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Riding an elephant alone!
On Saturday Suhas arrived to pick me up at exactly 5 am. We were travelling on his bike. We took the Ring Road via Hebbal and reached Old Madras Road and headed towards Kolar.
The road was in good condition and we reached Kolar by 7 am with one stop on the way to take photos. We had breakfast at Woody's and headed towards Palamaneru.
Our original plan was to go to Palamaneru and then take a left turn towards Kuppam.
But a local tea stall vendor in Kolar suggested a shortcut to Kuppam.
We were a little hesitant as usually shortcut roads are in a bad shape, but the fellow assured us the roads were good and we decided to take his advice.
We reached Kolar Gold Field in 40 minutes. The road was indeed good. However, the road after Kolar Gold Field was not very good. Soon we reached the Andhra Pradesh border and the roads from there were really very good! The landscape too was beautiful and we stopped there to take some more pictures.
We reached Kuppam around 10 am and went straight to the DFO's office. We met Murleshwar Rao, who was very polite and offered us some tea and biscuits. He gave us in-depth information about Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary and told us about their efforts in setting up an elephant camp there.
• Airfare for Rs 599 and less!
The sanctuary was another 60 km away. Mr Rao gave us a hand written road map to the sanctuary. He also suggested we visit Horsley Hills near Madanapalle.
We were really amazed to meet such a polite and friendly DFO!
With the roadmap in hand we reached the sanctuary without much difficulty.
The landscape of this area is covered with thorn scrub type of forest and it is almost on the Tamil Nadu border.
At the sanctuary we were met by the caretaker who offered us tea. After a cuppa, we headed to the elephant camp.
Text and photograph: Anil S
Also read: Looking beyond the stripes
Share YOUR travel stories and pix!Have you been to the Kaundinya wildlife sanctuary/ Horsley Hills? What was your favourite sight there? Where did you have the best meal? Do you have a hotel to recommend? Do post details on the message board below so other readers can benefit from your advice. Remember to add information on what was special about the restaurant, hotel or sight you visited, along with relevant telephone numbers and addresses.
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