It was my first trip after a long time of lockdowns and my knee injury. I was restricted in my house and it felt like I was seeing the world for the first time. You know how Rapunzel comes out of the castle for the first time, I was that happy!
We had three days and two bikes. “We” were Vishnu, my guy who has also traveled Northeast of India on his bike, and his friend Dibeesh. It was my first time on a road trip this far on a motorbike. Sakleshpur was a sudden plan and since it was a three days holiday, everyone was heading towards such hill stations near Bangalore and there was good traffic in the morning when we left from home.
It was a sunny day on the long stretches of highways. Highways with the blue blue skies and a colour-splash of flowers on the side! Sakleshpur is more than 200 km from Banglore and we stopped for breakfast after 100 meters. To be honest, the roads felt just so nice that I was not thinking about the destination much. Most restaurants and cafes were crowded with people and we found a small joint where they served Dosas and Idlies and tea, of course!
The next stretch from there was a completely different landscape. There were fields on the sides with different types of crops. They made different green patches with their leaves, some dark green and some pastel green and some greenhouses in between. In the distance, there were some stone mountains with temples on top of them.
We stopped at this bridge across a river and stretched a little. Monsoon had started back then and there was water in the river. If you don’t know Vishnu, let me tell you he’s a fan of alligators and expects to see one even in a mud pond in the city. So, needless to say, we had a fair share of him trying to explain the possibilities of having one in this waterbody too!
There was an old bridge parallel to the one where we were standing and an old building that caught my attention. We will be coming back through that bridge. We tied up the back racks again and started again.
A few kilometers from there, the weather also started changing. It got cloudy first and then it started to drizzle after a few more kilometers. We had booked a cottage when we were eating breakfast and it was too hard to find a place since everyone headed to these common weekend getaways.
More than the rain, there were huge trees and fresh air, very different from Banglore or the roads we were on so far. It was no more sunny but cold and trees were all around. No more straight stretches of roads but twists and turns through the middle of these trees. And at every turn, I was looking to see if any wild animal was crossing the road.
We were riding through coffee plantations and tiny hills. It felt good, better, and different than the highways. It was just over 30 km from our homestay when it started pouring down. We continued riding since it seemed like the rain was not going to stop. By evening, we reached and were all ready to crash.
There’s something good and bad about booking online. The reviews and pics can be deceiving sometimes. The homestay we booked said it’s a hut/cottage and in reality, it was one. But, not the way someone would have imagined from the pics online. The location was stunning though. It had a good view of the valley with coffee plants and other huge palm trees through the glass window-wall of the room. Since it was a not-so-great experience, I’m not mentioning the homestay here.
We were so hungry and were looking for food. That was the next downside when we couldn’t really find a place to eat nearby and a realization we’re about 30km away from the real Sakleshpur town. The homestay provided dinner and breakfast, so it was okay for the night and the next day especially when it never stopped raining after we reached. In fact, it seemed like it was raining here before that also.
The next day, we were up early after a good sleep and went for a walk nearby. It was good with some mist, trees, and flowers. I love how these tiny yellow flowers were all around where we walked. And soon enough we were all updating the Insta stories!
There were a few viewpoints and tourist destinations in and around Sakleshpur. We had a plan to go near a forest too. But, it never stopped raining and we had decided to leave the homestay that day itself. So, we had food and slept some more before leaving.
One unfortunate incident during the trip was booking homestays. The next one booked was through OYO and after we reached the property, the owner didn’t allow us inside. Apparently, the owner had removed the property from the app but it was still showing up to book. After hours of sorting the issue and settling the payment offline, we were in a good spot.
It was a homestay in Somwarpet. The truth is it was not easy to find a place to stay in Sakleshpur that day and we had reached Somwarpet just because of this homestay. I must say the ride there was much cooler than the one before. The rain never stopped though.
We had some good food over there and spent another day just riding here and there. With the rain, I had left the camera and phone in the room. But, here’s a little bit of Somwarpet that I liked. I love those raws of small small tiled houses. It seems like an old university or something of that sort.
Coming back to Bangalore, it was raining for the most part until we reached the highway. From there, we were getting boiled with heat. You would find many sugar cane juice corners in these roads, it is one of the main crops here and we had a glass of it before continuing the ride.
That was all about the weekend getaway. Both places are really nice if you want to have a weekend trip or even work from the mountains and I would suggest booking the places through Booking.com. I honestly miss the cool weather, the fresh air and the tall trees!
