[@400Kph]

Me: Whew !!! finally long holiday coming up to stretch my legs and for once not hit ctrl+alt+del every now and then…
Her: what ??? you really think I will let you sit at home and relax when you haven’t taken me for a trip for ages ???
Me: silly me…Ofocurse I meant stretching my legs while you enjoy the tourist spot we go (on-the spot-lie)
Her: Start planning right now and don’t even dare to give me any silly reason to cancel the trip..I have already applied for bridge leave and god knows when I will get time from all these bug-fixes..
Me: Ok , Ok…don’t start making me feel guilty….i will find some place…tell me where you want to go…
Her: I don’t know…you plan and tell me
Me: What ??? !! Why is that everytime I have to decide where to go and where to plan ? why cant you plan it this time..
Her: ??? Maybe that’s why I married you…
Me: So chweet…. (cursing at back of my mind as finding the correct spot turns out to be tougher than driving there)

So began my research of finding the “ Perfect Place “ to take my lady for a tour….
I started planning almost 1 month back and started looking at possible places we could go.I wanted to go to mahabaleshwar / panchagani but that would mean I would spend atleast 2.5 days in driving itself.so decided to put panchagani trip on hold for December as I have my Sis-In Law’s marriage function in belgaum during December in belgaum and from there I can easily make mahabaleshwar trip (I gotta do this trip as the missus keeps telling me what a beautifull place it is and what a good-for-nothing husband I am for not taking her there).So next up in my list was munnar which we had already visited for our honeymtoon , Yercaud which again I had already visited last year and lastly madikeri which I still haven’t visited.When I was casually browsing through travellogues I came across “ Mullayanagiri “ which I supposed to be the tallest point in Karnataka.To be honest I hadn’t even know about that place and after seeing the snaps my mind was decided that this is where I want to go !!.Checked the surrounding places and found out that I can club kemmannugundi , muthodi forest together with this as all 3 places were surrounding chikmagalur.

Me: So…Here is a proposal…we go to chikmagalur , stay there and try to cover kemmanagundi , muthodi forest and mullayanagiri…
Her: Mullayana…what ??? Is that a real place or are you making up and planning me to take yercaud again ?
Me: Maa kasam…it’s a nice place…see the photos…
Her: Hmmm ..not a bad idea…I can also ask my dad to call up the Forest Ranger and book a Jungle guest house
Me: ( Finally !!! It pays to marry a public prosecutors daughter with lot of connections… ) Oh is it ?? Can he do it ? Check with him and let me know..
Her after phone call : Sorry …seems like all our politicians have already occupied the guest houses…Search for a good home stay and finalize the plan…
Me: (Darn it…) Ok hon…I will let you know once everything is planned..

Well , I started checking out the homestays and looking at the average homestay prices in and around chikmagalur my eyeballs popped out….it was around 3k to 4k and the cheaper once in range of 1.7k to 3k were all booked out !!.I started wondering if I should’ve started hunting for homestays 3 months ago !! so my mind started wandering and checked out few madikeri homestays and soon I ended up in the same boat.Either all of them were booked or the available ones were way out of my budget…I didn’t dare to approach my wife with this reason as I knew what would her immediate reply would be (Its “ cheap “ by the way if you haven’t got it…) so I told her that all homestays were booked…
So spent next few days searching for more home stays and unknowingly ended on 30th booking nothing…Now I started panicking …Are these holidays going down the drain ?? will I ever gget such long holidays again ?? More importantly will she ever forgive me for making her stay home all 5 days ??

Me: Sorry hon…no homestays avaialable…what do you want me to do ??
Her:Are you freaking kidding me ?? Didn’t you start planning for this trip one month ago ??
Me: Ya…but one month seemed like 1 day by being with you…
Her: Crap…senti dialogs…just take me somewhere …ok ??
Me: Ok …Here is a thought…lets get up at 4:00 AM on Thursday , take the car and head to chikmagalur and we will book or search for rooms in the city itself…lets make this a spontaneous trip for a change..
Her: hmm .. ok fine , can you atleast take me to kung-fu panda on Wednesday ??
Me: Ofcourse….

So began our road trip with absolutely no idea where we will be staying or what we will be seeing…

Day 1 :

It was one of those rare trips where we left the house at the intended hour.got up at 3:30 AM and got ready while the Missus packed up a picnic basket and loaded everything into the car.Took the majestic route as I didn’t want to get lost in the NICE road at 4 in the morning.took the left turn at nelamangala junction and we were on our way to chikmagalur.the roads were pretty good with 4 lane being laid and on few stretches it was extremely fun to drive.as it was early morning there weren’t many vehicle on the road and I was able to push the 800 to limit.Maintained average speed of 90 kph and reached near to Hassan at around 7:30 if I remember correctly.By this time we both were hungry and came across the kamath upachar.Had light breakfast and on the road were we again.
While nearing Hassan we saw the deviation for halebeedu.
Me: Hey !!! why not visit halebeedu ?? We haven’t booked any rooms so whats the hurry to reach chikmagalaur
Her:hmmm..Ya why not…

Put the left indicator, took the halebeedu road.I think I had visited Belur-Halebeedu when I was small or it may have been Hampi for that matter.So I was excited to visit these 2 places.The roads to Halebeedu and Belur was decent enough with few stretches badly damages.But nevertheless it was a really good drive and I enjoyed the country side immensely.It had rained when we reached halebeedu and the temples were looking amazing !!. With wet stones , beautifull sculptures it was a photographers paradise.Ofcourse I did not have a camera worth capturing those moments , but I did snap few with my humble Sony 12.0 Mp basic camera.Later we moved to Belur which was 18Kms from Halebeedu and once again the photo session began.
I must say I enjoyed belur little more than halebeedu.We were also able to click some good snaps in belur.It was drizzling a bit but it did not dampen our click-click spirit and stayed there for around 1.5 hours.














We left belur at around 11:30 AM to our original destination , chikmagalur which was around 22 km from Belur.Reached chikmagalur around 12:00 and our hunt for Lodges began.Well I must say it ended as soon as we began as we came across Hotel Raj Mahal which was next to KSRTC bus-stand.We checked the rooms available and the rates.
At 1500 Per day we got a nice Honeymoon Suite , photos of which are attached below.It was worth every penny with big spacious room, 24 Hrs hot water and AC (Not that we needed one at that temperature).So booked the room for 2 days, kept the bags and got refreshed.



As we both were hungry we decided to have lunch first.Chikmagalur town had little to offer and the town looked like a World War II bombed village !!!. Each road was undergoing road widening and many building s were demolished and the road was filled with umpteen pot-holes.It was tortourous to drive even 1 km bypassing those potholes.We found a decent restaurant and had lunch.We met bunch of bikers who also had planned to make a bike trip for mullayanagiri.It had started raining and I was wondering how in gods name will they drive up-hill in these conditions.So we decided to finish mullayanagiri which was 25 Kms from Chikmagalaur first as we had only half a day.the directions were very simple with one road leading to mullayanagiri , kemmennagundi.
Now begins the fun part.the roads leading up to the tallest point are pretty decent although at many places there is only enough space for 1.5 car to pass.So the drive was little bit scary but totally worth !!!My 800 was climbing the up hill with ease in 3rd gear and when we were 4-5 km away from the top trouble started creeping in.
I guess the air was so thin that at 3rd gear my 800 started coughing and it refused to go above 20-30 kph !!!. I had to shift to 2nd gear frequently and go to 3rd .this happened many times and also a indica ahead was causing more problems as it was literally struggling to climb.The view down the valley was amazing and also came across a van which had fallen into a ditch while giving space for another vehicle.
These narrow roads continued with me using 2nd gear as if it was 4th gear for the climb.
The last 1 km was outright scary as I had to climb an incline of 30 deg and this is where even 2nd gear failed to produce enough torque !. At this point i was convinced that combustion is not happening as its supposed to happen due the cold air and lack of oxygen content in the air.Now I was forced to shift to 1st gear for the last 0.75 Km and continued on 1st and 2nd geat to the top.Few videos attached of the final climb.Notice the engine Rev to get an idea of how hard I was accelerating.Damn that indica in front which did not make things easier.At one point I was afraid that the indica might roll back down directly at us .. LOL…
So here we were…At the tallest point in Karnataka.but wait a minute I am still sitting inside the car.Why am I not out ??
The outside was so gusty with wind ramming its power against our 800 , and combine that with a drizzle (not downpour , just a drizzle) it was like we were fighting against rain of cold bullets !!!.The whole area was covered with fog and it was impossible to stand out even for 1 minute.Then I noticed all the cars that were parked there (around 5) had people inside it.Till then I had thought they were empty and they had gone for some trekking.I had never seen such gusty winds and conditions , and here we were climbing all the way up and realizing we couldn’t even get out to enjoy the nature.My wife dared me to go outside and touch the pole which was 100 mts away. I took the challenge but came back running midway unable to stand in that wind..Amzaingly she did go till there and came back shivering.Our 800 was shaking slightly and so was the maruti Eeco which was standing there.We spent around 45 minutes inside the car starting outside and then we decided to head down as it was getting dark at 3:30 PM.the Fog had covered the whole area and we weren’t able to see much ahead.We also came to know later that there was a temple on top of the hill which had around 300 steps to climb and people do visit it even at this situation.






We came back to chikmagalur , had dinner and crashed as we were pretty tired.Next day plan was to visit Muthodi forest and my father in law had requested the forest ranger to take us for a safari.So looking forward for next day we slept heavily.

Day2 :

Woke up early morning to a chilled breeze of chikmagalur (Loved the weather !! ) and got ready by 9. took the road leading to muthodi forest which was around 30 km away from chikmagalur.The drive to the forest was awesome with sharp turns and heavy canopy of trees with occasional cows passing by.We spotted 2-3 houses nicely tucked in a field with a view to kill for.Wish I could buy such a house and make it my summer retreat.There are some guest houses at the base camp which you can book via chikmagalur forest ranger office.The location of those houses were excellent with a stream flowing next to the house.The only problem is there are no hotels and you have to get your own grocery and the caretaker will cook the food for you.There are also government officers guest houses which you could book if your father is government officer with influences ;-).Unfortunately it seems that they have closed the safaris now due to heavy rains and even though we had made arrangements to take us on a safari the ranger was on a night duty and he was taking rest. We roamed around the area for a while and decided to head to kemmenngundi.There is a road leading to kemmengundi from muthodi forest itself but it consist of 30 kms of gravel road and not tar road.I didn’t believe my 800 and back would take it so decided to take the longer route which was 45 kms away.So I had return back to chikmagalur , had lunch and headed off to kemmengundi.It is the same route as Mulllyainagiri.
Drive to kemmengundi was awesome with good roads and steep hairpin curves and a view that would give you a heart-attack.At most of the places there was only enough space for 1 and half car and I found it to be extremely risky.I strongly suggest new drivers not to drive in those roads as it requires some experience to judge the distance between solid road and a ticket to heaven on the edges.I thoroughly enjoyed negotiating those roads with my wife closing her eyes while I was letting incoming traffic by precariously taking the car to the edge.The entire area was covered with fog and at some streches the visibility was reduced to 10 feet.Drove at a slow pace km by km.you will find road to baba budan giri on the way and we decided to bypass it as we were sure we will not get any view due to heavy fog.Took some nice photos with green background.The last 15Kms was nightmarish with the roads completely destroyed.
Some photos and video clip togive you an idea.I had to wade through some deep potholes and I was lucky not to get stuck in those potholes else it would’ve been one hell of a experience.Few tourists with Sumo and jeep (which were pretty common) were negotiating those potholes effortlessly while my humble 800 was literally struggling and I was for one pushing it to its limit.finally When we reached kemmanngundi we found a omlet dhaba and had 4 nice omlettles and refueled ourselves.we had to park the car 2 kms from the top and had to walk uphill.3 loyal dogs who had tasted our omlettles followed us all the way to the up and no matter how much we tried to lose them , they just refused to stop following us.on our way back to the car we stopped at a tea shop and gave them 2 packs of tiger biscuits as a treat ;-) It was very dark even though it was just 5 PM and the locals said it would be dark completely in another 30 minutes.We did not visit the falls as we had to take jeep service as normalcars wont reach that place.As we couldn’t find any couples to accompany us I was reluctant to go with locals and decided to skip the falls.We had already seen many falls on our way and also during our munnar trip hence was not too keen on it.The drive back was again a nice experience and I promised myself that we would come back again to this place during decemeber to see the nature at its best.I recommend this place strongly to everybody but if you are a novice driver please be carefull or hire a taxi.















continued in next post...

[@400Kph]

Came back to the hotel around 7 PM , had dinner and was thinking what to do the next day.Mrs suggested to go to coorg but I was hearing news of tala-kavery being flooded on Tv9.Hence decided against it and decided to make that trip sometime else.Got up early next morning and checked out from the hotel at 8.Had breakfast and headed back to Bangalore with memory of one crazy monsoon trip of chikmagalur.

On our wayback I sae the deviation for Shravanabelagolaa.hmm why not visit that now ?? Uptill now everything has been unplanned and why make a planned shravanabelagola trip …So took the right turn and headed to see the tallest statue in Karnataka.I remember visiting this palce when I was small but had not idea about the 750 steps that we had to climb !!! Knowing that I wouldn’t have taken that right turn but hey why not…those 750 steps tested the typical software engineer with a belly to his limit as we both were panting and puffing when we reached the top (ofcourse with several intermediate pitstops…)The
Statue was mesmerizing but I was little bit disappointed as it looked very small when we were near to it.The view surrounding was amazing and hope the pictures do some justice.
Climbing down part was easy with me setting up a race with the Mrs.I wanted to have lunch at a authentic jain hotel but my wife was not too keen as they don’t put onion or garlic in their food.








So decided to continue our journey to Bangalore and ocne reached we crashed into our hom-sweet-home thinking about what a wonderfull trip this was.Even though rain god played spoil-sport in several instances this was something which was not expected.It gave this trip a unique twist and I was glad I got off my bum to make this trip rather than sitting in front of Idiot-Box for 3 days.
It took me long time to write this blog as I was held-down by work and few personal commitments.Nevertless here it is an I hope it is usefull for potential tourers and others.

[Samurai]

Awesome travelogue, brilliantly written! In fact, you covered more places in the area than I covered in 3 different trips. I am yet to visit Halebeedu or Shravanaabelogola.

Originally Posted by @400Kph

Well , I started checking out the homestays and looking at the average homestay prices in and around chikmagalur my eyeballs popped out….it was around 3k to 4k and the cheaper once in range of 1.7k to 3k were all booked out !!.

You can thank the Bangaloreans for that, who swarm out like locust and snap up every place within 400kms radius during long weekends.

Originally Posted by @400Kph

As we both were hungry we decided to have lunch first.Chikmagalur town had little to offer

Major understatement! It has some excellent eating places. Town canteen and Planter's Court can rival best of the restaurants in Bangalore.

Originally Posted by @400Kph

I guess the air was so thin that at 3rd gear my 800 started coughing and it refused to go above 20-30 kph !!!. I had to shift to 2nd gear frequently and go to 3rd .this happened many times and also a indica ahead was causing more problems as it was literally struggling to climb.The view down the valley was amazing and also came across a van which had fallen into a ditch while giving space for another vehicle.
These narrow roads continued with me using 2nd gear as if it was 4th gear for the climb.

Thin air? It is only about 6000ft, thin air doesn't start until after 10,000ft. It is the gradient that causes the problem, torquey vehicles won't have any issue here.

Originally Posted by @400Kph

The last 1 km was outright scary as I had to climb an incline of 30 deg and this is where even 2nd gear failed to produce enough torque !. At this point i was convinced that combustion is not happening as its supposed to happen due the cold air and lack of oxygen content in the air.Now I was forced to shift to 1st gear for the last 0.75 Km and continued on 1st and 2nd geat to the top.

Agree this part is very scary, you never get to see beyond the edge of the road, that is what induces the fear.

Originally Posted by @400Kph

Few videos attached of the final climb.Notice the engine Rev to get an idea of how hard I was accelerating.

What videos?

Originally Posted by @400Kph

I took the challenge but came back running midway unable to stand in that wind..Amzaingly she did go till there and came back shivering.Our 800 was shaking slightly and so was the maruti Eeco which was standing there.We spent around 45 minutes inside the car starting outside and then we decided to head down as it was getting dark at 3:30 PM.the Fog had covered the whole area and we weren’t able to see much ahead.We also came to know later that there was a temple on top of the hill which had around 300 steps to climb and people do visit it even at this situation.

The fun of monsoon trips to western ghats is just this, enjoying rain and fog. If you want views, go there in other seasons.

See the dry season shots here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...lur-belur.html

Originally Posted by @400Kph

Unfortunately it seems that they have closed the safaris now due to heavy rains and even though we had made arrangements to take us on a safari the ranger was on a night duty and he was taking rest.

You can't see any animals inside the forest in monsoon. Besides, you can't see any animals in Muthodi even during dry season. I have been there in rain and dry season. You didn't miss much.

We entered the forest during rain and this is what happened: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ex...-otr-meet.html

Originally Posted by @400Kph

We roamed around the area for a while and decided to head to kemmenngundi.There is a road leading to kemmengundi from muthodi forest itself but it consist of 30 kms of gravel road and not tar road.I didn’t believe my 800 and back would take it so decided to take the longer route which was 45 kms away.So I had return back to chikmagalur , had lunch and headed off to kemmengundi.

Actually, it is no worse than the route you took. But has fantastics views, you can see that route here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post1116381

Originally Posted by @400Kph

we had to park the car 2 kms from the top and had to walk uphill.3 loyal dogs who had tasted our omlettles followed us all the way to the up and no matter how much we tried to lose them , they just refused to stop following us.

I am not sure where you had to park. We drove up all the way to the top, we barely walked 200m after parking.

Originally Posted by @400Kph

We did not visit the falls as we had to take jeep service as normalcars wont reach that place.As we couldn’t find any couples to accompany us I was reluctant to go with locals and decided to skip the falls.We had already seen many falls on our way and also during our munnar trip hence was not too keen on it.

Which falls was this, Hebbe or Kalhatti? Kalhatti falls is not worth visiting, and can be done by normal cars.

[@400Kph]

@samurai ;

Awesome travelogue, brilliantly written! In fact, you covered more places in the area than I covered in 3 different trips. I am yet to visit Halebeedu or Shravanaabelogola.

Thanks a lot

One thing i have realized is that unplanned trips are more exciting than those meticulously planned ones as we dont have to look at the watch time and again.Ofcourse for long trips some planning is definitely required.

I was trying to convert few videos into low size but my monthly quota has been reached already by BSNL i will try to reduce its size as much as possible and post it soon.
you are right about the 800 torque ; i guess a bigger engine wouldve made it with ease.
They are putting concrete for the last stretch at kemmanugundi top and hence no vehicles were allowed.We parked near the junction where one road leads to Hebbey falls and another to kemmanngundi.
The falls we didnt opt was Hebbey falls.Everybody told us we shouldve gone but i still think its not worth it unless you are in a big group.Maybe during december.

Offtopic , i reported this thread to be moved to Travelogues but it hasnt been.should i do it again ?

[gd1418]

Indeed a wonderful travelogue. Haasan was the place where my maternal grandfather stayed & worked as a Headmaster. I used to love those rides on the "jhataka gaadi" sitting next to the charioteer. My grandfather used to refer to those charioteers as 'saabi'.

Brought back nostalgic memories of Belur-Halebeed & Shravanbelagola. Visited these places with parents long-long time back as a 10 year old. While I've a clear memory of the Gomateshwara and my uncontrollable laughter at the attempt of my maternal uncle lying on the ground and trying to capture the full frame of the idol, the other memories are a bit hazy.

I've a long standing desire of doing a South-India trip with my 'North-Indian' family. These travelogues, such as this, re-ignite the desire to do so..

[@400Kph]

finally !!! I was able to compress those videos of mullayanagiri summit , kemmanagundi pot holes and upload them..Hope i have not exceeded myBSNL Quota by too much.Here they go..

Mullayanagiri ascent with my humble 800 -->

MOV04937 - YouTube

Pot-holes redefined -->

MOV05008 - YouTube

thats one baaaad stretch -->

MOV05036 - YouTube

[Samurai]

It doesn't look that scary on the video. You have to be there to feel the fear.

Requesting the moderators to move the thread to travelogues section.also let me know if other members can view the threads in assembly section as i saw today morning that the number of views had increased to 6 even though the guideline for assembly section says that only the creator of the thread can view it.

All the moderators too can view it when it is in assembly line. How can we move if we can't see see it. When I replied first, I didn't realise it was in assembly line, I just saw it in new threads search.

[Rajesh K R]

Originally Posted by Samurai

It doesn't look that scary on the video. You have to be there to feel the fear.

All the moderators too can view it when it is in assembly line. How can we move if we can't see see it. When I replied first, I didn't realise it was in assembly line, I just saw it in new threads search.

Agree with you. When i went there in 2008, the road to the top was still not tarred. On the way down, i had to go to the edge of the road to give way to an oncoming Innova making it even more scarier for my wife sitting in the co-driver seat. She didn't talk to me for couple of hours after that scary downhill ride

[@400Kph]

All the moderators too can view it when it is in assembly line. How can we move if we can't see see it. When I replied first, I didn't realise it was in assembly line, I just saw it in new threads search.

Ofcourse !!

It doesn't look that scary on the video. You have to be there to feel the fear.

Agree 101%.video doesnt do justification.I wonder what will happen if 2 Innovas or Scorpio meet . One has to go in reverse direction till he finds a safe place.

She didn't talk to me for couple of hours after that scary downhill ride

[DWind]

Your post brought back my memories of visiting Mullayangiri on a trek on a team outing. Had enjoyed every moment of it.

Originally Posted by @400Kph

We also came to know later that there was a temple on top of the hill which had around 300 steps to climb and people do visit it even at this situation.

I know it was cold, but on a slightly better day this is how the tallest peak in KA looks like. I guess you made it till the base where the cars are seen.

[mayankjha1806]

Awesome TL and great pictures to go along. On the climb thingy i don't think its got to do with air thinning maybe the incline was too steep, also what i have noticed is getting the air filter cleaned before the trip helps in the cars pulling power as probably when the filter is dirty the engine sometime gasps for air.

Home stays are always a problem in holidays and long weekends as most from bangalore head out to all the weekend getaways near bangalore, but we have always managed to find a place if booked 15 days to a month in advance. Was that not the case here?

[DieselDestiny]

Nice one @400kph. I did this climb too, some 10 days before your trip (see the short travelogue http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ikmagalur.html) but in a classic 500. It wasnt rainign when we reached the peak but the winds sure were scary
Keep it going.

[addyhemmige]

Wow!! Now this is a monsoon travelogue. Lovely pictures @400Kph. It's been a while after I last went to Kemmangundi and now your pictures have reminded me that a visit is overdue

Originally Posted by @400Kph

While nearing Hassan we saw the deviation for halebeedu.
Me: Hey !!! why not visit halebeedu ?? We haven’t booked any rooms so whats the hurry to reach chikmagalaur
Her:hmmm..Ya why not…

Put the left indicator, took the halebeedu road.

From where did you take a left turn? If you are coming from Bangalore side, you always take a right to Halebidu.

Originally Posted by @400Kph

Now begins the fun part.the roads leading up to the tallest point are pretty decent although at many places there is only enough space for 1.5 car to pass.So the drive was little bit scary but totally worth !!!My 800 was climbing the up hill with ease in 3rd gear and when we were 4-5 km away from the top trouble started creeping in.
I guess the air was so thin that at 3rd gear my 800 started coughing and it refused to go above 20-30 kph !!!. I had to shift to 2nd gear frequently and go to 3rd .

So here we were…At the tallest point in Karnataka.but wait a minute I am still sitting inside the car.Why am I not out ??

We also came to know later that there was a temple on top of the hill which had around 300 steps to climb and people do visit it even at this situation.

Thin air, you were joking right?

The temple at the top is the actual peak. On a clear day, you have one of the best views around. Yes, it would have been more windy at the top.

Didn't the hotel guys inform you about the temple?

Originally Posted by @400Kph

Drove at a slow pace km by km.you will find road to baba budan giri on the way and we decided to bypass it as we were sure we will not get any view due to heavy fog.Took some nice photos with green background.The last 15Kms was nightmarish with the roads completely destroyed.

Bababudangiri is covered with fog all 24 hrs of the day during this season. So, you would not have missed anything.

I would have thought the hotel guys would have warned you about the bad road to Kemmangundi. The road has been the same for quite a few years now. Did you come back by the same route?

Originally Posted by gd1418

Indeed a wonderful travelogue. Haasan was the place where my maternal grandfather stayed & worked as a Headmaster. I used to love those rides on the "jhataka gaadi" sitting next to the charioteer. My grandfather used to refer to those charioteers as 'saabi'.

Hi gd1418, nice to see you had stayed in Hassan (my hometown). Do you remember where you used to stay in Hassan?

Btw, you don't see the 'jhatka gaadis' nowadays

[@400Kph]

Lovely pictures @400Kph

Thanks !!

you always take a right to Halebidu

My bad..

Thin air, you were joking right?

The temple at the top is the actual peak. On a clear day, you have one of the best views around. Yes, it would have been more windy at the top.

Didn't the hotel guys inform you about the temple

Well even if we knew there was no way we could have gone there as it was impossible to get out of the car in those conditions.Neverthless we found a man walking down who made been there in those condition and we felt so bad for him that he had to walk in those conditions we gave him a lift.He mentioned that there is one trekking path behind the hills from where he came.Perhaps the trekkers can confirm it.

As for the Thin air i never faced this problem when i made munnar trip and there too we faced several steep gradients.Perhaps the Air was not getting through enough as mentioned by mayankjha1806.

Did you come back by the same route?

Yup..As the other way around was longer by around 25 Km.Is there a shorter route ??

Your post brought back my memories of visiting Mullayangiri on a trek on a team outing. Had enjoyed every moment of it.

It was no where similar to the photo you have posted I think i definitely have to make one more trip during summer.Also when was this taken ?

Home stays are always a problem in holidays and long weekends as most from bangalore head out to all the weekend getaways near bangalore, but we have always managed to find a place if booked 15 days to a month in advance. Was that not the case here?

As i mentioned we did find some for 1.7k but i wasnt interseted looking at their location and condition on the website.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by @400Kph

Thanks !!
My bad..
Well even if we knew there was no way we could have gone there as it was impossible to get out of the car in those conditions.Neverthless we found a man walking down who made been there in those condition and we felt so bad for him that he had to walk in those conditions we gave him a lift.He mentioned that there is one trekking path behind the hills from where he came.Perhaps the trekkers can confirm it.

Yes, there is a trail which starts from the main Kaimara-Kemmangundi road. This is just after the left turn you take to Mullaianagiri when you come from Chikmagalur side. You can take a look at the following link for details about the trail and trek. There are also a couple of caves just below the temple.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post2121615

Yup..As the other way around was longer by around 25 Km.Is there a shorter route ??

Nope, the one which you have taken is the shortest route. But, the other route would have been faster as it has better and wider roads. The extra distance would have been around 15-18 kms than this route.