135) Dandiganahalli Dam:(4/9/2016)

Place: Dandiganahalli Dam & Chokkanahalli Dam.Distance: 100kms x 2 = 200kmsDirections: Bangalore > Devanahalli > Chikbalapur > Dandiganahalli DamKrew: Vinay > Madhu (Barca) > Karthik (Sp)Bikes: Pulsar (2) Previous Visit: Bettamugililam Forest RideBudget: Rs 300/headIN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:Dandiganahalli dam is another unexplored jewel of Chikbalapur district. The serene waters of the dam and a good trek up the hill serves as a perfect recipe for a weekend munch. Also, the Chokkahalli Dam (Srinivasa Sagara) to add on as toppings made our trip an amazing one. Not to the forget the crazy ending, a must read!INTRO & PLAN:It was almost a month since our last ride to the beautiful forests of Bettamugililam. I was in Ranchi for about 20 days. When I returned, I began searching for some new unexplored places on my hit list. So, after a while I narrowed it down to Dandiganahalli dam. On confirmed list were Madhu & Dileep.TIME: 22:00 (3/9/2016)

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:Oh yeah woke up at 04:00, did a few push-ups & sit-ups, had a sip of coffee & was all set to go! Dileep said he couldn’t make it. So, I went to Madhu’s place and told him the same. We decided to hit the road as I would be available for a week before I had to travel to Gujarat for a month. As we approached BEL road near the Outer Ring Road, Madhu called up his cousin Vinay who had become a very good friend of mine too over just one sitting hehe. So, Madhu & myself pulled over at a shop to have some bun & tea as we waited for Vinay. Once Vinay arrived we greeted each other and we took from Bangalore.TIME: 07:30

RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Devanahalli – Chikbalapur – Dandiganahalli Dam)Even though it was just a 90-100kms ride, it took us quite some time to cover it. As we left Bangalore the weather was cool & pleasant. And as it was a Sunday, Airport road was pretty dense with traffic. But we knew, it would exist only until the airport deviation and right we were. Once we crossed pass the airport the traffic reduced and we could feel the cool breeze hit us on the face. As we approached Devanahalli, we could see the mighty Nandi hills shrouded in mist giving it a mystical appearance. We pulled over at the same hotel at which we had pulled over on our mega Gandikota ride for some light breakfast.TIME: 08:30

After some yummy breakfast, we continued the ride towards Chikbalapur. Dandiganahalli dam is about 25km from Chikbalapur but will take about an hour due to bad roads. After this point we started enquiring with the locals about the dam. Getting proper directions we tried to make it out of the town, but owing to the lot of deviations we got lost multiple times. But finally we hit the highway and started cruising on the ghat like road which ran amidst the forests. This was the same route we had taken back in 2012 from Madhugiri to Nandi Hills. The ride was fantastic and I began singing “Made in Andhra” loudly hehe! As we carried on further we spotted a sweet little reservoir to our left near Chokkahalli, we didn’t know the name of the reservoir, so we decided to explore.TIME: 09:30

SRINIVASA SAGAR:With the fishing boats resting in peace and Nandi Ranges playing as the background, this reservoir turned out to very scenic. We fooled around with the rowing sticks and went on the bund to get a good overview of this place. The place was good and the timing was perfect. Nandi hills looked just amazing from this reservoir. After about 20-30mins at this place we decided to leave.TIME: 10:00The second part of the ride turned out to be hectic even though it was hardly 20kms. As we left Chokknahalli, we cruised along pretty fast to miss a turn at Manchenahalli and rode about 5-6kms ahead. After reaching back the town, we were again misguided onto another route. Finally after a lot drama, we caught hold of the right route and we were set. As we proceeded, we spotted a beautiful green snake crawling on the road. With no further notice I jumped off the bike and caught the snake by its tail. Damn, it looked so majestic I was about to think before the other two asked me to put down the snake immediately hehe!

Then I started fussing and telling Madhu let the snakes mother come, I will catch her too :P. As we began cruising past the small villages we began to get a feeling we were fast approaching our destination. The roads seemed to keep vanishing as we kept progressing. Finally I tell Madhu “ Where those Triumph and Harley, lets see if they can come over here?” Next thing you know, we could spot the Dam and a group of Triumph, Harleys, Yamahas were standing. The biggest face palm I had received till date hehe! Anyway we had reached the dam.TIME: 10:45

DANDIGANAHALLI DAM TREK:Well, this dam is actually pretty well known to most of the riders who keep coming to Nandi Hills. Thing is we avoided that hill, hence the delay in catching this dam. The dam offers a majestic view as it is situated between two hills. First thing we did is to walk past the bund and get and all around view off the place. (Firstly wanted to get away from the crowd grrr…) After reaching the bunds end we thought we not trek up the hill, the view had to get better. TIME: 11:00

And so the wonderful trek began. We hadn’t carried any water or snacks, never had I read about a trek at this place. But as we ascended the hillock the view kept getting better and better. We could see the other bikers group getting smaller and insignificant. We fooled around boulders yelled on top of our voices sang some of the latest Telugu songs and what not. Balancing on boulders and jumping from one to one had to be most fun part. After a while we reached what seemed like the top. By this time we could hear only the winds blowing and nothing else. It had to be one of the most peaceful spots I had hit in quite some time. I managed to pull out some mint (polo) from my bag as that was all I had got. We decided to crash to enjoy the superb silence surrounding us.TIME: 11:30

After about 20-30mins of deep sleep, we got up and sat in silence enjoying the view that stood before us. All we could hear is the rustling of the leaves and branches around us. I decided to climb up a tree to get a farthest sight. After goofing around a while dancing a little too, we decided to leave and trek our way back to base.The trek back was plain and simple. It took us hardly 30mins to reach the base. As we reached we could see a few more bikes had arrived showing it was a pretty popular place. But nevertheless few bikes that too on a Sunday is pretty okay. We geared up and decided to bid adieu to this wonderful new reservoir.TIME: 12:45

Ride 2: (Dandiganahalli Dam – Chikballapura – Devenahalli – Bangalore) This had to be one of the most resistance filled ride till date. As we left the dam, we could trace back the right route. As we cruised on the village roads, I was reminding Madhu about the words said earlier about the snake’s mother.. . and BAM, out of now where a 5-6feet Cobra came onto the road and went to the other side. Madhu pulled over and smiled, I was like “hey, common, that was green and this one’s brownish-black, how can it be its mother? :P” We waited for a while if it turn out, but it had gone into the bushes. So, as we proceeded further just before reaching Chikkbalapur, we spotted a mud Kabbadi competition between Police academies. We stood and watched for about 15-20mins and decided to leave.

We reached Chikbalapur and after which we pulled over at some dhaba for some food and drinks. The food was okay not very good. So my suggestion to all would be to pull over near to Nandi as major crowded confluences at those regions.TIME: 14:00

Just as we were about to leave the dhaba we realised my bike had got a puncture. That was like a puncture in my heart, never had I got a puncture in past 7years of my bike riding and actually never in my life too including cycle (Including tri-cycle man! Shit!). Remained calm and enquired about puncture shops nearby and rode until one and chatting with the shop guy got the tire fixed.

The last stretch, we went ahead full zoom before the sun began to set and then a cop caught us. I was thinking damn, what else could go wrong. Somehow after some sweet negotiations, we were able to get away from him From there, we rode slow avoiding all cop filled roads and finally went to Nagarbhavi to drop Madhu and rode back to reach my home.TIME: 19:30

CONCLUSION:“This was another amazing chapter to a new reservoir near Chikkbalapur. Past few chapters had turned out well and it made us feel good. This chapter saw some crazy moments, but it was bound to happen and it was actually funny. Anyway another one under our belt, wohoo!”Until next time, Cia \m/