Ettina bhuja trek

Travel Plan

Ettina bhuja (Ox's Shoulder, literally) is one of those treks where you do not need a trek guide, Just follow the well laid trail and you will reach the top. It is also a fairly challenging paths, the last part will be a bit hard. But the peak, as always well worth the effort. It has an altitude of 1300 meters. The trek is easy and can be completed in a single day.

Checkpoints

Step 1: Reach Mudigere

This is an over night travel from Bangalore. Take a bus in the night to Mudigere from majestic and you will reach by 4 or 5 am next morning. Although there are not a lot of hotels around, the town in itself is fairly small and you will find a lot of hotels in the surrounding of the bus stand. Take a room there, freshen up and start for a bus which goes to Byrapura.

Step 2: Reach Byrapura and start walking

There are very limited buses from Mudigere to Byrapura. Ask and double check before starting. Once you reach Byrapura, it's a very straight forward route. Ask around since all the locals are helpful. After some walking, you can clearly see the path and the peak. Carry a lot of water and some snacks as the sun will drain all your energy.

Step 3: Peak

At the end, it gets pretty tiring since it is very steep. If you are like me, you will reach the peak mid day. But the after reaching the top, it will be all cool wind and clouds. Snap a couple of pictures and start back, make sure you reach Byrapura (The place the trek started) on time to catch the return bus.

Other places to visit

Dharmasthala

Kukke

Famous for the Subramanya temple

Unfortunately I have not been to either of these places.