Images from Golden Temple, Bylukuppe
5 Comments Published by Prashanth M on April 19, 2008 at 10:01 PM.
Two months after my bike trip to Coorg, I was back in that beautiful district. But this time the visit was for half day & restricted to Namdroling Monastery at Bylukuppe. Being Saturday Monastery was buzzing with activity, but inside the Golden Temple it was complete silent and peaceful.
A student monk. He was more interested looking out of the class room instead of listening to the lectures.
Paintings inside the temple are huge, beautiful and very nicely done.
My visit was of very short duration. Just touch and go. This place is still there in my list of places to be visited :)
Also read:
Labels: Coorg, Karnataka, One day outing, Travel
Virupapura: A tale from Ramayana
3 Comments Published by Prashanth M on February 06, 2008 at 5:58 PM.
Virupapura, one of the few places that I have visited countless number of times, is a tiny village which has a story linked to Ramayana. Situated around 75 KMs from Bangalore and a stone's throw way from my native, the place gets the name from Rama. Previously known as Virupakshapura and along with the time, name got changed to Virupapura.
Main reason for me to visit this place repeatedly is the small hillock to the north east of the village & the panoramic view it offers from the top. My usual routine used to be - climb up the hill which doesn't take more than 15-20 minutes, reach the lone stone mantapa, sit & ponder for hours.
Link to Ramayana – As per the local stories, when Ravana kidnapped Sita, Rama & Lakshamana in search of her reached this place. And Rama built a temple of Lord Shiva (called as Siddarameshwara temple by villagers) here on the hillock. And there are plenty Custard Apple trees (Sitaphala or Sita’s fruit).
I visited the place after a long gap of 8-9 years. And I could see lot of changes. One main change that bothered me was stone-quarrying. Almost 25-30% of the hillock is missing when compared to old days. Take another 3-4 years, that good old small hillock which inspired me into treks and hikes will disappear forever. It’s hard to digest but that’s the sad truth.
How to reach there -
B'lore - Nelamangala - NH48 - Marur handpost - turn left - Kudur - Sugganahalli - turn left - Virupapura
Or B'lore - Nelamangala - NH48 - Tippasandra handpost - Sankigatta - Mayasandra (my native village :) - Virupapura.
Distnace approx 75 to 80 KMs
Update: Republished as photos were missing :)
Update 2: added route details
Labels: Karnataka, One day outing, Travel, Trek
Last journey of year 2007 & my first visit to Nandi hills. Travel plan to Nandi was decided on the previous day at 9.30 PM. And our plan was to reach the top by 6-6.15 to catch glimpse of Sunrise. But we were late in starting reached Nandi only at 7.45. End result along with Sunrise, we missed the misty moring.
As soon as we got down, all four of us split and roamed around aimlessly for almost an hour before regrouping for breakfast. After filling our stomach it was time for us to explore the place - Yoganandeeshwara temple, Tippu drop, Nellikayi basavanna & then a quick nap at the view point ;)
How to reach:
There are different routes to reach Nandi hills - via Doddaballapur & Devanahalli. Suggest you to go via Devanahalli as the road conditions are better.
Similar One Day Outings from Bangalore:
Labels: Karnataka, One day outing, Photoshoot, Travel
How to reach (Cumulative distance in KMs):
Bangalore - Nelamangala (28)- Dabaspet (50) - Urdigere (65) - Devarayanadurga (81)
Or Bangalore - Tumkur - Devarayanadurga
Similar One Day Outings from Bangalore:
Labels: Bike Trip, Karnataka, One day outing, Travel, Tumkur
The story dates back to Aug 2006, when I came across some nice photos of this small hillock Achalu betta (or Achchalu) on DKM's blog. Collected information from DKM on how to reach the place & four of us started in a car. It was nice drive on the country-side & we took our own time to reach the place. We had a small pit-stop en-route near a village where SJ got busy shooting birds. Rest of us had a nice time talking to the village kids who were helping their parents in the farm. And then we packed breakfast at Kanakapura & proceeded towards Achalu.
Achalu is a small sleepy village just 15 KMs after Kanakapura. Just as we enter the village, there is a small pond; but there was no water when we were there. TO reach the foot of the hill one need to cross the village along a narrow lane. When we asked an elderly villager for directions, he called a small kid to show us the way. Two of his friends joined him and they were our guides for the whole day.
We parked the car at the foot of the hill. Finished our breakfast & started the climb. To reach the peak it takes around 1.5 to 2 hours. Achalu betta is a rocky hill covered mostly of shrubs. There is a Muneshwara temple & a Nandi statue at the top & hilltop offers a panoramic view of the landscape. On the way up, we stopped many times for taking snaps & spent an hour at the top listening to the stories told by our little guides about the village & festival that happens every year at the top.
Getting down was easier & took less time. Bid adieu to the three musketeers & in less than 2 hours time we were back stuck in a traffic jam in Bangalore.
Labels: Karnataka, One day outing, Photoshoot, Trek
Mid June. Clear Sky, with scattered clouds. Rains were due in this part of the country. And we decided to pay a visit to Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta (Betta in KAnnada means 'Hill'). Four of us - Dwaraka (on his RD 350), Muruli (Shogun), Sreekanth (Pulsar 150) & Myself (Pulsar 150). We met at Mysore road very close to University junction at 5.15 in the morning and headed towards Mysore. Bangalore to Mysore was a non-stop run & we covered a distance of 130 KMs in just 90 minutes. From there we headed towards Nanjanagud and stopped there for breakfast. After gulping down extra salted Dosas & Idlis, we continued our journey. Crossed Gundlupet & we reached foot of hill by 9.15AM. And it's approximately 10 KMs to the peak.
Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta is located in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka and is part of Bandipur National Park. The name - Himavad meaning fog, as the hill be covered with fog almost through out the year. Yes even during peak summer. And Gopalaswamy, beacause of Krishna temple. This temple was built in early fourteenth century by Cholas. And main speciality of the place is wild elephants which can be seen in herds of 60s-70s. Unluckily we were not able to sight them :(
We reached the top by 9.45 and it was completely covered by fog. Fog was so dense that we felt it's raining. Visibility reduced to 30-40 meters; we parked our bikes, went on a walk around the temple & to a view point. Wind was blowing heavily & we sat there at the top savouring the moment.
From there we walked back through fog towards the temple. It took us almost half an hour to come out ofter the darshan as the temple was crowded. When we came out, it was completely different view & a dramatic change. Fog had cleared and we had clear view. We sat there near the emple admiring the beauty. By noon we started back home.
Reached Mysore by 1.30+ & stopped there for lunch. After a heavy lunch rest of the three headed back to Bangalore & I rode towards Kunigal. Route for all of us was same till Maddur and I took a deviation near Maddur to reach home by 4.45PM
Almost 12 hours journey including breaks. A total distance of 430 KMs.
Route taken -
Bangalore - Maddur - Mysore - Gundlupet - Gopalaswamy Betta - Gundlupet - Mysore - Maddur - KunigalA fast paced, amazing ride & a well spent Saturday
Labels: Bike Trip, Karnataka, Mysore, One day outing, Pilgrimage, Travel
Saturday was gone. I didn’t want Sunday to go wasted like the previous day. Stuffed my camera to my bag, on the steeds and started towards Kambadahalli, a little known Jain pilgrimage around 140 KMs from Bangalore, 70 from Kunigal and 18 KMs from the Jain Kashi of South, Shravanabelugola. It was a pleasant climate & NH48 was almost empty. Rode non-stop and reached Kambadahalli taking an hour's time.
About Kambadahalli:
Kambadahalli in Kannada translated to English means village (halli) of the pillar (Kamba). The name is due to the manasthambha (the pillar in front of temples) with statue of Brahmadeva Yaksha atop the pillar. The place is in Nagamangala talukm Mandya district.And here are couple of links which give more information about the place -
Kambadahgalli on Wiki
An ancient site connected with Jainism - An article in The Hindu
Historical places means, one get to hear wonderful stories. I heard two such stories when I visited the place -
First one goes like; the village got the name because of the pillar and the bells tied at the top of it. The bells at the top of the pillar tell the villagers about the bad news to come. They don't make noise without a purpose, when they do that means someone in the village is going to die in a day or two. Those bells doesn't ring even during storms and sometimes they ring even there is no slight breeze. Spooky! Elder people in the village who are around 70-80 years confirm that!!
Another story goes like Kambadahalli was a prominent place & a Jain pilgrimage around 10th century. It's claimed that there were 72 Jain temples in & around Kambadahalli, and now there is just one. As time passed what once was Jain dominated place started losing their domination. And other community gained momentum. There is a water body to the north-west of village and is main source of water for irrigation for the surrounding places. One year there was heavy rain which damaged the tank bund of the water body. It was damaged to such an extent even after repairing the bund, even a small rain damaged it and resulting in loss of crops. This cyclic process - repairing the water body and getting damaged due to rain went on for years until one day the village head dreamt of a solution. In his dream, the God asked him to demolish all the Jain temples and use those pillars, stones to repair the tank-bund. And villagers followed the head's order. End result, number of Jain temples came down to one from 72 and tank-bund problem got resolved.I don't have any proofs for above stories. I heard them during my visits.
How to reach there from Bangalore:
Bangalore – Nelamangala – Kunigal – Bellur Cross – Kadaballi – turn left – Bindiganavile – Kambadahalli
Or
Bangalore – Nelamangala – Kunigal – Bellur Cross – Nagamangala – Kambadahalli
Labels: Bike Trip, Karnataka, One day outing, Pilgrimage, Travel
Ever since I about our bike ride & trek to Skandagiri (aka Kalavaarahalli betta), I'm getting lot of mails asking for more details, authenticity of those cloud view. A sFew people even called me to get info on the place. Reason for all this is a set of beautiful photos of Skandagiri & owner of them unknown! And two days ago I got a comment from Pramod saying those were his photos. Via mails, I collected more information about the place from him.
More details:
Best time to visit: November to January - Pramod captured these clouds during his visit in mid-Jan. Pre-monsoon will be foggy.
Trek time: 2 to 3 hours to reach the peak during daytime. A very nice place for moon-light trek.
Distance from Bangalore: 75 KMs
Route: Bangalore - Hebbal Flyover - Devanahalli - Chikkaballapur - Skandagiri. Take a left turn inside the city, follow the narrow road to reach Papagni Matt which is at the foot of Skandagiri.
Thanks Pramod, for letting us know such a beautiful place.
Update: Added root details to the post :)
Labels: One day outing, Trek, Weekend Getaway
Here comes the detailed log after the teaser.
Couple of weeks back, my friend Usha had sent me a set of photos of Skandagiri (She got them via mail forwards), which were amazing (selected two of them are here & here). We had no other information than the name & the photos. Google gave a bit of information about the place, directions & distance. Plan was cooking up for the short trek, and at the same time Kamlesh came up with a plan. So we made it a ride-n-trek day.
Skandagiri or Kalavaarahalli betta is 75 Kms from Bangalore, near Chikkaballapur, a little known place along the Nandi Hills range. The hill is a small one but a steep climb. It took us one and half hours to climb and 45 minutes to come down.
Route: Bangalore - Devanahalli - Chikaballapur - Skandagiri. Take a left turn inside the city, follow the narrow road to reach Papagni Matt which is at the foot of Skandagiri.
10 bikers on 10 bikes started off at 6 in the morning. Though it was beginning of summer, it was chilling out there. Stopped just before Chikkaballapur for breakfast & coffee. From there Santosh took lead as he had already been there. Reached foothill by 9. None of those 8 lazy bums were ready for the trek, just two of us (Srik & I) took off. It was a tiring climb. Reached summit after lot of stop-overs on the way. View from top was amazing, with 360 degrees of clear sky. Spent a good one hour top and came down, which took us 45 minutes.
We were hungry and stopped at a dhabha near Devanahalli. After a quick lunch, Srik & I left early as we had to reach Bangalore early.
Distance (from Bangalore): 75 KMs one way.
Food & Water: Get it at the nearby town Chikkaballapur. Not a drop of drinking water available at the peak.
Camping: Can be done. Plenty of flat ground. (Thats what I'm planning to do next ;)
Will be there again to catch those lovely clouds :)
Labels: Bike Trip, Karnataka, One day outing, Travel, Trek, Weekend Getaway
Had been to a short trek to Skandagiri last weekend. Here is a photo from there. Details to follow soon -
Labels: Bike Trip, Karnataka, One day outing, Travel, Trek
About Manchanabele dam:Its a less known, small water dam approximately 40-45KMs from Bangalore and the dam is built across river Arkavati. This is a nice place for bird-watchers with plenty of resident and few migratory birds.
On that lovely Saturday morning (11th Nov, 2006), we started off around 6.30 on two bikes - Shashank on his Fiero and me on my Pulsar. Soon we were rolling on beautiful Mysore road (SH17). On the way we bought snacks & water for breakfast as no food is available at the dam so early. Took a right near Rajarajeshwari Dental college which leads to the famous 'Big Banyan Tree'. When wereached the banyan tree, not many visitors were there as it was too early. We proceeded toward Manchanabele, which is another 8-10KMs from Banyan tree.
We reached the place around 8AM, with few stops on the way to shoot birds. It was a great learning experience for me. Birds watching and their life was kind of totally new world to me. Shashank was patient enough to answer my queries and stupid questions. Except for one or two Brahminy Kite shots, I was just a bird watcher and watching Shashank capturing birds. We stayed there till 2 in the afternoon. And took the same route to reach home back exhausted, but content with the day's learning & experience.
Here are some beautiful, awesome photos captured by Shashank on that day.
Birds sighted:
Brahminy Kite
Green bee-eater
Pied Kingfisher
Swift
Purple-rumped Sunbird
White-browed Bulbul
Indian Robin
Pied Bushchat
Oriental Skylark
Woolly-necked Stork
Black Drongo
Red-wattled Lapwing
Golden Oriole
Brahminy Starling
Labels: Bike Trip, Karnataka, One day outing, Photoshoot, Travel
All the BNs were assembled in the starting point at Nandi Toyota showroom. No delay in reporting there. Thats the passion to ride. Dr. Prithvi took the attendance, all present 9 riders and a pillion.
Team:1. Dr. Prithvi - EliminatorThe plan was to ride to Reliance A1 plaza, which is just after Hosur, have breakfast and take a call on what to do next. We started exactly by 0700 and it was fun to ride in group. My first ride in such a big group (previous one was a group of 4). I could see the headlights switched on of all the BNs in RVM. 45 minutes flat we were at A1 plaza. Breakafast comprised of Dosa, Pongal, Vada, Omlet, Coffee. Talk during the breakfast was just bikes, bikes and more on bike rides (Leh, Goa meet).
2. Prabul & Radhika - Suzuki Fiero
3. Orgy - Bullet Machismo
4. Jayansrangan - Bullet Machismo
5. Vasanth - Zma
6. Kamlesh - CBZ
7. Rajkumar - ZMA
8. Sashidhar - Bullet Machismo
& 9. Me - Pulsar 150
Post breakfast, Rajkumar returned as he had work in Bangalore. Rest 8 bikes proceeded towards Krishnagiri. At the deviation point to Shoolagiri, Mr. & Mrs. Prabul bid farewell as they had a family function to attend. From then onwards Dr. Prithvi led the way to Shoolagiri dam. Name Shoolagiri is after the hill which is in the shape of trishool (weapon of Lord Shiva). After Shoolagiri village, its a narrow road full of small twisties. Only audible sound during the stretch of 5-6 KMs was JSR's thumper.
We spent more than half an hour there. First few minutes spent in clickin photos and then ttalk, talk and talk. Most of the discussion was related to bikes and Leh ride experiences from Prithvi and JSR. Started back with plan of stopping over at Tamilnadu hotel just before Hosur, as its very easy to get lost in mad traffic. But still Kamlesh and Vasanth got lost. Rest 5 had coffee at the restaurant and proceeded towards Karnataka-TN border where those two were waiting for us. Stopped at the border, said ok-tata-bye-bye to each others. And rode back home with a promise to ride together in coming days.
By the time I reached home, trip meter was showing 151 KMs.
Headlights On
Update: Photos uploaded
Labels: Bike Trip, BN, One day outing, Tamil Nadu, Travel
Journey and Breakfast:I was the last but one picked-up and was greeted by loud shout by the backbenchers. First few kilometers were bumpy because of the road and most of us were silent because of the empty stomach. We stopped few kilometers before Kanakapura for the breakfast. Fun began after we started. Dancing, singing, pulling one other's leg, sleeping continued till we reached Bheemeshwari.
Jummering:
The intial plan was to complete rafting first and then other activities. But by the time we reached our base camp, rafts were out in the river with some other group. Within no time all the cameras came out, shutterbugs got busy clickin away, rest posing for the snaps. After the photo session, started few team building activities suggested by Capture team. And also we spent some time playing - cricket, frisbee, badminton. Few just sat on the river bank enjoying the nature.
Rafting:
By noon, rafts were free and they were inviting us. From base camp, we were ferried to the starting point of rafting - Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. We dressed up with life jackets, helmets and pads, looking like soldiers ready for the warfield. We were divided in to five groups. Each group carried their rafts to the waterfront. Guess God wanted to add more fun and it started raining cats and dogs. After one and half hours, covering a distance of 8.5 KMs on rafts, we were totally drenched and hungry. We were taken back to the base camp by a jeep. Hot, sumptous lunch was waiting for as soon as we reached the place.
Trekking:
After the heavy lunch, most of us lazed around, talking anything and everything otherthan office work. Few who didn't do jummering resumed. Then it was time for a short trek. Krishna led the way for an hours trek. After few falls on the slippary track, we were back to start our return journey.
All in all it was a great day spent in nature's lap, away from the concrete jungle and the routine life.
If you are planning for a rafting activities you can get details from Jungle Lodges and Resorts or you can also contact CAPTURE
PS: Watch out for few candid snaps in my blogUpdate: Photos uploaded
Labels: Karnataka, One day outing, Rafting, Travel, Trek
Saturday morning 8.30 AM. I was on my bike heading towards my home, Kunigal. An usual short ride of 75-80KMs one way on weekends. I was bored of same old NH4 (Tumkur road) and NH48 (B'lore-M'lore road). So I decided to travel a bit extra via Magadi and cover a place 'Deepambidhi lake'.
About Deepambudhi:
Deepambudhi lake was built by Kempegowda, the founder of Bangalore city and named after his wife. It is situated between Magadi (birthplace of Kempegowda) and Huliyurdurga. It is approximately 25Kms from Magada and 5KMs from Huliyurdurga. I lived in Huliyurdurga for almost 10 years, but that was long ago - 80s and early 90s. The lake was usual picnic spot for us, family and friends during that time. Surrounded by thick forest, flush green, ample water. And also a small temple of Kaali devi and the bank.
For me it was like going back in time.
Total distance: 110 KMs.
Route taken: B'lore - Magadi - Huliyurdurga - Kunigal.
Journey:
Since it was weekend, reached Magadi road junction and was riding toward Magadi in less than 15 mins. I decided to go slow and brought down my speed to 40-50 range. Road condition is good, with rare potholes till Tavarekere. From there its great. Once I crossed Tavarekere, it was almost like I'm in a 'Ghat section'. Wonderful twisties for almost a stretch of 10-15 Kms, it was fun riding there.
Click on the image for larger viewFirst pitstop was at the entrance of Tippagondanahalli dam. One can see majestic Savanadurga from there. Clicked some snaps and continued. Climate was awesome and pleasant to ride. Took my own time to reach Magadi. To reach the lake, one has to cross the city. Just after the city, a road deviates which takes one to Kunigal. Go straight ahead towards Huliyurdurga. Traffic between B'lore and Magadi is moderate - few four wheelers and many two wheelers. After Magadi, you are the King of the road - one or two vehicles max evry 10-15 mins. Road condition varies from average to good to great, with trees lined up either side for the whole stretch.
Savanadurga
Great roadsUnlike urban/cities, Life moves very slowly in rural places. Adjusted myself to the slow pace. Reached Deepambudhi lake at around 11.30 AM, and was disappointed at the state of the place. In the name of development and improvement, they have started constructinng some convention hall type beside the temple. And lot very less trees and green. Spent almost an hour - clicking, sitting, just savouring nature just sitting on the tank-bund.
Water gushing out from the valve
Wanted to sit there for some more time. But my stomach started grumbling, since it was past noon and 2 dosas that I had in the morning were digested long back. Headed towards Kunigal, which is 25 KMs from the lake. Reached home, had a nice lunch and zzzz.I want to go there again. Not just for the lake, but also for the roads.
:)
Labels: Bike Trip, Karnataka, One day outing, Travel
Had been to Kanva reservoir off Mysore road near Ramanagar last sunday. Will post the details soon.
Labels: Bike Trip, Karnataka, One day outing, Travel
Last weekend I had been to Shivagange, which is around 60KMs from Bangalore. Started from Bangalore at around 7 AM on Saturday in two bikes - myself and my colleague-cum-friend Vineet. There are two ways to reach the place from Bangalore. Till Nelamangala (28 KMs from B'lore) is common for both routes.
- Route 1: Take a left turn to NH48, (which goes to Mangalore). Travel till Gudemarana halli(16 KMs from Nelamangala). Take a right turn, travel for 15 KMs to reach Shivagange.
- Route 2: Instead of taking left near Nelamangala, go stright on NH4 till Dabaspet(20KMs from Nelamangala). Take left turn and travel for 6 KMs to reach Shivagange.
We took the second route and our own time to reach the place. We stopped for 'n' number of times for photo sessions. And a breakfast stop at Dabaspet. Reached the place around 9.15AM. The distance to be covered to reach the top is approximately 4.5 KMs (according to the localites). Started our hike slowly and steadily, taking lot of breaks since we had whole day for us.
We managed to reach the top by exact noon. Spent some time over there and also visited the spot 'Shantala Drop' - a suicide point similar to the Tippu drop in Nandi hills. Queen Shantala, wife of Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana committed suicide here. The drop is more than 500 ft.
When we reached the place, we were the only visitors except for the 'pujari' of the temple and herd of monkeys. One thing we need to be careful is Monkeys. If you are not carrying any stick/staff to scare the monkeys, then be ready to get attacked by the monkeys. They not only sntach any bags/carry bags from you, but also check your pockets for any eatables. We started down by 12.30 since the monkeys outnumbered us by more than 1:50 and we were down in the village by 2.30 PM.
On our way back, instead of returning to B'lore, we went my hometown - Kunigal. We reached Kunigal by 4PM and after a quick nap enjoyed the Portugal-Iran football match.
- Route travelled: B'lore - Nelamangala - Dabaspet - Shivagange - Kudur - Kunigal
- Total distance covered: 85 KMs bike and 9 KMs of trek
End of the day, a satisfied rider-trekker after a short ride and trek, munching mom-made snacks watching a football match.
About the place:Shivagange, a hillock of more than 1000 ft got its name because of the holy shrine of "Lord Shiva". There are numerous temples of Shiva, Parvathi and Ganga in the hillock. This place is also called as "Dakshina Kaashi" - Kaashi/Varanasi of South India. One strange happening here in Shivagange is, if you do an 'abhishek' of 'ghee' in the temple, the same ghee turns in to 'butter'. -- No, I'm not kidding. I know few people who have witnessed the same. Hence it is compared with holy shrine Kaashi.
Other places one can visit in the same hill -
- Pathala gange -a a belowground spring, where water level goes down during rainy season and increases during summer!!
- Olakal teertha -- (Olakal = (in Kannada) manual wet-grinder, manual means one has to rotate the top oval shaped stone mannually).
- Nandi on top of the hill
- Shantala drop
- Veerabhadreshwara temple
Labels: Bike Trip, Karnataka, One day outing, Travel, Trek
Planning:
Till 10 in the night on Saturday, my plan was to go to Chamundi hills alone and be back by evening. I came to know from Dr. Prithvi Raval about Girish's plan of riding to Shivasamudra. I got Girish's phone number from Doctor and confirmed about the trip. After discussing about which route to take, we decided to take Mysore instead of Kanakapura road. Reason being - 4 lane highway for about 80 KMs. Our plan was to meet at Banashankari around 0630 hrs, and from their start the journey.
Introduction:
Got up early @ 0520. Thats too early on a Sunday morning. By 6, I was mounting my Cramster Turtle on my Black Pulsar. Called up Girish confirming that I will be in Banshankari by 6.30 and started to the meeting place by 6.05. I was there by 6.25 and was expecting those guys to turnup bit late. But surprisingly they turned up in time. After brief introduction - just got to know the names and handshakes.After air-check of Girish and Sachin's bike, I was leading the way since other three didn't knew the route to Mysore road.
Fuel hunt & Breakfast:
Intial 40-45 KMs was a bit slow, searching for a petrol bunk which accepts credit card. Sachin was adamant to pay by cash. But he gave up, and filled his bike in Ramnagara by paying by cash. Once filled, we speeded up towards Maddur, our next stop - for breakfast. Reached there by 9 or so. Had breakfast in a hotel just before Maddur and a brief photo session.
Our journey continued and we took a left just after Maddur. The milestones were saying we are still another 45+ KMs from our destination. Our next stop was in between Malavalli and Maddur (Don't remeber the place's name). It was very scenic - paddy fields on one side and a water-body on the other. It was time for another photo session and flex our muscles.
When we were about to leave, there came an another group of bikers and stopped for photo session, some 200 mtrs ahead of us. After the brifge, the standard of the road started detirorating. By the time we had covered, we were on bumpy road full of potholes. And hence our speed dropped. Once we crossed Malavalli, road became better and were back to higher speed. Our next stop was 'Shiva Hydroelectric Station' - since no one is permitted inside (security issues), we headed towards the falls.
When we reached Gaganachukki, all of us were desperate to jump in to the water. But the local shopwala said its very dangerous to go near the foot of the falls. And he suggested us to move further up where we can easily take bath. We followed his directions and found a very much suitable place for taking bath. Rana was first to jump into the water and last to come out. Its very easy to convince a hippo to make him come out of water than making Rana coming out.
After spending a good one hour in water, we headed towards Bharachukki. First thought that came to our mind was - "We should have come here first before going to Gaganachukki" :(. In the end due to time constraints, we decided not to jump in to the water. Instead we took a boat ride (not exactly a boat, its circular in shape and made of bamboo - we call it as 'theppa' - 'ತೆಪ್ಪ' in Kannada.
We started of back towards Bangalore around 2PM after a brief visit to Darga near Bharachukki. Stopped for lunch @ Malavalli. After reching the Mysore road, we (Sachin and Myself) lost track of Rana and Girish. So almost 40 KMs was total economy ride, riding at 40-50KMph and takind breaks every 10-15 KMs to cool our *you-know-what*. Both of us reached Kengeri by 6.30PM and still no sign of Rana and Girish. As both of us had other appointments, we departed. From there, I went my friend's house and then back home. Reached home at 7.30PM and my bike's tripmeter showing 306.3 KMs - so far longest ride in a day for me.
That was the end of my first ride in a group. But still the beginning - still a long way to go. As Srikeerti says - "Another weekend, another place visited, another satisfied biker." :)
Places visited:
Shivasamudra - Gaganachukki & BharachukkiRoute:
Bangalore - Maddur - Malavalli - Shivasamudra - Malavalli - Maddur - Bangalore.Total distance: 306.3 KMs
Labels: Bike Trip, BN, Karnataka, Mysore, One day outing, Travel
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