[Samurai]

I know this is a little weird, considering I visit this place 10-12 times a year. But it kind of turned into an enjoyable trip, so why not write a tiny travelogue.

We had no plans for this weekend. After spending the whole Saturday at home, Sunday we wanted to get out of the house. So we decided to pay a visit to my parents, who now live in my native village 35 KMs away.

We reached there around 1.15PM, just in time to enjoy my mother's tasty chicken curry with dosa and ghee-rice. The milk, tea, curds, ghee, etc., at my parent's place is usually fantastic, simply because they get pure cow's milk without adulteration, thanks to a local island family.

When the mention of island came up, my wife again started talking about doing some boating. Although our area is criss-crossed with a rivers and lots of islands, there is no commerical/tourism activity. There is nobody who will ply boats for money. Because of that reason, I have never actually rode a boat around here.

Then my dad suggested that we might find a guy whom I used to know at the nearby jetty, and he has a boat. Our young one was already feeling very sleepy, so just we two with our older kid walked towards the jetty. We passed many relatives houses and my haunts from 70s and 80s. I used to spend my every summer vacation here.





A - My parents home.
B - The jetty (before NH-17 & bridge, this was a very busy place)
C - The park & walk area for island dwellers.
D - The island family who supply us milk, the boatman's house.


We reached the jetty, and there was not a soul. It was smelling of dead fish and the few boats we found there were dirty, since they are used for collecting sand from the river bottom. At one time, before NH-17 and the bridge were built, this was a very busy site. The buses used to come till here and then people used to switch into boats, cross the river, get into the bus again. My uncles/aunts used to go to highschool by crossing the river here. Since we didn't find anybody, we returned back.

There was another place we could try, a scenic spot where I have spent countless evenings in my teens.

Last year Rudra took this shot of this park & walk spot.


This place is what I call park and walk. All the nearby island dwellers have no access to roads. So they take boat from their home to this place, park the boat, and walk to NH-17 and catch the bus. Although most of these island dwellers are well-to-do, they can't really own automobiles unless they can arrange parking garage on the other bank. The island part you see in the above spot is owned by a family who kids are working abroad. My mom's cousin who owns the land portion at the park & walk told us we might find someone who can give us a ride on the river.

So we go there passing by this trail.


But we found only one boat and no other soul.


As we were just giving up hope, the aunt (mom's cousin) showed up there to check on us. Since there was nobody, she began to communicate with the island in the old fashioned way. The septegarian lady screamed COOOOO...a few times, and she was soon replied with a simliar COOOO... from the other side. Once she identified the person, she asked him to come across without giving any reason, and he did so without question. He turned out to be one of the sons of the family visiting from abroad on vacation. Once he reached across, she instructed him to give us a ride around the river and he was happy to oblige. Once we started, we quickly introduced ourselves. At first he wasn't sure who I was, considering 10-15 houses along that river bank were all off-shoots of the same family. Then he mentioned my late grandmother and asked whether I am related to her. Well, I said she was my grandma, that cleared up the connection.

All of the sudden we see Jelly fish, lots and lots of them. Very difficult shoot since they pass by very quickly by the boat, I had to click a lot. Apparently it is only a winter phenomena, we probably saw hundreds of the them. This is my first jelly fish sighting, some were huge and some were long.







I have tracked our ride through the river on the map.

A ride was very pleasant, with casual conversation with our NRI boatman, talking about old days. Earlier, none of these islands had fresh water supply. They all used to come to one of our family well (now belongs to my mom's cousin) to get their fresh water. I am talking about 100s of families spending few of hours everyday carrying water across the river with boatful of water vessels. Now they all get panchayat water connection by underwater pipes. They even have phone/electricity connection. But no access to vehicles.







Here there is a difference of 5-6ft between high-tide and low-tide. We were here during low-tide, morning the water would 5-6 ft high.

Notice the line where the color of the stone wall changes from dark to bright, that's the high-tide line.




After 30 minutes of ride, we were deposited back at the park & walk spot, then we thanked and said our good bye.

The NRI boatman.


As we reached home, my son noticed some farm activity and asked what the farmer is doing with the rake. The farmer turned out to be my maternal uncle who is 60+ now. He is not really a farmer, but has been very active in farm work since he was a toddler. He is capable of working whole day like this, I used help him out as a teenager when I used to vacation here. This is no commercial activity, he does it for timepass.



My wife and son are getting some deep info on the vegetables he is growing.


This is a kind of vegetable plant called Basale (similar to palak).


My son is trying to digest all the info...


After the farming lesson, we visited couple more relatives houses, had our dinner and started back home.

The parting shot...

[dadu]

Nice writeup and pictures as usual, thanks for sharing with us. Btw, whats the name of this place ??.

[TSEA]

Great Pics Samurai (as usual!). I have always enjoyed your travelogues. You are really fortunate to be living such close to paradise. Some-times I really envy you . And the way you capture simple things, is great!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by dadu

Btw, whats the name of this place ??.

It is just an ordinary coastal Karnataka village along NH-17. Hope you don't mind, I prefer not to name it.

[akroy]

Amazing pictures Samurai San, enjoyed every moment of Coastal KN through it...

Abhi

[snaronikar]

Great Pics & write up Samurai. This is the first time I have come across such a fine pics after joining T-BHP. Though the travel time was less, the explanation and pics did most of the story.

[vikram_d]

Ahh...just love the simple life.

[ashthedivx]

Another great Write up, I always enjoy reading your travelogues..... keep writing !!!!

[pjay_in]

Such a delightful piece, Samurai!

No doubt the place is very beautiful, but you certainly know how to use your camera!

[sreenidhibr]

Nice place - a paradise for city dwellers like me :-)
Thanks for sharing.

OT: I thought jelly fish were inhabitants of salt (sea) water. Perhaps I am mistaken?

[mobike008]

Coastal KA at its best. Looks like a mixture of Goa and Kerala together!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by sreenidhibr

OT: I thought jelly fish were inhabitants of salt (sea) water. Perhaps I am mistaken?

No, you are not. This river is salty. The phenomena of high-tide/low-tide usually means the river is very close to joining the sea, in this case about 2KMs from the sea.

[HappyWheels]

good write up samurai.

you have your own paradise, dont you!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

you have your own paradise, dont you!

Actually it is not easy as that. There is no access to broadband, no power half the time, low voltage when it is there, no access to junk food/delivery, no shopping malls, etc.

If you can enjoy life without all the city facilities and material comforts, then you will be home here.

Originally Posted by vikram_d

Ahh...just love the simple life.

Simple life, you got that right.

[Nitin]

Wonderful write-up,and great pics!
Jelly fish! Oooh..now thats interesting. Any other known marine life that visits the backwaters this time of the year?