Ramadevara betta

Ramadevara betta is a hill in the Ramanagara district. Ramadevara betta is around 50Kms from Bangalore, just before reaching Ramanagara (after Ghousia College of Engineering) need to take right turn (if you are traveling from Bangalore). 

This place will be open for visitors all the days’ from morning 10.00AM to Evening 5.00PM. I read few blogs about night trekking and all, but when I checked in the check post they said they won’t allow such activities at any cost!!!

Since it was last minute plan only Seena joined me for this drive (because it is just 50 Kms from Bangalore can’t mention it as Long drive :P), we reached Ramadevara betta around 11.00AM. By the time we reached only one other team was there later crowd started building.

No entrance fee is charged to visit this place, only we have to enter our vehicle details in the check post.

Initially we have to climb some steps to reach Temple on top of the hill.

 You can find some nice views while climbing up also.

 

Pond next to Temple.

Scary steps, but once you climb this you will feel its worth climbing up J

Seena was bit scared with his initial steps :P 

View from top of the hill.

Time for Photo Session J

Me & my best buddy 

People will tell ‘One should be lucky to spot wild animals’; on this day we were lucky. Spotted vulture with the help of forest guard. We should be very thankful to him for helping us to capture vulture in our camera J

I had been to this place before couple of times but I was not aware that Ramadevara betta is Vulture Sanctuary. This is one of the best places around Bangalore for one day trip (Even it is good place for beginners to start trekking & if you are lucky you can spot the Vulture as well).

Route: Bangalore – Mysore road – Kengeri – Bidadi – Ramadevara Betta.

Distance: Around 50 km from Bangalore. 

Puducherry – First long drive on my new car…!!!

Trip to Pondicherry (also called as Pondy/Puducherry) was not a just trip; we planned this trip especially for Manja. Actually it was Manja’s bachelor party… which was shifted all the way from Bangkok to Pondy :P

Due to time constrain and busy schedule we could not make it to Bangkok, (Bangkok plan is pending from almost 3 years..!!!) since no one was in stage of taking leave we even dropped plan of hanging out in Goa, finally we decided to travel to Pondy. 

One more thing, trip to Pondy was my first trip in my new car… J   

We planned this trip on Good Friday day and this trip was for just 3 days. Thursday late night only we started from Bangalore. From Bangalore, Pondy is around 375 Kms, roads are really good and we can cover the distance in less than 5 to 6 hours. It totally depends on traffic near tolls and how many breaks you will take in between.  

Reached Pondy around 7.00Am and since last minute we decided about the place didn’t book any rooms for our stay. Somehow we managed to get room. It took almost 2 hours to find a decent room. There are lot of options near French colony for stay, but because of long weekend most of the hotels were booked.

Because of whole night drive we were bit tired, more than that we were bit scared to go out because of heat. I guess temperature was almost 38 Degree Celsius on that day…!!!   

After taking some rest at hotel we started exploring Pondy, personally I don’t feel like there are many things to do at Pondy. We just went for a drive across the Beach, spent some time remaining around the city, clicked couple of pics and went back to hotel.

Pondy Beach opposite to french colony

At evening again we went for a walk near one more beach, evening walk with childhood friends was filled with loads of fun. It was one of the memorable walk J

For Day 2 we decided to go out of Pondy, Seena suggested one more place Chidambaram which is around 70 Kms from Pondy. By the time we reach Chidambaram temple was closed and we headed towards Pichavaram which is around 9 Kms from Chidambaram (around 75 Kms from Pondy).

Pichavaram the second largest Mangrove forest in the world, it is one of the unique Eco-tourism spots in South India. Both paddle boats and motor boats, operated by the Tamil Nadu tourism department, take passengers through the mangrove forest daily from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. However, it can get very hot in the middle of the day, so it's better off going in the morning or late afternoon. Rates start from 240 rupees for a paddle boat and 1,200 rupees for a motor boat, and increase according to time and distance travelled.

We opted for 1 hour ride on paddle boat, after hearing from our guide (boatmen) we decided to go further inside the smaller, narrow canals of mangrove forest.

First site of canal

And it goes on

With my best buddy

One of the natural frames 

Our GANG

 A trip of at least two hours is recommended to explore the mangrove jungle. Motor boats can't go inside these canals, so make sure you take a paddle boat if you're interested ride into the narrow canals. It's well worth to take a ride on this path.

First pic of my new car

I was not expecting that this place will be so beautiful, really wonderful experience and worth to visit… J

After having an amazing ride, came back to Chidambaram and visited the temple. Again we were back to Pondy. 

On day 3 while returning we decided to take different route and cover Mahabalipuram on the way back to Bangalore. Drive from Pondy to Mahabalipuram is also a wonderful experience. While entering that highway only you can notice a board saying ‘East coast National high way – One of the most scenic highway’s on the earth’.

Mahabalipuram is around 100 Kms from Pondy. Mahabalipuram was the major seaport of the ancient Pallava kingdom based at Kanchipuram, and a wander round the town’s great, World Heritage–listed temples.

Because of heat could not spend much time near this place and all the places were crowded like a hell, so could not click pics also. Visited major attractions of Mahabalipuram and returned to Bangalore around 11.00PM.

One more unplanned trip added to my gallery with this drive. Funniest part is Bachelor’s party trip turned out as ‘Teerta-Yaatre’ :P

But enjoyed a first long drive on my new car and last trip with Bachelor Manja and team J