A Quick Trip to BR Hills!
A Quick Trip to BR Hills! (Original date of events: Mar 30-31st, 2018) My most recent getaway has been to BR Hills just last week (March 2018). Accompanied by 3 of my colleagues - Himanshu, Kushal and Shakul - we set off on a hot Friday morning for the nearby sanctuary. At just 170 km from Bengaluru, BR Hills (Biligiri Ranga Hills) is a forest spread across an area of ~300 sq.km and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2011. As is common with all wildlife sanctuaries in Karnataka, JLR has the monopoly of operating accomodation in BR Hills as well, as private construction is prohibited within protected forests. However, since BR Hills is also home to the popular Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple, there is a stretch of land just 2 Km long and 1 Km wide in the midst of the sanctuary where some small settlements and plantations have propped up. Three of these plantations also serve as homestays which can be booked by telephone for stay by tourists. Unwilling to spend the usually-exo