Travelogue - Green Valley

agag · 7th April 2006, 11:30

Hi all,

I am a new entrant to this forum, and below is my first effort to write a travelogue. The drive was not as long as other threads in this forum have accomplished, nevertheless ...

-Ajay

31-Mar-06:
It was just a week since I got my new Indica DLE. With an inviting weekend ahead of me, I could not resist the temptation of going on a long drive. I decided that I ought to go the next day ... but where ... first some research! A little of google'ing led me to TeamBHP's forum on travel, and some travelogues of cycling expeditions by Manoj Kummini. Manchinabele Dam, Hesaraghatta Lake, Timmalapura Forest Camp, and Green Valley, were the shortlisted candidates. Kudos to those travelers who have put up such good logs on the web, enriched with photos. Ok ... too much of time spent in front of the comp ... good night!

1-Apr-06:
During our morning stroll at BEL (Ayyappa) park, ayya, amma and myself decided the spot to be Green Valley. Got a filling of diesel for the car and returned home to prepare for the drive. Amma packed aloo parathas with cucumber slices (... slurp!). Our first stop was Manipal Motors, where I had to get the number plates fixed for the car. From there, we took Bellary road (NH7) bidding adieu to the city. For the uninformed, this road starts from Mekhri circle, cuts through the outer ring road at the Hebbal flyover, and passes through Sahakarnagar, before leaving the city limits. After Sahakarnagar, there is a recently built bypass road to NH7 that avoids passing through Yelahanka. We started by 12:15 and took the normal route taking us to Yelahanka police station circle, from where we turned left onto Doddaballapur Road. We stopped on the road-side to buy some oranges at the new town, which would soothe us in the sveltering heat. Traffic on Doddaballapur road is comparitively lesser than on NH7. On this road, you get to see the Wheel & Axle Plant, Goetze, Wrigley's factories, and not to forget, a huge campus of CRPF. I drove at a leisurely 50kmph as my car was still in the running period. After travelling 36km from Bangalore, we reached Doddaballapur.

Now for some cartography. Just before the town of Doddaballapur arrives, you enter the industrial suburb. Attached to a railway crossing is a deviation to the right that leads to Devanahalli. Further into the town, you hit a circle, where the road to the left leads to Tumkur, the road to the right leads to Nandi Hills, and the road straight takes you to Gauribidanur and Hindupur. We took the Hindupur road and a couple of kilometres later reached Chinnappa circle. The road forks here, the right fork leading to Ghati Subrahmanya. We carried on the left fork, towards Hindupur. At roughly around 10km from Doddaballapur, there is a small board that points left to Green Valley. We turned left here and proceeded. The stretch beyond this point is fabulous. You can never expect such a good hill range in this area! There is a pretty little forest here, that would perhaps look a lot greener after the monsoons. I switched off the AC and rolled down the windows to enjoy the pleasant breeze. In the middle of this range of hills, lies Green Valley, a resort, which played host to the Miss World contest in 1996. Nothing special about the resort, but beyond this lies beauty. A lot of birds and butterflies are seen here, but my avian knowledge being limited, I was unable to recognize any of them. Just one sentence - they were all very beautiful

Driving past a few more curves and gradients, what we saw was a vast plantation, which looked like tea from a distance. It was really beautiful and totally unexpected to find an estate in these drylands. When we reached closer, we realised that it was a vineyard (grapes), named 'Grover Vines'. I believe the entire of 70 acres of vineyard has been leased out to Khodays, who utilise the variety of blue grapes planted here for wine production. We met a couple of viticulturists there (viticulture - cultivation of Vitis vinifera - grapes), who explained to us the intricacies of cultivating grapes. We also had a chance to eat fresh and ripe grapes by plucking them from the vines, thanks to the courteous staff of Grover Vines. Oh! what a pleasure it is to eat fruits and vegetables fresh from mother nature herself!

By then the time was past 2, and we felt our tummies rumbling. Yes ... it was time to eat those aloo parathas and cucumber slices ... burp! We were casually enquiring the employees of the vineyard about the sources of water in that region, and we came to know that there is a huge lake in the near vicinity. We set off in search of this lake, called 'Hoasahalli/Hosalli Kere'. A couple of kilometres after the vineyard, there is a kuchcha road to the right, which leads to this lake. What an extremely pleasurable sight it was! A hefty mountain standing gigantically with a huge expanse of aqua at its feet, which was surrounded by a village on one side and the estate on the other. Amidst the mild cool breeze with the afternoon sun above, lie this body of water, with utmost majesty. We enjoyed the silence of nature in that serene location, something which we urbanites rarely get to experience and enjoy. Making up our mind that we should visit this place once more after the rains, we started on our way back. It is really so nice to discover such lesser known places, as they are free from the pollution created by the tourist community!

It was a quite drive on our way back, except that we were caught behind a slow moving KSRTC bus climbing a gradient and experienced the speed of a 'Rath Yatra'. When we reached the railway crossing after Doddaballapur, we pondered on the idea of going via Devanahalli. Despite the additional distance of 10-15 km, the motivation behind this was the bad road between Doddaballapur and Bangalore. We took the road to the left that led to Devanahalli, which is 19km from that spot. This is a road through plains, without potholes, and we enjoyed the drive. At Devanahalli, we took the right turn on NH7 towards Bangalore. From this point, Bangalore is about 35km. We reached back home by 5:30, totalling a little more than 110km. Overall a very pleasurable and refreshing outing.

sharu · 7th April 2006, 15:06

Hi agag,

Add some pics dude, I have been to green valley but haven't seen t lake u have mentioned. Next time will try tht, and cograts on new car

7th April 2006, 11:30	#1
agag Newbie Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: bangalore Posts: 8 Thanked: Once	Travelogue - Green Valley Hi all, I am a new entrant to this forum, and below is my first effort to write a travelogue. The drive was not as long as other threads in this forum have accomplished, nevertheless ... -Ajay 31-Mar-06: It was just a week since I got my new Indica DLE. With an inviting weekend ahead of me, I could not resist the temptation of going on a long drive. I decided that I ought to go the next day ... but where ... first some research! A little of google'ing led me to TeamBHP's forum on travel, and some travelogues of cycling expeditions by Manoj Kummini. Manchinabele Dam, Hesaraghatta Lake, Timmalapura Forest Camp, and Green Valley, were the shortlisted candidates. Kudos to those travelers who have put up such good logs on the web, enriched with photos. Ok ... too much of time spent in front of the comp ... good night! 1-Apr-06: During our morning stroll at BEL (Ayyappa) park, ayya, amma and myself decided the spot to be Green Valley. Got a filling of diesel for the car and returned home to prepare for the drive. Amma packed aloo parathas with cucumber slices (... slurp!). Our first stop was Manipal Motors, where I had to get the number plates fixed for the car. From there, we took Bellary road (NH7) bidding adieu to the city. For the uninformed, this road starts from Mekhri circle, cuts through the outer ring road at the Hebbal flyover, and passes through Sahakarnagar, before leaving the city limits. After Sahakarnagar, there is a recently built bypass road to NH7 that avoids passing through Yelahanka. We started by 12:15 and took the normal route taking us to Yelahanka police station circle, from where we turned left onto Doddaballapur Road. We stopped on the road-side to buy some oranges at the new town, which would soothe us in the sveltering heat. Traffic on Doddaballapur road is comparitively lesser than on NH7. On this road, you get to see the Wheel & Axle Plant, Goetze, Wrigley's factories, and not to forget, a huge campus of CRPF. I drove at a leisurely 50kmph as my car was still in the running period. After travelling 36km from Bangalore, we reached Doddaballapur. Now for some cartography. Just before the town of Doddaballapur arrives, you enter the industrial suburb. Attached to a railway crossing is a deviation to the right that leads to Devanahalli. Further into the town, you hit a circle, where the road to the left leads to Tumkur, the road to the right leads to Nandi Hills, and the road straight takes you to Gauribidanur and Hindupur. We took the Hindupur road and a couple of kilometres later reached Chinnappa circle. The road forks here, the right fork leading to Ghati Subrahmanya. We carried on the left fork, towards Hindupur. At roughly around 10km from Doddaballapur, there is a small board that points left to Green Valley. We turned left here and proceeded. The stretch beyond this point is fabulous. You can never expect such a good hill range in this area! There is a pretty little forest here, that would perhaps look a lot greener after the monsoons. I switched off the AC and rolled down the windows to enjoy the pleasant breeze. In the middle of this range of hills, lies Green Valley, a resort, which played host to the Miss World contest in 1996. Nothing special about the resort, but beyond this lies beauty. A lot of birds and butterflies are seen here, but my avian knowledge being limited, I was unable to recognize any of them. Just one sentence - they were all very beautiful Driving past a few more curves and gradients, what we saw was a vast plantation, which looked like tea from a distance. It was really beautiful and totally unexpected to find an estate in these drylands. When we reached closer, we realised that it was a vineyard (grapes), named 'Grover Vines'. I believe the entire of 70 acres of vineyard has been leased out to Khodays, who utilise the variety of blue grapes planted here for wine production. We met a couple of viticulturists there (viticulture - cultivation of Vitis vinifera - grapes), who explained to us the intricacies of cultivating grapes. We also had a chance to eat fresh and ripe grapes by plucking them from the vines, thanks to the courteous staff of Grover Vines. Oh! what a pleasure it is to eat fruits and vegetables fresh from mother nature herself! By then the time was past 2, and we felt our tummies rumbling. Yes ... it was time to eat those aloo parathas and cucumber slices ... burp! We were casually enquiring the employees of the vineyard about the sources of water in that region, and we came to know that there is a huge lake in the near vicinity. We set off in search of this lake, called 'Hoasahalli/Hosalli Kere'. A couple of kilometres after the vineyard, there is a kuchcha road to the right, which leads to this lake. What an extremely pleasurable sight it was! A hefty mountain standing gigantically with a huge expanse of aqua at its feet, which was surrounded by a village on one side and the estate on the other. Amidst the mild cool breeze with the afternoon sun above, lie this body of water, with utmost majesty. We enjoyed the silence of nature in that serene location, something which we urbanites rarely get to experience and enjoy. Making up our mind that we should visit this place once more after the rains, we started on our way back. It is really so nice to discover such lesser known places, as they are free from the pollution created by the tourist community! It was a quite drive on our way back, except that we were caught behind a slow moving KSRTC bus climbing a gradient and experienced the speed of a 'Rath Yatra'. When we reached the railway crossing after Doddaballapur, we pondered on the idea of going via Devanahalli. Despite the additional distance of 10-15 km, the motivation behind this was the bad road between Doddaballapur and Bangalore. We took the road to the left that led to Devanahalli, which is 19km from that spot. This is a road through plains, without potholes, and we enjoyed the drive. At Devanahalli, we took the right turn on NH7 towards Bangalore. From this point, Bangalore is about 35km. We reached back home by 5:30, totalling a little more than 110km. Overall a very pleasurable and refreshing outing.
	() Thanks

7th April 2006, 15:06	#2
sharu BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 63 Thanked: 0 Times	Hi agag, Add some pics dude, I have been to green valley but haven't seen t lake u have mentioned. Next time will try tht, and cograts on new car
	() Thanks