If you are planning to see this place then go right ahead! Trust me this was just beautiful, no words can describe its beauty. So our plan was to do a day trip , leave early morning and return by evening. Since this was a little unknown route and we weren't sure if after dark journey on our return, would be safe or not. Like any other plans they were just plans.
     We left at 8:30 from Jayanagar, took the Kanakpura road and joined Mysore road via NICE road. With me on the trip , we are bound to stop for food. So we stopped at Kamat. And Saturday morning Kamat is packed with people. But the food is nice and so you should stop over for the leaf wrapped idli and masala dosa. With a nice breakfast and tummy full, we continued on Mysore road till Mandya. This route is on Google maps, so just turn on the GPS on mobile and just follow it. The en-route is nice, sugarcane and paddy fields on both sides. The time we visited was just before rainy season. This time is perfect for enjoying the scenic view. It is different colors of green spread across fields for acres of land that you can view.. And when we reached a little closer to the lake, we saw rare birds( My version of rare birds.. One that I have not seen before ;)) I found a reason to stop and stretch my legs. We got down and clicked a few pictures of the place and birds.


     As you continue further the road, it gets smaller only a single car can pass. For our luck there was a truck in between the road and had stopped to load itself with sugarcane that was cut. We somehow managed to go little over the edge and pass the truck by. From there the lake was just few km away. The lake according to Google satellite image is huge. where one corner of the lake touches the road passing by. So we continued on the road to try find the lake according to Google. But we realized the lake water had dried up to some extent so water was way behind. We again drove back to the road which goes up the small hill to reach the edge of the lake.

     The lake is really huge. It is man made but really huge. It is just a splendid view. You can stand at the edge of the steps and enjoy the water splash by. It was windy when we reached there, so the water was little turbulent and forming small waves. The water is very deep, that is what i felt.. I did not jump to check that but based on the wave formation it must be deep. We just settled at the steps enjoying a little drizzle and waters splash at us!Time just passed by for us.. In no time it was lunch time and as usual I was hungry. But I had come all set with few bread pieces with butter packed. We ate that and rested there.
     Its a great place for picnic. The place is still unexplored I suppose, cause it was decently clean. And while we were there, we just saw very few people. The drizzle, the huge water body, surrounded with small hills, green land on few other sides made a image that I cant get Rid off.
     It was time to leave back so we left from there. We took a different route to go join Mysore road. None of us had a lunch so we drove towards Shrirangapatna hoping to find something to eat. But its a small town and so we just continued towards Mysore. We ate at a Mangalore style food place. Hungry souls that we were we ate rice, fish and chicken. To make the day "icing on the cake" it started raining. Well if it rains i have to enjoy it, and we decided not to go home directly. We went off to Mysore and did a car tour of Mysore. Touched Chamundi hills and my friend showed all the coo-checo spots (places for couples) there and everywhere possible! And we kept teasing him about how often he comes to places like these with his girlfriends, for him to know all the spots. Poor guy, blushed when I kept pulling his leg. Anyways we spent the evening there enjoying the climate and the view. The return was a simple journey from Mysore to Bangalore.
    So if you plan to travel here, come prepared for a nice picnic with lots of food. And have a happy journey! Travel safe !

 Wow! This is one hell of a trip that even now I cant believe I made it through all the way! I was really bugged with office work and pressure was just building up and I needed a release. So asked my friends to find another place that we could do for a day! And Google gave the result "Madhugiri Fort". This was a place none of us had visited. But we did not (oops I DID NOT ) find more details on the place..From the picture I saw a nice fort and little hill with few steps(does not look bad). Asked my friend to tell me if its too much walking but response was it should not be. Little walking we need to do, that's it! huh! (His definition of little is very different from mine, I realized when we reached there). So the plan was set to leave early and get back by evening. Again Plans are just plans ..
        Our early morning plan began at 8:30 (the actual plan was 7 but late night alcohol party previous day was bound to give us some delays ;)). I took my car and picked up my friends and we drove towards tumkur road via the city. Morning time the traffic is less and easier to reach. So we reached yashwantpur station via malleshwaram and Mg road and took the inside routes to reach Tumkur road. From there it is around 100 Km. You can follow Google maps and reach the destination without any glitches. We did the same.
        The route is good, nothing great .. On the way, you will see few boulders sitting together and few lakes and few trees.. Nothing very scenic.. Well may be the climate was not perfect for it to be scenic.. The Journey is not that great, the destination is! En-route we did stop over for breakfast at Kamat. It was a little late for breakfast but glad we had a heavy one. U need that much amount of food especially if you end up like us reaching there by 1.
     For you guys if you plan to do this trip, try to reach the place by morning at least by 8. It took me around 2:45 to reach on top and 1 hr to come down. It takes 4 hours of journey with several breaks. And make sure you eat enough to get you up and energetic till you reach top. And have water and some sugar based drinks (energy drinks, cold drinks, mazaa would be great.. ) per person. We just had like 2 liters of water and half bottle juice for 3 of us. Which we thought for every sip that we had. And on top while climbing up, one bottle water with 1/4 water remaining fell at least 150 meters down. (which we picked up on way down. Good trick to ensure some water is left when we climb down. )


   When we reached the bottom of the hill, I was a little excited and little nervous. The climb and height was making me nervous and the view was exciting. The Fort must have been so well thought of while building. Why I say this because during the climbing phase, every climb gave a view of next climb. But nothing at one shot. Which was great for me, cause that was the only way my friends could get me to climb up. My point, carry good shoes that can give a strong grip on the stones. The stones are not slippery as such but would help you do the climb effortlessly(to say). I am a no trekking person, so I made several stops in between with a crib face and lots of ruckus. "I am not moving anymore", " I can't do this guys", "I will stay here, you guys go ahead and pick me on way down", "Do we have to go up?", "Is this the last mile?".. Oh!! I was a baby! Just to get my friends feel good about themselves I said all this.. (I hope they don't read this ;)) But I know they had a laugh and were very satisfied that they got the revenge of me for troubling them at office.


     But once you reach up the next tension begins.. At least that is what happened to me. The climb down is crazy when you are scared of height. But when we were on top, My friend decided to trick us! (PS: dude if you are reading this.. Not the place to do such pranks) I was totally freaked out and scared.. I was praying that he was alright. Ufff! Let me tell what happened. So our photographer friend decided that climbing on top was not enough of trekking. So he climbed down on other side of mountain to take pictures etc .. We sat on top enjoying the view. And me finally happy to breathe normally. After few minutes it got sunny where we sat so we moved a few steps back and sat. Time passed not sure how long .. But that made us realize that our photographer friend should have  come back up! Oh! So where the hell was he.. So my other friend started shouting his name and went down to see where he could be. Well hell! We could not see him .. And our mind is great that it thinks all negative before anything positive. After few minutes of shouting and fretting .. Walah, From behind us, he comes out .. "Pstttt I am here .. what are you guys doing !! " I was so royally pissed that i could have probably pushed him off .. So my volley of all known bad words rolled out! Well i settled after a while, knew no point being upset. He was fine anyways..
    Our journey then began down. Downward journey is not as bad as upward. But I was hungry and tired and scared of height. So my legs were giving me away. But I managed with help of my friends to climb down.
    I hope when you do this trip, You are more prepared than i am and have a uneventful trip. Happy travelling. Travel safe!