The Loapers | 200+ Epic Road Trips & Treks in Karnataka, and Beyond

Friday, June 21, 2019

Nijagal Betta Trek: Easy Warm-up Climb to the Dark Caves | Chapter 168 (Mar 28, 2019)

Place: Nijagal betta trek

Distance: 60 x 2 = 120km

Directions: Bangalore > Nelamangala > Dobbaspete > Nijagal Betta

Krew: Datta (Dattu) > Ashok (Momz) > Karthik (Sp)

Bikes: Enfield > Pulsar

Previous Visit: Rayakottai Fort Trek

Budget: Rs 250/head

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

Nijagal betta is small hillock situated at 60km from Bangalore and is the perfect spot to get used to trekking spots around Bangalore. The caves ontop of the hillock are both spooky and exciting! And most important lesson of this trip, you drink any liquid to quench your thirst, water is WATER!

INTRO & PLAN:

It was about a week since our trek to Rayakottai trek and as the mega Himalayan trip of Bali pass nearing we decided to get a few warm ups before it. So, we thought of Nijagal as it was only an hour ride away and trek is very easy. Momz wanted to meet few people at college hence Nijagal was the perfect choice. Dattu & Momz on the confirmed list!

TIME: 22:00 (27/3/2019)

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Oh yeah woke up at 05:00, did a few push-ups & sit-ups, had a sip of coffee & was all set to go! The meet up was scheduled at Dattu’s place, so left my home at about 06:15 and reached Dattu’s place to join Momz. We left Bangalore after a formal greeting!

TIME: 07:00

RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Dobbaspete - Nijagal)

This was straightforward 60kms ride on Tumkur roads. The roads are wide and butter-smooth, so all we had to do was stay awake and watch for idiots. We pulled over at our regular hotel – Kamadhenu for some yummy Sambhar with idly & vada. Haha yeah, the order of the food is correct. You just have to taste the sambhar of this hotel!

TIME: 07:30

With our tummies at peace, we proceeded towards Dobbaspete. As you began to approach Dobbaspete, Nijagal can be seen towards the left side of the road. Below a railway track opposite to a Reliance Petrol bunk a narrow muddy trail leads you the base of the hill. I actually felt happy remembering all of this even though our last trip to this place was a couple of years back! Parking our bikes amidst the trees, we were all set for the trek.

TIME: 08:30

NIJAGAL TREK:

Alright, Nijagal a said earlier is not a big trek. It took us 30mins to reach the top, with lot of fooling around. The trek terrain is easy and can be done without breaking much of a sweat! Like always divided the trek into the following chunks:

i) Initial walk way

ii) Hike uphill

iii) Dark Caves

iv) Lost Ruins

Ok, so, these are the chunks, let’s get this alright!

i) Initial walk ways:

The initial walk way is through a steep muddy trail. This trail has some loose gravels, but very easy to accomplish. One might feel drained as there is no shelter. But the mighty Shivagange and Bhairavadurga seen afar always keeps our spirits high!

ii) Hike uphill:

After the initial walk way, you get good overview of Nijagal. The ancient temple fallen in ruins can be seen but do remember it is a place you have to visit while you return back. This is say as you would cover all the place. Taking the normal steps we reached the Dharga on top. There are buildings on top, most of them lay in ruins.

iii) Dark Caves:

The dark caves on top are the best places to rest. The wind gushes through the narrow stretch making you feel energised. We did fool around trying to climbing ontop of the buildings. Then we entered the caves are just sat speaking about Dattu’s and Momz Himalayan expedition we would be taking in a month's time for about an 2.5hours.!

TIME: 11:30

iv) Lost Ruins:

Okay after spending about 2.5hours on top, we decided to take an alternate route to the bottom which would take us to the temple directly. You can spot a temple and a rock sliced into half, this should give you a sense of direction.

The descent does offer some challenge, but mostly it is fun! We made it down in no time and we proceeded towards the ancient temple. The temple trust me is kinda spooky, supported by pillars which looked like it could collapse anytime. The air around the temple is also kinda, you know right! We sat near the temple admiring the mighty Shivagange afar! With Dattu’s & Momz jokes you never run out of laughter.

TIME: 12:00

RIDE 2: (Nijagal – Nelamangala – Bangalore)

Ok, this was a 60km ride back, we decided to skip lunch and head back home directly. It was Thursday and we didn’t want to shell out extra for food. We wanted to hydrate ourselves hence we pulled over at a cane juice shop. After having a glass of cane juice, next to it was a small fruit shop. We had a plate of fruits each, next to it was coconut vendor. We had a coconut water, still we were not satisfied. Next to it was a bakery, buying a litre of water we had a sip each, ah there was the satisfaction. Riding back smooth, we reached back Bangalore.

TIME: 14:00

CONCLUSION:

“ Alright, even though this was a small chapter it was fun and set the foundation for the next chapters to come, stay tuned!

Thursday well spent huh, Until next Ta-da Cia \m/

ALL PHOTOS:

MAPS:

⬅️ 167. Rayakottai trek and Bettamugililam 169. Bhasmangi trek ➡️

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Rayakottai Fort Trek: Tippu Sultan's 360° View & Off-Road Gamble | Chapter 167 (Mar 16, 2019)

Place: Rayakottai Fort Trek

Distance: 100kms x 2 = 200kms

Directions: Bangalore > Hosur > Shoolagiri > Rayakottai > Betamugililam Forest > Denkankotai > Bangalore

Krew: Tonse > Vinay > Ramakrishna > Karthik (Sippy)

Bikes: FZ > Pulsar

Previous Visit: Medigeshi Fort Trek.

Budget: Rs 475/head

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

The Fort of Rayakottai is the southernmost fort hill of Mr.Tippu Sultan. It served a fantastic watch tower for a very good reason. The 360deg view you get from the top of this place runs for kilometres at a stretch. Our trek to this place, wait, actually we never planned to Rayakottai but was a fortunate thing that we planned, as Bettamugililam was pretty much burnt to ashes. And ride from Rayakottai to Bettamugililam was something extra-ordinary.

INTRO & PLAN:

After the trek to Medigeshi, we were in full flow. So planned a small trip with office colleagues. Since it was their first trip with us, I didn’t want it to be a trek hence had planned Bettamugililam – a peaceful ride. Tonse, Vinay and my chess buddy Ramakrishna were on the confirmed list.

TIME: 22:00 (15/3/2019)

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

After a late night chess marathon, yeah woke up at 05:00, did a few push-ups & sit-ups, had a sip of coffee & was all set to go! The meet up was scheduled at Attibele as most of them were staying there. Hence I took the city route early morning and left my home at 6AM. Jibing past vehicles in the traffic reaching silk board I took the normal route as I felt the traffic was a little at ease. Cruising at a decent pace, swearing at few drivers as usual reached Attibele.

Anyway sat on the footpath and awaited others arrival. Once the 3 of them arrived, I asked where we were going. Once a smile appeared on their faces, it was time to introduce some oblivion. I asked if they were up for Rayakottai, once they said we had the entire day for ourselves, with high spirits we took off from Bangalore.

TIME: 06:30

RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Hosur – Shoolagiri - Rayakottai)

So, this was a straightforward 100kms. I had a vague idea of the deviation that we had to take near Shoolagiri as we had goofed up last time. We cruised at a decent pace to reach Shoolagiri, browsing for a hotel, we pulled over one, for some classic TN breakfast. Been a while since I had, had one of them.

TIME: 07:45

From here Rayakottai was just 30mins. After some nice Pongal (even though I hate this dish, Pongal & Omlets are something irresistible in TN, simply love them here!!) we left towards Rayakottai. We could spot the hillock afar. Parking our bikes at the bakery, we requested the bakery people to hold on to our helmets and with the goats spirit awake, we were all set to climb.

TIME: 09:00

RAYAKOTTAI FORT TREK:

The trek as such was pretty easy. It is one of the best short treks around Bangalore. But the view it offers from the top is simply brilliant. Even though we fooled around a lot during our climb it took us 1hour to reach the top.

As we began the climb, we began exploring every cross road we faced. We started cooking up our own stories about Tippu to make the climb entertaining. Every building, fortification, garrison we encountered we would extend the story. We did find some deeper routes this time and overall it was damn fun walk to the top.

TIME: 10:00

TOP:

Even though it was a Saturday, we had the entire place to ourselves and the gamble had paid off. The beautiful town of Rayakottai could be seen completely from the top. And I crashed down for short 15min nap. Eating some chocolates and having some water, we decided to head back as we had another place to cover for the day.

TIME: 10:30

DESCENSION:

We took about 30mins to descend this fort hill as we stopped only once in between. With the sun up and shining bright, we could feel our energies being sapped out. But we descended at a decent pace to reach the base. We had some water and then hopping onto our bikes we took off from Rayakottai.

TIME: 11:00

RIDE 2: (Rayakottai – Bettamugililam - Denkankottai – Attibele - Bangalore )

Okay as we left Rayakottai, it was peaceful scenes. Greenery all around, mountains afar, good empty roads, we were like, okay nice cruise to Bettamugililam then. The roads leading us turned into steep ascent and we enjoyed riding the mountain cautiously. Asking the locals for directions regularly we were zooming ahead until we found the road ahead and didn’t know how to proceed. We waited for locals to arrive and when we asked them for directions he pointed towards the mountain (to which by the way, no road was there) and said we had to head in that direction. We looked at each other and from here on it was some kick-ass off road riding.

I mean it started off on decent muddy terrain, before you know were riding on loose gravels and fingers began to pain holding onto the clutch. Riding at not more than 20kmph we reached somewhat patchy terrain where atleast we could pull our bikes over for some rest.

Continuing further we reached Bettamugililam.

TIME: 12:30

BETTAMUGILILAM FOREST:

Well, the dip in temperature was quite welcoming. We could feel the cold breeze gushing around us and riding was becoming pleasant by the minute. But once we entered the forest zone we were shocked. Almost all trees had turned into ashes and returned to ground. The sight was quite shocking, the living bamboo trees had died and I learnt from others that it would take atleast 3years for it re-grow. But yet the place had its vibes and the roads were not disappointing at all. Cruising at a decent pace we made it out of Bettamugilliam and continued to Denkankottai. After crossing Dennaikotai we pulled over at a hotel for some yummy lunch – yes omlets!

TIME: 14:00

After a beautiful lunch we got onto our bikes quite drowsily and pushed further. We took the attibele route and directly reached Vinay & Tonse’s place. After which Rama & me proceeded and reached our respective places in one piece.
This ride reminded me of all the other trips pulled on this route - Panchapalli dam, Hogenekkal Waterfalls, Yercaud. So you can easily combine either one of these with Rayakottai if you wish to, Cheers!!

TIME: 16:30

CONCLUSION:

“This I must say was the perfect gamble. Had we just rode to bettamugililam it would have been disappointing. Last minute change in plan worked to perfection. And the ride from Rayakottai to Bettamugililam is something I will never forget, crazy piece!”

Until next time, Cia \m/

ALL PHOTOS: