[Rajesh1968]

I did the Bangalore - BR Hills - Mysore - Bangalore last week. My apologies to Fauji, HVK and Roamingrao, did not go to Kundapur as a couple of friends had "domestic issues" at the last moment.

I took the Bangalore - Maddur- Malavalli - BR Hills. The reason was good eating places on Kanakapura road, had my In Laws with me, and are very choosy about food, no garlic and no non veg restaurant, so where else but Ramnagara - Maddur to get the best restaurants for Veg Lunch and Breakfast restaurants that I could find in India, from my experience of GQ and other travels in South India. Stretch as we all know Bangalore to Maddur.

Day 1, started from Sarjapur Road at 7 am took the NICE road at PESIT as I was told that the roads between Bangalore University and my Alma Mater (RVCE) had been dug up at places. Reached Adigas before Maddur, my favorite, as Shivalli MTR has lost its sheen, the place was packed to its gills or say Doors, so parked on the highway and walked over, got a table in 15 minutes (reminded me of Vidyarthi Bhavan, another favorite), had a good breakfast, being aware that clean and good food, with specs mentioned earlier, at BR Hills is almost nonexistent, barring Sankrappa’s Hotel, Giri Darshini. Took the Maddur - Malvalli road towards Kollegal, road was average, post Malavalli, was excellent, reached BR Hills at 12 Noon, good news was that the temple would be open the entire day to National Holiday, being my family deity, returning without saying a devotional hello, would be sacrilege!!!.

The small parking lot was choc a bloc near the steps of the temple, found a place to park my Buddy ( Scorpio), visited the temple spent an hour, thought of Photos o scenic beauty that abounds the place, but the crowd did show me the courtesy. At 1 pm, started to Mysore, drove down the hills and took the turn towards Yellandur, not towards Kollegal, reached Yellandur, roads are very good, got on the Highway towards Marelli, where the road trifurcates into 3, Chamarajnagar and onto Sathy and Coimbatore, one towards Nanjangud and one towards T Narsipur, so took the latter and reached Mysore by 2.30pm and hunted for hotels being a Holiday, all of them were full, finally found one, had a good lunch and proceeded to our farm house bang opposite KRS. The road towards Brindavan Garden was full tourist Buses and other vehicles, was surprised to see them flocking to the gardens in bright sunlight, anyways, reached the farmhouse and was shocked to see the number of vehicles that were already parked and the numbers that were entering, it was amazing, that Sir Mirza Ismail's gift is being savored till date!!!.

Day 2, had breakfast, started to Bangalore via Pandavapura- Mandya, roads are very good.

Tip: If you want to avoid going back to Srirangapatna after visiting Brindavan Gardens, go towards Pandavapura and then to Mandya, the road is good and deserted, but is a single road. I use it always.

[figo_gpb]

Hi all,

Just came back from a trip to Jungle Lodges Kgudi Wilderness Camp. Have driven down on Sunday and came back on Monday.

I took the Bangalore (Whitefield-ORR-Nice Road-Kanakpura-Malavalli-Kollegal-Yelandur-KGudi route (both ways) with a couple of options from Yelandur to KGudi. Google maps shows one of the options via Nagavalli in the last leg of the journey from Yelandur to Kgudi. However i called up the guy in JLR when i reached Yelandur to check which one to take. He suggested me the alternate route option saying this has fewer villages in between and the road also should be good.

Also i thought this route has a larger stretch of road in the forest area and hence more likelihood to spot wildlife (However did not spot any. May be a little late to arrive on to this road).

Roads (entirely 2 lane except ORR & NICE road) are in excellent condition all through out. However on the return on Monday (bwteen 3 pm and 5 pm) there have been gusty winds and moderate rains around Kanakpura area. Many large trees were uprooted and this caused a minor traffic snarl at a few points on the high way.

This is my first visit to the camp here in KGudi and it was as per my expectations. Wonderful place to sit back and relax. However felt that one day is not sufficient at all. The camp itself is in the middle of a forest. There are a few Forest department quarters in the vicinity. Deers from the forest are regular visitors to the camp. In one day, i have spotted two herds of deers crossing the camp. Howver we were not as lucky during our safari rides. Could not spot the elusive big cats. We were close to spotting one but it vanished into the forest in no time. Now not even sure if what we thought we saw was a tiger at all. Spotted the other usual suspects such as spotted Deer, Barking Deer, Sambur, Gaur, Elephant (from a distance), Eagles etc

But the two safari rides (each of two hours - one in evening and one early morning) into the middle of the forest have been fantastic. Very soothing. It was absolutely cool and pleasant in the middle of the forest. Its been a long time since i would have experiened such fresh and unpolluted air.

There are Log-huts and Tents available in the JLR. Both are equally good. Felt, it's a bit hot in the tents; and a bit cooler in the log-huts. I booked a tent initially but shifted to log-hut as there was one available after a cancellation from another customer (This is INR 1000 more per person per night).

Onward journey took 5 hours (6 am to 11 am) with one stop for break-fast. Return took 7 hours (1pm to 8pm) with a couple of 30 minute breaks for lunch and some vegetable shopping in Kanakpura. Like i said, uprooted trees near Kanakpura also slowed down the movement. And finally the city traffic - which i had to bear for the last two hours. The heavy rain and rush hour traffic made things worse between 6 pm and 8 pm.

Thanks,

[deehunk]

Yelandur is a highly avoidable village because of very narrow road which runs through it, you just cannot pass if a bus/truck comes from opposite side and they never horn. Ideally when you are approaching the Yelandur Cross coming from Kollegal side where you turn left, just continue straight towards T.Narasipur and after 12-13km you will find a junction where left turn takes you towards Chamarajanagar and right turn towards T.Narasipur, turn left at this point it is a much better and wider road.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by deehunk

Yelandur is a highly avoidable village because of very narrow road which runs through it, you just cannot pass if a bus/truck comes from opposite side and they never horn.

How about non-NH209 option which one takes immediately after Kollegal?
Many take that road too.


Ideally when you are approaching the Yelandur Cross coming from Kollegal side where you turn left, just continue straight towards T.Narasipur and after 12-13km you will find a junction where left turn takes you towards Chamarajanagar and right turn towards T.Narasipur, turn left at this point it is a much better and wider road.[/quote]

Can you point this in Google maps? I am not able to follow the route you mentioned.

[kala]

Originally Posted by ampere

How about non-NH209 option which one takes immediately after Kollegal? Many take that road too.

May not be worth it. Looking at Google maps, it looks like that road goes almost parallel to NH209 for a long way and joins the Yelandur-B.R.Hills road some 3-4 kms from Yelandur. So it'd definitely be faster to take NH209 itself even if it is slightly longer.

Originally Posted by deehunk

Ideally when you are approaching the Yelandur Cross coming from Kollegal side where you turn left, just continue straight towards T.Narasipur and after 12-13km you will find a junction where left turn takes you towards Chamarajanagar and right turn towards T.Narasipur, turn left at this point it is a much better and wider road.

Originally Posted by ampere

Can you point this in Google maps? I am not able to follow the route you mentioned.

I suspect his suggestion is to go till Chamarajanagar and then taking the Chamarajanagar-B.R.Hills road ? (The junction with a left turn towards C.R.Nagar and Right turn towards T.Narsipur seems to be Santamarahalli, but that junction is only about 4-5 kms from Yelandur, not 12-13kms. So slightly confusing)

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kala

I suspect his suggestion is to go till Chamarajanagar and then taking the Chamarajanagar-B.R.Hills road ? (The junction with a left turn towards C.R.Nagar and Right turn towards T.Narsipur seems to be Santamarahalli, but that junction is only about 4-5 kms from Yelandur, not 12-13kms. So slightly confusing)

Thats what I also thought. But since he said go towards T-Narasipur, I was even more confuesed. Hence asked.

I some where read that many preferred the parallel non-NH209 road which goes through villages. Hence the other doubt.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by kala

May not be worth it. Looking at Google maps, it looks like that road goes almost parallel to NH209 for a long way and joins the Yelandur-B.R.Hills road some 3-4 kms from Yelandur. So it'd definitely be faster to take NH209 itself even if it is slightly longer.


I suspect his suggestion is to go till Chamarajanagar and then taking the Chamarajanagar-B.R.Hills road ? (The junction with a left turn towards C.R.Nagar and Right turn towards T.Narsipur seems to be Santamarahalli, but that junction is only about 4-5 kms from Yelandur, not 12-13kms. So slightly confusing)

I have attached the map for the road I mentioned. The road looks longer by about 40km but considering the narrow lanes of Yelandur and getting stuck between big vehicles this is better and wider option. I have been a victim of checkmate situation inside Yelandur town whenever I have taken that route. The roads to Chamarajanagar and from there on to BR hills is good.

[deehunk]

The total distance from Bangalore to BR hills gets longer only by 15km when the option I suggested is considered. I had driven on this stretch in April, at that time the roads were widened and being asphalted, the work should have been completed by now. Also please do not consider Maddur-Malavalli option to reach Kollegal as the stretch between Maddur and Malavalli is at its worst condition.

[kala]

Originally Posted by deehunk

I have attached the map for the road I mentioned. The road looks longer by about 40km but considering the narrow lanes of Yelandur and getting stuck between big vehicles this is better and wider option. I have been a victim of checkmate situation inside Yelandur town whenever I have taken that route. The roads to Chamarajanagar and from there on to BR hills is good.

Ah, I didn't know that the junction just after Kollegal where the road forks into two (NH212 towards T.Narsipur and NH209 towards Yelandur) was also called Yelandur cross. I assumed that you were referring to Yelandur town itself.

So what you're saying is that taking NH212 instead of taking the left fork is faster - right ? I normally take the Yelandur route, and have never been really stuck at any time, but it's true that there are 5 villages on the way where the road is really narrow. Will try out this option the next time I travel and see if there's any time saving. Looks to be only 4 or 5 kms longer as per Google Maps. Thanks.

[kala]

Originally Posted by deehunk

I have attached the map for the road I mentioned. The road looks longer by about 40km but considering the narrow lanes of Yelandur and getting stuck between big vehicles this is better and wider option. I have been a victim of checkmate situation inside Yelandur town whenever I have taken that route. The roads to Chamarajanagar and from there on to BR hills is good.

Originally Posted by kala

Will try out this option the next time I travel and see if there's any time saving. Looks to be only 4 or 5 kms longer as per Google Maps. Thanks.

Tried out the route suggested by @deehunk (to continue on NH212 towards T.Narsipur for about 15 kms and then turn left towards CRNagar) during my trip to Wayanad last weekend. The road is OK, but surface isn't as good as NH209. Some portions have new tarmac, but there are short sections where the road is rough.

The alternate route was 23 kms instead of 19 kms via Yelandur, and took me 21 minutes to cover it. I checked gpx files of some 10-15 trips that I'd done through NH209 over the past 2-3 years, and found that the time I generally take for the route via Yelandur is 17 to 21 minutes. (Only one sample among the lot showed 24 minutes - might have been due to a stoppage at some narrow village stretch).

So basically it's more or less a break-even scenario if you compare the two options, and there isn't much of difference in the time taken to cover the stretch either way. By taking the NH212 route, you do avoid the drive through the narrow village stretches and busy Yelandur town but then you do have to contend with the rough sections that come off and on.

[deehunk]

The stretch I mentioned is being relaid, work is on from past 1 year but at slow rate. The same stretch till a year ago was very bad and narrow, the roads with new tarmac is wider than the previous one, hope the work is completed soon. Thanks for trying this stretch and sharing your views.

[mail.jaiswal]

Current update of BR Hills (7th July 2013)

I just got back from a trip to BR hills and I can confirm that the roads are very good. I took the usually recommended Blr-Kanakpura-Kollegal-Yellandur- BR hills route. Road is good with low traffic. very good scenery all along the way. Tried to visit barrachukki falls on the way back but the place was jam packed and badly managed by the authorities there. Took 20 minutes to get in, see the rush (decided immediately to leave) and around 1 hour 30 mins to get out since the road was jammed due to everyone trying to squeze and get out at the same time.

Total travel time to BR Hills including breakfast and 2 short stops - 4.5 hours
Return travel time to Bangalore including lunch and short breaks - 6 hours (including 2.5 hours in barrachukki)

Wildlife in BR hills was disappointing since we hardly saw any animals except a few elephants and deer near JLR. The safari was unfruitful since we only saw deers, sambar and the 'barasingha' (type of deer).

However, the weather was very pleasant (on the cooler side) and is very relaxing as well as refreshing due to the vegetation all around.

Accommodation options - i'd still recommend JLR or Gurukona but for those who are looking for a very tight budget can check out GiriDarshini (aka Champakaranya) or the PWD guest house. Another decent option is Rajathadri home villa. Places to avoid - Akasa. Seems slightly on the very basic type and definitely not worth the price.

People are friendly and very hospitable around in BR hills.

Highly recommended for gear heads who love to drive on good roads and enjoy the drive. The drive from BR hills to JLR (k'Gudi) is really really amazing since its a very curvy road in the forest and is totally empty. Listen to the birds chirping and driving along a good road enjoying the view. Doesn't really get much better than this for people like us, does it?

[anupkma]

Planning to go to BR Hills next weekend(Aug 23-25). Staying at JLR. I had done this around 4 years back. I vaguely remember taking some turn after Yelandur.

Is that still the best option or go further down and take some alternative as others have suggested?

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by anupkma

Planning to go to BR Hills next weekend(Aug 23-25). Staying at JLR. I had done this around 4 years back. I vaguely remember taking some turn after Yelandur.

Is that still the best option or go further down and take some alternative as others have suggested?

Yes, this is the best road available right now. Here's the route map through Yellandur.
https://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr...0&sz=9&t=m&z=9

The place and the roads are in pristine condition right now, with the monsoons adding to the lush green sights on this route. Enjoy your drive!

Here are some snaps of the roads to BR hills as on Saturday:

Yellandur to BR hills stretch is a flyer



Sights around the road



BR hills road to ascend the hill is also in good condition, with very few potholes to actually bother about. The forest adds to the aura

[ankan.m.blr]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Yes, this is the best road available right now. Here's the route map through Yellandur.
https://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr...0&sz=9&t=m&z=9

The place and the roads are in pristine condition right now, with the monsoons adding to the lush green sights on this route. Enjoy your drive!

I noticed the wikipedia link mentions a lot of wild-life including bull elephants in this forest. Is there any threat from these elephants? Also, is there any food joint / resting place near the temple (assuming this temple is the tourist attraction on B R Hills)? Looking for friendly options for ladies & kids .