Bandipur or Nagarhole

endonurse

We will be travelling from Mysore to Coorg/Madikieri and want to visit one of these parks. Which one is best? Thanks.

pmvelu

My personal favourite is "Nagarahole" . You could browse through "Indian Wildlife and National Parks" Sub-forum where we have several discussions on the subject Nagarahole Vs Bandipur Vs Mudumalai and you could find all the info related to Nagarahole especially. If you need more info , Please post .

endonurse

Thanks for posting Velu! Taking your preference into consideration, are both parks convenient to a trip between Mysore and Coorg?

pmvelu

Nagarahole is around 90 kms from mysore and from there madikeri is 84 kms. Hence this will be a better one.

Bandipur is 70 kms from mysore and from here to coorg ,AGAIN we need to backtrack to nagarahole to Madikeri Or Travel via Wayanad area to get to madikeri ! Bandipur is not on the way between Mysore & Coorg and Bandipur is on Mysore to ooty road !

And Nagarahole is in Coorg district only !

endonurse

Velu, since you seem to be a wealth of knowledge of the Karnataka region I am humbly asking you to have a look at my very tentative itinerary.

Arrive in B'lore and spend a couple of days acclimatizing to India, etc. Set off for a (?) day tour of these places:

1. Mysore
2. Nagarahole
3. Madikieri
4. Gokarna
5. Return to B'lore.

We have a total of 4-5 days in which we want to accomplish this trip. Is this realistic or will we just be killing ourselves? We could drop the beach portion I think if needed. In which destinations should we ideally plan to sleep-over and have you suggestions for accomadations/restaurants? Should we hire a driver for certain legs of the trip/take buses?

Also, one of my travel-mates wants to see some temples and/or ruins. Any suggestions for some on this itinerary? Thanks so much, Velu!

InjaMaven

dear pmvelu, are you familiar with Narasamangalam? Near Nagerhole I think.
I'll be going there in Jan on the strength of a photo in Harle's 'Art & Archit. of the Indian Subcontinent' This is my 1st post, hope I did it right. Believe it was built by the Western Gangas.
Been all over India 11 times looking for ancient places. Hope to have some good discussions with you. Injamaven

pmvelu

@Endonurse,


If you could hire a Cab, the following itenary might suit you


Day 1 :- [App. Distance Covered for the day --> 149 kms & App. Time spent in Cab --> 4 Hours ; Srirangapatna -> You need around 2 Hours to Cover; Ranganathittu BS ---> 2 to 2.5 Hours you need to cover; KRS Dam / Brindavan Gardens --> 2 Hours to cover]

From Bangalore, Start around 7 am , Drive Towards Mysore . You could have your breakfast @ Kamat [Which is very famous in this circuit]. You could continue towards Srirangapatna.

In Srirangapatna,

You could visit Tippu Palace, Tippu sultan's dungeon [Prisoner's cell], Sangamam [ confluence of three rivers. Nothin much but here you could observe the rituals done by Hindus for their ancestors which might be interesting. Apart from that also, this is a scenic place].

You continue further and visit "Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary" Where you could relax and you could see various birds out here. Worth a Visit.

You could continue to Mysore and take rest for some time and again start to the KRS [ Brindavan Gardens which is worth only in the evenings [ 6 - 8.30 pm]. You could see the Lighted Garden and retire for the day

Day 2 :- [ App. Distance Covered for the day --> 150 kms & App.time spent in Cab --> 5 Hours ; Somanathpur --> You need 2 hours to cover this ; Shivasamudra Waterfalls -->You need 2 Hours + for sightseeing ]

You could start by 7 am and Drive towards somanathapura [ Excellent Hoysala Architecture] and roads will be 100% poor for last 7 kms [Out of this total 37 kms from mysore] BUT it's really worth. Hire a Guide here[ We paid 50 Rs and it's worth] - Atleast Around 2 Hours you could spend out here

You could drive towards "Shivasamudra waterfalls" from somanathpura and visit "Gaganachukki " & "Barachukki" Waterfalls . Especially from August + until Feb , this will be a visual treat. [ You could ask your cab driver to take Malavalli Route to this falls as there is one shortcut from somanathpur to Shivasamudra where all the 18 kms is in 100% pathetic situations & Somanathpur to Shivasamudra via Malavalli will be around 35 kms] . There is a thrid view to this waterfalls from a Mosque enroute to one of this waterfalls .. You could ask your driver to take you to this Mosque too... It's almost like viewing same waterfalls from 3 different Angles / Views [From 3 different points] - 3 Hours total for all !

You could drive back to Mysore which is around 55 kms from Shivasamudra Via Malavalli !

Retire for the day

Day 3 :- [ App.Distance covered for the day ---> 210 kms & App. time Spent in Cab ---> 5 Hours; Nagarahole NP --> For forest Safari , Around 1.15 hours & on the way to this safari itself, you could sight many a animals [ May be 1 hour] ; Iruppu falls needs 1 Hour +


If you are on high end [ 5000 /night] , Jungles Lodges & Resorts , Karapura[Located just in the fringes of Kabini dam backwaters / Nagarahole NP] is the best fit. You could stay for 2 nights out there and it's really worth and all [ Animal Sighting / Forest Safari / Night Safari will be covered]

If you would like to explore on your own , you could start from mysore around 5am so that you could reach Nagarahole NP at around 7am and do the forest Safari [ Safari Timings 6 - 9 am & 3 - 6 pm]. This safari will take around 1.15 Hours and Definitely you could see Elephants/ Deer at the minimal !


From here, you could drive towards Iruppu falls [ Scenic place] via "Tea Plantations" and you need to walk .75 Kms to view the falls and there is a scenic temple put here ! .

After "Iruppu Falls" , you could drive towards Madikeri { Headquarters of Coorg Distrcit} -- Around 70 kms from iruppu falls through highly scenic "Tea Plantations" .

Retire for the day


Day 4:- [ If Talacauvery included, around 100 kms for the day]
For Madikeri & Surroundings , I have given the complete info out here

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ry-mysore.html

Cover all the places in & around Madikeri . If you could do, visit "Talacauvery" for scenic beauty of Brahmagiri Mountain Ranges --> This Mountain range you could see in Iruppu Falls too which is continuing upto Talacauvery !

"Raja'a seat" is best & Nice between 5.30 - 7.30pm

Day 5:- [ App. Distance covered for the day ---> Madikeri - Mysore Via Golden temple 130 kms ] Tibetan Settlements / Golden Temple you will need around 2hours to cover ]
Start from Madikeri , you could visit "Tibetan Settlements" / "GOlden Temple" [ Around 2 Hours to cover this] on the way and Hire a room and Visit Mysore Palace & Chamundi Hills in the evening [ Best between 5.30 to 7.30 pm] .

Retire for the day

Day 6:- [ Mysore- Bangalore distance is 149kms] & there are "N" number of buses & quite a few Superfast trains and hence no need for cab as such
Start from mysore and reach Bangalore in 3 Hours !


Hope this helps & If you want to do it public tranporation , you could do Bangalore - Mysore bothways in Bus/ Train and Srirangapatna / Ranganathittu BS is much nearer to mysore as such !. For Exploring Nagarahole & Madikeri, Cab is the best bet !

Gokarna is around 10 Hours from Mysore and not sure whether you would like to go that far for only beaches !

In case you need more info on any part of this itenary , Please post !!


Cheers
Velu

pmvelu

Hi Injamaven,

I know Srimangala near Nagarahole in South Coorg . Basically I did travelled in this area quite few times & I know Nagamangala near "Melkote" Temple in Mandya district !...

Narasamangalam , I am not sure but for sure we will keep in touch !

Cheers
Velu

endonurse

Wow! Thanks so much Velu for the time and thought put into this reply. I will go over it more thoroughly with maps and such, and let you know when more questions come up! Maureen

pmvelu

Sure Maureen !..

Happy Planning !

taherk

thanks velu, the information you have given is excellent