Trek to Koodlu falls - Agumbe

"Agumbe" the chirapunjee of South India is one of the prides of Western ghats. It receives the highest rainfall in south India and located in Shimoga district of Karnataka. The belt of Agumbe has dense forest with rich vegetation. "Malgudi days" is a famous television serial which was directed by Shankar Nag and is based on the novels written by R. K. Narayan were shot in Agumbe. The renowned herpetologist, Romulus Whitaker called Agumbe the capital of King Cobra. An area near Agumbe has been converted into a protected area for Medicinal Plants to help in their conservation
A team of 14 members including myself from AOL India had planned for Agumbe trip. After water sports adventure in sita nadi the next plan was to trek to the koodlu thirtha or koodlu falls, the origin of sita nadi.
The falls is located in the dense forest of Agumbe. It is a day trek and the entire stretch was about a distance of 18KM. Guides from adreno adventure groups accompanied us. The weather was cloudy, the rain was bit normal but not so heavy. We had hired a tempo traveller and all of us reached the base of the trek. We had to apply neem oils and tuck tobacco leaves inside our shoes in order to save from the leach bites. After the initial preparation everyone was set for the trek. The Greenery had soothing affect to one's visions, the beautiful scenic view of dense forest is a feast for the nature lovers. The initial trail is pretty easy and after covering a distance of 5 KM through the woods the trail started to narrow down.
Uprooted trees and stream overflowing on the path were the common sights. The day was bit cloudy and weather was bit humid. We were carried away by the chirping sounds of the birds and splashing water in the streams, its a paradise for the nature lovers.
As the journey progressed we approached the dense forest, the trail started to narrow down and was steep. Crystal clear water in the streams were gushing out with high current. After crossing the streams with some difficulties the tobacco leaves became unusable and the salt was dissolved. The hungry leaches started to attack us, everyone had tough time in managing the leach bites. The steep trail had more uprooted trees, and bit slippery. After ascending the woods we reached the base of koodlu falls.
The koodlu falls is about 70 meters of height and had a roaring sound. The fall seemed to be at its best, overnight rainfall had magnified it. Going near the falls was quite challenging since we had cross the stream. The adreno guys tied the rope from one end to the other, one by one we crossed the streams against the heavy water current with the help of rope. The rocks were slippery and one had to crawl slowly to reach near the falls. The sight near the falls was magnificent. The roaring sound of the falls could make anyone deaf. The chilled water splashed all over us. The sight was amazing, the sparkling water formed a rainbow and entertained us for a while. After spending nearly 30 Min's of time in the falls, we started to return from the falls. The atmosphere was awesome. The trek to koodlu falls can be a good initiative for the non trekkers.

Trek to Kodachadri through Hidlumane falls

Trek to kodachadri through Hidlumane falls in the monsoon is one of my most memorable and chilling experiences so far. The dense forests, hungry leaches, the slippery and lush green trails, creaky termites, thick clouds, tiny streams with gushing waters and creamy mists is the total package for this wonderful adventure.
Kodachadri extends the western ghats and it is located in shimoga district, near to the famous Kollur temple in karnataka. This dense forest is not only rich in flora but also houses for some of the wildest animals like tiger, deer, cheetah, wild cats, bears and bison.
The hiking team had 9 people, Seven of us (Fire IPS alias Yajensh, Bunts, Yash, Sandeep,Sandhya,pavan, myself )started off from bangalore at 8.00pm on 20th June and reached kollur via Siradi ghat at 8AM next day. The overnight journey was not bad, We took a guest house in kollur to refresh ourself and caught a bus to nittur at 8.30AM. Dynamic Raghu akka our Project manager and our guide vijay had promisied us to meet in nittur. After reaching and catching up those guys at nittur, we took some food stuffs and tucked in our bags.

Aalagudu is the starting point for the hidlumane falls-kodachadri trek and its around 1 km from nittur. The initial stretch is pretty straight forward and easy but as you pass by the villages one will be greeted by rich green vegetation and streams with ice cold fresh waters and tiny fishes surfacing over it. A small break in the stream will refresh the journey.
after the village, one has to pass by the dense forest, the stretch is bit slippery since it rained heavily for the last few days. The wet leaves spread across the trail, the creaky termites and our friendly neighborhood leaches welcomes you as one gets deep into the forest. The rich vegetation has everything from jack fruit to wild animals like tiger, bear, bison and cheetah. The weather was pretty calm and much cloudy. The trail to hidlumane falls is not so easy, its quite narrow, and need to cross over by couple of slippery rocks.One has to take the help of uprooted shrubs and roots while crossing the slippery rocks.

The difficulties in reaching the spot was paid off after taking bath in the wonderful hidlumane falls and relaxing under the powerful water gushing out, it will massage one's body and relieve all the pains from the journey. The hidlumane falls could be around 70 to 80 feet of height. It was around 1PM, after taking bath we were hungry for food, we opened up the parceled food items and had everything one by one. Next we had to climb the slippery rocks and move on to the next trail to kodachadri.
We trekked for around 5 KMs in the dense forest and reached the Jeep route of kodachadri. After 30 Min's of walk we reached the top of kodachadri where Kannada film GAALIPATA was shot. The location was awesome, it was around 5.30 PM, the
weather was bit cloudy and windy but there was no rain, the creamy cloud started to engulfing the top of kodachadri from a distance.
One can see the beauty of Western ghats over here. The team rested for a while and after few pose for the photos, we headed towards the kodachadri guest house. The time we reached guest house was totally engulfed by the clouds, the visibility was very low by 6.30PM. We were served by Hot tea and later with awesome dinner. We called off for the day and everyone got into deep sleep.

The guest house is run by karnataka state government and it is located almost at the peak of kodachadri. At 7.00AM the visibility was very bad and with downpour started in the early morning hours the weather was very cold. After having good breakfast, we headed towards Shankarachary's peetha. The entire stretch is once again a feast for one's eyes however, because of heavy mist the visibility was quite poor. Shankaracharya's peeta is located at the top, and one can also see the SunSet point. Folks from nearby state kerla rush to this place in the auspicious days.

Will Movie Gaalipata beat the expectations

Time to review the expectations of mostly awaited Kannada movie "Gaalipata". The film has been released in every corner of karnataka and in the neighbouring states as well. The promos are promising, the songs have become toppers in all the leading kannada channels. Ganesh as usual at his best, new comers show freshness in the promos.Rathnavelu's camera work show new dimenions of kodachadri.

Will all these factors along with the supporting actors like legendary Ananthnag help gaalipata to fly high and break all the jinx and records that were created by mungaru male in comings days.?

Munnar

"Munnar", an emerging tourist destination is located in God's own country Kerla of south India, famous for its lush green shrubs of tea plantation spreads across the hill station.
"Moon -air" as the name coined in Malayalam is the place where the three rivers meet in the valley. In fact this was a summer resort for East India company when they ruled India in those days.
Wild animals like Elephants, tigers, bison, bears were the common sights for the people those days in munnar and hunting was daily "must-do" activity for the Englishmen.


This was captured on the way to munnar from kochi
Munnar is famous for the Tea plantations, and once famous "Kannan devan chai" tea factory is located here. Munnar is easily accessible from roads.
Kochi is the nearest airport, its 130 KM from kochi, Taxi's or buses are available from the airport


Home stays are the best bet for staying in munnar, its quite reasonable compared to those luxurious hotels and one can expect homely food with friendly hospitality. We had stayed in "Rose Garden" a homestay which is located in karadipura around 13km from munnar.


Couple of awesome places which are feast for one's eyes are located in Munnar and I have highlighted few of them which I had visited.

View point

The most breath taking view of the munnar city could be captured here.This place pulls the maximum visitors in the morning and in the dawn. After sunset one can see that whole munnar is covered by thick creamy mist which would make anyone to go ga ga

Top Station.


A trekkers point where people can walk around the woods enjoying the nature beauty. Visitors are not allowed after 6.00 PM because of the wild animals in the woods.
The rich greenery creates an inerasable memories in one's mind.

Tata Tea museum


One can feel and view how tea powder is manufactured from the tea plants. This museum is open for public from 10 AM to 4PM on all days.
A visit to this museum one can witness the nurturing of tea in plantation to the process of manufacturing and packing along with the demo's from the experts.
This museum also heads few of the antics of east India company and the history of munnar.

Eravikulum National park


A beautiful wildlife sanctuary with the provision for safari is provided in this place. If luck is in favor then one can see the Niligiri tahr, a kind of wild goat which are now in extinct could be found in the early morning or late evening of the safari. Anamudi which resembles an elephant's head also a highest point in munnar is here. This breath taking hillocks with lush greenery is spread over 97 sq km in the rajamali hills.

Mattupetty Dam.

A dam built using the mixture of limestone and jaggery over the Mattupetty lake is a beautiful picnic spot with the panoramic view of the tea plantations and the lake. Boating facilities ( speed motor boating and row boating)are available in the lake. This was built using limestone and jaggery in those days and stills looks solid.

Finally, munnar is not only treat for the eyes also a mesmerizing dreams for newly married couple to enjoy the nature and feel one another. That is the reason munnar is one of the hottest honey moon destination

Skandagiri - The Kalavaralli betta ..

The idea of exploring skandagiri was initiated by our dynamic Project Manager Mr Raghu, this had come up in our company lalbagh(Its our company cafteria ).



Let me quickly introduce the place "skandagiri", it is green marshy hillock located in chikkaballapur district of karnataka,Hmmm... its around 60 KMs off Bangalore
Young @ heart, a team of 5 members finaly okeyed for the trek and the day was fixed. It was on september 2 2007 and the weather was cloudy. All of us ( Raghu, Yajneshwara, Naveen and Myself ) had gathered at 6.00 AM in Jaynagar 7th block.
I was a pillon rider to Raghu, later Shaik Joined us near hebbal. We had heavy breakfast at a darshini in yelahanka.



Journey to Chikkaballapur on the newly constructed 8 lane road was awesome, we never felt that we should stop in between for a break. We reached chikkaballapur around 8.0clock.
You might wonder what Skandagiri means to the local people. Actually skandagiri is called as kalavara betta. I believe Kalavara was the name of the local ruler in the past.

We had stuffed enough eatables and water bottle in our bags. Parking for two/four wheelers is avaliable in the foot of skandagiri, You can a find Papagni matt at the base of skandagiri. The road was muddy because of heavy downpour on the previous day.
One can see the mighty hillock at the base as an easy approachable way with spiral path. From the base, this hillock looks like an easy doable trek, but i have to eat my words back after reaching the top. All we have done that we had underestimated this hillock.

Initially we had met a villager and asked for the route, he just pointed his finger towards the hillock probably we misunderstood his directions or our bad luck, we started to ascend the nearby hillock to skandagiri.
This was our first mistake, because of our over confidence within ourself.
After climbing the bushy hillock for an hour we came to know we nowhere can reach skandagiri from this route. As we could see that a thick creamy cloud had already covered the western side of skandagiri. Man !!! the time was just 11 AM.

After much thinking we had to descend, to our luck we could see people still making towards the hillock luckily somehow we managed to get onto the right track.

It was getting more sunny and we finally reached the top at 2.00 PM. We knew that we had missed the early morning mists because of our misadventure. We could see bunch of trekkers enjoying the lovely scenery, We had our snacks and rested for a while capturing beautiful scenerys in our camera's meantime the weather was warm and bit cloudy.

Finally after resting for a while we decided to descend, and gradually weather turned into cloudy and the place turned out to be a totally dark. Ah...suddenly...it started to drizzle ...we ran for a cover, and all of a sudden there was a heavy downpour we were all drenched. The surface became more slippery and somehow we managed to grip the ground.
Alas !!! we were in the heaven, all of a sudden we could see the thick clouds surfacing gradually on us. It was dream come true for us. Minutes to pass, we were all covered by the thick cream of mist, it was unforgottable moment for all us. We danced, and merely enjoyed those those unforgetable moments for an hour.
It was getting darker and we decided to reach the base at the earlist.
Each one of us had rejuvented with this trek, We left skandagiri around 6.30PM. Back in bangalore we dozed off with the thoughts of creamy mist in our mind. Yeah, Kalavaralli betta is a place for the people who want to disappear in the creamy mist and be a part of the nature.

Poornachandra tejaswi research centre petition

Poornachandra Tejaswi the son of Rastra Kavi kuvempu was a prominent kannada writer and novelist. His contribution to kannada literature is immense. Please sign the petition for the Poornachandra tejaswi research centre. This is a novel method to remember one of the legendary kannada write and do please spread this message.

http://www.petitiononline.com/Tejasvi/petition.html

Savandurga on sunny afternoon

Life was standstill for me when Bangladesh beat India in the opening match of 2007 world cup cricket. I wanted a break and refresh my mind from the shock, so on sunday afternoon I decided to explore Savandurga, a rocky place situated in between Magadi and Ramanagaram of Karnataka. I had been there couple of years back with my Web Spectrum friends, however I couldn't’t make it to the peak. This time was alone, I took my two wheelers for a lazy afternoon ride. I had just tucked in 1 liter of water bottle and a pound of bread in my bag along with a handy camera.
I left at around 1.15pm, the road was pretty calm, however it was dry though scenic with a view of other rocks situated on the way. It could be around 60kms from Bangalore. I reached savandurga at 3.00pm, I could see couple of enthusiastic college goers gathered at the foothills of Savandurga. The sky was crystal clear, I parked my two wheelers under the shade and headed towards the foothill. Its hardly 500mts of walk till you reach the base of the mighty rock. Aaah...what a pleasant look from the down, It can make anyone nervous. I was staring at the rock, it was sun bathing and welcoming the rock climbers with a challenging smile.I started to ascend the rock, well I could feel my feet getting heavier and body breathing faster. I stopped after 30 Min's of stretch. I had to rest under the sun soaked rock.
In the second stretch you could find some shades, the beauty of Ramanagara rocks are real treat for the eyes from here. After few Min's of breaks ( Snacks & Snaps ) I proceeded further and finally mantap, I could see a lake with quite greenish water in it.
To reach the peak you need to crawl and move under the mighty rocks. It's quite chilling experience for me as I was alone On reaching top one could see a beautiful nandi, and a magnificent view of the nearby rocks and a warm breeze healing your tiredness. I enjoyed the view and stayed till 5.00 PM roughly around an hour in the top. I heard that when its getting darker wild animals like Bear's and foxes would make their presence at the top. I started to descend at 5.05 PM and reached the base at 5.50PM. A trip to Savandurga would make any one's day a memorbale one.

Moon light trek to Kumara Parvatha

Wow, Finaly the day had come for "Kumara Parvatha" Moonlight trek populary known as KP.
Luckily this time i was part of the moonlight trekking after missing the earlier ones. I was determined to make it this time and was phyiscally/mentally prepared, coz I knew that KP was one of the toughest trekking spots that i have ever seen or been.

KP is situated in kukke subramany of South kanara district and about 5000 ft from the sea level. It belongs to the western Ghat mountain range. It was summer and Our packed bags had "ready to eat MTR foods packets, bread &Jam, Torch, Sleeping bags & limited clothes.We ( Chandan@PHILIPS, Nagarag@TATAELXI, Sujeevan@PHLIPS, Avinash@TATAELXI, Ravishankar@AOL ) five of us boarded the bus from KSRTC bus station. We got the seats and unfortunately it was in the last row. The road was pretty bad and bumpy, however it was fun travelling in the bus seated in the last row. We reached kukke early morning at 7.00 AM.

As usual, we had our breakfast (without brushing) we started off at 8.00 AM from kukke. The total distance from kukke to KP is around 18 KM's. The first stretch is ascending the forest, is quite tough one, I was really felt fainting when I walked continusouly for 30 mins ...coz i was the last one trailing in our gang. I believe it took nearly 4 hrs to reach Bhattr'u mane after intermediate breaks etc etc. We reached bhatru mane at round 12.15 PM. We had good food and slept in bhatru thota for nearly 2 hrs. We left bhatru mane at 4.00 PM and started to ascend KP.
With new rules and regulations we had to pay Rs 70 per head to the forest officials . We reached Mantapa around 6.30PM. We nearly rested till 8.00PM when finally Moon came on top of us after escaping from the cluthes of the dark dusky clouds ... It was really a treat for my eyes. I could see the whole KP glistening by the moonlight.....We started to ascend further, It was cool breeze that soothed our sweating body. We reached shesha parvatha at 11.00PM, We dined with the MTR ready to eat food packets. We further climbed to reach the peak of KP. Finally we rested y over there and quietly tucked into our sleeping bags. It was the day of lunar eclipse, Around 3AM I could see Moon partially covered by Sun. I dozed quickly only to get up in morning to find the clear sky awaiting for the sun to start his day....It was awesome. After having bed tea, we started to descend KP at 8.30AM. Wow the sight from the KP top is just amazing, All I wanna say that KP is just amazing.

Movies -Mungaru Male

The above lines from the song could make any people to naturally bound to this film. Do people involve themselves in a character while watching the movie.? Well then watch Mungaru Male, i believe in recent years this is the only Kannada movie which provides good entertainment with lilting music, great lyrics, simple storyline, few funny moments, natural dialogue, awesome photography and gripping narration. Interestingly climax was quite interesting and made this movie a unique among the rest of them.
It revolves around the happy go lucky college drop out boy Preetham who accompanies his mother to the hilly area of Madikeri to attend a wedding. He falls for a girl without knowing who she is, and it is only after that he realises that what is he up to and how he is respected by the families and his sense of responsibilities makes him that he is trustworthy to the girls family members.
The film is shot in the rainy season of stunning Shakaleshpura, Madirkeri, Shimoga regions of karnataka. The photography really rocks especially the scene of Jog falls, which is breath taking and stunning.