We woke up at 5:00 in the morning and started our journey to Chikmagalur. We had to reach Hassan. From Hassan Chikmagalur was 40 kms. The ETA at Chikmagalur was 9:00 AM. The drive from Bellur Cross to Hassan was beautiful. The road was perfect. There was no vehicle to overtake. The road was ours. And we claimed it by driving at the fastest possible speeds. I even touched a 100 kmph on a Bajaj Platina. Imagine what a Pulsar or a Bullet could do. We stopped at Channarayapatna for a tea break.
Then we headed to Hassan. We only stopped at Hassan for directions. If the road to Hassan was beautiful. The raod to Chikmagalur was even better. Karnataka government did a good job in laying the roads. We again stopped for a few snaps at a shady place. We risked standing in the middle of the road for some snaps.
We drove for some more time before we got our first glimpse of the western ghats. We again stopped for more snaps. This time we had some friendly farmers, who were more than happy to pose.
Some time from then we reached Chikmagalur. We checked into Soundarya lodge, showered and had breakfast. At 10:30 we started to Mullaihna Giri. The narrow, winding roads and hairpin bends made the drive a very challenging one. The last kilometre of the drive was the most challenging. There was no proper road, just loose gravel and the slope was quite steep. We made the last kilometre only to find a very beautiful place called Mullaihna Giri. We parked our bikes in a clearance and climbed a couple of hundred steps to reach the peak. Atop the peak was a Shiva temple. The view from the top was breathtaking. The hills looked like the ones we usually see in movies.
Under the temple was a cave. The cave was wide mouthed in the entrance and within a few feet the cave was a wide enough only for a kid to crawl through.
We made a downward journey on the treacherous road with great care and fear. We drove towards Bababudan Giri. The drive was really good. But the place was not worthy of mention, except that it has a samadhi of a muslim religious leader. The place was very badly maintained. People threw garbage with little care for nature. We had a lunch consisting of only sambar rice and left for Kemmanagundi, the last destination for the day.
This was probably the worst roads in our trip. The road to Kemmanagundi ran along tea estates was riddled with potholes. We endured 20 kms of such road to reach Kemmanagundi. Enroute, we drove through Bhadra wildlife sanctuary. That part of the route was decent, at least, the view of the beautiful grass covered hills was pleasant.
We reached Kemmanagundi at 5:00 just in time for the sunset. That is what Kemmanagundi is quite famous for. After a cup of coffee and few winks of sleep, we waited for the sunset. Only to be disappointed. There was a thick cover of clouds behind which the sun hid itself.
Next came a jolt in the so far good trip. Sathish lost his bike key! Bhanu and Sathish went in hunt of the key while I stayed behind. After 15 minutes of frenzied searching the key was found in the hotel where we had our coffee. We enquired about alternate route to reach Chikmagalur. There was one and that also required us to drive throuh the bad roads for atleast 10 kms. As we left Kemmanagundi the mist was starting to wrap the mountains around. We drove for the next 10 kms like we were being chased by a bunch of gun wielding psychopaths. A puncture or a fall on that road would have meant only one thing. Screwed. Luckily, we did not get screwed. After a stop at a petrol bunk for refuelling Bhanu's bike, we headed to Chikmagalur. When we reached the hotel, my shoulder, back and of course the butt hurt very badly. We had driven 140 kms that day.
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