Trip Report: My Sojourn in "One State, Many Worlds" - Karnataka

Why Karnataka and that too for a person like me who loves mountains and lonely landscapes? The question haunted me and many of my friends who curiously asked if I am taking each Indian state as my destination. Few good friends of IM even alerted me saying it's not going to be a Zanskar or Arunachal even in farthest dream where for many miles it's you and your soul only. Honestly I also never heard of any Karnataka round trip, we are familiar with a Kerala trip, a month long South India trip but spending almost a month in one state, Karnataka? Isn't it going to be too much?

The answer is with due respect to every Indian state which are all fabulous on their own, Karnataka is probably the most versatile. God has given this state all except the mighty Himalayas, so if you want to take a break from the mighty Himalayas, probably this is the state you won't regret choosing as your destination. This land of fragrance has all the ingredients of a great holiday. Its varieties lie in the relaxed length of the golden coastline along the Arabian sea, majestic Deccan rock to thick lush tropical forests and interesting wildlife, silk and sandalwood, an incredible variety of rare species of flora and fauna, a rich culture and heritage, forts, Palaces, ruins, Ornate Temples and pilgrim centers and Hill resorts.


My plan started with spectacular waterfalls to Shivasamudram, sand sunk temples of Talakadu, Hoysala marvel of Somnathpura, great wildlife at the Waynad (Muthunga and Tholpetty WLS), Bandipur, Mudumalai and Nagarhole and then slowly moving to coffee plantations of Coorg and towards Bekal of Northern Kerala. Everyday you would see something new, the landscapes changes completely and so the people and culture.

Next was the coastal Karnataka and splendours of beaches like Kaup, Baindoor, Maravanthe, Gokarana and geographical wonders of St. Mary's Island before heading for Western Ghats to hit evergreen Malnad via Jog Falls with its beauty and charming hill stations of Kemmanagundi, Mulayanagiri, Bhadra WLS or the Hoysala art of Belur and Halebidu. The brilliance of Malnad continues as you travel through Kudremukh,temples of Hornadu and Srinigeri, hitting the ghat again at Agumbe and finally at blissful Tirthahally.

The magic continues as you enter the ageless "Cradle of Stone Architecture" at Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal and finally the amazing Hampi. As you keep traversing through length and breadth of Karnataka, be ready to be spellbound by its magic, truly "One State Many Worlds".

Thanks to many IMers especially snonymous, pmvelu, nkumar, bvsprasanna, vonkla who have helped me in preparing the outline of this trip. Then without Jean-Philipe, I wouldn't be able to take the proper routes, many times maps are confusing and they won't tell you which route
actually takes the shortest time to travel. I had an opportunity to meet him and he himself is an atlas and can tell you many turns of the roads without opening the map. The "pathfinder" HV Kumar was of great help too. His logs were invaluable to complete this almost 4000km road trip successfully. Thanks to Mithun and Soumya, your encouragement was inspirational, on 19th day of the trip when I was so much tired, it's you guys who inspired me to wake up another day at 5.00 am sharp to catch the sunrise from Matunga Hill at Hampi. Biman, if you weren't be there to help me generously, probably I wouldn't be able to plan Badami-Aihole and Hampi so very well. I reiterate, you should write your experience, the amount of insights you have on these places, can help many in IM.

Outline of the 3 weeks trip was like this:

Southern Forest and Coffee Circuit:

Day1 - Bangalore Airport - Mysore
Day2 - Mysore - Shivasamudram - Talakad - Somnathpura - Ranganatithu - Mysore
Day3 - Mysore - Gundalpet - Bandipur - Mudumalai - Gudalur - Sultan Bathery - Muthunga WLS - Kalpeta
Day4 - Kalpeta - Meppady - Soochipara - Sunrise Valley - Phookot Lake - Banasurasagar Dam - Kalpeta
Day5 - Kalpeta - Mananvady - Kuruwa Island - Kattikulam - Tholpetty WLS- Iruppu Falls - Thirunelly
Day6 - Thirunelly - Kattikulam - Bavali - Karapura - Kabini JLR
Day7 - Kabini JLR - Bavali - Kattikulam - Kutta - Ponnampet - Gonikoppal - Virajpet - Madikeri
Day8 - Madikeri - Abbey Falls - Bhagamandala - Talacauvery - Panathur - Kanhangad - Bekal Fort - Kasargod - Mangalore

Google Map: http://g.co/maps/cqynj



Western Coastal and Central Malnad Circuit:

Day9 - Managalore - Kaup Beach - Malpe (Take Ferry to St. Mary) - Kundapur - Maravanthe - Ottinene for sunset and back to Maravanthe
Day10- Maravanthe - Byndoor Beach - Murudheshwara - Kumta Beach - Gokarna
Day11- Explore Gokarna Beach and other Beaches like Kudle, OM, Half Moon and Paradise.
Day12- Gokarna - Kumta - Take SH48 - Ondane - Mensa - Jog Falls - Sagar - Shimoga - Lakkavalli
Day13- Lakkavalli - Tarikere - Lingdahalli - Kalahati Falls - Kemmanagundi - Mulayanagiri - Chikmagalur - Belur
Day14- Belur - Halebid - Belur
Day15- Belur - Chikmagalur - Vastare - Aldur - Balehonnur - Magundi - Balehole - Hornadu - Kalasa - Kudremukh NP - SK Border - Srinigeri-
Agumbe - Tirthahally

Google Map: http://g.co/maps/8qyyg



Northern Heritage Circuit:

Day16- Tirthahally - Shimoga - Honnali - Harihar- Take NH4 - Haveri - Hubli - Take NH218 - Navalgund - Nargund -Kulgiri Cross - Badami
Day17- Badami - Pattadakal - Aihole - Badami
Day18- Badami - Gajendragarh - Kushtagi - Budugumpa - Take SH23 to Gangawati - Anegundi - back to Gangawati - Kampli - Hampi
Day19- Hampi - Daroji - Hampi
Day20- Hampi
Day21- Hampi - Hospet - Chitradurga - Tumkur - Dosspeta - Bangalore Airport

Google Map (Tirthahally - Hampi): http://g.co/maps/vy9vu



Google Map (Hampi - Banagalore Airport): http://g.co/maps/g9r4n



The main objective of writing this is to take you through the versatility the state can offer, so primarily it would be a photo log with some narrations.

This is an excellent prologue to your Karnatake trip. Waiting for photos with narrations.
And then epilogue - I mean travel tips.

Day1

Spice Jet welcomed us on board flat 4 hours late, reason the first significant fog delay of the year in Kolkata. My plans for the day were gone for a toss that moment itself. While reaching Bangalore 4.5 hours late, adding more spice to Spice Jet's journey we found we had lost one luggage, not an ideal start for a 3 weeks trip but found a luggage with similar color in the luggage belt that was the only one left out. Took it to Spice counters and a quick call there after, things luckily got sorted out. The funny guy even boarded in a local bus with my luggage, came back apologetically, I too suddenly became apologetic, as if it was my mistake too to bring a bag with same color but anyway felt extremely relieved when I got it.

Next moment discovered the driver who only can speak couple of words like "Adjust(o)" (used when there is any problem, be it taking an overtake in a blind turn of a narrow State Highway at a speed of 80 kmph and saved by a whisker from a big truck or asking him to stay at car when we are off for a quick temple darshan and then realized he gone in a queue for Prasad and came back an hour later) and "Parwa Nehin" (used when there is no issue, like in morning if I ask whether he had a good sleep last night or when I see him sleeping with steering in his hands on a NH and requesting him to take a quick tea break) those match with my known stock of words. I specifically asked Sathish, the guy who offered me a very new Xylo in an attractive rate, to provide a driver who atleast can understand some Hindi/English. But it was not the case and I felt this language issue was not at all any less challenging than venturing the roads of Ladakh or Arunachal during the whole trip.

I was supposed to start from BIAL (Bangalore Int'l Airport) by 9.30 am and I finally started at sharp 2.30pm for Mysore after fog and lost bag episode. Fortunately the driver had the long list of places I intended to travel (that I sent in an email to Sathish) translated in Kannada but as usual I was not in a position to validate what actually was translated. With all courage, I finally started and decided that I would straight head to Mysore without any detour on that day as I was already late. The roads are fabulous in many parts of Karnataka and especially B'lore -Mysore was a breeze, we cruised on an average of 100 and straight head to KRS dam for a light and sound show. In between took a quick lunch at MacD in Maddur, the only thing in the whole day that worked as planned. KRS dam was good but nothing extra ordinary and a big put off was the huge crowd. That's a problem we faced almost everywhere where there was a temple/ruin/park anything. We have seen lots of students coming in for some educational trip and huge crowds in all these places which sometimes make it difficult to enjoy the place itself. Not sure if it was because of festive month like December or it's common in this part of India. My daughter even got angry on her school when she realized that's all other schools in earth go for so many wonderful trips with their students :-) We somehow escaped the place with lots of efforts and realized the day was not for us and straight away moved towards Hotel. At Mysore we were booked in KSTDC Hoysala and our driver (Venkatesh) was proved to be a person with almost no road/direction sense and we finally found the hotel after crossing it for 4 times. Rooms were just ok but the biggest problem of KSTDC was you won't find any kind of service once you checkin. If your geyser/AC/fan all are ok, you are fine but if for some reason you need any manual intervention and call for service you would certainly feel the heat. So if booked in KSTDC, examine the room well before checkin and that would help you a lot.

Car Odo Reading:

Airport - 44010
End at Mysore Hotel - 44229

Few Snaps from Day2 (Narration is in next post):

Shivasamudram (Gaganachukki)



Shivasamudram (Barachukki)



Talkad - the figure carved out of a single stone in overhang:



Talkad Temples



Somnathapura - Hoysala Architecture:

Day2

Next day Venkatesh understood (atleast that was my understanding) that we would start early by 6.00 and would try to cover some lost time of first day. We got ready at 6.00 sharp and came to car to find him sleeping in the car. He woke up soon and with his usual smile and "Parwa Nehin" took another 30 mins to get ready and finally we started around 6.45 for Shivasamudram. Except 15 km of bad road near Mallavalli, the rest of the road was superb and we reached Gaganachukki around by 9.00am. The falls were still very impressive even though it's not at its best which usually be in Monsoon. We went to Barachukki side too but by that time school kids started coming and crowds were too much. This side one can go very close to the falls by walking down and taking the coracle. We didn't have time neither were very willing with so many people around.

We started our journey to Talakad which is definitely an interesting place where you would find 16th century temples Buried in sand dunes, discovered,excavated and rebuilt by ASI. The only thing beyond my understanding was why these temples are not preserved as Archeological ruins only, I have seen religious activities are going on inside them and not sure if that would be good to preserve this invaluable heritage properties for future.

Next we moved towards Somnathpura an excellent and must visit Hoysala architecture especially if you don't like heavy crowds. It's still not that crowded as Belur or Halebidu but wonderfully decorated and worth all effort to visit that. Thanks to snonymous who strongly suggested me to visit this place. We spent almost 2 hours here and then finally proceeded to Ranganatithu which is again a very nice place but you should be there in morning 8.30 when it just opens or may be in last trip of 5.30 to watch more birds. We have seen a few birds and crocodiles and were informed that Feb is best time to see the birds here. The palace lighting was amazing and shouldn't be missed out at any cost. The timing is for 45 mins between 7 to 7.45 on Sunday only. My wife picked up a few mysore silk too in the middle of such a busy day :-)

Car Odo Reading:

Mysore - 44229
Mallavalli - 44290
Gaganchukki (Shivasamudram)- 44313
Barachukki - 44330
Talakad - 44365
Somnathpura - 44398
Ranganatithu - 44445
Mysore - 44474


Somnathapura Temple - Hoysala Architecture:





Ranganatithu Bird Sanctuary:





Mysore Palace:

Day3

I wasn't taking any chances and from this day onwards I called Venkatesh an hour before our scheduled departure time and also follow up in every 15 minutes:-) So we somehow got ready and started our day by 6.30 in the morning. Today's objective was to enjoy the forest drive of Bandipur/Mudumalai. Till Gundalpet the road was superb and it was cruising at 100kmph. Had breakfast at Gundalpet and entered Bandipur NP limit soon after. The drive is really amazing, you would easily spot deer and elephants on your way. The road gradually becomes more scenic as we enter Tamilnadu towards Mudumalai. If you are in a Karnataka registered commercial vehicle, at Gudalur you need to pay TN State Tax that costs Rs. 400/- and valid for 7 days.

Those who are proceeding to Waynad, usually don't take this route, the direct route is from Gundalpet towards Muthunga, Sulthan Bathery and Kalpeta. We tried to make our journey little longer and actually trying to take Gudalur - Meppadi - Kalapeta route but finally landed up to Gudalur - Sultan Bathery - Kalapeta route. Venkatesh created one more mess here and drove straight to Kalpeta without paying Kerala State Tax. I repeatedly warned him and he with his "Parwa Nehin" smile, keep driving. Once at Kalpeta we headed to RTO Office to pay the tax but were told that the tax can be collected only at entry point and we were advised to go back to pay the toll. We really had no option left and I finally decided to move towards Gundalpet border so that I can atleast include Muthunga WLS evening safari.

Traveling back 50 odd km we reached Muthunga checkpost and this time I spoke to the tax collection booth fellow and to make it simple I mentioned I am coming from Mysore. Things sorted out quickly, paid Rs.140 for a 7 day one round trip permit in Kerala and we quickly headed for the Muthunga Safari. Seen wild boars, sambars, deer and lots of wild elephants in the safari. While coming back to Kalpeta, we witnessed a brilliant sunset on the way and finally reached Hotel Woodlands in Kalpeta. Hotel was nice and food was excellent.

Car Odo Reading:

Mysore - 44474
Gundalpet- 44540
Mudumalai - 44574
Gudalur - 44589
Devarshola - 44601
Bitherkad - 44613
Sultan Bathery - 44634
Kalapetta- 44660
Muthunga WLS - 44700
Kalapetta - 44742

Mysore Palace at Morning:



Bandipur National Park and road towards Mudumalai:





Enroute Mudumalai - Suthan Bathery:

Tea Estates in the border of TN and Kerala on the way to Sulthan Bathery:




Wild Elephants at Muthunga WLS:




Beautiful Sunset on the way from Muthunga to Kalapetta (Waynad):






Hotel Woodlands, where we stayed at Kalapetta in evening:

Day4

This is a day when again Venkatesh started the day with a surprise. We found the new Xylo refused to start in morning. On enquiry, finally understood, he watched movie in Car DVD player till late at night at thus the battery got drained out. He had an amazing ability to create a problem out of no where :-) After lot of push finally it started and so our day. We headed to Soochipara waterfall first, a nice place and a 2 km walk from parking would lead you to falls. Nice big falls with heavy flow of water but the ambience was turned not so good with even a heavier flow of tourists. God only knows how come on a weekday morning 11.00 so many crowds could come there.

After soochipara we visited sunrise valley view point further from Meppadi towards Ooty road. On return have a quick lunch at Meppady and then visited the Lakkadi view points over western ghats, basically infested by monkeys and then proceeded towards Phookot lake. A boating experience there is nice especially in early morning or late afternoon. From Phookot, we went to Banasurasagar which is an artificial lake but quite big and watching sunset there was really bliss. A speedboat ride in the lake is interesting too.

Car Odo Reading:

Kalapetta - 44742
Meppadi - 44752
Soochipara - 44768
Sunrise Valley - 44796
Lakkadi View Point- 44834
Phookot Lake - 44837
Banasurasagar - 44864
Kalpetta - 44886

The amazing Waynad (around Meppadi):









Butterflies so colorful:

Soochipara Falls:



On the way towards Sunrise Valley:






Phookot Lake:

Banasura Sagar Speed Boat Ride:






Banasurasagar - An unforgettable sunset:

Day5

We started early as we planned to proceed to Kuruwa Island via Mananvady and Kattikulam. Kuruwa is a lovely group of islands on Kaveri and you may spend a whole day there if you want and ready to get wet as you have to walk between islands in waist deep water. We spent some good time there before back to Kattikulam for lunch. Ventakesh got the car skidded while returning, not sure how but it was certainly a narrow escape. We had lunch and via thutta road (Where the left road goes to Thirunelly) we moved towards Tholpetty. Tholpetty Wild Life Sanctuary is part of Waynad Forests (Other side is called Muthunga) and its a connecting corridor for wild life through Nagarhole, Bandipur, Mudumalai. You will see a lot of bamboo trees in the region and wild elephants are very common sighting on road in this stretch. The section is extremely scenic and you would enjoy every turn and bend of the road.

Tholpetty WLS as like Muthunga has a safari timing between 7 to 10 and 3 to 5. So we thought of utilizing our time by traveling to Iruppu Falls which needs a km walk from car park. Nice big falls that you enjoy in a serene ambience. Tholpetty Safari was also interesting where you would be able to see lots of deer, sambars, wild boars, Indian Gaurs and Wild Elephants. We met a tusker on our way back from Tholpetty to Thirunelly and this whole route was through dense forests and encounter with wild life is almost inevitable after sun down. It was so close, we didn't even dare to stop but somehow Venkatesh parked the car just beside the tusker and asked me to take a snap. It was at touching distance where the tusker was breaking bamboos. I have really never been so close to a wild elephant. The more I was pleading to run away, Venkatesh was insisting with his big smile and "Parwa Nehin". That evening I really felt, I should know Kannada just to save my life, we were lucky the elephant didn't misbehave as it was busy eating.

Car Odo Reading:

Kalpetta - 44886
Mananvady - 44920
Kattikulam - 44931
Kuruva - 44938
Tholpetty - 44962
Iruppu Falls - 44974
Tholpetty - 44993
Thirunelly - 45011

Kuruva Island:









Iruppu Falls:

Day6

We started visiting Thirunelly temple and it was really located in a beautiful ambience with mountains and forests around. But like other temples of South India, it's too commercialized to my liking. I found a rate chart with various types of pujas/offering/services listed on a board and there is a cash counter where people busy in paying. Even the people there couldn't allow me to take a snap to far side mountains unless I pay some donations, sorry it's not the place I wanted to be. Quickly headed towards same route via Thutta road and Kattikulam and moved to Nagarhole NP via Bavali. The road to Nagarhole was amazing and again a stretch where you would enjoy every second of driving. In Karapura, now a part of NH (for 10km) is closed and all vehicles detoured through village road to reduce disturbances to wild life. This stretch was horrible to drive but finally reached JLR Kabini around 1.30pm.


The best JLR as I heard from many of my friends, the place is amazing. With nice settings and comfortable cottages and tents, this is a place to stay if your budget permits. The Food was good, the evening safari at forest was interesting as we could spot many deer, (I haven't such a large herd of deer anywhere in India, atleast 50/60 deer were there in a herd, amazing sightings), Sambars, Wild Boars, Bisons, Wild Elephants, Giant Squirrels and many different birds. Only complain was JLR arranged a 14 seater bus for the evening safari, which I really didn't like and with lots of noise, you really can't enjoy the forest ambience. I complained to the manager and next morning we were given an exclusive Gypsy just for us. JLR is an example of how professional even the Govt agencies can be. The food as usual was awesome and we retired early to bed on that day.


Car Odo Reading:

Thirunelly - 45011
Kattikulam - 45034
Bavali - 45041
Karapura - 45065
Kabini JLR- 45069

Wonderful Church at Kattikulam:



JLR Kabini:



Kabini Reservour:



Elephant with 20 days old baby:



Indian Gaur@ Kabini

Day7

The day started with a nice tea and then the forest safari in our exclusive Gypsy. Tourists have options to choose between boat ride to Kabini backwater or jeep ride to forest. We wanted the Jeep travel and the highlight was the close encounter with a leopard, whom we heard growling, saw the half eaten kill, felt its presence very close but with several attempts couldn't spot it. But the feeling of the big cat so close to us was simply awesome.

We came back, had a nice breakfast and then went for a coracle ride at Kabini backwater. We enjoyed our stay there completely and started our journey towards Coorg. Question was which route to follow, the straight one via Hunsur or the more scenic one via Kutta, Gonikoppal. We discussed and decided for Kutta route, so backtracking till Tholpetty via same route through Bavali, Kattikulam and finally proceeding to Kutta. Kutta to Gonikoppal is 37 km and out of that 15km was very poor, rest was ok to good. We took Gonikoppal - Virajpet and finally Madikeri route and reach KSTDC Valley view hotel. This KSTDC is nice one and newly renovated it seems. I met JP here, called him at Raja's Seat, enjoyed a fabulous sunset from there and then had an enjoyable dinner together while discussing lots on Karnataka road. He was instrumental in designing my plans regarding roads and it was great to meet him there.

If you love nature and are looking for a nice driving in lap of nature you should not miss the drive from Kabini to Madikeri via Kutta, Gonikoppal, Virajpet. It gives you the absolute feeling of Southern Coorg, which is simply mind blowing.

Car Odo Reading:

Kabini JLR - 45069
Bavali - 45096
Kattikulam 45104
Kutta - 45120
Gonikoppal - 45157
Virajpet - 45175
Madikeri - 45209

Early Morning at Kabini:



Nagahole National Park:



Nagarhole NP in the backdrop of Kabini Reservous:



Wild Elephant beside the National Highway:



The road from Karapura to Bavali, truely a safari drive:

An unforgettable sunset from Raja's Seat at Madikeri, JP, the distinguished IM er was with me to witness this brilliant sunset:

Day8

We started our day with a quick visit to Abbey Falls, as it was quite early, we didn't find much crowd and enjoyed it a lot. On return, had breakfast and started our day towards Bhagamandala. Nice temple, I liked it but more I liked the next place, Talacauvery where if you climb to the top, an awesome vista would be exposed in front of your eyes. Enroute from a view point you can enjoy the Bhagamandala temple at far side.

The exploration continues and with advice of JP and few other IMers took the less travelled Bhagamandala - Panathur route which was through Talacauvery Tiger Reserve and a forest road through the ghat sections. It was indeed one of the most scenic routes I have taken in this trip. You would feel the loneliness that I was missing in this trip and it's very dense like a true rain forest. Slowly we started losing height and finally reach Kerala plains in 2 hours flat, roads were unexpectedly good and we felt the change to a hot and humid weather from the colder ambience of Coorg.

We reached Bekal via Kanhangad and what a sea fort it is!! The settings, its locations, the colorful grasses and the long ocean coast kissing the fort makes it a great place to enjoy! You must be there to enjoy the red stones in evening light of sun and we experienced a magical sunset in Arabian sea, one of the most perfect I have ever seen in my life. There were not much options to stay at Bekal and we thought of proceeding straight to Mangalore for night stay. The hotel was just average but had AC and clean beds, we were very tired and soon went to bed for an even more promising journey of next day.

Car Odo Reading:

Madikeri - 45209
Abbey Falls - 45219
Back to Madikeri - 45230
Bhagamandala - 45266
Talacauvery - 45274
Bhagamandala - 45284
Panathur - 45314
Kanhangad - 45360
Bekal Fort - 45373
Kasaragod - 45386
Mangalore - 45436

Abbey Falls:





Bhagamandala Temple:



From the top of Talacauvery, the landscape looks amazing:



Bhagamandala Temple from Talacauvery view point:

The forest road through Talacauvery Tiger Reserve, Crossing the Western Ghats to Panathur:



Bekal Beach and amazing Fort: