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| Machakal Malai in Tamil Nadu :) |
- Place: Machakal Mali (Marwadi, Tamil Nadu)
- Difficulty: Easy.
- Distance: 100 km x 2 = 200 km.
- Directions: Bangalore > Hosur > Rayakottai > Machakal Malai.
- Krew: Benny (Benzavid), Karthik (Sp).
- Bikes: Pulsar.
- Previous Visit: Heggunda Betta Trek.
- Budget: Rs 280/head (Petrol = 440/2; Breakfast = 120/2)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Machakal Malai is one of the most unique climbs done to date. There is not a lot of information on this place. So, yeah, it was pure exploration at its best. The "ridge walk" of this place makes it a very beautiful and unique climb. It is risky as there are drops on both sides of the ridge, but nevertheless worth it. Easily one of the most beautiful hills summited till date :)
And this marked 373 days, 59 treks, 12.5 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 47th trek in 43 weeks for 2026, with 44 first-time ascents and zero repeats :)
INTRO & PLAN:
Well, the Grand TN expedition was in full swing (Rayakottai, Anchetty Durgam, Ratnagiri Malaikottai, Udedurgam, Mallapadi, Jagadevi Fort, Thattakal Fort, Ankushagiri, Periyamalai, Virabhadra Fort, Maharajakadai Fort Trek, Musattu Malai Trek, Saanarappan Malai Trek, Sanjeevarayan Malai Trek, Arulagiri Fort, Mookankur Malai Trek, Melumalai Trek, Puliyarasi Trek).
The previous two weeks, we had tapped into the Tumkur road artery; now it was time to pump some blood into the GTN again. As far as the krew goes, we had a new member initiation with this one - Benny, an MMA practitioner. So, yeah, after some thought, considering the part of town he stays in, it was decided to try Machakal Malai. Btw, this was done on a Wednesday during the Dusshera holidays.
Benny - "Any treks planned for tue/wednesday?"
Sippy- "Will let u know in a couple of hours"
(after 2-3hrs)
Sippy - "Wednesday it is, will call and let u know the details. What time can you be there?"
Benny - "I'll be ready by 4am at e-city!"
Love this energy! Told him 5:15 should be fine :)
TIME: 18:00 (19 Oct, 2026)
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| Sippy crazy happy with the find :) |
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
Yeah, was up by 03:30 AM, the usual. Stretched out a bit and loosened up my muscles. Had a cold water bath to shock the body. Then went down, kissed the bike's dome and asked if she was ready for the day. Then, putting on some slow doom metal, left my home at 4 AM. Cruised through the dark city listening to some slow doom metal. One crazy thing that happened was that, as I was approaching each traffic signal, it was turning green. Looked up at the skies, giggled and zoomed ahead 20km to reach E-city at around 4:40 AM. With around 20 minutes to kill, I got off my bike, stretched out on the footpath vibing to the doom metal, got some stares, didn't care. Benny arrived at 5 AM sharp; after formal greetings, we left the city
TIME: 05:00
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| Crazy ridge of Machakal Malai |
RIDE 1: (Bangalore > Hosur > Rayakottai > Machakal Malai)
With the strict no GOOGLE MAPS rule, we cruised towards Hosur. Remembering landmarks, we took a deviation from Hosur towards Rayakottai. As the roads opened up, so did our throttle. We cruised non-stop to reach Rayakottai, and pulled over for a stretch break. Nostalgia hit hard; it was the first trek of our record-breaking streak on Oct 12, 2025.
The skies were gloomy, and we knew the last 25- 30 km to Machakal Malai would be tricky, as there is not much info on this place. So, slowing down, we asked a lot of locals. And guess what, most of them were so welcoming and friendly. The tone matters. And some of them actually blessed us. I can't see that happening with GOOGLE MAPS any time soon :P
After receiving precise instructions for the entry point: "find the huge tamarind tree and park your bikes, lock the bike, then you can make your way up the ridge". We followed the locals' instructions to the T and then awoke the lizard's spirit and set off on the trek.
TIME: 07:00
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| Get ready to ride the elephant! |
MACHAKAL MALAI TREK
ASCENT:
Well, the ascent took us about 30 minutes. But yeah, it was intense and really good. The very long ridge walk comprising about 70-80% of the trek made this one different and intense. Yes, we followed locals' instructions, but we had some old-school climbing skills packed as well - get to the ridge via the least slope and walk to the neck and then summit the head. These are universal rules in climbing.
Like always, I have divided the trek into phases, so LET'S GO \m/
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| Initial Trails at Machakal - which lead to "shoulder". |
Phase 1: The Initial Trails
After parking the bikes, we could see ancient steps (hate steps); we finished this in a jiffy. Then a short climb took us to flat land; pushing further, we made it to the shoulder of the mountain. The weather was unusual. It was actually very gloomy; we couldn't smell the rain. But the weather was plain dull. It was actually pretty perfect conditions for the next phase.
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| The "ridge walk". |
Phase 2: The Ridge Walk
Now, this was the peak of the entire trek experience. A narrow ridge, with steep falls on either side. Had faced similar conditions, if you can recollect, in the Himalayas at 17,000 feet during the Bali Pass trek. SO, pulling all the muscle memory, we started taking it step by step. And oh yeah, did I mention, this hill has a lot of white rocks - the slippery kind. So, making sure our footing was right on dark-coloured rocks or folds of the skin of the mountain, we were easing it out. As we were exposed, the winds hit us; either way, the tide shifted, so yeah, this was exhilarating!
And we did stop in the middle of the ridge just to admire the view. Sorry, had to do it; it was just beautiful. If you are not used to heights you can skip this part, as seeing both sides sets an immediate vertigo. Pushing through the final part of the ridge, we made it to the "neck" of the hill.
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| The final summit push. |
Phase 3: Summit Push
After reaching the "neck", we searched for a route up, and we could find some ancient steps again (hate steps). Pushing through step by step with caution, we could finally see two establishments on top. We had made it to the summit :)
TIME: 07:30
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| Stone Mantap opposite the main Thimmaraya Temple :) |
TOP:
As we reached the top, the winds resumed again. During the "neck" phase, it had subsided. Felt really good to feel the wind. But the skies still confused us. It was grey and gloomy; the sunrise should have happened by now, but there was no smell of rain. And humans' sense of smell for rain is more precise than anything. We could spot a lot of hillocks all around us. Marking out a few, we sat down and hydrated. Had a pack of biscuits, which we had. Oh yeah, we had skipped breakfast. Thought we would finish the climb and then belt down.
We spent about an hour at the top sitting on the grass and taking in the view. Finally, we hydrated and decided to head back before the drizzle could start. And rain on the rock ridge - a very dangerous combo.
TIME: 08:30
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| The slow steady descent :) |
DESCENT:
The descent took us about 20-30 minutes. It was done with extreme caution. Reasons being twofold: one, the mechanics of descent are different as load is placed on muscles in a stretched position, which leads to more tears. Second, your entire weight would be on your feet, and one wrong footing on a wrong kind of stone would lead to slipping. Not very welcoming a ridge walk.
Inching on step by step, we had got used to the rhythm and it had become second nature. We casually chatted about office and headed back down to our bike.
Mounted the bike, looked back one final time at the massive hillock, thanked her for such a rich experience and, more importantly, "LETTING US GO BACK".
TIME: 09:00
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| Sippy negotiating the neck to the summit. |
RIDE 2: (Machakal malai > Rayakottai > Hosur > Bangalore)
This was a 100km ride back. Since we had skipped breakfast, we cruised through the forest route and towns. Not finding a single eatery, we decided to hit back the highway. However during this country ride back, we could feel the whole neighbourhood slowly come to life. The key word being "slowly". So beautiful it was to see cows and oxen get up and yawn, a goat standing up on its two legs searching for grass to eat. A flock of sheep enclosed, waiting for somebody to take it for grazing. Finally, the cherry on top was a baby goat, which was hardly a week old, came right on the road and stopped us and forced us to admire it.
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| Awesome TN breakfast :) |
As we joined back to the highway, we spotted a "SARVANA BHAVAN". There were a lot of cars and bikers busy taking photos in front of it. We looked at each other; the call was made. Definitely not our type of hotel. We ripped pants and a worn-out look; we pulled over at a "kadai" - a local roadside eatery. And we belted 4 dosas and two omelettes. Tasted like heaven and served with love. The general quality of TN breakfast is so high; it never disappoints :)
Cruising the last stretch, slightly groggy due to the carb crash, we crossed the Tamil Nadu - Karnataka border and pulled over at the very first bar for a single ice-cold beer. After this, I dropped Benny to E-city, where he had parked his bike. And I took the city route and reached back home in a jiffy :)
TIME: 10:30 (return to Karnataka time)
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| Benny taking in the tranquility at the summit :) |
CONCLUSION:
Well, this trek was unusual and one of my best ones easily. The long ridge walk of this place makes the climb so much different. Definitely an intense one, but what I most loved about this chapter was how we could tap into the social web and ask locals and successfully reach the place without much preparation :)
In the past 373 days, we have pulled off 59 treks, ~11,520 kms in total, 12.5 months, non-stop. The Flame lives on \m/
KREW:
Sippy: Extremely happy with this crazy find, wouldn't mind going back with a skipping rope on the ridge :P haha!
Now, let's see, we take this 2026 year seriously and do zero repeat 50+ treks this year. LET'S GO ON THE FLYING NIMBUS \m/
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| Officially in IBR :) |
And guys, one important announcement: "THE LOAPERS" have made it to the INDIAN BOOK OF RECORDS - for maximum treks undertaken - 52 treks in 11 months. You can check out the top right banner on this page :)
Until next time, Ta-da Cia \m/
Oh yeah, if you want to read about the past 59 treks, here is the link: 59 NON STOP TREKS.
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