TRAVELOGUE: Kodachadri Peak, Karnataka

There is nothing like seeing sun setting over a Hill. It’s the urge I cannot resist when I have a long weekend. It was such a long weekend and we decided to spend it with nature. Deciding a place to trek is not hard in Karnataka, as state is blessed with many long stretches of lush green forests and mighty western ghat. We decided on Kodachadri.

We started by bus from Bangalore on overnight journey to Kundapur nearest town to Kodachadri Hill. We got a reasonable hotel for four of us. We relaxed for a while and had lunch at the same hotel. Being in Kundapur, which is small town on the shore of sea, we did not miss the seafood.

Next thing to do was to hit for a Kodi Beach not very popular among tourists. Hence one does not see a single person on beach. Feels like a private beach. Not being popular has advantages like it’s not commercialized and very clean. Only hotel at beach is present, called Kinara. We relaxed, bathed, took photos and saw setting sun with seeping cold beer. As sun went down we sat at the Kinara hotel eating seafood chatting with friends.

It was 9 pm when we realized we had to get up early next morning for the trek so we left the Kodi beach one of the cleanest and solitary beaches.

Next morning we started to Kodachadri trek from Kundapur on private bus, which was headed towards Sagara. We saw villages passing by rapidly, but once we crossed Kollur (Known for Mukambika Temple), ghat section started through dense green forest. Bus conductor knew the place from where trek starts and dropped us at that point, called as Karnataka Gate. We saw other groups who were just reached there and going to start the trek. This made sure we were on right track.

We had to cross a stretch of six kms to reach the base of Kodachadri, reaching it you will find a Santosh Hotel. Putttu-chana and black tea is what you get for a breakfast here. After ten minutes walk from hotel you will get a divider, left one for Jeeps to reach top, right one is for trekkers. Here starts most hard portion of the trek, just follow the path and we reach a point from where one can see a green valley for a miles and miles long. From this point one can see a temple and pwd guest house bungalow. After trekking for another hour or so we reached the pwd bunglow point. Here you will find couple of houses, which serve food and rent rooms for a night. But this is not summit and you need to trek for another forty minutes to reach it.

We relaxed for a while gazing at the deep valley below. You can decide to see sunset or sunrise from the summit, as both of them are spectacular and a good photograph opportunity.

We decided to see sunset and after having our lunch we headed towards summit. After trekking for forty minutes or so, one sees small temple of Shakaracharya, called as Sarvajana Peetha. It is believed that Shankaracharya used to meditate here. One can see many Keralite worshippers who had just came to visit the temple. We saw a wonderful sunset and clicked many photographs. As sun went down we descended back to PWD bungalow. One amazing thing with that night at places like this far which are far from city is glittering blue with zillions of stars. Living in City one does seldom looks at the sky. Even one looks at sky it will be hard to find any stars. We spent night at PWD bungalow; one needs to reserve the place beforehand. The place does not offer any bed or other luxuries, so carry sleeping bag and mattress.

Next morning we started to descend the hill with a sheer satisfaction of seeing one of the beautiful places in Karnataka.