[Samurai]

This one is a short travelogue considering I have already written most of the exciting parts in the Chikmagalur off-roading thread.

We left for Shimoga via Agumbe ghats on 22nd afternoon, and we stayed a relatives house there. Next day we left for Chikmagalur, to a Home Stay in Green Dale Coffe estate. The roads from Shimoga to Tarikere was average, giving no hint about the carnage to follow. We were supposed to turn towards Lingadahalli about 4Kms after Tarikere. Right after Tarikeri we ran into a horrible stretch of road going towards Kadur which is not unlike the road between Mudigere and Charmady. After driving few KMs through this hell, we had a feeling that we missed the turn. The vehicles were moving very slowly, I could ask directions from an oncoming car while both were still moving. Yup, we had missed the turn. So we turned back towards Tarikere through the god-forsaken road. As we reached Tarikere, it turned out that the road towards Lingadahalli was very much within the town. I guess the town has grown since the map was made.

The road towards Lingadahalli and beyond was in supreme shape. As we started climbing the narrow ghat roads going to Chikmagalur, we were practically amazed. I was later told that these were built by L&T, small wonder. We were stopped and questioned by cops at least twice on the way.

As we reached Kaimara, we ran into another police dragnet. The remaining story about the Home Stay continues here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-of...reen-dale.html

Next day we went around exploring Babu-budangiri mountain ranges. We had never realised that Chikmagalur district was this pretty. I know we all talk about Coorg as the most beautiful place in Karnataka, and I have lived there. But this place exceeds Coorg in some respects. For one thing it is 2000ft higher and consists of the highest peaks in Karnataka. Because of the height, the beauty is more visible. I'll let the photos do the talk.



















After enjoying this visual feast in the middle of the afternoon, we returned back. We skipped the usual tourist spots of babubudangiri and certain lake around there.

That evening we again left for Mullainagiri which we had covered previous night. Today we wanted the daylight view, and this time I was driving the scary road to the peak. As we got close, we encountered the broken gravel road with only horizon as barricade. That drive is really unnerving. I have no photos of this road since I wanted to get out of there ASAP, I didn't want to deal with the situation of encountering oncoming traffic here. Brrrr!

Mullainagiri (highest peak of Karnataka)


Another view from near the Mullainagiri peak


Most tourists were climbing to see the temple on the top, but with two small kids we passed it up. After the photoshoot we turned back.

Next day after checking out from Green Dale, we left for Belur. The roads were in good condition and we reached Belur by 12.45PM. First we had lunch at a restaurant near the temple and then visited the temple. The parking fee was 30 bucks and there was no entry fee. That was a pleasant surprise. Initially we looked around for a guide, but we didn't find anybody. Later that turned out to be a good thing. We could go around in our own pace along with the kids. Besides, we found the guides talking all kind of rubbish just to keep the words flowing non-stop. Good thing I didn't pay for it. I have read the story of Vishnuvardhana and Shantala enough number of times.

The sun was really harsh, so we rested the kids under one nice cool shady roof and took turns going out check the place.

I have post-processed the shots to some unreal artistic effect to undo the harsh sunlight, so bear with me.













This is where the kids stayed most of the time.




The main temple in one shot.


After spending an hour here, we decided to skip Halebeedu since that place will be very similar to here. So, we decided to turn towards home and took off heading to Mudigere. The trip until Mudigere was normal, over decent enough roads. But the roads that followed were pure hell, the most horrible roads I have ever driven. We almost drove 25Kms on this road from purgatory. Having a SUV in this road is a blessing, I could see the car drivers limping along painfully. At one point a Lancer tried not to let me pass, making me laugh. He could keep it up for 5 seconds before turning to the side to avoid a huge pit. I passed him within next few seconds, and within couple of minutes he was a dot in my rear-view mirror. What an atrocious road. It got much better once we reached Charmady ghats. Soon we passed Ujire, Belthangady, G.Kere and turned towards Karkala enroute to Udupi. We reached home at 7:30PM to conclude the 4 day long trip.

[sreenidhibr]

Nice account and good photos. I remember visiting Belur - Halebedu as a kid; perhaps time for another visit, this time with my kids

Chikmagalur looks stunning. BTW, is that smoke seen in images <http://samurai.smugmug.com/photos/239198070-L.jpg> and <http://samurai.smugmug.com/photos/239198098-L.jpg> ? Was there a fire or something?

[spadival]

Can this trip be done in a normal car? I had planned the trip last time I went home, but thought better of it, considering the road conditions.

Finally, we settled for a short trip to Jamalabad fort (Gadai Kal) near Belthangadi

[sushrutha]

Yeah it's pretty much sad to hear Chikmagalur being underrated as compared to coorg, Probably chikmagalur is not commercialised when compared to Coorg
Samurai, spadival
The good part is that, the stretch between Mudigere -Kottigehara some patch work is going on. That brings us a sigh of relief.
If the road is properly tarred even in the Ghats, then the trip can be done in a normal car. It's indeed very scenic route.

[lohithrao]

Nice pics!

@spadival yes it could be done in normal cars

[NIP]

excellent log backed by some superb photos. samurai, as always, this was a really good read. thanks for sharing and please keep em coming.

[akroy]

Excellent pics again Samurai...

Now that Charmadi Ghat road is also hell, I wonder which is the correct route to Mangalore? Any status update of Shiradi ghat, heard that repair is on...

Abhi

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by sreenidhibr

Chikmagalur looks stunning. BTW, is that smoke seen in images Was there a fire or something?

Yes it's fire. Often we get to see this .
When i was a kid, my school was just below these mountians (that's y the name Mountain View school) often we used to see fire in the mountain during night & that was one wonderful sight.

[srishiva]

Samurai, Great photos.
One thing I am not so sure about is what you said about Halebeedu being the same as Belur.
After seeing Halebeedu, you will forget Belur.

[ayaskanti]

Great pics Samurai. Is it an Olympus?

[maddy42]

Awesome pics. Guys from Chic used to always keep telling about the hills around and even say that its more beautiful than coorg. Well we used to have arguments over it but frankly speaking these pics made me realise that. This place is really good. Guess because coorg is slightly more commercially shown that people forget about visiting chicmaglur

[spadival]

During the engineering college days, we had stayed for a couple of days at a friend's coffee estate in Chick.. While trekking around the estate area, we came across tiger pug marks on the soft sand near a stream !! Anyway, my friend was lugging a double barrel rifle as a precaution..

Re Chickmaglur being better than Coorg, its no wonder that Taj group have their resort in Chickmaglur.

[maddy42]

@spadival WELL tata has been trying to get a resort inside nagarhole but was facing some problem. So they still dont have any resort in coorg.
BTW the latest update is that they are permitted to have a resort somewhere close to the elephant camp on hunsur kutta route in the forest

[mobike008]

Nice pictures. I recall seeing some of the pictures probably in another travelogue ( especially the highest peak with that snaky footpath)

[rjstyles69]

Samurai excellent pictures . Great job with the camera there.

Did we shoot the same landscape by any chance ?