kemmangundi

natasha chanda acharya

Kemmanagundi translates to “pit of clay” in Kannada. Far from being a pit, it could be, most easily, the best-kept secret in Karnataka, about 293 km from Bangalore.

Due to lack of adequate accommodation facilities, it is less touristy than the popular weekend jaunts in Karnataka. While hordes of tourists opt for the Mysore-Coorg circuit for a holiday, a few visit this charming hill station. Once the summer retreat of Krishna Raja Wodeyar, it is now the hotspot for the adventurous budget traveller. Also known as K.R. Hills, it boasts of magnificent waterfalls and scenic trekking routes amidst lush coffee plantations.

How to get there:

Road trip: The best option from Bangalore is to drive down to Kemmanagundi. Take the NH4 to Nelamangala, followed by the NH48 to Hassan through Kunigal up to the State road to Kemmanagundi through Chikmagalur. It is about 55 km from Chikmagalur, a coffee estate plantation town.

Train: Birur is the nearest railhead to Kemmanagundi.
Bangalore to Birur: Janashatabdi Express: Departure 6:00 am. Arrival: 9:10 am

Birur to Bangalore: Janashatabdi Express: Departure: 4:05 p.m. Arrival: 8:15p.m.
Chalukya Express: Departure: 6:05 p.m. Arrival: 10:15 p.m

Taxi from Birur costs about Rs. 450-500.
Bargain as taxi drivers often hike up the price.

Bus: Both private and KSRTC buses head to Tarikere, a small town which is about a
30-minute drive to Kemmanagundi. Taxi from Tarikere costs Rs. 450.

Accommodation:

Unfortunately, the Horticulture Department Guest House seems to be the only staying option in Kemmanagundi. Ideally, one must book in advance for this reason. Among all the cottages in the Department campus, the Raj Bhavan is the most luxurious. The rest of the cottages have basic facilities. These are for the true-blue budget travellers. One can also stay in dormitory-type cottages.

Camping out: If you have camping gear, you can even camp out in the wilderness with the help of a guide. Ask at the Horticulture Department Guest House. Not recommended during the monsoon season.

Alternatively, one can stay in Chikmagalur and go to Kemmanagundi for a day trip.
Taj Garden Retreat and Planters Court are the popular hotels here.
Nature Nirvana Homestay is another option.


Food:

The Horticulture Department canteen is the only eating joint in Kemmanagundi. There are no other restaurants or darshinis in Kemmanagundi. Get snacks from home. The food served here is nothing to write home about.

Important things to carry:

Sunscreen, hat, mosquito repellent, Dettol,
batteries, camera roll.
Roughly about 1434 metres above sea level,
the hill can get quite chilly during the nights.
Warm clothing is a must.
An umbrella and a raincoat could also save your holiday.
For less hardened budget travellers, carry your own bedsheets and blanket.


How to get around:

Taxi to Hebbe falls costs about 450 due to the treacherous road.
Trekking is ideal.

Trekking: Many of the trekking routes can be quite slippery and wet. It is advisable to wear sturdy trekking shoes. Avoid slippers. Ask at the Guest House for a guide who can show you the way.
Be careful while trekking. Many an unsuspecting trekker has borne the brunt of swollen legs due to the handiwork of the numerous leeches here. The best way to remove them is with salt. Apply disinfectant (Dettol) as soon as you reach the Horticulture Department Guest House.


Places to visit:

Z-point: This magnificent view-point is worth the all the trouble you took finding your way up. It takes about 30 minutes of trekking on a steep and winding path to reach here. But once there, you don’t want to come back.
There's nothing much to do here except watch the whole world go by.
Z-point could easily fool you into thinking you have reached the Scottish moors. Do not forget to bring your camera. On the way to Z-point, don’t miss the small, gentle stream of the Shanti falls. True nirvana less than four hours away from Bangalore.


Hebbe falls: A downhill trek for about 8 km leads you to Hebbe Falls.
The water falls down from a height of 168 metres in two stages.

Kalahhati falls: Also Kalahasti falls, it is a religious site for both Muslims and Hindus. A temple is built between a gap in the rocks. An annual pilgrimage to this spot attracts devout, God-fearing pilgrims. Avoid visiting the falls on that day.

Rock Garden: Horticulture Department’s own creation, but nevertheless, a relaxing site to enjoy with friends and family. Visit the Orchid House to catch a glimpse of exotic flowers.

Bhadra Tiger Reserve: A two-hour drive from Kemmanagundi will take you to India’s 25th nature reserve – a vast expanse of bamboo trees surrounded by coffee plantations. A forest jeep could lead you to the elusive sight of a tiger. Don’t be disappointed if all you can see is its pugmarks. Apart from the tigers, watch out for the elephants, deer, panthers, gaur, sambar, jungle cats and birds such as woodpecker, robin etc. More than 250 species of birds inhabit this forest.

Accommodation Listings:

Horticulture Department Guest House

Telephone: 08261237126
Bangalore Horticulture Department: 26573667/26579231

The Garden Retreat
K.M. Road,
Opposite Pavitravana,
Jyothinagar Post,
Chikmagalur – 577 102,
Karnataka, India
Phone91-8262) 220202 / 220821 / 220824 / 220404
Fax91-8262) 220222
Email: tgrgm.chk@tajhotels.com

Nature Nirvana: Bynekhan and El Dorado Plantations,
Baba Budanagari Hills, Chikmagalur.
Telephone: 230959
naturenirvana@yahoo.com

Bigzero

Wow! great report Natasha, do you have any photos of the place too, by any chance?

Cant wait to get there...

__________________
miles to go....

Bigzero's Photo Gallery

aadil

Seems great from your descriptions and hope you get to see the tigers too someday instead of just the pug marks!!! Lovely and very helpful information. Thanks for sharing on IM.

Cheers,
Aadil.

__________________
Climb high; climb far;
Your goal, the sky,
Your aim, the stars!!!

natasha chanda acharya

The story of my trip to Kemmangundi has proved to be an excellent ice breaker in many an IM meet up. It is here for for all of you now.

It was decided that I, my hubby Soumya, and a friend Pradeep would drive through the night in our trusted Maruti 800 to Kemmangundi. Friday night's the night. Reservations were made, camera rolls bought, and all was set except taking out the money. It was the start of the month, I had just got my salary, so I was very surprised to see my bank balance just had a few thousand Rs. Citibank! (I later found out that something was wrong with the machine and...) So I just took out 3,000 Rs, and thought, well, we can pay for the petrol by card, and Pradeep will be carrying some cash, so we will manage. It was just a weekend trip after all.
So I got back home, packed my bags, opened the door to let Pradeep in, asked him how much money he was carrying, and he opened his wallet, and... he had only 20 Rs on him.

We would probably get ATMs on the way.
We soon discovered there were no Citibank or ICICI ATMs between Old Madras Rd. to Chikmagloor. What was Soumya doing all this while? Why, yakking away on his mobile, of course. The first hour, I shouted myself hoarse, we will be in trouble, blah blah, blah... The second hour I sulked, because no one was listening to my rantings. Then by the third hour, (with the help of a little dinner down my food pipe, I decided to enjoy my trip anyway. Well, with one last warning to Soumya. Me: "There are no pertol bunks after Chikmagloor, so you better fill up if you need to." Soumya: "grunt" (Soumya's thought bubble - wife blabbering something. obviously irrelevant! obviously inconsequential!)

A little ghostly interlude in the story right about now.

We had crossed Chikmagloor. Of course, we didn't fill petrol. What do you think? I was in the navigators seat, pouring over maps. Well, no, we could see where we were going, because it was 3:00 am, pitch dark, and no one on the roads to ask directions from. We were climbing up some hills, and somewhere there we'd have to take a left to go to Kemmangundi, or we might drive past it and reach some other town on the other side of the hill. By now, it had dawned on the male species in the car that we were low on fuel and couldn't afford the luxury of loosing our way. Lucky for them, they had a good navigator at hand. Well... so we were going up the hill, couldn't see beyond the 10 feet light of the headlights of the car, mountain on one side, cliff on the other, when suddenly, out of nowhere appeared a man on the road. He was not in the middle of the road but neither was he standing on the side. He was tall, covered from head to foot in a blanket, held a long stick, and was standing stock still. The moment we saw him all of us gasped. We went past him in a flash, and he just stood perfectly still. Didn't even move his head to look at the car speeding past. The woman in the car, of course, was the first one to recover. Me: "hey, lets go back and ask that man where to take the left for Kemmangundi!" Soumya (after a death look at me): Are you crazy? Pradeep (still gasping): "yes, why not ask him to sit with me back here to show us the way, while you are at it!" Well, by mutual agreement we decided: "It must have been a ghost!"

Mrs Calculus, of course, found the exact place where we needed to take the left and we arrived safely at the deserted and mist covered horticulture guesthouse at around 4:00 am, with 2 lt. of petrol to spare. Went around the place, found the probable location of a probable caretaker, woke him up, asked him for the keys to the cottage. He didn't speak Hindi or English, and we didn't speak anything else. But we managed to get him to open up a "cottage" room for us anyway. By the time we switched on the lights in the room, he had disappeared from sight. I checked out the bed sheets. They hadn't been washed for a year. With tremendous amount of goodwill and courage I decided to flip the sheet to the other side, and try to sleep on that. Guess what? Lot of other people had the same idea. The other side hadn’t been washed for a year either. Let me not even start about the mattress. Went back into the misty hills to look for the elusive caretaker. Woke him up again. Me: "fresh bed sheet!" Him: something that I guess basically translated to "no, madam, cannot give." Me: "very dirty, can't sleep. Give fresh." Him: "there are bed sheets there. Why do you want more?" Or something to that effect. Then I recalled my infallible dumb charade skills which I have practiced with my maids in Bangalore over the past two years. So I held up the dirty sheet in one hand, held my nostrils with the other, and made a disgusted face! Successful communication at last! He grunted and grumbled and got me fresh sheets from somewhere. Torn, but mercifully fresh.

Slept for a few hours. Beautiful morning. Green hills as far as your eyes can see. Paid for the cottage and food, kept a little aside for the way back, and then had to face the truth. We had no petrol and no money! And the nearest petrol bunk was 40 KM away, so 80 KM both ways. Ran around the place, hunted some boys who would go down the hill and get some petrol for black. Arranged to see Hebbe falls in the guesthouse jeep with some other tourists. What was Soumya doing all this time? Well, no, he wasn't yakking on his phone. He was imparting the philosophy of his life to Pradeep. "Everything always works out in the end." I agree. Only, don't ignore the one condition in fine print below this. You have to have a wife.

Hebbe falls, very nice, lovely trek, refreshing. Back by lunch. No news of petrol still. Decided to go to Z Point for the evening. Excellent trek. Exhilarating. Spectacular view. Came back to guesthouse after sunset. They’d found only 5 lt. of petrol. Well, at least we would get back to Chickmagloor, and ever cover Mulliyangiri if we were lucky. Night spent relating ghost stories, with the result that Pradeep refused to leave our bed that night and sleep on his own.

Next morning, set out for Mulliyangiri, highest peak in Karnataka. Amazing sights. Very nice. Came back down and hit Chikmagloor. There is no other way, we have to get some petrol now. If we do, we might manage a drive down Bhadra Tiger Reserve that afternoon. Well... none of the petrol bunks in Chikmagloor accept cards. There are two or three ATMs. SBI, Federal bank, and one more. But... none of them were working that day. So... we are stuck. What do we do now? I finally called my friend Juan in Bangalore, who is incidentally the most well connected person ever. Me: "long story, but we are in Chikmagloor, no money and no petrol." Him: "give me two mins." And he called up exactly two mins. later, said, take down the name address and contact no. of the person in Chikmagloor, go and take money from him. So, we went to this person, took money, filled petrol, went to Bhadra tiger reserve. Beautiful place. Beautiful wooden cottages by a stream in the forest, eventually drove back to Bangalore.

"Everything always works out in the end." Well modify the fine print condition a little: You have to have a wife, or better still, befriend Juan!

natasha chanda acharya

I am writing long nutral purely travel topics in earnest
before I am thrown out on IM for being a racist
and regionalist and all of that!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will post pics tomorrow.

NostalgicIndian

Interesting and funny writing. Are you writing a book anytime soon or working on one now? I'd sure love to buy a copy.

Paagla Dashu

of course you are a regionalist!

How dare you write only about a hill station in Karnataka?

If you must, then you must write about (all in the same post):

1. Maharashtrian Villages
2. Tamil Forest Reserves
3. Amritsari Machchi
4. Delhi Architecture
5. Kashmiri Valleys
6. Goanese Hippies
7. Jharkhand Forests....

Or, better still, write about INDIAN towns.....which are not from any particular state......................... ...

Jokes apart, fantastic writing! I am not sure what your profession is - but if its not writing travelogues then you are in the wrong job!

natasha chanda acharya

Thanks, PD, Nostalgic Indian, for your generous compliments.
No, I am not a travel writer, though that's one of the things I'd like to be, thus my addiction to IM.

NI, everytime I've started writing a "book" I only got as far as the first burst of inspiration. I never seem to have the drive to sustain the inertia. But I am making a serious resolution this time. Please pray.

Aristocat

Excellent post. Juan's contact No. and address please. I always end up without money.
Thanks.

aadil

>>>> "everything always works out in the end." Well modify the fine print condition a little: You have to have a wife, or better still, befriend Juan!

Well, I wouldn't bother about befriending Juan as long as I had the intelligent wife!!! HAHAHA!!! Great writing and hope to hear more from you on your travels here on IM!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

Check out my homepage on http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/3bf09/ if you like.

jyotirmoy

Natasha,
Congrats for the excellent post. You have described your experience so vividly & I can almost see this place once again thru your writings. This place is the only one I remember where I enjoyed a light rain. Normally rains are spoilsport in an outing but wandering around here in the misty air imbibing the beautiful & hard to describe smell that emanates from the plantations is an experience.
Thanks again.

natasha chanda acharya

Thanks, Aadil, Jyotirmoy,
A friend from my office, Jeetu, also a travel bug, insists that I put up his Kemmangundi pics as opposed to mine 'cause when he went it was lush green, and when I went it was summer and not so green. So here goes.

In case I aven't already mentioned it. Best time to go to Kemmangundi is post rains. Winter. Summer is dry and brown, not as beautiful, and rains makes treking in the mud paths difficult.

Attached Thumbnails

     

aadil

Would love to see your pics too, especially if you got one of the man with the stick in the middle of the road at night!!! HAHAHA!!! Keep your stories coming, will look out for more here on IM. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Aadil.

Check out my homepage on http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/3bf09/ if you like.

natasha chanda acharya

Aadil, trust me a friend is soooo much easier than a wife!!!!!!
I don't need to elaborate on this statement for anyone whos married.


my kemmangundi pics are not scanned.
You can check out my Leh pics and Belur Halebid pics in the IM gallery.

I checked out your homepage. Really interesting.
Soumya, incidentally, was big time into Aero Modelling in his younger days.
You must enjoy your job immensly.
Nice "meeting" you.

natasha chanda acharya

Aristocat, as they say, you have to find your own Juan in life.

Jyotirmoy, Where are you based now?
And what time of the year did you visit kemmangundi?
Do you come to Bangalore often?

Nostalgic Indian, where did you dissapear to for such a long time.
missed your comments.