Trek to Gudibande Hills with Rajesh and family - Sep 20

September 20, 2020 - Sunday 

The Corona / Covid 19 Pandemic had kept us contained in our homes for 7 months now and all of us really needed a break from the monotony and just get out and enjoy the nature. Somewhere where you can get a breath of fresh air and also get a new perspective. 

What better place than a trek to a near-by hillock 'Gudibande' - About 2 hours from Bangalore on the Bangalore - Hyderabad highway. Pushpa suggested that we all go and do this half day trip and so we started! 

Breakfast and Lunch were prepared at home and carried to this picnic trek of sorts. Roads to Gudibande were just super. The weather was overcast and was raining hard, when we reached Gudibande. We looked around for a while for a decent place/shelter to have our breakfast and finally found a Temple under a huge banyan tree which was a Kilometre away from the Gudibande Hill. It was the only decent shelter from the pouring rains. Thanks to 'Edugalla Akkama, the temple godess' for this. There was nobody around and the cement plastered temple corridor remained dry for us spread a mat and have our Picnic breakfast!

Hot and Spicy Uppittu and Coffee. The backdrop of the Gudibande Hill, A temple under a banyan tree, surrounded with acres of green cultivation, early morning rain. Not a single other soul near-by! Just perfect ! We couldn't have asked for more.

We were at some point contemplating to return back as the rains started to lash hard, but we had come too far to go back empty handed. So we persisted and the rains too stopped. We asked the locals the starting point of ascent and drove our cars to the bottom of the hillock. Our upward trek took us about 1.5 hours to the top. The hill was decked with beautiful green bushes, glistening in the sun that had just came out, amidst the Vibrant yellow and orange flowers. Occasionally we passed through some nice little rock cut entry points, constructed by the then chieftain Byreshwara Gouda, who constructed these pathways. 

The view from the top was just outstanding. It had a beautiful fort and a temple (closed due to Corona) on the top. The near-by villages looked so tiny in comparison. The cloud formations with the sun playing hide and seek made watching the horizon look spectacular. We also saw the Byrasagara Lake from over the top which we passed by before we reached Gudibande. 

The hill itself was super clean. It seemed as if it rained to clean up the hill, in anticipation of our arrival! Nature, in all it's glory was very kind! We spent an hour or so taking in the fresh air, beautiful weather and the pristine surroundings. We started climbing down and reached the base in 45 minutes. We drove back to the same temple and had lunch. 

For lunch we had Tarakari Bhath, Mosaranna, Chips, Ras Kadam from Kanti Sweets, Yummy Cakes that Sanjana had prepared. We left Gudibande by about 4 PM, and drove back to Namma Bengaluru. On the way, we stopped briefly for Tea at Pushpa's house before reaching our home.

Overall, a beautiful day well spent with Pushpa, Rajesh and Sanjana. Missed having Vishal around. Here are some Photos and Videos from this trek.

Gudibande Trek