Nandi hills - The most popular getaway for Bangaloreans

Nandi Hills or Nandidurga is the most popular visited hill station from Bengaluru. Staying in Bengaluru for 5 years I had never visited this beautiful place, people used to constantly ask me to go there. So I finally planned to go.

A view from top of Nandi Hills

Nandi Hills is located in the Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka which is about 60kms from Bangalore and takes about 1.5 hours to reach there. The gates to enter the hill is closed at night and is only open at 5:30 a.m. So I planned to reach there by 5 so that I can stay ahead of the crowd and be one of the first few to reach the top.

I left around 3:30 a.m, I trusted Google Maps to show me a safe and fast route. It did show me a fast route but it was scary to ride these roads, wonder which road this is? - Chapparkallu Road . If you are a heart patient please avoid this road, if not take this road for an adventurous ride. Empty roads, large empty fields around and some stretches of graveyards..!

After going through that scary road, I reached the foot of the hill around 5:00 a.m. There were a lot of vehicles already in the queue, waiting for the gates to open. A few people were selling tea/coffee, I drank some tea as it was really cold.

After a wait for 20 minutes, the gates were opened and the ride up the hill started. The roads are in such good condition and the view during the ride up is really beautiful. The sky turns from black to dark blue indicating that the sun is about to rise.

I reached the top of the hill in about 20 minutes. There is huge parking space available for both car and bike parking. I parked my bike there (Rs. 15 for bike parking) and then proceeded to the ticket counter to buy the entry ticket (Rs. 5 per person).

The parking space

It was very foggy and I could not see past a few meters. It felt like the clouds were around me. After a walk of about 5 minutes I reached the temple area, a few meters from this temple you will find long fencing which marks the edge of the hill. This is the point from where everyone gathers to watch the sunrise.

Nandi hills has a beautiful garden with a lot of greenery and flowers. A walk through this garden is so refreshing! The lungs damaged by the city pollution find fresh air to breathe and rejuvenate. This garden has a lot of picturesque places. You can easily spend more than an hour roaming around the garden and other places.

The beautiful garden of Nandi Hills

I stayed there till 8:30 a.m started the journey down hill, this ride had a lot of scenic views. Everything that was missed during the uphill ride due to the darkness was now visible. There are lots of view points on the way down and I stop-started at-least 10 times.

The ride down hill

After reaching to the foot of the hill, you will find a lot of small restaurants where you can have breakfast. I had my breakfast at this tiffin center. After a good breakfast I started my journey back to Bengaluru.

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Savandurga Trek - One of Asia's largest monoliths

We were in search for a one day trip nearby Bengaluru. A lot of places get listed like Nandi Hills, Skandagiri, Makalidurga, Savandurga, Shivagange hills and it goes on. We chose to go to Savandurga as it was the nearest, about 50 kms and was mentioned as a tough trek. We wanted some challenge.

The trip started on Saturday morning at 5 a.m. from Bangalore on a Honda Activa (I did not own a bike back then and had to borrow it from a friend). We chose the Magadi road route. One this route is a beautiful reservoir - Thippagondanahalli reservoir. You can spend some time there and take in the beauty and also visit the Eshwara Temple nearby.

After a ride of about 90 minutes, we reached the base of the Savandurga Hill, covered in clouds!

View from the base of the hill

We started the trek around 7 a.m. Initially we took a steep path to the peak and then realized that this way we would not be able to make it to the top easily as we kept slipping. People who had finished the trek where walking down and asked us to take the longer but safer route. This route is about 2km long and it takes about 45 mins to 1 hour to reach the peak. It is easy to identify this route as there are a lot of electric poles along the way.

View during the trek

After a trek of about an hour on these steep rocks, we reached the top of the hill. On top of the hill is a majestic Nandi statue facing the sun. Once you reach this spot the view is just amazing! You can see a large reservoir and lot of greenery.

The Nandi statue

A beautiful view from the top of the hill

The wind at the peak was so refreshing after a hard and tiring trek. Breathing such fresh air energized our lungs and the tired body was rejuvenated. Moreover, a lot of drinks are sold on the way to the top of the hill, so that was a relief as we had not got any water bottles. Lesson learnt: Always carry water bottles on a trek. After taking a few pics from the top we still had not got a pic of the Sun as it was hiding behind all clouds. We roamed around and waited for the Sun to come out. When it finally came out, it lit up the place so well.

The Beautiful Sun

We spent about an hour on the top of the hill and started our decent. We refreshed ourselves with some juice that was being sold on the way down. Once we reached the bottom of the hill, we drank some tender coconut and were on our way back. That wraps up the Savandurga trip. Other places to visit nearby Savandurga Hill are:

• Savandurga boating point - Enjoy boating at the foot of the hill

• Manchanabele Dam - Be amazed by the beauty of this Dam

• Thippagondanahalli reservoir - A place to cover on the way to Savandurga

• Dodda Aalada Mara - Look at the gigantic tree that is 400+ years old

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