It was a much awaited reunion amongst our friends after a long gap of  2 years.This time it was 3 day trip to Coorg. Unlike other trips, where the decision of place & time happens couple of days back, this time we started the planning well in advance. Multiple mail exchanges , googling for resorts , homestays, enquiring travel cabs, reading blogs , etc .. Finally we zeroed in on Capitol village Resort, a homestay with 4+ rating in tripadvisor, recommended by friends dad. With his government-employee-banking-sector discounts, we were told that rooms were booked. We left Bangalore by 12 mid night & reached Coorg at 6 AM.

Coffee plantations

First disappointment - Among 3 who planned to start late owing to work, unfortunately one missed the train. He took the next train to Bangalore.

Second disappointment - Adding to it, the evening train too trolled our plans by a 4 hour delay.

Third & the Best - Coorg at 6 AM was very refreshing & exciting until the shocking news came - "Cauvery Lodge" is where the rooms are booked & not luxurious "Capitol Village Resort". There is a reservation office opposite to the lodge named "capitol village" and hence the miscommunication.

Our Homestay

No one was in a mood to stay at lodge. Despite early morning drizzles we were in hunt for a homestay, and managed to find rather cheap one at 6 Kms away from the bus stand. It's not exactly a homestay. The cardboard + thermocol typed house had 8 cots & the attic of owners house had 8 cots. The homestay is located at mountain base. The view from the homestay is very scenic with green agriculture fields running through the base of the misty mountains. The homestay took care of the food as well. (4Kg of Chicken & Fish + Rice + Rotis).

The Attic

We relaxed on day 1 waiting for the latecomers to join. Trip started with visiting TalaCauvery. There were occasional rains throughout the journey. It was all foggy, usual hill station effect. We climbed till the mountain top, had a refreshing Bajji & Tea before called it a day.

Enchanting entrance to Tala Cauvery

On day 2, We packed lunch & traveled all the way to Somwarpet till the base of Kumaraparvatha. After finishing up the lunch, we did a quick & short trek for around 3 kms before rains started. It was "Malalli falls" for the later half of the day. One of the breath taking waterfalls that I ve seen. To reach the falls, you need to do a 6km trek into the forest. Then again 5 Kms downside to get to the base of the waterfall. The water levels were very high that we got drenched standing 50 meters apart. It is a must visit.

Majestic Mallali falls

Checked out the home stay with a group snap on day 3. The plan is to visit Bylakuppe and Mysore palace on the return. Had our breakfast at Kushalnagar and reached Bylakuppe by 11. It felt like entering into an all together different world. The place is calm , beautiful & vibrant. Spent almost an hour or so admiring the beauty and debating the architecture and history. Lack of time meant the Mysore palace visit was cut short to 30 minutes. Finally we reached Bangalore by 8 PM.

40 feet high Buddha statues at Golden Temple

The expenses came around 3K per person. More than the journey & sight seeing, break from the regular life schedule, without laptops & gadgets, spending time with friends, made the trip memorable. Few more snaps from the trip.

Refreshed by rains

View from Tala cauvery

Vibrant Kumaraparvatha

The trails at Kumaraparvatha

Cheers,
Prem.

The Plan:
2 bikes, 4 people , 60Kms, 1/2 day.

The Route:
ORR -> Old Madras Road -> Hebbal -> Devanahalli ->  Nandi Cross -> Nandi Village

The Lodge rooms in the entrance

The Travel:-
Heard people saying you should be reaching the hills by 6.30 to enjoy the sunrise & view. Nevertheless we reached late around 7.30, but we had a great experience of driving through fog & mist. Its monsoon season, so no clue about sunrise. One of the simplest routes, hit hebbal flyover, drive straight. We stopped near Manyata Tech Park to fill fuel, and made another stop at Devanahalli for morning tea. Watch out for the route board reading Nandhi hills on the left, missing to do so took as additional 2 Km's. Keep straight on the Nandhi road thru the Nandhi village till you reach the T junction. Nandhi hills on the left & Bhoga Nandeswara Temple on the right. We headed back to Bangalore by 2.30 PM.

ORR -> Old Madras Road -> Hebbal -> Devanahalli -> Nandhi village -> Nandhi Hills

The Place:-
Nandhi Hills:-
This place is a perfect bikers paradise for a weekend getaway. This is my first time experience driving thru the mist & fog. So it was thrilling & exciting. Ideal time I would suggest is 7 or 7.30 , so that you can get a feel of fog & by the time you are done with exploration, the fog clears around 10. This place attracts quiet a lot of people. Spotted few bicyclers & handful of Kawasaki Ninja's. Main spots are the water Tank, wood houses, Tippu's fort & 850 year old temple on the top of the hills. We reached the base by around 11 & had breakfast & headed to Bhoga Nandeswara Temple.

Misty mornings

The huge tank with mist cleared.

Bhoga Nandeswara Temple:-
Located on the right side of the T junction, takes about 15 mins to reach this architectural place. Interesting fact of this place is that these temples were built by kings of 5 dynasties. The perfect symmetry of the inside tank & the surrounding speaks for themselves. Here is more info about the place- http://bangaloregetaways.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/bhoga-nandeeshwara-and-arunachaleshwara-temples-nandi-grama/

A must visit, if you are in Bangalore.

Bhoga Nandeswara Temple

Fog and the mood.

Cheers,

Prem.

The Plan:
6 people , 2 bikes , 50Kms , 1 day.

The Route: 

Tiruvallur -> Uthukottai -> Nagalapuram -> Puttur

Green agricultural fields en route to Nagalapuram.

The Travel:

When you have all day to spend in Uthukottai, a place in the TN - Andhra border, Kone falls might be one of the best place to visit. The route is pretty straightforward, a straight stretch without any deviations & the highway roads with hardly any traffic makes it a pleasure to ride. Keep driving until you hit a left at about 10kms before Puttur. Kone falls is at 2kms from there.

Tiruvallur -> Uthukottai -> Nagalapuram -> Puttur

The Place:

First thing you will notice is the monkeys surrounding the place. Some demand food, while few others are smart enough to rip off the covers of parked bike & search for food. There is main stream beside the temple dedicated for visitors to drench, but by the time we went, there was hardly any water flowing. So did a little trek, climbing up the mountains to reach another stream with a small pool. Even though the stream was not that great, it looked a ideal place to bath, but we still climbed one more level & found out a better place. Had some fun for around 2 hours and returned back.

Altogether, if you are around Chennai & want to spend sometime away from the city on a weekend, this is an ideal place.

First waterfall upon climbing the rocks

View of the district from Hills

Green all the way. [ Little harsh sunlight though ]

Climbing some more rocks,we have the second water fall forming a pool.

The pool.

Smaller water streams as well. 

Cheers,
Prem.

Travelogue has taken a hibernation mode for past couple of months. As usual caught up with the blogger laziness syndrome. So with the usual excuse of will-blog-frequently, updating the travel report on 500 Km ride to B.R Hills & GopalswamyBetta.

The Plan -

7 people, 4 bikes , 500 Km's , 2 days. 

Himavad Gopalswamy Betta Hilllock Temple

Day 1 - 

• Started from Bangalore at 7 AM.
• Had Breakfast at Shoppers stop at 7.30 AM
• Reach Kanakapura by 10 AM. Headed to Shivasamudram via Malavalli and reached there by 12.30 noon. Had lunch there itself & started by 2.30 PM to B.R Hills via Kollegal & Yelandur route. Reached the Jungle Lodges around 5 PM. 
• Dropped our luggage's at VGKK school & after relaxing for an hour, headed to Biligiri rangana temple located on the top of BR.Hills. Reached there around 6.30 PM.
• Returned back & had dinner at hotel around 8 PM( There is only one in the locality & they serve only meals for dinner ) situated en-route to BR Temple.
• Night stay at VGKK hostel.

Misunderstanding ?? 

Day 2 -

• Started from VGKK Hostel at 7.30 AM.
• Hot Tea & breakfast ( Idly, chutney ) at Jungle lodge junction.
• Drove thru the ghat section of B.R Hills & reached the jungle lodges at 10.15 PM.
• Reached ChamrajNagar around 11.30 & stopped at Gundulpet for lunch around 1.30 PM.
• Reached GopalswamyBetta by 2.15 PM & spent around an hour @ the temple & returned back to Gundulpet by 4.30 PM.
• Headed to Mysore and reached around 6.30 PM.
• Stopped at Maddur by 8.30 PM for dinner & resumed @ 9.30 PM for the last stretch to Bangalore.
• Reached home by 12.30 AM.

Lined Up for the Ride

The Stay -

One of the worth remembering memory of this trip is the stay at VGKK school. This looks more like a hospital from the front, but they do have guest houses in the rear. The charges were quiet cheap & their definition of basic - independent house with 3 decent sized cots. This school provides free education to the local tribes residing in the area & works in the upliftment of local people & the amount from us would be utilized for their studies. Mr. Arun Kumar (09902319473) is the caretaker of this institution & he shared his experiences & the way school is managed. We had a good time, sitting in the middle of the school ground with temperature hitting low & eventually we experienced fogs coming out from our mouth while speaking. Morning was very refreshing as we had the view of sunrise, slowly penetrating its golden lights through the mist. Along with our charges we donated some amount for the trust & collected brochures from Arun. All together it was a great experience. I would strongly recommend this place. 

Golden lights. Those were the huts we stayed.

The Route - 

Bangalore -> Kanakpura -> Malavalli -> Shivanasamudra -> Kollegal -> Yelandur -> BR Hills -> Nagavalli -> Chamaraj nagara -> Terakanambi -> Gundlupet -> Gopalswamybetta -> Gundlupet -> Mysore -> Maddur -> Bangalore

The Route : A- Bangalore , B- B.R Hills , C - GopalswamyBetta , D- Mysore

The Good Experiences  -

• Stay at VGKK school.
• Ghat section ride thru BR Hills.
• Dinner at Maddur resturant was superb. This place is famous for Vada.
• First time 500 Km's in my bike.

Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra [ VGKK ]

The Bad Choices - 

• Bad season to visit Shivanasamudra. Very hot place & the water level in the falls was very minimal.
• Ghat section ride within BR Hills is not as greenish as expected. Idle time should be around August- September.
• Perfect time to visit GopalswamyBetta is early morning. The trekking has been banned now. The maximum time that you can spend is 45 mins, a pass given at the entrance of Gopalswamy Betta temple. Riding at noon, all you end up with is, scorching sun above your head as contrast to the misty fogs you see when you google for GopalswamyBetta.

Biligiri Rangana Swamy temple

Tea shop on the BR Hills Junction

Morning Dews @ 6.30 A.M

Clouds & light playing hide & seek during up hill drive to Gopal swamy Betta.

Himavad Gopalswamy Betta Hilllock Temple

Cheers,
Prem.

Travelogue in new year started with ride to Thattekere lake, a place located around 25 kms from Bangalore. It has been in a long time to-do list, ever since reading the eye catching trip report of Prashanth. Also it has been close to 8 months ever since I took my Yamaha out of the city for a ride.

The bicycle tales

Earlier plans to start by 6 AM has been pushed to 7 AM owing to the laziness & the weather ensured that we start by 7.30 AM. Meanwhile, the two bicyclers were in middle of  their first journey in cycle which started around 5 AM. Amidst the weather which constantly made patterns of dew in my helmet fibers, we set out in three bikes with two pillion riders. We made two stops before reaching the Bhannerghatta Road - one at HSR petrol bunk to fill fuel for the bikes & one at Tea shop near Shoppers stop to fill fuel for our stomach.

                       

Its a straight route from Bhannerghatta road without any turns till you hit the Bhannerghatta National Park deviation. Turn left and head straight for about 7 or 8 kms until you spot the next deviation. Take right, which me missed to do so, causing an extra 5 kms travel before we realized that we took the wrong route. From that its pretty much a straight road for around 10 kms, travelling into the villages with a scenic view. Its better when in doubt ask the villagers for the route.

The Enchanting Lake Entrance

Around 8.30 AM , we stopped for breakfast at some roadside hotel in Bhannerghatta. Reached the lake by 10.30 AM. The last stretch of ride thru the village roads is just awesome. Will be more enjoyable, especially if the weather is bit cloudy. After a few inquiries, finally we reached the much awaited place, kept out of the city, less occupied by people and obviously clean & calm. On the entrance you find Madheswara temple and few steps down the slide, the scenic lake. The bicyclers went in for a swim to get rid of the tiredness of 5 hrs of cycling. We just wandered there for some time , took some snaps & started back.

Lake View

Some more from the Lakeside

Lakeside View

On the return, we made a visit to Bhannerghatta National park, & my desperate attempt to capture a butterfly finally got fulfilled. We reached back home by 5.30 PM.

The moment

Pack foods, drive in with family, eat, spend time, watch the birds, & what more, Thattekere makes an ideal picnic spot which you will not regret visiting.

Cheers,
Prem.

Almost a year, ever since I updated my travelogue. There has been a couple or more bike rides happened in the mean time, but acute laziness in me has kept me off from updating them. Rode on wheels to weekend getaway spots in Bangalore, starting off with Mekadatu, followed by Kanva Reservoir, and an adventurous ride to Br Hills & GopalsamyBetta, but were forced to cut short it to BR Hills. Luckily the travel stories were documented & blogged by Ram & you can find more of his travel stories here.

This time it was a 3 day trip & with various suggestions flying around for, we finalized the plan for Chikmagalur & Kemmankundi. Nature Nirvana Home Stay was booked for accommodations and we started around 10 PM , hoping to reach by 5 AM. Driving in the hassle free NH made the driver excited & with the speed he was driving we would have reached Chikmagalur by 2. We stopped at Coffee day around 12 for a break & chitchat & finally reached Chikmagalur by 5.

The adventurous or rather scary I would say, is the 7 km descending ride to the Nature Nirvana Home stay. With poor roads which only Jeeps can make it, foggy morning where nothing in front is visible & and the probability of making a slight slip being extremely high, it took around 1.5 hrs to travel 7 Kms.

The Route -

Nature Nirvana Plantation Home Stay :

The place - Except for the tiresome ride , the place is very calm, scenic and pleasant.Great mountain view. The people here deliver a great hospitality & comfort. Camp fire with unlimited barbecue in the cold is a pure bliss.

The food - Awesome , Unlimited, non-veg, different varieties, most importantly filling.

Activities ( Indoor )- Within the premised there is Shuttle court , Basket ball , Cricket. Given the dampness of the ground extra care is needed while playing else you mind end up injuring your knees.

Activities ( Outdoor ) - They organize day trips to Kemmangundi , Baba budengiri and other travel spots. Also close to the stay, there are couple of places at walk able distance. Spent day-1 on exploring the nearby places ,the waterfall where we spent most of our time relaxing, ending with a sunset at viewpoint. Day 2 was more of a uphill trek to the close by peak and some encounter with Leeches followed by great gyan session by one of a fellow friend.

Chennakesava Temple, Belur - On the return, we had a visit to Chennakesava temple, Belur. The history behind the constructions & carvings of the temple left us dumbstruck. If you are visiting this place, I would recommend to have a guide explaining the history behind this masterpiece. Winded up our lunch at Kaamath on the way & reached Bangalore by 8 Pm.

The Cost - It costed around 5K per person, for 3 days. Inclusive of travel & accommodation.

To sum it up, except for the 7km ride, it was a fun filled and  relaxing weekend.

Click here to view the album.

Regards
Prem.

When we planned for a new year trek, we never imagined that it would come out this well. We decided to trek Kumaraparvatha, one of the highest peaks in Karnataka. As usual last minute planning tried to screw up things but that made the trek more enjoyable and adventurous than ever.

Trekkers : Prem , Ram , Logesh, Mohan , Bala , Uma , Vicky ( Who made it all the way from Kerala )

Till Dec31, we did nothing other than booking tickets for 10.00 pm bus and paying the Tent advance.

5.30 Pm : Mother nature started its new year celebration with heavy downpour.

6.30 Pm : No signs of rain to stop and while we were thinking off to scrap the plan , Vicky was desperate to do justice to the 700 Rs he spent for his volvo.7.30 Pm : With not much choice left , Ram and Mohan set off amidst heavy rains to pick up the tent from JayNagar and head to Majestic. Me and Logesh left to Marathalli for purchasing food & medicine, leaving Vicky @ home to clean the odanjufied horlicks bottle.

8.15 Pm : Left in auto to K.R Puram railway station which is around 3 kms, to catch Lalbhag Express @ 8.55 Pm. Reached at 9.00 Pm coz of heavy traffic.

9.00 Pm : Asked for three tickets, we were given only one by mistake. With minimal time left we boarded the train without tickets for two with the hope that we wont be caught by TTE.10.00 Pm: Reached city junction and in urgency took the back exit. While Ram, at majestic driver kalla vilunthufying to delay the bus for us.

10.20 Pm : Reached majestic and looking for platform 5. All we could find was 1,2,3,4,7,8,9.

10.40 Pm : Finally we were able to get hold of the bus. After a few abuses from conductor and driver, the most memorable trip ever started.

Our trek was an exact ditto of http://srikanth-darpana.blogspot.com/2008/12/kumaraparvatha-trek.html . We were literally crawling for the next two days. :-) Not a place to be missed if you are in and around Bangalore.

Cheers
Prem.