KUDREMUKH NATIONAL PARK - BAGWATI NATURE CAMP- PART 1

We have been wanting to do a trip to Kudremukh National Park for quite some time. Visiting this place during rains can be really wonderful if you are willing to put up with the inconveniences associated with it plus the leeches. We were not sure of handling leeches and hence decided to push our trip further down.

We could finally find time to go in the first week of February. Kudremukh forest is predominantly a "Shola" forest- a unique type found in southern part of India in Western Ghats. Kudremukh forms perhaps the northern most fringe of this unique "Shola" forest- going down you find them in Nilgris, Anaimalai, Munnar, Palani hills, Meghamalai and Agasthiarmalai.

A typical "Shola forest" mountain looks like this.

You have an undulating montane grassland on top with wooded forest in the valleys sandwiched below. Between 1974 to 2014- during a period of 40 years, the shola forests have declined by over 75% in the southern Western ghats.

These "shola" forests are home to most of the rivers that originate in South. They soak up the rain water and release them slowly throughout the year through perennial springs that join up to form rivers.

And this shrinkage of natural water soaked reservoirs is one of the main reason for flooding in rainy seasons and complete dry river beds in summer for the many southern rivers.

When we were there in February, rainy season had ended three months back if not more. But water continues to flow down these springs. I could never get over this miracle as to how the mountains and forests soak up rain water and releases them slowly over months to the plains below.

Kudremukh is home to "Gangamoola"- around 6 kms from 'Bagavathi Nature Camp'. From Gangamoola, three major rivers originate- Tunga, Badra and Netravati. 

Tunga and Badra flow seperately after originating from a single source and combine to form Tunga Badra river at Koodli and later on join the Krishna further down in Telengana state.

Once we decided to do this trip, selection of where to stay was a foregone choice. JLR is the only property which is located inside this forest. It is named as "Bagawathi Nature Camp". It was earlier under the forest department who have now handed it over to JLR. 

There is no electricity except what is generated through solar power. No internet or mobile connnectivity either. They have tented cottages, wooden cottages and a dormitory.

We got fooled with the iamge shown as tented cottage in their website. In reality, though priced lower, it is equally if not better than the wooden cottage in terms of space as well as other comforts. These tented cottages have been upgraded very recently. They currently look like this.

Which is not very different from the wooded cottages which are a bit more expensive. But we opted for wooden cottages on the basis of photos in the website. In the website, tented accomodation definitely does not look appealing. It is high time JLR uploads their latest image.

The current tariff structure runs somewhat as follows. Rs 1,947 for dormitory, Rs2,183 for tented accomodation and Rs 2,419 for cottages. So, would recommend tented cottage over cottages any day. The tariff, like all other JLR properties is all inclusive and per person. But the safari ride is extra unlike many other JLR properties.

We started our journey early morning at 6:00AM from Whitefield, Bangalore.  The distance is around 358 kms by the shortest distance. But we prefer the electronic city, nice road route which makes this around 392 kms. Driving time is 8 hours.

Contacting the property to convey any message is really a "hit or miss". Currently the manager there is Devarajan. There is no landline nor mobile connectivity. He now and then goes to nearby town where connectivity exists and if you happen to call him up at those times, one can talk to him.

We requested him to keep the food though we may arrive a bit late. But he was noncommittal. Lunch closes at 02:30 in the afternoon and he mentioned that it is difficult for them to keep it open beyond then.

So, the choice we had was to ensure that we reach there by lunch time, or miss lunch. We decided to not to take risk and carried some sandwiches with us.

The route taken by us was Electronic city, Nice road up to Tumkur road exit, then turn left at Nelamangala junction, go up to Hassan and then take a turn to the right towards Belur, Mudigere, Kalasa and finally Kudremukh.

Road was excellent up to the property. The road between Nelamangala and Hassan was of course a four lane road. And there after it was a two lane road mostly. It becomes really scenic after Kalasa as you enter the forest.

We were lucky and did not face any traffic hastles when we exited Bangalore. You need to be watchful to exit by left from the main high way at Nelamangala. Konegal has a lot of vegetarian restaurants that can offer excellent breakfast and one can reach there by around 8:00AM easily.

We had our breakfast at Annapoorna. If one starts a bit early, they can reach even Hassan by around 9:00AM or so for a late brunch in the outskirts. There are many on the highway itself including Adyar Ananda Bhavan.

When we reached Kalasa, the traffic was suspended due to "Rath Yatra" that day for around an hour or two. We reached there at 1:00 PM and were very happy that we can reach Kudremukh comfortably before 2:00PM. This road blockage delayed us there by an hour.

As you enter the Kudremukh forest, you are expected to take permission from the check post. Unless you are staying in JLR, you are given permission to only drive through the park with very restricted time for transit.

While the journey between Kalasa and Kudremukh was picturesque, we did not stop in as many places as we would have liked. And finally we reached the Nature Camp a little beyond 02:30. We were the only guests that day and while on one side, Devarajan did not promise us, he had kept the buffet on the other side with his staff.

The property is amazing. Our cottage was just adjacent to the river. They do not allow the vehicle all the way inside. You are required to park it in the parking lot.

Golghar restaurant is bang opposite the parking area and hence convenient to go directly for breakfast or lunch after reaching the resort after any outing.

Since we had driven over 8 hours, we decided to just crash and take rest till evening.