Dev Baugh

Jatinder Mohan

Dev Baugh

We had heard a lot about it from people who are in the wilderness business. So when we decided to go to drive the coast of Karnataka, we decided that we would spend a couple of days in this place before we stopped at Goa. We decided to take our chances with this little heard of place.

The drive from Mangalore is about 250kms, and most of the road runs through some of the most beautiful countryside that I have ever seen. The highway for a change is really smooth, and the drive among the most spectacular. There are coconut trees all through with the sea just a few hundred meters away. Every few kms the sea runs in to the land, forming some of the most beautiful back-waters seen. We have heard a lot about the Kerala back-waters, but these are simply in a class of their own.

Reaching Karwar, we set about asking our way around to the Jungle Lodges office. The people of Karwar seemed to be well informed of the place and in no time we were directed to the office. The office itself was not too impressive, but the person in charge of the place was an ever smiling Kashmiri called (you guessed it) Kaul. He immediately took charge and asked us to go along with one of his staff who would direct us to the place where we could park our car and take a ferry to the resort across a small stretch of the sea. The resort was a km away from the mainland and one has cross the sea in a ferry.

We parked our car and after some reassurance from the staff set off towards the ferry. The ride to the resort in the ferry was cute, and the ferry ride was lovely. There in a few minutes we saw what looked like an island with absolutely no sign of human habitation. One could see nothing but a pine forest, interspersed with a few coconut trees. We landed on a wooden platform, which seemed to creek with our weight and the wind. There was still no sign of the tents and log huts that we had been promised.

As soon as we hit the sand the first thing to hit us first and foremost was the silence. The only thing that broke the silence were the trees making sounds in the breeze and off course the waves. It felt like we were in a different time and a different planet altogether. I have heard of gods own country and the likes, but the one thought that struck me was that, when gods wanted to take a holiday, the one place they would hit was Dev Baugh. The name is apt.

Our bags were carried by the person who had come with us from the main land and by another person who had materialised in the meantime from the wall of trees. We walked a about 50 mts meters and there in front of us were huge tents complete with beds and linen, a fans, a drawer and some chairs. There were the attached baths and the loos at the back, a fully furnished 3 star accomodation, only this one can be dismantled and carried to another place as and when required. At the entrance were hammocks tied to the trees, a most ideal way to spend a holiday. We were already satiated with the lovely location and what little we had seen.

But there was more to come. Our quarters for the couple of days of our stay were not these gorgeous tents but the log huts, which were a few meters away. We ambled across to the huts. These were built on stilts, about 6 feet above the ground and one has to climb about 8 steps to get into them. Already feeling on top of the world what greeted us was simply marvelous. There as soon as we had climbed, was a small sit out with a couple of chairs. This opened into the room, which was fully furnished with an attached bath complete with tiles and every thing one expects in a resort. We were simply bowled over with the accommodation.

The staff informed us that the tea and biscuits were ready and we could immediately on settling in come over to the gol-ghar for some refreshments. All meals we were told would be served only in the gol-ghar, as it ensured that the living quarters remained relatively clean.