Visit to Kudremukh and Sringeri

11-12 December 2010

Day 2:
Visit to Somavathi falls and Sringeri

The next day morning we went to the waterfalls nearby to the place whrere we had put up for the night (@ the guide’s place). Here Somavathi River makes a small plunge, thereby creating a small waterfall (known as Somavathi falls). Even though the weather was chilling cold in the morning, we decided to have some fun in the falls. We spent close to an hour splashing water around.
There is also a temple here dedicated to Lord Ganesh, which is considered very sacred to the villagers over here.

We then returned back to guide’s place, packed our luggage and were all set to return back to Bangalore after successful scaling of the peak. We started our journey back at 11 AM from Mullodi.
Since we had some time left in our hands we decided to visit Sringeri temple. In previous couple of trips we had planned for the visit but somehow things didn’t fall in place. We were hoping that we would be able to make it this time.
Sringeri is close to 60kms from Kudremukh.

Sringeri Introduction:
Sringeri is home to number of historic temples. Of these Sharadamba temple and Sri Vidyashankara temple are the prominent ones. According to legend, Adi Shankaracharya is said to have selected the site as the place to stay and teach his disciples. This is one of the four mutts which has been established by Adi Shankaracharya.

Even though the distance from Kudremukh to Sringeri was less, it took us close to 2 hrs to reach the destination. The road conditions are pretty bad especially after the SK border where one has to make a right turn.
We reached Sringeri at around 1:30pm. We were just in time for the temple would be closing by 2pm. We visited Sharadamba temple and Vidyashankara temple. Since it was Sunday the place was pretty crowded. We then had lunch at the temple, which is served as prasadam for every devotee.

This temple is located on the banks of river Tunga. One can see huge fishes in this river bank located close to the temple. People here flock to watch these fishes and also feed them with various foods. This place is declared fish sanctuary and hence nobody can fish in this water in the surrounding area.

After spending some time in the temple premises, we were all set to head back to Bangalore by 3:45pm. We reached Bangalore by midnight.
This turned out to be a good trip, given the various hiccups faced at the beginning of the trip.

Trek to Kudremukh

Trek to Kudremukh peak:
11-12th December 2010

It’s been a long time since we were planning for a trek. The extended monsoon season had hampered our plans. We could still manage to do a small trek to Gangadikal, a small peak in Kudremukh range a month back. As the monsoon began to recede we decided to trek one of the tallest peak in Karnataka in fact the second largest, the Kudremukh peak.
The ground work required for the trek started well ahead. We had phone numbers of the forest department for enquiries regarding the trek and stay (had acquired the number during the last visit to Kudremukh). We also came across a person who actually arranges for the entire trek activity. After a discussion with him we decided to go ahead with the plan to trek on 11th December 2010. Many of my colleagues and friends were interested in this activity, and as usual at the end of the mail chain activity many of them pulled out. Finally five people geared up for the trek, which was quite a good number.
Due to the lesser number of participants the vehicle needed to be changed. As usual we contacted our person who arranges vehicles for our trips. However this time the vehicle arrangement turned disastrous and we were left stranded on previous evening of our trek. This was not a good sign for the trip to begin with. The vehicle didn’t turn up for some reason, hence had to arrange for an alternate one. Using our various contacts we finally managed to get one, providing a sigh of relief and ending the frustrations.

Background of the peak:

Kudremukh is a big mountain range that is spread across three district of Karnataka namely Chikmagalur, Dakshin Kannada and Shimoga. These mountain ranges have few of the tallest peaks of Karnataka, making it a trekker’s paradise. Owing to the Naxal Activity, the trekking in these ranges had been closed but was opened again for the nature enthusiasts in the recent years. All the trek routes that are available here have to be completed in a day. No camping is allowed in the national park.

The Trek:

Kudremukh peak is considered to be one the most beautiful range surrounded by huge valleys and greeneries all around. The peak resembles that of a horse head, hence the name Kudremukh (Kudre = horse and mukh = face in the native Kannada language). As per the information received from the guide we would require an average of four hours to climb the peak and another four hours to get down. We would require a minimum of eight hours to conquer the peak. As per our initial plan we had decided to leave early on Friday evening, so that we could reach early morning a start our trek. But the vehicle incidence hinted at toppling our plan, which was our reason for frustration and anger. The alternate vehicle arrangement ate up our precious time and we were finally able to start from Bangalore at 11pm. By now we had lost hope in starting the trek the next day early morning. To add to these problems was the sudden change in weather in Kudremukh, which resulted in few showers on Friday. Rains are not uncommon in these parts, as the monsoon would extend even after the season.
Due to monsoons the roads across Karnataka are indeed in a pretty bad shape. Going by our previous experience, we decided to go via NH 206 (Shimoga road) rather than NH 48 (Hassan road).

The route:
Bangalore – Tumkur –Gubbi – Arsikere – Kadur – Chikmagalur – Aldur – Baalehonnur – Kalasa –Baalegal –Mullodi village(start point of the trek)

We were surprised to have reached the destination at 7:45 am in the morning. All the credits should go to the driver, who after understanding the situation tried his level best to make us reach us on time.

The start point of the trek is at a village named Mullodi. Mullodi is at a distance of 18km from the Kalasa town. One has to travel a distance of 12kms towards Kudremukh from Kalasa to reach a place called Baalegal. One can see a hoarding besides the main road, indicating the start of the trek. From the main road one has to travel another 6kms by walk or can hire a jeep to reach the Mullodi village.

Once we reached Kalasa, we called up our guide Satish about our arrival. He had arranged for a jeep for our pickup from Baalegal to Mullodi. We were still skeptical about our trek plans, but the guide convinced us that it is still possible to complete the trek. We reached Mullodi at around 8:30am. The jeep ride takes about 30-40 minutes to reach Mullodi from the main road.
We freshened up and had breakfast at our guide’s place. We were all set to go by 9:45 am to conquer the peak. The guide had arranged for the afternoon lunch as well. We as usual had packed some snacks and fruits for the journey. The just ended monsoon season helped us in cutting down on the number of water bottles.

The previous experience of leech bites at Gangadikal peak was still fresh in our minds. The problem is not with their bites but rather the itching that continues for an extended period after the trek. I had come across some websites were people were using some kind of socks to prevent the bites. After some search on internet, finally was able to get the leech socks. We were curious to see if this really works on them. The guide also provided us with neem oil mixed with Tobacco powder, which need to be applied to our feet. This combination generates a pungent odor which helps check the leech bites. We decided to go ahead with both these combinations and give it a try.

All five of us along with Arun the guide, started out at 9:45 towards the peak. According to the guide the one way distance to the peak is close to 12km, which made it 24km for a round trip.
The initial part of the trek started off with small uphill and downhill climb, which was rather easy. Totally one would have to cross five streams on the way to the peak. Owing to the winter season, the water levels are easy to tackle.

After two kilometers into the trek one would reach a point called Ontimara (Lone Tree). As the name suggests this is a single tree that acts as a reference point as once sees it from higher elevation. The initial part of the trek is mainly through grasslands surrounded by the beautiful peaks and valleys. One has to cross couple of dense vegetation on the way in the initial phase of the journey. If one closely observes the pattern, these dense vegetations (cover of big evergreen trees and undergrowth, also known as Shola forests) and usually in places were one has to go through the valleys. This is a breeding place for the leeches waiting to pounce on humans and suck blood. One has to literally run through this area in order to lessen the number of leech bites. So far our combination for avoiding leech bites was successful.

We were mesmerized by the greenery and the beautiful valleys surrounding us. This would be one of the best experience one can get trekking the place.
The grasslands extended for the initial 4kms of the trek. The terrain was friendly enough and the energy level of the group was good. We took a break at a nearby stream to quench our thirst and replenish the energy. A few minutes’ walk from here one can come across a few tiled houses which belonged to Mr. Lobo, a priest who had stayed here long ago. Few years ago, when there were no restrictions on camping in the night in the forest, people used to use this house for overnight stay. The property is quite huge (close to 90 acres as per the guide and it is under litigation since the place was declared a sanctuary) and one can still see the remains of the plantations and paddy fields at this very location.

After this point the ascent to the peak begins. The altitude slowly picks up. The weather was good since it had rained the previous evening and the chillness was still in the air. One more team of two had started ahead of us. We caught up with them and then decided to climb together to the peak. Due to the recent monsoon activities one can come across lots of streams and waterfalls at different parts of the valley.

This was the first hill we had come across till now, and the ascent was quite steep. The peak opens up to big grassland, providing a spectacular view of the hidden valley. On a clear day one can actually see the Dakshin Kannada district.

From here onwards one need to cross few hills in order to reach the peak of Kudremukh. The initial part of the journey was slow due to photography session and slower pace. We needed to pick up the speed from here in order to make it to the peak at the earliest so that we can have enough daylight for our descent.
From now the pace of the climb had increased. We crossed many hills and Shola forests. At this juncture the peak showed up, generating eagerness in us to reach there. The peak looked so near, yet so far. We reached a stream on the way where we decided to take a short break to quench our thirst. The water over here was freezing cold.

Even though the peak looked so closer from the current position, there is no direct path leading to the peak. One has to climb the adjoining peaks in order to make it to the top. We were thinking of taking an alternate route to reach quickly, but the guide insisted on the normal route since I one shouldn’t miss the view of the entire valley on the way to the top. The entire valley opens up after a few minutes into the walk giving a spectacular view. This moment would definitely mask all the effort that we had put in to reach this very point.

On reaching slightly higher altitude one can see a waterfall falling right into a gorgeous valley below. This was indeed a very beautiful view to watch out for. After some discussions it was decided that we would have our lunch at the very beginning of the falls which we just came across. This waterfall starts as a small stream right in the middle of the Shola forest before plunging into the deep valley. The path leading to it was a very dense jungle. The jungle then opens up into an open space with a small lake at the corner, surrounded trees on all sides. It gives a feeling of being landed in an island. This is the place that one should never miss on the trail.

We reached the place at around 2pm, had tamarind rice packed by our guide. After a break of 45min we started our journey in pursuit of the peak. At this very place one would come across a ruined building, probably a guest house built during the British rule.

We were now near the vicinity of the peak. As usual in any trek the last mile would be the most treacherous one, which was no different here. Finally after crossing the final hurdle we were on top of the peak. We made it to the peak by 3pm. The dream of conquering this peak finally became a reality and one can see the joy on all us on being able to make it to the top without any incidents.

The view of the other side of the peak was indeed spectacular. It was denser and greener. It was a scary situation as the peak given an abrupt ending at one edge opening up a valley hundreds of feet below. The view was short lived since clouds started covering up the valley. We spent close to 30min before heading back.
It was already 3:30 pm and we wanted to be at the base of the hill before the night fall. Also at higher altitudes the weather can change abruptly. Our previous trekking in the very mountain range was a disaster owing to the sudden downpour making it difficult for us to descend. Fortunately the weather looked good and we were hoping that it would hold until we reach the base camp.
The numbers of breaks were reduced during the descent in order to meet the deadline of reaching below before the night fall. We made it to the bottom by around 6:30 pm, just before the night set in. The down climb was completed in about 3hours time.
This was indeed an exhilarating climb to the peak and returning back on the same day. We had covered close to 24km in a single day. The joy of successful completion cannot be described in words; one has to experience it to get a feel of it.
The weather is chilling cold in the evening during this part of the year. A hot bath was a must for freshening up and to tackle the weather.
The brightly lit camp fire to combat cold and a wonderful dinner put the curtains for the evening. There was more in store for us for the coming morning!!!

Trip to Coorg: Visit to Lesser Known Waterfalls - II

Day 2:
Visit to Mallalli falls, Abbimatta Falls and Shivanasamudra:

We got up early morning and decided to trek to Mallali Falls. One of the main reasons to stay at this home stay was its nearness to the falls. The falls is located at a distance of 5km from our home stay. Even though there is a motorable road to the very end we decided to trek to the falls, as it has been a long time since we had done a trek.
There is also an alternate shorter path to the falls from the estate that we had put up but decided to take on the longer one as we didn’t have much activities planned for the day. The first two kilometers of the trek was a tar road after which one needs to take a deviation for the falls. This marks the beginning of the jeep tracks to the falls.
Finally we reached the falls after one hour of walk through the jeep tracks. The path leading to the falls is mainly downhill. There are boards all along the way indicating the ferocity of the falls and the presence of crocodiles in streams.

The falls is situated in a valley covered by dense vegetation on all sides. Of all the falls that I have visited in Karnataka it is one of the most beautiful falls that I have come across given its secluded location and the style of fall. The falls unveils itself in parts as one gets down to the valley. There are concrete steps till half way built by the tourism department to reach the bottom of the valley. The step sizes are quite big creating uneasiness rather than helping out to reach the bottom of the valley.

As we reached the bottom of the falls, we could feel the presence of water in the air making the breeze cooler. As we reached even closer we got drenched completely by the water droplets carried by breeze. It was like a fine spray of water sprayed from a hose. It was an amazing experience of being close to the falls and getting drenched. Due to the slippery rocks it is difficult to get close to the falls and not advisable to get into the water owing to the amount of water present in falls.
We were completely mesmerized by the experience. These are the moments that you enjoy from the journey and make you realize the beauty and treasures of Mother Nature. We then started our journey back from here after spending close to one hour at the falls.
There is a toll gate for the falls where one needs to pay Rs 5 per person as entrance fee. The guy at the toll gate was surprised to see us heading back from the falls. He enquired whether we had stayed back the previous night at the falls. It was strange for him to see people visiting this place so early in the morning. He distributed chocolates and make us realize that it was our Independence Day. We also bought some fruit juices from him. It was fruit juice with a mix of spices which I had never tasted before and was quite good. This also quenched our thirst for the remaining part of our walk.
It took us close to 3 hours for covering the falls. We got freshened up, had a heavy breakfast rather say it a brunch.
As per the initial plan we would be visiting another falls called Abbimatta falls which falls on the way to Somwarpet. After talking with the driver we decided to go ahead and visit the falls even though we were short of fuel in vehicle. Since it was going to be a downhill journey the fuel consumption would be less and hence we were able to cover this falls as well.

Abbimatta falls:

Abbimatta falls is located at a distance of 5-6km from Somwarpet on Pushpagiri road. It is situated close to the fields and owing to monsoon stream flowing right in front of it we were not able to get a closer look of it and also its been partially hidden behind the trees. A talk with the workers in the field suggested that there was no bridge across the stream to reach the falls but one can reach the top of the falls from a temple situated on the other side of the falls.
We usually carry a Tripod to such places for telephoto shots. Looking at these equipments the people working in the fields stopped their work, thinking we might be from press. Such situations have happened many times in our previous trips and now we are used to it.
This was the last activity planned for the day in Coorg. Since we had covered the places quite early we had the option of covering Shivanasamudra also but were not sure if we could reach there on time. We decided to take a call once we were close to Mysore.

The Driver was confident of making it to Shivanasamudra at 4:30 pm which I think was quite a nice time to reach. Things didn’t work out well as planned as we lost our way. The roads were asphalted, and this actually confused the driver who took a wrong diversion. Gautam has a GPS enabled phone, from which we realized we were heading in the wrong direction and also the driver seemed to have realised his mistake. We had lost our precious time and we were in a dilemma weather to head back to Bangalore or make an attempt to reach the falls before dusk.
We decided to head for Shivanasamudra. The roads leading to it were in god condition and finally we were able to reach the place at 5:30 pm.
Shivanasamudra is considered one among the biggest segmented waterfalls. It splits into two on its way resulting in two different waterfalls Gaganachukki and Bharachukki. Since it is a monsoon season we had expected lots of water in the falls but we were disappointed by the view. It was nothing like what I had seen from some of photographs recently posted on it.

We decided to visit Bharachukki as well which is situated at a distance of 13km from Gaganachukki.

The trip ended on a quiet note. We had our dinner at Malavalli and then headed back to Bangalore via Kanakapura road.
It was indeed a good trip given the amount of falls we had covered in two days.

Trip to Coorg: Visit to Lesser Known Waterfalls

Aug 14 -15 2010

Day 1: Visit to Devarakolli and Devargundi Falls

The theme for the trip was Waterfalls. We decided to cover lesser known falls in and around Coorg. After some research on net we shortlisted few falls and chalked out an effective plan to cover most of them in two days.
We started from Bangalore at 4 AM in the morning in Qualis. Our first day plan was to cover the falls around Madikeri and then return to Somwarpet and cover few falls over here.
We took the route via Mysore.
Route:
Bangalore-Mandya-Srirangapatna-Hunsur-piriyapatna-Kushalnagar-suntikoppa-Madikeri.

Our plan was to cover Devarakolli falls, Kalyala falls and Devaragundi falls on the first day and if possible also visit Abbey falls and the second day would be to visit Mallali falls, Abbimatta falls. Initially the plan was to do the second day trip on first day but due to non availability of hotels in Madikeri the plan was switched (It was a government holiday on Saturday due to Nagarpanchami). This change in plan was a blessing in disguise because of the road conditions.

We reached Madikeri around 10 AM in the morning. Our first destination was Devarakolli falls. To reach Devarakolli falls one has to take the road leading to Mangalore from Madikeri via Sulya. Devarakolli is a small village located at a distance of approx 15km from Madikeri. This falls is on the main road which is mainly powered by rain water, hence available only in rainy season. The road is actually a downhill with pristine beauty of nature all the way. One could see rubber plantations on the way.

We spent close to half an hour enjoying the weather at the falls. We then proceeded towards Devarakolli village, where we stopped for some time for clicks. The pictures below would give an indication of what was in store for our cameras.

A talk with the villagers led us to a big stream. One needs to walk for about 10-15 min from the main road to reach this place (Landmark: A Mosque besides the main road in Devarakolli village)

This is apparently the Payaswini River which takes its birth near Madikeri and flows all the way to Arabian Sea via Kasargod. This river flows all along the road side for quite a distance. We came across couple of rest areas created on the banks of the river where one can take a break and relax.

Our next destination was to visit Kalyala falls which is approximately 10kms from Devarakolli village. After speaking to the locals over here on the feasibility of visiting both Kalyala and Devaragundi falls, we decided to drop our visit to Kalyala and headed towards Thodikana for Devaragundi falls.

Kalyala falls is located in the Koyanadu village on the way to Sulya from Madikeri. As one nears this village, the falls located in the midst of the forests becomes visible from the main road. After the deviation from the main road one has further travel 6kms and a kilometer by walk to reach the falls. The roads are narrow and it is preferable to travel by jeep for the last 6kms owing to the rainy season.

We proceeded towards Thodikana. Thodikana is approximately 25-30kms form Koyanadu. It is approx 50km from Madikeri. It is situated in Sulya taluk of Dakshina Kannada. It is also the border between the two districts Coorg and Dakshina Kannada.
The roads here are not in very good conditions owing to the monsoon season and hence one has to plan the day well in advance for the visit. The route is:

Madikeri –Devarakolli-Koyanadu-Sampaje-Kallagundi-Aranthodu-Thodikana.

We reached Thodikana at 1:15 PM. We visited Mallikarjuna temple (couldn’t go inside as the temple was closed). There are no hotels available here for food. We could get only tea and bun for our lunch.

Devaragundi falls is about 2.5kms from the temple. Initially one kilometer is approachable by road, but is advisable to go by walk as the roads are not in good conditions owing to the recent rains. After a kilometer into the walk one reaches a stream which needs to be crossed (no bridge though). After crossing the stream one would come across three houses to the right. After reaching the third house the owner would guide to the falls.

The falls is located inside the estate. One needs to cross a small stream inside the estate to reach the falls. The falls is about 30-35 feet in height. It is situated in a place where it is surrounded by trees in all directions providing an amazing view of the falls. The rocks here were quite slippery and one needs to be careful while stepping on these.

One might feel tempted to get into the water but it is advisable not to get into it owing to slippery rocks. Few of us experienced leech bites at this very place!!.
After resting for some time we headed back to the temple premises. This place is actually declared fish sanctuary and nobody is allowed to fish in the streams flowing over here.
A stream passes close to the temple where one can find lots of fishes. We took some packets of puffed rice for the fishes to feed. This place is called as Mathsyateertha.

As per the initial plan we would be camping in a home stay near Somwarpet. We started our journey back towards Somwarpet via Madikeri. We took a break near Sampaje on the way back as we were hungry, stopped by a small hotel and had some snacks.
Somwarpet is situated 40kms north of Madikeri. From Madikeri we needed to travel another 23kms to reach the home stay. It was 7:30 pm in the night when we reached Somwarpet. We called up the home stay people regarding our arrival. From Somwarpet one has to head in the direction of Pushpagiri hills to reach the home stay “Pushpagiri home stay”.
The route:
Somwarpet- Shanthalli (12kms) – Kundalli (4km) – Beedalli (7km)
Since the night had fallen it was difficult to commute on this road. This road would lead all the way to the base of Pushpagiri hills from where the trek to the peak starts. The way was covered by Mist/Clouds as one heads towards the foothills owing to gaining elevation resulting in poor visibility. Adding to this woe was the low fuel indication of the vehicle which started worrying us. Calculation showed that we could make just make it to our destination, but still the uncertainty still lingered in the minds. After consulting few people for directions, we managed to reach the destination by 8:30 pm with a few litres of fuel to spare just right enough for the return journey.

The Home stay was well maintained by the owner. It is a nice cozy house equipped for 10-12 people stay. The night was little cold. This indeed was a very remote place far away from the civilizations. The home stay was not powered electric power but by solar power, indicating the remoteness of the place. After a travel for almost 17 hours, the hosts provided us the much required dinner and a cozy bed to doze off for the rest of the night.

Visit to Chikmagalur - II

July 24-25 2010
Day2:
Visit to Mullayangiri and Sitallayangiri

Our second day plan was to visit Mullayangiri, Sitallayangiri, Bababudangiri and manikyadhara falls. We started at around 9 AM in the morning towards Mullayangiri. It had rained in the early morning, but later the skies cleared giving a wonderful view of the valley. Fields on either sides of the road were covered with Potato saplings.

Once we started ascending the peak of Mullayangiri, it started drizzling. This was an indication of how the weather would be on top of the hill.
Mullayangiri is the highest peak in Karnataka. With a height of 6300 ft it stands as the tallest peak between the Himalayas and Nilgiris. Mullayangiri is one of favorite destination of trekkers. There are two temples situated on the top dedicated to Lord Shiva one at Mullayangiri top and another at Sitallayangiri, 2km before the top.

On the Peak (Entrance of Temple)

Nowadays there is strict vigilance from the police/forest department towards maintaining the cleanliness of the place. It is now a strictly no plastic area. There is very stringent checking done to the vehicles for any alcohol, which is strict no for this place. These steps would help in maintaining serenity of the place.
With the altitude increase, the weather started deteriorating with cloud covering the peak and it started raining rather heavily. To add to it was the strong breeze blowing across the hill. The visibility was very poor and one had to drive very carefully as the roads were very narrow, good enough for one vehicle. The place was not so crowded when we reached the peak. From here one needs to climb some 200+ steps to reach the temple.

Once we started climbing the steps, we were completely in the clouds and with strong breeze blowing across the hill. The winds were literally pushing us along the steps; such was the power of it. Reached the top of the hill and visited the temple after a struggle with the wind.
Just before reaching the top of the hill, one can come across a mantap with Nandi inside it. There is a path just besides it leading to the caves. It is believed that sages used to meditate here. This is on the leeward side of the hill, where there is absolute silence and no winds at all.

We spent some time over here and then headed towards Sitallayangiri (approx 2km from the peak downwards). There is a temple located over here, again dedicated to Lord Shiva. It was around 12:30 pm we reached here and took blessings from the lord.

The priest here can arrange for your lunch if you tell them in advance. The best option would be to reach Mullayangiri first and then Sitallayangiri (there would be enough time for them to prepare). We were lucky enough to get lunch without advance notice.

Our next place was to visit Bababudangiri and Bababudangiri. Unfortunately for us the weather was not good and also due to monsoons the caves over there were inaccessible and also the restoration work was going on for the shrine located on top of it. We decided to drop this plan and head towards Bangalore via Belur, Hassan. We thought of heading to Belur temple which would fall on our return journey path, but decided against it as everybody was tired and it would also delay our return time to Bangalore.

Though we couldn’t cover many places on second day, the whole trip was a fantastic experience in the monsoon season.

Visit to Chikmagalur

June 24-25 2010
Day 1

Trip to Kemmangundi, Kalhatti falls, Hebbe Falls, Shanti Falls, Mullayangiri and Sitallayangiri

The week started off with the discussion of trip during the coming weekend. It was decided that we would be visiting Chikmagalur. We planned to visit Places around Kemmangundi and Mullayangiri. Even though it is a monsoon season, we wanted to get the feel of it.
As per the plan we decided to visit places around Kemmangundi on the first day and Mullayangiri on the second day. We enquired with the Karnataka Horticulture department for stay, but unfortunately couldn’t get the reservations for the same. The plans were switched.
We started off from Bangalore at 2 AM on the Saturday picking people from various locations. A chat with the driver suggested that we could retain our original plan, since there were lots of home stays available in and around Kemmangundi. Since it’s an off season, we would be taking a risk of heading towards Kemmangundi without any reservations for the stay.

We took the following route to reach Kemmangundi:
Bangalore-Tumkur-Gubbi-Tiptur-Arasikere-Kadur-Birur-Lingadahalli

After Tumkur one needs to take a deviation from NH-4 and join NH-206.The traffic on this highway was relatively less compared to others. The entire stretch of NH 206 is good. We stopped by at Kadur for Breakfast at around 8 AM in the morning. It was hard to find a restaurant in the early hours of the day in spite of it being a highway. We then proceeded towards Birur, where one has to take a deviation towards left which leads to Lingadahalli. The road condition starts to deteriorate once the deviation is taken at Lingadahalli.
This is the point where one can start getting the glimpses of the Kemmangundi. One can see cloud covered hills and valleys creating a very beautiful view. Since the advent of monsoons the entire landscape has turned green giving a soothing view to the eyes. Adding to it was the chilling weather with cool breeze blowing around, giving a sensational feeling. The difference in air quality is felt as soon as one enters the area. We stopped by to click some photographs of the same and then headed towards our destination Kemmangundi.

After Lingadahalli one has to turn left on SH57 and follow the sign boards of Karnataka Tourism. We came across few home stays on the way. After visit to couple of them we zeroed in on Rangers camp Home stay for the evening stay. It is located on the way to Kemmangundi at a place called Ballavara. It had a nice set up with rooms in the center of the 12 acre estate.
We then headed towards our first place of the day, the Kalhatti falls.

Kalhatti Falls:
Kalhatti falls is situated in a village called Kalhattipura. The water here cascades from 100+ meters above in front of the Veerabhadreshwara temple. Once can get a glimpse of this water fall from quite a distance before reaching this place.

One can see three elephants carved on the rocks right in front of the temple, over which the water falls. This falls is also known as Kalahasti falls owing to its fall on these sculpted elephants.

One can also trek to the top of the falls through the stone steps placed next to the falls to get picturesque view of the falls and the valley. Very often people come over here for a trek during the winter/early summer, climb the hill slopes and enjoy the panoramic view of the verdant valley.
As expected started drizzling and we were not sure about what was in store for us. After spending some time over here we decided to go towards Kemmangundi, the very top point of the hill, where one can get the entire view of the valley.
As we headed towards Kemmangundi the weather worsened with altitude resulting in poor visibility. The entire area was covered with clouds.

Kemmangundi:
Kemmangundi is at a distance of 10kms from Kalhatti falls. It is at this very point where Karnataka Horticulture Department guest house is located. From here one can visit Z-point, a view point show casing the beautiful valley. Shanti falls is located on the way to Z-point.
Since the current weather situation was bad we decided to have early lunch at the hotel situated in this place. The food here was good.
The weather in monsoon season over here is highly unpredictable and can change within no time. We decided to try our luck at the Z-point and Shanti falls as the skied had cleared a little bit. One can trek from the Karnataka Horticulture Department guest house to reach these points. It’s about 2-3kms trek. Vehicles can cover the first 1 km distance after which one needs to trek for another 45min or so to reach the point.

There was surprise waiting for us over there!!! . Owing to Monsoon season there were plenty of leeches on the way, which started attacking. We were mentally prepared for this !!. After 15min into the walk en route Z point we came across Shanti Falls.

Shanti Falls:
It’s a small water fall on the way to Z point. The water flows all the way from top of the hill, creating a spectacular view while falling into the valley below. The route all the way is very scenic with deep valleys on one side and hills cover on the other.

It started raining heavily all of a sudden and with no shelter around we made a decision of head back to our vehicle. The jackets didn’t provide much of a relief from rains. The decision of not heading to Z point was good since the weather deteriorated further with clouds engulfing the entire valley. We then decided to go to Hebbe Falls.


Hebbe Falls:
It is situated at a distance of 10kms from Karnataka Horticulture Department guest house. Only jeeps ply on these roads. Jeeps can go till the Khoday’s estate from where one has to walk for another 15-20 minutes to reach the falls.
The road leading to the falls is in very bad condition. In fact some stretch it must not be considered road at all. It just like hills leveled down with ditches all around. The rains have even more worsened the roads making a very bumpy ride that I have come across to any falls. To add to these woes the driver of this jeep was driving it as if it was a highway.
The area was completely engulfed by clouds all the way and the visibility was reduced to 2-3 feet. To make matters worse the Jeep didn’t even have a wiper. Only a skilled driver with familiarity of the locality can handle these situations.

As we were closing to the estate the jeep’s tyre gave away. We were approximately 1.5-2kms from the estate. We then decided to walk all the way, in the meanwhile the driver told he would fix the tyre and then pick us back. It was an amazing experience of walking through the coffee estate. It takes approximately 45min – 1 hour to reach the estate.

From the estate one has to cross three streams on the way to reach the falls. The paths become narrow due to the dense growth owing to monsoon. One could sense the falls from a distance owing to the breeze blowing across carrying the mist.
Surrounded by dense jungles, Hebbe fall gushes down from a height of 551 ft in two stages called Dodda Hebbe and chikka Hebbe. Owing to the cloud cover we could see only the former falls. The falls is broken down by a rock projection from the bottom creating a striking view.

We spent close to one hour at the falls taking some long exposure photographs. The Hebbe falls visit took around 4 hours. This ended the first day trip which was a good one considering the season of our visit.

Trip to Dubare,Siddapura,Ammathi, Bhagamandala and Talakaveri:

Day2:

As per our initial plan we were supposed to cover three places i.e. Igguthappa temple, Nalknad palace and Chelvara falls in the first half of the day and then head back to Bangalore. The jeep arrived at 8 AM in the morning. After having breakfast we headed towards our first destination, the temple. We had to take the same route that we had travelled the previous night to reach the temple.
The route: Virajpet - Karada - Kakkabe

Igguthappa Temple

Igguthappa Temple is dedicated to lord Igguthappa (another name for Lord Subramanya). Igguthappa is the main deity of Kodavas, situated at Kakkabe small village near Virajpet. In Kodava language “Iggu” stands for Food and “Thappa” stands for provider.

The legend goes that Lord Subramanya appeared in the form of Lord Shiva at this very place and taught people about cultivation, living a selfless life and to pass on this to the coming generations. To commemorate this every year people celebrate the festival called Huthri, a crop harvest festival where people donate part of the produce to the Lord.
The devotees believe in the miracles by Lord Igguthappa, where one can ask for anything. Tulabhara, weighing oneself against fruits, sugar, coconuts, rice etc, is an important offering here.

Our next Destination was the Nalknad Palace

Nalknad Palace

Nalknad palace was built by Kodava King Dodda Viraraja in 1792 A.D. It is situated the foothill of Tadiyandamol, the highest peak of Kodagu (near Kakkabe village). It is a two storeyed building, supposed to be the summer palace of the Kodava kings.

The guard of the palace volunteered to take us around the palace. The palace mesmerizes everybody with its exquisite wall paintings, intricate wooden carvings. The palace has a Darbar hall on the first floor, but don’t be fascinated by the paintings on the roof since it was done by some film crew few years ago for their film shoot. At that time the palace was yet to be taken over for renovation by government.It is sad to see such a place being tampered for one’s personal benefit.

The guard also showed us around various rooms which were covered with exquisite paintings. Out of his own interest he had it covered with polythene so that it won’t be tampered with by the visitors.

He also showed us around the hiding place for the king, in case of any attack. It was a dark and a narrow passage which also leads to the entrance of the palace, but well hid.

Our next destination on list was the Chelavara falls:
The route: Virajpet - karada - Kadanga - Cheyyendane - Chelavara village

Chelavara Falls

Chelavara falls is one among the most beautiful waterfalls in Coorg, yet it is relatively unexplored. This is approximately 4km from the Cheyyendane village. The waterfall is a wonderful view, situated amidst the coffee plantation.

A walk for about 10min takes us to the bottom of the waterfall, which provides the spectacular view. One can also reach the top side of the falls and can get a spectacular view of the falls with lush greenery all around.

It took us almost 5 hours to cover all the three places and had to thank the rain god for having mercy on us J . It was a fantastic weather to visit these places, chilly in the morning when we started and remained cloudy all the way on our trip. We reached the hotel back at around 1 pm.
We decided to head back to Bangalore in a different way, i.e. via Nagarhole and visit Irpu falls on the way as we had enough time left on our hands. This was initially not part of our two day plan.
The route:
Virajpet - Gonikoppal - Ponnampet - Kutta - Srimangala

Irpu Falls
Irpu falls, which is around 45kms from Virajpet. The tributary of river Cauvery, the Lakshmana Tirtha River has its source in this falls. This fall is a major tourist attraction along with a pilgrim sight.
One has to walk along the guided path for about a 1 km from the temple at Irpu to reach the falls. It is located on the Brahmagiri range. The falls creates a spectacular view with water plunging down in three tiers of approx 60m height, creating deafening noise that could be heard from a distance.

According to a legend lord Rama and his brother Lakshmana passed along the Brahmagiri range. When lord Rama asked his brother to get some drinking water, Lakshmana shot an arrow at the Brahmagiri hills which started spurting water. This stream of water came to known as the Lakshmana Tirtha River. Due to this legend many pilgrims visit the Irpu Falls to wash off their sins.
There is a trekking route available over here where one can reach the peak of Brahmagiri hills. One has to contact the forest department for the arrangement.
We spent close to 1.5 hours here capturing some spectacular view of the falls.

To reach Bangalore we had to go via Nagarhole national Park and we had to be there before 6pm, since Karnataka government has imposed restriction for entry of vehicles after 6 pm for the safety of the wild life. We had to hurry as it was close to 4:00 pm and we were 25-30km away from the entrance of the national park. The road leading to the park is not that good. We reached the entrance at around 5pm.
The Nagarhole reserved forest stretches for a distance of about 45km. It is a treat for the eyes when travelling through this sanctuary, with greenery all around. Also during this part of the year (monsoon) the forest comes alive with greenery with sprouting grass alongside the road. This entire stretch is known to be the habitat for Asian Elephants.

We came across herds of barking deers and also few wild elephants crossing the road. At one place we were chased by the angry mother elephant, a warning to keep away from it!!!

We reached Bangalore at around 11pm troubled by rain all over from Mysore. It was indeed an exhausting but a wonderful trip experience in the monsoon season!!!