A lot of times it's not the destination you're after, it's the drive. And BR Tiger reserve is one such place where the drive will leave you in complete awe. After buying a new middle segment Kawasaki super-bike, one trip with the gang was due. The whole Kawasaki crowd gathered and decided to head over to BR hills for a drive.
Our plan was to start from Bangalore at around 6 AM, halt at a breakfast place midway to BR hills by 9, reach BR hills by 12 and head back for Bangalore by 2. Since it was a big group, managing it was quite a task as every biker has different style of riding and being in a group, someone had to take responsibility for leading the group. Kawasaki and 6kIOM (6k Isle of Man) people did a splendid job at managing the whole crowd and making the drive a successful one. We had quite a lot of freedom at times to rev the bikes and at the same time they made sure each and every one of us was riding safely.
From Bangalore to the breakfast place, the ride was not that great because of bad roads and a lot of traffic going towards Mysore. We covered almost 90 km in 2 hours. After having a filling breakfast, we started heading towards BR hills once again. The weather was quite favorable the whole time and we never really had to go through extreme heat or sun. It did drizzle for a while but the gear we were wearing provided us with protection and since we were not riding aggressively, riding in rain went quite smoothly.
For most part, ride to BR hills is like any other normal ride but the fun starts when you enter the BR tiger reserve. The roads although narrow are butter smooth and the turns if taken appropriately can give you the highest level of pleasure of riding a super-bike. The lush green surroundings and cloudy weather adds on to the awesomeness of the whole ride. During the Tiger Reserve crossing, there were multiple times when we just wanted to stop and adore the beauty of nature around us but it was not allowed to stop randomly as you might get attacked by a wild animal. For the whole duration we were riding in a line with no rider overtaking the other. After 20 km of riding through the beautiful Tiger reserve, we exited on a narrow road which lead to the temple atop the BR hill. We didn't visit the temple as it was quite crowded but we did stop for a picture near the BR hills viewpoint which is a complete visual treat. In front of you is a completely green valley and the wind there is so strong at times that it just might make you lose balance on the bike.
After experiencing the beauty of the viewpoint and the Tiger reserve, we headed back towards Bangalore. An important thing to note is, Shivanasamudram is on the way to BR hills. So whenever you are planning to visit one of them, do visit the other one too as they are barely 50 km apart.
How to reach:
BR hills is about 180 km from Bangalore. To reach, take the Kanakpura road and follow it all the way till Shivanasamudram falls. From there you'll get a board which will direct you towards BR hills.
Things to be careful of:
The road inside the tiger reserve is quite narrow. Even if you are an experienced rider, go slow, drive patiently and honk before every blind turn to avoid any mishaps.