Tadiandamol - Unleashing The Nature's Beauty

Monsoon, the very word never fails to bring a smile on our faces. It immediately creates a bounty of serene picturesque images in our minds. Be it walking or dancing in the rain, jumping in the puddles or just sitting beside the window and watching the rain fall, these things can make one feel excited and happy. 

Monsoon in Coorg was in its full glory. Rain had turned whole of Coorg into a beautiful green carpet and the beauty of Coorg had unfolded to its maximum. It was the best time to enjoy cool darkness of the monsoons, pitter-patter of rains, sounds of flowing streams and to soak in the natural beauty. Since, we had the spirit of adventure in us to venture out some jaw dropping sights of Coorg in rain. We thirteen; five from Kochi and eight from Bangalore planned to visit Tadiandamol and started our journey towards Virajpete on 19th June, 2015.

As planned, we all met in Virajpete and started our ride to Coffee valley homestay. It was an awesome tightly packed eventful half an hour ride in jeep amidst heavy rain. The aura and aroma the coffee and plantations created were sure to make us fall in love with this place. We all freshened up soon, had breakfast and made our move towards Tadiandamol. 

“The most beautiful places are at the end of really bad roads”. Tadiandamol fits this bill quite correctly as it evokes several epithets like sprawling coffee plantation, colonial bungalows, gushing waterfalls, lush green forests, undulating challenging mountain ranges, splendid nature and exotic scenes.

The road to Tadiandamol was a treat for the eyes – every inch of road was wet and every bit of earth was green. Distant hills were covered with clouds indicating many more rainy sessions ahead in the day. Despite the fog and the drizzle, it was beautiful, comforting and elating. It took us half an hour to reach the base from Kakkabbe village. Ahh! It was drizzling. We put our trek clothes on and started our trek. By that moment rain got heavier. We started our trek with ferocious winds, muddy little trails and heavy water droplets. We were getting tiresome as we ascended as it was more of wild storm than usual rain. But, we continued. Entire duration made us realize what we have been missing all these days. We never felt this close to nature before. Stunning!

Wind was so heavy that all our raincoats and caps flew in the air and barely could we stand still without any support. Rain along with wind made it impossible for us to pierce through it and proceed any further. We were sure by then that rain gods weren’t any kind to show any mercy on us. Hence, we decided to move back and ascend another hill close by which looked little easier to climb. We also had strong bunch of people in group (Mani and Shivashree) who decided to give up their fight with natural forces and made their move back to Jeep to enjoy the shelter and hot Pulao which we had got packed from Homestay. 

We then for a long while trekked along the ridges with the engulfing mist which had reduced the visibility to less than a hundred feet. This was supposedly the dangerous stretch during the trek as there was hardly any support and the tracks were either slippery or had gravels. With low visibility and incessant rain we trod forward precariously and reached the vantage point which was engulfed in mist denying us the beautiful vistas. There was a play between sun and clouds. The sky use to turn magical blue showing up gorgeous vistas, but in a moment it use to turn grey as menacing rain clouds pour out in burden; silence all around, not even a single bird call in the air. But this is exactly how a monsoon trek is like and we absolutely had no complaints. This was definitely a tailor made monsoon trek. Rains, mist, vistas, vantage points, greenery, waterfalls, wind and wet earth all made it a perfect one. Except for the low point of not making to the summit of Tadiandamol, the trek was an absolute rejuvenation. 

We began our walk further down to where the resort vehicles were waiting to take us back. We reached homestay, freshened up, and enjoyed the nature around sipping hot coffee and munching hot pakoras. The crimson haze was all around as the silhouettes of silver oak and coffee plantations stood out in the twilight. The owls hoot welcoming the night. Another day in the wild ended as the rain tumbled down again. 

20th June, 2015. Day 2 started with the phrase “Oh, it’s raining again,” slinking out the door from the morning commute. Sometimes it fell in big fat drops, pummeling plants like a boxer. Sometimes it blew in gently, as fine as sieved icing sugar. Sometimes the wind whipped it in sideways streaks across the windows. Sometimes, just sometimes, it stopped falling from the sky altogether. 

A quick breakfast and piping hot coffee- we packed and headed towards Kushalnagar to visit Dubare Elephant camp and Namdroling Monastery. We reach Dubare after a journey of two hours or so. Cauvery River was at its flowing best and the rain which had not stopped ever since we landed in Coorg helped it and above all it was the best time to experience the white water rafting. 

River rafting was new to most of us and we definitely were looking forward to this adventure. After the declarations, instructions and guidance, we geared up to raft in cold waters of Cauvery. Being amateurs and beginners, we were skeptical in beginning but slowly turned confident and rowed according to our guide’s guidance. After an initial stretch of calm waters, our guide stopped rowing and asked us to take a plunge. Our very own Michael Phelps (Chinmay) was the first one to plunge into the water taking a forward dive standing at the edge of raft. Later one by one all just jumped into the cold waters except for the courageous one (Ashaya). He was courageous enough not to let guide push him into the water. Finally with all courage he held the raft and made his move towards water rather making a jump and as expected immediate reaction of him being “Pull me back. I’m dying, I can’t breathe”, safely he was pulled back to the Raft. Rest swam, frolicked and played for about a half an hour before getting back on the raft. Then we began with rapids, each definitely was adrenaline rushing ones. Each rapid had dips and rocks which we had to raft through and the excitement grew as we passed each rapid. The two hours of adventure was definitely exhilarating.

We then freshened up, had sumptuous lunch in Kushalnagar and made our way towards Bailkuppe, which has one of the first Tibetian settlements in India. The monastery here is home for more than 5000 lamas of Sangha community. The place houses five monastery of Lugsung Samdupling settlement of which Namdroling monastery is the most famous. The golden temple here is a beautiful blend of contemporary and traditional architectural styles. As there was some religious event going on in the temple we couldn’t enter inside, but just the gaze of interiors from doors was enough to praise its beauty. The stunning three large golden statues of Buddha, the altar decorated with colorful flowers and incense and the walls with colorful mural art depicting Lord Buddha’s life were magnificently alluring. We listened to the monks chant their mantras while others played long hornpipes, huge drums and conch shell. That really was a kind of experience one never will forget.

Ghatikallu – Unravelling Enigma of Western Ghats’ Beauty

Ghatikallu, a remote beauty tucked in the heavenly Western Ghats of Chickmagalur district is an ideal destination for weekend getaway unravelling the enigmatic beauty of Western Ghats. The place has everything that a nature lover would ask for peaks, valleys, rivers, falls, grasslands, thick jungle, coffee & tea estates and much more - Truly a heaven on Earth. Trust, if you ever yearn to see mountains, then its Western Ghats in Karnataka.

We planned to visit Ghatikallu sometime in December’13. We were group of  six, two from  Bangalore and three from Kochi. From kochi we boarded a train towards Mangalore and then a bus towards Chickmagalur. We got down in Kottigehara, a small town after Charmadi Ghat. By the time we reached Kottigehara, guys from Bangalore had already reached. They had travelled  to Mudigere via Hassan and then to Kottigehara from Mudigere hand post.

We started towards Sunkasale in a private bus. After a wonderful journey of about half an hour along the lengths of  Kelaguru tea estates, we reached Sunkasale. Resort Jeep was waiting for us, we got into the Jeep. It was an amazing roller coaster ride amidst coffee plantations to homestay. It was like trailer promising the natural retreat, adventure and joy for the next two days. The bumpy ride ended at a beautiful homestay “Ghatikallu”. The ancient house built on grand-scale and spread-out areas in serene and nestled tranquil atmosphere made us feel to be amongst the nature. We truly were mesmerised by the sights and sounds of its wonderful surroundings. The view of  huge hills in front and a tall waterfall visible from a distance from cottage was just too much for two eyes to take.

We freshened up, had sumptuous typical Malnad traditional breakfast Kaayi Kadbu which was feast for our taste buds and then we started towards Ghati falls in an open standing Jeep with our guide. After an eventful half an hour ride, we reached the waterfall spot. We had to trek to the beautiful waterfall in woods. We completed first few kilometres of trek too quickly as our energy and enthusiasm was at its peak. We took first break near a stream, where team started to feel creeps and it was Leeches for obvious shock. We got rid of all the leeches, washed all scratches and continued our trek in the forest. It was 100-150 meters of thick vegetation one can imagine, where sunlight would never have touched the ground making the path so damp and was covered by thick and slippery layer of fallen leaves. We reached the drop spot with some effort taken to cross the forest strip, but the sight of waterfall dropping 150 ft vertically which can be witnessed laying right next to the fall is truly a bliss and worth a trek. Had a great time playing in water and descended back to homestay.  As our next visit was planned to sunset point in the evening. We rushed to have lunch and took rest till evening.

We started towards sunset point in an auto, 20 minutes drive from homestay. The view of Western Ghats’ beautiful stretch across the area is beautiful from this point. The change in colours at sunset, the chilling air, the chirping birds, the roaring waterfalls and green all around makes this place amazingly beautiful. We just enjoyed the serenity it composed. Finally, the sun descending beyond the hills, wow!! Its nature offering the picturesque view. We enjoyed taking pictures with lovely landscapes behind, specially the “synchronised jumping picture”. The drive back to homestay with evening breeze hitting our face was great.

Back in the room, we sat down in homestay dining hall listening to jokes from one of our teammates, sipping hot Malnad coffee. Later, a private bonfire was arranged in the open space, in front of our rooms. Even though we were tired from all day activities, didn’t give up. Six of us had a blast.. dancing away!! It was fantabuluos. Enjoyed spicy, yummy dinner and hit the sack hard soon as we had planned to trek to Ballarayana Durga fort early in the morning.

Forts always have mysterious aura surrounding them and they are reminiscences of a rich bygone era. Ballarayana Durga is one fort full of history and mystery, amidst dense forest atop a hill that is 1500 metres high in the beautiful Western Ghats. It was constructed by wife of Veera Ballala-I who was the king of Hoysala Empire in 12th century, built in Karnata Dravida style of architecture.

We started towards Ballarayana Durga fort trek base early in the morning in an open jeep with our guide. It was a great ride, which started at a deviation from the tar road entering the coffee estate. It probably had rained previous night, muddy roads were damn slippery with hell lot of bumps and curves and we going ooh.. aah in chorus was one hell of a roller coaster ride through the estate and deep Jungle till the base of the hill. We entered into the forest and started our trek. Initially path seemed very clear without any abrupt misleads but was marked prominently by elephant droppings for every few steps we took. Our guide was a good caretaker, every now and then he was stopping in between and examining wildlife traffic if any ahead. As we moved deeper into the forest, the trail we were following was rampaged by the elephants and Gaurs. The Path was ravaged completely, one could easily imagine how restless these wild animals were. After a continuous walk of more than 30 minutes uphill in the forest we entered the grasslands from where we were able to see Ballarayana Durga fort in distance. What a sight it was!! Green all around, we thought one more hour of trek, we will be near the fort. We continued with full enthusiasm but no matter how much we trekked, it felt like we were running on treadmill, feeling effort and no distance covered. Finally after 2 hours of trekking, we reached Ballarayana Durga Fort with 360 degrees of stunning views. It was one sight to behold, with green luxurious forests and steep slopes. Truly an heaven on earth. We clicked some awesome scenery of stunning surroundings, and moved into the fort.

The fort has lost its glory and stand as a distant reminder of its beautiful past. We could only see shattered walls of the fort standing as a proof of the grand structure that had once stood there with pride and also in its completely ruined and dilapidated condition it remains as an example of ancient structures that has been destroyed due to lack of proper preservation. We entered into the fort witnessing the glory of bygone days. Devoid of any noise, and in the presence of ever blowing gentle breeze, we relaxed and enjoyed the beauty of nature. After spending sometime in fort we descended back and paid a visit to Rani Gudda, which offers the stunning view of deep valley and back to homestay.

We enjoyed the breakfast in homestay after tiring trek and took rest for a little while and started towards Rani Jhari, a waterfall. We again were carried to the location in a mighty Jeep where we enjoyed floating, diving and playing in water. To ensure safety, we were all provided with the life jackets. We made our way back to homestay for lunch. Enjoyed our last meals in homestay and packed our luggages and made our way to Kottigehara to travel to Mangalore with no mood to leave the place, carrying lots wonderful memories with us to cherish in years ahead. 

Map:

Chugging Through The Wild Beauty Of The Western Ghats And Coasts - Part 4

Part - 3 Early in the morning we started towards Marikamba temple. The sanctum sanctorum has the central image of fierce form of the goddess Durga, multi armed, riding a tiger and killing a demon. The temple has very special paintings of murals in Kavi art, an art form which was popular in the coastal Konkan region of Karnataka. After spending some time in temple, we immediately made our way towards Banavasi. Banavasi, a small town on the banks of Varadha River, is one of the oldest cities in India. Times have gone by but Banavasi has remained young and green. The traditions, festivals and crafts of bygone days are still in practice. It’s truly said by a Kannada poet Pampa – “It is a virtue to be born in Banavasi as a human being. If not as a human being, then at least one should be born as a bee or a cuckoo in the garden of Banavasi”; impressed by the culture and beauty of this place. Banavasi revolves around the Madhukeshwara temple which was built in the 9th century by the Kadamba kings. The main shrine in the Madhukeshwara temple was built during nascent stages of temple architecture. So, it is very simple structure with minimal decorative sculptures on the walls and pillars. A Sankalpa mantapa was added during the Chalukyan rule and Nritya mantapa during Hoysala period which has exquisite carvings on the pillars and ceiling. The main deity is Shiva in the form of honey coloured Linga. There is a beautiful monolithic Nandi statue in the temple. We enjoyed the ethnicity in the holy land and made our way towards Jog falls.

If it’s Monsoon, it is got to be Jog falls in Karnataka. We even didn’t miss out the chance and started our journey towards Jog to enjoy the splendid beauty of Jog falls that comes to life during rainy season. The road to Jog gives one of the most spectacular window-seat views of ever changing terrain – the freshest green of just cultivating paddy fields, dark and broodingly ominous hills turning and running away out of the cross hairs of camera lens. The scale and beauty of the terrain is enhanced a thousand fold by the silence. The silence touched us deeply. No beeps and clicks and horns and mindless chatter; the general jarring cacophony of daily life. It is so nice to feel being meditated without meditating, being part of nature’s meditation. It is in silence she creates, sustains, regenerates, hopes, and yearns. All of the events in nature happening perfectly quiet, their movement in their stillness, their grandeur in their subtlety, their imposing majesty in their humility. Truly Western Ghats is blessed with all natures’ beauty. If looked at the topography of South India, the Western Ghats appears as a chain of mountainous stretch parallel to Konkan and Malabar Coast and also the region gets one of the heaviest rainfalls, thanks to Monsoon. With water aplenty and a steep gradient in the geography, the region is home to many waterfalls. At place a called Gerusoppe, located near western border of Shimoga district, the rocky mountain makes a 250 meter gorge. Now river Sharavathi makes a dive over the cliff – and is the spectacular Jog falls, Majestic creation of nature. Major factors that adds to the beauty of Jog falls are; the height, sheer volume of water that plunges down the gorge and most important, unlike the narrow single point of origin in the cases of most falls, Jog forms a series of distinctive falls. Just before the fall, Sharavathi spreads out and then head down centre of an arc about half a kilometre long caved into the gorge. Together these series of adjacent falls have a multiplication effect of beauty and hence the name Jog falls and not Jog fall. The four easily distinguishable falls are assigned with fancy sounding names. Raja, the king on the left and Rani, the queen on the right extremity are so names for its characteristics. Raja makes an uninterrupted straight fall from the top to base in one go. That is about quarter of a kilometre dive in one stroke. Rani is in fact a cascading fall with spread as it reaches the base. The falls hits many rocky projections on its way down making numerous mini falls. It’s most graceful of the all and hence called the Queen. Between Raja and Rani are two other falls called Roarer and Rocket. Roarer is located next to Raja. The curious name is given to it  thanks to the sound it makes as water plunges down this stretch. As Roarer makes its dive from the top, it flows through a recess on the rocky wall of the gorge. The recess runs almost half way down and at an angle towards Raja. When water torrents through this constriction, it makes hell of a lot of sound compared to the rest of the three. The Rocket located next to Rani is so called because of its trajectory. No insults intended to the rockets as this rocket plunges downward. Through a narrow constriction at the top, a huge quantity of water is made to pass. A jet results. It hits a few intermediate points before meeting the pool at the base of the fall. The rest that makes waterfall special are its uncluttered viewpoints. It appears as if the falls and the viewpoints are well designed and orchestrated by nature. Think of a gigantic open theatre and a gallery opposite to it with a panoramic view. That is exactly what the terrain is made of water falls from the steeper side of the gorge that makes an arc almost. Opposite to it is the view point, located almost a kilometre away but almost at the same level of the fall’s top point. From this point the start of the fall appears to be at the eye level. Now one can slowly trek down to the base of the fall, never losing the view of the fall as you decent. As you reach down the perspectives of the falls keep changing. The panoramic view from the top slowly gives way to the torrent and the brute force of the river. The sound levels are high. So is the spray that makes one drench, long before the point where water hits the base. It’s not just Jog’s four famous falls but the whole spectacle- the sudden changes in the landscape and climate, the sleet rain, the thick swirling mist that covers and uncovers the falls in a dramatic playfulness that takes breath away. But Jog is only the destination, incidental to the whole experience of the journey. Thus "Chugging Through The Wild Beauty of Western Ghats and Coasts" ended with wonderful memories to cherish for the lifetime. Map :

Chugging Through The Wild Beauty Of The Western Ghats And Coasts - Part 3

Part - 2  Dandeli is a picturesque city set amidst the backdrop of the Western Ghats on the bank of Kali River in UttarKannada District, offering comfortable and hassle free life in the resorts with bountiful adventurous activities like Jungle Jeep Safari, Jungle trekking, White water rafting, Kayaking, Rappelling, Night camps and lot more. Of all the resorts in Dandeli we chose Nature Nest for our stay as it was affordable to stay and offers proximity with number of spots such as Syntheri Rocks, Kali River, Kavla caves and Dandeli wildlife sanctuary to enjoy jeep safari and rendezvous with the wilderness. It was dark when we reached Dandeli and the rain was pouring down heavily. It was adventurous to find Nature Nest resort as the entire locality was out of power,  we felt as if we were sleuthing Sherlock Holmes finding the resort. After travelling 12kms from Dandeli towards Patoli village, our cell phones were activated with signals. We immediately made a call to resort asking for the way and we then realised that we were just in front the road leading to the resort. Immediately resort staff came to us and helped us with lights, umbrellas and carrying our luggage. We freshened up and got ready for dinner and camp fire, arranged in dining hall as it was too difficult to set a camp fire out in the rain. We had our privacy to enjoy the music and dance floor the best, as we were the only occupants of the resort then. The sumptuous dinner, beautiful climate all around, the music and dance made us forget the tiring journey from Gokarna to Dandeli and had a wonderful night in the well decorated rooms of the Nature Nest resort. As we had planned to visit Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary early in the morning, we got up at around 5AM and came out of the rooms to start towards Sanctuary and the very view then was stupendously beautiful. This place is truly an adobe of serenity. Feeling being away from the polluted hustle and bustle of city life, waking up to the twittering of birds, to feel the caressing breeze and to feat our eyes on charming grandeur of the panoramic landscapes is truly awesome. We reached Kulgi base camp and in department jeep charging 100INR per person we started Jungle Jeep Safari to experience all the sights and sounds of the lush forests of Dandeli. Travelling through beautiful wooded trails appreciating the rich diversity of plant and animal life, unfolding the colour, scents and textures of extraordinary landscapes in front of us is bliss to eyes. The Sanctuary is a home for big cats, reptiles and varieties of birds. The undulating streams, swaying bamboos, abundance of wildlife and sylvan surroundings have made Dandeli Sanctuary a unique holiday destination. Sighting animals is difficult and always involves an element of luck. We were not all that lucky to spot a wild cat; we just had to be satisfied with herd of deer and the final view point inside the sanctuary is amazingly beautiful. Nevertheless we enjoyed the Jeep ride and made our way back to nature nest. After yummy breakfast in Nature nest we made our way to adventure camp at Dandeli to experience the adrenaline rush through our body. It was disappointing that we did not get a chance to enjoy White water rafting but we managed with Coracle ride and Kayaking in Kali river. Kayaking was real fun, we even tried racing with each other. After enjoying the activities in Kali River adventure camp, we made our way to resort back. Post lunch we started our journey towards Sathoddi Falls.

Sathoddi Falls near Kallaramane Ghat at a distance of 32kms from Yellapur town is untouched piece of nature, plummeting down 50 feet is a pulchritudinous beauty of nature. The stream then flows into the backwaters of the Kodasalli Dam, into the Kali River surrounded by hillocks, a picturesque location.  The way towards Sathoddi Falls is too confusing. There were too many forks in the road not well signed; confused our driver making him to ask for directions or for confirmation with people passing by that he picked the correct fork. Our smart phones with google maps were of good use then. We covered much of the path with the help of google maps and finally we were disconnected with signal for the last 5 km. We then followed the rough unsealed dirt road which certainly was out of our driver’s comfort zone. There were several stretches where he was cursing when he wasn't totally sure if the traveller could make it some spots. We could see the reservoir during the unpaved section of the road leading down to the car park. From the car park, there was well established walk. The trail gently descended in the direction of the stream feeding the reservoir. There was even a stretch of trail where there were canals on either side of the walkway. Once we were near the end of the trail, there was a shelter and picnic area with a partial view of Sathoddi Falls. We were able to continue to walk carefully a little further to get bit closer to the falls. These seemed to be the best views that we were able to get. We didn't get all the way to the falls as the jumble of rocks and stream made it little dicey to proceed any closer. So we had to make do with our partially obstructed and distant view of waterfalls. We then made our way back to car parking after enjoying herbal tea in the only house in that area very next to the waterfalls. After a journey of 2 – 3 hours, we reached Sirsi. Bangalore group made their way back to Bangalore the same night and we three continued our trip. We stayed in Samrat guest house, best budget hotel in Sirsi town. It was a tiring day; soon we went to bed looking forward more fun in the last day of our trip. Part - 4 Map :