Eye of the Peacock

We have seen plenty of peacocks - both in the wild as well in zoos. At the Udaipur Zoo, the birds were peacefully having their siesta, and were totally unconcerned about all the ruckus around them. As we passed by the peacock enclosure, one of them looked up and cast such a disdainful glance at the spectators who were trying to rouse some of the sleeping birds, that I just had to take a pic!

Ducks in the Lake

The Nakki Lake at Mount Abu has a small island at the centre where some ducks have been kept.

In the lap of nature - The Hermitage

Waking up early in the morning in a small house with a tiled roof with no alarms, just birdsong acting as one, sitting down for a healthy breakfast cooked with ingredients from the garden, spending the day walking in a jungle or swimming in a river, looking at birds and butterflies, warming oneself by a bonfire at night and calling an end to the wonderful day with a dinner by candlelight – doesn’t that sound idyllic and hardly possible? Yet that is just what we did this weekend, taking advantage of the holiday on account of Republic Day. We spent three wonderful days at The Hermitage, an hour and a half away from Belgaum. Our hosts, David and Morvarid Fernandez have lived there for 28 years, and for the last seven years, have allowed a few guests like us to spend time at their home, and experience the rustic village life for ourselves.



We took the night bus from Bombay to Belgaum, where a cab met us to take us to our destination. The drive from Belgaum to Khanapur is along the highway leading to Goa, and is quite a good road. It is then the surprise starts, with the village road leading into the Western Ghats off Khanapur, and finally the road through the jungle after the forest check post. Once we left the main road, we hardly came across any villages or habitations, and realized that for once, we were in the wild, far away from any kind of contact with the masses – a wonderful feeling that intensified once we realized that there was no network, and our cell phones were out of reach!!! I couldn’t help wondering “if this is what it is like, now, what would it have been like 28 years ago, when they first came here?” I felt my admiration for the enterprising couple rising.

The Kadaba - a typical village hut

The Hermitage is a homely place, for there are just 3 units available for guests – a Macchan (sort of tree house with a bathroom at ground level), a Kadaba (traditional village house with an open-air bathroom outside) and a Gota (a rural cottage with electricity and attached bathroom). When I spoke to Morvarid to make our reservations, she informed me that kids could be accommodated only in the Gota, so we couldn’t opt for the Macchan as we had intended. On reaching there, however, I understood the reason, and appreciated their insistence on booking only the Gota for a couple with children. It would have been difficult for Samhith to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, for one thing! The size of the accommodation limits the maximum number of guests at 6-8, with a maximum of 2 kids, if at all and hence it remains rather intimate and homely at all times. We were extra fortunate in having just another couple in the Macchan at the same time, and got to be good friends with them too!

The Macchan - tree house - you can see the bathroom on the ground level

Interiour of the open-roofed bathroom

We were welcomed by David and Morvarid with hot tea, followed by a hot breakfast of Poha. Here, I must mention that all meals are cooked by our hostess herself, and though she was hampered by our preference for pure vegetarian food, she served us one wonderful meal after another, which left us licking our fingers. David told us that these were hardly the best displays of her cooking capabilities, and I heartily wish I was more open in my food choices so that I could sample her delicacies. All meals are served in the recreation area, which is beautifully decorated with old brass vessels and antique pieces.

The recreation area

However, what really drew and retained our attention were two skulls of bison. Apparently, a few bison succumbed to some disease a few years back, and their skeletons were later found near this place. These skulls kept Samhith fascinated for all the 3 days. He was really amazed by the sheer size of these skulls.

One of the Bison skulls

There are a number of activities you can do while at The Hermitage, especially if you are an avid trekker, birdwatcher or swimmer. I am none of these, and with my son, our choices were rather limited, so we opted for a not-too-strenuous trek each day that we were there. The first day, we went for a nature walk in the jungle around the farm, and spotted a few birds, though no animals.

A drongo perched on a tree

One of the things I was interested in were these spiders which made their webs on the grass, and never between the trees. I had noticed this on earlier treks too, and they generally looked as if they had fallen from the trees. I was informed that these were the so-called tunnel web spiders, which made their webs in a tunnel –like shape and themselves lived in the lowest portion of the web.

A tunnel-web spider

Bamboo was the most dominant species of plant visible, and it seems that they had flowered just last year. Something we will have to wait another 45 years to see, if we live that long! Well, the beautiful flowers were no longer there, but there were vestiges of these flowers on the ground and a few late ones were still green on the plant itself. Of course, now that the plant has flowered, the bamboo will die, leaving behind acres of open ground, till the new plants grow to take their place. Wonder what it will be like……..

Bamboo flowers

We returned in time for the lanterns to be lit around the rooms and in the recreation area, and spent some time warming ourselves by the bonfire, getting to know our co-guests better, and then went straight to bed after dinner. Dinner itself was wonderful, the superb food and the witty conversation adding to the intimate ambience created by the light thrown by the many candles around. David and Morvarid manage this whole show themselves, having help in the form of a few helpers from the nearby tribal villages.



The next morning, I was woken early by the sounds of the birds outside our cottage. It seemed like a sin to stay inside on a morning like this, and besides, Samhith was asleep! It was the best time to look for a few birds in peace, and wrapping a sweater and scarf (Brrr!!! It was cold!!!), I went out with my camera. I was successful in capturing a few of the feathered creatures on my camera, but my knowledge of birds is too meager to identify them. Here are some of them…..

A Bulbul



A Drongo











After a hearty breakfast, we went to the Mandovi River for a swim. David drove us most of the way in his jeep, and then we had to walk for a short while before we reached two clear pools made by a small rustic dam, where we could swim without any danger.

The Mandovi River

From The Hermitage Jan 09

While David was the only one who swam well, Shankar accompanied him into the water, but desisted from venturing into deeper areas. Samhith occupied himself walking in shallow water to collect stones, while I took photographs. Mahesh and Sandhya meanwhile spent their time getting in and out of the water, encouraging Samhith to collect more stones! Samhith was scared to get fully into the water, but seeing some nice stones on the other side, was finally persuaded to enter the water, riding on David’s back. He came back with both hands full of stones, his fear of water totally gone, ready to have a full dip by himself!



We walked along the river for a while before getting back to the jeep. On the way, we came across a snake skin lying on the stones on the river bank. I had half a mind to pick it up, but it was practically stuck on the stone, and I didn’t have time to pride it off carefully without damaging it. I therefore settled with a photograph, after all, it is easier to store a photo rather than a snake skin!!!

The snake-skin



On the way back, we came across this bridge over the river made of thin logs of wood. Fascinating, isn’t it?


While returning, we also came across an Emerald Dove, walking calmly along the forest path. It was so beautiful to see its green feathers (which gives it its name) shining in the sun. We hesitated to go nearer, afraid that we would scare it away, and I had to try to take photographs through the window. I didn’t manage to do justice to the beautiful bird, but my effort is right here for all of you to see.

An Emerald Dove

There are lots of trekking routes in the area – Bear’s hill is a good trek to see the sunset and maybe a couple of bears if we are lucky and the trek to the Pohe Vajara Falls is also a good one. However, these aren’t treks that can be attempted by people like me who are not used to arduous walks, and certainly not for kids. We therefore spent the rest of our time walking around the guest house, looking at birds and butterflies. Here are the results of my amateurish attempts at bird watching and butterfly tracking.


That brown thing is a butterfly!!!



Here is a beautiful one...



this one is called a Common Crow



I wasn't able to decide if it was a butterfly or a bee!



An ant's nest




Cattle Egrets atop a tree




Another butterfly



Here is a spider near the river

Hoofprint of a Deer- We saw these prints near the plants in the guest house the day we arrived. unluckily or us, the deer didn't pay another visit.

A Wild Banana plant


Our last day at The Hermitage was to be a relaxed one, for we had to leave in the afternoon. However, thanks to Mahesh and Sandhya, we tried our hand at pottery – there is a potter’s wheel kept in a hut for those who are interested, and a sheet is provided with the basic instructions. If one really wants to learn properly, they can arrange for a potter to come. We were quite happy with our trial and error methods, after all, it was more fun, and in the end, we were able to make something resembling a pot!!!



Soon it was time to leave, and we made our way towards Belgaum station to catch our train back to Bombay and the concrete jungle we live in.

From The Hermitage Jan 09

From left - Shankar, Morvarid, David, Mahesh, Sandhya and Samhith in the front.

FACT FILE:


Address:
The Hermitage Guest House,
Post Box No. 23, Nersa Village,
Khanapur Taluka,
Belgaum District, Karnataka 591302 India.


How to get there:
The Hermitage is 45 Kms from Belgaum and 140 Kms from Goa. The nearest town is Khanapur, which is 18 Kms from The Hermitage and 28 Kms from Belgaum. Belgaum is well connected by buses and trains, and also has an airport.
The drive from Belgaum to the hermitage takes about one and a half hours, and since the road is a typical jungle path, it is advisable to use public transport to Belgaum, and ask to be picked up there. Driving one’s own car can be difficult.


How to make reservations:
All details are given on their website http://thehermitageguesthouse.com/
They do not have a landline, and all communication has to be through cell phones or E-Mail. However, once you manage to make contact with them, they are extremely helpful and prompt.


A Few Extra points:


This is not really a place for very small children. Though Samhith did have fun, he couldn’t appreciate many of the finer points, such as the extremely eco-friendly nature of the resort. Another thing is that they appreciate larger animals and are not interested in simple things like birds and butterflies. Moreover, we could hardly try out many of the treks, as he couldn’t possibly walk for long. I am sure he will enjoy the experience once he is a few years older. Hence I would suggest that this is not really the place for kids less than 10 years old.


This is just the place for youngsters who would like to try out trekking, and are adventurous. The experience will be wonderful. This is also just the place for ardent birdwatchers and nature lovers. There are a huge number of rare birds, bats and butterflies (over 70 species) which can be seen in the area. So, get your binoculars and cameras ready, and head out for some serious bird spotting!

Some Memorable Sights during my trip - And No temples this time.....

I have been writing pages and pages about my trip to Thanjavur and surrounding places, mostly temples. Here is something different. To finish off my series of blogs about my Diwali trip, let me invite you to join me in a different kind of tour – a tour through the eyes, or rather the lens of my camera. These are photographs taken over a period of 15 days, at various places. Let me assure you that there is not a single temple among them. These are purely of the sights I saw during my trip, something I will remember all my life, and would like to share with all of you.


the sun set during our return trip from Rameswaram

A lotus in a pond near Thirukkarugavur

The road covered with husks near Nagapattinam

A hermit crab leaving its shell at Kodikkarai


scenes near Vedaranyam

A canal covered with flowers



Butterflies perch on flowers at the Hotel Sadabhishekam nea Vaitheeswaran Kovil



A sparrow


A Kngfisher at Chaayavanam

A Winter Vacation at Ooty

Christmas and New Year – the season of joy, the season of good cheer – also the season of holidays and hotels full of tourist families looking for a place to celebrate. Bookings for the season need to be made months in advance, and tickets need to be booked as early as possible. In short, to just have a trouble free fortnight, arrangements need to be made well ahead of time, with enough foresight to anticipate all possible problems. Deciding where to go is one of the biggest problems, for wherever one ends up, the chances of a whole lot of others landing up is also quite certain. Of course, with a five year old, going to out-of-the-way places is not really possible, and this year, we decided on Ooty and the Jungle lodges at K.Gudi. While the former was full of the normal tourist crowd, we managed to enjoy the weather and truly chill out. The latter however, was wonderful, being in the back of beyond, and meeting no others apart from the 10 other families at the resort being at peace with the world and feeling as close to nature as it is possible in these days of concrete jungles replacing those of trees, and humans taking up the space of animals.

We started our journey the same day that Samhith’s school closed for the holidays, on the train from Kurla Terminus to Coimbatore, and found that practically the whole compartment was headed to Ooty, some like us by themselves, many others on guided tours. In fact, we even found one of Samhith’s friends in the same coach! The presence of so many kids in a holiday mood must have been a nuisance to the few people in the coach who were traveling on work and tried to catch up on their sleep, but to harried mothers like me, the presence of so many kids of the same age meant that they played together and stayed out of our hair! From Coimbatore, we decided to economize, and caught one of the many buses that ply regularly from Coimbatore to Ooty. There are buses every 10 minutes from the outstation bus stand at Coimbatore, and we found ourselves in comparatively comfortable seats. The journey took about 3 ½ hours, since he stopped at every bus stand along the way to pick up more passengers.

If you are traveling with children, it is a good idea to plan your trip in such a way that you can board the mountain train to Ooty from Mettupalaiyam – the Mettupalaiyam-Udhagamandalam passenger (Train No. 662), which leaves Mettupalaiyam at 07:10AM. This is, however, a much longer trip – the journey takes almost 5 hours, with a stop of about 15 -20 minutes at Coonoor. The charm of this journey however is in the ride, the view, and of course, the steam engine which pulls the train up the hills. Tickets can be booked on the net in the usual way through http://www.irctc.co.in. Another interesting thing is that you can book tickets for the first class in this train which costs about Rs.140/-.

Udhagamandalam – the name that is derived from the Tamil word for house of mountains – became Ootacamund for the British who found the original name unpronounceable. Soon, the name became even shorter, resulting in the two-syllabled name we all recognize – Ooty. The popularity of this hill station soon earned it the name – Queen of Hills – an appellation that holds good even today, people from all corners of India, and in fact, the world, converging here throughout the year. Of course, it is no longer the idyllic place it once was. Commercialization has taken its toll, making it a lot more tourist-friendly, but fast losing its identity. This year, for example, we were told that the temperature was far higher than normal for December-end. Global warming showing its presence, no doubt! Plastics have been banned on the Nilgiris, and one can actually see dustbins all over the place, but if you walk around instead of taking autos/vehicles as most tourists do, at every corner, one can see rubbish piled up, mostly comprising of plastic bags. Since the local shops no longer supply plastic bags, small or big, it is surely the tourists arriving from other places bringing in the eco-disasters. No bans are going to work till people show some responsibility themselves.

We had booked ourselves at the Sterling Fernhill Resort, which turned out to be much like the other Sterling Resorts – perched atop a hill with a lovely view of the valley, well laid out, and quite comfortable. All we wanted was some R & R and it was a wonderful place for it. We reached the resort by 10 AM, but it was cold enough for us to take out all our winter wear. This was one of those holidays when we spent more room inside the room than outside it.

Ooty was one of the first places we had visited when Samhith was a baby. He was then just a year old, and we had gone through the usual tourist circuits, bypassing only those places popularized by films, and which are crowded at all times with film buffs from every remote corner of India. This time, therefore, we decided to skip all the ‘sight seeing’ and head directly to those places which would appeal to Samhith.

We spent the first day indoors, acclimatizing ourselves, and in the evening, went to the town, finding an auto driver with a mobile phone, ready to come whenever we called him. One of the first things we did was to buy scarves and gloves, the only things we had omitted to bring with us.

One of the most important things in our itinerary was the mountain railway, which Samhith was eager to see. For him, steam and diesel engines meant Thomas the Tank Engine and his Friends, who appear in his favourite books, and are part of a TV series. On the second day, we went to the Ooty station and boarded the train to Coonoor. The second class fare at Rs.4/- seems to be peanuts, while the first class fare is about Rs.76/-. I wanted to travel by the first class just to see what it was like, but it was already full (there are just a few seats there, so if you want to travel first class, book in advance, preferably on the net). Thankfully, the coach which came for us was a newly restored one, and was almost as good as a first class one. The hour and a half-long journey to Coonoor was as enchanting as we had expected, and Samhith and I enjoyed every minute of it.

The Railway Yard at Coonoor



Samhith not being the least interested in tea or coffee plantations or interesting sights, we decided to return by the next train back to Ooty instead of spending a few hours in Coonoor. Here, however we ran into trouble, for the next train was the one coming fro Mettupalaiyam, and was already full. We had to jostle with the others getting in at Coonoor, and managed to find a single seat which I occupied, with Samhith on my lap. Shankar stood near the guard all through the journey. We decided to alight at Lovedale, which is nearer to Fernhill, and spent some time at the station waiting for our auto-wallah to arrive. Samhith found a lot of fir cones on the ground, and whiled away the time collecting as many of them as he could, as souvenirs of his trip.

The third day, we decided to head to Mudumalai, hoping to see some elephants. The most interesting thing about Mudumalai is the elephant safari. The safari has to be booked in advance at the forest Ranger’s office at Ooty, and we were unlucky in our attempts, as no safaris were available till the New Year. However, our trip to the ranger’s office was fruitful, for we learnt that the safari could be booked by phone, and the money could be sent by DD/MO. Here are the details:

Range Officer – Reception, Theppakadu: (042...

Range Officer – Reception, Ooty, Wildlife Warden’s office: (0423)2445971 and 2444098

E-Mail: wlwng@tn.nic.in

At present, the safari costs Rs.400/-. Dormitories, rest houses and log huts maintained by the forest department at Theppakadu (Mudumalai), Kargudi and Masinagudi can also be booked at the same contact numbers. According to the forest department, there are no night safaris being conducted, and those conducted by private resorts are illegal. However, there are various resorts in the vicinity actively conducting these night safaris.

In the absence of the elephant safari, the only option left for us was the safari conducted by the forest department in mini buses. These are conducted between 7 and 10 AM and again between 3 and 6 PM. Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is famed for its elephants, but we saw only one, that too, probably tame, for it was very near the forest guest house. The only animals we saw in the jungle were deer, and too, the common Chital or Spotted deer. Thank God that Samhith was happy with the deer and the lone tusker that we saw!

We had saved our final day at Ooty for the lake and boating. Accordingly, we took an auto to the town, and headed straight for the boat house, where we engaged a row boat with an oarsman, and spent a pleasant hour on the lake. Samhith not only enjoyed the boat ride, he was thrilled by the sight of deer in the deer park which overlooks the lake!

The lake seems to be the centre of the town, and we walked around the lake, visiting a couple of gardens which have been made into simple amusement parks with toy trains and other attractions.

Another interesting place we visited was right opposite the lake, called the Thread Garden. Here, a miniature garden has been created, every flower, stem, leaf and blade of grass made with thread wound around pieces of stiff canvas. It was an interesting place, one worth seeing if you are interested in crafts.

Completing our four days at Ooty, we headed towards Chamrajnagar and K.Gudi, hiring a vehicle from the town. The two days we spent at K.Gudi deserve a blog to themselves, so look out for my next post!

Meanwhile, here are a few more photographs of my visit to Ooty.

Women picking potatoes

A dandelion -- there's beauty in everything!


Sterling Fernhill

A tribal settlement