A lazy Friday at Office. You look out of the window and see that it is blowing gusts. Decide to drive back home early at 7 pm. You reach Indian Express Junction... Not many people walking on the road, understandable... its raining... You take a look at the sky straining your back through the front glass of the car... Thick low Grey clouds hovering over a city which has this tendency to pour whenever it hits a warm patch for a while. You get an idea..Bing!
Me: Hello!
wife: left office? i can hear traffic around you..So u should be somewhere near mission road already.
Me: listen, lets drive to some place tomorrow. I will take leave on Monday
Wife: !!! ok! where?
Me: hmmmm............ Vihangama...Theerthalli
Wife: Super.Will call them now and try to check the vacancy
Me: done.
Saturday Morning:
I still think i am in my dreams.. i hear some ambulance with its buzzer....
Oh no.. its the alarm.. 4.20 am
I walk down the stairs to my parents room. They are still fast asleep.
Me: Amma, its already 4.20.. Get up.
Amma: Oh is it.. switch on the boiler.. btw.. had u seen 4.20 am anytime in the last 2 years?
I smiled. But i know, i will, if i have to.
We are all ready with 6 bottles of water (Parents very specific about the water they drink when they travel), Father had already gone to Shastry Iyengar bakery previous night to pack "dil kush", "banana chips", "potato bun" and what not.
We leave JP Nagar, Bangalore at 6.30 am. Take the NICE road upto Tumkur Road NH4 junction. NICE road toll from Kanakapura Road to Tumkur Road junction is Rs.50
The drive from NICE junction to Nelamangala is pretty bad it takes 30 min.
We take the following route to Theerthalli from Bangalore.
Bangalore -- NICE road -- Nelamangala -- Tumkur -- Gubbi -- Tiptur -- Arasikere -- Kadur -- birur -- Tarikere -- Bhadravathi -- Shimoga -- Gajanoor -- Via Shetty Halli Reserve Forest -- Vihangama Holiday Retreat.
Total Distance: 362 Kms
We stop for breakfast at Dabaspet at Pavithra for some Idli-butter.
We continue driving and take left on NH206 BH road (Bangalore-Honnavar Road) towards Shimogga.
The Road is in decent condition. The ride till Kadur is uneventful. After kadur, the scenery starts to change. On to the left, we see the bababundan hills over chickmagaloor. And lots of sunflower fields...
A lake near Bhadravathi.. and a Kingfisher is on its duty...
We pull aside for a few shots. Parents are already worrying about our lunch at Vihangama.
Amma: DO Vihangama serves Veg
Me: Oh yes
Amma : Non-veg
Me: No
Amma: Garlic?
Me: No
Mom looks satisfied already.
After 5.5 hours and 300 Kms, we reach Shimogga. We cross the Tunga Bridge and enter the town of Shimogga. My Mom spent her childhood in Shimogga and she recalls how she used to go the river Tunga with her mom for washing clothes! She is happy.
Wife is happy with the sound quality of the new Kenwood MPX5110 U 2 DIN on my Fiesta.
She hears each beat of the Tabla now... "9k worth alva?".. I nod.
We want to see Gajanoor dam. Recently this overflow dam for Tunga has been upgraded to a proper reservoir as the "Upper Tunga Project". The brown muddy mass of water is a breathtaking experience.
I catch on a conversation with the Security. He believes the rains have been pretty good in the catchment this month. And the inflow has been steady. If it rains in Agumbe, Shringeri, Tunga flows full.
After a walk around the dam, we have a few slices of pineapple from a road side stall. We are the first customers today. Surprising that people shy away from travelling in Monsoons fearing the rains. They dont realise what they are missing!
Another 45 Kms on this road (NH13), we reach Vihangama Holiday Retreat.
This is a Simple yet satisfying Resort over the banks of River Tunga in the midst of the Malnad. No mobile connectivity and its heaven.
Enjoy the snaps.
Snaps of Vihangama, Agumbe, Udupi, Charmadi ---> coming in a while.
2 cameras have been used: 1 Nikon s200 with slightly low quality snaps & the others are from a Canon.