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.