A Visit to the Beach in Bangalore - Talakadu

If anyone ever told you Bangalore doesn't have a beach then take them to Talakadu. Talakadu is a river beach on the banks of the river Kaveri . It is located 133 km from Bangalore . It is certainly one of the best places to visit around Bangalore since its actually a beach .

There are two ways of reaching Talakadu from Bangalore. You can either take Highway 209 or Mysore road. While Highway 209 is a shorter route, the road is pretty bad. The recent work for Metro has completely ruined the road and beyond that the road is narrower than Mysore road.

View Talakadu, Karnataka in a larger map

There are some shops near the beach but It's not a good idea to have anything more than a couple of snacks.A Good Plan to visit Talakadu is to first visit Shivanasamudram (Barachukki and Gaganachukki) and then visit Talakadu in the evening.

Talakadu has temple ruins which have a legend behind it. Supposedly it's the result of a curse that the temples in Talakadu get submerged in sand . You will find lots of people trying to show you the temple as guide's. These are just locals trying to make some money. Personally I never had the interest of visiting the temple ruins.

The beach is quite clean and a great place for playing football/volleyball etc. If you can then take the football/volleyball with you. otherwise you will get extremely-low-quality-use-and-throw-balls to buy there in the beach.

If you are in bangalore and need a one day trip then this is one of the best places to visit. But make sure you have a heavy breakfast and pack some food for lunch as you will not get any decent food near the falls,beach or even on the way. 

Trip To The Amazing Shivanasamudram Waterfalls ( Barachukki, Gaganachukki, Bluff )

Shivanasamudram is a waterfall on the river Kaveri located about 140 km from Bangalore. It is one of the best Waterfalls around Bangalore. There are two ways of reaching Shivanasamudram from Bangalore. You can either take Highway 209 or Mysore road. While Highway 209 is a shorter route, the road is pretty bad. The recent work for Metro has completely ruined the road and beyond that the road is narrower than Mysore road.

View Barachukki Route in a larger map

When to go to Shivanasamudram

The best time to go to Shivanasamudram is within the first few months of rainy season(July-Aug). If the monsoon hasn't been very good then any time is good for Shivanasamudram. Going after a good monsoon season will mean the waterfall will be at its best but then you won't be able to actually go near the water.

Barachukki & Gaganachukki

There are two falls in Shivanasamudram , Barachukki and Gaganachukki . These are separated by about 20 km.

Barachukki also known as Bluff is where you can actually enter the waterfall, play in the water. Gaganachukki is a majestic waterfall that should only be admired from far.

Which makes Gaganachukki the destination during the peak of monsoon.

The road to Shivanasamudram is quite scenic. And the fresh country air is what one needs after suffering the horrible pollution of Bangalore.

Development in Shivanasamudram

A year back when I had been to Shivanasamudram there was hardly any facility there. It was quite a neglected tourist spot. But it has come a long way since then. There are proper stairs and changing rooms. Which is especially good for Ladies.

If you are in Bangalore and need a one day trip then this is one of the best places to visit. But make sure you have a heavy breakfast and pack some food for lunch as you will not get any decent food near the falls or even on the way. 

While you are here you can also visit Talakadu the only beach Bangalore has. Start as early as possible from Bangalore if you want to cover Gaganachukki, Barachukki and Talakadu.

Completed 10000 KM On My Yamaha FZ16

On January 14th 2012, I took one of the best decisions of my life. I bought a Yamaha Fz 16 . I had the specific requirement of a city bike, since I needed to travel almost 50 km everyday within the city. So my friends suggested Fz 16 as a good city bike.

It took me 9 months and 8 days to finish 10000 km and at the end of it I was left surprised that just few months back I wasn't sure if buying is a good idea or not.

The bike is the perfect city bike anyone can get, it's very light and handling is extremely smooth. The brakes are extremely good and have saved my bones a couple of times.

One problem I have faced till now is a very irritating false neutral . Its quite dangerous when that happens to a newbie on slopes. Now I have got used to it and manage to get out of it in no time.

The best part of the bike is the silencer, it looks so beautiful and probably gets a lot of evil eyes. The only part which gets damaged is the silencer cover. the beautiful silencer cover. If the bike falls on the right hand side the silencer cover easily gets damaged. And the beautiful silencer starts to look hideous.

I have always observed the silencer cover of other Fz's on road and it'll almost always be damaged.

The Tyre pressure is ideally supposed to be 29-33 which always confuses the petrol bunk guy , somehow he feels every bike is a pulsar.

There have been no issues whatsoever with my bike and driving it is still a pleasure. Though the pillion rider doesn't feel the same way. The seat is too small for the pillion, though the new Fz seems to have fixed that.

The longest trip I have gone has been to Mysore and It was quite an experience.

Which bike do you own and how was your experience. Do share in the comments.