[suresh_gs]

Folks

I had been to Kanhangad on a 3 day vacation starting 17th May 2017 and returned back to Bangalore on 20th May. The places we visited were truly spectacular in terms of cleanliness, maintenance and crowd was also very less.

Day1: Drive from Bangalore to Kanhangad. Visited the Kanhangad beach in the evening.
Day 2: Ananthapura Lake Temple, Madhur Ganesh Temple, Bekal Fort, Kappil Beach
Day 3: Ranipuram Trekking, Bekal Beach.
Day 4: Drive to Bangalore.

For the onward journey went via Mysore road, KRS Road, Hunsur, Gonikoppal, Makuta, Irikkur, Sreekandapuram and Taliparamba

For the return journey came via Ranipuram, Panathoor, Bhagamandala, Madikeri, Hunsur and Mysore.

More details to follow...

[suresh_gs]

Folks

Before I detail my travelogue, I would like to thank RajeshK wholeheartedly for his guidance on the route I had to take along with options to break for food. It was a nice gesture on his part to offer his help in this regard.

Now coming to the trip, I booked accommodation in Hotel Raj Residency in Kanhangad. I left my home in Bangalore on 17th May by 6:15 and decided to take the city roads to reach Mysore Road. Did not encounter much traffic. Stopped at Hotel Vatikka on Mysore Road for tiffin. The ambiance of the place is very good and it has some antique pieces for display like an old typewriter that I manged to take a snap.


After having my breakfast, continued on my journey. Traffic was slightly less on Mysore road considering the fact that I was travelling on a working day. Once I reached KRS road junction took the deviation accordingly. The KRS Road is a very good 2 lane road. This can be a good option to bypass Mysore City

KRS Road





The road to Hunsur is a combination of very good, patchy 2 lane road. In some sections I noticed pothole in the middle of the lane. Otherwise no issues on this stretch as well

ROAD TO HUNSUR





The road from Hunsur to Gonikoppal was more scenic and better in terms of road surface.

HUNSUR TO GONIKOPPAL





To be continued...

[suresh_gs]

Post Gonikoppal we headed towards Makuta where I was lucky enough to spot an elephant.

GONIKOPPAL TO MAKUTA




I then set the destination as Irikkur in google maps and proceeded via the ghat roads. The road surface was smooth with lots of twists and turns making the drive even more enjoyable

GHAT ROADS






After entering Kerala, the roads all the way till i reached my destination were very good 2 lane roads. My plan was to stop for lunch at BAMBOO FRESH at Taliparamba only to find that the hotel is closed for renovation.
I then took a right turn on the NH66 and stopped at Hotel Highway Inn for lunch. Finally reached the hotel at 4 PM.

[suresh_gs]

17th May Evening: Kanhangad Beach

This was pretty close to the hotel and decided to spend the evening at the beach. There was hardly any crowd and my kids thoroughly enjoyed playing in the water.





18th May Morning

Ananthapura Lake Temple

This Vishnu temple is located in a town called Kumbla. The temple is located in the middle of a lake and hence the name lake temple. The specialty of this temple is that you find a Vegetarian Crocodile in the lake that takes the food fed by the priests. The feeding is done at 8 30 AM and around 12 PM. We reached the temple by around 11 AM and after completing the darshan of the main deity, proceeded to the lake hoping to see the crocodile.
I was told that public is not allowed during the feeding of the crocodile. Infact there are many fishes in the lake but I believe that the crocodile has not eaten any of them till date. The name of the crocodile is BABIYA.
I did spot the crocodile putting its mouth out of water on 2 occasions but by the time i tried to take a snap of the same, it went inside. Moreover the crowd around the lake had increased with everyone hoping to see the crocodile.









MADHUR GANESH TEMPLE

This temple is about 7 kms from the Ananthapura lake temple. It was close to 12 30 PM when i reached this temple.

[suresh_gs]

18th May Evening

Bekal Fort

This fort is located close to where i stayed and is very well maintained. More than me writing about this place, let the snaps speak on my behalf

[suresh_gs]

Bekal Fort (contd)

[suresh_gs]

18th May Evening

Kappil Beach

This beach is further north of Bekal Fort. But I found the beach to be rough in terms of the height of the waves. Infact a board is displayed cautioning the visitors not to stay beyond 7 PM





19th May Morning

Ranipuram Trekking

This place is located pretty close to the KL-KA border and in fact I retraced the same path on my return journey to Bangalore. To reach the hill point, the roads are pretty steep and in some stretches I had to climb in I gear only.
After buying the entry tickets, we started to climb the hills through a forest that is well fenced with electric wires to ward off elephants. We started to climb by around 11 AM and the weather was mighty cool. Hardly any crowd at that spot. By the time we reached the foot of the hills, it was close to 12 30 PM

[suresh_gs]

Ranipuram Trekking contd

[suresh_gs]

19th May Evening

Bekal Beach and Park

Once again another beach in the evening as my kids loved playing in the water.






20th May Morning

Checked out of the hotel by 9 15 AM after having the complimentary breakfast and retraced the Ranipuram route as mentioned above

ROAD TO RANIPURAM

This is a 2 lane road very good initially and then it becomes above average gradually but very much motorable.

[suresh_gs]

RANIPURAM TO KL-KA BORDER VIA PANATHOOR

I noticed road construction work in progress very close to the border.






KL-KA BORDER TO BHAGAMANDALA

Unlike the other forest route via Makuta, the Bhagamandala route is devoid of traffic. I would have spotted about 4 vehicles on the whole before reaching Bhagamandala. Some of the stretches are very good to drive especially while nearing Bhagamandala while in other sections of the forest route, the road surface is broken at few places. Once can drive without any issues though. I enjoyed the Bhagamandala route and would rate it better compared to the route via Makuta.






The Bhagamandala to Madikeri route is a also very good to drive but one has to be watchful of morons attempting risky overtaking as the route is of twists and turns. I stopped for lunch at Madikeri and then proceeded via Hunsur , Mysore ORR and NICE road to reach home in Bangalore by 8 45 PM

It was an eventful trip in the sense from encountering very less crowd / traffic to maddening traffic back in Bangalore. In short to sum it up , I would call this trip a transition from Heaven to Earth.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!

[suresh_gs]

May be not related to this thread. During my trip to Kanhangad, petrol price at Indian Oil bunk was Rs 68.68 while in Bangalore BP (Bommanahalli), price was Rs 70.06.
I was under the impression that petrol price was costlier in KL compared to KA. When this turnaround took place ?

[RajeshK]

Looks like completely missed your updates... many thanks for the Panathur route pics Suresh...!! Now we have to take this route as the Makuta road is closed for repair