A trip to Ooty..... na na Masinagudi... Day 1

In the last post I stopped as we reached Masinagudi........We reach Bamboo banks with no further adventure!! But ha ha hold on.......the entrance gate to this place is quite interesting....it kinda looks like the gate that one would traditionally see in security check posts- a bar which lies put horizontally n which a guard pulls up (kinda get the idea. C the pic 4 to ur left 4 a better idea.....well after all a pic is worth thousand words...so who asked me to describe the gate in first place hey??) But ha ha again as there seems to be nobody manning this gate...so how do we get in -horn, shout or jump the rod? Well that is when we read this notice on the rod-c the pic to ur right (no wasting efforts on a futile desc again)! So u pull the rope and lo n behold the gate opens!! Well there is no magic behind this....it turns out that the rope is attached to a bucket and as u pull it, the bucket gets filled with water (from a drum placed high on a Bamboo tree) and as bucket gets heavier it comes down pulling the gate up....got it?? No worries if u don't.......

Ok now lemme at this point tell u something abt Bamboo banks....As u must hv already figured out its this kinda cute place located almost in periphery of Madhumalai forest! Thou I know our friend Mr.Binoy Joseph doesn't agree with my description- as per him its like any other home in his hometown kottayam - But well dont u let him bother u much; for city breds like me this place is a big welcome break from concrete jungles! So back to Bamboo Banks - its run by a Parsi family - or rather by this Parsi gentleman in the pic. This man is a character in himself ..... The adjectives used to describe him varying from 'interesting' , 'Snooty' (Courtesy: Binoy again), 'Unpatriotic' (Courtesy: Sabi) !!

Back to Bamboo banks ,(ha ha how i keep deviating from the subject) the place is quite good with a few good rooms. (The cottage we lived in is in the pic)Check //bamboobanks.in/ for further details.Before setting out we did a thorough study (supposedly) and zeroed upon Bamboo banks after reading the rave reviews and of course the good deal we got there - 2000 bucks per days - not a princely amount considering its 4 people! But its a comp diff story that at the end of 4 days we end up paying like 25k - in contrast to the original budget of 10k (courtesy: our ignorant husbands who didn't bother to find out the food tariff ... @#$#$%#^)!

But well the food there is really yummy....n the service v prompt!

So after a yummy lunch and quick game of UNO we decide to visit the Murugan temple located on a hill top! Now before u roll ur eyes n say temple lemme clarify that more than any religious value this place is visited for its scenic beauty! The drive up to the hilltop is itself a mini-adventure.....All your Altos, Santros, I10's wont stand a chance......its only the good old jeeps that will ake u there (something to do with the four wheel drive I am told)! For most of the drive there is nothing like a pucca road n ur jeep is almost going nose deep....n once u reach top the song that comes to mind is "AAj mein oophar, Aasmaan Neeche"..........

After this adventure we return all pepped to bamboo banks n relax with a cup of hot tea, Whisky\Wine, snacks n a biggg dinner.........So thats day 1 for you...a perfect start to what a perfect holiday!

A trip to Ooty..... na na Masinagudi.........

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 becomes 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.......