Travelogue :Karnataka during floods

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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"