Its been sometime that me and Tumpa went out for a trip, the last was in February 2008 when we went with Nimish to Coorg, and thankfully this year India's birthday was on Friday and that encouraged me to go out somewhere and spend some quality time out of the dust and dirt of Bangalore! So decided to take a day off on 14th to make the long weekend longer. Now to the easy part which apparently turned difficult - where to go !! Thought of going to Munnar/Ooty, it rains there when whole India is dry, so during monsoons its not a viable option. Next option was Cochin and thereabouts, but reports say this year monsoon is peaking in western ghats during Aug and that rules out my next option - Mangalore also.
Its monsoon time, so coastal India is not an option. Decided to go to hills, with some study we finalised Chikmagalur which is a good destination with lot of nearby falls, treks and temples. I was pretty sure to get a resort and that too cheap as this is off-season, but to my surprise, things were all sold out, so had to settle with Texwood Resort (though I would prefer to call it a homestay) for 14th and 15th and not 16th.
I would rate myself a good trip planner, normally have a big checklist and a small checklist to check the big one !! With maps and road directions and some tips from collegues and friends, I thought of driving there with Tumpa in our (till then) new Getz ! We did some small shopping, had an early dinner and slept off to start at 6 am sharp !
Day 1: Its 530 am as I woke up, and we actually did pretty well to start off at 610 am. Tooks oem cash for the road, and hit NH-4 by 630 am. This distance to Chikmagalur was 260 kms and from there Texwood was another 32 kms. With two 15 mins halt we reached Chikmagalur at around 1230 pm via NH4 (Neelamangala) >> NH48 (kunigal-charanayapatna-hassan) >> SH57 (Belur). Drive to Neelamangala was decent, somewhat like what we face in Bangalore but when we took NH48 life became easy and the drive became pleasant. There are road signs all through but hard part is to find them !! NH48 is a one-lane road but I was able to overtake and touch good speeds often as there is very less traffic. Its bit tricky to
find the SH57 for Belur from Hassan - we had to cross Hassan town and new roads are getting constructed there. However the road from Hassan to Belur was awesome. It was as good as any road in US if not better. I was able to touch 110 kph even 120 kph once. It was too scenic with marigold farms alongside with clouds kissing the hill tops in the background. From Chikmagalur town to the resort was a real bumpy ride with a slight drizzle and very less directions, traffic, people as well as mobile network. If you are lost, then you better be prepared. It was less of road, and more of potholes, with a noisy river flowing alongside. There 
were small mud slides with tree logs on the road. We kept driving on Mallundar road (that's what the resort guy told me to do) inside the Bhadra National Park for 40 mins before we actually saw a forest check post. We were pleased to see the Texwood Jeep waiting for us there. We parked the car in Bhadra National Park and took the jeep for another small 4km ride inside the forest which made the light of the previous treacherous roads. It was 240pm as we reached Texwood Resort, a coffee plantation estate resort. There was not much of a welcome, we dumped the luggage in the poolside (rainwater) cottage and came down for lunch. It was sambar and rasam at first sight, but there was some kababs and mutton curry to save us !! We stuffed ourselves to the limit and since it was still raining we thought of spending rest of the afternoon/evening inside - sleeping. after that we had some snakes with coffee as high tea and then after some rounds of carom and indoor badminton we were ready for dinner. I guessed we both were bored with the place, as there was very less activity to do.Day 2 was no different, we woke up at 9 am , and it was still raining. The persistant rain and mist meant all the hikes and jeep ride to the falls and treks were ruled out. So after a decent breakfast, couple of cups of coffee and rounds of carom, we tried doing some bird-watching.
Must say, Tumpa has a good knack of finding small birds, insects and crawlers. I took out my SLR and tried to capture some of them. It was beautiful with clouds covering and uncovering the mountains. We also went for a small stroll and were able to spot some butterflies and some birds. We came back at 2 pm for lunch, and I was glad to see some groups coming in. I thought we were the only idiots to choose this resort that too in monsoons. After lunch (oh!! it was a red curry today, last day it was a green curry - 'm talking about the mutton gravy) the manager felt pity on us and promised to take us for fishing downhill at 4 pm. It was good experience as we 
boarded the jeep again and set off. Fishing was a good experience as the pond was filled with small fishes, we managed to catch 3 each and I was lucky enough to get a blood sucking leech bite - it feels good, donating blood without even feel the pinch !! we came back after a small hike to the resort where we had some chilli bajji and couple of cups of coffee. Nothing much to do, so had dinner after sometime and then went for sleep. Day 3, we got up late as usual and took bath after 2 days, packed our dirty mud clad clothes, had a decent breakfast, cleared all bills and started off for the last jeep ride to the car park in Bhadra. Before that, Tumpa got a "Memory Stick" from the resort, it was a rose stem (stick) which she asked for and she took it Texwood memory !! It was 1130 am we started in our car, and we reached Belur at 215 pm with multiple photo breaks ! We stopped at a marigold farm, to click some pics, the caretake
r was gracious enough to let us in and give us some saplings to make Bangalore green and colorful. We next stopped at the Chennakesava Temple in Belur and spend some time in the temple premises as the Gods were having their mid-day nap. From there we started at 315 pm and reached Hassan at 4pm where we had our lunch. Tumpa wanted some non-veg stuffs but from belur to hassan there were hardly any place serving non-Veg except for the Bars ! We got on to the road for our final burst at 430 pm and reached the NH4 junction at 730pm. Rest 20 kms took another 1 hr. We were not aware if there are 
road signs while entering bangalore, luckily there were, and we reached home, much to the relief of my mom !!When I was planning I couldn't find much info regarding Chikmagalur in monsoons, so thought of putting my experience on typing. It was a good trip, not suggested for trekkers, as it was very slippery and raining. However the drive to Chikmagalur is something great, even the beginners like me can do and enjoy!! As for the resort, there are many, there is a Taj Retreat, Nature Nirvana but even the small ones are also pretty decent, may be its the place and the mind which searches for peace !! Later someone told me that it didn't rain in Kerela that week... but still I would say, the grass was greener, the sky was whiter and the clouds were thicker in Chikmagalur !!
1 comment:
The Pics are well clicked!! Apart from your writing skills, your skill of Photography is also great....
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