Ever since I began
to learn about cars, my mind had always aligned with the Germans. Their engineering capabilities couldn’t be
understood or imitated easily and there always was a certain mystery and
arrogance hovering around their creations. When I walk on the street and a motor
car approaches from behind, I always had been successful in identifying it to
be a German or not. There is an air of “forcefulness”, which just couldn’t be
replicated by any other vehicle; when a German engineered car passes by.
Driving a German car means driving near mechanical perfection and I learnt it
the romantic way when I drove Mr. Dave’s Polo to Western Ghats 3 months back;
my first long distance endeavor with a German beauty. Within a month I got
another opportunity to drive the Polo through 1900 Kms of varied terrains and
this changed my perceptions of a motor car to an extent that, I began to see German engineering as a faultless
manifestation of mechanical perfection and just couldn’t accept anything else
on 4 wheels as a compromise. As I began to indulge in serious contemplations of
purchasing a German babe myself; I received a phone call from my friend since
the 1999’s inquiring about a Jaunt possibility. This excited me unlike any
other query I usually get, for this friend doesn’t own any other motor car but;
the one that makes heads turn, the one that sports the Tri-Star on its nose and
the one that began the era of luxury on wheels more than a century back. I
never had the slightest thought of doing a road trip in a Mercedes Benz, and I
never thought I will be taking her to my favorite Geographical region; the ever
seducing Malnad. I accepted the offer instantly and notified two of my best
friends, Sunand and Dave; to gear up for this “High speed” jaunt to the Ghats,
something which doesn’t occur every other day. With the choice of vehicle
having been fixed, I was wondering where to go accompanied by this $ 68000
beauty for it needed the space and the curves to put its engineering
capabilities to a rigorous test. After
an internal debate I decided Mundaje is where I would be heading towards in
this 177 Bhp diesel powerhouse, for the roads to Mundaje is a mix of high speed
straights and punishing curves in the name of Charmadi Ghat. With still a
fortnight to go I was getting hasty to hold the steering wheel of the most
powerful car I would have ever driven since my birth, for I knew what she was
capable of. Maybe couple of month’s back it should be, when Veera bought his brand
new C220 CDI to one of our friend’s wedding that I first got to flavor
expensive luxury and extreme power the first time ever. It was a significant
event for I floored the accelerator within the short distance I had at my
disposal and that alone was sufficient to make me go drooling all over that
German. The thought of shepherding this
177 Bhp babe through mind boggling 600+ Kms sent a chill down the spine for I
still could remember the photograph mailed out by my friend Ajay from the UAE,
where the speedometer of his C180 CGI was doing in excess of 200 KMPH. Adding
to this was the destination itself, the Majestic Mundaje; I wanted to meet her
in the peak of 2013 monsoons but my dear friends Mr. Sunil Bhide/ Mr. Santhosh
Phadke, also the owners of Riviera Ecostay, declined to entertain my attempt
as the rains were plundering the Ghats like never before in recent history.
With things now beginning to streamline and evolve into a feasible plan, I held tight to my bags and stood at the
entrance of my apartment to only grin at the appearance of a pair of powerful
Bi-Xenon flashing at the corner of my street. I very well knew it wasn’t a
night like any other…
Mundaje; she
managed to evade me for the past 3 months with the valid reason of “heavy rains”
shielding her evasive nature but; I wanted to meet her though. As the 2013 SW monsoon reached its
retreating phases, the rains gradually lost intensity enabling me to realize
the dream hovering around my unsystematic imagination. Mundaje is a romantic village in the Belthangady Taluk of Dakshin
Kannad district and its specialty lies in the fact that, it serves as the base
for a plan which would lead to a hike deep into the confines of Kudremukh
National park in search of two lesser known beauties among the vast database of
waterfalls Karnataka is famous far. I had been working out a plan for the
past 2 years to reach them, but in vain; as the combination of tough geographic
terrain, confusing directions, hesitation to investigate and other distractions
helped me stay away from her until now. There is a time for anything and
nothing goes unseen, unless deliberately avoided; in this sophisticated life
aided by unbelievably fast connectivity. Hence
I began the long drive to Mundaje, at the beginning of the month when monsoon
comes to an end, with three of my longtime friends in a German built car that
was capable of overwhelming the specialty of this Jaunt itself. As Veera
pushed the gear selector into the “D” mode and cruised through the
“frustrating” holiday traffic on National Highway 4, I was sitting patiently; held
tight by the pre-tensed seat belt, awaiting my turn to drive a car with the
Tri-Star on its nose the first time ever in my automobile crazy life. Few hours into the drive I could sense
“tickle in my tummy” and this was instantly attributed to the high velocity the
German was clocking under the cover of darkness, as I was forced to discard my
uncontrollable sleep and peep scarily at the bright TFT displaying 202 KMPH.
Even as we slowed down at the sight of a distant truck, rendered stationary for
1 of the 1000 reasons they seem to have, the heart didn’t for such was the
intensity of the thrust. When Veera succumbed to sleep and the rear bench went
quite with Dave and Su praying in their deep sleep, I shepherded the C220 CDI
Avant Garde into the notoriously dark and seductively empty NH48 for a night of
adrenaline pumping experience. NH48 is blatantly straight for more than a
Kilometer at several stretches and it’s were my dream, ever since I crossed the
100 KMPH mark 13 years back, transformed to reality as the 1.6 Tone beauty
crossed the 200 KMPH mark twice. Bi-Xenon headlamps rendering the tarmac bright
I could confidently push the limits; with tremendous stopping power from the
manic discs adding to the mayhem. When I reached Hassan dawn had emerged well
and it was time to swap roles from being a violent driver to a serene
photographer, as my favourite geographical region was lurking around the
distant hills. Malnad is mind boggling and it was a special moment as I put
the finest of German engineering up against her in direct conflict and sat in
utter silence to watch the outcome unfold in the next couple of days. Adding to
the excitement was the fact that we were required to drive through the
“Insanely” gorgeous Charmadi Ghat section which connected the rain shadow
regions of Chikmagalur with those of Dakshin Kannad, drenched and eroded by
heart melting rains which I came searching for. Though the agenda for me,
through this Jaunt, was to capture the hidden waterfalls; Anadka and Bandaje,
there was a strong suspicion in the depths of my heart indicating a dilution to
this motive. As I drove the Mercedes
through the fog filled Charmadi Ghat (Photos 2 and 14), it was certain this
battle was going to extend longer than expected and the appearance of
inherent beauty of Mundaje only complicated the conclusion. When we reached Mundaje our host and owner
of Riviera Ecostay Mr. Sunil Bhide guided the Merc through the rugged terrain
in his sparkling Mahindra Thar and the German babe did obey and follow the
rugged 4WD jeep through the narrow cross-country; which I never believed could
be conquered in a luxury saloon. It was time to indulge and investigate
now…
After accepting the
“Overwhelming” hospitality of Mr. Sunil’s family, we set out under pouring
rains in search of ecstasy on the sparkling Mahindra Thar through the mind
boggling cross-country of Belthangady. As
the Thar transported us in “jittery” fashion inherent to its character, the
long searched village of Didupe showed itself up in an absolute Malnad fashion
as rains were romancing the Ghats. Past Didupe the roads retreat and the Thar
now felt more majestic for it was tackling the terrain it was built to conquer.
Unfortunately; the Thar wasn’t shod in proper cross-country tires and this
proved to be a time consuming mistake (Photo 16). This cross-country road
traverses through heart melting landscape and this made us forget the hardship
we were forced to go through until Mr. Sunil’s friend responded to our rescue
call in his trusty Mahindra 4WD jeep. Our sparkling Thar was towed away from
the trap as her tires screamed for traction and ultimately; made it out of the
mud to rest at the “Exotic” farm house (Photo 27) of Mr. Sunil’s friend as we
geared up for the hike to Anadka. Incidentally this farm house happened to be
the last major human settlement, as gradually the areca nut farms supporting
the livelihood here gave way to denser vegetation typical to Western Ghats. The
hike to Anadka was in stark contrast to my imagination where I dreamt of
walking through “Agumbe like” landscapes, fighting fear and leeches but; the
trail was more transparent with no hidden surprises. The hike initially took us
through vast areca nut farms and within few minutes the landscape subtly
changed to a “little” caution inducing style as the pathways became studded
with hidden trenches and numerous “friendly” leeches. Towards the last segment
we were subjected to more difficulty as we had to cross over an extremely
slippery and dangerous stream (Photos 10 and 25) to gain access to Anadka.
Once past this section of the trail, it’s a walk in the park as we wade through
an ocean of drenched vegetation and countless leeches before going breathless at the first appearance of Anadka (Photo 1).
I and Dave refrained from proceeding further as we didn’t want to drench the
lenses while the remaining 4 proceeded towards the base of the falls. Time in Malnad is meaningless and it’s more
so when you hike through the mesmerizing forests it harbors. After a brief
photo shoot we retracted to the farm house at the edge of this beautiful forest
for a cup of hot tea and leech extraction, with the tremendous beauty of
Western Ghats accompanying us under pouring rains (Photos 8, 17, 20 and 23).
Little later we reluctantly bid farewell to the old couple who ran this massive
farm house all alone and boarded our Thar for an evening of ecstasy as we drove
through eye moistening Malnad countryside when the last traces of sunlight
withdrew gradually. Mr. Sunil took us on a romantic drive under constant
drizzle to a nearby village, Ujire; to purchase our special dinner prepared in
coastal Malnad style and a dozen beer cans to keep the night alive. To be honest, Riviera may not be as exotic
as Wildernest where I spent a beautiful night a month back but; it was after
many years I got the opportunity to sit and talk. The best of my friends,
exotic and simple food, humbling hospitality of the Ecostay, relentless rains,
confined location, distant gush of the streams, remote hum of insects,
beautiful narrations from Mr. Sunil and his cousin Mr. Ajith and the prolonged
conversation made the moment to be one of the most remembered. I couldn’t
remember how I locked myself up inside the thrilling room that cold night,
before waking up the morning next for a cup of refreshing Malnad coffee. I was sitting on the verandah and painfully
thinking about my inability to meet Bandaje despite being so close to her.
Nevertheless; what a Jaunt this has been and I was content to Brim for
executing this alongside few of my longtime friends with the mind relaxing
Riviera Ecostay making our stay more comfortable and memorable than we ever
thought. As we bid goodbye to Mr. Sunil’s family and drove back through the
route we arrived, I was thinking about the agenda “Mercedes vs Malnad”. Is it
fair to compare them? I didn’t think so but still, it’s not every day I get to
drive a Merc through Malnad and this fact alone instigated a serious comparison
in the depths of my heart. The Merc was
fabulously powerful as she made heads turn even in the most remote part of the
Ghats, she helped me touch the magical figure of 200 KMPH on an Indian public
road, she taught me build quality and she made our Jaunt a beautiful memory.
When I think about the Merc it’s an experience; an experience of power,
presence and dignity but when I think about Malnad it’s a realization,
realization of bigger things life has to offer and these would mean beauty,
forgiveness, humbleness, simplicity, and the life itself. Man can create, but
Malnad makes me realize man himself is a creation of the superpower who wrote
this beautiful poem on Western Ghats. And I would go there this entire life
to read and understand what it means…
Special Thanks to –
Parameters
Route – Chennai-Bangalore-Hassan-Belur-Mudigere-Kottigehara-Charmadi-Kakkinje-Mundaje.
Best time to visit – if you want to be wild; try July
and August, if you want to be romantic; try September and October.
Specialties – Immense relaxation, combination of
wilderness and beauty, hiking options and the terrific Charmadi Ghat.
What you should do – Hike to Anadka and Bandaje
waterfalls, drive through the Charmadi, relax the night away with your friends,
beer and good food.
Don’t
forget – Gumboots, an umbrella, to
rent a 4 wheel drive, to hire a guide for hiking into the forests and try the
traditional food from a good hotel in Ujire.
