[dreamdiesel]

Route: Bangalore – Hunsur – Nagarahole National Park – Kutta – Virajpet – Madikeri – Panathur – Kanhangad – Kannur – Calicut – Kalpetta – Gundlupet – Mysore – Bangalore

Places Visited: Drive through Nagarahole National Park, Iruppu Falls, Abbey Falls, Talacauvery, Bhagamandala, Bekal Fort, St. Angelo Fort, Muzhappilangad Drive-In Beach, Kappad Beach and Vasco da Gama Memorial, Edakkal Caves, Pookot Lake, Half way up Chembra Peak.

All Right… Its Kerala again!!! After my road trip in September covering Munnar, Thekkady and Kochi, I wanted to go back and explore the Northern part of God’s Own country. Never seen a state in India packed with so much lush greenery. A state blessed with abundant streams, rivers, waterfalls, forests and hospitable people.

Wayanad was at the back of my mind, but I wanted to combine Wayanad with some other places in Kerala. I wanted to include Northern Kerala just to visit the Bekal Fort. Going through the thread on TBHP “Bangalore to Kannur – Road info needed”, sbraj and RajeshK recommended a route from Bhagamandala in Coorg towards Kanhangad close to Bekal Fort. That was the missing link and I quickly plotted the route which is going to take me to Madikeri, North Kerala, Wayanad and back to Bangalore. Again me and wifey in my Swift D off to Kerala again!!!


Preparation:

The car has done close to 24000kms. Just a week back I had been to Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram in the midst of cyclone that lashed South India and the car was very dirty inside out. After a complete wash from a nearby service station and the air filter cleaned I was ready to go. Also had the TBHP stickers put on the car, which was ordered recently. I fill up regular diesel (Rs.1100/29.6lts.) from IOC at RV road the previous day. All the bags packed and we planned to leave Bangalore by 6:30AM on Saturday morning.


Day 1 (28th November, 2009): Bangalore – Srirangapatna – Hunsur – Nagarhole National Park – Kutta – Gonikoppal – Virajpet – Madikeri

Trip Meter – 0kms to 332kms

We had to start by 6:30AM today. But due to some unforseen extra workload at office which had to be completed before my vacation, I had to slog in the office till early Saturday morning. I decide to delay the start by 11:00AM as I need atleast 5-6hrs of sleep before I drive. I am up by 10:30AM and already feeling refreshed, take a quick bath, load the luggage into the car and leave my house in Jayanagar by 11:30AM. We quickly make our way through Kanakapura road and take the NICE road towards Mysore Road. Join Mysore road by 12:00PM and go into cruise mode at 90-100kmph.

Due to the delay in start, I know by the time we reach Madikeri its going to be dark and would have to push visiting Abbey falls the next day. By 1:00PM, my grumbling tummy reminds me of the breakfast I skipped. Decide to stop at McDonalds after Channapatna. After a quick meal of Burgers and fries we hit the road again in 15mins. By 2:00PM, we are turning right after Srirangapatana at the deviation towards Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary. The 2 lane road is riddled with potholes about 8-10kms till the junction where the road from Mysore joins this road. Then the road condition gets better with occasional potholes. Then a fast paced drive on a smooth Mysore – Kushalnagar SH. Take the left towards Hunsur; enter the town and another left towards Nagarhole National park. It’s a single lane highway now till Nagarhole National park.


Swift D at McDonalds, Channapatna sporting the TBHP LTD sticker!!


Road towards Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary off Mysore Road.


Super smooth Mysore – Kushalnagar SH.


Good single lane road inside Nagarhole National park.


Another picture during the drive inside Nagarhole National park.


Good single lane road inside Nagarhole National park.


Just loved the blue sky with tall trees around.

The road inside the forest is in very good condition. It’s a slow drive now watching out for some wildlife. We spotted herds of deers and some elephants. Was a relaxing drive through the forest, cold breeze with sunlight peeping through the dense forest canopy.


A Small lake inside the forest.


This fella was chained to the tree.


I guess trying to tame a wild elephant.


This guy here running away as soon as he saw my car.


Beautiful evening sunlight in the forest.


Deers everywhere!!!


Deers everywhere!!!


Deers again!!!


This forest is filled with deers!!!


One more pic of deers!!!


Just loved nature at its best.

By 4:30PM we are out of the forest, enter Kutta town and drive towards Gonikoppal. The 2 lane road has now become a single lane road with the sides broken away due to rains. Take the deviation towards Iruppu Falls and we are at the parking place by 5:00PM. Meet my collegemate from Bangalore here who is on a road trip with his friends. The last time I met him was less than a year back at Ooty. Strange!! It’s just that I usually meet him on road trips more often than in Bangalore.


Huge tree across the road. Cut the branches enough for a big vehicle to pass.


Evening sunlight on the hilltops.

We start the 1km walk towards Iruppu Falls. The weather is just perfect, with the evening chill settling in and bright sunlight on the hilltops around. It takes about 15-20mins walk to the waterfalls. The place is not much crowded and we spend about 20mins looking at the waterfalls and relaxing. Then we walk back to our car and by 6:00PM we start our drive towards Madikeri.


We start the trek towards Iruppu Falls.


The pathway towards the waterfalls.


The beautiful Iruppu Falls in the evening.


Tried some exposure stunts with the camera.


Iruppu Falls.

The road turns bad and then it’s no road. We are offroading and gets dusty with other vehicles passing by. By 7:00PM we are at Gonikoppal and road improved only about 4-5kms before Gonikoppal. Gonikoppal to Virajpet stretch is allright and bad roads again till Madikeri. By 8:00PM, we are at Madikeri and check into Hotel Rajadharshan near Raja seat. The standard of the hotel has gone down considerably and I have second thoughts about staying at this hotel now. Freshen up and relax for sometime. We take a walk outside in the cold night. We almost walk for a kilometer and decide to have dinner at Hotel East End. Though the non-vegetarian starter was good, the paneer butter masala was just onion paste with some raw paneer thrown in sans butter. After a not so good dinner we walked back to our hotel by 11:00PM. Off to bed by midnight.

Continued....

[Majic]

DD, nice to see your new thread, would be there through this all the way, as usual wonderful narration and good pictures, looking forward for more. Hey checkout my thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...i-madurai.html taken inspiration from your travelogue, yet to do ooty will do so soon

[shankar.balan]

well done man!
you seem to do lots of getaways!
nice pictures and keep driving safe!

[shishir_bn]

Hey nice pic and nice trip report. Keep the pic coming in. By the way what is the FE you got during the trip

[dreamdiesel]

Originally Posted by Majic

DD, nice to see your new thread, would be there through this all the way, as usual wonderful narration and good pictures, looking forward for more. Hey checkout my thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...i-madurai.html taken inspiration from your travelogue, yet to do ooty will do so soon

Thanks Majic for the encouraging words. I did check your thread..

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

well done man!
you seem to do lots of getaways!
nice pictures and keep driving safe!

Thanks Shankar. Yes 2009 was filled with getaways at regular intervals.

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

Hey nice pic and nice trip report. Keep the pic coming in. By the way what is the FE you got during the trip

Thanks shishir. I got an average of about 21kmpl with about 60-70% AC usage.

[Chevy_lover]

Hi Dreamdiesel, nice start to your log. Very nice pics. I am eagerly waiting for pics of Coorg and the rest of the places you visited. Do continue.

[laluks]

Hey dreamdiesel

that tree seems to be there at nagarahole exit right from August. This picture was taken during my august visit to coorg.



That chained elephant could be the same one on duty

[dreamdiesel]

Originally Posted by laluks

Hey dreamdiesel

that tree seems to be there at nagarahole exit right from August. This picture was taken during my august visit to coorg.
That chained elephant could be the same one on duty

Hey laluks. The elephant which was chained was pretty young and was a little aggressive. The tree has been there for quite sometime then. Might be little dangerous during a night drive through this stretch.

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

Hi Dreamdiesel, nice start to your log. Very nice pics. I am eagerly waiting for pics of Coorg and the rest of the places you visited. Do continue.

Thanks CL. Keep visiting the thread. Will be updating it shortly..

[subhashnm]

Originally Posted by laluks

Hey dreamdiesel

that tree seems to be there at nagarahole exit right from August. This picture was taken during my august visit to coorg.

I too remember that tree from my trip in September. They seem to be taking an awful lot of time to remove one fallen tree!

[laluks]

Originally Posted by subhashnm

I too remember that tree from my trip in September. They seem to be taking an awful lot of time to remove one fallen tree!

Since that tree is very near the exit checkpost, they'd love to have it that way. An additional checkpost for them

[Majic]

DD, please dont keep us waiting please give in your daily dose of excitement with narrations and pictures to go with it.

[shishir_bn]

21FE is amazing.So you are utilizing the last drop of fuel also.Fantastic. Keep up the good work of posting good snaps

[subhashnm]

Eagerly awaiting the rest of your travelogue. I too was in Nagarhole in September and absolutely loved the road that goes through the NP.

Did you take the road from Kutta to Mananthavady in Kerala? That was horrendous then. Last I heard it is no better even now. Also, there were quite a few wild elephants on that road. We even got chased by one. That was one hell of an experience! It left us all shaking for a few minutes after that :P

[gajadonga]

Good pictures and narration.Keep going.

[Aquarian20]

Nice pictures and good narration. Please continue.