Kotebetta : Return of the 3 idiots

These lowlands

Are a home now for me

But my home is the mist covered mountain

And always will be

Its been almost 2 months (since the new year Thadiyendemol trek) that we 3 (Bishu, Manas & yours truly) had been on a trek together. After Ombattu Gudda, I was longing for a quiet trek, with beautiful sceneries, easy walk and lots of photography. I was thinking of Jenkal & Dipadkallu betta but since we had only one day to spare, the location turned to Coorg, the decision helped in no small measure by our lust for 'pandhi curry'. Since Thadiyendemol (1752m) & Pushpagiri(1712m) have already been conquered a few times, my sights set on Kotebetta, a day trek and the 3rd highest peak in Coorg district with a height of 1640m.

Kotebetta lies near to the border between the Dakshina Kannada and Coorg districts. The trek starting point is junction near by a bridge called Hattihole. The peak is at a distance of 11km from Hattihole bridge. There is a Shiva temple on the base of Kotebetta. The trek trail passes through lot of coffee estates. Hattihole comes on the Madikeri-Somwarapet road, around 20 km from Madikeri. The trail changes from a tar road to a jeep trail to a walking trail.

Saturday morning, I was carrying over a mini-hangover(after a friday night session with CB celebrating KKR's win against DC) till PC called and wanted to go for a photoshoot to Lalbagh. Shared some gyaan with her on composition etc. and rushed home to pack my bag. I made my way to the Mysore road satellite bus stand, from where buses to Coorg leave. Our bus was at 2300 hours and soon enough Bishu & Manas appeared. I beared the initial heat of ditching them on the OG trek and then caught up over events in the last 2 months.

2300 hours: the bus meandered through the roads of Bangalore, but our banter ranging from Ivory Coast & Drogba to Kayaking plans, continued till late into the night. Our bus was a Rajhamsa executive bus, which lacked the rubber between the windows. I discovered this when I was about to sleep. Needless to say, I spent the late night moments trying to evade the cold in futility.

0515 hours: I was as miserable as the Poms are in the initial part of the English summer. We got down at the Madikeri bus-stand. The bus to Hattihole leaves at 0630 hours from the KSRTC bus-stand. The bus leaves for Sakleshpura via Somvarapet. This bus ride is akin to a roller coaster ride gone wrong with the driver sticking to the KSRTC Sarige pledge of making sure that the passengers maintain faith in the Almighty. In between, we also get to see the fantabulous sunrise over the coffee-estates enroute to Hattihole.

0730 hours: After about an hour, we were at the bridge. The hotel Hattihole had already opened and I promptly went for a cup of coffee. We were soon on our way in the beautiful morning on the route to the left after crossing the bridge. Quiet river flowing by, birds chirping, sun rays penetrating the tree cover on the roads and with just 3 people in the group, we made good progress on our mission to find a place to clean up. After a 4km walk and a few pleasant glances(mutual) at a fashion model(who was on a photoshoot), we came across a perfect place for camping and breakfast. After freshening up, we had a heavy breakfast with bread, butter and ketchup together with boiled eggs being the flavor of the day.

0900 hours: The lazy bums in us were finally overcome as we started our hike up. The junction is around 50 metres from this waterhole. The right path leads to Kotebetta, the left also leads to Kotebetta, albeit a longer, boring path that leads to a village, Mukodlu. There is a falls , KoteArbi that can be visited on the way to Kotebetta from this longer route. We took the route on the right, a signboard screaming that the peak was 7km away.

The initial half a kilometre of the trek is on tar road, which later gives way to a jeep track. Nothing interesting about the jeep track. It crosses a few dried-up streams, with coffee estates on both sides of it. After crossing the last house on the track, we tried to take a supposed short-cut and ended up wasting some energy on scaling a 70 degree ascent in the hot sun. Better sense

prevailed and we came down. Descent turned out to be tougher with the peebles giving away at every juncture. We again started on the wider trail on the jeep track, till the jeep track takes a turn around a mountain. Soon, we came out of the forest cover and had to fend in the hot sun. We could see a huge mountain face blocking the view of Kotebetta. At this point, we abandoned the jeep track and decided to just climb towards the peak. The thing to note is there will be a few more trails, but we decided to abandon exploring in the hot sun and reach the peak asap.

The journey till then was accompanied by breaks every 30 minutes, when grapes came to the rescue as in the OG trek.

This part of the stretch is more rocky with dry grass abound. With the sun beating down, even this easy ascent took some time especially with me, who just can't seem to resist big rocks and tree undergrowths. I sneaked under a tree, while Bishu and Manas continued to make their progress towards the peak. I fell asleep till I was awakened by a few devotees coming down from the temple. They were curious and we exchanged a few pleasantries. With my broken kannada, I could manage to extract some information: peak was 30 mins away, in distance 1.5 kms away, water source is behind the temple and there is an alternate route to KoteArbi from the peak. Thanking them, I again went to sleep :-).

After another 15 mins, I woke up and gathered pace to reach the rocky sledge where Bishu & Manas were high on the breeze. But since there was no shade, we started from there and after around 50 metres, we could see the temple on the base of the Kotebetta peak.

It was a Shiva temple, with a nice compound wall running on four sides of it. The peak is visible from the temple. Surprises me of the devotion of people who climb 7-8 kms to offer prayers and perform puja every day. Maybe its faith that drives them. Also found water at the natural tanks behind the temple. The tanks are hidden by forest growth. The whole area on which the temple is built is a flat ground, where people can camp, although water will be a problem. And yes, please retain the sanctity of the temple and its surroundings by not littering the place, wearing slippers/shoes, boozing or smoking in that area.The water was not very clean and could see dead mosquitoes and insects floating in the water. But like the people who perform puja, my faith is also very strong and I did not hesitate to drink the water.

The hill behind the temple is Kotebetta. We quickly dragged ourselves up in 10 mins flat and were on the peak by 1250 hours. We did not stop and continues our way to a thick undergrowth on the peak to escape the scorching sun. It was a nice thinner growth of trees, the floor covered with dry leaves. Ideal place for sitting and having lunch, we thought. And so, we did. Bisibelle bath, Rasam & Kesari Bath were attacked royally. The remaining water was gulped. Once the stomachs were filled, discussion went to societal norms in India binding the free spirits of individuals and finally agreed on the need to take a sabbatical to do a backpacking journey across the country for a year and coming back rejuvenated :-)

Years and years I roamed,
I gazed a gazely stare,
We walked a million hills,

I must have died alone,
A long long time ago.

Around 2 hours of lazing, we were back on our feet at 1430 hours for the photo-ops. A few of them followed.

The views from the peak were hazy. But we could see Pushpagiri and the backwaters of Harangi dam from the peak. I could not take clear pictures and that brought in a little disappointment. Then a group picture followed to mark the conquer of another peak to our list.

At 1500 hours, we were back down at the temple. I filled up the water bottles. Manas & I offered our prayers at the temple and soon we were on our way down. Since it was

scorching hot and the KoteArbi is a freaking long distance away, we back traced our path from the temple on the way we came. There is another path from the temple that will take one to a forest stretch, nearby which will be a stream and a campsite. KoteArbi falls is on the way from the campsite to Mukodlu.

The descent was quite boring, made worse by the peebles and loose rock abound in the walking trail. We did not stop till we reach the last house on the jeep trail. There we stopped around 1615 hours for some chilled water and an attack on the grapes and oranges brought for the trek. After half-an-hour, we started and were at the waterhole by 1730 hours without any stoppages in between. This is the beauty of trekking with a small group of like-minded people. Good progress in less time. High performance guaranteed :-)

Ascent : 3 hours excluding breaks

Descent : 2 hours excluding breaks

A good break on the rocks above with a nice current on your back. It does not get better post-trek. We waited for the KSRTC Sarige bus which was coming back from Mukodlu. It reaches the junction between 1745 and 1800 hours and directly goes to Madikeri. We boarded the bus and after an hour of bone rattling, reached Madikeri bus stand.

Since the bus to Bangalore was at 2300 hours, we whiled away our time by doing a touristy visit to Raja Seat, 2km from the bus-stand. It started getting quite chilly and we made our way to a hotel named Coorg Cusinette(opposite to Madikeri GPO) I had researched upon in my quest for tasting authentic Kodava cuisine. We had an awesome time gulping down Akki Otti, Pandhi curry and Kolli Barthad.

Soon, we were walking down the streets of Madikeri, which becomes a ghost-town post 2100 hours. We whiled away our time till the bus started and soon we were on on our way to Bangalore.

Tired body + tired mind = good sleep.

And so it was till Kushalnagar, when a bump broke me out of sleep only to notice a PYT boarding the bus. But luck was not on my side this time and I went back to sleep again. We reached Majestic bus stand at 0515 hours. I caught a 333R volvo and was at my home by 0615 hours.

Things to note:

1. Kotebetta including KoteArbi falls is a relaxed 2-day trek in hot sun. In one-day, better to just cover the peak and avoid the long boring walk to Mukodlu. Also not sure whether the stream will have enough water.

2. Bus to Hattihole starts at 0630 hours from KSRTC bus-stand. Bus goes to Harihar via Somwarapet and Sakleshpur.

3. Bus from Mukdolu can be caught at the Kotebetta junction(4kms from Hattihole bridge) to Madikeri between

1730 and 1800 hours.

4. 2 litres of water is more than sufficient in dry season. Refilling on the way back can be done at the temple.

5. Maintain the sanctity of the temple and don't litter its surroundings.

6. Don't litter near the peak as well, could see a few bottles lying nearby.

7. Absolutely no need for a guide especially in the dry season when trails are well laid out.

8. Grade: Easy post-monsoons.

Easy+ in dry season

But if you rush it up in 1-day then tiring to say the least.

9. Its difficult to get local transport, so plan the timings of the trek accordingly if you are using public transport.

10. Kodava cuisine rocks as always!!!