Of a First Quarter report of a year well begun..Well begun is half done..tadaa...

First entry for the year and rather late in the day too... It's more to do with the fact that 2009 till now has been rather eventful and well spent compared to 2008, which will not take up too many lines in my biography... Am currently bloggin outta Coimbatore,a place where I spent my 1st birthday in the last millenium.Been here for almost a month, but this is the first weekend I've actually parked the backside in the town. Decided to go out to the best restaurant around,The Residency, and play the petit bourgeois with my Murakami in my bag. I was in for a rude surprise, when I was told that I coudnt enter their pub Bike and Barrel, because of the "dress code".Sure enough they had a notice at the pub entrance to that effect stating one had to have ones hirsute calves covered up in fabric ... However, even more surprisingly, I told it was OK to go their gourmet restaurant The Pavilion or the Aghan Grill.And it was in the Pavilion that I decided to spend the evening with caffeine and Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Service is discreet and nice.
I've been turned outta exactly two places earlier in my few jaunts around the globe. One was at the KL Petronas Towers, where after a day of aimless loafing around the city, I decided after seeing a flyer someplace to go to listen to the Malaysian Philharmonic in the towers. I was very politely told by the attendant at the ticket counter that the dress code was strictly "Smart Formals" . A quick selfcheck left no doubt that in my t-shirt and my oldest khai shorts, I was just one step above "delirious hobo" and a long way from "Smart Formal". I walked out with no hard feelings. The next time was in Shibuya,Tokyo at the GasPanic Club. Along with a bunch of desi blokes, we decided that an evening of debauchery at the GasPanic would be a good way to sign off the week in style, only to be told on producing my passport for age check that the Pub was full by a bouncer the size of Alaska. It was plainly evident this was nothin do with his tables being full, when he let in a couple of other non-desis in without as much as a cursory glance at their IDs. This time I was pissed off and pissed off pretty bad. But yeah, I wasnt exactly Gandhi in Pietetmaritzburg and other than a bit of dramatic shoulder shrugging left the place with a rather sour after taste at the back of my mouth. We filed into an Irish Pub, were the junta was mostly silent for most part waiting for the bile to dilute. When I was invited into their pub at Roppongi a couple of months later by the touts outside, I made it a point to express that their place was a pisspot not worth wasting the weekend in.

So like I said, 2009 has been pretty eventful. Spent a weekend in Chikmagalur in Jan, gallivanting around Bababudangiri ranges with an assorted bunch of friends and strangers. We hiked up the Sarpadari onto the Mullyangiri and then walked down to Bababudangiri all in a day. This was clubbed with a visit to Belur and Halebid. Was revisiting these places after a good decade and a half.. Managed a few decent photos too.. Ah! I must not forget to mention my 55-250 IS which is my current walkabout lens on my 400D. Pricey acquisition, but worth the price.

February, I spent most weekends at the Rishi Valley School off Kanakapura Road. Wonderful place this is for Bird watching. Managed to snag a hornbill and my best capture of a Common Kingfisher amongst a few other firsts. In case you'v reached here on googling for the school, here are the details.
-There's a direct bus from Banashankari Bus Stop at around 6:15 in the morning(forgotten the bus number though)
-Best to reach around sunrise.
-You can get down at the Silk Farm Stop,just after the NICE bridge and then walk the 2 km to the school.Dont fret, there's loads of birds on the way to the school too..
-You need to sign a visitors register at the school gates stating your purpose.No questions asked if u've come with a Cam or a pair of scopes.
-You are not allowed to take pictures of the school or the students.
-There are a couple of little waterbodies and a large well, around which there is a lot of avian activity
-Dont wear your Govinda pants and give your vocal cords a rest when u are in the environs..
-Lots of birds to be seen, the Paradise Flycatcher, Coppersmith Barbet, Hornbills,Bee-eaters etc etc.

Been here in Coimbatore all March. It's a little hotter than Bangalore, but a couple of freak showers have kept the temperatures to manageable levels off late. My first weekend was spent fooling around Coonoor. I took a train to Mettupalayam from Coimbatore early at 4:30 ish(AM)...to catch the steam train outta Mettupalayam to Coonoor. The lady at the Coimbatore reservation counter told me that the steam train wasnt running on account of some maintenance.(Note: It pays to check up with Ind Rail if the train is running before haulin ur ass to Mettupalayam.It's pretty old and bound to be temperamental) .Anyways, went down to Mettupalayam and took the bus to Coonoor over the hills. Sunrise over the hills is quite a sight, saw it from a bus.Spent an entire day loafin around the town...Just random stuff.. Spent the night in a homestay at Lovedale which I reached by the evening train and came back to Coonoor the next day by bus.
Hired a rick to get me around the hills for 250 bucks and got a few snaps of the tea gardens before I got back to Coonoor to catch the Steam train to Mettupalayam in the afternoon. Spent the afternoon in the engines shed at Coonoor watching the railroad guys do their stuff with the engines. Nice twas. The train journey back was phenom. The views are grand..Although I had to stand for most part in the general compartment with a rooster and a lot homo sapiens just behind the engine,I spent most of it sticking my head out with my cam in hand gettin a shovelful of coal in my hair at the end of the day.Might good way to spend the weekend. no?

The next weekend was in Valaparai. This must be hitchiker central in the South of India. Every damn vehicle I thumbed, stopped to gimme a ride and a few that I didnt thumb stopped to give me a ride. I caught the early morning bus outta Ukkadam to Pollachi and then changed over to the Valparai bus. Reached Valparai at around 11:30 in the morning. One horse town. The main road stretches a good 500 mts with a statue if Mahatma Gandhi on one end and the statue of Indira Gandhi(unrelated) on the other. I had book my reservation for Sat night at Green Hill, the only decent lodge in town. Rooms are not spectacular but neat. I spent the morning at the Sri Kundra Estate by the riverside, chasing a rather energetic kingfisher and a few egrets before dozin off under a tree by the bank. Went down to Balaji Covil for the evening halfway by bus to Karimalai and then walking amidst the tea gardens to the top. This is pristine tea garden country....acres and acres of the green carpet for as far as the eyes can see.. Prettier than Coonoor methinks...Got a lift back to the city in the back of a lorry. The next day went down to the town bus stop to check for buses to "Nallamudi Poonjolai Viewpoint", a place I'd heard of from the locals.I also managed to fathom that I had to catch a certain "High-forest" bus. I then dropped into the tea stall at the bus stand..half the village seemed to be inside. I asked them about the bus and before I knew I was being told by a bunch of em that the High Forest bus was a partnership JV between the local MLA, the owner of the HighForest Estate and someone I coundnt quite gather. They said the next bus was at 1030 and I had another 15 min which I could kill by having hot chai. Playing the gracious guest, I bought a round of chais and before I had my first sip, lo behold, the High forest bus was there all of 15 min early. A few sprightly old men, jumped in front of the bus and exhorted me to finish my tea, while they umm...obstructed the bus, standin in thier lungis and striped chuddies. The bus driver wasnt havin any of it and when he engaged the first gear, all the sprightly old men, equally sprightily got outta the way of the way of the bus, before I had a chance to jump into it. I paid up for the teas and ran behind the bus and in the process was separated from my left sandal in the melee. I couldnt make it though ...No sweat, ever the resourceful traveller, managed to get a ride to the place first in an Accord of a seth in white and white..complete with the driver et al for a few km to the Siddhi Vinayaka Covil and then to the place in a Maruti with a little kid and her uncles. The view is definitely worth the trouble. But I guess early morning would be the best time to get here. Anyways, I had a Murakami moment, when a bizzarre priest came by, explained the lay of the land(told me that the tallest peak to the front was Anamudi, the highest point South of the Vindhyas) and then explained in a lot of detail about the time, he saw the vision of Lord.Muruga 10mts from where we were standing. He spent some time after that feeding bananas to bulbuls and I came back to Valparai, where I took a bus to Attakatti and walked down almost all the way down to Azhiyar on foot in search of the elusive Niligiri Thar...in the afternoon sun... My feet were screamin at me for the next couple of days. And yeah..No Thar anyplace..Spent some time at the Azhiyar Dam and came back home...

The next weekend..yup the third on the trot on the road was not a solo trip. Datta of the Hokkaido trip fame came down to Kodai from Bangalore, while I climbed up there via Palani. We dumped our stuff in the YH and went fooling around the shola trails down the now defunct Ponds factory. The route is pretty scenic and with little more than a hint of rain in the air, most peepuls had stayed indoors. And when we got down to Dolphin Nose, it started pouring buckets and we spent some time at a Tea Stall waiting for the rain to ease out. The food at the YH deserves mention for being real crappy, though the rooms themselves were pretty decent. Read Murakami's After Dark for sometime and went to bed.
Sunrise was awesome, carpets of fluffy clouds a few 100 feet below us and the clear skies with the sun... phew... Went down to Kookal by bus...a 40 km journey.Took the bus to Kalavarai and got down at the Kookal Piruvu, then took a jeep down to the Kookal town with a couple of local ladies for company. Had a lunch which involved Datta trying the local delicacy..Burnt Omlette with Fried Flies Seasoning in a seedy hut with psychedic imagery of Amma JJ and MGR. Spent the afternoon levitating blissfully on the lake shore, before the rains started. We waited for it to ease out in a makeshift hut by the lake. We took the evening bus to Puttur. The scenary on the way is awesome and after having a tea in Puttur hauled our asses back to Kodai for dinner.
We checked out the next day and went to Mannavannur by bus. The town is on the same route a Kookal , but you dont piruvu at the Kookal Piruvu ..Just keep goin straight. Once again, postcard perfect lake with no crowds ... a whole afternoon loafing around the lake.. Lotsa potos too...

Btw will be back in Bangalore come the month end..... Will hopefully finish reading Hard Boiled Wunderland and End of the World by then.......