Sanity restoration weekend ride to BR Hills!

Crew Members: Dilip, Manish and myself!

Duration: 2 Nights.

Bikes: RE Electra, RE Classic and HD Street 750!

Date: 9th June 2017 - 11th June 2017.

Expense: ~4500 INR per head.

Abstract: A ride to get back being sane!

A weekend escape between in strenuous weekday schedule became something unavoidable. Right on the verge going insane, a window of opportunity came up and we didn't want to miss it at any cost. Initial plan was to hit Kudremukh/Sakleshpura. But considering the possibility of heavy showers in the Western Ghats, we decided to pick some other destination and BR Hills came up as a viable option. Our intention was just to escape from Bangalore and relax.

We booked a room at Rajathadri Hill Villas and we decided to set off our journey by 9th June afternoon. But then we happened to check with the hotel management about any entry restriction from the forest checkpost side and we learned about the closure of the check post by 6 PM. We had to make slight change in our plans to hit the check post before 6. Our route options were - Bangalore to Malavalli through Kanakpura road or Bangalore to Malavalli through Mysore road via Maddur. And we froze the second option considering the ease of access and quality of ride!

Finally, the day arrived and we gathered at NICE road junction in Mysore road at 12 noon and started at 12:30 PM. We tried reducing the stops as much as possible as we were off our schedule by 30 mins. We took a hydration stop at KM Doddi and a fueling stop for bikes and ourselves at Kollegal. We had slowed down our ride while we hit the Shivanasamudra stretch to take sometime and breath-in some fresh air.

Rain had hit us twice once in Ramnagara stretch and after Kollegal town. We had carried rain jackets to switch to when in need and it helped. Ride from Kollegal town to BR Hills entry was through some remote villages and crop fields which was pretty amazing and which then came the uphill ride through the lush greenery! We were so badly lost in it that I missed taking camera out of my bag. We reached the peak by around 5 and with little struggle we could find our stay. The cool breeze was so damn soothing. Believe me, it was so so green every where around.

Our stay, Rajathadri Hill Villa was pretty cool. Best part about this place is absence of commercialization. There are hardly 3-4 home stays and few tuck shops. Anything to be bought apart from snacks need to be brought from Kollegal.

We off loaded our luggage, switched to slippers and Dilip who had been to this place a year ago decided to take us to a view point which is at walk-able distance from the hotel. The view point is accessible by vehicles as well.

Once we reached the point after 10-15 mins walk, I was literally awestruck! The place was very open with a super wide view and ferociously windy! Unlike other famous hill stations, were the view points would be swarming with tourists, this place was all for just 3 of us! We took seat there and just enjoyed the cold wind till it started getting dark.

We got back to our rooms and our room boy, Naveen was already setting up the campfire. I was brave enough to take bath in the cold water and it was like a turbo charge for me. As soon as the campfire was set, we took our seats and we were sharing it with another batch of tenants. We had some good chit chat time and shared our experiences. By around 9 PM, dinner was ready and we 3 spend some good amount of time with campfire till late night. The hotel had a 'Naturalist' staff who promised to take us for a Nature walk the next day morning 6:45 AM and do some bird watching.

I woke up at around 6 AM without alarm and I was so damn excited to step out in the cold. Remaining two were snoring heavily. I went for a short walk by myself until our naturalist, Krishna showed up. By 7, we 3 and the other guest batch got ready and we left for nature walk. He took us to the view point at first.

Since it was very cloudy, there weren't many birds outside except for the local birds like Mynah, Spotted dove, Robin, Brown Owl. Since our lens is not good enough for bird photography, excuse me for not clicking any pics there. We continued our walk towards K Gudi Tiger Reserve for almost 5kms and returned since there weren't many wildlife activity outside. Krishna was very friendly and helped us with lot of information. It was a walk to remember. As soon as we got back to room, got ourselves freshened up, hogged some Idli and Dosa and decided to head for the Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy temple. Had a glimpse of the deity and we took a walk around the temple. This temple is situated at the highest point of the hill and the view from there is amazing.

We again headed back to the view point, but on bikes this time. The place is badly addictive. One wouldn't want to leave the place at all. We spend some quality time there getting a balcony seat view of the rains pouring every where around. It was spectacular. Capturing it on lens was a challenging task. The picture below is the sight of rain hitting Chamrajnagar town.

We decided to take lunch at 1:30 and head for K Gudi tiger reserve forest safari soon after. Safari happens at 6AM, 3PM and 4PM and we were told that it would generally be crowded on weekends and there is no provision for advance reservation. It works on first come first serve basis. By the time we reached hotel, there were new guests from Bangalore there and they all were planning to take Safari that evening. We took an express lunch and left for K Gudi. 

Ride to K Gudi is an 18kms long one through the tiger reserve. I decided not to take my bike as I wanted to click as much pics as possible. The road was almost like right out of dreams.

We sighted a female elephant beside the road on the way.

We reached the safari point by 2:30 and by 2:45 we were in the first batch safari jeep. Krishna had made calls and arranged it for us. The driver was friendly and he took us through the safari route explaining various things about animals found there. It was a 1 hr 15mins long ride costing 400 INR. All we could sight was 2 elephants and a langur. 

As per what the driver told us, summer time is best for animal sighting as the interior water sources gets dried up then and the animals will have to depend on the water reservoirs that the forest dept maintains. There reservoirs are covered during the drive.

By the time we came out of the forest, there were lot of tourists assembled for Safari. We spend some time walking around and decided to take a slow ride back. We sighted deer and the same elephant again on the way back.

In fact, we must have sighted more animals in the to and fro ride compared the safari! :D

As you can guess, we went straight to the view point and the wind was even more ferocious now. We found it hard to fight wind, but we didn't want to miss this last evening in the place before leaving. We spend good amount of time there and came to the room to live the same routine as previous day. Had dinner, watched the SA vs ENG Champions Trophy match and slept off to start next day early.

My friend Deepesh had decided to make a early morning ride to BR hills to meet us and he woke me up at 6:00 AM and to my surprise, Dilip was already and up and packing his stuff. We met Deepesh, gave him directions and tips on what to see around as he was there with 2 of his friends to spend just the day. We soon left after having some minimal breakfast and coffee. Our target was to hit Bangalore as early as possible. But unfortunately, we missed our return route by a bit and that costed us some extra time. By 1 PM, we were back in the traffic city as we took only one stop for fueling. The super excited trip became just a memory in a matter no time! But let me tell you, this place is now my favorite get away place from Bangalore because 2 main reasons - A place with minimal people around and super weather.

Our group:

Our ride:

Things to remember:

1. BR Hills entrance check post closes at 6 PM and entry is restricted beyond.

2. Any consumables needed, should be procured before hand as BR Hills has hardly any shops.

3. K Gudi safari timings at 6AM, 3PM & 4PM and the cost is 400 INR for Indian citizen.

Don'ts:

1. The place is extremely well maintained. Do your part in keeping it the way it is.

2. Control yourself from honking and disturbing the sanctity of the place.

Handy Details:

1. Contact Krishna - 9035711054 for queries related to weather and any info required to BR Hills/H Gudi wildlife.

2. Rajathadri hill villa hotel is a totally dependable one with very courteous staff and a owner. Totally vouch for it! - http://www.rajathadrihillvilla.in/