Trip to Bandipur Forest

It was a cool Sunday morning. We started our Bandipur trip in early morning so we could skip the city traffic. By seven, we were out of city and on Mysore road. Next two hours morning drive was soothing for everyone. Mysore road is full of good eateries and we stopped at one to have breakfast and tea. In next one more hour we reached to Srirangapatna town. Our first stop was Tipu Sultan's summer palace which is also known as Dariyal Daulat Bagh. Next we went to Tipu's tomb, where Tipu breathed his last during war.  After interaction with Tipu,'s history we were back to road to Bandipur. 

After five hours of drive, we reached to MC resort which is located just at the start of Bandipur forest area. This place is having very calm ambiance and in between small hills. We got four cottage rooms which just have everything one need. Room was not highly spacious but sufficient to give comfortable stay. Room opens into open veranda, a perfect idling place. Ambiance inside is clean and resort has children play area, swimming pool and a good restaurant. Food has lot of variety and were delicious.

After an hour of rest we went to Jungle safari reception point. We booked open jeep for jungle safari. Near reception, monkeys were the point of attraction. They were quick enough to snatch food items from visitors. Safari took us inside jungle which has number of wild animals. Heard of deer can be seen in any corner. We could see peacock, lizards, elephants and other animals and birds. At one water body we waited long for tiger, but we were not fortunate to see this majestic animal of jungle. I believe morning safari has better chance to have a glimpse of them. After two hours of safari we were back to reception point. Then we came back to resort.

Next morning we got ready and enjoyed roaming in the resort before having a heavy and tasty breakfast. We checked out from resort and after an hour long driving we reached to Mysore palace. I have visited it before but for most of the people in our group it was the maiden visit. They were impressed with the beauty and architecture of the palace. Kids enjoyed the elephant ride in the palace backyard. After visiting the palace we had our lunch in a restaurant in downtown. After lunch we started our journey back to Bangalore. Drive on Mysore road is always joyful. Our next stop was at Ramanagaram which is famous for wooden toys. No one can leave these wooden toy shops without being impressed with its craftsmanship. After a tea there, our car was again on the road but it was slowed to minimum once it entered into Bangalore city. Traffic was huge and it took a lot of patience driving in the middle of concrete jungle we have in the city. We could reach home after evening and it was time to appreciate the great trip of Bandipur forest we just finished.