03-01-2015
2527 KMS
Santhosh did not have a good sleep last night, so I took the charge and drove till this breakfast point. While it will take some time for the breakfast to get ready, I don't want you guys to miss the experience, we had last night. Are we so lucky to the Malabar region or is it that we had to have that disastrous experience as part of our travel expedition.
Last night, while we were in deep sleep, we felt some one sprinkling water over us. First we thought it would be some cop, but soon we realized that it started drizzling. Lazy enough to get up, we covered up ourselves completely with sleeping bags and went back to sleep. It was not even ten minutes, I woke up and told Santhosh "Sale barish jorse hoga lag raha he" (It seems heavy rain is approaching), Santhosh in sleep "Are samundar me barish nahi hota be, So jaa" (It never rains in sea, just sleep). I too agreed with Santhosh's concept and slept. As said earlier, we were lucky to Malabar region and it was not just drizzle, but started catching up. This time we both woke up at the same time and did not discuss anything. We were deep inside the beach and deep in sleep. Our mats and sleeping bags were out from the motorcycle. It would take at least 15-20 minutes for us to get the setup back. The rain started catching up badly and we had no choice other than moving to a safer place. While I was struggling a lot to take the motorcycle out from that sandy beach, Santhosh started looking for places nearby. After a long search he found an abandoned house. He came running and informed that there were some truck drivers sleeping in a shed and we need to join them. As there was no other choice, we quickly started pushing the motorcycle to the road side. Many time it got stuck inside the sand. Some how we managed to get it out to the road side to reach the shed and parked in safe place not to get drenched.
The truck drivers helped us to find a place near to them, where we had put the mat. It was very wise for us to move there, else the down pour wouldn't have left any thing dry last night. Thanking the drivers, we went back to sleep. We barely catch sleep as it was raining heavily. As Santhosh could not complete his sleep last night, he handed over the keys to me. We headed towards Sulya and found a hotel, where we are the first customer of the day. I just called up my friend Amrutha and she insisted us to visit Kalgundi. I also wanted to take Santhosh there, as I knew he would love Amrutha's place. Also I knew aunt would be very happy to meet Santhosh, as she would also love to speak and it’s the same thing with Santhosh.
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| The place where we ended up last night |
It's not very easy to travel Amrutha’s place, as this is very much inside the forest area. I visited Amrutha's place quite many time over many seasons and I am very much aware that the place is not approachable by vehicle in the rainy season. This is going to be my first ride in winter and I am just hoping the water level of the stream to be low. I also asked Amrutha not to hesitate and let me know what all I could get there. Breakfast ready!!! Now it's time to grab some food to satisfy the stomach.
It's evening 8 PM, no electricity and it's pitch dark here. I could some how manged to arrange some light source to finish up my diary for the day. After finishing breakfast, we reached Sulya crossing a beautiful forest. The ride was quite pleasant with those nice mountain curves. As we were crossing Kerala border to enter Karnataka, one funny incident happened while I was asking for the route to Sulya. With that past few days in Kerala I asked "Sulya yevulu doora?" (What is the distance to Sulya). Santhosh from back seat told "It's not Yevulu, it's Estu. We entered Karnataka". With some local findings, we took the Madikeri road to reach Kalgundi. By that time, I got a call from Akshatha (Amrutha's elder sister). We picked all required things that Akshatha told and headed towards Amrutha's place. It was very long time, when I came and lot of things got changed. So I just conformed the route from the owner of the grocery store.
It was very pleasant riding inside the forest after that hot and humid coastal experience. We quickly reached near the stream and saw Shivam and Boppayya waiting for us. Crossing the stream was the tough task as the stones were slippery. Amrutha's sister Akshatha was here who welcomed us with the fresh lemon juice. After which we got fresh followed by a awesome lunch.
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| Playing cricket with Sivam and Boppayya |
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| Sivam in action |
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| Boppayya in action |
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| Sivam |
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| Sivam in action |
Boppayya guided us through the estate for a walk and we reached the same stream to refresh. Santhosh was very happy for the place and the hospitality of aunt. He felt like he is at his home. Boappayya had made kayak out of the available bamboo, which was good enough for 2 kids to float around. While Sivam and Boppayya were busy playing with the stream, we gave work to our camera for some portrait shots. Santhosh planned to change the dress of Shivam, but he was so shy about it, made all of us to turn around before he could do it him self. He was very matured for a 5 year kid. After coming back we played foot ball with Shivam and Boppayya. By that time evening tea was ready for us. We had very nice time talking to Aunty and Akshatha. I think the dinner will be ready in sometime and I will not miss to prepare for that. Tomorrow is our last day and I am just hoping for an memorable ending for this expedition.
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| Sivam and Boppayya with kayak |
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| Sivam and Boppayya with kayak |
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| Sivam and Boppayya with kayak |
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| Sivam with kayak |
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