Long time since I had been out traveling.. This was a sudden plan.. A sudden thought came up our mind looking at weather.. A very gloomy gloomy climate just perfect for long drives. So all decided.. let go.. But where?? Hmm few friends suggested skhandagiri treck some said Talakadu some said Hogenikal falls.
So we decided falls is a better options instead of just seeing a few clouds and hills.. Water seems more interesting to me always.. Ok Lets GO!!!
The very typical of me.. No sense of responsibility. Guys being more of the sensible types and I trust enough to let them decide.. So I just went along with the idea to take the shorter route which is around 150 kms. The 150 kms drive from Bengaluru via on Hosur road till attipalle, via Thally, Denkanikottai, Anchetty is a novel experience except a stretch of 10 – 15 kms at the end..
The trip was planned such that we had to leave early and return back early as we were not very certain of the road and how easy would be for us to ride on bike for such a long stretch.. Which was a good decision, as I kept cribbing every one hour wanting to get down and walk a little bit.. :D.. We left in morning by 7:30 and reached DenkaniKottai around breakfast time and ate at a small restaurant.. Pretty decent place as I am still fit and fine.. ;) And reached Hogenikkal Falls by 11:30.
The moment you reach, you can expect people to approach you to take you boating on those lovely swirling boats.. But the bargaining part.. I am really bad with such things. If I need to bargain I could not come down by 1 rupee but instead might end up paying higher.. So my friend who had said he is really good with such stuff bargained from 600 and paid 500.. Not sure if that was a good bargain or not. But I can bet you I would have been worse.. :P So off we went on the boat.. One suggestion, find someone who knows Tamil. I had my guide to talk tuta phuta tamil .. he he.. The boat takes you a little far and then you need to walk down the stream where the boat is set up again to take you through rest of the journey.. If you want to get wet, the best is to request the boat man to take you close to falls and get wet sitting in your boat. Which we did not realize till the journey was almost completed. We assumed the island side water will be good to enjoy(which turned out to be a disastrous decision). The falls is beautiful! There are several small ones and few big ones. But all of them have the same spell bounding effect on you. If you are a fish lover.. Its just your lucky day.. They sell fresh cooked fish though I did not eat it. It smelled good. Yeah Yeah I eat fish but the company matters and I decided to be nice and not eat once in life time..
Other than the boat ride there is a hanging bridge. It’s nothing great about it but decent. Few things we learnt the hard way was don’t buy anything to eat.. Too many monkeys to snatch from your hand and snare at you.. They can really scare you.. And I am telling I was scared shit!!! Shouting and running.. In all the mess I fell into water nothing serious. Lucky enough a photo of me fallen into water was not taken.. Decent people around me.. ;) .. Also gals not a place you can enjoy either.. No place to enjoy the water. Guys everywhere showing off not their best looks ;). The Food!!! Oh yeah .. Veggies you better carry something to eat else you will starve yourself.
The journey back was even more adventurous. The prediction for the day was sunny as per the weather site which was true till 4 in the evening. But after that it was time for some heavy rains. And we were so well prepared that we did not bother carrying raincoats or jackets or umbrellas.. ha ha .. So stopped under a Tree.. Hmm with really heavy rains.. No use.. Head to toe we were drenched in the rains.. But that added to the whole fun of eating at a local stall really hot Bonda and having hot tea.. What a pleasure that was!!! You just then forget you are cold and shivering.. You just will tend to relish that moment ignoring all the oldies around staring at a gal who is so drenched in rain..
I was lucky the climate was great for a trip like this. But it is beautiful on the way too. So even if it’s not raining or gloomy it’s a trip worth making may be not on Bike but definitely a trip worth going. Happy traveling!!