[condor]

Originally Posted by NPV

Devarayanadurga will be a good place unless the weather plays spoilsport.

South, saar, south side

We have done Safari drive to DD, but not sure I will do it alone for sunrise. Weekend should see some crowd, but other days are different. Something towards Kanakapura /BG road is what I am looking at - which will help me club another task and get home before lunch and then start work.

[jkrishnakj]

I have enjoyed many sun rise views on the Hosur Road. Plenty of open spots near Krishnagiri. Can’t pin point one specific place though condor.

Maybe a good drive to Krishnagiri, stop for sun rise, breakfast and back. About 210 km round trip.

[SUBRU]

Went to Mekedatu Sangama for a half day drive. Roads are decent. Roads post Kanakpura till Sangama are much better especially once inside the forest checkpost.

[m3t4ph0r1c]

Had been to Mysore palace on Saturday. Bangalore to Mysore new expressway was a hoot to drive through, although i guess its not fully completed.
The crowd at Mysore palace at 7pm was insanely populated, although the view was great !

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by m3t4ph0r1c

Had been to Mysore palace on Saturday. Bangalore to Mysore new expressway was a hoot to drive through, although i guess its not fully completed.
The crowd at Mysore palace at 7pm was insanely populated, although the view was great !

Beautiful picture.
There is no wonder why so many people flock to the Mysore Palace for Dussehra.
I have not seen this in person for so many years.

[pgupta]

Originally Posted by SUBRU

Went to Mekedatu Sangama for a half day drive. Roads are decent. Roads post Kanakpura till Sangama are much better especially once inside the forest checkpost.

Could you please share how much time it took to reach from Bangalore and the route. Also any recommendations for breakfast or lunch. Thanks.

[SUBRU]

Originally Posted by pgupta

Could you please share how much time it took to reach from Bangalore and the route. Also any recommendations for breakfast or lunch. Thanks.

We went on a Sunday morning. So traffic was lean. Took about 2h 45 min to reach (From Indira Nagar) including breakfast at MTR just before Art of Living center. Takes about 1.5 hrs to visit Mekedatu and comeback to Sangama. Had a late lunch at Vaishnavi palace opposite to above mentioned MTR.

From NICE-Kanapura exit just stick to NH948 till Kanapura and take left to SH92. Reaching Kanakpura exit would depend on the location in bangalore. I took the road cutting across the city onward and return was through NICE to E.city and then to Madiwala

[reluctantEnthu]

Hi,

Need advice on route options to Abbur (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbur,_Bangalore_Rural) from Bangalore.

Have been to https://g.co/kgs/fQDSC4 many years ago.
Back then, used to take a right turn in Channapatna and that was all.


Not very sure about it with the new Bangalore - Mysore expressway.

Kindly share any recent experience/route taken.


Cheers !

[GeeTee TSI]

I had a 300 km round trip on my bike to Hogenakkal. My preference has been to look for different onward and return routes as much as possible and prioritising country roads/SH in place of busy, dense NH as the latter seemed no fun on a bike

Started on a Saturday quite late (09:30) from Yelahanka after breakfast. Route was JP Nagar - Bannerghatta - Jigani - Anekal Thally - Anchetty - Hogenakkal (link) Once past JP Nagar, the route is predominantly light with good roads overall. The conundrum being how Google Maps routes around Doddakere in Anekal (mine was an extremely narrow lane abutting the lake) makes me wonder how cars will traverse stretch! Post that, it was breeze all the way rarely even spotting a KSRTC let alone other good carriers. The last 5 km till Hogenakkal has the Kaveri meandering all along the route with many an opening to the water (park sensibly off the road) but this surface is rough (though not broken)

Reached Hogenakkal closer to 2 pm and parked straight inside TTDC Hotel Tamilnadu with their sprawling shaded property. Lunch at their restaurant was decent (although crowded with no crowd management). I do not recall seeing any other half a decent restaurant nor hotel besides this one (happy to seek pointers if any). The boatmen market themselves aggressively, stopping the vehicles and one almost hopped on to my pillion seat! I paid an entry fee at the checkpost (seemed genuine) and another entry fee manned by these boatmen staffers in blue (seemed suspect but cannot help it)

There is a massive public parking complex with proper infrastructure and manned well (and not a godforsaken slush pond like some other tourist spots), seemed safe and secure, with the premises abutting the bus stop.

Started back almost immediately (it was a ride and not a 'trip' ) closer to 3 pm and took this route via Pennagaram - Palacode - Rayakottai - Hosur (avoiding the NH44 almost entirely). The Hogenakkal Pennagaram stretch is a driver's delight with well marked, wide (& twisty) surfaces with dense foliage around. Roads (SH I reckon) were very good all along this route too (much as one expects by TN standards). Do note restaurant halts are next to non existent along this route, till Hosur. This needed navigating through Hosur town and then clambering on to the NH44 for the Hosur Attibele stretch

Entering Attibele on a Saturday evening around 6 pm was never going to be a great idea and it was reiterated with a painful crawl all the way till Hebbal (what 8 hours of cruising on the saddle didn't, the last hour+ did in terms of stress and discomfort!).

All said, Hogenakkal is doable in a day provided one starts early from Bangalore (factoring 2 hours+ at Hogenakkal). But I would recommend staying over at TTDC, availing the amenities (given the absolute lack of public amenities) if travelling with family/senior folks.

[Shubbi]

Originally Posted by SUBRU

Takes about 1.5 hrs to visit Mekedatu and comeback to Sangama

Are private vehicles allowed to ply to Mekedatu or park at Sangama and avail the transportation available from there?

[SUBRU]

Originally Posted by Shubbi

Are private vehicles allowed to ply to Mekedatu or park at Sangama and avail the transportation available from there?

We have to park at Sangama and use the coracle + bus transport on the other side.

[vijaykr]

Our initial plan for last weekend was to go to Somnathpura to visit the architectural marvel that is the temple there.

I had even got input from other TBHP members on the best routes there on the Bangalore-Mysore driving thread. But had to cancel that as other things came up. But decided to go for a long drive on Sunday.

Started around 7:30am and drove to Ghati Subramanya temple. The Yelahanka-Doddaballapur road is pretty good and had only light traffic maybe due to the early Sunday morning hour. There was dense fog a couple of stretches with significantly reduced visibility and so the few cars on the road were going slow and maintaining distance which was a good surprise.

Debated whether to argue the entry fee that was being charged from all cars coming in the town, but then decided to let it pass as it was a temple visit Though they are handing out a receipt, this fee doesn't appear to be sanctioned though I cannot be certain.

There is a large open parking area to the left of the temple though anyone and everyone is trying to get your attention to park in their favorite spots etc. Anyway, took the Rs. 50 special entry tickets at the temple and we got a good darshan of the Lord. Must have been there for 45 minutes or so and then there was a road sign for Sri Vishwa Shaneshwara temple a few kms from the Subramanya temple. Expectedly family wanted to go there, and the feature is the 30 ft idol of the main deity. Really quiet, calm and unhurried puja and darshan which was a good start to the day and everyone's mood.

Next more mundane things like breakfast beckoned and so googled for breakfast options. A darshini-type option around 1.5km showed up and I started to drive and within 5 mins, ran into non-existent roads or a narrow path going to a small pond. I don't understand how Google even comes up with these routes where finally seem to be more walking or 2-wheeler paths than a car. Anyway, returned to Ghati Subramanya town and there was a small eatery which seemed to have a handful of patrons. We stopped and they had the usual fare. Maybe it was the hunger of starting early from home with only a coffee, but the idli/vada and bisi bele bath was simply too good. A plate of idli/vada came with 4 idlis and a vada Packed 6 vadas at Rs. 30 for the road as well. Not sure how these were so inexpensive.

Then we drove back towards Doddaballapur road and continued further. The plan was to drive to Sabbanahalli Lake and Gudibande Lake. The roads were nice with sparse traffic and not having the sun blazing down helped make for a nice drive. The view points at the lakes themselves were nothing special, but we stopped to get down and spend some time at both the lakes. After clicking the requisite photos for the family album, drove back home via Chikkaballapur (NH44) and Devanahalli. Total of 225 kms from start to finish and took the most part of the day. Completed the 1st 1000 kms on my City Hybrid on this trip and so it is a special one

Comments and feedback on this thread helped greatly with this trip and thanks for all the contributions.

[MarutiGuy1977]

Did the Nandi Hills trek (more like climbing stairs) yesterday (Jan 15) from the Sulthanpet side. Not a lot to add than what has been mentioned before by fellow BHPians in this thread. A couple of points:
1. The climb was more like 2200 stairs / steps and not like 1200 steps in what is reported on many websites
2. On a similar note it would take a good 3+ hours. We were closer to 3.5 + since we took breaks and quite a few photographs along the way.
3. Had the most wonderful coconut water at the base where the steps start
4. For breakfast we stopped at the airport before the trek. Good choice of places to eat there.

[aravind.anand]

Is it a wise plan to ride to Nandi Hills from Chennai tomorrow and spend the Saturday morning there?

Planning to start tomorrow afternoon to head to Nandi Hills, spend the night there, watch the sunrise and head to Bangalore on Saturday morning from there.

I fear the dreaded traffic on weekend mornings and then jacked up stay prices. Any advice or alternate riding-friendly destinations please? Solo rider here 😊

[kannan666]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

Is it a wise plan to ride to Nandi Hills from Chennai tomorrow and spend the Saturday morning there?

Planning to start tomorrow afternoon to head to Nandi Hills, spend the night there, watch the sunrise and head to Bangalore on Saturday morning from there.

I fear the dreaded traffic on weekend mornings and then jacked up stay prices. Any advice or alternate riding-friendly destinations please? Solo rider here 😊

Would not advise this as all ! Narendra Modi's road show is scheduled on Saturday, expect most roads to be choc o bloc with traffic jams. Am sure there will also be a lot of detours and road blocks planned to cope with the security arrangements. Plus, Nandi Hills is on the road to the Bengaluru Airport.