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A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak
It has been three months or more that we completed our last trip to Kanyakumari and Danushkodi and thought we would make a short trip somewhere we had not visited earlier. After discussing with my wife we concluded with the destinations and they are Kalsa, Horanadu, Chikmagalur, Kemmangundi and Mullayanagiri Peak.
The duration of the trip was only one night and two days. So as usual, me and my wife, and this time my son too joined us for the trip. Since it was only one night stay, and a sudden decision, we didn’t do any prior hotel booking as I do always. The plan was to stay at Kalasa.
We gathered the information from the Net about the tourist attractions of the places we proposed to visit.
Though we had a big list, we could visit only a few places due to time constrain, weather and road conditions. Anyway, the trip had given us an adventurous experience that would remain in our good memories.
Day 1 : Bangalore to Samse – 335 kms
On 22nd July, 2013 at 5.30 am we started from home, though we planned to start at 5.00 am. And the route we had taken was Hassan>Bellur>Kalasa>Samse.
We hit NH 48 at 6.20 am and the road was very smooth with less traffic for almost 100 kms. Before reaching Hassan, we stopped at Kamath Restaurant for breakfast. After 45 minutes we continued our journey. Around 9 am we crossed Hassan, and the road was very good though it was two lanes.
We deviated from this road and took a left turn to Bellur and after a few kms the road condition deteriorated. It was raining intermittently on the way and some places we encountered thick fog also with poor visibility. Though the road condition was poor, still we enjoyed the drive through the fog and green coffee plantations on both the sides.
Around 12.15 pm, we reached Hotel Yathri Nivas at Kalasa and checked in, after seeing the room was Ok.
Kalasa is 92 km southwest of Chikmagalur and situated on the banks of the river Bhadra. It is surrounded by lofty hills of the Western Ghats and is looked upon as one of the pancha-kshetras on the banks of the Bhadra. Close by are the pancha theerthas, the five sacred ponds. On a small hillock here is the Kalaseshwara temple is dedicated to Ishwara, with a Kshetrapala shrine of soap stone in Hoysala style nearby. The Madhawacharya bande, a large boulder at one of the theerthas here, is supposed to have been placed by Shri Madhawacharya the founder of the Dvaita school of philosophy. A statue of this Acharya is carved on the upper portion of the rock.
We took rest for sometime and had our lunch at 1.30 pm. Later at 2.45 pm we reached Samse and after trekking down for almost two kms through the slushy path we reached near Bhadra River. The river was flowing very violently due to heavy inflow of rain water from the forests. After spending some time there, we went to a Hydro power generating plant. It was a 6 MW power generation plant and we had the opportunity to visit inside and see the working of turbines, it was really a unique experience for us.
At 5.20 pm we left this place for Kalasa. On the way back we stopped the car for taking some pictures of Tea plantations, different from the coffee plantations those we found all the way. Later at 6.30 pm we reached the hotel. We were bit tired after trekking and walking, and retired for the day after the dinner.
It has been three months or more that we completed our last trip to Kanyakumari and Danushkodi and thought we would make a short trip somewhere we had not visited earlier. After discussing with my wife we concluded with the destinations and they are Kalsa, Horanadu, Chikmagalur, Kemmangundi and Mullayanagiri Peak.
The duration of the trip was only one night and two days. So as usual, me and my wife, and this time my son too joined us for the trip. Since it was only one night stay, and a sudden decision, we didn’t do any prior hotel booking as I do always. The plan was to stay at Kalasa.
We gathered the information from the Net about the tourist attractions of the places we proposed to visit.
Though we had a big list, we could visit only a few places due to time constrain, weather and road conditions. Anyway, the trip had given us an adventurous experience that would remain in our good memories.
Day 1 : Bangalore to Samse – 335 kms
On 22nd July, 2013 at 5.30 am we started from home, though we planned to start at 5.00 am. And the route we had taken was Hassan>Bellur>Kalasa>Samse.
We hit NH 48 at 6.20 am and the road was very smooth with less traffic for almost 100 kms. Before reaching Hassan, we stopped at Kamath Restaurant for breakfast. After 45 minutes we continued our journey. Around 9 am we crossed Hassan, and the road was very good though it was two lanes.
We deviated from this road and took a left turn to Bellur and after a few kms the road condition deteriorated. It was raining intermittently on the way and some places we encountered thick fog also with poor visibility. Though the road condition was poor, still we enjoyed the drive through the fog and green coffee plantations on both the sides.
Around 12.15 pm, we reached Hotel Yathri Nivas at Kalasa and checked in, after seeing the room was Ok.
Kalasa is 92 km southwest of Chikmagalur and situated on the banks of the river Bhadra. It is surrounded by lofty hills of the Western Ghats and is looked upon as one of the pancha-kshetras on the banks of the Bhadra. Close by are the pancha theerthas, the five sacred ponds. On a small hillock here is the Kalaseshwara temple is dedicated to Ishwara, with a Kshetrapala shrine of soap stone in Hoysala style nearby. The Madhawacharya bande, a large boulder at one of the theerthas here, is supposed to have been placed by Shri Madhawacharya the founder of the Dvaita school of philosophy. A statue of this Acharya is carved on the upper portion of the rock.
We took rest for sometime and had our lunch at 1.30 pm. Later at 2.45 pm we reached Samse and after trekking down for almost two kms through the slushy path we reached near Bhadra River. The river was flowing very violently due to heavy inflow of rain water from the forests. After spending some time there, we went to a Hydro power generating plant. It was a 6 MW power generation plant and we had the opportunity to visit inside and see the working of turbines, it was really a unique experience for us.
At 5.20 pm we left this place for Kalasa. On the way back we stopped the car for taking some pictures of Tea plantations, different from the coffee plantations those we found all the way. Later at 6.30 pm we reached the hotel. We were bit tired after trekking and walking, and retired for the day after the dinner.
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