[dhanushmenon]

27 May 14

I overheard someone say that the days are bright and sunny here in Kochi.
I also overheard across the walls that the monsoons are expected to hit the coast within a week or so.
I can only overhear, for I have been parked inside this dingy garage for the last one month.
And my owner, Mr D, the shameless creep has left for Goa.

He claims that he went there on his professional commitments; and that he doesn’t have enough time to even breathe.
But his travelogue of Goa suggests otherwise.
Looks like he is churning beaches and gulping heritage in Goa.

That travelogue was posted this morning (27 May ) and I am furious.
For one, that he didn’t take me there and the next, I am jealous.
Jealous that I am not getting to see all those exotic places where he treads along on a Royal Enfield.

C’mon D, you didn’t bring me home to warm the concrete inside your garage.
Its for nothing that people call me a Cheetah.
I need some space to breathe and also some lengths to stretch my legs.
Where in the world have you lost your sense and logic?

I have always disliked Mr D.
For many reasons at that.
That moron never found any time for me. Not even to pen a well deserved ownership report.
At last, I had to shamelessly pen that out myself

My Plight :(

Anyways, looks like its gonna be waiting time atleast until he returns from Goa. I hope that he will atleast take me for a walk to the clogged and battered roads of Kochi.
Yeah, it will be only a walk.
If you have seen the moon like roads in Kochi, then you’d rather stay within the garage itself.

[dhanushmenon]

14 Jun 14

Mr D has returned and also he brought along uncle monsoons with him.
Atlast, some respite for my providence.

He straight away came and dusted me out, gave me a good wash; and well, I am shining now.



Mr D isn’t as bad as I had thought.
He then took me out with his lovely lady and the two adorable kids for a drive.
The kids did'nt have to try hard. Their roller coaster ride was promptly delivered. Thanks to the craters in the Kochi roads. Moon will be ashamed.

However, what got my ears standing was the mention of a long drive by Mr D.
I didn’t believe him then.
Being the lazy bum he is, the word ‘planning’ is only just another word in a dictionary.
A copy of which he doesn’t have.

I then sneaked a peak into some documents in his laptop.
I was pleasantly surprised this time.
There was one dedicated folder with the letters “COORG” in capitals.
I didn’t realise it was the name of a place until I saw all these inside the folder:

check off list - Copy.docx

travel itinerary.xlsx

places to see- coorg.docx

visit guide - wayanad.docx

Dubare Elephant Camp- Coorg.pdf

This much of thought process!!!
I now know where all his hair has gone

There is none more gleeful this night as I retire to rest.
The drive is to start on 16th, that’s as close as day after tomorrow.
I am really gonna have a tough time finding sleep.

Well, let’s discount that silly grin on my face for now.

[dhanushmenon]

16 Jun 14

0600.
Phew!! It is daylight atlast. Seemed like eternity waiting for the night to pass.

Mr D’s family is not of the variety who would start the drive before sunrise.
Mr D likes to do that, but the sound sleep of kids is on priority list for the lady.
They have done enough road trips already to know how cranky kids can get without proper sleep.
So, we start at 0615
The morning hue of the rising sun welcomed us into the troubled craters and potholes within the city.
But before Mr D could spell out Jack Robinson, I pulled him out of the mess and we were in the highway.

The route decided was:



The rains were heavy to begin with, then torrential and then incessant.
Way to go Uncle Cloud!!

'

But soon the skies cleared up and I was happily galloping through the highway which stretched ahead of me.
The weather was moist with the just subdued rain and soon the roads started to twist and turn up on the way up the hills.



Soon we reached Thamarassery Ghat section.
I have been long waiting to clamber up this famous twisties.
More so after it was sky rocketed to fame by one guy called "Kuthiravattom Pappu" in one of the Malayalam Movies.
Mallus would definitely know what I am talking of, and it is difficult to explain in English.
So I would better leave it at that.







We moved along in a leisurely pace.
Some short breaks, loitering and few hot teas later, we checked in at "Wayanad Blooms", Kenichira

The resort is set engulfing everything that Wayanad has to offer, except wild life.
Greenery, solitude, coffee plantations, garden, vegetable farms, animal farms and a good set of people.



There are independent villas provided with authentic Kerala food.
They take you on a small walking tour to their vegetable, fruits and coffee plantations; guide you through the animal rearing farms and gives you the closest touch to nature.





Cocoa and ripe passion fruit from the plantation was happily offered to us.
Mr D was drooling over it and went on to even submit that it was the tastiest he has ever had.
He went onto profess something about organic farming and the absence of chemical manures and all that. But I didn't understand much of it.

[dhanushmenon]

17 Jun 14

Mr D and family woke up respecting sanity at 0730.
I have been restless all night, for I did not want to be parked in the garage for a minute extra.

They took a leisurely stroll through the farm and seemed to be taking in the beauty and enjoying quite a bit of their halt at this place.
Little do I know about these things, for the only beauty I find is in the whine of the engine and the spool of the turbo.

At 0930, they had all packed up and was ready to go.
I heard Mr D happily showering praise on the authentic Kerala breakfast the resort provided.
A resounding burp which followed and the silly grin painted on his face confirmed it.

After the bubbles in his stomach settled down, Mr D drove us to Kuruva Island



Road enroute.



Extract from Wikipedia:

Kuruvadweep' or Kuruva Island (11°49′18″N 76°5′32″E / 11.82167°N 76.09222°E) is a 950-acre protected river delta on the Kabini River in the Wayanad district, Kerala.

This dense and evergreen forest is uninhabited and hence a home to rare kinds of flora and fauna: uncommon species of birds, orchids and herbs namely.
Its unique geographical characteristics make it a place where not only the leaves but also silence is evergreen being away from cities and thus it has become a place of attraction.
Recently, it has been identified as the most visited place in the district by tourists drawn from all over the globe.

The island surrounded by streams and river can be accessed using rafts or fiber boats run by Kerala Tourism Department.
Entrance to the island is restricted and monitored by Vana Samrakshana Samiti, a Dept of Forest of Kerala initiative to protect forest, and at times of heavy rain and frequency of elephants and other animals to the island, a pass obtained prior to the visit of spot from Dept of Forest is mandatory.

Kuruva Islands is 17 km east of Mananthavady and 10 km north west of Pulpally, nearby towns in Wayanad District.

We have to cross across this river to get to the island.



The raft is maneuvered like so:



A beautiful bridge on the landing base of the raft which connects to island.
The trails of the island starts here.



Kerala Forest Department promotes awareness



Lady in Red.



The kids had a lovely time climbing the easily accessible branches and trees



And jumping off them too...



The inviting path through the jungle.



Anyone who has not seen a "Trisul", here is your sample



The balancing act.
(I am thankful that the branch didn't break under the magnanimity of Mr D)



The bargain- To Be or Not To Be



The root of the matter!!!



shades of grey and fresh green...



Maze-d



The locals with a bit of fishing



The beautiful stream amidst the forest- This actually is the USP of Kuruva Island.



Look where we found bucket seats ...





Perfect place to get lost in solitude.

[dhanushmenon]

18 Jun 14

We reached Club Mahindra Resorts at Madikere yesterday.
The drive was awesome which took me through some forests and some curvaceous green mountains of the Western Ghats.



And after the mountains, came the grasslands of the district of Madikere...



Even the kids had a good time during a small pitstop, running around the trees in the forest of Wayanad





Someone said that Coorg is the Scotland of India.
Coorg definitely is beautiful, but I wouldn't go that far to draw a parallel with Scotland.
Even Mr D felt the hill station of Munnar mesmerized him more than Coorg.

Rajah's Seat didn't actually excite Mr D nor his wife.



But the kids liked the toy train in the adjacent park.



Mr D had made elaborate plans to roam around all places in Coorg.
But once they reached Club Mahindra, they lazily scuttled most of their plans.

Mr D and his wifey cozily sat in their balcony, sipping coffee and enjoyed the monsoons which had set in.
The resort itself was within a rainforest and it provided the perfect monsoon holidays which they were looking for.
However, thankfully for me, the kids soon went restless and dragged them out into visiting places.

A brief discussion later, they drew out the new list of places to visit:
Nisargadhama and Namdroling Monastery. Full stop.

Just two places?
You came all the way from Kochi just to sit inside the room?
God!! When will someone knock some sense into this guy?

Anyway, atleast some respite came my way than just being rested on the slushy open car park.
We soon started our drive to nisargadhama.
Roads were wonderful to say the least. Well laid and smooth tarmac.
If I had the email IDs of Kerala PWD engineers, I would've emailed them the snaps of the roads here.

Somewhere enroute, we found a lotus lake.





Nisargadhama

Nisargadhama is a small picnic place, and would be ideal if you visit here as a group.
Except for a hanging bridge and shaded foot paths, the place did not bring any curvature to the lips of Mr D or his wife.



Junior Mr D loved the cute white rabbits.





Load testing of the sliding rig...



Junior D on tree house.



Rumour has it that this elephant was diagnosed with a hairline fracture that evening.
Carrying of weight beyond its capacity was said to be the cause.

[dhanushmenon]

Namdroling Monastery

Mr D and family had a great time here.
Not because the place provided amusement; but the experience amongst the monks were unique for the experience.



Shadows and reflections...



















Most snaps which D clicked back though, were similar to the ones already in this forum.
So, I had to weed out a lot of them for the sake of saving repetition.

However, the exquisite and detail in the architecture and figurines really struck me.









Inside the temple



Quite a nice and colourful spread







Unique door handle.
On a lighter vein, it serves many purposes:
1) A door bell,
2) for bludgeoning someone if he doesnt behave
3) Scaring the kids if they don't eat food



Preparing for prayer

[dhanushmenon]

Kagyudpa Monastery

Kagyudpa Monastery is generally not in the tourist list of Coorg.
It is basically a training centre for the monks.
The discipline enforced here reminds of military training establishments.

Many thanks to the travelogue of laluks for having brought this place to the radar of Mr D.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ted-coorg.html

The place is 6.6 Kms further South of Namdroling Monastery.



The drive is awesome and the valley view is breath taking.





Definitely worth a drive through when you are there.









A Tibetan Elderly Lady can be seen in this pic with her pet.
She was very friendly and obliged with many pictures and a little bit of old time stories

[dhanushmenon]

19 Jun 14

This day had to come.
The day when we start the drive back.
The day when we return back to our normal lives.

Since the preposition had the word "drive" in it, I was okay with it.
However, what hurts is that what awaits after this final 350 Kms sprint.

Mr D will start with his busy office schedules tomorrow and I will be glancing at the dirty walls and asbestos sheet of the garage.

I am definitely going to miss two adorable kids who had a great time along with me.



I didn't mind them jumping around within me, even though their antics did hurt at times.
I didn't mind them dirtying my beige leather interiors, though Mr D's face used to go red like a tomato.
I am a car after all... and they are kids.
You need to give considerations to both.

We started the return drive by around 0930.
We left the green pastures and valleys of Madikere way back.
The rains were incessant as we crossed the border towards Kerala.
Small lovely streams and small waterfalls like this dotted the path all the way.



After all the fun, we were back home by night fall.



Back home, with lots of memories to cherish.
And I will retire to the garage till the next ride beckons me.

[Eddy]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing

[SaurabhSaran]

WOW! nice travelogue with brilliant pics Mr. D

Trisul picture of the tree is something which is unique.

Enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing!

[Ddrive]

A nice travelogue with excellent pictures again, well narrated by your car.
The opening picture was so beautiful.

[fusionbang]

Once again a beautifully narrated travelogue with good pictures

I think you have hurt your feelings because of Mr.D being very busy and staying quite far from you. Anyway I will put a word to Mr. D to spend more time with you and fulfill your wishes. Also I will tell him how eager you are to hit the roads and conquer them. Till then rest and be mentally prepared for the next expedition.

Dhanush - Hat's off to your writing skills man, seriously you are very creative and expect many more travelogues to come in the future.

[voyageur]

Dhanush,

Cool stuff, very creative and great narration indeed. Those pictures were awesome, mythili and dhruvin had some good time I guess looking at those pictures. How is Seena?

I thought I wouldn't post in your thread for missing the meet, but I couldn't resist. The pics were too good and the narration was very creative.

Would request you to take your xuv out more often from your dingy garage.

Thanks for sharing

Cheers!

[Aditya]

Fantastic traveogue Dhanush. Great to hear the narration from the horse's (maybe cheetah's) mouth. Your children appear to have had a lovely time.

Lovely pictures of the countryside and forests. The roads are really tempting.

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by SaurabhSaran

WOW! nice travelogue with brilliant pics Mr. D

Trisul picture of the tree is something which is unique.

Enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks a lot SaurabhSaran.

Originally Posted by Ddrive

A nice travelogue with excellent pictures again, well narrated by your car.
The opening picture was so beautiful.

Thanks Ddrive.
the opening picture was taken inside a rubber plantation somewhere in Calicut in Kerala enroute to Coorg.

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Once again a beautifully narrated travelogue with good pictures

I think you have hurt your feelings because of Mr.D being very busy and staying quite far from you. Anyway I will put a word to Mr. D to spend more time with you and fulfill your wishes. Also I will tell him how eager you are to hit the roads and conquer them. Till then rest and be mentally prepared for the next expedition.

Dhanush - Hat's off to your writing skills man, seriously you are very creative and expect many more travelogues to come in the future.

Thanks fusionbang.
Happy that the travelogue has some entertainment value.
And Mr D has duly registered your complain on behalf, for keeping the Cheetah within confines for prolonged duration.
Shall make amends definitely.

Rather, I did make amends already. Did an up and down trip to Goa after the Coorg outing.
Planning a drive to Vizag next month too, from Kochi.

Originally Posted by voyageur

Dhanush,

Cool stuff, very creative and great narration indeed. Those pictures were awesome, mythili and dhruvin had some good time I guess looking at those pictures. How is Seena?

I thought I wouldn't post in your thread for missing the meet, but I couldn't resist. The pics were too good and the narration was very creative.

Would request you to take your xuv out more often from your dingy garage.

Thanks for sharing

Cheers!

Thanks voyageur.
Everyone is doing fine buddy.
You should've rather made a visit home this time when you came down.
My Thunderbird reminded me two weeks back that the insurance is almost due. (you know what I mean )

Well, for the 'Dingy Garage', the pun was intended and I knew for sure that Kochi Bhpians would latch on to it.

Originally Posted by Aditya

Fantastic traveogue Dhanush. Great to hear the narration from the horse's (maybe cheetah's) mouth. Your children appear to have had a lovely time.

Lovely pictures of the countryside and forests. The roads are really tempting.

Thanks Aditya.
The drive was awesome and the roads particularly was very good.
Especially for me, having driven on the potholed roads of the mayhem at Kochi.