Along the West Coast

 

A trip to Goa accomplished a lingering task on the bucket list. The aim was to ditch the usual tourist circuit, and venture out to discover the woodland, waterfalls and ancient temples in Goa. It is a fact that beaches personify Goa, but get off the frequently visited trail, and you are in for a lot of surprises. The eastern part of the state consists of the Western Ghat belt, which is recognised as one of the biodiversity hotspots of the world.

Kalasa was the top choice as the first pit stop. Spending a day in the dreamy, laid-back small-town brought back a great many memories. The ride from Bangalore to Kalasa is usually smooth, but the impulsive decision of going via Sakleshpur proved to be mortifying. To enjoy the 40kms of winding, blissful roads from Sakleshpur to Mudigere, it is a misery to go through the treacherous 40km of Hassan-Saklespur road. The road is a tad bad due to rain and road widening project from Mudigere. Tackling the twists and turns towards the destination, rain welcomed us as we neared the town of Kalasa.

Tourists have started arriving in this town, which acts as a base to cover many destinations around – Sringeri, Horanadu, Kudremukha National Park. Ride from Kalasa to Mangalore takes you through the serene and rustic Kudremukha National Park. The meandering roads are not in the best condition until the SK border – this is where the road deviates towards Sringeri. Here on, the road is wide, butter-smooth with alluring twists. The route we took had good tarmac with many petrol stations. Kalasa-Bajagoly-Karkala-Nitte-Padubidri-Mangalore.

Port city of Mangalore was the second and a brief stop. The cordial host at the Airbnb place made sure of a pleasant stay. Despite being in a central location, the home is in a calm residential layout, making it a perfect place to relax and rejuvenate for the next quest.

 

The tantalising coastal highway from Mangalore to Goa is part of NH66 (old NH17) is a treat for the eyes with umpteen bridges, rivers in full glory and views of the sea like a teaser for what’s ahead! The good tarmac and winding roads are a delight for the ride and rider alike. Majority of the road is four-lane, while some stretches are still work-in-progress. It is a route that traverses through a multitude of popular destinations like Udupi, Murudeshwara, Gokarana, along with some recently discovered staycation places like Kundapura, Kumta. Karwar is the last town on Karnataka border, which is also a port town with heavy navy presence.

 

 

 

Maiden Monsoon Ride

Riding bike in the Western Ghats has been on my bucket list for long. Now that I have learnt riding a geared motorcycle it was beyond thrilling sensation when I rode our Duke in the Western Ghats.

On a fine Friday evening, with mild drizzle in Bangalore, we set out towards Hassan - our first stop - en route Kalasa. Patches of rain kept the road and our mind fresh. Following morning, heavy rain accompanied us all the way to Kalasa. It was after a very long time we experienced the saying "it's raining cats and dogs". Our riding gear kept us warm and thanks to Decathlon rain gear we were dry.

Roads in Chickmagalur district are in their best condition ever. The age old, potholed, broken roads gave way to fully  tarred smooth tarmac. The lush green scenery can be enjoyed instead of gluing your eyes on the road. With the heavy rains there are streams at every corner and fallen trees are very common.

Our route was Bangalore-Nelamangala-Channarayapatna-Hassan-Belur(Left turn)-Jannapura-Mudigere-Kottigehara(Right)-Balur(Left)-Kelagur-Hirebyle-Kalasa. 340km in total.

On day 2, we were riding through Kudremukha NP, to erstwhile  KIOCL township in torrential rains. A detour from Samse will take you towards Elaneeru Waterfalls.

And Day 3,  Kalasa-Balehole-Magundi route. There is a diversion on this route to Agumbe/Sringeri - which is still a potholed road. From Magundi, the road leads to Balur - alternate route to reach Kottigehara from Kalasa. There is  also a shorter route Haluvalli- Horanadu road to reach Horanadu Temple.

Instead of coming back through the same route to Hassan, we turned right at Jannapura towards Sakleshpura. This road is fantastic - both the tarmac and lush green scenery.  After Sakleshpura, the roads are in pretty bad condition until Hassan. Road widening work is in progress from Hassan to Sakleshpura.

So, our return route was Kalasa-Kelagur-Balur-Kottigehara-Jannapura-Sakleshpura-Hassan-Bangalore. 350km -7hrs of leisure riding.

Due to heavy construction at Shiradi ghats on Bangalore-Mangalore national highway, there is a detour through Belur- Mudigere-Kottigehara-Charmadi. So, there was heavy traffic on this route until Kottigehara.

Quick facts:

Location: Kalasa is 340km from Bangalore and Kudremukha is 20km from Kalasa.  Horanadu, Sringeri, Agumbe can be reached from here.

When to visit: October to March is the best time. During monsoon, life becomes different at Kalasa. If you love rains, that is the best time.

Where to stay: Thottadur Yatri Nivas (at Kalasa) is for the budget traveller. Central, clean and basic. Rs 750 for dbl. Tel: 08263274699

What to carry: Some winter wear and trekking gear. A torch and umbrella will be handy. Always be ready with change of clothes. Waterfalls are tempting.

Food:  There are a few places for food  on Belur-Kottigehara route. Malnad Café dishes up authentic Malnad food with pipping hot coffee. At Kalasa, you will find basic meals at the restaurant next to Yatri Nivas.

  

Precautions: Salt, tobacco, Odomos etc for preventing leeches. Turmeric powder or turmeric oil to stop bleeding and itching if you are bitten by a leech.

Cash/ATM: Please carry liquid cash on this route, there was no power at Kalasa for 4days. Expect ATMs not to work and petrol pumps might need cash payment.

Kudremukh Peak Trek

 

Kudremukha is not there in the tourism map yet, but it is definitely a trekkers' paradise. A treasure in Western Ghats-one of the wettest places in Malnad region. Kudremukha is getting more importance now, KSRTC has started Airavat class service to Kalasa - a small town 20km before Kudremukha National Park. KIOCL (Kudremukha Iron Ore Company Limited) was once the biggest employer of this region. Later this mining company was closed due to environmental issues. When you drive through the national park you will see the remains of the erstwhile factories and staff quarters on both sides of the road.

Kalasa is the town where one should stay to get public transport or hired taxi, auto easily. Thotadur Yatri  Nivas is a well run budget hotel with rooms Rs 300-700 (Tel:08263- 274699, Mob: 094480 07014) with basic clean rooms with squat toilets and bucket shower. Hot water shower is available between 6am-8am. For a serene family home stay with authentic Malnadu vegetarian food Upasana (Tel: +91 8263 249288, Rs 2000 per day per person including meals) is the best choice for a very tranquil stay  Ask for Sukumar Shetty's house after turning left at Samse junction 8km from Kalasa town. Upasana has been renovated extensively with an artistic touch to each room. Check http://www.upasanaretreat.com for more details. Ask the host for a spot of Yoga, if you are keen.

For trekkers, there is an ideal choice at Mullodi- Rajappa's Mullodi House (Tel: 08623-249333, 9481179008, 9483983324) located at the base of Kudremukha Peak trekking trail. You can reach his house by hiring a 4WD jeep from Kalasa for Rs 500. It would be two hours walk from the main road where there is a big signboard "Trekking path to Kudremukha Peak". If you are sharing a seat with others, pay Rs 100 per seat for one trip. Rajappa will arrange forest permits for Rs  275 per head.

We started on Jan 26th at 4:30am from JP Nagar, Bangalore. NICE road from Kanakapura to Peenya and taking NH4 to Nelmangala. Turn left at Nelmangala to NH48 towards Haasan via Kunigal. Turn to Belur road at Haasan and follow NH234 via Mudigere. State Highway via Khotigehara to reach Kalasa. We reached Kalasa by 11am. After lunch and a short nap, we visited Sukumar Shetty and Leena at Upasana and they were so happy to meet 'Joseph from Kerala' after 3years. We were chatting about different topics under the sun and Sukumar is a charm to listen to his stories from life. Leena made sure we were fed coffee and snacks and later a sumptuous dinner.

 

Next day, at 6:30am we started from Yatri Nivas to Rajappa's house. After breakfast, we started trekking at 8:30am. Hire a guide, as you may get lost on this trail. Every mountain, stream, valley look alike. The trekking trail is not so wide and smooth. Rocky path may hurt your toes badly. Scorching sun can hit you -carry a sun block and hydrate yourself with water and electrolytes. Whenever we crossed a stream, we filled our water bottles with water. After crossing a multitude of valleys we reached the peak by 12noon. After having the upma packed by Rajappa's family we took rest for a while inside the forest listening to the Cicadas' music. At 6214 ft, Kudremukha (horse-face) peak overlooks Chikmagalur, Uduppi districts.

This part of Western Ghats is blessed with evergreen rainforests and wildlife is not so common. Aravind, Aditya, Nicholas trio was part of our group with the guide Keshava. He was happy that we were relatively fast enough though we took occasional breaks to relish some dry fruits and nuts. We started back at 2pm and descending was equally demanding. We spent some time gazing at the ruins of a church built by British. On the way, we met Rajappa's first wife's father with a herd of cows. He was our guide for a while as the other trio decided to stay back at the bank of a small stream on the way. We reached the base at 5:30pm and hot coffee was waiting for us. After a fitting dinner and two hours of rest, we started back to Kalasa on a 4WD jeep at 8pm.

 

Sleeping early at 9pm did not require any extra effort after a 7hours (16km) trek -one of the most difficult trek in Karnataka.  A good 8 hour sleep recuperated us from the body ache. Saturday, we spent the morning driving through Kudremukha National Park visiting Lakya dam, Gangamoola and Hanumangundi waterfalls. At 12noon, we started back to Bangalore.