Raju's Wanderings

On October 8, I had the chance to be in Bangalore on work, and decided to make a quick trek to Kodachadri, a small mountain about 4,400  feet high, about 78 kms from Shimogga, and an overnight drive away from Bangalore. I took an overnight bus from Bangalore that started at 10 pm from Majestic (Gurushakti Travels) to Sampekatte at 7 am that costed me Rs.700. I then took an autorickshaw from the bus stop to Kodachadri Mountain View Eco Stay, locally known as "Jayakka's homestay" for Rs.250 arriving there by 8 am. I had breakfast, took some packed lunch from the homestay, and started right out on my trek. Bhatt, an old man who also works at Jayakka's Homestay, was our guide for the trek. He walked around in very worn leather chappals, brushing off leeches that occasionally caught on to his legs, but slowly enough so that the fastest of us could keep up with him, kitted out in our trekking shoes, wearing pants, huffing and puffing from our city lives. A view of the road ...

 As I grow older, I realize how sparse my acquaintance is with the North East states of India. Our history and geography is somehow shorn of the lands, cultures, customs and history of these peoples. Two such states of which I knew only the geographical location are Manipur and Nagaland. Since I had already covered Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh earlier, I decided way back in March 2021 to plan a trip to these two states in end-August 2021. The trip was centered around an excursion to Loktak Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake in India, near Imphal, Manipur and a trek to Dzukou Valley, just across the border to Nagaland. I also planned a visit to the beautiful villages of Nagaland, Khonoma and Dzuleke, and a day each for the capital cities of Imphal and Kohima. Both Manipur and Nagaland are Inner Line Permit (ILP) states. That means even though they are part of the Union of India, they need any Indian to take special permission to travel, rather like a Visa. Thankfully, both...