It was the middle of summer in Bangalore and after a month long of scorching sun we experienced pleasant and unexpected showers. Rain is a synonym with ‘want to travel’ and I was craving for a trip. As work conditions don’t permit too much time I hadn’t got a chance. On the 16th which happened to be a fine Sunday morning I was invited by a few of my friends to go to Kabaladurga a place 70 km off Bangalore, after Kanakapura. It was a temple on top of a hill. It was decided that 9 of us will go on 6 bikes. The weather was pleasant and the air was cool. I was a pillion riding on an unicorn [I must say more comfortable than a bullet – for a pillion that is] the 70 km went past as if to clear off all the stress I had managed to accumulate in the city.
We reached Kabaladurga in about two hours which included finding a place to park and chai stops. We climbed up and as we did I found a superb place to rest a bit, this give me time to take in the view in full. This consisted of a large number of small hills beaded together like jewels under the sun, the clouds only on a few hills and sun burning on the others created a mystic effect. A view like this with a great conversation cannot be better, only I missed my camera. The rest of the group started descending and we got up to leave and started getting down when we heard the thunder and stopped and within a wink it was raining in torrents, the water splashed on our faces like small little needles but the chill and the wind was so good no one fussed over the rain.
As we tried climbing down along with a good downpour we realized if we slipped we would slip away into eternity, it was quite a steep hill with a smooth rocky façade - not the best option on a rainy day. We decided we will crawl ourselves down which was slowly doing our dance step on the rock to move ourselves. This part was the best part of the trek. There were pipes for support but well, strategically placed just about out of reach which would need us to bend over to reach it and the pipes wouldn’t be where the most slippery part comes. This was as if god was chuckling at us city dwellers and our health less state. But well we kept our heads held high [now that was just a joke] and crawled down and by then I was drenched to my bones and my knees had taken a toll and were talking accordingly. But all this done with, as soon as we hit plane ground, it miraculously stopped raining and was hot again. We were so hungry we could eat a horse [it’s just a phrase we had a majority of vegetarians] and we headed out to the nearest Kammat which is the best food place, with hygienic toilets which all of us badly needed. We had food to our hearts content which was a variety of snacks along with a good serving of Dosas and juices to complete. Our little journey having finished on a nice happy note we all split from there to reach our own respective houses.
The ride back was equally relaxing and picturesque, as it was a cloudy sunset, it was a charming experience. The Bangalore Mysore road being awesome makes any drive splendid and an experience worth writing about. All that was needed was a slight drizzle, as if gods above listened to me it did come. We sang some old songs like ‘what if god was one of us ‘to a newer Atif Aslam number to complement the experience.
As we tried climbing down along with a good downpour we realized if we slipped we would slip away into eternity, it was quite a steep hill with a smooth rocky façade - not the best option on a rainy day. We decided we will crawl ourselves down which was slowly doing our dance step on the rock to move ourselves. This part was the best part of the trek. There were pipes for support but well, strategically placed just about out of reach which would need us to bend over to reach it and the pipes wouldn’t be where the most slippery part comes. This was as if god was chuckling at us city dwellers and our health less state. But well we kept our heads held high [now that was just a joke] and crawled down and by then I was drenched to my bones and my knees had taken a toll and were talking accordingly. But all this done with, as soon as we hit plane ground, it miraculously stopped raining and was hot again. We were so hungry we could eat a horse [it’s just a phrase we had a majority of vegetarians] and we headed out to the nearest Kammat which is the best food place, with hygienic toilets which all of us badly needed. We had food to our hearts content which was a variety of snacks along with a good serving of Dosas and juices to complete. Our little journey having finished on a nice happy note we all split from there to reach our own respective houses.
The ride back was equally relaxing and picturesque, as it was a cloudy sunset, it was a charming experience. The Bangalore Mysore road being awesome makes any drive splendid and an experience worth writing about. All that was needed was a slight drizzle, as if gods above listened to me it did come. We sang some old songs like ‘what if god was one of us ‘to a newer Atif Aslam number to complement the experience.
Parinitha Konanur
Can u please add the map to this place?
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