Shivanasamudra falls

PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Read More >>

Ombattu Gudda OG/1

PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Read More >>

Kodachadri Trek/2

Aim: Kodachadri Peak (Sarvajna Peeta)

Other Places of Interest: Hidlumane Falls and Arshina Gundi Falls.

Dates: November 18th and 19th 2006

Strength: 11 members (me(Ambareesh), Bhagwat, Deepak, Jayaloknath, Krishna Bhatt, Mudassar Khan, Naveen, Sachin, Shashikanth, Sujan and Vinayaka)

Grade: Moderate to Difficult

About Kodachadri:Kodachadri is in the border of Shivamogga and Dakshinakannada district and it is the highest peak in Shivamogga, about 1343m above sea level. It’s around 380km from Bangalore. Kodachadri is famous for sunrise and sunset. In top we can find ‘Sarvajna Peeta’, where it is believed that Shankaracharya did meditation.

About Moola Mookambika Temple:Just 2km before the top en route we get to see sacred ‘Moola Mookambika’ Temple. This temple with claims to be the original temple and is associated with the killing of the dumb (mooka) demon by the lion-riding Mother Goddess. Dwaja-Sthamba (flag-staff) in front of the temple, is a rare kind of pillar, only three such are available in India (Other two are at Mehrauli, in Delhi and at Dhar, in Madhya Pradesh). Allowing for a total height of 14 m, including the hidden portions in the platform and below the earth, the weight of this flag-staff can be estimated as about 500 kg. A very small piece weighing a few grams only was extracted from the projecting rough surface of the pillar with the consent and cooperation of the temple priest and was later subjected to a series of modern metallographic tests at the Materials Characterization Laboratories of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam. The X-ray examination could not reveal definite presence of any element or compound besides pure iron. It is obvious from these preliminary investigations that the Kodachadri iron pillar is not a product of modern iron making processes. The composition of the material of the pillar, viz. less than 0.05% carbon in what looks like almost pure iron, without the usual silicon, manganese and sulphur contents one associates with modern iron and steel, and with inclusions of only iron oxide and silicate, strongly suggests age-old indigenous methods for making the so-called Adi-vasi (tribal) iron with pure iron ore and wood charcoal. The fact that this pillar has withstood the onslaught of the sun, wind and rain in living memory, and perhaps also of marine air with the Arabian Sea only 40–50 km away, is proof of its high corrosion resistance, even though its surface is not as smooth and clear as that of the Delhi pillar. Acting as a lightning arrester during the rainy season, the top of the pillar seems to have melted frequently and perhaps rapidly solidified through removal of heat by iron from the pillar itself. (This information is by a Professor, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, KREC, Surathkal).

Trek:On Nov 17^th night all of us assembled at KSRTC Bus stand to board Kollur Bus.We reached Kollur at 8:30am (schedule was at 6:30am, but due collapse of one old bridge driver took a diversion). We completed all our morning tasks at a public toilet (we were lucky, it was clean). Some took bath and rest scheduled it at Hidlumane falls. We had our breakfast in a hotel and after that took a local bus to Marakutaka.After 45 mints we were at our starting point of our trek, i.e., Marakutaka. We started our trek from here at around 10:45am. Normally trekkers for Kodachadri will go through Karakatte, it is around 12km to peak in that route. But they miss out ‘Hidlumane Falls’ and beautiful grass land. From Marakutaka to Hidlumane village it’s around 6km, cart track. Enroute we have to cross a stream and we can see a small ‘Check dam’ for the stream. Paddy fields and mountain sceneries are really superb at Hidlumane village. From Hidlumane village to Hidlumane falls route is very slippery and we have to climb beside a small stream. We had our lunch near the stream itself. At around 1:45pm we reached Hidlumane falls, it’s a nice falls, water falls from a considerable height. We could not spend much time here as we started very late, so we did not waste time. We met one more team here. We all crossed the stream to the right and did steep climb in forest to reach beautiful grass land. Actually route from falls to grass land is very tricky, some local person guided us to the grassland (last time in Kodachadri Trek/1some of our team members lost track here and came back to Marakutaka, as they failed to find a route). After grass land we joined jeep track which will lead to Temple. It’s around 4km from falls to Moola Mookambika Temple.

At 4:30pm we were in Temple, here we had biscuit and coffee/tea (and also most valuable & essential, i.e., WATER J). We headed towards peak from the route which was behind the temple, en route we saw a small cave ‘Ganesha’ Temple. It’s around 2km, to the peak from the Temple. We reached peak, i.e., ‘Sarvajna Peetha’ at 5:45pm. We reached early here, still not lucky enough to see sunset as cloud cover was much. We climbed one more small hill behind ‘Peeta’ to conquer more of Western Ghats.We had decided to make night halt at peak itself, so pitched tent in front of the ‘Peetha’. ‘Peetha’ has one inner room (Garba gudi) which is fully covered and one outer room (praangana) which was open from the front. Shankaracharya idol is present inside. Everyone was tired very much, we finished our dinner fast and went for sleep. Cold was extreme and wind also had much pace. Two of us slept in tent, four slept in outer room and rest settled in inner room. It’s Very very difficult to get sleep here in cold and breeze. Later in the early morning there was thick fog and precipitation. So again due to fog we missed sunrise.Later we returned to Temple at 8am, and there we had breakfast (chitranna) and coffee/tea. We had Devi darshan in Moola Mookambika Temple. We left temple at 10am and reached Vallur (Hotel Santhosh) at 11:15am. This was grassland descend and route was very clear, around 3kms from Temple to Vallur. In front of the Hotel we settled down and discussed our next plan. Whether to go to Arshinagundi Falls or not? Because so many were tired and not ready to take adventure any more! We had two options with us. One to see beautiful Arshinagundi Falls and second was to return back to Kollur and have Devi Darshan. After much discussions and arguments, we split our self into two groups. One group (me, Krishna Bhatt, Mudassar Khan, Naveen, Shashi and Vinayaka) decided to go to falls. Rest of our team went to Kollur via Karekatte.

Arshinagundi Falls is 1.5hrs trek from Hotel, but route is very tricky and thick jungles descend. So we hired a guide (hotel people will arrange for the reasonable price). We left hotel on Karakatte road (mud road) after 5 mints we took left turn for falls. The place where we took left turn was very difficult to remember. Path was not clear and very misguiding; we just went behind the Guide. First one hour was normal descending and typical jungle track, next half hour was very slippery and steep descending. And one more real headache were leaches. Finally at 2:45pm we reached Arshinagundi Falls, one of best falls and is at a beautiful location. Very nice place to relax. We all took bath and had lunch here. We left falls at 3:15pm. Again half hour steep ascend and all this time you can’t take rest or can’t slow down because of leaches. Next one hour was normal cart track. We walked in good pace as we were already late for the bus. We reached Kollur main road at 4:40pm. From falls it’s around 5kms to main road. Except me (I went to Udupi) all went to Shivamogga to catch 10:30pm train to Bangalore.

We all completed this trek with lots of joy and off course this was my first trek with Bangalore ASCENDers. Thanks to all our team members who helped me to succeed.

Also read Kodachadri Trek/1

Visit our Group @ CLICK HERE

Join Bangalore ASCENDers @ CLICK HERE

Written by:Ambareesh Karanth

Organised by:Mudassar

Image Gallery:

Sujan,Mudassar

Read More >>

Beach trek Gokarna to Honnavar

PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Read More >>

Bandaje Arbbi Falls/1

Ironically I’m writing this write-up almost after 3 years and three visits to this falls.
Bandaje Arbbi falls, I first heard about this place from Harsha my colleague when I was in think 3. After the huge gap of six months in June, after Kodchadri trek we 9 ascenders from Bangalore thought of ascending Bandaje Arbbi Falls and conquering Ballalarayana Durga Fort. As usual lot of Google-ing, planning and mail exchanges were done. I some times wonder how olden day youngsters would have trekked these kind of places in past without the help of tools like Google Search, Google Maps, Google Earth, Wikimapia or without GPS devices which we are so dependent off. We all boarded 10.20 pm Dharmastala bounded rajahamsa bus from platform 23 of KSRTC bus stand. This started our journey towards Bandaje Arbbi. Team included Jaylokanath, Sandesh, Chetan, Naveen, Rahul, Nixon, Bhagwat, Deepak and I.
After reaching Dharmastala at 6.45 am first thing was to book tickets for the return journey, we were happy to see reservation counters open at this odd hour and with in no time we got tickets for Sunday nights travel from Dharmastala. Yes from Dharmastala I don’t remember why we booked from there because trek exit point would be sunkasale and the nearest town from there is kalasa or Horanadu. We must have booked from Hornaadu. Horanadu to Dharmastala is approximately 80 odd kms by road and there is no point in coming back here just to board a bus. May be we foresaw what’s going to happen next. Any ways next we caught bus to Ujre which is 8kms away and costs 7/head; there are lots of buses minus passengers to Ujre. Just beside Ujre bus stop there is a decent pay and use restroom were we finished our morning ablutions. Had sumptuous breakfast at Guruprasad hotel and later hired a jeep from stand which is opposite to the hotel. Rates are pretty straight 150/- per jeep up to Idya. Can cajole the driver and get yourself dropped till Bandaje village for the same price.
Idya is the start point for this trek, also there is one more not so popular start point called Mundaje. Reaching the base of the hill from Mundaje will take almost a day so there is no point in starting from this place. Had a quick photo session at Idya signboard and the arch which is a sort of tradition of our group. Bandaje village is 3 kms from here, we reached Narayan Gowda’s house with in 30 minutes, along the way we had the first distant glimpse of the falls. We met him and enquired about further directions, terrain and the water level in the stream which we were supposed to cross. One can call him and enquire this in advance or before planning for this trek, he can also arrange for a guide but were is the adventure in following a guide. I won’t write down his number here please mail me for the same. From here one is required to follow a small trial and go up to the last house of the village and there lives Babu Naik. This trial is blocked by a small stream one need to follow the left of the stream and later continue with the trail.
We met Babu Naik and enquired about the further directions. The trial to Bandaje Arbbi starts from Babu Naiks house, there are two trials here and u need to pick the right one which is quite clear and starts ascending, the same trial will take you out of the forest and ends at the grasslands after approximately 4 hours of trekking. Now we started a slow and steep ascent, as it was monsoon leeches accompanied us for most of the time; we took frequent breaks and energy bars were consumed. This stretch was pretty tough even for the seasoned trekkers like us, now it occurred to me why Harsha and his team retreated back from here when they attempted few years ago. We finally made it to the stream after two hours and an encounter with a Viper probably Malabar pit viper. We spent a cool 1 hour bathing in the chilled waters of Bandaje stream.
Consumed MTR packets for lunch and started for the second stretch of the jungle trek by now it started raining but we were prepared for this and kept moving. Now leeches started attacking us in full force but we could do nothing, the entire anti leech stuff applied was washed away and we were at the mercy of the leeches. After 1 hour of steep ascent we had a break but leeches would not take any break and kept brutally attacking us from all sides. It was still raining and we started off again in the forest cover, the trail was clear except at few places were there was some under growth due to recent rains. Leeches were all over the body and we could not stop to remove them because by the time we would remove them many more were climbing us, now we were on the look out for a safer place. Finally we got a big boulder at right side of the trial all climbed it and got rid of all the leeches. We started off again and 15 to 20 minutes later we were out of the forests.
Rain had subsided by now and we had glorious views of the grasslands and the below valleys we had photo secessions and captured all the beauty in our lenses. Mobile networks were also available and we called our dear ones to share the pleasant moments of our lives. There are no trials here in the grasslands so here be at the extreme left and start ascending the peak you need to reach the upstream of the falls. After few yards of ascending we saw the mesmerizing Bandaje Arbbi falls flowing down with deafening sound but we can’t approach the falls from this side. After few clicks we continued the ascend keeping ourselves at the left side of the grassland and with out entering the forest. After some time we saw a walled structure at the end of the grassland just before the forest and yes that was the camping spot for the day. This small walled structure is a dilapidated building and has a flat camping space we put up our make shift tent and relaxed for a while.
Sky was very cloudy and we could not see the sunset, very soon darkness engulfed and we hoped it would not rain or else we would have big trouble. Fortunately clouds cleared and we could see the fully bloomed moon. We had dinner and slept peacefully all the night as it did not rained.
A pleasant dawn greeted us, encircled by mist and the grassland wrapped itself with the dew drops and the thin rays of sunlight descending from the horizon; is this what we call HEAVEN.
A small trail opposite the walled structure leads precautiously to the upstream of the falls through the forest. Here we finished our morning ablutions and finished our breakfast. Now we had two tasks to complete one to reach the falls and the other one to conquer the fort and get down at the exit point on the other side. The only information we had was after crossing the upstream there are two trails left one goes to the falls and the right one goes to the fort. Now the question was were to cross the stream so that we could find the start point of these trials we searched nearby the camping spot but could not find any, also cross checked the map no 48 O/8 and the write-ups which we referred and carried none mentioned exact locations. Adding to these two first timers Chetan and Sandesh were reluctant to give a try and wanted to return back, some how we managed to convenience them and started to search the trial that crosses the stream. After few minutes of frantic search we got it. From the walled structure (camping spot) one needs to go right in the East direction (away from the falls) descending a bit and after few yards cross a small compound like wall and now start ascending along the wall towards the forest in the North direction here one can see a stone pyramid structure which is a district boundary marked by the forest department. To the left of the stone pyramid there is a trial that goes into the forest and crosses the upstream.
After crossing the stream (the last water spot) the path leads to a flat space which can be used as a camping spot but it’s not that safe because wild bison’s usually roam the opposite hill and the probability of their visit to the stream from that side can’t be ruled out. Here u can see two small trials left one goes into the forest and then to the falls and the right one opens in the valley of grassland. As we had lost considerable amount of time so we thought of skipping the falls a tough decision and headed towards the fort. After 15 minutes we crossed a small stream which joins the upstream of the falls (if water is available here that would be a bonus).after the stream there is one more small compound like wall that runs perpendicularly till the ridge of the hill. Continue ascending in the valley till it ends and now take left (parallel to the wall) and climb the steep ascent to reach the ridge once you are there you will be able to see the trial and this trial will take u to the fort which is also seen from here. I managed to reach here before others and could see the fort but by the time others reached fort hid under the thick fog.
Something else was in store for us; the peaks were surrounded by mist and the whole landscape was out of the world. The second day stretch is most beautiful and the most picturesque than any other place I have trekked in Karnataka so far. We continued the trial and after some time it started drizzling and now the place had become more mystic reducing the visibility only to few feet’s. It was past noon and still we could not reach or see the fort, after an hour we reached a Y fork and the confusions started here we did not know which trial to follow and the fort was invisible. Few were skeptical that I have seen any fort and the first timers were compelling to return back. Bhawat and Rahul went separately along both the trials for few meters and could not see anything and returned back. After few arguments and discussions that we were not sure about the route and did not have time to experiment in this thick fog and more ever we had booked our tickets from Dharmastala, we headed back with a heavy heart.
Now first timers were leading and I was at last very much upset that we could not do it in first attempt, thoughts were running in my mind when and how to plan for the second attempt. Now we were racing against time we needed to descend fast, very soon we reached the upstream filled our water bottles and started steep descend of grasslands. We reached the end of the grassland and now needed to enter the forests and here entering the exact point was important to pick the trial. We had not marked any signs as we did not know that we would return, but Nixon’s watchful eye picked the chocolate wrapper that some one threw the previous day. We picked trial and started the fast descend in the process Chetan had a bad ankle cramp; I and Jayloknath had to support him all along the remaining stretch our pace became very slow. Others had already reached Bandaje stream and after 45 minutes we too joined them, had our lunch and started by 4.30 pm. We were last to reach Babu Naik’s house at 6 pm we told him about the Y fork and the point of return, he said fort was 5 minutes straight climb from there. There were plenty of leeches as we could not stop more often and remove them so we removed them all here and reached the sole shop in Bandaje village near the school and had tea and biscuits. Considering Chetan’s cramp we decided to call a jeep to the village itself even no one was willing to trek up to Idya after 2 whole days of trekking. The owner of the shop arranged for the jeep which was to arrive at 7 pm. We wanted to get rid of the rotten and bloody clothes and had some time left for the jeep to arrive. It was dark and we had a nice bath using the bore well and changed into respectable clothes. Jeep arrived we struck a deal and got dropped at Dharmastala. We had a hearty dinner which ended with an ice-cream. Few visited Lord Manjunatha Swamy shrine and we all caught another Jeep as we needed to go to new bus stand to board the bus to Bangalore. Bus was on time and we entered the fairy wonderland as soon as the bus left Dharmastala.

Notes:
• Map required is 48 O/8, can buy this at Survey of India, Kormangala, Bangalore.
• The stretch from the upstream to the falls and from the Y fork to the fort and from the fort to the other side is mentioned in Bandaje Arbbi/3
• Bandaje Arbbi/2 describes the nearby places and other exploration options.
• Steep ascent at the very beginning would be very difficult for the first timers.
•Route: Bangalore> Dharmastala>Ujire>Somantadka>Bandaje village>Bandaje stream> Bandaje Falls> Ballalarayana Durga Fort>Durgadahalli>Sultanpete>Sunkasale>Kalasa> Horanadu>Bangalore.
•Two full days trek and permissions are not required.

Visit our Group @ CLICK HERE
Join Bangalore ASCENDers @ CLICK HERE

Written By: Mudassar
Organized By: Mudassar
Image Gallery:
Mudassar/Jayloknath ,Rahul

Read More >>

Kodachadri/1

Trek starting points -
1) Gowrikerre:- This is the place were there is a left deviation to kodchadri , its approximately 3 kms before Nittur also called as kodchadri cross, this is the only motor-able road up to the kodachadri temple it’s 15 odd kms from the main road half of the road has tar & the other half is a mud road. Also one can go to Hidlumanne falls from here, for this one has to walk approx for 1.5 kms from the main road to get a school on left side ,here take a mud road to your right this road leads u to Yemmehonda junction.(here this road meets the approach road from Marakuttaka)
2) Marakuttaka:- Get down at Sigundur cross 3.5 kms after Nittur again trek back towards Nittur for 1 kms, just before the bridge, at your right u get Marakuttaka bus stop follow the mud road to reach Kodchadri via Hidlumanne falls.
3) Karrakette: - This is approx 1.5 kms after Sigundur cross towards Kollur. Take left from karrakette which goes via Valur it’s roughly 9-10 kms to the temple, up to Valur it’s motor-able road from there it's a narrow trail uphill, Valur to temple it’s 1hr ascend. One can even go to Arshinagundi falls from Valur but only with an local guide because there is no trail at all.
4) Kodchadri Stop: - (as the locals call it) This place is after Nagodi check post towards Kollur .One can see two pillars at the start of this trial wch goes tru the forests and meets the trial from Karrakette at Valur. This trial is shorter and shady then Karrakette route
5) Mookambika wildlife sanctuary:-This place is very near to Kollur, after Daali
One need to have permissions to entre here, but can even manage without it, as there is no one at the gate of the sanctuary. This is the trial wch takes u to the Arshinagundi falls, but there is no trial after the falls to the Kodchadri peak hence it’s not possible without a guide.
We a group of 6 after lot of planning, re planning & mail exchanges, met @ KSRTC bus stand which began our expedition to kodchadri. Let me have the privilege to introduce my friends Mahesh Patil (Timken), Satish Kittli (Sat yam), Jaylokanath (Scan dent) & Rahul, Nixon & myself (Think3)
Tickets were reserved much before as there were Christmas holidays.We boarded Rajahamsa bus to Kollur at 8.30pm.After considering all trek routes which were not very clear to us at that time and even there were many misconceptions about the routes. We opted for the Marakuttaka route as it was more adventurous than the other routes. KSRTC bus driver/conductor were of no help to us in deciding were to get down at. We got down at Sigundur cross 3.5 kms after Nittur at 6.00 am. We had to walk back 1 km towards Nittur, just before the bridge at our right was Marakuttaka bus stop which was mentioned as the trek start point in one of the write up which I got on net.
From Marakuttaka follow the mud road there are lots of smaller routes connecting this road ignore them and follow the broadest road, after 1km or so u get a “Y” fork both the roads are almost same in width, here there was a bit of confusion but eventually we took the left route which is bit ascending, after 2kms from here u get a stream cross it, 1.5 kms after the stream there is a village called Yemmehonda ,few minutes of walk from there lead us to Yemmehonda junction take a right turn here and after few yards u get Yemmehonda school this means u r on the right trail. After few yards there is another “y” fork keep left, u also get a kette here written 2 kms to Hidlumanne falls in Kannada continue straight for another few minutes and the road ends at Hidlumanne (house) here contact GURURAJ for further directions. One has to cross Hidlumanne fields and take the forest trial from there. This trail lead us straight to Hidlumanne falls.
Hidlumanne falls can be divided into 7 smaller falls. 1st & 2nd falls are very small, one has to scale them which is easy but slippery task, somewhere here at the left side is the route to Kodchadri but finding it is just close to impossible. 3rd fall is of medium height at the right side very close to the fall there is a small trail to reach the top of the fall its not easily noticeable follow instincts, after reaching the top of the 3rd fall move further and cross 4, 5 and 6 falls and after few yards (slippery zone) one can find the awesome Hidlumanne main falls which stand 50ft high one has to go to the top of the falls and take a left route to Kodchadri. From the base of the main falls follow the trial which is at your right as u ascend few feet trial disappears. (here we got confused and took further right deviations but found no trial anyhow we ascended further only to climb the false peak) Here the trial is blocked by a boulder one has to cross the boulder and resume the trial to reach the top of the falls, after reaching top follow the stream until u get a pakka trial at left side there are many trials here and to pick the correct trial is very difficult. I personally suggest taking Gururaj of hidlumanne till here to avoid misadventures (gururaj is a gentleman of 27+ years and never demands any money for his services) follow the correct trial which goes through the forest, this trial leads u to main jeep track approaching from Gowrikerre. Take right at the jeep track and 2kms latter u finally reach the peak..

Economics:-
PWD Guest house:-
Double Room -350/day without electricity. (electricity is available at an extra cost)
Dormitory -25/day with out electricity
Apart from this temple rooms and hotel (mookambika) rooms provide basic accommodation.
Hotel Mookambika: -
Meals -25/- (boiled rice and papad only)
Breakfast-10/-
Tea/Coffee-5/-
the other hotel is cheaper than this one, quality not known
Jeeps: - Normal Tariff:
150/head from Kollur to Kodachadri and back
100/head from Nittur to Kodachadri and back
Waiting charge:-free for 1.5 hrs
Night halt charges are approx 300/-
Kindly note the charges given above are availed by the local tourists.
For ppl from Bangalore charges are directly proportional to their bargaining skills
Plz do bargain, we end up paying 200/head from hidlumanne village to temple.

From the temple the peak is roughly 1.5 kms, peak can be approached from two different routes , right one been shorter is more steeper compared to the longer left one. On the way to the peak from the right route Ganesh Guha & Agastya Theertam (small water fall) are worth a visit. At the peak u can see Shankara Peetha which is an ideal spot for night halt.One can even camp at a Mantapa which is just above the PWD guest house.

Just behind the summit on the western side, a path precariously leads u down into the forest (1/2 hr) to the holy, Chitramoola Cave.
Mesmerizing landscape and breathtaking sunrise, sunset will be etched in your minds the rest of your life reminding u of KODCHADRI.

Notes:-
Ø I personally feel that this write-up will help guys planning to trek Kodchadri.
Ø Lot of other details regarding Kodchadri have been written by many others which can be found on net , I have stressed more on the details not mentioned in other write ups.
Ø Carrying one’s own food will be more rational option
Ø I suggest taking Marakuttaka route to ascend and coming back tru Karrakette
Ø There are only two main routes up to the temple, one is the motor-able jeep route and the other is Karrakette route via Valur all the other routes intersect these two routes at some or the other point.

Visit our Group @ CLICK HERE

Join Bangalore ASCENDers @ CLICK HERE

Written by: Mudassar
Organized by:Mudassar

Image Gallery:

Mudassar,Rahul

Read More >>

Honnemardu and Jog falls

We 16 from Bangalore ASCENDers planned to spend October 1st and 2nd  at Honnemardu, with The Adventurers who organize water sports in the back waters of Linganamakki dam.Honnemardu or  Golden Lake has some of the most spectacular views of the sunrise and sunset. Deep in a forest, without the slightest trace of civilization, it’s a haven for die-hard outdoors fanatics as well as those who want a complete break from the City life. Some of the water sports activities here include coracling, canoeing, kayaking and wind rafting.As planned Train tickets were booked to Shimoga and all boarded 11.10pm train (train no 6277) at platform 9.The journey was comfortable.Train  reached shimoga at 5.00 am covering a distance of  300kms. Next destination was Talaguppa which was 110kms away. Even there is a train to Talaguppa from Shimoga.This train is one of its kind in India because it runs on ASHOK LEYLAND Bus engine and takes around 3 hours to reach Talaguppa.Honnemardu is 12kms from Talaguppa by road or a trek of 8kms crossing paddy fields and streams will take you there but in the process will cost you two more hours.Zeeps are  available from Talaguppa costing anything between 150/- to 200/-.We wanted to have more fun in water rather than on land so decided against trekking to Honnemardu.Harish being a native of Shimoga had managed to hire a Tempo Traveler from Shimoga.Our driver was waiting for us at Shimoga railway station and we hurriedly boarded it.Nearing Sagara we stopped for breakfast and tried the whole menu of a small hotel.We continued again along the mist-kissed muddy roads to reach Honnemardu at 7.30am.

We were welcomed by Nayan and Ganapati from The Adventurers, after introduction we finished our morning ablutions in the decent toilets of the club.Luggage's were dumped into a small cottage which is on a small hill,climb to the hill was a bit difficult for few as it is very steep but the view from top is splendid.Vast expanse of water with many small islands,it is been said that after the Linganmakki dam was built many villages were submerged in the back waters and left 147 small islands though the number is not sure.After the breakfast (actually second) all headed for the water.We started with swimming this was a perfect activity for non-swimmers as we were wearing life jackets.After an hour of swimming and diving started coracle-ing followed by canoeing lessons. We had competitions, photography shoots and  all kinds of fun in the water. At 1.30pm we headed for lunch and emptied all buckets of dishes.Organizers provide good quality food at this remote place and that is  appreciable.After resting for a while again we were in water at 3pm.Canoeing single/double,balancing on wind surfing boards and playing water volley ball were the activities that went on till 4.30pm.

After drying ourselves and collecting back our luggage from the small hill we had high tea. Then we were asked to trek to a nearby hill to watch sunset.There is a clear path up to the peak and it’s 20mins decent climb; the last 200 yards stretch is v.steep.Few could not scale the last stretch.After sunset we were back at the club,collected our luggage and started for the night stay at the island in Coracle’s.Here myself and Baby who were coracle-ing decided to go slow and started to eat carrots which we were carrying, Manju and Manavalan were with us.This delayed us very much rest of the coracles had already reached island and we had still half way to go it was already dark we cld not see any thing and tides increased.We panicked as we were not sure which way to go and tides were increasing we had a torch and fortunately some one who reached island also had a torch we started coordinating with torches and after 15 minutes of grueling we managed to reach the exact point on the island.

This was a small virgin island we pitched tents and collected fire wood for camp fire.After spending some time singing, dancing we had  dinner .After dinner we slept in the tents, Ganapati stayed with us on the island .If anyone has energy left organizers will take you on a night trek up to the other part of the island.We got up early at 6am and disassembled the tents and started back to the club.The whole place wore a mystic look sun rising at a distance and we were wading through  the calm and cold waters of sharavati.We quickly finished morning rituals and after breakfast had photo sessions with the organizers and bid good bye to them.

Our next destination was Jog Falls after 2 hours of travel we reached Jog but as usual the water was very less.For most of the year Jog Falls has little or no water as the water is diverted for power generation.After spending some time here and taking lots of photos  we visited Mahatma Gandhi power station.Again Harish managed to get  permissions for our visit as his father works in the same department and had sent one of his colleague to guide us.This elderly gentlemen took us tru all the stages of electricity production explaining them.He also discussed the problems faced during the power plant set-up.Photography is restricted here so we could not take any photos.We came back to the Jog view point and had lunch at the KEB canteen which serves a decent food.Jog Falls is one of the prominent tourist attraction of Karnataka but the government as done nothing in providing facilities to the visitors,lots of tourism development opportunities lay here to be tapped.As thought we were not able to go to the base of the falls as we were running short of time and left Jog around 2pm.

On the way back to shimoga there are many interesting places which are a worth of visit.But we had a flat tyre and lost some of the precious time.As some of us helped the driver to change tyre’s others had a good time playing road volley ball.Next we visited the Tavrekoppa Lion Safari which is 10kms before Shimoga.After the lion safari which was a small trip of just 15mins we visited every cage of the small zoo eagerly and enjoyed like small kids. Sakrebayalu Elephant Camp,Keladi,Mandagadde Bird Sanctuary,Gajnur dam are other places of interest around shimoga.By 6pm we reached Harish’s home at shimoga and had high tea.After a while we bid good bye to Harish as he was staying back and walked to the railway station to board the train to Bangalore. Train was on schedule and left at 10.10pm and we were back in Bangalore at 5am.This ended a beautiful weekend spent amid splendid landscapes watching mesmerizing sunrise and sunsets.

Notes:

1. Do not take a two day package as all the activities can be enjoyed and completed in a day.
2. Hire a vehicle from Shimoga or take a zeep from Talguppa,do not waste time in trekking  as it takes more than two hours to cover the stretch.
3. If you have been to a Lion safari anywhere before,then you may not like this one.Try to avoid.
4. Tents provided by The Adventurers are very old and are stinking also they are not water proof.If you own a tent remember to carry it.
5. Food provided is excellent.
6. Contact details: 
7. The Adventurers
8. Mr. Swamy, Ms. Nomita
9. 142, 69th Cross, 5th Block, Rajajinagar,
   Bangalore INDIA 560 010
   Phone: 91-80-3305508 or 91-80-3409712

Economics:

Train fare to Shimoga and back-sleeper class	294/-
Tyarekoppa Lion Safari entrance fee	5/-
Tyarekoppa Lion Safari vehicle parking	50/-
Lion Safari	25/-
The Adventurers(organizer)	550/-
Total cost per head (including tips)	1030/-

Visit our Group @ CLICK HERE
Join Bangalore ASCENDers @ CLICK HERE

Written by: Mudassar
Event organized by: Mudassar/Harish
Image Gallery:

Vishnu,Rahul,Gurudas

Read More >>

Trek to Shimshapura Falls

PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Read More >>