A Rainy Day!

There are few things more beautiful than a rainy day. Especially if you come down to Udupi\Mangalore or any of the sleepy coastal towns along the Konkan\Western ghat stretch. The canvas here is always painted with every possible shade of green during the rainy season and constant downpour just makes you fall in love with this place. This is unlike a heavy rain in Bangalore or bigger cities elsewhere, which bring the whole city to standstill, and people only end up cursing the weather out of sheer frustration, rather than enjoying the weather.  The overflowing gutters or stink that follows a heavy downpour can make you hate even something as beautiful as rain in big cities. But these sleepy and laid back coastal cities however are probably much better equipped to deal with such heavy rains, simply because these rains are part of life of these cities.  Mind you, the rains in these coastal towns are much heavier compared to Bangalore. It just doesn't rain, it pours here.

Rainy seasons have always meant heavy downpour in these places, and the basic infrastructure that these cities have, handle these rains much better than any major cities. This lets the people enjoy the heavy rains here, in the only ideal way this kind of weather should be enjoyed, by just sitting back with hot cup of coffee and plate full of  bajjis or onion pakodas and take in the beautiful show that nature puts up, the cool weather, the soothing sound of rain, with the trees adding chorus while the wind blows through them can be absolutely relaxing for any one.  Dont believe me? better plan a trip to one of these places to see for yourself then :)

Hogenakkal Falls

Hogenakkal is a falls located in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu around 180 kms from Bangalore. The waterfalls is on the river Kaveri. It is one of the more popular waterfalls in southern India and has been included in several popular movies. Its often called Niagra of south India and you would remember seeing the water falls in the songs Dil hain chota sa from the movie Roja, Raat ka naasha from the movie Asoka, etc.

Our group of friends planned it as a day trip with lunch being planned as  pot luck(each family preparing 2 different items). The group consisted of 7 families(16 people) and we had 4 cars. We planned to start off from Bangalore early and have breakfast on the way somewhere near Hosur. 

The route we took was via Krishangiri and Dharmapuri cities. The route map we followed is: 

There are 2 alternate routes that google map shows, but although they seem to be shorter distances,  the time taken is much longer than the one via Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri. So we decided to go via this route. The Roads all through from electronic city to Hogenakkal falls was good and makes for a very pleasant drive.

We started off from Bangalore only by 8 am, with unusually high traffic at the silk board junction for a Saturday morning, but this eased out once we took Hosur road. Of the 4 cars in our group, 3 of them had already had a head start of 20-30 mins from us. The plan was to stop for breakfast after Hosur city and that is where we all catch up. The group chose Krisna Veg Restaurant, which is approximately  20 kms (20-25 minutes) drive from Hosur City or 42 kms (40 minutes) drive from electronic city. This is located near a HP petrol Bunk and also houses a Mc Donalds on the same premise. The breakfast here was absolutely a delight. Idlis were quite soft, vadas crispy, chutney & sambar served with these were very delicious. The butter dosa tasted heavenly while the masala dosa were crispy and tasty. To top it off, a cup of aromatic hot coffee. Overall the breakfast here should definitely be on your list if you are driving anywhere close by to Hosur. I am including the google location of the place to make it easier to find :)

After a very heavy breakfast, we resumed the drive to Hogenakkal. The drive for the most part is on NH7, till we reach Dharmapuri, where we need to take the exit from NH7 and make a right to join the state highway of Dharmapuri - Hogenakkal Road. The road here is also in quite good condition and after around 43 km you will reach the water falls. The drive takes you through several small villages and forest areas and overall is quite pleasant.

Something that we came across on the way to the falls! To give you an idea about the scale, you can try finding a kid hidden away in the pic!

We reached Hogenakkal by around 11:30. After 5 mins of driving around in circles we found that the cars can be parked closest to the falls in a parking area of Hotel Tamil Nadu \ Youth Hostel and we need to walk towards the falls after that.  The parking area is quite large and they charge around 20 Rs for parking.

One of the things planned as part of the trip was belated birthday celebration of  Jayant. He organizes most of our trips with impeccable precision and is generally the reason that we have been able to keep on visiting new places so very often. So it was decided prior to the trip that the best way to celebrate his birthday would be with the whole group during this trip. After reaching Hogenakkal, the first order of business was for us, was to have him cut the cake. The back of one of the cars was quickly turned into a surface where the cake could be kept and cut and we were all set for the celebration to begin.

The whole group, at least the ones who made it to this trip. The group consists of more folks, few who couldn't make it to this trip.

After the cake cutting and once everyone had their share of cake, we were all set to proceed towards the falls. From the parking area, its only few minutes walk towards the Kaveri river and you need to walk by a small alleyway with several shops selling fried fish,  to get there. This seemed to be a common sight here, folks selling fried fish. The sight of  fish with its deep red masala and the very strong smell of the oil in which it is fried in, is what greets you as soon as you start walking towards the river.

Once we reached the river, we noticed that there were proper concrete bridges constructed across the river that will take you to several falls that dot this place. Hogenakkal is not one single falls, but a series of water falls, each one accessible by different means (either walk across the bridges, or through coracle rides). We initially decided to take the bridge to see where it would lead before taking the coracle rides. Walking though this bridge the other common sight was folks being given oil massage. This seemed to be quite popular here, with a large number of people getting oil massage done . Several rocks jutting out of the river have been turned into temporary shacks for such massage parlors. The sheer number of people here showed how popular a place this seemed to be with the locals, the sight was similar to a Mela. Another common thing seemed to be of women washing clothes and men taking bath in the river. Not a pretty sight.

Walking through we made across first to what seemed to be a metal hanging bridge. It turned out that it provided a view to one of the falls, and we had to pay 5 Rs toll to get onto this bridge. The other end of the bridge was shuttered down and seemed to be leading into forest area. So the bridge seemed to only serve as a view point. The Hanging bridge is perched safely on top of the river but like all other places here, seemed too crowded and also slightly bulging down in shape due to the crowd. From here we had a clear view of one of the falls and it seemed majestic in its flow. We had to patiently wait for people to walk out, before we had sufficient place for us to take group pics.

Falls visible from the Bridge

Hanging precariously on the Hanging bridge!

Photo ops done, we decided to head back to the place where we started from to take coracle ride. All around this place, you will keep coming across a lot of monkeys that have grown so used to humans that they will not be afraid to walk right upto you and snatch any food items right out of your hand. So make sure if you are carrying any thing, it is well strapped to you. (cameras, purses) This was also a sign of what was to come later in the day for us. 

Once we were back at the start, we had to now bargain for the coracle rides. This happens to be a very frustrating activity, as most of the coracle guys seem to have ganged up and they offer rates which are way higher and contrary to the rates that are displayed as the official rates. These guys offered to take us around all the falls for  960 Rs per coracle, whereas the official rates mentioned were 100 rs per head. The reason given for the higher rates was that it didn't cover all the falls. Without really much of an option as there was no one else who seemed to be offering lower rates, we had to finally agree to exactly the rates they had asked for.

The Coracle boats are small bowl shaped boats, made primarily of bamboo frames and waterproofed by using hides of animals, or more often these days plastic sheets. The water proofing is further enhanced by a layer of tar. Avoid wearing white or lighter shades of shirts, as in few cases its possible that while sitting in these boats, you end up getting some tar on your dress. These boats have a capacity to carry 6-8 people. We were given 3 coracles for our group. Interestingly each coracle was provided with only couple of life jackets and we were assured that the rides were safe enough and we wont ever need the life jackets. 

The coracle boats took us across the river upstream to the what seemed to be several islands that have been carved out by the river. Once at this place, we had deboard the coracle, and walk to the view points while, our boatmen would manually carry the coracle on his back and walk to the next place where we would need to board back onto these boats. It is definitely what we would call "back breaking" work for these guys, with the coracles weighing atleast 60-70 kgs. We walked to the view point and again were greeted by another majestic view of a different falls. This one much closer than the previous one we had covered. We could feel the spray of the water from the falls, showing how powerful the flow of water was at this place. 

After few minutes at this place, we had to walk to another point on the same island where the boatsmen were waiting for us with their coracles. This time, we had to climb down stony stairs cut quite steep into the rocks. Once safely back in our coracles, our boatsman started rowing downstream. Here the river runs through a narrow gorge with the steep granite rocks on both sides of the river. You can see at several places here, gaping holes in the sheer granite rocks formed by the powerful flow of the river. Although the granite rocks which stretched several meters high above us and looked like formidable walls and were quite intimidating, our boatsman informed us that these would get fully submerged when the mighty Kaveri river was at its full flow during rainy season.  Also what was interesting was, one side of the bank was Tamil Nadu, and the on the other side Karnataka.

Rowing downstream he brought us to another island where we could have spent an hour playing in water. But as it was already around 2 pm and we had yet to have our lunch, we decided to let it pass. From what we could see still sitting in the coracle, this island had sand bank, more like a beach and again several folks selling fried fishs and other snacks. At this point, our boatsman asked us to decide if we wished to be rowed back upstream and back to where we started from, or he offered to take us to another very beautiful falls which he said he could directly take us to a place close by where we had parked, saving us time. The catch was, he wanted us to pay 500 rs more as this was longer route and there was quite a stretch where he would have to actually carry the coracle on land to walk upstream.

Enticing as he made it sound, we fell for it and asked him to take us there although we were quite hungry by now. He proceeded quickly to the Karnataka side border and we had to from that point on walk for almost 1 km before we came across another bridge which he told us would take us to the falls. Fortunately for us, there was a lady selling fruits we pretty much bought out everything she had. Once we had made sure she didn't have anything more to sell, we proceeded to see the falls which our guide had spoken so highly about. It turned out to be a damp squib. As there was not sufficient water, it was definitely not as majestic as it could have been i suppose. Maybe after heavy rains, this place would have been beautiful, but unfortunately not on the day we were there.

Bit frustrated we headed back and from there as we had walked upstream all this time, the ride back was downstream mostly through calm river with not much more to talk about. He dropped us back close by to where we were parked, after which we had to grudgingly pay him 500 rs. He still had the nerve to ask us for tips.

It was 3 pm already and we had not had lunch yet. Once we reached back to our cars, we decided that we will drive a bit outside the city to avoid dust and the crowd and then stop to have lunch. After 10-15 minutes of drive we found a clear patch where we could park our 4 cars and sufficient space for us to stand and have lunch, we immediately parked our cars and proceeded to setup in one of the cars all the items that each one of us had brought.  Just as we were about to start having lunch, the trouble started. Several monkeys started coming our way, initially they were curious, but once they figured there was food to be had, they grew more and more aggressive to the extent that we had to throw away few of the plates we were having food in so that the monkeys would go after these plates instead. As there was not going to be any place nearby where we wouldn't have any monkeys we decided instead to take turns to have lunch. Few us would remain standing, while few would fill their plates and get into their respective cars to sit and have lunch. All the while the monkeys kept roaming in our midst to see if there was more food they could get. All this adventure, meant we finished our lunch only by 5 and were glad and relived only after we had left from that place after cleaning up the clearing. What we did miss out unfortunately in all this was to sit and enjoy the delicious lunch prepared by each of the families.

The drive back was mostly event less and we managed to reach back Bangalore by 8 pm.

I hope we plan the pot luck once again, this time at someones home instead so its much simpler to sit and enjoy the food. :)

Overall the one day trip is definitely good. The only thing i would recommend is better negotiate with the coracle boatmen for good deal, if at all that is possible. Also, if the state government could better manage this place then it would be a much better tourist attraction.

Weekend at Kabini

Recently we visited Kabini River Lodge of Jungle Lodges. This is located on the southern fringes of the Nagarahole National Park and just around one and half hours drive from Mysore. This place is easily accessible through road from Bangalore and ideal for weekend stay. To make the most of the stay, you can plan to drive Friday evening from Bangalore to Mysore and stay overnight in Mysore. You can then start at a leisurely pace the next morning from Mysore and reach Kabini river lodge quite relaxed and ready for the weekend.

That is exactly what we did, We started from Bangalore early evening by 4 pm and after a quick but a very satisfying stop at Kamath Lokruchi for snacks reached Mysore by 7 pm. Driving into Mysore i was pleasantly surprised at the amount of traffic in the city. As i am from Bangalore, Friday evenings generally mean traffic jams and mad rush to get back home, in contrast, Mysore seemed to be a drive in the park, peaceful and laid back. It remained this way all the way till Hotel Dasaprakash, which we had choosen to stay overnight. This is located at the heart of the city and within walk able distance of the fabulous Mysore palace. The hotel in itself is quite old and reminds you of a bygone era. The rooms are decent enough with fares starting as low as  375 Rs for single rooms and 750 Rs per night for double bed with non ac and no TV. But the highlight of this place will be the meals served in their restaurant. Make sure you have dinner and breakfast at this place. 

After checking in to our room, we decided to go for a quick walk to the Palace which is hardly 20 mins away from the hotel. We walked through dusty lanes and market places to reach Mysore Palace, but were disappointed as it was already closed for the day. 

View of the palace quite late in the evening. Quality is very low as taken from my mobile.

We had decided to have dinner at the same hotel so headed back after a while of roaming around in the city market. The meals that they serve in this restaurant are quite tasty and the staff are very friendly. One of the senior staff member of the restaurant turned out to be from my native place of Udupi and immediately started to talk to us in our native tongue of Tulu. He seemed to be a jolly good fellow, and made our evening very pleasant with his infectious smile and enthusiasm. 

Restaurant Akshaya of Hotel Dasaprakash. You simply cant miss the food!

We started for Kabini the next day from our hotel around 9 am after having a delicious breakfast in the same restaurant. The drive from Mysore to Kabini is via HD Kote and quite comfortable as the roads are in good condition and the route is very scenic. The State highway has ample tree cover throughout the distance and made for very enjoyable drive. 

A temple we came across on the way to Kabini!

We reached Kabini by 11 and were quite happy to find that the Jungle Lodge team had the rooms already cleaned and ready for us although the check in as per the booking was mentioned to be only after 12. A Notice board listing all the wild animals spotted per day for the last couple of weeks by the Kabini safari welcomes you at the reception. The list boasted of Leopards, elephants, jackals and even Tiger being spotted by the Safari organized in the last couple of weeks. Quite impressed we checked into our tent to begin our stay at Kabini.

The Kabini River lodge was formerly a hunting lodge of rulers of Mysore, later converted to a resort under Jungle Lodges. The sprawling campus is spread across an area of 54 acres and situated on the banks of Kabini.  All the accommodations in this resort sit beautifully facing the backwater. 

The itinerary for the stay stated that lunch would be served only by 1:30 pm, giving us a lot of time to roam around the campus taking pictures and enjoying the serenity of this place.

A 360 degree view of the place.

Views: Kabini River Lodge by Adithya Kumar

Lunch was served in hall named Gol ghar, on the bank of Kabini giving you a beautiful view of the back waters while you have food. The Food served was no less than a feast with several options for both vegetarians and non vegetarians. 

After lunch, we had again an hour for ourselves before the start of safari. There are two safaris that the team organizes, one a boat safari where we are taken along the banks of Kabini on a boat ride and the second one being a jeep safari.

The Boat safari begins at 3:30 pm, and we are taken along the banks of the backwater. The view in itself is very beautiful and as we proceed towards the forest we get to see several birds and animals. Deers and monkeys are very common sight. Apart from these, we managed to catch a glimpse of a pack of wild dogs, peacocks. Overall the boat ride lasts for around 3 hours and we are brought back to Gol Ghar for tea\Coffee and snacks. 

The evening ended with wildlife movie in  at the Viceroy’s building and a sumptuous dinner at Gol Ghar. 

The next day began quite early with a wake up call at 5:45 as the jeep safari starts by 6:30. Feeling quite lazy, i decided not to carry my DSLR and that decision i am gonna regret for some time to come. As the jeep safari entered the forest area, the first thing we came across was a Tigress, just sitting there next to the muddy jungle trail. She was spotted only when we got quite close to her. The guide had stopped the jeep and asked us not to make any noise. The Tigress seemed absolutely unfazed by our arrival. She was sitting there nonchalantly looking at us for almost 5 minutes before she got bored and walked back into the bushes where we couldn't see her anymore. 

I was able to record her using my mobile camera, of which here is a small clip. 

The rest of the safari we came across a family of jackals, several herds of deer, wild boars and Monkeys. What was interesting was that we would always find a Herd of deers along with monkeys and 2-3 wild boars. Our guide explained that these 3 animals usually coexist and help each other out by warning of any predators, even to extent that its not unusual for wild boars to chase leopards away if they attack the herd of deers. Our guide was quite experienced and could distinguish if the animals were making a "mating call" or "warning call". The latter one to warn others of any predator close by. We wrapped up the safari by spotting a lone tusker. Which again we were told is a bit rare in this season as most of the elephants move back deep into forest as there is sufficient water available in there.

We returned back to the resort quite happy after what seemed to be 3 hours of action packed safari. What followed was a very delicious breakfast at Gol Ghar to wrap up the stay at Kabini. 

Overall the stay in Kabini was very good one, with extremely good and professional staff, well thought out itinerary to keep the guests occupied and happy, very delicious food and extremely beautiful location.

The plan while driving back from Kabini was to cover Mysore Palace. We reached Mysore only by around 1 pm and hired a guide to "guide" us through the history of the palace. The rates they have are fixed 350 rs for a group consisting of 3-5 ppl, and increases for bigger groups. Please make sure you tell him to explain the history of the palace and Wodeyers in details, which should ideally take around an hour i suppose. There is so much of grandeur and history in each and every corner that its easy to get swept off ones feet here. The guides generally try to gloss over on few details and wrap up the tour as quick as possible so that they can earn more per day. 

As it was quite late in the afternoon and we had not had lunch, we didn't stick around this time taking photos. But i have linked a pic of the Palace from my previous visit here.