Visiting the Poor Man's Ooty - Sakala-Aishwarya-Pura (Sakaleshapura)

The Post title would have been Visiting the Jinxed place - Pondicherry, but alas, not even this time. Due to Cyclone Nada, we had to cancel the Pondi trip, 7th or 8th time. I lost interest in searching for new places and I decided to head to Coffee Santhe if nothing worked. The lasses of the group frantically searched few places and zeroed on Sakleshpura. I accepted unseeingly. The stay was booked and we decided to drive down.

So, we four of us, Prasad's and Kallur's met at Magadi main road and hit the NH 75, Bangalore - Mangalore highway by 7.30 AM. We had breakfast at Swathi Delicacy which is 4kms before Yediyur. Nice place for the pit stop. There is a Polar bear ice cream parlor next to the restaurant.

Swathi Delicacy Restaurant

We reached Sakleshpura town by 11.30 AM and our first place in the list was Manjarbad fort.

Its located outside of the town and is in star shaped. It was constructed by Tippu Sultan, erstwhile ruler of Mysore. The path to the fort is getting renovated . We spent close to an hour in the fort.

Path to the fort

Manjarbad Fort

Hemakoota homestay(Tripadvisor) was our stay and it was an hour drive from the Manjarbad fort. We were advised the route beforehand by the owner. Immediately after the fort, there is a "Y" section and for the homestay the left of the "Y" section to be taken. We missed this and drove around for some time before realizing the mistake. But for the last 6 kms, the road to the homestay is in good condition. The last 6 kms looked like the road was for the bullock carts.

Homestay Rooms

Homestay atrium

Homestay owner Home

If Self driving , following are the two routes which can be considered from Bangalore,

If determined to travel in Bus, there is a bus stop which is walk able from the homestay. TImings below,

From Bangalore

a)Bus 1

Departure time : 7.30 AM

Route : Bangalore - Hongadahalla via Hindupura

Arrival time : 3.30 PM @ Attihally

b)Bus 2

Departure time : 11 AM

Route : Bangalore - Hongadahalla via Anekal

Arrival time : 7PM @ Attihally

From Attihally

a)Bus 1

Departure time : 7.30 AM

Route : Hongadahalla - Bangalore via Anekal

Arrival time : 3 PM @ Bangalore

a)Bus 2

Departure time : 9.30 AM

Route : Hongadahalla - Bangalore via Hindupura

Arrival time : 4 PM @ Bangalore

The bus stop near to the homestay is Attihally and the timings are apporx.

We reached the Homestay at 2 PM and all of us were famishing. The Malnad food was waiting for us and we gorged them. Super tasty. We were supposed to visit falls nearby in the evening, but ended up resting in the room. We took a stroll to the nearby farm and played Carrom in the evening with hot,spicy Masala Dal Vada. We had dinner and ended the day with small talk.

Places of Interest around Homestay

We had the above important places to visit in 2 days and Gowtham gave us the itinerary and route accordingly. Next day, after traditional breakfast, we headed to Bisile Ghat. The road is not in great condition and avg speed reduced to 20Kmph. We had no other cars presence when we were driving. It was lonely and roads at some places were covered with dense bushes on either side. Nice and challenging drive. There are many view spots and we went to Beauty spot 2.

Entrance

Pan aroma shot of the Ghats

The weather was cloudy and windy. No crowd at all. Divine.

We had plans to scale Patla Betta en route, but due to time constraint gave it a miss and proceeded to Mallalli Falls. BTW the Patla Betta is visible from the Bisile Beauty spot and if not possible to trek there, can hire a jeep. We need to backtrack till there is deviation to Mallalli Falls. Its in the Kodagu district. Yes, you read it right. Sakleshpura is bounded by Kodagu district to the Southeast and South. Again the roads are empty and inclined at some places. Dont fret that you are lost. We will hit a post office where we need to take deviation towards the falls.

Empty Roads

Direction to Falls

We reached falls at 1PM and we need a walk for 10 min to the entrance. An entry fee of 10 INR is collected and there are steps to climb down. The falls was not to its full capacity and we climbed down only to get good photo.

Mallalli Falls

We returned to the homestay at 3 and had Malnad lunch. We decided against taking rest and went to Mookanmane/Abbey falls which was just 4 kms from the homestay. We parked Car at the entrance and walked for 10 min. downhill till bridge. From the bridge the path is next to the stream and it involves some trek to see the water falls. As it was not rainy season and less rain this season, the sight was not that we expected. Nonetheless, good place to play in water.

Path next to steam

Mookanmane Falls

We returned by 6.30 PM and again small talk till/post dinner. Today, we were served Bajjis.

Next day, we got up early and went to Sakleshpura railway trek place at 7.30 AM. It needs Jeep ride as the roads are inside forest. We reached hongadahalla and took Jeep ride from there. Gautham had booked the jeep for us the previous day . Nayan and Kariyanna are house hold names there for Jeep excursions and trek guide. Both can be contacted directly at +919481667295 and +919480099569 respectively.

Jeep ride inside forest

There is a drop off point from where we need to walk for 10 min to reach the railway bridge/track. We walked over it and there are tunnels on either side. The longer one is close to 0.5 km and it needs a torch to go inside. We crossed the bridge and went to the other smaller tunnel. We had photo sessions and spent close to 1 and half hours there.

Longer tunnel

Gorge below the bridge

Highest Railway bridge in the Sakleshpura

There are steps to climb down and if walking inside the longer tunnel its advised to carry torch. Cell phone torch may not serve the purpose. We returned by 9.30 AM and had decided to leave the place by 10.30 max. But demonetization discussion killed one hour. We had breakfast and saw the owner's Cardamom and Pepper farm behind the homestay. We bid adieu to the wonderful host at 12 PM and started towards Bangalore. We decided to visit Mavankere en route which was a family deity for Kallur's and so took Route 2 from above. Its 20 kms short on the distance to Bangalore too. No complaints on the road condition.

One of the major highlight of the trip was the homestay we stayed in. It has 3 rooms and a dorm. The three rooms are separated from main house compound, where the owner couple Gautham and Manu stay. The dorm is located in the upstairs of the main house. The rooms open to a nice green atrium where they arrange campfire if needed.

The couple are very passionate about the venture and it was visible in all aspects of the stay. The cleanliness of the rooms, the variety of tasty Malanad food, help in deciding the itinerary, and of course, the warmth displayed is outstanding. Gautham can be contacted directly at +919341894950. We paid 2000 per person per night for all inclusive. Thanks to them for the amazing hospitality.

Some other places in the vicinity include Kaganare Hill station, Hosahalli Hills, Patla Betta . Depending on the time availability and interest, can visit all these.

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