SavanDurga

8:11 AM
SavanDurga is a beautiful place for a getaway from the city for a romantic day out with your loved one. Well I went out with my family mom, dad, sis, jeju, neice..
We had planned out to start by lunch time as it is around 60 Kms away from Bengaluru. We got enough time to reach the place and enjoy the view and return back by night. Savandurga basically compromises of two hills karibettu and belibettu (Translated version Black hill and white hill). On top of the hill is a beautiful temple of Narashimhaswamy. On the way up you can see small fortes build every small distance.

We took the Mysore road to reach savandurga. Basically from Mysore road take the diversion at Kumblegud. and we took the route to reach the Big banyan Tree(dodda alada mara). Its a nice to see the greenery though now the tree looks like a group of several trees but it was initially one tree. It is nice place to eat mangoes, see monkeys. :D
Here are a photo of The Big Banyan tree
From the Big banyan tree, you can ask any local for directions towards Savandurga. On the way you can see a dam, lake and the old temple at the bottom of the hill.
There are two routes that one can take one that is bad but you can see ISRO satellites, other is much smoother road and can see the northern side of the hill.

Here are a few photos of the lake, temple and ISRO satellites.



Once you reach the Hill you can see trees, shrubs and small water canals. And the beauty of the place is just spell binding in rainy season.
We walked up a little on the white hill as it seemed easier. But the way down is scary.
My cute little niece (just 2 1/2 years old) also walked up with us with even more enthusiasm than us. And the best part was she wanted to climb all the way up. Even dogs had climbed up to a certain distance and that inspired us even more.

Here is a link to wikimapia for details on ISRO, The Big banyan Tree & Savandurga. Happy travelling :)
0 comments | edit post

Horsley Hills

1:52 AM


I am a big fan of traveling around. No weekend can keep me tied up at home. Either I am traveling around the city shopping or eating or visiting new places around Bangalore.

This was one such trip I made with my sister, my lovely niece and my jeju(sister's husband) in month of June. Just the season with a little rain and sun. This was amazing not so far from Bangalore, may be around 140 kms. And this is in Andhra Pradesh. To reach there you can take the old madras road (NH 4) and then Kolar. From Kolar take the road to Srinivaspur and onto Rayalpadu. Beyond Rayalpadu is Andhra Pradesh territory. From Rayalpadu get to Madanpalle and take the road towards Kadiri and Anantpur. Then a left deviation towards Horsley Hills. All throught the way you will notice boards welcoming you to Horsely Hills. There are two routes you can take one explained above and another taking a diversion before kolar to go to hoskote. from there to Chintamani towards Rayalpadu till you reach Madanpalli to Horsley Hills. Both routes are beautiful. We were warned that the second route is not so good. But looks like they fixed the road and it was amazing to drive through.

We had left around 1:30 types from Marathalli Bangalore so by the time we reached horsley hills was around 4:30. It was just perfect time to see sun set and the beauty in those hills.
A few photos of the beauty that just cannot be put in words. :)

We thought of staying over night and travel next morning. But with office and all did not seem a viable option. But we did check out the rooms available there. The best were the Governor's Bungalows provided by AP Tourism's Resort. It seemed decent. The rooms were better than the cottages but without view. And there are some rope climbing activities and other sports to keep you busy. The problem we faced was language and food. we did not get anything to eat there at 5:30, only thing available was TEA.
Its definitely a worth weekend trip for a romantic trip away from city and hussle bussle.
PS: Make sure you book the bungalows way in advance before reaching there. They are always booked. :) have a safe trip!!
0 comments | edit post