Kuderemukha - The Green Carpet

Kuderemukha is in the western ghats of Karnataka. About 290KMs from Bangalore. It was earlier known for the famous Iron Ore mining. This place is in abundance with natural resources. The mighty Bhadra river swells in monsoons and gives life to lot of waterfalls. Since this place falls under the western ghats, except during summer months, the whole place is otherwise lush green. After one crosses the Chikkamagular town, the drive is enchanting. There are small water streams dripping all along the road, all the trees are fresh and all the hills are covered with green. It looks like somebody has put a green carpet on all the hills. Since mining has been banned for more than two decades, this place has very less population. The roads are deserted and one will not see anybody for kilometers together.

This October, because of lot of tests/classes, kids got a vacation only for a week. Hence we wanted to do a chota- recharge. We decided on Kuderemukha thinking we will trek to the peak of Kuderemukha. But after talking to a few people and reading lot of reviews, we decided on doing a smaller trek to Galigudda. Trek to Kuderemukha peak will take about 8-10 hours. Many people said because of the duration, it could get tiring and boring for the kids. Hence we dropped the idea of trekking to the peak. But we wanted to do some trek - even if it is just for couple of hours. The place is so scenic - one cannot resist trekking.

Green Carpet - Western Ghats

Unlike Chikkamagular, Kuderemukha does not have many homestays/resorts. We booked our stay at Bynekaadu (http://bynekaadu.com/). We booked the wooden cottage. The location of the resort is great. Bhadra river flows right infront of the resort. Because of bad monsoons, there wasn't much water in the river. The cottages however are basic. Don't expect some fancy beds and comforts. They have 2 wooden cottages, which share a common wall. This can get annoying if the neighbours are noisy. Though they categorize themselves as homestay, I would think otherwise. The food is prepared at some other location and bought at the site. We kind of did not like this. Food was basic nothing to rave about. They have some indoor games like volley ball, badminton, carom etc. Also a personal campfire is provided right in fornt of your cottage. This was great. We stayed here for a 2nights/3days.

Scenic Drive

We started Bangalore at 6AM and reached Bynekaadu a little beyond Noon, with a break for breakfast at Mayura on NH48. We were served welcome drink of lemonade. It was refreshing after a long drive. The drive was very scenic. Chikkamagulur is one district where you don't want to stop driving. Its calm, quite and serene. After checking in, we relaxed for sometime and were served lunch. At 3PM, we were taken on Jeep drive to a waterfalls where we could swim. On the way, it started raining. Though we tried not to get bitten by leeches, but couldn't avoid :(  The waterfalls was secluded. It was just us and another couple. We were given life jackets before we got into the water. We had loads of fun in the water. The water was pretty cold but very very clean and clear. We spent an hour or so. By now it started raining heavily and our guide/driver told us to start so that we reach the resort before dark. This part of Chikkamagulur is pretty deserted. It is recommended to avoid driving after dark as it is difficult to get any help in case of emergency. We reached the resort around 6PM. We played some badminton and soon it was pretty dark.

Waterfalls - where we could swim

A warm camp fire was lit and we were served hot pakodas and some fresh masala banana and jackfruit chips. The resort/homestay is owned by group of 4 friends. One of them, joined us at campfire and we started chit-chatting. It was fun hearing how they started the resort. We spent the evening under star lit sky with warm campfire and some music by DJ Shree and Shrishti. This is always one of our best part of any vacation - campfire, star lit sky, no TV, no network, some remote place, with some snacks and a good drink, each one fighting for their favourite song to be played and just sitting and chatting on random topics.

Trekking @ Galigudda

Next day, we had planned to trek Galigudda. We had an early breakfast and left for the trek. One can experience walking on the green carpet here. It's a beautiful trek. The hill is covered with grassland and as one walks, one can see lots of shrubs with different colour flowers. We can also see the vast western ghats from here -  till your eyes can scan, one can see the lush green mountains. The wind blows pretty strong here and as you reach higher, it just gushes on your face. There is absolutely no one here. When we went it was just us and the driver. Since we wanted to trek, we asked the Jeep to drop us at the base. The Jeep can be taken up to the peak. We got dropped of at the base and started trekking. Loved every bit of it. I was a little disappointed when we decided to drop the idea of trekking to Kuderemukha. But the trek to Galigudda quenched that thirst. Hopefully few years down the line, we will be able to trek to Kuderemukha peak - once the kids are older :)

Hanuman Gundi Falls

After the spending enough time amidst the green hills and soaking ourselves into the majestic western ghats, it was time to head back. Since we had some time on our hands until lunch, we planned to stop by at Hanuman Gundi waterfalls. There are around 320 steps to reach the falls from the main road. It is definitely worth a visit. The steps are well laid and is surrounded by forest. All falls around this area are beautiful. We went down the steps and spent some time with our legs immersed in the cool waters. It brought back memories of 10years back when the kids were younger and we had carry them to get to the falls. It was so tiring then. Now it seemed so easy with everybody walking on their own :)

Hanging Bridge

Scenic Drive from Hanging Bridge

From here, we stopped at a hanging bridge which is built over Bhadra river. Nothing much to do here - it's just a scenic point. This is very close to Kuderemukh Iron Ore factory. Views from here are great. We captured few good pictures and headed straight to our resort. The drive from here to the resort was the most scenic drive. Absolutely not a soul on the road, very good roads, and lush green hills all around with the streams playing hide and seeks through them. It was one epic drive. By the time we reached the resort, we were tired and hungry. We had a good lunch and rested for sometime. By late afternoon, we were ready to venture more. We checked with the resort guys on what else we could do. They suggested we could drive to another view point, but it could be late. We said, we were fine, even if it got late and headed to the view point.

Getting a peek into the steep valley

This place is called Balrayanadurga and is a must visit. Cars cannot be used to reach this place. 4-wheel Jeep is a best option. The driver took us through some great roads to reach this place. Once we reached here, we were left spellbound. Superb location. On one side are the majestic hills and on the other side is a deep steep valley. The driver, held our hand to get a peek into how deep the valley was and Gosh! it was scary. One can trek to the top of Balrayanadurga peak. There is a fort on the top. It is a good 1/2 day trek. Had we know this earlier we would have planned to trek it. We decided to do it in our next trip. It was sunset time and was getting darker. Since it was very cloudy we could not see the sunset. The driver also told us, we can see the coastline of Mangalore from here on a clear day. It was very windy and cold here and it soon started raining.

Balrayandurga View Point - Landscape

By the time we reached the resort, it was 7pm. We had some hot tea/coffee and some refreshment. A campfire was lit in front of our cottage and we found ourselves relaxing and enjoying around the campfire. After dinner, we just crashed.

Next day, we decided to check out the famous Annapurneshwari temple of Hornadu. This is about 20min drive from Bynekaadu. To avoid long queues, it is recommended to visit the temple before 8AM. Since this was close to Bynekaadu, we went around 7:30AM. There was hardly any crowd. We quickly finished visiting the main temple. I was actually disappointed with the amount of construction that has come up around the temple. 10 years back, when we had visited this temple, there wasn't so much of construction. It was beautiful temple complex, surrounded by hills all around. When we visited this time, the construction around the complex has takenover the view of the beautiful hills :(
On the way back to the resort, we stopped by to buy some coffee and spices. The shopkeeper was very friendly and spent some time chatting with us. This is what I like about non-urban places. Life here is  simple and people generally have time and inclination to talk to other people. The shopkeeper even offered us some tea. We returned to the resort in time for breakfast. We had a sumptuous breakfast, so that we don't get hungry until lunch time.

It was time to say good bye to Kuderemukha and head to Bangalore. Another version of Chikkamagulur was explored and as always it left us with lots of fond memories and experiences.