Kotebetta is around 30 kms away from Madikeri via Hattihole (Hatti-Holay).
Mercara(Madikeri) is around 250 km from Bangalore.It is a very good place to trek even with kids.
Kotebetta is the third highest peak in Kodagu district after Brahmagiri and Thadiyandamol. The name in Kannada means “Fort hill”, because of the fort like appearance of the peak.We can see the stones that are laid in the form of fort walls. It is also said that Pandavas built this fort on the top of the hill (I'm not sure on the mythology)
We were around 7 adults and 5 kids, where in the youngest of us was a 5 year old boy who did trekking with us!!!
Our journey started from madikeri around 11.00 am ina a jeep with packed food from a hygienic canteen. Do not expect anything to be get packed for lunch on the way as you don't find any good hotels in this stretch. Also I strongly recommend to pack home made food for picnics / treks. Always safer. You cannot take any other four wheeler except jeep, sumo bolero kind of vehicle which can run on tough, narrow roads.
Journey initially was on tarred roads, later inside the wood muddy, zig zag , up and down, narrow roads. We reached the foothills of Kotebetta by 12.00 noon. Relaxed for ten minutes taking some pics of the foothill. You find small plants spread across, which gives u a feel of green carpet. We Started trekking with our food bags, utilities by 12.15 pm enjoying the nature, clicking photos of each other along with the nature. We reached the hill at 1.45 pm.
There is a small temple of Ardhanarishwara which is closed and is opened very few days of the year. In front of the temple there is nandi. . A little away from the temple there is a pond. Pond is been divided into two portions one is totally open other one is restricted to animals (a barrier stone is kept so that the animals don't bathe). The water in the restricted pond can be consumed as it is clean. We felt so refreshed after soaking our legs in the chilled water. Filled our emptied water cans with the purest purified water..:)
We performed a small pooja there with the beautiful devotional singing from one of our trekker Deepthi who is a classical singer.
It was 2.30 pm, time for us to unpack our lunch packets.we chose to sit below a single tree which was on the rock. poori, saagu, kadlebele vade, mosaraanna, uppinkayi got emptied within no time followed by sweets. Relaxed for about half an hour.
What next????
Yeah time to celebrate our victory....how????
Dance numbers flowed thru' all the cell phones.... feet started tapping the floor and sooner there was a gala time. All danced till they dropped.
It was 4.30 pm some of us decided to reach the highest point from there. Again we climbed the hill and reached the top. Harangi dam was visible. The place was cold. After few minutes of stay we got down. it was 5.30 pm. Sun was slowing setting. time for us to trek back. This time we took just 45 minutes to walk down by 6.30 pm we reached our jeep. carrying beautiful memories of kotebetta we headed towards our nest.
It was 4.30 pm some of us decided to reach the highest point from there. Again we climbed the hill and reached the top. Harangi dam was visible. The place was cold. After few minutes of stay we got down. it was 5.30 pm. Sun was slowing setting. time for us to trek back. This time we took just 45 minutes to walk down by 6.30 pm we reached our jeep. carrying beautiful memories of kotebetta we headed towards our nest.
Traveled during Oct 2012.
Anyone interested in trekking around Madikeri?? You may contact Mr. Kumar on 9845249584
Anyone interested in trekking around Madikeri?? You may contact Mr. Kumar on 9845249584
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