Not everyday does one get a chance of getting chased by a wild elephant. So, when this hair-raising experience happened to us in the Nagarhole forests of Karnataka, we had our hearts in our mouths, and my eyes were glued to the rearview mirror fearing the mighty beast might bang our vehicle from the back!

But before getting into the finer details of the story, let me take you to South Coorg, or Kodagu as it is known, where it all started, with an adrenaline pumping white water rafting experience in the Barapole river.

The Rafting

The upper Barapole river that drains the Brahmagiri range of hills in the Kerala-Karnataka border, gets its lion’s share of water during the Southwest monsoon. During this season, towns are flooded, bridges are broken and normal life goes to coma. So, when we decided to raft in Barapole in the middle of July, we were highly apprehensive if we would make it, thanks to the incessant rains which had cut of a large chunk of the Kodagu district from the rest of the world [Click]. However we were assured that this was the season, and rafting would happen at any cost.

So, five of us made it to Kutta, a small town in South Coorg, in my friend’s Fiat Palio Stile on a Saturday morning to conquer the sneering river of the south. The route taken was Bangalore – Srirangapatna – Hunsur – Nagarhole – Kutta – Iruppu. (Route Map) The drive through the Nagarhole sanctuary was scenic, where we saw dozens and dozens of grazing spotted deer, till our eyes were tired. We reached Kutta in less than 5 hours, and called up our homestay host, Mr.Timmaiah, who gave us directions to reach the homestay from Iruppu.

Travel Advice: If you head to Coorg for a river rafting experience, the best thing to do would be book a homestay. There are a plenty of homestays aroung the Kutta-Iruppu area, which give stay and food as a package. Call up the homestay, who can fix you a rafting trip in the Barapole, and there would be no hassles. We had a great experience at Irpu Homestay, with a friendly host, lovely mountain views, cozy rooms and home cooked food – all in a budget.

In no time we reached the homestay where we were greeted by our friendly host, Mr.Timmaiah. The homestay was seated amidst the green setting of the Brahmagiri ranges, and we could see white cotton clouds traveling innocently across the green background. We were surrounded by coffee plantations, and the sound of the gushing waters of Iruppu falls could be heard even from a kilometre away.

Soon after a hearty meal comprising of vegetable biriyani, aloo curry and chicken masala, we were on our way to the rafting site. The rafting takes place at a place called T.Shettigeri, which was around 15 kms from where we stayed, and a guide accompanied us all the way to here.

We were greeted by Kamal, who was our raft guide. After paying the organizers, and after signing some documents, we were given life-jackets, helmets and an oar. Kamal briefed us about the commands and safety measures. The whole thing was quite professional and he made sure everyone got it right. After 10 mins, we were in our raft, and out into the roaring river waters.

The gushing sound of the river water made us more excited and we looked forward eagerly what the river had for us in store. The initial few minutes was a practice session. Kamal gave us orders, and we followed it religiously. Forward, Backwards, and a lot more. We got a good hand at the commands soon, and set out on our raft. After a few metres of rowing, we were at our first rapid – the Morning coffee. It was a simple rapid, and the effort was miniscule though it flowed quite ferociously. Soon we were through it. Kamal kept giving us commands so that we cross each rapid at the right place and with the right momentum.

Rafting in Coorg

We came to a part of the river where the water was not too fast. Kamal said, if we wanted we could jump into the water. Oh my god! I was just thinking if I should jump, and the time I could decide, the rest of them were already in water! Now, I had no option. Slowly, I too got into the river. And wow! It was exciting to be for the first time in neck-deep water, with no land under my feet. Of course, I believed in those life-jackets. We stayed afloat for a couple of minutes, when Kamal ordered us back into the raft. All of my friends got in, and pulled me up into the raft. It was an experiene.

The next two rapids were a bit more challenging. We had to meticulously follow Kamal’s commands, and also balance our weight in the raft. The rapids were called The Grasshopper and The Wicked Witch. We were enjoying the ride thoroughly. Those in the front went in and out of water in each rapid. Soon, we were approaching our last and the most challenging of the rapids – The Milk Churner.

On the Raft

Kamal stopped before the rapid and instructed us. We were asked to sit tight, and follow his commands. This could be dangerous, unless we did it from the right direction. He told us where to swim to in case we were thrown off the raft. In a moment we were in the Milk Churner. The raft bounced up twice, angled to the right and pushed and pulled us as much as it could. We were all soaked in waves completely, and when we knew what was happening, we were out of the rapid. Phew! We heaved a sigh of relief, and thundered a loud hurray, for having done this adrenaline pumping adventure. We had a hell of a great time, and I was already thinking when I would do it again.

That night, we had a hearty meal, talking over the experiences of the day, and hit the sack soon after.

The Chase

The next day, we made a trip to the Iruppu falls, which was bursting with water. The mild and gentle falls I had seen in my previous visits was gone, and here was a monster. We had a nice fun taking bath in the waterfalls. We were back for lunch by 1 pm. Had a sumptuous meal, and started our return journey. We passed through Kutta, and after entering our vehicle details and signing the register, we entered the dark forests of Nagarhole for the second time in our trip.

The journey was mostly uneventful, with lazy looking spotted deers smiling and waving at us every 100 metres. We noticed that every group had a male and 3-4 females. We also saw a couple of barking deers, a sambar and a jungle fowl marching happily with its chicks. We were soon tired of spotting deers, and were traveling gradually at a slow pace in the Nagarhole forests, when the incident happened.

I was at the wheel, and my friend beside me. I was just looking at the road, as I was fed up of deers. All others in the car were fast asleep. My friend suddenly started repeating frantically, Elephant, elephant!! I just alerted myself, and looked ahead carefully. The road was empty. But, by the side of the road, there was a large clearing, and a huge elephant with large tusks stood there agitated. It’s tail was raised as if it was furious, and was angrily pulling down a branch of the nearby tree. I have never seen an elephant in the wild, and all I have seen are elephants in the temples meekly accepting coins from the devotees, and showering them with blessings

I slowed down the car and moved gradually towards the elephant to get a good glimpse of it. We were almost there, and the elephant was beside us on the road, facing the car on the side. Suddenly, the elephant got highly agitated for some reason. It shook its ears wildly, and gave a deafening trumpet. We were already scared. Someone nudged me to drive ahead fast, and I slowly moved ahead. Now, the elephant was just behind the car. I looked into the rear view mirror, and the elephant was moving towards the car.

A heart-in-the-mouth moment, and I stepped on the accelerator. The car slowly gained momentum. My eyes were fixed on the mirror, and I could see the huge beast running fast towards us with it head bobbing, and dust kicking out in all directions. We were clearly terrified.

I drove away as far as I could. The tusker charged for another 100 metres. Soon I saw a jeep coming in the opposite direction. I just could not think what the jeep guy was going to do. If the elephat had continued the charge, it would come straight and bang on the jeep. I didn’t want to think about anything, and kept driving. The moment the beast saw the jeep, he saw a threat fast approaching, and changed its direction. The elephant moved away from the road, and steered clear into the forest.

We stopped the car a kilometre ahead and thought what an escape it was! Had we been behind the elephant, with the elephant attacking us from the front, we would have had the day of our lives. Just as we had crossed the elephant, we were safe. But, the incident left a huge impact in our hearts. What more could we ask for? A drive through the jungle where we were chased by an enormous tusker. Phew!

We made it to Bangalore in another 4 hours, with loads to tell our family and friends.

More information on Rafting in Kodagu:

• Irpu Homestay – Mr.Timmaiah, Ph: 08274-244233, or +91 94486 47932
  
• I read about Irpu Homestay in Rohan’s blog.
• The place is 15kms before Wayanad. Good driving directions here.
• Information on Coorg Rafting at Getoffurass.
• Neelesh’s blog on rafting in Barapole.
• A nice writeup on a Coorg rafting trip organized by BMC.
• Photos from this trip on My Flickr

I had always wanted to make a trip to some exotic place in Karnataka during the monsoons, and I zeroed in on the beautiful hill-town of Chikmagalur. The trip started early on July 3 (coincidentally my birtday ) I and my friend Joseph (from Chennai) started from my house in Horamavu in Bangalore around 2.30 am in the night in my Hyundai Santro, on this enchanting trip to the heart of Malnad.

The route:

Bangalore – Magadi – Kunigal – Chanrayapatna – Hassan – Belur – Chikmagalur (See map)

I would say, the above route is the best to take to Chikmagalur, Hassan, Mangalore or anywhere on the west coast while driving from Bangalore. The Tumkur road has become quite notorious for its traffic, and having been on this road a couple of unfortunate times before, I had decided to skip this road at any cost. So, took the Magadi road in Bangalore, which straight goes to the Magadi town. The road to Magadi is pretty good, and I could easily do this at 80 kmph, given that there was no traffic at all. When we returned from Chikmagalur, I took the same route, and faced some traffic near Magadi, but nothing comparable to Tumkur road. And, when driving on Magadi road, avoid turning at the brightly lit and marked right turn to NICE road, and continue straight to the Magadi town.

After Magadi, the road to Kunigal is a dream. It is nicely laid and passes through some rocky hills on both sides. It is pleasure to drive on this road, especially in the night. By morning, you will have to negotiate slow moving villagers and cattle standing on the road, but in the night I could easily touch 120 km in my Santro. It took us around 1.5 hours for us to reach Kunigal.

The road from Magadi to Kunigal goes straight for a long distance and finally ends at a T-intersection. Here, take left to go towards Hassan. The right will take you to Bangalore via the Tumkur road. And, while returning back, don’t forget to take this deviation in the right to go to Magadi instead of going straight to Nelamangala.

From Kunigal onwards, the road becomes pothole-ridden for a while. You also get lorries coming from the opposite direction once in a while, and the road does not have a separator. But, this hardly bothered me. After a while the road conditions get better, and you can have a pleasant drive all the way to Hassan.

The Hassan to Belur road cannot be better. It is neatly paved and marked. The road is pretty straight and you can reach the limits of your car’s speed here. It hardly took us 30 minutes to cover this distance of around 35km. Near Belur, the road deteriorates for about a kilometre or so, but it can be tolerated given the condition of the rest of the road. Also, as you drive out of Hassan, you get to see a nice lake with mountains in a distance. There are some huge windmills over these hills. It is a sight to watch and capture.

From Belur, reaching Chikmagalur takes just around 15-20 minutes. There was hardly any traffic, and there were green fields all along, making the drive even more enjoyable. Anywhere after Chikmagalur, good roads are not gauarenteed, and you have to be quite careful driving. To go to Kemmangundi, there are two possible routes. From Chikmagalur take the Tarikere road. After about 10 kms, you get a left turn towards Mullayanagiri. This road can also take you to Kemmangundi. But, it is heavily pothole-ridden and best avoided. Instead, proceed further on the Tarikere road (which is in an impeccable state), and reach the Lingadahalli village in about 40 kms, from where you could take a left turn towards Kemmangundi.

The weather:

July is supposed to be the wettest month of the year in these parts. However, this year, the monsoon has delayed, and there were not much rains. Nevertheless, there was a slight drizzle all the time in Chikmagalur, which gave a pleasant feeling wherever we went. Also, since it was overcast all the time, I had a good time with my camera too. But I had been hearing that there were heavy rains in coastal Karnataka and Shimoga, which would ensure good inflow into the reservoirs, which in turn would translate into uninterrupted power supply. Bangalore, on the other hand, had absolutely no rains (except two 15-min drizzles for the whole month) till when I am writing this post.

The trip:

I am not going to talk about all the details of all the places we visited, since the information available on the world-wide-web is plenty. I would however point out what is specific to this season (July and raining), so that it helps anyone who wants to visit these places.

The first place on our agenda was Belur. The sky was heavily overcast and the imposing structure of the Belur temple was a delight to the eye and mind in the early hours of the day. We were in Belur by around 7 am. Yeddyurappa (Chief minister of Karnataka) had ordered that early morning prayers be offered to all temple deities across Karnataka, so that it rains in the state, and people around the temple looked quite brisk and active for a dull Friday morning. Belur is a symmetric and well architected structure when compared to Halebid, but the twin Nandi statues and the asymmetry in Halebid draw my heart closer to Halebid than Belur. I went on a photo-clicking spree and my friend Joseph quite liked the place too.

After spending about an hour in Belur, we decided to go straight to Chikmagalur to check-in into the hotel. We had already booked a room for two days in Hotel Planters’ Court in Chikmagalur. The room costed us around Rs.850. I would call the price expensive considering that the room was not maintained very well, and the bathroom fittings were leaking. All other hotels in the town were in the busy main road, and costed much less. But I did not want to risk a holiday in a completely crowded place, and at the same time didn’t want to splurge. The hotel looks good from the outside, and the location was a bit out of the main town, and the room was quiet and peacefull, and had wall-to-wall carpeting. Anyway, you have very few good choices to stay in Chikmagalur town, and Planters’ Court looked like the best we could get inside our budget.

The usually dull and dusty Chikmagalur itself look bright, green and lively in July. The drizzle does the magic. I would say, this is the perfect season for doing nothing, reading a novel, getting wet in the drizzle, playing in streams and the sort. The ideal place to stay in Chikmagalur, especially during the monsoons, will be in a homestay. The weather was perfect for just idling around in the courtyard of a nice and cozy place, and it has to be a hometay in one of these exotic locations of Chikmagalur. There are umpteen homestays around the place, and I bet these places would be like heaven during the monsoons, especially since it was only a slight drizzle. The homestays fall on the expensive side, but come as a package offering food and activities which I believe are worth the price. Especially if you are a couple set out to enjoy the beauty of Chikmagalur, I would advise booking a homestay rather than a regular hotel in the town. I don’t have any knowledge on the service or quality of these homestays, but I just noticed one called Nature Craft Homestay while driving to Muthodi, and the location was cool and I wouldn’t think twice to book such a place.

Coming back to the trip, we reached Planters’ Court around 9 am, and we were disappointed to hear that the rooms were full and we could get a room only at 12 pm (the chek-in time). We were ready to pay extra for an early check-in but unfortunately, there were no vacant rooms. So, we had breakfast in a nice South-Indian place adjoining this hotel, and left to visit Halebid and be back by 12 pm.

We had to drive back to Belur, and take the road on the left there which goes to Halebid. It took around 30 minutes for us to reach Halebid, and by this time the drizzle had become steady and continuous. By the time we took photos of the Gomateshwara statue on the left side of the main temple, we were completely drenched. (After this I don’t remember any time outside our room, when we were not wet ) We took photos of the temple in the rain. The carvings had become partially wet in the drizzle and looked magnificient. In another hour and a half, we were back in our hotel and checked in.

Hotel Planters’ Court has a restaurant attached to it, and we had lunch there. We were thoroughly disappointed with the food served there. We noticed that kebabs and fried rice were the only things that the chef prepares well in this restaurant. Any nice looking item on the menu should be best avoided. Adding to the woes was that the restaurant had a ‘Chicken Festival’ and a menu full of Chicken items. So, we ordered a fleet of chicken items, and were heavily disappointed. Anyway, KF Strong did some damage control for the afternoon

That evening we decided to head to Mullayanagiri, the tallest peak in Karnataka. The road to this peak is virtually non-existant. It pushed my Santro to the limits it can endure. This peak is a trekker’s paradise. But, the constant drizzle and thick fog did not encourage us for anything of that sort. We drove up, drinking in the beauty of the green-clad slopes. The hill is normally dried up in summer, when trekking is at its peak. In the rains it gets covered in green, but the fog plays around with you and your camera. By winter I guess this should be heaven. The drive up was one of the most frightening I have done. The road was hardly 2 feet wider than my car, and after that there was a deep green valley. I drove at the brim of an imposing mountain on one side and treacherous valley on the other, and it was an experience.

Once we reached the top and got out of the car, we had another shock. The wind!!! It was blowing like hell, probably a couple of hundred kmph speeds. We could not stand without holding the car. There was another Mahindra Jeep which had a couple of guys. They were inside the jeep too, not able to venture out due to the wind. We could see the South east monsoon winds literally blowing from the other side of the huge peak, carrying truckloads of moisture along with it. After a while I saw that my car was shaking! I had this fear that my car might get lifted off the ground, and might fly away into the deep valely below (imagine how strong the winds were…). We were at the top for around 20-25 minutes, and then started driving back downhill. A few metres down, and soon the wind was not so strong. We took nice pictures all along the way down. The surroundings looked magical and Joseph gave some nice poses there.On the way back from Mullayanagiri, we saw some nice sunflower plantations. It looked like all the flowers were turned and smiling at us. We took a couple of shots and drove back to Chikmagalur.

Joseph got a leech bite. We noticed it only when we came back to the hotel room. It was the first time for him, and he was quite tensed with the bleeding. We got some cotton and dressed the bitten area so that he could stop worrying about it. Adding to the problem was that he got cold due to the rains, and generally was not feeling too well. So, a warning to all those who easily catch a cold in the monsoons – beware! The next day he visited a doctor and took some medicines so that he could make it to office without problems in Monday.

We had a small sleep in the hotel and then went into the town for the night’s dinner. We found a place called Hotel Maharaja on the main road (I think the road is called Indira Gandhi road). It had some nice kebabs being made outside in the fire. We had some rotis, naans, and tandoori chicken. Dinner tasted exceedingly good after our stint with the wind and rains that day.

The second day in Chikmagalur, we decided to visit Kemmangundi. The drive was long, and the last 10km stretch was bad. On the way, we stopped at a beautiful waterfalls called Kalhatti falls. This waterfalls was a sight to watch. It was not something falling from great heights, but instead, this one came down in multiple steps through the forests, and there was temple at the base of the falls. The rocks at the base of the falls were carved with figures of deities, and it looked splendid. I remember a prevous time when this falls was crowded. So, make it a point to visit this place early in the morning especially on weekends.

Joseph was a bit apprehensive about climbing up the falls, but I did not hesitate a bit. Having gone on a good number of trips has made sure, I don’t much desitate to climb, get down, get dirty or get wet. Climbed up a few hundred feet, and here it was, the gentle falls making three nice streams down the rocks. The falls were very inviting, and if it was not drizzling continuously or if Joseph had come up with me, I would have taken a nice bath in the waters. Nevertheless, took good snaps of the same

Kemmangundi, with all the fog, rain and wind, failed to impress. The otherwise impressive hill station looked covered with a sheet of white. A few college guys and girls were enjoying a walk around taking pictures, and no one else there. We drove to Tarikere (10 kms) and had lunch there. It was already 4pm, and I wanted to visit the Muthodi sanctuary that day at any cost. The sanctuary was around 35 kms from Chikmagalur, and I pretty well knew that the sanctuary gates will be closed by 6 pm. Nevertheless, I wanted to test my luck whenever possible for any kind of animal sightings in the forest. We were not lucky that day, The person-in-charge told us that the last safari of the day had left (which did not surprise me), and we had to return. I made a note of the place, and decided to visit it early on the next trip to the coffee-land.

Thus our day ended with us returning to Chikmagalur. Had to visit the same Planters’ Court restaurant for dinner, despite the previous day’s woes. Ordered only those dishes which we knew would be good. The Chiken Malai Kabab was especially good, and we ordered two plates of the same. RC did some magic, and soon after, we were back in the hotel room and were fast asleep.

The next morning, we started back to Bangalore with nice memories of the lush green and mist covered hill-slopes, gushing water at the falls, long forest drives, Hoyasala wonders, and an overall exciting weekend. I have promised myself that I would be back to the lap of the coffee-country in spring this year, to have a more fulfilling experience of the Malnad.

If you thought Goa is all about beaches, you are wrong! Goa has something for all types of people. If you are the kind who wants to just laze around doing nothing, Goa is the place for you. If you want to party hard and rock the night, Goa is the place for you. If you are a fan of old Portuguese forts, Goa is the place for you. If you are a religious person, and want to do church-hopping Goa is the place to be! We decided on a mixture of these. We started our Day 2 with a visit to the famous churches of Goa. Click here for our Day 1 in the dream called Goa.

Dancing in the beach shack

To visit these churches, you will have to travel a good 30 kilometers from the Calangute area. We had our hired bikes and started out, braving the scorching sun, which grew hotter and hotter as the day progressed. The Old Goa, where these churches are located, is a small town, but with magnificient and imposing churches. The churches remind you of the glory of the past history – the Portuguese history.

Mammoth structures with impeccable architecture and soul-binding divinity – these churches will never fail to excite any person inclined to buildings. The only thing you will have to be careful and protective about, is the heat of the morning, which could easily make you tired walking around these huge structures. The long and stunning hallways of these churches leave one wondering how they were built in the first place, centuries back! We spent all the time in the morning watching the churches, and had lunch at a small restaurant in Old Goa. As would always be the case, we ate fish, fish and more fish. The fish never fails to amaze in Goa, which is another of the reasons why we felt so bad leaving the paradise.

Returning from our trip to the churches, we had very little strength left in us for the day. We had earlier planned to visit the Vagator beach, about which we had heard a lot, but on the last moment, decided against it. We took bath in the Calangute beach till we were tired, and till we had enough and more of the beach. It was an exciting experience. The waves are a bit strong towards the Baga beach, but it is not a subject of worry, since there are umpteen people in these beaches, and the Lifeguard is always there to help you in case there should be any problem.

Dil Chahata Hai fort

The evening was again time for a sumptuous beach dinner of chicken, prawns and fishes, not to mention the bottles of beers that went in. There was a live karaoke party in the restaurant (beach shack) and we were listening to all kinds of songs we had never heard till then. Buffalo soldier… song was the best of the lot – with a cheerful old guy singing, and he was indeed very good. People (read gals) in the restaurants also were excited by the song. There is no limit for excitement in Goa. They came towards our shack and started dancing alongside, adding to the mood of revelry. We enjoyed the whole of the night and went home tired and exhausted well after midnight, and again had a dreamy sleep. I had given instructions to everyone to be ready for the next day’s adventures at Vagator, and not to delay the start at any cost.

We greeted our last day in Goa, again with lot of expectations. I just changed my mind, and decided that we will ride to Arambol beach rather than Vagator, and visit the Vagator beach if we had enough time while returning from Arambol. The ride to Arambol was quite long. May be it is around a 35 kms from Calangute. But, the beach is well worth the travel. We rode and rode and rode and finally came to the spectacular beach called Arambol. It was paradise on earth.

Bikini babes and stunning damsels marked the Arambol beach. We had never seen so many hot ladies in bikinis, that we soon decided to ditch any other plan for the day, and just remain in the Arambol beach, and that was not a bad plan at all. One remarkable thing about Arambol beach is, the waters are so shallow that you can go quite a distance into the sea, and still the water remains at waist level. The waves are not too strong at all, and it would be a completely enjoyable experience. To spice up things, a great looking female and a guy got into water, and all our eyes lit up, and we wondered – Is this India…? We enjoyed our bath in the waters for another 2 hours or so. Time flew by, and we never wanted to leave, but we had to, since it was our last day, and we had to board our train late that night.

Actually, there is a small fresh water lake near the Arambol beach, which is a nice place to take bath in… but we had to walk quite a distance (about 2 kms) to reach this. It would have been a nice walk skirting the beach, and the place was at a visible distance only, but again as we had to leave that day, we decided to reserve the lake for our next trip. We took more eyefuls of the bikini babes, and had lunch again at a nice beach side restaurant at Arambol beach. Chickens, fishes and prawns again. On our way back, we saw that almost the whole of our day had been spent in Arambol alone, and no one regretted it. It was the best of the beaches. Not too crowdy, shallow enough, white and clear sand, and to top it all, bikini babes. A nice way to end our trip.

We came back to our room in Calangute, took a short nap, then woke up, bade farewell to our nice host, and started back to Panjim. Rahul bought some wine to be taken back to friends. We also bought a special cake called Bebinca, which Rahul said would taste great. But I warn you, it tasted just like normal halwa, and was grossly overpriced. So, beware.

We had some fruit juice near the station, and then boarded our train to Bangalore. It was one of my best journeys. All of our hearts were refusing to wake up from the dream called Goa… All we were discussing was about when we would make our next trip to Goa…

Vinoth is getting married, and I am moving to my own house in Bangalore… Balayya has shifted to Banashankari. So, practically we are all heading in different directions. But we have decided to come together (at least the bachelors) in December of 2009 to make our next week-long trip to the dream called Goa. Let us see if we make it to our dreams…

Click here for our Day 1 in the dream called Goa.