TOWARDS HEAVEN

Up above

I love exploring and this post is about my little Saturday trip to Nandi Hills. Nandi hills has become one of the best place to avoid the city ambush and chill out in amidst the hills watching the best view possible from a height of 4851 ft. above the sea level. Nandi hills is located approximately 60km from Bengaluru city. If you love to drive long distances then you can drive and reach Nandi hills. There are prices for parking on the hills. Government bus services are also available to reach Nandi hills and that is how I travelled. It was clean, safe and good service. So, let’s explore Nandi hills from my eyes.

HOW DID I REACH

It was 2nd Saturday during the course of my internship in Bengaluru and it was a government holiday. So, I decided to visit Nandi hills for the day. The buses for the hills leaves from Majestic bus stop so I reached there. I then asked almost 20 people regarding the bus to Nandi hills and it turned out that to visit Nandi hills I have to take a bus to Chikkaballapur. So, after walking some distance I reached platform 12 from where the buses go to Chikkaballapur at 8:30 am. I am not sure about the other timings of the bus. I reached the town at around 9:45 am. After enquiring I got to know that the bus for Nandi Hills will come around 11:30 am. I had some time to kill so I just walked nearby the bus station to find a place to fill my tummy. So, the point where the bus drops you at Chikkaballapur was basically a cross road. I took a left from there and after walking for about a minute I found a place to eat on my right side and also an SBI ATM (which I desperately needed). Food was cheap. I had a plate of Poori sabzi (3 pooris and sambhar and chutney) for 30/- . I then went back to the bus stop and waited instead of roaming around in an unknown town. (I would have probably missed by bus). The bus for Nandi hills came around 11:30 am (As said by the fellow town people) and I reached Nandi hills around 12:15 pm. The bus fare was 25/-. (I was so pleased).

NANDI HILLS

Upon reaching the hills I found out that single person is not allowed to enter. That just almost killed all of my excitement of a nice saturday. I was searching around to find anyone so that I could just enter with them. And then I got lucky. There was this couple (slight younger than my parents) who let me in with them. Thanks to them I was able to view this.

Breathtaking isn’t it?

When one reaches the hills there is a nursery that is the first thing to explore after entering. It was beautifully created.

I also captured this on the way after the nursery.

One can do many things at Nandi hills. There is a small park for the children to play. There are various elevated shelter stops on which one can sit for a while and just gaze as far as their eyes can see. There were many families enjoying their Saturday with their kids playing around, enjoying the view through binoculars, a guy playing guitar and his family singing along with him. The environment, the surrounding was calm in a different way even with all the people around enjoying themselves. There is a Nandi Temple on the hills too which I would recommend to go. It is the first temple that I visited in South India. On the way back public washrooms are also there to freshen up if needed. If you want you can carry your eatables but you can get many things to eat there itself. On the main entrance you have a milk parlor and fruits shop. After a complete visit of the hills there is a hotel too just beside the temple area. So you cannot be starving on the hilltop.

This was the view on the last portion of the hills to view. It is located towards the back of the Nandi temple.

Romantic for couples, enjoyable for families, for me it was getting lost into a peaceful environment.

Also, there is a location named “Tipu’s drop”. So, this is a place from where Tipu Sultan used to throw the people as a form of punishment. (Pretty harsh).

The weather was amazing. Little sun during the day and it started to cool down as it was evening. The bus for Chikkaballapur came around 3:30 pm. The fare was the same, 25/-. The bus timings were mentioned on a board at the entrance but I couldn’t read it as it was in Kannada. I asked the people around and they helped me out. So, I went back to Chikkaballapur and to my surprise a bus to Bengaluru was already there so I boarded the bus and came back to the city. It had almost started to rain by that time and the environment was pretty cool in the city as well. It was lovely saturday indeed and a whole new experience for me to travel solo.

TIPS FROM MY SIDE

• Keep a track of timings. As I was travelling alone, it was very important for me to be alert all the time.
• Carry all the necessities such as power bank, umbrella, water bottle etc. (Also a small knife, just in case).
• The last bus back to the town leaves around 4:30pm so be careful to catch it. Rest, just enjoy!

Feel free to express your views.

Keep exploring, keep living. 🙂

P.S.

The pictures are taken from my phone which is Samsung Galaxy J2 (2015).