The year 2010 has been a very dry year for me... Except for the Kolkata-Sikkim trip in the month of April, I haven't been to any other trip and esp. treks. Even though there were many a plans before a couple of friends' marriage, the plans never got implemented... The same thing happened even this time... Though no particular place was decided for the trip, the dates were all finalized... and we boys were all ready to wear the trekking gear and to start the trek, if need arises, from Bangalore it-self... But as expected one girl from the gang backed out at the last minute & the chain reaction started... many others also backed out..
I was so desperate to go to a trip/trek... I was ready even to go alone if nobody accompanied me... Luckily I found not 1 not 2 but 4 others who were ready for the trek.... During the planning stage the number had reduced to 3 but now it is finalized that 5 of us will be leaving at-last on Friday night for the trip. Guess one can understand my desperateness when I stress on the word "at-last"... my mind deserves a long break from all the thinking I am doing these days.... I just want to stop thinking about anything.. be in the midst of nature... enjoy the trek thoroughly... have some authentic coastal but vegetarian food... and last but not least... be away from the common Bangalore din!!!
Ok... So where are we going?
We aren't the type of people who keep thousands of options and then struggle to choose one place to go to... We had 2 options - kudremukha or kemmaNNUgunDi. We decided to go with the former one since one of my friends had already visited the latter one.
What other places are we visiting?
Below is a list of places that we have planned to visit on 30th and 31st of October, 2010.
1. kudremukha - our main destination
2. gangamoola - the birthplace of three rivers - tunga, bhadra and nethravathi
3. jamalabad fort - fort built during Tipu Sultan's time, around 65 KM from mangalooRu4. horanaDu - devi annapoorneshwari's temple
5. sringeri - devi sharade temple
6. hanuma gunDi jalapatha - 32 KM from kalasa
7. bhadravathi Nature Camp
How are we going?
Initially, when the number was reduced to 3, we'd decided to board the KSRTC bus to kalasa and from there take another private bus to kudremukha. The reason to take the public transport was simple - cost. According to my estimation if we take KSRTC bus to-and-fro, we'd be spending anywhere between Rs. 1000.00/- to Rs. 1750.00/- Instead if we hire a cab we'd be spending anywhere between Rs. 2000.00/- to Rs. 2700.00/- That was a huge difference... and for a small group of 3 members, this cost was exhorbitant... so the decision to make use of KSRTC buses was taken...
Yesterday my other friend and his wife also decided to join us for the trip... and the group size has now grown to 5. Because of the increase in the number of people (3 to 5), we have decided to hire a Toyota Qualis. And now the cost estimation is anywhere between Rs. 1700.00/- to Rs. 2500.00/- and it was ok with us.
One might argue that going by KSRTC was still a better option. Though going by a private vehicle works out to be costlier than public transport, it is a lot more flexible when compared to going by a public transport. All of us stay in different locations of the city bengalooRu and finding local BMTC buses during the night is a problem. Since it is also a long weekend (November 1st being a holiday on the occassion of kannaDa rajyothsava) even getting tickets in KSRTC buses was a little difficult. Moreover, there are no direct buses to kudremukha. We have to get down at kalasa and from there hire a local private bus to reach kudremukha.
What exactly is the plan?
The plan is to leave bengalooRu on Friday, 29th October, 2010 night in Toyota Qualis and reach either horanaDu or sringeri by early morning on Saturday, 30th October, 2010. After taking bath, finish visiting the temple, and depending on the time, we can visit any/all the intermediate places listed above. Probably we may keep horanaDu for the next day! Reach an intermediate place, have dinner and sleep off! The next day, i.e. Sunday, 31st October, 2010, climb the kudremukha hill along with the guide. Once the trek is finished, climb down, get into the car and leave for horanaDu or bengalooRu. We'd want to reach bengalooRu by Monday, 1st November, 2010 morning so that we can take rest the entire day before going to the office on 2nd.
What websites did I refer to for planning the trip?
It wasn't easy finding the right information for the places we wanted to visit. Each one of them had taken either a different route or had visited only a subset of the places. So I had to take a help of all of the below mentioned websites to know the pros and cons and then decide on my own about our trip.
All these websites are abundant with information about kudremukha, directions to reach, distances, accommodation availability, etc. etc.
I owe a big thank you for each one of these bloggers without whom I wouldn't have had planned for this trek.
Also do note that most of these blog posts were published long back and the information provided might not be accurate. So readers' descretion is required.
Further details about my trip, exact cost, route we took will all be updated in a continuing post, but after the trip.
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