Every vacation we try and go for some outing. This Diwali (November 07) was no exception. This time we chose a spot in scenic Karnataka state. It’s called Banana County. We settled for a packaged tour of Anubhav Holidays booked through their Pune Office (Ashtekar Saraf building on Karve Road – Pancharatna Towers). Although there was an option of travelling in bus or train to reach Hubli, we opted to drive there! The distance between Pune and Yellapur is about 500 kms. We took NH-4 highway all the way up to Hubli and then took NH-63 (Karwar Road) to reach Yellapur. Then there is a dirt road of 2 kms to reach the resort. The resort is surrounded by forest or rather resort is inside forest. Of course it is equipped with all the modern amenities and no way jungle camp (except the fact that you do not really get mobile coverage inside the resort). We enjoyed our 7 day outing. Check out photos here. During our drive to Yellapur there was a major incident where our car hit a buffalo while travelling between Nipani and Belgam. Although I tried my best to avoid the collision, I had no choice as buffalo suddenly jumped on the road as their herd was crossing the road. Fortunately the buffalo survived but our car bonnet was damaged as buffalo fell on it after the impact. Another good fortune was there was no damage to any other part except the bonnet and we could continue our onward journey. There was no other incident during our journey. I could drive at speeds between 100-140 KMPH most of the times and as we almost went nonstop (except petrol stops and toll stops), we could cover the distance of 500 kms in about 6 hours. We paid toll of 281 rupees each way. This road is in fantastic condition – the only problem is unruly drivers and unruly people!
Banana County, Yellapur