Once we reached the Estate, we were greeted by a few cows and bulls which were grazing. Just as we tried to pass through them, one bull suddenly decided that he did not like intruders and was about to charge at us. Somehow, he just stopped after taking a couple of steps. Talk about luck; we had trekked through a forest full of elephants for 2 days and at our first point of contact with civilization, we get chased by a domesticated bull
![Big Grin](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.png)
. Moving on after a few minutes, we met an estate worker who said that we were the second group to arrive today and that the first group had left just half an hour ago. We had reached the estate at 02.15 pm. IIRC, the estate worker told us that there was a bus to Mudigere at 4 pm and again at 5.30 pm and that if we were quick enough, we could catch the 4 pm bus. But, we were not that hopeful of that (we were tired and had to walk under the hot sun) and thanked him and left. Btw, Hosakere is approx 8kms from Saraswati estate.
On the jeep track
Final View of OG from the jeep track
The jeep track goes from Saraswathi Estate to Hosakere via another estate called the Lakshmi Estate. Apparently, both these estates belong to a corporate firm (don’t remember which one). It was pretty long to walk the entire length of the jeep track. The workers at the Saraswati estate had told us about a shortcut which would take us right to Hosakere instead of going through Lakshmi Estate (which would be an additional 4-5 kms). They had asked us to take the first foot path we saw towards our left. Our landmark was a single concrete pole. Initially, when we leave the Saraswati Estate, the jeep track climbs uphill. But after you reach the highest point on the track, the route is downhill all the way to Hosakere. After some time on the jeep track, we noticed the path and the concrete pole and promptly took it. The trail passed through many streams and open grasslands before rejoining the jeep track on the outskirts of Hosakere.
Deepadakallu and Jenukallu seen from the other side
Reaching the outskirts of Hosakere
An old bungalow in Hosakere
Finally, Hosakere!!!
We were totally exhausted by the time we reached this place. Now all we had to do was wait for a bus. The bus did come at 05.45 pm and we got on it ending a scary but a very beautiful trek to Ombattu Gudda. Thus the mystery of the Ombattu Gudda was unveiled. We reached Mudigere in an hour and from there we caught a bus back to Bangalore. This was it, this was the end to a wonderful weekend and I owe it all to the company I had. Hoping to do many more treks with these guys!!!!
Here are a couple of screenshots from Wikimaps and google maps so as to give you guys an idea on where we trekked,
I know this has been a very long travelogue and I have taken quite some time to finish it, but thank you all for taking the time off to read this. Thanks a lot for the comments and ratings guys!!!
PS: By the time I finished this travelogue, Jeevesh and Vivek have got married (to their respective spouses of course)
![Big Grin](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.png)
, so Congratulations again guys!!!