Monday, July 25, 2011

Weekend at Dandeli

I quite forgot to tell you all about my weekend away a few weeks ago. Here are some notes I'd started writing, and pictures.

It seems I come back from every vacation saying it was the best of my life. This wasn't a "proper" vacation, just a weekend, but we packed a great deal of fun into those few days.

Dandeli is near Dharwad, and the last time I'd gone to Dharwad for FoC work two years ago we had talked of going to Dandeli sometime. And then I forgot about it.

Then Aparna had to go to Dharwad on a Sunday, and between wanting to go with her and help and getting some fun in, we decided all four of us (including the husbands) would go to Dandeli first before turning up for the meeting at Dharwad.


And I'm so very glad we went.

The drive down from Pune to Dharwad would be nice, I knew. The Pune-Bangalore highway is lovely, especially this time of the year.

At Dharwad, our room had a bright purple wall above the bed while Aparna's was red.


But even better was the drive from Dharwad to Dandeli in the morning.


And our resort was lovely, right on the riverbank.


There was a lovely restaurant too, and when we had nothing to do in the long rainy evening, we sat there and played carom. The Guy and Aparna's guy are okay players and Aparna and I are bad, so we were matched quite evenly.


Two cats were at home in the restaurant. One was content to sit near our feet to warm itself. The other only wanted food and quite rudely climbed over its cousin to get at some.


In case you were curious, that red shoe in the corner is mine.


The river was full due to the rain, and when we got on the round blue boat and went upstream, it was wonderfully quiet and serene.

We saw a crocodile on the opposite bank, and as we watched it lowered itself into the water.

We had two very nice boatmen and guides: Mehboob, especially, was extremely friendly and courteous. He was even surprised when we presented him a tip the next day. The way he treated us was much of the reason we were so happy with the resort and the weekend.


And the Guy got to swing on a tyre, something none of the rest of us attempted.


Then we went kayaking. I was terrified at first (what? you want me to balance in that thing?), so the Guy suggested the two of us get into a two-people kayak.

And then we saw the crocodile go into the river again. It wasn't very far from us, and we joked about it attacking us, but funnily, none of us were very scared.



In spite of going during the monsoons, we had lovely weather. It drizzled occasionally and was fine some of the time. The only time it rained during the day was when we went for the "natural jacuzzi": a part of the river where it goes over rocks and creates little natural pools. 


Tired and aching that evening from all our activities and very little sleep the night before, we drove out in search of more fun: and found a little tea-shop where we got hot tea and spicy "soyabean manchurian". It began to rain, so we took our umbrellas out and sat at the table.

We left for Dharwad early the next morning. It had been raining since last evening, and it didn't seem like a great day to be in Dandeli, so we congratulated ourselves on our luck. 

3 comments:

Chicu said...

sounds lovely, unmana. And that photo of the Guy on a tire swing is one to treasure!

Unmana said...

chicu: Thanks. It was wonderfully peaceful AND fun. Made the next few weeks better!

Gayatri said...

- Super!:)
- Crocs???? I would have been terrified :D
- Soyabean manchurian....Yumm!:b