- Place: Huliyurdurga trek
- Distance: 100kms x 2 = 200kms
- Directions: Bangalore > Nelamangala > Kunigal > Huliyur > Magadi > Bangalore
- Krew: Anwar (Bhai) > Karthik (Sp)
- Bikes: Pulsar
- Previous Visit: Pavagada Fort Trek
- Budget: Rs 225/head (Total: Petrol = 450/2)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Alright, this chapter was a total special one. When people are searching for good breakfast spots, we searched for a good spot to have a good breakfast, subtle but strong difference. Huliyurdurga is the smallest Navadurga. But don't be fooled by height, it offers 15-20 minutes of crazy climbing and total fun routes.
(Other navadurgas are; Savandurga, Makalidurga, Nandidurga, Channarayanadurga, Devarayanadurga, Kabbaladurga, Bhairavadurga & Huthridurga)
INTRO & PLAN:
After the marathon run to Madakasira and Pavagada in the past two weeks, the winter blitz was turning out great. With Bangalore's temperature dipping below 15 deg C, it was time for another cold, dark run. And Bhai always reliable, was on the confirmed list. Place? - Well, we had a few places in mind, but narrowed it down to Huliyurdurga as we felt it would be a good break from the long previous runs.
TIME: 13:00 (18/12/2025)
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
Yeah, I was up at 3AM. It was freezing cold. Did a few pushups and pullups to get the blood flowing, after which I got ready and went down and cleaned up the bike, and took her for a 10-15km ride in the darkness to warm her up as well, which felt comforting. After returning home, sat on the footpath waiting for Bhai. Once Bhai arrived, we left Bangalore. TIME: 05:15
RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Nelamangala - Kunigal - Huliyurdurga)
This was a 100km freezing cold fun ride. As we left Bangalore, the weather turned icy cold. We cruised at a decent pace to reach Nelamangala by this time, we could feel the blood flow slow down, and our hands had got really hard. We pulled over for some tea and found a nice spot to warm our hands.
After tea, things only got harder. The air turned absolutely chilly, dipping to 12 °C, and riding was getting challenging but fun. When I was shivering, heard Bhai singing his heart out, I couldn't even let a proper laugh out, a teeths were chattering in the cold. From old Kannada to modern Hindi to bhajans, Bhai was in flow, singing aloud. Once we reached Kunigal, we went a little ahead and took the deviation, asked Bhai if he was ok to skip breakfast and climb the mountain, he said ok, but needed to stop at a Banana farm. I was confused, but said ok.
We pulled over at a Banana farm, and Bhai jumped the fence and was pulling with all his might as the the leaves were frozen in the cold. Laughing at his exploits, without questioning, we carried further to reach the base of Huliyur. Parking our bikes safely, awakening the lizard's spirit, we were ready for the trek. TIME: 07:15
HULIYURDURGA TREK / KUMBHI BETTA TREK:
Well, it took us 15 minutes to ascend the hillock, Haha, yes, but the 15minutes was absolutely insane, giving this Navadurga its own special place in our hearts. The trek is crazy in the fact that it is very easy to get lost. Once you are lost, a guarantee 1hour puzzled exploration is guaranteed. The trail runs through steep rocky ridges, which have to be navigated with pinpoint precision, and the tricky part is that it has dried leaves scattered all over muddy, narrow paths. The point being, it gets slippery no matter how good your shoes are.
After squeezing through a narrow path, the trek opens to boulders. We felt natural here, but there is one tricky spot that makes this place special. It is tough but worth it. The falls on these stretches could be fatal but navigating them would lead you to the final stretch, which is a steep rock climb. We were on top in 15-20 minutes.
TIME: 07:45
TOP:
We spent about 1hr at the top. As we reached the top, we could see the mist still prevailed on the town below. The sun was coming up, and we could feel the blood slowly picking up pace. As we sat down at a good viewpoint, admiring the view, Bhai started cleaning up the Banana leaves. I was puzzled, but was watching him curiously. Then he whipped out two 2 boxes of Biryani, which he had prepared for the trek. I was seriously surprised and melted at the same time.
It had been about 11months since I had eaten a Biryani. And having it this way almost brought a tear to my eyes. It was very special, and I would stretch to say, the best breakfast of this entire year. With the air still cold, but the sun fighting, we started belting the awesome biryani :)
We dozed off after the biryani, allowing the sun to warm us as it rose. Felt so good to have biryani in our tummies, the sun pumping back life into the cold cadavers we had almost turned into during the rides. After having some water, we decided to head back down. TIME: 09:00
CLIMB DOWN:
The climb down took us hardly 15min. But had to be done cautiously as the terrain was steep and tricky owing to the dried leaves. Once we reached the town, we met the locals cleaning up their houses. They offered us some breakfast, we said, we had packed and had on top of the mountain :)
TIME: 09:15
RIDE-2: (Huliyurdurga – Magadi - Bangalore)
This was a 100 km ride back via a different route. As we left Huliyurdurga, we looked at her one last time. Thanking her for allowing us to spend time and have a memorable breakfast. While riding back we took the Magadi route. The route goes via forests and is superb. But the roads to Bangalore have not yet been completed, so it was draining. We reached back home in 2 hours and chilled out at my place with some monk. TIME: 11:30
CONCLUSION:
“Had to be one of the off-beat chapters for sure. I guess even Huliyurdurga would have got confused. Pahadi Maggies, yes, we all have seen. But Pahadi home-made biryanis hit me differently! The short intense climb to stealing frozen banana leaves, and the sun pumping back life into our cold bodies, this trip felt special“
KREW
Until next time, Cheers & Cia \m/
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