Phantasmagoria by Kishore Murthy

Clicked in Jan 2004 / Budangiri Trek (*album)

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV

On the day 1 of our hike – We reached Chikmagalur by 0430 hrs, despite taking the last bus from Bangalore at 2330 hrs. The tea from the Soumya stall at the bus stand, was real good (Slurp!).

At 0600 hrs we got into the Kamat hotel next to the bus stand. The workers at the hotel had just started cleaning the place and the shutter was half open. We managed to get in and told the shopkeeper that we did not mind waiting for the breakfast to be ready . Basically we wanted a warm place indoors

The bus towards Bababudangiri is a local, private transport vehicle and leaves at 0730 / 0800 hrs. The bus was parked right in front of the Kamat hotel from 0600 hrs. By 0730 hrs we went and sat inside the bus awaiting its departure. The bus left at 0800 hrs after making a full circle around the KSRTC bus stand. We passed Kaimara and he dropped us at the check post which was our starting point (If you are not the hiking kind then ride on the bus all the way to Bababudangiri). And if you are hiking from Muliyanagiri towards Bababudangiri then just hike down to this check post and continue onwards either by bus or walk.

We started our hike from the check post. The check post is 10 km from Kaimara and 6 km in the direction of Atthigundi, our first target. It was a nice, warm hike along the road and there seemed to be no end to the exhilarating sights.

>> Part II | Part III | Part IV