[ampere]

Originally Posted by raghunandanj

What To See

@Raghu, I thought I would add a couple of snaps. Hope you are OK with it. As you said truly a mesmerising place.

The Beautiful Lakya River (I think it is Lakya) cutting through Kalasa-Hornadu road. Later looking at Google maps, I found it pours into Bhadra.



And the amazing Yelaneer falls at Samse.

[raghunandanj]

Originally Posted by ampere

@Raghu, I thought I would add a couple of snaps. Hope you are OK with it. As you said truly a mesmerising place.

The Beautiful Lakya River (I think it is Lakya) cutting through Kalasa-Hornadu road. Later looking at Google maps, I found it pours into Bhadra.

Attachment 1189838

And the amazing Yelaneer falls at Samse.
Attachment 1189837

Thanks a lit @ampere, in fact I have not seen the Yelaneer Falls till date. Add a couple of pictures of the Mydhadi viewpoint if you happen to have any.

[raghunandanj]

Originally Posted by VedderTheFixer

Very good pictures throughout! The Kudremukh area is strongly reminiscent of Bhadra Tiger Reserve, which is biked through recently. Such a divine stretch!

Can you please share your travel experiences of biking through the Bhadra tiger reserve ? I would be surely interested in that piece of unexplored land.

[raghunandanj]

Originally Posted by F150

Fantastic place. Could you please post driving directions to this place ?

From Kerala :
Kasargod - Mangalore - Moodabidri - Karkala - Bajagoli - Kudremukha

From Goa / Konkan:
Karwar - Honavar - Udupi - Karkala - Bajagoli - Kudremukha

From Interior Maharashtra:
Hubli - Shimoga - Thirthahalli - Sringeri - Kudremukha

From Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka:
Bangalore - Hassan - Belur - Mudigere - Kotigehara - Kalasa - Kudremukha

From Andhra :
Bellary - Chitradurga - Bhadravathi - Shimoga - Thirthahalli - Sringeri - Kudremukha

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

MESMERISING. Would be a great camping visit with friends. Is it advisable to go there in Jan-end? Or is it best visited only during monsoons / post monsoons?

Also, have you recorded any GPS tracks of the route and the climb?

Camping in the wild is not allowed inside the park. You can try the forest-department run Bhagavathi nature camp, which has tented cottages, beds and basic flush toilets. Hot water not available. Bring in your provisions and the caretaker will cook for you.

The park is more beautiful after the monsoons, but hiking trails are infested with leeches. See the waterfalls during the monsoons, enjoy the scenic drives just after the monsoons, and hike/off-road only after November.

I have not used any GPS for tracking any of the hiking trails in the park.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by raghunandanj

Thanks a lit @ampere, in fact I have not seen the Yelaneer Falls till date. Add a couple of pictures of the Mydhadi viewpoint if you happen to have any.

No I don't have a snap of the view point. Need to go once more for sure. Esp the trek part !

[nkrishnap]

Amazing set of pictures there. During monsoon the place is pure bliss. The roads are simply fantastic to drive/ride and for some reason I have found even the crappy bike tyres finding amazing grip especially the Kudremukh route.

Thanks for sharing.

[VedderTheFixer]

Originally Posted by raghunandanj

Can you please share your travel experiences of biking through the Bhadra tiger reserve ? I would be surely interested in that piece of unexplored land.

Oh absolutely, so once you leave Chikmagalur & drive to Bhadra, you enter through a checkpost and pay a nominal sum (20 bucks i thinks).

The ride itself is a lot of fun. You ride through the hills, with sheer drops at places. My take is ride slow, take it easy as you may encounter the odd jeep guy ripping downward when you least expect it .

There's a lovely viewpoint which you should get to within 15 minutes of the entrance. You see nothing but mountains and greenery for vast expanses. Great place to stop and click some pics. This is a prominent spot & i'm sure you will have no problem finding it.

Once you leave this place, the road ahead is in pretty bad shape and some sections are a challenge. It's a combination of muddy sections & stones. There are stones absolutely everywhere and i think we managed because we were on an Impulse and the suspension and tyres on that bike are brilliant.

Some sections seem to be cutoff from sunlight for longer hours than others. Here you will have large muddy potholes and some slush. We kept scraping our Indica Vista on a previous visit. If you're on a bike, it is advisable to stay covered as there are nasty caterpillars which sort of hang from trees and latch on to you as you ride by. The itch is terrible and nothing like i experienced before. Was also stung by a large fly like insect on a few occasions, but the pain subsides in 15 minutes with no lasting effects.

We did manage to spot a snake too, not sure if it was a cobra or rat snake. The fellow was off in a flash.

We were told to visit Kalhatti Falls by a localite but it was disappointing to say the least. Too many people around , too much noise and the falls are not great either.

I rode the way back from Kalhatti and the 36 km ride took almost two and a half hours. Lots of fun though, i totally suggest you do it on a bike and when there;s enough light left. This place has a sizeable population of leopards and a few tigers as well. Incidentally, there are 3 man eating leopards housed at Shimoga which were born here. One of them killed a man and all three were branded man eaters. I got to see them up close and was blown by their ferocity. That's another story though

So this is how it goes

[VedderTheFixer]

Originally Posted by raghunandanj

Can you please share your travel experiences of biking through the Bhadra tiger reserve ? I would be surely interested in that piece of unexplored land.

Couldn't resist sharing this one

[Tassem]

Fantastic Log Raghu! Thank you for sharing.

Would you say February is a good time to visit? Also, how many days would you advise to ensure that I can cover most of the must-see places?

My wife and I are planning a trip and this appears to be exactly what the doctor prescribed.

Thanks!

Tassem.

[raghunandanj]

Originally Posted by Tassem

Fantastic Log Raghu! Thank you for sharing.

Would you say February is a good time to visit? Also, how many days would you advise to ensure that I can cover most of the must-see places?

My wife and I are planning a trip and this appears to be exactly what the doctor prescribed.

Thanks!

Tassem.

Thanks Tassem.

I would NOT suggest February, as it is already quite dry and the resplendent greens are no longer there. Some unpaved sections can be dusty, so if your wife is looking for a breath of fresh air in cool weather, then this is not the time for it.

The best time is between mid-August and mid-October, and considering all the activities listed in this travelogue, you can complete all of them in 3 days.

Cheers !

[VindyWheels]

Hi Raghu,

Excellent compilation. Can you also suggest stay options?

I have driven from Manipal to Bangalore and it was a wonderful journey.

Drove till the Bhagvati camp, but they informed prior booking from the forest department is required. The setting looked quite inviting though I am not sure if it will be suitable for a family stay.

Cheers

Vindy

[ampere]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi Raghu,

Excellent compilation. Can you also suggest stay options?

I have driven from Manipal to Bangalore and it was a wonderful journey.

You have couple of home stays. (Upasana and Thangali). Upasana is closer to Kundremukh. Its at Samse. Kalasa main town has a hotel.

[guyfrmblr]

Hi Raghunandan, I'm late to see this thread but your travelogue gives a very detailed information about Kudremukha and surroundings. It brought back the memories of my drive in November 2012. We spent more time in exploring the ghost town of Kudremukha which was once buzzing with employees of the iron ore company. Some of the scenes in the town were straight out of the post apocalyptic games like Stalker and Fallout series. I wonder why the Lakya dam is still guarded. I have few photos to share.

The residential quarters. I could hardly see any people or activity here.


Most of the roads in the town are lined with beautiful trees.


Peaceful walk in the ghost town. I wonder what these people do for living in the ghost town.


The forest department office near the highway.


Somewhere between Kudremukha and S.K.Border.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

I wonder why the Lakya dam is still guarded. I have few photos to share.

The CISF guy guarding the place mentioned the waste in the dam can also be used to extract more metals. Hence its still guarded.

Even I have a couple of snaps of the place. Not sure if it can be shared.

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by ampere

The CISF guy guarding the place mentioned the waste in the dam can also be used to extract more metals. Hence its still guarded.

Even I have a couple of snaps of the place. Not sure if it can be shared.

I didn't know that the waste slurry has so much value. Given the mentality of the people, they would loot it within no time if not guarded. But the scene from that place is fantastic. Any idea about the visit to the abandoned factory and old mines? If the permission can be obtained, it would be worth a visit. But I highly doubt if they'll give the permission citing security reasons. I also wanted to visit the birth place of Thunga Badhra but we were already running out of stipulated time and hence couldn't visit.