Tour to Rocks

Tungabhadra Dam, Hampi, Badami, Mahakuta, Pattadakal, Aihole, KudalaSangama, Almatti Dam, GolGumbaz, JamiMasjid, Gokak Falls, Saundatti, Chitradurga

Trip Members: Me, Surendra, Ravi, Sony

Mode of transport: Swift Car

Date of trip: 29th Oct 2010 Friday 9 PM to 1st Nov 2010 Monday 10 PM

Total distance covered from Bangalore: Around 1500 Kms

TungaBhadra Dam- Hospet

Distance: Around 320 Kms from Bangalore

Route we took: Bangalore-Tumkur- Chitradurga-Hospet

Place Type: Dam

Time of our visit: 30th Oct Saturday around 7 AM

Description: TB dam was full when we visited the place and view from the top of the dam looked like a sea. TB dam premise also has a garden with musical fountain.

Hampi

Distance: Around 15Kms from Hospet

Route: Hospet- Hampi

Place Type: World Heritage Site

Time of our visit: 30th Oct Saturday around 9 AM

Description: Hampi is a world heritage site which has ruins of Vijayanagar empire located along TungaBhadra river. There are lots of places to see in Hampi and the places are quite far from each other. We hired a Auto for Rs 400, the Auto driver was also our guide and he took us around all of Hampi and with the help of him we saw most of the major places of Hampi in 4 Hrs. The Architecture of sculptures and different kinds of places is wonderful and one can have good imagination of vastness of the Vijaynagar empire. It requires more than a day to fully visit all the places. Some of the wonderful places of Hampi we saw are Kadalekalu Ganesha, Sasivekalu Ganesha, Krishna temple, Statue of Ugra Narasimha, Badavilinga Temple, Akka Tangi Gudda, Zenena Enclosure, Lotus Mahal, Elephant stables , Guard’s quarters, Archeological Museum, Hazara Rama temple, Mahanavami Dibba, Stone Doors, Queen's bath, Vittala temple.

Daroji Bear Sanctuary

Distance: Around 15 Kms from Hampi

Route: Hampi- Bear Sanctuary (Ask for directions from Hampi)

Place Type: Wild Life

Time of our visit: 30th Oct Saturday around 2.30 PM

Description: Forest Officer told that there around 120 bears and one can usually see around 4-8 bears if we wait for around 2 hrs from the watch tower which is built inside the sanctuary. We waited for around 20 minutes for bears and we did not see any bear but we only saw some peacocks. It was cloudy and it began to rain after waiting for 20 Mins, forest guard told that bears don’t come out during rain. Entry ticket is Rs 30 per individual and Rs 150 for our car. After visiting the Sanctuary we felt that, it was not worth the visit

Banashankari

Distance: Around 150 Kms from Hospet

Route: Hampi- Hospet- Banashankari (ask for directions)

Place Type: Religious

Time of our visit: 30th Oct Saturday around 8 PM

Description: We made a quick visit to Banashankari which has a temple dedicated to goddess Banashankari and the temple is just 5 Kms from Badami

Badami

Distance: Around 155 Kms from Hospet

Route: Hampi- Hospet- Badami (ask for directions)

Place Type: Archaeological Site

Time of our visit: 31st Oct Sunday around 7 AM

Description: Badami has amazing four cave temples in four floors dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva and Jain temple built by Chalukyas in 6-7th Centuries. Caves are beautifully carved and one can have a good view of Agasthya-Tirtha Lake, Bhoothanatha temple from the top. One can also visit Bhoothanatha temple, Archaeological Museum and climb to top of the fort which lies at the opposite side of the caves. Ask for directions; Roads are bad and narrow.

Mahakuta

Distance: Around 15 Kms from Badami

Route: Badami - Mahakuta

Place Type: Religious

Time of our visit: 31st Oct Sunday around 10 AM

Description: We visited Mahakuta temple which is on the way from Badami to Pattadakal. Mahakuta has temples constructed by the early kings of the Chalukya dynasty. I can remember seeing sculptures of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara deities inside the temple complex.

Pattadakal

Distance: Around 22Kms from Badami

Route: Badami- Pattadakal

Place Type: World Heritage Site

Time of our visit: 31th Oct Sunday around 10.30 AM

Description: Pattadakal is a world heritage site which has group of monuments built by Chalukya dynasty along Malaprabha River. The architecture and sculptures of all the temples are remarkable and is very well maintained by the concerned authorities.

Aihole

Distance: Around 20 Kms from Pattadakal

Route: Pattadakal - Aihole

Place Type: Archaeological Site

Time of our visit: 31st Oct Sunday around 12 PM

Description: Aihole has a group of temples; some of them located close to village houses. I particularly remember some enthusiastic kids showing us Inverted image of an object in a pillar and Linga where one can see reflection of Nandi; the temple was located outside the main group of temples and is first/second temple one sees when travelling from Pattadakal. Intricately carved sculptures at the main Durga Temple are incredible and there is also a museum located within the temple complex maintained by archaeological survey of India.

KudalaSangama

Distance: Around 45 Kms from Aihole

Route: Aihole - KudalaSangama

Place Type: Pilgrimage

Time of our visit: 31st Oct Sunday around 1.30 PM

Description: Kudalasangama is a pilgrimage center and has a temple dedicated to Shiva. Basavanna who is a 12th century social reformer samadhi is present in Kudalasangama. View from the bridge which is inside the temple complex is amazing and one can see Krishna river and Ghataprabha river getting merged

Almatti dam

Distance: Around 15 Kms from KudalaSangama

Route: KudalaSangama – Almatti Dam

Place Type: Dam

Time of our visit: 31st Oct Sunday around 3.00 PM

Description: Almatti dam is built across Krishna River and visitors to the dam are not allowed. There is some kind of park where one can see waters of the dam and one can also visit a park which is near the entrance to the dam.

GolGumbaz

Distance: Around 60 Kms from Almatti dam

Route: Almatti Dam- Bijapur

Place Type: Archaeological Site

Time of our visit: 31st Oct Sunday around 5.00 PM

Description: GolGumbaz has one of the world largest dome and was constructed by Mohammed Adil Shah. GolGumbaz has a whispering gallery and one can see lots of people shouting as it get echoed around 7 times. Anyone talking from one corner of the gallery can be heard clearly on the diagonally opposite side by holding your ears to the wall. GolGumbaz premises is very well maintained by archeological survey of India.

JamiMasjid – Bijapur

Distance: Around 2 Kms from GolGumbaz

Place Type: Mosque

Time of our visit: 31st Oct Sunday around 5.50 PM

Description: We visited Jami Masjid built by Ali Adil Shah to commemorate the victory of Vijayanagara. It houses golden written copy of the Holy Koran.

Gokak Falls

Distance: Around 150 kms from Bijapur

Route: Bijapur - Jamkhandi - Gokak

Place Type: Falls

Time of our visit: 1st Nov Monday around 6.15 Am

Description: Gokak falls is located at 6 Kms from Gokak and Ghataprabha river takes a leap. There is a view point across the river which can be crossed using the hanging bridge. We were bit disappointed with very less water flowing and we soon got over it by seeing stunning sun rise.

Saundatti

Distance: Around 60Kms from Gokak

Route: Gokak- Saundatti (Ask for directions)

Place Type: Reservoir, Pilgrimage

Time of our visit: 1st Nov Monday around 10 AM

Description: We saw Renuka Sagara a reservoir for the Malaprabha River from a beautifully maintained park with variety of flowers and visited ancient temple of Goddess Renuka Yellamma; a popular pilgrimage site.

ChitraDurga Fort

Distance: Around 270 Kms from Saundatti, 210 Kms from Hubli

Route: Saundatti- Dharwad- Hubli- Haveri- Ranebennur – Davangere (NH-4)

Place Type: Fort

Time of our visit: 1st Nov Monday around 4.30 PM

Description: Chitradurga fort has a huge area and perhaps requires a day to cover all the hills view points. We visited one hill view point and it was quite tiring. The attraction of the fort is Obavanna Kindi named after onake Obavva who fought against several Hyder Ali’s soldiers. Movie Nagara Havu by Puttanna Kanagal has made Chitradurga fort very popular.

The title of this blog is tour to rocks; as we saw dams, great temple architecture, caves, golgumbaz, fort; all related to rocks and even Gokak falls was full of rocks

-Mahesh

Mystery Trails

MMHills-Naagamale-Palar-Hogenakkal Falls
Mystery trails is a two day trek which starts from MMHills and you go through beautiful and mythically mentioned landscapes. The first day's stop will be at Naagamale. Second day you will start trekking towards Palar on the beautiful paths endowed with ample beauty of nature.

Route we took to MMHills: Bangalore- Maddur-Malavalli-Kollegala-MMHills
Alternate route: Bangalore-Kanakapura-Halgur-Malavalli-Kollegala-MMHills
Distance from Bangalore- Around 225 Kms
Date of our trek: 18 Sep 2010 – 20 Sep 2010
Total distance to be trekked: 24 kms
Trek difficult level: Moderate
Total Trek Members: 15
Trek was organized by Nishaad-3QN (http://www.nishaad3qn.org/) http://www.facebook.com/pages/NISHAAD-3-QUARTERS-NATURE/135025922910?ref=ts
About Mystery Trails: http://www.mysterytrails.com/

Few Points from our trek:

• Get permission from Forest department. Discuss forest department charges , otherwise you might be in for some surprises
• Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills has a temple dedicated to Lord Mahadeshwara who is said to be the incarnation of Lord Shiva
• MMHills to NaagaMale (14 Kms): Need to climb up down few hills and you will also find quite a few villages on the way. One can see amazing view of Shola forest from the top of the hill. There is huge Snake and Linga rock formation at Naagamale.
• Naagamale to Palar (10 Kms): The trek path is scenic with not much altitude variations and can be covered with less difficulty
• Hogenakkal Falls: Is around 30Kms from Palar. Kaveri river was flowing full and the view from both Karnataka and Tamilnadu side was spectacular.
• Animal sighting: We saw some wild boars and two foxes on the way from Palar to MMHills

Some Snaps:

-Mahesh

Monsoon trip

Horanadu - Kalasa - Kudremukha - Sringeri - Agumbe - Kuppalli - Mandagadde - Sakrebailu - Gajanur - Bhadra Reservoir

Trip Members: Me, Surendra, Ravi and Nandish
Mode of transport: Swift Car
Date of trip: 30th July 2010 Friday 9 PM to 1st August 2010 Sunday 9 PM
Total distance covered from Bangalore: Around 950 Kms

Horanadu:
Distance: 330 Kms from Bangalore
Route we took: Bangalore-Tumkur-Arsikere-Chikamagalure-Horanadu
Place Type: Religious - pilgrimage
Places to see: Sri Annapoorneshwari temple
Time of our visit: 31st Jul around 8 AM
Weather: It was raining regularly with occasional break from the rain god
Description: Sri Annapoorneshwari temple is the place to be seen in Horanadu and the temple has very beautiful sculpture of the goddess Annapoorneshwari. Facilities are quite good to get refresh and one can also buy good quality coffee, dry fruits in the shops surrounding the temple. Breakfast in one of hotels we had was bad and it is better to have free food offered by the temple.

Kalasa:
Distance: 7 Kms from Horanadu
Place type: Religious-Pilgrimage
Places to see: Kalasa temple
Time of our visit: 31st Jul around 10 AM
Description: Kalaseshwara Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is present in Kalasa. The temple is pretty good, cleanly maintained and one can have good view of kalasa town from the top

Kudremukha:
Distance: 20 Kms from Kalasa
Place Type: Nature, Scenic, Water Falls, Dam, Trekking
Places to see: Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (Need to get permission), Lakya Dam, Hanumanagundi falls, Tunga and Bhadra river Origin
Time of our visit: 31st Jul around 11AM
Weather: Frequent rain with occasional break
Description: On the way from Kalasa to Kudremukha we saw picturesque tea gardens. One has to give vehicle and occupants details at the forest checkpost at Kudremukha forest reserve entrance. Stop near the bridge for stunning view of the river surrounded by hills. Lakya dam is the best place to be seen inside Kudremukha forest reserve and photography is not allowed inside the lakya dam premises. It was raining heavily when we visited Hanumanagundi falls and we get a different view of falls during rainy season and it was worth the experience. Driving inside the forest was amazing as we were moving inside thick mist and we saw a snake; may be a small king cobra while driving towards Sringeri.

Sringeri:
Distance: 50 Kms from Kudremukha
Route we took: Kudremukha-Kigga-Sirimane falls- Kigga- Sringeri
Place Type: Religious, Water Falls, Nature
Places to see: Sringeri Temple, Kigga(16 Kms from Sringeri), SiriMane falls (5kms from Kigga)
Time of our visit: 31st Jul around 4PM
Weather: Frequent rain with occasional break
Description: We visited SiriMane falls from Kudremukha and as usual it was raining. SiriMane falls is a smaller fall in terms of height and is quite wider especially with all the water during monsoon. Sringeri is the place where the first maţha was established by Adi Shankaracharya. In Sringeri, Sharadamba Temple and Vidyashankara Temple which is a architectural wonder is a must visit. Temple premises is cleanly maintained and one can explore the temple premises by crossing the bridge over Tunga river. We rested for the day in a room maintained by temple administration.

Agumbe:
Distance: 25 Kms from Sringeri
Place type: Nature
Places to see: Agumbe Sunset view point, Barkana falls
Time of our visit: 1st Aug around 7 AM
Weather: Drizzle
Description: Agumbe receives highest rainfall for all of south India. View from sunset view point was spectacular and we visited the sunset point during sunrise. I always wanted to visit Agumbe during monsoon and we enjoyed the weather a lot. One can also visit Barkana falls around 8 Kms from Agumbe. One has to take a road which goes towards Malandur village and walk some distance to see the falls.

Kuppalli:
Distance: Around 45 Kms from Agumbe
Route: Agumbe- Thirtahalli – Kuppali
Places to see: Kuvempu’s House and memorial
Time of our visit: 1st Aug around 10 AM
Weather: Drizzle
Description: Kuppalli is the village of Karnataka’s famous poet of 20th Century Kuvempu. Kuvempu’s house is a museum now and is worth a visit especially for children. One can also visit Kavishaila kuvempu’s memorial which is in the midst of lush green surroundings at the top of a hill. Kuvempu’s son Poornachandra Tejaswi’s memorial is also in Kuppalli.

Mandagadde Bird Sanctuary:
Distance: Around 30 kms from Thirthahalli, 30 kms from Shimoga
Time of our Visit: 1st Aug around 11.30 PM
Description: Mandagadde Bird Sanctuary is situated along Tunga river towards Shimoga when travelling from Thirthahalli. We saw some black birds and majority of white colored birds; We were not aware of type of birds present in the sanctuary.

Sakrebailu Elephant Camp:
Distance: Around 45Kms from Thirtahalli , 15 kms from Shimoga
Time of our visit: 1st Aug around 12 PM
Description: Elephants are trained and given daily bath here. Visitors can also be part of it and I think the visiting hours is 8.30 AM to 11.30 AM. We reached there by 12 PM; elephants had already left the premises and we just had walk inside the park.

Gajanur Dam:
Distance: Around 47 Kms from Thirtahalli, 12 Kms from Shimoga
Time of our visit: 1st Aug around 12.30 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Description: Gajanur dam is small dam built across Tunga river and is close to Shimoga. Dam was full and we could see water everywhere. Walking along at the top of the dam was prohibited.

Bhadra Reservoir:
Distance: Around 35 Kms from Shimoga, 20 Kms from Tarikere
Time of our Visit: 1st Aug around 2.00 PM
Weather: Cloudy
Description: Bhadra dam is close to Kuvempu university and it is the place where Malnad ends. Bhadra dam is quite big and view from top of the dam is amazing. We saw scenic small islands and it was very windy at the top. There is also Bhadra wildlife sanctuary nearby which is around 15kms from Bhadra dam and we did not visit the place due to paucity of time.

Our trip to some of the beautiful places in Malnad was spectacular, exciting and full of rain

-Mahesh

Kanyakumari – Munnar

Bangalore to Kanyakumari: We started our journey towards Kanyakumari on 26th Dec 09 at 5AM. Surendra came to my house and from there we left to pick Shashidhar. After picking Shashidhar at Koramangala, we then picked Nandish who had just finished his night shift work at Electronic city. We filled the diesel tank of our car in Hosur and proceeded towards Salem which is 210 Kms from Bangalore. Nandish and Surendra had got song DVD’s to hear them in my car and unfortunately the music player does not support DVD’s. We had horrible time inside the car listening to one CD most of the time. The roads were pretty good and we sometimes felt that toll rates were quite high. We reached Salem at around 8.30 AM and we had good tasteful breakfast in Salem. I don’t remember the hotel name; the hotel is situated close to some circular junction. We then proceeded towards Madurai. Most of the driving was done by Surendra with occasional support from Nandish. Surendra is a lot better driver than Nandish and I was always afraid whenever Nandish drove; mainly because what happened in Salem; He almost hit a person walking on the road. We reached Madurai at around 11 AM which is around 440 Kms from Bangalore. Madurai was crowded; with traffic jam greeting us and we reached Meenakashi temple after asking for directions inside the city. We somehow with difficulty parked our vehicle and visited the temple complex. The huge exterior of the temple was impressive with all its colors and we walked along the temple complex as Temple was closed when we visited. We also saw some great sculptures in one of surrounding temples and we were quite disappointed when we saw shops set up there and were poorly maintained. We came out of temple complex and we were very thirsty. We went inside a hotel and hotelier suggested to have Madurai special candy/Juice (Mixture of flavored milk, ice-cream); It was pretty delicious. We made some purchases in Madurai and moved towards Kanyakumari at around 1PM. Kanyakumari is around 250 Kms from Madurai and we have to go through Tirunelveli. From Tirunelveli there is some direct road to Kanyakumari; we missed it, instead we took Nagercoil road. From Nagercoil, Kanyakumari is 22 Kms away and there are two small bridges on the way; where only one 4 wheeler can go and can trigger a traffic jam. We reached Kanyakumari at around 5.30 PM

Kanyakumari: We were for a bit disappointed as weather was cloudy at Kanyakumari and we had missed the great sunset because of gloomy weather. We walked towards Kanyakumari temple after parking our car. Kanyakumari was filled with lot of people; most of them were Sabrimala pilgrims and in few places there was very little space even to walk. We could see Vivekananada Rock and Thiruvallur statue from a distance and as we proceeded towards the temple, the crowd became larger. I visited a small temple of Swami Vivekananda and felt great having paid my respects to my guru. As it got darker we stood near the temple compound facing the Vivekananda rock and we sipped tea amidst the cold breeze coming from the shore. We visited the temple; had dinner and then we went in search of accommodation. We could not get any lodge in Kanyakumari and one ac room which was available was expensive Rs 3000. We then left to Nagercoil in our hunt for a lodge; due to one way small bridge near Nagercoil there was a traffic jam of more than 1 km. We did not get any hotel for stay in Nagercoil also; then we came back to Kanyakumari and slept in our car at around 11 PM. We did get half sleep, waking up numerous times during the night. I got up around 4.30 AM and went for a walk in search of public toilet. We got fresh using facilities available in railway station and it was a smart idea suggested by Shashidhar. We were hoping for a better sunrise and again yet another disappointment because of cloudy weather. We had bad breakfast in a hotel and went in search of boating facility to Vivekananda rock. There was a huge queue for boating at 7 Am itself and my friends were reluctant to stand in the queue. I had always wished to visit Vivekananda rock and I was upset because of my friends’ reluctance to visit the rock. My wish to pay my tributes to swami Vivekananda at the rock remains unfulfilled. Perhaps there were more than 1 Lakh people in Kanyakumari; facilities available for such a large crowd were pathetic. Kanyakumari being a plastic free zone; one could see lot of garbage everywhere, there were very few dustbins and public toilet available was just not enough. The sacred place Kanyakumari had become a place with lot of dirt. At around 8 AM we left Kanyakumari and our next stop was at Suchindram temple close to Nagercoil around 13 Kms from Kanyakumari. Suchindram temple is a vast temple dedicated to the Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. We were really impressed with the architecture and where glad to see the musical pillars. We heard the music by placing our ears to a pillar and tapping various pillars by our hands.

Kanyakumari to Munnar: We had a map of South India and the route we decided to Munnar was via Thiruvananthapuram – Kottayam. There were few sign boards and we always found it difficult to find the exact routes. Even small towns looked well developed; also one could find lot of jewelry shopping complexes and photo cut outs of Mohanlal and Mammootty all along the way. Major hurdle we faced was the pronunciation of place names and we would ask for directions and sometimes people just did not understand what we were trying to ask for. We had great lunch in a hotel and I particularly liked fish fry. We filled our diesel tank just after Kottayam; we met some who had come to fill petrol and had settled in Bangalore; they gave us correct directions to Munnar. The directions they gave was Manarcad-Kidangnoor-Pala-Thodapuzha-Kothamangalam-Adimali-Munnar. The information they gave was very helpful and we came to know the exact route we have to follow. We had light snacks at Pala at around 5 PM and again proceeded. It started to rain heavily and I cannot describe how well Surendra drove the car with very less visibility. We reached Adimali at around 9.30 PM and rested for the day in a hotel; Munnar was around 25Kms from that place.

Munnar: We were ready to leave to Munnar by 7 Am on 28-Dec-09 Monday. We could see beautiful landscape with clouds below us and a wonderful waterfall on the way. The morning journey was pleasant and we reached Munnar at 8AM. We had quick breakfast and left to Eravikulam National park. We had to wait in the queue for about 2 Hrs to buy entry tickets and for Notional park buses to take us to top of the hill. As the bus made progress towards the hill we could see stunning surroundings. The bus stops near the entrance and we need to walk further one Km to reach a view spot. As we walked we saw few Nilgiri tahr’s which are endangered species and I got the feeling that they are familiar to humans as they seem undisturbed by the presence of crowd. The national park was very well maintained with virtually no garbage. We also saw lot of foreigners and we thought that they have better knowledge than us about the places they are visiting. We came back to the entrance of the national park at around 12 PM and ate tasty pineapple. From there we decided to take the route Chinnar Sanctuary - Annamalai Wildlife Sanctuary - Udumalaipettai - Pallamdam - Tiruppur - Avinashi - Dharmapuri – Krishnagiri to Bangalore.

Munnar to Bangalore: We moved towards Chinnar wildlife sanctuary along beautiful landscape of tea gardens. After driving for few Kms and the entire region was covered with clouds and we were now moving with misty clouds with very less visibility. That was one of finest moments and we enjoyed being in the midst of such surroundings. We stopped at one of the water falls close to Chinnar sanctuary and from there went through Chinnar and Annamalai national park checkpost by giving our details. Kerala side check post personnel did not ask for any money and but to cross Tamilnadu forest checkpost the person asked 10 Rs bribe at two check points. From there we asked for directions to places based on our route map and reached Tiruppur at around 5 PM. we had some snacks at ananda bhavan and started our journey towards Bangalore and once again a nice gentleman gave us correct route to Bangalore. After an eventful journey we were back to Bangalore at 10.30 PM

Which was the better place we visited in this trip? Well each place was unique in its own way and I liked all the places we passed through and I feel this world of ours is Diverse and Perfect.

Rangaswamy Betta- Near Kanakapura


Bilikallu Rangaswamy Betta is a hill around 50 Kms from Bangalore close to Kanakapura. Ravi, Nandish, Srinivas and I had gone for a trek to this place on 12-Dec-09 Saturday. Ravi who had picked Nandish came to Banashankari at 7.30 AM and I was waiting for them near Banashankari temple. We then waited around 30 minutes for Ravi’s friend Srinivas to join us. We had breakfast on the way and reached KonnalDoddi at around 9.30 AM. We parked the car in front of a villager’s house and started our trek after asking for directions. We could see Rangaswamy Betta from there and we proceeded along the mud-rock road where you can also find small water streams on the way. We could see a wide variety of birds and it was not at all possible to capture them in our cameras. After walking for about 15 minutes, you will find a small temple towards left side and that is the place where we need to take right turn and walk along the path which takes you to the top of the hill. We were not aware of this and went straight and after walking for more than one hour; my friends were sure that we had lost the track. I was adamant to go further along the path we came and we had entered deep inside the forest where we could find lot of elephant activity. After walking for some time we found few woodcutters inside the forest and they told that we had come a long way on the wrong path. My friends teased me for taking the wrong path and we walked back to small temple; we were wandering on the wrong path for more than 3 hours and time was 1 PM when we reached the temple. Ravi and Nandish were too tired and they did not accompany Srinivas and Me for uphill climb to RangaswamyBetta. I had almost emptied my water bottle when I started for uphill steep climb and I was exhausted after walking for some time. I was dehydrated and Srinivas was way behind me; I was not sure how much more I had walk to reach the top. I proceeded further and I could see lot butterflies, birds, some other insects along the way. It took me around one hour to reach the top and I could see some temple activity going on for upcoming festival. At the top of the hill there is a small temple and a house where Pujari stays during special puja days. I explored the place and I could see very good landscape from the top of the hill. I was anxious as Srinivas took more time to reach the top of the hill and at times our mobiles were working and I could contact him to know his whereabouts. We visited the temple which is abode of Lord RangaSwamy and started our descent at around 3.30 PM. We reached motorable road in Konnaldoddi at around 4.30 PM and Ravi and Nandish were waiting for us with some snacks. We had late lunch in some dhabba on Kanakapura road and we reached Banashankari at 7 PM.

Directions to RangaswamyBetta:

• Take Kanakapura road from Bangalore - Take a left next to bus stand at Harohalli (Around 35 Kms from Bangalore) - Reach DoddaMaralawadi - Ask directions to KonnalDoddi. Ask for directions to RangaswamyBetta.
• There is also a jeep road to the top of RangaswamyBetta from Kanakapura

Brahmagiri Trek

We have been planning for a trek to Brahmagiri for quite some time and we booked six KSRTC Airavat bus tickets to Virajpet for a journey on 30th Oct Friday 2009. The most difficult part of a plan for any trek/trip is to fix a date, get confirmation and make everyone available. As usual there were two drop outs from our trek to Brahmagiri (Nandish &Mahesh). Shashidhar, Ravi, Harsha and I met at Majestic bus stand at around 10.45 PM on 30th Oct to catch 11.30 PM bus to Virajpet. We got down in Gonikoppal at 4 Am and took another bus from there to Srimangala which started at 4.30 AM. Srimangala is 24Kms from Gonikoppal and we had to get forest officer permission which is close to Srimangala bus stand. We got down at some guest house just after bus stand; we had to walk back to Srimangala bus stand and we were accompanied by other team who were also going for a trek to Brahmagiri. It was still dark and time was around 5.30 Am. We finished morning business and had breakfast at some hotel which is close to the bus stand. We waited for forest office to open and it opens around 8.30 Am. We had not booked the forest guest house for our stay as it was already booked by some other team; the forest officer clubbed our team with other team with a group of seven guys. The forest guest house at Narimale camp has two rooms and the guest house has to be booked in advance. Forest officer usually gives permission for two teams to stay there. We paid 1500 for trekking, guide, guest house charges and I think for four persons it was quite expensive. Then we took a bus which starts from Srimangala at 9.30 Am to Irupu which is at a distance of 8 kms from Srimangala.

We now a group of 11 including 7 from other team met our guide Pavan at Irupu and we slowly moved towards Irupu falls. We took some snaps of Irupu falls and waited for other team who took more than 30 minutes to reach Irupu falls. Other team perhaps was more interested in having photo session than us. We started our trek towards Narimale camp at around 11 Am which is 4kms from the falls. We walked through dense forest where the sunlight rarely passed through the vast tree cover. After walking 3 kms we reached a water spot and we stopped there for a while. Some leeches had sucked by blood; I removed them, filled the water bottle and started again. From here the landscape changes and we walked through thick grass lands surrounded by beautiful green hills. We reached Narimale camp inspection guest house at around 1.30 PM. Other team arrived at inspection bungalow at around 2 PM. We placed our bags inside the rooms and ate chapattis we had brought for lunch. Then everyone decided to visit Narimale peak which is around 1.5 kms from Inspection bungalow. At around 3 PM we started for Narimale peak and we could see lots of elephant dung along the way. Shashidhar and Ravi stopped after they saw uphill climb. I climbed the peak and one of other team members showed me elephants grazing in nearby hill. My camera has only 3x zoom and I regretted not having a good camera so that I could have taken better photos of elephants. The view from Narimale peak was amazing with cold winds hitting us and we could see smaller hills, Brahmagiri, a waterfall. We came back to Narimale IB and took much need rest.

Narimale IB has two rooms, a hall, a small kitchen were one can kind find utensils for cooking dinner. Water needs can be met by a stream which flows nearby. I got hold of a bucket and brought the water. My legs were itching and I opened by shoes to see a lot of leeches on my leg. I removed them and it created lot of blood stains. It was getting dark; Ravi got some dry wood and lighted fire. We had got ready to eat food for dinner, we put some of those inside boiling water and our dinner was ready. We ate ready to eat food, left over chapattis we had from lunch and some cucumber and carrots which Harsha had with him. We chatted for some time and since we were tired we went to sleep at around 8 PM. One has to carry blanket/sleeping bag for comfortable sleep. We had minimum sleeping materials and had hard time to get some decent sleep as it was very cold during the night.

I got up at 6 AM and I went outside to see thick fog cover with visibility of few meters. We went for morning business and I had the most horrible experience as lot of leeches had made inroad and sucked the blood out of my body. After that we had tough time to light fire and make water boiling for our breakfast. By 9 AM we finished breakfast and we were ready for a visit to Brahmagiri peak. Ravi and Shashidar did not join us for Brahmagiri visit as their legs could not support them for further uphill walk; only Harsha, Me, 5 guys from other team along with the guide started for Brahmagiri. Brahmagiri is around 5 Kms form IB and as we stared our trek we could see elephant activity during night closed to IB. We filled our water bottle at the last stream available on the way to the peak and I had best moment of the trek as we saw a group sambar deer from close range. As we walked our guide showed the border markings which clearly distinguishes Karnataka and Kerala border. We came to base of Brahmagiri at 11 Am and from there it was steep uphill climb to reach the top of the hill. I took around 30 mins minutes to climb, it was very windy at the top and view was breathtaking. Brahamagiri was the taller than any of nearby peaks and I was quite pleased to see such a place. Harsha took around 40 mins time to climb the peak; we took some snaps and started our descent. I had a bad moment when I lost the lens cap of Ravi’s camera on the way back. We reached Narimale IB at around 1 PM.

Ravi and Shashidhar had taken enough rest and were ready to leave Narimale IB. We thought of catching last bus which leaves Irupu at 3.30 PM. We started our descent at around 2 PM without guide and were puzzled at few places where there were multiple paths not knowing which path to go. Finally we reached Irupu falls at 3.15 PM and since we had to catch 3.30PM bus we did not get into the water; we left the place immediately. We reached bus stand at 3.25 PM and waited for the bus to arrive. We waited till 4.15 PM and the bus never came; later we came to know that since it was Sunday and holiday for schools; the bus usually takes off on Sunday. We came to back to Irupu, booked taxi to Srimangala for RS 200 and had late lunch. We reached Srimangala at 5.30 PM and from there we got into a bus to Gonikoppal. We reached Gonikoppal at 6.30 PM and got another bus to Virajpet, so that we can spend some time seeing the place. When we reached Virajpet it was 7.30 PM and the town was almost deserted; only few shops, hotels and wine shops were opened. We had dinner at one of the hotels, took a bus to Bangalore at 9 PM and reached Bangalore at 3.30 AM.

• Get permission for Forest range office say 10 days prior to the visit
• Do carry food items since you get only utensils in Narimale IB
• Carry enough sleeping material to protect from cold weather
• Trek difficult level: Moderate
• Cost per person for us came around Rs 1350

Yaana, Gokarna, Jog Falls

After much planning and forwarding of dates, we from PLM united team had gone for a trip to Yaana, Gokarna and Jog falls during Sep4-Sep6 2009 weekend. Group of 24 had gone for the trip and most of the logistics of the trip was taken care by Nandish and Manju. Bus picked me near my house at around 9.30 PM on 4th Sep Friday and I occupied the last seat. Manju and Santosh were the last to board the bus and we took NH4 Road which goes via Chitradurga, Davangere, Ranebennur, Haveri and then to Sirsi our first stop. Around 70% of the road we travelled was good and rest was bad. Initially we had some general discussion inside the bus and after a while we tried to sleep. Most of the time my sleep was disturbed by the voice of Nandish and I think others were also disturbed by noise made by small group lead by Nandish. I saw Santosh was the only person who had sound sleep while travelling to Sirsi. Early morning on the way to Sirsi we stopped at some place just before Sirsi and took some snaps. The weather was cool with slight drizzle and I felt like walking all along the road.

We reached Sirsi at around 8 AM on Saturday 5th Sep and occupied the hotel Madhuvana which we had booked for our early morning stay. The hotel rooms were quite good, clean and worth the money we paid. Due to smart negotiation from Manju we had booked the hotel for about Rs 265 per room. We had booked seven rooms for our stay and Manju, Santosh, Prashanth and I occupied one room. Some of our team members had kept their bags inside the luggage cabin in the rear end of bus and due to water leakage their bags and clothes had gone wet and some of them had horrible time making them dry. After getting fresh, we had breakfast and were ready to leave our room. Also we packed rice item Pulav and banana for lunch to have at Yaana.

Our first visit was at Sri Marikamba Temple in Sirsi. Sri Marikamba Temple houses a huge idol of Devi and after paying our obeisance to God, we started our journey towards Yaana. Our journey towards Yana was full of fun especially the dance by our team members. I had occupied the front seat near the driver and I enjoyed the dance of Murugan, Prashant, Manju, Neeraj and others as well. As we proceeded towards Yaana, the road became narrow and I enjoyed the greenery all round with slight rain making the environment amazing to see. The bus stopped around 2 Kms before Yaana, the time was around 1PM and we decided to walk rest of the distance. As I walked some distance, leeches had already made inroad into my shoe and I removed them with the help of my friend. After that everyone applied Odomas cream and lime which I think is ineffective in controlling leeches in getting you. Murugan and his family decided not to venture out of the bus mainly due to rain and they might have had bad time inside the bus waiting for us for about 4 Hours.

As we walked we saw small water fall made due to the rain, a river near the bridge and view of the forest of Sahyadri hills surrounding us was amazing. This was the first time I trekked in monsoon rain and it was comfortable walking and not that tiring. After walking for about 1 Km the road ends and we have to walk around 0.5 Kms along mud path to reach Yaana. Manju, Santosh and I were the first to see Mohini Shikara and we made some noise when we saw the magnificent rock formation. We took some snaps and as we proceeded further we saw another amazing bigger rock formation Bhairaveshwara Shikara. Karthik and I took some photos and everyone halted at tea stall which is present near the temple which is at the base of Bhairaveshwara shikara. We had good hot tea and other light snacks midst the rain which accompanied us all long the way. We also had photos session and visited the temple where the temple priest explained about the significance of Yaana. Some of us visited the small cave which surrounds the temple and Hemanth was waiting for me take a snap in the waterfall. After having good view of the rocks everyone proceeded towards our bus. Vivek, Ramesh, Ramesh’s friend and I took the stairs which goes towards Mohini Shikara. We climbed down the stairs and we were not exactly sure where the steps were taking us. I took a photo near the base of the rock and we did not go further down the steps and we climbed back and tried to join rest of our team. Vivek and I decided to run some distance to catch up with rest of the team. We ran some distance after that we were tired and walked till we came to the road. We again decided to run and I overtook some of our team members and stopped after I saw uphill climb. It was bit difficult to walk back and I was always looking for the sight of the bus. We reached the bus , had Pulav and Banana which we had got from Sirsi. As usual we were ready for photo session and some of our team members were very keen to get photographed with different styles (Especially Nandish Style). We boarded the bus and with lots of incredible dancing from the team, we reached Gokarna at around 7.30 PM.

We had booked Hotel Gokarna International for our stay. Only the name and exterior of the hotel was attractive. Inside the rooms we could see wet ceilings, beds and pillows were not clean and rooms were in pathetic state. Manju, Santhosh, Prashant and I walked some distance till we found Pai Restaurant to have dinner. The food was OK and perhaps lot better than the hotel where we stayed. We came back to our room and rested for the day. I got up in the morning and I had to have some argument with the hotel personnel to get Hot water for bath. Everyone of our team were ready by 9 AM and we visited the Mahabaleshwara temple in Gokarna to have blessings of the lord. We had breakfast and started for OM beach at around 10.30 AM . It started to drizzle a bit and we were afraid that rain will spoil our visit to the beach. Fortunately the rain stopped and as we approached Om beach, I saw beautiful landscape of the beaches and reached OM beach at around 11.00 AM. The beach was clean and Karthik was the first person to get into cold water and Manju, Santhosh, Prashanth, I followed him. We had good time inside the water and Murugan also joined us. Hopefully Murugan’s son who was always telling about the beach had good team time seeing the sea. All the team members had photo sessions and we came back to our bus and started for Jog falls at around 1 PM.

Just after Kumta, we stopped for Lunch at Kamat hotel and ordered Veg Biryani to be parceled. We then decided to have lunch in the hotel itself. We proceeded towards Jog falls and driver told that he would stop at some places where scenery of the nature is worth watching. The bus stopped at a place where we could see a water fall. I took some snaps and rest of the team also were part of photo session. After a while the bus stopped at one more beautiful landscape and perhaps our team members were disgusted that I stopped the bus again for one more view as the team were playing dumbcharades and were in the midst of intense competition. We did not get down at that place and we travelled towards Jog falls. We reached Jog falls at around 4.30 PM and everyone got down to see the majestic incredible highest water fall in India, the JOG falls. Jog falls was at its full flow due to incessant rain the region had received for the past few days. Jog falls was amazing and the landscape of the surrounding the Jog falls was worth watching. We had a long lengthy photo session and we also took some group photos. I wanted to visit the other side of the falls from where the water comes down and where there is a Bungalow. Due to paucity of time we could not the go there and perhaps some of us were too tired. We had tea/coffee in the hotel which is present in the premises of Jog. We then left Jog falls at around 6.00 PM. We stopped in Sagar to have dinner and most them had best dinner of the trip. By this time I was tired a lot and wanted to have good sleep. Got into bus and occupied seat next to Santosh and I did have some decent sleep. Early Monday morning on 7th Sep we reached Bangalore and I was in my house at 6.30 AM.

• I have skipped details about all the team members
• One should carry food/snacks to Yaana. I felt we should have explored the rocks of Yaana more by staying there for a day
• Cost per person for the trip came about Rs 1700
• Thanks to all team members who were part of this trip

One more exiting trip came to end for me and hopefully each one of 26 including the driver and his assistant had good memorable time during the trip.

-Mahesh