It was a long time wish to do a road trip with my son, who is also growing up as an auto enthusiast and vivid car lover. You know the topics when two car lovers travel together on a long journey. Since got his driving license recently, he wanted to do a final road trip with Duster before we handover Duster to another auto aficionado.
He had couple of weeks break after finishing his semester exams in July, so we planned a trip to Masinagudi, which has some wilderness associated to satisfy our souls.
Started from Bengaluru on Friday around 6am, joined Mysore expressway via NICE road.
There was no traffic, it was a beautiful morning drive watching the mist kissing mountain tops all along.
We cruised through the expressway directly to Mylari Hotel at Mysore with one coffee break on the way somewhere near Maddur.
After eating famous Mylari dose, we met a friend at another hotel near Zoo for coffee.
My son got to ride his favorite Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 my friend had, so his adventure of the trip had begun with that ride ��.
After saying bye, we headed towards Masinagudi via Bandipur. Since we had lot of time to check-in at Masinagudi, we took a diversion just before Bandipur forest to visit the Sri Himavad Gopalaswamy Temple.
It’s the beginning of forest zone and we could get glimpse wildlife as we drove. Due to conflict between animals and human, we are not allowed to drive to the top, so we parked Duster in the designated parking area and took KSRTC bus to the top. It was a 10-15 mins drive in the crowded bus to the top (they won’t start unless bus is full), if you are lucky you can sight wild elephants on the way. We could see elephants and baby elephants on a distant hill while returning. We could feel the temperature dropping we bus climbed up, its such a beautiful serene place so close to Mysore.
Went inside the temple and took darshan of Sri Himavad Gopalaswamy. It feels like heaven every time I visit this place, walked around the temple and took some pictures of this blissful surroundings.
Returned to parking lot by bus and drove towards the Bandipur, checked out safari timings, the next safari was at 2.30pm we didn’t want to wait, so we started to drive towards Masinagudi.
It was a beautiful drive through the lush green forest, we crossed Bandipur forest (KA) and entered into Madumalai forest (TN), there was checkpost to check any plastic bottles etc and some forest entry fee. Forest was dense as we enter Madumalai forest region, people were stopping in between to take pics even though there were warnings boards not to stop. There were too many humps to check the speed limit. At Theppakadu we had to take a left diversion towards Masinagudi. Theppakadu has Elephant Camp where tourists can watch elephant feeding, ride on elephants & go for a safari as well.
We could spot a wild elephant right next to the road as we drove towards the Masinagudi.
Masinagudi is small sleepy town right below Ooty, there are many resorts, homestays offering private safari. We had booked a property called “Tiger Paw” close to mountain range. Its small cozy resort, they claim only 4 star in Masinagudi but it needs a lot of upkeep and maintenance.
We could see mountain range from the room balcony, which feels awesome:
We had lunch there and headed to Theppakadu for a jungle safari and to watch elephant feeding. It was a government jungle safari by mini bus for an hour, we could see some deer, peacocks and wild elephants, it was not worth the wait in the long queue.
After the safari, we went to elephant feeding area, we could see a lot of elephants being fed by mahuts, visitors are not allowed to feed, we can only watch.
By evening, we returned to the resort, played some indoor games, booked the early morning private jungle safari (they call is sunrise wild safari) and slept off.
Got into the jeep by 5.30am with lot of excitement of seeing some wildcats, it was supposed to be 3-4 hours safari, we didn’t know from where the sun rose, we could only see a herd of some wild dogs and nothing else.
Last point of the safari was the drive to a nearby peak point, we could experience some real off-roading experience, it’s the highest point in Masinagudi, we did a small trek there and returned to the resort.
Had breakfast at the hotel and started the return journey to towards Mysore, we stopped at Theppakadu to have coffee at this nice looking mobile canteen.
Drove straight to Mysore Zoo, took good 2 hours to watch the animals, I was always fascinated to see the Rhinosaur and Giraffe, they are such a wonderful creation of god.
Mysore trip would not be complete without visiting “Payana” Vintage Car Museum especially for auto enthusiasts. We had lunch here and spent some good time watching and clicking the beauties in there.
Posting few of my favorites:
Ever amazing Standard 2000:
Politician's favorite Contessa:
India's favorite Ambassador:
By then was coffee time, we had coffee on the way and returned home for dinner. It was another enjoyable trip with my loving Duster.
Onward & Return: Bengaluru <-> Mysore <-> Masinagudi
Total distance covered – ~600 kms
Road condition – Excellent highway till Mysore and more exciting drive in wilderness after Bandipur till Masinagudi.
Wear seat belts and drive safe !!
Thanks for the travelogue.
When I went, I also did this early morning safari, they kept on saying this is elephant track, we have just missed it. Couple of Deer's and Wild buffalos is what I saw.
Masingaudi is really one of the best places around Bangalore for a weekend.
The best thing to do is to set your expectations to zero regarding sightings and just sit back and enjoy nature. The place had become just too commercial some time back but with half the resorts closed by the government, it has become somewhat less touristy.
I have by and large always had good sightings driving down from Singara to Moyar. I start with just enjoying the beauty of the place and think of it as a bonus when we spot something.
In June I saw 2 bears for a second or two, but they vanished on hearing the honking a speeding bus.
Thanks for the travelogue.
Nice travelogue with beautiful photos. How would you rate your stay in Masinagudi? Thank you for sharing and keep on munching miles.
