[D'Ro@dSt@r]

Originally Posted by WindRide

To all 'cool drive gurus'! - Could you guys please suggest some nice sight seeing places along Old Madras Road (approx 200 kms drive one way)? Asking since i stay in Bangalore East and prefer not to criss cross city to go to some of the more popular getaways

You can try the following places on the kolar road which is a bliss to drive on
1. Kotilingeshwara temple
2. Chhota ladakh

Or you can go towards the airport road and try out the beautiful lakes
1. Sabanahalli lake
2. Gunjur lake (near makalidurga)

There is also a woody's restaurant near mulbagal in case you want to do drive for lunch.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by rjainv

Does anyone know if Nandi Hill is open this Friday on 10th September?

There was a land slide two weeks ago blocking access, and then there is a weekend ban which I am not sure if is still in effect and will it apply to Friday as well.

It is still closed. Not sure if it was because of the long weekend as I went today and the road was closed from Nandi statue at the foothills.
When enquired with a hawker, they mentioned because of the bad road condition that it was closed and it will be another couple of months.

Headed to Makali after that.

[Pastey93]

This weekend BHPian Roovee and me went for a short spin to Manchanabele dam (https://goo.gl/maps/TEq9GziiDdprXggy7).

The roads were in decent condition and we enjoyed driving through the country roads. The place is just about 30 kms away and is best to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, it transports you a very scenic and serene place.

I'll let the pictures do the talking now!

View of the dam/reservoir after a small hike


Maggi with a view


Our steeds


Manchanbele dam in full action


A quick stop outside "India Deep Space Network" to gorge some sandwiches which Roovee had got and also that antenna looked magnificent


Big banyan tree

[balenoed_]

What are restaurant options on the way to Lepakshi?
The one I know is Nandi Upachar just after Devanahalli. Any similar/good ones after that on the left side for a lunch stop?

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

What are restaurant options on the way to Lepakshi?
The one I know is Nandi Upachar just after Devanahalli. Any similar/good ones after that on the left side for a lunch stop?

Rigan Restobar. The top floor is really nice, good sofas to sit and relax. There is an outdoor seating upstairs as well.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

What are restaurant options on the way to Lepakshi?
The one I know is Nandi Upachar just after Devanahalli. Any similar/good ones after that on the left side for a lunch stop?

Hardly any that I know of and finding good restaurants is the bane of this route

The Bharat petroleum bunk at Chikballapur has a Cube Stop food court (erstwhile Ghar Dhaba had a Kamat Upachar here) and inside it there is an Up South outlet and another coffee/tea outlet but other than being neat and clean, the food is avoidable.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Any similar/good ones after that on the left side for a lunch stop?

Not that great, but an okay option is Swagath.

[gadadhar]

Visited Big Banyan Vineyard & Resort . We were 2 families and stayed for a night in the twin cottage.

It is just 45 mts drive from JP Nagar and is located around 5 kms after Big Banyan tree. It is a beautiful place to unwind in the middle of a vineyard and plantation with awesome food. We visited on a weekday where all meals are Ala-carta, they have buffet lunch on weekends. Advanced booking is needed for lunch and dinner if you are not staying there, breakfast is limited only to the guests staying in the resort. Highlights we felt are the green surroundings, excellent service, mouth watering food (Kerala, Tandoors, Continental etc.. Yes, they serve everything), farm with Cattles, sheep, goats, rabbits, hens etc and the organic vegetable garden...

They only have a two bedroom luxury cottage built in traditional Kerala architecture (seems it was done as their chairman's guesthouse) and can accommodate 2 families. They are in process of adding 10 more cottages, so there is construction activities going around, but was not troublesome

We drove till Manchanabele dam after checkout, and also visited one of the nurseries on the way to pick some indoor plants

[TheHelix0202]

Went on a 215 km total (for me) group ride yesterday, to Panchapalli Dam and surrounding places - Bettamugilalam, Aiyur Forest reserve, Rocky Ridge Cafe.


Met up at Shell (EC), at around 5. I was the first one there at 4:20 AM, thanks to my unbridled enthusiasm.




After a thrilling early morning ride, the likes of which I've never been on before, through the fog and mist covered TN countryside, reached Panchapalli Dam at around 6:40 AM.












160 brake horsepower in one frame!



This TVS XL belonged to a cheerful grandpa who was only too eager to photobomb us!




Rode hard through the beautiful Aiyur Forest Reserve. I swapped rides with a fellow rider. I was itching to get my hands on a Duke 390, and this was the perfect chance to do so. I absolutely loved exploring the machine on these fascinating roads. My next bike would definitely be a KTM.












Stopped by Rocky Ridge Cafe, a well maintained, quaint little cafe set on a 62 acre farmland. The owner, Girish, was a good chap. His only advertisement of the place comes from word of mouth, and I take this opportunity to suggest anyone interested in a quick getaway from Bangalore to check his place out. They even hold stargazing and other activites occasionally. The service charge for the breakfast was slightly expensive at 400 Rs., but the paneer parathas did melt in the mouth! My bad for not making full use of the buffet option.





Met some nice superbike owners here too! There were 1250 GS's, CBR's, Harley's and other BMW's.

Had a brilliant ride overall, and I reached home at around 1:30. There was no rain - something that we'd anxiously been keeping an eye out for. Turns out, we didn't have a thing to worry about!

Any regrets? Yes, apart from not being able to meet BHP-ian @nitinkbhaskar, who dropped out due to feeling ill, I kick myself for unchecking the "Record on Power ON" menu on my action camera, the night before the ride. I recorded absolutely nothing, and I'm furious with myself for missing out on those lovely memories that I'll never get again!


Finally, like my friend Gigen puts it - "Bikers don't become friends, they become family. We met at out common liking - motorcycles, and now we ride for life."



Signing off,

TheHelix0202.

[ampere]

Great ride! The road up to Bettamugilalam was mainly a biker's road if I remember. I wasn't sure how good it was for a 4-wheeler? Did you climb from Marandahalli? In other words did you go beyond Panchapalli or come back towards Denkanikottai and climbed up from Ayur side? Did you do a full loop?

I have been wanting to up, but am still not clear on roads for 4-wheelers.

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by ampere

Great ride! The road up to Bettamugilalam was mainly a biker's road if I remember. I wasn't sure how good it was for a 4-wheeler? Did you climb from Marandahalli? In other words did you go beyond Panchapalli or come back towards Denkanikottai and climbed up from Ayur side? Did you do a full loop?

I have been wanting to up, but am still not clear on roads for 4-wheelers.

Thanks! It was indeed a brilliant ride. While it’s true that the road is more *fun* on a bike, they’re wide enough for the TN government buses to pass by; they are definitely passable on a car. The roads widen up considerable through the Aiyur Forest Reserve, which we went through. There were steep uphill slopes, but only for a kilometre or two.

Yes, we went beyond the Panchapalli Dam and completed a full loop, reaching Rocky Ridge Cafe.

Here’s a pic at the reserve, where we were later told not to stop by officials. The lake was on the left (as I take this picture). This was probably a watering hole.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by ampere

Great ride! The road up to Bettamugilalam was mainly a biker's road if I remember. I wasn't sure how good it was for a 4-wheeler? Did you climb from Marandahalli? In other words did you go beyond Panchapalli or come back towards Denkanikottai and climbed up from Ayur side? Did you do a full loop?

I have been wanting to up, but am still not clear on roads for 4-wheelers.

Ampere, let's plan and go together sometime I too want to drive on this section , and now it must be super green.

-Ravi

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Thanks! It was indeed a brilliant ride. While it’s true that the road is more *fun* on a bike, they’re wide enough for the TN government buses to pass by; they are definitely passable on a car. The roads widen up considerable through the Aiyur Forest Reserve, which we went through. There were steep uphill slopes, but only for a kilometre or two.

Yes, we went beyond the Panchapalli Dam and completed a full loop, reaching Rocky Ridge Cafe.

Here’s a pic at the reserve, where we were later told not to stop by officials. The lake was on the left (as I take this picture). This was probably a watering hole.

Thanks TheHelix0202. I have done this loop earlier, did via Kanakapura - Anchetty - Denkanikottai - Panchapalli dam - Hosur - Bangalore. Can you share the route you took so that I can make it up in the Gmaps. Planning to do it this week, my last one was two+ years back.

Are you allowed to go inside the Aiyur RF, or you just visited and came back the same route?

KK

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by KK_HakunaMatata

Thanks TheHelix0202. I have done this loop earlier, did via Kanakapura - Anchetty - Denkanikottai - Panchapalli dam - Hosur - Bangalore. Can you share the route you took so that I can make it up in the Gmaps. Planning to do it this week, my last one was two+ years back.

Are you allowed to go inside the Aiyur RF, or you just visited and came back the same route?

KK

Here you go, mate! Feel free to PM me if you have any more queries.





Yes, we were allowed to drive / ride through the reserve, just that we couldn’t stop near the lake. I recommend you stop in two to three places before and after it, just to stretch your legs and click some pictures if you’re so inclined. There’s villages before and after the forest section, which can have a few patches of broken roads / slush filled roads (when we went during the rains, it should be drier now). We did the whole loop you see in the map.

Just a word of caution - cops stopped us at 2/3 different places on the way from Rocky Ridge Cafe to Bangalore (towards Denkanikottai and beyond). This was the route you’d take if you complete the loop as shown in the image and return back to form a tear drop shape (just to make it clear). They didn’t harass us, but just took down our names, contact info, vehicle numbers and where we’re coming from and going to. I don’t know what’s up with them. They were apparently checking for something illegal, because they asked one of our riders to open up his tank bag and show them the contents.

[anoopBH]

Went for a day trip to BR hills in Feb this year. Posting this now as I was not a member back then.

I took Nexon diesel AMT from Zoomcar for thos trip. We started at 7 in the morning from Ecity, took Nice road and exited at Kanakapura road. Had breakfast at Mandarathi Gardenia on Kanakapura Road. Food was decent, restrooms were clean.

Continued on Kanakapura- Mysore road till Malavalli and then took left towards Kollegala. Took a small detour and visited Gaganachukki falls, but being Feb month there was not much water. Reached the BRT tiger reserve forest checkpost, they noted the car registration number and we continued towards Biligiri Ranga temple.

The temple is around 12 kilometres inside the tiger reserve. The road was very narrow, we need to get down the road to let oncoming vehicles to pass. Reached temple around 11 and spent some time there. The temple was under renovation then, they placed the main diety in a small temporary temple for darshan and poojas. The view from the temple was very good, as it is situated on a hilltop.

We had lunch at Hotel Mayura which is about 1 km from the temple. It had ample parking space, but food was not great though. From here we decided to head towards K gudi Wilderness resort and exit from Chamarajanagara side of the forest instead of turning back towards bangalore. It would be about 40-50km additional distance, but I wanted to enjoy driving in the forest for few more kilometres. Below is the view of the route we took



The light blue route is from the forest entry point to temple, about 12 kms. The dark blue one is from temple to forest checkpost on the Chamarajanagar road, about 30 kilometres. This stretch is into deep forest and very scenic. We were lucky to spot a gaur on this road. I just slow down here and didn't stop the car, as it was too close to the road, and very big and scary!

Somehow these forests (BRT reserve and Bandipur reserve) seem entirely different to me as compared to evergreen forests of Western ghats. These seem more habitable for big cats and elephants then hilly terrain of Western ghats. Also surprised to see a Palash tree in this forest. Then I remembered the famous song from Kannada movie Sharapanjara which is written about this place mentions the Palash flowers (Muttugada Hoovu in kannada). Really happy to have seen it in full bloom since it was February. They are rightly called as the flame of the forest because of the bright orange flowers.

After the forest exit we turned towards Bangalore via Yelandur- Kollegala - Malavalli - Mysore road - Bangalore. It was a mistake to take Mysore road instead of Kanakapura road as there was crazy traffic till Nice road entry point, not to mention the numerous diversions due to the on going 6 lane highway construction. Finally reached Banagalore around 7 with approx 400 kilometres on the trip meter.

Below are some of the pictures:







Pardon my poor writing as this is my first travelogue
Thanks for reading.