Click it and Unblock the Notifications
It is around 9 or 10 in the night on a Friday, and our Whatsapp group is buzzing about places to be visited over the weekend. Since we had a decent budget, we had booked a Zoom car to take us to the places which we were planning to head to.
Many pictures were shared in the group to make a choice. The pictures of Nandi hills, Kolar, Mysore and Ooty came, one brainy even sent a picture of the Leh highway for a weekend trip from Bengaluru. After our set of jokes, we decided to head towards Skandagiri.
PC: wikipedia.org
We knew the place is somewhere close to Nandi Hills and hence we relied on Google Maps to take us to our destination the next morning. Our journey begins after picking up the car and as well as the co-passengers.
Leaving Behind The City
Skandagiri is approximately around 70 km from Bengaluru.
We head towards the airport, zooming in the Zoom car. In no time we are near the airport toll gate and drive further towards Nandi hills road and since we had a beautiful SUV with us we decided to utilise it to the maximum.
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We stopped mid way and the photo sessions began, each one with their respective poses along with the car. After which we headed towards our destination, following the directions given by Google maps.
There is something between us and Google Maps, it always misleads us in one way or the other.
Finally, we found our way towards Skandagiri, the path takes you through villages and narrow roads. As we drove, the GPS informed us that we have reached our destination. The road ends in front of a temple where we parked our car and had to pay Rs. 50 to a lady who pretends to be the ticket collector to look after the car while we are gone.
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Destination
We take our belongings along with us and began to walk towards the hill We get to see a good view of the entire hill as we get closer towards the starting point of the trek. One of my friends began to narrate the story of a horror movie which she watched as the hill reminded her of the hill in the movie.
The movie had instilled a sense of fear in her mind towards trekking up hills and waterfalls. Since she had told her other friends that she was going to trek up the hill, they would mock her if it did not happen. So she stood upon few boulders enroute the hill and asked us to click pictures of her to look like she was at the summit.
After much convincing, we pulled her up and began our trek to the summit. The trek is moderate, with clearly marked out pathways. As we proceed higher up, my friend, who was scared to trek was the first one to reach the summit.
PC: flickr.com
On Top Of The World
We literally felt we were on top of the world, with the clouds so close to us. The view is simply breathtaking, at the top there a couple of rock buildings and ruins which mark the end point. We made ourselves comfortable at the end of the cliff, to witness the much talked about clouds being under our feet.
The apprehension of the clouds from above is an absolute eye candy. We just sat there for ages without uttering a word. The only parts working are our eyes and brains, trying to process the unimaginable amount of happiness that we feel. No words come close to describe the aura that we sense. It is paradise for a photographer, one would get some amazing pictures at the summit.
The Return
In two minds we decided to head downwards, as we trek to the base we feel we still couldn't get enough of the sight what we just witnessed. With a heavy heart, we bid adieu to the place and returned towards Bengaluru.
