Its time for me to blog, and the occasion called 'himavad gopalaswamy betta ride' on 27th Oct'08. Sunday noon we planned to get off our bums & do some biking, coz its been really a long time we went for a long biking. So, the options started to pour in from buddies, starting with antaragange, then tekal caves, then balmuri or edumuri falls, then all time hit nandi hills et al... finally we freezed on Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta (HGB). Only one from our batallion visited the mountain & none other been there. So, it was decided to head on to HGB.
It was a holiday on monday, we didnot want to waste time in the morning, & luckily sunday it did not rain in Bengalooru, so we wanted to enjoy the early morning mist on the way. So, started from my place at around 0500 hrs (boy! it was chilling out there). It was 8 of us on 5 bikes., two extreme's, one P180, one RX & one ZMA - all monster bikes.
Initially we started in a medium pace at around 50-60 kmph & it was very very chill., one of my frnd was finding it very difficult to drive, as his hands started to turn whitish, so pushed him onto the rear seat & other fellow took the wheels. At 0515 hrs, came to Kengeri jn., sipped a cup of hot coffee on a roadside store (coffee was too good). Again started to hit the roads, no one ahead of us, no one behind us, once in a while an Airawat or a KSRTC bus was passing us, or we were overtaking them, other than that, we ruled the road. Then it was the breakfast time, stopped in Channapatna, I had three plates of idli :) & chutney (wow! finger licking b'fast), but vada's were too oilly, so did not dare to touch them, 'n other's help'd themselves with idli's, vada's, dosa's et al, finishing with a cup of coffee (only me & other frnd). With our tummies full, dint have the mood to drive, & went to nearby paddy farm, spoke with the localites & came to know about their ways of celebrating Deepavali, stayed there for half an hr, a villager offer'd us fresh sugarcane juice, each one of us had 3-4 glasses, until our stomach's said 'enuf is enuf'... gave him some money & wished him happy festival.
Our rest of the journey was good, once in a while our monsters were very tempted to throttle full, my frnd's ZMA touching 135 kmph, and other bikers trying to keep pace with him (but in vain) dared to touch 110-120 kmph. Our last stop befo Mysore was Mandya (had tender coconut's) & rested for 10 mins before hitting towards Mysore. Finally reach'd Mysore entrance at 0745 hrs, no one was in a mood to eat, except me, 'n other two :P We came down to Mysore zoo jn. & we needed to take the Mysore-Ooty road, go past Nanjangud, reach Gundlupet, futher 8 kms to reach Hangla & then take right turn to start HGB's mountain. So, near Mysore zoo, there was this Hotel Mysore Refreshments or something..., we had a plate of idli with sambar 'n chutney, & at last all of us having another cup of coffee (which was really really bad :( ).
Again at 0815 hrs started towards our final destination, HGB, going on the route mentioned above., & take it from me, these roads seriously need some first aid, especially after Gundlupet. If you are going in an low end car like 800 or Alto or any other compact car, then pls hire a private jeep or best option would be KSRTC bus to go to the hill top from Gundlupet.
Atlast we reached Gundlupet at 0915 or so. And after that pathetic journey from Mysore to Gundlupet, we seriously were not in a mood to further continue our ride to HGB, so me 'n my frnd went to enquire about any jeep availability. To our luck, a ready KSRTC bus was about to leave to the hill. We told the driver to hold on for a sec, went to our other frnds (who were waiting), parked our bikes in shade, 'n ran towards the bus-stand. Bus fare was some Rs.24 or so, & as expected it was less road, & more of pot-holes (I would say craters). We went in bus, but felt as if we are going in a bullock-cart.
After 2-3 kms of village limits, & passing the check-post, the real ride starts., its a bit of ghat section, with craters & boulders all the way., if you are on any fancy car or an expensive car, then your vehicle is definitely gone for a toss, only surving vehicals can be KSRTC's & SUV's & jeep's. After some 45 min journey, you reach Gopalaswamy temple, which is on the top of the hill. And other than the temple, there is nothing on hill top, not even a single store. And let me tell you one thing, HGB is a plastic free zone, so, carrying of plastic bags are strictly prohibited.
Bus conductor gave us 10 mins time in the temple, there was quite a bit no. of people in the temple, other than that, not much rush. After the temple visit, we had a bit time (took more than 10 mins).
But we were disappointed here, we being regular trekkers, we've seen 'n trekked many mountains including Kodchadri, Antaragange, Kudremukha, Narsimha Parvatha, Kumara Parvatha 'n all, but compared to these mountains, HGB was not upto the expectation (atleast what we expected). Can get some nice pics & shoot a video. After all this, bus started honking, 'n we had to make a move. Journey downhill was a bumpy one, but luckily dint take 45 mins. We reached the checkpost in less than 15 mins. And reach'd Gundlupet at around 1100 hrs, rested in G'pet for some 20 mins, & left from G'pet at around 1130 hrs towards Mysore.

Reached Mysore by 1300 hrs (it was slow ride), just before entering Mysore, we entered a dhaba (7 kms befo Mysore), nice food 'n ambience it was, sat in dhaba till 1500 hrs. Left dhaba, & started our journey to Bengalooru. On the way, we went to Sangama, near Srirangapatana, spent sometime there & 1545 hrs finally said goodbye to Mysore & started moving towards Bengalooru. As usual took some pit-stops to have coffee, tender coconut's, banana's 'n all...

Reach'd Bengalooru at 1830 hrs, said bye-bye-bye to all, 'n came home at sharp 1900 hrs.

Some tips:

1. Saw a KSRTC starting from Bengalooru bus stand to HGB directly. People who dont have vehicles or not in a mood to drive all the 200 plus kms, then better board this bus & start your journey.

2. As mentioned above, the road from Gundlupet to the hill top, its bad-bad-bad roads., so be prepared for the 'ride of the lifetime'.

3. Luckily from Mysore till G'pet, every half km, you'll find a tender coconut wala, and you can sip nice tender coconut's.

4. HGB is a plastic free zone, so pls make sure of this point.

5. People who are keen trekkers, HGB will be a bit disappointment, am not telling its not worth, but nothing much can be found here. You can see nilgiri mountain range from HGB.

6. Nearby bunk, hospital-clinic, hotel can be found only in G'pet.

7. Finally, route to be follow'd: Bengalooru => Mysore (140 kms) => take Mysore-Ooty route => pass thru Nanjangud => Gundlupet (60 kms) => further to Hangla (7-8 kms) => right turn near Hangla (there is an arch) => pass thru the checkpost => Himavad Gopalaswamy temple.