Chikmagalur And River Tern Resorts

Welcome to the jungle, welcome to my home,
 A place where I live, the place where I roam.

Chikmagalur is a calm, serene town full of scenic surprises: hills, valleys, streams and the aroma of coffee wafting in the misty air. This famous coffee town, is located at a height of over 1900 meters in a luxuriant valley south of the Baba Bundangiri range. Blessed with silver cascades of mountain streams,rugged mountain trails and lush vegetation, Chikmagalur is a trekker’s delight.

After planning for a Long time , I could materialize only 2 plans .

PLAN A:

Best Planned Weekend Trip for chikmagalur and River Tern :-

Day 1 :-

1) Leave Bangalore at 6:00 am .

2) Reach River Tern Lodges and Resort at around 12.00 p.m . Enjoy the  package , which is Full “PAISA VASOOL” .

Day 2:-

3) Check out at 10.00 from River Tern .Go to Kallathi falls .

4) Reach Kallathi Falls in an 1 and a half hr at around 11:30 .enjoy for 30 min .

5) Set out for Hebbe Falls at 12.00 . Reach there at around 1.00 .

6) Have lunch packs and Enjoy for 2 hrs .

7) Set out for Mullayanagiri at 3:00 .Reach Mullayanagiri in 2 :00 hrs .

8) Enjoy the Sunset in Mullayanagiri .

9) Set back to Bangalore .

PLAN B:

Since I was traveling with my Parents and driving myself , I made a 3 day trip  .

The Best Planned 3-day trip for Chikmagalur and River Tern :-

Day 1:-

1) Leave Bangalore at 6:00 a.m to Chikmagalur .

2) Reach chikmagalur at around 12:30 . Stay at Chikmagalur in “Planters Court” or “Vasanth Vihar Hotel” .

3) Lunch + Rest . Set out to Bababudangiri at 3:00 p.m .

4) Reach bababudangiri at 4:30 . spend some time in Datta Peta .

5) set out for Mullayanagiri at 5:00 .

6) Reach Mullayanagiri at 5:30 . Enjoy sunset .

7) Come back to Gandhi Amusement Park on BR Hill Road at 7:30 .

8) Enjoy roaming in the park . Having a ride in Kids Train .

9) Have dinner before going to Hotel .

Day 2 :-

9) Set out for Hirekolale Lake,Chikmaglur at 5:30 a.m , which is about 24 km .Takes 1 hr .

10) Reach there at 6:30 a.m .spend 1 hr and click some beautiful pics .

11) Come back to hotel at 8:30 a.m.Freshen Up , breakfast .

12) Set out for River Tern at 10:00 a.m .

13) Reach River Tern Lodges and Resort at around 12.00 p.m . Enjoy the  package , which is Full “PAISA VASOOL” .

Day 3:-

14) Check out at 10.00 a.m from River Tern .Go to Kallathi falls .

15) Reach Kallathi Falls in an 1 hr 30 min at around 11:30 .enjoy for 1:00 hr .

15) Set out for Hebbe Falls at 12.30 p.m . Reach there at around 1.30 p.m .

16) Have lunch packs and Enjoy for 2hr 30 min .

17 Set out for Bangalore .

HOW TO REACH THERE :

You could take up 2 routes .

1) If you are taking up Plan A that means you want to go to River tern or Kemangundi first :-

follow -> Bangalore ->Tumkur -> Tiptur -> Arasikere-> Tarikere -> River Tern

Refer – http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/5444-bangalore-chikmaglur-trip-2.html   —–> #24 by Mogambo

2) If you are taking up Plan B that means you want to go to Chikmagalur first :

follow -> BLR-Magadi-Kunigal-Hassan-Belur-CKM

Refer – http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/62597-bangalore-chikmagalur.html

ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBERS :

Hotel Vasanth Vihar – Ratangiri Road , Chikmagalur , Karnataka – 577101 , India

Phn : 08262- 235585

The link has all the phone numbers and address of the Hotels in Chikmagalur .

These guys are genuine fellows and you can deposit some advance in their bank account to confirm your booking .

http://chickmagalur.nic.in/htmls/resorts_hotels.htm

River Tern Lodges -  It is located on a hillock, at the edge of the picturesque Bhadra River, near Lakkavalli, adjoining the northern boundaries of the Bhadra Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary .
Phn : 91 – 80- 25597021 , 91 – 80- 25597024 , 91 – 80- 25597025 , 91 – 80- 25586163

Enquiry can me made from – http://www.junglelodges.com/index.php/contact-us.html

HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST : Around Rs 4500 per head .

1) River tern : Rs 3250 per head includes Lunch , Dinner and Breakfast.

2) Hotels in Chikmagalur depends on you . They are available from Rs 450 per room per night to Rs 14000 per room per night .

3) We took 1 ac room at Rs 850 in Vasanth Vihar Hotel .

4) Lunch at our expense – twice – Costs Rs 350 average per Lunch

5) Dinner at our expense – Once – Costs us 750 .

6) In all the Petrol expenses came close to Rs. 2800 .

7) Water Sports in River Tern are charged :-

   ‘Tranquiliser’ – 250 per head .

   ‘kayakeing , pedal boating , canoeing’ – 200 per head

   There is a Group package , which includes all sports and costs just 450 .

You can book Jungle Lodges and Resort from : http://www.junglelodges.com/index.php/online-reservation.html

HOW ABOUT THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE :-

We completely missed out our plans and Deadlines by huge margins .

Day 1 :-

We started from home at 9:40 a.m .Got stuck in traffic near Iscon Temple .

We took magadi road – kunigal route .

We reached Chikmagalur at around 4:00 p.m .To our surprise there were no rooms available in Planters court. Then we went to Vasanth Vihar Hotel .There were no rooms in that too .

Then we parked our car inside vasanth vihar hotel and started calling all the hotels from the list we were carrying . There was not a single hotel which said yes to us .

We became disappointed ,since the time was passing by and we were getting late for the sunset .

Finally after wasting a lot of time Receptionist of Vasanth Vihar Hotel gave us 1 Ac room at Rs. 850 for 4 of us. But it was around 5:45 and hence we decided to rest at hotel .In the evening we went to Gandhi Amusement Park .Day 1 was completely flop for us .

Day 2:-

We checked out of Hotel at around 7:30 a.m in the morning .Had Breakfast in a decent canteen on that BR hill road .Then we went to Mullayanagiri .It took us only 50 min to reach Mullayanagiri .

The beauty there was amazing . It was little cool there also at the top .
3 things were good there – 1) Temple at the Top 2) mystery Caves 3) temple 2 km before Mullayanagiri .

The clock showed 09:50 and we set out for River Tern.
We reached there at 12:10 p.m . We checked in , got refreshed .

River Tern Lodges and resort :-

The River Tern Lodge is a perfect blend of nature and wildlife .The lodge gets its name from the congregation of thousands of River Terns during their breeding on a nearby island.The River Tern Lodge is the ideal spot to get acquainted with nature in its serene beauty .

Just glance outside from your window toward your balcony . you wouldn't like to get away your eyes from there .JUST AMAZING .Wooden Hut was fully air conditioned .Our package Includes :-

1) Lunch – 1:00 p.m to 3:00 p.m

Lunch was delicious .

2) Safari in open Jeep – 4:00 p.m – 6:00 p.m

There were few places inside the jungle which are “JUST TOO BEAUTIFUL”

We were victim of an elephant charge too .But that was the best part of the safari . It was breath taking .

3) Tea and snacks – 6:15 p.m – 7:00 p.m

4) Documentary on TV – 7:00 p.m – 7:45 p.m

5) Dinner – 8:30 p.m .Dinner also was good .

6) Morning Tea and Snacks – 6:45a.m – 7:15 a.m

7) In case you want to do water sports (On your Own Expenses) – 7:00 am – 8:45 a.m

Here comes the second best part of the Trip .Water sports .

We did ‘Trampoline’ there .It was awesome . We enjoyed our heart out .

Water sport in charge also was very entertaining . He made music from water .

  8) 9:00 – 10:00 – Boating

This was the 3rd best thing of the Trip .Indeed a spectacular sight to behold! You can get mesmerized by observing their preening, feeding, cackling and many interesting antics .At one place we saw a herd of Wild dogs and wild Boars .This jungle experience was truly amazing .
       After such an amazing experience , I didn't wanted to exhaust my parents with a tight schedule.Hence I canceled the program for going to the Falls .

We set out for Bangalore at 12:30 p.m and reached bangalore by 7:00 p.m .

SOME SCENIC SPOTS IN AND NEAR CHIKMAGALUR WHICH YOU SHOULD NOT MISS:-

Kemmangundi: 55 km north from Chikmagalur town is Kemmangundi, a scenic hill station on the Baba Budan Giri range of hills.

Hebbe Falls: This beautiful waterfall is over 10 km away from the famous hill station, Kemmangundi.

Kudremukh and National Park: 95 km southwest of Chikmagalur town is Kudremukh range (in Kannada Kudure = horse and mukha = face), so named because of the unique shape of the Kudremukh peak. If you are able to trek at the ToP Of Kudremukh , you will be able to glance on the Western coast of India .

Mullayanagiri:Beautiful Hill in BabaBudan Giri ranges famous mostly for watching sunsets from.

Kallathigiri Falls: Just 10 km away from Kemmangundi is Kallahathigiri falls, also known as Kalahasti falls.

River Tern Nestling in Bhadra Wildlife SanctuaryBhadra Wildlife Sanctuary: Occupying 495 km². of wildlife sanctuary and Project tiger reserve, this region is an important watershed of the Tungabhadra river. The huge reservoir here is the main water supply to several districts in the rain shadow regions of south Karnataka.River Tern resort is a Jungle Lodges Property with a beauiful location