mekadatu - goat's leap
mekadatu in native language means goat's leap.
here river cauvery has carved beautiful curves, cuts and holes into the hill and it is believed that the natives once saw a goat leaping over the narrow gorge which is created by the river and hence the name mekadatu.
how to reach mekadatu : this place is about 100 kms from bangalore. from bangalore you have to take kanakpura raod ( from airport road enter inner-ring road, keep driving through koromangala and enter btm. cross btm to reach jp nagar. keep moving straight in jp nagar and on your left you will find turning towards kanakpura ) . on the way to mekadatu, on kanapura road you can see "the art of living" ashram. the ashram looks quite good especially during night when it is fully lit up. the road is pretty good till kanakpur and you can easily drive at 60kmph or more. kanakpura is around 53kms from bangalore. you can pick up some stuff to eat this place as there is more option for food here compared to your destination and you will also save some money.
from kanakpura you have to take a left and move towards mekadatu,which is around 40kms from kanakpura. the road is like any other village road, not very good. drive very carefully on this road as kids, cyclists, dogs, poultry birds will keep coming on your way. keep going straight and you will hit a dead end ( banglorean way of giving direction ;) ) . this place is called sangam, where arakavathi river meets river cauvery. to reach mekadattu from here you will have to cross the river stream.
there are no shops at mekadatu so buy whatever you want ( or is available ) at sangam before crossing the river. across the river there is a rickety bus to take you to mekadatu or you can trek the remaining 4kms. the so called road to mekadattu from sangam is totally rough and full of rocks.
split-apart : picture clicked while trekking towards mekadatu
some of the pictures clicked while at mekadatu.