Moist Misty Monsoon Vacation - Shimoga and Jog

#Karnatakafloods changed our original plan to do Gokarna+Jog to only Jog. With loads of tense moments whether the tour is ON or not, we did make it to an awesome three days trip to Shimoga.

This tour is with all family, extended (14 adults+2 children). 

Day 1: Just a start - Train journey

Talguppa Express from Bangalore to Shimoga. Salute to Indian railways on Independence day. Clean fast train at Rs.125 per person(Ola/Uber to reach station costed much more :) ) from SBC-SMET. Convenient buggy(electric car ride) from the backside of city station to the platform at Rs.24 per person. The train started on time pleasant weather wind breeze loads of talking munching. We were at Shimoga before we realized at 8PM. Van picked us up from Shimoga station to the place of stay, blue crystal lodge(2KM from the station). This is a new lodge freshly renovated/constructed. Everything functional with an owner who goes out of the way to impress you! Very reasonable rates too(900-1000rs per night).

Day 2: Wet Weather, Super yummy food, morning routine with Elephants!

After a sound sleep woke up to a wet morning. Awesome breakfast at Meenakshi Bhavan. Vada, Rava dosa, masala dosa must try! The old hotel feels like time travel. This place in itself is an attraction.

Shimoga town carries the old Bangalore feel
. Roads, hotels, shops everything giving a feel of 1980-90s Bangalore.

Headed to Sakrbyle elephant camp after an awesome breakfast. Sakrebyle is a place where wild elephants are treated trained and taken care of. If you reach early(9-11AM) you get a chance to give elephants bath, feed. Massive giants are friendly and it's an experience. The place is scenic. 

Elephant listening to commands, turning sides, breathing with just tip of trunk outside!

A quick stop at Thunga dam and headed to Badra forest safari. After reaching there we learnt the Linganamakki dam is also closed. Safari also closed due to heavy rains :(.

We headed for a nice lunch at Pawan ice creams. Do try their Kaju masala lip-smacking! To compensate for the disappointment of not doing safari we headed to Shimoga zoo. This is a small neat zoo with a very good collection of animals. Safari is awesome! Lion, lioness, tiger, tigress are majestic and such close to watch!! Lovely set up! Due to flood news all around the zoo was empty and we were the only ones in the van too!

Post zoo we headed to an old temple called Guli Guli Shankara. This is a small temple at a scenic place.

Instead of dinner, we headed straight to ice cream. The best ice creams in town are Panchatara ice creams! Super yummy delight! A must do at Shimoga!

Day 2: Jog falls here we come!

Hosgunda Uma Maheshwara Temple

Post breakfast we headed to Hosagunda temple - Sri Umamaheswara temple. This Shiva temple is recently renovated, it's clean and old. Location is beautiful. Please verify route with the locals. Some roads are badly damaged due to rains. Our van got stuck and locals assisted by adding hay to the mushy road.

There is another temple ten minutes walk from here we skipped it due to lack of time. Next stop we headed to Ikeri temple. Another old temple with huge Shiva idol and Nandi. 

Post temple visits we pre-ordered food at jog at Brahmin Bhojanalaya over the phone. According to internet, this is the only pure vegetarian place in the jog.

Ikeri temple

From Ikeri, Jog is about an hour drive. Jog welcomed us with misty mountain and wet ground. The air is so moist,wet and pure pushes everyone to take a deep breath which is energizing.

Jog welcomed with water fall is full flow playing hide and seek with clouds. Our one night stay was at KSTDC which is closest to jog. 

After a quick walk around KSTDC to have a glimpse of Jog falls, we headed to Brahmin bhojanalaya. Super hot simple home-cooked food. Do try lunch at this small shack. Sambar, rasam chapati all are awesome. A family runs this place working at tight margins. They are scared about preorders and people not turning up. We enjoyed our lunch very much.

Returned to KSTDC for refreshing and headed back to jog which is the backyard of KSTDC. Every room has a view of jog all the time. Waterfall sound is the background music all thru day and night. This viewpoint is very well designed.

Till dark, we spent time simply watching jog from all sides. This is meditative. Sit and watch the magnificent Raja, Rani, Rocket and Roarer. 

Once night fell we headed to the sound and light show. A 20-minute musical fountain show which was nice. Enjoy the location weather too. There is suppose to laser show which didn't work the day we were there.

We found a small hotel inside the shopping complex near the gate of jog. Hotel Anusha. Run by a lady. We met her asked for options set dosa, parotta, chapathi, Maggie were the options. Told her we would come back after the show. She was amazing. We were a group of 16. She served dosa, maggie chapathi all in parallel. Super homely food with the most friendly owner. Freshly prepared sambar, palya everything. 

If you are looking for simple food, reach out to hotel Anusha inside the shopping complex of the jog. Super fast, super clean, super fresh home-style hotel.

Jog is lit in the night. Don't miss that too!

Jog - 4R's!

Day 3: Adventure, water play

We had fixed a guide for day 3. Our bus broke down, we hired two omni's headed to Nupulli falls. This is a small waterfall safe to enter and play. We had a refreshing bath here. This is a must-do for whoever enjoys water play!

After that, we headed to circuit Bangalow another view point of the jog. This is a stunning view of the jog.

Later, KSTDC check out after a nail-biting wait for our bus to start. reached Shimoga quick lunch at hotel Shubam near the railway station. 

Took the train back to Bangalore. 3:30PM @Shimogha - Shimogha Yestwanpur express. Reached Bangalore at 9PM. Again used the buggy ride to the entrance.

A moist mesmerizing monsoon vacation ended with a smile on everyone's face and a beautiful memory!