Kemmannugundi :: Such a vast sky !

Invariably, we miss the real wonders of the nature in our urban life. We miss clean water , clean air and even a clear view of the beautiful sky. Kemmannugundi in Chikmagalur district helps you to know, what all we are missing in our daily life! I  visited Kemmannugundi, with my family,  in April this year and stayed over there for two nights and three days. We reached there on a Saturday, by road. It took an additional three hours of drive because of the ongoing road construction activities and diversions between Nelamangala and a traffic jam at railway cross near Tumkur.  It was almost four O'clock by the time we checked in at Rajbhavan, 4853ft MSL, a guest house managed by Horticultural Department of Karnataka. During the summer holidays, bookings can be done at their office in Lalbagh. Rajbhavan is a clean and an affordable accommodation for your stay at KG Hills. If not available at Rajbhavan, you may try for accommodation at Dattathreya. There are more rooms at this location and there is a small hotel where you get ordinary south indian food. They also serve non-veg food items on request.

Memorable Sunset and the Evening

We were tired but a cold water shower bath became so refreshing. It was about to sunset. Breezy, moderately cold weather, fantastic panoramic views of the KG Hills was refreshing. But the brightness of the star-lit  night sky was the most amazing experience.  Such a vast piece of sky; we do not come across so often. KG Hilltops do not bear thick forests. They are mostly grass covered. You can experience the vastness of the sky an the beauty of the star-lit sky , where the light pollution is minimal. To my luck, we had a power breakdown and the guest house afar also sunk into darkness. Believe me, I spent several hours just watching the sky by streching myself back on the ground.  

An early morning trekking to the Z-point

We started an early morning trekking to the recommeded Z-point to watch the sun rise. It had been pitch dark at 5.00 am and we three carried along with us a flash light and drinking water. We reached the top most hill just a few minutes before the sun rise. The climb was smooth but one should be careful not to slip and roll-down ! Top of the hill was fully covered with green grass. On the way we watched for moments the awesome vertical drops. None were around ! Probably at an altitude of 6000ft MSL ( we are not sure , as there were no sign boards ) only four of us watching the sun-rise. Down down below  and far far away we were seeing the white clouds clamouring around lower level mountains and hills. They looked like milky sea with several island tips. We should have spent the previous night here, instead of sleeping inside Rajbhavan.  Like any other tekking effort, climbing down was more treacherous and we lost our way for a while. One of us lost an ear-phone, somewhere.

The Rajbhavan Gardens

A beautiful, well kept garden which attracts several people during the day time. It has good collection of horticulture samples. Sprinkles are kept almost every where and are fed by gravity water. On way to z-point, we remembered seeing a water-fall, not completely gushing out in full force. The department has about thirty employees working under a special officer. There is schooling facilities for their childern upto 7th grade.

Sunday Night Star Gazing

By Sunday noon most of the guests left the KG Hills and we decided to stay for another day. Looks like there had been some rains elsewhere and by evening the weather became chilled and there were traces of clouds here and there. I decided to spend more time to gaze at stars. With more protective clothes , I stretched myself on a marble bench. Didn't know how much time did I spent.  This time I was alone. Off-late into the night Dogs started howling and there were no human beings seen anywhere at my call's distance. The night sky engaged me so deeply and I didn't notice the lights going off at all our quarters.  For sometime, I should have also slept in the cold night. Incessant barking of dogs woke me up and I got scared a little bit and withdrew myself to the safety and comfort of our accommodation.

MullayahGiri

Monday morning by six O'clock we left KG Hilltop. We waited for sometime to get a cup of coffee, before starting to drive our way down to Chikmagalore. On our way, there was another wonder waiting for us to watch. The highest point in Karnataka- MullayahGiri.  To reach this amazing top, take a deviation en-route to the controversial  Baba Budan Hills and Datta Peethah. This deviation takes you about 8 kms to reach the top most point of Karnataka. We were driving a Tata Indica. The road is good and very last stretch is yet to be asphalted. Be careful while driving up Be more careful while driving down. On top, you can have the Darshan of Lord Shiva's diety. The temple modification is in progress. From the base where you can park your vehicle, you should walk several steps t0 reach at the top temple complex.

On return, we continued another six kilometers to reach the BB Hills / Datta Peetah , the place where the recent religeous controversies errupted. The laterite cave has been cordoned and youcan see the security measures and queue complex for the devotess. When we reached there every thing was seen under lock and no one were allowed to visit the dargh / shrine. We drove our way towards Chikmagalore.

Chikmagalore smells coffee

We reached Chkmagalore by 1.30 pm and had our lunch at Hotel Mayura.- A reasonale place  and at a reasonable rate. We purchased a small bulk of coffee powder with 15% chicory content from Panduranga Coffee Works. There are several other shops dealing with coffee on the MG Road itself. We were advised to take the NH to Hassan to reach Banaglore.

NH 48; something to remember

We just enjoyed the fantastic straight road of 56 kms to reach Hassan. A speed of 90 kmph looks a bit slow, at least on this road. From Hassan we took our road to Kunigal.

Back to the City Lights and Traffic Jam

We reached Nelamangala at 6.00 pm. From there we struggled through the traffic and diversions. It took three hours for us to travel just 28 kms to reach Bangalore .

All the more we missed the peaceful KG Hilltops.  

Anyway, one of us rushed for his night-shift.