17 - 19th November 2006
After an extremely hectic 3 weeks at Office and onsite, I decided to take off on Friday and visit Kudremukh and the places nearby. As usual I and Chaya started on the Friday morning. We took NH 48 going towards Hassan. Breakfast was at Mayura hotel at Bellur cross.
I missed the Belur road at Hassan and had to navigate through the bad and dusty roads of Hassan to find the correct road. After crossing the Hassan city, road is extremely good and we reached Belur in no time. At Belur, I took the road to Mudigere. The Malenad region starts from this place and we were in the middle of Coffee plantations.
At Mudigere, we took the road going towards Dharmastala and the bad roads started from this point. The Mudigere Kottigehara stretch was horrible with no trace of tar anywhere!! It took us 45 minutes to cover this stretch of 16 kms.
At Kottigehara, the main road goes to Dharmastala and we took the deviation to Kalasa. The road is narrow but very scenic with Coffee plantations and the forests. This is one of the best roads to drive.
I missed the Belur road at Hassan and had to navigate through the bad and dusty roads of Hassan to find the correct road. After crossing the Hassan city, road is extremely good and we reached Belur in no time. At Belur, I took the road to Mudigere. The Malenad region starts from this place and we were in the middle of Coffee plantations.
At Mudigere, we took the road going towards Dharmastala and the bad roads started from this point. The Mudigere Kottigehara stretch was horrible with no trace of tar anywhere!! It took us 45 minutes to cover this stretch of 16 kms.
At Kottigehara, the main road goes to Dharmastala and we took the deviation to Kalasa. The road is narrow but very scenic with Coffee plantations and the forests. This is one of the best roads to drive.

Post lunch, we set off to Lakya dam near Kudremukh. This dam was built to collect the waste tailings from the mining operations. So, it does not have any water but only silt. The dam is at scenic location surrounded by Shola Mountains.



Next day started with the visit to Horanadu. It has an ancient temple of Annapurneshwari. The Kalasa to Horanadu is just 10 kms with new roads constructed. The temple itself has been renovated. I had visited this place during my childhood days and the journey from Kalasa to Horanadu had taken nearly 1.5 hours. Lot has changed since then and also the number of devotees visiting this place has also increased.

The forest checkpost after Kalasa gives the free permit to enter the National forest but should cross the forest at the other end by 2 hours. This is to ensure that the people just don’t stroll inside the forests. Also, this area is now infested with blood thirsty Naxals creating lot of problems.
After check post, the route gets more and more scenic. Every curve and turn offers great sight of the shola forests and grasslands of Kudremukh. Not a soul to be found for kilometers and the traffic is also very less. I would say that this is the best drive I had ever had.

We took many pictures on the road and then we found “Kadambi falls” next to the road. The violent monkeys near the falls ensured that we don’t get out of the vehicle. This photo was clicked from the car.





We started the return journey on Sunday morning. We took the road to Chikmagalur via Balehonnur. The large part of the road from Balehonnur to Chikmagalur was full of potholes and was painful. After Chikmagalur, it was only dry area with great roads. Lunch was as usual at Kamath Yatri near Hassan and reached Bangalore by 4:30 in the evening. Thus ends one more journey.
Route: Bangalore -> Hassan -> Belur -> Mudigere -> Kottigehara -> Kalasa -> Horanadu -> Kalasa -> Kudremukh -> Sringeri -> Agumbe -> Sringeri -> Balehonnur -> Chikmagalur -> Belur -> Hassan -> Bangalore.
Distance:
Bangalore -> Hassan : 180kms
Hassan -> Belur : 36 kms
Belur -> Mudigere : 35 kms
Mudigere -> Kottigehara : 16 kms
Kottigerhara -> Kalasa : 41 kms
Kalasa -> Horanadu : 10 kms
Kalasa -> Kudremukh : 20kms
Kudremukh – Sringeri : 50 kms
Sringeri – Agumbe : 25 kms
Sringeri – Balehonnur : 38 kms
Balehonnur -> Chikmagalur : 52 kms
Chikmagalur -> Hassan : 56 kms
Stay:
Kalasa: Silent valley resort is a costly option, there are good economy hotels like Chandan lodge and Yatri Nivas.
Horanadu: Horanadu has many decent accommodations run by Temple trust.
Kudremukh: Bhagavathi Nature camp run by forest department, KIOCL guest house.
Sringeri: Many decent lodges run by Sringeri Temple.