We couldnt go anywhere during the long weekends of Dusshera and Diwali because of Anurag's travel to Taipei. Hence the weekend after his return , ie the weekend of 19th and 20th of November, we decided to hit Coorg. As it was not a long weekend, we took off on Friday afternoon and started by 3 from our home. We touched the Mysore Road just below the long flyover at 3:30 and set our trip meter to 0. The towns you pass on Mysore road before reching Srinrangapatna are Kengeri, Ramnagar( 43.3Km), Chanapatna(54.4km), Maddur at (74km) Mandya at 92km and as the odometer reads 120kms, you are at Srirangapatna. Around 2kms after the Srirangapatna junction there is a right turn with huge hoardings of OrangeCounty and GRS Fantasy Park. Take this turn and go straight all the way till Yelwal(139km). On this road, you would have seen diversions to Bird Sanctuary, GRS Fantasy Park and KRS Dam. As you enter the state Highway (SH88) at Yelwal, take a right and proceed towards Hunsur. At around 168Kms, the road forks and the right fork is the Hunsur Bypass whihc you need to take. Before this forking also there is a huge Orange County board which urges you to take the right turn. At 176km, you will find another right turn, where you again need to keep right and this leads to Periyapatana. We reached Periyapatana as our trip meter read 192 km and we proceeded to Kushal Nagar which we reached at 214kms. Proceeding further from Kushal Nagar we reached another forking at 230km where the left leads to Madikeri.. Finally slight after 250kms we reached Madikeri.
Madikeri is a small town and we didnt have any problems finding the office of our agent and from their our host took us to his house. We got the entire upstairs which included a hall and two bedrooms all for ourselves. It was around 9:30pm when we reached here and the long drive without any break had left us really tired. We bought dinner from a restaurant nearby and slept early.
Saturday morning , we proceeded to Talakaveri which is where River Kaveri originates. There is a pond where people take bath and a small temple where the goddess is worshipped. There is also a peepul tree which is supposed to be an offshoot of the original peepul tree under whihc Sage Agastya used to meditate. There is a Ganesha and Shiva temple and Lord Shiva is called Agastheswara. Talakaveri is around 47 kms from Madikeri. Follow Mangalore road from Madikeri and then take a diversion to left to reach Talakaveri. We went there are tourists but lots of ppl come there for worship. There is view point at Talakaveri but the sight of the steep flight of stairs made us quit the idea.. Enroute to Talakaveri is Bagamandala, where there is a temple of Kerala Architecture style. From Talakaveri, we came to Madikeri and proceeded to Abbey Falls. It is around 8 kms from Madikeri and the road is narrow with steep curves. Not a very impressive falls and was too crowded on the day we were there.From Abbey falls we came back to Madikeri and then went to Raja's seat. Raja's seat provides a good view and the sunset is really beautiful from here.
Sunday morning we stated at around 8:30. We went to Omkareshawara temple whose architecture is a mixture of different styles and the idol here is supposed to be brought from Kasi.From Madikeri, we came to Cauveri Nisarghadama. Nisargadama is 2 kms before Kushal Nagal and the big Karnataka tourism board is facing those coming from Kushal Nagar. So while coming from Madikeri, you may miss this place. Nisargadama is an island formed by a tributary of Cauvery and there is a hanging bridge whihc connects the mainland with this island. Nisargadama houses a deer park and also has elephant ride. Otherwise it is a beautiful park where you can just relax. 7kms from Nisargadama, we took a right towards the Tibetan Settlement. Another 5 kms on this road, there is a Tibetan Monastry and Golden Temple. For me, it was the first time I was seeing a Budhist temple and hence it was interesting. From there we proceeded back to Srirangapatna, where we stopped at the Tipu's summer palace turned museum and then proceeded back to Bangalore.
Monday, November 21, 2005
The Queen of HillStations
The long weekend of August 15th was fast appraoching and we decided to go somewhere.. From among Ooty, Coorg and Pondicherry we chose Ooty at the last moment.. We couldnt get accomodation or travel tickets for any of the places and finally my aunt who is teaching at GoodSheperd's in Ooty arranged for our accomodation in their guest house. Still we couldnt get bus tickets to Ooty and finally Friday evening we decided that we will drive to Ooty..
We started around at 8pm from our house and reached Mysore around midnight.. Stayed at one of my uncles' house in Mysore and drove to Ooty from there on Saturday morning.. We enjoyed the drive through Bandipur and Mudumalai and spotted groups of deer and peacocks on the way..The 41 hairpin curves that takes one to Ooty is a scary drive with breathtaking views.. We reached Ooty around 11 am and made our way directly to the botanical garden.. From botanical garden we proceeded to the Rose garden which houses an amazing collection of 2000 varieties of roses.. From there we proceeded to the Lake View campus of Good Sheperd where our accomodation was arranged. Met my aunt there who took us to our room and then around the school campus. For me, with no hostel life experience, it was all very new but Anurag was finding it very similar to his Sainik school experiences.. The school is great but the site of 5 or 6 year olds staying in hostel is heartbreaking.. Its a place where kids are pampered with all that money can buy but parents seem to forget that money cannot buy everything. We joined the students and staff of the school for a dinner at their canteen.
Sunday morning we drove to Conoor where we went to Sim's park, where you can find some rare trees. We got some Rudraksha from the cleaning staff who was cleaning below the Rudraksha tree. Outside the park, while wondering where to go to next, we noticed the board of a tea plantation and factory nearby. We decided to go there. With a minimal ticket fare, they take you inside the factory and explains the process of making tea as you see it in the market from the tree leaves. For me, initially I couldnt stand the smell inside and had to come out to take some fresh air after entering the factory first time. Thereafter it was ok.
From Conoor we went back to Ooty via the Wellington camp and lost our way. From Wellington we ended up taking the way back to Conoor instead of Ooty and had to drive back once more. In the evening,we went for boating and then visited the thread garden nearby. The plants and flowers including the moses in this artificial garden made of threads are made with amazing naturality. We ended the day with a dinner with the kids of Good Sheperd.
Monday morning we started back from Ooty and reached Mysore by 10:30 for a late breakfast. On the way, we saw flaghoisting in front of a police station and were caught in traffic for around half an hour by the procession of school students in a small town enroute. We stayed for lunch at my uncles place and then started back to Bangalore. We were supposed to catch the 5:30 bus to Kerala from Bangalore that day but even after a frantic drive from Mysore, we couldnt make it on time and had to miss the bus and take another one which was started at 6:30.
We started around at 8pm from our house and reached Mysore around midnight.. Stayed at one of my uncles' house in Mysore and drove to Ooty from there on Saturday morning.. We enjoyed the drive through Bandipur and Mudumalai and spotted groups of deer and peacocks on the way..The 41 hairpin curves that takes one to Ooty is a scary drive with breathtaking views.. We reached Ooty around 11 am and made our way directly to the botanical garden.. From botanical garden we proceeded to the Rose garden which houses an amazing collection of 2000 varieties of roses.. From there we proceeded to the Lake View campus of Good Sheperd where our accomodation was arranged. Met my aunt there who took us to our room and then around the school campus. For me, with no hostel life experience, it was all very new but Anurag was finding it very similar to his Sainik school experiences.. The school is great but the site of 5 or 6 year olds staying in hostel is heartbreaking.. Its a place where kids are pampered with all that money can buy but parents seem to forget that money cannot buy everything. We joined the students and staff of the school for a dinner at their canteen.
Sunday morning we drove to Conoor where we went to Sim's park, where you can find some rare trees. We got some Rudraksha from the cleaning staff who was cleaning below the Rudraksha tree. Outside the park, while wondering where to go to next, we noticed the board of a tea plantation and factory nearby. We decided to go there. With a minimal ticket fare, they take you inside the factory and explains the process of making tea as you see it in the market from the tree leaves. For me, initially I couldnt stand the smell inside and had to come out to take some fresh air after entering the factory first time. Thereafter it was ok.
From Conoor we went back to Ooty via the Wellington camp and lost our way. From Wellington we ended up taking the way back to Conoor instead of Ooty and had to drive back once more. In the evening,we went for boating and then visited the thread garden nearby. The plants and flowers including the moses in this artificial garden made of threads are made with amazing naturality. We ended the day with a dinner with the kids of Good Sheperd.
Monday morning we started back from Ooty and reached Mysore by 10:30 for a late breakfast. On the way, we saw flaghoisting in front of a police station and were caught in traffic for around half an hour by the procession of school students in a small town enroute. We stayed for lunch at my uncles place and then started back to Bangalore. We were supposed to catch the 5:30 bus to Kerala from Bangalore that day but even after a frantic drive from Mysore, we couldnt make it on time and had to miss the bus and take another one which was started at 6:30.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Chikmagalur,Kemmenguddi, Belur and Halebid
We had been planning a weekend outing for several weeks now.. But for one or the other reason it was not realized.. So this weekend, we decided that we are going somewhere, come what may..
And the destination was initially decided as Belur, Halebid and Shravanbelagola.. But some localites of Hassan had a different thot.. They felt Shravanbelagola is very commercialized and a better place to include in the trip would be Kemmengundi.. So it was all finalized on Friday the me, Anurag, Juby and her cousin Benjamin(Chikku) were packing off for the weekend on Saturday morning..
Our preparation for the trip began with a Google search on the route and place to stay.. A nice description of the route was obtained from http://www.indiacar.com/index2.asp?pagename=http://www.indiacar.com/infobank/drivingdest/drv_july04/index.htm. This helped us to reach Chikmagalur without loosing our way once.(At Hassan, there is a left turn that you need to take but the directions in the link says to take a right turn.. But if you look for the directions on the road, it is clear..) And we decided to stay at Planter's Court in Chikmagalur on Saturday and reserved rooms there..Friday evening, we did a shopping for snacks and fruits..
Our day started at 3:45 am on Saturday morning.. Packing up our things and getting ready as usual took us more time than we had planned. We dumped our things in our Santro and started off for Juby's house, reaching there at 6am, half an hour later than planned. Juby and Chikku were ready and we started off on the drive.. We took outer ring road and then turned to NH4 and later onto NH48 to Hassan.. The road was really good and we went real fast.. We stopped at a Reliance petrol bunk on NH48 for fuel for the car and then at the Kamat restaurant for breakfast.. Drive on NH48 was a real nice one- the road was good, not much traffic and beautiful views on either sides.. We stopped at a marigold garden and sunflower gardens and a couple of other places to take in the view..
From Hassan, we took the state highway till Chikmagalur. Belur is enroute and its just a 2km diversion from the Belur main junction to the main Belur temple. This temple build by Vishnuvardhana of the Hoysala kingdom is famous for the sculptures. Very intricate and the main ones are of the different poses and moods of a dancing lady.. Above the dancing platform inside the temple is a sculpture of Shantala Devi, queen of Vishnuvardhana, who was a blessed dances herself. One will need the service of a trained guide to point you to the minute details brought out in those sculptures. On either sides of the main temple are the temples of Sridevi and Bhoodevi and a marriage hall.
Once we savored the beauty of the temple, we continued our journey towards Chikmagalur. Since there were not good places to eat around Belur, we banked on the snacks we carried to quench our hunger. Another unplanned stop on the way was the Yagachi dam..We spent some time there and then continued our journey towards Chikmagalur..
Once at Chikmagalur, we directly went to Planter's court and checked into our rooms.. The web suggested that this is the next best place to Taj in Chikmagalur.. But I didnt find it quite welcoming.. Especially the bathrooms.. I would have choosen a different place if given an option. As the drive-in restaurant didnt look very good, we went to Taj for a high tea. At Taj, we tried our hand on pool. Chikku was the only one who had played pool earlier and so he was giving directions to everyone. But soon Anurag outplayedChikku.. After the tea, we tried our luck at the Coffee museum. But it was closed. We roamed around a bit in the town of Chikmagalur and then went back to our rooms.. I had a small nap while Anurag watched TV.. Then we decided to get out of the hotel and look for a place for dinner. At the reception, we found that Planter's Court has another restaurant also. Hence decide to have dinner there itself..
This dimly lit restaurant looked like more of a bar than a restaurant. We were the only ones having dinner there.. Every other guest there left after drinks.. Back from dinner, we had a few games of UNO and cards..
The next day started at 5:30am for us and we got ready and checked out of the hotel before 7 am.. We soon took the road to Kemmengundi stopping once in a while to take in the beauty of the place.. As we approached Kemmengundi, we spotted trees and rocks that had fallen down on the road in the rains. As there were chances of rain that day also, we had second thoughts on going further up as the road can get blocked in the heavy rains by the time we come back.. So we decided to turn back and came down to Chikmagalur. After a late breakfast there, we stocked ourselves with fruits, snacks and water for the rest of the day. Ofcourse, we didnt miss to buy Chikmagalur's own coffee powder. Soon we were on our way to Halebid.
At Halebid, we decided not to take a guide's help and went around on ourselves. This is a Shiva temple. As expected there is a Nandi there. The Hoysala temples are built in star shape. Here there are 64 legs for the star where as the Belur temple had only 32 and more than the dancing ladies, you find sculptures of Gods and incidents from epics. The damage done to Halebid temple is much more than the damage at Belur. Another difference between the Belur and Halebid temples is the huge lawn that surrounds the Halebid temple.
Bidding Adieu to Halebid, we started back on our way to Bangalore. Now we did a major mistake. There is actually a way from Halebid to Hassan which as per the sign boards in Hassan is only 30km long. But without knowing this, we went back to Belur and turned to Hassan from there.. That should have costed us quite some time..
We stopped at Hotel Hassan Ashok for a high tea. Hot chocolate and lots of snacks - sandwiches and pakodas - refreshed us for the rest of the journey. Our aim was to hit Bangalore as early as possible and it was a deadly drive back by Anurag.. We dropped Juby and Benjamin at their house, visited Rajesh and gave him the sunflowers we had picked for him on the way back.. And then we were back in bed to sleep off all the tiredness...
And the destination was initially decided as Belur, Halebid and Shravanbelagola.. But some localites of Hassan had a different thot.. They felt Shravanbelagola is very commercialized and a better place to include in the trip would be Kemmengundi.. So it was all finalized on Friday the me, Anurag, Juby and her cousin Benjamin(Chikku) were packing off for the weekend on Saturday morning..
Our preparation for the trip began with a Google search on the route and place to stay.. A nice description of the route was obtained from http://www.indiacar.com/index2.asp?pagename=http://www.indiacar.com/infobank/drivingdest/drv_july04/index.htm. This helped us to reach Chikmagalur without loosing our way once.(At Hassan, there is a left turn that you need to take but the directions in the link says to take a right turn.. But if you look for the directions on the road, it is clear..) And we decided to stay at Planter's Court in Chikmagalur on Saturday and reserved rooms there..Friday evening, we did a shopping for snacks and fruits..
Our day started at 3:45 am on Saturday morning.. Packing up our things and getting ready as usual took us more time than we had planned. We dumped our things in our Santro and started off for Juby's house, reaching there at 6am, half an hour later than planned. Juby and Chikku were ready and we started off on the drive.. We took outer ring road and then turned to NH4 and later onto NH48 to Hassan.. The road was really good and we went real fast.. We stopped at a Reliance petrol bunk on NH48 for fuel for the car and then at the Kamat restaurant for breakfast.. Drive on NH48 was a real nice one- the road was good, not much traffic and beautiful views on either sides.. We stopped at a marigold garden and sunflower gardens and a couple of other places to take in the view..
From Hassan, we took the state highway till Chikmagalur. Belur is enroute and its just a 2km diversion from the Belur main junction to the main Belur temple. This temple build by Vishnuvardhana of the Hoysala kingdom is famous for the sculptures. Very intricate and the main ones are of the different poses and moods of a dancing lady.. Above the dancing platform inside the temple is a sculpture of Shantala Devi, queen of Vishnuvardhana, who was a blessed dances herself. One will need the service of a trained guide to point you to the minute details brought out in those sculptures. On either sides of the main temple are the temples of Sridevi and Bhoodevi and a marriage hall.
Once we savored the beauty of the temple, we continued our journey towards Chikmagalur. Since there were not good places to eat around Belur, we banked on the snacks we carried to quench our hunger. Another unplanned stop on the way was the Yagachi dam..We spent some time there and then continued our journey towards Chikmagalur..
Once at Chikmagalur, we directly went to Planter's court and checked into our rooms.. The web suggested that this is the next best place to Taj in Chikmagalur.. But I didnt find it quite welcoming.. Especially the bathrooms.. I would have choosen a different place if given an option. As the drive-in restaurant didnt look very good, we went to Taj for a high tea. At Taj, we tried our hand on pool. Chikku was the only one who had played pool earlier and so he was giving directions to everyone. But soon Anurag outplayedChikku.. After the tea, we tried our luck at the Coffee museum. But it was closed. We roamed around a bit in the town of Chikmagalur and then went back to our rooms.. I had a small nap while Anurag watched TV.. Then we decided to get out of the hotel and look for a place for dinner. At the reception, we found that Planter's Court has another restaurant also. Hence decide to have dinner there itself..
This dimly lit restaurant looked like more of a bar than a restaurant. We were the only ones having dinner there.. Every other guest there left after drinks.. Back from dinner, we had a few games of UNO and cards..
The next day started at 5:30am for us and we got ready and checked out of the hotel before 7 am.. We soon took the road to Kemmengundi stopping once in a while to take in the beauty of the place.. As we approached Kemmengundi, we spotted trees and rocks that had fallen down on the road in the rains. As there were chances of rain that day also, we had second thoughts on going further up as the road can get blocked in the heavy rains by the time we come back.. So we decided to turn back and came down to Chikmagalur. After a late breakfast there, we stocked ourselves with fruits, snacks and water for the rest of the day. Ofcourse, we didnt miss to buy Chikmagalur's own coffee powder. Soon we were on our way to Halebid.
At Halebid, we decided not to take a guide's help and went around on ourselves. This is a Shiva temple. As expected there is a Nandi there. The Hoysala temples are built in star shape. Here there are 64 legs for the star where as the Belur temple had only 32 and more than the dancing ladies, you find sculptures of Gods and incidents from epics. The damage done to Halebid temple is much more than the damage at Belur. Another difference between the Belur and Halebid temples is the huge lawn that surrounds the Halebid temple.
Bidding Adieu to Halebid, we started back on our way to Bangalore. Now we did a major mistake. There is actually a way from Halebid to Hassan which as per the sign boards in Hassan is only 30km long. But without knowing this, we went back to Belur and turned to Hassan from there.. That should have costed us quite some time..
We stopped at Hotel Hassan Ashok for a high tea. Hot chocolate and lots of snacks - sandwiches and pakodas - refreshed us for the rest of the journey. Our aim was to hit Bangalore as early as possible and it was a deadly drive back by Anurag.. We dropped Juby and Benjamin at their house, visited Rajesh and gave him the sunflowers we had picked for him on the way back.. And then we were back in bed to sleep off all the tiredness...
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