Avalabetta – Salvage from Rustiness

Things do change over time and you obviously have no control over time itself. Same was the case with me after I met with the accident in December 2014 that had put me into a financial crisis which still cripples me in terms of my travel life. I had to invest all my savings into getting her (the bike) back into shape and the incident had forced me into a debt which I was able to pay off only very recently. I had done 31000 KMs with her in the first two years of our life together and my odometer reading said just 35 something K before I went for this ride. Which means that I had done only around 4000 KMs in the last whole year and that is definitely a great a loss I suffered in terms of time. However, thanks to a handful of lovely relatives I have, my sanity was kept in check with the trips I made to many beautiful places like Goa with the pocket money they had given me. But there was always this feeling that I was missing something as the duration, for which I didn’t take my bike for a ride, increased.

 

 

It was at such a moment KV asked me to go for a ride to Avalabetta as a good-bye ride for him before he left to Germany for higher studies. I wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t be the one to back out from this ride no matter what and we made sure it happened. With two more of our friends joining with their Dukes, we made it six people on four bikes.

 

 

This was probably the first time I had such a mixed feeling about a ride and I can’t really ascertain the reason why. The fact that KV was leaving and our chances of more rides together was at stake (considering multiple factors) was always there in my mind and it kicked up that weird thought process inside of me. This is the process that eats up most of my sleeping time most days and makes me connect the dots that link quantum computing to the perfect recipe for the yummiest ‘Pani Puri’. Maybe this was the primary contributor to the mixed feeling I suppose.

 

 

 

I would honestly say that the ride was just an average experience by all aspects except for a very few things we managed to enjoy at Avalabetta. We were hoping that the ride would become different once we were off the boring highways but must say it was quite disappointing to find the lousy road, which often ran through pan shop Verandas, led to Avalabetta. The road had enough potholes, traffic, cows and the holy dungs to spoil the fun for the ride. Honestly the ride would have been extremely boring if it wasn’t for those amazing kids who tried to give high five to the riders passing by (I managed to give one to a boy). And trust me, you have to master the art of playing mazes to find the right road to Avalabetta once you are in the village road networks. Since we were no masters we got lost multiple times before we reached there.

 

 

 

First we went to the view point where the KSTDC guest house is situated and that was a place I really liked. The view was quite good, the place was very peaceful, and the guest house is located just at the right position in the right angle facing the right things. It would be worth the money if someone decided to rent this place for an overnight party. The place would be perfect for an evening barbecue, some chilled beers and it would be an icing to the cake if a late night campfire could be arranged. Unfortunately we couldn’t get much information about the place and all we could do was to listen to a local blabber mouth who acted like he owned the place. However, based on what he said, the place can be booked online through KSTDC websites. Maybe someday I might as well try that.

 

 

 

Next, we headed for the real Avalabetta ‘Trek’ as they call it :p. A few finely paved steps and a few beads of sweat on your forehead and, ‘phew’, the much hyped Avalabetta ‘trekking’ is over. Except for the beautiful temples on top, rest everything is just an average experience with a decent view and a slightly adventurous manoeuvring over rocks that definitely gave a tinge of thrill to all of us. The ‘LakshmiNarasimha’ temple is frequented by devotees and the myth has it that a holy cow appeared here ages ago when the ocean was churned by gods and demons. There is apparently the hoof marks of the cow on the rock here. The name ‘Dhenu Giri’ (Dhenu means cow) came from the cows that frequented this place following the mythical events. The Hill is also called ‘Avalakonda’ by the locals after the ‘Telugu’ version of ‘Avalabetta’.

 

 

There is one smaller temple on the hill top which is even more beautiful and peaceful. The huge rock situated just outside the temple on top is almost a vertical climb and scaling it could be called sort of an adventure. Someone has carved out holes on the edge of it in order to make it easy for the lunatics who would anyway attempt to climb it. Nevertheless, I and KV decided to go up the rock and I took the lead. Whenever we are halfway through pig shit, we start regretting about stepping inside it in the first place and the same thing happened with me as well. The rock was slippery and my hands were sweating already and I am no rock climbing expert to think rationally in such a situation. If it wasn’t for my stupid male ego and worthless pride, I would have at least slid back down even though I was stuck in a position where I couldn’t move forward or backward. However, the decisions were made in a few seconds I reached for the next hole to grab. A fall from there would definitely mean at least a few broken bones if I fell at the right place. The chances of falling to the wrong side were really narrow but had that happened, I am pretty sure that yet another place would be restricted for tourists from the tourism map of Karnataka. Whatever, I made it to the top I must say that the climb was really rewarding. The view was much better from there and the breeze, fresher.

 

 

Once I reached on top KV also started and the way I saw him climbing, I felt that, possibly, he had the same thoughts in his mind like I had a few minutes back. We came down and sat in front of the temple, clicking pictures and talking rubbish and our new hero ‘Anil Bharadwaj’ wanted to try his hand on rock climbing then.

 

 

Next, we headed to the famous ‘Avalabetta Cliff’ to click those ‘dangerous’ photos that pop up in almost all Avalabetta related searches. I must remind you that the place is infested with people and the weakness of us Indians in failing to resist our itching to spoil anything beautiful is clearly reflected there. The place is littered badly and pond beside the cliff looks nothing like what we see in the photos from Google search because all you will find is a dirty pool of water littered with cigarette buds and pan packets. There were multiple groups of people near the cliff and for some reason they were not confident of going to the cliff or to sit there. We didn’t have any time to spare since it was kind of obvious that people would follow once someone has taken an initiative for going and taking pictures from the cliff. We clicked as many pictures as we wanted and seeing the girls in our gang also go and sit there, the bunch of ‘monkeys’ who were only commenting so far became hysteric in just two minutes. The next thing we see is at least some 15 people crowding up the small cliff. It was quite possible for things to go wrong and someone to fall off the cliff because these so called ‘bros’ were only pushing each other by crowding in that minimal space available there. We felt the right thing to do was to leave the place and we did just that.

 

 

While coming back, we found a quiet and peaceful place to spend some quality time together. Anil was definitely a smart guy to get his Bluetooth speakers and the feeling was made heavenly with his awesome playlist I would say. We must have sat there for at least forty minutes easily and every minute of that was well enjoyed. Everything seemed so perfect with the cookies that KV brought, the music, the wind, and I don’t know if it is right to mention the joint that Sandeep had rolled :p. Whatever.

 

I think my feelings are easily distinguishable for anyone reading this post and I don’t want to point out which and what made me happy and annoyed me. But I want to say one thing that I realized after the ride. There are always good things and bad things in everyone’s lives, those ups and downs, turns and detours, and any such thing that you can think. However, none of it is in our control and the day we learn to accept this fact we will master the skills to handle any kind of situation in our life and move forward. Time is a relative thing and if we waste it on trying to ensure that only good things come in our way, we would only regret having wasted that precious time when we realize the all the good stuff that we missed out in our life. If I were to get annoyed by those potholes in the roads, litter on the hill, noisy people spoiling the atmosphere, I would have definitely missed out the best moments we had at the same place that will easily outnumber all the bad stuff that we noticed.

 

 

While in college, the thought of college getting over and things changing could have crippled us but rather than letting that thought hold us back, we went out and made memories that would last a life time. If I were to miss out on a ride just because someone whom I don’t like is also coming along, the loss would be just mine. There is no better satisfaction than the realization of having looked at the positives over negatives in your life because you will understand that those are the things that brought you happiness in your life. Things do change as time progresses and, I repeat, we have no control over it. Just try and make the best out of what you have got I would say. If you ever feel like you are less blessed in terms of money, or friendship, or relation, or any such thing, try to make the best out of what you have got. It might help to think about those people who are dreaming of only the life that you are living at the moment.

 

 

I know it shouldn’t always be the boring stuff because information is what people are looking for :p

 

o KMs – 110Kms from Bommanahalli, Bangalore

o We took outer ring road till Hebbal, and NH-7 afterwards till Chikkaballapur

o Take a left from the town (make sure that you are on the service road because the highway takes an underpass to cross the town and you might miss the turn)

o Once you have taken the left turn, make sure that you ask the local people for directions whenever you come across a junction because one would easily get confused here. And the local people have a helping attitude here.

o There is a nicely paved road from the valley to the hill top that will make the ride much easier

o The guest house premises are beautiful and give a very nice view (I felt like this view was better than the one from hill top). Still haven’t figured out how to book the guest house for an overnight stay.

o ‘LakshmiNarasimha’ temple (cave temple)

o Climb further beyond the temple and the summit is beautiful place to be.

o Take the path next to Lakshmi Narasimha temple to reach the cliff and the pond.

 

o There aren’t any shops nearby and it is almost impossible to get any sort of food nearby. It is better to carry whatever you need before going there.

o Also, it would be really worth if you stopped at the ‘UP PUNJABI DABA’ while coming back because the food here is spicy and yummy (these guys have taken the definition of spiciness to a whole new level). And do not forget to try the Lassi here.

o The Daba is near the junction were you take a detour towards Nandi Hills.

 

o I am not sure if it was because of the time we chose to go, the places was kind of crowded and therefore you have to think about your priorities before deciding to go here.