Amy the Amethyst Fairy a.k.a Pozu the Elephant

A new school event was coming up, and this time it was a fancy dress competition with a fairy/goblin theme. Gozu was all charged up to make a DIY costume for the event and a lot of youtube searches were made to finalize on one design. I was a bit skeptical at the beginning on whether it was worth the time and effort to make things at home vs buying a ready made costume.

Now we didn't really know too much about fairies except Tinkerbell, but with a little help from Google we figured that there are different types of fairies etc. Amy, the Amethyst fairy was chosen since her name started with an "A". Apparently, she's a fairy who can make things disappear and that's not a new thing for Pozu.



The prior weekend was spent in gathering all the raw materials required for the tutu skirt and the tiara etc. The only thing that was remaining was to get the wings made from the wire hangers that we use for clothes. Finally one day, Gozu got me and showed me the demo of how to bend the hangers to make those wings. It wasn't all that difficult at all and in 10 mins we had the wings sorted out.

I hadn't seen the final dress until the day she wore it, and it really looked pretty I must say. Everything just fitted in really nicely to transform the naughty little Pozu into an adorable fairy. And best part is, she won the competition!



It's amazing to see her grow so fast, sometimes I sit and tell her stories about how she was so tiny that I could fit her in my forearm and now she's half my height already. I've gotten so many pics of her when she was a baby, but that's coz she couldn't run away from the camera. Now, its not the same anymore, she won't pose for the camera that easily. It takes a lot of patience to get her to stand in front of the camera and a lot of times I don't end up getting even a single good shot.

But there was this one day where I was testing a lens that came back from service and she knew I wasn't really doing a photoshoot. I casually got her to stand to see if the lens was tracking the focus points etc. It was only a few weeks later that I happened to see those pictures and found a gem. When I showed her the pic, she instantly said it was Pozu the Elephant (that's what she likes to call herself). This one's definitely one of my favorites from the recent times and will make it to the wall in my next batch of prints.

Jeepers of Bangalore OTR at Hoskote

It was more than a month since the Yercaud trip and quite a few folks were eager to go out for a day OTR. So when the announcement came for it, the attendee list was already quite long. The venue was going to be somewhere around Hoskote which is hardly 20-25 kms from my place. One of the JoB guys had done a recce and had promised us a good mud trail for about half a day, and what a day it was!



Although it was a weekend, Gozu was out for some offsite meeting, and that meant Pozu had to come along with me for the event. The little one was all excited about going offroad after a relatively long break and was eagerly looking forward to the day.



The turnout was quite good for the event and we had over 15 jeeps in the convoy. Within 10 mins of reaching the spot, we had finalized our first obstacle. The first part was an entry into a ditch and then a sharp right turn with a two-step climb to reach the top. There were a couple of tree stumps at the top which had to be avoided to prevent any underbody damage.

Part 1 - Getting into the ditch



The stock T-fort needed some help to make sure the foot boards don't get bent while going into the ditch.



Part 2 - Coming out of it





The SUVs made it up without a fuss, most of the jeeps made it fairly easy with the low range torque at hand



Some had a bit of drama although nothing sensational



The gypsies needed a bit of hard revving to get past



Pozu was strapped in her seat and we were ready for our turn. She was initially nervous but soon that changed into excitement and thereon it was only about what next obstacle were we going to try.



Next up was a small water crossing through a grassy patch.



This was a pretty easy obstacle and nobody seemed to be having any trouble getting through. So to make matters interesting, once I reached the end, I did the obstacle in reverse and again forward. The thought was to dig it up a bit and make it more challenging. And, it worked. The next jeep after mine had his wheels spinning and eventually had to be winched out - my first recovery of the day.



A little ahead we had a small technical problem with a jeep and a tree stump. Now Sidhu's jeep has a bit of history of getting stuck on tree stumps, so this wasn't anything very unusual.



The recovery team took some time to get his jeep out of the mess and soon we were on to our third obstacle. It was a reasonably steep decline with a 2 feet drop at the end. It wasn't going to be too difficult for the jeeps because of the reasonably good breakover angles but the long wheel base SUVs wouldn't have made it without risking underbody damage.

A view of the obstacle with the Jonga



The jeep guys ofcourse had quite a bit of fun with a good test for articulation (or the lack of it) as they got down. I had the right rear wheel in the air as usual and that made for some good photo opportunity.





Good thing was that there was another way out which wasn't as dramatic, so the SUV guys could take that for a safe exit. But Santy's Pajero can even make the safe exits equally interesting.



Pozu was enjoying herself thoroughly all this while, she had made friends with Tejas who was now nicknamed "naughty uncle". He did a splendid job of babysitting her while I was busy with other things.



Being a lake bed, we were all wanting to try our hands with some slush and it didn't take time to get a couple of jeeps swimming in a small pond as soon as we spotted it. But it wasn't going to be easy, the lake bed has been mined for clay for quite some years. So what they had gotten themselves into was a clay pit and there was no way that they were going to make it out by themselves.



First it was Teju's Thar that got stuck and the mighty Pajero went in for a rescue only to realize that he himself was stuck. Both of them had to be winched out to safety.



Next it was me who got stuck while trying to be a little ambitious through the slush and had to winch myself out with help from the Jonga for an anchor. But the favor was returned quickly as he got stuck while attempting to cross that clay pond and had to be winched out.



Not learning from any of our ordeals, KVK got his MM550 in as well, only to get helplessly stuck right in the middle of the pond. That's the thing about Jeepers, they just won't give up trying until they've had  a go...LOL!

Anyway, the getting stuck and being recovered cycle was finally put to an end and it was time for some refreshments before heading back home. Lunch was at our favorite Sher-e-Punjab dhaba and we were back home just in time for a birthday party that Pozu was invited to. Overall, it was quite an eventful day with loads of fun! 

PS: Images that aren't watermarked are sourced from the JoB facebook group, copyrights belong to the original owners.

Wayanad Monsoon OTR - July 2014

It was July and although the monsoon was delayed, it was slowly catching up. The Wayanad Monsoon OTR event was announced and having missed it last year, I wasn't going to let this one go easily. Anish had been wanting to accompany me for an OTR and he was eager to fly down from Mumbai for this one. Ramesh had confirmed his entry too, so it was going to be the three of us, the more the merrier.



We were accompanied with Santy's Pajero and Pradeep's Gypsy from the JoB group. When the day arrived, it was like preparing for the first day of school. We were out on the road on time and comfortably cruising on the highway doing good speeds.



Vythiri can be accessed either from Mysore-Gundlupet-SultanBathery-Vythiri or Mysore-Kabini-Mananthvady-Vythiri. We chose the latter route since that would give us a chance to go through Kabini even if it meant just transiting. The monsoon feel in the jungle is just awesome and I'd anyday prefer Kabini in the rains over the dry forest cover in the summers.



After a good lunch at a mess in Vythiri, we proceeded to reach the Vythiri Resorts and finished the registration process etc. Evening was at leisure, catching up with a lot of other folks who had come down from various places in their 4x4s. The Vythiri Resorts property was really good and kind of justified the high participation fees for the event.



Next day morning, post the flag off we were on our way to the trail. There were a good 70-80 vehicles participating in the event, Jeeps, Gypsies, SUVs et al. It took about 3 hours for the trail to be completed, even though there were no major breakdowns to be attended. It was a beautifully designed trail with some really long inclines and deep slush pits, it was all we expected from a monsoon trail. The only grouse was that it seemed to have gotten over too soon, but soon we got to know why. When we exited the trail, we figured that there were supposed to be another trail which was canceled out due to some last minute issues.



The trail we did couldn't have accommodated all the vehicles and hence half the guys were made to wait at the entry point and they began their drive only post 2PM. But as fate would have it, they were rewarded aptly for all the waiting they did. It was about 3.30PM when it started raining and that made the trail even more challenging. The O-team had anticipated the spots where recovery would be needed, especially for the long wheel base SUVs and there were tractor winches and JCBs planted at those spots. Overall, it was a brilliant trail and we were content with what we experienced, although deep down I wished that the second trail shouldn't have been canceled.



There was a nice celebration dinner arranged at the resort with an open bar and a group drumming event. Next day it was going to be the competition event arranged at one of the open grounds with a man-made track. It was a timed event which meant that you had to throw the vehicle around quite a bit to be quick. The obstacles weren't too tough, but its the time pressure that kills you in this format and risk of breakage goes up. I'm not too worried about the competition stuff, because I know I have to preserve my vehicle and avoid any major damage to be able to return back safely. But it's fun to watch such events, especially for the Gypsy guys who make their machines fly.

Here's a video of my run at the track. Funny thing about my drive was that I happened to crush some guy's helmet which he had dropped in the first slush pit (watch the first 10 secs carefully). So after we finished the guy walked up to me to let me know that it was his helmet that was in there, looking at the plight of the poor fellow I offered him one of my helmets to keep. The smile on his face was priceless!



We wrapped up pretty quickly after our run at the competition track and enjoyed our way back through the forest. I was hoping to make it for one of the evening safaris, but that was not meant to be. Once we hit the Mysore-Bangalore highway, we were dodging the returning traffic and made it home safely a little closer to midnight.

A 4x4 Trip to Yercaud with Jeepers of Bangalore

I've always traveled to and through remote places in all my trips, but since the jeep has come in, life's gotten even more interesting. Off-beat trails are now a norm and every jeep trip feels incomplete if the 4x4 low range gearbox doesn't see any action.



After the family trip to Sakleshpur, it was time for all the boys to head out to Yercaud for an overnight trip. Although, I had not been to Yercaud until now, what I had heard about the place was nothing great and so it always got skipped from our travel list. It seemed like a typical hill station with a lake and a couple of view points, which honestly we wouldn't care much about. But this trip was going to be different, we weren't going as tourists, but rather as adventurists in search of a good trail.



The jeeper buddies from Salem helped in arranging a reasonable dorm style accommodation which had some open area in case we wanted to camp out. Since we were a big group, we had the whole place to ourselves which was good. There were a couple of trails planned so that we could have some fun with the jeeps and there was a camp out dinner as well.



In spite of some minor technical difficulties on the way, we all made it in one piece and all machines were still running as we climbed the twisty ghats to get to the top. We reached post lunch and quickly headed out to our first trail, which unfortunately didn't really materialize since we didn't get the permission to go in.



But that didn't dampen our spirits, we managed to find another spot where we happily crawled over some rocky obstacles to make it to a hill top for a photo opportunity.





The evening was filled with some music and laughter as the whole group sat together and discussed a lot of jeep stuff. We also had a rather unusual "ice-breaking" session by our sooper admin KVK, nobody can ever forget that!



Next day began with a drive up through mountains but was briefly interrupted by a sensational recovery that had to be done for one of the jeeps. Sometimes, jeepers underestimate the power bestowed upon them by the jeeps and that can lead to some serious situations both on-road and off-road. Anyway, after the successful recovery of the vehicle, we all had a hearty laugh about what mistakes to avoid.



Next up we were all on a rather off-beat trail that leads to a waterfall and this time we made sure we had the required permissions etc.



The trail hadn't been used in a while and was full with overgrown vegetation all around. It wasn't a very difficult trail since it was mostly dry, but had it rained, it would have transformed into something totally different. We were back around lunch time and by now it was also time for us to head back.



Our friends from Salem made sure that our way back was more interesting than the way up. It was through some really scenic track which had zero traffic, more so because there wasn't a road to begin with. It was like one of those estate trails with just gravel at most places. Good thing was we bypassed Salem completely and exited out somewhere on the highway towards Bangalore. Rest of the journey was pretty uneventful, but we had loads of memories to take back and most importantly it changed my perception about what Yercaud had to offer. Just goes to show that life's completely different when you drive a jeep!

PS: The non-watermarked pics are from the JoB FB group and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

Family Trip To Sakleshpur With Jeepers Of Bangalore

It goes without saying that if your family supports the group that you belong to, life can become a lot easier when you need permissions for OTRs and camping nights. So in order to get our families acquainted with the Jeepers of Bangalore group, we had planned out a family event to Sakleshpur. Although not everyone could come because of schedule and other logistics, we had enough participation to have a superb two-day vacation with wives, kids, jeeps and jeepers together.

6 families, 5 Jeeps + 1 Duster, is what we were as we started our journey from Bangalore towards the western ghats. The roads till Hassan are pretty good while the last 30-40 kms are reasonably okay. We were all booked at Ibbani resorts near Hanbal, about 20 kms from the Sakleshpur town. The place was very basic and had a nice rustic feel to it. Food was pretty decent and was included in the package. There were multiple spots to setup a bonfire and sit around in the evenings, you could even ask for tents to spend the night in the open. The best part was that they had a private pond with quite a few of those rope activities including a trolley that dropped you right inside the water. Without a doubt, that's where all of us spent our time on the second day time playing around in the water like kids.

The highlight of the trip was the jeep trail that took us to a really nice mountain top with panoramic views of the western ghats. The lush green mountains are a sight to behold, I'm sure the place looks even more beautiful in the monsoons.

The jeep trail itself was quite a nice one with some nice climbs and small streams running through. Gozu got her chance to try some off-road trail driving and navigate through the narrow trail with steep drops on one side. Given that the monsoons were yet to arrive, it was mostly dry and it wasn't too difficult for the jeeps. However, I'm sure that the whole place just transforms itself once the rains arrive. 

There was this big rope swing at the resort which swept you at least 20 feet off the ground at the farthest point. Honestly, I couldn't remember how long it has been since we I've had butterflies in my stomach. Kids and adults alike, all of us were seen standing in queue to get their turns almost every time we used to cross through the path to go down to our rooms. A simple setup, but yet so joyful!

A Quick Trip To Bandipur and K'Gudi

Having been to Kabini a couple of times already, we wanted to visit some of the other national parks around here. Bandipur used to be my favorite hangout a few years back but Kabini had taken over that position ever since. The sightings at Bandipur had slowed down after the tigress "Gowri" died early last year and her cubs have taken to their own separate ways. There is a handsome male "Prince" who is now the ruling champion of the tourism zone in Bandipur but it's not everyday that he is being sighted.

Bookings at Jungle Lodges are always difficult to get unless you're going on a weekday, we could barely manage to get a one day booking at Bandipur. So we decided to add another day at K'Gudi which is one of those places where I've always wanted to go but never ended up going. Being the peak summer time, we were thinking we may get a bit lucky at either of the places.



The safari ride in Bandipur was pretty quiet, there was a recent forest fire that had charred quite a large area of the jungle and the wildlife was just adjusting to it. With a little help from the summer rains new grass had begun to emerge from the otherwise parched landscape. Most of the water holes were running dry except a few which had minimal water remaining.



It was good to be back in Bandipur after a relatively long time. Our safaris however were pretty quiet and uneventful, to the extent that I hadn't pulled out the camera more than a couple of times. But that's how unpredictable these wildlife trips can be, sometimes you're busy throughout the safari with lots of action happening all around and other times you just sit around admiring the vistas without needing to pickup your camera even once.



The next day we reached K'Gudi, the JLR property here is within the buffer area of the forest so there is no demarcation between you and the wildlife. There isn't a regular power supply available and the power generator is intermittently used through the day. At night, there is no power supply and each tent is supplied with a kerosene lantern as emergency lighting system. It's a really nice experience to be staying in the wild and I could hear numerous chital and sambar calls through the night signalling the presence of the striped cat nearby. On checking with the staff, they told me that the resort actually falls into the area of one of the tigresses and the warning calls are pretty much an everyday affair. There were also some reports of a kill being sighted about a kilometer away from the resort behind the hill that surrounds it on the back side. No wonder that they discourage guests from loitering outside their tents/cottages in the night once the lights go off.



The safari at K'Gudi was a lot different than what we've done at Bandipur or Kabini. The whole area is hilly and visibility isn't all that great. The chances of sighting a tiger or leopard isn't as high as some of the other reserves, but if you do get lucky, people have had a wonderful time photographing them. The bird life on the other hand, is one of the highlights of K'Gudi, even a casual glance around the resort will yield a lot of different species to be recorded. Another difference is the barking deer population at K'Gudi is significantly higher than Bandipur or Kabini, it could be because of favorable terrain or the food availability.



There is a bird bath created just outside the dining hall and once the breakfast or lunch event is over, you can see a lot of birds coming down there for a dip and drink. The oriental white eyes, shyamas, robins etc are regular visitors of this place. We noticed it only on the next day while having breakfast and didn't get much time to spend there, but it's on my to-do list for the next time.