Ride to BR Hills - Season 2

This is my second ride to BR hills, the first one being with my wife. This time it’s my daughter’s turn to be my pillion rider. Our initial plan was a 3-day ride to visit Rameshwaram & Kanyakumari, but due to bad weather there, we changed our destination to Goa for the same 3-days. Finally we settled down for a short 2-day ride to BR Hills.
 

(Note to my wife: Kanyakumari & Goa rides are not cancelled, but postponed & still pending.)
 

We started at 6:15 in the morning, saying bye to my wife who had some office work (from home). This time we took the Kanakapura road as construction work was going in Mysore road. After an hour’s ride we stopped for breakfast as well as a break for the pillion rider.
 

After a tasty breakfast, we resumed our ride on Kanakapura road till Malavalli to take a deviation to reach our destination.

We rode another 90 Kms to break for some sugarcane juice. At the same place there was a diversion to take left to Kollegal. But after consulting the juice vendor, we took the straight road. As we rode, we also completed the off-road experience and we felt that the road was washed out due to the recent rains. Finally crossing Kollegal, we reached the Forest Check post at BRT Tiger Reserve.

 

The guard asked us to enter our details, told us not to stop in between & let us go through. The next 15 Kms was awesome as we both enjoyed by clicking some pictures & videos. The selfie stick was handy. And as per instructions, we didn’t stop anywhere until our hotel. On the way, I showed her the BR temple on the hill top from the lake and the resort that we stayed last time.

As it was a weekday, we were the only guests staying in the Hotel, KSTDC’s Mayura. The room was neat & clean as expected. We checked into the hotel, freed our riding gears & immediately went to visit the Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple atop which is even walkable from the hotel.
 

The temple renovation is still going on, which we saw during our last visit in 2018. We spent some time around the temple as it had some good views. While coming down I showed her the sunset-point that will be revisited in the evening.

After a normal lunch at the hotel, we relaxed a bit in the room & planned to go to Kyatadevara Gudi (K.Gudi) in the evening. We started around 4 pm to K.Gudi that is around 18 Kms from the Hotel.

The ride from BR Hills to K.Gudi was awesome as the road penetrated inside the lush green forest with many bends & curves and ups & downs. Hardly did we see any vehicle pass by. What else do we need for a good ride? As earlier we took some selfies & videos on the go. 

We reached there in 30 mins to see the place with few people roaming around. (The road further leads to Chamarajanagar ~30kms) The place was peaceful and ideal to relax with some huge trees around & a small lake. We even saw a tamed elephant there.

We left K.Gudi early so that we don’t have to ride in dark inside the forest. In no time we reached BR Hills and had some tea & snack in a shop nearby. We spent some time near a lake from where you get a view of the temple at the top of the hill. 

 

By that time, the evening sky started showing its true colors. After some photography we rushed to the sunset point, only to see the sun that had already gone down. Never mind, we enjoyed the sunset views nearby the lake itself. We sat there for some time & then retired to our room.

We woke up late the next morning and after our breakfast we walked up the road to the temple. There were good views of the surrounding hills & places. While coming back to the hotel we took the steps that run through the small quite village.

We checked out around 10:30 AM from the hotel for the return ride. As we had enough time, we thought we’ll have some proper lunch near Mysore just because the last 3 meals were not up to our expectation. We took the same road back through the BRT Forest Check Post & followed Google Maps to reach Poojari’s Fish Land on Mysore Road. You get some good Sea food & Mangalore style cuisine there. 

After a good lunch there & a juice break in between, we reached home around 4 pm to see my wife busy on her office call.
My mind voice: “What a contrasting experience? ‘Bike Ride in the Jungle’ Vs ‘Work From Home’.”

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/rhUc4oaPz85KCZi76 

Route Taken:
Bangalore- Kanakapura-Mavalli-Kollegal-BR Hills : 200 Kms
BR Hills – K.Gudi – BR Hills: 40Kms
BR Hills- Mysore ORR-Bangalore: 250 Kms

 

Read my earlier blog on BR Hills' ride here: Weekend Ride to BR Hills - Season 1

Visit to Ramadevara Betta

The hangover of yesterday’s visit to Avalabetta & Gudibanda Fort was still there in our mind; we decided to have more by visiting the famous Ramadevara Betta today. It is in Ramanagara & is popular for the shooting location of the film ‘Sholay’.

Through the reviews & blogs, we read that the open time as 8 am and reached there by 8:15 am after finishing our breakfast in Ramanagara. To our surprise the guard told that the open time was 9 am. So, my daughter & I went for a walk to a nearby Lotus pond that we saw on the way. Also I got a good view of the mountain. 

Close to 9am, the guard allowed the bikes first & later the cars - we couldn’t understand the logic. We drove to the foothill, parked my Beast under a tree & wasted no time in climbing. There were steps as usual as in any of the hill-temples, but this one was colorful.

We completed Level-1 of today’s visit to see some flat land with 2 temples; the main Ram temple & another over a huge rock.

We proceeded to Level-2; the rock behind the temple. This had no steps, but a light sort of trek with multiple view points of the adjacent mountain. It was full of greenery during this time of the year & may be the recent rains. Cool breeze now & then didn’t tire us down. There were 2 paths & we took the right one to complete Level-2. We were on a rock that was just behind the main temple. We had a great view of the main temple alongside a pond & the adjacent mountain.

We saw people on top of another hill behind us & we couldn’t find a way further. So we went back & took the left path that we came across earlier. Welcome to Level-3; the hill to climb was almost vertical with steps etched on to it with some railings. Some people getting down were looking afraid. One couple was returning half-way. 

As my wife was not ready to climb, my daughter & I went on to climb. We did it with ease as we had the experience of climbing Parvathamalai. It was a huge area with some greenery, cactus plants, with a small pond and not to forget the cool breeze all over.  We spent some time roaming around, taking a few pictures & then climbed down to join my wife there. 

Climbing down also was easier for both of us. As there is a saying “Whether you think you can or you can’t, either way, you are right”.

We headed to Level-1 & visited the temple. Our timing was perfect that there was Annadhanam (Donation of Food) in the main temple. After spending some time around there, we climbed down in no time & reached the parking area to see a lot of vehicles. We headed back to Bangalore around 12pm.

Overall, it is a nice place to visit for nature lovers, preferably after the rains. The cool breeze nullifies the shining sun. Take water with you as there are no shops in any Level. You may climb the steps (to Level-1) without footwear also; however you’ll need them for other 2 Levels. But don’t miss the final steps to Level-3.

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/h67N16eAC6a549XS6

Distance traveled:

Bangalore – Ramadevara Betta – Bangalore: 120 Kms

Do visit "My WanderLust Experiences" to read my other blogs.