Tour Diaries: Hogenakkal Falls, Tamil Nadu

Date: 27th Sept 2009
Time: 8:00 a.m.
Travellers: Manu, Sumit, Pankaj, Pradeep and Arihant


This trip is immediately the next day after my day trip to Shravanabelagola. I don't feel tired when it comes to exploring new places and utilizing your weekend with more zest rather than being lethargic. Five of us decided and agreed to go to Hogenakkal Falls, Tamil Nadu for a day trip. Hogenakkal translates to Smoking Rocks because the water falls here with such force which creates the illusion of smoking rocks. Hogenakkal Falls is on Cauvery River in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu with a whole series of waterfalls spread over an area of approx. 1 km . Since it has rained like cats and dogs this year in whole of South India so choosing the location with lot of water flow was not a very wise adjudication. We left it to God to take care of the rest and we arranged for a Tavera. 


Journey:
Hogenakkal Falls is close to 180 kms from Bangalore. There is a direct route from the highway via Krishnagiri but the driver chose a shortcut (it was a shortcut according to him, we just nodded in unison) which I am in no position to describe either. Just google it Ok!!!!!

In pictures: Pradeep on the front seat with the driver, Sumit-Arihant-Manu in the center, Pankaj sitting behind

The road was narrow but the journey was not so dolorous. We guys kept talking about the stuff that would be irrelevant later and kept moving

We reached Hogenakkal and found kinda market where you can see people selling dosas, idlis, cold drinks, water, chocolates on the streets; people carrying Coracles on their heads and searching for customers who would agree to their exactions.   The only way to reach the falls is going on a Coracle. 

We decided to hire one of these hucksters along with a tempo which will take us to the shore of Cauvery River. 

There was a new sense of stir within us and we were all set to head to the falls. We could see the gush of water flowing in the river and we simply loved our timing to see the falls - it was at its peak. 

At some place in the center; the water, we were told, is about 100 feet deep. The rover splashed water on our faces with the roving stick and took us closer to the falls. 

We had our first glance at Karnataka Falls and it was breathtaking. You can simply gaze at it for hours getting wet just by standing at a distance from it. The rovers are expert in handling all kinds of digital cameras and can adjust the camera settings to get you the pic of lifetime :)

You can think of Hogenakkal Falls as a border for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. From there, we headed towards Tamil Nadu Falls in our Coracle.  These falls weren't as big as seen earlier but the very annotation of Smoking Rocks fits here.  You also get the view of the deep gorge and the connecting water stream.

My friends wanted to take bath near the falls. We found a small fall near by where some other tourists were cleaning their sins. My friends jumped in :)

After a while, tired and exhausted, we decided to head back to Bangalore. Reached home by 10 p.m. post dinner. 

Must Do's: Ask the coracle rover to rotate the boat in full speed and scream with your friends ( Make a recording)

Beware  Of: Slippages at the rocks near the falls. Looking up into the sky and walking in style might not be a good idea here (I have one of my friends as a living example - he slipped but still continued walking in style)

Useless Advice: Stand and give the pose like The World is mine at the falls

Or may be Drinking water directly from the falls

Tour Diaries: Shravanabelagola, Karnataka

Date: 26th Sept 2009
Time: 7:00 a.m.
Trip cost: Rs 230 per head


I had been thinking of going to Shravanabelagola since a long time but could never found an accomplice. My friend Sumit has already been to this place twice but he still agreed to join me. 


Journey:
There are direct buses to Shravanabelagola from Bangalore. So we reached Majestic Bus stand by 7:30 a.m. but realised that we have missed the direct KSRTC bus to Shravanabelagola at 7:15 a.m.  So we took the KSRTC bus till Channarayapatna. There are plenty of buses in transit from there till Shravanabelagola.  

It was a chilly Bangalore morning. The bus seating was quite comfortable.

The roads are clean with greenery all around. I have never seen such a huge spread of  coconut trees and rice plantation together - its was a mesmerizing view. You would just wish to halt there for a while, run into the fields , sing  a song or two and then continue on your journey again :)

Our first halt was at Kunigal. I guess all the KSRTC buses stop on this midway. The tea was not very great but the chikki improved our taste buds

We reached Channarayapatna by 11 a.m. and managed to reach Shravanabelagola by 12 p.m.

Facts:
It is in Hassan district, Karnataka and around 140 kms from Bangalore.  It is known for its Jain Pilgrimage Centre, where the 60 ft tall monolith statue of Lord Gomteshwara (Bahubali) stands atop 3347 ft Vindhyagiri (Indragiri) hill.  Every 12th year, a mahamastabhishek is held in which the whole statue of Lord Bahubali is anointed with milk, ghee, saffron, gold coins etc.  The town is situated between the two lofty hills Vindhyagiri Hills and Chandragiri Hills


Tourism:
We decided to tread Vindhyagiri first. The mountain is really steep and there are enough steps to tire you out by the time you reach to the top. But its worth it because what you would see from the top is simply awesome. For people in slightly decrepit condition, there are railings by the side to take support and climb up. It is essential for the readers to know that the governors of pilgrimage insist that you tread bare foot. 

If you are tired then you have an option to lie down on the rocky mountain on the sides and inhale the fresh air, they way we did.

You will forget about your aching toes once you have a view from the top. Trust me!!!!! 

Carved structures of 24 Jain Tirthankars are engraved on the stones inside. The monolith statue is an astounding sight which can be best described in pictures (I don't want to bore the readers with more facts, anyone can just Google it up!!!! )

On the back side of the main premises, there is a door which opens out to a cliff. The fresh air would refurbish your soul. 

We were hungry and warmer now. Our sweaters came off. We walked a bit to the Bhojanshaala close to another temple nearby where food is served for free. You can donate any amount with your will after you are done eating. 

Next was to tread Chandragiri Hills. This hill has the statue of Lord Bahubali's bro Bharata.

You can also see Vindhyagiri Hills from the top

Its comparatively low incline but there are lot of stone engravings of Tirthankars dating from 6th to 19th century. 

What I loved the most were the splurge of placid, unruffled whiff blowing constantly on your face. An ideal place where you can sit, relax and talk for hours.

We finally got down and headed towards the bus stand to catch the bus to Bangalore. We arrived in Bangalore by 6 p.m. 

Must Do's:  Inhale and exhale in long breaths at the mountain top

I do not have anything useless advice to share for this place. You won't be able to resist clicking pictures once you are there. 

Been there, done that!!!!!!

Tour Diaries: Cauvery Fishing Camp, Bheemeshwari

Date: 19th Dec 2009
Time: 7:30 a.m.

After the first successful bike trip (at least riding the bike to waterfalls was fun as mentioned in my last blog, leave the rest), Janit and I decided for our next location on bike. We googled many places which we can cover in a day. Going close to nature has been an on going phenomenon off late. We chose Cauvery Fishing Camp, Bheemeshwari near the banks of river Cauvery this time. It is primarily known for Mahaseer - the largest sporting fish known to man. This is a setup maintained by Jungle Lodges but more on that later but let me tell you that "it is unnecessarily expensive".

Kanakpura Road is the exit out of the city. The route for us was Bannerghatta Road -> J.P. Nagar (some phases which to be crossed which I don't recall) -> Kanakpura Road -> Kanakpura -> Sathnur -> Take a left towards Muthati -> Cauvery Fishing Camp. The distance is around 110 kms.


So I picked Janit from his home at 7:30 a.m. I had got an helmet for him from home just to be on the safer side but he chose not to wear it. Sometimes its all about style and tashan as we all call it ;)

The road till Kanakpura is awesome. Big wide NH-209 where you can easily touch 100 kmph. Although I did not find much of the green pastures but it was still worth halting at places to click pictures whereever we got a chance.

We also noticed lot of cyclists on the highway (don't know where they were heading to but we captured that as well)

After first halt was at a tea shop after crossing Kanakpura. The tea offered was really sweet (not to my taste)    I took out my tiffin box containing Veg Pulao and Moong Dal ( I owe this to my sister who made it for us which served as breakfast and lunch)

Janit decided to ride from here till the fishing camp. The travel from Sathnur to Muthati brings you closer to the nature, with a narrow curvy road cutting the mountain and at times too steep (downhill/uphill) but we truly enjoyed it.

Now the funny part, after a few kms, we saw the road being blocked by a herd of cows (out for a kittie :P) and Janit's reaction to that was worth listening to. He got scared to cross them and decided to wait till the ladies go out of the way. Being not the one to lose on time like this, I decided to scream out on them (I wish I could do that in real life :P) to clear the way.

 Just imagine, if we would have been stuck in the middle of such a huge bunch and the bike doesn't start.  This very thought made us laugh later (after we crossed the hurdle). These cows had really sharp horns  which can cause serious damage... you know what I mean, right? :)

We started seeing the Cauvery river after a while and decided to halt. Being in nature is so peaceful, breathing clean and fresh oxygen on the forest roads is surely a great relief to our souls.

We finally reached the camp and saw the nets. That was it. We took a decision to not invest Rs 1000 per person in Jungle Lodge rather relax on the nets and pass time.

It was time to eat again and my box was out again. That was our lunch. We thought of fishing as well but it was for Rs. 1750 per person ... so.... never mind!!!!  I guess we wanted to stick to our plans to save money and make the trip as cheap as possible :) The readers might also be thinking something like this "Tum kya itni door sone ke liye gaye thhe?" (I am a good mind reader or rather I know this is what the readers can expect from me :P)

The river is so calm and whole rocky look and feel was awe inspiring. Some photo shoot happened there as well.

At around 3 p.m., we decided to head back to Bangalore, stopped at Muthati - this name means Nose Ring in Kannada and gets its name from Ramayan. When Ram and Sita were in exile, Sita accidently dropped her nose ring at this place and Hanuman found it and gave it to Sita (too much for me :P) There is a Hanuman Temple at Muthati at that very location now. We reached Bangalore by 4:30 p.m.

Must Do's: Sleeping on the nets and forget the rest of the world

Beware  Of: Monkeys around the place. They won't do anything to you till you do something to them :P

Useless Advice: 1. Make a booking with Jungle Lodges and pay 1000 bucks.

                            2. Touch the speed limit of 100 kmph on NH-209 highway

                            3. Learn how to climb the net and not fall down (I fell twice before finally making it :P )