Being sceptical about rains, we took our chances and went for the trek.
Deepak, my partner, started at 6am from BTM, he picked up Parth, Aditi, Jithin and Richie to reach my place by 7am.
Meanwhile I picked up Annie and Sowmya from MG Road and Pallav joined us at CBD.
Two full cars left from CBD towards Udupi Swada on Bangalore – Hyderabad Highway.
We reached for breakfast by 8am. Everyone was free to get what they wanted for themselves.
We left from there by 9am and headed to Makalidurga Fort.
Reaching there, we realised that we had to do an online booking for the trek as it’s under the Karnataka Forest Department. Adhering to the same, nine of us, started the trek at 10am.
Deepak leading the way and me at the tail, it was a smooth ascend.
30mins into the trek, a guide joined us, and I was leading the trail with him while Deepak and Pallav took care of Aditi, who felt like throwing up after having pooris for breakfast and Parth who was in his own zone and pace.
Jithin and Richie, by my side, were super active members throughout the trek.
We reached the first major view point and lied down on the rocks looking at the sky.
This trek, maybe due to the season or the location, was one of the more greener hilly climbs.
No sun above, strong wind brushing my hair, view of distant hills and lush green landscape, lakes below us, I did very simply feel that I was on top of the world.
Annie and Sowmya were mesmerized by the view and glued themselves to the rocky terrain.
We spent about 15minutes there, some running around, some clicking pictures, some helping Aditi, some staring into the infinite some lying down, it was great to see everyone relax!
Resuming the hike, in another 30minutes we all gathered atop Makalidurga Fort Ruins.
The guide took us to the hidden bath area of the fort, the infrastructure was iconic but due to the public, the water was dirty and trash around it.
Going back to the main fort, we spent sometime by the view point, and walked along the fort to the Shiva temple. The idol was placed at the end of a hut made of thick stone slabs which explains the cool atmosphere within.
The guide took us around the hill a little more and said “now let’s go down”.
We all were like “lol” in our heads.
I told the guide to hang around for about 30minutes so that everyone could get a feel of the place, interact with each other, and explore ourselves.
Chilling atop for a while, we decides to head back down.
We started the descent at 2.30pm and reached the base by 3.30pm.
After viewing the lake from above, everyone wanted to visit that as well.
But due to time constraints, we decided to head for lunch.
We ate lunch at Amravathi, everyone was free to order what they wanted, sponsored by ABC.
We left Amravathi at 4.20pm.
By 5pm we reached the CBD of Bangalore City and concluded our trip.
Deepak dropped the guys he’d picked up on his way to BTM.
This trek, maybe due to the season or the location, was one of the more greener hilly climbs.
No sun above, strong wind brushing my hair, view of distant hills and lush green landscape, lakes below us, I did very simply feel that I was on top of the world.
Annie and Sowmya were mesmerized by the view and glued themselves to the rocky terrain.
We spent about 15minutes there, some running around, some clicking pictures, some helping Aditi, some staring into the infinite some lying down, it was great to see everyone relax!
Resuming the hike, in another 30minutes we all gathered atop Makalidurga Fort Ruins.
The guide took us to the hidden bath area of the fort, the infrastructure was iconic but due to the public, the water was dirty and trash around it.
Going back to the main fort, we spent sometime by the view point, and walked along the fort to the Shiva temple. The idol was placed at the end of a hut made of thick stone slabs which explains the cool atmosphere within.
The guide took us around the hill a little more and said “now let’s go down”.
We all were like “lol” in our heads.
I told the guide to hang around for about 30minutes so that everyone could get a feel of the place, interact with each other, and explore ourselves.
Chilling atop for a while, we decides to head back down.
We started the descent at 2.30pm and reached the base by 3.30pm.
After viewing the lake from above, everyone wanted to visit that as well.
But due to time constraints, we decided to head for lunch.
We ate lunch at Amravathi, everyone was free to order what they wanted, sponsored by ABC.
We left Amravathi at 4.20pm.
By 5pm we reached the CBD of Bangalore City and concluded our trip.
Deepak dropped the guys he’d picked up on his way to BTM.
