MANDAGADDE HOME STAY
From 26-Apr-08 to 28-Apr-08, my parents, my wife, her brother and her parents visited Mandagadde, near Shimoga in the Malnad region of Karnataka. We opted for a home stay in the Malnad region, Shimog at Inchara. Details are available at http://incharahomestay.com/default.htm
The 3 day trip was my first home stay and it was quite interesting. We went in a diesel Tavera taxi, my wife, her brother and I taking the last seats. Predictably, our day began early : we got up at 5:30 and by 6:50 or so, my wife's parents and brother had come to pick us up. We were all looking forward to a relaxing three days.
We took the NICE road to Nelamangala, near Tumkur. While the road is not yet completed, the stretch that is complete is a pleasure to drive. The roads are wide and plain and the Tavera made good speed. It was my first drive on the road and I quite liked the condition of the road. We ate breakfast at Kamat, which was crowded.
My brother-in-law had brought CDs of Kannada music and we played it on the stereo. The taxi also had a DVD player but we didn't find it necessary to use it. After some time, we decided to play a Kannada antakshari. My wife and brother-in-law sang only Kannada songs, but the senior citizens were given the flexibility of selecting Hindi songs as well. Of course, a lot of time went in talking of reminiscing of previous vacations, childhood memories and conversation in general.
None of us felt how the time passed. The road is in pretty good condition for almost the entire journey. We passed one town after another : Birur, Tiptur, Arsikere, Tarikere and Shimoga. The main road in all villages a towns had a busy look : it is possible that the Saturday fair was on in some of the villages and towns we passed. Life in small town Karnataka must have changed over the years, but according to my wife's father it was not much. When he visited these towns in his professional career in the bank, he says it still had the same dusty feel that it has now ! It is a sad commentary, but he did notice that the roads, buildings, etc. had changed. In particular, Arsikere where he stayed for a few years has become more modern and the buildings are more now.
We passed by Shimoga to head towards Mandagadde. Mandagadde is a hobli (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobli for an explanation). The settlement spreads for some distance; is broken by the countryside; and then the settlement begins again.
Our host, the owner of the home stay is Mr. Ramesh, a friendly gentleman who greeted us warmly. He showed us our rooms, which were recently constructed. http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2456329119/ shows the room that my wife and I occupied. We were famished the feast and the treat of local cuisine that Mrs. Ramesh had prepared deserved the treatment it got : we cleaned our plates quickly ! Lunch was at the dining table for guests and like at home, we served the dishes ourselves. Even the food was very homely and delicious. My father relished the chutney made from raw mango and even asked for it in the night ! The adage : "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" proved to be correct. Tasting the local cuisine rather than requesting the food we are normally used to is a gastronomic adventure that we must attempt whenever possible !
The sour note was the lack of power : the temperature in end of April was in the mid-30s and Mandagadde was hot ! All of us were sweating and there was no back up generator. However, we wanted to stretch our legs and not really sleep. So, in the matter of 45 minutes or so, we were set to leave. During lunch, we discussed the places we could visit with Mr. Ramesh. We decided to visit Agumbe.
On our way there, Murphy's law (see http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-laws.html for a humorous collection of all of Murphy's laws :-) ) struck : our car had a punctured tyre. Our driver replaced it and we decided it was better to have the puncture fixed. We stopped at Thirthahalli. My wife, her brother and I went for a small walk around the town. We drank coffee at one of the local hotels.
Murphy's law struck again as we approached Agumbe : there was a cloud cover. We reached the sunset point at Agumbe but there was very little sun to be seen :-( The good part of this car journey was that the view from the hill was still a sight to behold. http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2457158446/ shows a view of what we saw.
By the time we headed back home, it was dark and there was little light on the highway. The lights in the villages we passed were rather like oases of lights in the desert of darkness !
Inchara Home Stay has a landscaped garden and a swing, a table and chairs in a covered enclosure. The evening was pretty cool and we spent time soaking in the silence of the place and the relative coolness before we ate dinner. Mr. Ramesh had warned us not to open the door of our rooms since a lot of insects could enter. My wife and I had made the mistake of turning the outside lights on. There were several moths and other insects attracted by the light and when we opened the door, a few creepy crawlies entered with us !
Still, the fan turning swiftly was a huge relief for us. We slept well in the night after the exertions of sitting continuously in the car for nearly 10 hours in the day.
I went for a small walk the next morning. The sounds in the morning showed that the name of the home stay was well chosen. My wife pointed this out as we listened to the calls of various birds, including the peculiar high pitched wail of the peacock. Inchara means the call of the birds in Kannada and the name is both poetic and apt for the home stay.
On my way back, I walked along the cultivated forest near our room. I saw wild mushrooms in the grass. Mrs. Ramesh promised to serve us coffee at 7 a.m. By the time I returned, it was 7 and the steaming cup of coffee brewed with milk from a cow which was literally next door to us was a welcome way to start off my day ! Mr. Ramesh also greeted us and suggested that we could visit Sakkarebayilu, Gajanur dam and Shimoga tiger safari.
That was exactly what we did after eating the breakfast of rice "kadabu", another delicacy of Malnad. Sakkarebayilu is 17 km from Mandagadde. We left Inchara at 9:30 and reached Sakkarebayilu at around 10 or so. It appeared that there was a guard of honour of elephants for us ! If we had come there at around 8 a.m., we could have also helped to bathe the elephants. As it was, they made for a splendid sight. We saw old elephants and also a couple of young ones. In fact, the youngest was a mere 3 months old and like all youngsters, this cub was playful and mischievous ! After having its fill of milk, it went to sleep under the mother's enormous body ! Check out http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2457157540/
Next, we went to Gajanur dam, built across the Thunga river. The dam was closed, but my mother spotted a few steps that led right up to the river. This was a lucky break for us. Under the hot sun, the waters of the Thunga were cool and soothed all our feet and recharged us ! It was a peaceful and brief 10 minutes that we spent feeling the Thunga.
Our final stop for the morning was the Tyavarekoppa sanctuary. For Bangaloreans who have visited the Bannerghatta National Park, the experience at Tyavarekoppa is similar. There is a bus protected by wire mesh that goes within the protected jungle that houses lions and tigers. We had a witty attender in the bus who introduced the lions Suresh and Urmila and also the tigers Kush, Rama and the mother Chamundi. The tigers looked healthy. We also saw sambar and blackbuck deer.
My wife's parents picked up a vase of bamboo near Shimoga on our way back.
Probably because it was Sunday, there was no loadshedding in the afternoon. Mrs. Ramesh again served us a tasty lunch, offering second helpings and treating us more like guests rather than customers. This was what made the experience special at Inchara. The atmosphere is very homely. After lunch, we were in a mood to relax and retired for a nap. In the evening, we went to Mandagadde bird sanctuary. There is an island in the river full of white storks and cormorants but there were no boats available. So, after spending 10 minutes at the sanctuary, we left for Mahishi.
Mahishi is a place where the Thunga river has deposited so much sand, it almost feels like a beach ! There was a small stretch of water (may be 30 feet across) that we could walk across to reach another sandy bank. It looked like Murphy had taken the Sunday off :-) We watched the sun set behind green trees and since we were the only ones at Mahishi, all of us relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.
Tony, the friendly dog at Mr. Ramesh's home stay greeted us with a wag of his tail when we returned. Mr. Ramesh asked us if we wanted to play badminton. In the evening, my father-in-law, brother-in-law and I took up the rackets and warmed up to play badminton.
We were left wondering why we had neglected the rudimentary badminton court for two days. There was no power for some time in the night; it seems that Mr. Murphy was on the night shift :-) Even this had its advantage. Outside our window, I saw a glow worm move across the glass pane ! The next morning also, we played badminton after the morning walk.
After breakfast, we thanked Mr. and Mrs. Ramesh, took a final photo and left for Bangalore. The three day home stay was an enjoyable trip for all of us.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
++++++ BEGINS ++++++
When I created my first blog, I thought I was
being clever by being "anonymous" and let my
opinions speak for themselves (see the archive !)
Imagine my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still retain the blog
name as "Anonymous Expressions", I will only
request you to ignore my name and concentrate on
my opinions instead !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
++++++ ENDS ++++++
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
From 26-Apr-08 to 28-Apr-08, my parents, my wife, her brother and her parents visited Mandagadde, near Shimoga in the Malnad region of Karnataka. We opted for a home stay in the Malnad region, Shimog at Inchara. Details are available at http://incharahomestay.com/default.htm
The 3 day trip was my first home stay and it was quite interesting. We went in a diesel Tavera taxi, my wife, her brother and I taking the last seats. Predictably, our day began early : we got up at 5:30 and by 6:50 or so, my wife's parents and brother had come to pick us up. We were all looking forward to a relaxing three days.
We took the NICE road to Nelamangala, near Tumkur. While the road is not yet completed, the stretch that is complete is a pleasure to drive. The roads are wide and plain and the Tavera made good speed. It was my first drive on the road and I quite liked the condition of the road. We ate breakfast at Kamat, which was crowded.
My brother-in-law had brought CDs of Kannada music and we played it on the stereo. The taxi also had a DVD player but we didn't find it necessary to use it. After some time, we decided to play a Kannada antakshari. My wife and brother-in-law sang only Kannada songs, but the senior citizens were given the flexibility of selecting Hindi songs as well. Of course, a lot of time went in talking of reminiscing of previous vacations, childhood memories and conversation in general.
None of us felt how the time passed. The road is in pretty good condition for almost the entire journey. We passed one town after another : Birur, Tiptur, Arsikere, Tarikere and Shimoga. The main road in all villages a towns had a busy look : it is possible that the Saturday fair was on in some of the villages and towns we passed. Life in small town Karnataka must have changed over the years, but according to my wife's father it was not much. When he visited these towns in his professional career in the bank, he says it still had the same dusty feel that it has now ! It is a sad commentary, but he did notice that the roads, buildings, etc. had changed. In particular, Arsikere where he stayed for a few years has become more modern and the buildings are more now.
We passed by Shimoga to head towards Mandagadde. Mandagadde is a hobli (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobli for an explanation). The settlement spreads for some distance; is broken by the countryside; and then the settlement begins again.
Our host, the owner of the home stay is Mr. Ramesh, a friendly gentleman who greeted us warmly. He showed us our rooms, which were recently constructed. http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2456329119/ shows the room that my wife and I occupied. We were famished the feast and the treat of local cuisine that Mrs. Ramesh had prepared deserved the treatment it got : we cleaned our plates quickly ! Lunch was at the dining table for guests and like at home, we served the dishes ourselves. Even the food was very homely and delicious. My father relished the chutney made from raw mango and even asked for it in the night ! The adage : "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" proved to be correct. Tasting the local cuisine rather than requesting the food we are normally used to is a gastronomic adventure that we must attempt whenever possible !
The sour note was the lack of power : the temperature in end of April was in the mid-30s and Mandagadde was hot ! All of us were sweating and there was no back up generator. However, we wanted to stretch our legs and not really sleep. So, in the matter of 45 minutes or so, we were set to leave. During lunch, we discussed the places we could visit with Mr. Ramesh. We decided to visit Agumbe.
On our way there, Murphy's law (see http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-laws.html for a humorous collection of all of Murphy's laws :-) ) struck : our car had a punctured tyre. Our driver replaced it and we decided it was better to have the puncture fixed. We stopped at Thirthahalli. My wife, her brother and I went for a small walk around the town. We drank coffee at one of the local hotels.
Murphy's law struck again as we approached Agumbe : there was a cloud cover. We reached the sunset point at Agumbe but there was very little sun to be seen :-( The good part of this car journey was that the view from the hill was still a sight to behold. http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2457158446/ shows a view of what we saw.
By the time we headed back home, it was dark and there was little light on the highway. The lights in the villages we passed were rather like oases of lights in the desert of darkness !
Inchara Home Stay has a landscaped garden and a swing, a table and chairs in a covered enclosure. The evening was pretty cool and we spent time soaking in the silence of the place and the relative coolness before we ate dinner. Mr. Ramesh had warned us not to open the door of our rooms since a lot of insects could enter. My wife and I had made the mistake of turning the outside lights on. There were several moths and other insects attracted by the light and when we opened the door, a few creepy crawlies entered with us !
Still, the fan turning swiftly was a huge relief for us. We slept well in the night after the exertions of sitting continuously in the car for nearly 10 hours in the day.
I went for a small walk the next morning. The sounds in the morning showed that the name of the home stay was well chosen. My wife pointed this out as we listened to the calls of various birds, including the peculiar high pitched wail of the peacock. Inchara means the call of the birds in Kannada and the name is both poetic and apt for the home stay.
On my way back, I walked along the cultivated forest near our room. I saw wild mushrooms in the grass. Mrs. Ramesh promised to serve us coffee at 7 a.m. By the time I returned, it was 7 and the steaming cup of coffee brewed with milk from a cow which was literally next door to us was a welcome way to start off my day ! Mr. Ramesh also greeted us and suggested that we could visit Sakkarebayilu, Gajanur dam and Shimoga tiger safari.
That was exactly what we did after eating the breakfast of rice "kadabu", another delicacy of Malnad. Sakkarebayilu is 17 km from Mandagadde. We left Inchara at 9:30 and reached Sakkarebayilu at around 10 or so. It appeared that there was a guard of honour of elephants for us ! If we had come there at around 8 a.m., we could have also helped to bathe the elephants. As it was, they made for a splendid sight. We saw old elephants and also a couple of young ones. In fact, the youngest was a mere 3 months old and like all youngsters, this cub was playful and mischievous ! After having its fill of milk, it went to sleep under the mother's enormous body ! Check out http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2457157540/
Next, we went to Gajanur dam, built across the Thunga river. The dam was closed, but my mother spotted a few steps that led right up to the river. This was a lucky break for us. Under the hot sun, the waters of the Thunga were cool and soothed all our feet and recharged us ! It was a peaceful and brief 10 minutes that we spent feeling the Thunga.
Our final stop for the morning was the Tyavarekoppa sanctuary. For Bangaloreans who have visited the Bannerghatta National Park, the experience at Tyavarekoppa is similar. There is a bus protected by wire mesh that goes within the protected jungle that houses lions and tigers. We had a witty attender in the bus who introduced the lions Suresh and Urmila and also the tigers Kush, Rama and the mother Chamundi. The tigers looked healthy. We also saw sambar and blackbuck deer.
My wife's parents picked up a vase of bamboo near Shimoga on our way back.
Probably because it was Sunday, there was no loadshedding in the afternoon. Mrs. Ramesh again served us a tasty lunch, offering second helpings and treating us more like guests rather than customers. This was what made the experience special at Inchara. The atmosphere is very homely. After lunch, we were in a mood to relax and retired for a nap. In the evening, we went to Mandagadde bird sanctuary. There is an island in the river full of white storks and cormorants but there were no boats available. So, after spending 10 minutes at the sanctuary, we left for Mahishi.
Mahishi is a place where the Thunga river has deposited so much sand, it almost feels like a beach ! There was a small stretch of water (may be 30 feet across) that we could walk across to reach another sandy bank. It looked like Murphy had taken the Sunday off :-) We watched the sun set behind green trees and since we were the only ones at Mahishi, all of us relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.
Tony, the friendly dog at Mr. Ramesh's home stay greeted us with a wag of his tail when we returned. Mr. Ramesh asked us if we wanted to play badminton. In the evening, my father-in-law, brother-in-law and I took up the rackets and warmed up to play badminton.
We were left wondering why we had neglected the rudimentary badminton court for two days. There was no power for some time in the night; it seems that Mr. Murphy was on the night shift :-) Even this had its advantage. Outside our window, I saw a glow worm move across the glass pane ! The next morning also, we played badminton after the morning walk.
After breakfast, we thanked Mr. and Mrs. Ramesh, took a final photo and left for Bangalore. The three day home stay was an enjoyable trip for all of us.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
++++++ BEGINS ++++++
When I created my first blog, I thought I was
being clever by being "anonymous" and let my
opinions speak for themselves (see the archive !)
Imagine my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still retain the blog
name as "Anonymous Expressions", I will only
request you to ignore my name and concentrate on
my opinions instead !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
++++++ ENDS ++++++
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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