dichkaun
Well-Known Member
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Mallapa Konda Hill
First bike ride of 2022. Almost 2 months since the last ride, I wanted to do a short day ride.
Surfing the google maps, I saw this hilly area near the border of KA, TN and AP. Zooming in, found this hill with a temple on top. Road looked good, so decided to ride out.
Started out on first light. It was colder than usual. I wondered whether it would have been a better idea to wear something warmer under the riding jacket.
At Chikka Tipupathi, I turned towards the Malur-Bagalur highway. Road was pretty bad. Then at Bagalur I turned towards Kuppam.
I had purposefully chosen the backroads instead of the highway, because that's where the fun of riding is. And backroads have a lot of character compared to the highways.
The road first goes though rural villages and fields. In between there are stretches of forest land.
The morning was overcast and it was much later in the day that the sun would come out. Out there among the fields and forests, I encountered occasional patches of fog.
At Kamandoddi, stopped for tea. Strong tea boiled many times over was refreshing.
For small towns and villages, Sunday is a day of festivities. I have often seen chicken, mutton and fish shops aggressively displaying their wares to garner more sales. Here too, the fish vendor across from the tea shop was doing brisk business.
After Veppanapalli, I turned left towards Kuppam. The forest got better and the road narrower.
The road also gained some altitude. Lush green vegetation brightly lit by sun playing hide and seek with the clouds. It was a sight to behold.
Just after the village of Sanganapalli, a side road leads up to the Mallapa Konda Hill.
The small section of ghats roads was fun to drive. Road condition was excellent and one can enjoy the surrounding rather than focus on pot holes in the road.
As one goes up the hill, the view becomes better. In the picture above, the Tri-State border point is about two thirds of the way from left.
On the other side of all Karnataka. Top of the hill provides a view of both side of the hills.
Unfortunately the top of the hill was a disappointment. The entrance to the temple and surroundings were full of litter. It was as if the entire village's garbage was dumped there.
Took a picture and started riding down.
Mid way down stopped and sat down on the parapet enjoying the scenery below. The sun would come out once in a while and warm me up. As soon as the sun disappeared behind the clouds or when fog would start rolling in, it would become cold.
Reaching the bottom of the hill, chartered a course for KGF (Kolar Gold Fields). The route again goes though a forest which was nice to drive through.
Now I love driving around KGF. It has an old city charm. One, there are old British style buildings all over. Just driving past them, makes me remember my childhood days in Nainital. Second, all the building are at a setback from the road. To me that just adds to the charm.
Reaching the Five Lights Circle, I looked up google maps for a place to eat. Found Ganesh Hindu Military Hotel nearby.
The waiter gave me option of idli, dosa or sevai along with a wide variety of non-veg curries. Sevai was something new to me. So I asked for it along with keema curry. I was pleasantly surprised to get idiyappam served. Long ago, I remember eating some excellent idiyappam along with mutton curry in Madurai. This was a good find in Kolar.
After a hearty brunch, I took the main road to Bangarpet and then via Kolar to home.
All in all, a relaxed ride to start the new year.
Ride Month : Jan 2022
Distance : ~230Km
Mallapa Konda Hill
First bike ride of 2022. Almost 2 months since the last ride, I wanted to do a short day ride.
Surfing the google maps, I saw this hilly area near the border of KA, TN and AP. Zooming in, found this hill with a temple on top. Road looked good, so decided to ride out.
Started out on first light. It was colder than usual. I wondered whether it would have been a better idea to wear something warmer under the riding jacket.
At Chikka Tipupathi, I turned towards the Malur-Bagalur highway. Road was pretty bad. Then at Bagalur I turned towards Kuppam.
I had purposefully chosen the backroads instead of the highway, because that's where the fun of riding is. And backroads have a lot of character compared to the highways.
The road first goes though rural villages and fields. In between there are stretches of forest land.
The morning was overcast and it was much later in the day that the sun would come out. Out there among the fields and forests, I encountered occasional patches of fog.
At Kamandoddi, stopped for tea. Strong tea boiled many times over was refreshing.
For small towns and villages, Sunday is a day of festivities. I have often seen chicken, mutton and fish shops aggressively displaying their wares to garner more sales. Here too, the fish vendor across from the tea shop was doing brisk business.
After Veppanapalli, I turned left towards Kuppam. The forest got better and the road narrower.
The road also gained some altitude. Lush green vegetation brightly lit by sun playing hide and seek with the clouds. It was a sight to behold.
Just after the village of Sanganapalli, a side road leads up to the Mallapa Konda Hill.
The small section of ghats roads was fun to drive. Road condition was excellent and one can enjoy the surrounding rather than focus on pot holes in the road.
As one goes up the hill, the view becomes better. In the picture above, the Tri-State border point is about two thirds of the way from left.
On the other side of all Karnataka. Top of the hill provides a view of both side of the hills.
Unfortunately the top of the hill was a disappointment. The entrance to the temple and surroundings were full of litter. It was as if the entire village's garbage was dumped there.
Took a picture and started riding down.
Mid way down stopped and sat down on the parapet enjoying the scenery below. The sun would come out once in a while and warm me up. As soon as the sun disappeared behind the clouds or when fog would start rolling in, it would become cold.
Reaching the bottom of the hill, chartered a course for KGF (Kolar Gold Fields). The route again goes though a forest which was nice to drive through.
Now I love driving around KGF. It has an old city charm. One, there are old British style buildings all over. Just driving past them, makes me remember my childhood days in Nainital. Second, all the building are at a setback from the road. To me that just adds to the charm.
Reaching the Five Lights Circle, I looked up google maps for a place to eat. Found Ganesh Hindu Military Hotel nearby.
The waiter gave me option of idli, dosa or sevai along with a wide variety of non-veg curries. Sevai was something new to me. So I asked for it along with keema curry. I was pleasantly surprised to get idiyappam served. Long ago, I remember eating some excellent idiyappam along with mutton curry in Madurai. This was a good find in Kolar.
After a hearty brunch, I took the main road to Bangarpet and then via Kolar to home.
All in all, a relaxed ride to start the new year.
Ride Month : Jan 2022
Distance : ~230Km
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