Winter 2008-Notes from back home-3

Weekend Getaway

* Saturday morning around 7:30 found Seren and I on the road. We were headed towards the Bangalore-Mysore highway and on our way to Janapada Loka/Channapatna and Kanva Reservoir.

* Since we headed out at this early hour, traffic was somewhat light and by the time we were well into the highway, the morning shades of dawn coupled with the characteristic cool breeze of Bengaluru welcomed us. We even wondered if we should have left sooner and caught a brilliant sunrise.

* After a 45kms drive, we saw a big, cheery sign on the left welcoming us to Kamat Lokaruchi and Janapada Loka. The anticipation of a scrumptious breakfast was in the air as we turned into the parking lot.

* As we walked into Kamat Lokaruchi, we were asked if we wanted to go for the breakfast buffet option. This was an easy decision. "Yes!" we exclaimed in unison and thus were escorted to the buffet area. Each section of this rustic set restaurant is in the form of "huts" replete with thatched roofs with an open air setting. We paid for 2 breakfast buffet meals and were served a thaali consisting of dollops of khara bath, kesari bath, pongal, chutney, kanchipuram idli and a katori of sambar. Separate stalls carried coffee/tea, some fruit and a fruit juice. Cost per person Rs 60. Digging into this delicious southern breakfast fare - priceless.

* After breakfast, we took a well earned walk around Janapada Loka. There was an open air theater-cheerily painted with Warli stick figures, a museum, a herb/medicine garden and even a small lake replete with paddle boats. Makes for a quaint picnic spot.

* I spent some time at the book store and arts/crafts store adjacent to Kamat Lokaruchi. This done, we headed out back on the highway towards Kanva reservoir.

* A few kms ahead, we found signs for the reservoir leading into a dust road. This probably is one of the negatives for those venturing to view this scenic dam/reservoir- the dust road which is really not well maintained. And there are very few signs along the way to indicate how far the reservoir is. But once the dam/river is sighted, its a beautiful and serene feast for the eyes. Oh and I forgot to mention, somewhere on the way to Janapada Loka, I realized I had brought my camera sans the memory card(Ugh! ).

* These pictures of the reservoir are taken thanks to my phone.

















* Next stop was Channapatna to check out the colorful wooden handicrafts so typical of the place. I will upload some pics of the loot we picked up on this visit in my next post. We spent an hour or so out here and then headed back. We debated whether to try lunch at Lokaruchi, then decided against it. We gave Amma a chance to feed us a scrumptious lunch of bisibelebath, curd rice and chips. And then it was siesta time!

Note to self : Please check for memory card in camera before heading out on trips.