Weekend Getaway.
Skandagiri or known as Kalwara betta by the locals has gained popularity in the recent years.
It is a small hill about 70 kms from Bangalore near chickballapur. There are two approach routes to this hill. One is from Nandi Hills and is about 5 Kms from here. The other is taking a left near the Ganesha Temple on the Chickballapur main road.
It was 1st April 2010 and me and a few of my college friends decided to go away for the weekend as it was a long weekend with three days holiday in a row. Initially 4 of us decided it was time to get out of the madness and traffic of Bangalore for atleast the weekend. We were supposed to leave the next day that is Friday, 2nd April 2010. I had planned on visiting 4 places in two days. They were Skandagiri, Madhugiri Fort, Koratagere(Siddara Betta) and finally DevarayanaDurga.
It was Friday morning and we were all set to leave when suddenly one of my friend dropped out as his uncle was critically ill. So the other one supposed to accompany him could'nt come as he did not have a vehicle. So after a lot of inviting other friends and listening to their excuses for not being able to come me and my friend Vasanth decided it was high time we left.
We left Bangalore at around 4 in the evening towards Skandagiri via the Devanahalli Airport road. We rode for about an hour until we reached chikballapur. From here we had to ask the locals for directions towards Skandagiri. We were riding on the road towards Skandagiri when we came across two localites on their vehicles who enquired us about where we were going. When they heard we were going to Skandagiri they offered to help us by providing parking space at their homes. We were later told by them that they own the small petty shops atop Skandagiri. One of them Manoj offered to show us the route to the top of the hill.
Me and Vasanth parked my bike inside the house and were waiting for Manoj to accompany us. He was packing the eggs and maggi packets to take atop the hill for the hotel.
Manoj told that he would take us in a shortcut route behind the hills and we agreed to go not knowing the gradient of this route. We walked through the open fields and through some small stone quarries. We reached the foot of the hills. We were carrying two backpacks and a Tent along with us.
We started climbing the hill at around 5:45 in the evening. At the beginning we found the trek to be easy as we were full of enthusiasm and energy. Soon all that enthu and energy started getting drained as the Gradient started to get steeper. We would climb for 15 minutes and take rest for another 15. We would wonder how the localites would climb with all the luggage and bags. On the way Manoj told us some stories about the hills. It seems that a foreigner discovered the hills and had stayed on top of the hills for about 3 months living on nothing but fruits and water. During the climb i drank a lot of water against my friends advice thinking i would regain some energy. I later found out that all the water would go to waste as all that went in came out of my mouth. I felt a bit relieved and we continued on the trek. This hill was once a fort built by some ruler. We were joking as to who would come and climb such a steep hill and why a fort was required here.
We trekked through the bushes and were grazed by a few thorns. Vasanth would ask Manoj every 10 minutes about still how much time was left to reach the top. We were consoled by the amount of time told by Manoj. Finally we reached the top and we had a few more yards to cover through the bushes and thorns and finally we reached the Temple. We screamed at the top of our voices in joy and relief and we felt we had achieved something although it was small. We had reached the peak at around 8:45 PM.
We put our bags aside near the small hotels and settled on a boulder. There was a strong wind and it helped us in cooling off. We had a few drinks of water and started roaming around. We had Manoj prepare Maggi and Egg Omelette for us. The spicy maggi felt like heaven in the cold weather. It was the start of April, but the weather was indeed chilly. So i would suggest that you take along a pullover or a sweater. After having our snacks we decided it was time to sleep. Vasanth decided to pitch the tent when Manoj told us to sleep inside his hut/hotel. We slept at 12:30 and the sheets of the hut were fluttering violently in the wind. We tried to catch some sleep but in vain. As were about to catch some sleep the teams of people started pouring in with howls and screams.
I came out of the hut and settled on a rock and asked my friend Vasanth to accompany me but he wanted to sleep. I took my torch and a stick in hand started exploring the rock at 3 in the night. The rest were busy howling, and drinking alcohol. The surrounding around this hill are beautiful. We went there on a 3/4 moon day so had plenty of light from the moon.
I saw a few stone shelters which had collapsed and the interior of the temple. One of the localites has made this temple his hotel and cooks egg and other stuff here. I took a few pictures here and there and was keeping myself occupied.
The surroundings here have Nandi Hills and a few other peaks. It makes a beautiful sight in full moonlight. Vasanth who was busy sleeping joined me knowing he could not sleep amidst the howling and hooting. We had probably lost our minds and started venturing into creepy and spooky place all by ourselves. We collected some dried wood and tinder and decided to make a fire. We arranged some rocks in a circle and use some paper lying around and started the fire. It gave us some warmth in the cold. We decided it was high time we rested and I took out a plastic sheet from my tent and used it as a blanket and went to sleep. Vasanth also crept in to the sheet beside me.
We woke up at 5:30 AM and the Sun was also waking up :) lol. All the people were busy finding the best view spots and we settled for some small boulder. The one thing that we missed was the clouds and the fog. The sun came out of this thin wall of clouds and I was busy puling Vasanth's legs over silly matters. But both of us had a good laugh. We captured a few pictures of the sunrise and then Manoj told us it was time to descend. The descent was easy and we got down in 45 minutes stopping here and there for a few snaps. We were laughing at the plight of a group who rejected our advice with bad attitude and ended up at a place where they could not get down. I know it was cruel of me to laugh but i had my share of fun hehehe :) .
We got down and reached Manoj's house where I had parked my Splendor( Desh ki Dhadkan) :) and filled bottles with cool water and left the place. If it was not for manoj we would have suffered the worst and we thanked him a Million times and appreciated his help.
Tips when you get to Skandagiri :-
1) Listen to what the localites have to say
2) Carry lots of water. Each bottle of water atop the hill costs 40 rupees.
3) Travel as light as possible to avoid unecessary
strain carrying weight.
4) Carry torches and a cigarette lighter and if possible some camphor.
5) Carry plastic bags to collect your rubbish and get it down.
6) Take some glucose along in case you need it.
7) The guides ask you for anywhere around 300 to a 1000 rupees. Try to take someone who knows the place or else then take the guide.
The one thing i noticed here is that the people have made it a haven for boozing and revelling which is not bad. It gets bad when people start breaking glass bottles over the boulders. I suggest if you get drunk and want to show it you can go and ram your head into the stones here instead of breaking bottles and creating nuisance to public. One more thing is, People learn to take away your trash instead of littering this place. It is for your own good and keep it in mind other people too have to visit the place. Also please avoid climbing on top of the temples for views. I observed a few people doing so.
After Skandagiri, I had planned on visiting Madhugiri, Koratagere, Devarayanadurga.
I headed out on the Chikballapur road towards Hyderabad instead of taking a deviation
towards Gouribidanur in Chikballapur. Not knowing the height of this mistake and how
much we would suffer later we continued on the hyderabad highway until we reached the
RTO checkpost and toll booth. We did not even realize here that we were indeed headed on
the wrong road. We asked a few people at the Toll booth for directions towards madhugiri
and they promptly gave them. We had this tiny feeling in our minds that something was not
right. So i Stopped after the checkpost again and asked a shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was
so excited to guide us and told us the name of almost every landmark on our route and
asked us as to why we did not take a turn in Chikballapur. We sadly followed the Hyderabad
route and took