Lothal and Nalsarovar Bird sanctuary in Gujarat

This is the first time I am staying in Gujarat. I have been planning for quite a long time to set foot here and finally managed to do so in lieu of a project work through ATOS. I spent the first weekend going around the nearby places since I had only a day’s off on Sunday. From the beginning of this week I had started planning for the next weekend and had asked my friend Mohan (he has, till date, never said NO to any of my plans including the current oneJ, to come down from Pune. My primary plan was to visit Lothal and some other places nearby. Though both of us were involved in travelling, in this blog many a times I use “my” or “I” since Mohan does not contribute to the plans. He prefers to leave the decisions on me comfortably. He complements this by not finding fault with any of my decisions and enjoying everything. I believe our interests match up well most of the times.

We had been partners in crime earlier too when we did a long bike trip on my Thunderbird through the whole state of Tamil Nadu. This time I did not have my bike with me and hence I tried hard to arrange for one. I finally tried with Royal Enfield which did not work out as it turned out to be expensive. I finally resigned to the fact that we have to make do by bus trips this time around. This later turned out to be a boon for us. How? You will soon find that out when I start describing our journey.

Mohan arrived on 14^th June morning and I received him at Paldi Bus stand. We took an hour and a half to refresh ourselves at a hotel called Anupam. At brisk pace we reached the bus stand to take a bus to Lothal. None of the buses here have English signboards and it took me a long half an hour to find the right bus and that too only to a place called Bagodara which is 65 KMs from Amdavad (that is how Ahmedabad is written in Gujarati here). Lothal is around 19 KM from that place. We boarded a bus at around 8.50 am. A guy sitting next to us started chatting with us guiding us as to how to reach Lothal from Bagodara. He gave us N number of options where N>=5 and this totally confused me J But later I understood that he was quite knowledgeable about that place though he belonged to some other village far away from Lothal. It was a nice feeling travelling with local people around us. We got down by 10.40 at Bagodara and were waiting for some vehicle to take us to Lothal. We got into a bus thinking that it would take us to Lothal as told by the conductor. However it turned out that the conductor was a fresher and gave us wrong info :D. Hence we had to get down after some 12 KMs. The remaining 7KMs were covered by another two vehicles, one called as a Katara .It’s a damn colourful set up running on a Bullet engine. We took one more bus and the fourth vehicle from Ahmedabad before we could finally reach Lothal. As expected, the place was looking more like a barren land with just a few small structures. First we visited the Archaeological Museum and got to know the history of Lothal. I comprehended that Lothal was a flourishing port belonging to the Harappan civilisation wherein the people of that era built exquisite harbour for the ships shuttling between India and other countries for trading purpose. People were well trained in beading, pottery, jewellery designing and more of the kind which seemed to be the chief items for export from this place. It really felt nice to be able to put our feet on the land which used to flourish some 4500 years back. We roamed around viewing the Dock, said to be the oldest one of all civilizations, dilapidated house structures, underground pipes which I felt were drainage pipes or pipes for channelizing water from surrounding water body.

After about 2 hours of wandering around and wondering on the once-active port and trade centre of the highly developed Harappan civilisation we came out of that area undecided about the next destination. We took a Katara once again and reached Gundi from where we took an auto rickshaw to Anjer. The way to Anjer, in this life of mine, will forever remain alive in the preciously kept memory case, where I have stored all those surprise gifts which the nature has showered upon me from time to time as blessings for keeping the eyes of a traveller. Just as we were headed towards our next destination enjoying the sight around us we held our breaths back as we saw some 10-12 deer jumping in their inimitable style from one side of the road to the other. I gaped in absolute awe at the sheer magnificence of the sight and did not bother to budge an inch to get hold of the camera, lest I miss a moment of the unexpected happiness in front. Holding onto the happiness of experiencing the unexpected we reached Anjer and took a break there while waiting for a vehicle which can take us to Bagodara. Fortunately a lorry accepted our request. We enjoyed the lorry ride too! We were still unsure about what to do after reaching Bagodara. However, when we reached, it started raining and after some dilly-dallying of our minds, we decided to visit a bird sanctuary at Nalsarovar.

Nalsarovar is 28KM from Bagodara. The road to Nalsarovar is full of small lakes where we got to see many kinds of birds. We managed to get another lorry this time. The journey to this place was enthralling and a good sign of what was in store for us that evening. The destination was a 2 KM walk from the place where we got down and 2 bikers offered to drop us there. On the way we got to know that they were boat riders who take people for hourly rides. A few of the boat riders irritated us by repeatedly negotiating rates to take us on boat to a nearby island to get a better view of birds. The rates started from Rs.1000 per head and they came down to Rs.200 as I held my fort of viewing whatever we could from there itself. I had to shout at one of those guys and plead with one more to leave us on our own. I was content with enjoying the beauty of the place and birds from a distance. We got to see some breathtaking views from this place itself. Fortunately quite a few birds flew nearby and we got a very nice view of the birds. As we walked our way out of the sanctuary we spotted a place where hundreds of flamingos were seen together. They buried their faces into the water, probably either for cooling their heads or waiting to catch fishes. That was a sight to behold but since I did not have my Telephoto lens I could not capture this from that distance.

We headed back to Bagodara, this time on an open minivan. The various modes of transport which we took in this trip were the highlight of the day. It started raining by the time we reached Bagodara and took a bus at around 7.40 to Amdavad. For some unknown reason, the bus conductor was a bit miffed at me and reluctantly issued us our tickets. We reached Amdavad talking about our college time experiences and other things. We had our dinner at Udipi café and the trip came to an end.

Myself on the left (Pratap) and Mohan on the right.

Location details:

Lothal is at a distance of 84 KMs from Ahmedabad. The route is:

Ahmedabad to Bagodara 65Km  -->  A left turn here where a Lothal board is present  -->  12KMs and cross a railway track to take a left turn  -->  4KMs from here to Gundi  -->  Right turn here and 3 more KM to reach Lothal

Nalsarovar Bird sanctuary is 28KMs from Bagodara. While reaching Bagodara from Ahmedabad, take a right turn which is between a State Bank ATM and Bagodara bus stand. Straight road from here will go to Nalsarovar.

NOTE:

1) Lothal is closed on Fridays.

2) Take drinks and eatables to Lothal. No stores available near to this place.

3) Best time to visit Nalsarovar is from October - March. Boating tickets need to bought at the entrance itself. Otherwise boatmen inside the sanctuary will loot you.

Coorg Bike Trip

My friend, Jayanti and I waited for this bike trip to magnificent Coorg for about a month. The only thing planned about this trip was our desire to travel to this place. We had no itinerary with us which made the bike trip unforgettable. We were a bit unsure of the ride even the night before we started our journey. But ultimately we made it inspite of the light showers on the day we started.

It was 25^th of May ’14. We got up an hour late and kick-started our journey at 6.30 though I wanted to begin an hour earlier. I decided upon the route to be taken right there sitting on the bike. Both of us were quite excited this being her first long bike trip and my first with a girl. It was quite bold of her to decide for the journey.

We started off on empty stomachs as I did not want to delay any further. The first break was at a tea shop on Mysore road just after crossing the Nice road junction. There were quite a few YEZDI bikers, sipping their tea, with their machines lined up parallel to each other while I parked mine a bit further away. Once we felt refreshed after the break, she wanted to visit a Ganesh temple just a few meters away. Once done with the temple visit, we zoomed away on our bike enjoying hills on both sides of the road after crossing Bidadi. We stopped to click a few snaps of ourselves with hills as background. Fortunately the weather was very pleasant that day. It was cloudy and the sun never shone bright and hot on us. Then we had to face heavy traffic at Ramnagara town. Here I was proudly exhibiting my trek interests by pointing out a hill to her which I had trekked a year back.

Our empty stomachs started making sounds and thus we stopped at Maddur Tiffanys in Maddur. Here we finished 100KM from Whitefield in Bangalore. The maddur vada we had here was not of exceptional quality. Probably my expectations were sky high. Then we were back on wheels and crossed the City of Toys (Channapatna) and Sugar City (Mandya) without taking any break. Mysore road is good for driving except for the irritating sets of speed-breakers. After making some enquiries in Srirangapatnam (around 145KM from Whitefield), we took a right turn, just after crossing the town, which connects to the Mysore-Hunsur-Madikeri state highway. Thus we bypassed Mysore city. Due to road construction works, this 12Km stretch was not a very smooth ride. A few kilometres after taking this road, there is a road which goes to Ranganathittu Bird sanctuary. We planned to visit this on our way back home but we were unable to do it due to time constraints. This bypass road ended at a signal and we turned right towards Yelwal and Hunsur and now we were back to good smooth roads. At this time, sun slightly started showing up but it was no way spoiling our mood. I can say for sure that, the Mysore-Hunsur-Madikeri road was one of the best roads I rode till date. Both of us were mesmerised at the bends and curves, roads adorned with the red-flowered trees on both sides. This brings into the mind the beautiful foreign locales often shown in Yashraj films. We were having a great day biking. I just love the the endlessness of the roads.

The below pics will authenticate my above words.

We passed Hunsur after a short tender-coconut-break. Our plan was to stop at Bylakuppe, a few KMs before Khushal Nagar, to visit the Tibetan settlement and Golden temple. One gets to see monastery here. This excited us. We came across the typical colourful cloth Flags as is norm for Buddhism. This signalled us that we were close to the settlement. There is a sign board as shown in the below pic and an Arch where a left turn will take us to the Monastery. The golden temple is 6KM from this point. The moment we entered this road, we got to see Tibetan people, Monks, buildings and Buddhist style temples. It looked like there was harmony between the settlers and the local people there. The Buddhist songs and prayers sounded enchanting yet eerie. They had a melody which seemed to give the songs a monotonous rhetoric and a lingering effect on the minds of those who listened.

Then again we embarked on our bike and proceeded towards Khushal Nagar (6KM away) and Sunticoppa. Here my eyes happened to see the Nisargadhama and Hanging bridge board and we thought to give it a shot. Both of us were not impressed by this place as this was over-crowded and everything seemed artificial. Hence we did not do the boating, so-called rafting and the elephant ride (am dead against elephant rides). We regretted having stopped here and headed back to road to Madikeri.

The ghat section started from Sunticoppa and 15Kms from here took us to Madikeri. The ghat roads were thrilling as always but I was surprised to see that the roads were a bit broader than other Ghat roads which I have travelled previously. It was mostly pot-hole free. We reached Madikeri at around 4.30 pm . Our stay was not planned in Madikeri. It was in kakkabe, 30 KMs away from Madikeri. But before heading to it, she wanted to board the toy train. Hence we fulfilled our childish desires and then visited the Raja’s seat right next to the Toy train ride. Raja’s seat provides a splendid view of the surrounding hills. After our short visit to this Raja’s seat, I took the directions to Kakkabe from the Jungle Mount Adventure Cottage stay’s owner, Sagar. I had been to this stay some 4 years back and that is why I wanted to take her to this place. It is in an isolated location, on the shores of Cauvery river with hills all around. Take a look at the stay in the below pics and decide for yourself about the awesomeness of the place. We took the Mangalore road from Madikeri and proceeded till Bettigere, then to Napokulu and 11 more Km to Kakkabe. We reached Jungle Mount Adventure at around 6 o clock. All along the ride, I was a bit doubtful if Jayanti would like the place. But my fears were brushed aside once I understood how much she fell in love with the location and the cottage. Harish welcomed us to the cottage stay and showed us our room. We rested for some time and had hot-water baths after some time. Finally we settled for the day and spent the remaining time along the shores of Cauvery, swaying on the swing and chatting during our walks in the neighbourhood. There were other groups in other cottages and it was getting very noisy as they got involved in a campfire. Some time later, the noises settled down. We had dinner and ended our day enjoying our isolation from the city life.

Day 2:
Just take a look at our cottage location.

We got up at 6 in the morning and went around for a walk. There was a temple on the way which she visited. A dog, name Rani, was present in our stay area. She accompanied us during our walk and befriended another dog and started playing with each other. We returned to our cottages after our walk and had our breakfast.

My bike got completely got wet due to the overnight dew

The temple right next to our cottage

A school right next to our cottage.

Then again we were on our bike to visit Bhagmandala and Talacauvery. The former place is 27 Km from Kakkabe. There is a Bhagmandaleshwar temple here and a triveni sangam spot where Cauvery, Kannika and Sujyothi rivers meet.

Then we headed to Talacauvery after spending some 1.5 hours at Bhagmandala. Hereafter the roads had steep elevation, twists and turns and nature treated our eyes with a kind of beauty which we can behold in our hearts for a lifetime. I had high expectations from Talacauvery and all we got to see was a small pond which is supposed to be the place where Cauvery originates. I was disappointed. But the good thing was that, the peak on which this source is situated is one of the tallest peaks in Coorg (Kodagu). There were steps taking us to a still further height to get a full 360 degree view of Coorg. It was really worth climbing the set of 360 steps. From here we got to see almost all the peaks of Coorg and boy, what a sight it was!

Then we climbed down and had maggi and juices for lunch just next to the temple. Now we were on our way back to our cottage via Napokulu. The nearest ATM from Kakkabe is in Napokulu which is 11-12 Km away. On our way to cottage, we were double-minded whether to visit Chelavere falls or not. It is located at a place called Cheyyundane some 12 Km away on the other side of Kakkabe. We decided against it and retired for the day to spend leisure time playing on the grass fields outside. I spent fifteen minutes swimming with life jackets on in river next to our cottage. We spent more time watching “The secret Life of Walter Mitty” and then had dinner. The dinner and breakfast are quite simple and good food. Rani accompanied us in our dinner too. Thus the day came to an end.

Day 3:

We woke up at 6 o clock feeling sad to leave Kakkabe like a child does before going to school. After getting up unwillingly, we finished our packing and went for a short walk along the shores of Cauvery. The water flow was less since monsoon had not yet set in. We clicked some snaps here and went back to have breakfast. 

 Harish got us the bill for our stay and we were shocked to find that we were falling short of 1000 rupees. So we drove to Napokulu which has the nearest ATM and paid our bills. We left the cottage by around 10 o clock and took a different route back to Bangalore. This route is via Virajpet which then takes us to the Hunsur-Mysore Highway. On the way, just 12 Kms away from Kakkabe, is a place called Cheyyundane which is home to the Chelavare falls. At Cheyyundane, a right turn and a long 4.5 KM drive took us to the falls. We did expect less water at the falls but not as less as we got to see. This road to Virajpet had many hair-pin bends which I did not find in the Sunticoppa-Madikeri ghat area. This part of the ride was quite thrilling.

The day was not going good for us. On our way to Virajpet, the back tyre got punctured at a village called Kadanur, 6 KMs before Virajpet. Fixing this puncture took me 2.5 hrs and costed me a mind-boggling 430 rupees. The high cost was purely because of the distance from the nearest town. Mechanics took their own sweet time to attend to it. While this was going on, Jayanti was going around exploring Virajpet by visiting temples, buying honey and much more. When everything was set at 1.30, we got back to road and crossed Gontikoppal town. The drive in this part was amazing as the road seemed to be freshly laid and the view of the stretches of the lengthy road was magnificent. But there was more pain left to be faced by us. A 15Km stretch of no-road with only gravels spread throughout. This part just took the life out of me. But throughout the time since the puncture took place, Jayanti kept her cool and did not blame me or our luck for the events. She took everything in her stride and was enjoying as always. I took some time to come out of all the shocks. Finally we heaved a sigh of relief when we touched the Hunsur-Mysore Highway. The Virajpet-route to Madikeri will be mind-blowing when this construction work gets over. The point where this route touches the highway is just 6 KM before Hunsur. We took two breaks before reaching Mysore since the weather was a bit hot. I was having change of plans and suggested a night stay at Mysore for going around this place. After a half an hour thought process, we decided not to go ahead with this plan as the day was already painful for us and were not ready for more trouble. We headed back to the same bypass road which we took on our onward journey and joined Srirangapatnam on Mysore-Bangalore highway. We had to skip Ranganathittu as there were too many unexpected delays. A mango-break at this point rejuvenated us and we were ready to put our asses again on the bike. The odometer stopped working somewhere near Mandya. I did not understand why all bad things happened on the same day. Below is the pic of the best road of the trip.

We noticed pretty dark clouds and felt chill in the air. I wanted to cover as much distance as possible before darkness sets in as I do not prefer driving in the dark. Wish I were a Dark Knight. A mango-truck passed by and he was distributing one free mango to whoever requested. I got one from him while driving. Fortunately it was not raining and reached Marathalli at 9 o clock when it just started raining. We completed our dinner at Bhagini and headed back home. A mesmerising bike-trip came to an end with many good things and a few bad things. Jayanti passed the bikeride-test and proved herself fit for more of such rides. She did not sulk even for a moment throughout the trip. I sign off the blog here with some important details given below:

Destination: Coorg

Route to Madiker: Mysore road – ramnagara – Srirangapatna – (Right turn after the town) – bypass joining the Hunsur-Madikeri highway – right turn at a signal in the end of the road – Hunsur – Bylakuppe – Khushal nagar – Sunticoppa – Madikeri

Route to Kakkabe: Madikeri – Take the Mangalore highway – Bettigere – Napokulu – kakkabe

Alternate route to Madikeri: 5 KM after Hunsur, take left in a Y bifurcation road – Gontikoppal – Virajpet – Madikeri. Currently a 15 KM stretch is not good, it might take 7-8 months for work to get completed

Stay details: Jungle Mount Adventure, Kakkabe which is 30 KMs from Madikeri and 23 KMs from Virajpet.

Contact details:

Sagar – 9845831675