Bandipur and Ooty

December 17, 2010

through hilly Mundumalai Park

It's only six in the morning, but I've been awake awhile so I might as well get going. Hopefully there's someone around to give me my 500-rupee deposit back. That's the first time one has been requested.

Outside, the sky is overcast and the 13 that seemed nasty last night is pretty vacant now and the village of Begum is eerie. One street, that's it.

There's no breakfast place here a guy says after I buy five nice-looking oranges for 60 rupees, so I pedal off towards the nearest place which my map says is Gundlupet.

It's not the 13 but the 212 according to milestones, which also say that my brekkie destination is 15 km away. Or maybe this is the wrong road and I'm pretty much lost.

Breakfast is pronounced puri puri by the waiter, who says it's good and I believe him and he's not wrong. It's a few fluffy things like blown-up chapattis served with some veg sauce. I have them with two sweet teas and feel much better.

The milestones now say it's Route 67, which is quiet and I wonder what happened to all the trucks. There have been very few vehicles all morning. Huge trees with aerial roots line the way.

The entrance to Bandipur Mundumalai Park is unmanned and I ride on with the hills becoming a bit steeper until eventually my small granny gears are used.

The sun has come out and the merino wool top feels warm and at the top of one climb I stop in the shade of tree to wipe my sweat-stained glasses and a car pulls up and without raising my head I simply wait for the usual what's-your-country to be asked, but a guy tells me he's part of the support crew for the bicycle race that's heading to Ooty tomorrow - information that the guy near Bangalore had mentioned, but which my sieve-brain had not retained. They give me a couple cartons of mango juice. Nice!

The Nelles map isn't detailed and I've no idea how big this park is. There are no facilities in it, but hopefully I can find a lunch spot soon as it's gone midday now.

There's a downhill cruise down and I cross a state line and exit Karnataka and take a self-timed snap of me riding through the gateway saying so. As I do a 4x4 stops and again I expect fragmented English to ask the usual questions, but instead it's fluent and the guy says he's Harris and introduces me to his family, who then get out the vehicle.

His wife gives me a chocolate bar and an orange, which makes me laugh as it seems Harris was looking forward to the chocolate himself. It doesn't last long. I'm hungry.

Signs say this area is a tiger preserve, but a guard says there's little chance of seeing one as they're shy. It seems doubtful there are actually any left here, but I do spot some monkeys.

Later some six elephants go by with their mahouts, then a deer gallops across in front of me, followed by a couple of dogs, looking for its scent on the tarmac for a few seconds, then go in circles until they trace it on the verge and off they run without paying any attention to me, which is a relief as warding them of would have been a problem.

A fork in the road has a sign telling me it's 36 km to Ooty - the shortest route this - and I stop at an adjacent 'canteen' and have some water and an chocolate ice cream. There doesn't appear to be any food on offer.

An elderly woman with facial features like an Australians aborigine's with snowy hair is lingering around and I try and chat, but she seems to have a mental problem.

The exit to the park doesn't make much difference as the road stays the same - narrow and fairly peaceful - with the countryside continuing with trees covering rolling hills. It's a nice ride.

There's a village where I have a cup of tea and the owner of the stall has an interesting face with little hair and just a few prominent teeth and he remind's me of a walrus. He and a couple of locals become my portrait targets.

I can see some lodges here, but it's still early and I can easily get some more miles in and find somewhere down the road. There's bound to be other places to stay and Ooty seems doable today.

Then about 20 km from Ooty the road kicks up wickedly. It's a struggle even in my lowest gear and twenty of these kilometres is going to be a real challenge. My wool top is soon drenched even though the temperature gets cooler as I rise up and a sign says it's now 1,000 metres above sea level. Another tells me I've reached 1,500 soon after. By then I'm walking.

At one point I rest and get out the Lonely Planet to see if Ooty is worth all this effort and hear a vehicle stop and expect the questions to come, but in an English accent a woman asks me what I'm looking for. It's a couple, she and he in their 40s I guess, who've bought a place nearby which will be their new home. They tell me that they went to school in Ooty, so know the area well.

This is the worst bit, the guy says - it'll get better - and informs me there's a place to stay about 5 km up the hill, so off I go, walking mostly. The gradient remains at over 15 percent in my estimation.

The surrounding hills are now blanketed in mist and it's chilly and there's a small pretty waterfall the couple had talked about, so I stop and get out my tripod and take a long exposure to get the milky-water effect.

Then I notice a monkey trying to find something in my bar-bag and it's tossed the bar-towel I use to wipe away sweat onto the ground. The wrapper from the chocolate bar that Harris's wife gave me is being sniffed and I try to take a photo, but the camera says the memory card is full, so I delete what I just took and try again.

About 20 minutes later at the 22nd of the 36 hairpins (they're numbered) a beefy pickup truck stops. I reckon this is now close to the spot where I can sleep, but the driver is insistent that I get in the back with my bike and I agree only after a fragmented chat about places ahead. I'm soaked and feel spent and need to get warm. It's getting late, too.

We soon pass the entrance to the 'jungle camping' place the English guy mentioned and it doesn't look tempting. After 10 or so steep kilometers and the rest of the hairpins the incline levels out and the mist dissipates to a certain extent and it becomes easier to see over to the pine trees that line the ridges and also envelope the road.

In the end he drops me at a place in central Ooty and I bung him a ton and he's a happy man -a farmer - then walk into the nearest hotel and even though it's 900 rupees (roughly 20 bucks) I take it as I need to get out of my wet clothes.

The clock in reception tells me it's 5:30 PM.

Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 1,848 km (1,148 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0