Mudigere is a remote place in Karnataka, situated in the Western Ghats which is famous for it's pristine beauty. It is just for 5-6 hrs drive away from Bangalore(Marathalli). If you are sick with your monotonous life in Bangalore and are craving for something adventurous, then this is the place for you. Not as crowded as Chikmanglur, Mudigere contains lush shola grass-lands, sparkling waterfalls and pristine black hills that will leave you awe-struck. Mudigere brings you closer to the mother nature and brings peace in your mind.
We stayed in Kaantara Home-stay, which is situated in the middle of a green valley. The owner here was really helpful and co-operative. The food was really nice and spicy. Personally, I would highly recommend this home-stay for anyone who is visiting Mudigere.
As none of us could drive, we booked a 6-seater Inova from South India Cabs and started at 6 o'clock in the morning. The driver was really nice and helpful. He spoke really good Hindi too. After driving for 130 km we stopped at a decent restaurant for breakfast. It was past 11 o'clock by the time we reached Mudigere. The owner of the home stay was waiting for us at a place near Mudigere hand post. As this is a remote area, you won't get any network in your mobile (yes, not even BSNL). Hence the owner had to guide us to the homestay. On our way, we came across silhouettes of dark green igloo shaped grasslands against light-blue sky. The floating Clouds appeared like white cotton. The scenic beauty was so mesmerizing that we stopped our car on the way just to cherish that moment.
On reaching the home-stay, we were greeted with pineapple juice. We freshening up, we headed towards the playground, which was just behind the home stay. The playground was situated in a valley surrounded by green hills, right under the vast blue sky. It was literally heaven on earth. The owner gave us a cricket bat and ball. Playing cricket at such location was an experience of a life-time. It was something that I can never forget.
After playing cricket for an hour we headed towards the in-house restaurant. Where we were served with traditional makki-roti, rice, vegetable curry, sambar, rasam, chicken gravy, spicy chicken masala and kheer. The food was really nice and spicy. After filling our stomach we went to a natural pond nearby. Once again the beauty of this clandestine pond surprised us. The water was ice-cold. All of us were advised to wear a life-jacket before jumping into the pond. We spent around 1 hour in the pond and then headed towards Devaramane hills.
Devaramane hills is some 4 km away from the home-stay. Car could take us 3 km and dropped us near the foothills of Devaramane. After that we had to trek for 1 km to reach the top of the hill. 'Devaramane' is a Kannad word which means 'residence of God' or 'Temple'. The view from the top of the hill totally justified this name. It was divine and serene. I have traveled to all over India but I have never been to a hill station which is as beautiful as this one. The view of the sunset from the viewpoint makes one's life complete. It was something that one has to see and appreciate, it taught me that if there is something like 'most beautiful' in the world, it has to be our mother nature. We could just sit there the whole day. The magnetic view of the sky and cool, soothing breeze not only brought peace in our minds, but also it gave us the courage and motivation for the 8-km long trekking which was scheduled on the following day.
After a hectic day, we finally returned to our home-stay, where the arrangement of bon-fire had been made. We were served with onion fritters and potato kebabs. After spending an hour near the bon-fire and warming us up, we headed for dinner, which was followed by a deep and peaceful sleep that prepared us for the trek on the following day.
On the next day, the most anticipated trek began. We had to climb through a hilly jungle and walk for 4 km to reach the view point. We took many rest-stops in between as the hill was steep and dangerous. We were really tired but what kept us going was the pristine beauty of the uncharted grasslands and the mysterious black rocks. The scenic beauty was too majestic to describe in words.
After almost 1 hour of hectic trekking through the uncharted grasslands, we finally managed to reach the top of the hill where the viewpoint was located. We could see the whole valley from there. There were shades of black and green against blue sky. The wind was strong at the top of the hill, making us comfortable in the scorching heat of the sun. We spent almost an hour there and appreciated the beauty of that place.
Tired and hungry us came back to the homestay to fill our empty stomach. Soon after having full-fledged breakfast, we left for the waterfall. You have to walk through coffee plantation for almost an hour to reach there. Of course it was tiring, considering the fact that we had just finished our 8-km long trekking. But on reaching there and after having a glance of the sparkling waterfall, we forgot everything. The water was so fresh and cold. People were taking bath in that water. There are big, flat rocks near the waterfall, where one can sit down and meditate, or even lie down. We spent an hour there, clicked some really memorable pictures before heading back towards our home-stay.
We had lunch after that and started back towards Bangalore. It was a very short-trip and was planned suddenly. But all five of us had really great fun and we got a lot of beautiful memory to cherish.
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