The rains seem to have left for Kerala from Bangalore and we decided to drive down to a place called Sravanabelagola, located within the state of Karnataka.

Sravana-bela-gola, say it twice and the name rolls off the tongue easily😀. The place is a 3 hour drive from Bangalore & suggested by our relatives Dr. S&S. 

It’s a religious place for the Jains; the highlight being a huge monolith of Bahubali situated atop a hill. Dr. S&S advised that we get there early in the morning as you have to climb the hill without shoes.  The sun makes the stone steps scorching hot.

We set off only by 7:50 am; I kept watching the clouds during the entire drive. Will it rain or not?

First the NICE road where we took the toll all the way to Tumkur and by 9:00 am were off the NICE road and on the way to Hassan, 156 km away.

The scenery was fresh, bright and green thanks to the rains; still eyeing the clouds !

By 9:50 am, we reached the Nelamangala Devihalli Expressway Toll and afterwards stopped at a Cafe Coffee Day. The demise of their founder VG Siddhartha has taken the sheen off the brand. But they still have clean bathrooms and that’s a huge plus while travelling and hence is an ideal pit stop. Not a coffee drinker, I had a corn & spinach sandwich instead; it was not good. The other customers who stopped, had a cup of coffee before setting off.

The CCD is right next to an HP Petrol bunk and next to it, there is a Cafe Udupi Ruchi opening up and looks promising !

By 10:10 am, back on the road again; the sky turned from blue to grey and the clouds looked dark and heavy; again will it rain or not !? We had a long barefoot climb ahead of us !

The four lane roads were fantastic; it was ending in Mangalore. But we then had to deviate to a state highway; it was two lane but scenic. The roads were lined with cows out for the day; empty of traffic.

We reached the place by 10:30 am; it started drizzling 💦. Guess we are going to climb with open umbrellas ☔️. There’s place to park around an enclosed lake. Not crowded.

Till next post, take care !!