Blogs from Bandipur National Park, Karnataka, India, Asia

In gleicher Richtung wie am Vortag geht es über Gudalur und Muddumulai nach Bandipur in den Nationalpark. Unsere Unterkunft ist im M.C. Resort, sehr zu empfehlen. Hier kann die vom Klima in Ooty feuchte Kleidung trocknen, auch ohne Klimaanlage in den Zimmern. Der Internetanschluss in der Rezeption wird von uns fleissig genutzt. Am Nachmittag machen wir eine Fahrt mit einem Bus (ohne Fensterscheiben, die Starrachsen anscheinend direkt an die Karosserie geschweisst) in den Park. Wir sehen Damwild, Wasserbüffel, Pfauen, verschiedene Vögel, Termitenbauten, einmal sogar aus der Ferne Elefanten am Wasserloch. Leider keine Tiger. Die Landschaft ist wunderschön, die 2,5h sind schnell vorbei. Unser Fahrer ist in den nächsten Ort gefahren, eine Schwelle auf der Fahrbahn hat eine Blattfeder brechen lassen. Schwellenland Indien: Es gibt fast überall sog. Speed Breaker auf den Straße... read more

Bike trip to Gopalaswamy betta 14th May 2010 After searching the place to visit for a week, we decided to go Gopalaswamy Betta, which is located Chamarajanagar District and lies in the core area of Bandipur National Park. It is about 220 km from Bangalore and 82 km from Mysore. Four of us Manikandan (Junior), Mahesh(Dude), Vikram (no nick name) & my self (Chandru) planned to go Gopalaswamy Betta. Later Thrilok (thiru) also wants to join us. Karthik (Garthik) has taken new bike, Yamaha Fazer and eager to go any trip and joined us. Finally six of us ready to go in 3 bikes. Vikram & Thiru in Pulser, Garthik & Dude in Yamaga(Garthik pronounce like that ) Fazer & Junior and myself in Bajaj Discover. We have planned to meet at satellite bus stand @ ... read more

Well my plan for the blog has been a bit thwarted. I had hoped to blog nightly on the train via wi-fi and Anna's laptop. Alas, the internet for the last 7 days was not working. But as I have been told several times, the 2 keys to travel in India are Patience and a Sense of Humor. Keeping this uppermost in my mind has made this a most beautiful and exciting trip. We rode a luxury train called the Golden Chariot for the past week. It works like a cruise ship on land. We sleep and eat on the train and have various excursions during the day. Because of the Mumbai incidents they received a number of cancellations so there were only 12 passengers on the train which has 19 cars including 2 dining cars, ... read more

Jaden really wanted to have an elephant ride and we wanted to see some wildlife. So we followed the guidebooks that said Bandipur National Park. Fiona Mark, Jaden and Kym went in the taxi and Jasmine and Laurie braved the local bus. Well that was an experience. What an old rattler with no suspension on the worst road we have come across in India. In spots the tarmac was a thin strip down the middle of enormous potholes. Lucky I had brought an extra pillow which I sat on to cushion the bumps. It still caused havoc with my neck. We booked a forest dept bungalow as it was a reasonable price. All the commercial resorts are over $US100 per person per night. We knew they would be simple but didn’t think they would be so ... read more

Just returned fom fabulous trip to state of Karnataka. Traveled to Bangalore via the superb Kingfisher Airline and then a 3 hour drive to Mysore through largly agricultural countryside (bananas, rice,sugar cane) Spent 2 days in Mysore visiting Temples old forts museums etc and learnt a little of the history. The bit I remember most is that the English fought 4 battles for Mysore loosing 2 and winning 2 and interestingly the French were on the side of the Indians(no wonder they lost). The highlights were an evening meal in a Mararajas guest house and the lighting up of the Mysore Palace with some 7500 lights-a sight never to be forgotten. Next day we drove 2 hours to the Bandipure National Park and went on an evening safari the first day and a morning Safari on ... read more

perhaps, the truest of nature lies at the deepest of the jungles. and this very thought drove us to the bandipur forest; we started from bangalore at the wee hours of morning. after driving 230 kms, (taking a single stop at maddur for breakfast) we reached our destination, bandipur. located at the foothills of mysore-ooty highway, the place is a beauty with lush green and that drove us wild. from badipur we drove another few kilometers to our cottage, 'tiger ranch'. this private cottage is at the heart of deep forest. with about 8 private huts, the cottage provides you with an amazing experience of staying deep inside the forest. the hut we took was furnished with 5 beds, a not so clean toilet and wooden hammocks. the food was gr8. and you'd get enuff drink(very ... read more