26th Jan 2015, Day three - Time to leave Coorg...
Uff!! This was my final day on the soil that I loved a lot. As I was very tired yesterday, I couldn't wake up early. I woke up around 9:45am. In fact, I had an amazing night...slept well...and that too in sleep...I had beautiful dreams. I saw the volcano 'Ol Doinyo Lengai', standing tall in the middle of the 'Serengeti' game reserve, ... I saw the herds moving as a part of the Great Migration towards the North-West part of Serengeti. I saw the Masai people... Wow!! those were the best dreams I had. To be frank...those dreams were the main reason for me, waking up late..as I didn't want to disturb them. But when I woke up and saw the time, at 9.45am, my first thought was to start as early as possible. Because I need to visit one or two places on the way back to Bengaluru. My plan was to travel through Nagarhole national park. I came out of room after taking pics of it, I returned the keys to the hotel owner, whose father helped me in deciding the route. I quickly noted down the route he told and started. The route he suggested was...
(Madikeri - Virajpet - Gonikoppa(l) - Ponnampet - Irpu falls - Nagarhole - Mysore - Bengaluru)
Please keep a perfume spray with you while reading further. Because, It was already late and close to mid-day, I didn't take bath before I started...he he...:)
I started at 10:15am. After five minutes, I was riding on the road to Virajpet. Again, It was a beautiful road. As it was around thirty odd kilometres from Madikeri, I though I would reach there in 30mins. However, There were two reasons why I couldn't meet my timelines...one being the scenic places all around and the other.. smooth but frequent curves. I was travelling..thinking..speaking to myself, to surroundings and sometimes to my bike. I was in some kind of mood...that I used to get when I visited temples during my theist-hood. I was feeling like..."some life is still present in my life". At that point of time, I felt...
"Life is not an aimless journey of a body loaded with soul... but it is the journey that the body makes to meet the soul".
Bww!!! I was thinking like a maaadddd fellow. There was no stop for the flow of thoughts in my mind during my return journey.
"Life is not an aimless journey of a body loaded with soul... but it is the journey that the body makes to meet the soul".
Bww!!! I was thinking like a maaadddd fellow. There was no stop for the flow of thoughts in my mind during my return journey.
When I immersed in these thoughts, I crossed a place called 'Murnur'. It was a good place to stop for a breakfast. However, I wanted to have breakfast after reaching Virajpet. Yes!! I reached Virajpet...around 11:15am. In two places, 8&10km, before reaching Virajpet, I saw some school children taking part in 'Swach Bharath' as it was republic day. I recollected my school days when I took part in 'Janmabhoomi' program. ( agenda of the two programs is almost same. But the charisma of the persons differs. Hence the popularity of the new program)
Breakfast in Virajpet...
It was around 11:15am, when I reached Virajpet or Virarajendrapete. Sorry!! I lied. I forgot to have breakfast here. I had to travel for some distance within the town. But this time it was for my good. I could see the people in traditional Kodava attire. Kodava is the major...what to call...probably the caste or community in the Kodagu district. This had been one of my dreams to see these people since I saw the portraits of the 'Kodava Couple' in the 'Janapatha Loka'. There was a community meeting, I guess, as it was republic day. I didn't have any clue, why those people were making the republic day as an occasion to gather. I took one pic of that meeting place, and was about to start from there. But here comes the real surprise... A middle aged person was walking towards me and he was...again...a kodava person in traditional attire. I greeted him with a great smile. He was an educated guy and that helped me a lot in interacting with him. I asked some dumb questions to him...as I was not prepared for what to talk if I met one such guy. "What are you? Do you hunt? Still hunt? Can I hold the dagger?... so on..". Though he was in hurry, he answered me patiently. In fact he was happy that a person from the other side of India came to feel the culture of that place.
The Kodava gathering...
I rode a beautiful curve in Virajpet, where I saw a excellent view on my left. I felt it was worth capturing. But as I already told...my only problem was draining time. However, I can see the same view even now...because it is on the back of my top lid. Alright...!! I will try to describe the view - there was a church on the left of the curve, had a bend towards the left, and two hills were providing it a nice background. Hmm!! I know I failed to describe it well. What to do..!!?? I am not Wordsworth or Keats. I can't romanticize such situations...I've just told what I saw...
Towards Irpu Falls...
After crossing Virajpet, I didn't take any stops to relax. However, my brief stops were just to inquire the route. Virajpet and it surroundings fall in South Kodagu. This part of Kodagu was really superb. I saw so many woman in typical Kodagu dressing. They wear Saree in a way different from what we generally see in other parts of India. I can't explain much about it, as I don't have much knowledge on this concept. Please try to google it...if you are interested. I crossed Gonikoppa(l) and reached Ponnampet around 1pm.
On the way to Ponnampet, I stopped to have a Sugar cane juice and the name of the Vendor was Shazid Khan. He introduced himself as an ex-truck driver. He told about the impending risk in taking the route through Nagarhole national park. He told about the possibility of the elephant attacks and the chances of tiger encounters. I had to respect his instructions...because he had more experience in travelling. However, I was still looking for a person to give me enough confidence to go through that forest. I didn't meet THE one person I was looking for. The worst part was...a person telling that the bikes were not allowed inside Nagarhole.
I had lunch in Ponnampet and started to Irpu falls. I took a right turn towards the falls from the village(??) 'Srimangala'. Again, I don't want to describe the beauty of the roads I travelled. Those were so nice. Finally I reached the 'IRPU falls'. The place, where these fall were situated, was Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary. After parking my vehicle, I took an entrance ticket to the falls and reached the falls after a small trek of 15-20 mins. As I didn't have much time to stop, I took snaps of every sign board I found there so that I could read them afterwards. After seeing the information about the variety of the wild life in that sanctuary, I felt it was also one of the good destinations. However, I didn't gather much info about the safari kind of programs in that sanctuary. Near the waterfalls, I tried to photograph a couple of butterflies. Later I realised that they were about to engage in a mating ritual after seeing the intimate behaviour and approach of them. Probably that was the season for them to rise a new generation of caterpillars. These fellows are really great because they don't just multiply their numbers, they play a major role in the reproduction cycle of the plants by helping them in pollination. #respect
I met a forest guard, Nanda, when I was about to leave that place. After having a brief conversation with that guy, I started off to Bengaluru. My plan was to go via Gonikoppa(l), as I had decided not to go through Nagarhole. I was riding happily until I found a sign board indicating a right turn towards Bengaluru.
Do I really need to go back???...
Yup!!! This was the major question I asked myself when I was travelling back... However, I didn't have any other choice. Because I knew, though I was in love with the place I had been, that awe wouldn't last long enough to spend the rest of my life. My next thought was...
"The only choice I have is...to visit those places as frequently as possible..."
When I was riding on the road connecting Gonikoppa(l) and Mysore, I saw some big cage like structures on the right side. As I already guessed, it was an elephant camp - Hanasuru Elephant Camp. But the public was not allowed inside the camp. So I took some pics, and headed back towards Mysore. Somewhere on the way, I found an arch indicating that I was inside the 'Rajiv Gandhi National Park' - the official name of 'Nagarhole'. I felt very happy for a moment that I rode for sometime inside the Nagarhole...though the road was not through the heart of the jungle.
Just before reaching Hunsur.... exactly near the Y intersection where I took the road on the right to reach Madikeri via Periyapattana, I stopped for having a sugar cane juice. There I met a person, Haneesh, who was travelling to Kannur on some personal reasons. After a little chat, we departed from the place.
SH88 - A desert...
Now I was riding on SH88... the same route, I admired very much when I was travelling towards Madikeri, was started appearing like a desert. The reason was, I travelled for two days on the roads that were surrounded with thick vegetation. Now the sides of SH88 were so barren that they were, almost, resembling the desert. Though I was travelling continuously, I was not crossing the speeds ranging from mid-50's to 60. I just wanted to prolong the journey. I was not at all willing to check the time. I was scared to check. Because every draining second was making a damage of two seconds - I mean to say...it was causing double impact.
Why not Time...a commodity...??
This was one of the my best thoughts arose in my trip. I remember watching in a recent movie in which the time and gravity were considered as forth and fifth dimensions to measure the position. But when I was travelling back to Bengaluru, I really wished the time should have been a commodity... I felt the time as a lump of some material that was decaying in front of my eyes. Literally, I was bleeding time.
Somehow, I reached the outskirts of Mysore around 5:15pm. The traffic on the Mysore-Bengaluru highway was suffocating. I struggled a lot to ride in the heavy traffic after travelling for almost five to six hours. After three( tea, pee and fuel) stops, I reached Bengaluru around 9:35pm.
Hmm!!! That is the end of the great trip. Hope, I go for such trips again an again....
Towards Irpu Falls...
After crossing Virajpet, I didn't take any stops to relax. However, my brief stops were just to inquire the route. Virajpet and it surroundings fall in South Kodagu. This part of Kodagu was really superb. I saw so many woman in typical Kodagu dressing. They wear Saree in a way different from what we generally see in other parts of India. I can't explain much about it, as I don't have much knowledge on this concept. Please try to google it...if you are interested. I crossed Gonikoppa(l) and reached Ponnampet around 1pm.
On the way to Ponnampet, I stopped to have a Sugar cane juice and the name of the Vendor was Shazid Khan. He introduced himself as an ex-truck driver. He told about the impending risk in taking the route through Nagarhole national park. He told about the possibility of the elephant attacks and the chances of tiger encounters. I had to respect his instructions...because he had more experience in travelling. However, I was still looking for a person to give me enough confidence to go through that forest. I didn't meet THE one person I was looking for. The worst part was...a person telling that the bikes were not allowed inside Nagarhole.
I had lunch in Ponnampet and started to Irpu falls. I took a right turn towards the falls from the village(??) 'Srimangala'. Again, I don't want to describe the beauty of the roads I travelled. Those were so nice. Finally I reached the 'IRPU falls'. The place, where these fall were situated, was Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary. After parking my vehicle, I took an entrance ticket to the falls and reached the falls after a small trek of 15-20 mins. As I didn't have much time to stop, I took snaps of every sign board I found there so that I could read them afterwards. After seeing the information about the variety of the wild life in that sanctuary, I felt it was also one of the good destinations. However, I didn't gather much info about the safari kind of programs in that sanctuary. Near the waterfalls, I tried to photograph a couple of butterflies. Later I realised that they were about to engage in a mating ritual after seeing the intimate behaviour and approach of them. Probably that was the season for them to rise a new generation of caterpillars. These fellows are really great because they don't just multiply their numbers, they play a major role in the reproduction cycle of the plants by helping them in pollination. #respect
@ a point...five minutes before IRPU falls
@ a point...two minutes before IRPU falls - The white dot in the centre of the pic
Yup!! Please avoid making noise while trekking... avoid color glasses as well
@ midway of the trek
The best shot I got - IRPU Falls
Biodiversity of Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary
THE butterflies I was talking about
I met a forest guard, Nanda, when I was about to leave that place. After having a brief conversation with that guy, I started off to Bengaluru. My plan was to go via Gonikoppa(l), as I had decided not to go through Nagarhole. I was riding happily until I found a sign board indicating a right turn towards Bengaluru.
Do I really need to go back???...
Yup!!! This was the major question I asked myself when I was travelling back... However, I didn't have any other choice. Because I knew, though I was in love with the place I had been, that awe wouldn't last long enough to spend the rest of my life. My next thought was...
"The only choice I have is...to visit those places as frequently as possible..."
When I was riding on the road connecting Gonikoppa(l) and Mysore, I saw some big cage like structures on the right side. As I already guessed, it was an elephant camp - Hanasuru Elephant Camp. But the public was not allowed inside the camp. So I took some pics, and headed back towards Mysore. Somewhere on the way, I found an arch indicating that I was inside the 'Rajiv Gandhi National Park' - the official name of 'Nagarhole'. I felt very happy for a moment that I rode for sometime inside the Nagarhole...though the road was not through the heart of the jungle.
Rajiv Gandhi National Park - I prefer to call Nagarhole National Park
Just before reaching Hunsur.... exactly near the Y intersection where I took the road on the right to reach Madikeri via Periyapattana, I stopped for having a sugar cane juice. There I met a person, Haneesh, who was travelling to Kannur on some personal reasons. After a little chat, we departed from the place.
SH88 - A desert...
Now I was riding on SH88... the same route, I admired very much when I was travelling towards Madikeri, was started appearing like a desert. The reason was, I travelled for two days on the roads that were surrounded with thick vegetation. Now the sides of SH88 were so barren that they were, almost, resembling the desert. Though I was travelling continuously, I was not crossing the speeds ranging from mid-50's to 60. I just wanted to prolong the journey. I was not at all willing to check the time. I was scared to check. Because every draining second was making a damage of two seconds - I mean to say...it was causing double impact.
Why not Time...a commodity...??
This was one of the my best thoughts arose in my trip. I remember watching in a recent movie in which the time and gravity were considered as forth and fifth dimensions to measure the position. But when I was travelling back to Bengaluru, I really wished the time should have been a commodity... I felt the time as a lump of some material that was decaying in front of my eyes. Literally, I was bleeding time.
Somehow, I reached the outskirts of Mysore around 5:15pm. The traffic on the Mysore-Bengaluru highway was suffocating. I struggled a lot to ride in the heavy traffic after travelling for almost five to six hours. After three( tea, pee and fuel) stops, I reached Bengaluru around 9:35pm.
Hmm!!! That is the end of the great trip. Hope, I go for such trips again an again....
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