doing some serious travel. All for the sake of my dentures.
Well, that was the idea when I started, but soon decided to move on to ramblings of a more general nature...and I enjoyed doing it. Always had this vague inclination to 'write something' sometime in life, never thought blogging would be the answer. Not sure how long this interest will last ( I have, at various points in my life, had interests ranging from learning the inner workings of a frog to writing poems to mastering chess, none of which lasted more than a few weeks), but so far so good.
But anyways, for now its 'back to my roots'. Time to produce yet another travel tale, this one about my weekend ride to Ooty.
The Planning
Was non-existent until a couple of days before the weekend, when I got into a mad rush to get stuff done. Typical of me. The plan was to spend one night each at Bandipur and Ooty, but Bandipur and neighbouring forests were all booked due to the long weekend. After a day of making frantic calls to all the resorts around, decided to scrap Bandipur and spend 2 nights at Ooty. Having made this decision, I then made a frantic call to my uncle to book a room at the SBH Guest House at Ooty, which was
thankfully available. Then realized that the bike had just been serviced and still needed about 150km of running in. With no other option left, took off on Thursday night on a long, boring ride at 45kmph down the Krishnagiri highway to complete the
run-in. On Friday evening, it dawned on me that riding with a backpack with 3 days worth of stuff might just end up breaking my back, so rushed off to purchase saddlebags. On the morning of the trip, realized that I'd given my jeans to the dhobi a week ago and he hadn't returned them. Rushed all around the neighbourhood to find the guy but couldn't locate him, so had to make do with a couple of old, torn pants. Finally, late Saturday morning, all set to go.
The Route
Bangalore - Mysore (150km)
Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundelpet - Bandipur (approx 80km)
Bandipur - Masinagudi - Ooty (approx 80km)
The Battle With The Rain Gods - Part I
The ride from Bangalore to Mysore was peaceful. With the newly rebuilt 4-lane (6-lane at times) highway, all you need to do is hold down the throttle and let the bike do the rest. Quite boring. Exactly halfway down the highway, spotted a huge sign saying 'Cafe Coffee Day'. Thought I had dropped off to sleep and had dreamt it, but a few metres later, right bang in the middle of nowhere, there was this huge, 2 storeyed CCD. Stopped there and had a steaming cup of Cappuchino. Nice idea, this, of erecting Coffee Days in the middle of nowhere.
As I neared Mysore, the Rain Gods started pestering me again. We have this bit of unfinished business, the Rain Gods and I. More like a friendly rivalry, actually. For details on how it started, read my earlier post, Trip to Shimoga. Well, anyways, the Rain Gods, seeing me out on the open highway, cackled with glee and did their thing...pouring water out of the skies. But this time I came prepared. It was but the work of a moment to park the bike, whip out and don my rain gear (which I had secretly smuggled into the saddlebags for this very reason), yell out triumphantly "Smite me, Ye Mighty Smiter" (yes, I know, a la Jim Carrey) and continue on my way, snug as a bunny. Actually, between you and me, I wasn't entirely snug. A few rivulets of water had managed to sneak in beneath the raincoat when I wasn't looking, and were uncomfortably snaking their way down my nether regions. But I wasn't going to let the Rain Gods know that, of course, and let out another triumphant laugh. Very villainous. Just as I'd expected, this show of resistance put the Rain Gods on the back foot, and they hastily left to convene a meeting to discuss this unexpected turn of events, in the process letting up on the rain considerably. "Victory is mine", I thought, and rode on. If only I knew that this was but the start of a long and arduous battle!
The Battle With The Rain Gods - Part II
Decided not to halt at Mysore due to time constraints; I wanted to cross the ghats and reach Ooty by sunset. Just as I crossed Mysore, the Rain Gods did their thing again, this time with greater fury. My rain gear was holding up though, so decided to continue. The Gods however, it seemed, would go to any levels to ensure victory, and they stooped to Inzy like tactics. They enlisted the aid of oncoming trucks, which would, for no earthly reason, make a sudden swerve as they neared me. This resulted in the underlying puddles emptying themselves on my person. I couldn't take much more of this, obviously, and with a cry of "Foul!" took shelter at the next petrol bunk. Victory, it seemed, would go to the Gods on this occasion. I waited for a while for the rain to lessen, and then continued on, more for practical reasons than anything else; the thought of navigating ghat roads at night was much scarier than riding through rain. The Rain Gods mistook my cowardice for enterprising spirit, though, and decided to call it quits. I could almost hear them say "Good show, old chap! Bartender, a couple of rounds of sunshine for him, please, on the house!" Well, so the clouds parted, the sun shone through, and I continued merrily on, singing 'Country roads...take me home'.
Witches Hair
Thats exactly what the roots hanging down the Banyan trees on the side of the road looked like. Thick, dark, ugly knotted clumps of hair hanging down from the tree, in a neatly combed out fashion.
The road from Mysore to Bandipur was much more interesting. Good roads, much narrower 2-lane ones, smooth with the exception of the odd bumps here, the odd potholes there, with pleasant country scenery on either side. In short, much better for riding. Once you reach Gundelpet, there's a road branching off to the left which leads to Wayanad. Resolved to do that another time. Reached Bandipur about 2 hours after crossing Mysore.
Again, great ride passing through dense forest. The road was very potholed at a few places, but thats ok since there's no point rushing through the forest anyways. Much better to ride slow, look out for wildlife and generally enjoy your time there. Didn't actually see too many animals, though. There's this watering hole at the entrance, where I spotted a huge herd of Chital and a peahen. Stopped for another peahen crossing the road a while later.
Close encounters of the third kind
About halfway through Bandipur, glanced at the rearview mirror and was shocked out of my wits to see a wierd, alien looking creature behind me. Dark brown, wrinkled skin on its body, topped by a smooth, black dome of a head and big dark round owl
like eyes staring at me. Was stunned for a moment, till I realized that I was looking at my own reflection. Adjusted the rearview and continued on.
Bandipur - Ooty
After Bandipur you cross the Tamil Nadu border, go past Mudumalai and then take a left turn over a narrow bridge towards Masinagudi. Same forest, different names. A few kilometres down the Masinagudi road, and you hit the Kalahatti ghat section.
The ride up the Kalaghatti ghats was superb. 36 hairpin bends in all, and several more non-hairpin bends. Great to see the scenery and the weather change as you head towards the top. I think Ooty's probably the only hill-station in the south with Himalayas-like coniferous trees. Bike had a very tough time climbing the ghats though. Had to do most of them in 1st gear, and at one point towards the top, a little boy actually ran past the bike. Will probably have to get me a new bike if I'm ever to do serious travelling. Pleasantly surprised to find the weather in Ooty quite cold...nice nip in the air. Got a local mechanic to fix my brake lever which had broken due to a silly little fall on the ghats (the bike had stalled and my leg didn't quite reach the ground!), then found the guest house and settled in for the night.
Avalanche
Avalanche is this place about 35km from Ooty. Decided to leave at 8am, only to find the bike refused to start. Poor thing was apparently not used to the cold. So kicked and kicked for nearly 30 mins, while swearing at the top of my voice. The other guests seemed to find this a very interesting spectacle; they formed a semi-circle behind me and watched, the kinder souls among them uttering sympathetic ohhs and ahhs each time I swore. One guy started explaining to his dad the mechanics of a Bullet and why they don't start easily. Almost lost it when the old man turned to me and asked "But then why did you come this far on a scooter? Don't you have any trains in Blore?" The bike finally started, however, and with a final venomous glare at the old man, I hopped on and sped off.
The road to Avalanche was truly one of the best I've ever been on. At times there's tall pine trees on either side, intertwining at the top and blocking out sunlight, and at times you have breathtaking views of mist-covered hills. A thick fringe of moss on both sides of the road...you get the picture. And completely isolated, no humans anywhere around. Would've been in a tough spot, to say the least, if the bike had a puncture or anything, but it handled itself admirably well. I literally kept stopping every few metres to take snaps. After about 25km on this road, you pass a village called Emerald, then the road deteriorates (rather badly) and passes through dense woods, with dead branches and leaves all over the road. Another 10km or so of this road, and you reach the Avalanche checkpost. Absolutely awesome ride!
The 'ranger' there made a bit of a fuss because I hadn't got permission from some forest officer in Ooty to see the place, but after I pleaded with him for a bit, saying I had come all the way from Bangalore to see this place, and then tipped him 20 bucks, he allowed me to park the bike and walk on inside.
As you walk in, there's a bit of opening and a narrow path between the trees, then you come to a huge green grassy meadow, with a lake on one end surrounded by mountains on the other side. Plonked myself by the lake, took a few snaps, washed face in cold water and generally spent about an hour daydreaming there.
Finally got hungry (it was around lunchtime) so forced myself to get up and head back to Ooty.
Pykara Falls
Wasn't sure what to do after lunch. Wanted to visit Mukurthi peak, about 40km from Ooty, but couldn't get any reliable information about how to get there. So decided to do Pykara falls, about 21km away. Started off around 2.30pm, and the going was good initially. After a few kilometres, however, the road got extremely horrible. Not sure how I can convey the horribleness...an accurate description would probably be that there were potholes every inch of the way, most of them covered with puddles. Like the road had got smallpox or something. Again very scenic, but didn't really notice it since my eyes had to be on the road all the time. Reached Pykara after a long, slow bone-jarring journey.
I had expected Pykara to be another isolated, peaceful spot, so got a shock to discover it was one of the main tourist spots in Ooty. Hordes of people, vendors selling cotton candy, tea etc...the works. Anyways, proceeded to the falls, and they are actually quite beautiful. More like rapids with a small waterfall, but again what makes it special is the picture postcard surroundings. Would've been a wonderful place if not for the noisy crowds. Spent ages trying to take 2 or 3 snaps, because some tourist or the other would always get in the way, and there were some jokers who'd managed to get right in the middle of the falls and were noisily bathing in full public view.
The Rain Gods - Part III
The highly observant among you will notice that I did not add 'Battle With' in the title. This, far from being an aberration, is actually a wilful ommission on my part, done after a lot of debating with my inner self. The simple reason being that it was no longer a battle. The Rain Gods, by now realizing that they had a formidable foe in me, stooped to the level of psychological warfare. What exactly they did with my head, I cannot say. But the end result was that, when the rain started up again, it was accompanied by this odd feeling of depression and hopelessness. The world seemed to turn a dark shade of gray. The task of whipping out and donning my rain gear, which would normally have been but the work of a moment, now seemed to be a long, arduous and completely uninteresting task. So, with a silent 'sigh' at the heavens, started the bike and headed back, getting completely drenched along the way.
Reached the guest house an hour and a half later. Gave another silent sigh to the old man who was watching TV and trudged into my room. Even the squeltechy squelch of my shoes, which would normally have instigated in me a frenzy of frog-like jumping to observe the different types of squelches, had no effect whatsoever on my mood. Gave the landlady a forlorn look when she asked me how the trip was, and dropped off into a long and dreamless sleep.
The sinister plans of Robert
Generally roamed around town the next morning. Wanted to draw cash but the ATMs had all been bled dry due to the 3 day bank holiday. Met an elderly chap called Robert and proceeded to have a long conversation with him. He owned a workshop for 2 and
4 wheelers, and enlightened me on his plans to build a rugged jeep for off-roading in the Himalayas. It would be an open-topped jeep, complete with portable kitchen and gas-stove for cooking. At night, a press of a button would cause a circular dome of a tent to inflate over the roof. He then gave me some horror stories of cheetahs attacking babies and calves at night, and added plans to build a wire-mesh over his tent to prevent an attack by these dastardly creatures. Very James Bond-ish jeep it would be. He seemed to like horror stories, Robert did. Told me this other one of a youth who had gone into the forest without a permit and was jailed for one night by the authorities before they (Robert and his friends) rescued him. His final horror story was of a friend who had gone into some remote mountains, where his jeep broke down. The poor blighter then had to walk several kilometres to the nearest village to enlist aid. In the meantime, his jeep somehow slipped out of gear and went rolling down the mountains and got stuck at the edge of a precipice. They had to dismantle the jeep and carry it in parts to Ooty. He ended the story with his plans to purchase that same jeep to try out his James Bondish modifications.
At this point, already having spent an hour with him, I indicated a strong desire to proceed on my way. He asked me one final question "I've been in Ooty since 1956, but the wife is forcing me to move to Bangalore, as she wants to be closer to the kids. What do you think I should do?" after which he let me go.
Confession: I know I've just been very sarcastic about Robert, but that was just for kicks. He was actually quite a nice helpful guy who gave me detailed directions to all the ATMs in town. In fact, he offered to rent me one of his jeeps the next time I was in Ooty, so I could go touring the countryside. Sounds interesting, and I will probably take him up on it sometime.
The return journey
Was fairly uneventful. Reached Mysore in quick time. Halted along the way to take a few snaps. Mysore was overcrowded due to the Dassera festival, and took me an hour and a half just to get from one end of town to the other. Return on the Mysore-Bangalore highway was like a drive down M.G.Road; it was so full of vehicles returning after the festival. Still, I made good time and reached Bangalore in roughly 2.5 hours
The final verdict
It was a most excellent trip, one I will fondly remember for a long time to come. Only wish I had more time to see all the surrounding areas. Its put an urge in me to visit forests and hills more often, so will probably plan to visit other hilly forests sometime soon.
For those of you who've persisted with me through this ultra-long, ultra-boring writeup, you have my sincere thanks and as a reward, you now have the chance to see some the snaps I clicked along the way. They can be viewed at http://gallerykaushik.fotopic.net
Note: You may find a strange, unearthly haze preventing a clear view of some of the snaps. I swear that has nothing to do with my ability to click photos. Probably just another sinister trick of the gods!
I am, of course, making the obvious assumption here that I will at some point, before I produce grandkids, graduate from gallavanting around the neighbourhood to doing some serious travel. All for the sake of my dentures.
Well, that was the idea when I started, but soon decided to move on to ramblings of a more general nature...and I enjoyed doing it. Always had this vague inclination to 'write something' sometime in life, never thought blogging would be the answer. Not sure how long this interest will last ( I have, at various points in my life, had interests ranging from learning the inner workings of a frog to writing poems to mastering chess, none of which lasted more than a few weeks), but so far so good.
But anyways, for now its 'back to my roots'. Time to produce yet another travel tale, this one about my weekend ride to Ooty.
The Planning
Was non-existent until a couple of days before the weekend, when I got into a mad rush to get stuff done. Typical of me. The plan was to spend one night each at Bandipur and Ooty, but Bandipur and neighbouring forests were all booked due to the long weekend. After a day of making frantic calls to all the resorts around, decided to scrap Bandipur and spend 2 nights at Ooty. Having made this decision, I then made a frantic call to my uncle to book a room at the SBH Guest House at Ooty, which was
thankfully available. Then realized that the bike had just been serviced and still needed about 150km of running in. With no other option left, took off on Thursday night on a long, boring ride at 45kmph down the Krishnagiri highway to complete the
run-in. On Friday evening, it dawned on me that riding with a backpack with 3 days worth of stuff might just end up breaking my back, so rushed off to purchase saddlebags. On the morning of the trip, realized that I'd given my jeans to the dhobi a week ago and he hadn't returned them. Rushed all around the neighbourhood to find the guy but couldn't locate him, so had to make do with a couple of old, torn pants. Finally, late Saturday morning, all set to go.
The Route
Bangalore - Mysore (150km)
Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundelpet - Bandipur (approx 80km)
Bandipur - Masinagudi - Ooty (approx 80km)
The Battle With The Rain Gods - Part I
The ride from Bangalore to Mysore was peaceful. With the newly rebuilt 4-lane (6-lane at times) highway, all you need to do is hold down the throttle and let the bike do the rest. Quite boring. Exactly halfway down the highway, spotted a huge sign saying 'Cafe Coffee Day'. Thought I had dropped off to sleep and had dreamt it, but a few metres later, right bang in the middle of nowhere, there was this huge, 2 storeyed CCD. Stopped there and had a steaming cup of Cappuchino. Nice idea, this, of erecting Coffee Days in the middle of nowhere.
As I neared Mysore, the Rain Gods started pestering me again. We have this bit of unfinished business, the Rain Gods and I. More like a friendly rivalry, actually. For details on how it started, read my earlier post, Trip to Shimoga. Well, anyways, the Rain Gods, seeing me out on the open highway, cackled with glee and did their thing...pouring water out of the skies. But this time I came prepared. It was but the work of a moment to park the bike, whip out and don my rain gear (which I had secretly smuggled into the saddlebags for this very reason), yell out triumphantly "Smite me, Ye Mighty Smiter" (yes, I know, a la Jim Carrey) and continue on my way, snug as a bunny. Actually, between you and me, I wasn't entirely snug. A few rivulets of water had managed to sneak in beneath the raincoat when I wasn't looking, and were uncomfortably snaking their way down my nether regions. But I wasn't going to let the Rain Gods know that, of course, and let out another triumphant laugh. Very villainous. Just as I'd expected, this show of resistance put the Rain Gods on the back foot, and they hastily left to convene a meeting to discuss this unexpected turn of events, in the process letting up on the rain considerably. "Victory is mine", I thought, and rode on. If only I knew that this was but the start of a long and arduous battle!
The Battle With The Rain Gods - Part II
Decided not to halt at Mysore due to time constraints; I wanted to cross the ghats and reach Ooty by sunset. Just as I crossed Mysore, the Rain Gods did their thing again, this time with greater fury. My rain gear was holding up though, so decided to continue. The Gods however, it seemed, would go to any levels to ensure victory, and they stooped to Inzy like tactics. They enlisted the aid of oncoming trucks, which would, for no earthly reason, make a sudden swerve as they neared me. This resulted in the underlying puddles emptying themselves on my person. I couldn't take much more of this, obviously, and with a cry of "Foul!" took shelter at the next petrol bunk. Victory, it seemed, would go to the Gods on this occasion. I waited for a while for the rain to lessen, and then continued on, more for practical reasons than anything else; the thought of navigating ghat roads at night was much scarier than riding through rain. The Rain Gods mistook my cowardice for enterprising spirit, though, and decided to call it quits. I could almost hear them say "Good show, old chap! Bartender, a couple of rounds of sunshine for him, please, on the house!" Well, so the clouds parted, the sun shone through, and I continued merrily on, singing 'Country roads...take me home'.
Witches Hair
Thats exactly what the roots hanging down the Banyan trees on the side of the road looked like. Thick, dark, ugly knotted clumps of hair hanging down from the tree, in a neatly combed out fashion.
The road from Mysore to Bandipur was much more interesting. Good roads, much narrower 2-lane ones, smooth with the exception of the odd bumps here, the odd potholes there, with pleasant country scenery on either side. In short, much better for riding. Once you reach Gundelpet, there's a road branching off to the left which leads to Wayanad. Resolved to do that another time. Reached Bandipur about 2 hours after crossing Mysore.
Again, great ride passing through dense forest. The road was very potholed at a few places, but thats ok since there's no point rushing through the forest anyways. Much better to ride slow, look out for wildlife and generally enjoy your time there. Didn't actually see too many animals, though. There's this watering hole at the entrance, where I spotted a huge herd of Chital and a peahen. Stopped for another peahen crossing the road a while later.
Close encounters of the third kind
About halfway through Bandipur, glanced at the rearview mirror and was shocked out of my wits to see a wierd, alien looking creature behind me. Dark brown, wrinkled skin on its body, topped by a smooth, black dome of a head and big dark round owl
like eyes staring at me. Was stunned for a moment, till I realized that I was looking at my own reflection. Adjusted the rearview and continued on.
Bandipur - Ooty
After Bandipur you cross the Tamil Nadu border, go past Mudumalai and then take a left turn over a narrow bridge towards Masinagudi. Same forest, different names. A few kilometres down the Masinagudi road, and you hit the Kalahatti ghat section.
The ride up the Kalaghatti ghats was superb. 36 hairpin bends in all, and several more non-hairpin bends. Great to see the scenery and the weather change as you head towards the top. I think Ooty's probably the only hill-station in the south with Himalayas-like coniferous trees. Bike had a very tough time climbing the ghats though. Had to do most of them in 1st gear, and at one point towards the top, a little boy actually ran past the bike. Will probably have to get me a new bike if I'm ever to do serious travelling. Pleasantly surprised to find the weather in Ooty quite cold...nice nip in the air. Got a local mechanic to fix my brake lever which had broken due to a silly little fall on the ghats (the bike had stalled and my leg didn't quite reach the ground!), then found the guest house and settled in for the night.
Avalanche
Avalanche is this place about 35km from Ooty. Decided to leave at 8am, only to find the bike refused to start. Poor thing was apparently not used to the cold. So kicked and kicked for nearly 30 mins, while swearing at the top of my voice. The other guests seemed to find this a very interesting spectacle; they formed a semi-circle behind me and watched, the kinder souls among them uttering sympathetic ohhs and ahhs each time I swore. One guy started explaining to his dad the mechanics of a Bullet and why they don't start easily. Almost lost it when the old man turned to me and asked "But then why did you come this far on a scooter? Don't you have any trains in Blore?" The bike finally started, however, and with a final venomous glare at the old man, I hopped on and sped off.
The road to Avalanche was truly one of the best I've ever been on. At times there's tall pine trees on either side, intertwining at the top and blocking out sunlight, and at times you have breathtaking views of mist-covered hills. A thick fringe of moss on both sides of the road...you get the picture. And completely isolated, no humans anywhere around. Would've been in a tough spot, to say the least, if the bike had a puncture or anything, but it handled itself admirably well. I literally kept stopping every few metres to take snaps. After about 25km on this road, you pass a village called Emerald, then the road deteriorates (rather badly) and passes through dense woods, with dead branches and leaves all over the road. Another 10km or so of this road, and you reach the Avalanche checkpost. Absolutely awesome ride!
The 'ranger' there made a bit of a fuss because I hadn't got permission from some forest officer in Ooty to see the place, but after I pleaded with him for a bit, saying I had come all the way from Bangalore to see this place, and then tipped him 20 bucks, he allowed me to park the bike and walk on inside.
As you walk in, there's a bit of opening and a narrow path between the trees, then you come to a huge green grassy meadow, with a lake on one end surrounded by mountains on the other side. Plonked myself by the lake, took a few snaps, washed face in cold water and generally spent about an hour daydreaming there.
Finally got hungry (it was around lunchtime) so forced myself to get up and head back to Ooty.
Pykara Falls
Wasn't sure what to do after lunch. Wanted to visit Mukurthi peak, about 40km from Ooty, but couldn't get any reliable information about how to get there. So decided to do Pykara falls, about 21km away. Started off around 2.30pm, and the going was good initially. After a few kilometres, however, the road got extremely horrible. Not sure how I can convey the horribleness...an accurate description would probably be that there were potholes every inch of the way, most of them covered with puddles. Like the road had got smallpox or something. Again very scenic, but didn't really notice it since my eyes had to be on the road all the time. Reached Pykara after a long, slow bone-jarring journey.
I had expected Pykara to be another isolated, peaceful spot, so got a shock to discover it was one of the main tourist spots in Ooty. Hordes of people, vendors selling cotton candy, tea etc...the works. Anyways, proceeded to the falls, and they are actually quite beautiful. More like rapids with a small waterfall, but again what makes it special is the picture postcard surroundings. Would've been a wonderful place if not for the noisy crowds. Spent ages trying to take 2 or 3 snaps, because some tourist or the other would always get in the way, and there were some jokers who'd managed to get right in the middle of the falls and were noisily bathing in full public view.
The Rain Gods - Part III
The highly observant among you will notice that I did not add 'Battle With' in the title. This, far from being an aberration, is actually a wilful ommission on my part, done after a lot of debating with my inner self. The simple reason being that it was no longer a battle. The Rain Gods, by now realizing that they had a formidable foe in me, stooped to the level of psychological warfare. What exactly they did with my head, I cannot say. But the end result was that, when the rain started up again, it was accompanied by this odd feeling of depression and hopelessness. The world seemed to turn a dark shade of gray. The task of whipping out and donning my rain gear, which would normally have been but the work of a moment, now seemed to be a long, arduous and completely uninteresting task. So, with a silent 'sigh' at the heavens, started the bike and headed back, getting completely drenched along the way.
Reached the guest house an hour and a half later. Gave another silent sigh to the old man who was watching TV and trudged into my room. Even the squeltechy squelch of my shoes, which would normally have instigated in me a frenzy of frog-like jumping to observe the different types of squelches, had no effect whatsoever on my mood. Gave the landlady a forlorn look when she asked me how the trip was, and dropped off into a long and dreamless sleep.
The sinister plans of Robert
Generally roamed around town the next morning. Wanted to draw cash but the ATMs had all been bled dry due to the 3 day bank holiday. Met an elderly chap called Robert and proceeded to have a long conversation with him. He owned a workshop for 2 and
4 wheelers, and enlightened me on his plans to build a rugged jeep for off-roading in the Himalayas. It would be an open-topped jeep, complete with portable kitchen and gas-stove for cooking. At night, a press of a button would cause a circular dome of a tent to inflate over the roof. He then gave me some horror stories of cheetahs attacking babies and calves at night, and added plans to build a wire-mesh over his tent to prevent an attack by these dastardly creatures. Very James Bond-ish jeep it would be. He seemed to like horror stories, Robert did. Told me this other one of a youth who had gone into the forest without a permit and was jailed for one night by the authorities before they (Robert and his friends) rescued him. His final horror story was of a friend who had gone into some remote mountains, where his jeep broke down. The poor blighter then had to walk several kilometres to the nearest village to enlist aid. In the meantime, his jeep somehow slipped out of gear and went rolling down the mountains and got stuck at the edge of a precipice. They had to dismantle the jeep and carry it in parts to Ooty. He ended the story with his plans to purchase that same jeep to try out his James Bondish modifications.
At this point, already having spent an hour with him, I indicated a strong desire to proceed on my way. He asked me one final question "I've been in Ooty since 1956, but the wife is forcing me to move to Bangalore, as she wants to be closer to the kids. What do you think I should do?" after which he let me go.
Confession: I know I've just been very sarcastic about Robert, but that was just for kicks. He was actually quite a nice helpful guy who gave me detailed directions to all the ATMs in town. In fact, he offered to rent me one of his jeeps the next time I was in Ooty, so I could go touring the countryside. Sounds interesting, and I will probably take him up on it sometime.
The return journey
Was fairly uneventful. Reached Mysore in quick time. Halted along the way to take a few snaps. Mysore was overcrowded due to the Dassera festival, and took me an hour and a half just to get from one end of town to the other. Return on the Mysore-Bangalore highway was like a drive down M.G.Road; it was so full of vehicles returning after the festival. Still, I made good time and reached Bangalore in roughly 2.5 hours
The final verdict
It was a most excellent trip, one I will fondly remember for a long time to come. Only wish I had more time to see all the surrounding areas. Its put an urge in me to visit forests and hills more often, so will probably plan to visit other hilly forests sometime soon.
For those of you who've persisted with me through this ultra-long, ultra-boring writeup, you have my sincere thanks and as a reward, you now have the chance to see some the snaps I clicked along the way. They can be viewed at http://gallerykaushik.fotopic.net
Note: You may find a strange, unearthly haze preventing a clear view of some of the snaps. I swear that has nothing to do with my ability to click photos. Probably just another sinister trick of the gods!
Comments
Great narration, comrade, made for fun reading.
[Pushuka:] Thanks. Next step is to master the esoteric art of concise story-telling.
Anyway, regarding your liner...that's a cool one.."go to lunch"..LOL. Thanks for your comments dude!
biking around india is fantastic.. i've done 18 states plus nepal and bhutan.. wouldn't exchange those experiences for the world.
[sac:] Wow! Now thats something. And you're right...India's got so much to offer. Well, it might take me a while but I'll get there too!
and we hired a cab to travel to Ladakh..... and I so want to go there again, and that'd be on Bike. For Sure.