Solo Sharavathi Backwaters - Siganduru and Honnemaradu

Jog Falls and Sharavathi Backwaters. This is where I want to visit this time!  

Friday night, September 4th, it was heavily pouring in Bangalore. I left home about 8:30 and reached Majestic at about 10:40. Train left about 40 minutes late.. i watched The Avengers: Age of Ultron on the way to Majestic and beyond. 

I slept properly during the way and when I woke up in the morning, train was standing empty at Talgappa station. I had my bag under my legs and everything packed in there, including the chappal except the shoes.

I walked out, had a v cheap healthy breakfast and talked with the shop owners, and taxi owners for quite some time. They were nice and asked me why I didn't bring my girlfriend. They understood my problem that I didn't have a lot of money to spend. So, told me about Sharavathi backwaters and Jog falls and even Yana, bus routes in the city and places are  not covered by buses. That was very helpful as I travelled by buses across the route they told me.

I took the bus towards Jog Falls.

Jog Falls was not as I had expected before starting. It looked miserable with very less water and no mist. The people near the Station had told me about very less rainfall and less water this year. It wasn't allowed to visit the step trail downstairs (due to an accident that happened there) where it wasn't that sunny and was leading somewhere near to the fall of the waterfalls. I should have visited Jog Falls very early morning to climb across that. I met some guys in the bus later who told me that it is usually allowed.

At Jog Falls, there were some beautiful lodges at very good locations. It will be bliss to stay in any of those 5 homestays, one of which was located exactly opposite to me (Jog Falls view point) next to the top fall of the  waterfalls in middle of dense forest. located near the top fall of those waterfalls amidst rainfall and lightening, located just before the waterfalls ... aanndd have a joint full of marijuana and no tobacco in your hand. I did not take any pic as I will do so one day later when I happen to visit the place exactly as I imagined. 

1pm : The weather is getting better as I think the bus was travelling uphill, Or is it the high that I got from the joint that I smoked at Talgappa railway station. 

While going from Sagar to Siganduru, I met some young Biharis who called themselves Delhites , who told me about how to reach Honnemaradu from Siganduru and that the bus was going to travel through a ferry across the backwaters. I dismissed that, though I partially believed them and that I can get down from the bus into the ferry. 

1:30 pm : And now I am waiting for the bus to be loaded into the ferry. This is exciting, something new that you see and learn while travelling. I never thought that there was going to be any up after India's second largest waterfall disappointed.

The ferry that transported buses, cars, passengers across.

Ferry Terminal. Place is marked as HoleBagilu in Google Maps.

I climbed up to driver's cabin up and one of the persons pointed me to go down. I politely asked the other person and he said it is okay. Just be quiet and careful. Then they chained that place and disallowed the other girl who came later. I was alone along with the drivers in the cabin except that they allowed the lady  later but no one else. That lady was from Bangalore and came to visit Siganduru temple and asked me what was i exactly doing?  I told I am travelling solo! 

Sharavathi Backwaters @ Siganduru

Sharavathi Backwaters @ Siganduru

Luckily i got in the bus just in time (not on the Ferry but on the land) which i thought would still be empty as i was literally lying on the back seat before, was jam packed after it landed on the other side. This place is cold. It is 2pm.

I was taken by the bus to that temple. I immediately took an another bus back. What was I to do in a temple ?  Had I known that there was that temple across the river ferry, I would have never come that far. But the backwaters wad amazing. I took an another bus back to reach the river ferry place and it starting raining.

I figured out by the time I reached the ferry that to go to Honnemaradu, I need to go back to Sagar. I still got down at the river ferry in spite of the rain and smoked a joint and right now, I am waiting. It is 2:53 pm.  This place is beautiful. 

The ferry transporting bus across Siganduru Backwaters

Rain made my evening. I had a coffee and took some puffs at a stall there enjoying the rain, while talking to the locals there. All the people were very nice and helpful everywhere and were going out of their way to help me.

Rain, Coffee and Joint @Siganduru Backwaters.

But after the rain stopped,  I  walked away from the crowd near the bank into the nature. It was peaceful and serene. There are 100s of such peaceful places one can explore and find in that area.

Panoramic View of the place where I rested and took a puff after the rain.

From Siganduru, I went back to Talguppa from where I was to get an auto. I tried hard for the bus or shared jeep, ate food in between, came back and inquired and finally took an auto to Honnemaradu for 200 one way. Hmmm..  second highest expenditure after train journey. :-( . It led me through a 'kind-of' not-immensely dense jungle. I got down a little before the destination as the auto couldn't go further due to the rainy muddy road and gave him 230 for that journey. I understood why obviously there was no bus on the route, because it led no where. 

 

I stood alone at Honnemaradu with not even a sight of a person and crisp constant sound from the forest. I was a little unsure about the location, but this definitely was not a place with crocs or elephants, the forest and place wasn't that large. 

 

Amazed by the beauty of the place where I was standing and considering that I won't get a vehicle back, I pitched my tent at Honnemarudu for the night.

Dusk and soon it was all black.

 Night grew darker and I had a peaceful sleep except around 2 when it got colder and I slipped under the sleeping bag. Snakes can be a danger in that area and it is advisable not to stay out of tent after dark and sleep in sleeping bags.

Morning View to wake up to and smoke to !

I woke up with first daylight as if I was just waiting to see it in my sleep. The morning was beautiful. I smoked a joint that I rolled last night, packed my stuff, bid adieu to the place and started walking towards Hiramane.

I reached Hiramane in no time after trekking for some time and taking a lift for second half of the way. From there, I took a bus to Sagar and sat in a bus to Shimoga, which was going till Bengaluru.

Sitting in the bus on the front seat, two hands with an elbow out of the bus blogging, head rested against the window, foot on the seat and cold breeze amongst the green trying to put me to sleep. I am planning to come back to Bengaluru.

It rained heavily after Arsikere and I loved the rain and the Govt bus. It costed me 330 bucks only to reach Bengaluru from Sagar and I think my trip was under 1200 bucks.

06/06 Antragange Cave Exploration

Friday Night on 5th June, I took the bus to kolar from KR Puram railway station. The buses start from where the hanging bridge starts and for those driving in their own vehicle, the drive is a bliss. Smooth and sexy. 

There is also a train apparently that starts from Bangalore Cantt, through KR Puram till Kolar. But, bus stand is nearer to Antragange. 

I had planned for a night trek but couldn't gather the courage. I reached the trek starting point alone at 9pm in complete darkness, no fellow person, lightening behind the entire Antragange range and a pack of dogs guarding the entrance barking at me from a distance. I followed my insticts, took a lodge for the night, had an on and off sleep and started early morning towards Antragange base. 

I started my Antragange trek early morning around 6. The weather was really nice and I reached the temple and then further the vegetation within no time. The trek was a short and easy one. 

Early morning View from the point after
I finished the initial trek to reach the vegetation.

This is where the cave exploration starts. There is apparently a road route to reach till here. The caves are not deep caves but natural formations of rocks where you can pass through from tight passages. Antragange are a range of rocky mountains (more than 10 atleast), most of which are unexplored. The place is a delight to explore during early morning. I roamed around a lot and tried to explore a lot of it. Found a virgin cave also which was not polluted with any paper or plastic. The cave exploration was exciting, peaceful relaxing views were a good break from noisy Bangalore.

I trekked down from the top around 10 and it was getting hot, so I tip toed quickly among the rocks to reach the base. Took a bus back to Bangalore (which dropped me at KR Puram). Buses from Kolar to Bangalore run till 12pm.

Mantapa in middle of an open field.

Early Morning View from near the Mantapa

Beautiful. Isn't It ?

Another trek route (starts from the left) into one of the hills. Less Explored.

After trekking the hill quite some distance, an open field.

A lot of such unexplored caves/rock passages are there in Antragange.

Peace, silence, soothing wind, no sun and a joint.
This place was really amazing ! :-)

Top Trekking Destinations Near Bangalore

A personal Checklist of To-Do treks near Bangalore.

Following is the list of some famous treks very near (< 150 kms) from Bangalore, Karnataka, India. 

1. Kabbal Durga Trek
2. Savandurga Trek
3. Skandagiri Trek (~ 70 kms)
http://wishgo.blogspot.in/2015/01/0401-trek-to-skandagiri.html 
4. Bheemeshwari Wildlife Trek
5. Rangaswamy Betta Trek
6. Makalidurga Trek
   http://www.getbeyondlimits.com/treks/makalidurga
   
7. Nandi Hills Trek (70 kms)
8. Chennarayana Durga  (100kms)
9. KuntiBetta Trek (125 kms)
   http://wishgo.blogspot.in/2015/03/0802-kuntibetta-trek.html
10. Devrayana Durga Temple trek
11. Nijagal Betta Trek
12. Mekedatu Trek
    http://traveltwosome.com/blog/day-trips-from-bangalore-mekedatu/
13. Antragange Cave Exploration (Near Kolar)
    http://wishgo.blogspot.in/2015/06/0606-antragange-trek.html

Treks at an overnight journey (> 200 kms) from Bangalore.

WESTERN GHATS :

1. Kumara Parvatha Trek (Karnataka)
http://wishgo.blogspot.in/2015/03/2802-kumara-parvata-trek.html





Kurangini >> Kollukkumalai >> Meesapulimala >> Silent Valley (Kerala)
Kodaikannal > Munnar (http://usandeep.com/trekking/kodaimunnar.html) (TN/Kerala)
Vellarimala / Vavulmala (Kerala)
Tadiyendamol > Coorg (Karnataka)
Wayanad -> Chembra peak, Anaerangal, Anamudi, Ponmudi, Nelliyampathi and Dhoni, Agastyarkoodam  (Kerala)
Kudremukh / Thirumaleguppi (Karnataka)
Kodachari (Karnataka)
Chikkmaguluru (Mullayangiri and Bababuddangiri) (Karnataka)
Coorg (Karnataka)
Gokarana beach trek (Karnataka)
http://www.usandeep.com/trekking/gokarna.html
Periyar Tiger Reserve (Kerala) http://periyartigerreserve.org/
Fort Rajmachi Trek (Maharashtra)
Sakleshpur >> Yedakumari  (Karnataka)
 Harishchandragad-Bhairavgad-Kunjar (Maharashtra)
Jungli Jaigad Fort Trek (Maharashtra)
Karla Caves (Maharashtra)
Naneghat Fort (Maharashtra)
Agumbe (Karnataka)

EASTERN GHATS :

1. Nilgiri (Tamil nadu) 
2. Nagalapuram (Andhra Pradesh)

3,4 April - Solo Munnar Trip

This is a travelogue. A personal experience.

April start brought with it a long weekend since Friday was a holiday. I had pre-booked a ticket to Nagercoil, which was in WL and came down to RAC. I boarded the Nagercoil Express at 5pm from Bangalore on Thursday. Because I had hardly slept, I slept all the way even while sharing the berth with other person. I got down at Madurai (instead of Nagercoil) at 3am. Walked to Periyar bus stand and waited for bus to Aryapallam for quite a while cluelessly. Smoked some pot in Madurai while waiting for the bus and immediately could hear the birds chirping instead of the frustration of being alone and not understanding the local language. And then took a rickshaw to Aryapallam. Took the bus from Aryapallam Bus Stand (Madurai) to Munnar Post Office at 5:55 am.

I reached Munnar around 10am and immediately took an active from http://bikerentalmunnar.com/ at 350 per day. Filled up the tank and left for left towards Top Station immediately.

I started my journey, smoked a couple of times, had almost reached the Elephant Park and I stopped at a school just to check whether they can provide cheap stay also. They didn't but just before leaving from there, I opened the dickie of my activa out and wore the jacket since it was cold, changed my lower to capri, put the capri and helmet in dickie alongwith the key and closed the dickie. Yes, I put the key in the dickie. There was no network on my mobile, and since Activa was parked safely, I took the auto back, reached Munnar, took duplicate key, took auto and reached till my activa.

I started again, now onwards, it was a journey that was definitely the best journey of my life, and endless wonderful journey that took me through the nature at its unimaginably best.

I visited the mattupetty lake and the dam. Stopped at a place and went a little off crowd and sat at a place very near to water, no people there and loved it. Smoked  some pot while enjoying the nature. No traffic, No people and peace.

I was in a hurry (may be because I am not a very good driver and had to return back to Munnar after visting Top Station, incase I do not get a place to stay up there), so I drove to Echo Point. The drive on the way was lovely. I was enjoying every part of it. Just before reaching Echo Point, I stopped at almost every turn. Every turn was a view point in itself, very less crowded, very beautiful and naturally beautiful.  Actual Echo Point was a little crowded at the time I visited and one should reach in the morning, by 7 or 8 to enjoy the point. I bantered with a family, a father and a daughter who were leisurely fishing.

I started from the Echo Point, stopped at many points after, smoked a puff at almost pit stop, enjoyed the lovely weather and loved just being there all alone.

I reached Kundala Lake, stopped there, smoked a little more ate some passion fruits, and started towards Top Station Point. Cold Bliss and Wonderful sensation while driving towards the Top Station Point was a feeling I can't explain, but was definitely orgasmic. I am still not sure how far was the Echo Point, because after driving for an eternity amidst heaven, I still had not made it to Top Station Point. I was high and one of the boards said, 7. Kilometers. Since I was high, I must have interpreted that as .7 kilometers. After driving about 15 kilometers ( I didnot check the meter, 15 was what it felt like ) it said 2 kilometers and 2 was totally scratched. I asked someone if Top station was further and he said yes. I asked two/three more people later regd the same.

 But, the entire way were tea plantations, mountains and road was very comfortable to drive on and I enjoyed it very much. One can stop at any point on the way and it was a beautiful view point in itself.

I reached Top Station View Point eventually. A little Walk. Awesome place. Surrounded by mountains. I came to know from local guard, Sharath that starting early morning, you can trek to Kollukumalai Tea Estate or Tribal Colony, none of which I could explore but my wishlist grew bigger. It was almost dark and while I was standing at Top Station View point, a big thunderstorm and lightening said hello to me in a frightening manner. I rushed back up, talked to the guard and he gave me the contact of James (8903682163), who runs a little homestay in his house.

I reached his homestay which was very basic, but very comfortable place. [Not recommended for families]  I met a couple of guys there, one was a photographer with 80k worth big lens. I smoked a little with them, and slept as I was very tired. James woke me up, I ate dinner and slept again.

Saturday morning, I woke up in the morning around 6, entirely sober and ready to rock. Took a left towards Pambadum Shola National Park. I went inside and the early morning drive amidst the forest which says, "Caution, Wild animals may be seen !" and through forest dept checkpoints towards Kollavum was a perfect start for a day. Kollavum was shit, so I turned back and saw horses grazing, and Indian langurs jumping off trees. I couldn't have resisted to smoke a puff there, so I did. I started on my way back towards Munnar and stopped at the Kundala lake which was peaceful in the morning with no people and reflection of the sky and surroundings. I sat there by its side, admired the nature and was very sad that I was going back. I gathered some courage , got up and sadly started towards Munnar. I made various pit stops, smoked pot multiple times, reluctant to go back, debating with myself which ended up that I can always come back again and that going back was also important, so I drove and reached Munnar back without even knowing it.

After reaching Munnar and returning the Activa and waiting for about 4 hours, I got into the pickup van around 4pm. Which took me towards Udumalpet through the Eravikulam National Park route and further through the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, and through Annamalai Tiger Reserve. The whole way, every passenger's eyes were popped out. I read the book 'Hackers and Painters' half way, but the sightings of horses, deers and a group of elephants in a vast grazing forest ground tempted me to close it and look for that hidden tiger somewhere. I didn't see it. I understood on the way till Udumalpet that we should let animals be in their natural habitat. It was a whole different experience watching them in forests rather than zoo, watching them do what they usually do, enjoying like we enjoy ! :-)

I reached Udumalpet, had Kerala dinner. Bus came after 90 minutes wait, I slept till Bangalore, reached home on Sunday morning and went to dancing in the evening.

Next To-Do : Treks around Munnar in the Western Ghats !!

PS : I did not have the camera in my phone. My phone was in service centre, and was using a temporary phone. For my second Munnar experience, read this post (with pics)

http://wishgo.blogspot.in/2015/04/2504-munnar-trip.html

Link to my Initial Evernote :

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rPGlc9_iLoSvi1Fmtv7W0HJWRadq7GUVzWFrbdwPbN0/edit?usp=sharing

08/02 Kuntibetta Trek

After Skandagiri and Hampi (which wasn't a trek really), Kuntibetta was a disappointing trek from trekking perspective and even sunrise perspective. It was an easy night trek, but I enjoyed every moment of it because of the company of friends. No, we did not litter anything at the top.

It was an easy trek and a short one and even the clouds weren't there to give the sun a sparkling entry.

But, Sunny (and Purnima), Sahil (and Ankita), Doctor and Me had a really good time. We hired a personal taxi till the base. Sahil had come here once before and told that you do not have to take a right turn where there is a small board that has something written on it in Kannada. We did not have a Kannada friend, but we had an ex-Kuntibetta trekker amongst us, who guided us the base and till where he went last. I took over the lead on the trek up and doctor took the lead on the way down.

There were some trekkers who had come through a package and were guided by a person also, we let them pass us by, while we waited for them to disappear. At some points, I deviated from the main path just to make the trek a little difficult, but still all of us reached the top easily. We were up the entire night, drinking, gossiping, smoking. We enjoyed the campfire and the viewpoints till sun came and we started enjoying the sunrise. We went to the lake later but it wasn't worth the visit.

The next time I am going to Kuntibetta will definitely be a time when there is no moon and it is cold or monsoon.

28/02 Kumara Parvata Trek

On 27th Night, I and a handful of my office friends boarded a bus to Kukke Subramanya temple, reached there by 28th. Took a cheap basic lodge, freshened up and started on our way to the base of KP.

This was a two day trek with camping on top of Kumara Parvatha being the agenda. The end result was a sense of achievement that I can never forget. You can say one place ticked off my bucket list.

The trail is approximately 14 kms one way from the base and traverses through the forest, grasslands and shola forests. You can add another 1.2 kms from the temple town Kukke Subramanya.

This was the base of KP. We entered the small gate behind us and started trekking through the forest. Since it was early morning, there wasn't any sun and we were trekking fast to beat the sun as much as we could. 

After trekking through the forest which took about 2-3 hours on medium pace and decent rest, sun was out and we were on top of some hills. In open fields under the sun and lots of water in the bag, we walked. There was nothing else to do, so we walked and rested and that's all we did. There was a visible trail, so it wasn't about the difficulty, it was about stamina. We stopped for sometime at Battara maane, where a local family serves you food. 

 The first 6 kms is an uphill path going through the forest till Bhattara Mane where the forest starts thinning. It took about 4-4.5 hours to reach the first way point. This is where we took a lunch break .

After having basic (rice, rasam, ginger pickle, butter milk) but very delicious food (all of us were very hungry), we embarked on the next arduous stretch of 2 kms where the trail is almost on a constant incline of 40-50 degrees and a path that goes through the grasslands with very little shade here and there until you reach another way point called Kallu Mantapa. I reached there first. The next source of water or probably the only source of water during summer time. Beyond this one will not find any drinkable source of water. I wasn't very tired, smoked up a joint, waited for all my friends there, because it wasn't a difficult trek but lengthy. I enjoyed looking at all the tired faces climbing four steps, looking up the distance, climbing four more steps and looking up the distance and so on till eveyrone reached Kalumantapa, enjoying and mocking them !! 

When everyone made it till Kallumantapa, I, Ritesh and Rishabh started the trek to Sheshaparvatha. Aahhhh, the trek from Kallumantapa to Sheshaparvatha was a bliss. I enjoyed it more than ever. I again took the lead and wasn't in sight. I waited at Seshaparvatha for Ritesh and Rishabh to catch up who weren't far behind. The trail leading to Sesha Parvatha tricks you with many false peaks giving you a false sense of hope and making it appear much closer than you think. Sesha Parvatha itself provides some wonderful views. One can spend some time here before you begin the last stretch. Then we started trekking from there till KP which was the most difficult part, only because I was tired and could watch KP from Seshaparvatha and didn't expect it to be that far. The last stretch of the trek involved another 2 kms of going downhill and then uphill through the forest to reach the summit. The top of Kumara Parvatha offers some flat ground for people to pitch their tents and camp overnight. We took wood, camped there, put up the sleeping bag, cooked dinner, drank old monk, smoked up some joints, had a lot of laughs and everyone went to sleep. I didnot have a sound sleep because we pitched the tent at a very little slopy surface, which I realised at night was slopy enough to slip me to the other side of tent every half an hour. Amongst all the gang, I was the only one who could not get up to view the amazing sunrise. 

After I got up and everyone had breakfast and packed up the tents, we were ready to trek down with a very good feel and an amazing sense of accomplishment. But, If you ever thought that getting down is easier, yes its marginally easier, but takes a tremendous toll on your feet.

The journey began on day 1 at 6.45 am and ended at around 6.30 pm when we reached the summit. On day 2, being downhill, we started at around 10 and reached the base at around 6.45 pm.

The KP now allures me to do a trek post monsoons to capture the wonderful vistas.

There are somethings that can only be experienced no matter how much ever is written about it. KP is one such thing. You can only experience it in person.

 

Please read through : http://www.kotresh.com/index.php/kumara-parvatha-trek

Battarmaane : 

water refill: Available

Toilet facility: Available
Distance: ~6km from base point
Time Taken: ~3 hours (7:15 am to 10:20 am)
Accommodation: Available
Food: Available
Contact: 9448647947 / 9480230191 ( phone signal is weak here, you might have to try multiple times)

Post(s) from my fellow trekkers :

http://travelzofalifetime.blogspot.in/2015/03/trek-to-kumaraparvatha.html

04/01 - Trek to Skandagiri

Rahul and I started our little journey on 3rd Jan night to Nandi Hills and reached Skandagiri base at 2am following Google Maps. The rest of the trek can not be described in words. Both of us had never done any trek before. Well, I had done one in Ramanagar earlier but that was very easy.

We started following a bunch of localites who had come to trek Skandagiri and we thought that they knew the way. 20 minutes into the trek and having cleared some 2-3 normal to difficult hurdles, we encountered a major hurdle which required a group to act together. Well, they helped us out. 30 minutes further, we were in middle of slippery rocks, bruised by thorny bushes, low light and real green shiny snake with no way further and needed real courage to cross that snake/steep slope/slippery rock hurdle . Yes, we made it till the top by taking time and finding ways, but gosh it was no ways an easy trek as I had thought. Well, this post is not a travelogue, so, all I want to say is :
1) Go there if you know which way to go up. There was a very easy way (comparatively) through which we climbed down. You should know that way. There are some local guides which charge you for that. Either hire one or go through an adventure company.
2) I hope you get lost and I really do because that quadruples the adventure. In that case, make sure you have a good torch, water bottle, a very light backpack, a knife and will to climb up through the thorny bushes and dangerous wildlife and scary slopes and drops.
3) There was maggi, water at the top and very cold breeze. the Sunrise was just beautiful. All the people went nuts at the first sight of the sun.

We had a lot of fun climbing up to the top and there was not much tiredness after the trek although the legs were paining towards the end of the trek. I had a little sleep in the afternoon and went to a party in the evening.

Ontario, Canada

Ontario (capital : Ottawa) is the most popular state on Canada and is the manufacturing hub of Canada (capital : Ottawa). Ontario is home to country's most popular city : Toronto.

Here are my destination picks from Ontario that are in my wish list :
1)  Niagara Falls : While at Niagara Falls, do visit the Butterfly Conservatory.

2) Lake Ontario :

3) CN Tower : While at CN Tower, try the daring Edge walking. Let the adrenaline go up !






4) Algonquin Provisional Park :

Norway

Norway in this small world

Norway (capital city : Oslo) is located near the UK and borders with Sweden, Finland and Russia. Would be easier to visit Norway, Sweden and Finland now and then if I get to work in the UK.

1) Pulpit Rock, Preikestolen : With a 604-meter drop from a flat plateau down to Lysefjord with no safety railings, this is the place I want to visit and enjoy. Lie down and look down. :-)

Pulpit Rock, Preikestolen

2) Lofoten Islands

3) Base Jumping :
Norway has absolutely beautiful landscapes, including crazy cliffs that call to people to climb them and then BASE jump off the top. Here's a look at some of those incredible cliffs, as well as some insanely dangerous switchback roads to get to them in Norway. Thrill seekers, photographers, hikers and climbers take in these majestic views of nature. And then, there's BASE jumpers who have a much more extreme need for adrenaline. Charles Lindbergh once said of his adrenaline rush, “It is the greatest shot of adrenaline to be doing what you have wanted to do so badly. You almost feel like you could fly without the plane.” Here in Norway, as if they've turned into Superman, some adrenaline junkies do fly without a plane.