Stopping Time

Ok, so it's time for the quarterly "team" building activity to be completed. Considering that the last time it was the cool climes of March, we'd gone to Amgol. Much fun and beer was had by everyone. The rains, that usually bless Bangalore around April, playing hooky this year, we planned on come place cool. Factoring in pre-conditions like weekend travel, interstate taxes and the memory of sore butts traveling 12 hours to Amgol last time around, we settled on Chickmagalur district. Having talked to the experts and read up the other expert, we decided upon the Jainkhan estate. To clear up, this is not a combination like the Jain Chicken that you get in Gujarat. This is the real deal. The name is derived from the huge number of bee hives that the estate had earlier. So there. That is something that is cleared up. The estate itself is a little difficult to find. After you reach Chickmagalur town, drive towards Aldur. Take the road that leads to Koppa for about 7 kms and then just before Herur, you'll get a left turn to the closest town, Basarikatte. You'll then need to ask someone for Jainkhan estate, which is another 4 kms uphill from the town.

What I didn't understand though are the clocks at this estate. All of them showed different times. Which didn't change. Throughout the day. For some reason, all the clocks at the estate had stopped. Not that it mattered to inveterate slackers like us. We had an excellent time, pretty much doing nothing. The matter of most consequence achieved over the weekend was; nothing.


Having started in the night from Bangalore, we reached the district by 5ish. However, finding the estate itself took a little longer and post an excellent breakfast people promptly parked themselves horizontally. I was out and about though, the sky being an excellent shade of blue with a lot of clouds and clear visibility of the rolling hills beyond. The estate bungalow is about 30 years old - though the style is very colonial - and is situated on a short piece of flat land framed by the Western Ghats on three sides. From the veranda - where white tailed swallows had made their nests - you can sit in an easy chair and doze off to the sounds of the birds twittering, the insects buzzing and the far away sounds of people working the estate.

The only fly in this Arcadia is the fact that the estate is at the back of beyond. Which is the whole idea some might say. But if you miss out something (read booze) it is a royal pain getting out. However, the excellent manager at the estate, Sadashiv was very helpful in procuring the said Ambrosia.

After a while, the smells of cooking roused the rest of the party and people started flocking towards the veranda. Everyone was in a pleasant torpor and a lazy game of carrom and even lazier conversation ensued. This was pretty much a place holder as people evidently were thinking about lunch. Now let me digress. Food here is absolutely, lip-smackingly wonderful. The entire menu is simple, homely and most important of all seemingly inexhaustible. The natural conclusion would've been a pleasant siesta. However, Sadashiv invited us to join him on the rounds of the estate.


The estate itself rolls over a 100 acres of hills. As we walked across part of it, we gleaned such bits of wisdom as identifying a Robusta plant versus an Arabica; what are the watering needs, what birds flock to the estate (we heard the peacocks, but didn't see them) and what it takes to run a coffee estate. We then walked around the perimeter of the estate and a short hike later found ourselves on a small hill behind the estate. The entire length of the Chickmagalur district seemed to spread out under us in an emerald carpet. In fact, for the more active of our brethren, this hill affords a nice way to fill in a morning. The hike itself is not strenuous and there is shade for the most part.

We walked back in the fading light to be treated to a spectacular sunset. The fading light also signaled the start of our Bachanallia. In a manner of speaking. Most people hitting the "high" note pretty early. A fire was lit and then with warmth within and without, we held forth on heavy topics that ranged from why the Male of species always has to make the first move, to whether the country is going in the correct direction. Thereby proving that men indeed can't focus on one thing completely. A few blokes did try to disprove that focusing entirely on the alcohol and eschewing all extraneous efforts. A quarter moon shone briefly before exiting the stage for the fireflies to complete a perfect evening.

The morning brought a wonderful skyscape again, with fingers of mist probing the ranges down the bungalow. It also brought another fabulous breakfast. People prolonged the inevitable and only the thought of the Avanthi Estate (also owned by the same owner) near Magundi and the river sped up matters a bit. However, the river itself was a little disappointing with the lack of water and the fact that there were folks washing clothes on either banks.


Jainkhan is also at the foothills of Merti Gudda, a 1695 meter hillock. There are drives that go all the way up, but you can trek it from the base too. You'll need to enquire with the Forest Department before you go. You can do that at Chickamagalur or in Bangalore. Since there are no water sources, it might not be a good place to camp.

Be that as it may, we then started off for Bangalore with most folks still being as active as a sloth bear in hibernation. The bus ride home was remarkable for the spectacular sunset that greeted us and the 7 times that "Mungaru Maley" soundtrack played. So the next time you are in the mood for lazing, head up to the hills - though the coffee perks you up, there are plenty of reminders around you that the clock is not ticking.

Kumara Parvata or why I need to be fit

Amble
Originally uploaded by Rain-In-The-Face.

I've been lazy lately. A statement my near and dear ones would like to contest. On account of my being lazy forever that is. It is always the time that is debatable, not the fact.

Anyhow, I used the weekend of 15th Dec (see, see, the lazy bum write NOW!) to finally get around to trekking the Pushpagiri. Which a lot of folks know as Kumara Parvata. Over the last 3 years, we'd made atleast 2 other plans that I know of to trek, which for the usual reasons (hey, I was not to blame, OK) fell through.

As always, we suddenly decided that we had to trek Kumara Parvata and as it happened it was a Wednesday. We figured we will ask for permission to camp and asked at the Forest office in Malleshwaram. As it turned out that was entirely superfluous. More on that later. Because we decided late, no tickets were available to Subramanya, where the climb starts. Word of advice, be sure to get a booking in one of those Volvos. We booked our selves on the last seats on the last bus to Hell. The seats kept sliding and the driver was obviously someone who rode a moon buggy, for the crater sized pot holes on the ghats didn't tempt him from stepping off the accelerator. The last part of the ride - post Doingal near Sakleshpur are, to put it mildly, torturous. Be that as it may, we arrived a little worse for the wear at around 7 at Subramanya. For the finicky amongst us, the temple complex has facilities - quite decent I might add.

The route to the climb is to the right of the temple (if you are facing the temple). You will need to walk up a bit and there is a gap between the shops and pretty much follow the road. I'd heard from a lot of people that KP is quite tough and while I will not disagree, it is primarily due to the fact that it is quite long. The first 200 to 300 mts is densely forested and slightly damp so there are chances of leech bites even in winter. Once you come out in the open, it is quite sunny and if you choose the wrong season, it might be quite harsh even. A little after you cross the wooded area, you will chance upon Bhat's house (Bhatre mane). He provides breakfast upto 9.30 I think and start lunch at 12.30. 30 INR for one lunch, didn't ask about breakfast. So the point is if you are going to get here between these times, it would make sense for you to go ahead and not stop. We spent about 2 hours idling about here.

And here is the other reason, why you should keep on going. There is a forest office (house? outpost?) just a couple of minutes up Bhat's house. You'll need to get permission from here to camp. As I mentioned earlier, this permission seems moot. There is a 70 INR charge to trek. You will have to haggle if you want to camp. You'll be first told with a look of great regret that you cannot camp. Even after you clinch the deal there is a baleful look of having done you a great favour. You'll thank your stars for this stroke of luck for about as long as it takes you to spot the other lucky ones ahead or behind you on the mountain

There is an old heritage structure up the face of the mountain called the Mantapa. You could camp here, but if you are a large group (anything over 4) it's difficult. There is a water source near by, but not much of a level ground to pitch a tent. We moved further along and almost reached the top before night fell - and it fell fast. To give you an idea, I was the slowest one (which why the title) and climbing out of Bhat's house at around 1.30 in the afternoon took us about 5.30 in the evening to be just short of the top (there is no peak as such here). We stopped liberally to soak in the views and to replenish our selves. Which is a word of advice. Since we pretty much caught the last bus out, we didn't load up on water. Carry enough and more water and lime/moosambi. It was the moosambi pieces that did the trick for us. A quarter of a sweet lime every 45 minutes and you are good to go.

Just short of the top, you will run into another wooded area. This is a typical Shola forest and you can find a place to camp here. There is a water source nearby, and a couple of clearings that you don't need to work too much to pitch your tent. You can also go all the way to the top, because it really is a short climb - unless you are very tired or it's too dark. There are some scary verticals that you need climb when it is nice and bright. Or bright enough to see where you will fall ;).

We started our climb and descent around 5 in the AM. Budgeting a half an hour break to admire the show that the sun and clouds had put up for our benefit, we were down the peak and about 15 kms from Somwarpet by 11.30. To get down to Coorg, the descent is in the same direction as you came - for a short while, and then take a right. There are no landmarks, nothing so you will have to spend some time hunting. The only idea that you can have is that the route to Coorg is to the far end towards the south-west. Now here is the kicker. You will find 0, zip, none, nothing to transport you once you get down. So unless you had your own transport - and asked the driver to stay at Somwarpet and come and pick you up near Bidalli you are screwed. Which is exactly what happened to us. Till a bloke took pity on us and piled us along with the fish that he was selling and dropped us off at Shantahalli. Which itself is about 8 kms from Bidalli where you will descend. The village of Bidalli is exactly 5 houses. Don't count on getting anything beyond the rudimentary biscuits. Besides the shop is closed on Sunday. There is a bus at 9 AM from here but that might not run on Sunday either. The only way to get out of hiking another 10 kms from the junction where the road from Bidalli meets the road to Somwarpet is to have someone willing to pick you up at Bidalli. Alternatively you can climb from Coorg and get down at Subramanya. There are more options of transport from here on account of the temple.

While we were done with our climb and descent by 11.30 in the morning, it was 4 in the afternoon before we got any transport and we reached Bangalore around midnight.

For those of you who have a GPS unit, these might help. Subrahmanya 12*40.000' 75*35.600' 123mts, Bhatara mane 12*40.156' 75*39.144' 836mts, Mantapa 12*39.815' 75*40.133' 1204mts, Campsite 12*39.889' 75*40.803 1576mts, Peak 12*39.719' 75*41.201' 1712mts


But it is all worth it. After all it's not every day you get a fitness check up like this.

Tourists & Trekkers

I love cities. I love living in one. I love my job. Hmmm... I guess that was little too unbelievable. But it's true. I really do. It makes me appreciate the long weekends that I can wrangle. I especially love it when I can get an extra day off, and take a 4 day vacation and loose only one day in leave.

Visions of appam and beef fry that I enjoyed last Christmas at my roomie's place in Kerala were still fresh in my mind. And my stomach. So Kerala it was; twice in the past 2 months. Republic Day saw me heading Wayanad-wards. We'd (Shantanu and I) decided to stay here for a couple of days, and head on down further south towards. But, then when inveterate journey-is-the-destination kinda travelers travel, all plans where thrown out of the window the moment we crossed Muthanga and drove towards Bathery (Sultan Battery for all of you imperialists ;)). This district - and not a specific place - is one of the lesser explored parts of Kerala. Those 4 days were absolute bliss, and then I found about about Chembra and how you can trek there. So I decided to come back and do it one of these days. Well, the weekend of 11th & 12th March, found me doing just that. To be honest, I don't think Wayanad is something that can be covered in 2 days. There are too many places of interest for the regular tourist and gawkers. There are a couple of treks there. Chembra I mentioned, and another one close by called Vallarimala. I would really have loved to camp there. But then not everything can go one's way, now can it?

If you are in Bangalore, then the way to get to Wayanad is Mysore, onwards from there towards Gundulpet/Ooty. Just after the Gundulpet police check post the NH 212 heads towards Calicut. A little into the drive and you hit some beautiful countryside. Now this is what I call the problem of plenty. If you start from Bangalore early in the A.M., then you would reach here sometime in the afternoon. This is, of course, considering that you are not one of those who like to leave sonic booms in your wake. If you start out late at night - midnight is suggested - then you will get to Muthanga around day break. And watching the sun come up from the trees is a sight to behold. This route is by far the fastest way to get to Wayanad. There are other routes. When I'd travelled in January, Lonely Planet's India & Bangladesh road atlas suggested there was an alternate route from Mysore. We spent about 20 minutes trying to find it and then gave up.

Bathery provides you with the assorted lodges and The Resort. At INR 500 for a double room, it is definitely a place to stay. For all those "bleddy alkoholiks" it also has a bar attached. In fact all the places I stayed had a bar attached. The Resort's bar is one of those gloomy places where the accent is on how much you can consume rather than providing you with any sort of ambience. Bathery is the place to stay if you want to explore the Edakkal Caves. Or rather cave. Umm... make that rock fall. This has some Stone age carvings, and a treat of a view if you climb a little further from the rock fall where the carvings are. Oh, did I mention a climb? It is a very short climb, but it is steep as heck. It also has the Edakkal Hermitage. If nothing, this establishment sits on some excellent real estate. It is a collection of 8 cottages (INR 3300) and 2 tree houses(INR 3900). I didn't verify if the tree houses were suitable for adult entertainment. By the way, if you want to enjoy the view and the carvings get there well before 16.30. They don't allow folks to climb after that. Bathery is also close to the Wayanad Heritage Museum in Ambalavayal, the excavations at Muniyara and some more spots.

The drive from Bathery to Kalpetta is excellent. You pass through some excellent scenery, and it is quite easy to become part of it. Enthralled as you will be with the passing flora, keep an eye out for that peculiar fauna, the Kerala bus drivers. Unlike other fauna, it is not at all territorial. It just assumes that the entire road belongs to it. The problem is that the NH 212 that goes to Calicut is in excellent condition, and it just begs you to cruise.

Lonely Planet suggests that Kalpetta is the central place to stay. It is definitely the place where there are more hotels to stay. Kalpetta is like a junction. You can go further South-west towards Vaithyri or go North-East towards the Tholpetty Nature Reserve. This Nature reserve along with Muthanga is part of the Bandipur, Mudumulai & Kudremukh parks. Kalpetta is also where you can stay at the PPS Lodge (INR500) a short walk away from the New Palace Hotel. Now I must pause here. And savour the taste of the puttu, appam, ackora fry and beef fry that New Palace serves up. And if two people gorge there, they can run up a princely bill of 75 to 85. Strongly suggested pit stop place.

From Kalpetta, the Sentinel or Soochipara waterfalls are about 18 kms. The falls it self is not all that great. And besides, I never did understand the fascination with waterfalls. Be that as it may, when I went the second time around, my entire group spent rapturous times there. Some adventurous souls did try and climb behind the falls. But saner sense prevailed. You can drive upto a km. away from the falls. Then there is this descent to the falls proper. Try and get here in the evenings. The sunsets are great. Plus, to get to the falls, you take a diversion off the NH 212 at Chundale, from where the road winds through tea & coffee estates and to sound repetitive, you have to stop and look at what is spread out in front of you. We stopped at one point, where the tea estates with the high mountains in the back drop offered excellent views. Turns out that the estate has donated that spot along with around 10 acres for a college. Now that is what I call conducive environs for academics!

Because we came in this big group, the first day, we only had time to go to Pookote lake and Soochipara falls. Pookote is a bit further away past Vythiri. The lake itself is not all that big, but it is clean. You have your regulation boating along with a very interesting walk around the lake itself. I would suggest taking the walk. This is also seems to be a very popular place for all the schools around the area. Both the times I went, it had hordes of kids all over the place! Night was spent at the Haritagiri (750 to 1500INR). It has a swimming area - that is claimed to be a pool. Not to mention a little chlorine-loving pool keeper. My eyes watered like heck after half-an-hour of swimming. The next day was the trek.



Now a lot of our group probably didn't expect the trek to be so tough. And it is not. Chembra looks formidable. The trick is to keep climbing. That is what Vikas, constant companion on the trek, and I did. It is spread out in a series of climbs followed by a plateau like area. As you reach one plateau, you see that the next climb is steeper. It is only when you start climbing it that you find out that it is actually quite easy. Because the grass grows in some sort of steps, if you keep off the beaten path, it offers you excellent grip. And once you reach the top, the views are to die for. I thought I could see the sea in the horizon, but Vikas didn't quite agree. Chembra also is along Soochipara way, so the trek proper starts from a tea estate. You need forest department permission to climb and to camp. There is a peculiar feature on Chembra after the second plateau. There is a heart-shaped lake there which gives you excellent grounds to camp. The heart-shapness (ok, that word is made up) is not evident unless you climb further up. We started our climb around mid-morning, and the sun was harsh enough to sun-burn the delicate skins of some (read women). The ideal trek would be to get up to the lake around night fall, set up camp and climb at the break of dawn. Since I didn't do that, it means, I have yet another trip to make. Sigh ;). Nevertheless, this day trip was worth the effort. And a lot of us did make an effort. Shebin, he of the sprain-the-knee-the-night-before-a-trek fame, got into the pool, did some rudimentary physio, dipped liberally into the painkiller bag and managed to get to the top and get down. While there were still others, who ensured that a lot of Chembra stuck to their jeans when they got down. They shall remain un-named.

Now here is the kicker. Wayanad seems to make you want to stay back. One way to return is via Mananthvadi and the Tholpetty Wildlife Sanctuary. This is where I spent a soporific 90 minutes driving through the park for about 450. At the end of which, the guide helpfully pointed out that the best time to come to the park is on a Tuesday between March and mid May. This is when you are most likely to spot a Panthera tigris. The cost structure is 350 for the jeep - if you are not driving your own - 50 for a guide and 20 for still cameras.

So for those of you with 3 days to spare, check out this part of God's Own Country. But don't make any plans, and you will find out what they mean when they say that the journey is the destination.

Doing Nothing.

Yercaud is also known as the Poor Man's Ooty. It's quite uncalled for. It is nothing like Ooty. If you discount the lake. And the hills. And the boarding schools. And... so, fine. It is a lot like Ooty. But it is a heck of lot closer to Bangalore. At 230 kms, it is a good 100 kms closer than Ooty. Plus Ooty does not have Suhas and family and their heavenly food. But more about that later.

The Yercaud trip was was with a group of friends from work. And for a change, we decided to drive down ourselves rather than take the 20 odd people in a bus. Solid common sense and financial issues also played a hand. The TN govt. has mandated that all who enter its fine state need to cough up 11000 Big Ones if they are visiting in any vehicle which seats more than 13 people. So the second option of packing 20 people in 4 vehicles was exercised.

It was quite fun actually. We decided to leave office by 6.30, come hell or high water, so we left at 7.45. Hey, co-coordinating with 20 people is difficult OK? The drive was excellent, take the Hosur road (NH 47) upto Salem, turn left at Salem, and take the state highway up the hills for the last 25 kms. We were put up at the "House of Peace" a missionary, which lets out rooms at 150 Rs. per person per night. Of course, with 20 of the best and brightest of the travel club, for the next two days, it was anything but the House of Peace!

Yercaud, again, is not a place where you go to do things. It definitely affords a two days break where life goes on at an extremely leisurely pace. You can take walks in the town or around town with its long, winding mountain roads with tall conifer, kurunji trees and coffee plantations. Yercaud grows coffee. There, you got your difference between Yercaud and Ooty. While Ooty is famous for its tea plantations, Yercaud is known for its coffee plantations. Admittedly, tea plantations are more picturesque. But hiking in a coffee plantation is quite pleasant.

And this is exactly what we did. We were met by Suhas, who was our host for the duration of our stay, who took us on a short hike across Yercaud. The hike was quite pleasant and not at all strenuous and took us to through the outer edges of the town, across a wooded area and ended in a coffee plantation. The weird thing is, with all the coffee growing around, the only coffee you get is the instant variety! After the hike, followed an important - nay the most important part of any weekend. A 3 hour siesta. The evening, we went to the various points that any self-respecting hill station has. Don't miss the Ladies Point. Don't ask me just why this was named so. It looks over Salem, and since we reached around 8.30 in the night, all of Salem was laid out below us like a million stars and there was a gorgeous full moon lighting up the sky. It was a sight to remember. Nightfall saw a campfire where a spirited game of Dumb Charades was enjoyed by all. It ended with both sides claiming victory.

Now comes the important part. The Food. Suhas has a coffee plantation and also conducts short treks all around Yercaud. His wife cooks for all the people who join his treks. And boy, can she cook! The reason this travelogue is short on details is I spent the time just gorging on the food. For any of you interested in a weekend getaway to Yercaud, do contact Suhas at go2yercaud.com. His family will give you a great treat of a lifetime.