Hiking around Bangalore

I have been on two hikes in Bangalore. Just two but they have been such good experiences that I am planning on tripling that count shortly. This is mainly due to BMC Bangalore  (Bangalore Mountaineering Club) that arranges hikes – a day hike, a night hike and a two day hike – EVERY weekend. I love them. They arrange for food, transportation and a guide. They are awesome.

The first hike I went on was to SavanDurga. It was an 'adventure' hike and consisted of a short trek, cave exploring some rappelling, zip lining and kayaking. I took Ankit ( 11 years old) with me and it worked out great, though it is advisable to have a chat with BMC before taking a child on a trek. There were seven other people besides us and we had a great day. A really good start for a preteen on a proper day hike.

For my second hike I chose a night hike. No Ankit on this one. The pickup was at 9:30pm and we were dropped back to Bangalore at 11am. This was to NarayanGiri and was a short – too short for my liking – hike up a big boulder hill. Snuggling in a sleeping bag ( provided by BMC), chatting with newly made friends, watching lights go off and on while waiting for the sunrise was worth the disappointing hike. The other amusing and entertaining disappointment was a group of nine girls that joined the hike to celebrate someone's birthday. Not hikers by choice they provided a lot of laughter with their questions, whining and lack of decent footwear. They did provide all the material for my post – How not to hike like a girlie girl.

When moving here I was scared about places to hike and visit. I am not comfortable enough to do this on my own (or just me and my kids). Not knowing the language, lack of trails and a safety number to call are all deterrents. However, the presence of groups like BMC really help – with Rs 700 all inclusive hikes. At this point this is working great for me and I am looking forward to a lot more boulders to climb around Bangalore.