[rjstyles69]

This trip was planned well in advance , say about 2 months back. I was pondering on visiting Andamans from Dec 27th to the 1st of Jan. However the air fareswere way too high to even give it a thought. For the kinda money quoted I could have traveled to some foreign destination.Went ahead and gave this idea a pass and started off with short listing places.

Since our last visit to Vagamon me and my better half had enough of mountains, mist and rains. For Christmas it had to be the beach and the inevitable tan it leaves you with.

I had a few beach resorts on my mind from coastal karanataka and none of them had reservations due to the holiday season. Darn never knew people would bookplaces 2-3 months in advance. Finally Turtle Bay came to the rescue. Went ahead and booked the place from the 27th- 30th. From the 30th onwards it was mostly cruising through unfamiliar places.

With christmas around the corner I had to be home and celebrate it with my folks. Apparently on the 26th we had nothing to do and just a week before ourtravel dates I ask my wife if we can visit thirtahalli and stay at Vihangama. She was all game and even suggested we visit Kuppalli where Kuvempu the noted Kannada writer who contributed towards Kannada Literature lived.

Call up Vihangama and speak to Kaanena the gentlemen who runs the place. Confirmed my booking and there I am waiting for my vacation to start. Apparently 2days before traveling the Scorp' gets new footwear. What more I was simply waiting for the D-day to put these tires thru the acid test.

Day 1 : 26th Dec


Route taken : Bangalore -- Nelamangala--Tumkur--Gubbi--Tiptur--Arasikere--Kadur--Birur--Tarikere--Shimoga--Ayanur(took a left into some forest range)-- Tirthahalli
367kms one way.


Manage to get out of town by 5am itself. I am sure all you chaps pretty much know the situation once you cross peenya. Endless lines of trucks, parked
trucks, buses coming in the wrong direction yaada yaada.
We get thru to Nelamangala without a fuss and continue our journey. Pretty un-eventful and we stop at Birur for breakfast.
By about 10:00 am , we are on the outskirts of Shimoga. Quite a few stops for some photography and then we encounter the 1st road block.





We are driving out of Shimoga and enroute thirtahalli one of the bridges has collapsed. From what I could see, it was the tunga canal construction which could have caused this.
One of the localite guides me thru an interior route and in the distance I see a long line of buses and trucks. The interior road has huge craters which isquite capable swallowing the scorp' itself. Decided to turn around since it isn’t gonna be easy to complete this detour without a 4x4.
I see a few other cars and warn them not to go ahead coz they could be stranded. A few listen and turn back while the others decide to take the road.

GPS isn’t showing me any alternate routes. Then comes a local dump truck driver as our guardian angel. Asks me to drive to Ayanur and then take the left from there and continue. The road would directly take us to Thirtahalli road.

The dude was darn right, continued on the journey through some lovely winding roads in the forest and we were at thirthalli by about 1pm.







A nice sumptuous lunch at Vihangama served by our hosts and am all set to hit the sack for a quick nap.






This day was purely for relaxing and nothing else. I get my 40 winks while wifey continues with her reading. I am up by 4:30pm, freshen up and then take a stroll along the banks of the tunga river.









By about 5:30pm our host Kaneena takes us for a boat ride along the river. The price is a bit too steep at 500 bucks for a 20 mins drive. We are taken to the volcanic rock caves and back.














Meanwhile the skies catch my attention while in the boat. What else go click click ....









We chat up a bit and he remembers that members from tbhp were there last year for a weekend sojourn.He then tells me he still is in touch with fellow member Hari(lukeskywalker).

For the rest of the evening we take a stroll around the place and have dinner by 9pm. Watch some TV and are off to sleep. Tomorrow we are visiting Kuppalli, Sringeri and Agumbe.

stay tuned....

[yajaman99]

I am hooked, waiting for more pics and what happens next.
Love the volcanic rock caves , they look fantastic.

[trtraj]

Excellent Pics Riju, Will wait for more pics and travelouge of next days...

[mjothi]

Wow, the first pic, for a moment I was thinking if its in India Excellent.

Thirtahalli, you bought my memories of last year man. Those wonderful times in the river, rock caves, boat rides and what not.

Ok, enough of mine! Let me have yours please

[Rocky_Balboa]

As the dance show host says, Bloddy Fantastic Riju... I loved Your pics man.
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome.

[vasanthn21]

the volcanic caves look awesome!

[s3va]

Excellent Pics

From what you have mentioned about the tough time that you had to get a booking at a beach resort, I think I was fortunate enough to get our stay at Sun Castle, Koteshwar.

And how do you manage to get hold of these homestays and that too at a place like THirathahali that is not so famous. ??

[akroy]

Hey Riju, Wonderful start. The pics are simply awesome. I keep browsing your previous threads at leisure times just to see the pics again and again.

the pics of Vihangama really brought back memories of our trip there last year. And the boat ride too.

Waiting to hear the rest of the story.
Abhi

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by yajaman99

I am hooked, waiting for more pics and what happens next.Love the volcanic rock caves , they look fantastic.

Rajesh there aint much to harp about it. Hardly takes 5 mins to see the place.However truly eye candy if captured on camera by a professional. I aint one though !!

Originally Posted by trtraj

Excellent Pics Riju, Will wait for more pics and travelouge of next days...

Originally Posted by mjothi

Wow, the first pic, for a moment I was thinking if its in India Excellent.

Thirtahalli, you bought my memories of last year man. Those wonderful times in the river, rock caves, boat rides and what not.

Ok, enough of mine! Let me have yours please

Originally Posted by Rocky_Balboa

As the dance show host says, Bloddy Fantastic Riju... I loved Your pics man.
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome.

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

the volcanic caves look awesome!

Thanks chaps.

Originally Posted by s3va

Excellent Pics

From what you have mentioned about the tough time that you had to get a booking at a beach resort, I think I was fortunate enough to get our stay at Sun Castle, Koteshwar.

And how do you manage to get hold of these homestays and that too at a place like THirathahali that is not so famous. ??

Sun Castle , I tried they said they were full. Regarding Vihangama at Thirtahalli, its a pretty famous place atleast here in tbhp.

Originally Posted by akroy

Hey Riju, Wonderful start. The pics are simply awesome. I keep browsing your previous threads at leisure times just to see the pics again and again.

the pics of Vihangama really brought back memories of our trip there last year. And the boat ride too.

Waiting to hear the rest of the story.
Abhi

Well Kaneena remembers most of ya'll and did make a mention of tbhp.

[Lukeskywalker]

In your own words - "You lucky Dawg"
Taking off on a holiday into malnad and then coastal Karnataka in winter, wow.
Keep the pics flowing, I have similar snaps of Vihangama, but then the quality can't be compared.
Not bad kaneena still remembers our bunch.

[akroy]

Originally Posted by Lukeskywalker

In your own words - "You lucky Dawg"
Taking off on a holiday into malnad and then coastal Karnataka in winter, wow.
Keep the pics flowing, I have similar snaps of Vihangama, but then the quality can't be compared.
Not bad kaneena still remembers our bunch.

ya Hari, must say, it was because of you the trip became a huge success. You were the one who suggessted and co-ordinated with kannan.

The pic of convoy driving comes up the mind and not to mention the Perez point.

Abhi

[samish_g]

Riju Sir, May I have the audacity to ask the make of the camera? Is it a DSLR?
Which mode did you use to shoot during dusk?

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by samish_g

Riju Sir, May I have the audacity to ask the make of the camera? Is it a DSLR?
Which mode did you use to shoot during dusk?

samish lets keep the Sir aside for the moment. I use a Nikon D80 and most of my shots have been taken in Aperture mode.

[Roameo]

Nice start to your travelogue and stunning pics. I visited Teerthahalli in Sep'09 and stayed at Vihangama. Visited Kuppali, Jog, Agumbe on the way to Udupi. A most memorable trip captured in my travelogue:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ald-route.html

Quality of my pics are no where close to yours though.

Waiting eagerly for more of your experience and pics to see the region through your eyes.

[rjstyles69]

Day 2 : December 27th

Darn its raining today, was all bright and sunny yesterday. Anyways I decide to take a stroll around the place , minus the camera.

Breakfast is ready by 8:30am and we are done with the payment formalities and leave the place by 9:30am.Looks like I am gonna have a hectic day ahead because the list for today looks like this

Kuppalli
Sringeri
Doddamane (kasturi akka's place)
Agumbe
Finally the beach at kundapur.

(By now maggie calls me and says that he has left bangalore. Maggie would be joining us at Kundapur today by late evening)

Reach Thirtahalli main road and take the deviation towards Koppa. Kuppalli is on the same road , where noted kannada poet Kuvempu lived. For those of you who don't know kuvempu please read here

Kuvempu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hindu : Echoing the poetic Malnad





Am kinda flabbergasted seeing this persons achievements in life. Definitely an endowed man with special writing skills.
We take a stroll and I realize what made this person such a legend with the poems and literature he wrote.The place where he sat and penned all his books has a wonderful view of the western ghats and trust me you and I could become poets just by sitting there.









Photography isn't allowed inside the house and there is a book store at his house where you could pick up books authored by him. A quick visit to the kavishaala and we are back on the road to Sringeri.



Reach Sringeri and park the scorp' much before the temple coz I can see the chaos from a distance itself.
We are done with the temple formalities (pardon my ignorance have no idea what transpired inside) and then I see a long line of stranded vehicles. I am lucky for the 2nd time, I just manage to reverse and turn the scorp’ around without much of a fuss. An innova driver holds up traffic behind him to let me pass. Favor returned since I helped him clear quite a few vehicles parked earlier when he came out of the temple.

Make a quick call to Maggie and tell him to ditch the idea of visiting sringeri today. It wasn’t worth the time and effort since the temple was thronged by devotees and parking was a huge problem.
Back on road we are cruising thru the winding ghats en-route Agumbe.

Bang comes the next request from my beloved lady. I need the “ mandaale “ . Mandaale is name of the cap made from arecanut leaf plates used commonly by the farmers in the Malnad region.I know what she meant but where do I find it. Inquire in a few shops and they guide me to Agumbe which is the hub formaking these caps.

I finally reach Agumbe and find a shop selling these. Pick up 2 and head straight off the Doddamane which is like 100 mtrs from where we are parked.











While inside I find Gowri Shankar(hope I got the name right) from ARRS. He was the same guy who was assisting Rom(Romulus Whitaker) in the NGC show “ Secrets of the cobra” . Speak to him and then I take a few pics of Doddamane. Food is served here to every visitor and you can pay whatever you feel like.

Typical roadside hotel in the malnad region



45 mins later we are back on road and driving to Agumbe Ghats. Agumbe ghats has become an eye-sore now with all the plastic and dirt tourists litter the place with. I decide not to stop since its way too foggy and absolutely nothing can be seen from the view point. Wifey agrees and we drive on.

This is the best view we had after the 3rd hair pin bend. I deliberately under exposed the 1st one. The 2nd image has the actual view.





The roads in Agumbe ghat road is in shambles . Think twice if you really wanna traverse this route. We take the deviation before Hebri , drive via Harady to reach kundapur by 5pm.One last quick stop at a local chai shop for that much needed cup of tea.This road is pretty narrow and you gotto simply demand your way if there is oncoming traffic.



Check into Turtle bay and 15 mins later I get a call from Samurai saying that he was on his way back from Goa and would like to catch up for a few mins. We spend some time with the Samurai’s, they bid their adieus’ and leave to manipal.

Our 1st sight of the beach



By now its 7pm and all this while it hasn’t rained in Kundapur and then the heavens open up for a few mins. I somehow have a gut feeling that Maggie is close by and there you go my phone rings.
Maggie is in kundapur and asks for directions to reach Turtle Bay. I offer to pick up him from the highway and drive towards NH-17.

See how the weather changed?



It’s been a long day we share our driving experiences, have dinner and hit the sack. Pretty uneventful again and has been a good day. The Scorp’ returned a mileage of close to 13.84kmpl since we started with 80% AC on. All thru today’s drive I was demanding my space on the roads. Well yes I simply shoved a few vehicles off the road to the shoulder who never gave way. Couldn’t control and have been grinning teeth to teeth.

Tomorrow is gonna be fun-filled coz we have the beach at our disposal for the whole day.
Total distance traveled today is about 295kms.

more to come....