Road trip Adventure to Shimoga

Shimoga Solo Road Trip Adventure with Royal Enfiled Himalayan!!

- 970 Km done in 1.5 days

 It was 10.30 PM of 01^st November.I was about to sleep when suddenly a thought came to my mind; its been long since I have not done a Solo Bike Adventure Trip. Why not tomorrow?

Suddenly Google Uncle was woken up on cellphone to help me with my trip plan. It was decided that I will be going to Shimoga. Now Why Shimoga ?

Because it is loaded with natural beauty and has to most prominent places namely Mighty Jog Falls and Sakrebyle Elephant Park. But there was a twist!! I had 1.5 days to complete this exciting Road trip of approx.970 Km. I thought lets try it out. In worst case I will have to drop on location that's it.

So here comes the most awaited day on 2^nd November 2019. Started with basic packing and rucksack was packed in 20 mins. Good to Go for adventurous journey!! ( later came to know that I have missed out on selfie stick. So unfortunately no grt selfies in this trip guys)

Went to office on scheduled time didnt know that God was going to test my patience in office hours with lots of hectic and troublesome clients. Some how I convinced my new boss for leaving early and to my surprise he agreed happily. Mind you has was a wanderer during his younger days hence was familiar with my Travel Bug!!

Now after somehow escaping the clients, got time to move out of Office at 2.30 PM. Went to Bike shop and got one Octopus for holding my Rucksack behind bike. Later during my riding, found this Octopus very useful as it snugly held my travel kit.

This is the Octupus I bought for this trip

Royal Enfield Himalayan Bike was roaring to go for Exciting Travel..Vrooommmmmm....

Now the Epic  Solo Road Trip Finally began at 3.15 PM on 2^nd November 2019. As per Original plan, I expected to reach Shimoga by 9 PM. But now I had to take a night halt on the way.

My route to reach Shimoga was 398 Km long and went from Kolhapur (Maharashtra ) - Kagal – Nippani (From hereon its Karnataka) - Belgaum - Dharwad – Hubli – Gabbur – Varur- Bankapura – Haveri – Ranebennur- Honnali – Kudli – Shimoga.

Ready for exciting Solo Road Trip

So initially I rode effortlessly since road till Hubli is awesome piece of smooth Tarmac!! Later the road is under construction and hence lots of diversions. I managed to cover  311 Km till 8.30 Pm but later the road condition became bit worse hence decided to take night halt at Ranebennur.

Smooth Sailing till Hubli @ National Highway 48 

       Now the most hard part- to look for hotel room. I called up all major hotels in Ranebennur as per advise of Google Uncle but some were booked and others were expensive for bagpacker like me. All this time I was on highway and didn't enter city since Hotel was not confirmed.

(Additional Info About City :By the way Ranebennur is home to a rich commodity market. Commodities like cotton yarn, cotton seed, oil seeds, red chilli, betel nut, and betel leaf are traded. Ranebennur has a seed multiplication industry. Several seed companies are located and operating in the city. Ranebennur is also known for its wholesale cloth market and all type of wholesale business.)

       Finally god answered my call and an angel was willing to provide room at INR 400 to me .I rode to place , booked room, unpacked and went out in search of Food. But here also fate was ready to test my patience. Most restaurants were either full, Shabby or long waiting.So finally our modest South Indian dish – Onion Uttapam came to my rescue in a small but clean hotel just next to Ranebennur Bus stand. Now my hunger was satiated and I was ready to sleep.

Delicious Onion Uttapam- My Favourite South Indian Dish

The D Day has arrived – Can't Wait to Ride

Next morning woke up at 5.30 AM since I had just this day i.e. 3^rd Nov to visit places and go back home at Kolhapur in onepiece without doing any misadventure as mentioned in my 1^st post earlier.

Attendant was deep asleep and reluctant to open gate. So I took task of attendant as well and opened gate of Hotel. Now again fresh to explore places and started with refreshing Hot tea along with Sambhar Wada.

Then I happened to see a guy at junction of city road and highway. His way of walking was something very laid back and jolly. I stopped by him and came to know his name was Bhola who worked in Brick factory nearby and belonged to Chattisgarh. Here is Mr Bhola for you :

Say Hi to Mr Bhola

Reached Shimoga at 8.30 AM and went straight to Sakrebailu Elephant Camp located 14 km on outskirts of Shimoga city.

Sakrebailu Elephant Camp:

This Elephant camp is located on banks of Tunga River. Here the wild elephants are tamed and trained by experienced Mahuts. Visting Timing are from 8.30 to 11 AM only so plan in advance, however no prior booking are required. Here we can watch elephants being bathed and scrubbed before 9 AM. Even we can try scrubbing elephants and they enjoy it lying in muddy cool water of Tunga river. The area is lush green and comes under Forest Dept. We can also feed the Elephants with specially prepared food under supervsion of Mahut . Elephant Safari is also major attraction and kids just love this place.

I am eager to take by baby girl to this place when she is 3-4 years of age.She is 1 year old now and here she is.

Note : 1) Elephant also provide free shower from their trunk for those who missed out morning bath..And its free too... Ha Ha

2} No camera flash and outside food allowed.

Lush Green Beetlenut Plantation in Shimoga- Must Visit

Shimoga is hub for Areca nut Plantation, also called as Bettle Nut plantation. Its a variety of Palm tree and India is larget producer of Areca Nut with around 54 % share of world output as on 2017 . As on 2013-14 , Karnataka produced 62 % , followed by Kerala and Assam.

There are many small units to harvest and process beetlenuts.Harvesting season is mostly Oct and Nov .

Here are some pics of how beautiful the plantation looks

Raw Bettle nut OrAreca Nut

Awesome Masterpiece of Hoysala Architecture - Amruteshwara Temple

Then a slight detour occured when someone referred me a superb Ancient Temple called Amruteshwara Temple located in Chikmanglur District of Karnataka and 50 Km from Shimoga on NH 206. Mind you , Jog falls is on other side if Shimoga so you have to return 50 km back to city and the start for Jog Falls.

This Temple was built in 1196 C E by Hoysala King Veera Ballala 2 . For more details you may refer Wikipedia link below

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amrutesvara_Temple,_Amruthapura

Trust me , the temple is marvellous and you will surely love the fine carvings on it even if you are not great fan of Temple Architecture and Mythology.

Encounter with Juice Vendor

Then while returning I came across a Fruit Juice Vendor on road side and stopped for yummy Pineapple juice. After enquiring with the boy, I came to know he belongs from place called Agra in Uttar Pradesh state of India which may be around 50 hrs from this places by multiple train journeys.

When I asked him if he knows local Kannada language , he smiled and said he has learnt basic communicational words and its more than enough to sell juice.Wow!! This is beauty of India. People easily acclimatize to new places and are happy.

On the Way to Majestic Jog Falls

First I had to return to Shimoga and then on other way to Jog Falls which was 101 Km from Shimoga city . Due to lack of time, I skipped lunch and went through following route to Jog Falls.

Shimoga – Ayanur – Kumsi – Hosagunda – Ullur- Sagar- Talaguppa- Jog Falls.

On the way to Jog falls we go through dense green forest which is part of Sharavati valley Wildlife Sanctuary and road is picturesque. I also encountered a gang of super bike riders who zoomed past me like a bullet.

Now talking about Jog Falls – Its also called as Gerusoppe falls, Joga Jalapatha and Jogada Gundi in local language.Its created by Saravati river by spectacular drop of 253 mtrs{ 80ft} making it 2^nd highest Waterfall in India after Nohkalikai falls with drop of 335 m {1100 ft} in Meghlaya.

It has 4 pours namely Raja which pours unbroken to depth of 830 ft . Halfway down it meets Roarer. Then comes Rocket which shoots downwards with series of Jets. And finally the Graceful Rani moves quietly over mountain side . One can go to the bottom of fall with help of 1400 steps but most people are scared by count of steps. For them Tourism dept has made a huge gallery to view the full face of falls.

I was amazed by the perfect arrangements done by Karnataka Tourism Dept for visitor parking, Entry- Exit, Refreshments , Sitting and viewing gallery .Its well planned and can accomodate may be 1000 odd visitors at a time very easily.

Small entry fee is also charged for Viewing this Fall.

Rushing Back go Home Sweet Home

By the time I left Jog Falls , it was 3.30 PM and I was really short of Time.

I planned to take this route for return to Kolhapur which was 373 Km away but seemed double the distance since I had already rode about 228 km since morning and my Bum was annoyed by this torture.

Return Route- Jog Falls- Husor- Siddapur- Sirsi – Malgi – Pala- Salgaon – Guddageri – Tadas – Gabbur- Nuggikeri – Kittur- Belgaum- Nippani – Kolhapur.

Now again it was teating time for me and my vehicle since patch from Guddageri to tadas was in extremely poor condition with just mud and no tar on road. It felt like is was on off road biking track with all mud, water and huge potholes which you can't dodge. But thanks to Himalayan Bike it was managable with Ease. Super tough bike for hard riders like me!!

Racing with the Lovers on Highway

On the way back home after Hubli, I got company of young biker couple who was speeding away on Highway and was trying to Race with me. The boy was trying hard to impress gal with his riding skills sans protective biking gear. During a smooth patch I chased him and won the race since he had Pulsar 180 and I had the mighty RE Himalayan. During a road trip it's always advisable to stay in limits and avoid rash driving.

Considering the long time I would take to reach Kolhapur I even skipped dinner and finally reached home at 10.45 PM tired but determined to take on next adventure road trip...

Special thanks to Royal Enfiled Himalayan for making this ride a grt adventure !!

Source of Information- Wikipedia , Google Maps