Coorg, Madikeri and Tadiandamol Trek

Our trip to visit Coorg was again unplanned and we had in mind to cover both tourist spots as well as finish a good trek in Coorg.

Our trip was initially planned for 3 days, however we reduced it to 2 days as we were able to cover most destinations with in those 2 days.

Our trip was on May - first week, so it was peak summer and it was as hot as Bangalore through out the day at Madikeri though it cooled down considerably during the evening. We took a KSRTC bus from Bangalore via Mysore to Madikeri and reached at 5.30 am in the morning. We managed to get a room at a decent lodge near the bus stand itself and booked a car ride 900 rs for 5 people to most destinations that we can cover on one day.

Abbey falls:

This was a big disappointment, the biggest being the fact that people are restricted to enter the water in the falls. We spent a mere 30 minutes at this spot.

Dabare forest:

This is a place where they train and nurture elephants and is a river side place where they offer rafting (in still water) as well. Not very interesting again.

Nisargadhama:

This place was similar to a park with lots of scenic places to pose for photo shoots.

Kushalnagar – Tibetan temple:

This is an interesting place, a Tibetan temple with Buddhist monks and presents a place that looks like a Chinese temple out of the blue from an all Indian surroundings.

Raja Seat: This is a beautiful spot with a great view down the peak, and is present about 1.5 Km, an evening stroll from Madikeri busstand.

Madikeri Fort: This was also present close to the bus stand and is nothing much but a small fort worthy of mentioning.

What we missed: Thalakkaveri and Harangi Dam and Irupu falls

Second day Trek to Tadiandamol: http://trekwiki.wetpaint.com/page/Tadiyandamol

Having heard that this is The highest peak in Coorg, we were all set for conquering the peak, in fact a very far fetched aspiration to complete the trek within a day.

The place to start from is near Virajpet, precisely Kakkabe which we can reach from Mysore directly or from Madikeri and takes the same time (2.5 hrs). We started at 7 am in a bus from Madikeri and got down at Napoklu and visited the Malknad palace which is on the starting point to the peak. To trek Tadiandamol with in a day turned out to be agonizing especially since we had to catch the last bus back to Madikeri at 5.30 pm.

The trek was a memorable experience with great views all through the path. We almost gave up as the path turned very steep and but realized that the peak was just around the corner. The peak was every bit worth the trek and we really missed to see the sunrise or sunset here. We were desperately short of water and food as we came back but luckily there was a tribal house down who provided food and water for the hungry coming down the peak.

We trekked back and caught the bus back to Madikeri at 5.30 pm and and started towards Bangalore the same night with a heavy heart.

The Malknad Palace enroute to the start of the trek.

Gokarna/Murudeshwar - Coastal Karnataka at its best..!

A sudden plan among our backpackers emerged to explore the west coast with a 2 days of schedule.... We ruled out Mangalore for its was less for its natural beauty and Karwar which was too distant.

The plan was to go to Gokarna straight through Mangalore and explore Gokarna the 1st day and and come back to Murudeshwar the next day. Mangalore was a tiring 8 hours overnight journey from bangalore via terrible road conditions and we had a bus to a place called Kumta(the road is through the scenic coastal highway leading to panaji-goa) at 8.30 am in the morning. We had to travel by another bus to reach Gokarna finally by around 1.30 pm.

It was a very quiet,rustic and old evergreen tropical place. Facilities were bare minimum at the place though the place was throbbing with foreigners. Beach side resorts were less interested in giving accomodation for bachelors for they had bookings from foreigners and couples. We stayed at Gokarna International hotel nearby bus stand that charged Rs 295 for a double non ac bedroom. This turned out to be better as beach resorts were too isolated and the surroundings were devoid of any facilities at all including transport.

Gokarna town was dotted with traditional age old brahmin houses and an ancient Shiva temple. The temple has a rich history dating back to Ravan's vara given by Lord Shiva and is believed to have the Aathma linga. The main gokarna beach was also scenic/unpolluted by itself and was worth spending the sunset. Other beaches worth exploring are Half moon, paradise, om, kudle in that order by fishermen boat with some 100rs per head.(worth every paisa).

Om Beach: This place was amazing. It was a pure virgin unspoilt beach across a scenic greenish valley backdrop. Water was pure and was shallow just enough to entice us farther and farther towards the sea. There was barely any crowd or shops nearby. One evening here was not enough to admire this place.

So we planned an early moring trek to this place to catch the sunrise here. We started at the hotel by 4.30 am via hill side roads and reached the beach at 5.45 am with a flash light. It was very chilling as there was absolutely no civilization around and stray dogs were too intimidating. We settled atop a view point to watch the sun to play around with its light across the beach. The view were worth every second.

By some crazy idea we planned a trek towards Kudle beach from Om beach (next beach along the rocky shore) via the beach through the hills. After an unbelievable trek for around 3 hours and emptied water bottles, we noticed that the route had worn off and trees had grown along the route. We had planned to revert back to om beach. By some darn luck we shouted for rescue and were lucky enough to be picked by a fishermen boat to take us to Kudle beach. To our dismay we found were only about half a km from our destination when we gave up. The escapade was unbelievable.

Next day after the tiring trek we routed back to Murdeshwar. This place was worth spending a night at the sea side lodge (RNS residency - if you are planning to stay here stay here only and no other place is worth it). The sea side restaurant (Naveen) was awesome and had a great view along the sea and the imposing Shiva statue and the temple. The beach here were also huge and beautiful stretch across a greenish coconut tree shores. The place was way more crowded but cheap as it has lesser foreigners around. With a heavy heart we took back the bus(pre booked Rajahamsa executive) towards Bangalore from Murudeshwar bus stand.

Room at Murudeshwar: http://www.naveenhotels.com/

Season to travel Gokurna/Murudeshwar : Round the year though summer will be too hot.

Kemmangundi and Chickmagalur travelogue

This was a quite a sudden plan and its like we (8 of us) just backpacked without any planning. We had checked many posts in internet about the place and found that kemmangundi was the place thats of concern (green, secluded and many places to trek and sight seeing).

Theres no private lodges or any big shops at kemmangundi. only 2 buses/day ply to kemmangundi from a place called tarikere(1.5 hr travel) and 2 buses from a place called linganahally (1.5 hrs from chikmaglur). so we went straight to tarikere in the morning by ksrtc and reached by 1 pm. It was a very uninteresting and dusty town.

Since all the guest houses at kemmangundi was booked (no private lodges there) we didnt take a risk to go there and search for place to stay. we went to a nice hoysala temple at amruthapura(10km from tarikere) and a dam (bhadra River project - not worth going-just like many other dams). Since buses were unreliable we hired a Sumo (Rs 1200) for goin to kemmangundi and a falls on the way(kallhatti falls -on way from tarikere 2 kemmangundi). Even though it was january, climate was less colder/hot than bangalore. Kalhatti falls was a decent one with stream flowing from way up so that we can trek uphill some distance find a private spot for bathing..

By the time we reached kemmangundi it was 2 pm and we had the lunch at guest house canteen(only place where food is available in kemmangundi). By 4 pm we started towards a place called Z-point.. the trek was about 3 km and the way was unbelievable... Very edgy trek towards the peak edge.. It was worth the effort.. The place was amazing at sunset.

We returned back to kemmangundi. To our dismay the last bus back to linganahalli or tarikere has already left. By some real luck we heard that a booking had been cancelled at the guest house and they can accomodate us. It was a very decent guest house though a government one.

We started early in the next morning next day towards Hebbe falls in a jeep ride (Rs 800)(13 km) for 8 persons. It was an unbelivable ride. The driver literally was mountaineering on a jeep(the way included a rock climb on a jeep ! (mountain dew ad.!)) . Simply impossible on a car or bike.. The falls was superb (falling from 168 mts) u reach there after some 1 km trek from the dropping point of jeep). There is also a trek route(5 km) towards hebbe falls from the startin place. but the even in the winter,(Jan) the day was quite hot and the trek pretty steep and the way pretty dry, full of red sand and dust. we spent time till 2 pm there and returned back to guest house by trek and a guide(impossible without a guide). The last bus back to linganahally was at 4.30 pm and we catched it and then from there to chikmaglur we reached by 7.45pm. We had a ksrtc bus and reached back to bangalore at 1 am.

Only worthy place we had missed was a place called (Babu budan giri/mulliangiri - highest peak in karnataka - 1900 odd mts).

I would recommend anyone planning to make a booking at kemmangundi guest house and go straight there so that u dont waste time on travelling back and forth.. Coffee powder is quite good and cheap at chikmaglur and one can make shopping there.

our budget was per head : Rs 1400.