**Bandipur*** is really a nice place to travel through.
Usually people who travel to Ooty need to pass through bandipur forests & its never a disappointing experience passing through the greenery of this place.
The reason for frequently travelling through bandipur - my cousin was studying in a famous boarding school in **Ooty [Good Shepard Public School] G.S.P.S*
So during my childhood days we would visit Ooty frequently [**3/4 times a year for sure**] and there were two things that used to thrill me :
1) **journey through bandipur forest roads [spotting animals , pit-stops]*
2) **the hairpin bends to Ooty*
Till Nanjangud the journey used to be boring, it’s after this the excitement would start.
**Those days ( late nineties ) , things were a lot different from now*** :
*1**) Our family used to carry home food from Bangalore [15+ members] enter bandipur & have lunch inside the reserve forests. In-fact we used to park the vehicle on forest road and walk over 50-100 meters inside the jungle looking for a cool shady area , set up carpets and have royal lunch , fruits , snacks etc [ u name it ]
*AS OF TODAY IT IS COMPLETELY ILLEGAL & INSANE TO DO THE ABOVE STUFFS , I BELIEVE
(it can land u in jail also) ! NOT A LOT OF RESTRICTIONS BACK IN THOSE DAYS*
*2**) We took our own time enjoying the nature, calm environment & then bidding goodbye to bandipur , get ready for another excitement ghat ride up to Ooty
*3**) Most of the times, our return journeys from Ooty was such that we used to reach bandipur during sunset time or nightfall. This is also a right time to spot animals especially elephants.
*DURING THOSE TIMES [9PM -6AM closure] WAS NOT IN PRACTICE , ONE COULD ENTER BANDIPUR ANY TIME !!!*
*4**) In fact many a times we used to get stuck in bandipur forests during night , because herds of elephants used to block the highway . Elephants have the habit of standing exactly on the roads or nearby, feeding on grass or doing nothing [some times upto 20 mins] , Until they clear-out we could not pass by.
[ *Traveling through the highway in a reserve forest is thrilling & also a scary experience , mind u** !!! ]
Even for today you can find **moron drivers** on **Bandipur Mudumalai & Muthanga roads** who don’t know how to maintain the least discipline while traveling through a forest road [**honking , honk’n’overtaking , over-speeding** - all these things can be witnessed ]
Its been almost years together sine I have visited bandipur.
Also recently I saw reports in news channels about bandipur water sources dries up already ( 2 water sources out of 3 ) before summer itself and animals suffering these effect.
*TOO SAD TO SEE THIS** !
Hope the forest department does something needy & things get better with some pre-monsoon showers
*Cheers
BMS**