Road Trip in Oct11

This was our journey without knowing where we were headed, where were we to stay and what were we to do after reaching the destination.... it was all about the drive... and what an amazing experience it was...

We had heard about Sakleshpur and decided that we head in that direction. Started at 0800hrs and hit the road towards Mangalore. The road was a breeze and even after a Pitstop (breakfast) for 30min, we reached Sakleshpur by 1130hrs. 1st things first, check for accommodation if we were to camp at this town. It had been an amazing drive till now and with no luck to stay & time running out, we decided to hit the road to Mangalore and camp at Mangalore. Did some local sightseeing, driver change and hit the highway again. The ghat section from Sakleshpur onwards was a little bad and considering the recent rains, it was expected. after about an hour and 40 kms in to the drive, the roads smoothed out and the drive was a pleasure again.

Reached Mangalore at 1530hrs, went south to Ullal and looked around for a few budget beach resorts. After all, the motto was to drive and eat well and stay cheap :). The place was amazing with artistic accommodations and a well planned layout. The price was equally steep so we decided to hit the town and find a hotel to camp for the night. Poonja International it was and we checked in, threw our bags, grabbed a bite and hit the nearest beach to catch the sunset on the shore.

Panambur was the nearest beach and it was an easy drive to reach their. Easy… Compared to Bangalore traffic. Lot of youngsters at the beach, flying kites, eating chat and most getting their ankles wet watching the golden ball of flames go down. The beach is deep so numerous life guards were keeping the adventurous crowds at check. When is Baywatch going to be introduced in India? I'm sure it will increase tourism, if not anything else...

The drive back was equally pleasant with the town lit up. Being the last day of Dusheera, streets were illuminated and the families were all out. We decided to have a sumptuous meal and headed to the "Clay Oven"

Clay Oven - what do i say about it, simply superb. An Arabic food extravaganza. Al-fahim for starters, mandi rice with Mutton and a bulging stomach by the end of it(not that it is flatter on other days). Packed myself like i had never eaten before.

One thing i noticed was the expressions of people when they talk, in this part of the town... the auto guy who gave us directions to the beach, was so animated that i hardly concentrated on the directions. The waiter at the restaurant, Sumit Sharma, made the food sound so tasty and his expressions ensured i ordered more than i can consume. I don't know if i should generalize... but they are very accommodative and animated in their communication.

Slept early and like a log…

Friday morning over tea, we decided to head towards Wayanad via Kasargod-Kannur-Kozhikode. hit the road after breakfast and the food was digested in the first 15 min. Reason: pathetic road (NH17), i mean a disgrace to the term "Nation" when we call it a "National Highway". An entire stretch of 75kms took us a little under 3 hours before we could find tarmac among the rubble.

The scenery and the drive could have been better enjoyed if we had pleasant roads. now, usually in Kerala you will find government regularized alcohol shops which would be the only place where economical and social diversity line-up in a queue with utter harmony. The town, 24 kms short of Kannur, was bustling with trade styled shops and people. But what was unbelievable was every second shop in the entire town was a wine shop. This came to me as a shocker... but them i noticed a lot of Pondicherry vehicles and soon figured this town to be a part of the erstwhile French colony. Very surprising...

After Mahe and 60 kms, i crossed Kozhikode and finally got of NH17 to start my journey towards Kalpetta on NH212. "NH212" - What a blessing to my back and all the bones that needed serious greasing over night.

Early evening by now and I take on the wheels towards Kalpetta. Nice evening skies with the sun setting behind and the golden light splashed across the trees... very soothing to the eye. Once in the Ghats, the trees where throwing dramatic silhouettes with the sun setting. One scenery was exceptional, with the Setting sun blessing the land below with rays of light. You suddenly felt very relaxed and were in instant peace with yourself.

We finished one of the last few hair-pin bends and there we see it, "welcome to Wayanad district" - what a relief. At 1730hrs we had finally reached Wayanad. Spotted a coffee day, grabbed a bite and started calling a few people we knew from earlier visits for camping at night... we were in serious trouble by 1830hrs when we had no luck with stay. Then someone called to say he had a home stay in Kalpetta. God knows who gave him my number and why was he calling, but we just needed to find a place to hit the sack. Drove to Kalpetta, stood in the queue to pick some booze, found the home stay, ate an awesome dinner, and crashed by 2130hrs. (phew, what a day)

Woke up to a refreshing tea and plans to hit the forest. We did not want to go the "tourist" way, so I called the Wildlife Warden of Wayanad and took some help of the local forest officers. He helped me with some details and people to meet and even arranged a meeting with the DFO Tholpetty forest range. Thats it, hit the road to cover 50kms - destination Tholpetty Wildlife Sanctuary

The DFO was conducting a forest drive to clean plastic in the area with the help of local drivers and panchayat, which I thought was an excellent thing to do. But this also meant that my trip inside the forest would take a while. So I hit the road further towards Karnataka to find some food for lunch, and boy did we find an awesome place
Stopped for world famous Kerala "Chai" and Banana Chips. The chai was amazing considering they make it out of Tea Dust. I mean, the entire world says that tea leaves make the best tea, try dust tea from Kerala!

Nestled deep in the forest a place called Foody's. Run by a coorgy family (the area apparently comes under Coorg district), his menu was fairly simple. Rice, chicken, curd, dal... that’s it.

And what a smashing we had for lunch. Ghee rice, chicken dry for me and Plain rice curd and mint chutney for Anu... all that for 200 bucks. Drive back to Tholpetty was extremely drowsy. So decided to reach the place and crash for an hour.... that’s exactly what we did.

Once up from a power nap, we met the DFO and she set us up with a forest Guard for a trip inside the forest. Nowfel (not sure if i got the spelling right) was our man with a camera and information of the range. This range was spread across 79 sqr kms with 16 Leopards and the same number of Tigers (as per May 2010 census). He says he had sighted multiple tiger cubs in the recent past, so the numbers are higher. I knew that is not a good time for spotting cats, but I wanted to build my contacts in this area for more trips between December and February, which is a good time to sight cats. We spotted a herd of elephants with 5 adults, 1 juvenile and an infant. The leader was very protective and did charge us a couple of times, obviously to protect the infant.

We did not want to bother them much, so did not venture out to close and left after a while of gazing. We met a few forest watchers who live in camps as a part of the anti-poaching campaign. They normally carry a few sickles and a wireless radio set to inform about poachers and live in groups of 2. It is a very tough life for them for such a great cause. They were saying that this year they had not received funds to clean the drive way for a few meters. This cleaning helps them react not only to poachers but also the wild animals. There life has become more dangerous due to the near 6 feet growth of shrub and grass.

I don’t know where my taxes go man... pathetic roads, poor living conditions of the protectors of our wild and no funds to run such a great cause. I am very sad with the state of things of our country

Left for home after sunset and a chat with more forest guards. Ate a sumptuous dinner, slept early.

Woke up early to hit the road back to Bangalore. A refreshing morning with mist flowing in the balcony door as soon as I opened it. some tea, a quickie and back on the road. The roads were wet with the dew and the scenery was exhilarating. Drove on NH212 to Mysore, stopped for breakfast at Kamat and reached Bangalore for Lunch.

Four days went by, covered 1300 kms, spent splendid time and multiple conversations with Anu, Met those great but simple people who manage the wilderness for us and travelled with no place to stay, no idea where we headed but finished with one of the nest trips I had done in a long time...

Something’s are best done unplanned... my belief of this became stronger!