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| Laxmidevi Kote Betta Trek :) |
- Place: Laxmi Devi Kote Betta Trek (Chintamani)
- Difficulty: Moderate (with technical pushes and wildlife; we spotted a saw-scaled viper)
- Distance: 100 km x 2 = 200 km.
- Directions: Bangalore > KR Puram > Hoskote > Kaiwara > Laxmi Devi Kote.
- Krew: Gundachar (Gunda), Karthik (Sp).
- Bikes: Pulsar.
- Previous Visit: Horallagalu Betta Trek.
- Budget: Rs 203/head (Petrol = 286/2; Breakfast = 120/2)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Laxmidevi Kote betta is an absolutely obscure beauty of a hill that gives a clear view of Ambaji Durga. The trek is slightly moderate, with some technical pushes required. However, what made this chapter really special is the free spirit it was carried out with - smelling a kuska and chowing down in a single plate, chasing behind a snake, pulling over at the roadside for some apparel shopping :) The OMR route is something else, I tell you!!
And this marked 389 days, 62 treks, 13 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 50th trek in 46 weeks for 2026, with 47 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, Machakal Malai).
The OMR (Old Madras Road) artery was running thin. It had been nearly 4 months since we had hit this route. And the three treks we had done on this route were total bangers - Ambaji Durga Trek, Kurbooru Fort Trek, Devarayasamudra Trek. And the funny part was these were done within a span of 20 days.
Sippy - "Gunda, free this Saturday??"
Gunda- "Have biryani plans, but let's go!! "
Sippy - "this is an obscure hill, no docs on the net"
Gunda - "Better, "aane nadidhe dhari" (path is there, where elephants walk)"
He never asked where we were heading; nor did he during the trek :)
TIME: 18:00 (4 Nov, 2026)
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| Laxmidevi Kote Betta - A double top hill. |
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
I woke up at 03:30, got ready in a jiffy and left home by 04:15 alone for the first 30 km, listening to doom metal. Bangalore was dark and cold, and I loved it :) Reaching KR Puram market, I stopped at the flower market and took a deep breath; the aroma of thousands of flowers always gets me slightly high haha! Then pulled over at the scheduled pick-up spot, got off the bike and started stretching, doing some lunges on the footpath at 5AM hehe. Gunda arrived; after a formal greeting we departed Bangalore.
TIME: 05:30
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| First glimpse of the hillock :) |
RIDE 1: (Bangalore > KR Puram > Hoskote > Kaiwara > Laxmidevi Kote)
With the strict no-Google-Maps rule, we cruised along pretty slowly. Having covered the first 30km already, we were in no hurry at all. We had a lot of catching up to do, and why not do it cruising at a slow pace, enjoying some cold wind. Oh yeah, the weather was cold. It was nice to see the onset of winter. We pulled over at a hotel in Kaiwara for some yummy breakfast.
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| The Standard Breakfast for a trek :) |
Post-breakfast, we continued into the town of Kaiwara. I turned around and said to Gunda, "we keep going until we hit another highway, post which we have to search and spot a double top hill". He smiled and said, " The spotting part I will take care of; you get us near.
After hitting the parallel road, I was executing all turns to perfection, interior muddy routes with cows and dogs staring down at us. But to tap into the local web, we decided to stop and ask some locals. I asked, "Sir, can we climb that hill?" pointing into thin, blank sky. The local looked confused and said, "NO". Gunda slightly shifted my hand orientation, and the person said, "Oh, that one? Go ahead, but there are no routes there to the top, and a bike cannot go". We happily said, "We have come to climb".
We parked our bikes, and awoke "the astral goat's" spirit within us and were all set for the trek.
TIME: 08:00
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| The 2nd top in view and Ambaji Durga in the backdrop :) |
LAXMI DEVI KOTE BETTA TREK
ASCENT:
Well, we absolutely loved it, as it was a pure freestyle climb. No fixed trails. So need not stick to any direction. Anything and any ideas were always welcomed. And Gunda, if you guys remember, started his journey with the Hiregundagal Trek. SO, not only is he in his element, but he thrives and enjoys this. You can think of this hill as a "double hump camel 🐫", we ascended from the tail and up the two humps :)
We took about 50 minutes to get to the 2nd top and about 30 minutes to reach the first stop.
Like always, I have divided the trek into phases, so LET'S GO \m/
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| The Initial Trails |
Phase 1: The Initial Trails (Tail section)
We had parked the bike in the absolute end of mountain. This gave us a long path with less gradient. SO, the initial trail was really pleasant. We took in the silence and cold from the ambience. And as we began the climb, our bodies slowly started warming up. The dew was heavy in the grass, and pants, shoes and socks were already soaked.
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| Cute Baby Saw-scaled Viper :) |
As we were near the first hilltop, we spotted a saw-scaled viper. Nevertheless, it is one of the BIG 4 dangerous snakes of India. It was a cute baby! :) We saw it crawl away into the shrubs. We discussed about how to tell the difference between a venomous and non-venomous one - the head and the eyes. Point being, in these obscure hillocks, the dangers are real, and one needs to be careful.
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| Gunda in his element :) |
Phase 2: The Freestyle Climb
Now things got real. As we hit face to face with the first top, steep granite walls all around. We had a way around the 2nd summit through some intense shrubs. But we wanted to summit both tops. Then we took some deep breaths and circumnavigated the 1st top, looking for a small opening. And we could spot a crack that ran up. Now, we had to wedge ourselves on both sides and climb it up. It was very risky considering the fact that the rock had this orange moss cover, which made it slippery. But yeah, it was fun, so we executed it cautiously. We made it to the 1st top :)
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| 2nd top as seen from the 1st top :) |
We sat down and took a 5-minute breather; we rehydrated. We looked at the second top and started mapping the route. And Gunda looked confused. I asked him why; he said he heard a voice, my voice, coming from behind. And I was sitting in front of him. The next thing I did was shout at the top of my voice, and guess what, it went ahead and echoed back to us. What a strange experience this was. Gunda rubbed his ears (thanks to my intense yelling) and said his ears were working just fine haha! The next few minutes, we started yelling just to hear back our own voices:)
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| The grind is ON. |
Phase 3: Summit Push
We packed up and then pushed towards the summit. This was crazy; it was a steep incline. We held onto the grasses and felt the ground with our feet, and took each step. The grass had heavy dew, drenching us and making each step heavy. It was a pure grinder. Loved every bit of it. Pushing step by step, we hit the summit. We were at the apex of the hill - the 2nd top :)
TIME: 08:50
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| Gunda admiring Ambaji Durga and Kaiwara from Laxmi Devi Kote :) |
TOP:
Reaching the 2nd top felt really good. We looked for a spot with a good view. Took off our jackets, weighed a ton like Goku's training gear. We rehydrated and sat embracing the sun and its warmth. It was a pleasant morning, and the sun was fighting hard to drive away the fog. We were the only ones at the top. And true to nature, the OMR route had not disappointed. Loved every bit of it. We spent about 30minutes at the top, then decided to head back down.
TIME: 09:30
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| For the descent, we took the inbetween route. |
DESCENT:
The descent took us about 30 minutes. We got off the summit carefully. Then Gunda suggested we head back down in between the two tops, and then circumnavigate the first hill entirely. This made sense, as the stretch was risky. But this route also had some "unknowns"; the only way to find out was to get into the trenches. And guess what? It was actually pretty fun but very safe. We got down in a jiffy and then circumnavigated to spot our bike far away. From here it was formality to finish (keeping an eye for snakes haha)
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: 10:30
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| Boulder Gunda :) |
RIDE 2: (Laxmi Devi Kote > Kaiwara > Bangalore)
This was a 100km ride back. As we began the ride, we couldn't get our eyes off the hillock. She was simply brutally beautiful. As we reached Kaiwara, we rejoined the highway and cruised along at a decent pace.
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| Biryani out of nowhere :) |
As we completed about 50km, we decided to pull over for a hydration break. As we hydrated and sipped on some tea, we saw a biryani shop next. The smell hit us straight in the head. Looked at Gunda; he was already smiling. We were not at all hungry, but the smell had enticed us. We took one plate and ate out it. And boy, yum, it was. This left the shop owners wondering what would happen if we had come hungry haha :)
And after the yummy biryani, as we were riding back, we spotted a roadside vendor selling what seemed to be really good first-cut apparel of reputed brands. I pulled over. Key word being "I": I am the last person interested in dresses. Gunda was taken aback. What ensued was a massive apparel shopping spree. Haha, this was so unexpected for us. OMR route always surprises us. Remember the books we had found on the road on our Kurbooru expedition? (after stealing mangoes ofcourse) This route is something else, I tell You! Cruised back safely, dropped Gunda off at KR Puram, and rode slowly to reach back home with clothes to surprise all for Diwali :)
TIME: 14:30
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| Sippy on 1st top :) |
CONCLUSION:
Well, OMR route, you have won our hearts. Laxmi Devi Kote was one kickass climb. Was it risky? Yes, it was. But was it worth it, yes totally. The thing about boulder climbs is that a 5-6feet fall can prove fatal. And falls are real owing to the rounded boulders. Navigating them is a new skill that even we are learning. And what hit us the most in this chapter is the random openness that we allowed - the biryani out of nowhere, the apparel shopping and meeting the cute baby saw-scaled viper. Really a holistic chapter :)
In the past 389 days (55 weeks), we have pulled off 62 treks, ~12,150 kms in total, 13 months, non-stop. The Flame lives on \m/
KREW:
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 62 treks, here is the link: 62 NON STOP TREKS.
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| LETS GO ❤️🔥 |
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