The travel freaks that I n my hubbs are , the itch of travelling keeps surfacing quite often (The catalyst in itching process being our new friends - 'Sabi N Binoy')! But considering the dire status of our bank accounts these travels have been restricted to weekend getaways....
The latest destination in our travel itinerary was Masingaudi (We were supposed to reach Ooty but landed up in Masingaudi) accompanied by yet another crazy couple...the same ones mentioned earlier in the blog! Masingaudi is a small hamlet in the Madhumalai forest range (More commonly known as 'Bandipur Forest Range' to bangalooru folks and as Veerapan's hideout to the rest... Madhumalai is the extension of the 'Bandipur' forest into Tamil Nadu state).
We hit the road early in morning - 6 is real early as per my standards; The first stop was for breakfast at Kamat....... A nice cosy
place situated bang on the highway! The idlis there is unlike any I have had.......they are steamed in bannana leaf!! After this filling breakfast we hit the road in full speed till we reached the bandipur forest range.
As you enter the forest area u encounter all kind of sign boards "Do not Horn". "Silence Please", "No Photography". "Do not stop your vehicles in forest range", "Drive slowly. Wild Animals have right of way" ( But we being Indians hardly pay heed to them) and suddenly the entire mood b
ecomes eerie as u keep your fingers crossed and hope some wild animals Cross your way!Well for starters we were lucky...beginners luck I guess!! We encounter an wild elephant trio....mother, father and the baby.......The baby so well sandwiched between the parents that until u look closely u don't even see it!!! Soon we cross over to the Tamil Nadu side of forest....where we had an (mis)adventure for keeps when we ladies decide to answer the call of nature by hiding ourselves behind this huge tree!!! I know its sounds scandalous....but kya kare control nahi hotha!!! Huh huh wait wait...the adventure isn't even started yet! We being the thankful souls that we are decide to get 
ourselves photographed in front of our saviour tree (proof is the pic to ur right)n suddenly in a fraction of second two people (in khaki) come running at us , snatch our camera n ask us to follow them!! Its only after few seconds do we realize that they were policemen and were taking us to Forest Range Police Station.....whaa whaaa :(. Our crime??? Remeber the sign boards I mentioned before..."No Photography", "Do not stop your vehicles in forest range"!!!!! Well luckily for us at that moment a senior officer lands there n in all tht hungama we are forgotten n are packed off with a stern warning!!
After all this excitement we at last reach Masingagudi ready for more .....Hey Masinagudi...here we come!!!!
To be continued.......
The latest destination in our travel itinerary was Masingaudi (We were supposed to reach Ooty but landed up in Masingaudi) accompanied by yet another crazy couple...the same ones mentioned earlier in the blog! Masingaudi is a small hamlet in the Madhumalai forest range (More commonly known as 'Bandipur Forest Range' to bangalooru folks and as Veerapan's hideout to the rest... Madhumalai is the extension of the 'Bandipur' forest into Tamil Nadu state).
We hit the road early in morning - 6 is real early as per my standards; The first stop was for breakfast at Kamat....... A nice cosy
place situated bang on the highway! The idlis there is unlike any I have had.......they are steamed in bannana leaf!! After this filling breakfast we hit the road in full speed till we reached the bandipur forest range.As you enter the forest area u encounter all kind of sign boards "Do not Horn". "Silence Please", "No Photography". "Do not stop your vehicles in forest range", "Drive slowly. Wild Animals have right of way" ( But we being Indians hardly pay heed to them) and suddenly the entire mood b
ecomes eerie as u keep your fingers crossed and hope some wild animals Cross your way!Well for starters we were lucky...beginners luck I guess!! We encounter an wild elephant trio....mother, father and the baby.......The baby so well sandwiched between the parents that until u look closely u don't even see it!!! Soon we cross over to the Tamil Nadu side of forest....where we had an (mis)adventure for keeps when we ladies decide to answer the call of nature by hiding ourselves behind this huge tree!!! I know its sounds scandalous....but kya kare control nahi hotha!!! Huh huh wait wait...the adventure isn't even started yet! We being the thankful souls that we are decide to get 
ourselves photographed in front of our saviour tree (proof is the pic to ur right)n suddenly in a fraction of second two people (in khaki) come running at us , snatch our camera n ask us to follow them!! Its only after few seconds do we realize that they were policemen and were taking us to Forest Range Police Station.....whaa whaaa :(. Our crime??? Remeber the sign boards I mentioned before..."No Photography", "Do not stop your vehicles in forest range"!!!!! Well luckily for us at that moment a senior officer lands there n in all tht hungama we are forgotten n are packed off with a stern warning!!After all this excitement we at last reach Masingagudi ready for more .....Hey Masinagudi...here we come!!!!
To be continued.......
What you saw must have been a group of female elephants with the baby sandwiched between them. Usually males are loners and they join the groups (as and when the matriarch elephant allows it to) during the mating season.
ReplyDeleteLooks you were real lucky. You were caught unawares by humans (forest guys) Many times people have been surprised (charged / attacked grievously) by bigger animals. Never stop inside the forest.
you can see some of my bandipur mudumalai wildlife / bird
pictures at http://www.wildlifesanctuaryindia.com/wildlife/
Best regards
Bala
Meena, that IDLI what you ate at Kamath is called KOTTE KADUBU. We get it in hotels in Bangalore too, i have had one in New Krishna Bhavan on Sampige Road 1st Cross. That is a nice hotel too...
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if you had to mention the nature call episode in your blog :) mixed reactions though!
but INTERESTINGLY how did you guys manage to come out of the police station..? that could be valuable tips to other travellers... you know...!