We then reach Thirthahalli by 4 odd . The roads by now have started to open very picturesquely and the drive takes you through properly banked curves that is even enjoyable even on a Manual steering Car. We stop over for a brief food break marked by some south indian delicacies in the hotel on the main road which was very tasty and economically priced.
We aren't here for long, needed to make it to Agumbe before sunset that was couple of hours away and we still had 30 odd kms to over.
Kundadri Betta: ( On the way to Agumbe)
The peak is around 10 kms deviation on the Agumbe road to the left. Takes you through Roads that are as steep as >50 Degree. My poor 800 C huffed and puffed in the First and Second gears to make it to the top. the View above is magnificent. The peak also has a temple that is aligned with the Jain Culture coupled with a medium sized Kalyani that has clean water. One can see range of mountains for far far distances from this peak .
Agumbe( The Cheerapunji of the South)
The Destination for the first day was soon reached. I had sailed around 450 kms until now and luckily made it on time to catch the sunset. the View point gets pretty crowded by the evening and soon people clear off immediately after the sunset and the scene appears just like a traffic snarl at some junction in Bangalore. The place hides in it a lot than what it actually shows up on the surface . having the credit of receiving the highest rainfall in Karnataka, also the region is famous for innumerable number of falls around , most of them undiscovered and undisturbed. The place is also famous for its rich wildlife. King Cobra incidentally having made it to the stardom both in NGC and Discovery have been filmed in these places.
Shringeri ( Serene!!)
Since Agumbe lacks good accomodation, we decided to take a shot at shringeri which is an additional 25 kms from Agumbe. The Roads that we took weren't that great, and at one stretch that spanned around 15 kms i had to bear with a totally nonsense road with forests on either sides and no sign of people or Vehicles. We soon cover up the the remaining stretch and reach Shringeri
Call it a Day!!!
We have a very simple yet tasty food inside the temple. Then sulk down into the bed at the Temple Accomodation that we luckily got.
