The much awaited urge to take my Kid (Kwid) for a long run ended with trip to JLR (Jungle Lodges and Resorts) on the backwaters of River Bhadra.
We were planning for this trip a month in advance and booked cottage room in JLR – River tern lodge. The long weekend was round the corner and we were excited and getting prepared for the trip. 24th-25th-26th 3 days of trip and one day buffer (27th) to relax.
23rd night – Bags packed. Kwid cleaned and polished with my favorite Amway car wash and silicon Glaze. The vehicle was ready to rock and roll. Fuel tank was already almost filled, so we planned to refill on the way.
24th June –
4:30 am. – Tring, Tring and we were off the bed with the first sound of the alarm. My son (Akshaj) was asleep and we planned to cover maximum distance while he was asleep. As it happens, delay, we got delayed and started from our Harlur house @ 5:45 am – 45 minutes late than planned. Bad planning. No Traffic, the drive was smooth. Crossed Nice road and reached tumkur – Neelmangla toll road. A bit traffic there but it cleared in 5-10 min. After the toll road we stopped for filling tank fuel. It was around 7:00 am. We waited for 15-20 minutes, strolled around stretching arms and legs and started. We could hardly find decent restaurants for a stop over, there are quite a few decent restaurants after you cross Tumkur town. However, the urge to drive was more, than the urge to have a breaakfast. So, we drove. After riding around 150 kms, we stopped in one of the CCD for breakfast.
We started around 10:30 from here and I planned to cover under 2 hrs. The road condition was good and I crossed 100 km/hr on my Kwid. Speedometer showed 105km/hr in these road conditions and I was sure we could reach by 12:30. JLR River terns lodge is in lakavalli village for which you need to turn left from shimoga-arsikere main road and drive another 15 kms to reach River terns lodge. We reached at 1:30 pm.
We had lunch and went to the river bank for some chill out time. The view was awesome. The view from the cottage is breathtaking. To reach the cottage we had to cross a hanging bridge. It truly gives you feel of nature and lets you forget city life.
25th June –
Woke up around 7 am in lap of nature with amazing views from cottage.
View from cottage room and balcony –
Went for breakfast in common area which is around 700 m from cottage, the walk through nature but if you have small kids or old parents then it might be a bit hectic. Some snaps taken enroute to dining area from cottage –
Post breakfast we went for water sports and did some kayaking in the backwaters of bhadra river.
Jeep safari was scheduled for 3.30 pm and we were on time at the reception area. We were excited in anticipation to spot a tiger during our safari ride. However we could not see much and had to contempt with sights of – gaur, dancing peacock, wild boar and nothing much.
The day ended with dinner and ready for boat safari the next day morning.
26th June –
We could spot lots of river terns birds during boat safari. The view from the boat was amazing, into the Bhadra backwaters. Near the river bank we spotted herd of deer and a wild dog. We expected a lot from jeep safari but were not satisfied but the boat safari was unexpectedly great and the view during boat safari will be ingrained into memories forever. Posting a few –
It was time to leave and we checked out at 12 noon from the hotel. Bags loaded into the huge boot space of kwid, wiped off heavy dirt from the car surface. It started drizzling and we started. As the route was now known, the drive was comfortable and didn’t have to think much about road humps, which i missed during onward journey and bumped over a couple of humps. We were a bit late due to multiple stops, halted at Gubbi near Tumkur for evening snacks around 4 pm. Then after entering Bangalore I missed ‘nice road’ turn and went into the city road. It was crowded due to Eid and it took time to navigate through the city roads and connect to ORR. ORR was empty and reached home around 9 pm. It took a lot of time during return journey. Next time need to plan when to reach Bangalore to avoid such traffic, may be reaching Bangalore during noon would be a good idea or may be late night.
Overall, a good trip and a good ride with my kid (Kwid). No issues with kwid during the journey. Had to refuel twice and on return half the tank was unused.
Onward journey – 288 kms. Mileage – 23 km/l
Return journey – 292 kms. Mileage – 21 km/l
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