Hey friends, come and join me on my exploration
of Kodchadri – yet another western beauty. When compared to Kumara Parvata,
this trek was an easy one. Kodachadri is a mountain peak with
dense forests (altitude - 1343 meters above sea level) in the Western
Ghats in South
India (Shimoga Dist., Karnataka State). It is declared
as a natural heritage site by the Government of Karnataka.
Trek start point: Nittur
Trek distance: 17 KM (one way) to the
Shankaracharya Peetha
This is not something that you would enjoy if
you are a nature lover. The place is over-commercialized, you can see jeeps
reaching almost the peak leaving the mud roads horrible for trekkers like us
covering it with dust. That said, the peak is still very beautiful and
dust-free, non-commercialized making you feel that it was worth the trek.
We started at about 11:00 PM from Bangalore in
a Xylo, believe me, it was the most spacious car where all 7 of us could sit
very comfortably. Just 10 odd KM before reaching Sampekatte, we found
a bridge and the scene from there was just amazing, its a treat to your camera
if you love photography.
After this early morning treat by nature, we
headed towards Sampekatte where we had plans for freshening up before we
start our trek.
ALERT!!! You should beware of people looting you.
There is one homestay called ‘PARVATH
HOMESTAY’, please stay away from this as the lady told us Rs.50/- per person to
freshen up at the beginning, we thought this was quite a reasonable price and
quickly got to the job. However, she later insisted that we also took breakfast
and carried lunch along with us from her as we would not find anything on our
way and it was a long trek. Being new to the place, we went by her words and
ordered avalakki vagarne (tempered beaten rice) for breakfast and lemon rice
for lunch. We never bothered to ask the rates of breakfast and lunch since the
cost to freshen up was quite reasonable and we thought it would be the same. But,
to our surprise, it landed up to be quite expensive, she charged us
Rs.1,100.00/- just for the breakfast and lunch. Since the place has been
commercialized, you will find a lot of people who will loot you, make sure you
are settling the finance first, and then place the order.
It was 9:00 AM when we left for Nittur,
our starting point, we had booked a guide well in advance before
leaving from Bangalore. From Nittur we hired a jeep to and fro which cost us
Rs.1,400/- + Rs.600/- for the guide. The jeep would take our luggage to the top
while ascending and we would all descend in the jeep after sunset, that
was our plan.
So we started our trek at about 10:30 AM and
reached Hidlumane falls by noon, this is yet another attraction on the route to
the peak. We took a bath at the falls and spent a quality 1 hour time before we
started again.
Close to 1:15 PM we started our ascend again.
The trek got a little challenging from here as it got steeper and steeper. We
reached the shooting point at about 2:30 PM and took a break for lunch (REMEMBER:
This is the last water source after falls until you go up and come down). As we
started again, we got spectacular views of the golden mountain and some scenes
which were simply eye-catching. Photographers, please keep your
camera focused all the time.
We reached Moola Mookambika Temple by 4:00 PM.
We had thought that our guide booked us with the PWD GH, but unfortunately, he
was not successful at doing so and we were all shocked to hear that there were
no rooms available. Anyways, we started heading towards Shankaracharya Peetha
which is the peak of Kodachadri. After the disappointment with the room, the
sunset was the pay-off it is a must watch from this peak.
After the mesmerizing sunset vire, we
descended towards the PWD GH and later to Kollur. Everything
is commercialized here, even the Bhattar mane at the top
the mallu guy behaved like a mad man, we have to pay in advance. We had asked
for dinner at 7:30 PM h and he was acting as if he is showing some mercy by
feeding us by asking us to wait till he calls. We could not handle it any
longer so left the money and food back there and descended in the jeep at 8:00
PM. It was 9:00 PM when we reached Nittur and had our dinner.
All-in-all, it was a costly affair even with
the guide charging us full amount though he was not able to make all the
necessary arrangements. But that said, it is worth a trip to this mountain at
least once in a lifetime with all prior precautions.
For any queries, please write to
shravan9886@gmail.com
Yours Truly
Hey friends, come and join me on my exploration
of Kodchadri – yet another western beauty. When compared to Kumara Parvata,
this trek was an easy one. Kodachadri is a mountain peak with
dense forests (altitude - 1343 meters above sea level) in the Western
Ghats in South
India (Shimoga Dist., Karnataka State). It is declared
as a natural heritage site by the Government of Karnataka.
Trek start point: Nittur
Trek distance: 17 KM (one way) to the
Shankaracharya Peetha
Trek date: 15th December 2012
This is not something that you would enjoy if
you are a nature lover. The place is over-commercialized, you can see jeeps
reaching almost the peak leaving the mud roads horrible for trekkers like us
covering it with dust. That said, the peak is still very beautiful and
dust-free, non-commercialized making you feel that it was worth the trek.
We started at about 11:00 PM from Bangalore in
a Xylo, believe me, it was the most spacious car where all 7 of us could sit
very comfortably. Just 10 odd KM before reaching Sampekatte, we found
a bridge and the scene from there was just amazing, its a treat to your camera
if you love photography.
After this early morning treat by nature, we
headed towards Sampekatte where we had plans for freshening up before we
start our trek.
ALERT!!! You should beware of people looting you.
There is one homestay called ‘PARVATH
HOMESTAY’, please stay away from this as the lady told us Rs.50/- per person to
freshen up at the beginning, we thought this was quite a reasonable price and
quickly got to the job. However, she later insisted that we also took breakfast
and carried lunch along with us from her as we would not find anything on our
way and it was a long trek. Being new to the place, we went by her words and
ordered avalakki vagarne (tempered beaten rice) for breakfast and lemon rice
for lunch. We never bothered to ask the rates of breakfast and lunch since the
cost to freshen up was quite reasonable and we thought it would be the same. But,
to our surprise, it landed up to be quite expensive, she charged us
Rs.1,100.00/- just for the breakfast and lunch. Since the place has been
commercialized, you will find a lot of people who will loot you, make sure you
are settling the finance first, and then place the order.
It was 9:00 AM when we left for Nittur,
our starting point, we had booked a guide well in advance before
leaving from Bangalore. From Nittur we hired a jeep to and fro which cost us
Rs.1,400/- + Rs.600/- for the guide. The jeep would take our luggage to the top
while ascending and we would all descend in the jeep after sunset, that
was our plan.
So we started our trek at about 10:30 AM and
reached Hidlumane falls by noon, this is yet another attraction on the route to
the peak. We took a bath at the falls and spent a quality 1 hour time before we
started again.
Close to 1:15 PM we started our ascend again. The trek got a little challenging from here as it got steeper and steeper. We reached the shooting point at about 2:30 PM and took a break for lunch (REMEMBER: This is the last water source after falls until you go up and come down). As we started again, we got spectacular views of the golden mountain and some scenes which were simply eye-catching. Photographers, please keep your camera focused all the time.
We reached Moola Mookambika Temple by 4:00 PM. We had thought that our guide booked us with the PWD GH, but unfortunately, he was not successful at doing so and we were all shocked to hear that there were no rooms available. Anyways, we started heading towards Shankaracharya Peetha which is the peak of Kodachadri. After the disappointment with the room, the sunset was the pay-off it is a must watch from this peak.
After the mesmerizing sunset vire, we
descended towards the PWD GH and later to Kollur. Everything
is commercialized here, even the Bhattar mane at the top
the mallu guy behaved like a mad man, we have to pay in advance. We had asked
for dinner at 7:30 PM h and he was acting as if he is showing some mercy by
feeding us by asking us to wait till he calls. We could not handle it any
longer so left the money and food back there and descended in the jeep at 8:00
PM. It was 9:00 PM when we reached Nittur and had our dinner.
All-in-all, it was a costly affair even with the guide charging us full amount though he was not able to make all the necessary arrangements. But that said, it is worth a trip to this mountain at least once in a lifetime with all prior precautions.
For any queries, please write to
shravan9886@gmail.com
Yours Truly
Shravan
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