I and 3 colleagues (Vinod, Manju and Ravi) of mine went for a one day drive to Himavad Gopalaswamy hill which is about 220kms from Bangalore. We started at 4:30AM and reached Gopalaswamy hills at 7:45AM. Road condition between Mysore and Nanjangud is really bad, Nanjangud to Angala via Gundlupet is really nice and smooth but you will still find couple of pot holes. Take a right turn at Angala Village and enter the arch, follow the hand post to reach the Gopalaswamy Temple. Temple is not all that huge in size but very beautiful. It was clear sky and no fog in the area, so, we decided to do a bit of trekking also on the path which starts from behind the temple. We managed to cross over to 3different hills one after the other which will take you about 3kms away from the temple, it is better to carry good amount of water and light refreshments, but please do not leave any plastic or harmful materials there, instead try to pick the waste which some waste people would have left behind. It took us about 1hr15mins for us to reach the 3rd hill. We managed to view a herd of deer grazing at the next hill and there were about 10 of them.
The Best part of the whole trip was that we managed to clean the surroundings of this hill. On our way back to the temple, we picked up almost all the polythene items - water bottles, chocolates wrappers, chips packets, water cups, paper plates etc... And I think we did manage to collect about 3 to 4kg of it and dumped it all in a dust bin near the temple. I am just hoping that our people will stop spoiling the nature with plastic and other harmful items. We started back from the Hill at 12PM. On our way back we managed to drink real good cool tender coconut and shopped for some fresh "Flat Beans" (Avarekai). As soon as we reached Mysore we had flat tyres. However, since Manju and Ravi both have become car owners recently, they had good experience changing the tyre (something new to learn ;-)). We reached Bangalore at 6:30PM and all we carry now are some good memories of the trip and these photos to share with you...
Route: Bangalore - Mandya - Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundlupet - Angala Village
Total Distance: Total 450Kms (One Way 225kms)
Food & Accommodation Availability: at Gundlupet, Nanjangud, Mysore
Other places of Interest: B.R.Hills, Bandipur Wild life Sanctuary, Historical Temple at Nanjangud
Transport: Car
Public Transport Facility: KSTRC bus from Bangalore to Gopalaswamy Hills (Twice Daily)
