153) Horsley Hills Ride: (15,16/10/2017)

By Karthikprabhu03 @karthikprabhu03

Place: Horsley hillsDistance: 175kms x 2 = 350kms Directions: Bangalore > Devnahalli > Chintamani > Kaivara > Madanpalli > Horsley hillsKrew: Aditya (Adi) > Deepak (Deefu) > Datta (Dattu) > Ashok (Moms)  > Karthik (Sp)Bikes: Enfield > Pulsar (2)   Previous Visit: Jengal & Digal Gudda TrekBudget: Rs 2000/head  IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:Alright, this was a super duper re-union of high school friends to have a relaxing weekend atop the serene hills of Horsley. The place as such is tranquil and nice inspite of being well known.  Our visit was primarily planned for a getaway.INTRO & PLAN:Adi who had returned from a biking trip to Himalayas called me up on 12thOct and said he wanted to meet us all to share his stories. The meeting point Deefu & I decided to be Horsley hills 175kms away from Bangalore. Ashok and Dattu confirmed their presence as well. I booked a stay with Haritha resort right opposite to the swimming pool.TIME: 22:00 (12/10/2017)
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:Yeah I was up at 04:30 as usual did a few pushups, situps and then began sipping a cup of coffee. Left my home at around 6:30AM met Adi near his place. From there we both picked Datta from Mahalakshmi layout and proceeded on the Outer ring road to reach Hebbal. Ashok & Deefu arrived. After a formal greeting we left BangaloreTIME: 07:30
RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Devenahalli – Chintamani – Kaivara – Madanpalli – Horsley Hills)This was 175km ride on both traffic flooded highway and beautiful scenic country roads. As we left from Hebbal we encountered heavy traffic. Post devenahalli we took the chintamani deviation. The roads were narrow but the route was scenic. We pulled over at H cross for a breakfast we would never forget.TIME: 09:15   

The breakfast was simply amazing. Super duper taste and the way it was served took me back to the Lepakshi trip. 20 Idlys, 10vadas, 3 rice baths, 5 tea costed Rs160.  Feeling damn satisfied with the awesome breakfast, we took a left turn at H cross and proceeded towards Kaivara. This stretch was totally superb, with the huge hillock visible 15-20kms away, good roads we zoomed away in full pace.Post Kaivara the forest stretch began and the roads to turned patchy. The last stretch was damn tiring as it ran through a lot of small villages, but never the less it was very scenic. We pulled over for a small drink stop and proceeded to reach the final ascension to Horsley hills.The last stretch to Horsley hills is 10kms and is completely on ghat roads. The ride is awesome and with every kilometer behind, the view becomes exhilarating. One can find a lot of Eucalyptus trees just like the last stretch of Elagiri.  Finally we made it to the top and checked into the reception.TIME: 12:30HORSLEY HILLS:Horsley hills was named after WD Horsley, who served as a British collector in the late 1800’s. Now atop of this hill, there exists a lot of Govt cottages maintained in good condition. Also, some private cottage as well. Its pretty much a commercial place, but the link with nature still exists (not like our other spoilt counter-part – Nandi hills, hahah! )   We had booked a Windfall stay where in 5-6people can comfortably crash for a super decent price. We were surprised as to how huge the stay was. We took the service boy’s number (much needed) and wandered off to the swimming pool. After realizing it was quite decent and with the crowd less, we decided to go back to the stay finish of the drink, change our clothes and jump into the pool. Dattu had got his Frisbee as well, so the good old high school games began – Donkey, Frizbee football, holding breath.  We spent over an hour at the swimming pool as there was no time restrictions. After which we went to the restaurant for some good heavy buffet lunch. Arrr hungry!TIME: 14:00After a super heavy lunch, we wandered here and there and returned back to the stay and began playing cards. Evening we took a stroll again, witnessed a beautiful sunset from the view point and decided to sit by 7PM even though it was quite early.  The session went on until late night and we went on munching on snacks and eating ice cream for some reason. It actually went pretty well. We spoke about all sorts topics like school, college, life, etc etc.. went on up till 3AM before we decided to rest. TIME: 03:00

DAY 2:And the early bird award goes to? No prizes for guessing, yep, was up by 4:30AM. Sat back and started having some more. Then Adi and me decided to go to witness the sunrise from the view points as well. It was an awesome view, with clouds shrouding you. The wind speeds were moving the clouds pretty fast and the view below was game of hide and seek. We went back and woke the others up as well. We all sat back having another small session, after which as Adi had to leave by 10AM, we got ready and had a super buffet lunch and decided it was time to hit back the road.  
RIDE 2: (Horsley Hills – Madanpalle – Chintamani – Devenahalli – Bangalore)This was a 175km ride back and took us almost 4-5h. We took the Madanpalle route, even though the roads were better but the ride was quite tiring. The roads were patchy and through kormangala forest. Once we reached Kaivara the roads turned awesome and the view of the might hillock kicked started the fire within. We pulled over at H cross for a small tea break. After which we rode to Devenhalli non stop, at Hebbal we thanked each other for making it and split to reach our respective homes.TIME: 15:00CONCLUSION:“I would say this was more of a superb re-union of high school friends.  Horsely hills I would say is a perfect 2 day trip to relax and have a great time with you friends/family. This trip I believe re-kindled the fire for more trips to follow! Cheers! “Until next time, Cia \m/PICASA ALBUM:MAPS: