Mumbai to Madikeri in Monsoon

Its all good to hear about the golden quadrilateral and the infrastructure spend in India but even better if you can experience (some of) it – as i did on my drive from Mumbai to Mangalore to Coorg this monsoon . Especially the Bangalore highway on which i drove from Pune till close to Hubli was a very comfortable drive. I started from Pune after breakfast – around 10am and reached Hubli around 5 pm.

Hubli is the most convenient stop for a two day drive from Mumbai to Mangalore. Its almost exactly mid-way. There aren’t many good hotels – my friends recommended Naveen Hotel and it was decent enough for a good night’s rest – it might even be good enough to spend some more time amidst lot of greenery and rooms facing a quiet lake.

Next day i left Hubli after breakfast and cut across from Hubli to join the Goa Mangalore highway. This part is a smaller road (state highway) – an ok drive for most part except for some crowded villages on the way which slow you down. After reaching the Mangalore highway took a break at Murudeshwar – famous for a Shiva temple and a nice beach.

Reached Mangalore around 6pm checked into a hotel and left for Coorg next morning. The drive to Coorg is a 3-4 hour drive with the second half of the journey being a picturesque drive through a forest area which gets you ready for the hill station ! Reached Madikeri (Capital of Coorg) and checked into Club Mahindra – courtesy a friend’s membership (and he not having used any of his three weeks for the three years since he took membership). The property is quite nice and well maintained and a fairly large one with more than 200 apartments spread over some 30 acres.

Next morning had lunch at a beautiful resort nearby called Heritage Resort... would likely stay here my next visit. Its spread out on top of a hill, with the restaurant and a small swimming pool on the top of the hill... the view from here were fantastic and the pandi curry (pork curry – speciality of the region) as well as chicken pepper preparations were amazing.

Next morning we visited the Golden Temple – or the Namdrolling monastery located about an hours drive from Madikeri. It is also the second largest Tibetan settlement in India. Nice peaceful experience, impressive gold plated idols of Buddha and co. -though i will not forget this place for a bee sting i got which pained like crazy for the rest of the day despite all medicines and injection to get rid of the pain and irritation.

The bee sting didn’t stop me however from visiting an apiary and knowing a bit about the honey making process... staying as far from bees as possible.... The apiary and the apiculture training institute are located at Bhagamandala – on way to Talakaveri. Talakaveri is the birth place of Kaveri river and an important pilgrim centre. A Brahma Kundike or a small pond is where the river emerges atop a hill. We reached here on a rainy and windy morning so stayed for a little while and watched some pilgrims cross the ‘sacred’ pond fully clothed to receive blessings from the priest on the other side. Was too cold to even contemplate going into water !

On the way back took a little detour to check out the Neemrana property – about 30 kms from Madikeri. We had made reservation for lunch at the hotel – lunch was ok – but the trip to the property was worth it just because of its location in the middle of a coffee and pepper estate.

Next morning we did the more standard touristy destinations – starting with Abby falls which is 20 minute drive from Madikeri.

Next stop was Raja’s seat – which is a beautiful garden overlooking a valley where Kings of Kodagu (Coorg) spent their evenings and watched sunset. After our last peppery lunch in hotel coorg international – we were off to Mangalore.

Next morning we started our journey back from Mangalore to Goa.... best part was to leave early and stop at Udipi for breakfast – not too surprising that i had some best udipi food at udipi !!

Drove all day with stops at Murudeshwar (for coconut water and food) and at Karwar.... reached Palolem (south south Goa) around 3 pm. Some butter calamari and prawns on a shack quenched all hunger and tiredness and i was ready to drive further.

No better way to end a long driving vacation than spending couple of days in North Goa. So replenished our depleted energy levels before driving back to Mumbai !

Gir National Park, Gujarat

I will remember 1st of May 2009 as a day spent with Asiatic lions – eight of them in all – in three different sightings. I guess its not too difficult to spot a lion resting or sleeping at Gir National Park, but to find them with a kill, or drinking water needs some patience and lots of luck !


We spent two days at Gir National Park in Gujarat – and had three lion sightings on the first day and none on the second day. I wonder if it was plain chance or it had something to do with the park being much more crowded on the second day (being a Saturday) with lots of jeep safaris everywhere (including some noisy ones who looked like they were on a picnic, rather than a jungle safari).


The sightings on the first day were worth all the effort to get to Gir and brave the heat and the sun into the park. We drove from Mumbai to Gir (Mumbai – Surat – Vadodara – Rajkot – Junagadh – Gir) on 30th of April – a drive of almost 800 kms. Thanks to voting starting at 7am, we were on our way by 8am and reached Gir close to midnight. Next morning we left our hotel at 630am into the park and were soon clicking two male lions.

While one of the males (recognizable by their mane) was asleep, the second one moved a bit to go into the shade and then slept as well. With no more movement here, our guide suggested we move on for the lookout of some others who were seen in that area the previous day. Soon we were able to locate this group of two lionesses with with two cubs not too far from the earlier sighting.


The two lionesses and one cub sat there and stared at us, while the second cub moved around as we clicked pictures.


Asiatic lion survives today only in the Gir National Park and as per last census there were 359 lions in 2005, spread over 1412 sq. kms area of the national park. Next census is planned in 2010. Gir is also home to leopards (which we did not get to see on this trip), sambar, cheetal, nilgai (blue bull antelope) and wild boar. We spotted a nilgai on our way back from the park.

I thought the bird sightings at Gir were really good as well. In between our lion searches we got to see many birds including a common kingfisher, a plum headed parakeet (male on the higher branch and female on the lower branch in second picture below) amongst others.

We also got to see a few different kinds of owls/owlets. I cant remember the exact names of the different types, but this one looked more interesting than the others.


Peacocks are common in national parks but to spot one with its fan like plumage (trying to wow potential mates) is quite a sight !


We were all enthu for the afternoon safari as the guide took us to a different part of the park, in search of two different adult male lions. Our guide stopped on the way at a water body, and sighted the lion far away drinking water. The lion was at quite a distance so we decided to find a convenient spot ahead. Our guide told us the lion would drink water for at-least 15 minutes, so we had a good chance of seeing him again. We did see him from a little ahead while he drank water and in between looked at us and then got back to drinking water.

After quenching his thirst, the lion started to move on the road and we followed quietly behind. Soon it found a nice shade and sat down to rest. We stood nearby watching.

A few minutes later another male lion (our guide had told us these two brothers ‘hang out’ together) came to the same spot and the two hugged. Lions are social animals (unlike tigers which are solitary) and usually hang around in groups called prides.


Both the lions rested for a while and we stood nearby and waited for any movement. We did get some movement after a while. One of the lions got up and moved towards what seemed like a kill it had made earlier. It moved towards the kill, picked it up and took it back with him to where they were resting.

Satisfied with having spent enough time with the lions (wouldn’t mind spending some more but then we have to adhere to park timings), we went back to the hotel to rest and get ready for the next day.

Next morning our guide took us to yet another part of the park to look out for another pride. The guides in the park keep checking with the tribals who live in the park (called maldharis) about the exact location and where they saw the lions last. While we waited close to a water body where the lions were likely to come to drink water, our guide helped us spot a few birds including a yellow footed green pigeon and a cormorant.


On our way back out of the park, my friend saw a leopard cross the road ahead of us but was too fast for us to track it down. The maldharis around confirmed that one had just crossed the road. We stopped at a couple of places clicking a few more birds – like the red wattled lapwing close to a water pond.

Later in the afternoon safari we also spotted a yellow wattled lapwing near another pond, along with another red wattled lapwing.

The afternoon safari on second day was more deers, jungle dogs, sambar, nilgai and many more birds. Some of them repeated by choice – e.g. we went again to the tree we had spotted parakeets the previous day to get some more pictures of these colourful birds.

We also spotted some other interesting birds with long tails – the Asian paradise flycatcher and the Asian brown flycatcher but they moved too fast for me to get a good click. I did get a few snaps of a Eurasian thick-knee.

Next morning was our drive back to Mumbai. Ideally i would have liked to make a few more visits to the park – hopefully another time.

Lotus backwater resort, Aronda, Maharashtra-Goa border

On my way back from Goa after the new year, i booked myself in this interesting new resort (about a year old in its current format) run by Lotus Suites (Kamat Hotels Group) at Aronda.




The resort is located about 30 kms from Sawantwadi, a convenient stop enroute road trip to Goa. We actually drove to Aronda on our way back from Goa – drove north to Sawantwadi and then south again towards Aronda – a drive of almost 100kms.



On reaching we were told that North Goa (Kiranpani) is not even a 100 meters ferry ride from Aronda. The ferry which operates with a half hour frequency is a convenient drive-in ferry - you can take your car on to the ferry and drive off on Goa side. Once in Goa with your vehicle, north Goa beaches are a easy drive – 5 km to Kerim beach, 9 kms to Morjim beach and 25 kms to Calangute.


We decided to leave the car at the hotel but take a ferry ride anyway. We saw all kind of local vehicles – few small cars, a tempo and a small truck drive on to the ferry and drive off the other side. What surprised us was the constant flow of bikes and scooters (largely foreigners) with Goa number plates – tourists from Goa who hire two wheelers and take the ferry to Maharashtra in the morning and return to Goa by the evening ferry.

We got an extremely warm reception from Mr Avinash Malvade, in-charge of the Lotus backwater Aronda resort. The resort itself is work in progress. While about 17 rooms are operational (including 4 floating cottages) – some more rooms and other facilities like swimming pool etc. are in planning stage.


So if you want lots of usual activities – the resort is not fully ready yet! However the location of the resort - on the river Terecol and amidst mangroves and dense coconut trees provides a great experience nevertheless. The resort also arranges boat ride in the usually calm Terecol river.


Among the room options – the floating cottages clearly stood out. They stand on independent platforms at the river shore; what stands out is the construction (using local matured wood) and the way various modern amenities have been arranged for in each of these cottages.



The service levels (room service, other requirements) were excellent, – though floating cottages are farthest from the service area so it takes more time. Food was great especially if you like the malvani preparation; one can also order fresh catch (fish like red snapper) prepared as per one’s liking.

I say a nice place to chill and (experience) tranquil.....