Coveting Paradise at Bhadra

There apparently is this beautiful resort called River Tern Lodge(RTL) nestled inside the jungle on the banks of the Bhadra reservoir perfectly picturesque, set on an island and, Google turned up some pictures of the cottages, that looked impressive. This was all we knew when we left for the place and never did we imagine, I'd keep uttering 'I love this place', 'This is Paradise', etc.. about 100 times a day.

The mystic charm, as if it's a floating island you behold

All the wildlife lovers in Karnataka must have heard of the Jungle Lodges run by the government. This was one such resort on the banks of the Bhadra river backwaters, next to the Bhadra wildlife sanctuary, which is the 25th tiger reserve in India. They've the itinerary well-planned out, starting with the Jeep Safari, a documentary screening about the place, campfire, four meals a day, Nature Walk, Boat Safari and water sports.

It's about 2.5 km from a village called Lakkavalli and we took the train to the Birur Junction, from where RTL had arranged a cab for us on extra charge. The temperatures soared and we were sweating copiously by the time we reached the room, after climbing down and up the islands, because we had requested for the room that was on the other island close to the waters, so that we got to walk a lot. But, the moment we entered the room, it was a moment of total awe at the view it offered! We spotted Fish Eagles, Drongos and Bee-Eaters near our balcony.

View from the Balcony

We had a lot of time to take in the luxury we were surrounded with and get ready for the lunch and gosh - hot it was terribly, and people were chilling with buttermilk, beer, etc., but the food was out of the world, especially the fish, which was brought in fresh from the dam everyday. We saw people out on coracles everyday, probably that was why. I love and enjoy good food and the taste lingers along with the memories of every trip and this was one such trip, where the food never disappointed all the three days that we were there. Everyday, I'd be enquired by the staff about the food and would reply, 'It's amazing! Especially the fish!'.

We took the Jeep Safari on day 1 and had a very knowledgeable guide, who spotted a lotta animals and birds and gave out a lotta facts about them. There was this huge stretch of grassland at the edge of the forest, where water recedes only during summer and it was such a joy watching huge herds of spotted deer - large and small, galloping around and peacocks just grazing and dancing away.

The best part of the evening was the wind that blows from the west, that makes the backwaters roar like a sea and we had the best time just standing on the rope bridge that connects the two islands listening to the sounds and watching the winds trying to sweep us away. This goes on till early night, but after dinner, we found the winds to have disappeared and the water surface just still. There was also a documentary screening which was full of information about how the wildlife sanctuary came to be and all the hardships people had to go through, in conserving the natural treasures of the region.

Day 2 began with the Boat Safari, which made me go mute and transfixed at the beauty that was unfolding in the misty water body, as the sun was slowly rising and the birds growing more and more restless. It was quite a long ride and we got to see diverse birds and animals, though my dream of watching an elephant herd play along the banks, like encountered a few years ago, went futile. But the best part was suddenly being surrounded amid water on all sides, by hundreds of River Terns and their sounds, which covered the boat in a River-Tern-Tornado. The River Terns are birds from the north that migrate here during summer for breeding. It was a magical ride and emotionally quite overwhelming.

The water sports were really fun and despite getting my ankle sprained on the Water Trampoline, I was swimming happily with my mind probably swimming wanderingly elsewhere out of the world that I noticed the pain only much later. We took both the Safaris again over the next day and ended the trip totally content and delighted from the out-of-the-world experience. The staff here were very friendly and courteous and always ready to help and full of enquiries if the sprain was healing.

We got to spot a herd of wild boars, Indian Gaurs, monitor lizards, Malabar pied hornbill and a few other species. Once during the Jeep Safari, we encountered a single Tusker who looked at us with surprise, then seemed to be contemplating whether or not to chase down our jeep, as we drove backwards. He then seemed to make up his mind to simply have his dose of water and walked sideways from the path as we watched, with out hearts beating loud.

Pics Courtesy : Vivek

Its a must-visit for people who wish to escape the enclosures of consumerism and the materialistic world to a place close to Nature, where life is much slower and indulgent.

Sweating it out at Mangaluru

Mangaluru is a quaint little coastal town nestled between the Arabian sea and the Western Ghats. I've heard of its serenity and the old world charm and always wanted to visit, but heard discouraging remarks that there was 'nothing to see'. We arrived to find that Ola was devoid of cabs, only to find later that the drivers had gone on a strike! Which was good in a way, that we got to enjoy the local culture better. The local town buses take you on awesome roller coaster rides, which had us in raptures. Enroute the guesthouse, we were suddenly riding over a bridge, under which was winding a beautiful wide river dotted with nummmmerous fishing boats - a sight I was totally unprepared for and got me sitting wide-eyed in awe drawing some odd looks from the locals (ahem!). (Memories abound of Kalki's beautiful descriptions of the Ponni-nadhi and I feel compelled to copy some of them). Our guesthouse was about 25 kms away from the town and was completely a different world altogether, the beauty of which I shall try to capture in poetic verses; my prose cannot do justice to it.

View from the Guesthouse

We took the rollercoaster ride (a.k.a. the town bus) back to the Mangalore city and missed our stop, but the bus driver and conductor were really friendly to drop us off at the right spot for the Kadri Manjunath temple. The sad part was that we reached the temple around noon, by which time it was already very hot. I heard it was a very old temple where the Pandavas stayed for a while, but it just didn't have that old time charm to it. Since we visited on Dussehra, it was way too crowded and I kept wondering as I watched the crowd, why they would push and shove at others only to touch the Deepam that the priest was carrying without even sparing a glance to the idol or taking a minute to pray. Seems like wasted effort to come so long. There was a long queue for the free food, which I'm not sure if a daily affair. There's a natural spring apparently called Gomukha at the top, which fills nine ponds and was quite a nice spot.

It was time to move on to hunt food and there was a very famous restaurant called Gajalee near Circuit House. The interiors lend a very British feel and it was located at a picturesque location. The Fish Curry there was the best I've ever had (apart from mum's)! Everytime I think of Mangalore, I wanna return just for that food. For dessert, we took a rick to Ideal Icecream House (after a looongg... debate between Ideal and Pabba's, the two famous dessert destinations here). The friendly driver was full of information about the Mangaluru Dasara and we learnt that Kudroli Gokarnath temple would be adorned with festivities that day (sadly, we were too late to make it to watch the festivities...). I should say Ideal was nice, but not exquisite, perhaps to a foodie who's had too many prior dessert experiences.

The Tannirbhavi beach is special in the way that you get to a take a ferry to the island from Sulthan Battery, which was Tipu Sultan's watchtower, though it looks like a mini fort all by itself. Its a beautiful view of the Gurpura river and the surrounding greenery from here, but the sad state of the monument is just one of the numerous examples of our disrespect to conserve our heritage. The ferry to the beach is quite enjoyable and the sunset scattering sparkles on the waves is a sight of awe. Notable are the ATV rides here.

The heat was unbearable for us, so we took a day trip to Kudremukh, the highest peak in Chikmagalur. Enroute were a number of Jain temples at Moodabidri and Karkala. Saavira Kambada Basadi (Thousand Pillars Temple) is built in a Nepali architectural style and has amazing intricately carved pillars. Beautifully maintained. I'm going to skip the other temples we visited, that seemed to hold more monetary significance in grandeur, which is always a repulsive thing to me. There's a huge monolith of Gomateshwara atop a hill, which leads you on a mini trek. This is a statue of Baahubali, smaller than the one in Sravanabelagola. What's curious is the name Pandya in the line of kings, who built the structure! Wonder if there's any connection between these Pandyas of the Vijayanagar kingdom and Madurai, which was ruled for a large part by the Nayaks.

Kudremukh has one of the most captivating views with lush greenery everywhere. The best part of the visit was the Hanumanagundi Falls with it's trek-like adventurous descent. The Kudremukh National Park apparently has a safari that starts in the morning, with bird-watching included that had some rare birds local to the region listed in the pamphlet. (We spotted those birds in the Sangama area near Bangalore during a bird-watching trip).

Panambur is a very popular beach with a lot of adventure sports in Mangalore, which we missed. It turned out to be a holiday we hadn't expected, due to the humidity and heat, but Mangalore took us very close to nature and ended in a beautiful experience.

Pics Courtesy : Vivek

Picking way through Poona

I've always wanted to write a travelogue and I've always wanted to travel to Pune. So, here's a travelogue to Poona, 'cos all the blogs that I read before travelling(to a city and a language I'm totally not acquainted with) helped in planning and I'm writing in hope of being help to others.

Brief Aggregate of Places-to-Visit I used

We flew into the city with a huge landscape dotted by apartments(!) (also, spotted a spongecake-like terrain somewhere close) and surrounded by hills everywhere! The Sahyadris. Pune's well-connected by flights and when the airlines start showering discounts, it's best to grab 'em then. It's amazing when your employer provides guesthouses throughout the country, so we had the best accomodation and since that's an employee perk, let's skip the accomodation-in-Pune-part that I'm ignorant of. I've heard though that for backpackers, the YM(/W)CA hostel at the Camp provides good and cheap staying options.

This trip was completely powered by technology and I've no idea what we'd have done without our smartphones. Luckiest thing was that Ola announced Appiness Week to add to our Happiness Week and gave a 50% off on all rides, so nary bus ride (To add, the Pune buses looked a lil' scary). Google Maps and Translation apps we carried all the way through. And most of the auto/cab drivers do not know the routes well, so it's always better to have your navigator on the mobile turned on.

Ola doesn't seem to offer rides to places outside the city though the website said it does, so after a lot of mulling over various expensive options, our org's Travel Desk helped us out with arranging a trip to Sinhagad and the next day to Lonavala.

Sinhagad is an experience of a life-time, the only regret being that all trees were bare and the land was dry when we went. Sure it's prettier in the monsoons. I envy the Poonawalas that they've got so many hills as weekend spots and found a lot of them riding up in two-wheelers. It's a good trekking spot with a beaten path from some village below. We didn't spot many trekkers and after being discouraged by the locals at office that it would be a hard trek(though the folks on web contradict), we took the cab. The place has a few ruins and a long history that you should read before arriving. You get an amazing view of the city(and its apartments) on one side and an endless string of hills and vegetation on the other.

Matka Dahi...

The best thing about the place is the Fooood.... It's an interesting concept where the villagers here extend hospitality, place mats and prepare fresh food for you and serve hot. The creamy Matka Dahi and pakodas were delectable in the drizzly weather. Apparently, Bakhri is another dish that's famous. It was an amazing experience that you cannot forget and being commended on your broken Hindi by the locals is the best thing to happen. Coffee is a specialty of the South and you've to forgo it for tea when you move Northward. We found the tea stronger than coffee here and having super-piping-hot tea in the rain and freezing winds is an amazing experience.


Lonavala is about 30 kms from the city and we made straight to Bushi dam, where, alas! - there was nobody!

We had a tough time actually finding the spot and uncooperative locals wouldn't point the way.
We climbed all the way to the top to spot a small dam, but apparently it's overflowing with water and is a beautiful and fun place during monsoon. It was windy and horizontal-rainy and freezing, we took cover in the only open shop to have breakfast. Fresh and hot Vada Pav and Misal Pav and tea.

Starting over from peeling the onions to keeping the place neat, it seemed uncharacteristic for a small shop from my experiences, but then every eatery I went to in Pune was pretty neat. The Wax Museum a little away from Lonavala has a few realistic wax models and was fun watching all the little kids. A few more kms and you arrive at Karla caves, after climbing 500 steps, at the top of a hill near Ekvira Devi temple. All the way to the top are shops on both sides and you get the special Lonavala chikkis too (Wonder who Makhanlal is...).

Karla Caves - Wooden Rafters
& the Stupa

The Karla Caves is a Buddhist chaitya and has splendid carvings and architecture. Since the rains were growing heavier, we had to return without seeing much in Lonavala and I ended up sleeping and reading a lot in the room. Wherever you go, make sure you're not cramping the whole holiday with too many places to see and have enough time to unwind and reflect upon your day, so that it feels like an actual vacation and doesn't turn into just a list-of-places-I-visisted, to exhibit to others.

Stroll through Koregoan Park. The walls of Osho Ashram.

Apparently Osho Ashram doesn't allow visitors, so we just took a stroll on those posh roads with high black(!) walls. There's a Dario's here, if you're fond of Italian food. Aga Khan palace is another serene spot within the city and history lovers might be interested in the place. What was interesting though was, Kasturba Gandhi's tiny library within the palace, that had a lot of feminist books with interesting titles. Definitely a place for researchers. Nearby is a small shopping mall that doesn't have much except McD and CCD and it's a long way to the U-turn either side on this particular road.

Food is the best part in Poona! The place is known for fresh strawberries and Juice World on East Street, near MG Road has the best Fresh Strawberries with Cream. Also the best Pav Bhajis and Sitafal with Rabdi. Next to it is Mayur, a very well-maintained restaurant famous for its thali. We couldn't make it for lunch so we had good all-buttery(yum!) Pav Bhajis. On the same street is the famous Kayani Bakery, ALWAYs bustling with crowd. Take a bite into their shrewburys and it reminds you of so many good things. The best place I would recall fondly would be German Bakery and its yummy Mango Cheesecake and Frozen Hot Chocolate and an all-cheesy(yum!) Chilli Cheese Toast.
 The perfect Chilli Cheese Toast I've ever had. Marz-o-Rin on MG Road is another quaint place that looks ancient but stocks Sandwiches! This place also had a large audience and apparently their Almond Macaroons are very famous. We had Pani Puris in Laxmi Road and though I've never liked them much, this was the best I've had ever. Pani Puris in the North differ a lot from the ones you get in the South!

Mango Cheesecake!

M.G. Road is a wonderful place to shop. Especially Clover Centre on Ambedkar road close by, that a colleague let us know in passing, has some great fashion and I learnt here what a huge imitation market we have! I'm sure we dropped in to almost every single shop there for the clothes. Pakistani kurtas seemed to be the fad that haven't arrived in the South yet and loads of georgette shirts and jackets! (We really have to travel to the north once in a while and haul clothes to not end up wearing the same thing everybody else is wearing and also pick up what's new in fashion). Anyway, I found a totally dusty bookstore(oohyay) that I couldn't simply pass by, near the JuiceWorld in East Street, and ended up buying Conrads and Dostoyevsky. Sure there must be more gems in there, but I couldn't dig in enough. Also, read about another great bookstore with a very helpful owner in Clover Center called Manney's but it closed way back in 2012. Everybody here responds with a 'You're welcome' (curt or not) when you thank. The road is dotted with a lot of vendors selling clothes priced around Rs.200, that are famous I heard from friends, though I've no idea of the quality et al. Kohlapuri chappals are a specialty. Clover Centre has a shop totally stocked with absolutely pretty scarves. Also read about a strange shop called Dragon Gallerie above German Bakery, but it's closed now.

Aga Khan Palace on a sunny morning

Another place to shop is the Laxmi road, which I found similar to Pondy Bazaar in Chennai. Stayed only for a few minutes here, since we didn't find anything special here, except for a street vendor selling cheap, exotic, handmade purses that were really pretty(Mine even has an embroidered butterfly inside ^.^) and all spongey(kept my sunglasses safe in the pushy-shovey-Chennai-train-crowd! Win!).

Books, Food,Scenic places and nice climate.. what more could you ask for? I love this city... Mangaluru and Jaipur are on the rolls next.