These are two seperate locations but it’s possible to cover both in a day as they’re about an hour or so away from each other by road.
Terahalli: This is on the way to Kolar, a diversion just before reaching the town. A road leads upto the hills from where you get a view of the plains of Kolar. The hill is dotted with rocks of different shapes, reminiscent of the general landscape of Hampi.
Honnemardu is supposed to be a village submerged under the Linganmakki reservoir in Shimoga district. On the way to Jog Falls one has to take deviation from a village by name Hiremane (2 km from Talguppa). A drive of 10 km from Hiremane will take to Honnemardu, where there is Indian Institute Adventure and Application (IIAA) run by S.L.N Swami.
Around a two hour drive from Bangalore, Sangam and Mekedatu are ideal for a day’s getaway. The heat right now might deter you, but if you’re upto braving the hot sun, go for it!
A view of the Sangam confluence point
Sangam is the confluence of the river Cauvery and Arkavathi and is accessible via Kanakpura Road. The river flows through a deep gorge at the point called Mekedatu. The gorge is deep and at some points the rocks bridges the river, so a goat can leap across. Therefore, the name Meke (goat) Datu (leap).
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Looking for a relaxing weekend out from Bangalore?
A 4-5 drive away from the city is the coffee country of Sakleshpur. Nestled in a coffee plantation in Hosamane (about 23 kms from Sakleshpur town) is the Coffee Valley homestay, where you can head for a lazy and peaceful time.
After Sakleshpur, drive through some delightful curvy roads, shaded by tall trees with coffee plantations on both sides
Scenic drives through lush green estates,
Bathing elephants,
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“For Santosh, a tour guide in Bangalore, life is good. As a result of the IT boom, he has launched his own web-based travel firm, getoffurass.com, and is doing a booming business selling weekend getaway holidays to stressed-out IT workers.”
Bangalore based Santosh was featured in this BBC article and you can read the whole article here.
I’ve been a regular visitor to the website that Santosh runs – Get Off Ur Ass – and he often sends emails about the different travel programs he’s running.
If you’re interested in travel and adventure, it’s a good idea to get added to his mailing list. I also asked him to share with me how he got started off.
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Magadi is about 50 kms from Bangalore and makes for a nice weekend drive. There are quite a few sights on the way, including the Thippagondanahalli Reservoir, an old fort in the town and also the Ranganathswamy temple just outside the town.
T.G. Halli supplies drinking water to 20 per cent of the city and entry from the main gate is restricted. But the backwaters can be approached from outside Magadi Town. You might need to be a resourceful to find the entrance, but it’s worth it!
The Ranganathaswamy temple @ Magadi
While reading Arun’s post about Jog Falls being featured in the new movie Mungaru Male, I was reminded of my own visit to Jog Falls. More specifically, the camera angle that he mentions was something that I had experimented. Quite a dangerous thing to do, but managed to do it as safe as I could be. Take a look.
Note: click to see a bigger picture at the Flickr site.
This picture is from the other side of the Tourist Bungalow managed by the KPTCL. Here, there is a outcrop of a rock from where you have a straight drop into the gorge below. If you dare, you can lie flat over the rock and inch closer to the precipice. And then look over. To your left, Raja falls down majestically. And as you crane your neck to look straight, you would see the small rocky channel from where Roarer gushes down and then flows into the gorge with a deafening sound. And if you can risk it, take a picture… which looks like the one above.
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While our visit to Kemmangundi last year, Sidd our 12 yr old had his first encounter with a tiger pugmark. That was the time when he would relate himself far from the urbanite beliefs to the new wild habitats…
Mutthatti is a nice weekend destination, near Bheemeshwari in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, just about a few hour’s drive away from Bangalore. However, because of the careless and uncivil behaviour of tourists, there has also been a lot of littering around the area.
Volunteers from the Clean and Green Group are now planning the next clean-up at Mutthatti on Sunday, January 21, 2007. The group is looking for volunteers to join the effort to clean the place of the plastic waste littering the picnic area next to the river.
This will be done with the support of the president of the local panchyat and in all possibilities the Range Forest Officer would also be present. Jungle Lodges sponsors a simple lunch for the volunteers and also takes care of the disposal of the plastic collected. All other expenses like travel etc. is shared by the volunteers.
If you are interested in accompanying the group, the person to contact is Sandeep Chakrabarti on outrigor@airtelbroadband.in or 98441 15315.
