Travelogue approved.

Some very beautiful pictures there, Phanikar. Keep them coming.

Thank you Sirjee for the approval

Great to see you back on the road Phani ! The pics as always.. awesome! Cool new avatar too btw

P.S We plan to ride to Nagapattanam/Rameswaram/Kanyakumari/Trivandrum... this Thursday. Details after the ride.

Take Care & Ride Safe

Superb pics Phanikar...waiting for the rest..bring it on

Awesome pics bro.

Awesome places buddy.....keep them coming

Thank You Sir Nice to know you would be on the saddle soon.



Thank you Muruli and Satishrajdev
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All good things happen out of a sudden. This Diwali was pretty taxing, taking the toll on my personal(and eventually on professional)life. Had one of the toughest times of my life. Wanted to go out somewhere, totally isolated from human intervention. The first thing that came to my mind was Ram's drive to Mallalli falls and Santa's ride to Dudhsagar earlier this year. Somehow things didn't fall in place due to some audit work at office. Lot of my friends were touring that weekend which made matters worse. Come Friday, wanted to wrap up all the work and head out somewhere. Called up Ram to ask for directions to Mallalli Falls(as I didn't have the Luxury of whats called "Off's" at work to ride to Dudhsagar). Came to know that even he was heading the same direction. So he was kind enough to invite me to his place in Suntikoppa. Later Jai, Arnab and Bharath hopped in for the ride.


Meeting time set to 5.30Am on a supercold and foggy saturday. Once we turn left towards Bellur, its total white out on NH48(old) Visibility was hardly few mtrs because of the fog. We reach Mayura for breakfast to find it still closed. Waiting is not a problem, if you are sure of getting some steaming hot Pongal, Idly vada and filter coffee. Slowly but steadily the parking lot starts to fill up, a perfect to take leave, because of fewer vehicles on the road.

















Steaming Hot Pongal,Idly Vada at Mayura






Take diversion from Channarayapatna towards Holenarasipura as "The Rappa" was on the menu. Spend some time at Rappa and head towards Somwarpet.



























The route taken was a bun burner for till Shanivarasanthe or even till Somwarpet. The roads worsen with every Km passed. Broken roads, with boards warning about elephant attacks every few hundred mtrs made matters worse. Hardly did we see any vehicles passing except for the "rattler" KSRTC buses whose drivers were inspired by DAKAR rally. Contrary to perception, the GT performed brilliantly on bad roads. Finally we reach Somwarpet for lunch and head to Mallalli Falls.





Had heard a lot about the place from Ram who hails from this place. Whatever he had mentioned was rightly pictorized by Mother Nature. Soon we reach a check post where the formalities were duly done. Though there wasn’t much water in the falls, the place was very scenic.

















First look of the falls


















Spent some time lazing around and taking photographs. Reached Ram’s place at around 8 only to see his dad waiting for us without having dinner. After the tummies full we take a stroll in the estate. BTW the estate is a massive 350 acres, a mini train service can be arranged to travel from one end to another.


Woke up around 6.30 to see Ram’s dad already getting ready on a Sunday. Wish him good morning and went to see the extent of damage due to last day’s carnage. Thankfully nothing major apart fro few loosened screws.





Kulla



Kariya






Then Ram, Uncle and myself set out to see the estate bungalow. The bungalow is huge, built a century ago, but still stands strong. It has massive private grassland for the cattle to graze. Ram’s dad explained the importance of the place. This was the place where Gandhiji had stayed during his visit to Madikeri during the freedom struggle.








Ageless beauties The Amby is a 1974 Mar3



The man with the many responsibilities



Also it has the distinction of having the first Gobar Gas plant in the British India Era which is still used. The old lampshades, the paintings, old telephones the oldest water filter I have ever seen, everything so intact and neat. It was like taking us back in time. All fruits and vegetables grown in the estate follow non-organic kind of farming. Come back home for breakfast and start for a ride to Madikeri for some yummy corgi dishes to hog on.


Weather seemed to just about perfect for a ride. Saw a MH-Registerd KTM loaded with luggage, waved at him but somehow didn't seem to get his attention. Its like customary to Visit Coorg Cuisinette if you want to try some yummy Coorgi Dishes in the heart of the city. Head back to estate to start for Bangalore.


A Ride through the estate trails















Floral beauties inside the estate















Backwaters of Harangi adjascent to the estate.



A Unlucky fellow road user.



Cafe Coorg






This is the time where that disgusting feel of the next day being a Monday sets in. Sunday evening traffic on Mysore road was like Homecoming. Have a lot of rides done on this stretch, from the times when trees used to form canopies till the swanky restraunts that have come up now.


Thanks to Ram, Uncle for the hospitality. Also Arnab, Jai and Bharath for tagging along for a memorable ride.

So the southern sojourn is on We are waiting sir

Route Map

Can you share the route map please, If any.

Roughly this is the route that we took : Bangalore, Karnataka, India to Mallali Falls - Google Maps . Post Arkalgud we passed to villages,Kattaya, Halekote and Maggae, Harihalli which are not detecting in gmaps. Also we didnt carry a GPS to record the route.

Bangalore-Channarayapatna: a breeze
Channarayapatna-Arkalgud: Good
Arkalgud-Shettihalli: Moderate
Shettihalli-harihalli-Shanivarsanthe: Bum burner, even worse if you are doing in a car. very irritating if you are in a hatchback.
Shanivarsanthe-Somwarpet: Okayish
Somwarpet-Mallalli-somwarpet: Broken, last 3 kms is irritating if not in a 4WD. the last 1 km, 2wheel drives can make it. The guard doesnt allow you further if its a 2 wheel drive.
Somwarpet-Suntikoppa: broken at few places but very much doable regardless of the vehicle.
Suntikoppa-Madikeri: ultra super Tarmac
Suntikoppa-bangalore: Except for around Ilvala, its good.

Nice one .nice pics ... !! i missed it .. i came to atlast moment @phanikar ......

Thanks There is always a nekasht time re Alok, chill

Nice log Pani.. i just logged in to the forum after ages just to post on your thread.Wonderful Picks. Loved each and every one of them. Pani... i didnt understand why you guys went to Channarayapatna-Holenarsipur-Arkalgud and then to Shettihalli.you could have taken Channarayapatna-Hassan-Shettihalli- and then Arkalgud-Mallipattana-Shanivarsanthe-Somwarpet But the road from Hassan to Shanivarsanthe-Somwarpet is as bad as you discribed "Bum burner"Or you could have taken Channarayapatna-Hassan-Shettihalli-Holenarsipur-Arkalgud-Mallipattana-Shanivarsanthe-Somwarpet.On this route only the Arkalgud-Mallipattana-Shanivarsanthe-Somwarpet is bad.. thats around 40kms of offroading.

Me Me Me Rest coming soon..