Wonder what is ‘x’ in the title? It indicates the number of drives done chasing the rain, and I’ve lost a count of it 😊
During the extended Dasara weekend, it was raining non stop through out the week. But then, driving in rain is fun! So checked with few of my friends, Sachin readily agreed for a one-day trip. We decided to drive from Bangalore to Hassan – Sakleshpur – Mudigere – Chikmagalur – Belur – Hassan and back to Bangalore. What better place than “malenadu” or “malnad” region (Western Ghats in Karnataka) to experience rain!
As planned, Sachin came to my place and we started our drive towards Nelamangala around 7.45 am. It was raining when we left Bangalore. As we had a delayed start, we got caught in traffic. We managed to reach Nelamangala and joined the Bangalore-Mangalore national highway (NH-75) towards Sakleshpur. Delayed start means we encounter road full of vehicles, clogged toll booths, and impatient drivers. We stopped at Adyar Ananda Bhavan for breakfast, ate quickly, and resumed our journey around 10.30 am.
From here , the traffic was ‘normal’ with good roads and an overcast weather. We made good progress. Seemed it may rain any time, but no. We reached Sakleshpur around 12.30 pm and still no signs of rain. Weather continued to be overcast. We turned off from the Mangalore highway towards Mudigere in hopes of rain.
The road from here on is narrow, passes thru hilly terrain offering spectacular views of the Western Ghat. Ten minutes in to this road, we stopped at a place that offered panoramic view of a grassy meadow.
We started again after a break of 5 mins. With in the next 5 mins, we found the most beautiful landscape full of green fields, distant green trees, nestled in the valley between the mountains.
As we spent time at this place clicking photos, the weather changed drastically and it finally started to rain, finally! The one thing we went chasing. It rained heavily for the next 20-30 mins.
We resumed driving, stopped by a coffee estate, clicked photos, and continued to drive.
The rain transformed the landscape magically. The lush green covered landscape looked more vibrant when drenched in rain and a thin layer of mist above added to the drama.
It rained non stop till we reached Mudigere around 2 pm. Delayed start in the morning meant that we couldn’t cover the distance we planned to cover. At this point, we decided to cut short the trip and start our journey back home from Mudigere, via Belur and Hassan.
But we’re not in a hurry. We wanted to soak in the rain as we drove through the narrower and winding roads between Mudigere and Belur. The rain gave us a constant company in this road completely devoid of any vehicular traffic. We enjoyed thoroughly driving in this stretch. Stopped where we could, clicked photos, and continued driving.
We reached Belur around 3.30 pm, well past the lunch time. We were very hungry 😀 We headed straight into Sri Gayatri Bhavan, one of the oldest restaurants in Belur. This on the main road itself, just across the bus stand. We had simple yet tasty South Indian meals.
Did a quick shopping for coffee powder at the bus stand circle. How can we not buy coffee when visiting the land of coffee 😁
Left Belur at 4 pm and drove towards Hassan. The road became wide and we encountered usual highway traffic along with heavy rain, till we reached Hassan.
We exited Hassan to join the Mangalore-Bangalore highway. We took a 10 min. coffee break as we entered the highway and resumed our journey back home.
The traffic and rain, both were sparse from here on. Rain fizzled out soon and traffic became denser as we drive along. Traffic became bad by the time we reached Nelamangala.
After a joyous drive of 501 kms, we reached home by 8 pm. We thoroughly enjoyed driving through the wide open highways and in rain through the winding and narrow roads between Sakleshpur and Belur. Overall, a day well spent 😀
Quick tips
- Start early to avoid congestion on road (and for a peaceful drive 🙂)
- Have breakfast at Dhruvataare or Paakashala (recommended), Mayura, Kadamba, or any of the Udupi restaurants along the highway.
- If you prefer to stay and enjoy the nature at its best, there are lot of options to stay in Hassan, Sakleshpur, Belur, or Mudigere.