Caught Special - 151

Caught Special pictures from our Chitradurga Trip we did in November 2024.

Captured using my mobile Samsung S23 or by my DSLR Canon EOS 700D.

Click open below and scroll down to see all pictures.. 

Chitradurga Trip

This was a nice little two nights and three days trip to Chitradurga, staying at KSTDC Mayura Durg. 

We had already visited Chitradurga earlier once in August 2009, and we had stayed at Hotel Aishwarya Fort one night, and as it was not a good experience, we moved to Hotel Naveen Regency for the next night.

Starting from Bangalore by about 7:15 am on 1st November 2024 (Fri), we reached KSTDC Mayura Durg at about 1:45 pm, after three stops on the way: For Breakfast at Paakashala T Begur (Marohalli Kasaba Hobli), at 8:15 am for about 45 min; For a Visit to Vani Vilas Sagar Dam (Maari Kanive; a de tour from Hiriyur), at 11:15 am for about 1 hour; and For Lunch at Paakashala Chitradurga at 1 pm for about 30 min. Route map here. 

Vani Vilas Sagar Dam was good; nice to see the calm water. They were doing some drilling and excavation on the opposite end of the water; appeared like construction of some pier or bridge of some sort; seems like the serenity of the place is set to be damaged! We drove by car to the upper level instead of walking up the steps; that is a good plan.

After taking some rest at Mayura Durg, we took an evening walk passing by the entrance of the Fort area, and went in to Sree Maharshi Valmeeki Museum (Entry Rs 10 per person), and Sri Raja Utsavamba Devalaya, and then taking a look at stone swing arch pillar in front of the temple, an old well on the road side there, and a few other very old buildings on that Doddapete Main Road in front of that temple. We then walked through a bylane street seeing the old calm houses, and reached up to Sri Lakshmi Bhavan Tiffin Room an old popular restaurant (sometimes referred as LTR), and took an auto to return to our Hotel and had dinner by room service.

On Saturday morning we entered the Fort at 10:30 am and after going around seeing various sections, came out at 1 pm. Many parts of the Fort ruins are not kept up well. The Palace area could not even be accessed as the bushes have grown up and blocked the way completely; risk of snakes in the area is high. As we were about to leave, luckily we had the chance to see the Spiderman of Chitradurga.. Mr Jothi Raj, getting ready at his usual spot; seems like he had just come in. We had seen his wall-climbs during our previous trip in 2009.

Had our lunch at Mayura Durg, took some rest, and reached Chandravalli / Ankali Mutt Cave location by 4:15 pm; and after spending an hour looking around the spots at the top of the steps, and then seeing the water body, we left from there by 5:15 pm.

After some rest, we started at about 7:15 pm, we walked some distance and boarded an auto to go to LTR for dinner and had yummy Masala Dosas just before they closed, and came back by 8 pm.

On Sunday morning we vacated the room and started by 9:30 am towards Jogimatti Forest View Point, crossed the entry gate around 9:55 am (Entry Rs 25 per adult, Rs 50 for car, and Rs 200 for DSLR camera). The Google Map search based destination as Jogi Matti Forest was pointing to a wrong spot, that is ~2 KM before, and somewhere inside. We drove past that and reached the actual spot by about 10:15 am. Parking and making u-turn here is a challenge. After climbing up the steps and spending some time, we started at 11 am, and started to the Zoo.

We reached the Adu Malleshwara Mini Zoo by 11:30 am (Entry Rs 40 per adult, Rs 50 for car parking, and Rs 50 for DSLR camera). Tiger was the highlight. He came close and gave a walk past the glass we stood by. After spending an hour there we started by 12:30 pm towards Bangalore. 

We stopped at A2B at Sira outskirts for lunch by 2 pm for 30 min., and reached Bangalore by 6 pm on that Sunday. It took almost a couple of hours more than what it should have, due to a very bad traffic congestion all through the route.. returning to Bangalore after the long weekend.

We had the opportunity to click a lot of pictures of Birds, Butterflies, Flowers, Fruits, Animals, Insects, Nature, and so on, throughout our trip, at the Hotel also, and at all the spots we visited.

Scroll to see more pictures below; and also our Verdict about the whole trip.. at the end of this below.

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Caught Special pictures from our Mysore - Kabini River Lodge - Trip we did in September 2024.

Captured using my mobile Samsung S23 or by my DSLR Canon EOS 700D.

Click open below and scroll down to see all pictures.. 

 

 

Mysore - Kabini River Lodge - Trip

This was a nice little two nights and three days trip to Mysore and Kabini, staying at Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel in Mysore and at Jungle Lodges' Kabini River Lodge. 

We had earlier once done a trip to The Kabini Serai in November 2018 that is located adjoining to this Kabini River Lodge of Jungle Lodges. You can see that travelog here.

Starting from Bangalore by about 10:30 am on 21st September 2024 (Sat), we reached Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel in Mysore by 1:30 pm, (after a 40-minutes lunch stop at a KFC Mysore outlet just about 4 km before Lalitha Mahal), for the night's stay. Covering the 150 km distance via the NICE road and the Bangalore Mysore Expressway.

Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel (wiki) is now under the Jungle Lodges & Resorts management since 2018. We had stayed here once earlier in October 2017, while doing a trip to Galibore Nature Camp (also run by the Jungle Lodges & Resorts), and again in April 2024 when we did a trip to Wayanad Banasura Hills Resort. You can see our travelogues of those two trips also.. here and here.

We looked around Lalitha Mahal during the evening. And as we had liked to do during our previous trips, we drove about 10 km to The Green Hotel Mysore for dinner, and some cake buy at The Malgudi Coffee Shop that is inside Green Hotel. We had stayed here as well once in December 2019 doing a trip to the Dubare Elephant Camp. You can see our travelogue of that trip here. 

While driving back from The Green Hotel, we also drove around the Mysore Palace and also saw that the lighting arrangements were being done for the Dussehra that was about to start in just 7-8 days.

Next morning, the breakfast at Lalitha Mahal as usual was fantastic. And then we started at about 10:30 am from there towards Kabini River Lodge. We took the Jayapura, Madapura, Antharasanthe, Malalagadde route (here) of about 77 km and reached Jungle Lodges Kabini at about 12:30 pm.

Kabini River Lodge was good in general. The cottage was just fine. Food was ok; just that they had too many variety of items, but obviously we could not eat everything. 

We took the jeep safari option in the evening (started at 3 pm from the Resort, but had to wait at the forest gate at 3:30 pm for entry start, and returned to the Resort after the safari by about 6:25 pm) and the water safari the next morning (started at 6 am from the Resort, but then the boatman went first to Evolve Back Resort on the other side of the shore to pick up the guests there for pool-in, and also our Naturalist Guide joined us from there; and returned to the Resort after the safari by about 9:10 am). 

Both were good, but we never spotted any wild animals, except for deer, elephant, fishing eagle, and peacock. So we were not lucky in this safari also, like we had at multiple forest safaris at other places before.

The cost is very expensive at Kabini River Lodge of Jungle Lodges but we found the overall experience and what is given in the package, not justified.

We started from Kabini River Lodge at about 11:30 am, stopped at Hari Govinda's on the Ring Road in Mysore at about 1:15 pm for for about 35 min. for lunch (it was bad; we had stomach problem after returning; and now think not to go there anytime again), and reached Bangalore by 4:15 pm (route).

Scroll to see more pictures below; and also our Verdict about the whole trip.. at the end of this below.

Caught Special - 149

Caught Special pictures from our Talakad Shivanasamudra Somanathpur Trip we did in May 2024.

Captured using my mobile Samsung S23 or by my DSLR Canon EOS 700D.

Click open below and scroll down to see all pictures..

Talakad Shivanasamudra Somanathpur Trip

This was a nice little one night and two days trip to Talakad, Shivanasamudra and Somanathpur, staying at  KSTDC's Hotel Mayura Bharachukki Shivanasamudra. The hotel is located in a very calm locality, just a little away from but on the way to the Bharachukki Water Falls, and is surrounded by abundant variety of birds around its location!

Starting from Bangalore by 7 am on 18th May 2024 (Sat), we reached Talakad Cauvery beach spot by close to 11 am, covering the 140 km distance (route map here) in about 4 hours, via NICE road and the new Bangalore-Mysore Expressway; after stopping at Maddur Tiffanys at 8:30 am for breakfast, for 35 min.

The Cauvery beach spot was not so crowded.. and the water was low enough to spend some time on. We had visited Talakad in the past, August 2004, and in October 2014. So this one in May 2024 makes it the third trip, and it is interesting to note that the gap between has been about 10 years each time!

Starting at 11:25 am we reached Hotel Mayura Bharachukki Shivanasamudra at a distance of 44 km (route map here), by about 12:45 pm, covering in about 1h 20m, that included a short 5 min. stop on the way at a Cauvery water view and coracle boating spot, while also viewing a lot of scenic Cauvery water body surroundings, fields, a river bridge, and so on, along the route. Along the route, we also passed through a couple of nice looking ancient Temples like Madhyaranga Shri Ranganathaswamy Temple, and Shri Prasanna Meenakshi & Someshwara Temple, just seeing them from outside.

We have stayed at a few other KSTDC Mayura hotels at other locations like Madikeri (Coorg) and Mysore, and have always liked their simplicity at the same time nice ambience. This Mayura Hotel's stay was also very good; the suite room was very spacious and the food was very nice. Breakfast was part of the package, but they serve on the table on a plate filled with the combo of items. For other Meals we pay; they take order in advance and you go to the Restaurant once ready.

We drove to the Bharachukki waterfall that is at about 1.8 km (route map here) from the hotel, but it was 5:30 pm, but the gate was already closed, as the open timings are from 9 am to 5 pm. 

A long walk for half an hour between 9:15 to 9:45 am, on the mud road that starts just beside the hotel and goes in between the fields behind the hotel, through up to the Cauvery spot that is located there, was great. See walk route map here; but, note that Google shows an arc to the spot we went to, and it is unable to mark the path by foot via the actual mud road available there. The variety and number of birds we could spot in that surroundings, including several peacocks, were amazing. 

We finally visited the Bharachukki waterfall at about 10:45 am. There was very little water flowing as it was summer time and a few weeks before the onset of monsoon rains; and the place at that moment had only a few.. 70-100 people visiting.

We left at 11:05 am from Bharachukki waterfall to The Bluff Shivanasamudra, to see  the Gaganchukki waterfall for the first time. We had not visited that spot during our previous two trips. 

Gaganchukki is located just the other side of this cliff by a short line of sight distance; however the road access is about 15 km (route map here), and we reached by 1h 15m, including a 15 min stop in the old town and the power house area to look at those stunning old structure of the power house building from behind (they do not allow inside), a banyan tree, the old houses there, the nice township kind of road, a solar power farm, etc. 

At Gaganchukki also water flowing was too little and the visitor crowd was very little. After spending about 20 min. there, we left at about 12:50 and reached Somanathpur by 1:50 pm, covering the 41 km distance (map here) in an hour.

The ticket issuing system at the Shri Chennakeshava Swami Temple had an odd online form filling, including ID card details, etc. We spent about 45 min at the ancient temple looking at the wonderful sculptures and architecture. To cover for lunch, we had fresh sugarcane juice and tender coconut at about 2:45 pm. 

En route to Bangalore, we stopped for 25 min. at Maddur Tiffanys for a late lunch at 4:40 pm; reached Bangalore by 6:50 pm, covering the 145 km distance (route map here) in about 3h 45m, including the 25 min. late lunch stop.

Scroll to see more pictures below; and also our Verdict about the whole trip.. at the end of this below. 

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Caught Special pictures from our Wayanad Banasura Hills Trip we did in April 2024.

Captured using my mobile Samsung S23 or by my DSLR Canon EOS 700D.

Click open below and scroll down to see all pictures..

Wayanad Banasura Hills Trip

This was a nice little two nights and three days trip to Wayanad staying at Banasura Hill Resort which is an eco-resort.. that is fully constructed using the mud excavated from the very site that it stands on, giving its unique rustic look.

Starting from Bangalore by 2:45 pm on 5th April 2024 (Fri), we reached Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel in Mysore by 4:45 pm, for the night's stay. Covering the 150 km distance in 2 hours non-stop was a first for us to Mysore, as the route via NICE road and the new Bangalore-Mysore Expressway on a Friday afternoon allowed a good drive.

Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel (wiki) is now under the Jungle Lodges & Resorts management since 2018. We had stayed here once earlier in October 2017, while doing a trip to Galibore Nature Camp that is also run by the Jungle Lodges & Resorts. You can see our travelogue of that trip here.

We drove about 10 km to The Green Hotel Mysore for dinner. We had stayed here as well once in December 2019 doing a trip to the Dubare Elephant Camp. You can see our travelogue of that trip here.

We started at 10:15 am on 6th April (Sat), and took the Nanjangud - Gundlupete - Sulthan Batheri - Panamaram - Vellamunda route here from Lalitha Mahal Hotel and reached Banasura by 3:45 pm, driving that 165 km in 3 hr. 30 min. 

This route we took is actually longer by some 30 odd kilometers.. but then the Resort folks recommended to come only by this route, and told us that road work was happening on the other shorter, more direct route, that is via Kabini and Mananthavady, saying that would take more time. 

However, in fact, we actually took that shorter route via Mananthavady and Kabini (I think that route is open only during day time, and will be closed during nights), for our return direction, and found that was actually faster and a calmer drive. The traffic while going via Sulthan Batheri route was more, and as we have to drive through that town also, and ended up slowed down by some roadwork diversions that was chaotic; so it took more time. 

In any case, it was still good as the route we took crosses through Maddur Wildlife Range that is under the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, and then the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary as well, and we stopped for clicking pictures of elephants and a variety of birds as well.

We also stopped at Le Sapphire here at Kottakunnu just before entering Sulthan Batheri at about 1:15 pm and had a very good Kerala Meal.

After staying Saturday and Sunday nights at Banasura Hill Resort, for the return route, we started by 10:30 am on 8th (Mon) and took the, shorter, Mananthavady - Kabini Safari Ticket Counter route here. We could also click a few pictures of birds and scenic views along the way.

We stopped at Indian Restaurant at Jakkahally (Thumbasoge) / HD Kote here at 1:15 pm for a nice Meal, and reached back Bangalore by 5:15 pm; covering the end to end distance of 285 km in about 6 hr. 45 min. including the stoppages. That was just in time for the Ugadi holiday on the following day, Tuesday, the 9th April!

Our stay included: 

Walking around cottages, swimming pool area, main building, library, pottery workshop, in the Resort.

Guided mild trek to a view point outside the Resort, and then to Tea Garden, Cave and Stream.

Our own trek to the view point within the Resort around sunset time, and back via elephant rock.

Food in the Resort was very good. Breakfast was part of the package, but they serve on the table.

For other Meals we pay; they take order in advance and you go to the Restaurant once ready.

The Kerala Towel, Thorthu, with a thin golden jari line weave, gave a fantastic local touch. See pictures later.

Scroll to see more pictures below; and also our Verdict about the whole trip.. at the end of this below.

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Caught Special pictures from our K Gudi BR Hills Trip we did in December 2022.

Captured using my mobile Samsung S10e SM-G970F or by my DSLR Canon EOS 700D.

Click open below and scroll down to see all pictures.. 

K Gudi BR Hills Trip

This was a nice little two days and one night trip to K Gudi (Kyathadevaraya Gudi) Wilderness Camp of Jungle Lodges on the BR Hills (Biligiri Ranganna Hills).

Starting from Bangalore by 7 am on 28Dec22 (Wed), we reached there by 1:30 pm, covering the 200 km via Maddur - Malavalli - Kollegal - Yelandur - route shown here; end to end in 6.5 hours, with a few photo stops on the way. We also had a stop at Vaishali Channapatna here for breakfast at about 8:30 am.

For the return route, we started by 10:45 am, and drove down via the BR Hills route here to reach Kollegal, and then via the same Malavalli - Maddur route back to Bangalore. We had a stop at Adigas in Maddur here (PS: At the time of writing this in May2024, we drove past this location a week ago, and noticed this restaurant has been closed now; not sure if that is permanently, or they plan to reopen.) at 2:45 pm, and reached Bangalore by 4:45 pm; end to end in 6 hours.

Trip included: 

On the route from Bangalore to KGudi, we could stop and take pictures birds and scenic views. 

Extensive number of vast paddy fields in the Kollegal Cauvery belt was amazing to see.

We had booked the Log hut, that was Rs 16.5k for two including taxes.

Three meals (lunch, dinner, breakfast), and an evening snack was part of the package.

The wild safari from 3:45 pm to 6:30 pm was just ok; we saw deer, wild buffalo, turtle, etc.

Walking around the small water body outside the gate in front of the property was nice.

Further on the other side of the road in front was a watch tower (broken; avoid it) and a herd of deer grazing.

While returning we also stopped at Adavi, Soligara Samskarana Kendra; where they sell wild honey and a few other forest produces and other horticulture products made by natural and sustainable processing.

Scroll to see more pictures below; and also our Verdict about the whole trip.. at the end of this below. 

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Caught Special pictures from our Quilon Ashtamudi Trip we did in November 2022.

Captured using my mobile Samsung S10e SM-G970F or by my DSLR Canon EOS 700D.

Click open below and scroll down to see all pictures.. 

Quilon Ashtamudi Raviz Trip

Bangalore Cant BNC - Kollam QLN, by Kochuveli Express Train no. 16315; 774 KM; 19Nov22, 5 pm departure, to 7:25 am arrival next morning.

The Leela Ashtamudi, A Raviz Hotel, for a 1 night stay. Map location here.

Kollam - Bangalore Cant, by Kochuveli Mysore Express Train no. 16316; 774 KM; 21Nov22, 5:40 pm departure, to 7:45 am arrival next morning.

Visited spots: 

Thangaserry Light House in Quilon. Wiki here. Map location here.

Thangaserry Fort Ruins. Wiki here. Map location here.

Lunch at Gowri Sankar Restaurant, near Collectorate. Map location here.

We did the local commute by Auto-rickshaws; the route map is here.

And a boat ride by the Hotel in the evening on the Ashtamudi lake for 45 min. from 4:30 pm.

Nice sunset view from the resort area at 5:45 pm.

Breakfast and Dinner included in the triple room package we booked at INR 29.5k for three adults; and we had booked it directly with them 3 months in advance. 

Scroll to see more pictures below; and also our Verdict about the whole trip.. at the end of this below. 

 

Caught Grinning - 122

WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR 2024

WOODEN SHOE PIECE! [SHOW PIECE]

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This is a series posting such pictures that I captured at different places.
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To see all postings in this Caught Grinning series, click here.
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