Chunchi Falls

It was long time since I visited some place outside Bangalore. So, I planned a trip to Mekedaatu ( but, we ended up visiting Chunchi Falls ). Uttaran ( Thunderbird ), Gowri ( Y Gladiator ) with his two friends joined me ( Apache RTR ). We started at around 6:30 AM from silk board. We took our first stop at Kanakapura for breakfast.

By 9:15 AM, we reached the junction of Chunchi Falls and Mekedaatu. The Karnataka tourism board said that Chunchi Falls is only 6 kms away. So, we decided to check this first and then proceed for Mekedaatu. By 9:30 AM, we were there at the falls.

The first impression of the falls was not good, there was very less water. Well, it was 18th April, so we also didn't expected much and it was hot too. Since, there was very less water, so it was worth taking risk of climbing down the rocks to the base of the fall. So, myslelf, Uttaran and Vikram climbed down and it was worth going there. Stayed there for a while and then climbed up to the top.

Then, we decided to trek to the other side of the fall. We started and found ourslelf stuck in rocks, but we kept on moving, making our own ways and finally we reached the other end.It was too tiring and left all of us exhausted. Took few snaps there and then we decided to find other way to go back as the way we came was too risky. To the surprise, there was another way to go back. Took the other way to the place where we parked our bike. Everybody had tender coconut which gave us some energy.

After taking some rest, we started back for Mekedaatu. We reached there within half an hour. Surprisingly, there was a lot of crowd. It was too hot though and we were all tired from trekking at the falls so decided to go back rather than crossing the river and walking ( or taking the bus ) to the actual place which is around 4 kms. So, we had some cold drinks and then started back to Bangalore. By 3:00 PM, I was back in my home.

Route: Bangalore-Kanakapura-Chunchi Falls-Mekedaatu-Bangalore
Total Distance Covered: 230 kms
For further information visit: Chunchi Falls
For more pics visit: Chunchi Falls

Kodachadri Trek

After a long time, me and my team-mates decided to have a trip to some place. We ended up with the plan to trek in Kodachadri. Earlier, we planned to go on bikes, but there were more number of people than the bikes and only three of us were ready to drive. So, we booked a tavera.

This place is around 420 kms from bangalore towards west.We were total of seven and started at 11:30 PM on friday night from hebbal. At 5:30 AM, we reached Shimoga. We lost three hours there in Shimoga as our tavera got punctured ( and for the worst, the stepney was also punctured ) and there were no puncture shops opened in such early morning. Finally after repairing everything we started at 8:30 AM from Shimoga. We reached our destination around 11:30 AM. There is a small shop where you can get snacks,cold drinks,etc for refreshments.There is also a small cottage at the foot of the hills, where you can get good food like lemon rice,omlettes,idli,dosa,etc.

The PWD guest house at the top is around 9 kms from the foot of the hill. You can trek or you have another option to reach the top riding on Mahindra Jeep which will cost you 900 bucks. They will not allow you to ride your own vehicles ( other than bikes ). By the way, we decided to trek which is expected to take four and half to five hours.

We had a good lunch and started around 12:10PM. After completing around 5 kms we were too tired that we even thought of taking lift from the jeeps and pay whatever they ask.. It was a sunny day and we never expected it to be so difficult. We sat down thinking what to do and started gulping bananas which we carried in case we get hungry. After finishing every thing we had to eat, we decided to gather all our strength and start again. After 2 kms we reached a rather plain terrace which was rather easier to walk.

But, after some time we again lost all our strength until we saw a man sitting with some utensils around him. He was selling butter milk. We were so thirsty that together we finished all the butter milk.He walks there daily from the foot to sell butter milk. After a bit rest, we started again towards the guest house at the top which can be seen now. It was still 2 kms left.

Finally, we reached at the guest house around 4:45 PM. The guest was all booked. We only got to stay in the hall at 50 bucks per person.Enjoyed the sunset there at the top.

We had dinner there at the guest house only, which you have to order before hand once you reach there. You can also have bonfire. But we slept as we were all tired and had to wake up early for the sunrise. Got up at 5:30 AM and trekked further to the top to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful. Then, we went to a small waterfall which is there on the opposite side of the hill.

We came back to the guest house, hired a jeep and came back to to the foot of the hill around 9:00 AM, had our brunch at the same cottage and started towards Kollur to visit the famous temple there.Reached Kollur in around an hour, visited the remple and started back to Bangalore.Stopped in between at Shimoga, had lunch and reached Bangalore around 11:00PM.
In all, it was a good weekend trip.

Contact to book Guest house in advance:
Name: Makesh
Mob: 9980178008 ( you may have to try several times as the network is not so good there )

Route: Bangalore-Shimoga-Hosanagar-Kodachadri-Kollur-Hosanagar-
Shimoga-Bangalore
Total Distance Covered: 913 kms
For further information visit: Kodachadri
For more pics visit: Kodachadri