We’re in ‘Discover-Karnataka* mode,’ We decide to step out of the all-too familiar Mysore-Bangalore region and head to western parts of Karnataka. The initial plan: to drive through a part of the Karnataka coast, say hello to the waterfalls that make up the famous Jog Falls and have a brush with some wildlife at Bhadra Sanctuary. At the eleventh hour, a couple of things crop up. The road trip must go on, at least part of it. The coastal part of the itinerary has to be scrapped.
Bangalore-Mangalore Corridor
This road trip kicks off from the IT City. We take the Outer Ring Road and then get on to Tumkur Road. Soon we find ourselves on NH-48 or the Bangalore -Mangalore Highway. The road is really good — perfect to zip through. It is a Friday morning; a misty one. That makes the landscape even more alluring. There are coconut palms. There are sugarcane fields; Ragi (Millet) fields too. And with the mist kissing these crops and the rocky stretches along the route, it makes for an awesome morning drive.
Rustic Karnataka
When we reach a place called Baragur, Northwest of Chennaryapatna, it’s time to change direction, head north and merge into NH-206. The road we take is SH-7 and what a refreshing change it is from the highways in the state that we know all too well. State Highway 7 is a smaller road with one lane in each direction. 7 meanders through rustic Karnataka offering sights of more farmland, nondescript hamlets and innumerable trees that look like Banyan. Long stretches of the highway are lined with these trees, their prop roots meeting in the middle of the road and kept trimmed by moving vehicles, they are made to look like long wooded tunnels.
The road to the coast
At Arsikere we merge in to NH-206 and are westward-bound once again. This is the Bangalore Honavar Highway. (Honavar is where the Sharavati River empties itself in the Arabian Sea.)
We pass through some of the big and small towns here. We bypass Bhadravati but drive into the thick of Shimoga to get some lunch.
Soon we are back on the highway. This part of NH-206 is also State Highway 13. We head to Sagar. The fields on the roadsides are partly green with wild plants and partly golden with bales of stacked up hay. There is something else that catches the eye — miles of high tension electrical lines probably form the power house at Linganamakki Dam.
These parts also seem to be beautified with several roadside ponds that looked liked water-lily ponds. Not a flower to be seen but floating leaves on water is a picturesque sight, indeed.
Later we pass a pretty sad looking Sharavati; its water is dammed at Linganamakki.
Finally, we find ourselves in our first destination. (The account and pictures coming up in a different post.)
The next day we get onto 206 once again. This time we turn off before Bhadravathi to get to the wilderness of the Bhadra Tiger Reserve. On the way there’s this sight — The Bhadra Dam (The best part is what is on the other side of the dam — the Bhadra Reservoir.)
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| Bhadra Dam |
The following day we hit 206 again, this time to head home. We retrace the NH-206, SH-7, NH-48 route and find ourselves back in Bangalore.
Also check out: posts on Jog Falls and Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary.
*Karnataka is a state in South India
A Nice presentation with colorful photos….
Thank you so much, Sreedhar.
Nice to see you here. 🙂
Sounds like a good day behind the wheels 🙂
It was.
The story is from November. Gosh! I'm way behind my trips when it comes to my writing. 😀
I hope you are doing well, Anil. 🙂
haha 🙂 yes I am. thank you
🙂
A beautiful visual tour again. Waiting for the concluding parts of this trip. 🙂
Part's.' yeah. 🙂
The better parts are just coming.
Thank you Akki. 🙂
Beautiful tour..miss being in Banglore 🙁
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Can't help saying this over and over again, Bangalore is a city to be missed. 🙂
It is time I hit the road again. This pics are tempting, well taken.
I'm sure.
There's never a wrong time for that, huh?!
Thank you so much, Indrani. 🙂
These are some of the best times and most scenic roads in India. Loved the village scenery….
India is scenic. She's got a bit of everything, right?
I'm sure Desi Traveler likes all things Desi. 🙂
Wonderful journey, Divya. The rustic charm of the villages is a delight for sure. Look forward to all those stories. 🙂
Finally those posts are coming! haha! (You didn't they'd ever happen did you? :D)
I swear — and you don't get to see much of Karnataka's village life on my regular routes from Bangalore to Mysore and 212 from Mysore towards Wayanad so yeah, this was a treat, as I was seeing this after a pretty long gap. It was refreshing.
Beautiful roads where the journey matters not the destination. Loved the photographs, 🙂
They were.
And if it's a road trip — the journeys are just as exciting, aren't they?
Thank you, Moon. 🙂
I looove road trips specially the pictorial representation done by you Dee 🙂
And in Karntaka the roads unfold in front of you like the video game roads!
On the Mysore- Coorg road , you can experience it first hand. AT times it seemed that the car is going in to an abyss which is obviously not true but my heart continued to leap put and kids shrieks were ear -piercing Oh ! sorry my shrieks :p
Going by your pics-info Bangalore-Mangalore is the next on my list 🙂
Kokila! long time. How you doing, girl?
Aww! Thank you.
Video Game roads! Those are always so exciting, aren't they? Next time you decide to go towards Mysore, you might want to go to Calicut through Wayanad on NH 212 and experience the Thamarassery Mountain Pass.
(Ouch! I almost went deaf thanks to those shrieks 😀 )
Lovely pics and what beautiful journey..Road tripping is fun! 🙂
Road Trips! Definitely!
Thank you so much, Parul. Have a fab week.
Great post, Beautiful photos from your trip.
Thank you, Rupam.
Interesting! Haven't done this circuit but have done many other road trips across Karnataka.
Every route has so much to show us. 🙂
The roads looks amazingly brilliant… The misty look adds to the mystery that each nook and corner of India holds…
Thanks for sharing!
The mist was a great way to begin the road trip.
Thank you.
And welcome here.
Have done is similar trip in December bangalore, hubli honnavar murdeshwar and back and can so relate to the pictures, lovely clicks.
🙂 Must have been fun, eh!
After this particular trip we road tripped along the Karnataka Coast. And wasn't it great! 🙂
It is a pleasure to drive on this road.
Yeah, Rajesh.
Since this one, we did a few more drives through the state and I must say, they all have so much to show us. Each route seems to have a character of its own and a beauty of its own.
It is fun to be out and about in the country side, imbibing in the sights and sounds. Lovely shots!
It is, specially when you need a refreshing break and yeah — road tripping is the way to go.
Thank you, dear Meoww. 🙂
Very nice concise commentary and lovely images!! Waiting to see/read about jog falls and Bhadra Tiger reserve.
Nice to hear that from you, Magiceye.
Thank you so much.
The posts will be up in a couple of days, I promise.
Thanks again. 🙂
Waiting for the other pictures now!
Coming soon, maam. 🙂
Thank you for visiting, Mridula.
Lovely pics of the charming Karnataka countryside ! I sometimes wonder where you are really at the present. You keeping shuttling often between India and the US 🙂
I'm in Bangalore at the moment, Ram. I should be here a little longer.
I still have a few US travel posts coming up. I guess I've been doing more tripping than writing. 🙂
Thank you. 🙂