Mydanahalli, a weekend getaway from Bangalore

Last Saturday, I had been to a place called 'Mydanahalli' - u read it right- or 'Maidanahalli', which is a black buck reserve forest in Karnataka bordering Andhra. A friend of us came to know abt this place and suggested it as a weekend getaway. Here is the blog that she was referred by her friend : http://ifornature.blogspot.com/2008/11/mydanahalli-blackbuck-reserve.html There are more blogs on this place and we were convinced that it would be a good idea to go early in the morning to spot the blackbucks made famous by Salman Khan. Though it was 140 Kms from Blr and the place did not have any flora or landscapes, we decided to try our luck with the blackbucks and their winged friends. 5 of us decided to leave Blr by 4.30 in the morning (in the peak cold winter) so that we can reach when the animals are out on their morning walk. We managed to get up, packed almost all brands of biscuits, fried snacks, soda and water cans, filled full gas and and left home just before 5 am. Ram was as usual behind the wheel and I next to him with 5-8 papers with the route and directions, courtesy- blogs and google maps. The early morning was definitely a different sight - dark roads covered with fog, howling & barking dogs, the roaming cops dressed like terrorists to protect themselves from cold and only a lathi for self protection! , fellow vehicles on the road - that being the beginning of xmas week, many families could be seen travelling that early. We took the old Madras road to join the outer ring road that feeds into Tumkur. As usual, Tumkur road was full of slow-moving trucks and thousands of diversions and barricades. I pity those who get to travel this road often! After an hour long drive, we reached the toll gate and were asked by our friend to look out for a board 6 kms after the toll, on the right side. 10 eyes followed the instruction and after 6 kms, we were desperate and looked out in all possible directions! It being a straight road without any turns, we were puzzled and drove on, doubting the directions given by her friend. Soon, we reached the exit of the toll gate and continued straight. We all were shot back suddenly when she shouted that she spotted the board. Time for reverse gear . Only then it became clear that the 6 kms was meant after the toll exit :-) It was fun, anyways. We had to take the Tumkur by-pass and not get into the town. But there was no signboard when we reached the deviation point. We asked a villager who asked us to go straight, whereas Satish was insisting that we should take the right turn to join the by-pass. Me being me, said that since Tumkur trucks were taking right to enter the town and insisted that we head straight, which we did. We were doubtful as the road was not wide enough for a NH and could see shops on the roadside. So, we stopped a cyclist who confirmed that it was not the by-pass and we took a U-turn. While continuing on the by-pass, there was a small board with the hand-written words 'Pune road' which made us discuss again. After discussions, we continued straight only to return to Pune road after 5 minutes. That place is the over bridge under construction. Turn right and continue for 45 kms or so towards Madhugiri. That part of the drive was wonderful - it had dawned by then and there was thick fog on all sides. Visibility was poor which made Ram apply less pressure on the accelerator. We took time to click snaps on the way (shall update this post with good snaps soon) and reached Madhugiri (which also happens to be a district). We had to go past Madhugiri onto Hindupura Road for 17 Kms to reach Puravara village. I tested my Kannada skills. And every single board in this route is in Kannada which I dint attempt :-) After a few odd Kms, we had to leave the tar road behind and there started the stress test for the car and our backbones. Inspite of directions, maps, pictures of board signs with us, we had to continue asking the villagers for help, who were not only enthusiastic, but also wrong many times. A self-proclaimed forest guard wanted lift and asked us to go back from where we came! In short, we were lost and amidst people who confirmed that the forest was a few kms ahead. That motivated us to go ahead and entered muddy roads(?) and slopes. We had entered the forest without realising. Soon, I got to see a lake with few birds and the scenery was beautiful. Stopped every person who passed us asking for the black bucks. We were told to go near the shed which was 2 kms from the lake and so we continued. We reached a point beyond which the car cannot go because of a ditch and so started walking. After a few metres, we could see a house and grazing cows. How can there be a house in a reserve area, we thought and spent some time bird watching and returned to the car. The time was 9.30 and all were hungry. We decided on a pool-side breakfast and drove back to the lake. Bread, butter, jam and ready made rotis made a smooth way inside our foodpipes. Meanwhile, we were researching the footmarks on the lake side - if they were of goats or deers ! I took a count of chances which were 3-2 with me offering to be the third vote on spotting bucks! Once, the food was in, energies shot up and caught hold of more villagers who swore that our earlier route was correct and that we simply had to go beyond. They asked us to go straight - but where is straight when you are inside a jungle without any road tracks? Well, we went ahead to the same ditch and Muku started filling it with large stones so that we could drive over them. 15 minutes later we were on our way again. Suddenly, Ram exclaimed that the fuel tank was getting emptied fast and we all looked down to check for leaking petrol. Though being an offroader, Honda CRV gulps almost a litre for each km on a road less road in the first gear. Now, the priorities shifted from animal spotting to getting out of the jungle. And that's when, we saw a shed and got down. After enquiries with the shed owner who spoke flawless English, Kannada and Tamil, we came to know that the reserve area was only a km away. We left the car there for saving petrol and trekked our way through the thorny bushes towards the fence he showed. He told about a watch tower and guards whom we dint meet till the very end. We had to cross moats to enter the fenced area(it was fenced on one side only). I wore cotton trousers and thin shoes. The bushes started poking me with their needles and I had to stop every now and then to remove them. When I say jungle or forest, please do not imagine a forest covered with dense trees that keep the sunlight away. This is a forest with only Eucalyptus trees, cactus and acres of bushes. We walked for another half an hour and reached a denser part of the forest, where we finally spotted the black beauties. We saw two of them who dint blink for a second, but ran and disappeared in no time. They were huge in size and from whatever I could see, they had amazing horns that seemed to be the work of skilled craftsmen. Only the belly was white and rest was dark brown (or black?) in color. A new rule came after this - not to speak or make noise! We went further in and was getting more holes in my body. We walked along the path of an erstwhile stream, which had dried long ago. Some of us were lucky to spot 2 more black bucks - fawns this time, but they were equally fast if not faster. It was a bit disappointing that we could not see herds of them or take pictures of the animals. We could not locate the watch tower or any human beings. There were many snake hills and were scared as we had read that there were 14 different species of them in the forest. After some more waiting and hesitation, we started our way back. We took a short cut and so got lost only to find our car soon. We quenched our thirst and went to the shed-house and used his toilet. The guy had a poultry farm earlier (that explained the shed) and was running a brick factory then. He said that there was a guest house under construction and it should be possible to stay after that. To see what, I dint ask. He talked in length about his life, snakes, scorpions, pets, politicians who promise roads and infra without delivering and offered us tender coconuts. We politely refused and thanked him for the hospitality. He suggested a shorter route to Blr via Gouribidanur. We took his suggestion and took the mud road towards Gouribidanur. A good 2-25 km stretch was difficult after which there was tar road to Dodballapur and a good ride to Yelahaka and Blr then on. We saved around 30-40 kms and also avoided the Tumkur road traffic. This is definitely a recommended route, except for the 20 km mud-road stretch. The total distance covered was around 270 kms. To summarize, it was a good drive and we were lucky enough to see the 3-4 animals and some colorful birds near the lake. Issues : Bad road conditions, missing road directions, not so green forest cover, absence of a guide or boards in the forest area and above all, it is disappointing after the real long drive. Not recommended for families with children or for lone trekkers. Even in Dec, the temp was around 27 degrees, so summers will be hotter(the probability of spotting animals is high, as they may not find grass anywhere else). The photos in the referred blogs are nice and beautiful, but I don't think Mydanahalli is worth a long drive. Well, that's my opinion :-) FULL STOP