Sunday 6th September, 2009… a week after the Pondicherry or was it Gingee trip. (Check the previous post). I was still trying to shake off the jitters in my bones induced by the bus drivers. This time we had decided to knock off one item off the ‘Had gone but have to come back again’ list. Mekedaatu it was. Early morning chill could have easily kept me in bed till the Sun came directly above the head but by 7.30 we were ready to hit the road. Remembering the condition of the roads at various places I would love to hit the road with a sledge hammer; provided I can spot a piece of the road somewhere. Need I mention breakfast was at Adigas since we would be heading on the Kanakapura road?
For a little while, in comparison to the previous week’s experience, it felt like a ride on the clouds sailing by in the sky. THUD!!! Gddrrrrr… thud. Welcome back to reality. Yes, ditches.
Stopping for a cup of hot coffee another stark reality hit us. During the ride to Pondicherry we never had to drink coffee / tea from a thermos even once. But back in Karnataka we were now subjected to having to drink coffee / tea from thermos flasks. I wish these stalls and small hotels would revert to the old style of making coffee and tea.
Kanakapura came and the road (which doesn’t exist now) desperately tried to shake our bones out of our bodies. Successfully negotiating the dust bowl created by the road widening exercise probably is one of the prerequisites for applying for a job in a circus. Taking the left turn at Satanur we reached Doddaalahalli. Here one has to take a turn to go towards Mekedaatu. There are signboards and that is why we yet again took a wrong turn and had to turn back.
Zooming past the now familiar hills, trees, houses and lot of other things I realized there weren’t too many birds to bring my bike to a skidding halt like it usually happens. The overcast skies had sent the birds scurrying for cover I guess. Finally we did stop when calls of a few birds managed to reach our ears. Apart from the mynas, crows, sparrows, doves these were the first birds we saw. Wagtails, robins, sunbirds were all there. There was also this tiny black and white bird which did not give us a clear enough look for us to be able to identify. They were too jittery and scurried for cover the moment they sensed our presence. We also saw a mountain far away and dark clouds adorning the sky.
We reached Sangama and I saw that the place was not crowded as yet. There are coracles to take people to the other side so as to be able to reach Mekedaatu. Rs. 40 per head is the charge for the coracle ride. There were people wading through the water but we took the coracle. On reaching the other side we saw a bus waiting for passengers to take them to Mekedaatu which was 4-5 kms away. Looking at the condition of the bus a series of questions exploded. How old was this bus? Is it still in running condition? Don’t the parts fall off when the engine starts? How long had it been since the last wash and service?
Since it was only 4-5 kms we wanted to walk. All the while it had been very cloudy but just as we started our walk the Sun started beating down on us. Talk about being on the shorter side. It was a wise decision to walk though. It gave the opportunity to see and experience things which would not have been possible sitting in an about to disintegrate bus.
Along the way it was sad to see a board put up by the friends of a young man who had drowned taking unwanted risks in the water. It is well known that there are dangerous whirlpools and add to it the jagged rocks with sharp edges. Is it the exuberance of youth alone or utter disregard for the warning signboards? Whatever it be, it is sad that so many lives have been lost here at this place. The guy in the coracle told us that just last week two boys died. Their relatives coughed up 35 thousand rupees to have their bodies retrieved.
Sitting on the rocks by the side of the gently flowing Cauvery it is easy to be transported to a world of beauty, elegance and serenity. The calm waters, the green cover, mountains in the far background and the mist even at noon can captivate a soul a million times within a blink of an eye.
Continuing our walk towards Mekedaatu we also saw what looked like mini waterfalls. Here we saw the first glimpses of the ferocious nature of the waters here. Smashing against the rocks it broke up into a thousand pearls and flew into the air garlanding Mother Nature for her blessings.
My friend spotted a Crimson tip butterfly. Birds and butterflies have this unique capability to shave a few years off one’s age and make them young. They make you walk slowly and stealthily with bated breath and open your eyes wide in awe. If and when they sit slightest of the movements or sounds makes them fly away in a jiffy denying any possibility of capturing their beauty on camera.
There were two buses in fact and one did not even have a windshield. Such was the condition of the buses. Apart from these buses there is absolutely no other vehicle. Yet the bus drivers took joy in honking the horn all the time. One can never understand why. For my friend and me it was frustrating because the butterflies would fly away at this horrible sound of the horn.
Just then a tree caught our attention. At first it looked like gum of the tree had accumulated forming a lumpy mass. On closer inspection it was found to be fungus. It’s color and texture gave it a creepy feeling.
A man was selling buttermilk while another one was selling water bottles and soft drinks. A glass of buttermilk felt divine after having been subjected to Rahu’s heat onslaught for about an hour. Errr… I mean Sun, my friend called him Rahu for his mercilessness throughout the walk.
One has to climb down a few steps and tread across a small patch of sand before reaching the gorge. People were milling around enjoying the sights around in their own ways. Some were shouting, few were busy getting photographed and the others were eating and littering the place.
Walking on the rocks we ventured as close to the edge as possible. The rocks were smooth as a baby’s skin at many places owing to the water splashing it for centuries. Interesting shapes had been carved out into the rocks by the gentle looking yet ferocious Cauvery. Gaping holes and arches caught our eyes all around.
We sat on the rocks and spent some time enjoying the water flowing below us. The crowd had started building up and we decided it was time to return.
Seeing the two of us walk a group of boys decided that they will walk too. I heard one of them say "when those older people can walk why not us". Hmmm age does catch up pretty fast. All the more reason to live life and do things that the heart desires. The walk back yet again proved fruitful for the number of butterflies and other insects we saw. Just before we reached Sangama I saw a path and decided to take it. A huge meadow and a lot of birds greeted us.
Chasing the birds proved futile as they all flew away the moment they saw me approaching. But flowers and insects were more accomodative and allowed me to take a few photographs.
We crossed over to the other bank in the coracle and realized that the crowd size had increased considerably. We started our ride back to Bangalore. Intermittent showers meant that our ride was interrupted a couple of times. We reached home safely and pretty early too. End of another weekend.
To see all the photos from this trip Click Here
For a little while, in comparison to the previous week’s experience, it felt like a ride on the clouds sailing by in the sky. THUD!!! Gddrrrrr… thud. Welcome back to reality. Yes, ditches.
Stopping for a cup of hot coffee another stark reality hit us. During the ride to Pondicherry we never had to drink coffee / tea from a thermos even once. But back in Karnataka we were now subjected to having to drink coffee / tea from thermos flasks. I wish these stalls and small hotels would revert to the old style of making coffee and tea.
Kanakapura came and the road (which doesn’t exist now) desperately tried to shake our bones out of our bodies. Successfully negotiating the dust bowl created by the road widening exercise probably is one of the prerequisites for applying for a job in a circus. Taking the left turn at Satanur we reached Doddaalahalli. Here one has to take a turn to go towards Mekedaatu. There are signboards and that is why we yet again took a wrong turn and had to turn back.
Zooming past the now familiar hills, trees, houses and lot of other things I realized there weren’t too many birds to bring my bike to a skidding halt like it usually happens. The overcast skies had sent the birds scurrying for cover I guess. Finally we did stop when calls of a few birds managed to reach our ears. Apart from the mynas, crows, sparrows, doves these were the first birds we saw. Wagtails, robins, sunbirds were all there. There was also this tiny black and white bird which did not give us a clear enough look for us to be able to identify. They were too jittery and scurried for cover the moment they sensed our presence. We also saw a mountain far away and dark clouds adorning the sky.
We reached Sangama and I saw that the place was not crowded as yet. There are coracles to take people to the other side so as to be able to reach Mekedaatu. Rs. 40 per head is the charge for the coracle ride. There were people wading through the water but we took the coracle. On reaching the other side we saw a bus waiting for passengers to take them to Mekedaatu which was 4-5 kms away. Looking at the condition of the bus a series of questions exploded. How old was this bus? Is it still in running condition? Don’t the parts fall off when the engine starts? How long had it been since the last wash and service?
Since it was only 4-5 kms we wanted to walk. All the while it had been very cloudy but just as we started our walk the Sun started beating down on us. Talk about being on the shorter side. It was a wise decision to walk though. It gave the opportunity to see and experience things which would not have been possible sitting in an about to disintegrate bus.
Along the way it was sad to see a board put up by the friends of a young man who had drowned taking unwanted risks in the water. It is well known that there are dangerous whirlpools and add to it the jagged rocks with sharp edges. Is it the exuberance of youth alone or utter disregard for the warning signboards? Whatever it be, it is sad that so many lives have been lost here at this place. The guy in the coracle told us that just last week two boys died. Their relatives coughed up 35 thousand rupees to have their bodies retrieved.
Sitting on the rocks by the side of the gently flowing Cauvery it is easy to be transported to a world of beauty, elegance and serenity. The calm waters, the green cover, mountains in the far background and the mist even at noon can captivate a soul a million times within a blink of an eye.
Continuing our walk towards Mekedaatu we also saw what looked like mini waterfalls. Here we saw the first glimpses of the ferocious nature of the waters here. Smashing against the rocks it broke up into a thousand pearls and flew into the air garlanding Mother Nature for her blessings.
My friend spotted a Crimson tip butterfly. Birds and butterflies have this unique capability to shave a few years off one’s age and make them young. They make you walk slowly and stealthily with bated breath and open your eyes wide in awe. If and when they sit slightest of the movements or sounds makes them fly away in a jiffy denying any possibility of capturing their beauty on camera.
There were two buses in fact and one did not even have a windshield. Such was the condition of the buses. Apart from these buses there is absolutely no other vehicle. Yet the bus drivers took joy in honking the horn all the time. One can never understand why. For my friend and me it was frustrating because the butterflies would fly away at this horrible sound of the horn.
Just then a tree caught our attention. At first it looked like gum of the tree had accumulated forming a lumpy mass. On closer inspection it was found to be fungus. It’s color and texture gave it a creepy feeling.
A man was selling buttermilk while another one was selling water bottles and soft drinks. A glass of buttermilk felt divine after having been subjected to Rahu’s heat onslaught for about an hour. Errr… I mean Sun, my friend called him Rahu for his mercilessness throughout the walk.
One has to climb down a few steps and tread across a small patch of sand before reaching the gorge. People were milling around enjoying the sights around in their own ways. Some were shouting, few were busy getting photographed and the others were eating and littering the place.
Walking on the rocks we ventured as close to the edge as possible. The rocks were smooth as a baby’s skin at many places owing to the water splashing it for centuries. Interesting shapes had been carved out into the rocks by the gentle looking yet ferocious Cauvery. Gaping holes and arches caught our eyes all around.
We sat on the rocks and spent some time enjoying the water flowing below us. The crowd had started building up and we decided it was time to return.
Seeing the two of us walk a group of boys decided that they will walk too. I heard one of them say "when those older people can walk why not us". Hmmm age does catch up pretty fast. All the more reason to live life and do things that the heart desires. The walk back yet again proved fruitful for the number of butterflies and other insects we saw. Just before we reached Sangama I saw a path and decided to take it. A huge meadow and a lot of birds greeted us.
Chasing the birds proved futile as they all flew away the moment they saw me approaching. But flowers and insects were more accomodative and allowed me to take a few photographs.
We crossed over to the other bank in the coracle and realized that the crowd size had increased considerably. We started our ride back to Bangalore. Intermittent showers meant that our ride was interrupted a couple of times. We reached home safely and pretty early too. End of another weekend.
To see all the photos from this trip Click Here
Such a treat, am savoring every word and picture almost as if i was there with you'll.
ReplyDeletealmost.. as if.. & yet i hope that someday i shall join the two of you in yet another adventurous journey.
that bus at makedatu is quite a funny one ... i was wondering how they transported it to the other side of the river :)
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous, really glad that you could enjoy the trip along with us. I hope your hope becomes a reality some time soon. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Sandeep, they must driven the buses across when the water levels were low. Just my guess :)