Dudhsagar - 2nd version!

May 13th - Planned
May 15th - Finalized the date
May 30th - Booked the tickets for 21 people
August 2nd - Few people met to discuss on food stuffs
August 9th - Another meet to finalize the things

Finally, August 14th :- Sharp 8'0 clock the Yeshwantpur railway station was filled with people but the trekking group are still on their way. At 9.30 PM everybody is in the train compartment. Another 10 minutes, the train will leave Bangalore.

12'0 clock midnight :- most of them are sound asleep as the train moves, but there are few people who are wide awake chit chatting.

7 AM, 15th aug :- Reached Hubli, I brushed my teeth at the station and got into the train. Stomach was quite hungry. Ate bread and jam. Joined the group who were playing Anthakshari, I was not sleeping nor I was not singing but I was listening. :)
Thankfully after an hour or so the game ended, and I was so happy.. :P
Londa station arrived, another hour to reach Castle rock. An hour went by very soon and we reached Castle rock. The same station where we had started the last year DDS trek. This time the plan was different. We had plans to reach Kulem and then trek back from there.
When the train started, few of us sat at the door of the compartment and enjoyed watching the sceneric beauty of the place. Around 10.15 AM, we passed through the Dudhsagar water falls. Amazing, beautiful and wonderful as same as before though there was less water pouring down this time it still had the beauty in it. The very same attraction which made us to visit it again.

10.45 AM :- Reached Kulem, distributed the food stuffs and rest of the things. It was time to celebrate independence day. Raised the flag and celebrated the day in our way. With a wrist band of flag and sweets to eat, we enjoyed a different way of celebrating it.

11.30 AM:- Started trekking towards the fall. Passing by the forest and beauty of the nature it was our second experience. It started raining very heavily in between. My umbrella and the rain jacket was of no use at all. It did help a bit in saving my poor bag.

2 PM :- Lunch time! I was already late when I reached a small station where the rest of the team had finished their lunch. Credit goes to my legs which were not at all moving fast. Had Roti and Chapathi with variety of curries. I didnt even realize I was sitting on a ladder which was kept in a tilted mode. I just crashed down from the ladder when it broke all because of me. I didnt dare to sit anywhere after that.

4'o clock :- View of the falls every now and then making us more energetic to walk fast. With snaps shot everywhere we got close to the falls. This time I didnt wanted to be left behind from watching the beauty, hence moved so fast that I reached first with 3 more people. I dumped my backpack and other stuffs near one corner and went to every place I could, near to the falls to enjoy its glory. There were lot many people this time and the place was mostly covered with garbage things here and there.

5 PM :- No sign of other people, guessed that they might have got down into one of the streams flowing by for a dip. Madhukar came in search for us to ask us to come and join them. We went back with our backpacks to the place where the stream was. Already everyone had finished their bath. We got in and enjoyed the cold water bath in the bath tub.. ;)

6PM :- I trekked back again to Dudhsagar with few others and rest of the people were already pitching the tents by then. There was another group of guys who had occupied ther upper portion of the shed house so the tents were pitched at the bottom. I quickly got freshened up and had a nice time walking here and there. Exploring the place again with those moments that I had last year with fresh new ones.

8.30 PM :-Time for dinner. I ate chapathi with MTR curry and also had MTR sambhar rice. My dinner was over I went inside my tent to relax a bit. I was in no mood to come out as it was cozy inside and I was also very tired. But rest of the people had planned to gather outside for chit chatting and I badly wanted to go and enjoy with them. We sat on a brickbuilt place like a round table conference and started talking and shouting. We could not decide what exact game we can all play and hence finally thought of doing a brief introduction of everyone. It was fun talking and knowing more about each. After lot of jokes and talks, I went and slept off by around 11.30 PM.

6.30 AM :- It was pretty much warm inside the tents though I had expected it to be very cold in the morning. I came out and could see few people already awake. I had a small walk beside the falls on the train track and after an hour, few of us went to Dudhsagar station to enquire about the train which would take us to Kulem. On the way, we had a nice time with the photographers who were busy clicking our snaps on all possible places.
We came to know that there is a passenger train which would pass by 11 AM which would drop us at Kulem. We thought we might take a goods train or something which would be completely a new experience. With options in our mind, we went back to the base camp and got ready. We quickly had our breakfast which was bread with jam and pickle and i ate so many chocalates early in the morning. We cleared all the stuffs from there and came to Dudhsagar station again at sharp 10.45 AM.

Because the passenger train came early we had to go in that and couldnt wait for any goods train. :( we reached Kulem at 12 PM and walked along the track to find a place near the flowing water. We went inside some jungle cafe and found a place where we could play in the flowing water. But unlucky time, it started raining all of a sudden and made me wet all over again. I had a tough time protecting my stuffs. We got a place to keep our backpacks and so dumped everything and went to play. We enjoyed playing in the water though I was not very comfortable this time as I was feeling very cold. I didnt get into water much. Just sat and watched and few dips inside. By around 2 PM, we all were out and were almost dried up. We had our lunch at the same place and this time it was yummy as we ate MTR ready to eat rice items like bisibele baath, pongal etc with chapathi and curry.

3PM :- Few went in search of fish curry and rest of us took complete rest and we all gathered again at Kulem station at sharp 4 PM. The one most thing which we all did everytime was talking, so whenever possible we were chit chatting. The train was supposed to arrive at 4.35 PM until then we went on with this and that topics.

4.40 PM :- Train arrived. We had to run to the last compartment which was reserved for us and we finally settled down to our seats after we got into it. Train started moving after 5 mins and we came across the same tunnels and same falls again on the way back. With howlings and shoutings while crossing the tunnels, we were exhausted but still had that potential to enjoy the train journey.

6 PM :- We started playing dumb charades and it was so much fun that everyone enjoyed playing it. The whole compartment was shaking and growling with our noises that probably our neigbhour people out there might have been scolding us inside their minds.
The train had stopped for more than an hour at Londa and we didnt even realize to peek outside. We went on playing and enjoying.

I was shocked to see the time when it showed 9.30 PM. Time to sleep? and then we will get up in the morning and go back home? :( sad part ...
So I tried to be awake as much as I could to enjoy the most. People were tired of playing Dumb charades so they all opted for anathakshari. I knew i would sleep off in little time if we started this game but all started it and went on singing. I couldnt keep myself awake after this. I took small naps there itself every now and then and finally I realized I didnt have dinner. I was afraid that I might feel hungry in the middle of the night so tried to fetch something on coming station. We couldnt find anything nor I wanted to buy junk food so had a bit of cold pongal. I badly wanted to shut my eyes then so finally at around 12 PM, I went to the upper birth and slept off...
zzzzzzzzzz....

6.30 AM :- No idea at which place I was. I got up and brushed my teeth and sat down yawning. Everyone woke up and all gathered after getting freshen up. Few had energy to talk and few did not. We reached Tumkur by 7.30 AM and I started eating chocalates as I felt hungry.

9 AM :- Reached Yeshwantpur Railway station. Time to depart. Bid good byes to all and went on my way to my hostel at RT Nagar!

Total People: 19
Names: Deepika, Ashwini, Sindhu, Jaggu, Sudhir, Vishnu, Rashmi, Madhu Gopal, Madhu karuthedath, Prasanna, Madhukar, Karthik, Sathya, Chethan, Harish, Bishu, Peter, Raghavendra and myself!

Further note: Dudhsagar is truly amazing BUT now the place will no longer remain beautiful as the place is getting destroyed by people. We could see all sorts of garbage and unwanted things thrown near the falls. We even came across with people who came there to drink and enjoy dancing. Presently, every weekend there are minimum of 500 people visiting the falls. Last time we went, there was not even a single soul. Looks like every individual who visits the place is destructing this beauty (including us).

P.S: This is just a personal thought of mine. I'm not pointing to any individual person.

P.P.S: It was indeed another best times out there! Different from first yet both the times it was truly best.

P.P.P.S: Pics from Chethan; Madhu karuthedath; Prasanna; Sathya

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta!

Madhu and Neeta were planning for an outing in the weekend. They involved me too and three together started deciding on the places. Lot of places were listed but after a lot of thinking and chatting. We freezed on Himavad Gopal Swamy Betta!

Himavad Gopal Swamy Betta is a hill located in the Chamarajanagar district of the state of Karnataka and around 220 kms from Bangalore. It lies in the area of Bandipur National Park and is frequented by wild life. The the prefix Himvad is due to dense fog which covers the hill all through the year.

The final list included nearly 14 people. We had planned to leave Bangalore the day before so that we can get much time to spend near the hills. At around 11.30, we left Bangalore and were on the Mysore road talking and shouting. In no time, most of the people were asleep. Me too :)
The journey was for about 4+ hours. We reached the foot of the hill at around 4 in the early morning. As Madhu had already taken permission to enter the forest department at that time, we had no issues going further. The way to the top of the hill was quite jerky as it was kind of steep in some places and the driver had a difficult time to keep the vehicle moving on. As we were near to the destination, the engine of the vehicle went off and the brakes weren't enough to halt the vehicle from moving backward. The vehicle moved for nearly 20 feet behind and with a great thud it did stop near a pit. Thankfully we had a great relief! After 10 minutes of struggling, the vehicle started and we were off again in the early morning.

At around 5. 15 we reached the top of the hill. We got down to find ourselves in middle of a hilly forest with a twinkling moon on the sky and very chill breeze all over. We could see the temple and the hills which were surrounded near by. We made our way to Inspector Bungalow which was 2 minutes of walk from the temple. As we were unable to find the concerned person near the place, we had a good time walking to the temple and again back to guest house. At last, we were inside helping ourselves with our bags and stuffs!

We had quite a good bit of introduction in the early hours of 6 AM. We were feeling sleepy but had no intention of sleeping. It was the time when the sun rises and nobody would like to miss it. We went out again leaving our bags behind, on the path leading to the temple and found ourselves to be in between the rise of the sun on one side and moon going behind on the opposite. As few were taking shots of the wonderful sight, we went further to explore a better view of the hill and surroundings.


As we reached back of the temple, we could see many more hills in a clear view where the clouds were on the foot of the hills. Quite an amazing view. As the moon was left behind without any clue we could see the sun rising to the opposite. We went further for a walk to the next hill and were quite far from the temple when we looked behind. Trying to spot some wild animals in the forest we headed further without much noise. At last where we thought of heading backwards, few people found an animal very far ahead. But unfortunately, we couldn't recognize what animal it was at first. The animal was moving very slowly and hence, we thought that it must some rock first but dropped that thinking when we could see more clearly when it was gazing nicely. With two minds, thinking either it must be elephant or a bison, we tried to move little further. We could finally recognize it to be bison! After few clicks here, we headed back to the our base camp which was temple.

We reached back the guest house at around 9 and quickly got fresh so that we can go next to the temple. After darshan, we came out and were waiting to have our breakfast as we were all very hungry. We came to know that it will take some time for them to serve the breakfast as they were supposed to do the temple rituals and then distribute the prasadas. So we had a good time playing dum charades though our stomachs were playing cats and rats game! :D

At around 12 o'clock we finished the breakfast and were back to the guest house all set for our trekking around the place. There was a guide who was supposed to take us for the trek and we quickly started our trek following him. He took us all the way round the place covering most of the places. The place is said to be having a no of wild animals which includes Tiger, Elephants, Spotted deer, Sambar, Wild dog etc. We were expecting to see atleast one of these on the way.

After half an hour of the trek, we saw spotted deer. The guide asked us to keep quite and watch it as it might run off hearing the voices (or seeing the city faces :P) . Most of the people couldn't see it as it went off as soon we noticed it. We were quite far from our starting point and were already tired to move further. We were taking rest every now and then. The guide showed us the place which is at the foot of the hill where we were standing and said that it is the place where most of the tiger resides and the place also has few den. Further he gave an explanation which scared me. He told that if the tiger is hungry it might walk for 25 kms in search of its food. That means we were standing in an unsafe place in the middle of the jungle. Well, thankfully nothing of that sort happened. We went further which is the place of elephants. The place was covered with high bushes and we finding it difficult to walk. We could see lot of elephant dungs here and there. It means that we were again in a risky place where anytime we can come across straight to the elephant. I would have loved to see an elephant from far there but didn't come across any. According to the guide, from past few days most of the elephants have gone further in to the jungle in search of water or river.

Just after little time, we saw Sambar! Atleast we were lucky enough to spot some deers and sambars. It was in a group and we could see it starring at us from a distance. In no time, all of them disappeared. There was a small stream passing by at the foot of that hill and we took rest there for 10 minutes. We had come all the way down for atleast more than 8 kms and now our turn was to climb back. According to the guide we had to climb 4 kms. We went on climbing the hill which was the difficult part. We used to take break every 10 minutes of walk and finally could see the tip of the hill where our trek ends. We went as fast as possible and again we came across huge bushes which was quite thick than before and had a great time howling and struggling to walk further. After a great effort we did reach the last hill which is exactly the same place that we had visited in the morning.

We went back to the guest house rejoicing that we did cover up a great trekking place. As it was so hot, we didn't really notice that our skin was burning. We got fresh in no time and were waiting to have our late lunch. The lunch was ready and we ate it without any energy left in our body. As people were busy packing their stuff. I went to take a quick rest and was sound asleep. It was Neeta who woke me up when all were ready to move out. I had hardly slept for 5 minutes but felt like I slept more than an hour. :D

I came out with my bag when I saw people were having a good time starting the tempo pushing and running. I did enjoy watching it. With another few pushes, the vehicle roared up and all of us where in talking and shouting. We were now heading back to Bangalore. Hearing to music and playing dum charades along the way was again a great fun. By the time we reached Bangalore it was 11.30 PM.

P.S: We were totally 14 people which included me, Neeta, Madhu, Saravana, Prabhu, Rajesh, Aparna, Nithin, Shoubith, Veeresh, Vasu, Veeresh's frnd, Shaubhik and the driver Raju.
To the Gang: Thanks for all the people who made it wonderful and also for the people who took the snaps.
Photos: Click here to check the pics from Shaubik.

Ratnagiri - The Ruined Fort

This trek to Ratnagiri was organised by YHAI (Youth Hostel Association of India). It was Neeta who asked me whether I would be interested to join this trek with her.

According to the plan by YHAi we all met up at KSTRC bus stand from where we were supposed to catch a bus which goes to Madhugiri. After a brief introduction of everyone we caught the last bus to Madhugiri. Madhugiri is just 3 to 4 hours from Bangalore but due to heavy traffic in Bangalore we reached there in the mid nyt at around 2 AM. YHAI group had already arranged for the accomdation over night. We went to the house where we were supposed to take rest until morning. As the sky was so clear with stars shining all around, we felt like sleeping on the terrace. First, we thought there is no staircase, so climbed from the window and reached the terrace. Most of them tried the same when at last one found the staircase from behind and came through there.

Nobody could sleep as it was very chill night with the stars smiling at us. After an hour or so, we realized that it is not possible to sleep there as the weather turned to be truly cold and it did not let us to sleep. So we came back to the house below and slept there for few more hours. Early morning we got ready to move to our trekking spot which was Ratnagiri. We had thatte idli and kesaribath for breakfast with a truly hot cup of coffee. We left the house and went on to catch the bus to Ratnagiri. As we were waiting, the tempo traveler's insisted to take a ride in tempo and reach Ratnagiri. Chandru sir thought its a gud idea and hence all got into the tempo. It was great ride having fun and chatting all the way to Ratnagiri.


We reached Ratnagiri very early as it was just more than 40 minutes of the way. We could see the hilly fort from a long distance itself. We got down from the tempo and headed towards the Ratnagiri village. As this is the border of Andhra Pardesh, most of the people were speaking in Telugu. We took the path that leads to the Ratnagiri fort. We crossed the village filled with small huts and houses which looks like it had been built very long back. Few children started walking along with us and it was gr8 talking to them on the way. Started trekking towards the fort. Children were curious to know why have we come from so long to walk towards the fort as it means nothing to them. It was quite difficult to explain them what is the value of the fort. As we walked up the hill, we could see the village from there and many other hills which were next to it. Every place looked quite old and worth. With lots of clicks from each camera we went ahead.
We reached the top when it was too sunny as it was afternoon.

We saw so many historical things that I hardly remember any names [Wink] It was time for us to come back. With so many shots, posing here and there we climbed down the hill. We reached back to the village in no time as getting down is much easier. We had a quick lunch in the village under the shade of a huge tree. We also could eat fresh groundnuts in the village as people there grow it in their fields. We took the tempo in which we came in the morning and headed towards Madhugiri. It was nearly in the evening when we reached Madhugiri. Most of us wanted to climb the hill which was in Madhugiri as well but there was no time left as we ought to reach back Bangalore before late night.

We went to the same house where we had slept the other night. Packed the bags, freshed up and left the house to catch the bus back to Bangalore. As most of the buses were full, we had no choice than going via different route this time. We went through Tumkur and took another bus from there. It was nearly 10'o clock when we reached Bangalore. Leaving the historical place behind we started our way back to our respective homes. Back to office the next day, with only memories of the previous day with those pics to keep the experience still alive.

About YHAI: YHAI (Youth Hostel Association of India) is a trusted non profit organization. For more information regarding the organization, you can check the web site YHAI, India. They usually conduct trekking programme from time to time. You can also join the YHAI group for the latest updates regarding the trekking programmes they conduct at Yahoo Groups.

DudhSagar!

I came through the community called "Bangalore Trekkers' where there was a thread related to Backpacking. As I badly wanted to get away from the Bangalore life for few days, this was a way.

Karthik who was planning for Dudhsagar trek in the month of August is the organizer of Nisarga. I included myself in this trek and went along with them.
Departure was on Friday night from the Yeshwantpur, Bangalore railway station. We crossed Tumkur, Hubli, Dharwad and at last reached Castle Rock station at around 10'clock the next morning i.e 9th of August.

We had upma in the station and started heading towards the DudhSagar Falls at around 10.30. Carrying the heavy backpack with the sleeping bags and tents, we started to move on the track. We came across so many streams, bridges, more than 10 tunnels. It was drizzling but not raining heavily. Walking and walking we were getting tired. Every now and then we used to take breaks, munch the bread or some tit bits, taking photos of wonderful scenery, streams and trains which were passing by, as well as wave to the people travelling in train. As we were completely exhausted we were waiting when we will reach our destination. We could hear Karthik saying still one more hour to go. But it passed more than 3 to 4 hours but still no DudhSagar turned up. We crossed Karnataka border and stepped into Goa.

At around 5.30 we stopped at one place where there was a small empty hut. Karthik prepared Spicy Beaten Rice mix. He served us all in a plate with pickle. We were so tired that we ate it completely. A passer by said that the falls is just around half an hour more. Everyone were too lazy too start the trek again but still we had to. We all started again with ufffs of sounds... Suddenly it started raining heavily that we couldnt walk any further. The DudSagar station was just around the corner. So we al ran there to take the shelter. The station was really a very small place. The station master said that the falls is just 10 mins from there and we need to cross the last tunnel there.. We also came to know that due to landslide the trains are not passing by. We dumped our bags in the railway station itself leaving few guys there as they were not feeling well to come along with us. It was already 6.30 by then. We took our cameras and started to walk again in the rain. We crossed the last tunnel.

We were just near to the falls that we could hear the voice. First we thought there must be some train coming so we moved away from the track and went on. But no train turned up instead we could hear the tremondous falls. We reached the falls at last! We were on the bridge which is basically where the train passes usually. We were all stuck up seeing the falls as it was a marvellous sight. The falls didnt look like a simple one. As the name itself it was like Dudh(Milk). We were completely wet now both due to rain as well as the falls. That doesnt mean that we stepped into the falls. We never did that. There was actually no way for us to go and enter the falls. It was the heavy breeze which made falls water pour out everywhere. There was a small house right next to the falls on the left side. And another on the right side which was a bit far ahead. We planned to spend our night there near the falls than in the railway station. So we went back to the station and got our bags. We again reached the same spot.

We went to the house to put up our tents and spend our night there. Unfortunately, the house was completely filled with water. We started getting worried about the perfect place to put up the tent. Then we went to the next one which was right side of the falls but across the bridge. It was more like a tree house. Guys started working to put the tents right. We all were completely tired by then and waiting to take rest. When the tents were put up we just went inside and never dared to come out as it was warm inside. Nobody was hungry or may be nobody wanted to be hungry. Just ate the remaining bread and dozed off. Not sure whether everybody slept coz I could hear many shouting and whimpering that their tents were flying due to heavy breeze. I was worried whether I myself would fly of.. Even the sheet which was put upon our tent flew and we got completely wet. We put it straight and again tried to sleep. This time we were not getting sleep coz we were completely wet. We could hear some engines passing by and a train passing by too. May be some of them came in my dreams.

Morning when I woke up I could hear shouts and yells asking us to wake up. We were frightened as whats happening. When we came out from our tents and saw the falls. We coudnt believe our eyes as of now the bridge was covered up completely by the falls. I had never seen such a heartbreaking falls. We were still wet and we had no idea what is going to happen the next moment. Few guys went to the station back to enquire about the available trains as they were no trains passing by due to the landslides. We had no idea whether we would reach Bangalore by Monday morning. Still, we were too exited to think about the later happenings. We were busy taking snaps. Preparing coffee. Eating the remaining tit bits. The guys returned back with the news that due to another landslide the trains are still delayed. Then came so many plans as of what to do next. Few ideas were like walk back to the castle rock and board a train from there. If not, go to the next station ahead and reach Goa. Though there were lots of ideas pouring out, we had not idea that what we are going to do.

Anyhow, we packed our bags and started moving ahead. Hoping to reach back to Bangalore the next day. We came across two more tunnels which were close by and then we saw many workers clearing the pathway of track. May be that was the place where the landslide ocurred though am not sure about it. We could see DudhSagar from that place in a better view. It was truely astonishing this time. After all this DudhSagar excitement over we started to think about our way back to Bangalore. In between the workers there was a guy from railway department with whom Karthik asked more details about when they might get the train back. He said that there is a train which is going to pass by any moment which is heading back. So we thought we can reach Castle rock atleast. So the guy said that he will help and he stopped the train and we got into it. There were so many compartments that was empty so we got into one of them. We threw all our bags and tents in one place. We were supposed to pass the same falls again. So we waited eagerly for the last view of the falls. The falls appeared again and we again got completely wet when the falls water entered inside the train.

Later, we passed DudhSagar station and all the place that we had come through walking in just around little time. Just around 20 minutes, we reached the Castle Rock station. Few guys went to enquire whether we will be able to board the same train or wait for the other. The person who helped us was also there. He said he will take care and asked us to reach bangalore in the same train. Well, I remember his name. He was Mr. Aadesh Sharma, the person who helped us to reach Bangalore at the earliest. We waved him good bye and went on in the same train. We enjoyed talking and sharing our experience happened till now. Played Anthakshari. There was a family who were travelling from Goa to Bangalore. We started talking to them and shared our whole experience with them. There were two kids with whom we enjoyed the most. Time passed by. We crossed Hubli, Dharwad and Tumkur. At last, reached Bangalore by around 11'o clock in the night. Back to home and back to our routine life. Waved good bye to all our trek mates and hoping that we would go again for another adventure soon.

The great adventure that I had and moreover very dangerous coz we were sleeping next to the falls. The only means of transportation was train. Nothing else. Truely superb experience. Cheers to all the people who made it true and lively!!!


Further addition: Our trek to DudhSagar on 9th and 10th of August, 2008 was the best ever! Truely mindblowing with totally 16 people. i.e Karthik, Shiva, Madhukar, Shilpa, Rajesh, Saravana, Madhu karuthedath, Rashmi, Prabhu, Prasanna, Jagadish, MadhuGopal, Peter, Pranjal, Srikanth.... and at last myself..!
Karthik on the lead, Shiva as his assistant, three madhu's, three girls and many others.. totally a heap of trekkers had an amazing time during the monsoon.

Pics from Jagadish; Pranjal; Prasanna; Madhu kutty.

Trek to Onake Abbi Falls

In the early days of the year 2006 during my second year of college, we friends trekked to Onake Abbi Falls. Onake Abbi Falls which is in Agumbe, often referred to as the Cheerapunji of South India.

It was one of my friend who suggested to visit this falls as it is near to her house. As it was my first trek, I was not sure what all I need to carry. I left my house wearing salwar with a bag of things what I felt necessary. We were more than 20 people in which most of them thought of meeting at Manipal Tiger Circle.
We took a bus which goes to Shimoga via agumbe route and were supposed to get down in Someshwara which is at the foot of Agumbe ghats. It took nearly more than an hour when we reached someshwara. Our friend was already waiting near the bus stop. We first went to her house, met her parents and then bought few eatable things from a shop. Her parents had already packed pulav for all of us. There were two guides who are actually known person to that friend of mine were carrying the pulav and some extra water bottles.

We started our trek at around 11 AM. Firstly, the way was like we had to pass in between the village and then it was a small path leading to the forest. The path finally turned into a rough way were we started climbing the hill. As it was climbing we were completely exhausted in just 20 minutes and were continuosly asking the guides how far we need to walk further. The guides were only telling just a little more. It was more than 1 hour that we started trekking and as we were freshers in trekking all were feeling it difficult to continue walking. The guide was giving few information regarding the place. But I could hardly hear him as I was myself feeling difficult in walking that too wearing a salwar. The path turned to a hilly steep which made us walk using sticks so that we will get the grip when climbing.

It was said that since 2005, Naxalite, activity has been observed near Agumbe. Most of them were worried including me thinking if Naxalites turn up infront of us what shall we do? With a pinch of fear we moved on. Whenever we hear some stream sound, we used to be exited thinking that we reached the falls but the guide used to disppoint us telling that it is just a stream somewhere down and we will reach the falls in little time. One of my friend started making pranks to me telling that after I reach back from this trek I need to call up his parents and tell that he will not be coming back as he cant walk back all the way down so he has planned to stay there itself. I was getting worried whether I will reach back?

After lot of huffs and uffffs, we finally reached some rocky area where we could see the falls in the distance. We came to know that falls in the just above the rocks and started jumping and climbing the rocks. After another 10 to 15 minutes we reached the falls and we were happy to see the falls after a lot of effort. It nearly took us 2 and half hours to reach this falls from someshwara. As most of us were not used to this trekking, it looked like we had a hard time struggling our way upto the falls.

As the name tells "Onake" means a pounding stick which is used to pound grains in villages. The falls looked like a thin stick falling from up above. Two guys already plunged into the water and were yelling at us to come and join them. In no time, all of them were enjoying the cool water. How much ever you struggle in the journey towards falls, you will forget it once you get into the water.

After a while we realized that we did not have our lunch. Soon all of them came out of the water and started unpacking all the eatables that we had got. Everything was empty in just few minutes. Nobody wanted to go back. We thought to have a last dip in the water again. So spent another 1 hour in the water. Then we started walking back to our return point.

This time it was easy to get back as we were walking down and not climbing like before. We were skidding down sitting as its was kind of slipper downwards. Hmmm, so u can imagine about what is the status of our dresses. ;) It just took 2 hours coming back as it was quite easy. We reached our someshwara before dark. After relaxing in our friends house, we set back to our respective homes.

We took a bus returning back from Shimoga which goes to Udupi. Few of them got down with me in Manipal. Then? Ahhh, well.. Heading towards my house I was feeling so tired with leg pains. I was ready to get scoldings from my mom for my dirty salwar. And guess what? My mom didn't scold me. She asked me to wash those clothes. :(

Other places to see: The nearby waterfalls are Barkana falls, Jogigundi falls and kudlu theertha falls.

Sitanadi Nisarga Dhama (Sitanadi Nature Camp) near Hebri can accommodate 30 tourists. Karnataka is promoting adventure activities in this region in future including parasailing and waterrafting.