Trek to Mullaiyanagiri
November 18-19 2006
My friends Yogi, Ranga, Raghu, Santhosh and myself decided to go for a small trek to Mullaiyanagiri Peak on one weekend. Mullaiyanagiri is the highest peak in Karnataka of about 6,300 feet. In fact it was our dream to touch the highest peak in Karnataka.
So, we all left Bangalore on my car on friday evening Nov 17th 2006 around 8.00 pm. We had our dinner at 'MungaaruMale Dhaba' which is located around 4 kms away from Nelamangala by-pass on Bangalore-Mangalore highway. Fact is that the last few shots of the movie MungaaruMale has been taken over in this dhaba and hence we just call it as Mungaarumale Dhaba. After stomach full, we started our journey to Chikmagalur. By 1 pm midnight, we were in chikmagalur and luckily we found a room in a lodge.
Next day morning, Saturday Nov 18th 2006, we had a breakfast around 7 am and left for the peak. Actually you can drive your car upto the peak also, but we wanted to trek the peak. After 10 to 15 kms from Chikmagalur you will find the starting point for the trek. Its a small metal arch and the local people here call it has SARPA DHAARI means snake's way.
The trek lasted for 2-1/2 hours and at few places it was too steep. As we came closer to the peak we were in the middle of mist and hardly we were able to see few feet away from us. I would suggest you people carry some fruits so that you can refresh yourself at the top. There are no shops nor any hotel for refreshment on top.
Around 12.30 pm we reached the top. It was very cold out there and we were well prepared for that. On the top there is a shiva temple. We spent some time there and then returned back. When you are about to reach the top you will find a cave thru' which if you enter you can come out from another exit.
We then checked out of the room and headed towards Halebidu. To reach Halebidu you can either come thru' Kemmangundi - Kadur - Banavara - Halebidu or else Kemmangundi - Lakkvalli - Chikmagalur - Halebidu. We all had visited Halebidu almost 15 years back, so we thought of revisiting the place once. And I will tell you, it was worth watching Halebidu again. I have never seen the depth of stone carving anywhere else. One of my best stone carving is shown below.
It was almost 5 pm in the evening and we started our return journey to Bangalore. It was a memorable trip for us.
November 18-19 2006
My friends Yogi, Ranga, Raghu, Santhosh and myself decided to go for a small trek to Mullaiyanagiri Peak on one weekend. Mullaiyanagiri is the highest peak in Karnataka of about 6,300 feet. In fact it was our dream to touch the highest peak in Karnataka.
So, we all left Bangalore on my car on friday evening Nov 17th 2006 around 8.00 pm. We had our dinner at 'MungaaruMale Dhaba' which is located around 4 kms away from Nelamangala by-pass on Bangalore-Mangalore highway. Fact is that the last few shots of the movie MungaaruMale has been taken over in this dhaba and hence we just call it as Mungaarumale Dhaba. After stomach full, we started our journey to Chikmagalur. By 1 pm midnight, we were in chikmagalur and luckily we found a room in a lodge.
Next day morning, Saturday Nov 18th 2006, we had a breakfast around 7 am and left for the peak. Actually you can drive your car upto the peak also, but we wanted to trek the peak. After 10 to 15 kms from Chikmagalur you will find the starting point for the trek. Its a small metal arch and the local people here call it has SARPA DHAARI means snake's way.
The trek lasted for 2-1/2 hours and at few places it was too steep. As we came closer to the peak we were in the middle of mist and hardly we were able to see few feet away from us. I would suggest you people carry some fruits so that you can refresh yourself at the top. There are no shops nor any hotel for refreshment on top.
Around 12.30 pm we reached the top. It was very cold out there and we were well prepared for that. On the top there is a shiva temple. We spent some time there and then returned back. When you are about to reach the top you will find a cave thru' which if you enter you can come out from another exit.
Our next destination was Kemmangundi. Road from Mullaiyanagiri to Kemmangundi is not so good. But I will tell you its the most scenic road we can see in our life. We have to cross thru' Baba Budangiri Hills and then reach Kemmangundi. We had a halt in Baba Budan giri but since it was raining we were not able to spend much time over there. We just saw the Baba's Samadhi and continued our journey to Kemmangundi. Fortunately, we found a room in Kemmangundi. We stayed there for saturday night and next day morning we headed to 'Z' point which is around 2 km flat trek. On the way you can enjoy a small falls called Saraswathi falls. Weather at Z point was really awesome. We enjoyed there for some time and returned back to the room.
We then checked out of the room and headed towards Halebidu. To reach Halebidu you can either come thru' Kemmangundi - Kadur - Banavara - Halebidu or else Kemmangundi - Lakkvalli - Chikmagalur - Halebidu. We all had visited Halebidu almost 15 years back, so we thought of revisiting the place once. And I will tell you, it was worth watching Halebidu again. I have never seen the depth of stone carving anywhere else. One of my best stone carving is shown below.
It was almost 5 pm in the evening and we started our return journey to Bangalore. It was a memorable trip for us.
