Savandurga Bike Trip

inception

. 4 am on diwali ,  forever alone - level : flatmate ditches to spend day with 'his chachi'
. "lets put the bike to some use" i thought

destination

. still 4 am

. googled destinations around 50 km from bangalore

. savandurga it was

about savandurga
. largest monolith hill in india - its one massive stone to say!
. there's Manchanabele lake nearby for timepass

preparation
. my route and i did note it down

. 6 am // takes a shower
. packed water, chocolates
. a full tank because i have a tendency to get lost :D
. cash, because cards don't work in villages

route
. NICE ring road was worth every penny of its toll!

. zoomed through till mysore road, bypassing kengeri village - giving lifts to quite a few people!
. took a right around 8 kms into mysore road

destination 1 : manchinabele reservoir/lake
. passed through about 1-2 small villages and suddenly this lake appeared out of nowhere

. was careful to take my bike all the way towards the lake

. GJ-1 it was baby!

. not a soul was in place

. well almost not a soul :)

. you might not believe me that a big stork was standing on this monolith just a moment ago

. left the lake in under an hour to head for savandurga, the monolith

destination 2 : savandurga
. 10-15 kms more and i  started discovering (the big monolith in the background)

. finally arrived - there was a temple too

. this kid proposed to be a guide for 300 bucks. when i laughed and refused he asked for 'chiller'. 

. i said what the hell, show me around for 10 minutes i ll give you 50 rupees. he showed me the route to the climb
. his name was/is yogesha

savandurga : the steep climb
. its quite a steep climb with not a lot to hold on to

. its risky, tiring and scary  - believe that when i say it  - but of course, it is totally worth it
. "you go i ll sit here" said yogesha (the kid)

. as i went on climbing, it became steeper and more steeper.
. crawling became compulsory to lower the center of mass :P
. it looked scarier every time i sat down and saw beneath!

. seemed endless - i might have been almost on the top but it was impossible to determine! 

. the view from almost top - notice the steepness, which ordained the pic be taken lying down

. climbing down was riskier - with only friction for support!

. after almost 2 hours i was down - had fresh coconut water - easily the best i ve had in life
. the kid, standing by my bike, said he got scared hence left early!
. gave him double the promised sum - everyone deserves a lucky day!

return
. back to bangalore by 1 pm
. tired, happy, hungry :)
. crazy day - the first time i did something of this sort

expenses
. petrol equivalent to 120 kms ~ Rs. 250
. toll ~ Rs. 50
. snacks ~ Rs. 50
. there is no need for a guide at all - i just wanted the kid to have the money


life advice
. don't drive rashly. it says on the highway "someone who loves you is  waiting at home" :)
. don't litter
. you won't stay in your twenties all your life (unless you are "The Man from Earth")