My Chikmagalur Trip: A Travelogue
On 20th March 2022, my Himatsingka colleagues and I went for a short one-day trip to Chikmagalur. Chikmagalur is a beautiful hill station in Karnataka, India. This was my first trip and my last trip with my colleagues at Himatsingka. It was indeed a memorable trip. In this blog, I will share my experience at Chikamagalur with my colleagues.
Planning For The Chikmagalur Trip
I joined Himatsingka Group, Hassan as a Graduate Engineer Trainee on 21st February 2022. Here I made new friends from all across the country. We are a total of 42 new joiners including two deputy managers, one management trainee and a fashion designer trainee. It's always a dream to go on a trip with our colleagues. As trainees, we had a week off on Sundays. We were all eager to go for a short one-day trip. Chikmagalur was our first choice since it was just 68 km from Hassan.
We needed a long weekend for the trip. We had a holiday on 18th March 2022 as it was Holi. Holi was on a Friday. We decided to go to Chikamaglur on 20th March 2022.
Arranging The Transportation For The Trip
Before arranging the transportation for the Trip, we initially had to finalize the number of people who are interested to travel to Chikamagalur on 20th March 2022. We were initially seated in the Himatsingka Learning Academy(HLA). We were initially 11 people interested in going for the trip on 20th March 2022. There was another group of 10 people who were planning to leave for Chikamagalur on the same date. We decided to join hands and travel as one group. Due to some issues, some people had to back out. We also talked to our DMs(Deputy Managers) who recently visited Chikamagalur on a bike trip for some planning ideas. We were in a jinx to decide upon the number of people interested in the Chikmagalur trip on 20th March 2022.
Once a wise man said,”Make a WhatsApp Group to a plan your trip with your friends or colleagues”
I created a WhatsApp Group at 6:56 pm on 19th March 2022 for the Chikamagalur trip. I shared the link on the New Joiners Group asking the interested ones to join as soon as possible and finally, we had 16 people on board. Jakhaan Prasad, Maddy(alias Dhivyaprasad), Sheyam Ganesh, Hari Prasad, Raghupathy Raja, Eshwarmoorthi(Eshwar), Mahesh, Rohit Kumar Debnath, Suman Debnath, Rakshitha, Subarna Dey, Gouri Dubey, Arkadip Mondal, Anshuman, Vedansh Tora and I were on board for the trip to Chikamagalur.
Jakhaan Prasad, Maddy(alias Dhivyaprasad), Sheyam Ganesh, Hari Prasad, Raghupathy Raja, Eshwarmoorthi, Mahesh and I went out to have dinner at the Hassan Food Street. We started hunting for Tempo Traveller(TT) or a Mini Bus. Since it was a weekend, all the mini-buses were booked or either way too expensive(as high as Rs12,000 to Rs21,000). We finally decided to go for a TT with a maximum seating capacity of 13 people for Rs 6000. Santhu was the driver of the Tempo Traveller. He was thin. He was barely 26 years old. His TT had an amazing sound system. He was a rash driver. He said he would drop the 8 of us to Suvarna Regency. He started revving up the Tempo like a supercar overtaking the other vehicles on the main road as though it were a highway. For a second, we felt that the tempo was not driven by Santhu but by Paul Walker himself. We asked him to go to Rudrakshi PG(Near Vishal Mart, Hassan) to pick up the Subarna Dey, Gouri Dubey and Rakshitha at 4 am. Then come to Suvarna Regency(Near NR Circle, Hassan) to pick up the Boys.
Our initial plan was as follows:
- 4 am: TT will reach the Rudrakshi PG
- 4:30 am: TT will reach Suvarna
- 6 am: Chikmagalur
- 7 to 7:30 am: Eat Breakfast In Town Canteen (Chikmagalur)
- 8:30 to 10:30 am: At Mullayangiri Peak
- 12 noon To 2pm(Max): Jhari Falls
- 2 pm: Lunch
- 2 pm to 4:30 pm: Manikyadara
- 5:30 pm: Siri Coffee
- 7 pm or 8 pm: Return To Hassan
On The Day Of The Trip(20th March 2022)
The Journey From Hassan To Chikmagalur
Santhu was punctual. He reached Rudrakshi PG at 4 am to pick up Rakshitha, Subarna and Gouri. The TT left Rudrakshi PG at 4:17 am. The TT reached Suvarna at 4:30 am. We started our journey to Chikmagalur. After seeking the permission of the night-shift security guard, Mahesh & I took two water cans from Suvarna Mess. All the boys boarded the bus at 4:30 am. We went to the Fuel Station & filled Diesel for the TT.
We started playing peppy tracks from Bollywood, Kollywood & Tollywood. All of us were singing and dancing in the space available in the TT. All of a sudden Santhu Anna started speeding the vehicle. He drove the TT between two TATA Ace as though he was driving a motorcycle.
All of us were shocked. Maddy, Sheyam Ganesh, Hari& I started shouting a famous dialogue from Venkat Prabhu‘s directorial venture Maanadu.The dialogue is as follows “ No Thalaivarey No Thalaivarey” which simply means “ No Sir No Sir”. Mahesh politely the driver to slow down in Kannada. He said, ” Anna we want to come back to Hassan alive. Please drive slowly.”
At 6:15 am, we reached the foothills of Chikmagalur. We decided to have some tea & coffee to start our day. Anshuman got biscuits for the trip. It was amazing to start the day with a glass of tea and a few Marie-Gold Biscuits.
We began the ascent towards Mullayangiri Peak. The scenery was so beautiful. We guys were so engrossed in the beautiful and sere natural ambience. The fog gave us a feeling that we were going to a place no less than paradise. We just stopped vibing for the peppy tracks being played in the TT. We reached the foothills of Mullayangiri Peak at 6:38 am.
The Mullayangiri Peak
The Mullayangiri Peak is the highest peak in Karnataka with a height of 1925 meters(6,329 ft) above the mean sea level. The foothills were totally surrounded by Fog and we guys started clicking pictures at the foothills before heading towards the peak.
The TT wasn’t allowed to climb towards the peak so we had to book two jeeps to accommodate 16 people. We reached the parking stop at the top. Then again we had to trek to reach the top of the peak. The peak had a Lord Shiva Temple. Subarna felt a bit tiresome, she did not climb to reach the peak. The rest of us went to the top of Mullayangiri Peak. There were tourists from all across the country busy using their cameras to take photographs and candids amidst all the clouds. We became shutterbugs on the top of Mullayangiri Peak. We were surrounded by clouds and fog.
We decided to take some group photos and some candids to make our journey to Mullayanagiri Peak memorable. We were at the peak for more than an hour. We went to Lord Shiva Temple for some inner peace & serenity.
Rohit & Suman started to go down the peak to accompany Subarna who was waiting for us at the Jeep Parking Station. It was almost 8:15 am, we were quite hungry after a tiresome climb. There were a few stalls selling Maggie & Yippee Noodles. We decided to have it as our breakfast.
After enjoying the noodles, we decided to head back to the foothills using the jeep we rented. We were next heading to reach the Jhari Falls.
The Jhari Falls
The Jhari Falls also known as the Buttermilk Falls and is well known for their Ice-Cold water originating from the mountains. It is at a distance of 11.4 km from Mulayamgiri Peak. We reached the Jhari Falls at 9:30 am. We had to hike 3 km to reach the waterfalls. The TT wasn’t allowed to travel through that route nor the rented jeeps were available. The path was quite rugged. The previous day, there were light thunderstorms in Chikmagalur and the neighbouring areas. The pathway was full of potholes and puddles. We were anticipating a well-laid cement road to walk. My friend Rohit left his floaters in the TT and I gave him my spare floaters for the hike. We finally reached the waterfall at 10:25 am.
It was quite a relaxing experience with chilled water flowing from the top of the hills and falling on us. We were having too much forgetting all our sorrows and problems. We were playing like kids in the pool splashing water against each other. Hari Prasad, Raghupathy Raja and Jakhaan Prasad decided to go a level higher to enjoy the waterfalls. It was totally a soothing experience.
Rohit accidentally dropped Eshwar’s phone into the water while taking photographs. Eshwar became furious while Maddy on the other hand was hoping that nothing would happen to Eshswar’s phone because it had a huge chunk of his stylish photographs. Luckily nothing happened to Eshwar’s phone and the photographs were intact.
We spent nearly 2 hours at the Jhari Falls. Finally decided to return back to the TT. Rohit, Anshuman, Subarna and I were walking quite slowly. I was talking with Subarna for some time while going back to the TT.
Subarna was busy taking selfies near every attractive flower. I asked,” Why are you walking quite slowly?”. In a sceptical voice, she said,” I want to enjoy every moment here. I do not know whether I would come back to Jhari Falls once again in my lifetime.”
Finally, everyone reached the TT. We decided to go to Baba Budan Giri hills after enjoying the Jhari falls. Baba Budan Giri was at a distance of 27 km from Jhari falls. We were a bit hungry. So we asked the driver to stop at some restaurants on the way. He said there weren't any restaurants on the way to Baba Budan Giri hills and asked us to have something light at the Baba Budan Giri Hills.
Baba Budan Giri Hills
Baba Budan Giri Hills is a holy pilgrimage site for Hindus & Muslims. It is also known as a famous trekking spot in Chikmagalur. Baba Budan Giri is at an elevation of 1895 m above the mean sea level. We reached there at approximately 1:45 pm. We were quite hungry. We found a few stalls. Gouri Dubey, Anshuman and Vedansh had pasta from a shop at the Baba Budan Giri Hills. The others decided to have omelettes, rice, rotis and other non-vegetarian dishes in a local restaurant. The place was quite crowded with Muslim pilgrims from different parts of the country. I asked the restaurant owner about the crowd. He said,” It's the Urus Festival at Baba Budan Giri hills.”
Urus is the death anniversary of a Sufi Saint usually held at the saint’s tomb. Urus is a three-day festival at Baba Budan Giri hills. The death anniversary of the Sufi Saint Baba Budan is celebrated annually during the Urus Festival at the Baba Budan Giri Hills. It is said that Baba Budan brought Coffee into India in the 17th Century.
After having lunch, we decided to go to the viewpoint at the Inam Dattathreya Peeta. We travelled some distance by the TT and the rest by foot to reach the viewpoint at the Inam Dattathreya Peeta. We saw a lot of food stalls set up on the way to the view at the Inam Dattathreya Peeta. These stalls had only non-vegetarian food like mutton, chicken, beef and fish. This reminded me of the food stalls at the Ramzan Food Festival in Bangalore’s Fraser Town.
Then we reached our TT. We started our journey back to Hassan as there weren't any other sightseeing places around Chikmagalur. Our TT Driver Santhu Anna suggested that we take a halt at Inam Dattathreya Peeta for two hours from 3 pm to 5 pm. We agreed to his suggestion and decided to halt.
Vedansh, Suman, Rohit, Gauri and Subarna decided to stay a few meters away from the TT while the others decided to wander to other locations around. The view was simply mindblowing. Mahesh and Rakshitha were busy making calls to their friends and family members. While Maddy, Raghu, Eshwar, Hari, Sheyam, Jakhaan Prasad and I were busy enjoying the gentle breeze. Anshuman was busy meditating. The Urus Procession looked like a procession of ants from the viewpoint. The weather changed from being warm to dark and gloomy within a few minutes. Jakhaan Prasad played some soothing and melodious Tamil songs. We were there on the viewpoint clicking photographs till 4:45 pm.
At 4:45 pm, we decided to return to the TT. Our next destination was Siri Coffee. We were all set to leave the place. At 5:00 pm, we boarded the TT.
Our Journey Back To Hassan
Our journey back to Hassan started at 5 pm. We asked whether we could go to Siri Coffee. Mahesh checked the location of Siri Cofee on Google Maps. It was quite far away from us. We decided to head towards Chikmagalur Town. The TT had three rows of single seats and three rows of double seats. The last row had a seating capacity of 5 people. Subarna Dey was sleeping in the first-row single seat. Jakhaan Prasad, Mahesh & Rakshitha were sitting in the first-row double seat. I was sitting in the second-row single seat. Suman Debnath & Anshuman were sitting in the second-row double seat. Maddy was sitting in the third-row single seat. Gauri & Vedansh were sitting in the third-row double seat. Raghupathi Raja, Eshwar, Sheyam Ganesh Hari Prasad & Rohit were sitting in the last row of the TT. Arkadip was sitting on the floor between the TT Door and the driver and he took care of the water cans. Maddy and I were quite fascinated by the serenity and beauty of the hills of Chikmagalur.
For the 90s and early 2k Kids, the songs from Lingusamy’s directorial venture Paiyaa have always been our favourite since 2010. We were singing a beautiful melodious song Thuli Thuli from the movie. We were singing songs like Tujhme Rab Diktha Hai from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Enna Sona from OK JAANU and many other songs that have connected people from all across the country.
At 5:48 pm, the driver stopped the vehicle. He went to open the bonnet to check. There were fumes coming out of the bonnet. The driver poured some coolant into the bonnet and continued our journey. We didn’t pay much attention to the issue. Then all of a sudden at 5:54 pm, the vehicle started going at a high speed. Initially, we thought our driver was trying to pull off a stunt on the hill. Maddy, Sheyam and I were shouting “No thalaivarey, No thaliaveraey.” Arkadip first sensed the failure of the emergency brakes. The brakes of the TT had failed. The front tyre got punctured. At 5:56 pm, Our driver took a sharp turn into a lane damaging the culvert at the entrance of the lane and rammed the TT into a compound wall of a house.
The accident happened right in front of a Kali temple (or the Amman Temple).
Inside the TT, Subarna Dey went rolling and fell on Arkadip. Arkadip was lucky enough that he did not open the TT door in anxiety or else he would have flung out the TT due to the high centrifugal force caused by turning the vehicle at a high speed. The others experienced a jerk. The Driver was not injured. The entire village surrounded the accident spot. Everyone started getting off the TT.
Maddy for a second felt that he was dead. He thought he had met his dead relatives at heaven. I felt a bit numb and it took some time for me to realize that we have met with an accident. Initially, Raghu thought that we have reached Siri Coffee & later realized that we had met an accident.
The villagers helped us out to get the Tyres of the TT struck in the gutter. In the meantime, our Driver Santhu Anna called his brother for help.
All the villagers said that we were alive because of the Kali Temple. They asked us to offer a prayer to the holy goddess. While some asked us for some donations to the temple.
The villagers said that there weren’t any kids playing on the road at that time or else someone would have been severely injured. The police came and enquired about us. Maddy briefed the police officer about the situation. We decided to pack all our items and leave. We emptied the water cans by filling the leftover water into our water bottles. We all decided to pay the balance amount to Santhu Anna. He initially insisted. We, at last, thanked him and paid him all the dues.
Had there been any vehicle at the turning,the driver would have lost control and the TT would have fall down from a height of 4025.6 feet. None of us would have been alive. I wouldn’t have been alive to pen this blog down. There was no major damage to the TT. Luckily we did not choose to travel by car or jeep. If a car meets such a deadly accident, the car’s engine would have been totally crushed while the driver & the person sitting to him would have been killed on the spot. All I would say that we were blessed and lucky that day. None of us in the TT including our driver had any major injuries.
The sun had set and the evening was getting darker. We asked for a few TATA Sumo Vehicles for a trip to reach the Chikmagalur Bus Stand. The bus stand was 9kms from the accident spot. We tried to negotiate the price but they were not ready to accede to our price. The winds were getting colder and there were no street lights. We decided to use our mobile flashlights. Our plan was to reach the nearest bus stop safely. The nearest bus stop was 3 km from the accident spot. We continued to walk in the looming darkness. We finally reached a check post. I inquired about the location of the nearest bus stop. He pointed out the bus stop opposite the road.
We reached the bus stop at 7:10 pm. I finally got a signal to make a call. I called up my mother and told her about the entire incident. The shopkeeper near the bus stop asked me about the incident. I told him about the entire accident. He said,” The area is blessed by Lord Shiva at the Mullayangiri Peak. He will protect the people of the land”. At 7:15 pm, we boarded the KSRTC bus towards Chikmagalur Bus Stand. The ticket was priced at Rs 10 per head. We reached the Chikmagalur Bus Stand at 7:55 pm.
Vedansh, Anshuman, Gouri, Subarna and I decided to have a light dinner at the restaurant near the bus stand. I got a snack to munch on for the journey back to Hassan. We boarded the bus towards Hassan at 8:20 pm. Everyone was totally tired. My phone was about to die. My mind was full of thoughts wondering about the way we started the trip and the way it ended. We feel fast as sleep. We reached Hassan at 11:30 pm. We got off the bus at NR Circle. The entire city of Hassan was dark. The ATMs were open. All the shops were shut. The flickering street lights lead us back to the Suvarna Resort.
We found a couple of autos. Eshwar & Mahesh accompanied Gouri, Subarna & Rakshitha to their PG in an Auto. Maddy and Sheyam Ganesh had to pick up our colleague Induja who was travelling from Tamil Nadu to Hassan for the first time. While the others went back to our rooms. Eshwar & Mahesh reached Suvarna at 12:30 am while Maddy and Sheyam Ganesh came back to their rooms at 1:30 am.
I reached my room. I plugged my phone into the charger and freshened up after a tiresome day. I made a video call to my mother and talked to her. She asked me to go to the nearest temple the next day to thank God. My roommate Vedansh and I decided to thank God before going to sleep.
The Next Day After The Trip (21st March 2022)
I woke up at 6:45 am. I decided to go to the nearest temple after having my shower. I went to the nearest Ganesha Temple in my locality to thank God for saving our lives. I went back to Suvarna Resort to have our breakfast. The night shift guard asked me about the trip and the water cans. I smiled and said(in Kannada),” The Chikmagalur Trip was wonderful.”
I talked to Hari Prasad about the Trip. I said,” I could not forget the images of the accident.” He said,” Our trip will always be an interesting story. This story would be an enjoyable one to narrate to our kids and grandchildren in the future.” I agreed with him.
All of us decided not to share any information about the accident with anybody in the office.
On reaching the office, our Deputy Manager Mayank Sir wrote “Congratulations, You Have Completed One Month At Himatsingka. Happy First-Month Work Anniversary at Himatsingka.” on the board in the training room at the Himatsingka Learning Academy.
Vedansh, Anshuman, Gouri and I came out with a smile on our faces. I said, ” Maybe God wanted us alive to celebrate our first-month anniversary at Himatsingka.” Later in the month of April, we shared the story of the accident with our colleagues at the company.