My travelogue on Chikmagalur Trip

I returned from a 2 day trip to Chikmagalur and I would like to share with you folks my experiences which may be useful to those who are looking for a weekend gateway to this beautiful place. I have tried to share small details which might help you plan the trip better. So, here it goes:

First of all some basic info:

From: Bangalore (ITPL Road), 27th May, 2011 (Friday)

To : Thippanahalli Homestay (http://www.thippanahallihomestay.com/) (10 kms from Chikmagalur)

By : Car (Santro Xing)

Total distance (from ITPL Road to the homestay): 265 kms

I started planning for this trip one week before the travel date. I looked into various stay options and finally zeroed in on Thippanahalli Homestay, which eventually turned out to be the best part of my trip. I read great reviews about this homestay and found them to be cent percent true.

There is no online booking available, so you need to call them and they will share their bank account to which you need to deposit the amount. The details are in the website above. I did the same and got my accommodation booked.

Now coming to the routes, there are two routes that you can take:

Route 1 (NH48 recommended) : Via Neelmangala-CR Patna-Hassan-Bellur-Chikmagalur

Route 2 (NH206): Via Tumkur-Tiptur-Kadur-Chikmagalur

I opted route 1 and and this turned out be a good choice. Route 2 is longer and some patches are not good. I got this information from a fellow at the homestay who used route2.

I and my wife started at 6am on Friday from ITPL Road Bangalore. We took the outer ring road and reached Tumkur Road via Yesvantpur. The newly constructed elevated flyover on Tumkur Road towards Neelmangala is awesome and you can reach the NH-48 junction in no time. We took left and entered NH-48 (Bangalore-Mangalore Highway). After driving around 60-70 kms on NH-48, there are two options for breakfast. 1) Cafe Coffee Day (before CR patna) : here you get frozen idly, dosa, parathas etc. 2) Kamat Upachar (in CR patna) : Here you get typical south indian breakfast.

Although NH-48 is awesome and offers great ride, there are patches where expansion work is going on. There are many patches where the other side of the road is blocked and two way traffic is allowed on the same side. So, you need to be careful on the highway. Here is the pic.

NH-48

The stretch from Hassan to Bellur and Bellur to Chikmagalur are pretty ok. Pics below.

Hassan-Belur

Belur-Chikmagalur

We reached Chikmagalur at around 11.30 am and the weather there was pretty hot. My first impression was not that great as I was expecting a lush great hill station type of setting there. We moved on for another 12 kms towards our homestay and I could see my mindset taking a complete u-turn. What I am seeing is beautiful lush green forest and I am driving deep into it. We reached our homestay at around 12 noon (after having lost direction for a while..my bad L) and what I saw was a treat to my eyes. Thippanahalli homestay is an old mansion situated on the lap of green mountains which provides a great scenic view. It is operated by the current generation of  Aralaguppe family. You can read more about it at the link above. What I would like to add is this is an excellent place to stay, food is tasty and the hosts (Nitin and Arpita) are very hospitable and warm people. There was a small drizzle after we reached the place and the mountains were laden with fog which made the entire view amazing. I could not have asked for anything better. Here is the pic of the homestay.

Thippanahalli Homestay

Mountain View from the homestay

Here are the main places which we visited:

• Coffee Estate: Our homestay is situated in the midst of a huge coffee estate. We went through the estate which had coffee plants along with silver oaks and unusually tall tree (which I had never seen before). The coffee beans were not ripe in the month of May. We were informed that cultivation is done during December.  Overall a great walk into the estate. Pic of a coffee plant.

• Mullainagiri: This is the highest peak in Karnataka. It is around 25 kms from Chikmagalur. The road is pretty good but narrow. So, you need to be extra careful. There are couple of hairpin bends which warrants caution. To reach the highest point, you need to park your vehicle at a point and climb around 400 steps (well no pains no gains). The view from the top is indescribable and you need to see the pic to feel/believe it. Best and must see in Chikmagalur, undoubtedly.

• Baba Budan Range/Kemmanagundi: This is on the same route where you would take left for Mullainagiri. There is pretty interesting story associated to Baba Budan Range, as per which coffee was first planted in India in this range. You can read on the nest to get more info about it. It’s a good place but not as great when compared to Mullainagiri.  We kept driving towards Kemmanagundi and found that the condition of the roads started deteriorating. We returned back when we were around 5 kms from Kemmanagundi. Later, someone informed me that there are some great waterfalls there and you need to take a jeep (after a point) to go to the water falls.

• Ayyanakere Lake: This is a great place which should be visited around 5 pm as it offers a great sun set view. This is a relatively unexplored area and the road is narrow. It is around 24 km from Chikmagalur. You need to go till Shakarayapatna and take left and drive another 4 kms from there. When we went there, there was less water in the lake but still the view was awesome. It will be brilliant during winter/monsoons. See the pic.

• Belur: We visited Belur while returning to Bangalore. Belur is around 30 kms from Chikmagalur. We visited Chennakesava temple which is definitely a master piece constructed by the Hoysala dynasty (that’s what I heard…I am pretty bad at history though) The stone carvings is extra ordinary and this temple is a great piece of architecture. Definitely worth a visit. See the pics. There is another place called Halebid (some call it Halebeedu) which is similar to Bellur. We did not go there because you need to travel 12 km from Belur and again come back to the route to Bangalore.

To sum it up, Chikmagalur is definite yes for those looking to spend a weekend in a calm, serene, green and virgin land.

Have fun, drive safe and have a great weekend.

Cheers,

Vijay