Today’s agenda was Mullayanagiri, Bababudangiri and Manikyadhara falls.
Steps to the summit from the parking area
Mullayanagiri is the tallest peak in Karnataka @ 6300 feet. There is an auto road to the summit, which is about 8 km. At the top, you have to park the car and climb up about 400 steps to reach the summit. There is a very quiet and peaceful temple there. The mountain scenery is quitebreath-taking and the weather was awesome. A cool breeze was blowing the entire time we were there. A word about the drive – I don’t think it is me, it is the road. The drive is actually pretty dangerous in my opinion. The road is quite narrow (but I think it is true for all Indian roads, so it is not unusually narrow but after having driven on the wide mountainous roads in the U.S, this is very scary!) There are no guard rails, thus exposing you and the car to sheer drop-offs from the cliffs, which obviously gets worse as you go higher and higher. Every time another car came in the opposite direction, my heart would be in my mouth with a “will we or won’t we” feeling. This was one reason I didn’t completely enjoy the drive. The drive down was relatively relaxing. Next time, it is just better to hire a jeep for the day and leave the driving to the pros.
View from the top
Manikyadhara falls
Next stop was Manikyadhara falls. This was a total disappointment. If I cry, my flow of tears will probably be a thicker stream than the “thin as a hair strand” thread of water falling. It was quite crowded – apparently a sacred bathing place for muslims. SK was peacefully sleeping in the car, so we didn’t even get out here. We just drove to Baba_Budangiri. After the morning’s experience we were in a dilemma as to whether to do this or not, but we drove on. A couple of kms from the summit we saw very steep inclines which the smaller cars were struggling to climb up but the alternative of a U turn wasn’t simple either. We saw this from a distance and turned right around when the going was still good. We arrived back for a very late lunch. Most guests at the estate seemed to have arrived just then from their various day trips. Because all the 4 or 5 groups staying there were lined up for lunch at 4.15 pm. The evening was spent playing tennis, soccer and what not with the other groups. AK and SK were the only kids. Rest were all couples, bachelors and a mixed group of colleagues. AK was still scared of sleeping in the tree house, but we all slept much better the second night (fewer mosquitoes and kids had better blankets than previous night).
