Rottikallu Homestay

Distance: 250 kms from Bangalore.
Activities @ Homestay: Trekking, Stream Walk, River Crossing, Volleyball, Tarzan Swing.
Cost: 1750 per head [July 2008]
Transportation: Preferably by own/hired vehicle. The last mile can be covered either by foot or a Jeep.

After hundreds of e-mail exchanges we the members of Ctrl-Esc-Boys group decided on a destination for a weekend trip. The discussion started off from BR Hills, K.Gudi, Kemmangundi and finally ended at Rottikallu - a homestay amidst sahyadri trails near Sakleshpur. The task of planning and organizing the trip was done by Yeshwanth.

People on board: Thode(Naveen), Bade(Praveen), Sandeep HR, Venki, Anil, Chote(Praveen), Vikram, Anand, Yeshwanth, Abhilash, Shande

Our Activities at the homestay:

• Day-1: We started the proceedings by playing cricket in a ground which is 10 minutes walk from the homestay. After breakfast we did a stream walk (2kms) on Hemavathi river. The stream walk concluded with natural massage bath under a waterfall. After that we trekked for getting to top of Halu kola peak. In evening there was a fire camp. Boozers had their usual stuffs and the rest had a good time with non-alcoholic home made wine.

• Day-2: After breakfast, we had a shooting (with a rifle) session, in which we struggled to strike even a easy target. Later we had 'activity of the day' i.e. volleyball next to the stream. After volleyball we played with Tarzan swing and subsequently played with water in the stream.

Activities in pictures:

Started day-1 proceedings with cricket. It was amusing to play in a ground surrounded by lush green hills!

Stream walk: It was kind of different adventurous activities we had done till date. We walked on stream 2-3 kms for more than a hour.

Atop Halu Kola peak: we completed the ascent inspite of momentarily changing weather with rain, sunshine and mist.

Shooting session: Initially looked easy, but was difficult to execute. I was able the hit the target after 4-5 attempts.

Volleyball: It turned out one of the exciting activities. The above snap shows a close moment of the play. Have a look the expression of boys.

Tarzan Swing: Abhilash undergoing water splash.

Food:
I was the lone vegetarian in the group, but didn't faced any problems as sufficient veggie stuffs - sambhar, palya (malnad style) were served. More importantly they served curd with every meal, which is very unusual in remote places. I cannot comment on non-veg stuffs, seems my friends were disappointment because of improper preparation.

Veera Venki the Poet:
Through out the trip we were kept entertained by Venki and his poems(padyas). He had got printout of his collection and his recitation used to increase enthu and energy levels of boys. Venki's dedicated listener was Praveen V.N. aka Chote Miya, many a times taking his words seriously and asking doubts, questions. Venki's blogs his poems at veeravenki.blogspot.com

Restrospect:

• It's a good initiative by the owner and management of Rottikallu homestay. The official website looks flashy and informative, but at grassroot level i.e. in conduct of actual activities there is a lot of scope for improvement.
• Our instructor didn't plan the activities properly. Other than stream-walk and trekking he conducted some random activities here and there. Many a times we ourselves took the initiative and played the sports like cricket and volleyball.
• If we consider endurance level of a normal human being, then doing all the activities in two days is bit too much. So the cost of 1750 per head for 2 days is bit expensive.
• Ignoring a few negatives, Rottikallu is a ideal place for a group having people different endurance levels. Lazy people in your group can just stay in cottages and enthusiastic people can go for outdoor activities.

On the way back:
We terminated our stay on Day-2 afternoon and decided to visit Belur and Halebeedu which is around 2 hours drive from Rottikallu. More about it in a separate post.

Photoalbums:
- Shande's Picasa album:
- Yeshwanth's Picasa album:
- Praveen's Picasa album: