Road trip from Bengaluru to Mudumalai

Hi All

We had our weekend sorted on the 11th & 12th of February and were planning for a 500 km to-fro trip from Bengaluru so that we can leave early on Saturday morning and be back by Sunday evening with one night stay.

As we were rounding on destinations, my kid came with the usual demand of going to an animal safari/forest - and we finalized Mudumalai forest as it had an option of safari too. Mudumalai forest is at the foothills of Nilgiris and is the other part of Bandipur forest, and lies in TN [just 50 kms before Ooty].

|| Partners in Crime ||: my better half, my 5.5-year-old kid & XUV 300 W8 O Petrol [part of family since November 2022]

We booked The Deer Meadows, which is small property adjacent to the Mudumalai forest reserve in Gudalur. We booked a cottage overlooking the meadows.

Saturday came, and we were ready with our trip food and small luggage - started around 6:45 and reached the location around 12:30 with 1 break at Maddur on the newly built Bengaluru-Mysore expressway. By the way, this access-controlled expressway is a boon, barring entry and exit points, to people like us who get to engage in cruise driving.

Surprising Fact: XUV gave mileage of 21 on Bengaluru-Mysore Highway, with multiple bouts of cruising.

We took the route: Bglr Nice Road -> Exit at Mysore expressway toll -> Bglr-Mysore expressway -> exit at Manipal hospital in Mysore -> Nanjangud -> Gundlupet -> Bandipur -> The Deer Meadows.



Also, we covered the last 50 odd km at an average speed of 20 [as this leg of the journey passes through the forest, there are 100% chances of spotting deer and elephants and 40 odd percentage that you encounter a big cat].

Once there you can engage on safari in the bus [Rs. 350/head] and private jeep [Rs. 4000/jeep]. You can also visit the elephant feeding camp which opens at 5 in the evening.



Some important points to remember:

a) Entry & exit points of the expressway has too much traffic
b) Make sure you are reaching back at Kengeri before 5 in the evening so that you don't have to navigate heavy bumper-2-bumper traffic
b) Entry fee to the forest is Rs. 30
b) Forest gates open at 6:30-7:00 in the morning
c) Generally, trucks line up in the morning at forest gates; so there is no meaning in entering the forest at 7 sharp
d) Hardly any good food options in Gudalur [we had it in the property itself as they have a small kitchen]
e) If you have the liberty of an extra day or two then Ooty is just 50 odd km from the property [Masinagudi route to reach Ooty is very dangerous]
f) If you have a small kid with you, take a detour at Mysore for the zoo [it will hardly be 3 hrs once inside]

Last but most important satisfying moment for me, apart from driving was my son enjoying a lot at the property and feeding rabbits.



I am again active with my travelogues and writing, I would appreciate your positive/negative views on the above post - which will give me more motivation to write regularly.