Discovery- Wild walkers near Ooty

Tucked away in the folds of the Ooty mountains, a small cottage lies in the middle of a plot of farm land. The approach road to the cottage itself isn't in best shape, and it is necessary to leave your car half way and use a jeep to cross the final stretch of road. One needs to turn off the Mudumalai-Ooty road, drive across the hill slopes, past a few villages until one essentially reaches the end of the road - thats where you park, and meet caretaker Nanjun, who will take you to the cottage itself. One needs to first walk a little stretch and then climb into a jeep for a rough ride to the cottage.

After driving through Bandipur and Mudumalai, the road to Wild Walkers starts to make you wonder whether there has been some mistake in selecting the destination. There are several villages along the way, each with concrete houses more colourful and kitschy than the other. Yes, the mountain air is delicious, but you do wonder if the cottage is going to give you the privacy, peace and isolation that you have been expecting. The walk from your car to the jeep takes you by surprise, because one is not normally packed in a manner to quickly pick up bags and begin a mini hike. Even my shoes were still packed away, so I had to lug my baggage across in slippers, along with the little bags of food and other utilities we had picked up along the way. Once you reach the jeep, things start looking up, for you drive through a small tea plantation interspersed with scrub jungle, and finally you can see the trees parting ahead , which is where Wild Walkers cottage is located. The immediate area around Wild Walkers is an extension of the reserve forest, and gaurs, elephants and even bears have been spotted here rather frequently. This means that access to the cottage normally requires the caretaker to escort you, and you cannot really head out on foot on your own.

The cottage itself is a 3 bed room cottage, with each room having a separate access of its own. The common areas are all open to nature, so whether you are sitting at the dining table for a meal, or getting warm next to the fireplace, you are always exposed to the outdoors. The cottage is powered by solar power, so you can only keep 2 bulbs on at a time, and charging points for phones, cameras, tablets and every other gadget you are carrying with you need to be used sparingly. Phone are a little redundant, for there isn't enough cell phone network coverage. I would recommend putting your phone off or into flight mode, so that you can still use it to take pictures, but not drain the battery looking for network continuously.

The food is vegetarian and local, but delicious and fresh. The flavours were comforting, and there was an unlimited flow of food, tea and evening pakodas the whole time we were there. Not having electricity also means there is no water heater, so you need to tell Nanjun when you'd like to get a bucket of hot water delivered to your room.

The cottage doesn't really give you much to do either - with limited electricity, lack of network, no facility for games or music, one can be rather bored spending too much time here. But then again, this was exactly what I was looking for. All the things that I have mentioned so far may be slightly putting off for most travellers - which is why I have spoken of all this up front. If you are still reading this article, then this is when you begin to discover all the reasons why I loved this destination.

To begin with, the cottage is done up and maintained beautifully. Each room is spacious, with a view of the outdoors; bathrooms are modern and well maintained; beds are comfortable and the room is filled with curios, antique pieces and little details that reflect the taste and the attention to detail that has gone into putting the place together. Not having electricity was no trouble at all - in fact we barely even used the lights that we could, and spent our evenings by candlelight. The solar lights were used sparingly, only to use the bathroom or while we ate - and we didn't really need it beyond that. The views from the cottage are spectacular - on one side you have high mountains, in front you can see smaller hill slopes covers with jungle patches, and beyond is the valley that has the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary. Considering the amount of land we could see from where we were perched, it was delightful to also notice that in all these spaces, we could see no signs of other habitation, no other human being, no electric pole, not even a single light bulb or torch!

We could spend days hanging out on the verandahs, gazing at the view, looking at the clouds roll in and out, and watch Nanjun maintain the farm and keep the birds away from his crop. But that isn't all that we did, within an hour of reaching the cottage, we went for a little walk with Nanjun, to a lake and then to a view point, where the view only got better compared to what we could see from the cottage. Along the way we saw some gaurs on the slopes nearby, and even crossed some bear scat, which told us that the bear sightings in the region was indeed true. The next day we went for a beautiful hike up the mountain and spent some time at the peak, soaking in the air, gazing at the view, jumping in the rain and taking innumerable pictures. Words do not do justice to the place, its location, and the experience of doing those hikes in complete isolation, tucked away from the maddening traffic, crowd and construction that is Ooty.

For wildlife lovers and birders, Wild Walkers will surprise you. A pair of resident black eagles make regular rounds of the cottage, and you can watch it soar and circle and hunt and perch. Gaurs and barking deer are a regular feature from the cottage itself, it feels like you belong to the landscape for they graze and walk around without being affected by your presence. We were also lucky to have a bear digging around for termites very close to the property, and even spotted a wild cat (leopard cat) in broad daylight while we were enjoying a cup of tea. Once you realise the potential there is for a sighting right from the cottage itself, you spend the whole time keeping watch with a pair of handy binoculars.

If you are a nature lover and would give all that you've got for a few days in solitude, away from the rush and bustle of the city, then Wild Walkers is the place for you. I do not exaggerate when I say that it is remote and cut off, and that there really isn't much to do other than to enjoy the outdoors, but if this excites you, be sure to plan a trip and do not forget to take your binoculars along.

Country for sale

I spent a relaxing month with my mother here in Germany, we travelled a little, did some sightseeing, but most enjoyable times were spent taking walks in the countryside. The countryside I talk about isn't particularly made up of stunning landscapes, or snow clad peaks – this is good old plain countryside – farmlands and meadows, with little streams flowing in between. There are patches of scrub and forest land that belongs to nobody, where one comes across an occasional cottage with a modest façade and an apple tree in the backyard. Fruits on the trees are available for all to eat, and nobody will complain if you pick a few raspberries from the bushes along the path. The streams and rivers are clean, and ducks paddle up and down. Now and then one sees families riding bicycles, or dogs playing fetch bounding across a field – simple pleasures that suddenly seem like impossible luxuries.

Forests and meadows

Like I have mentioned before, I grew up in NCL colony, in a beautiful big house with the slopes of the hill behind blending naturally into our backyard. We couldn’t see the neighbour’s house – as the foliage in between was too dense! Family outings were on bicycles, cycling down to NDA or towards Balewadi – the sports stadium that was built for the 1994 National games, located on the Pune bypass. Even beyond, was Nature Trails camp, run by Leela and Ashok Broome – this is the place I went to for my first ever nature camp, its a farm that was considered to be located far outside the city. The closest village from this farm that had more than 10 homes was called Hinjewadi, and we had to remember the name so we could ask for the way in case we were lost on our bicycle route. There were many ways to get there, but one of the easier routes was to go down Pashan-Sus road, hit the highway, go past Balewadi, and turn at Wakad. Then on, it was a single lane road, and it was nicer to pedal on the side of the road on the mud track than in the middle which was semi laid and very bumpy. The whole route was pure and simple countryside, with very little plastic strewn around, where birds of all colours and sizes could be seen on trees and electric lines along the road, where we could feel lucky to see a snake wriggling across the road. In the monsoon, these places would be covered with little waterfalls, and the electric green could make spirits soar.

The good old days

The countryside in Germany reminds me often of those days, where the outdoors was simple, open for all to enjoy, and belonged to nobody.

My parents home is now in an apartment complex on the same Pashan-Sus road. This was one of the first apartment complexes to come there, and now the road is bustling with cars, apartments, banks, supermarkets – you name it! 

A couple of years ago I caught a watchman killing a snake in the apartment, unfortunately it was already too late, as the snake had very little life left in it by then. In response to my outrage and fury, he explained that there were children in the area and it was unsafe to have a snake around. One look at the snake told me it was a wolf snake – completely harmless, and possibly the last one left in the area thanks to the ruthless development that has taken place. Not many years ago, the number of snakes on this road would have far outnumbered the humans.

A wolf snake in happier times

The roads we once went cycling on, now lead to an enormous IT park – Hinjewadi is well known in Pune, with its wide roads, well lit software complexes, high end security and endless facility. The roads are famous for accidents and carjacking incidents. Today, cycling on these roads would probably equal suicide. Every other road around Pune suffers a similar fate. The open fields, patches of scrub jungle and beautiful hill slopes are now replaced by buildings and exposed rock where great excavations are in progress, to make it more suitable for a cutting edge software park or luxury apartment complex. There remains no place where one could take a peaceful walk, taking in the countryside, without worrying about trespassing on private property. Everything is now private property, all the countryside we grew up in now suddenly belongs to somebody. Who sold this land? Who ever owned it – there never were fences in these places! The whole landscape seems to be getting divided into neat little plots, and you need to buy it to enjoy it! Those who have the money to buy it, immediately surround themselves with a high wall, a watchman, flatten the ground out and build themselves a garish house where they can enjoy every urban luxury without having to step out of the door. Of course – this is only a weekend getaway, and the place remains locked up all week long. 

Wonderful countrysides of once-upon-a-time

I like to believe that the wonderful nature that we are blessed to have in our country is tough to equal. It is frustratingly difficult to understand how our educated middle class can throw all this away in their race for affluence. Where is the country that I belong to, where I can feel free to roam and breathe in the fresh air? Where did it disappear?