What started actually as a road trip to Western Ghats or Sakhleshpur to be precise became a temple tour in Hassan all of a sudden. Thanks to the resort location and exhaustive travel, much of the time was spent on road, as if justifying the name ‘road trip’, anyways, no regrets as the temples were no normal ones but with respect to other aspects, much leaves to be desired.
Day 1 – Chennai to Bangalore
10/1/2022
We left on time, an achievement by itself, when it comes to a family trip. And the traffic wasn’t as bad as I expected around Poonamallee. There were lots of breakfast options I thought of but I zeroed in on Murugan Idli Shop near Sriperumbudur as it was on the way. I regretted it as soon as I parked. It was crowded like hell because everyone who had started around the same time would have felt hungry around the same time I guess. Also for the rates, eating it that hurriedly wasn’t really a good choice. Anyways after Idly, Ghee Podi Onion Uthappam and Ghee Roast and burning a hole in the pocket, we started from there. Yes, without even waiting for a coffee.
The ride post it was okayish, roads were not good for most part. It was at its worst near Chittoor. There were few exotic looking fruits available there which we thought of buying while return but that’s another story. Still, it was all decent till the Bangalore Toll Gate, post that, after lots of diversions and Google maps playing tricks us, we finally reached my cousins place in Marathahalli.
Thanks to the hefty food and awesome weather, I had a sound sleep. Thanks to that, otherwise I couldn’t have copped on to the Bangalore traffic, which I got a glimpse of that night. We went to an almost empty mall to eat at Subway but I rather ate at California Burrito and T’s 21 Spice Biryani and returned home late. We dozed off as soon as we hit the bed as we had to get up early morning the next day to go to Sakleshpur.
Day 2 – Bangalore to Sakleshpur Hassan
10/2/2022
The resort that we thought was on Sakleshpur was actually near Hassan. We escaped Bangalore city traffic as we started quite early, filled our tank and headed to Shravanabelagola Temple. Even though we had not heard about the temple before, everyone in our family circle seemed to have known it already. The surprise didn’t stop there. We didn’t know that we had to walk so many steps to reach the top to see the giant statue of Lord Gometeshwara. Seeing the steps, we had a sugarcane juice to energize ourselves. The walk to the top was tiring but was an unexpectedly nice workout.
The temple was superbly designed in such a way that the statue was not visible anywhere till we reached the inner sanctum. Even in the inner sanctum we were allowed to go anywhere and spend as much time as we want. Our moods got uplifted thanks to the pleasing nature of the temple. After spending sometime around the temple we quickly got back down and replenished ourselves with another sugarcane juice.
All the walking got us hungry, but as we were near our resort we thought we’d reach there directly for lunch. Our resort, Coffee-Bean Villa was deep inside the forest but for 2.5k per person per day, it was a disaster. As it was a family trip I got a little misguided and as the rates were discussed per day per person, I somehow planned wrongly.
The room was pretty small. The food was tasty but variety was really less. Staffs were nice but tired. Play area was a joke. The only way this place could have worked is, you should have come in as a big group, played cricket, had beer around campfire and dozed off. Otherwise there was nothing much in the place. Plus mosquitoes were such a hassle. For someone carrying Odomos, I missed to take it for the trip thinking that I was going to a posh place. But the mozzies came out of syllabus.
We didn’t do much for the remaining part of the day. After quickly freshening up and having lunch we took a nap in the afternoon. Had a horrid tea in the evening and had dinner again at the same place and went to sleep as we had to get up early next morning for a hike cum dam visit.
Day 3 – For the love of Hoysala architecture
10/3/2022
Our day started early. There was a jeep safari to a couple of worthless places. First a hike for few meters for a “view” and a dam where it was not conjusive for bathing. We came back, had an amazing breakfast and dozed off again. So much for a room of 5k/night.
Post lunch we headed to Hoysaleswara Temple in Halebidu. One which was in my list for long. Even though the first glimpse of it was disappointing with the amount of crowd, especially after having seen the rain washed, crowd free, post card like pictures, similar to Taj Mahal in movies, it took me a while to get back to reality but once I let go off it and got immersed in the place, the experience was lovely, more so because there was no hurry. Only two places were in the list that day so we had all the time to slowly go around the temple and bask in its architectural glory.
Our next stop was Chennakeshava Temple, Belur, where it was a repeat of Hoysaleswara Temple but bigger in size. Thanks to some just finished exhibition we got to know a little history and understood why this architecture wasn’t famous in our part of the county. When everyone were busy tracing Chola architecture, thanks to Ponniyin Selvan, here we were coincidentally brushing shoulders with the one who ended the most glorious dynasty.
It was a totally satisfying experience to have seen both the temples. We understood the mistake of going to an in between resort. We should have either gone high end or stuck to our regular back packing strategy. This was only waste of money without any real use. We slept understanding this realization for the nth time.
Day 4– Back to Bangalore
10/4/2022
We got up and were waiting for breakfast before heading to Bangalore. Breakfast wasn’t as great as the previous day. Guess it was not a resort where one would want to stay for more than a day. Anyways as we started on time we reached Bangalore well before time. Got some irritating vibes during return journey as I got calls continuously from office but it didn’t last long.
Post lunch again I took a mandatory nap, took a walk for some street food and shopping but the latter didn’t happen successfully. We ate at a nice antique Chinese place nearby and went to bed on time. Even though we didn’t do pretty much anything, I was happy that I could do my favorite activity of walking the streets.
Day 5 – A Dosa to remember
10/5/2022
Probably the best moment of the trip happened that day. We escaped the city traffic like a breeze as we started early but most of the restaurants en route were closed so we had to constantly keep vigil to check out the open places. Fortunately we got an open place called Mulbagal Dosa Corner in NH 69, Sonnavadi. I was seeing this Mulbagal Dosa in many hoardings on the way to restaurant. I was lucky to have it in a restaurant named with the dish. It wasn’t like any dosa I had before, with oodles of ghee, a hint of chutney and puffed up like a dream. The dosa was nothing short of a star hotel delicacy. From now on, if I ever take a road trip, I’ll have only this dish and only from this restaurant. And to top it up in the end with the best tea of trip, my day was already made.
It was made till Poonamallee. Thanks to Google maps, I went to where all I don’t know. We couldn’t buy the exotic fruits too, again thanks to Google maps. Finally I think I took a wrong turn and came via Poonamalle. With rain and chaotic roads, I traced the entire metro stretch with peak traffic. So much so that my foot became numb and knee started paining by constant usage of clutch. It was a horrible experience.
In spite of all, we came home by the time for lunch so at least we could have a nap post that. As amazing as the three temples were, I understood that any road trip where I had to drive for more than two days, just to reach destination is not worth. Driving within an area to checkout few places would give satisfaction, but not just to go to an area.
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