Last weekend by 22-Dec-2012, we went to Nandi Hills. We stayed for the day 22-Dec-2012 and returned back to Bangalore by 23-Dec-2012. We were of two families. We started from Bangalore, (Sony World Signal, Koramangala) around 11:30 Hrs IST. And we reached Nandi Hills by 14:00 Hrs IST.
From Koramangala Sony World Signal, we reached the Bangalore-Hyderabad NH7 road via the M.G.Road. We drove towards Hyderabad on NH7 and took a left turn from it to Nandi Hills. The left turn on NH7 is around 9.5 Kms from the toll-gate which is near to the Bangalore International Airport.
From that left turn, the Nandi Hills is around 22.5 Kms out of which around 9 Kms are hill travel. The hill road is good in condition. And there are total 10 Hair-pin bends on it. And the hair-pin bends start from the 5th Km of the hill travel. Also road in this stretch (from 5th Km to hill top) is very steep.
After 8 Kms of hill travel we reached the entrance to Nandi Hills top. And there we bought the entrance fee for Rs. 80 for our car. We travelled a Km to reach the Karnataka Hotels, Pine Top.
Karnataka Hotels, Pine Top at Nandi Hills
We stayed at Karnataka Hotels, Pine Top for the day 22-Dec-2012. We did the reservation through http://www.karnatakaholidays.net. During our check-in, we are asked to give our original proof of identity. We gave our PAN card which we got back only at the time of check-out.
The hotel has only three rooms. Each room has a double bed, two chairs with tea-table, and an attached bathroom. The rooms are pretty decent in space and cleanliness.
And in-front of the rooms there is a lawn which is exclusively for the people who rented out the rooms. It is not open to public.
The hotel is on the edge of the mountain. And hence we get a good view point from the room. The location of the hotel can be rated as the best.
It was around 14:30 Hrs, we had lunch at our room. And we spent some quality time in the park (which is in front of the rooms) enjoying the scenaries and taking photos. After that had a good sleep till 18:00 Hrs IST.
There was a temple near the Pine Top Hotel. And in front of the temple there is a very big open space and a view point. We spent time in the evening by walking on the open space and by getting the night view of the near-by towns from the view point.
By 19:30 Hrs IST, we ordered dinner to our room. The Pine Top Hotels winds-up its operation by 19:30 Hrs IST. So in it, getting dinner after that is not possible.
Had dinner, spent time in the park, enjoyed the night view of the near-by towns, played with children at hotel veranda, spent some time on chatting and at-last went to bed by 23:00 Hrs IST.
Early morning the next day (23-Dec-2012), we woke-up by the screams of people at view point waiting for the sunrise. Took my camera and came out of my room for some good shots on the sunrise.
Refreshed ourselves and came out of the hotel around 8:30 Hrs IST. We had breakfast at the small outlet of Hotel Pine Top.
Breakfast is not available inside the Hotel Pine Top. Breakfast is made available only at that small outlet which is little away from the Hotel. Masala Dosa, Plain Dosa, Bread Omelette and samosa are served there. There is also a small shop near to this outlet, which serves milk, tea, coffee and ice-creams.
Beware of monkeys there while taking eatables.
After breakfast, we went to the temple and tippu's drop. We spent more than 2 Hrs on these after which we checked-out the rooms by 11:30 Hrs IST.
We spent another one hour on some near-by parks and view points. By 12:30 Hrs IST, we started to Bangalore. We had our lunch at A2B in Bangalore and it was 15:30 Hrs when we reached Koramangala, Bangalore.
Distance metrics
The distance metrics mentioned below are based on my car's (Santro's) odometer.
- Sony world signal, Koramangala, Bangalore to Nandi Hills Top = 68 Kms
- Sony world signal, Koramangala, Bangalore to Toll-gate near Bangalore International Airport = 36 Kms
- Toll-gate near Bangalore International Airport to Nandi Hills Top = 32 Kms
- Toll-gate near Bangalore International Airport to the left deviation from NH7 = 9.5 Kms
- Left deviation from NH7 to Nandi Hills base = 13.5 Kms
- Nandi Hills base to Nandi Hills Top = 9 Kms
Tolls
- There is only on toll-gate near the Bangalore International airport. We paid Rs.20 for one way.
- There is an entrance fee for the Nandi Hills top. We paid Rs. 80 for our Santro.
Points to take care
- Right now the over-bridge work is going on the NH7 road till the Bangalore international airport. Hence there are more diversions.
- There are many speed-breakers on the road that starts from the left deviation from NH7 to Nandi Hills base. And most of these are not that visible. Hence extra care should be taken while driving.
- The hill road is around 9 Kms. And there are 10 hair-pin bends starting from the 5th Km. And the road is also very steeper in this stretch.