The major reason for visiting Bangalore - Bheemeshwari... Bheemeshwari is located about 100 km south of Bangalore, just beside Cauvery in the midst of a forest!
There are 2 locations here. One belonging to the forest dept and one with tourism dept. The tourism dept one is called the Jungle Lodges. The forest dept. one is being used by all private players.
The day kick started with 2 rope activities. One was channel / river crossing. Well, there wasn't much water in this channel of Cauvery. Nevertheless, the effort was quite much. There was safety with tie up from waist. Even if the hand loses grip, I wasn't gonna fall down. Gloves were given to protect hands. Legs were in a loop to keep the body horizontal. And we were supposed to pull ourselves with the strength of the hands to the other end of the rope and come back. The complete effort was on the biceps. The length would have been about 25m. Errr..... I managed to go but couldn't come back!!!! And at that very moment I pretty much realized how poor my stamina has gotten and well, I hardly have any biceps. Ok, so now I've gotta workout!!! So do half of the gang who also failed half way through.....
The next was to climb a vertical rope. Here the entire effort was on one leg with which the rest of the body was to be pushed upwards. After failing half way in the first task, I was not very sure of myself. But I did a much better job and reached the top.
After so much effort, any food would have been fine. But the food provided was pretty good with 2 poori, subzi, rice, dal, raita, veg fried rice, papad, pickle etc. For being in the middle of a forest, that food was totally unexpected.
After lazing a bit post lunch, the evening was what the major attraction of the trip was for. What was it? You've gotta wait & watch. That's coming up in the next post.
That night was fantastic. We visited the neighbouring Jungle Lodges and managed to sleep for some time on the net bed tied at about 25ft from ground, gazing at the stars, feeling the chillness of the wind, with no pollution at all!!! Wild boars were a common sight here, but they seem nice!! I spotted quite a few grazing by.
Later that night, we had opted for tents instead of concrete structures... The tents were meant for 2 to sleep, but then come on, when you're out with friends, who wants to sleep. The tents were great - water proof and provided with 2 sleeping bags. Chit chatting till post midnight, after we retired for the day, one of our friends, popped his head out of the tent at about 3am only to spot a wild boar next to the tent!!!!!
Next morning, was the time for another mini trek. Since this was in the middle of the forest, this wasn't like Savanadurga. The hill has soil and was rich in vegetation. A dirt track lead to the top of the hill. This was hardly a 1000 ft tall.
Right atop was a view point that gives the perfect view of the bellowing Cauvery and the rich forest that surrounds....
Here are some tips for this place. Here again the last 20km the road is super pathetic. A jeep would be the best vehicle to drive on this road. Be super careful when eating. Monkeys can come in from nowhere, and take food right out of your plate! If you're staying in tents, better wake up by 6 before the monkeys start jumping on the tents from atop the trees!!! Take good shoes for trekking. Carry cash - there are no atm-s in the middle of the forest. Cell phones do not pick signal here. If you take alcohol at night and get high, there's every chance that you might fall into Cauvery & drown!!!
Come back next week to know what we did in the afternoon - the specialty of Bheemeshwari!!!!!! But before that don't forget to 'like' the newly created FB page dedicated to this blog!
To Get There:
From Mysore: 85km on NH 209 via Malavalli
From Bangalore: 102km on NH 209 via Kanakapura
From Muthathi: 5.5km
While going from Bangalore, the last village you cross would be Muthathi and that's the last point to get any cell phone signal or find a PCO. After that there's a forest dept. check post and then its just forest!
To Stay:
As said earlier, there are 2 places - Jungle Lodges by Tourism dept and Forest dept's place where all private players use for accommodation. We were dealing with a private organizer and stayed at Forest dept space beside a river, in a tent! Jungle lodges is more sophisticated than this with more room types, shops, parks, children play area etc. Accommodation types incl. tents, loghuts, cottages, tree houses etc. This place also has more rope activities like the ones at Horsley Hills. If you've not been to Horsley, you could take this up. Oh yeah, bathrooms & toilets too are better at Jungle Lodges. The prices vary hugely too. I paid about Rs.2500 and the starting price there is at Rs.4500.
Dedicated to Venkat & Gang!
There are 2 locations here. One belonging to the forest dept and one with tourism dept. The tourism dept one is called the Jungle Lodges. The forest dept. one is being used by all private players. 
Beautiful photos and nice write-up
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Thank you!
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