Kunti Betta trekking experience, Pandavpura & Thonnuru Kere (Lake) Visit

Kunti Betta is a small hill situated at a distance of around 130 Km from Bangalore near the Pandavpura town in the Mysore district of Karnataka. Kunti Betta has gained some recent popularity for being one of the best night treks around Bangalore.

Kunti Betta trek details:

Trek distance: Around 2 Kms
Trekking time: Around 45 Minutes to one hour.

Kunti Betta is a really small trek of around 2 Kms which takes around one hour to reach the peak on the night trek. Since the visibility issue and slow speed will be there during the night trek, one hour of hiking can be expected to reach the peak. Otherwise, during the day, the same trek can be done in around half an hour.

Kunti Betta Parking:

Once you reach near the Kunti Betta hills base, you will arrive at a govt. school. You can park your vehicle there on the ground in front of the school as shown in the picture below. There are open water tubes and water outlets which can be used to fill water. There is also a toilet behind the school where you can get fresh but it will be smelly.

After parking the vehicle, you will have to climb around 100 stairs then you will arrive near a water tank. Continue straight further down the trail. It will take you on the other side of the hill. Then, there will be a short U-Turn where you will have to leave the road and start the trek.

Kunti Betta Trekking trail

Kunti Betta Camping:

Camping is allowed at the Kunti Betta but tents are not needed actually. If you simply carry a sleeping bag that should be fine. However, look out for the weather in the night.

Our Kunti Betta Night trek Experience:

Kunti betta

Steps to the temple

And awaits the Kunti Betta. Black lead granites shining in the golden moon.
I read over the internet that Pandavas spent 14 years of exiles around this area so the town is named after them “PandavPura”.

Steep slippery rock faces. Gradient: 30-40 Degrees.
A bare mountain:
– Hardly any trees or springs on the way
– Some stone imprints might be had stored water within them in monsoons.
– A paradise for freshers and cake walk for regulars.

Kunti betta full moon night trekMen standing over black lead under golden moon

So, the journey begins: and that too with some technical side-step foot works.
– And along with flashing lights

– While queue crawled
– Crunching foot steps resonated with deep silence
– Hovering the moon watching us from over
– And some of us? Moving without flashes under the full moon on black golden igneous rocks.
Until some flash lights from down below scared us and made us almost run.

So, how freshers behave?

– Make them silent and they would be (reminds me of a kindergarten kid)
– Ask them to drop their bags & ascend freely over rocks and they would do that like a pro (Terms & conditions: You have to show them the technicality of hiking).

– Hey! you got to pull up a bit!
– You might find this way easier, try it!
– “you alright?”
– Yup! I am
– “Sarthak! lead them”, we are here sweeping them from behind. And, a bunch of like-minded people from the unlikely background was walking the way together.

on Kunti betta night trekAnd we reached

I had an odd opinion about girls that it was always tough to drive a gang of girls in treks. But fair sexes proved me unfair. They almost matched guys at each step and ascends.

So, I must say now that: Together we pushed it; rode it; crossed it, and we finally tamed it. “Tamed the summit”.
– Threw ourselves.

– Threw the bags too.
– Caught some breathings.
– Smelled the teen spirits.
– Moon was ours then
– As was the peak
– As were us being true ourselves
– Discovered a hiker inside us lately.

And we reached the summit:

The moon was high; so was the breeze.
Couldn’t hold off the flying shirt and pounding heart.
Breathes were warmer and so were us.
We felt the wild living inside us and so felt the wild there.
Dogs barking in distant villages.
Shout; wonder; get amazingly shocked; thank the team leader thousand times; confess it was the best trek of life; feel the wind whispering into your ears and caressing your hair at 950 feet.
Love yourself; Love the nature.

Finally, it was time to break out of the rapture that was carrying us away and return to pragmatism.
“Boy! its time to collect fire woods.”

Campfire kunti betta trekCamp fire

– Thorns prick, chafe the thorns
– Pull it and you realize you were pulling the whole tree. (Damn it)
– If knife does not work, kick the tree; uproot it (At any cost find the fire woods :))
– And it was time for a camp fire. (But it did not last for long 🙁 )
(Did you see my sad face?)

Enough and long enough to lit a cigarette (To you Jatin ;)).
With the course of time, the course of trek shifted to dumb-shell-arts. People mimicked.

And Anshul! if you are reading this then you were a Hero-Honda in singing 🙂
And how the night started engulfing us in her cold winds, we did not notice it. Hard rocks were a bed of roses now.

Find a place and make yourself comfortable until a small frog wakes up everyone and stirrers some late night fun.
Some slept; some chatted; some rocked with music and I was hard asleep.

Sunrise from Kunti betta peakSunrise at Kunti Betta

Dark red to yellow; yellow to orange; orange to little white and we watched it. We watched the sun changing is shape and color. As the sun rises in the sky so as Our Pahadi Guy climbs over the stone pillar. (Not appropriate to put the photographs here in public forum!)

 Now we could see the panoramic tiny villages and the Thonnur lake beside. It was time to trek down. We almost ran and crossing moorlands and stepping over rocks, we were down below well within half an hour.

Kunti betta trek moor landsWalking through moorland and the terrain

Kunti betta trekkingWhile returning, on the way

We reached the base. It was time to move on but before moving ahead we played, snapped and spent some fun time together. And, it was time to witness another epic journey.

Tonnuru kere water lakeTonnuru lake

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