Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Bangalore to chikmagalur road trip


  1. Right now is the right time to visit Chikamaglur. Weather is good - rains not yet started. As soon as the rains start - travelling to hilly areas in it will be next to impossible.
  2. Started around 8 in the morning with Google Maps. It showed 3 routes. Checked with friends and they said the best route is going via Haasan. Road condition is great too. Even Navi Maps is good for navigation. But don't trust any of the maps blindly. I used Google maps mostly. But at 2-3 places it showed wrong turns. I checked with the people around and found them to be wrong.
  3. When you reach Haasan - you can refill your LPG car if you have one. There are multiple LPG stations. There is one on the route itself right in front of the SDM Ayurveda Hospital.
  4. Reached Chikamaglur around 1PM. Roughly 5 hours journey. Stayed at Giri's Inn on I.G. Road. It has covered car parking. Tariff is 1800/- per night. They had wifi but it didn't work in my room. They had complimentary breakfast too. There are some other hotels nearby as well on I.G. road and M.G. road. Pretty regular ones. There are many homestays also  - Jhari eco stay, Hill Crest etc. But they are around 6-7 kms from city center - which is okay. The Serai and Taj Gateway are the 2 big names out there for a great and expensive stay.
  5. Took a tourist map from them and was also informed that Hebbe Falls was closed. 
  6. We freshened up a bit and left for Mullayanagiri peak (Tallest peak of Karnataka). Both Google Maps and Navi Maps have the correct route information for it. Even without maps you can reach there if you follow the signboards on the road. The last 2 kms of Mullayanagiri route are way too dangerous. Drive very very carefully.
  7. But the view at the peak point is marvellous. You are in the clouds - literally.
  8. We didn't stay there for long as we were worried about driving in the dark. We came back - had some snacks at the hotel (Giri's Inn has good room service - but the food is not that great) - and went for shopping. But the market at M.G. road didn't seem very exciting - so we headed straight to The Serai's Blue Sky Lounge Bar. Had a few drinks and some light food there. The place rocks. Came back to hotel and slept.
  9. Woke up in the morning, had the complimentary breakfast of Idly,vada and upamma (breakfast was very ordinary) - and started for Baba Budangiri shrine. Again the maps had good routes and signboards were also correct. Even though I lost data connection after a while. Didn't try Navi Maps here (I could have since it works without mobile data) - but there was no need - as the route was straightforward. 
  10. Right now some portion of road is being built there - so we had to park our car and travel via a rented jeep. We shared the jeep with another group. For Rs. 600/- (75 per head) it took us to Gadikere(a lake) and Baba Budangiri. We spent quite some time at Gadikere as the views there are awesome.
  11. On the way to Baba Budangiri there are 2 waterfalls as well - Honnamanna and Zari. For Zari waterfalls you have to trek down around 1.5 kms unless you are staying at Zari Eco Stay - in which case they will make car arrangements. Honnamanna is on the road itself. We skipped Zari.
  12. While returning we were way too hungry. So, instead of searching for a restaurent - we headed straight to The Serai. And thankfully the buffet was on - so we could eat right away. It cost Rs. 1075/- per head.
  13. Again came back to hotel, slept and in the evening went to M.G. park. Google maps took us to its back gate which is no use. Asked around and reached its front gate. Saw the musical fountain and had a ride in the toy train. The last ride of the train was at 8PM. But better to have a ride in the sunlight - else nothing much is visible.
  14. From here we started for The Gateway for drinks and food. On the way a Mela(fair) was on. Kabir had few rides there too. At The Gateway they allow outsiders to have food and drinks by the pool side (unlike The Serai). The price being reasonable too. Again a great place.
  15. Next morning we enquired about Muthodi forest. For information on Muthodi - you can call 99 0000 5858. They provide lodges there. But there were only 2 safaris through the forest  - once in the morning at 6 and then in the evening at 4. We skipped that too. Another option was coffee museum which is open Monday to Friday (10 to 1 and 2 to 5). But we went to Zari waterfalls instead. But the trek there proved to be a bit tiring as we were with my old MIL and young kid. So we clicked many photos and returned.
  16. Had lunch at The Grand Krishna and headed back to Bangalore. On the way filled the LPG again at the same pump at Haasan - which has ladies toilet too.
  17. Simple journey and back to Bangalore.
  18. Summary : Though it's a great place - there is lack of tourist information. It was very difficult to get information on Muthodi forest and pretty much anything else. I saw a Tourist Information Center closed down and somewhere far from the city center. It should be close to bus/railway stand and much more helpful.
Chikamaglur tourist map
Google maps links :
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