DAY 2: KEMMANGUNDI
Next day we decided to start around 10:00 as we had only 2 places on our List. Also kemmangundi is only 30kms from Chikmagalur...Kemmenagundi is a scenic hill station which is situated about 1434 meters above sea level, in the Tarikere taluk,Chikmagalur. Kemmenagundi is famous for its pleasant weather, serene ambiance, and beautiful environment.
- Destination 1: Kalhati Falls
- Destination 2: Kemmangundi
Coffee Flowers: On the way stopped by seeing lots of white flowers.. When i asked driver, what flowers are they. He told it is cofee flowers, we were astonished as we thought coffee powder is got through cofee seeds:). when asked him the same, he explained, Once the Coffee seeds is planted, after three or four years, rains triggers blossoming of white flowers with a jasmine fragrance. Which forms dense clusters of white flowers enriching the entire plantation with their perfume.Coffee flowers are short-lived and after a few days, turns into fruit which are green in colour and later change color from green to red as they ripen.. we stopped by and took some snaps of Cofee flowers and headed to kalhati falls.
Kalhati falls is located at Kallattipura in chikmagalur district of karnataka. After a small trek we reached the falls. The falls is said to be cascaded from the Chandra Drona Hill from 122 meters (400 ft). But at this point of trek we could just see Veerabhadra Temple, which is constructed in a gap between two rocks.It is a cave temple,built during Vijayanagara period. The entrance of this temple is flanked by the carved figures of three elephants. Water falls, flows right between this elephants carvings, giving an illusion, as if it flows from its mouth....It is believed that Sage Agasthya’s ashram was located here. One can trek further to the top of the falls through the stone steps placed next to the falls to get picturesque view of the falls and the valley. We visited temple. Took some snaps and decided to return back. (people were taking bath and garbage were thrown here and there.)
Trek to Kemmangundi Z point
We reached kemmangundi around 11:30, Cars are not allowed after Raj Bhavan and one has to trek from Raj bhavan to Zpoint, the highest point of Kemmangundi..
Raj Bhavan:
Raj Bhavan is a guest house in in Kemmangundi which offers a spectacular view of the surrounding hills. This is starting point of trek. On the way, we saw lot of people already coming back from there trek, guess they had started early morning.. It was pleasant walk till we reached Rock Garden..
Rose Garden:
Rose Garden, is maintained by karnataka ,Horticulture Department which houses several plant species. The garden is beautifully landscaped and also has a theme of Sita showing Maya jinke to Rama. We took some snaps here and walked further..
Shanti Falls:
On the way to Z-point we find a small falls called shanti falls. The water flows all the way from top of the hill, creating a spectacular view. We took snaps and headed further..
Trek to Zpoint:
The route further is very scenic with deep valleys on one side and hills cover on the other. It is really scary, and a small mis-step would lead us to deep valleys. Some paths are very narrow and literally, only one person can walk at a time. Though we were tired after walking so long, there is no place to rest, all we could do is walk, walk and walk.. As we walk further, the route is totally zig-zag, some places, i had to literally sit and get down in the pathway. Finally after an hour, we reached the peak point, the Zpoint.. Not sure why it is named as Zpoint, but yeah it looked like End point :) Again there is no place to sit or rest, and wind was blowing so high, as if it would blow us away with it. We took some snaps, and decided to walk back, as we were hungry, and it was already 1:00 by then... We reached Raj Bhavan around 3:00pm, we dint find any lunch and had to compromise on some snacks. From Raj bhavan its a km to reach Car, we were totally tired when we reached car, and returned back to Chikmagalur..
