Day 2

Sunday, June 6, 2010

We had planned to explore the place early in the morning but understandably, all of us got late in getting up. After quickly getting fresh, we had our breakfast. It was already 10’O clock in the morning and I didn’t want to lose any more time. So I quickly rounded up everybody and asked them to reach the bus/taxi stand. My intention was to go to Hebbe falls which was around 15 KMs from Kemmangundi, deep inside Bhadra Wildlife sanctuary.

Issue resolved

The ‘Jeep walas’ were very adamant and refused to take more than 7 per jeep. We were 17 and didn’t want to hire more than 2 jeeps. It was a deadlock. Suddenly I spotted 4 backpackers. I asked them if they wanted to join us for the Hebbe falls trip and they happily agreed. 

Frm L to R : Amaan, Thakela, Singhal, myself, Jaggu, Bisen
sitting in one of the cabs

 Now we were 21, so 3 jeeps and 7 per jeep. Thus, it was an optimized situation for us.

Hebbe Falls

The trip down to hebbe falls was amazing. It wasn’t a metalled road and went through forests and along the mountain slopes. Finally, the jeeps dropped us at a point from where we were supposed to walk on foot for another 1-2 KMs. This trek through forest was amazing and we had to cross a small river on the way. 

Santosh crossing the stream, the rocks were quite slippery 

the forest trek along the stream

hebbe falls at a distance

We finally spotted the falls at a distance.

The waterfall was amazing and had a tiny pool at its base. We sat beneath the falls for a long time, feeling the cold water jets on our back. 

At the base of the fall

It was hard to sit on the slippery surface against the force of strong water currents falling from a great height. But all of us enjoyed it immensely. Had it not been our jeep walas warning to hurry, we would have sat there for several hours.

The lowest tier of hebbe falls

Bhadravati champs having fun

We finally came out and dried ourselves and retraced our path back to the jeeps. Soon we reached back to Kemmangundi.

Farewell Kemmangundi

So far the trip had been splendid and we enjoyed nature at its best. The common consensus was to return back to Bhadravati and attend PS on Monday. So, I informed everybody that we’ll have to catch the 4’O clock bus to Tarikere at any cost(as that’s the only public mode of transport) and another bus from there to Bhadravati. So I asked everyone to finish up with their lunch and meet up at the bus stand positively by 3’O clock.

Deception

But, I still had many places left to visit- Chikmaglur, Belur, halebid, Shravanbelagola were all south of Kemmangundi roughly within a 100 KM radius. And I definitely didn’t want to get back to that shitty PS on Monday. And so I, Ayush and Apurv decided to leave the group and move ahead to Chikmaglur.

While everybody was busy taking their lunch, we started moving downhill in hope of getting lift on some vehicle moving to Tarikere (from where we could catch the Chikmaglur bus). We had already covered 5 KMs downhill on foot and still couldn’t manage to get lift from any vehicle. Just when we had left all hope and were terribly tired, a mini Volvo stopped near us. It had several young people from Bangalore and they happily agreed to give us lift. We quickly jumped on the bus and praised the almighty for coming to our rescue.

The Volvo dropped us at a small town called Lingdahalli from where we took another bus to Chikmaglur. This bus followed the road which went through forest, hills and beautifully laid coffee estates.  Karnataka was indeed stunning. By evening we were in Chikmaglur.

On the way to Chikmaglur, this one's perhaps Mulyangiri

Chikmaglur : The land of Coffee

We hadn’t eaten anything post breakfast and so we were immensely hungry. After consulting several locals we reached a restaurant called Mayura. To our mild surprise, we got there North Indian food and we devoured it like hungry beasts. The town is popular as heart of Coffee growing region in India and so we decided to sample its coffee. We also ordered coffee. And believe me, it was one of the best coffees, I ever had.

My verdict : Coffee at Mayura should definitely be on one’s checklist if you’re visiting Chikmaglur

Kites

We had the whole evening before us and so we decided to watch a movie. Fortunately, Hritik Roshan’s Kites was being played at a local cinema and the balcony tickets were priced at just Rs 35. I definitely liked the presentation and the style of the movie along with the acting but on the whole it was just mediocre one-time watchable fare.

After the movie, we went to bus stand and took the Belur bound bus.  Belur is 35 KMs from Chikmaglur and is famous for its 1000 yr old Chennakesava temple. We reached Belur at 1’O clock and began looking for night stay option. And as it so happens, it’s really difficult to get accommodation at the dead of night. But we got lucky and a lodge manager agreed to give us a place to sleep in his store room  until morning(for just Rs 50 per head). We didn’t mind because we were too tired and could have slept even without any bedding.

And so our day ended. Only this morning while savoring nature’s beauty, did I know, that tonight I’ll be sleeping in the attic of a rusty old lodge in Belur. Indeed, life of a traveler is full of suspense.

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