Since I’m done with my recenttravelogues, I decided to go back through my photo collection and share my older travel experiences. I’ve traveled quite a bit down and around South India, and though I may not be able to recount my experience exactly, I’ll try my best to re-trace the steps.
I’m starting off with Bylakuppe, a Tibetan settlement in Karnataka state and around 3hrs drive from Bangalore city. I’ve been to Bylakuppe twice — first, in 2008, en route to Coorg and the second time, with AOL India’s Shutterbugs group.
First visit to Bylakuppe (October 2008)
It’s kind of weird to be traveling for an hour or two through Karnataka’s smaller towns, seeing the locals and sign boards in Kannada and then suddenly seeing a lot of Tibetans and Buddhist monks in one large piece of land off Mysore road.
We were en route to Coorg and had heard of Bylakuppe from friends, so we decided to make it the lunch stop in our journey. It was noon by the time we arrived and we decided to quickly check out the Namdroling Monastery – also known as the Golden Temple – before having lunch.
Namdroling Monastery
I don’t remember which day it exactly was but when we arrived at the Golden Temple, the monks were on a break (I guess) as few were seen inside the temples and halls.
From inside the Golden Temple:
No prayers were happening at Namdroling Monastery at this time
A few from just outside the Golden Temple…
… before lunch.
I forgot the name of the restaurant we had lunch from but it was a garden restaurant on the road that leads to the Golden Temple. Don’t expect anything fancy in Bylakuppe, most restaurants (and there are only a few) serve simple Tibetan dishes. You do get South Indian food just outside the Golden Temple and the standard “fried rice” fare is available at some restaurants. But don’t go asking around for Chinese food! Tibetans hate them!
If you are wondering what we had, it was thukpa (noodle soup; veg & beef) and tingmo (steamed rice bread).
It was shocking how cheap it all was. Three of us ate all that for less than Rs. 100!
On the way out, we checked out the other places of interest in Bylakuppe (or at least the places that looked interesting to us)
Bylakuppe Nalanda International Institute
After this, we headed back to the highway for Coorg.
Second visit to Bylakuppe (March 2009)
My second visit to Bylakuppe was with my office photography club called Shutterbugs. It was a weekend trip, leaving on a Saturday morning, spending the night at Kushal Nagar and heading back the next day. Fortunately, this time, we arrived at the Golden Temple when prayers were in full force.
Since we had all day to spend in Bylakuppe, I got a chance to go around the whole vicinity this time around and explore the place better.
As the day darkened, we headed to Kushal Nagar which is pretty much the largest town in the area and took rooms at a cheap lodge. We set out again the next day, rather early, for Nisargadhama which was fairly close by.
After Nisargadhama, we headed back on to Mysore Road for Bangalore, stopping for lunch at Hotel Mayura River View in Srirangapatna — a very nice (& affordable) restaurant by the river banks.
As I sat there by the river, the setting oddly got me thinking about ‘Jungle Book’.
The next day, I woke up by 7am. Went down to the reception area for breakfast, which was included in the hotel room fare. I checked out by 8:30am and took a metered taxi to the Southern Bus terminal which is where all the buses to South Thailand set out from.
Taken from inside the taxi on my Nokia E72Heading to the Southern bus terminalMost of Bangkok city is covered by elevated toll highways
My plan was to take a day bus to Krabi where I planned to spend most of my time in Thailand.
You need to go upstairs for the ticket counters
But it was not to be. When I inquired, from the Southern Bus terminal, apparently only evening buses were available. Or maybe the lady figured I was a tourist and thought I was expecting the luxury buses. (Tip:Found this blog in case you want to more about the Southern Bus terminal)
Southern Bus terminal, where both state and private buses ply
Instead of wasting time in Bangkok, I thought I’d go to Kanchanaburi instead, which is 130kms from Bangkok city. So I bought my ticket (77 baht/Rs. 107) and boarded my bus which was departing soon.
Inside the bus to Kanchanaburi
It was pretty hot outside and the A/C in the bus was minimal. Fortunately, the bus was barely full and the journey wasn’t too long (1 & 1/2 hours).
We reached Kanchanaburi bus stand by around 11am. I was approached by taxi drivers as soon as I got down from the bus offering tours to all that Kanchanaburi has to offer but I first wanted to check my e-mail and get some water. While I was at the internet cafe-slash-computer repair shop, I checked the weather forecast for South Thailand. BBC Weather said it was going to rain in the coming days. “Oh crap” moment #2.
Kanchanaburi maybe a fairly popular tourist destination but the town is fairly small and a far cry from madness of Bangkok. After sending out a few mails, I took a Mazda pick-up truck taxi (something I haven’t done since the early Gulf years) and set out for the famous Tiger Temple which was 35kms away.
Kanchanaburi town. Taken from inside the Mazda taxi
The driver said he would first take me to the Bridge over the River Kwai, which I didn’t know was en route to the Tiger Temple. But even before that, we stopped by the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.
Over 5,000 Australian, British and Dutch prisoners of war are buried hereThe POWs were used by the Japanese to build the Thailand-Burma Railway
After that, the taxi took me to the famous Bridge over the River Kwai and you read about its history here. It’s mostly a tourist attraction now with short train rides available and surrounded by restaurants and street vendors.
The Bridge over the River KwaiI didn’t bother taking the train ride
You can even walk on it
It was around 12:30pm and it was scorching hot, so I took a few more photos and then headed back to the taxi.
There was a war museum there as well… but I didn’t check it out
We then headed for famous Tiger Temple at Kanchanaburi.
Taken from inside the taxiThe pick up taxi I tookThe terrain looked fairly similar to what you would see in Karnataka
We reached the Tiger Temple a.k.a Wat Pa Luangta Buaat around 1pm. I was wearing a sleeveless vest and I had to change to a non-red coloured T-shirt as there is a dress code. Not to do with the fact it’s a place run by Buddhist monks but more to do with your own safety when getting close to the tigers.
The ‘temple’ is only open to the general public from 12pm to 3:30pm. The entry fee is a rather steep 500 baht (Rs.700) & video cameras weren’t allowed (or you probably had to pay extra for it). I walked in and was asked by the volunteers to run and join the group who were being led to the area where you get to see the tigers.
The volunteers there wear the golden yellow t-shirtsVisitors are gathered at the spot where the tigers areFrom here, volunteers take visitors, by hand, one by one to each tiger
There are a lot of controversies surrounding the Tiger Temple. Despite being run by monks, many accuse it of exploiting the animals for money and some even question if the stories of how the temple acquired the tigers are actually true. You can read their response to all these queries in their FAQs but I did question their money-making means.
For the 500 baht entrance fee, you get to sit next to the tigers and have your photo taken by the volunteers using your camera (& bottles of water). If you want to have a photo taken with a tiger’s head placed on your lap, that will cost you 1000 baht (Rs. 1,300). I was approached by one of their foreign volunteers, a young woman, who asked if I was interested in spending the night at the reserve, feed the tigers the next morning and see them play — all for 1500 baht (Rs. 2,100). I kindly said no, citing I had to head back. I actually had to head back and I would have loved to spend more time with the tigers, but I just didn’t feel like giving them anymore money.
Even their international volunteers looked like a questionable lot. All young guys and girls who looked like they got into some sort of trouble and sought refuge in Tiger Temple with easy jobs as supposed to actually knowing a lot about tigers. I could be wrong, but that’s how I felt.
Anyway, back to why I actually came all the way here. The tigers.
I-LOVE-tigers! I have always loved big cats — especially since I was a child when I came across a photo book my father had on wild cats. Of all the big, furry, cute (yet dangerous) wild cats, tigers have been my favourite. It’s sad to know our national animal is on the decline the world over but a chance to be this close to them was something I would not have ignored.
The tiger wasn’t stuffed — he was just in that position — the whole timeSee, I told you.This was the biggest tiger there. I believe they told me it was 4 years old.Me kinda wishing I could place my head on the tigerTiger: “Let me sleep kid! Go away… no photos!”The 1000 baht pose
After spending around half-an-hour there, I went back up — where they had more tigers for you to pose with.
In a country famed for massages, even tigers get themMounted the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 lens for these shotsWould have been nice if I got this shot without the tourists at the back“Great, another moron who thinks he works for National Geographic”“Water … waaaterrrr …”
By 2:30pm, I was done. They do have few other animals at the reserve but they were all animals most Indians have seen before (buffaloes, peacocks etc.). I headed back to Kanchanaburi town in the taxi.
From inside the ‘furnished’ taxi
The driver stopped at a bus heading back to Bangkok city. The ride to all the tourist spots and back cost me 600 baht (Rs. 836) and I tipped him 50 baht (the initial quote I was given when I arrived was 800 baht).
I boarded the bus and headed back to Bangkok city. I contemplated my next move. If it was going to rain the next few days, why bother going to Krabi now itself. So, I figured I’d go to Chiang Mai instead — and do my trip in reverse order. Something, I hadn’t planned for and something that would eventually cost me a lot more than I had budgeted.
… before lunch.
After Nisargadhama, we headed back on to Mysore Road for Bangalore, stopping for lunch at Hotel Mayura River View in Srirangapatna — a very nice (& affordable) restaurant by the river banks.
As I sat there by the river, the setting oddly got me thinking about ‘Jungle Book’.
