[deehunk]

It was Friday April 13th, before leaving for home I was going thro' the posts in our internal social networking site(Billboard), came across a query asking for homestays in coorg. although i always wanted to visit some homestay, but at a different location in Karnataka. Then did a quick search on homestays near to Dharmsthala(often visit here) got only 5 options near Sakleshpura which had reviews,started calling each one of them. The reply to first 4 were already booked, 5th one was Hullimakki, called the owner with a doubt, no response, 10 minutes later i get a call from an unknown number, the caller introduces himself as Son of the Hullimakki homestay owner. I asked him about availability for the next 2 days and he says yes available. Then he tells me to speak to his father, I called him, he takes my personal details and explains how to reach the place, finally booking happens and I am ready to leave next morning.

I wake up on Saturday morning and head to the LPG station near my house, the attendant asks me to come later as there is no stock. Meantime the homestay owner makes a series of calls to my number and asks for my status.I tell him I will be starting late. Then an unplanned visit to Hosur takes place delaying my start bit more.

I start from my home at 2.10pm fully knowing that I cannot reach the destination before it gets dark. I go to the Gas station at 2.20pm, a long wait at the bunk delays my start by a good 20 minutes, then my wife asks for refreshment at the gas station, gone another 10 minutes, finally I start at 3.00pm, head towards NICE road and cross Bannerghatta road junction at 3.10pm. I take a ticket for Magadi Road and reach Magadi road junction at 3.30pm. from there I take the Magadi, Kunigal route to Hassan, I pass by Magadi town at 3.55pm, enter Kunigal at 4.20pm.I stop at an eatery near Channarayapatna at 5.15pm, still having a further 100km to cover before it gets dark.

I leave from this eatery at 5.40pm enter Hassan town at 6.10pm, head towards Sakleshpura and finally cross Sakleshpura town at 6.30pm. I made a call to the owner asking for directions to Hullimakki, he guides me to take the Sakleshpura-Mudigere statehighway. I head straight towards a place called Haanbalu which is 15km from the BM road, I realise the importance of daylight as it is pitch dark at I dont see any person on the road to ask for anything. My right side headlight goes for a toss, lot of tractors welcome me enroute on a very narrow State Highway, my accent is smooched atleast 8 times under the hood at each such encounter. It is very difficult to drive with single headlight on this road, after 30 minutes of struggle I reach Haanbalu for the first time I see a human being who knows the way to my destination, no mobile signals are there except BSNL till Haanbalu. I try to follow the route as told by Homestay owner to reach the destination with a hope that I am correct.

After 10 minutes of drive from Haanbalu circle I reach a landmark close to Hullimakki, I take a left turn at this point. Few meters ahead from this point I miss a right turn to the estate and drive straight, a big thud welcomes me into the estate, the assistant at this home stay comes running towards me asking to stop where I am. We finally have reached our destination, we are greeted well by the family and taken to our room. We refreshed and a cup of hot coffee was good enough to recharge us and then we spent some time with the owner chatting. Then we had a nice dinner and went to sleep.
Next morning we went for a walk into the estate, then headed to Bettada Byraveshwara temple which is 15 km from Hullimakki. This temple is right on top of Charmadi, there is also a small lake near the temple where we can feed fish. We spent about an hour before returning, there is also a small private waterfall near to this homestay. Coming back we were served with pineapple juice, then we had a nice lunch. It was time already to leave for Bangalore, we started at 3.30pm and reached home at 9.00pm. The owner Manjunath is a very friendly person and puts in all effort to keep you busy.
It was a nice stay and we enjoyed every moment at this place.

[scopriobharath]

Nice to know about this place. Its an excellent travellogue and makes way for a weekend getaway.

Could you kindly share the cost and other details like comfort, facilities, cleanliness, service, taste of food etc.

[deehunk]

The contact details are,

Mr. Manjunath,
Donahalli village ,
Haanbalu post , Sakleshpur taluk,
Hassan, Karnataka.
Contact numbers
+919481544797
+919844374920
+918173292496

Tariff is Rs.1750 per person per night, inclusive of food. The owner is a veggie, so vegetarian food is cooked inside their home, all traditional Malnad dishes. There is a separate cooking area for Non-veg again the dishes are traditional ones. Liquor is also served. The place is maintained clean and food served is hygiene.

[airguitar]

Sweet t'log. Finally something from Malnad. Having driven on thse roads during the day time ( when you can get lost due to lack of signboards ), can imagine how it should have been at night . So do you take a left at the hanubalu circle or head straight towards mudigere to get to this place?

[deehunk]

Take left at Haanbalu circle, you will cross 3 bridges and after the 4th bridge, you will find the sign board to the right, take that road. The road leading to this place is very bad and you can expect lot of smooches under the hood.