Madikeri this time

Madikeri (Or Mercera as people say it locally).

Third week in succession i was on the bike tour. After the kerala and the Anthargange tour, madikeri tour came totally unplanned. Everyone in the group wanted a two day tour. The planning for the tour was already done. We decided to go on for some safari as we had been to waterfalls last time. So the place choosen was Nagarhole Forest or called as the Rajiv Gandhi wild life sanctuary. It's is famous for the wild elephants . This sanctuary extends over two states karnataka and kerala.

Starting the trip.

We started from our hostel at 6 in morning and decided to take the express highway, so as to avoid the city traffic and the poor roads. The express highway is really good. six lane road and it directly connect to Bangalore - Mysore express way outside kengeri village. The road is still under construction but 90% of the road is complete and the main thing is that you won't find any traffic on this road. Our first stop was kamat lokaruchi. The same leaf idli or the kotte idli. We took a heavy breakfast and resumed our journey.Next stop was outskirts of mysore. We did face some problems at Maddur and Mandya for the bandh and had to go by walking for some distance as the roads were completely blocked because of the Cauvery water issue and vehicles were not allowed to continue their journey forward. Since we all were on bikes we didi easily pass through the hurdles. We lost some of the time and did reach Mysore late than expected. The next stop was Hunsur from Mysore. Some part of the road is still under construction. But yes the road is good and one can easil cruise at the speeds of 70-80 km/hr on these roads on bike. Also the traffic is less during the day on this road. To go to Nagarhole you have to take a left turn from the bus stop. The sanctuary is 30 kms from hunsur and the road is also good. There are pretty enough road signs to take you to your destination. The main thing was there was no effect of the cauvery issue in this part of karnataka. We reached to the check post No 1 at around 1 pm . But from here started our major dissapointment. The road to safari was closed as their was animal attack that day and no one was allowed inside the forest. The elephants had gone wild. There came the major disappointment for us as the road for the next jurney was on the same route i.e. the route for irupu falls. Also one thing to take care is that no one is allowed inside the forest on two wheelers, only four wheelers are allowed to pass through the forest. There is also another route to irupu. Go back to hunsur, then to gonikoppal (50kms from hunsur). Shettegere, Iriti and then to Irupu. Irupu lies on karnataka - kerala border.So we came back to hunsur and decided to have lunch over there. We proceeded over journey after lunch. 3 kms from Hunsur, there is a Y point, one end goes to Madikeri and the other one the gonikoppal. As soon as we touched the gonikoppal route, i remembered that it's the same route we had taken while coming back from kerela. I also knew that the road is bad after some distance and wanted to avoid it. So finally we decided to change our plans and march towards Madikeri. I knew that madikeri has also some of the good falls and view of the western ghats. So we came to the Y - point and took the route towards Madikeri. The road is good till some point but after that i would say that it is not good. Our next stop was at Bylekuppe, KushalNagar(Tibetian Colony). The colony is really nice and you get a feel that you are in north india. After some refreshments near the golden temple, we started towards Madikeri (30 kms from this point).To go to Abbey falls you have to take a right turn 8 kms before Madikeri town. From this turning the Abbey falls is just 8 kms. we reached there at 6.30 pm. The sun was also down and it was getting colder. We couldn't enjoy much of Abbey falls and decided to come back to the spot if time did permit us the next morning. So back on the same route we did reach Madikeri town by 7 and booked a lodge. The food in town is descent and mix of north and kerala food. The food is spicy and hot. So people who are not accustomed to spicy food beware. As the whole day journey was tiring all went of to sleep very early.

Day -2

After all our daily chores we stared our day with heavy breakfast. First spot of the day was Raja Seat. The king used to sit at this place was did have a full view of the western ghats.The place is nice but not much of time can be given to this spot.Next was the Madikeri fort, which was also of no interset and we did run away from it very early.So after getting the spot list, it was decided to go back to Abbey Falls, wash all our sins in the water, joking have a bath in the water and start back to bangalore. The water at Abbey falls was very chilled in the morning but noting stopped us from enetering into the cold water. Only three of us did enter the cold waters. After having fun in the water for nearly an hour , it was time to pack our bags and return back to bangalore. The coming back route we took was different as we heard incidences of stray voilences in Maddur and Mandya side. So we decided to take the Hassan route to come back. The route we took was Madhavpur-> SomwarPeth-> Hassan -> Banaglore. The entire road is too good to drive. Basically in the end it was change of plans for us at the last moment which worked out for us.

Places to Visit

Attraction Point

1. Abbey Falls Madikeri - 8kms from the town. Raja's Tomb can be covered in this.

2. Kaveri Nisargadhama - Towards Madikeri, just 3 k.m. away from Kushalnagar lies the beautiful tourist centre of Kodagu i.e., Kaveri Nisargadhama. River Kaveri splits forming a beautiful island .This tourist centre is developed by the forest department by providing a hanging bridge into the island, Boating, tree top shelters and elephant riding.

3. Padi Igguthappa Temple - 45 kms

4. Talacauvery - Birth place of River cauvery

5. The Nalkand Palace - Nalknad Palace is not connected by public transport systems. But the nearby place Kakkabe is well connected by private buses from Madikeri, Virajpet and Napoklu.-

6. Dubare Island & Chiklihole Dam

Dubare is a natural island formed by river Kaveri, near Kushalnagar. It is a cool picnic spot. Elephants belonging to the forest department are trained here. One can enjoy fishing here with the pre-permission from the Coorg Wildlife Society - Madikeri.

7. Harangi dam- 30 Kms

8. Raja's Seat - 1 kms

9. Madikeri Fort - 1 kms

10. The Golden Temple - 30 Kms (Bailkuppe) KushalNagar

Trekking Spot

1. Thadiyandamole - The highest peak (5729 ft above the sea level) is known as the trekkers paradise. Trekking distance 15 kms to & fro; 50 kms from Madikeri (Near Kakkabe)

2. Pushpagiri- Trekking Distance 12 Kms to the top and 15 kms towards Subramanya. Prior permission is required

3. Kote Betta- Trekking distance 14 kms to and fro; 22 kms from Madikeri (Near Madapura)

4. Igguthappa Kundu - Situated near the Padi Igguthappa temple, Kakkabe. Trekking distance is 12 kms; 40 kms from Madikeri.

5. Brahmagiri - Another Wildlife Sanctuary near Nagarahole National Park. Irupu Rameshwara Temple and Irupu Falls are situated nearby. As the mountain comes under Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary area, prior permission from the Department of forests in necessary. Trekking distance 24 kms; 80 kms from Madikeri (Near Srimangala)

6. Nishanimotte - The highest peak in the Galibeedu range near Madikeri (4395 ft above sea level) Trekking distance 12 kms; 6 kms from Madikeri.

7. Thunga Pare - As the mountain comes under Talacauvery Wildlife Sanctuary prior permission from Department of Froest is necessary for trekking. Trekking distance 16 kms to and fro; 50 kms from Madikeri.

8. Chomakandu - Highest peak in Udumbe region, near Napoklu. Trekking distance 16 kms; 55 kms from Madikeri.

9. Gaddige Siddeshwara -Trekking distance 8 kms; 45 kms from Madikeri (Near Maldare, Siddapura)