Apr 30, 2007 05:13 PM
4779 Views
(Updated Apr 30, 2007 05:32 PM)
We went to Silent valley resorts near Kalasa, Karnataka for a 3 days 2 nights stay late August 2005 for our wedding anniversary. We drove in our car from Bangalore - a good 325 kms.
There was no difficulty in locating the resort, but with the bad roads beyond Hassan, we reached there only at 4:00 pm instead of the planned 2:00 PM. On reaching the resort we realized we were the only guests in the resort for that weekend.a kind of scary, yet a privileged customer feeling as well. The resort has a club house, 2 shuttle courts and a huge swimming pool. The pool was not maintained and probably will be maintained only when there is sufficient crowd. The cottages resemble the hermitages in the comics(i still love to see my photos), are neat and well maintained. Very hospitable room service as well. The 2 breakfasts we had on 2 days were very good. A bit of a turnoff is the lunch/dinner menu and the food as such. There is nothing unique the menu provides. It is same as most hotels in Bangalore would provide. Located in a remote place, I was expecting some kind of village food options like boiled rice, payasa, chakkuli etc(i am a vegetarian). Even the food was too oily in spite of our request to not make it oily. Overall slightly overpriced, but still a nice place to be in.
The attractions of the place are the Horanadu temple, Kalasa temple, a couple of mild trek routes and the drive to Dakshina Kannada border and beyond till Hanumanagundi falls - the drive being the most memorable of the lot. This drive I would say is a must for people who enjoy natural scenery. The route itself is very scenic and on top of it there are a number of attractions along the route - like a dam, water falls, Kudremukh factory view(from a distance), streams and rivers, tea plantation etc. You get a different scenery view from each of these places. Do visit this place even if you dont want to stay in the resort and I guess Sept to Jan would be the best time when it is still green, cool and dust free because of the rains.
If you are reaching the resort at lunch time and leaving after breakfast, I would suggest you opt for a 3 days/2 nights stay. If you are reaching there early morning then you can leave by the next day night.
