Ramnath Kamat

Bilkal Rangaswamy Betta also known as Bilkal Ranganatha Swamy Betta is a small hill nearby Kanakapura town. The hillock is located around 75 Kms from south of Bangalore. On the summit lies a huge granite stone and a carved Ranganatha Swamy temple inside it. The summit is at 1180 m height  (as shown by my Casio).

The summit can be accessed by two approaches, one via trekking through a shrub forest and the other is a 4 wheel drive.

On the way to the summit

I came across this place on some blogs and found it interesting for a weekend off road riding. Joined with me were Sandesh and Mahesh on Royal Enfield along with Vishwa on his Yamaha. We started early in the morning at 6:30 from Banashankari bus stand. Everyone was on time at the starting spot. Just a few kms away at Adigas we stopped for breakfast. Filled our tummy with Masala dosa and tea. Our estimated time to destination was 9'o clock. We starting riding in a group keeping line of sight at all the time. By the time it felt like we were riding we reached Kanakapura. You have to take left from the Arkavathi theatre in the town which takes you to the country roads. From here the best way of getting to the betta is asking locals the way to 'Bilkal betta'. We road through the curves, ups and down before we finally reached the base village Sundaghatta from where we had to take offroad to the hill. At the village, the forest guard warned us that there are elephants in the forest and told us to be careful.

Ranganatha Swamy temple

From the base village to the top is a 4 km off road which is a rock filled mud road. It did not seem difficult for the bullets. By the time we reached the summit there was mist surrounding us. We spent some time there, went to the cliff and it was time for photography. After an hour we started heading back to Bangalore. Reached home by noon.

Sandesh riding down  to the cliff

Google Map. Stands accurate Picture courtesy: Mahesh

Imagine Goa non commercialized with empty beaches, vivid nature, that's Karwar for you. Nestled on the Arabian Sea right below Goa on the map this small port town attracts very few tourists. Splendid none the less this small town has many hidden beautiful beaches and serves as a center to many surrounding spots.
Frankly speaking Karwar is a place to relax. If you are hoping to find mad crowd, night parties or any such happening things then just drive few kilo meters away to Goa as Karwar will be a disappointment for you. However, if you plan to enjoy a nice relaxed holiday then visit to Karwar

So, lets buckle up and ride the journey through a beautiful destination called Karwar.

Places to see in Karwar:

Rabindranath Tagore Beach:

Sunset at Rabindranath Tagore beach

I remember this beach was just called Karwar beach. Then someday a genius came up with an idea to call it Rabindranath Tagore Beach. They say he was inspired to write our National Anthem seeing the beauty of Karwar. This beach is right adjacent to the town and you can see it while driving on NH 17. During dusk the whole town gathers on this beach considering the population of Karwar town don't be surprised. During District Commissioner Nilay Mitash's office, this beach got many rectifications. A toy train was started near by but now all you can see is its ruins.

Just next to this beach is Naval museum. Its the third in this country after Vizag and Mumbai, a retired naval ship is converted to Warship Museum. With a ticket of 20 Rs you can go inside this air conditioned ship and watch a 20 minutes long documentory about Indian Navy.

Just next to this Museum is a Marine Aquarium which houses many fishes of the Arabian Sea. I dont remember when I went there last time. But it had a small entry fee of 5Rs.

Next to Aquarium is Musical Fountain. Opened after 7 pm it carries out show every half an hour.

Devbag Beach:

View from Devbag beach

Devbag is an estuary beach where the river Kali meets Arabian sea. Covered in Coniferous trees this beach houses Karnataka State Tourism's jungle resort. Speed boat, Banana boat, Water scooter, Dolphin ride, visit to nearby Island and many more activities are conducted by the resort. Resort also has 3 house boats which mock Kerala back water kind service in Kali back waters.

Tilmathi Beach

Tilmathi Beach:

Known to very few people, this beach is on the border of Karnataka and Goa. Entry to this beach is via Majali Beach. You have to climb up small hills in order to get here. The beach is filled with black rock and black sands.


Sadashivgad Fort:

This fort was built by a King named Sadashiv under Shivaji dynasty. There are ruins of this fort remaining and a new resort is built up there. I hav
e no idea how they got permission to build resort inside a monument like Fort. Entry to this fort is through Sadashivgad.

Mudgeri dam:

Mudgeri dam

In Karwar also few people know about this dam. Its basically a water storage built for irrigation purposed near border village called Mudgeri. If you reach Majali then any one can direct you to this dam.









I will be updating this blog with all travel information. Stay tuned.

Kudremukha mountain range is in the Chikmaguluru district of Karnataka. The name Kudremukha refers to a particular picturesque view of a side of the mountain that resembles a horse's face. The Kudremukha national park is second largest declared wildlife protected are in the western ghats ranging from Dakshina Kannada to Chikmagaluru districts of Karnataka.

Preparation of the trek: This trek was planned well before a month by 7 of us. Tickets to the nearest town Kalasa was booked in Airawat bus. We had booked a local guy named Rajappa who takes care of food, accommodation and forest entry permisision. Jeep from Kalasa to Rajappa's house was also booked. We took Airawat bus to Kalasa from Majestic bus stand at 10:30 pm.

Trek day:

Rajappa's home

Bus had arrived Kalasa around 6 am and the jeep was waiting for us at the bus stop. Kalasa is a holy hobali town  situated on the banks of Bhadra river. Kalasa has many lodges and restaurants incase you are planning to stay in Kalasa. Distance from Kalasa to Rajappa's house is around 30 kms out of which 20 km is a tar road and the rest is a rocky mud road which climbs the hills of the range. Rajappa's house is situated right below the the Kudremukha peak from where you start the trek. We reached Rajappa's house by 7:30 in the morning and a nice cup of Coffee made from homemade seeds. After getting freshen up, hot Ambode for breakfast was waiting for us. Its kind of idli but will be litlle hard and round in shape. 

We started the trek around 9 o clock. Rajappa's nephew Arun was our guide. He was carrying Uppittu for our lunch and Rajappa's 2 dogs were following us. Trek to the peak is around 10 kms in distance and goes through vast shola grasslands and forests. You will find water streams every 2 kms till the top and as per Arun they will be flowing all 12 months. So, you need not worry about carrying lot of drinking water as these streams are pure natural water to drink. There is a well defined trail till the peak which can be followed and there are not to many diversion paths to get confused. In my opinion, you need not necessarily have a guide but its better to have one.

Lonely tree, not sure of its real name  but we named it lonely tree

Our first pitstop was a lonely tree as you can see it in the picture this tree was a picturesque and my friends has started taking photos. We started again after taking rest for 5 minutes. The route was easy from here as we just had to walk amid dry grasslands. Every 1 km of walk you encounter a small forest and stream flowing in it. This repeats for most of the trek atleast till you cover half of the distance. 

Our next pitstop was just down the hill near the lobo house. Lobo house is a an old house in ruins now. Arun said people used to stay there once upon a time and they had beetlenut farm. 

Encounter of first forest and the small stream.

Third  pistop.

Trek from here gets real as you have to climb pretty much steep hill. If you ask me, Kudremukha trek is all about climbing 3 difficult steep hills and rest is pure walk among the grasslands. This hill is the first steep hill but a short one.After climbing this hill everyone was tired and we stooped for quick drinks break cum photography session at another lonely tree. Lonely trees are markings for our navigation to know how much we have covered. This helps while climbing down as you know how much more you have to go.

We saw a group of Sarangs( Stags) here. This is the first time I have ever seen any animal during treks. But they ran away into the jungle as soon as they saw us coming.

View from the 3rd steep climb.

As we continued our trek we encountered our second steep hill, this hill is about 100 meters long but inclined upto 60 degree climbing. After climbing this small hill there is a small forest and you can see a small stream of water flowing on the rocks. Arun said during rainy seasons its very difficult to cross this since rocks will be slippery and the current of water is very high.

After this, you can actually see the peak but the trail to the peak doesnt go in a straight path rather it goes in a zig-zag way making you trek for some more 4 kms even though the peak is very near. Here you will encounter the 3rd and the last steep climb which is about 500 meters long. Once you climb this hill you are almost at the top of the range but still lags around 1 km of walking distance. 

Myself with the flag at the peak

On the peak there are ruins of a Bungalow. According to Arun it was built by British in early 19th century and the building is still strong. I was planning to visit it while climbing down but all plans shattered for the reason I will mention later in this blog. Almost at the peak we found a small tent made from plastic sacks, nicely built. Arun dismantled it saying they were not allowed to camp here and he made  a flag out of it. We carried that flag to the top and hoisted it on the peak. Next time you visit there if you find a white flag, remember it was hoisted by us.

It was cloudy on the peak and we couldn't see anything down. It has happened with me many times before so I didnt have any big expectations. We had Uppittu and took rest. Then it was the time for Harlem shake and photography.




After spending almost an hour at the peak, Arun warned us that it might rain. We finished our photography in hurry and started climbing down. It was just 100 meters of climb down and the rain started pouring. Well, this was unexpected for us in March. We didnt carry any rain sheet. We kept all our mobiles, wallets and cameras in waterproof backpacks and decided to climb down in the rain as you can never guess when the rain will stop on the peak. We were literally running down shouting slogans 'Vande Mataram' 'Bolo bharat mata ki jai' etc just to boost us up in that literally shivering cold rain. This is how i missed to visit that British tourist bungalow. By the time we trekked half down, rain had stopped but we were not in a mood to stop anywhere. We trekked almost 9kms without even stopping once and took our first pitstop at the lonely tree. From here Rajappa's  house is just 1 km and we covered that with almost no effort. 

At Rajappa's house hot coffee was waiting for us and Arun had boiled water for taking bath. Whats more comfortable than taking bath in hot water after trekking in storm. Every one was waiting in queue to take bath and we relaxed till night. 

WARNING:
Camping at the peak or anywhere inside the national park is strictly prohibited. We saw tiger litter on the peak, so please follow this advice, do not camp on the peak.

If you are trekking in summer then wear full pants( a formal pant will do, a track pant will be amazing). I was wearing shorts and dried up grass really turns itchy as you have to walk for a long distance amid grassland.
 
Heard from Arun that during Monsoon, even 2 hands are not enough to take out leaches from your body. So, do not plan to trek during mosnsoon.

Trekking details:
Base camp: Kalasa
Connectivity from Bangalore: Well connected by Govt buses( Airawat  and Rajahamsa)
Journey hours:  6-7 hours in bus. Airawat bus reaches Kalasa at 6 in the morning.

Trekking distance: 9-10 kms

Trekking season:
October- January(advised)
You can also visit in the 1st week of June when the pre monsoon flourishes the grass and the place is covered in clouds.


Difficulty level:
Difficult for amateur trekkers.
Moderate for frequent trekkers.

Must carry:

• Tent, sleeping bag and mat. ( Not required if you are planning to stay at some local's house)
• Good trekking shoes.
• Water(1-2lts). You can find water streams on the hills all the time.
• Leech repellent if you are going before november( Iodex spray, salt). Leech socks are the best options.
• Proper winter wear if you are going after Nov. Temp stays low in winter.
• Flashlight, First aid kit, Knife, energy drinks and food items.

 Important guidelines:

• Reserve your tickets in advance.
• Start trekking early in the morning, sooner the better.
• Stay with the crowd always.
• Woods in the forest will be wet till October sic rainfall is often in the region.
• Keep your backpack as light as possible. Dont carry too much of food. 

  Total trekking time:

• If you are a frequent trekker, you can reach the summit  in 3:30 - 4:00 hours.
• for amateur trekkers it might take 5 hours.

Tips for photographers:

• Dont  forget to capture the macro beauties of the jungle.
• View from the mountain gives a perfect landscape.
• Kudremukha is home to amazing wildlife especially birds and butterflies. I saw atleast 30 types of different birds and butterflies. You can see some of the birds below:

Trekking rules:

• Do not carry alcohol. Do not smoke in the jungle
• Do not throw anything during the trek.  Keep the trekking place clean for the following trekkers.

 Happy Trekking :)

       Makalidurga is a hill fort situated about 60 km off Bangalore towards Doddaaballapura. Summit holds the temple of Lord Shiva with a Nandi.

Approaches:
         One can reach Makalidurga via train, private transport or public transport. Best would be to use private transport as it will take you right below the hill thus reducing strain.

Trekking:

Temple at the summit

         We started our trekking around 11 am. The trekking path goes around the temple at the base. The path is scarce though indicated by some white color painted arrow marks on the stone and is eventually difficult to find. Once you lose your way, you have to make your own way to the summit as we did and this includes climbing big rocks,making your own way through the bushes etc. At the summit there is a temple inside a fort wall alike compound. There is no absolute availability of water from the base till the summit, so don't forget to carry water on your own. Trekking down is an easy part, once you are on a right way you will not lose it.

View from the top

On the way to the summit

Trekking details:
Base camp: Makalidurga  
Connectivity from Bangalore: Well connected train, bus.
Journey hours:  2 hours in bus.

Trekking distance: 2-3 kms

Trekking season:
All time
Difficulty level:
 Happy Trekking :)  

"Adventure must  start with running away from home". May be that is the reason I chose Royal Enfield over all other bikes. After waiting for almost a year I had finally got a call that my bike has arrived. This black beast (I call it Falcon) makes people on the street to turn around and look at it again. In this blog post I will try to write about the journeys I took on this bike.

Falcon resting at garage

Ride to Nandi Hills [ 30/09/2012]:

On the way to Nandi Hills

    Valley of Flowers National Park is located at  west Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The trek to the valley is a long one and requires pre planning and preparation. There are lot of tourist packages which provide affordable service few of which are YHAI and GMVNL.

Our tour was planned for 15 days including travelling from Bangalore.

Day 1: 
    We took Rajdhani Express from Bangalore. Train provides 1AC,2AC and 3AC classes. Total journey duration is  36 hours.Train leaves Bangalore Central at 8pm.

Day 2: 
    Second day of the tour goes in the train journey, Rajdhani express passes through AP, Maharashta, MP before reaching Delhi. Food is served on the train and the service is pretty good.

Day 3: 
    We reached Nizamudin station in Delhi at 5am. Our next catch was Shatabdi Express from Nizamuddin to Haridwar. Train was scheduled at 7am and it was on time. I was standing at the train door during this entire journey, train doors always give you picturesque landscapes. Shatabdi is supposed to be fastest between Delhi and Haridwar, so it is advised to take this one and avoid rest. Train reached haridwar station by 1pm. We were hungry and tired of the continuous journey. Outside of Haridwar station, waiting was hotel 'Pavitra Bhojanalaya'. We had our lunch here. Lunch was yummy.

Ganga pooja at Ram jhula

    Our Check in place was GMVNL resort in Rishikesh. Haridwar to Rishikesh is around 25kms and there are lot of buses running between them. There are ricks also available and they charge around 300-400rs depending on your bargaining skills. We reached GMVNL hotel by 4pm, freshened up and were out of the hotel to explore Rishikesh.
 
  Rishikesh is a holy town situated across Ganges. Main attractions in Rishikesh are the Ram Jhula, Laxman Jhula and Ganga Pooja which is done every evening during twilight time. We made it to Ram Jhula and Ganga Pooja. Ganga Pooja was blissfull. We had famous Aloo tikki  and made back to our hotel by 9pm.


Day 4: 
    The actually journey to valley of flowers starts from day 4. Our bus left Rishikesh at 7 am . We had to travel 250kms from Rishikesh to Joshimath. The road is narrow and passes through west himalayan mountains. Landslides are very common here on the road during rainy season and dont be surprised if you get yourself stuck in traffic jam for hours. Entire journey Ganges will be flowing on your right side, so make sure that you take right side window seat in your vehicle.

Dev Prayag

    You will meet three Prayags(means confluence) on your journey. These are
     1. Devprayag: Here Alaknanda and Bhagirathi river meet to form Ganges. This is the actual birthplace of Ganges
     2. Rudraprayag: Here Alaknanda meets Mandakini river.
     3. Karnaprayag: Here Alkananda meets Pindar river.

Travelling 250kms takes 8-9 hours since avg speed of the vehicle is 40kmph. GMVNL has resorts in all major towns in Garhwal region. We reached Joshimath by 8pm.

Day 5: 
    We had to goto Govindghat, trekking starts from here. Govindghat is around 22kms from Joshimath. On the way you meet Vishnu prayag which is one of the panch prayag. Here Alaknanda meets Dhauliganga river.

On the way to Ghanghria

    Govindghat is located at the confluence of Alaknanda and Laxman ganga rivers. Trek to both Valley of flowers and Hemkund Saheb starts from here. You can find hundreds of Sikhs here who come to the holy shrine of Hemkund saheb.  We had to trek for 15kms this day from Govindghat to the hill town of Ghanghria. One can take horse to goto Ghangria and luggage can be given to porters who carry your luggage till the top. They charge around 500rs for it. There is a well built pavement from Govindghat to Ghanghria, so there is not much of tiring. You can find many hotels and shops on the way. MRP of all food items increases as you hike up. Entire trek you find Pushpavati river flowing next to you. It takes around 6-7 hours to reach Ghanghria by walk. We reached Ghanghria by 4pm. This town has recently got electricity so you wil not find geysers in hotels and they charge 50rs for a bucket of hot water. All food items are sold at thrice the MRP price. You can find only Idea network here, there are PCOs which charge 10rs/1min of call.
Documentary about Valley of Flowers is shown at the tourist center in the evening, We had nice dinner in the evening and went off to bed early.

Day 6:

@ the heart of the valley

    We got up early in the morning and packed our lunch. Around 1 kms from Ghangria is the entrance gate to the Valley. You have to pay trekking fees of 150rs here. Valley of flower trek from Ghanghria is quite easy one and you dont  get tired as you feel like you are walking in the heaven. As you enter the park you can see flowers around getting denser as you move ahead. The trek to the park depends on how much you want to trek. If you want to cover the entire valley then the valley stretches upto 10ks otherwise you can visit Mrgaret Legge's memorial which is around 7 kms from Ghanghria.  Throughout the valley you can see Pushpavathi river flowing adjacent to you. Sometimes you need to cross small streams of water over logs or small bridges. We had our packed lunch here. I went till the end of the Valley where you find the glacier.

Valley of flowers

     It is adviced that you should start trek early in the morning. After 1pm clouds cover the park and it starts raining. Same happened with us while coming back. We were drenched inspite of wearing raincotas and the temperature was very low, freezing cold you can say.

    We reached back to Ghanghria by 5pm, had hot tea which gave us our life back.


Day 7: 

On the way to Hemkund

 Our today's destination was Hemkund Saheb , a holy Sikh shrine. It is about 6kms from Ghanghria and the trek is a difficult one. You can take Horses or porters. Two of us took Horses. Me and Pradeep started walking. The trek was steep and tiring. It took us 4 hours to cover 6kms. On the way we had some amazing landscape views. At the Hemkund there is a Gurudwara and a Laxman temple. You get Khichdi and Tea in Gurudwara which is very refreshing in the cold weather. We stayed here for 2 hours and took some pictures and started climbing down. It took us 3 hours to climb down. We came back to Ghanghria and rested here.

Hemkund

Day 8:
    We started climbing down early in the morning. We were at Govindghat by 12pm. We took bus to Badrinath and had lunch there. Evening time we visited the temple and did some shopping. Bath in the hot water spring at Badrinath was amazing.

Day 9:
     We visited last village of India, Mana. The village is on the border with Tibet/china. In the village are the Vyaas gufa nd Ganesh gufa where the Saint Vyasa narrated Mahabharatha to Lord Ganesha. We started our journey back to DevPrayag. It took us arond 5 hours to reach Rudraprayag.

Day 10: 
    We started journey from Rudraprayag to Rishikesh. We reached Rishikesh by 1pm. We booked our train tickets to Delhi and went back on that day itself.

Day 11,12, 13: 
    We visited India gate, Qutub Minar, Jantar Mantar, Red fort in Delhi.

Day 14, 15: Travel back to Bangalore in Rajdhani Express.