Day 0 and 1

Day 0:  Friday,23-04-10

It had been a while since I'd been on a trip of sorts; The last one being Kerala back in January. Only one branch mate was on the planning committee this time,but with such numbers, odds were it'd never materialise. But in the 3rd week of April, We found a window of opportunity, in the form of our annual cultural fest JAYCIANA. So we cashed in on it with no qualms whatsoever, And I figured the only thing I missed was Parikrama's inaugural performance in Mysore, but that was marred by rains as I later learnt:)

So Just a day before our planned departure, we booked our railway tickets for a  sleeper journey on the Swarna Jyanti express from MYS-BLG (belgaum). Train was to depart at 8, so I figured I can easily start packing by 6 odd. I am quite clumsy when it comes to packing and I find it hard to keep track of stuff that has already gone into the bag. So, as always, I took my Mom's help and she helped me stuff all the essentials into a single unit.

Later in the evening, I went to the General store to buy some Gum, Polo, 'Mysore Sandal Soap' TM  and the essential Hand Sanitizer that comes in handy on Indian Railways:)

The Train was scheduled to depart at 8.10, so I took a drop around 7.45 from my uncle. Two others arrived just on time, I guess they assumed I.S.T principle applied here too. 

We had not planned what we'd see in the coming days. We just had an overview of things and we had to figure out the best option with available time and money. So with the usual chit-chat and banter exchange, time flew by:).

Soon, our neighbours started to switch their lights out so we followed suit.

I chose the middle berth, kept tossing and rolling for a while but sleep didn't come easy to me like it usually does. I used my travel bag as a temporary pillow; it was at an awkward height. This was the only place I thought was safe for my bag, as I'd kept my cell and cash in there. So I decided that Sleep was to be sacrificed:)

Day 1: Saturday, 24-04-10

I'm no insomniac so sleep did come around 3.30 and I woke up around 6.30, had some 'chai' which was extremely sweet.. We were passing through the Khanapura Forest Range just before Londa, the air felt fresh and the sights were lush green. It was around 8.30 when we reached Belgaum.

ShravanIAS's Uncle Pradeep was to meet us at the station, which was surprisingly neat and well kept. 

From there, we proceeded to the Inspection Bungalow that Uncle had arranged for us, had a quick bath, and then hopped onto a big-ass Bajaj Trax and proceeded to Pradeep Uncle's place. There, we met his father who is all of 99 years old, but still had a step about him. After a quick visit, we went to a fine little place called Ajanta's cafe. We had Puri kurma for breakfast, It was simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, so much so that we ordered two plates. Each.

                           

                                                            Swell:P

  

After a heavy breakfast, we took a walk around the central square of Belgaum. The roads here are very narrow, almost non-existent, but are bustling with activity.

We took a stroll for a couple of hours, taking in the sights and sounds, savouring some Guava, Mango, and bearing with the heat:)
Soon, we were back on the trax and headed to a little town called Ramdurg, on the eastern edge of Belgaum District. It is believed that lord rama stayed in this place during his vanvasa hence the name. It was only a 2 hour drive. This region is very arid, comprising mainly wastelands and the occasional sugarcane plantations that apparently drained the water table.

On the way, we saw this very huge tree to the side of the road that is said to have medicinal value. Apparently, food placed beneath this tree would not go bad for days:)

                                              
                                                     Corn, anyone?

We reached Ramdurg around 2.30. Here we met up with Pradeep Uncle's brother, who is the M.L.A of Ramdurg. He had a delicious Jowar Roti lunch arranged for us. It was bliss.
Easily the best South Indian meal I've ever had. Everyone at that table from Mysore would probably re-iterate the same:p

This is called Killa Toregal, That's all i know, google didn't help:p

After lunch, we proceeded to have a view of the ancestral home under construction. 

                                             Everyone has a cellular phone:P

We then pondered for a while if we could visit Badami, Aihole 'cause it was in our itinerary, but then decided against it and pushed that plan to the next day. Later that evening, we walked to a Sugarcane plantation and had a look at how things worked in such an arid region, where borewells and pumps are farcical ideas considering the power crisis looming large.

The Sugarcane stalks were stacked up really high, and were swaying gallantly in the wind.

                                      This poor chap was telling us about all his problems in a dialect we couldn't quite catch. The farmers here were very courteous, they greeted us with a 'namaskara' almost every time. They were camera-friendly too:)

                              Perhaps we were interrupting their peaceful sojourn:P
                                               

After our little excursion, we sat by the side of a well and ate Mirchi bajjis with  onions, It was blissful:) We were actually pretty full with a heavy lunch still ballooning in our bellies, but this was one of those days where everything tasted so beautiful that we had to make room for more. 
We did also have some wonderful mandakki, and to top it all, some elneeru which was very warm yet had a cooling effect:)


                             

After all this, we did return to Ramdurg to have a drink called Doodhcold, which is a I-cannot-put-to-words-wtf-is-this drink that i will talk about in detail later.
Around 7.30, we finally left Ramdurg to Almatti, which was to be our camp for the night. For dinner, I could only manage a packet of chips. We checked into the IB there, and sleep soon beckoned. :)