Bylakuppe, Dubare, Honey valley : Madikeri bike trip

Friend and I planned to do a 3-day trip to Madikkeri by bike and had a decent time being there.

Started early and skipped traffic in most of the places and reached Bylakuppe [through the Hunsur-Periyapatna route] by 12.00 PM. This was the first time I was visiting the monastery in Bylakuppe and there was a nice feel to the Tibetan settlement present there and also their golden monastery.

Imposing 60-foot idols of Bodisatva, Buddha and Amutayus invite the people in the inner sanctum of the monastery.

Buddha and Amitayus

Buddha @ Bylakuppe

We were just in time to view the monks during the prayer time

Long line of monks reciting their prayers

Next stop was Dubare where there was not much of water - so we could wade through knee deep water to the other side of the river bank where the elephants are found. Dubare seems like a nice place to relax and spend time in if one isnt in a hurry. The Jungle lodges there provide decent rooms at slightly inflated prices but its well worth one's while to try it sometime.

The route from Dubare to Madikkeri is quite scenic and is a fair bit of a technical challenge too. Not very steep but long meandering roads with winding turns interspersed with a hairpin here and there makes it a nice route to ride / drive in. Add the coffee plantations on one side and the smell of the coffee flowers, its a double delight and all the more reason why one should take it slow and take all the smell and the scene in while riding. We halted in Madikkeri for the night.

Personal advice: skip Abbi falls - its commercial and not that great. Raja's seat is perched atop the park and is just about OK. The park also has a musical fountain bewtween 6.30-7.00 PM almost all days - we went late but from I saw, it was quite good for the last few mins that I was able to view.

We planned to go to Honey valley the next day - though I have been there many times earlier, each individual visit to Honey valley is an unique experience by itself and I am getting quite fond of the place. Excellent views and ability to have long walks really impress me about this place vis-avis most other homestays where the walks end in 15 mins.

View from some 3.5-4 kms away from Honey valley towards Tadiandamol ridge walk route

Note: From Madikkeri - take the route to Mangalore to go to Honeyvalley. Madikkeri->Kakkabe->Kabbinakad. Honey valley is about 4 kms from Kabbinakad. One can park their car in the parking lot and then either walk up or ask for the jeep [call earlier to arrange for the same].

We came back to Blr through the Kabbinakad->Virajpet->Gonikoppa->Hunsur and back. The route from Madikkeri-> Hunsur through Virajpet and Gonikoppa is quite bad when compared to the route from Hunsur->Madikkeri through periyapatna. [Just somewhere beyond Hunsur there is a bifurcation where the left takes one to Virajpet and the right goes to Madikkeri through Periyapatna]

All in all, a decent trip and lots of good memories.

Tharangambadi (Tranquebar) and Karaikal: Bike trip

Tharangambadi is a sleepy little coastal settlement in Tamil Nadu (Nagapattinam\district to be more specific). It has an interesting history of being a Danish Colony sometime between the 1600's t the 1800's. There are also a few buildings which remain as memories of what the place could and would have been some 500 years ago - a fort (Fort Dansborg) , a steeple, an entry to the fort which was built by the Danes during their period.

The beach front is quite spectacular and the beach is reputed to be a Ozone beach. The board put up on the beach says that its scientifically proven that there is more ozone on this beach than on average and it has unique properties to reduce ones stress levels. There are rocks which are piled up over which people can walk some 500 metres into the beach and see the waves getting splashed on the rocks. A few fort walls remain very close to the beach front which gives us a glimpse into the vestiges of what the entire fort structure would have been earlier.

The museum holds decent artefacts and also houses the mangled remains of a whale skeleton. The museum also provides a history of the town and a list of names of all the Danes  who manned the fort. It also has an exhaustive list of which ships landed at the port of entry. A pretty decent affair. 

The place is very small - there isnt much to the place apart from the beach which makes it all the more impressive - just sack out on the beach and contemplate about the myriad aspects of Mother Nature. It has a little over 20k people, according to the 2001 census, and is quite small compared to most other beach towns. 

Neemrana group and Hotel TamilNadu offer lodging at their own respective rates - Neemrana costs a bomb. Both of them claim to be a non-hotel hotel which makes one curious about what they exactly mean. Neemrana has a beach front property and I reckon the views of the ocean in the night would be something worth ones while. The buggers dont serve beer to people who arent residents which is quite bizarre if one comes to think of it.

The roads are bad though - never did I imagine that the roads were probably built during the Danish time of settlement too (Not entirely true but the state of roads from Pondy to Tharangambadi does leave quite a bit to be desired)

Overall, a great beach - lovely views of the ocean and a good walk on the beach sands on both the ends and a lovely fort to boot. An eventful trip save for the roads.

Karaikal also has decent rooms / stay options if Tharangambadi is filled up or doesnt  suit ones budget. Karaikal has a decent beach and is probably the only beach that I can remember of in the recent times where one can ACTUALLY find sea shells on the beach... which is quite fitting and amazing considering the state of affairs in Marina and Elliots. I find more plastic and dirty items there than I can find shells. Karaikal also has a very big walkway of rocks which leads one some 1.1-1.3kms into the beach which makes it all the more interesting and thrilling. Its quite normal and common to see crabs, scorpions and a few land/sea animals frequent these rocks.

Update: There is a bypass from Chidambaram to Karaikal which is a better road to choose rather than driving into Chidambaram. The roads leading into Chidambaram are quite decrepit and worth giving a pass.

Bisle Ghat : Jeep track ride

My friends and I did the Bisle Ghat road trip a year ago, to this date. The route is quite fantastic and it is easily one of the most foresty routes that I have ever done till date.


The trip by itself was a lot more ambitious - the plan was to cover some 900-1000 kms in 3 days. We (me and 2 of my friends) started from bangalore on a monsoon bike trip and  went to Shravanabelagola to see the huge 57 feet monolithic statue of Gomateshwara. We got quite complacent and ended up staying there for a lot more time than we should have - we had initially tentatively decided to halt at Sakleshpur for the night and the going was getting tougher by the afternoon... till Eicher Maps came to our rescue. Luckily, I had carried that and saw that there is an alternate route to Sakleshpur directly from Shravanabelagola without getting into Hassan and avoiding the usual highway route. [I remember Hole Narsipur and Arkalgud coming somewhere along the way. If someone wants the entire alternate route, let me know] Off we went on this route and never were we prepared for the sights that followed - the route was breathtaking by its own right [the roads were being laid at the time we travelled... but knowing Karnataka and India at large, they might be in the same condition now too]


Gomateswara

We came across some of the most amazing grasslands and meadows that we have ever seen [my friends concur too.] Except for the fact that there was cattle excrement everywhere, there was not a bit of dirt and the land just kept its undulating pattern of a thick layer of mountain grass without a break as far as the eyes could see. There was so much of greenery and grass on both the sides that I felt compelled to stop my bike and sit around and ponder over the many beauties of nature and also, in the real world, wait for my friends to join in.




Off we went to Sakleshpur from here [Note for the rider: The route is fantabulous. One would do well to take it slow and have a nice look at the route. The bisle ghat, incidentally, retraces a fair bit of this route (even I realised this only on the next day) - more on this later]


The next day my friend suggested that we do the Bisle ghat. A few enquiries got us nothing on the route to be taken and we were left to our own devices... after a bit of checking and re-checking, we were surprised but not really shocked to be retracing the same route back to Shravanabelagola on the alternate route [I found this bit of the journey quite fitting]


Bisle Ghat is arrived at by turning right at one of the junctions along the way [Rider is out on his own here. Just keep asking people for bisle ghat - inspite of repeated enquiries, we couldnt get the name of the junction / village where we were supposed to turn. Alternately, one can posibly ask for the route to Subramanya and might get pointed to in the same direction - One needs to move through the Bisle Ghat to travel to Subramanya in this route.]


The ride to bisle ghat seems quite normal initially - even quite boring. The mile posts are all marked in Kannada and unless one is a localite, one cant get any warmth by looking at the mileposts which themeselves are few and far between. After 10-15 kms, the roads definitely become worser and the scenery becomes much prettier till we reach bisle view point [look out for a green colored forest dept board and a gate on your left - if you are travelling from Sakleshpur, that is]. A decent hike from the gate takes one to the view point  - a real good view of all the hills and mountains nearby, clouds permitting. We just had enough time to see around very very quickly before the clouds took over and hid the view till we left.

View from Bisle

I got quite caught on with the route and all of us decided to go to the logical end of the route - which is a few kms away from Subramanya. The route is about 25-30 kms long, long stretches where one cant really find any conclusive evidence of tarmac. Fairly rough riding, and has more potholes in that stretch than one will ever encounter in a full trip of 250-300 kms. So, beware and also note that the route is extremely scenic and real dark and desolate at a few places. The perfect spot for tigers and leopards to laze around, if you ask me. Besides, the route is so rarely used that the distinction between the road and the forest is quite blurred.


We came back to Saklespur from Subramanya through the actual highway which isnt half as bad either. Phenomenal views from that highway too. Besides, if one is lucky and observant, he can view the railway tracks and a rare train moving on that too!

Clouds just about to take over

All in all, a lovely ride and well worth the trip which ended up being a lovely "monsoon" ride indeed.

Riders note: The route is quite rough and has steep patches and big potholes alongside the fact that the roads are quite desolate and it might be a long time before someone reaches out to help you in time of need. One would do well to have another rider along [coming from someone who also does solo trips, thats something]

Update: 31st Mar 2014: Did the bisle ghat along with Gomateswara, Sakleshpur, Kokke Subramanya, Dhramastala and other related places again. By car though. Boy, take a bow. Almost same feeling. The monsoon trip makes the mountains and forests much denser and merrier. But a fantastic trip in its own right. Thanks A for accompanying. Many more to come?

Yercaud and Hogenakkal

Friend and I did a road trip a few weeks back to Yercaud and Hogenakkal on a 3-day weekend.

Though Yercaud seems quite touristy and a run of the mill hill station which almost everyone goes to, there are lots of places there which are quite verdant and unexplored for the adventurous... if only they care to try those places.

There are a few schools in and around Yercaud which have long winding roads and interesting scenery.

View of a big ground of the school which houses both their football, cricket and track field games.

The route to Pagoda point is full of the sweet smell of coffee flowers in the flowering season. We could see quite a few coffee plans in full bloom and they looked real pretty and form quite an impressive picture in one's mind.

But the best, as the saying goes, is saved for the last. The best route we tried was the route which took us to an Estate [If you plan to try it, just ask people to point to the road which takes you to cauvery peak. We did this while coming back from the Pagoda view point. Alternate route is to take the left in the main junction from Yercaud city and immediately go straight so one can take the loop and come back to the junction through the road on the right]. The route is fairly empty and surprisingly free of smell of petrol fumes. When we went there, it as the flowering season for all the coffee plants and we were welcomed with resplendent views of the coffee flowers in full bloom further accentuated by the intoxicating smell of the flowers. The route is mind blowing and has flowers of almost all varieties, thick woody foresty type scenery and the ride is quite spell bounding.

Was one hell of a ride!

Pics here 

Masinagudi - a lovely road trip

Nestled by the Nilgiri range on all sides, Masinagudi in the foothills of Ooty is a picture perfect little town. Thick woods and very foresty, the place boasts of having one of the best forest areas in the neighboring region. Masinagudi is one part of the much bigger Mudumalai Forest range and houses many animals like the endangered Indian Tiger, Indian Elephant, Guar, Chital, Antlers, Bison. The range also houses lots of exotic Indian birds and critters. 


Happened to be there a few weeks back and got to stay in a place in Bokkapuram and had a lovely time there. 


Bonus: Saw elephants while travelling from Bangalore to Masinagudi enroute. One female elephant near the Bandipur range and one little tusker while on the way to Masinagudi. The best sighting was during the night in the homestay we stayed in. A bold tusker walked almost into the house premises  - just less than 50 ft away in search of a light after dinner snack. Guess he felt a bit hungry seeing us all eat piping hot home food. 


The next day morning, the home stay owner - a Mr Horace Cunnigham, was very nice to take us along in a walk skirting the edge of the deep forest area. We saw a lot of does, fawns and antlers in a frivolous mood posing for us and being curious about what we were upto in their land. Horace was also nice enough to give us cacti flowers to suck on. We gorged on them greedily. We also saw a dilapidated Tipu fort. While coming back, we passed through a watering hole which the animals visit to quench their thirst. Sadly, we couldnt sight any animals near the watering hole except a small tiny green snake slithering away from us (possibly in fright?). 


We left to Ooty sometime mid afternoon on my bird and did the 36 hairpin bends quite comfortably. The road is quite steep and not much of traffic is found in it as its a lot more steeper than the route from Gudalur. So, buses and heavy vehicles prefer that less slopy route instead of travelling through these steep, winding roads. It started raining sometime after we reached Ooty and we got real drenched and came down via the Gudalur route, dripping in the rain. There are quite a few nice places to watch along the way to Gudalur - 2 shooting points and one dam. Worth the time spent walking up each of the knolls to get a panaromic view of the neighborhood. 

A must visit for nature lovers and people who want to take a nice vacation. If you need the contact of the homestay we stayed in, feel free to ask for the same.


My Pics: Flickr set of Masinagudi
Friends link: Masinagudi


Update: Friend feels I should add the directions too. 
From Blr: Blr->Mysore->Gundlupet->Bandipur->Masinagudi


Do remember that the section from Gundlupet to Bandipur is insanely beautiful as its a road inside the wildlife region. Its open only between 6AM-9PM and the actual timings sometimes change. One usually shouldnt drive at a fast clip at these places - limit speed to 30kmph. Well worth driving through these roads. One can feel bliss and also sight a tiger or a rare wild animal, if lucky!

Update: Happened to go to the place again in end of Dec 2012... and my thoughts havent changed even a bit. More pics uploaded. If only the Supreme Court decides one way or the other about the core area of the forests.