Part II - Dandeli and Doodhsagar trek

The last night's camp fire and the light dinner was a memorable one. We all went to bed with the trek to Doodhsagar in our minds. The next morning we woke up a bit early since we had to travel around 40KM to reach a place called Castle Rock. We had booked the cab[mahindra bolero] previous day itself, it costed around 1300/- to reach Castle Rock railway station from Dandeli.

On the way we got to see the Supa dam,

We reached Castle Rock railway station around 9:00 AM. The cab driver came with us to guide till the start of the trek. While entering the railway platform the railway police officer warned us about the last night's accident of the goods train along the way to the falls and suggested us to give up the trek as there was some maintenance work going on and no public were allowed to enter that accident spot. They suggested us to catch a private vehicle to reach the place beneath the water fall spot [Doodhsagar taxi stand].

Later on, with a dual mindset and some discussions within ourselves and the railway guards we started the trek. Since we had the eager to experience the railway trek, ignored the officer's advice and started off the trek, remember we need trek for 14 KMS to reach Doodhsagar falls.

A lot of snaps is going to follow from now on...

 

Castle Rock Railway station itself is a treat to watch, here is initial glimpse of the trek path

Algaes grown on the structures were eye catching,

lush green views,

A group of aged people were spotted along the trek,

The rescue train carrying railway employees passes by,

The tunnels were really awesome, till then I had crossed the tunnel only while travelling in train but to cross it by trek is just mind blowing,

On the way we could spot some mini water falls and finished our breakfast.

After trekking for 5 KMS we came across a station by name Caranzol, we enquired about the train accident and other stuff with the station master and proceeded.

Just before the start of the 5th tunnel there was a small fall which attracted us,

After spending some time we started our journey again, this is one spot which is just awesome...

By this time we had covered around 8 KMS, and could see some folks sitting on a side by bench. We just spoke to them about their travel, we were betrayed to hear that railway officials are not allowing the public to cross the accident area[remember, earlier we ignored the same when the officials advised us in prior].

Then, we discussed and headed backwards. By the time we reached Caranzol station it was around 5:00 PM and we were surprised to see a passenger train in the station.

We directly spoke to the train operator he yelled us that we cannot board the train. Then we went to the station master and he said after this train passes a goods train is expected to arrive at the station which can drop us till Castle Rock station. But one of the railway guards suggested us to board the passenger train and go till Khulem and from there we get lot of buses which can take us till Dharwad[Our bus boarding point to reach Bengaluru].

With that said, we boarded the train without the tickets, in fact we informed the same to the TT before and hoped in. The train started moving slowly since the rescue work was just finished and everything was cleared by now. we could see that some parts of the goods train were lying beside the track and the laborers sitting with a pride on their face. Thanks a ton to those hard workers!

Finally, we reached Doodhsagar station and as the train was passing slowly my camera clicked this pic,

Thank god! Our wish was fufilled :).

Then, we reached Kulem station by 6:00 PM. From there we boarded a private vehicle to reach a place called Molem, then we hoped into a KSRTC bus which took us till Dharwad main bus stand. Our bus was about to start back to Bengaluru at 11:30 PM but we reached the stand by 10:45 PM.

That's it, I hope you enjoyed my writing and wish you all the best for your journey as well!

Part I - Dandeli and Doodhsagar trek

Hello friends, I know why you all are here, excited about Dandeli and Doodhsagar trek? Oh, that's great, I'm ready to share my good times of it.

You could assume this as our farewell trip to our friend Ramya. She got engaged in Jul-2012 and her marriage date was scheduled on the same November. We planned a vacation to mark our memorable friendship. Since, we had never been to North Karnataka we zeroed in our destination to Dandeli and Doodhsagar[Goa border].

With everything finalized, this time we wanted to avoid the private mode and hence opted for the public transport. Rajesh booked the train tickets to Dharwad. As usual we started the Friday night from Bengaluru city railway station. The next day morning around 6:00 AM we reached Dharwad and from there we boarded a local bus to reach Dharwad main bus stand. From there we hopped into a direct bus to Dandeli. 

It's a 2.5 hour journey, everyone started to snooze and after an hour or so we reached a place called Haliyal. Since, it was not a non-stop bus, it entered the Haliyal bus stand for the passengers to alight and board. We were about the leave the bus stand but within a fraction of time the KARNATAKA RAKSHANA VEDIKE troop called for a bandh[Cauvery river water issue]. 

So, our journey came to stand still at Haliyal, then with the guidance of some localites we walked some distance off to the main road connecting Haliyal and Dandeli. Some suggested us to hop some private vehicles, we waited for half an hour and finally a passenger carrier vehicle arrived and we all boarded with a charge of Rs 40/- per head to Dandeli. Again it was an hour journey and finally we reached.

Now, with these niggles already faced, some of us suggested to book a resort instead for a lodge. With everything finalized, we contacted a near by cyber center and booked "White water resort" for our stay. The rate was reasonable and had an attractive package. If I could remember it correctly here is the details,

Package per head -> 2500/-

Food: Breakfast, lunch, snacks, Dinner, Breakfast

Activities: Boating, Jaccuzi bath, camp fire, night forest trek, coracle riding

After finalizing the resort we had to reach the resort, there was no other modes of transportation except the same kind of passenger vehicles through which we traveled all the way from Haliyal to Dandeli. Since, there was a bandh being called, the drivers charged a bit more and we also had no other options. For a total of 7 member we paid 600/-. 

Finally, we reached the resort which is located on the banks of the river kali. It was 11:00 AM. Here is the first glimpse of the resort,

and river Kali view from the resort,

By this time the breakfast was ready, we got freshen up and had it. To my consent the taste was average. Some more pics to around the resort,

Then everybody took a light nap and back to action by 1:00 PM.

We told the resort manger to arrange for the activities and he asked us to visit the near by BISON - River resort, since they had no guides. The additional activities apart from the above mentioned list are of separate charges. We wanted to play kayaking and river crossing as an additional events.

Kayaking -> 200/- per head[40 min] and River crossing -> 300/- per head.

After finishing both events, we went for boating[20 min, with guide] and then Jaccuzzi bath for around 30 min. Sorry, couldn't take any snaps as I wanted to take part in all the activities. Our main intention was to go for rafting but it wasn't available during that time.

Then we came back, got freshen up one more time and had lunch. We had chapathi, plain rice, rasam, sambhar, chutney, a non veg dish. It was OK kind of taste.

It was time to take a nap again and by the time we woke it was 6:30 PM. Coffee/tea was ready and we asked for a night trek, this was the funniest of all the activities. Since, the supreme court has banned the trek in forest, the guard just took us around the resort for half a mile and we returned back. 

After this we asked for a camp fire and it was life time experience for all of us. We played antakshari, jungle dance and bit of chit chat. The dinner was ready, the same menu but the ingredients were different :(.

The next day we planned to have a trek to Doodhsagar. Will share the lighter moments of it in my next post...

Bye!

Part II: A weekend in Dakshina Kannada and Shimoga...

Well after deciding to reach Shimoga, my friend Rag called his uncle who runs a restaurant in the core of the city. It also had lodging as well. By the time the clock turned 9:00 PM we boarded the lodge and had a light supper in the same place, and everybody started to snooze zzz...

It was a fresh Sunday morning and I couldn't resist myself from taking some snaps whilst everyone were still in their dreams. My camera just sneaked out the window and could capture this pic,

Then everyone rouse and got ready within no time, we had our break fast and left to Gajanur dam. It took us around one hour to reach the place and also there is an Elephant camp adjacent to the dam area.

Boating facilities were available till 11:30 AM. So, we had to rush in to buy the tickets since it was a bit crowded. Though Elephants were not there but we had an enjoyable boat ride. After the boat we fed some snacks to our stomachs and relaxed a bit in the camp area.

After some relaxation, we had the lunch in the near by town and headed towards Kundadri hills. It was quite far and we reached there by 3:00 PM. There is Jain temple on top of the hill and one can witness the sculptures of one of the theerthankaras,

Also there's a sacred pond beside the temple,

While returning back my camera captured a perfect click when the nature is at it's best,

That's it!. We started back to Shimoga and attended the marriage reception, met some of our buddies, chit chatted and had a light dinner. The same night we headed back to Bangalore.

Thanks, for your support and patience! Bye...

Part I - A weekend in Dakshina Kannada and Shimoga...

Hi Folks, well it's been long time since my first blog, was hooked up with some severe office work.

Okay, here in this post I would like to share my travel experience with my best buddies on the following places,
Byndoor, Kundapura, Jomlu theertha, Kudlu theertha, Shimoga, Gajanur, Kundadri :)

It was our college mate's marriage at Shimoga on April 1st 2012. So, we planned a full weekend masti travel drive to the coastal Karnataka. With the plan finalised, my friend Rajesh booked an Innova and we started off that friday night. After picking up everyone at their board point, as per the plan we decided to go to Byndoor first, we wanted to avoid the normal route[Bangalore->Kunigal->Hassan->Sakaleshpur-> Uppinangadi->B.C Road-> Mangalore-> Kundapura-> Byndoor]. Instead, we opted to go via Bangalore->Tumkur-> Arasikere->Shimoga Bypass-> Kollur-> Byndoor.

During the overnight journey, there was some surprise for our buddies Pradeep and Ramya. Their birthdays fell in the same week and hence we thought of celebrating it on the national highway at 12:00AM. It was a memorable b'day for them...

The next morning at 5:00 AM we were at Kollur, some of us had goddess Mookambika devi darshana and others were still taking nap. Then we started off to Byndoor, it took us around 45 min to reach the view point of the Byndoor beach.

Here's my first click of the beach,

It was really awesome time over there, we Bangaloreans are fond of beaches, water falls, scenic beauties etc :).

After taking some snaps there, we headed towards Kundapura[Rag's Aunt's place]. We had our early morning refreshments in their house and went to the beach to have some fun. We were amazed to see such a calm beach with no people thronging and it was also clean. We were overwhelmed with joy while just hearing the sound of the waves with no other noise.

Then we came back to the house and had a fresh bath from the water pumping out of the well [remember never miss an opportunity to take bath in the well water], then we had some breakfast. Thanks to Rag's aunt for preparing those delicious food.

It was time to start again and we headed towards Jomlu theertha a water fall spot near Hebri.

The spot was really calm and a treat for the nature lovers. Since, there was no rain the water level was a bit less. But we had something to cheer.

By the time we left Jomlu theertha it was around 2:30PM. Then we headed towards Koodlu theertha, we couldn't reach the falls as it was late and some localites also suggested not climb the hill after 6:00 PM since it will be very difficult for anyone to come back in the dark. So we had some time pass at the foothill.

It was 6:30 PM, had to plan for the night rest. Everyone shared their bits and pieces of thought's and finally we decided to reach Shimoga.

Part 3 - Exploring Coorg - Iguthappa temple and CheLavara Falls

Continuing from Part 2,

After visiting Nalknad palace, we started towards Iguthappa temple. Along with localites' guidance we discovered many Iguthappa temples on the way but we wanted to visit the main of them where the sancinity is at it's highest.

We were able to locate the exact temple which is in the midst of the nature. Then, we had Lord Shiva's darshana, spent some time over there and started towards CheLavara falls. It was a nice treat for our eyes on the way as we discovered some nice sceneries and the nature at it's best.

It was around 1:00 PM when we reached CheLavara falls, trust me this is one of the best visiting spot in Coorg. The water plunging from a decent height and the spot was a bit crowded as it was a weekend. Raghava and our cab driver Bungaaru both being good swimmers dived into the waterfall area and had their share of fun. I was bit reluctant to get inside the water area and was just watching Raj, Rag, Raghava and Bungaaru having fun. Here is one click of the falls alongside Raghava posing :),



It was around 2:30PM when we started from there, we took the same route and reached Bangalore around 11:00PM on the same day. That's it guys, hope you enjoyed reading my blog. Will keep blogging about my trips in the next series...Bye :)...

Part 2 - Exploring Coorg - BhagamanDala

Continuing form Part -1

Well, after a tremendous trek in ThaDiyanDamol we headed towards BhagamanDala. Actually, we missed an ancient palace on the foot hills of ThaDiyanDamol, later on while coming back from BhagamanDala we visited this palace i.e, the Nalknad Palace. Here is one click of the palace,



There were no entrance fees as of such but a security guard will guide you through the palace and it's your wish to offer him some money if you find it worth listening him :). While entering the palace you find a marriage mantapa, the below pic



which was built by the king on the occasion of his sister's marriage. A visit to this palace is must thou you are not allowed to take photos inside the palace. Then we started towards visiting Iguthappa temple and will blog about it my next series.

Now, coming back to BhagamanDala, as said in the first part of the blog we very so tired that we were looking out for some eateries to feed ouselves. At last we found one and grabbed all the snacks available and started towards BhagamanDala. By then, Raghava had called the Kashi mutt in BhagamanDala and booked us a room. Here is the entrance pic of the Kashi Mutt,



The rooms were good and well under our budget. After boarding the room we went to Sangama where 3 rivers [Kaveri, Kanika and Sujyothi] confluence and we had our bath there. Then, there was some mouth watering dishes waiting for us for the lunch, the mutt officials served the lunch on the plantain leaves. We were so eager to have everything and at last all we had was the empty plantain leaves at the end of our meal course :) really the food was finger licking :).

By then, it was around 4:00 PM and we all took a small nap and woke up at 5:00 and started towards Talakaveri, it's the holy place where river Kaveri originates. Here is one pic of the ugamasthaLa [In English: birthplace],



Even though we were not allowed to take the pics inside, we some how able to click one of them while the guards diverted their attention towards other public. There is a small hill within the vicinity of the temple which has around 150 steps to reach the top.

We spent some time there and it was getting dark so started heading back to Kashi mutt. Raghava and Rajesh witnessed the night Pooja @ BhanganDeshwara temple which is very near to the mutt. Myself and Rag fall asleep as soon as we were back from Talakaveri. The dinner was served in the mutt @ around 9:00PM and we all went to bed.

The next day morning was awesome out there with all the fog, but the rest rooms in the mutt were all occupied by the tourists who boarded the mutt that early morning. So, we went to Sangama again for having bath. It was a chill morning and just imagine how cold the water would be but without second thought I, Raj and Rag jumped in and had our bath, it was a great experience for us. Raghava a wise fellow who woke up early and finished all his activities in the mutt itself :).

Then we visited the Bhagandeshwara temple and here is one click of it,



You can reach Kashi mutt on dialing the following numbers,
+917676515357
+919481961398

After having lord Shiva's darshana we headed towards Nalknad palace, the place which we missed in ThaDiyanDamol. Then we thought of visiting Iguthappa temple, Iguthappa is the other name for Lord Shiva and he's worshiped by all the Kodavas. Will blog about it in my next post....Bye :)

Part 1- Exploring Coorg - ThaDiyanDamol

Hi All, a trip to Coorg will always be an awesome stuff to experience and that too accompanying your best buddies will be a memorable one for the new year. This was my first outing with my kuchikus[friends] Raghavendra[Rag], Rajesh[Raj] and Vijaya Raghava[Raghava]. It's a common thing that all the techies nowadays prefer to explore the scenic world during the weekends to get some relief and of course we never differed in that thought and straight away planned to start on a Friday night. My Friend Rag spoke to one of the travel agency and arranged a cab[TATA Indica] for 5 including the driver.

So, after boarding the cab we headed towards Bangalore-Mysore highway and a deviation towards the right after Srirangapattana which connects us to a place called ELwal, on Mysore-Hunsur highway. Then, headed towards Kushalnagara and finally reached Coorg around 5:00 AM.

The main spot we were excited to see was ThaDiyanDamol, so we enquired the night beat police and other localites for the direction. We finally reached ThaDiyanDamol but were surprised to see that there were no lodging or eateries there and then waited for the sun rise to make some buildings or lodges or any kinda refreshment outlets visible. While it was 6:00 AM, I clicked the following scenic view.



We gottu spot a guest house but it wasn't all the way affordable they told that it would charge 1000 bucks per person and it included a coorg style breakfast, lunch and a room to get refresh. We were a quiet reluctant to board that guest house for that price but gathered some information about the trek route and finally started the trek with just 2.5 litres of a bottle full of water. Remember, we didn't had any kind off refreshments and just rubbishly headed for the trek.

On the way, we had some photo session and were amazed to watch the nature at it's best.



The above pic depicts the hill to climb also it's me towards the left, Raghava on the right and the one who is standing is Rag.

It was exciting for the first few initial hours and later on when the Sun started his duty it was getting sweat out from all of us. We still concentrated of reaching the hill top. On the way to the hill top we discovered several other small hills and were having fun. By this time our stomach started knocking for food but we all just had a bottle of water and the dry grass on the hills. Still, we thought of reaching the top.

After a while, we saw a group of trekkers who came all the way from Hyderabad and when enquired they revealed that they had a campfire on the previous night and were heading back. Now, it was getting steeper and steeper but the mission in our mind was getting the better from us.

By this time the bottle was empty and our stomach as well. We were climbing, climbing and climbing, and in the meanwhile we took a lot of break and were regretting our decision to start without any refreshments after the overnight journey. But the smile was still in our face :) and with whole lot of kidding all the way. The below pic depicts the fun we had where Raj and Rag pulling Raghava as if they were saving him from falling down the hill.



Voila, finally we reached the top, you see we climbed ThaDiyanDamol with all the niggles but the hill view on the top was cherishing. Below pic depict the view from the hill top.



We all were so overwhelmed and again had some photo session and a small nap. By this time it was around 12:00 PM. Then, we started to head back towards the cab parked area as we had to explore others places and while heading back we saw many group of trekkers/youngsters/oldies climbing the summit and we greeted them with the new year wishes.

And that's it we boarded the cab and headed towards Bhagamandala, will blog about it in my next post. Bye.... :)