MM Hills

During my previous trip to Chamarajanagar I had missed out on going to MM Hills. Hence when there was a day off for Easter (March 31^st) Preethi and I left Bangalore at around 6:30AM. After a small squabble with some boy cutting my way at a petrol bunk, we drove directly to MM Hills. As always I enjoyed the drive on Kanakapura road. We stopped for some tea and bun for breakfast as we did not find any good restaurant. But as the day turned noon, the temperature augmented and it was impossible to drive without AC. April is the worst time to drive around Bangalore not only because of the weather but the view as well which was mostly dry as if burnt. Everything looked sad and ruined with trees without leaves; the one’s remaining had turned brown, ready to crumble. 

But even in this hot summer, there are some trees that blossom, specially my favorite tree of all – The golden shower tree (Cassia fistula). The yellow flowers showered down from every branch. It looked lovely. Last year I planted 4 of these trees in the front yard of my Surathkal house. I can’t wait for them to blossom.

After a nice ride around the hill and few hair pin bends we reached the temple at around 11:00 AM. I bet the drive would be much more beautiful during or after rain. The temple was crowded. We followed a descent queue and had Darshan.  

We had lunch at a small restaurant nearby. The food was pathetic but we had no options. Nagamale was next on my agenda but the villagers told me that I could not drive up there and it was a trek that had to be started in the morning and would be difficult under hot sun. So, tired that I already was, we decided to return. 

On the way we stopped at Sangama. Two rivers meet here but during this time, there were pockets of water collected between 3 rocks and in those pockets where several Bangaloreans bathing. It was not a pleasant sight so we returned immediately.  

This was one of the tips I did not enjoy much at all. I think it had to do mostly with the weather. It was extremely hot, trees were dry and everything looked burnt.