[lohithrao]

Woww amazing!!

Just back from Mangalore and i enjoyed the rains thoroughly !

Nothing like being close to the sea and hill hi time i find myself a job in Mangalore or Manipal

[Samurai]

It is raining very hard these days to make up for the lull in July. It was raining very hard most of the night until morning 7:30AM today.

I had parked a muddy GV outside the garage yesterday. Today it was spanking clean thanks to literal pressure wash by the rains.

[lohithrao]

Originally Posted by Samurai

It is raining very hard these days to make up for the lull in July. It was raining very hard most of the night until morning 7:30AM today.

I had parked a muddy GV outside the garage yesterday. Today it was spanking clean thanks to literal pressure wash by the rains.

If it rains the same way in Bangalore am sure their will be utter CHAOS!

[HappyWheels]

Where else can you find someone who goes on a trip, with the family, to test the engine cooling system???

Great "travelogue" Samurai! And in between you also seem to have got the temperature checked. And it also seems like it was used as an excuse to stop and do some photo shooting. :-)

[Vinay DL]

Great Snaps, I guess if one wants to experience the downpour then this is the right time to visit such places..

Great Ride and awesome snaps. No other vehicle would dare blend in this background.

[Jammy70]

Thanks Samurai for a lovely write-up and beautiful pictures! And to think all that (monkey-attack, hard rain, lovely mist-covered ghats and a sleeping snake!) happened in the span of 5 hours - wow! To top it off - a soft-top Jeep ride!

PS: Reading reports like this on Monday mornings is injurious to one's health - it just aggravates the MM Blues!

[GTO]

What breathtaking pictures! Call me crazy, but I spent more time looking at the Jeep than the scenery. Looks totally in its element in the midst of the woods. Good thing that you have the time & inclination to enjoy Mother nature, Samurai. Not too many do.

The conclusion of the test: My jeep engine starts overheating to 100C whenever it climbs for 10-15 minutes even in pouring rain.

What this really means is that your engine is overheating when overworked. Will discuss further on the other thread.

[princezahed]

Originally Posted by four_tire

By the way its not a viper.. its a Rat snake.. not harmful.. but is very fast and grows in great length. Cant comment on dead/alive (as thats a natures gift to reptiles to pretend dead even when alive)

sorry to say so but it is NOT a rat snake.it is a malabar pit viper.please be careful if you dont know what snake your dealing with.never pick it up even if you think its non venomous or dead.even a dead snake can send you to the hospital.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Hey, are you sure? I have seen enough rat snakes, they move like a bullet train every time I saw one. This one has triangular head like a pit viper.

Sharath sir you are right.it is a viper.the malabar pit viper.a rat snake never sticks around to pose.

amazing pics.i still cant forget my drive through agumbe last year in june driving in the heaviest rain i have ever felt through those ghats.just amazing.iam totally jealous of you.you can go for a lunch break to agumbe and it would take me the whole day to drive to there.

[lohithrao]

Agumbe is a heaven for snakes sneak into the jungle and you might find a 15foot King cobra

[Samurai]

Thanks princezahed for the identification. I used to know snakes reasonably well as I grew up around forests at my family house, and even few years in estates of Coorg. We routinely used to have snakes entering our kitchen, dining room, etc. But couple of decades away in cities has dulled my nature sense. But I could instantly sense it was the poisonous kind.

Originally Posted by GTO

Good thing that you have the time & inclination to enjoy Mother nature, Samurai. Not too many do.

Right from pre-teens to mid-teen years I spent most of my vacation days and weekends roaming in the forests and farms, that helps.

[maddy42]

Well prince your right. Its a dangerous one and usually keeps searching for warm places in houses. Lots of cases in coorg where people are bitten bythis snake. Rat snakes are little more fat and has a heavy tail. It also is longer than the cobra.

Great pics samurai. Hope your heating problem gets sorted out soon.

[anujmishra]

Excellent writeup and excellent pictures. Even this weekend we went to Madikeri from Bangalore in a very short but rejuvenating trip. We (Me, My wife and my 3 yrs old son) planned on Friday morning and started on Saturday morning.

Drive was excellent and picturesque in rains. Especially from Kushalnagar to Madikeri (Coorg). That road we enjoyed most and photos and view were similar to your photos. It was cloud all around and was raining intermittently. I was planning to comeup with travelogue but there are enough travelogues are there shall update in one of those Coorg Trip travelogue.

[princezahed]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Agumbe is a heaven for snakes sneak into the jungle and you might find a 15foot King cobra

agumbe is where india's only king cobra research station is located deep in the forests.entry is restricted only to researchers and trust me its a heaven for snake lovers like me.its a very peaceful place.anyone cant just go there only once.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Thanks princezahed for the identification. I used to know snakes reasonably well as I grew up around forests at my family house, and even few years in estates of Coorg. We routinely used to have snakes entering our kitchen, dining room, etc. But couple of decades away in cities has dulled my nature sense. But I could instantly sense it was the poisonous kind.

Right from pre-teens to mid-teen years I spent most of my vacation days and weekends roaming in the forests and farms, that helps.

your welcome glad you preferred to just shoot it with your cam and not fidget with it.it may not have killed you but it could surely have left you with a nasty bite and a missing finger or hand.my workers found 3 venomous kraits on our coffee estate in coorg on the roof.sadly the workers killed and burnt them.Also,snakes dont have poison Sharath sir,they contain venom which is modified saliva.

Originally Posted by maddy42

Well prince your right. Its a dangerous one and usually keeps searching for warm places in houses. Lots of cases in coorg where people are bitten bythis snake. Rat snakes are little more fat and has a heavy tail. It also is longer than the cobra.

Great pics samurai. Hope your heating problem gets sorted out soon.

monsoon is the time when snakes get into houses,garages and even inside vehicle assembly searching for warmth.as you mentioned,rat snakes are longer,thicker and quicker than most other snakes.they are yellow- brownish in color and look like cobra's which is a defence mechanism.

OT: @everyone: the best thing to do if you spot a snake is give it space to move away and not corner it for whatever reasons. there is no general rule of identifying venomous and non venomous snakes but if a snake has a triangular/large head with patterns on its back or rings please stay away from them.your ignorance could cost you a limb or in the worst case,your life.its a himble request.

[pramod]

Originally Posted by four_tire

Clean & lovely weather! Beautiful scenery!! Macho vehicle! Creative eyes (Samurai). That jeep looks so apt for the surroundings unlike any vehicle.

By the way its not a viper.. its a Rat snake.. not harmful.. but is very fast and grows in great length. Cant comment on dead/alive (as thats a natures gift to reptiles to pretend dead even when alive)

Hey, Its definitely not a Rat snake
Dont be so confident
Its a Viper or a Keel back.

[Ramkumar]

Excellent Travelogue and very beautiful pictures.