Monday, January 4, 2016

Chikmangaluru, Coorg, Chitradurga and Hampi Road Trip


Chikmangaluru, Coorg, Chitradurga and Hampi

December 2015
Best Time to Visit: Winter


One fine day, three friends decided to go on a road trip along with their families. After much discussion, we zeroed in on the route - Chikmagalur, Coorg, Chitradurga and Hampi. We started planning and hotel booking around September so as to get good deals on hotels and resorts. We had also done some prior investigation for road condition and had pretty much finalized our route. As our trip date was approaching all of us were excited and were looking forward to our road trip.

Before we move ahead let me first introduce our team :)

From left:
Family 1: Seema and Gaurav
Family 2: Myself, my hubby Sagar and my kid Rishaan (1.9 yr)
Family 3: Nikhil, Preeti and their son Harsh (9 yrs)


We used a car and SUV. Our's was Honda City and the Nikhil's and Seema's family were in Tata Safari Storme.

Road trip route:

Some statistics about our journey.


Total distance covered by our car: ~2200 KM
Petrol expenses: Rs.9000
Toll  charges: Rs.1500
Hotel /Home-stay bookings: Rs.30000 




Itinerary:
24/12: Reach Hubli.
25/12: Reach Chikmagaluru.
26/12: Chikmagaluru site seeing.
27/12: Reach Coorg.
28/12: Coorg site seeing
29/12: Reach Chitradurga.
30/12: Chitradurga Fort visit and reach Hampi.
31/12: Hampi site seeing.
1/1: Reach Kolhapur.
2/1: Reach Pune.


24/12: Reaching Hubli

Distance covered: 432 KM  
Drive: 8 hours

We started from Pune early in the morning around 6 AM to beat the traffic. We met our companions at Chandani Chowk, and from there connected to NH4. We took a pit-stop near Khed Shivapur at BP petrol pump and got our vehicles filled. Journey from there onward was smooth, although there were quite a few diversions on NH4 until Wai phata. Overbridge construction and road maintenance was going on at lot of places on this road. The next stop was for a yummy breakfast at famous Virangula restaurant, near Satara around 9:00 AM. Virangula is famous for its delicious Thalipeeth  and Kothimbir wadi. After a sumptuous breakfast, we resumed our journey. The road and traffic condition after Satara was much better and the road was also very scenic. Next, we drove for 3 hours before we took a lunch break at the Naveen restaurant, Hattaragi, Belgaum. It's just after the toll plaza in Hattaragi village. Food was good, but the best part was that it was lighter on our pockets :) From here we drove non-stop until our destination, Akshay Park (OYO rooms), Hubli. We reached here at 4.00 PM. Hotel was good and we spent evening in the nearby mall. It was surprising to see a mall that can give any mall in the city a run for its money. All the top brands were being sold there. To kill time, some of them in the group watched Bajirao Mastani that night while the others caught up on something very important - a good night's sleep :)
Pune - Hubli map







25/12: Reaching Chikmagaluru

Distance covered: 311 KM  
Drive: 6 hours 

Hubli - Chikmagaluru map



















We started around 6:45 AM for Chikmagaluru.We stopped at a Dhaba to refill fuel. Preeti and Seema had arranged a surprise celebration for us. It was our 5th marriage anniversary. Our friends managed to procure a yummy plum cake from God knows where. It made our day very special. We will remember this small yet sweet celebration forever. Thanks to our dear friends :)  Tea at this dhaba was also fantastic. We managed to arrange for a mini breakfast while we were there. The menu was what was leftover in our travel bags. One of the members in the group managed to butter all our breads and that made for a nice and healthy breakfast. Once our tummies were full, we hit the road. NH4 and the road until Shimoga was good. However, the road after Shimoga wasn't so good. There were a few rough patches, but the view was scenic driving through the sunflower farms. The overall journey was good though.We reached Soudhamini Coffee Estate at 3 PM. Well, this estate was a find! This 100 acre estate is very well maintained. We had 2 Koff Villa's and 1 Bunglow room. Everything was fantastic. The Chef was just awesome. He use to cook delicious exotic delicacies Malnad style. The stay was quite homely. In the evening we had bonfire, impressive story telling and soothing harmonica in the moonlight. What more, everybody enjoyed my dance. I really enjoyed the entertainment evening! What fun, totally unplanned! :)


Sunflower Farms



Koff Villa, Soudhamini Estate
Bunglow, Soudhamini Estate








































26/12: Chikmagaluru site seeing

Distance covered: 80 KM  
Drive: 2 hours 

Early morning we had a refreshing walk in the coffee plantation.After having breakfast we all left to Kaimara. We were planning to hire a jeep from Kaimara to the Mullayanagiri peak. It is the highest peak in Karnataka and is a must-watch destination. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a jeep and saw a few cars following the same way. We all had no option, but to go by Nikhil's Safari Storme. Road to Mullayangiri was full of traffic and was very narrow and risky as you go to the top. Road was so narrow that it could only accommodate one vehicle at a time. It was pesky managing two on such a narrow lane. Nikhil worked his driving charm and we reached the top safely. Finally, we reached the top of the peak and had a photo session. It was very windy and cold. We were at the top for about an hour and then we started our journey back. We reached the hotel by 2 PM and had our lunch. Earlier we had plans to visit the Belur temple post lunch, but everyone wanted to relax so we skipped that plan. At 5 PM, we had a tour of the coffee estate in the vehicle and that was fun. We plucked oranges, lemons, coffee beans, lime right off the trees:) I don't remember the last, when I plucked anything off a tree. Thanks to this tour, I relived those moments. In the evening, we had some barbeque chicken followed by some dancing and story telling. We truly enjoyed our memorable stay at the Soudhamini Coffee estate.


Mullayanagiri Peak













View from Top
























27/12: Reaching Coorg

Distance covered: 200 KM  
Drive: 5 hours 

Temple calling again! On the way to Coorg, we finally visited the Belur's Chennakeshava temple.This was the one we were going to visit the day before.This Dravida style temple is very old and is very well maintained by ASI and has intricate carvings. It was very unlike the usual South Indian temples, and if you ever get a chance, do not miss visiting this temple. No, not for religious reasons, but purely for its architecture. It's a visual treat!


Chennakeshava temple



Temple Architecture





We reached Coorg at 2:30 PM and had lunch at Hotel Prestige,Madikeri. Lunch was average. After lunch, we started searching our home-stay location 'Kedakal', but couldn't find it easily. We had to call our home stay to locate it. Finally we reached our destination, which was into the woods surrounded by 50 acres of coffee plantations. Overall, the location was very exotic. We never had such a stay before. The cottage was lovely with exclusive wall pieces, a good kitchen, nice terrace area with a Christmas tree and a beautiful view. In the evening, we had filter coffee and in the night nice dinner served by the hosts. We also had star gazing session with nice story telling again by Seema and Harsh. The highlight of that evening was Sagar playing his mouth organ (Harmonica), and all of us getting lost in our childhood years... The full moon and the stars only added to the charm of the night!


Chikmagaluru - Coorg map





 
Kedakal Homestay, Coorg



28/12: Coorg Site seeing

Distance covered: 60 KM  
Drive: 4 hours


After having a good breakfast, we decided to do some local site seeing and try some local Coorg cuisine. Seema and Gaurav chose to stay back and relax. We visited Abbey waterfall which was very scenic. We clicked few pictures and then decided to visit the Madikeri town. In Madikeri, first we had lunch at the 'Coorg cuisine' and then did some shopping. Lunch was too yummy and mouth watering. Best part was the authentic rice noodles and the rice balls. Most of us tried these dishes for the first time and all of us enjoyed it. Truly mouth watering!

In the evening, we all tried preparing some dishes in the kitchen and enjoyed cooking after almost a week :) The only downside to this exotic resort is that there is no food available. The nearest restaurant is a good 8-9 kms away on a windy road. Food could be delivered, but at a steep price. Which is why, we ended up in a community cooking project. And the man who initiated this idea decided that he is best monitoring everybody ;) Okay to his credit, he did the dishes. And yes, they were sparkly clean :)

Abbey Waterfall
Coorg Market Road



29/12: Reaching Chitradurga

Distance covered: 310 KM 
Drive: 5 hours 

We started from Coorg around 9:30 AM and reached Chitradurga around 4 PM. Drive was slightly tiring here. It was pleasant to hit back NH4. Hills here were covered by windmills.

Coorg - Chitradurga map





30/12: Chitradurga site seeing and reaching Hampi

Distance covered: 130 KM
Drive: 2 hours 45 min

After having a cup of tea in the morning, we started for the fort visit. We hired a guide for Rs.300. One has to bargain with guides to get good deal. The fort has a very good history and is very well maintained by the ASI. Chitradurga fort is majestic and is made up of granite. It has excellent architecture and is rock solid. There are some parts where it is difficult to climb or trek. Overall, it was an excellent fort tour. By 10:30 AM, we were back at the hotel. We all packed up by 11:30 AM and parted our ways as decided. My family left for Hampi while rest of the people traveled back to Pune. After enjoying each others company for 6 days, we were so used to each other. We all desperately missed each others company. When I met the group, I was told that they missed my kiddo badly. Apparently, some of them even started talking like him.

Chitradurga Fort
Temple, Chitradurga Fort
View From Top


Road from Chitradurga to Hospet is overall good. Not very scenic, but still good. There were not many hotels/dhaba on this road and the road was full of trucks and lorries.

We stayed at Hotel Malligi, Hospet. Will recommend this hotel to everyone. It was our best choice. Good food, good service, good ambience and location too.

On way to Hospet

Chitradurga - Hospet map


31/12: Hampi site seeing

Distance covered: 40 KM  
Drive: 7 hours


We started at 8.00 AM from Hospet to Hampi. It's about 10 KM drive to the cultural heritage site.We hired a guide for Rs.1300 for entire Hampi site seeing which took us around 4-5 hours. Hampi was historically rich, and the ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage that is very well maintained by ASI. It was one of the richest and largest cities in the world.  Main temples we visited included Mustard Ganesha, Virupaksha Temple, Peanut Ganesha, Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Vithhala Temple, Badavlinga etc.

It was really difficult to digest as to how such rich civilization could be destroyed and turned into ruins. At one time Hampi was a beautiful city compared with Bejing and was thrice the size of Paris.

Lakshmi Narasimha
Virupaksha Temple
Mustard Ganesha
Lotus mahal















































We were done with our site-seeing at 3.00 PM and reached our hotel for lunch. We also had a relaxing New Year dinner there :)


1/1: Reaching Kolhapur

Distance covered: 360 KM
Drive: 6 hours

We embarked our journey to Kolhapur via NH63 at 10:30 AM. Most of this route is deserted. You will hardly see any petrol pumps and hotels. We had lunch in Roti Ghar on the NH4 highway just after Hubli near Dharwad which was average. We reached Hotel Opal, Kolhapur at 5 PM and visited the Mahalaxmi temple.

The evening dinner was at Opal again. Dinner was good :).

Hospet - Kolhapur map
















2/1: Reaching Pune

Distance covered: 233 KM
Drive: 4 hours
Kolhapur - Pune map


After having breakfast at the Opal hotel around 11 AM, we decided to leave for Pune. The traffic on NH4 highway was bearable as it was a Saturday. We had lunch at Park Inn near the Mahabaleshwar turn. We reached Pune at 3:30 PM.Our 10 day long journey had come to an end. 

When we started out on the planning stage, we realized we were very different people. We were wondering how we would all gel in a trip. Surprisingly, we all made a wonderful team. Everybody got ready on time, and there was nobody throwing a fit for anything. I think it turned out more than what any of us could ask for! So folks, missing all of you who made this trip what it was! What a memorable trip! :) I never felt that a road trip can be so mesmerizing. At the end of the day, it's who you go with that can make or break a trip. I was lucky we had a good bunch! Wonderful people and a wonderful journey. Here's to many more trips to come!


Special thanks to Seema, for reviewing my blog and making it more interesting :)


15 comments:

coolbug said...

Wow! After reading this I want to do it all myself.. :) superb!! Keep up the blogging and travelling!

-Sahil.

Sayli said...

Thanks Sahil :)

Amar V Paranjpe said...

Superb....

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Superb Blog Sayli
Very nicely scripted .......:)

Unknown said...

nice trip ...
i visited some of them...

Unknown said...

definitely... very nice places to visit...

Amolw said...

Sayali,

This is excellent work!
You guys really had wonderful time...
keep writing...!

Thanks!
Amol

Unknown said...

Very Well written Sayli...Keep it up!!

ALOK GUPTA said...

Very well written Sayli, nice trip :)

Arun Shinde said...

Very Nice :-)

Unknown said...

Really fantastic.

Unknown said...


Nice blog.
Christmas Tree Cake in Pune

Sayli said...

Thanks Priyanka!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.