There was Aerosmith @ Bangalore, There was a gulti fella going to
Bangalore, There was the first run of Greater Bangalore Hash and then
there was this option of just staying in Chennai, slowly get deep
fried due to this bright fackin star called the SUN and ultimately run
outta energy and then caman office on monday. All these were running
inside by grey-cells less head when Bala over a smoke session told me
and Ajith that He and Naren will take the car and not bikes to
Mudumalai. BINGO, DOUBLE BINGO... The scenic views of Mudumalai slowly
started creeping inside my head and by end of Thursday I was all
exited to get started. Had a thanni session with Mamada and Gokul.
Spent the night dreaming of the forest.
Day One - Friday
Woke up early in the morning. One tea and one chettiar meeting later,
I was at Bala's place with my bike just dying outta fuellessness at
his doorstep (phew). Had a nice cuppa kaapi and started the drive at
5am sharp. Picked up Ajith @ porur and then it was CAMAN THE YELAGIRI.
3 hours flat out and we are there to meet Naren. Spent sometime at the
Adventures site and the 4 of us piled into the car with Naren taking
the wheel. Comfy drive, Comfy car and friends around. WOW wonlee i say
:-). Stopped at Dharmapuri for a veggie lunch. Passed Metur, Attani,
Andiyur and reached Satyamangalam in the evening. The roads were sexed
out after this. Started climbing dhimbum ghats via Bannari. Dhimbum is
a place on top of the Satyamangalam range. This place seperates
Tamilnadu from karnataka. You climb the ghats from TN and climb down
into KA. Could clearly see the difference in road conditions. Roads in
KA were FACAL period. Stopped at a chai shop @ Dhimbum and had some
awesome chai. I would have clearly called up cozees at this point in
time and given him a piece of my mind regarding the fucked up chai he
serves back in chennai. Moved on to Thalavadi from Dhimbum thus
entering TN again. Thalavadi was a desolate village but roads were all
tarmac and louly wonlee. Moved on to enter KA again and stopped at
Chamrajnagar to adjust car headlights. The time was around 9PM.
Reached Gudalpet around 10ish and then came the forest area. Stopped
10 kms before Bandipur for a break. The place was pitch dark and outta
nowhere came these 20,30 villagers who surrounded the car and asking
us whaddafack we were doing there. We all asked Naren to move outta
the place and Naren slowly started moving. The angry villagers started
running behind the car and started pelting stones at it. BUNCH OF
BASTARDS wonlee hrrrmph. Was stopped at the forest checkpost by the
guards. The car got checked and we were let go peacefully. 2 bends
into the forest, all of us spotted a baby elephant and Holy daddy of
God - A Huge Tusker guarding the baby. WOOOO HOOO. The trip was worth
it I say. Naren kept the car at a steady 30 kmph and all 4 of us were
trying really hard to spot any other wildlife. Saw loads and loads of
deer and finally came into Masinagudi at 11.30 PM after an awesome
lunch+beer @ Pugmark. Turned from the main road to go to Wildways. 2
bends later.. We almost ran into a Tusker who was standing in the
middle of a 90 degree bend. HOOLY SHITE WONLEE. Naren stopped the car
and slowly started reversing but didnt move outta signt of the tusker.
Sat inside and jus watched the big one cross the road and after some
10 good mins the big boy got bored of us and moved into the
wilderness. Shaken like a Vodka Martini, the 4 of us finally settled
down at Wildways for the night. Me and Naren went off to sleep and
suddenly woke up in the middle of the night to dog barks. Naren took
out the search light and went out and spotted a whole group of Wild
pigs. I missed seeing em. Ajith didnt sleep the who light because he
was lil shaken that a Panther would decide to come into his room and
share his bed BWHAHAHAHHAHAA.
Day Two - Saturday
Woke up early and showered. Steaming hot idlis and aapams were served
by Abhid's wife. After belting down the food. Me, Ajith, Bala, Naren
and Abhid took off to the trekking spot. This place was 18 kms off
Kothagiri. The trek route was called the SHOLUR TRAIL. We climbed up
Kallati ghats to reach ooty and proceeded towards kothagiri. 2 Card
ripping up Kallati ghats was a sight to see. This pirticular ghat
section is damn steep and Naren handled the bends like a pro.
Proceeded to the tea estate from where the trek was to start. Bala
packed us all Lunch and off we went towards the sholur forest. Ajith
backed out from the trek after a kilometer and returned to the car.
Bala, Me, Naren, Abhid, two guards and a forest ranger took off on the
trek. The climb was fast and tiring. It was good distance too. Some 4
kms into the trek, Bala had a bad migrane attack and we all turned
back to the start point. The climb back was fast and break-less. We
reached the start point wonlee to find the car and ajith missing. he
came back in sometime wonlee to tell us that he missed the route back
and was walking round and round the tea estate. HAHAHA. We trekked up
and down the mountains and he trekked up and down the chai estate.
Bala started fixing us sandwiches which we hungrily hogged away :-D.
Started around 3 Pm from Kothagiri and reached Ooty. I am coming back
to Ooty after a looooooong time and man this place is conjested like
crazy. Checked into YWCA and called the RTMC boys who I thought were
in Masinagudi. These buggers actually had come up to Ooty to roam
around the place. Met up with Adman, Captain G and Sam Pedrosa for a
short while. They had to get back to Masinagudi before the ghat
checkpost closed down. The 4 of us packed up and went to meet Doc who
was close to Ajith. Doc arranged for us to wine and dine at a hotel (
forgot the name of the place ). Got smashed and Naren drove us all
back to YWCA and SNOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE wonlee.
Day Three - Sunday
Started from Ooty at 9 in the morning, Stopped for some chai and
patty. Got loads of chocolated and climed down the hillto reach
metupalayam. Drove down to Satyamangalam and then reached
Vani-yumm-badi Khaja @ 4pm for Lunch. From there it was home turf.
Belted the car back to Chennai and came straight to the beach to meet
up with the boys and have some veshams :-))
Legend..
Forest Attackers - Bala, Ajith, Dosai and Naren
Car Driven - Ford Ikon Flair 1200 CC Petrol
Total Kms - 1100+
Ghat Roads - Satyamangalam, Dhimbum, Thalavadi, Masinagudi, Kallati,
Ooty and Kothagiri
State of Mind - CAMAN THE ENJAIMENT
Highlights - Spotting two tuskers, The trek and the awesome ghat sections
Pics @ http://www.flickr.com/photos
Peace
Dosai
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