Trekking in Agumbe

Place: Agumbe, Western Ghats, Karnataka, India
Mode: KSRTC Bus (Bangalore - Shimoga - Agumbe - Chikmagalur - Bangalore)
Date(s) of Travel: October 31, 2009 - November 1, 2009

You can read more about the place(s) here: Agumbe, Narasimha Parvata

My Experience:

1. We started by Friday Night to Agumbe by direct bus(Rajhamsa Executive). Since the bus goes through the shimoga route, the road was pretty bad as you can't even sleep for a minute.

2. We reached Agumbe around 7.30 AM and it looked like heaven. Agumbe has very few shops and houses. It was the place where the famous Malgudi days shoot happened. We went to the Malgudi days home and took snaps. I still remember one or two episodies from my childhood memory.

3. From Agumbe we took an auto to Malandur which is the base camp for the trek. We met our guide Thimmappa who is a localite in the village. After having a little break, we stared our trek around 10 AM.

4. After some walking, we entered the dense jungle. It was full of leaches. As we had applied salt on our legs and shoes, it was ok. It was sunny, but since we were trekking inside the forest, the trees were giving us shade all the time.

5. Around 1 PM, we reached a big water stream. We decided to have lunch over there itself. At the end of the stream, it was a big water falls. Standing on the top of the falls and seeing down was like too scary but it was fun. Again we started trekking towards our place where we have planned to stay overnight.

6. After some few steep hiking and mountain hoping we reached the small house. The view throughout the trek was awsome. Lot of people got so tired because of the dehydration. Seeing the sunset from top was a nice one too.

7. We had some camp fire and enjoyed our dinner. Next day morning 9.00 AM we started towards the Kiga village and reached around 11.30 AM.

8. We took a local auto and went to Srimane falls which was too good. We went to sringeri and had the god's blessings. That night we started back from sringeri and came to bangalore.

Thought of Day:No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess. - Isaac Newton

Bike Trip to Hogenakkal Falls

Place: Hogenakkal, Tamil Nadu, India
Mode: Bike Trip (Bangalore - Dharmapuri - Hogenakkal - Salem)
Date(s) of Travel: October 15, 2009

You can read more about the place(s) here: Hogenakkal Falls

My Experience:

1. I was planning to go to coimbatore for diwali. One of my colleague said why not we do a bike trip till salem, as he stays in karur. Then the plan was on for going to Hogenakkal too. Thatz how this trip happened.

2. We started early morning around 5.30 AM from Domlur. Driving pulsar 180 on the empty road was fun. It was little bit traffic until the outskirts of the city. Once we crossed electronic city, we pushed our limits.

3. We had few breaks in-between and reached Hogenakkal via Hosur, Dharmapuri around 11 AM. When we went to see the water it was like a heaven. Water Water everywhere. The beauty of cauvery reaching tamilnadu was an amazing view.

4. We hired a parisal and did boating on the river which is above the falls. You won't believe we spotted a crocodile. Sitting above the waterfalls in a rock and viewing it was a fun experience.

5. After tasting the local fish, we headed towards salem. Driving on the NH7 from dharmapuri to salem was like kick ass. The road was too good.

6. Overall the trip was too good and tiring.

Thought of Day:Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. - Albert Einstein