My Travel Kingdom: 2012

This place comes near to Somwarpete town. Mandala Patti is one of the trekking points in Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary or Pushpagiri Forest Range. Pushpagiri Forest Range spreads from Subrahmanya in Dakshina Kannada district to Somwarpet in Coorg district covering an area of 102.6 sq km.

Yet another adventure with my family and friends in Mercara. Magical Mandalpatti is an absolutely scenic place in Coorg, which is located at a distance of about 35 km from Madikeri town. Tourists can reach the 600 metres high point through the coffee plantations. As I mentioned in my earlier article, these places can be reached comfortably only by Jeeps. My friend who is a born and brought up in Madikeri and keeps travelling across the district, managed to take us in his Omni. Still we encountered problems in three places where in we had to do "tallu govinda tallu." Such incidents are always memorable. I love bit of these experiences while traveling.

Best time to visit this place would be after monsoon and to some extent winter(Most of the time it is covered with mist ) Though it is an amazing experience to visit breathtaking views and the lush green mountains during monsoon, one has to be adventurous. To be on safer side don't take risk as roads are bad and hillocks are slippery. Unlike other places you can't start your picnic early to reach this place as thick mist would be covered and slowly gets cleared by 11. As the sun goes high, layers of mist start disappearing and gives you a feel of curtain raising.

Watch the narrow roads. They look like snakes.This is the place where one of the super hit kannada movie "Galipata" was shot and the place was named as "Mugilupete". Impressed by the cinematography many people tried to discover "mugilupete". You will never find it in your lifetime. It is just a fictitious name given.

Better to carry your own food packs. On the way there are no good hotels and also nothing is available on the hill. During our recent visit (May 2012) we found a "meese maama" who has opened a mobile restaurant . He makes tea and coffee. You need to keep him informed much in advance if you are looking for lunch.(unfortunately I don't have his number) few dogs and chickens accompany him in his tented restaurant....:D.

Travel Little further you find an arch which is the gateway to Pushpagiri forest range. Further you will find a forest office, where in you have to pay entrance fee to climb the hill and reach "mantapa", the top of the hill. There is no water available on top. Make sure to carry water also. When you reach the mantapa, the breeze will be heavy. Enjoy the beauty of nature to the fullest.

Forest Range Office

The Tented Restaurant

View Point

Day 1 :

We started from Mangalore around 7.00am by train and reached Kannur at 9.30 am. There are many trains between Mangalore - Kanuur. (fare Rs 26/-) It was a sunny day. Received a warm welcome by one of our family friend Mr. "Sivaji" who offered breakfast at "India coffee House".

Mascot beach resort is around 3 kms away from the city railway station If you hire a taxi, he would charge you not less than 100/- bucks and by auto 20-30 bucks. We traveled in taxi and reached resort around 10.30 am.no much formalities at the reception as we had already booked room for 2 adults and 2 kids. Thanks to Jeethu Sekhar - Owner of Mascot who was very courteous over the phone and gave us rooms in discounted price before he could leave to Frankfurt.

The minute kids entered the room, they were excited and to my surprise, it was better than what I had imagined. Spacious a/c room with beautiful sea facing balcony.King sized bed, a dining table, 2 small diwan cots, dressing mirror, cupboards were the interiors of this room. Bathroom had a bath tub.
We freshened up for a while and headed towards payambalam beach, which is close to 2 kms again. Kids had the beach fun utmost. They never wanted to come back. I was busy in clicking photographs as usual and mom was relaxing by wetting her feet in the salty water which was giving her great relief. Back to resort for lunch and we enjoyed traditional kerala thali.We relaxed in the afternoon. By evening we were invited at Mr. Sivaji's house which was at Puthiyatheru to celebrate his grand daughter's Birthday.

Day 2 :

After the complimentary breakfast we headed towards kannur fort (St. Angelo) by auto is a fort facing the Arabian Sea, situated 3 km from the town of Kannur.St. Angelo's Fort was built in 1505 by Dom Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy of India and is on the Arabian sea coast about 2km from Kannur town. It was attacked in vain by the local Indian ruler Zamorin and kolathiri in the Siege of Cannanore (1507).

Our next visit was to The Arrakkal Museum. It is a museum dedicated to the Arakkal family, the only Muslim royal family in Kerala, south India. The museum is actually a section of the Arakkalkettu (Arakkal Palace). The durbar hall section of the palace has been converted into a museum by the Government of Kerala. It was opened in July 2005 after a Rs. 9,000,000 renovation.

Although renovated by the government, the Arakkalkettu is still owned by the Arakkal Family Trust and does not fall under the control of the country's archaeology department, the Archaeological Survey of India. The government had taken a keen interest in preserving the heritage of the Arakkal Family, which had played a prominent role in the history of Malabar. A nominal entry fee is charged by the Arakkal Family Trust from visitors to the museum.

After noon we relaxed at resort. Kids utilised the swimming pool to the max while I was watching and capturing their excitement. mom was tired hence she was sleeping in the room. Night was great. We had beach side candle light dinner. The resort was illuminated during night. A peaceful dinner.

Early morning post breakfast, we went around the resort. There is a light house close to the resort.(Please check the timings before you visit. I guess it is 1 hr in the morning and 1 hr in the evening) A beautiful garden is been maintained.

We returned back packed our luggage left resort by 10.30. we had time till 2 pm. Kept our luggage in the cloak room did some shopping in city center mall and some close by streets and then back to Mangalore.

Other places to see: Parasinakadavu temple, snake park, vismaya amusement park.

Traveled during Oct 2011.