Saturday 28 May 2016

Avalabetta - Lepakshi Temple - Nandi Hills

Avalabetta


Avalabetta is a small hill station situated in Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka state. It is situated approximately 100 kms from Bengaluru towards Chikkaballapura. Avalabetta is famous for the view from top of the hill and there is a Narasimha temple at the top of the hill.
It was time to go out with my college friends as it had been a long time (almost 2 years) and I planned for a day trip on Jan 26th (on our 57th Republic Day). Few of my friends came to my place on 25th night itself as it would be easy to start the early morning. We had planned to go by TT(Tempo Traveller) as there were more girls in our gang than guys.
January 25th 2016, we started from our place at sharp 4 AM and picked few friends from R.R Nagar and Vijayangar. It was 5 AM by the time we left Bangalore. We reached Devanahalli by 6.00 AM and we stopped there for a quick tea break as our driver wanted to take a break and reached the final destination (Avalabetta) by 7.15. It was cool and we were waiting for the Sun to come up as it was a cloudy cloudy day. We took pictures near the famous spot and started to the top of the hill to take few more snaps. Thanks to Anup and AK for the wonderful snaps.
One of our friend (Mallik) had flicked Navya's bag without anyone's knowledge which made us to be careful and active for the rest of the day. And off course we can’t forget Shreya (from the other gang which kept me in full josh). :P
We started from Avalabetta at 10.00 AM to have breakfast nearby as it was already late. We could hardly find hotels nearby, but we did not feel like having in those hotels.
Finally we could find one restaurant (Mayura - both Veg and Non Veg) just before the toll gate. We had Idli and Sambar and left towards Lepakshi Temple (AP Border) which is a historic place as well.
We reached Lepakshi Temple at 1.00 PM. The temple is surrounded by many pillars and the great Culpture. Back to Photo session for some time and had cucumbers for more than RS 100. It gave us some relief at that point of time.
We reached Kamat Upachar for Lunch at 4.00 PM. But as it was too late we ended up having Dosa, Bonda soup and tea/Coffee. We also thought of going to Nandi hills as it is on the way to Bangalore. But we were not sure whether we could make it before 6. And finally we went to Nandi Hills as well. But it was too crowded as it was a National Holiday. Some pics at Nandi hills and we headed towards Bangalore and reached back home by 9.00 PM.

Avalabetta is great and safe place to go out for a day trip. Please do carry some snacks and breakfast too if possible as it is hard to find some nice place for Breakfast.
It costs approximately around Rs 1000 per head including Food (breakfast and Lunch) also travelling expeses (Toll + Interstate Toll costs around 3350 for TT).
Finally a thanks to all my friends for the wonderful trip.


Snaps



Sunrise



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Saturday 14 February 2015

MakkiThitta, Sakleshpura

It all started with our previous trip to Chickmagalur. Our cousins, who unfortunately could not join our July trip to chickmagalur, came up with the idea of an only cousins trip.
Next was the voting process(Thanks to Whatsapp group) for the place, we decided to head to Dandeli which is around 460Kms from Bangalore for couple of days in December. But similar to most of our trips, we tried to convince as many people as possible to join us. We ended up changing our travelling date & destination to much nearer Sakleshpura.

After months of planning, excitement and numerous dropouts(7 of us somehow hanged in), finally it was time to relax and have some fun. It was a much needed break.

Day 1: We decided to start around 3 AM, hoping that our Tempo Traveler (TT) will arrive on time and all of us will be ready. But ours was a group that doesn't believe in waking up early. Adding to the group's joy, the vehicle arrived late.
Apparently one of the group member couldn't sleep whole night(Typical for a first timer. :-)). She even tried to wake the sleepy group with a 2 AM Good Morning message.

Finally we started around 3.45 AM and as usual our Kantha (Name changed) had arranged the vehicle, that was below our expectation. Seating facility was bad and Audio system was neither detecting our USB drive drive nor had a good audio adding to this was the driver’s crappy playlist. Surprisingly the vehicle had some crazy lights. It looked as though a retro pub had directly jumped out of an old Bollywood movie.

Because of the early dawn some of us were hungry within half an hour of our journey. So we took tea break & couple of group clicks as well. One major decision made was to select the best camera to tend our photographic needs.

Next pit stop was Kamath Upachar near Hassan for break fast. It was worth spending extra bucks for those really good Idlis & crispy Vadas. Believe us they were really good. We are from Udupi, so we know our Idlis & Dosas.
After a few more random pics and with the help of some people of the local villages we finally reached our reserved Home stay MakkiThitta(Best available one with our budget constraints) around 10.00 AM.

We were welcomed by Home stay owners Tejpal uncle (Known for his Card tricks) & ever smiling Aunty with Coffee (Made from their estate grown Coffee beans). We relaxed till afternoon accompanied  with some Badminton and a round of jibber jabber. We had our lunch around 1.00 PM which included mostly South Indian dishes like rasam, sambar, rice & fried rice which were lip smacking. By the way they cook only Vegetarian food & this was one of  the reasons we selected this home-stay.

It was time to get wet & dirty. We jumped into the Mud Volley ball court (Must say it looked pretty unique, moreover we don’t find something like that in the city). Initially we were a little hesitant to get in but once we started playing, there was no looking back. We spent a couple of hours playing there before heading to the nearby water stream for cleanup. After having tea in the evening it was time to enjoy Sun set. We climbed the nearby coffee plantation to click a few more snaps during sunset.

The Temperature started dropping as we came back to the Home stay. Weather was just perfect to enjoy Campfire & we wasted no time in getting music going as well. No better way to relax than campfire with some hot bajjis(chilly & banana), spicy music & some local(Annamma) steps.

Again it was time for some delicious food, as roti, sambar & spicy chutney(Missed mentioning it in Lunch menu) was waiting for us. After dinner we gathered to showcase our card playing expertise, but it never took off, we were just eager to hit the bed.



Day 2: : As planned earlier our day started by 6.30 AM .We were completely charged up for a memorable day & thankfully it turned out to be one. After savouring some hot coffee we started the day playing Badminton, in fact it turned out to be a tournament & one of us was seriously showing off some skills and not to mention got a little too aggressive as well :-). Probably the trip away from the city caught the sportsman in him.


Breakfast at 9.00 was just what we needed. We had Pulav & a typical local dish made of rice flour (Not sure how to describe this typical Malnad dish. Its called Pundigatti in local language). After some discussion with Uncle on our day’s plan, we decided to trek a hill which was 15Kms from  the home stay.
Around 10.30 AM we started the trek. Not a tough one [no steep hills]. It was a nice place for some quality cousin time & to burn out the camera memory. In no time photography and modelling skills were all on the way.

There was a small Bhyraveshwara(Lord Eshwara) temple below where we had parked our vehicle & it was clearly visible from the top just to guide us in getting down.
This temple is around 700 years old. It is constructed only with the help of stones. Its a beautiful place to sit and relax.

It was not a typical winter day with Mercury level rising to high twenties as we headed down. On the way we decided to visit the waterfall, actually it disappointed us as we could not drench ourselves, thanks to the shitty area around it :-(

Thinking about the menu for lunch, we reached our place. And it was not disappointing, we had some hot parota's, rice, sambar & watermelon. We even asked for the previous days leftover Spicy chutney...

We decided to skip Manjarabad Fort which was a part of our initial plan, as some of us had visited it earlier. After some post lunch chit chat, we hit the mud volleyball court one last time. This time the mud field had more water that was enough to tempt us. We even displayed some Kabbaddi skills, that only meant to pull down every one to the water. Hands down, it was the most memorable moment of the trip..
We had to leave the muddy court, though unwillingly, to the water stream for  the final cleanup. This was followed by Aunty hosting us with coffee & some hot bhajjis one last time.
We wrapped up the trip by thanking Mr. And Mrs. Tejpal for their hospitality and yes, settling the bills as well.

Snaps:


                                          MakkiThitta Homestay view from Balcony


                                               View from the top of the Hill


                                               Bhairaveshwara Temple



                                                  Mud Volley ball Court



                                                  Sun Set from Coffee Estate


Thursday 23 October 2014

Kumara Parvatha

Kumara Parvatha is located in the Somwarpet taluk of Kodagu district. One can view Kumara Parvatha from kukke Subramanya. The greenery behind the temple which we can see is non other than kumara Parvatha.

We started here (Bangalore) on friday night 9.00 PM i.e 3rd of October 2014 from Majestic bus stand and reached Subramanya on 4th morning 5.00 AM. After freshen up, a quick visit to the temple and a breakfast before we start the trek.

We reached the starting point of the trek around 9 AM. Started with enthusiasm. It takes almost 3 and half to 4 hours to reach the famous "Bhattara Mane" which is 6.5 kms from the starting point. You will find Unlimited rice, Sambar and butter milk for 90 Rs.

We started the second stage of the trek around 2.30 PM and reached Mantapa which is 2 km from Bhatara Mane and we decided to halt there that night. The complete silence makes us a bit scare.

We decide to get up early morning by 5.30 and start to trek by 7. We reached Sheshaparvatha at 8.30 AM. Take few pics of the nature which is just covered with greenery and mist. There is a thick forest to reach the final destination Kumara Parvatha and we reach there by 9.30 AM.

Again we start Kumara Parvatha by 10.30 AM and back to Bhattara Mane by 1.30 PM for the pucca Lunch. As we were tired, decided to rest for some time and started by 4 from Bhattara Mane. As soon as we started from Bhattara Mane, the thunder and lightning begins. Finally it rains. We thought its better to continue rather than stopping in the dense forest and we kept going until we reach the starting point.

Reached the starting point by 5.30 PM with our luggage and the tent. A few leeches sucked our blood. So I would suggest you to take salt. Carry only Food, Torch, Glucose, First Aid Kit and water.

Snaps:
 Amidst Cloud






Near Kallu Mantapa



The Sun rise


Camp @ the edge of the mountain




Shesha Parvatha


The final Destination (Kumara Parvatha)

                                                 

                             

Saturday 6 September 2014

Bannerghatta Biological Park

Bannerghatta Biological Park

Bannerghatta Biological Park is located about 20 km from Bangalore. If you are planning for a one day trip, this could be the best one I would say. A wild life park very close to the Bangalore city.

Places to cover in Bannerghatta Biological Park:

* Safari
* Butterfly Park
* Boating.

The entry fee structure:
                                                 
                                     Children              Adults           Senior Citizen          Foreigners

Zoo                                 Rs 40/-               Rs 80/-              Rs 50/-                     Rs 400/-

Butterfly Park                 Rs 20/-               Rs 30/-              Rs 20/-                     Rs 400/-

Grand Safari                  Rs 130/-             Rs 260/-            Rs 150/-                   Rs 400/-

Boating                           Rs 60/-  per head. (30 minutes)


Snaps:
Asiatic Lion

Royal Bengal Tiger

White Tiger

Hippopotamus

Bison









King Kobra

The Leopard



Time to Visit:
--------------------
Zoo
09:30 AM to 5:00 PM
Grand Safari
10:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Butterfly Park
09:30 AM to 5:00 PM
Boating
09:30 AM to 5:00 PM

Note: Tuesday Holiday



Contact Details
-----------------------------

Tel
080 – 27828300, 27828540
Mob
9164950099
Email
bannerghattazoo@gmail.com
Fax
080 – 27828400

Tuesday 19 August 2014

Nagarahole National Park

This park also known as the Rajiv Gandhi National park is one of finest Tiger Reserves in India.
There are wide variety of Floura and Fauna in this national park. It would be  hard to spot a Tiger but Elephants are easily spotted. There is a safari operated by government of Karnataka. An early morning safari through the jungles covered by fog and mist is a thrilling experience for any nature lovers.





HOW TO REACH ?

Its situated:
 236 kms from Bangalore
 96 kms from Mysore
 91 kms from Madikeri.

Air and Rail
Nearest airport and railway station  is Mysore, from where you can hire a taxi.

Road
From Mysore people can travel to Hunsur and from there locals will lead you to the park.

Safari

By Government Vehicles : Cost : Rs. 300/- per person
Timings:
Morning: 6 A. M to 8 A.M
Evening:  3 P.M to 5 PM

NEARBY PLACES TO VISIT

Irpu Falls 
Kabini 
Madikeri


Note 

Park houses government dormitories or rooms in the jungle and need to pre book, if you need them.You can contact the office by visiting their webite www.nagarahole.com/.

Park is closed during the monsoon.

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Mallali Falls

Mallali falls,situated in Coorg or Kodagu district is one of the best places to visit during the rainy season. People visiting Coorg should never miss a chance to visit this place. It is located around 25kms from Somwarpet.
Private vehicles are encouraged to be taken as there is no public transport available to reach the falls. Nearest place to the falls is Hanchinalli which is 3kms from the falls.
You need to walk for a km before you can see the magnificent view of the falls from the hill top.
There are steps from the hill top that leads you to the falls .
View from the hill top
Near the falls





HOW TO REACH

You can travel to Somwarpet which is in Coorg and from there falls is around 25 kms and  there are signboards which you can rely upon for reaching the falls or take help of the locals.

NOTE 

Falls completely goes dry during the summer. Best time to visit is during monsoon.