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| Hemavati River |
“I smile at every circumstance
that comes my way because I didn’t expect life to be an easy journey”
Our road-trip in southern Karnataka turned out
to be a roller coaster adventure with the floods bringing all normal activity
to a stand-still. We could not reach the places as planned in our itinerary. Instead we landed in unknown lands which were interesting and beautiful.
The trip was ridden with obstacles from the very beginning
.Every hurdle was taken as a lesson to reach our goal and every lesson was
never to be forgotten.
The flight to Bangalore from Assam was delayed. We took a
cab where the chauffeur’s GPS was not working .He couldn’t tell us the exact
amount we had to pay at the end of the ride. After much telephonic calls and
arguments we bade him off. “Revv” (revv.co.in) self-driven car agency was
supposed to deliver a Swift Dezire the next morning. Instead we find two cars
waiting at our door-step, the delivery guys arguing over the confusion like two angry ducks quacking at the highest decibels. . So much for Digital Bangalore.
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| NH275 |
We kicked started on NH 275, taking a coffee-break at a
small Dhaba called “Taj International “after meandering through beautiful
undulating plains, with the Western Ghats looming in the distance. Weaving our
way we entered Coorg, our destination being Madikeri, a hill-station, being the
district head-quarters of Kodagu (Coorg) district .Situated on the slopes of
the Western Ghats, it’s an ideal place for a summer break.
We never did reach Madikeri due to unprecedented floods. The rivers were
in spate, the current swift, banks had burst, and the coconut and banana groves
were awash.Our GPS stopped working at one point, took a wrong exit and turned up in rural Karnataka, weaving our way through kitchen gardens and backyards.
WE sought human intervention, reliable and certain. Despite language obstacles, for few knew English or Hindi, we were back on NH 57 only to be told by the police, 46kms short of Madikeri, that the roads were under water. Stopping at the barricade, we could see the virulent waters searing over the highway. It was a frightening sight.
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| Monastery, Bylakuppa |
Dusk had settled in.
We were in unknown lands. We stopped at the first town on our way called
Bylakuppa and checked into a hotel with an interesting name “Rich Fort Hotel"
reminding us of a Casino in the middle of nowhere. The stay was rudimentary but
comfortable. ...thank God we are intrepid travellers and not comfort-seeking
tourists......We altered our itinerary; heading for Mysore the next day.
The town of Bylakuppa
which we thought was a nondescript, miniscule hamlet tucked into the foothills
of the Western Ghats turned out to be the biggest Tibetan settlement outside
Dharamsala set up by Lungsum Samdupling in 1961 and Dickyi Larsoe in 1969.
Approximately 70,000 Tibetans reside there. A resident Certificate which has to
be renewed annually is issued to the refugees. New arrivals have no right to
this certificate. The settlement is fascinating and worth a visit. Education
and health-care is provided for. There are a number of monasteries of which
Namdroling Monastery (Golden Temple) is the most impressive. Located on SH 88,
it can be clocked in from Mysore (82Kms) Foreigners need a PAP (Protected Area
Permit) to visit the settlement.
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| Bylakuppa |
Our road junket
continued the next morning taking the road to Mysore.The unrelenting
floods made
us take detours which increased travel-distance by 100kms till we reached
Hassan.
At one point the GPS lady let us
down for the second time, making us go around in circles while trying to avoid
flooded paths. We hit rural Karnataka.
All signage that mattered was in the flowery Kannada script which made us feel like dumb, illiterate idiots .Conversing with the eager and helpful locals, trying to comprehend what they were saying (or what we were saying) was like a matador/torero fighting a bull and finally winning.
All signage that mattered was in the flowery Kannada script which made us feel like dumb, illiterate idiots .Conversing with the eager and helpful locals, trying to comprehend what they were saying (or what we were saying) was like a matador/torero fighting a bull and finally winning.
However, I will be doing injustice if I say that they were
unkind or unsupportive, even offering tea at places. Finally, guided by
Karnataka Police over the cell-phone we found ourselves on SH 91(I think) at a
tri-junction we spied arrowed-directions, one to Mysore (Mysore) the other to
Halebid and Belur. We opted for "the road less travelled". Checked in
at a hotel in Hassan. Tomorrow we visit Halebid and Belur before heading
towards Chikmalagur. Lovely weather in Hassan, 21*C.
"Refugees didn'nt just escape a place. They had to escape a thousand memories until they had put enough time and distance between them and their misery to wake to a better day"
