March 28, 2015
BANGALORE to YELAGIRI 177km
Kings Park Resort 1800Rs ($29.02)

9 am - 1 pm
 
Reluctantly we bid our goodbyes to High Gates Hotel and Bangalore. It had been a relative uneventful but dry comfortable stay. We never have enough time to research destinations we plan to visit more than a few days in advance. I enjoyed having the luxury of cool and comfort at the hotel to read about Sri Lanka and Indonesia where we plan to go when we leave India.. We hope to be able to arrange a 60 day visa for Indonesia and possibly rent an apartment for the duration. 
 
After breakfast, we took off shortly before 9 am. It was a long but pretty straight forward ride out of the city on highway 7 with many fly-overs bypassing traffic lights and congestion. 

The scenery was slightly hilly with a fair share of dusty villages and towns. We left the express way at Natrampalli on a small road toward Jolarpet and cut through small tribal villages near the foot of Yelagiri mountains. I felt compelled to take some pictures of the interesting style mud brick houses with their straw roofs. They were nestled between colorfully painted houses of the more affluent inhabitants. 
 
About 12 switchbacks got us to the top of the mountains. Packs of monkeys lined several stretches. We had another close call when we barely missed hitting a little monkey toddler that ran across the road in front of us. Near the top, a eucalyptus forest provided shade on the road and soon thereafter we arrived in Yelagiri and a cluster of restaurants and hotels. Roadside stands in town sell the enormous Jack or bread fruits and the wild honey the area is so famous for. We continued for another hour to explore area around Yeligiri and to get an idea of the landscape and layout. 
 
It's a beautiful area with great views over the surrounding mountains. Had it not been so hot, it would be lovely to hike around the area.  
   
After checking out a few hotels we settle for Kings Park Resort Hotel, a regal looking place with specious clean AC rooms, no wifi. It was ranked #2 on TripAdvisor. The reviews of the #1 rated Touchstone Resort were a bit suspicious, with the most glowing reviews from first time reviewers which smelled like favors from family and friends to us. 
 
A group of 10 people from Europe was also staying at our place. They had been invited to a wedding from Indian colleague. 

It cooled down in the evening and we played cards outside on the veranda.

March 29, 2015 - YELAGIRI

Yelagiri is a nice respite from the big city and is mostly popular with 'local' tourists. What enticed us to stop here was the promise of cooler mountainous scenery and the tribal villages with many people still living in small mud brick homes with palm frond and straw roofs. Turns out that we passed the most interesting villages on the base of Yelagiri mountain. Yelagiri itself has several decent accommodation options. Restaurants have mostly Indian dishes with the boring non-spicy Chinese fried veg noodles or rice for those of us with delicate palates,