Sid's Motorcycle Diary: Road Trip - Bangalore to Bheemeshwari

I have been wishing to take the bull out on a road trip, but really hadn't put any serious thought or effort. So always ended up with, what-else..but reasons why I couldn't go. Well pushing all that aside finally I teamed up with my college buddy and fellow biker Rahul and later Jeetu n Divya joined as crew. So the destination we selected is Bheemeshwari, which seems to have a fishing camp and some Nature Education Camp from Govt of Karnataka. The point of my interest was the fractionally interesting mountain road that we'll cross on the way (checked the terrain view on gmaps app). Well, we did ride through the mountain roads and that turned out to be the best 10 km (or so) out of the whole 162 km of ride.

Note to self: O'ways decide on the roads first (as my heart says) and then pick a destination and not the other way round. That's what a ride is for anyway!!!

Itinerary (Timestamps noted here are not accurate and this is the best I could recall at the time of writing this post):

7:10 am - Started from near the Sarakki Signal

7:20 am - Fuel & Air at a fuel station on Kanakpura Road

I filled the Bull for 500 bucks as it hit the reserve just 2 minutes ago. Kept a tire pressure of 26 (F) and 36(R).

Note: There is a Shell petrol bunk on Kanakpura Road. I suggest if could manage for at least 5-8kms, better fill here as they seem to be good (read un-adulterated).

7:40 am - Breakfast

Stopped at a small shop on the left-hand side after a km of crossing the Shell petrol bunk. Do remember to grab bottled water from here.

8:00 am - Stopped for a few minutes to sort out a brake issue my bull had. I had over-tightened the free play adjustment of the rear brake, and add to it my boot was pressing against the brake pedal constantly. Due to the power of the bike I never felt any pressure on the engine till Rahul pointed out that the rear drum is smokin' :D Lollzz Glad, it was nothing serious, we stopped tweaking the adjustment to a loose setting. Got the chain oiled at a garage ahead and that's it. Rolled all the way from there no buzz.

On the way, you will cross the Nice road deviation, DO NOT TURN there, KEEP HEADING STRAIGHT for another 40 km (at least) straight right on the Kanakapura road till Halaguru. Do ask people for Halaguru and the LEFT-TURN towards Bheemeshwari.

11:00 am - Reached a Private Resort (Below pic taken from another blog, I am not sure if the prices quoted are still the same).

We had no plans for such guided tourism at this location, so we headed further ahead and came across the 'Govt Nature Education Camp'. After having a word with the attendants here we decided to park our bikes there. They had a paid package for visitors:

Rs. 200 per person per day : For a hike across the semi-dense forest/shrubs to a location near the river (they call stone beds in the river as islands (lolz), so don't get too excited when you hear that word.

Rs. 500 per person per day : Same as above + Lunch (Really good veg and non-veg home-cooked food) + Tea + Snacks in the afternoon + A Room with attached bathroom and toilet (western commode) to change clothes and take rest till 5:00 pm.

*Please confirm with the staff about the room before booking. However, we as a group of 4 people got it and there were not many people in the camp at that time. So not sure during a crowded season how they will allot the room.

Other Facilities:

Rs. 300 - For bonfire if you wish them to arrange for that

Shacks on Rent - Shacks cost you Rs 1500 per day. I felt the place is very clean and usable for families. Do carry a liquid soap as I didn't see any of those. As a traveler, you must always carry one, especially while traveling anywhere in India.

Camping - They have a lot of camping space in case you wish to camp outside and experience Nature. I highly recommend this if you know how to camp. I am planning to camp there on my next visit:)

Wildlife:

We saw deer from a distance playing around the river. It is not that common but when we were resting the staff called us out to witness the sight. It was a great feeling to see them in the wild. Other than that monkeys will be your constant companion in this camp. However we noticed they are kinda well behaved here, but I would take chance with my gear so I always ensured they are never left unattended. We also saw a wild boar with its baby. Elephants are also residents of this area, but luckily we didn't come across any, as they might not be as friendly as the other animals I explained above.

Return:

3:15 om - Started from the Campsite

3:20 pm - Stopped on the way to get a ticket for Rs 10 per bike to enter the area near Muthhathi (another well-known Trekking site) and also this same route connects to Bangalore

6:00 pm - Reached Bangalore City (While there was still some sunlight around)

We took the opposite route while returning home hoping for more twisties, but it was not that awesome. However still worth a ride as you will cross some roads on the edge of the mountains with a great view of the valley. Finally reached home exactly at 6:00 pm. Was a great ride and a good trip. The total distance covered was 162 km.

So all in all I loved this place for the following reason:

1. Experienced solitude, there is no noise at all, as this place is miles away from the nearest city

2. You can experience nature without having to trek or hike a lot to reach here. Just a drive away.

3. Cleaner accommodation (including toilets) and good food easily accessible

4. Very less crowd, at least in the mid of December when we visited

5. River bed was a good place to spend some time

6. Mountain roads to reach this place, were a biker's delight (However maintain a healthy speed as the road is narrow, most are blind turns, and frequency of vehicles is less and hence more unpredictable)

Note: There is NO SIGNAL for Vodafone users. So do inform friends and family about your whereabouts before getting deeper into this area once you leave the main roads. I scanned the area for other networks and still couldn't find any network around. So for other mobile phone service users, this tip goes for you as well:)

Hope this post gives you enough information to step out of your sofa and hit the road. Well just to get you going here are some photographs just for your visual delight: