Chikmagalur - Coffee estates, superb weather and awesome hills

Chikmagalur which literally means Younger Daughter’s town, is close to Bangalore and is on most people’s travel list as it provides a wide range of travel and trek possibilities. The place is known for its coffee estates, lush green hills of Baba Budan Giri, Mullayanagiri and the Kudhremukh National Park. It is also very close to the world heritage center “Belur and Halebid” that celebrate the intricate detailed sculpted work of the Hoysala Empire.

Chikmagalur makes for a great weekend or long weekend trip for people living in and around Bangalore or even visiting it. 

How to Reach:

By Road – You can drive down , it is about 240 kilometers from Bangalore and can be scaled in about 5 to 5 ½ hours, the roads are mostly good.

You can also take a bus to Chikmagalur from Bangalore or whichever place you want to start from.

By Train : The nearest Rail head is at Kadur

By Air: Nearest Airport is at Bangalore

Driving down is the best option as the journey to and also in and around the place is beautiful laden with green on all sides, if it’s a monsoon drive even the better.

Things to Do :

There are plenty of places to see and things to do in this region. If trekking is what you love then Baba Budangiri, Mullayangiri and Kudhremukh have many trails to scale. If a short climb and watch sunset on the ridge is your thing then just stop pick a hill and climb it, Mullayangiri is just spectacular and you don’t need to reach the very top to get a great view, where ever your legs start to ache stop there and take in the view, it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Sunset at Mullayanagiri

You can visit the Kudhremukh national park and Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, drive down to Hebbe Falls, Ayyanakere lake, and Kalahatti falls. Do not forget to visit Belur and Halebid Temples on your way back to Bangalore it is exquisite and an Indian Architecural/ artistic marvel. 

Beautiful Temple Architecture and Relief Sculptures at Belur

You can walk around in some coffee estates, the possibilities are limitless, all depends on what you love the most, in chikmagalur you can afford to pick and choose that.

Things to Remember :

1. If you are traveling during monsoon, the monsoon here is heavy rain with fog filled roads and valleys. So carry a poncho or an umbrella always. If you are driving down , fog lights may be a good idea, especially if you have plans of off roading.

2. If you plan to trek in any of the hills, carry water and wear floaters or good shoes as the terrain is full of grass growth and rubble.

3. The hill tops are always windy and a little chill so carry warm wear.

4. If you are an ardent photographer carry a telephoto lens, and keep your camera at the ready always, you could spot something while trekking, walking or even driving which you wouldn’t want to miss.

5. Book your accommodation in advance in one of the many home stays and resorts, weekends most of them get filled quite easily.

Parinitha Konanur

Tips for trekking with Safety what to carry

Continuing on my previous blog on what to do and what not to do in a trek, this blog is on what all to carry and what to wear on a trek. 

I remember very clearly one of the treks in my very early days of trekking, it was a rain trek and the pre trek mail said “do not carry or wear jeans”, I was still in the college mind set, doing everything you are told not to do was perceived to be cool. So instead of paying heed to the mail, I decided on wearing jeans, thinking it’s the best all weather wear. 

I couldn’t have been more wrong. I am no trek fanatic, I always prefer travel over trekking, but rain is something I love and green places are something I would walk a lot for. I was already the slowest in the gang, and to add to this was my jean which had soaked all the rain water that was dripping onto us incessantly. It was like carrying a loaded bag on each leg, I was sore and worn out because of a stupid wardrobe choice.

So the first thing to keep in mind is , a trek is nothing like travel, while traveling you can always chose to stop catch a cab and get back to your hotel room and change into whatever the weather is, even if you are a hard core backpacker, you are still very less in the mercy of nature when compared to when on a trek. Most people , though it is obvious, tend to forget this. So if you get a mail telling you to stick to a particular kind of clothing, adhere to it and wear that.

Second thing while choosing clothing is , if you are headed to an area with a possibility of animal sighting, wear green, greys, browns, and muted colours,  avoid bright and jarring colours that don’t merge with the background. Faded T shirts, soft cotton clothing, thick cotton pants are preferable. Some places have a high infestation of leeches, if that is the case wear pants with a tying thread or elastic near the ankles, so that you can tighten it and stuff it into your shoe.

 Carry “snuff” which is a superb leech repellent, along with odomos – or any mosquito repellent, a sprain spray or ointment, lacto calamine or any equivalent which soothes  allergies or irritations.

Always carry your medicines, protein bars, some biscuits and water. Even if the estimated time is well before lunch, for you to reach a place, there is not guarantee you will.

One more incident I remember while writing this, three girls, we were in Bhutan/Paro and we were headed to the Taktsang monastery. We guessed we would get some food on top near the Monastery and carried water bottles and a few chocolates, but the steep climb was taxing and the only restaurant on top was heavily over priced and one had to book lunch in advance. Though we used our sweet talking and loads of smiling to procure some biscuits and uncooked Maggi noodles from the Monks,  it is advisable to carry some substantial amount of food. 

Do not carry extra luggage on a trek, always stick to bare minimal, the chances of you wearing accessories, hand bags, playing video games and such extravaganzas are almost nil and you can save a lot of energy which will go in carrying the unwanted luggage.

Always put everything in polythene covers and put them inside your backpack. So that you will not have soaked clothes and gadgets inside your backpack in case of a downpour, or you have to cross a water body and you slip and fall, you will have all your luggage intact.

If you are camping in the open, or in a tent along with your sleeping bag carry a mat. It is cheap and not heavy to carry. It will keep you warm and you can avoid the hard and stone filled ground from poking you through the night, it will also keep you from insects that dwell in the grass. Always carry a rope, a lighter or a match box, a knife and a torch. There are chances you will be needing one or all of these.  

Parinitha Konanur

Tips For Trekking with Safety

With many incidents and accidents happening in the recent past to do with trekking and trekkers like the Ombathu Gudda incident, I am writing this blog with a few must do’s and must never do’s on a trek.

First thing to do when planning on a trek is to see the level of difficulty, the norm is there are mainly three levels, the beginner level the mediocre level and a tough level.

If you are a first time trekker always go for a beginner level trek, if you are planning on some mediocre to difficult climbs in the near future, start with some simple treks and climbs with more experienced people before going to treacherous zones.

Just having stamina and a fit body doesn’t make you a good trekker, a presence of mind and love for nature are a sure shot must. Always listen to the instructors or friends who have had more experience.

Never take forces of nature and wild animals for granted, they are unpredictable and hence a sensible mind has to be applied. Going too close to Elephants to take a good photograph, or making too much noise in the jungle, trying to swim in rapid rivers just because you have done a few laps on a stagnant waters like in a swimming pool is stupid and must never be attempted. Never over stress yourself, if a beginner take your time and if you have an injury let others know and don’t make it worse.

Always go through weather reports before attempting any long duration treks in jungles, understand the climate, the route, soil conditions, before heading out. Preferably go in larger gangs in the beginning so that you can go in your own pace and there will always be company through the trek. Always look out for fellow travelers, keep an eye on others and keep your eyes and ears open. 

Always take a permit from the forest officials if required, and inform your friends and relatives as to where exactly you are going. 

Always carry enough water and juices as you tend to get dehydrated quickly in treks and climbs. Keep some sort of high carbohydrate snack in backpack like chocolates with nuts in them. Carry a waste disposal cover to dump waste in, and never litter in the forests. If they are dry thickets with Bamboo growth do not through cigarette buds or any lit matches as the chances of causing a fire are very high. 

These are a few things to keep in mind, if done with responsibility trekking can be adventurous and amazing , giving you glimpses of nature that you never dreamt of.

Parinitha Konanur

Anthargange – A Cavernous Exploration

I just got back from an amazing trip/trek to “Antharagange” . I had heard the name many a times but this time I was just hoping for a nice ride and a laid back time on a hot summer Saturday. But what I found instead was a day full of activity, fun, sun and loads of climbing.

 Anthargange is about roughly 65 to 70 kilometers from Bangalore, you will need to take the NH 75 to Kolar. And just as you reach Narsapura ask for directions to “Anthargange”. The ride started early at 7 in the morning, the weather was pleasant and having had a short stop for breakfast and to load up on munchies and water, we headed straight to our destination. 

Then we reached the temple a little way up, a quaint temple structure with few tourists and priests about. The place is infested with monkeys , so you might want to keep those chips packets, chocolates and even water bottles tucked deep into your back pack. Then just a short while later we were traversing through a rocky climb up, filled with an array of boulders, thorny shrubs and plain dry heat. My distaste to climbing and to heat did not help or motivate me, but my fellow trekkers were absolutely hopeful and helpful, lending me a hand and putting up with my atrocious pace. With my plenty pit stops we reached the top or so I thought. The view was absolutely splendid, a nice expanse of hills and little villages nearby, a nice pleasant breeze, we even spotted a well and some stagnant green water that just added to the already amazing view. 

 

We had taken a localite with us to guide us to the caves, we had heard that there were a couple of them on top and we were hoping to explore them, the guide turned out to be an egoistic, knowledge less guy who was hoping we would give up half way through so he wouldn’t have to show us the entrance to the caves, the route to which he never knew.  Then we went through fields and then reached even more rocks, the place of entry to a cave was non existent, this disappointed our team to great degrees, we got rid of the guide and took the task upon ourselves to find the cave. We happened to bump into some local kids who said they knew the route , we had to take the chance, after all the climbing we had done, it would be a waste to let go of the caves having come that far. 

This time around it was a pleasant surprise, we not only found the cave entrance, it also had water inside it. It was too precarious to get in and hence I left it to my more agile team mates. They all went in , tasted the water and came out looking triumphant, happy and content. I was feeling low that I couldn’t get in and with that came another surprise, another cave large and awesome. We were all quite famished, with a few biscuits and water at our disposal, but we were very intent on exploring the other cave. The entrance was a deep slide and then it was superb fun, we sliding, and jumping, it was absolutely enthralling. There were places where I had no clue how to propel myself out , through a small hole , vertically upwards, with nothing to hold, but we all did it all the same, there were places pitch dark where we had to slide across a slimy rock, with a deep crevice below us. This entire experience was fantastic. 

After all this we got out of the final cave at 4.30 in the evening, we headed down, without a pause. My climbing down skills have always been exceptionally good, as good as my climbing up skills are bad, my stomach had  stretched to its ultimate hunger tolerance, all I could think of was food. After a very fast and easy climb down, we had loads of fresh cucumber and started to the main road to stop for lunch. By the time we reached the Shanthi Sagar it was already 6 in the evening. We belted on “Bisi Bele Bath” which was absolutely delicious. After the food we were all quite sleepy and tired, but we still had to do a 70 km ride back. The ride back was very pleasant, with a cool breeze, low traffic on the high way. Though the harsh reality of lights, pollution, dust, noise and traffic hit us as we entered Bangalore, we were still very happy with our little exploration and rest was the only needed thing now. 

Parinitha Konanur