A weekend in Chikmagalur

We had our department's annual picnic last weekend. Last year we had been to Monarch Safari Lodge. This time it was Eagle Eye Holiday Home in Chikmagalur. We left Bangalore on Saturday morning in a private bus with no TV or radio in it. To keep everybody entertained, we resorted to singing Bollywood numbers, old and new, with great gusto. Not one to be left behind, the bus driver took a shorter route which only served to prolong the journey with rutted roads thrown in for good measure. Adding insult to injury, he also kept asking for directions when there was only one way to go up. As we neared our destination, we found out that the bus could only go up to a certain point beyond which we had to use jeeps to reach the resort. Finally we reached the place at around 4 P.M. by which time it had started drizzling.

Verdant fields on the way

After a late lunch, we were given cottages (with thin walls and thatched roofs). As plans were being made for boating the drizzle turned into a heavy downpour. Some remained undaunted by this natural obstacle and went ahead with their boating plan. Some people began playing an improvised form of football, albeit in a badminton court! There were no TVs in the cottages, presumably to keep us closer to nature which meant that we couldn't catch up with the India-Australia cricket match. So a few of us got down to playing carrom on a damp board in the recreation room. That was when we noticed a wooden box in a corner which turned out to be an ancient Optonica TV. We managed to switch it on somehow. The resort had DishTV but it hadn't been configured properly. Hence we could watch only one channel at a time! It didn't matter in the end anyway as the match turned out to be a damp squib (somewhat similar to our situation at that time). The rain continued unabated as we made ourselves comfortable in the gazebo. The incessant rain also poured cold water on the campfire & the activites planned around the same, except for a brief respite during which some kids sang nursery rhymes of which "Twinkle twinkle" was the only familiar one. The kindergarten syllabus has changed a lot since our days ;-).

For the night, six of us repaired to the tree house. We were given an electric lantern to find our way in the darkness as the tree house was some distance away from the centre of the resort. The tree house wasn't as cold as we expected it to be. And surprisingly there were no mosquitoes. Hurricane lamps and a lampshade-moderated bulb were the only sources of light. A different experience altogether.

A tree house

The next morning some people went on a short trek (which I ditched). The rains had relented & we finally put the slippery badminton court to some good use. A group then left for seeing the Bhadra river. We went out to the pond where there were coracles and facilities for fishing. Then the rains decided to make an appearance & eventually ensured that we were delayed for lunch which meant that we couldn't leave the place till 3 P.M. The return journey was much faster and smoother as the driver took a different route this time.

A panoramic view of the pond

Chikmagalur is a great place to visit, but the resort could do with some improvement. The food wasn't that great and the facilities didn't match up to the amount that was charged for them. Nevertheless, a well-deserved break for us.

Tags : Travel

Posted by Rajat @ 9:49 PM