Wandering Wayanad

Route -: Bangalore - Ramnagara - Channapatna - Srirangapatna - Hunsur - Gonikopal - Nagarhole National Park - Wayanad 

Time Of the Trip -: August 2016 ( Rainy Season )

Distance Covered -: 750 Km in 3 days

Type of Trip -: Weekend Getaway

Road Quality -: 8/10

Note -: We took the Nagarhole National Park route ( even thoughit'ss a bit longer ) for 2  reasons

    - The route is really scenic and gives you a welcome change from the concrete highways and barren lands around it.

    - Since it was a popular weekend, the mysore route is usually teaming with traffic hence wanted to bypass that and enjoy the drive as well.

Day 1

6:30 AM  - Left from Bangalore

Traffic Jam on the way to Mysore

We reached Nagarhole by 10:30 AM

( We chose to go through this way which was even though longer but much more serene, quiet and beautiful.)

Rain and Fog made it magical

Amazing Secluded Roads through Nagarhole

With great antlers come great responsibility..!!

Saw really photogenic herds of deer by the side of the road and the roads were extremely good and had no traffic at all. The lush green forest added to the experience ten fold.

Reached Wayanad by 3:00 PM 

Stayed in Sultan Bathery. Roamed around in the forest cover around there till sun down. And then almost got lost there.

Note- : Make sure you do not go out after dark on a 2 wheeler, or atleast you know the ways since it gets pitch black and the roads are narrow and same woods become really really eerie and creepy at night.

Day 2

Went to see Edakkal Caves

On the way to Edakkal Caves

Huge Line on the way to reach Edakkal Caves

Edakkal Caves

View from the Top near Edakkal Caves

Entire open Landscape visible from the caves

Enjoyed the tea plantations and the Scenery all around

Tea Plantations

Entire hills covered in Tea Plantations

Around 2:00 went to our next spot for the Day.

Suchipara Waterfalls

On the way to the Waterfall

Amazingly cold and refreshing water at Suchipara Waterfall

Day 3 

Left our resort to go and see the View Point - Neelimala View Point

The way to the top can be covered in 2 ways - Either on Foot( better wear your trekking shoes and avoid this in Rainy season) or In a Jeep ( Pray to all your gods because this will be the wildest ride of your life esp in the rainy season.)

The scariest ride of my Life

 During the rainy season, the mud and muck is around a foot deep, so you need to be careful if you are trekking on foot.

Another weird thing we noticed here is that the local people will not let you trek up there alone, and you need to pay a small fee to go up there and a local guy will come with you till the top.

This was the trail for the viewpoint after the jeep dropped you.

You can see really far, including a few surrounding waterfalls if the weather is clear. When we were there, it rained cats and dogs hence we saw only a few peaks nearby.

The epic view amongst the clouds made it even more difficult to finally leave all this behind and get back to our regular lives. 

Left Wayanad around 3:00 PM for Bangalore

On the way back found some beautiful Flower fields so had to just stop and click a few pics.

The owner of these fields

Bottomline

 A good trip. Probably not the best time to truly explore and appreciate this place but that being said, this is a great place to relax and get close to nature.

The entire landscape and the greenery all around will sooth your eyes and your soul.

The Misty Coorg

Route -: Bangalore - Mandya - Srirangapatnam - Golden Temple - Dubare Elephant Camp - Coorg 

Time Of the Trip -: April 2016

Distance Covered -: 550 Km in 2 days

Type of Trip -: Weekend Getaway

Road Quality -: 8/10

DAY 1:

7:00 AM  - Left from bangalore

8:30 AM - Reached kamath on mysore highway for breakfast.

Left from Kamath for the Golden Temple Monastery.

Here we regrouped with a few of our colleagues going to Coorg.

Golden Temple Monastery.

From Here we left for Dubare Elephant Camp

Dubare Elephant Camp

This a  great place for cooling off in the intense heat. Here you can do water rafting and then have some splashing fun in the water.

On the other side of the river is an Elephant's Camp where they will get the wild elephants and train them.

Note -: Go early if you wanna do rafting and see the elephant camp both since it will take around 3 hours easily.

We left from here around 6 PM (not a great idea if you are planning to go to a hilly region with hairpin bends on a motorcycle)

Driving the treacherous roads in the pitch black of the night was super scary since the roads have recently been done and are covered in fine sand on almost all the bends.

Thanks to the huge lights of our colleagues car, we were able to make it safely to the resort.

Our Resort

Our Resort

Amazing resort in the middle of the jungle. It has 3 rooms and i would definitely recommend it to everyone.Super clean and big rooms. Amazingly clean and big washrooms.

Note - reaching the resort is a bit tricky since its in the middle of the jungle so do reach there before it gets dark or else you will have trouble finding it like we had.

DAY 2

8:00 am - Left the resort after packing breakfast for the Tadiyandamol trek.

9:00 AM - started the trek.

Its around a 6 km trek one way. The difficulty is easy for the major part. Only the last 500m to the peak is really steep and tough. But its definitely worth it.

                           

Starting of the Trek

View from the mid point

as we reached the midway, the clouds descended and it got cold. It was as if the gods were trying to motivate us saying that you came this far, dont turn back now.

Close to the Peak

At the Peak

 12:00 Noon - reached the peak.

Small trails to the top

4:00 PM - Reached back to the resort

5:30 PM - decided to leave for bangalore.

1:00 AM - Reached Bangalore.

The Tadiyandamol Trek was the highlight of the trip. Its one of the best treks i have done so far and was completely worth it.I reached the top which was completely surrounded by clouds. Played some nice music and relaxed for about an hour with all the peace and quiet in the world.

BottomLine

 A great trip. Short, sweet, and really rewarding. Found the much needed peace and calm on the top of a mountain which seemed impossible to conquer. Realized my limits and came close to my inner  self. 

And as always, 

 Fell in Love with Jenny all over again..!!

Latest Upgrades on Jenny

I removed the Cigarette Lighter i had installed earlier since the usb attachment for it used to come out when ever i drove over bumps. Hence finally i decided to remove it for a USB charger itself.

USB CHARGER on Clip On HandleBar

Problem -: Pulsar 180 has clip-on handle bars and attaching anything on them is not possible.

Solution -: I had tried looking at various USB chargers but most of them needed to be attached on the handlebar.
Finally i stumbled upon a USB charger that could be attached to the side mirrors and hence you dont have to attach it on the handlebar.

Product Link

MOBILE Holder for Bike with Clip On HandleBars

Problem -: All the mobile /GPS holders that are available in the market are for non clip-on handlebars. For a Bike with clip-on handle bars the only option left is to have a tank bag with a clear top.

Solution-: I found this amazing Mobile Holder from www.outdoortravelgear.com that has a croc Mount to fit any bar easily.

Using this i was able to mount this on the Clip-on Bar easily.

Product Link

Note -: The only problem happens with the angle of your mobile when the sun is up. The glare from the transparent sheet on top can be a bit blinding hence you will need to adjust the angle. On the plus side, adjusting this mount is a piece of cake.

Awaiting my Next trip to Tadiandamol.

And as always.

Fell in Love with Jenny All over Again..!!

Ootylicious

Route -: Bangalore - Mandya - Srirangapatnam - Gundlupete - Ooty (via NH275)

Time Of the Trip -: Feb 2016

Distance Covered -: 900 Km in 3 days

Type of Trip -: Romantic Getaway

Road Quality -: 8/10

Route Advice - In between NH 275 and NH 209 , i preferred NH 275 since it has a lot of eating joints on it. NH 209 might be a bit quicker but there is absolutely nothing where you can eat (except of a CCD and a south indian breakfast joint in the starting of 209 itself). Also since NH 275 is a 4 lane highway whereas 209 being a single dual carriage way, hence its easier to drive on NH 275.

DAY 1:

6:00 AM - Started from Bangalore.

NH 209

7:30 AM - realized staying on NH 209 was a big mistake as we were really hungry. Hnece decided to take a mid road to join Nh 275

Bad Roads between NH209 and NH275

8:30 AM - had breakfast at Mc Donalds on NH275 and continued further.

Roads inside Bandipur National Park

Extremely thin roads cause a lot of delay due to oncoming traffic.

1:30 PM - The hairpin bends start

Ooty Hairpin Bends

3:00 PM - Reach Ooty

Sagar Holiday Resort (view from reception)

Sagar Holiday Resort (view from Bottom)

We stayed in a place called Sagar holiday Resort and i cant stress the fact that how amazing this resort was.I got a deal on MakeMyTrip and i got a package for 3 days 2 nights for around 3500/-

This place has all the rooms on the side of the Hill so all the rooms have valley facing balconies and the design is such that the balconies are still private.

View From Our Resort

4:00 PM - After having lunch and resting a bit we went out for sight seeing in Ooty. It was a bit cold by that time but was perfect for roaming around.

Ooty Lake

 You can take a pedal boat here for 120 bucks for half and hour. I would definitely recommend that.

Short Train Ride near Ooty Lake

The train goes nowhere. It just goes ahead by 300m and then returns on the same track.

Clear Skies at Night

DAY 2

6:00 AM - Got up to see the sunrise and what an epic sunrise it was. I have never seen such a spectacular sunrise in my life. It was a strange and calming sight as the cold sun rays finally started to heat your skin and as the fury of the sun made your eyes sparkle until you cant take the magnificence any more and have to look away.

The sun peeking above the Horizon

The valley still slept as the sun woke up

Fog and Mist in the Valleys 

Finally its Up

10:00 AM - After having breakfast, left to see the Avalanchi lake. Its a lake around 50+ KM from Ooty and not many people know about it, but it turned out to be an epic place. Calm lake and colorful background. Kinda makes you wanna camp here and stay.

Top View of the Avalanchi Lake

The Lake opens Up 

 I couldn't find a trail that would let you take your vehicles right up to the lake so you will have to park your vehicle somewhere on the side of the road and then trek down to the lake. Its a simple trek but you need to be careful of the wild buffaloes in this area. they can be a handful.

Colors of Nature

1:00PM came back to ooty. Had Lunch and some nice coffee at CCD.

Went around ooty and did some chocolate shopping. 

Then finally went to the Botanical garden in Ooty.

Botanical Garden

Traffic in Ooty

3:00 PM set out to go to Coonoor. 

Found a guide on the way. These guys will go with your in your vehicle. If there is no place, then they will lead on their 2 wheeler. Best thing, they will drive your car if you want and you can rest your knee for sometime on these wretched small roads.

Tea Estates in  Coonoor

The face of a sleeping lady as seen from the Lambs Rock 

Catherine Falls seen from the Dolphin's Nose Viewpoint

The Never Ending Tea Estates

The Hidden Valley

The Guide will charge you a meagre 300 bucks but its worth it. He knows all the backroads and shortcuts. 

Tip - If you do not know the local language, these guys will be specially helpful on the road.

DAY 3:

11:00 AM - Checked out of the Resort

12:00 Noon - Went to the Tea Factory on the way to Dodda Betta.

1:00 PM - Reached Dodda Betta. Did some sight seeing and then Left for bangalore around 1:30 PM as there wasn't much to do there.

While coming back we had to come back via Gadulur hence it took us longer but its a much better and wider road. (P.S. this is the road that big busses take).

While coming back in Bandipur, we call a lot of wildlife around the road.

10:00 PM - Reached Bangalore via NH275

All in all it was an amazingly relaxing trip. and more than that it was super fun. The climate, temperature, roads, sights and experience, everything cumulatively made this trip , one of my most memorable trips.

BottomLine - Ooty is always fun. Its the closest hill station to Bangalore. Even though its highly commercialized now but still there are patches of nature untouched by man. And when you come across any such piece, cherish it, admire it and don't ruin it.