Maldives Trip

 

 

Starting 23Jan26 Fri 1:25 pm Indigo flight from Bangalore, arriving Male at 3 pm; and taking the Resort's speed boat service to go to Ohluveli island, taking approx. 40 min. and reached there by 5:15 pm. One night in a Deluxe Water Villa and the other two in a Grand Beach Villa. MakeMyTrip package included one Indian Lunch arrangement, one Wedding Anniversary Dinner at Island Pizza restaurant, and one Dolphin Cruise boat trip. We started back on 26Jan26 Mon around 12:15 pm on the speedboat service, and took the 4:05 pm Indigo flight from Male to reach Bangalore by 6:45 pm.

We made this four days three nights trip to Sun Siyam Resorts, Ohluveli, in Maldives.

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

Gudlu, Mudigere - Chikmagalur Trip

 

 

Starting 27Mar26 Fri 6:45 am from Bangalore, with a breakfast stop at 8:45 am at Kamat Upachar Kunigal (quality has deteriorated very badly), driving via Hassan and Belur route, arriving at Gudlu Resort by about 12:45 pm. Did the Deveramane view point trip on the second day, which was very good. The third day morning, their person took us on the nature walk towards the river view point. The hill trek was stopped when we visited, due to a forest fire the previous week. On the return route, we started on 29Mar26 Sun 11:10 am, and took the Sakhleshpur route, stopped at A2B Udayapura for lunch, and reached Bangalore by 5:40 pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made this three days two nights trip to Gudlu Resorts, in Mudigere, near Chikmagalur.

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

Avanibetta Trip

We made this day trip to Avanibetta, to visit Ramalingeshwara Temple at the ground level and Sita Devi temple that is located at about 110 KM from Bangalore. About 25 KM after Kolar, and about 8 KM before Mulbagal, we take a right turn, to drive about 7 KM to reach Avani.

In the onward direction starting at about 7:15 am on 4Jan25, we took this route here after stopping 40 min., at Paakashala Hoskote at 8:30 am for breakfast, and the adjoining Kadamba Nursery for buying plants, and reached Avanibetta at 10:15 am. 

Completed visiting the Kalyani next to the temple and then the Shri Ramalingeshwara Temple itself by 11:15 am, and then started the trek to Bettada Melina Shri Seeta Devi Temple at 11:25 am, and reached the temple at the top by 12:35 pm after stopping at multiple viewing spots and temples and structures on the way up. Started at about 12:45 pm and reached ground at 1:30 pm.

On the return direction, we took this route after stopping at 1:50 pm at Woody's Dasarahalli, between Mulbagal and Kolar, for lunch and reached back by 4:45 pm.

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

Gopinatham Mystery Trails Jungle Lodges, Sivasamudram, Trip

Stopped for a night at Shivanasamudra, staying at  KSTDC's Hotel Mayura Bharachukki, again, and made this two nights and two days trip to stay at Gopinatham Mystery Trails Jungle Lodges. 

In the onward direction we took this route here around 3:15pm on 10Jan25 Fri., via Mysore Expressway, stopping at the New Maddur Tiffanys, to reach Shivanasamudra, after stopping at two very old temples, Madhyaranga Shri Ranganathaswamy Temple, and Shri Prasanna Meenakshi & Someshwara Temple, just a 2KM before the hotel. On the next morning around 11 am we took the route here via Kollegala and MM Hills (quite a few hairpin bends) to reach Gopinatham Mystery Trails, Jungle Lodges Resort at about 2:15pm. And while returning, we took this route here starting at about 10:30 am on 13Jan25 Mon., via Mettur, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri Byepass, and Hosur, to reach Bangalore at about 4:15 pm, after stopping for lunch at Sai Sangeet (Palayampudur before Dharmapuri) for lunch at about 1pm.

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.

 

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

 

Shravanabelagola Trip

We made this day trip in the first week of Nov21. It was a bright day, mostly sunny, and we started early just after 6 am from Bommanahalli in Bangalore via Bannerghatta road to NICE road, and came back close to about 6 pm via the same route. The distance is about 160 KM.

After the NICE road exit at Tumkur road, the 10 KM drive on the Tumkur road up to Nelamangala (before turn left on to Hassan Road NH75) is a busy road and quite confusing with the toll road drive way vs the normal service road looking similar. Google Maps also may not be very clear; so be watchful to keep track.

Overall the roads are good on the NH75 about 100 KM; only towards the end where we have to turn left at Mattanavile, before we get on SH47 for the last about 12 KM, in one stretch some flyover / road work causes some challenge.

But that last 12 KM drive via many villages are scenic to see nice terracotta roofed houses, cattle, farming fields, coconut groves, and so on.

Though we had been to Shravanabelagola many years ago, in the year 2008, we went up only the taller hill Vindhyagiri, at that time. This time we also went up the Chandragiri hill.

Our plan also was to have a Jain food this time for lunch, and my wife had chosen Sri Suranga Jain Oswal Marwadi Bhojanalaya, that is located right after we come down from Vindhyagiri, just a few meters from the arch.

We stopped at Kamat Upachar at Kunigal for breakfast at about 8:15 am. And reached the parking near Vindhyagiri at about 10 am, after stopping a couple of times to photograph some scenery and birds we spotted on the way, just before Shravanabelagola town.

After leaving our footwear at the paid storage available there for five rupees each, we reached the top of Vindhyagiri just after 11 am, after spending time at the mantaps, inscription displays, sculptured pillars, and areal views, on the climb up. The hill is about 440 ft. from the ground level.

After spending about 20+ minutes seeing the monumental 58 ft. monolithic Gomateshwara Bahubali statue and other wonderful Jain architecture and sculptures there we started our descent.

There is a scheduled closure of some parts (like Wodegal Basadi that is just one level below the top) from 12 noon to 4 pm; so watch out your timings suitably.

We came down and had our Jain food at about 12:15 pm. It is a small restaurant run by the family, where the mother was cooking, while the father, while helping the cooking, also took care of the serving along with their young daughter. For the limited content of that vegetarian meal, INR 180 per meal was quite expensive; it is just a very simple and tasty food, in a different setting.

We walked through the park next to the temple tank (kalyani / pond) to cross over from the Vindhyagiri side to reach the Chandragiri side.

Again, after leaving our footwear at the paid storage there, we started climbing up the steps at about 12:45 pm and reached the top in about 15 min. This hill is about 200 ft. from the ground level.

Chandragiri has a lot more mantaps and basadis spread out on the top. The 65 ft. tall pillar and other tall statue in the basadi in front are not to be missed.

We started for our way back at about 2 pm, and stopped at Paakashala Restaurant (of Vasudev Adiga) at Yediyur at 3:15 pm for a snack and fresh lime soda (to beat the heat), and reached back just before 6 pm.

See pictures from the trip here below. 

And also see Itinerary, Trip Tips and Review Ratings at the end of it.

Green Hotel Mysore, Dubare Elephant Camp Trip

We did this Road trip to Green Hotel Mysore, and to Dubare Elephant Camp - Jungle Lodges & Resorts, that is located at about 100 KM from Mysore, over ~3 days and 2 nights. It was at the end of December 2019 at Christmas time, and we had a good trip.

The Green Hotel Mysore

Green Hotel Mysore was formerly a palace called Chittaranjan Palace or Chittaranjan Mahal, built by the Maharaja of Mysore for his sister in the year 1916. It later changed ownership and became the headquarters of the iconic Premier Studio built very next to it in 1954. Later it was used as a private residence, and then subsequently restored in the 1970s by a Charity group and converted into The Green Hotel that is open to people to come and stay.

With adorable traditional interior decors and furnishing maintaining the historic Royal touch everywhere in the grand halls and corridors, added with extensive gardens, lawns, pergolas and such surroundings, they use solar water heating, no TVs and ACs in the rooms, and so on. They employ more people from the needy. In their Malgudi Coffee Shop bakery they employee especially women and widows to help them. The profits of The Green Hotel are said to be distributed to various charity programs associated with rural health and literacy.

The Premier Studio, which had 7 floors, built on 10 acres of land, was once Asia's second largest indoor studio, was closed over a period, and was actually demolished in September 2018. That was the studio where a major fire accident took place during the shooting of TV series by Sanjay Khan, The Sword of Tipu Sultan, in February 1989; an accident that claimed several lives.

Our plan to stay at The Green Hotel Mysore was only for experiencing all those historic connects in that very ambience and surroundings. We wanted to book the Princess Room, but as all the rooms in the main palace building were sold out even though it was 5 weeks in advance, we had only booked a normal Suite room in the annexe block. However, we got lucky when we reached there and got to stay in the Maharani's Suite in the main palace building itself. Do not miss a lot photos later below.

Our stay at The Green Hotel was also coincided by two other interesting events. We were there on the Christmas day and night, so it was just a week to the new year, and several streets and buildings in Mysore were decked up with lighting when we went around in the night. And the next morning, we also witnessed a full solar eclipse, the last of the decade, right before we departed from there towards our second destination of the trip, The Dubare Elephant Camp.

Dubare Elephant Camp Jungle Lodges & Resorts

Dubare Elephant Camp is part of Jungle Lodges & Resorts, located along the river Cauvery. We stayed there on a day package that included a jungle safari by their jeep, nature walk into the adjoining nature park with their guide and an elephant interaction session that the resort people arrange for the guests staying with them. The elephant interaction is also arranged for open public people who venture crossing the river waters dangerously by walking through it, taking a lot of risk unnecessarily; hopefully some authorities look into this to put in place some guidelines and do's and don'ts restrictions.

We leave the car at the parking lot (see the point below on the parking trouble) and a boat service by the JLR ferries us across the river to the resort on the banks on the other side. Each cottage had a unique name to identify; we were allotted 'Chandra'. The stay package we booked includes all the costs of the food and activities, as is common in all the JLR locations. Again the rooms here do not have a TV or telephone. We generally do not sight any wild animals during such jeep safari trips, and it is especially true during winter time like end of December. But, to go all the way and stay in a calm serene environment surrounded by wilderness for a day away from the city's busy norm is always a welcome experience.

And one of the common features we have seen with our previous JLR stay at Galibore was, a very passionate friendly guide who is very involved in his job and always trying to do the best job for the nature walk audience. Here also we experienced the same with one Mr Puttanaik who took us on the guided nature walk in the morning. They do not take any tips from anyone, but do a wonderful job of explaining about most of the flora in the route, the insects and birds around, environment, habitats and so on. A good complete experience.

The car parking mismanagement at Dubare before we take the boat to cross over the river to reach JLR is a complete chaos, and can make us into a mess. And there are no safety barriers between the edge of the road and the river cavity where the cars are parked to the brim. We were there in the Christmas to New Year vacation time and we were entangled amidst the chaotic incoming and outgoing vehicles including big buses, with just no responsible person assigned to help the vehicles at all.

Highlights - The Green Hotel, and in Mysore

• A great cozy room with traditional touch in the furniture, decors, floor tiling, and so on
• Our Maharani's Suite had a window overlooking the razed location of Premier Studio building
• Grand halls and corridors with fabulous interiors and furnishing of the palatial construction 
• Wooden staircases, easy chairs, colorful antique tinted glass decors, gramophone unit, piano, library
• The Malgudi Coffee Shop served some wonderful stuff made in the bakery
• Their Lemon Drizzle cake was a wonder, so much so that we repeated the order!
• The vast open garden restaurant with a large open seating area and some covered seating areas
• A small roof top terrace area with old time outlook and multi-layered tiers to wind around
• A look through window near the compound wall to view the remains of the razed Premier Studio
• The night drive with the Mysore Place as well as several roads illuminated up brightly
• Our mandatory dinner at the Gayathri Tiffin Room, delicious Khara Bath / Upma and Masala Dosa
• With a bit of cloudy sky, we still witnessed the decade's last full solar eclipse through camera images

Highlights - Dubare Elephant Camp Jungle Lodges & Resorts

• Cottages located in a calm and serene environment by the side of Cauvery river
• A nice Nature walk in the morning conducted very well by Mr Puttanaik
• Good range of food at the Gol Ghar, and a short camp fire near there in the evening
• A stilted view point in the premises had a set up with a tough climb step ladder
• Obviously we came across several Elephants in the camp that the jeep safari drove through
• We also spotted Peahens, Crested hawk eagle, Flame-back Woodpecker, Hoopoe, and an Egret
• During the jeep safari, Mr Puttanaik also showed us pug marks of a tiger that roams around here
• Mr Puttanak showed a lot of information during the morning Nature walk
• Spices like Marathi moggu, Stone flower, and Cinnamon, fungi and termite on trees, and ant hills
• Hanuman phal a sister fruit to Sita phal (Custard Apple), and many other flora
• We also spotted a Malabar squirrel and birds like Spotted doves during the Nature walk
• A standard at JLR stays, an animals film show at the Gol Ghar, before dinner time
• The elephant interaction session was on the next morning outside the rear exit, near the river
• The trainer mahouts put through several elephants to bath and allow the guests also to participate

Overall a very good stay experience at both the places, good cuisine, calm and serene surroundings for 3 days out of Bangalore. The drive from Bangalore to Mysore and to Dubare also enabled us to spot several local produces on transport or sale along the way. Sugarcane, Coconuts, Paddy were very common. On the sector from Mysore towards Dubare, when we pass through Bylakuppe cross and Kushalnagar we do not miss to see a lot of the Buddhist monks who come from the famous Monastery nearby, shopping in the area. Another interesting sight always driving through small towns and villages are the terracotta roofed houses with single deck and some with an upper deck. We also passed through the popular Cauvery Nisargadama, though we did not stop. There was a big crowd of vehicles owing to the vacation season. The other major sight we had was the farms of Mochai (Field Beans / Faba Beans) and the sales with heaps of those produces along the road side at several places by those farmers. On the return route we stopped in Dubare at a spices shop to buy some Coorg Coffee powder, a produce from this area, and later we also stopped near Nisargadama at a shop to buy a few nice items made out of clay pottery.

Routes

Our drive routes from Bangalore to The Green Hotel Mysore and from there to the Dubare Elephant Camp JLR:

Look for our itinerary summary and the trip review scores later below. Scroll down to see a lot of pictures - Do not miss!

Sai Vishram Byndoor (Mookambika Rd) Trip

We did this Train trip to Sai Vishram Beach Resort located at about 75 KM from Udupi, over ~3 days and 2 nights. It was in the middle of a monsoon rainy season, but we had a good trip.

This Resort is part of the Sai Vishram Hotel (previously called E-Inn) near Electronic City on Hosur Road in Bangalore. We had finalized this travel date very early, more than 2 months in advance, in the month of May; but we got worried after seeing the weather news from there in the preceding 3-4 weeks, as rain was pouring in that area, and that train route was even closed for a few days for restoration of damages caused by landslides along the tracks. So we were not sure how our trip would pan out, in case the rains affect the route again along the tracks and tunnels, or if heavy rains pour down while we were there.

Fortunately, the rains completed pouring a few days before our travel date, and hence the trains to ply normally well on time for us. Actually, however, a fury of heavy rains started again soon after our trip, with heavy floods bashing up that Byndoor area just a couple of days right after we came back!

So luckily for us when we went there, weather was good, while also we enjoyed the periodic short 5-10 minute drizzle spells which passed by once every few hours!

We traveled from Bangalore on 31Jul evening to reach Byndoor on 1Aug morning. And after two nights' stay there, we started back from Byndoor on 3Aug evening, and reached Bangalore on 4Aug morning.

Sai Vishram Beach Resort

Located near the beach, about 4.5 KM from the Byndoor / Mookambika Road railway station, along the coastal line, and in the vicinity of 30-35 KM to places like Kollur Mookambika temple and Murudeshwar temple. This train route on the Konkan railway line is popular also for the ride passing through dense forests and quite a lot of tunnels, especially between Sakleshpur and Mangalore. A day travel train would have been quite exciting. But we traveled at night. Also, Byndoor is where people alight to go to Kollur Mookambika temple that is about 30 KM from there, and rightly, the railway station is also called as Mookambika Road. This train station itself is quite scenic with quite a broad platform to alight, and with another highlight of a tunnel seen right in front on the route... into which the train disappears after we get down!

Our stay at the resort was very good. Their practice of no security guard and gate to the property, but just a net curtain at the entrance was amusing (see picture). The Karavali Road to the nearby town splits the resort into two parts, one closer to the beach and the other on the other side of the road, on an elevated and sloped hilly part. They have a few cottages close to the beach side and more of them up on the slopes. Of the wide variety of rooms and cottages they have, we stayed in what they call as a Water Cottage, located on the other side of the road, up the slope, that has a distant view of the ocean from the balcony. Small firewood boilers supply the hot water required for the bathrooms (see picture). Stone chess sculptures add to the landscape around the cottages (see picture).

Lot of greenery, trees, walkways around that we enjoyed. The dining hall, located on the beach side part of the resort, is a nice compact thatched roof setup that gave us a rural touch. The menu in each meal was good, with Kerala red rice making its presence every day, and also some dish like Uppittu and Godhi Payasam were outstanding (see pictures). We had booked all our meals with them at a package rate, including a special consideration package of early check-in, with arrival breakfast included for the starting day, and a late checkout on the departing day, including the lunch on that day. Plus, they picked us up, at about 10 am, on arrival from Byndoor railway station, and also dropped us back there at about 3:45 pm on the departing evening.

The man-made pond pit filled with natural rain water setup amidst the dense mini forest and hillock backdrop where they had a kayaking arrangement was fun (see picture). Apparently guests are allowed to get into the water there and have a good time swimming. Considering the passing rain showers and chillness in the air and water, we did not consider it.

When we went for a 7:30 am morning walk on Karavali road, we were stunned to see a wide variety of birds amidst a few big trees around the fields along the road. A tiny water stream bridge on that route was exciting and we took a walk down to the stream as well (see picture).

They have a nice little open stage amphitheater and also a covered mini hall with stage, probably for Yakshagana programs (see picture); appears like they conduct cultural events once in a while; there were none during our visit. Also they had a few water adventure sport kits in their storage, but they were  suspended during our visit, owing to the rough sea and sudden inclement weather conditions that show up unforeseen around this time. Their lawn volleyball court along the beach side with a green clad hillock backdrop on the other side was an attractive setup as well (again, see picture!).

Highlights of our trip

• The long walk on the beach, looking at the frequent rains coming from far away and passing by
• A small backwater stream, at a few hundred meters walk on the beach towards northern direction
• A hike on the hillock to the Sunset view point; a great elevated view of the river estuary
• Someshwara beach (by the temple of the same name, Someshwara temple)
• Sumana river estuary where it merges / flows into the Arabian sea, a beautiful spot
• Kollur Mookambika temple visit, a half-day trip by a cab
• Mock kayaking in their tiny little water body within the resort
• Mr Ratnakar's support and coordination at the resort was superb!
• We also spoke to the chef a couple of times to appreciate his cooking!

What we spotted

• Among trees and plants, we walked around many almond, cashew, fig, jack fruit, star fruit, and coconut trees, in and around the resort. 
• It was also cool to see a variety of flowers around in their rain-drenched freshness. 
• Other highlights in the resort were their friendly dogs in their office cum club house, cows in their Goshala, and pea hens and peacocks said to be coming regularly to eat near their dining hall (we missed them, though a couple flashed by momentarily across the cottage when we were walking towards the dining hall, see picture below). 
• We also spotted fire-flies flashing at night in the room and a lot outside the balconies, nice butterflies around the cottages and trees, a mongoose crossing the footpath in the resort, and a few playful monkeys (see pictures).
• And then of course we spotted a few insects including snails, slugs, crabs, giant pill millipedes, frogs, etc. all around (see pictures).
• We saw only some (very few) birds inside the resort. But we were stunned by a variety of and in some numbers during the morning walk along the Karavali Road, including woodpeckers, golden orioles, purple sun birds, egrets, etc. There were quite a few brahminy kites with their white heads always floating above the beach side. We were also treated by a lot of sparrows in the Byndoor railway station itself and also at the Mookambika Temple. 
• A lot of double-decked terracotta roofed houses and mostly green moss clad walls all around were the other interesting sights on most of the roads here.

Overall a very good beach stay experience, good cuisine, wonderful drizzles, calm and serene surroundings for 3 days out of Bangalore.

Routes

Our train routes from Bangalore to Byndoor Resort and back:

Look for our itinerary summary and the trip review scores later below. Scroll down to see the travel pictures.

Hassan, Hoysala Village Resort Trip

We did this road trip to Hoysala Village Resort Hassan that is about 215 KM from Bangalore, over 2 days and 1 night. It was towards end of the peak summer time, and we had a good trip. We drove from Bangalore on 18May morning 8 AM, and returned back from Hassan on 19May afternoon 3 PM, after a night's stay there.

Hoysala Village Eco Resort

Located in the outskirts of Hassan, a part of the Malanad region, made famous by the Hoysala Dynasty, and in the vicinity of 30-35 KM to historic places like Belur and Halebid. Also very popular is the historic Shettihalli Rosary Church located at about 23 KM from Hassan, which we had visited earlier in April 2013; see travelogue here. This was actually our third trip to Hassan, as we had stopped at Hassan twice before, once while going to Shettihalli and Sakleshpur in April 2013, and the other time while going to Belur and Halebid during August 2010.

Our stay at the eco resort was very good. Of the wide variety of rooms and cottages they have, we stayed in a Palace Suite type room on the first floor of their Malanad Palace style building located at the far rear end perimeter of the property.

Lot of greenery, trees, fruits, walkways around that we enjoyed. We could spot a lot of birds around. Food was very good. We had booked our lunch and the next day's breakfast there. So we drove to Hassan town for dinner at Suvarna Sagar, where we had stayed for a night during one of our earlier trips.

Overall a very good Malanad experience, good cuisine, calm and serene surroundings for a day out of Bangalore. See the pictures and analysis below.

Routes

Route map from NICE road toll to Hoysala Village Resort is here.

Look for our itinerary outline and the reviews later below. Scroll down to see the travel pictures.

Mysore - Kabini Trip

We did this road trip to Mysore and Kabini Serai that is about 70 KM from Mysore, over 3 days and 2 nights. It was after the south-west monsoon time and around north-east monsoon time as well, and we had a pleasant trip.

We drove from Bangalore to Mysore on 6Nov morning (it was Deepavali day, and we started right after finishing our celebration at home), and returned back from Kabini to Bangalore on 8Nov evening, after a night's stay at both the places.

 

What we visited

• Meenakshi Handicrafts, Channapatna
• Chamundi Hills, Mysore
• Gayatri Tiffin Room, Mysore
• Karnataka Silk Factory, Mysore
• Sandal Oil Factory, Mysore
• The Serai Kabini

Routes

Route map from NICE road toll to Mysore, including the stops and local visit stops is here, and from Mysore to The Serai, including the local stops at KSIC Silk Factory and Sandal Oil Factory is here.

Scroll down to see the travel details and pictures. Look for our itinerary outline and the reviews later below.

Galibore - Mysore Trip

We did this road trip to Jungle Lodges Galibore Nature Camp that is about 80 KM from Bangalore, and to Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel in Mysore, over 3 days and 2 nights. It was just after the south-west monsoon time, and we had a pleasant trip.We drove from Bangalore to Galibore on 18Oct morning, and returned back from Mysore to Bangalore on 20Oct evening, after a night's stay at both the places.

Jungle Lodges & Resorts - Galibore Nature Camp

Galibore is an off-road location about 9 KM away from the popular spot -- Cauvery Sangam (Mekedatu). The drive from Bangalore to Kanakapura to Cauvery Sangam was also a nice one, through villages, seeing some farms, and quite bit of sericulture activities around a lot of traditional village houses with terracota sloped roofs, pillars and verandahs at the front, graced further by cows, bulls and goats tied, and poultry hens roaming around.  That last 9 KM after Cauvery Sangam, towards Galibore, was a restricted forest route, with no proper road, and only people who show the proof of Jungle Lodges reservation were allowed to enter that stretch by the security guard there. After the guard post, the route was along the river side and amidst forest for the most part. En route, we passed through just one or two settlements, like an ashram, a retreat center, and a tiny hamlet, etc.  Otherwise, that entire 9 KM was quiet, no people passing by, very calm, peaceful, and it is even possible for some animals like bears and elephants to be around.

Jungle Lodges & Resorts (JLR), established and run by Karnataka Government at many off-beat locales in remote parts spread over Karnataka's jungle and river spots, offers a standard and well maintained 3-meal stay at all their locations. Their package includes time-scheduled events from the time we check-in, to coracle / boat ride (or wild life Safari where applicable), to camp fire, to morning trek (or nature walk), to check-out. Their stay locations generally do not have telephone, TV, newspaper etc. in the rooms, and in most places cellphone tower signal will not be good. Galibore (in Kannada, 'Gali' means wind, 'Bore' means a small hill / mound) is one such location and we had a good experience overall. This resort was originally called Galibore Fishing Camp, and it used to be famous for angling the big "Mahseer" fish that is available only in 4-5 places in India. However, catching Mahseer has been banned and hence they changed the name to Galibore Nature Camp.

We had a coracle ride in the evening, barbecue / camp fire dinner in the night, and an early morning trek. The guide who took us on the coracle ride rowing it all by himself, and again on the nice trek up the hillock on the next morning, was very enthusiastic about nature around there, and he kept on providing us a lot of information about the flora and fauna in the locality. He was simply amazing with his involvement in his job and the attachment he had towards nature that helped the visiting people like us.

During our stay, we spotted a couple of crocodiles in close distance near the Cauvery banks. We also spotted a variety birds all along the drive and also during the coracle ride and the morning trek. In addition, the tented cottages, a calm setting close to the riverside and their limited spread of buffet lunch, dinner and breakfast made the stay more memorable. There were a few centipedes and spiders roaming around in the cottage roofs and floors, and also quite a few monkeys around the cottages; so one has to keep an eye on those to keep clear of them all the time.

Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel Mysore

The drive from Galibore to Mysore is another good one. Driving through the rural part of southern Karnataka, like, Dodda Alahalli, Sathanur, Malavalli, Bannur, Harohalli, etc. was interesting. We had difficulty to find a lunch place as there were no proper food stops in that 100+ KM route. We ended up with a late lunch after reaching Mysore, and in fact we had to find one Hotel Nandhini restaurant after driving away from / past Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel's location. And so we could also make a quick stop at the famous Shree Mahalakshmi Sweets that we spotted around that area.

The stay at the iconic Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel in Mysuru, which we have seen so many movies like Muthu and Oru Oorla Oru Rajakumari, was good. We had a room facing to the front side, and we could also go in and around the big building, to see the swimming pool, some old wooden staircases leading to the turret rooms, and so on. The room we stayed had a high ceiling, large bathroom, and a lot of traditional wooden furniture. We walked along the corridors and looked from the balconies and also took pictures in front of the impressive building. An attendant there showed us a grand room where, he said, popular actors and politicians stayed during their visits. Not surprisingly there was also a film shooting we saw on the next morning, near the main Italian marbled staircase, and we even spotted a familiar film actor. The grand ball room converted into dining area with large domed roofs was a nice attraction where the breakfast was served.

Late in the evening we drove about 7 KM into the city to the Gayathri Tiffin Room to have our dinner (see timings tips below). We had the famous Mysore Masala Dosa and Kesaribath that was so very tasty.

On the third day, while driving back to Bangalore, we took a short detour for a very quick stop at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary that we had not visited in the recent few years and saw a few nice birds.

Routes

Route map from NICE road toll to Jungle Lodges Galibore Nature Camp is here, and from Jungle Lodges Galibore to Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel Mysore is here.

Look for our itinerary outline and the reviews later below. Scroll down to see the travel pictures.