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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Fort Bhairavadurga

    On a lazy Sunday noon, after a sumptuous lunch at home, we decided to explore a fort situated close to Bangalore. Our target this time was the Bhairavadurga Fort. After gearing up suitably, we drove towards Bhairavadurga. On reaching Hulikal, we stopped by to get directions from a local. He instructed us to drive through the mud road just after passing out of the village and on reaching a mango grove, we could start our trek. We parked our vehicle and headed straight towards the hill base. We came across another local whom on inquiring about the route to the hill top, warned us about the presence of leopards and bears in the dense areas surrounding the hills and advised it would be better if we explored this place during the early hours. He then calmed us down by assuring our safety if we returned before sunset and informed us we had to walk  about a kilometer to reach the base of the hill and then follow the path to the hill top. Since we were already  late, we made an instant and a strict decision of  trekking only up till 5:30 pm and returning to ensure safety. That meant we had about an hour and fifteen minutes as our trek time limit, which we thought would be just enough.
Fort Bhairavadurga
Into the Woods
     As we walked further, the vegetation gradually changed from shrubby to woody and though it was summer, the walk through the woods was quite pleasant. We reached the hill base and also found a path for our trek uphill. We followed the path and all of a sudden, reached a dead end on the path with all sides covered with thorny shrubs. We had nowhere to go further. Somehow, we spotted a small opening in between the shrubs and realized that if we crossed a few yards, from there on the walk would be easy and so we did. We were excited to see a flight of steps that lead to a gateway that was completely engulfed by shrubs.
The Dead End
Under Shrubs
Steps leading to the Gateway
 The Gateway
Shivagange
   After passing the gateway, and walking ahead, it seemed like we had lost our way as there was no path to climb up. Though the upper most tier of fort was in sight, we could not find a way to the hill top. We tried different routes that we thought would lead us to the fort but in vain. Since it was late evening, we decided not to venture further and planned to return.
Area engulfed by Shrubs
Upper Tier

Read the next part .....

29 comments:

  1. Good that you returned as we went to explore some place in HP and we were lost for 5-6 hours. Thanks for sharing your experience. And hope to complete this adventure soon...

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  2. What a great and exciting day and I'm eager to read more!! Such a beautiful place! Gorgeous captures as always!!

    Sylvia

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  3. Oooh, interesting. Can't wait for the next part.

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  4. Wow, that must have been a thrilling experience. Did you complete the trek? Eager to find out more..

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  5. Interesting, adventurous and great photos..waiting for next one..

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  6. Nice exploration. Waiting for more.

    http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in/2012/03/curvaceous.html

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  7. Nice to read about a new place. So many places around Bangalore!

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  8. must have been exciting... leopars, bears? dense shrubs... a very adventurous one... the photos depict us the same...

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  9. interesting adventure post

    photos are good

    when i read your post i remembered the place chitharal in kanyakumari dist in tamilnadu

    thanks for visiting my post

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  10. loved that steps leading to the gateway snap

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  11. Wonderful shots from your adventure. Looks like a fantastic place to explore.

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  12. Fantastic sceneries and great shots!

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  13. I'm glad thorny shrubs were the only things you encountered and not any leopards or bears. I've often had the same experience when bushwhacking -- I can see where I'm trying to go, but can't find a way to get there. I hope we will be able to return to this fort. Not only are the ruins interesting, the views from the hill are fabulous.

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  14. Interesting spot..interesting photos..Feel like being in that place..Very well covered..

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  15. beautiful pics of fort beautifully captured

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  16. what great pictures! I am very interested in visiting and seeing distant places!!!
    i am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.

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  17. Really admire you, for venturing like this. I don't think I would take these kind of journeys. Loved the pictures.

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  18. The steps leading to the gateway look so inviting--this beauty can never be found in the steps in our homes.

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  19. That was quite an exploration, never heard of this place. Waiting for the story to continue

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  20. This place does look pretty dense. Hats off to u for venturing into not-so-touristy places. And thank you so much for sharing your accounts and superb pictures. Looking forward to the rest of this story.

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  21. Interesting place and experiences!:) I haven't really heard of this place before.

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  22. Must have been pretty adventurous..

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  23. We visited this recently and made this video.. you might like it.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twCBgPTj_0s

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