Sandalwood Forest

'We should have got a packed lunch with us' I said to myself, probably for the nth time. It had been more than an hour since we had left the waterfalls to go to the forest. The road was beautiful, affording us a view of the deep valley below. At one point, we stopped the car and stood looking at the silent deserted valley below. There was literally no one around except us, our driver and a woman looking for drywood somewhere down the valley. I would never have thought this possible anywhere in India. Small villages appeared at regular intervals but none of them seemed to have any restaurants of any kind, just houses and churches.

I sometimes wonder what the lady manning the shop at one such village must have thought about us. There was some kind of checkpoint up ahead so the car had slowed down. It had barely rolled to a stop when we jumped out and headed for the shop. I have never been so delighted at the sight of chocolates and biscuits. We bought 5-stars and Perks and started eating even before we made it back to the car. Either that or the driver could no longer ignore the rumblings sounds our stomachs must be making because he said that he knew a place where we could have lunch.

Marayoor

Marayoor was a village, slightly bigger than the ones we had come across en route. And there was a reasonable-looking restaurant, Sandal Breeze Hotel, where someone actually greeted us at the door. I dreaded the prospect of facing another thali meal. Though it felt as if I could devour an elephant or two, I knew a Thali is simply not my cup of tea :-) Fortunately they didn't seem to have that kind of compulsion but when I asked for their menu, the server looked puzzled. He ran off to fetch someone. That manager explained to us that since the hotel was opened recently they don't have the printed menu as of now. Hmm, a new hotel....that explains the greeting at the door. The server rattled off whatever was on offer. Chicken Biryani seemed like a safe bet so we ended up ordering that. It wasn't gourmet but it wasn't bad either. It had all the trappings of a biryani - chicken, boiled egg, masala and rice. Okay, fried onion was missing but it was seasoned well and the meat was cooked right. So no complaints. The price was ridiculously low. Now that the lunch was done, we started for the forest.

What comes to your mind when you hear the words 'Sandalwood Forest'? Rows and rows of the trees and the breeze heavy with their heady aroma, right? I knew it would be too good to be true. So here's the deal - it's a regular forest interspersed with Sandalwood trees. Just look out for the trees with a darker bark. The road goes right through the forest so you can get down and take up a small jungle trail on either side of the road. We did and walked for a considerable distance. The path appeared well-trodden but I don't think many tourists must be coming here. In a way it was good. I was rather tired of the crowd that we had run into at practically every place we visited the day before and in the morning. This solitude was a welcome one. Already the thought that we would be leaving tomorrow was weighing on my mind. It seemed well nigh impossible to tear myself away from all the peace, quiet and beauty that I had got immersed into for the past 2 days. Mumbai seemed like a planet from a distant galaxy, light years away. A place I didn't want to return to.

With a heart that was growing heavier by the minute I started our journey towards the last place on today's itinerary - Muniyara Caves.