Backpacking through the Western Ghats – Day 3: Baba Budangiri to Kemmangundi

Our tent and us somehow withstood the ruffian winds that tried to blow us over in the night at Baba Budangiri. But, surprisingly, the morning wore a very pretty look with the entire world around us gleaming in the bright sunshine.


The morning wore on slowly for us as we had hardly slept in the night. Somehow, we managed to get all packed up. Had breakfast at a nearby shack and started our trek towards Kemmangundi. This was one of the trickiest stretches as there were no trails.


We got directions from the locals and the cattle herdsman and started our trek towards Kemmangundi, which was towards our north west. We went anti-clockwise around the shrine and then headed south west. The trails led us through lush coffee estates and scrub forest through large bare crevasses made by strip mining. We crossed a couple of streams and then headed north west towards the Kemmangundi hill station.


Thanks to the heavy rain the previous night, the terrain seemed to be teeming with leeches. But, it added to our thrill. We reached Kemmangundi by about 2 pm and headed straight towards a small shack for lunch. Kemmangundi is a pretty popular tourist spot and hill station in Karnataka and hence there is not trouble finding food here.


We had learnt our lesson after getting battered by the winds the previous night and hence this time around we chose our camp site with caution. We chose a site that was surrounded by trees and which would protect us from the heavy winds in the night.


After setting our camp site, we went on a short hike to some tourist spots nearby. Most of the trails were in bad shape owing to landslides from the previous night’s rain. Both of us slipped at many places, but, the tough climb was worth it once we reached the view point. The views were phenomenal. The world around us was completely washed in green and it was a very soothing sight.


Post our return to our campsite, we collected some firewood, set up a camp fire, cooked our dinner, planned for our next day and turned in for the night.

Total Distance Trekked: 32 Kms
Trekking Time: 9 hours

To view the entire set of photos, click the album below.

Backpacking through the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

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Backpacking through the Western Ghats – Day 2: Mulaiyangiri to Baba Budangiri

After spending our first night of our trekking expedition on top of Mulaiyangiri, the next morning, we headed north-east to our next destination, Baba Budangiri.


We left the rear entrance of the Shiva temple on top of Mulaiyangiri and descended down a thousand metres towards the north-east. Then, we followed a cattle herdsman who took us to the forest camp near the road through the cattle trail. We took a brief stop at the forest camp and got proper directions to reach Baba Budangiri.


As the day wore on, it became very sultry and we felt that it might rain in the night. We kept climbing up and down through the long grass that adorns these hills. The only activity was us spotting a barking deer who ran in leaps as soon as he sensed us. Finally, after a long climb through cliffs, we reached a waterfall at the edge of the cliff. This place was a tourist spot and we halted here for lunch. The next 8 kms, we walked across the road to reach Baba Budangiri.


We camped at the grounds near the Dargah. The entire vicinity was dotted with coffee plantations. In the evening, we went to the Inam Dattatreya Baba Budan Swamy dargah to offer our prayers. The dargah is a cave shrine in the lower reaches of the Baba Budangiri range. Legend has it that Hazrat Dad Hayat Mir Kalandar, a Sufi saint, arrived in these parts in the 1650s from Mecca, where he had gone on a Haj pilgrimage. He is the person who brought coffee beans from Ethiopia and cultivated coffee beans in these hills. Both Hindus and Muslims visit this shrine. The Muslims consider him to a disciple of the prophet, while the Hindus consider him a reincarnation of dattatreya.


We had finished our dinner and retired to sleep in the confines of our tent. Locals warned us of bears and tigers. We prepared ourselves for any such attack, but our vigil was short-lived as we succumbed to our tired limbs and body. However, it was around 1 AM in the night when both of us woke up. It was raining heavily and heavy winds were battering our tent. We bore the full brunt of it as we were camped on an open ground. The piece of information that we had forgotten was Baba Budangiri is situated in a natural wind tunnel and hence is known to channelize and increase the wind speeds. The wind kept howling throughout the night. Our entire tent would get squashed to one side. We tried to distribute the weight evenly by placing our backpacks and our bodies for stability. Every hour, one of us would take turns to get out of the tent and put the tent pegs back in place and thus holding the tent together. Luckily for us, we survived that night and we were thankful to Coleman for producing such high quality tents!!

Total Distance Trekked: 20 Kms
Trekking Time: 6 hours

To view the entire set of photos, click the album below.

Backpacking through the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

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