Swifted : Bisle, Belur, Halebid, Chikmagalur, Kemmangundi

[laluks]

Day 1, 17th October 2009 Continued.

Bisle - Subramanya Temple - Shiradi - Sakleshpur - Belur - Chikmagalur


14:20 048.0 we started from the junction on to Bisle ghats.

The roads turned from bad to worse.


14:50 063.0 Beauty Spot, stopped at this place till 15:15

Some pictures from Beauty Spot

Entrance to the Beauty Spot /view point


Red Riding Hood Parked


Some views from the View point





My elder one at the view point


View Point


My Family at the view point.


My younger one does not want to go back. She like the place so much.






15:15 063.0 start from Beauty Spot

Roads turn from worse to Horrible. But the greenery was awesome. There are innumerous small small waterfalls.


See the horrible roads Road Runner had to Manage.



Small Streams and Waterfalls everywhere.









Had to do some stream crossing as well.






16:40 086.8 Junction. Take Left 4 Km to Subrahmanya Temple. Straight to Shiradi, NH48.

Took left to Subrahmanya Temple.

Temple Town Entrance.






17:20 095.0 Back to the Junction. Take Left to NH48, Shiradi.
17:50 112.0 Shiradi, NH48. Take left to Sakleshpur. Break for Tea.
18:15 112.0 start after tea.
19:15 150.0 Left turn to Belur. (Sakleshpur Belur Road, just after Manjarabad Fort)
19:45 165.5 Left Turn to Belur
20:00 174.0 Left Turn to Belur
20:30 188.0 Belur Circle, 15Km to Halebid, 20Km to Chikmagalur
21:00 212.5 Chikmagalur IG Road.

Check the time and distance covered. This gives you a very clear indication of the horrible road conditions all the way till Belur. Belur Chikmagalur was the only the saving grace.

Reached Chikmagalur IG road by 21:00PM. Checked Hotel Rajmahal. Rooms were available, took a room. Nothing so great, adjustable. No restaurant in this hotel. So went to Hotel Saundarya near by and had veg dinner. Again nothing great. Entire Chikmagalur crowd was there in this hotel. There was no other decent hotel nearby. Non-veg was very difficult to find. Checked IG road and MG road. Nothing.

Reached back room by 22:00PM. Kept the car parked on the road, since I did not want to be disturbed in the morning to come out and move it out for others from the small parking lot the hotel had. Retired for the day after a hectic travel.


Total Km for the day - 482.5KMs
Start 04:30AM
Stop 21:00PM



-

[blackstallion76]

[quote=laluks;1552191]Day 1, 17th October 2009 Continued.

Gorur Dam - Bisle

By 12:30PM we started from Gorur Dam towards Kukke Subramanya through Bisle ghats.

The route was some thing like this.

Time--Kms---Place / Turn
12:30 000.0 Gorur Dam.
12:45 007.0 Arkalgud. Right Turn.
13:10 019.0 Left Turn.
13:11 019.4 Y Fork, Take Right.
13:25 028.0 Turn Left.
13:26 028.7 Turn Right.
13:30 030.0 Big Junction. SaniVarsanthe. Take Right.
13:31 030.1 Y Fork, Take Left.
13:45 035.5 Junction. Go Straight.
14:00 041.0 Y Fork, Take Left.
14:10 044.2 Y Fork, Take Right.
14:20 048.0 Junction. Take second exit to the Right. You'll now get on to Bisle ghats. (See the last picture for the direction board here)
[quote=laluks;1552191]

Great to hear that you tried the short cut from Arkalgud to Kukke.
Myself was wondering how do we go through Bisile or Pushpagiri Forest.
People sometime back told there is literally no road to drive.
So, had to take Sakleshpur road instead.

Nice travelogue. Keep posting...

[canonguy]

Holidays well spent laluks. For me, reading your travelogue, it's time well spent! Superb photos as well.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by blackstallion76

Great to hear that you tried the short cut from Arkalgud to Kukke.
Myself was wondering how do we go through Bisile or Pushpagiri Forest.
People sometime back told there is literally no road to drive.
So, had to take Sakleshpur road instead.

Nice travelogue. Keep posting...

The police man told me the route and inspired confidence. That's why I took this route. Roads though horrible, are manageable by any careful driver.

Pushpagiri forest?

Originally Posted by canonguy

Holidays well spent laluks. For me, reading your travelogue, it's time well spent! Superb photos as well.

Thanks Canonguy.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by laluks

Pushpagiri forest?

The forest range you see from the Bisle Beauty spot is the Pushpagiri forest range.


So, you took Mallipatna-Shanivarsante-Kodlipet road. There was a direct road from Mallipatna to Kodlipet and you could have avoided Shanivarsante. Don't know road conditions about it though. Anyway, it is good to know that you were keen on exploring different routes.

EDIT: You could have tried "The Planters' Court" on Mudigere road in Chikmagalur. it would have a been a better option. Also Hotel Kounteya was also good.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

The forest range you see from the Bisle Beauty spot is the Pushpagiri forest range.

OK. Any possibility to get down there inthose forests. Any good trekking / driving options?

So, you took Mallipatna-Shanivarsante-Kodlipet road. There was a direct road from Mallipatna to Kodlipet and you could have avoided Shanivarsante. Don't know road conditions about it though. Anyway, it is good to know that you were keen on exploring different routes.

You could have tried "The Planters' Court" on Mudigere road in Chikmagalur. it would have a been a better option. Also Hotel Kounteya was also good

We were just looking for a bed, and took the first one we found . Next time I'll keep a note of these.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by laluks

OK. Any possibility to get down there inthose forests. Any good trekking / driving options?

As far as driving options are concerned, you have to approach it from Somwarpet. There is also a road via Bisle to the base of Pushpagiri mountain aka Kumaraparvata, but do not have any details on it.

As far as trekking is concerned, Pushpagiri/Kumaraparvata mountain is one of the most popular trekking spots in Karnataka. So much, that it is converted to a picnic spot on long weekends with lots of people trekking and littering. It can be approached from both from Somwarpet & Kukke Subramanya sides.

Check out my travelogue for info on how to get there.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...lli-falls.html (Weekend trip to Mallalli Falls)

[dreamdiesel]

Just wow!!! laluks. Just the perfect time to visit western ghats. Your swift is indeed a mini SUV. Keep driving!!! Waiting for more..

[laluks]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

As far as driving options are concerned, you have to approach it from Somwarpet. There is also a road via Bisle to the base of Pushpagiri mountain aka Kumaraparvata, but do not have any details on it.

Soon we will have the details

As far as trekking is concerned, Pushpagiri/Kumaraparvata mountain is one of the most popular trekking spots in Karnataka. So much, that it is converted to a picnic spot on long weekends with lots of people trekking and littering. It can be approached from both from Somwarpet & Kukke Subramanya sides.

Check out my travelogue for info on how to get there.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...lli-falls.html (Weekend trip to Mallalli Falls)

Is that waterfall the one which we see from Beauty spot among the greens?

Originally Posted by dreamdiesel

Just wow!!! laluks. Just the perfect time to visit western ghats. Your swift is indeed a mini SUV. Keep driving!!! Waiting for more..

Swift Zxi, with its wide and tall wheels indeed is a mini SUV.

[laluks]

Day 2, 18th October 2009

Chikmagalur - MullayanaGiri - Baba Budhangiri Hills - Manikyadhara - Kemmanagundi -Lingdahalli - Chikmagalur.

We started from Chikmagalur by 09:45AM. From IG Road we drove straight to the road going towards Tarikere.

Some views from there.




Near some pepper and coffee plantation.
















Almost after 7Km, by 10:10Am we got a direction board and turned left to all these attractions.



If you go straight you go towards Tarikere. This was the road in which we came back to Chickmagalur in the night.

[laluks]

Day 2, 18th October 2009 Continued

Chikmagalur - MullayanaGiri

From the left turn we drove another 4Km, where we got another left turn towards Mullayanagiri.

Some views from this road.




From this left turn it is 14Km to Mullayanagiri.

Some views from the road to Mullayanagiri









We had a nice waterfall on the way.



We get a fork after 11Km, we turn right. Mullayanagiri is another 3KM and Sitalayyanagir is 1KM


She loves to own an estate!


Some views around.



The scary roads to climb. The other side is a sheer drop, and two vehicles means it is a tight squeeze.



We reached Mullyanagiri by 11:20AM.



continued...

[laluks]

Day 2, 18th October 2009 Continued

MullayanaGiri

Mullayanagiri is nearly 1800m above sea level according to the GPS. There are a few steps to climb to the top. We spent nearly an hour there.

The steps to the top



The temple at the top




This guy was very friendly



Some views from the top




View of the Parking area and the hills behind




We reached Sitalayanna Mutt by 12:30PM.



We reached the fork where we took the left turn to Mullyanagiri by 12:55PM. From here the road goes straight to Baba Budhangiri Hills and Kemmanagundi.



continued...

[dreamdiesel]

Beautiful picture laluks. I once drove up Mulayanagiri on a foggy evening. Was one of most scariest drive I attempted.

The second time I drove up Mulayanagiri was on bright sunny morning. Walked all the way up to the temple. Was tiring though. Did you visit the leterite caves right next to the temple on top? The locals claim the tunnel goes all the way down to Sitalayanna Mutt..

[kaushik_s]

Lovely, bringing back the memories of my trip to Muliyangiri and Kemmanagundi. Having an urge to go there again.

[akbaree]

The beautiful Western Ghats. Thanks for sharing the pictures.