Words : Prasad Ramachandran
Photos : Amit Sahna

Masinagudi Days
    Travelbird team at the Blue Valley Jungle Resort,
    Masinagudi, South India.

"Masinagudi", the name fascinated me from the childhood. Whenever I happened to hear about this place, it often reminded me of the famous writer R K Narayan and his Malgudi Days. Until my teenage I was not sure about the location of the place. But later I found it through the internet and learnt that it was easily accessible from all the three South Indian states - Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu.

If you start by road from Bengaluru or Mysore it won’t give much of a headache to locate this place, just follow the sign boards indicating Ooty till you reach Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary. From there move ahead to Muthumalai Wildlife Sanctuary and once you reach there take the left turn, which go straight to Masinagudi, 7 Km away from Muthumalai sanctuary. Almost all the resorts are located at Masinagudi, even though the addresses of the resorts were mentioned as in Muthumalai.

'We scanned all the corners of the forest to see any visible animal movements and at last we ended up right in front of a herd of wild bison!'On January 12th 2009, when the evening sun was getting ready to go down at the Bandipur wildlife range, we were cruising through the forest in a minimal speed, between 40 - 45 Km. We scanned all the corners of the forest to see any visible animal movements and at last we ended up right in front of a herd of wild bisons. With anger and surprise at the presence of strangers they paused and stared at us but slowly disappeared in to the virgin greens.

By 6.30 pm we reached Masinagudi, the land which had fascinated me all the years. It was cool, calm and serene, just true to its name. In the twilight of the evening we witnessed the calm village life through the windshields of our vehicle and got the guidance from a village shop to reach our destination – The Blue Valley Resort.

The Blue Valley Jungle resort was located in the midst of a garden. The abundance of colors inside the garden resembled a common song location of the south Indian films of the early 80's. The paint and metal finish of the resort name plate was not much impressive. We drove our SUV towards the reception. Even though the reception counter was too small, we only had to spend less than 2 minutes to complete the check in procedure. The parking area was quiet comfortable and it was even possible to park the car right behind the deluxe cottage. (Five cottages have this facility).

Cottages of Blue Valley were sculpted marvelously in granite and easily recalled the architectural brilliance of the colonial era. The wide and open windows presented a panoramic and uninterrupted view of the sprawling Nilgiri hills in the back drop over the garden. One thing that struck me was the balance maintained by the authorities between the gardens and the rocks. Spread over 32 acres, the resort offered great breathing space for the visitors, though the construction looked a tad too old, compared to new age resorts. The metal frames and swings kept the children active when the families present were enjoying the cool sun.

The Rooms

The rooms were decent, and equipped with hot water, telephone, and a furnace. If you want to increase the warmness inside the room, the resort authorities would provide you logs and help you ignite the fire inside the furnace, for some extra bucks.

' Compared to the rate charged for these cottages (RS 1800/- + Tax), it was worth the money spend 'Another attractive feature was that it was possible to club two cottages into one by simply unlocking one passage door. Surely, this would be a welcome feature for joint families on tour. The cottages were designed with sit-out areas on both sides. The more spacious one was facing towards the garden. The attached toilets were also spacious. The toilet was neat and hygienic even though the commode looked a bit overused. The towels were also placed inside the toilets. Apart from that the cot and bed were neatly arranged inside the room.

I would give 70 marks out of 100 for the check-in evaluation and the facilities on the offer. The rate charged for these cottages was not very high (Rs 1800/- + Tax) and it was worth the money spend. There was also a bungalow in the resort, which could easily accommodate 8 people. Bungalow was slightly away from the main reception area. A visit to that bungalow was quite thrilling. The balcony of this colonial home provided a good view of the surrounding jungle. If you are lucky enough wild animals could be spotted at night!

The standard cottages also had almost the same features except for the room sizes. But they sdid not have the opening to the garden and the furnace facility.

Food

The restaurant was located nearby. Placing orders early over the phone would be the right idea for a timely dinner. The soup items we ordered were not up to the mark, but the other dishes including Roti, Fried rice and Chicken tasted good. The resort would also provide campfire for families and groups on request.

Activities:

Forest Safari

The authorities could arrange open jeep Night Safaris, on request. Equipped with spot lights and an expert driver, these safaris usually give some close views of wild animals like elephants, boars, deers, peacocks, bison etc. Once the jeep reached the rough terrain of the jungle, the same forest which we saw in the day light appeared like a new wild world. Muthumalai forests are part of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve. Unfortunately this time we were not lucky to spot any elephant herd or boars.

Elephant Safari

In the day time don’t forget to plan a short trip to Muthumalai elephant camp. Try an elephant safari on a big tusker (Rs 400 for a group of 4).Unfortunately the booking for the ride could only be made from Ooty, which was 35 km away from Muthumalai. It was surprising to know that forest authorities of Tamilnadu wanted all the wild life enthusiasts to visit the hill station of Ooty before visiting Muthumalai! But don’t worry! You can experience an elephant ride with the Karnataka forest department at their Bandipur sanctuary (Rs 80 per head for 15 minutes).

© travelbird