Traveblogs: Masinagudi

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Masinagudi

"...Road trippin' with my two favorite allies

Fully loaded we got snacks and supplies
It's time to leave this town
It's time to steal away
Let's go get lost..."
- Road Trippin, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Dilettante, Crocodile and I drove down to Masinagudi last weekend. Masinagudi is a small town in the Mudumalai hills. It's in Tamil Nadu, and the forest is basically a continuation of the better known Bandipur forest on this side of the border, in Karnataka.

Dilettante has a short post with photographs which does a good job of outlining our exploits (or lack of them). I'm posting my pictures here.

This was where we stayed. It was by a canal/river kind of thing, which was nice to laze by at sunset (below)

We went on numerous rides in the jungle on the jeeps looking for animals. We didn't see much except deer and birds and stuff. But the jungle was nice, with muddy brooks all over the place.

We also spotted a wild male tusker, which was a scary experience. Will post pictures when Crocodile gets his snaps developed etc. Masinagudi is a small one-road town, though.

How-to-get-there and other touristy information: The best way to get there is by road. First take the "Infrastructure Corridor" to Mysore. From Mysore, get on the road to Nanjangud, and just keep driving, and you'll reach Bandipur. Keep driving, and you'll reach Masinagudi. It's difficult to miss it. Keep driving further, and you'll get the steeper road to Ooty, with the 36 hairpin bends. As far as animal sightings go, I feel that Bandipur is a better bet than Mudumalai, though. Just my opinion. Masinagudi has many lodges and resorts which will cater to your stay and subsequent entertainment.