Uncovering the Hidden Gem in Karnataka, Kodi Bengre Beach…

What do you prefer to do when u feel all messed up in your head and want to run away from all the work pressure (temporarily that is ;) ) and mundane activities in your day-to-day life?

I for one, love to travel to some of the most secluded or may I say virgin beaches this beautiful state has to offer and watch the sunset and hear the amazing sound of the waves in the sea and indulge in some amazing sea food J…. It brings me peace and happiness J

One such Beach that offers you peace and tranquility is Kodi Bengre in Udupi. This is an unexplored beach and is not frequented by tourists hence there is just you and loads of crabs and the pristine beachJ

Off-late this beach is becoming popular amongst the masses and soon it can turn into another touristy beach… And I hope I can make this beach a little more popular through my Blog J

Kodi Bengre…..

Kodi Bengre Beach is an Estuary where river Suvarna meets the Arabian Sea. This Beach is filled with Crabs and offer spectacular views of the Arabian sea. Kodi Bengre beach is just 10kms from Malpe in Udupi and if you are travelling from Bangalore to Kodi Bengre beach then you can take the Bangalore-Mangalore-Udupi route to reach this place.

Here is how this beach looks in Google Maps.

I got a call from my friend on Thursday and he suggested that we go for a trip to Udupi over the weekend. It had been a while since I visited the coastal side of Karnataka and indulged in some really yummy seafood and moreover I had nothing much planned for the weekend so I happily agreed to the plan.

Friday…

I woke up early so that I could go to office early and wind up work soon and not let any pending work hamper my weekend. I got off work by 5 in the evening and called my friend to enquire about the plan.  We were supposed to gather in Koramangala by 9 and head off to Udupi after dinner. So the plan was set and I was really looking forward to the trip mainly to indulge in some yummy street-side seafood J my friends were looking forward to the trip to get their minds off the terrible appraisal meeting and hike letters that they received in the week ;)

So all of us had different reasons to head out of Bangalore which was a perfect ingredient for a good trip ;)

The clock ticked 10 and we were out of Bangalore J we reach Yellandur by 11 after some hot chai we continued our journey. 

06:00 AM – We could smell the scent of the early morning catch of the sea fishes, that was an indication that we were nearing Udupi. We reached Malpe by 06:30 and started our search for some economical beach resort in Malpe beach. I was surprised or must say shocked to see Malpe beach so clean. In all my previous visits I had never seen Malpe beach so clean it used to be littered by tourists I was really happy it felt like I was in some foreign country. I really appreciate the efforts of the local authorities to keep the beach so clean….. Below are the pics of Malpe Beach... It looks like some beach in Mauritius :)

We started looking out for beach resorts in Udupi. After enquiring in few resorts we zeroed in on Thonse Par Beach resort since it was at a stone’s throw away from the beach and had spectacular view of the beach. After much bargaining he agreed for a tariff of 1500 per room which I feel was overpriced but couldn’t help because all the other beaches in its vicinity were charging almost double the rate. We checked into the resort and dozed off for an hour.

Here are some pics of Kodi Bengre Beach till the story resumes ;)

So we woke up by 11 after a power nap….. after freshening up we headed off to Kodi Bengre beach which was around 10kms from Malpe Beach….. The beach was beautiful and calm as usual with noone around… it was absolutely peaceful… w\There were lots of crabs on the beach and we were finding it difficult to find a place to sit as you never know they can get into your pants while you are sitting on the sand ;)

After spending an hour at the beach we headed back to Malpe and one of my objectives of the trip to spend some alone time in the calm beach was stricken off the list J and now it was the time for lunch and time to strike off the second part of the to-do list of indulging in some yummy seafood J

I love Udupi for the only reason that seafood is available at dirt cheap rate…. 1 plate Squid masala costs 100 bucks and 1 piece pomfret costs 40Rs J we ordered all the fishes that were on display in the cart of the local fisherman… Right behind there was a bar and as the saying goes “ A fish dish is never complete without a Beer” ;) so we boys ordered some bottles of beer to go along with the amazing seafood J

Malpe Beach Pics...

Coincidentally it was a full moon day while we were returning and we clicked some nice pics of the Sunset and the full moon :)

So that completed our short but sweet trip to one of Karnataks’s best kept secret, Kodi Bengre Beach J

A lazy weekend turns into an adventurous drive to BR Hills & K. Gudi.....

It was a Friday morning and as the weekend was nearing  I was excited about two things one, the delivery of my new 55-250 Cannon EFS lens and another, release   of the movie “Shaadi ke side effects” , sequel of “Pyar ke side effects” which was one of my favorite movies.

Cannon EFS 55mm – 250mm Lens……

I ordered the lens online at Flipkart as it was available at a 40% discounted price which I feel was a steal. I had a 18-55 kit lens and I wanted to upgrade to this beauty from a long long time.  I was eagerly waiting for some sort of a discounted price and I often used to check the price of this lens to see if there is any discount on this lens and thanks to FlipKart’s Algorithm which understood my desperation and intimated me as soon as the lens was available online at a discounted price J . No wonder Ecommerce Software engineers are paid so high since they write some really cool programs to predict the user’s desperation and offer solutions which benefits the end user and translates into huge revenue for the ecommerce website and the seller J .

The delivery of the lens was slated for Saturday but thanks to the amazing service by FlipKart I received the lens on Friday itself without any damage which I was initially skeptical off.

The Plan....

There was nothing specific planned for the weekend but since I got the new lens I wanted to explore it to the fullest over the weekend. Coincidently it so happened that my wife’s friend who stays in Mysore invited us over the weekend to stay at her place as her roommates were away for the weekend. I did not think twice and accepted her proposal J

I still hadn’t planned for the destination.  We thought we will plan it on-the-go.

After finishing some pending work on Saturday morning me and Wify headed off to Mysore by 3PM. To my surprise there was absolutely no traffic jam on Mysore road and it was a smooth sailing. I have never encountered such a situation in the past and being a frequent traveler on Bangalore roads I was almost starting to miss the traffic jams ;) .

So we reached Mysore by 8 and headed straight to DRC mall where we were supposed to meet our friend and watch “Shaadi Ke Side Effects” movie which was one of the items in our to-do-list for the weekend.  The movie did not disappoint and was a one time watch.

After the movie and dinner at KFC we headed back to her place. As I was tired after the journey I did not feel like planning anything for the next day and hit the bed ;).

Sunday J   ……

It was a beautiful Sunday Morning.  The weather was cloudy and felt like it would rain any moment. What better climate can you ask for a long drive J . I had to decide our destination for the day after evaluating our options we decided to go to B R Hills & K. Gudi  since we hadn’t been there earlier and had done Bandipur, Nagarhole million times ;) . So we decided for a one day trip to BR hills and K Gudi.

The destination was set, I tanked up my Figo and we were ready to go….

Since this trip was planned at the last moment I did not get the time to plan for the route to B R hills. I did not have any info how to go to BR hills from Mysore however from my previous trips to Bandipur I had seen sign boards at Nanjangud to BR hills. So I decided to travel to Nanjangud first and then ask the locals the route to BR Hills.

Now some Gyan on BR hills and K Gudi :)

                                      BR Hills & K Gudi Wiki……

Br Hills/BRT wildlife sanctuary  is situated at Karnataka-Tamilnadu border and is about 90kms from Mysore.  This is where the Western Ghats meets the Eastern Ghats. The best time to visit BR hills would be just after monsoon(September or October) when the forest is lush green……

K Gudi / Kyathadevaraya Gudi

K Gudi is situated at a distance of 18kms from Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple in BR hills. It is a hill station and there is a Jungle Lodges resort in K Gudi. So if you are planning to stay overnight at K Gudi you can stay at Jungle Lodges.

The Trip……

We started by 11AM ( we are always late risers you see  ;) ) and after a 20kms drive we reached Nanjangud.  There was a board near a railway crossing indicating we need to take a left from the Mysore-Ooty Highway to go to BR hills. So we took a left from the railway crossing and after travelling some distance there was a beautiful temple called Nanjundeshwara temple. We stopped at the temple and asked few locals about the route to B R hills and K. Gudi and the road conditions to BR hills.

   Nanjundeshwara Temple in Nanjangud

Based on their inputs there are two routes to BR Hills

Route 1:

Nanjangud  à Chamarajanagara (Signal) à Yelandur à BR Hills

Route 2:

Nanjangud à Chamarajanagara(Signal)  à Nagavalli à K Gudi à BR Hills

And they suggested us to take the Yelandur route if we are travelling only to B R hills since the road condition to BR hills is good at this stretch and the amount of ghat section is less compared to Kgudi à BR hills route.

However since we wanted to see both the places we planned to take both the routes. So this is the route we planned

Nanjangud à Chamarajanagara (Signal) à Yellandurà BR hills à K Gudi à Nagavalli à Chamarajanagara à Nanjangud à Mysore

This is how it looks on google maps

Most of the locals do not understand when you ask them where is BR hills or how to go to BR hills. They know the place by Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple or Biligiri Rangaswamy Betta( Betta means hill in Kannada). So if you are travelling to BR hills and need some pointers on directions from the locals make sure you give the full name.

         Road From Nanjangud to Chamarajanagara

 Road From Chamarajanagara Signal towards Yelandur

We took a left from the Chamarajanagara signal towards Yelandur. There are huge sign boards in Yelandur which provides directions to BR hills. We followed the directions and reached the forest check post by 1.

                                        First View of BR Hills

                                    

                                             The jungle begins.....

After filling out the details in the register we headed off to BRT sanctuary at first the forest was not appealing and the reason for it is that it is almost summer time now and the ghat would have been in its glory only during monsoons when the trees would be lush green. We spotted some wild Boars at the entrance apart from that we did not spot any wildlife throughout our journey. We just spotted elephant dung and the anticipation to spot elephants gave us adrenalin rush but alas we spotted none.  We encountered some stretches where the forest was still green and we halted to click some pictures. We reached the junction from where the Temple was at a distance of 3 kms and K Gudi was 18 kms. However we were not in the mood to visit the temple so we headed off towards Kgudi. The road to K Gudi from the Junction is spectacular….. the forest was lush green and simply beautiful….. We drove slowly in the Ghats so that we enjoy the magnificence of the Ghat…… We stopped at few places to take photographs. After an amazing drive for about 18kms we reached K Gudi Jungle Lodges camp.  We halted there freshened up and then after sometime headed back to Mysore.

       Lush Green Ghat roads from BR hills to K Gudi

The road conditions from BR hills to K Gudi and the entire Ghat was very good. I did not expect such good roads on a Ghat section. There is nothing much to see in these places however you should visit these places only to enjoy the spectacular views the ghat has to offer and experience the adrenalin rush driving through thick forests having magnificent views…..                              

We reached Mysore by 5PM and after freshening up headed back to Bangalore…. All in all it was an amazing experience driving through beautiful ghat sections and experimenting on my new Canon lens.. I couldn’t have asked for more J