Captivating Chikmagalur-Part II

As soon as we entered the small-calm town of chikmagalur, we were bit stunned by the flat topography of the town. I began wondering whether we came to the right place after such a long journey on bike. To our relief, at the far end of the city we could see some lofty mountains, with a serious view. We decided to move on. Now was the time for some mountain climbing (mountain biking rather). Mullayanagiri was the first must-see in our map. We packed pulav from the near-by hotel as we knew that its almost impossible to find decent hotels during transit to such places. Later, we realized it was only right thing we did that day!

Mullayanagiri:
This peak (6317ft above MSL) is supposed to be the highest in Karnataka and also between the majestic Himalayas and scintillating Nilgiris. The road condition from Chikmagalur to Mullayanagiri was bad.
The starting stretch from Chikmagalur to a junction where we have to take a diversion to Mullayanagiri is good but right after the diversion the bad road starts. The route is full of greenery and there are number of coffee estates on the way. Then after 10 kms there is again a junction with two routes, one towards Mullayanagiri and other towards Bababudan giri/ Datta peeta. Of course we took the left towards the peak. After few kilometers, we began to feel some ominous coolness. We stopped for some break and to enjoy the viewpoint. The view was a treat to watch. It was intermittently drizzling so whole atmosphere was enjoyable. After taking a small break we again started. Within few minutes we were at the top.


From this place one can see the beautiful green valleys through the clouds. There was also some fog that too at the afternoon, which made it more enjoyable. Till this point only vehicles can reach, there are some small hilltop points, which you have to climb yourself to relish the splendor of the valley.

Through the fog we could see a hilltop to which there is step way. We could see people climbing up and down. Thanks to my optimistic friend Vinod who motivated me to climb to the top. I thoroughly enjoyed the climb since we were laughing and at the same time climbing the hill.It took us approximately 15 minutes from down to the top. From wherever we see it looked like a viewpoint to us.

On the hilltop there is a small temple and there are some water taps. While browsing some sites I found the meaning of the name Mullayanagiri. The word "Mullaya" means Shiva. So it is Shiva giri. I could not see the Shiva temple but I saw a small Nandi on the hilltop. We took opportunity to click some snaps at this place.

People said there were some caves on the route in front of Nandi. But we were not in much of enthu to see the caves considering the route. Especially Varun and Raagu were ready and Pranesh who was sweating even in such ambience was neither Ok nor Nok!! Once we finished our photo session we climbed down and reached to our parking place in 10 minutes.

We had our lunch there, relishing the beauty of the nature thinking that we did the wise thing to pack the lunch from chikmagalur only, since one could find only grass there and cows grazing it . We spent some more time at the parking place and then headed towards Bababudangiri

Bababudangiri:
The route to Bababudangiri from Mullayanagiri is absolutely spectacular. While riding we kept on appreciating the majestic view of Western Ghats. We could smell no carbon-dioxide or anything which pollutes our lungs. It was just pure oxygen! Breathing pure oxygen we arrived to Bababudangiri. There is a most contentious shrine at this place, which is worshipped by both Hindus (Dattatreya) and Muslims (Baba Budan). There are some stories about this Sufi saint who came here to spread the message of peace without discrimination of religion. Unfortunately the shrine was closed due to some renovation. It was already 3:30 PM.


After talking to local people we came to know that there was a waterfall at a 4 kms distance from there.
So we decided to check that out. This place is called Manikyadhara. Again after reaching this point we got into a coffee stall first! We ate good number of Mirchi bajjis. These were very spicy as that guy used normal green chilli. There were steps towards the fall. This fall was okay as there was not much of water. We took some snaps and headed back towards chikmagalur. It was already 5 PM by the time we started from there. Without wasting any time further we headed to Kemmanugundi. I must say its really adventure to ride through such roads with very little clue about whats coming next. We find roads with very little or no tar. Path holes are filled with mud water which makes the 25 km journey longer than expected. It could puncture not the tyres but biggest of the butts !So ride carefully...(to be continued)