This one was immediately after my Coorg Trek in last week of December 2008. On this trip Samar (My Colleague) partnered with me. Had a very interesting start for this trip too, if you remember during that period there was a huge demand for petrol as all the petrol supplying companies went on strike. Our initial plan was to start on 9th but because of the petrol non availability we had unconditionally postponed the dates till the availability of petrol. Then comes the surprise, that evening there was announcement of strike call off and by evening 8 PM the availability of petrol improved. So we made a plan to start off very next day early in the morning.
On the very first day just before Dabaspet after Nelamangala, Samar’s bikes rear wheel went flat. It took almost 2 hours of time. He had that problem on day two too this time the problem was with the ignition system. With all this still this was an exciting and the most thrilled one & more adventurous too.
On day one, we covered Gajanuru Dam (Near Shimoga), Sakre Bailu and Honnemaradu. The route after Shimoga is very scenic and tempts you to take diversions to lot’s of other spots which are as exciting as the spots we had planned. By the time we reached Honnemaradu it was almost 6.30 in the evening. The route after Choori cross suddenly becomes junglee. We could see some peacocks while returning from Honnemaradu on the next day. It was getting dark and to stay at Honnemaradu we should have booking which we dint had. Attached to Honnemaradu is the village Koula Mane. We pitched our tent in an Areca nut yard of the villagers. One Mr. Seetharam Bhat became a very good friend to us. Need to visit that place again and I will.
On day two, we visited Jog falls. No need to talk about the routes in this area, very scenic and appealing. This was not the best time to visit Jog; hardly could we see any water there. From here we took a ride to Siddapura. We had our breakfast here and from here to Lushington falls (Unchalli Falls - 116 Mtr drop). It’s located in a thick jungle and I say it’s the beauty in the peril. Need to be very careful while getting down to the falls, it’s very steep and needs lots of energy. I took a bath here. We were exhausted by then. Very slowly we made it to the road again and from there to Yana via Manjugani. I don’t find the words to explain the nature of this part of Karnataka. It’s beautiful, exquisite, marvelous, terrific, elegant, gracious…Ohh!! What to say, it’s just the heaven.
We had plans to visit Benne Hole falls in this area. Because of the time constraints we had to skip that.
By the time we reached Yana, it was almost dark. The local priests advised and objected to our stay in Yana. So we had to move to Mabige (Vibhoothi falls is in this village), a village 7 kms away from Yana. I had never traveled in thick forest area during nights. It was a wonderful experience; we moved very slowly and reached Mabige. We stayed here inside a school compound.
Throughout this trip the people who ever we met volunteered to help us. That was of a great help to us. We dint wait or suffer for anything in this trip.
On day three, by 6.30 AM we were near Vibhoothi falls. Took a very nice bath, played in water, and just enjoyed it. While returning back to Yana, we noticed a bird flying in front of us, infact it was not flying, it was swimming in the air. The bird was pure white; I thought it could be the flying lizard which I had heard from my Coorg trek friends. Pooranachadra Thejasvi’s Karvahlo (Kannada Novel) is all about this flying lizard. After coming back from the trip I bought the book and read it, very interesting novel.
From Yana we went to Magoda Falls via Sirsi & towards Yellapura. Just around 10 to 15 kms before Yellapura we took a left turn to reach Magoda Falls. The route passes through a dense forest. Magoda falls is again a beauty in perils. Situated between very deep breath taking valleys, it falls from a height of 650 Ft (137 Mtr).
After spending some nice resting time at Magoda falls we rode towards Sathodi falls via Yellapura. Sathodi falls is actually formed by some streams uphill and forms a gentle falls in a very good & exotic location on the banks of Kali river (Kallaramarane Ghat). Here we got the information of the Shivapura river crossing & the most adventurous action of our road trip happened here. We crossed the Kali River with our bikes on a Theppa. There was lot of action and risk involved in that. I and Samar cannot forget those moments & that experience for lifetime.
After crossing the river, we had one smaller hurdle, cross a small streams on a bridge made of wooden logs. Then we were left deep inside the jungle with narrow pathways and though we had information of the route, because of the confusion we were lost. One of the villagers who had observed us while passing through the way to Sathodi identified us and helped us to reach Ulavi. When we reached Ulavi, I thought we were now ready to take on dirt track challenges.
From Ulavi we made a night journey to Dandeli. As soon as we reached Dandeli, while were enquiring with the forest security guards, one of the local boys, son of a local forest officer approached us to offer help. He introduced us to one Mr. Ilager (Forest Officer) who was very kind enough & volunteered to offer us any help required. Because of the extreme cold in that region they dint allow us to pitch the tent outside and offered us a stay in a community hall, built by the forest officers association.
Next day (day 4), we thanked those polite & kind people, took the route information from them and left the place. We went to Kulagi nature camp and from there to Sintari Rocks. We could not visit Kavala caves as the admission was abandoned because of some repair activity. The way is simply beautiful, on either side we was very huge trees. The forest here was more different than the forests that we experienced in Shimoga area.
Via Anashi reserve forest & passing thru Kudra Dam we reached Karwar in the afternoon. Had our lunch here and from here we went directly to Gokarna. We enjoyed the evening in Om beach and Kudle Beach. From here we traveled night journey to Maravanthe. We pitched our tent in the temple premises here.
On last day (day 5) morning I took a very pleasant 30 min morning walk on the beachside. Maravanthe is a place that I have been visiting lot many times without my knowledge. We left Maravanthe and via Manipal we traveled towards Karkala and from there via Charmadi Ghats, Mudubidire & Belur we reached Hassan. This was our last day and the road was testing our patience. We were to travel almost 400 Kms on this day to reach Bangalore before 8 PM, so that we could make it to the office next day morning.
After having lunch in Hassan we left the place at around 3 PM, took some breaks in between and by the time we reached home it were around 7.30 PM.
During this trip I got a chance to see & meet few real gentlemen, who were very polite, kind and helpful. We never approached them for help, after knowing that we are on bike from Bangalore those guys just volunteered to help us. That’s a proof for presence of humanity. The Mechanic who helped us in early morning 6 AM repairing the flat tyre, Mr. Ravindra who serviced Samar’s bike 10 Kms away from Siddapura Town on a remote road, Mr. Seetharam Bhat who helped us in Koula Mane Village, The shop keeper (I forgot his name) in Mabige village, Mr. Ilager and his neighbors in Dandeli…thanks to all of them. And finally thanks to Samar who was really wonderful throughout this memorable journey.
Total Distance travel led: Approx 1300 Kms
Trip Details:
10/01/09:
Places visited:
- Gajanur Dam
- Sakkare Bailu
- Honnemaradu (Via talaguppa, choorikatte cross on Jog road)
- Kaula mane (stay)
11/01/09
- Jog falls
- unchalli falls (Via, Siddapura, cholsey cross – heggarane road)
- Manju ghani
12/01/09
- Vobhhoti falls
- Magoda falls
- Sathodi falls
- Shivapura – Ulavi- Dandeli
13/01/09
- Dandeli (kulagi nature camp, sintheri rocks)
- Kudra dam area
- Karwar
- Gokarna
- Kudle beach
- Maravanthe
14/01/09
- Maravanthe
- Karkalla
- Charmadi Ghats
- Belur – Hassan
1 comment:
Nice writeup.. stumbled upon ur blog while i was googling for kakana kote. Lovely pics.. looks like u have a lot of fun during ur bike trips.. wud love to go on a long bike trip during Dec. End. Lemme know ur interests.
Have fun.. Keep writing.. (I've subscribed to ur blog on google reader!)
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