A Day trip to Himavad Gopalasamy Hills

[pmvelu]

Friends,
We Visited Himavad Gopalasamy hills yesterday .All the photos I have taken in N70 and hence bear with me on the poor Quality!!. Anyway I am planning to buy a digicam shortly.


Route Taken :-
Mysore - Nanjanagodu -Gundlupeta-Himavad Gopalasamy beta-Bandipur-Gundlupet-Nanjanagodu-Mysore (End-to-End 200 kms)

Mysore @ 7 am Photo:-



We Started around 8 am and drove past Nanjanagodu and stopped for breakfast in "Coffee Stoppe Restaurant" 3 kms before Gundlupet. Had poori and also taken some parottas for Lunch as "To go". Food is ok (Kerala Style subjis)

Restaurant Photo:-





Drove past Gundlupet and the road became poorer and after 10 kms or so , There was a "Karnataka Tourism" Board Himavad Gopalasamy betta ----> 12 kms /
^
|
Bandipur | 10 kms. We took the Right turn and road is good & the view of this road is below:-







and after 6 kms of drive, reached the forest Dept gate.
As this hills is part of Bandipur Tiger Reserve Forest dept comes into play .

Forest Dept Gate :-




Road to the hills is so steep and almost I drove the santro in Second gear and few places even needed first Gear to climb up. It's exactly 6 kms to the top of the hills. We parked our santro there (5 Rs. Parking charge). And more than the temple the surroundings are so scenic .

Temple Photo:-




View from Hill top:-







Trekking path from hill top :-




There are excellent trekking routes around and just we walked 1/2 an km or so (As I Went with my Aged Father /Mother , Wife & Kid)and came back to the temple. Had lunch and left the place back to the Gundlupet - Bandipur road .
On the way , we saw a lake and just took a detour and saw several kids enjoying their dives /swim in the lake .

Photo of the lake



Joined back Gundlupet- Bandipur road and drove towards Bandipur Forest office (10 kms).

Road to Bandipur




Bandipur forest office



Just Spent 1/2 an hour there and there are groups of school kids waiting for the safari .. We retuend back to mysore Via the same route.

If any of you planning one you need more info on any of the above, please feel free to post.

[HappyWheels]

pmvelu,
thanks for sharing your experience.
and the snaps are good. :-)

few queries:
1. if I come down from Bangalore, do I have to come to Mysore and then carry on with the same route as you did for Himavad?

2. Is there any other spots on the way?

3. Road conditions between Mysore to Himavad hills - how are they?

I am planning a day trip to this spot. Is it recommeded or should I take a break in between - I am the only driver.

[indianrunner]

Hi HappyWheels

did Blr- Gopalswamy Betta - bandipur - Madumalai in the first week of Jan. From Blr you would need to take the road to bandipur/ooty from Mysore and then take the turnoff to G' Betta. The road from Mysore is reasonably good but there was some repair work after Gundlepet. The road to G'Betta from the high way is a single lane and in a ok condition with no potholes. the climb up to the top is nice with a good view and good elevation.

I had driven alone and left Blr @ 6.30 am. You can cover Bandipur/ Madumalai which are abt an hrs journey from G'Betta. Alternately you can turn off to Aomnathapura and talakkad from Maddur but the roads are supposed to be in quite a poor condition. trust this helps!

cheers

[pmvelu]

Thanks for your generosity on the photos Happywheels

1)From Bangalore, as far as i know, you need to come to mysore and just pass through mysore city to ooty road ( Just before entering Mysore city, you may see a board ooty <-----, Just ignore this and drive through the city which is shorter).

2) On the way,

a)Nanjanagodu Temple is very famous. Nanjanagodu is 28 kms fromo mysore . You need to take a left at nanjanagodu to visit this temple and this temple is just 2 kms aways from the Mysore- ooty main road

b)If you would like to experience Scenic route / Wild animals spotting (Elephants /deer) you could turn right from gundlupet on to Sulthan bathery road and just like that drive upto Muthanga Wildlife sanctuary

c)Bandipur Forest safari office is just 10 kms from the Main road (Where you might have taken right to reach Himavad Gopalasamy hills) and to reach bandipur you need to go straight

d) Mudumalai WLS is just 15 kms from bandipur.

3)Mysore -Nanjanagodu (Excellent Road) ,Followed by decent road upto Gundlupet , Followed by continuos bad patches until you turn right onto Himavad Hills, Followed by real good roads upto Forest Dept gate and the ghat road is poor to ok BUT very very steep.

I am just 5 months experienced in car driving &I always drive around 60 to max 65 kms and I am able to make this 200 Kms trip between 8am to 4.30pm. This info I am giving for your comparision. As you are going to try this from BNG , it should be + 150 kms !. Please take a call Happywheels

If you need more info,let me know.

[Rough Square]

I request everyone headed there not to leave behind any plastic material.
The scenic beauty of the place is going for a toss with all the trekkers carelessly throwing the water bottle all around the path.

[HappyWheels]

thanks IndianRunner & PMVelu for the info.

I have been to Ooty from Bng, but unlike what is recommened by PMVelu, I took the left turn before reaching Mysore. Next time I will take the route thru the city as suggest by PMVelu.

I will take a print of this page and then make out my plan.

And driving for longer distance is something I have got used to. I know there are even bigger devils here, but my extreme was 460KM from Bng to Madurai - one stretch non-stop driving for 8hrs (all in my trusted Alto :-) ). My usual trips are to Palghat, 400km, from Bng which usually takes 7hrs.

So I guess, a one day trip will be fine, but might end up takign the whole of next day a good rest.

Once again, thanks guys! :-)

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by Rough Square

I request everyone headed there not to leave behind any plastic material.
The scenic beauty of the place is going for a toss with all the trekkers carelessly throwing the water bottle all around the path.

and to know that the people who do these 'tossing' are usually the ones who talk about how clean other cities / park of the world are!

[snaronikar]

Nice report and photos velu. Though you have taken in N70, it looks pretty ok. BTW, what's the vehicle you travelled?

[pmvelu]

Naronaikar , It's Santro Xing XO & I this is my first car which I bought 5 months back.

[Altogether]

Hi Velu,

Nice explaination,very informative.
I am planning for 3 days trip from Bangalore to Mysore.I am planning to cover following places in three days.
Melukote,Somnathpura,Talakkad,Nanjangud,Himavada hill,Bandipur.Please let me know the easiest,better route to cover these places.

[theMAG]

Mod's note: Old thread. Please start a new travelog for your trip.