We hopped off the airplane and went straight to the pick up point 5 at Bangalore airport where our cab came and drove us straight in the opposite direction of the city to Nandi Hills. Through hairpin bends and lot of screaming as your car navigates to reach the top. After checking in we went to the KSTDC restaurant attached to the Hotel Mayura Pine Top only to be turned away as it had closed down for the day at 6 pm itself. We missed our evening tea so bought a large bottle of Mango slice and returned to our room. The winds were blowing swaying the tree outside our balcony. The rest of the evening we refused to move away from the view.
Yeah I hate to say this in the beginning of the post itself but the food was terrible we survived on the wonderfully fresh fruits we bought in Chikkaballapur plains before we ascended Nandi, freshly peeled Pomelo, jackfruit and purple grapes.
We slept early as there was no TV. The hotel room was only a month old and pristine. At around midnight I heard some commotion outside in the veranda. The power was fluctuating and there was thundering and lightening. I woke up and sat in the balcony. Nature was at its dramatic best. It is amazing to watch the lightening and thunder on such a large canvas unlike the restrained view from a city apartment. I was mesmerized and stayed awake watching it through the night, the thunder and the scintillating fireworks. Sometimes I was induced with fear of being struck by lightening. Finally in the early morning hours I drew the curtains apart and let the scenes into the room and lay in my bed to catch a few winks before dawn. However there was no sunrise that day after the storm. It was misty all the way until late afternoon.
The view from our room was so terrific combined with gushing winds causing the tree outside our balcony to sway wildly, we did not have the need to step out for a walk at all. We just vegetated. The second day evening finally I thought the Mister needed a little bit of showing around so we walked all along the circumference of the hill and reached the Tipu's drop, the dark history of Nandi from where traitors and prisoners were thrown into the valley below. I was however sad to see a fencing along the sharp rockyside. The fencing has tamed Tipu's drop even though it makes it safe for tourists, the fear inducing no more to experience. I had done it in the past so many years and I prefer the rawness. There that's my husband sitting near the fence and the patchwork of the fields below. You wouldn't have dared to go there without that fence. Lost is the adventure!
Here is another picture just to show you the gradient of Tipu's drop. It has been sculpted a bit now to make it easy for tramplers.
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