Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Wherever I go....trouble follows...

Mischief and me are two sides of the same coin..No matter where I go or what I do I cannot avoid it...sigh..such is the way of life...

Back to where and how I got into trouble...this weekend we went to Bandipur..by we, I am referring to my team at NDS.We left early Saturday morning..the definition of early is different for different people..for me...7am is early in the morning! Yeniways..left for Ranganthittu..via Mysore Road...saw RVCE on the way..the place looks nice! Looks like the uncle is improving external appearances at least...

Ranaganathittu is a bird sanctuary created on one of the islands of the River Cauvery. It is home to many birds that migrate here from all over the world. It was started by Dr.Salim Ali in 1940. You have boards describing the various birds and their habits. We took a boat around and saw all the birds at close distance. Statutory Warning: The combination of bird poo and stagnant water is very potent and the ride is not for the faint hearted (especially ones with sensitive olfactory senses!). Saw some very beautiful birds...and a marsh crocodile! totally cool..saw bats..for some reason people found it bizarre that I had not seen a bat yet..but where in Bangalore does one get to see bats?? Yeniways....it is exactly like the batman symbol..it is not unique but I had never seen a bat...so the resemblance excited me no end! But those who know me well..will vouch for the fact that he smallest of things crack me up and amuse me...I am quite a child that way...

Back to the trip...finished Ranganathittu and started on our way to Bandipur...stopped for lunch at this small place in Gundlupur..nice breeze...but the food was not that nice..I am yet to understand the Karnataka fixation for "meals"...I dread that word on every trip I make outside Bangalore...for many reasons...
1. It is way toooo much food for one person. Most places don't have a mini thali as well..
2. Being a Tam (one of the rare times when I acknowledge that side of my genes!), I have a certain standard when it comes to Rasam/Sambhar and the kinds served in these "meals" miss the lowest possible standard by a long shot!
With the result that I generally starve at these places...

Off to Bandipur now..after the losing the way once..we managed to find the place where we were staying...Tiger Ranch..though the closest we saw to a tiger was a ranch dog by the same name...dashed off to make it to the last safari of the day...

We saw peafowl, deers and monkeys on our way to the starting point of the safari.. Made it in time...used my sad face to get a good viewing seat ( thank u Guru!)...and was set to see the jungle and all that it had to offer.... Not much as it turned out an hour later....some tame elephants..bison..samba..wild dogs..langoors...antelopes..a beautiful sunset..guess the tiger eluded us..pity! but what we saw was not half bad either..

Returned to Tiger Ranch and checked out our rooms...very quaint and rustic..made of logs with wood boards as doors...basic amenities..but nice...the rest of the evening was just a frenzy of eating....music..some dance...lotsa drinking(for the guys!)...me and the other 2 girls retired by abt 10...My habits are getting more geriatric by the day..it is not a good sign..

Woke up at 6.45 the next morning by the ruckus created by some monkeys running on the roof...apparently reproducing ( from an "eye-witness" account :-))..Played some games of badminton...and a game of cricket...my team won!!! and I also contributed..yay!! then we had a hearty breakfast..and left on our "walk" in the jungle..

I was involved in an animated discussion with Miloud and Christophe about religions..and we did not realise how far away we had wandered...The forest officials came and rounded us up..a group of 10 people...for trespassing in the jungle..We were to be taken to the Forest Official!! Miloud was very excited about going to the "commisariat"...

Yeniways, we went to meet to Forest Range Officer...the guy was as obnoxious as they come..he had a major chip on his shoulder when it comes to us "city people"...and he let us have it...having never been spoken to rudely by anyone in all my life..I was more than a little miffed! Paid our fines and we had to trudge back the 3 odd kilometres back to the ranch...a nice walk..it was not very sunny...

We returned to a very worried lot at the ranch...it never occurred to me that people would be worried that we had disappeared in the jungle for over 2 hours...had a sumptuous lunch and started on the way back to Bangalore...

And that is all about a rather eventful weekend...shall put up some pics soon...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

foolish u havent seen an bat!! cricket bat nodillva :D....hehhee....bats are there in belu,halebedu anda ll na.....anyways as usual get into trouble...

Daysleeper said...

god, too many wisecracks exploding in my head!! ok, i shall exercise restraint.
if it was just u getting lost in the jungle, i doubt neone would've been worried. they'd probably just think you've finally found "the place where you belong" and sing a maraiah carey song to that effect.
you've never seen a bat???? u must be as blind as them, man! i've seen lots of them near my house...and u live like a stone's throw away!