thŕattle

2nd & 3rd of July made us Jungle’e Boys. Yes! Have been to Bandhipur to mark our parting with Jon. We just wanted to spend the last hours of us with him together. Jon is leaving us to pursue his studies in Mechatronics. All the best, Dude.

Amith & Reddy had brought their cruisers. Myself, Gullu & Gones were in Reddy’s Zen while Chandru, Jon & Dutta came in Amith’s Indica. We started at about 6:00am from B’lore. Nothing stopped us except the early morning rituals. We were looking for a good place to *do* the dew. CafeDay came in our way.

CafeDay is located right in the middle of b’lore-mysore highway. Though their hoardings claim just a 10Km away, but they were actually far-off. The time was around 8:30am and I just couldn’t believe the amount crowd in that place. The salesmen were busy and brisky. The place had some awesome interiors. Glass walls till the Roof – Pretty Wallposters – Neat Showcases – Ample Seating. They had a nice large leather couch; we rested ourselves there. Each guy in our gang ordered for a distinctive drink. My order was something like *___ Irish ___* Phew! It tasted as if somebody had added huge amounts of complan (choco flavour) in water and served it after allowing it to boil for hours together. Obviously, I coudn’t relish mine.

We were actually headed towards a lodge owned by JungleLodges, a unit of Karnataka Government’s Tourism Department – currently managed by the State Forest Department officials. You should see their office in M.G Road. I’m really surprised. Every guy in that office has a flat-panel monitor in front of him. They are all Relations officers. Their phones rang uninterruptedly – atleast in the time I visited. They answered calls in a cordial-n-pleasant manner, checking the status of the venues on their PCs. They even suggest places considering the weather. Everybody talks in English man!! rare to notice in a Govt. office. Their interiors were woodish & themed in brown.

We reached the place at around 11:30am and checked in. Me and Gullu were put-up in a single cottage. The room was neat and clean. They had built it just a year back.

Our agenda was
ThatDay: Enter -> Lunch -> Rest/Relax -> Tea -> Evening Safari -> A Documentary Film on Nagarhole -> CampFire with Barbeque/Drinks -> Dinner -> Rest/Relax/Sleep.
Next Day: Early Morning Trek -> Breakfast -> Rest/Relax -> Exit

The Safari in the evening was thrilling. We were taken in an open-top HM-RTV Ranger. The weather was cool with slight drizzles. We spotted Spotted Deers, Sambar, Peafouls, Gaurs, Wild-Boar, Hare and some uncommon monkeys. We were unfortunate and missed the sighting of Tigers, Cheetahs and Bears. The encounter we had with a heard of Elephants was nerve-pricking. We blocked their way when they were about to cross the highway. We gave them the way when the Head of the Group – a gaint animal, grunted like the sound of a trumpet. It took the rest of the group to cross. Our cameras couldn’t capture such sights convincingly, owing to feeble lighting.

to be continued…