First Trek to Nandi Hills

In Moving to India - the FAQs, I mentioned a list of the Top 55 Most Popular Places Around Bangalore, according to Thrillophilia (which sounds like a disease I desperately don't want to catch). Number 2 on this list was a trek to Nandi Hills, which I was fortunate enough to do this past Saturday.

View from Nandi Hills

Not quite hills and not quite mountains, Nandi Hills remind me of the smaller foothills in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Nandi Hills is the biggest hill, and is where a historical figure in Mysore, Tipu Sultan, used to go for holidays. You can read more about the hills here.

Everyone I consulted with suggested that Nandi Hills was only worth the trek for sunrise. So, being the semi-professional travel planner that I am, I used a co-worker's trusted driver and left plenty of extra travel time so I could make it there for sunrise.

Enjoying the breeze

My plan would have worked well if the driver hadn't used my call asking him where he was as his wakeup call! The driver did try to make up his almost an hour tardiness by driving aggressively, even by Indian standards. We drove through the sleeping city, past the airport, and into the outskirts of the city. Through the darkness, I could just make out street vendors starting to stir from the sleepy settlements.

It took a little less than an hour to reach Nandi Hills. While most of the trip was in the morning darkness, our drive to the top was illuminated by a hazy morning light.

Line for entry

Because the hills are very popular for sunrise, by the time we reached the entrance to the top of the hill, there was a long line of people waiting for the entrance ticket. While I didn't get to see the actual sunrise from the peak of the mountain, I did see something better - something unexpected:

Monkeys. Wild monkeys!

The first ones I saw were perched on an awning over the public restrooms. They were scampering for their breakfast of bananas and chips, handed over by the trekkers, or stolen from unattended backpack.

After obtaining the entrance ticket, I walked up a stone-step pathway (ala Machu Picchu) to the top of the hills. The walk took about 10 minutes, and was punctuated by the sound of car and bike horns. Unfortunately, the park allows cars and two-wheelers (aka motor bikes) to the top of the peak, which somewhat destroys the serenity of the place.

Just begs you to sit down, doesn't it?

The top of the hill has a circular path, with expansive views from all sides. This was by far my favorite view:

Given that Bangalore has a pollution problem, it felt good to be surrounding by nature and somewhat fresher air.

The morning sun felt so good

I even found a tree to climb:

I had to fight monkey for this branch
(kidding, kidding)

The hills are less than an hour from the city center, and I intend to do this trek again and chase the sunrise. Next time, I may even bring some food for the monkeys!