Ramanagara road trip with Vathani

This was our first long road trip along with our new bike “The Chetak”. The road trip was a 90 min drive, which goes through the familiar Bengaluru and Mysore highway to the Ramanagara. On the way, we visited a small town named Bidadi, which is known for Thatte Idly. Thatte Idly is a large rice cake, the one we had was so soft with some great texture. A truly delicious experience on the roadside shop. Once we reached Ramanagara, the first place we headed was to a famous sweet shop Shri Janardhan Hotel for Mysore Pak. There was a rush for the Mysore pak not seen elsewhere. This hotel was featured in NatGeo travellers India. We wanted to check out our own. It was a 100 grams of pure pleasure, buttery and sweet experience.

We then headed to Doddilake. It’s the largest lake in Ramanagara. It was a serene location with sheep grazing, and views of coconut farms. The Shepherd was friendly and allowed us to take the pictures of his sheep. One particular goat was very inquisitive, and was giving all its attention to the camera. The lake was surrounded by beautiful flowers, and the foot pier was inviting with gorgeous views of distant mountains. Both of us sat there, enjoying the views when one random guy all of sudden enquired about what I do for living, what is the camera equipment cost, and many other questions. I also noticed two friends of his at a distance. It looked a bit sketchy, so had to cut short our stay from that amazing atmosphere at Doddilake, as there were not many people out there near the lake. While we were leaving, we met an older gentlemen, who recommended to check out SRS hills, and Kanva reservoir. Since Vathani was just recovering from a foot injury, we didn’t want to hike a lot. We were trying to find places that we could go as far as with our bike. Kanva reservior seem to offer such comfort as there is no climbing involved, like other places of Ramanagara.
After lunch at Ramgad restaurant, we headed to Kanva Reservior for the evening walk. Road was nice, and it goes through rural villages of Karnataka. Locals were naturally attracted to our sparkling bike and two of us with our camera gear. It was a nice occasional stares from all.
There we encountered many people walking along the shores of reservoir. We found many millipeds (Markattam poochi), so we had to be careful where we put our gears.

For us the pier presents with opportunity for landscape photography. The leading lines are a photographer’s favourite composition that is enticing. There were many people, but you could still find some solitude. With all the camera gear, some guys were teasing us to take their picture at a distance. But my focus was on the landscape and Vathani’s on birds. I setup the tripod my plan was to show women in solitude expressing herself in a lovely landscape. I hope the picture came along well. We spend quite sometime, since it was clouded, there was no sign of golden light. I found later that this reservoir is a perfect place for sunrise photography. I presume it would be calm with less people and light emanating from the other side of the lake. Naturally all of the reservoir is surrounded with coconut farms and banana farms. The vibe of rural Karnataka, slow and tranquility can be experienced here.

We headed hotel, before the sun was down. Tea helped to freshen up to have a dinner at Ramgad restaurant again. We loved Ramgad, as it was one of the best as well very close to where we stayed. I hope you enjoyed our blog. In the next post, we will take you to Ramaaman Kere and Thimmappana betta of Ramanagara for their beautiful landscapes and bird species.