I love monsoon season and am always ready for a drive to chase rains. Green fields, muddy trails, 2L twisty roads lined with old trees, mist & clouds flittering through pristine forests, swollen rivers and backwaters - all of this makes me want to slow down and meander through the roads/trails, enjoying the cold breeze and the soft touch of rain. The pitter patter of rain on leaves and wet earth is sweet music and if I have a room with a view, I don’t need much else. Hence the plan was 6 cars with one goal, drive out to experience monsoon green around the ghats of Karnataka and spend some time together.
The usual travel gang of CSK, SSG, PCR and my family decided to head out to Gundimane, near jog falls, for a couple of nights and we were joined by RajX, TCR and SS. We zeroed in on
Gundimane as a) it was located near sharavathi backwaters b) we could have the entire place to ourselves and c) allowed us explore the route to the coast from Jog while we also had the option to drive back up via Honnavara. We decided to head out on Sunday and get back to BLR by Tuesday night so as to avoid crowds as much as possible.
4.15 am start from JAS toll ensured that we were able to make quick time and reached
Sri Meenakshi Bhavan, Shimoga for breakfast at 8.10 am. I exploited cruise control to the maximum on the 4L stretch between Tumkur - Chitradurga, which resulted in a very relaxed drive. After a healthy south Indian breakfast, we headed out towards Sagara as our first stop was
Champaka Sarasi near Anandapura circle. Champaka Sarasi is a small temple set in the middle of a pushkarni, surrounded by fields. The road to Champaka Sarasi was SUV territory, hence the XL6 and vRS were parked on the road and all of us hitched a ride to the small temple. We ended up spending close to an hour here, post which we were back on the road towards Talaguppa.
Slushy trail leading to Champaka Sarasi
PC - RajX
Framed
PC - RajX
Stepping stones Birdseye view
The next stops was
paddy fields around Talaguppa, which one can see while driving towards Jog from Sagara. I had a mental note of the location based on previous drives on this route and always wanted to stop here to soak in some green. We did spend a lot of time goofing around and taking a lot of photos of cars, kids and the fields. After a second breakfast of jam & cream buns which we had carried along, we headed towards Gundimane via Kargal chain gate.
The line up Vast expanse of paddy fields
PC - RajX
Soaking in some green
The drive to Gundimane was through some twisty and well laid roads, which set the tone for the next 36 hours of the trip. While the RajX and CSK pushed their steeds around the curves, the rest us took our time and enjoyed the drive through the twisty sections. The last 1.8 kms to Gundimane is a mud trail, which even the vRS could easily handle.
That blue just stood out amongst all the green In the middle of nowhere Road to Gundimane
We were greeted by the host, Mr. Ganapathy and his family, and were served hot, tasty, home cooked south indian food on plantain leaf. Gundimane is a family owned plantation that borders the reserve forest area that surrounds linganamakki backwaters. While there are no cats around there, the land around gundimane does play host to chital deer and indian gaurs.
The main home where the host lives has 4 guest rooms and there is an hilltop annex that houses 5 guest rooms. The hilltop annex can be reached via steps OR you can drive up to the same via a trail. They do have Jio fiber and their wi-fi speeds are quiet comparable to what I get at home, which would make it a good place to work from
. After a sumptuous lunch, we stretched our for a while in our rooms and relaxed awhile before heading out to the Kopparige watch tower.
Gundimane View from the front porch Birdseye view of backwaters from Gundimane Hot south indian food served on plantain leaves Can you spot the watch tower?
Kopparige watch tower is a small tower that is build on a hillock close to gundimane and offers breathtaking views of linganamakki backwaters. After a round of hot coffee, we headed out to the watch tower and climbed up the small hillock to enjoy the vista. The forest department guard at the watchtower was quiet surprised to see so many people at once and we had to talk to him for a bit and convince him that we will quietly and quickly make our way up and down.
Watch tower View of backwaters
PC - SSG
Panoramic View of backwaters View towards Gundimane from the watch tower
Rain played hide and seek with us all through the day and while it did not quiet pour down on us, we did enjoy the fine drizzle that accompanied us through the day. At night, it began to pour and the symphony of cicadas was quickly silenced. We sat on the rooftop sit-out in the hilltop annex, enjoying the sound of rainfall on trees and earth. We were completely cut off from busy lights of civilization and we enjoyed the thick blanket of darkness that threated to envelop us in its cold embrace. After a long busy day, we wrapped up dinner quickly and settled down for a few hours of rest as the next day promised to be another enjoyable day.
Steps leading to the Hilltop annex