After a nice sleep in the air conditioned room, we started from hotel kamats at 8am. The restaurants were still closed, so we just had a cup of tea and moved on. Just as we were about to load the luggage on the bikes, it started to pour. we waited 15 minutes, but the rain didn't stop, so we decided to move on anyway. we filled up the bikes at the nearby pump and took the left turn for NH206 that leads to jog falls. we just had to cover 60kms to reach the falls, but the roads were narrow and were winding their way uphill.



A few kms into this road and the rain had stopped too. Half way towards the top, we came across a view point that overlooked the valley, so we stopped there for a picture.



As we rode up further, the climbs got steeper and the roads got even more narrow. There was a junction 3 kms before the falls that had a lot of hotels lined up. since we were hungry, we decide to have breakfast there before visiting the falls. After breakfast, we moved on and reached a fork in the road. on asking around, we were told that both the roads go to the falls, but to different view points so we decided to try both of them. We first took the road to the right, that leads to a point that's not exactly opposite the falls, but a little to the right. The falls were a bit of a disappointment, there was not much water in it. the locals said that it looks good when the water from the dam is released.



After getting a few shots from here, we moved on towards the next view point which had a more head-on view of the falls. The sky had cleared up now and the sun was out which was making it really hot too so we didn't spend much time there. we just took a few pictures and moved on.







From here we decided to move on towards chikmagalur. we continued on NH206 towards tarikere, all the while looking for a place to eat. we couldn't find one decent hotel on this highway so we kept moving on. The sun was out in full glory now, it was as if we were riding on a summers day. the heat, fatigue, and hunger made this part of the ride a little uncomfortable, but with no other option, we had to move on until we found a good place to eat. there were a few places enroute, but they looked shady and had a lot of drunk locals. it was 2pm and we had covered 100 kms already, tarikere was just 30 km's ahead so we thought we would find something there. On reaching tarikere, we found that most of the hotels were closed and there was nothing much to eat there either, so we moved on and reached a junction that said chikmagalur was 40kms ahead, and kemmangundi was 20 kms to the right. our initial plan was to ride to chikmagalur and take the interior road to kemmangundi the next day, but seeing that it was just 4pm, i suggested we take the kemmangundi route and ride to chikmagalur from there, saving some time the next day. that turned out to be a lucky decision for us, you will find out why in the next days log.

As soon as we took the right turn for kemmangundi, we stopped at another signboard to confirm the directions. luckily we also seen a small make shift hotel to our right, and on asking they said they had food. once again we ordered chicken, and this was the spiciest chicken i have ever had. I had caught a slight cold the previous day, but this spicy chicken cleared everything up. Once we were done with lunch, we moved on the road towards kemmangundi. this road was pure delight. the condition was horrible, it was more offroading, but the forest and coffee estates that it passes through were just beautiful. I took a lot of breaks to click pictures on this route.







The road continued like this for 20 km's, gaining altitude with every kilometer. I stopped a few few more points that offered a view of the plains below





We reached kemmangundi at 5pm, and roamed around a bit clicking some more pictures at the top. this place is very remote, with no cellphone coverage.







We decided to stay there for the night, and continue exploring the nearby places the next day. We spotted a signboard earlier that said lodges were available



we got a room at this place. for just 300rs a night, it was a steal



It started getting real foggy by evening, we went outside for a hot cup of their homegrown filter coffee and got a few pictures along the way





it was just 6pm, so we decided to take the bikes out and see a few nearby places. there was a signboard saying z point, so we tried riding there, but it was a trekking point so we turned back due to lack of time.



It started to rain now, so we got back to our room. by late evening it really started to pour, and the sound of the rain the roof was really loud. we somehow went out to the nearby hotel and had a quick dinner. it was just 9pm and there was nothing much to do here. to make matters worse, the power went out because of heavy rains. The caretaker gave us a few candles, but luckily the power came back within an hour. After spending some time checking the pictures and discussing the next days plan, we decided to call it a night at 10pm itself.

distance covered: 250 kms

day 4

The night at kemmangundi was really cold. getting out of the bed from under those blankets was next to impossible, but I still managed to do so. The water from the tap felt like it was coming from a refrigerator. The window was covered in mist, and even at 7am, there was only some faint light that managed to make it through the fog and the forest to our room. Nevertheless, we got ready and went to the nearby hotel for breakfast. After a plate of idli vada and 2 cups of filter coffee, we were warmed up enough to step outside and start the bikes.

The plan for today was to check out the other 2 points, mullayangiri and dattapeeta. the distance from kemmangundi to mullayangiri was almost 35 kms, that too on muddy trails where I stopped at many places enroute to for pictures.








After some time, we reached a couple of hills with green shrubs growing everywhere and a narrow road passing through them






we then reached a view point, 30 kms before the top, and took a short break there.





After riding some more distance, we reached another point that had a really nice waterfall flowing by the road. That called for another short break for pictures.





After clicking enough pictures of the place, we moved on again and reached a fork in the road. the left turn said dattapeeta was 6kms ahead and the right turn said mullayangiri and chikmagalur was 14 kms ahead. We decided to take the turn to dattapeeta first, and backtrack and ride to mullayangiri. The road from here gained altitude pretty quickly and we reached dattapeeta. we were informed that the roads ahead were blocked because of a landslide that happened the previous night and mullayangiri and chikmagalur were inaccessible. We then realized that the decision to ride to kemmangundi instead of chikmagalur, and dattapeeta instead of mullayangiri were lucky ones indeed. had we taken the chikmagalur route, we would have had to ride a long way to get back to this place. The guards there told us we could continue riding 3kms uphill to some waterfall. these 3 kms were also steep and climed all the way to the top of the hills. the view from here was breathtaking.











All of a sudden, the dark clouds cleared up and the sky turned a deep shade of blue. the contrast between the deep blue and bright green was almost unrealistic.



We soon left the place and took the U-turn that marked the end of our tour. It was almost lunch time and we were getting hungry, so we stopped at dattapeeta and had some omlettes and parathas. we packed up the cameras since we weren't planning on taking any more pictures, and left the place at 2pm. The return was pretty quick, we crossed kemmangundi and reached the bottom of the hill at 4pm. We stopped by a coffee shop named "cafe coffee county" near the base and had some more filter coffee before bidding adieu to the place.





I took one last picture of the hills where we spent a magnificent 2 days



From here onwards the 220s were switched to mile munching mode to cover as much distance possible upto midnight. We planned to return via NH4, so we rode back to bhadravati and took NH13 that went up to chitradurga. The rain which held itself back for most part of our ride finally let itself loose just as we reached NH4. It was dark by now, and the patch from citradurga was just horrible. there were loads of diversions, unexpected speedbreakers, no lane markings, and doing this at night in the rain was very difficult. At one point, the road was wide and clear, and all of a sudden there was a speedbreaker in the middle of the highway which we hit at 90kmph. we decided to stop at the nearest hotel for dinner, and then take a halt for the night at the town of ranebennur. we found a hotel that had a lot of family cars parked, so we thought it would be a good place for dinner. dinner was done quickly and we continued the ride on NH4. The rain was still going strong and it was very difficult to see the wet reflective road surface with no lane markers. the truckers and their set of 4 oncoming headlights all on high beam only made matters worse. it was so bad that it took us almost an hour to just cover 30 kms. we reached the town of ranebennur at 11pm but couldn't find a decent place to stay. with no other option, we moved ahead and rode on. After about an hour, i spotted a signboard saying haveri is to the right. we entered the town of haveri and were lucky enough to find a good place to stay. It was here that i realized my hand was bleeding, but i didn't feel a thing. it was probably because of leeches in the gloves, so i threw them away. we called it a night at 12:30am, and decide to wake up early the next day since we had a lot of distance to cover.

distance covered: 350 kms

The scenery at Kemmangundi is breathtaking. Great pictures there coupled with nice narration.

It is so astounding down south in rains! Thanks for sharing the photos and experience with us.

Nice ride and beautiful scenery. Thanks for sharing.
That part of Karnataka looks fabulous esp after the rainy season

Spellbinding pics there Angelo. I had heard of this place before - Jog falls I mean and wanted to visit it since sometime. But now looking at these pics it's become quite irresistible. Will try my best to ride there next month.

Once again, loved the pics. Monsoon has turned earth into heaven.

Ride safe!

Fabulous pics brother!!! Lovely ride you had

awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome ..

Thanks for the comments guys, glad you liked the log and the pics

great pics and nice trip log. It would be great if you can share the name of the palce you stayed in Kemmangundi and the number if possible , me planning on a ride in the following week and it would be useful

Go Green , I am loving it !! Awesome !

Wow.... Excellent pics and a trip...
The greenery is so soothing to eyes

We did not get their phone number, but the place is easy to find. just as you reach kemangundi top, there is a fork in the road towards the right. that fork has a sign board advertising the lodges.

superb ride and awesome pics there angelo...this place is must to visit...