Burnt lips, hands and toes

Trip Start Mar 10, 2007
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121
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Trip End ??? ??, 2007


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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Madikiri is like the kodaikanal of Karnataka except that there are less walks available within the immediate vicinity. On my first day i was tired by the bus so i just checked out the 'fort', if you can call it that before overdosing on fruit and then checking out the 'dancing fountain' in the evening, similar to he one i mentioned in Calcutta, the sort of crappy evening entertainment Indians seem to lap up.
       Spent my first full day doing the only real walk in the surrounding area, the7km walk to abbey falls through forests and coffee plantations. A nice walk, though to be honest i was walking more because I'm lazy and i felt i need the exercise than for the walk itself. The falls were also a pleasant surprise, however i was very disappointed in the lack of seating  areas or view points etc. For such a nice spot I'd really expected India to have made it a picnic place so the Indian public could have a better chance at littering it wit rubbish The fort
The fort
 ! After a brief respite here, i returned to town via the Rajs tombs, which were built in 1880 and serve as memorials to Virarajendra and his wife and of Lingarrajenda (leaders of the Lingayat caste that once ruled here).
      After lunch i had a think and decided that contrary to my original assessment, i actually don't like Madikeri very much, as apart from the waterfalls, there's very little to do or see here, just the novelty of a cooler climate.
     To pass time, i decided I'd check out the Omkareshwara temple here, however in trying to find it, and in classic Ben navigational style, i literally took every possible wrong turn and had to ask directions many times before i got there. Resting there, an Indian lady from Kushalnagar talked to me for a bit as she once lived in London. She also invited me to her house, though i wasn't sure if it was genuine or she was just being polite. Next day i wanted to go to see the Tibetan settlement nearby, however i got to the base town nearby only to be told by the police that i needed a permit from Delhi (in retrospect he probably just wanted baksheesh) so that was that idea scrapped. Kushalnagar was interesting to walk around as the Tibetan settlement seemingly come there to shop, eat and enjoy themselves, and there were lots of Tibetan people around, so i spent a while people watching here, before returning to Madikeri for the night.
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