The Place: Nandi hills is one of the hills in a range of mountains. Its also referred to as Nandidurga since there is fort on top. The place is about 65kms from Bangalore & is often the chosen spot for weekend rides/getaways. Tipu Sultan used this fortified mountain-top as his summer resting place until it was seized by the british in 1791. The peak is about 1450+ meters above sea level. Half of the hills appears with a rocky slope while the other half has a road meandering to the top. Besides the fort, there is also botanical garden maintained by the horticultural dept of Karnataka, couple of temples, a lake & guest houses. There is also a point along the fort called as ‘Tipu Drop’ from where wrong doers were said to be pushed down to a 600mt stony slope.!! There is also a 2 story house which Tipu used as his summer house. It was locked though ..may be tipu forgot to handover the keys?? ;-) there are also some huge trees some of which are said to be from Tipus time!!
The Plan: one of the reasons why I have to be on the planning commission of India is that I went to Nandi hills after a planning of 1 year.!!! Now this is same kind of planning that I also do for my reviews. My good friends on MS always read ‘lazy, postponing’ whenever I use the word ‘Plan’… you can also do the same ;-) … so after a year of planning finally my friend & me went to this place on last Saturday. Hailing from places known for greenery & mountain-ry I just took to the place, as a fish would take to air …err I mean water ;-)
The Ride: We went by bike. Since much of the route is the same as road to coming up Intl Airport the roads are extremely good. If you are going with friends bike ride adds to the thrill. But be cautioned – bikes aren’t allowed to go to topmost place. On top there is a base station type spot where we have to buy tickets & leave the bikes. But if traveling by car you are allowed till the end, till the cliff. Bikers have to walk to top, which takes 10 minutes. If going as a family, with kids et all car would be ideal. Parking fees bikes 15, cars 60.
Things to do: different ppl do different things here. Well, my friend & me wanted to have our time with nature, mountains & greenery ..and also we wanted to prove that together we can do more than ‘planning’ ;-) I saw groups of biker friends who just come here for ride, view from top & return. Then there are also photo enthusiasts who come here to click the garden, fish in the lake, views from top etc. Then there are families who come here as a family outing. There is a playing park for children. & then there are people who only come here to get drunk on mountain top & then there are ‘couples’ here that you find in any parks!! Also there are ppl who come here only to go the temples. Its good to take a walk along the fort walls, which is along the cliff around the hill & see/click valleys beneath & mountains beyond. There is a lake on top of mountain which has a lot of fishes & tortoises in it. I saw a snake in another small water body & didn’t let it go until she gave me a ‘pose’. See video to see her beauty ;-)
Carry: your own food as the things sold here are too costly. Especially with kids around its good to carry your own junk food like lays, chips, cold drinks or water bottles. The shops, I felt overcharge too much ..as much as 50% extra. There is a KSTDC run mayuri pine top hotel which is at the edge of the cliff, which gives a great view of valley below while dining. As far as possible carry your own food.
Litter-ature plenty: The great Litter-ary abilities of the aam janta of our country are at display here too. You will find a lot of litter empty bottles, lays packets etc lying around among the greens. Infact there was a board that read ‘antara ganga’ .. I went there expecting a spring of water, but what I saw in that little pond was black water with 223 bottles & what not. Be a good citizen, don’t show ur litter-ary skills ;-) .. except on MS.. I mean literary ;-)
Planet of the apes: be warned about this. There are a lot of monkeys here who seem aware of their ‘rights’. If they see you with a bag or plastic cover with something in it. They will simply snatch it away. I saw at least two ladies being attacked by monkeys & being relieved of their edible packs! The monkeys even go the extent of climbing on you & snatch any packet you are holding aloft! So eatables are best left in car to be eaten at places where there is no monkey business!
Slide Down: while the ride up is tedious with curvy roads & climbs we had a easy climb down which also ensured ‘greater self reliance for India’ !! around 9km of meandering downward road was covered in no time, with no fuel. We came down in neutral with engine off ..thereby saving precious fossil fuel, which according to the slogan ‘Save Oil for india’s self reliance’ is a service to the nation! ;-) .. that also explains the title too ;-)
Also on the way are a lot of wineyards. You will see those farmers selling grapes along the road. Its not a bad idea to bargain & buy some grapes, fresh from the wineyard. We brought for 18Rs/kg ..which I later found was around 25-30Rs a Kg in city. By the way I ran out of batteries as I reached the top, so I have promised myself to ‘plan’ a trip again with focus on photography.
If you are in Bangalore for a while think about visiting this place either with family or with friends.
Trivia: Which MSian would you be reminded at the mention of ’Nandi hills’ & Why ? correct answer will win ..... give your answers in comments? .. only the answer I have is the right answer !! ;-)