God’s House on the Knoll -(DM) -Part 1

The adventure never stops. We prefer to go places others don’t go. This adventure began with a drive from Mangalore. We enjoyed being back-on-the-move on Highways through mountains and valleys. We stopped for Dinner at a nice restaurant after another stop for fuel we began to see signs of the forests in the area. After a hard 4 hours journey we reached a small hamlet that were the foothills of DM.

Camping under the low temperature open land, after a good night of sleep the next morning we got up early, started hiking well before 6 AM, climb up was quicker than expected and on right time up the mountain and we encountered a enchanting Sunrise view. Our morning sunrise was not too far from the D.M temple just absolutely amazing clouds and layers and color. The vast land at the foot of the mountain was bathed in dusk sun glows. All the mountain peaks - high, low, near and far - all were cast in a golden sheen.

It was a lovely clear morning and the sun shone with that wonderful, slanting, golden softness that makes dim shadow in the folds of the hills and lights with a halo of dew every blade of grass. What a beautiful and very atmospheric sunrise a low clouds is all it took to give us a beautiful sunrise the light we had is beyond description.  We had sun, wind and all of it has brought amazing light and terrific images.

The group we have here is just fantastic. We took few great images and had a ton of fun with lots of laughs. The sunrise was setting and all of a sudden we had this beautiful burst of color yielding an amazing sunrise. The whole place changed to the most incredible clouds and color you could ever imagine.  Literally the sky was on fire.

After a good sunrise gradually we rose out of the hilltop into a more temperate climate. A giant power towers clung to the hillsides surrounded by the endless tiers of terraced land bright with the yellow shoots falling away into the valley. In a few minutes on view point we were headed out to the next mountain ranges. At one place we sighted herds of large grazing bison from long distance.

Although in the morning the sky was super clear as we climbed the several mountains we decided to take our morning breakfast around 8AM. We enjoyed cocktails and Kotte Kadabu. Butterfly Hill embraced by the uncountable grassland mountains, it just like a Sitha Bhoomi. As our altitude increased, the scenery became more beautiful; more dramatic in scope.

In the middle of the morning after climbing several mountains we reached a highland landscape.  A group of grey copper butterflies feeding on a grass and they were gliding around us. We all sort of melted together at that point, enthralled by what we were seeing. It’s infinite...!!

To be Continued - Butterfly Hill and Gali gudda