[vvivek85]

Before I begin my travelogue, my sincere thanks to TeamBHP members for motivating me to come up with a travelogue. Considering that this is my first long post/travelogue, pardon me if I miss something.*

Vacation is the best part of everyone’s life, especially if your Monday to Friday work-life is 12 - 13 hours more often than not you will starve for one to happen. As a famous saying goes "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" Our single step was to apply for time off for a week in the workday and then decide upon the destination.*

Teaser of the ever-beautiful Karnataka










Choosing Destination

I already decided this vacation will be a road trip and I will be taking my car (Venue). So we looked at destinations that are in close quarters to Chennai. First, I planned to prepare a travel itinerary for Telangana, later my wife suggested to plan for a trip to Karnataka, whereby we cover some important temples and look for places with good sightseeing.*

So, we decided it is going to be Karnataka, now we need to decide on places to cover in Karnataka. We already went on a road trip to*Sakleshpur a couple of years back and were amazed by the scenic beauty of Karnataka roads. So I was excited to drive again.*The places we finalized to visit in Karnataka were Mysore, Mangalore, Udupi,*Murudeshwar, and*Chikkamagaluru. The trip started on May 13th, 2023, and went till May 19th, 2023. So wife, daughter, FIL, MIL & I were all in readiness to embrace Karnataka.

Day 1 - May 13th, 2023 Chennai - Mysore

We started from home with the car boot loaded to the brim at 5:30 AM, due to flyover work going on en route, till*Kaveripakkam it was a sedate drive, we had our breakfast at Murugan Idli Shop Kaveripakkam at 7.10 AM, I will rate the food 3.5/5.

We continued our journey and reached Bangalore's outskirts at 12 PM, we had our lunch at Udupi Gardenia, and I will rate our lunch 4/5. Once we completed our lunch we headed towards Mysore, Bangalore - Mysore road is easily one of the best roads I have driven till date.



We reached Suhashini Palace at 3 PM, checked in, and took rest till 4 PM. The plan for the evening was to visit Mysore Palace, we started from the hotel at 4 PM and reached the palace at 4:10.

Mysore Palace
Such a wonderful place to visit and must watch place in lifetime, such a massive building, was in awe at how it was built during those times. However, we couldn't enjoy it to the fullest due to the massive rush. I felt that crowds could have been handled in a better manner

Look at the rush































We left the place at 6:30 PM and we went to Cauvery, Karnataka State Arts & Crafts Emporium initial plan was to do window shopping, but my wife liked and purchased a few items for the showcase. We left the place and had dinner at a local restaurant Venkatesh Bhavan will rate dinner 2/5.

Day 2

Plan - Mysore Zoo -> Chamundeswari temple - Head to Mangalore

Considering my tight schedule, I already booked a battery car in Mysore zoo, cost of the battery car is INR 2400. The slot which I booked was 9 to 10 AM, we reached the zoo at 8:45 AM no hassles in getting the battery car. Good that I took this option, the zoo is HUGE and it took us more than an hour to complete the journey. The big disadvantage of opting for a battery car is, you will be allowed to get down only at 3 places (Tiger, leopard, snake) rest all you had to watch from the car. I tried my best to get down at most of the places even though the driver didn't like it

The journey started with different kinds of birds, the one which was new to us was the white peacock









Leopard, Tiger, Lioness, and the majestic cheetah













Cont

[vvivek85]

Rest of the animals













Snakes





Crocodile, Look at the fiery eyes



We started from the zoo at 10:30 AM and went to Chamudeswari temple, we reached the temple at 11 AM. There was a huge rush in the temple and we got darshan at 1:15 PM, indeed we had a great darshan



We started from the temple at 1:30 PM and headed towards Mangalore, en route we searched our Google baba for a good veg restaurant and found out this gem of a place Sepoy Elite. we were very satisfied with North Indian thali and I will rate 4.5/5.

My BEAST



we started to Mangalore and the road connecting Mysore and Mangalore was full of steeps and slopes. I made a good decision by not planning Chennai to Mangalore at one stretch, it would have been very tiresome for me. We reached Mangalore at 8:30 PM, finished our dinner at a local restaurant and went to the room. We booked our stay at Niasha Youth Hostel, checked it and without any delay, we hit the bed to start day 3 afresh.

Day 3

Plan was to cover Mangaladevi temple, Kadri Manjunath, Kudroli Temple and Kateel Durga parameshwari temple. If our stars are good, we wanted to have annadhanam at Kateel Durga parameshwari temple.

We first went to Mangaladevi temple, goddess Shakti is in the form of Mangaladevi, and we had a peaceful darshan there. We then headed to Kadri Manjunath, offering the water from the Natural stream outlet to the Shivling a few steps above the main temple in the vicinity is a great experience.







After an awesome darshan of lord Shiva we headed to Kudroli Temple, Kudroli Temple is dedicated to Gokarnanatheswara, another form of Lord Shiva, the temple is very beautiful, and the majority of the temple was painted in gold and for sure in night lights this temple will be pleasing to our eyesight









We reached Kateel Durga parameshwari temple at 12:15 PM, the crowds were moderate, and again excellent darshan of Goddess Durga, after darshan by gods grace we had an opportunity of have the annadhanam food served by the temple authorities. Day in and day out atleast a minimum of 1000 devotees will have food at the temple and food was very good. No confusion or commotion whatsoever, they follow a disciplined approach and serve food. Post our lunch, we went to the annadhanam office and made a small contribution from our end.



We started from the temple by around 1:15 PM and went straight to our room, we reached at around 2 PM, took some rest and the evening plan was to go to Panambur beach and experience the sunset. As planned started by around 4:30 PM, went to Hampankatta for some street shopping, and went straight to the beach. Spent our evening at the beach, watched the sunset, and called it a day







Day 4

Plan - Udupi, Malpe beach, Maravanthe beach and head to Murdeswar

Started by around 5:15 AM and reached Udupi Krishnar temple at 6:52 AM, by that time there was a queue with approximately 40 people, we joined them and completed our darshan at 8.15 AM, we were lucky enough to complete the darshan in about an hour, had there been a delay from our end it would have taken a minimum 3 hours.





Our breakfast was at Woodlands, the food was good and my rating will be 4/5, We then headed to Malpe Beach, the plan was to take a boat from Malpe beach and head to St mary's Island. But on that day they had stopped all the activities due to rain prediction, trust me the sun was smiling hard at 35* C and we were disappointed that we couldn't make it.

With heavy heart we headed to Murdeswar, en route there is a beach named Maravanthe, I came to know about this beach through Insta, the specialty of this beach is its ariel view, with that being said this beach is very close to the highway, and the drive of around 2 kms is a blessing in disguise





We reached Murdeswar at 1:15 PM, had our lunch and checked it to Sigandureshwari Lodge at 2 PM. Took some rest to keep our energy high to see the majestic statue of Lord Shiva, we had a small glimpse of the statue from our hotel which is around 1 KM away from the temple, such a HUGE statue.

Evening around 5 PM we went to the temple by walk to avoid parking hassles and as expected there was a huge pile of traffic near the parking area. We reached the temple and I couldn't take my eyes of Majestic Shiva, God bless the person who sculpted Lord Shiva, what a gigantic beauty and indeed a marvel. I am running short of adjectives and let picture do the talking









Cont

[vvivek85]

Day 5

The plan is to check out the hotel early in the morning as the next destination is Chikmagalur if time permits we wanted to visit Sringeri, started around 5:45 AM and the drive was pleasant with a mix of highway and hilly roads.

Sunkissed





We had our breakfast in this modest hotel somewhere in the interior village, trust me the best breakfast I had in my overall journey. This gentleman is 90+ and still toiling hard every day, he is an inspiration to many who think of retirement at an early age including me, with his permission I took his photo.





We reached Sringeri at around 9 AM, had a good darshan but couldn't take the blessing of Swamigal as he was doing pooja, we were informed it will take time for him to complete the pooja. As we were running short of time, we started from the temple around 10:30 AM and the next stop was Chikmagalur

Sringeri Temple



We reached Chikmagalur at 12:30 PM, before checking into hotel we wanted to have lunch, and found Hotel Aadrika which was en route and the food was excellent, I will rate it 4.5/5. Now coming to the room, I had booked 2 bedroom apartment in Sanctum Luxury Serviced Apartments. We reached the apartment at 2 PM.

Plan for the evening, Mullayanagiri Peak -> Jhari waterfalls

We started around 3:30 PM towards Mullayanagiri Peak and reached around 4:20 PM. We need to park the car and climb close to 500 odd steps to reach the peak. There is a small Shiva temple at the peak, the peak is at 6300 ft above sea level and it is the highest peak in Karnataka.







We then headed to Jhari Waterfalls which is also called Buttermilk Falls, we need to park our cars and take a jeep ride which takes us to the falls. The jeep journey by itself was a scary experience. It is close to 15 drive from car parking and there we go we can hear the sound of the falls, when you see it you will understand why it is called buttermilk Falls such a scenic beauty.







It was late in the evening when we returned, so we headed straight to our room and call it a day.

Evening shot captured



Day 6

The plan is to cover a couple of temples, head to the coffee museum, evening Tiger reserve safari.

Murugan Temple



En route to the coffee museum. Covered with greenery on both sides. Bliss



The coffee museum the experience was decent, but not great, they play an OLD video about the history behind Chikmagalur being a coffee paradise. Respect for people who toil hard and have such passion for what they are doing generation after generation.









1000 years old Ram temple



Bhadra Tiger Reserve

Evening we reached tiger reserve at 4:15 PM, we made it right on time as the next safari ride was at 4:30 PM. Cost INR 600 for adults and 200 for kids.

The journey starts





100 years old tree



We spotted Indian Bison, Monkeys, Peacock, Elephant, call it our luck, but not Tiger But it was a very good experience, my first forest safari, I enjoyed a lot.







With mixed feelings, we left the place and came back to Chikmagalur, did some coffee purchase, and called it off for the day.

Day 6 - Last day

Plan - visit Halebidu temple and head to Kumbakonam.

We checked out and headed straight to Halebidu temple. This temple was in our list when we visited Sakleshpur a couple of years back but couldn't cover it due to the temple being closed due to the lockdown. We wanted to visit this temple for it brilliant architecture. Again one place you will run short of adjectives. The temple's outer layer has more than 10000 medium-sized to large sculptures engraved on the wall and even if you spend the whole day you will be left wanting. Again, let me do the pictures to talk

Loaded to the brim, Venue galloped 6 days' worth of suitcases and bags with ease












Cont

[vvivek85]

Overall, it was a very good trip, predominantly the trip went as per my plan and I am happy to have made the best decision by visiting Karnataka again.

Hotel / Lodges rating

Suhashini Palace (Mysore) - 3.5/5
NIASHA YOUTH HOSTEL (Mangalore)- 4.5/5
Sri Sigandureshwari Boarding & Lodging - 3/5
Sanctum Luxury Serviced Apartments - 4.5/5

Coming to Venue, it is a gem of a vehicle. I have driven close to 2400 which is inclusive of my return journey from Kumbakonam to Chennai. Never once it gave any trouble, overall the mileage I got was 15.2 KM/L. According to me, this is the best mileage one can get; mind you, the majority of the roads which I drove were steep, 5 on board, 98% AC. In the plains, return journey, I got 17.2 KM/L. With respect to performance, I wasn't having any issues, the car pulled with ease.

Overall cost / Km: 6.5

Thanks, everyone for patiently reading through my travelogue. Cheers

This is the least I could do for him who took care of me for 7 days.

[bsdbsd]

Excellent car and excellent articulation of content. Enjoyed it thoroughly. You have seen more Karnataka than I have ever seen (I am a Bangalorean) LOL. You have cleverly created an itinerary in covering important places in a short duration. This can be a guide to others. West coast of Karnataka is like a different country. Glad you had a good time.

[KeepReading]

Excellent written and well planned/balanced trip. Covered well on the locations. great photos.
Realised that few places I didnt cover in my trip. Looking forward to cover them in my upcoming planned trip.

[Bala02]

Loved reading your travel blog, I have been meaning to visit some of these places myself. I should draw inspiration from reading this and plan something of my own soon. Thank you for sharing and taking the time to write a detailed post.

[vvivek85]

Here is a short video of beautiful Karnataka roadways. The video will tell I wasn’t exaggerating in my post.

https://youtu.be/O0VxpqJ0-k0

[Unohu]

Very well articulated with beautiful pictures. Makes me want to get out and start a trip right away

Thanks for sharing

[Nero]

Wonderful travelogue with ultra precise articulation! Thank you. Living in Bangalore for over a decade never been to Halebidu. Now I’m inspired to visit after reading your coverage of the place.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by vvivek85

Here is a short video of beautiful Karnataka roadways. The video will tell I wasn’t exaggerating in my post.

Very nicely done! So did you also drive back to Kumbakonam? If yes, I am sure you must have gone via Bangalore. Another adventure would have been to go via Mettur straight to Salem!

[Guna]

Originally Posted by vvivek85

Here is a short video of beautiful Karnataka roadways. The video will tell I wasn’t exaggerating in my post.

What transformation of the Indian highways in last 2 decades. I still remember driving on NH4 (Bangalore-Hubli stretch) around 1999-2000 when it used to be an undivided single lane highway. Overtaking those series of trucks used to be an adventure by itself. New/young travellers may not know how much buzz the small stretch (6 kms) of new 4 lane highway inaugurated by Atalji had created around 2003. It was something of a world standard which most of the people had never seen! But with the new roads, sadly we also lost those mango/Tamarind trees on both sides of the roads.

[vvivek85]

Originally Posted by ampere

Very nicely done! So did you also drive back to Kumbakonam? If yes, I am sure you must have gone via Bangalore. Another adventure would have been to go via Mettur straight to Salem!

Thanks for your feedback. I also expected to touch Salem after crossing Krishnagiri, but the map took me through Uthangarai, Tiruvannamalai, Ullundurpet, Virudhachallam and Kumbakonam.

[A350]

Excellent travelogue, I have been planning a trip to coastal Karnataka for some time and your attention to detail will be extremely helpful. Thank you for giving the details of the temples covered as they will be my main reason to travel.