[shreehari]

Our new XUV had brought with it a 2N 3D complimentary stay in Mahindra club as a good will gesture. Mundane work had caught up with us and we decided to avail this offer last week and head out to Virajpet in Karnataka. We were looking out for a relaxed trip and hence there was no plans of running around and covering all the famous tourist destinations near by. However we had heard a lot about this place called Mandalpattii and wanted to visit it.

Why travel:
Mandalpatti hills are located at around 53 kms from VIrajpet. Its one of the most visited tourist spots in coorg. The view from here is just breath taking.
Virajpet is a quick run away from the hectic schedule & work culture of bangalore. A bit away from the more famous hill station of madikeri, this rather serene place gives you all that Madikeri has to offer along with a sense of calmness. Virajpet is not half as crowded as Madikeri but still is close to all the tourist attractions offered by Madikeri.

DAY 1:
We started @ around 7:30 am on 7th Dec towards Mahindra Club Virajpet.
The route we took was Bangalore-Mysore-Hunsur-Virajpet



Reaching Virajpet from Bangalore:
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Be...12.1949851!3e0


Club Mahindra property in Virajpet is an excellent property and is amidst thick coffee plantations. We did check-in by 2:00 PM and had a good lunch from their in house restaurant.

Later we retired into our rooms and decided to just stay around in the resort.



DAY 2:
Virajpet-Madikeri-Mandalpatti-Kushalnagar-Virajpet.

We started from the resort around 8:00 in the morning and reached Madikeri by 9:00 am.


The route to Mandalpatii view point is not for the weak hearts and its a pure 4x4 area hence we decided to hire a jeep from Madikeri than risking our brand new XUV. We had our breakfasts from a hotel near madikeri police station and hired a 4x4 jeep from there to Mandalpatti.

Reaching Mandalpatti Hills from Virajpet:

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Cl...12.5463112!3e0

The roads are ok till a point 3KM away from the view point. However after that you need to park your cars and take a 4x4. However since we had hired a Jeep we proceeded towards the view point. Final 3 kms are not for the faint hearted. Its truly 4x4 domain and we had our first true 4x4 experience in this trip.

After close to 3kms you need to trek to the view point. My wife & baby decided to stay back because of the strong winds that we were experiencing however I started of to the view point.



The trek was hardly 200 mts long but that was my toughest trek, not because of the terrain but because of the strong winds. It was almost getting impossible to stay at the top and most of the visitors there were holding on the concrete pillars and the steel rods at the view point just in the fear of flying off. I captured few pics of the magnificent views there.





and returned back to the base were my baby & wife was waiting for me. We started back towards madikeri & in between stopped over at few places to click some pics.







We reached back Madikeri @ around 2:00 PM and straight away went to get something to eat.

After finishing lunch it was around 4 and we started to head towards the tibetan monastery in kushalnagar.

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Ma...12.4602275!3e0

Kushal nagar is famous for its golden temple.



Its inhibited by Tibetan monks and the temple is a testimony of the peace loving nature of them.



We had visited the temple before during our trip to coorg however this place is so peaceful that you always want to come back.



We spent few hours here and around 6:00 PM started back to Mahindra club Virajpet.



We reached back in the resort at around 7:30 pm and grabbed some dinner. Walking in the night in this resort gives some very nice pics as well.



Day 3:
It was time to return home. We spent a couple of hours in the early morning walking around the resort property and clicking few picks after which we checked out and headed towards Bangalore.

[mpksuhas]

Nice to see you back after a while!
I was thinking you were planning for Club Mahindra Madikeri and not Virajpet one.

[chandrda]

Good Pictures and hope you have more coming !!

Yes Virajpet is not as crowded as Madikeri, but the key differentiator is the Weather. Virajpet is a bit more humid and hot compared to Madikeri.

Madikeri is more commercialized and can get very crowded during Long Weekends.

Mandalpatti was made famous by the Kannada Movie 'Gaalipata', before which people hardly knew about it other than the locals. I hope there is no crazy development of homestays and resorts in Mandalpatti as it happened in Madikeri.

Regards

[shreehari]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Nice to see you back after a while!
I was thinking you were planning for Club Mahindra Madikeri and not Virajpet one.

Club Mahindra Madikeri was sold out. However we did try to go that property while enroute to mandalpatti. The approach road to the resort looked again like a 4x4 terrain and we dropped the idea of going there. We were thankful that the place was sold out and did not have to go up & down on those roads.

[shreehari]

Originally Posted by chandrda

Good Pictures and hope you have more coming !!

Yes Virajpet is not as crowded as Madikeri, but the key differentiator is the Weather. Virajpet is a bit more humid and hot compared to Madikeri.

Madikeri is more commercialized and can get very crowded during Long Weekends.

Mandalpatti was made famous by the Kannada Movie 'Gaalipata', before which people hardly knew about it other than the locals. I hope there is no crazy development of homestays and resorts in Mandalpatti as it happened in Madikeri.

Regards

You are spot on that Chandra. The weather is a bit humid than Madikeri.
Nope there is nothing close to Mandalpatti as of now. Not even a place which sells water which i guess would be a nice thing to have given the terrain & given the amount of people we saw on foot.

[Starscream1188]

Nice Write up...
Sharing a few Photos of Mandalpatti from my trip same time last month..

[shreehari]

Originally Posted by Starscream1188

Nice Write up...
Sharing a few Photos of Mandalpatti from my trip same time last month..

Nice pics . Thanks for sharing.