Paadooru is my native village situated near Kaup, Udupi District of Karnataka. The blog is dedicated to beautiful landscape of KAUP Beach and my village Paadooru
Diverging paths from Bangalore were having tough times, thanks to the prolonged weekend. The holidays were keeping the city outskirts busy rather than the city itself. There was gigantic pile of motors lined up all along the highway leading to Mysore. The pathetic Shiraadi ghat road tempted us to drive along the longest Sampaje ghat road via Madikeri to Udupi. We dawned our day embracing normal traffic and later enjoying heavenly NICE road. 45mins later we were in Kengeri. The excitement peaked since we had crossed city at brisk pace but the zeal did not last long. The actual traffic snarls began showing up in few kms of drive. Our plan boomeranged with gazillion motors lined up all along the humps and town limits. The lousy traffic stagnated the smooth journey for more than 20mins as we entered town limits of Channapattana, Ramanagara, Mandya, Madhur. It was tough drive with the wheels barely scraping the asphalted surface, hands swaying around 1-2 gear, hardly any peddle on throttle, motor toiling along statically swollen & crumbled humps, radiating mid-day sun and melancholy of crazy honkers. The optimistic drive past Mandya was impeded by frequent pessimistic speed breakers. The cumulative delay was 3hrs. The journey which started at 7:30AM lasted for 5 hours and eventually reached Srirangapattana at 12:30PM. We were devastated by the abysmal traffic with full house restaurants adding fury to the situation and stomach.
A sigh of relief after Srirangapattana but still not hopeful of smooth journey due to traffic flow towards Madikeri. However, things were alright except for frequent humps till Bailukuppe. Phew man! That was tedious drive for no reason. The difficult drive was later overridden by the lush green hillocks. Yes, they are our lovely Western Ghats. Driving past Suntikoppa was heaven, piercing the dense canopy of rainforest (with Andy Blueman's rainforest music), floating the motor along hairpin bends. Moreover, the lack of humps, feeble traffic, well paved roads provided festive touch for eyes and drive. 2PM, we were in Madikeri and there is no need to explain the Joy. We were having roller-coaster drive descending the Sampaje Ghat with flat bitumen surface. As we descended 15kms, we stopped nearby glistening waterfall called Devarakolli waterfall. It was not surprise since we knew it from long time. The only new entry was its name which I came to know from shopkeepers nearby. As you know, Madikeri is famous for Abbey & Iruppu waterfalls. However, there are many other unknown waterfalls nearby namely, Devaragundi and Kalyala waterfalls (requires 1km trek). Devarakolli waterfall is not so prominent mainly due to fact tourists hardly descend down Sampaje ghat from Madikeri. In fact there is not much space for taking bath but nice hangout for few hours. The waterfall was at considerable glory since monsoon had just receded. It would be heavenly to watch during peak monsoon season though. At the end, if you are planning for Madikeri, just descend down Sampaje ghat to view beautiful shining waterfall. Don't worry, roads are fabulous and there is space for motor parking.
Here are pictures and a short video of visit. Hope you enjoy!
About the waterfall:
To give some heads-up, this is not official description rather my own narration. There was no info-board nearby and whatever mentioned here is based on my observations. Situated along Mani-Madikeri state highway right in middle of western ghats, the waterfall derives its name from the village Devarakolli. The waterfall seemed to have height of about 120feet. It has two stage zig-zag plunge followed by a short cascade. When I say zig-zag, the first stage and second stage are not visible at one sight but need to look them at different angles. Few shops situated nearby provides snacks and tea. The waterfall is easily accessible along the highway and parking place is available for vehicles.
SAMPAJE GHAT
From this place, we enjoyed smooth journey till Udupi (except for few stretches from Sampaje to Sulya). It was whopping 12 hr journey battered by the hectic traffic along Mysore highway. However, from Srirangapattana, we barely took 7:30hrs to reach Udupi despite 45 minutes of break. After the initial heck, the waterfall and western ghats added extra psychological smoothness to drive. The warmth the lovely rainforests deliver along with the beautiful waterfalls nestled in them can only be experienced and cannot be penned (rather keyed) down. End of day, we reached the culmination safely.
Here I shared a short blog on Kudremukh Ghats. That was on winter season. The attraction of western ghats is during monsoon season with leeches :). Here are some pictures captured during our journey towards coast last week.
As we know, the monsoon started with lame note and later gained
fierce momentum during month of July. The deficit as of now in Karnataka
has drastically reduced and at some places it has recorded excess. Mere
two months of torrential rain has transformed the dry lands to lush
greenery. The western ghats were no exception too! There is never dearth
of rain in these regions however threat of El-nino was looming over the
region fearing drought like situation. Now everything is washed out
by ferocious monsoon season :).
Enough of story! This
Ganesh chaturthi, I had been to hometown to drop parents back. How can I
miss the lush green rainforests. I drove 220kms in 2:30hrs to enjoy
more time in Shiraadi ghat and I was well satisfied to capture those
water spots and enjoy the roaring Gundya river for sometime. There were
many tiny gleaming waterfalls which I could not capture due to lack of time. Sometimes due to fog/rain, mother forced me not to expose camera out. Also
intermittent rains hampered my program but that is how rainforests get
their name! I am satisfied with whatever opportunity I could gain. After
final prayer to goddess chowdeshwari, it was time to drive towards the
coast to reach niche. Many occasions I had desire to halt here for maximum
amount of duration to spend quality time in between woods. It is difficult
to manage while we have set goals and pathetic road conditions :(.
Nevertheless, this time it was not so much bad :). May be it is better
to ride two wheeler along the stretch to fully enjoy nature (ofcourse with a puncture kit to save from disastrous highway). Hope you
enjoy pictures. No HDRs this time and most of them captured using 2stop
GND filter. Using GND filter along with CPLs creates near HDR images
(not all times). I did not use CPL this time (not sure why), hence had
to reduce highlights on images to reduce white patches on silky flow of
water.
ONE OF SMALL WATERFALL
CLOSER LOOK
THE HEART OF RAINFOREST
STREAM SNEAKING FROM CANOPY
This time I waded through small stream to capture full glimpse of galloping Gundya River near Chowdeshwari Temple. On top of it, I drank little bit of water from the pristine river and it was tasty too :).
GALLOPING GUNDYA RIVER
ONE MORE SEASONAL WATERFALL
MAGNIFIQUE GUNDYA RIVER
Options used in darktable:
1) Shadows and Highlights
2) Vibrance
3) Saturation and brightness
4) Local contrast
5) High pass filter with overlay as mask
6) Luminosity curve (manual) to increase Green and Yellow color appearance
7) Color zones (for few images)
8) Color temperature
I usually make use of soft GND filter 2 stops, half way down. Since I had actual GND this time, soft GND was not required.
Here is the short compilation of clips shot during our journey. Hope you enjoy it!
Do tune to Andy Blueman's rainforest.
A perfect combination of soft bass and synths creating rainforest
ambience. The music on an entirity reveals perfect rainforest
environment comprising of thundering waterfalls, roaring streams, clanky
insects, flying birds, heavy rains and wilderness. He has promised to
complete this tune soon which is good news. I love this music very much
and remembered when I was in between dense jungle and thundering Gundya
river. You may need to use headphones to hear the full set of instruments used to create rainforest environment. Absolutely stunning! Just perfect music!
With this post, I am introducing actual smileys which I believe conveys impacting emotions than textual ones. I made some changes to blogger HTML template and as a result smileys are here for you. It slows down loading of posts slightly but there is nothing deterministic hard real time requirement ;). Hope you enjoy :D.
This new year, I had been to Yana. Here are some scribbling from my itinerary. One of the beautiful places of UttaraKannada covered with dense rainforests. I did write a brief note on this place during MahaShivaratri here. This is an expanded view of the previous post. Hope you enjoy the same. As always, comments and critiques are welcome. 03 Jan 2014,
Yana is popular tourist attraction situated near Kumta Taluk of Uttara Kannada District. It is known for the surreal rocky landscape amidst beautiful thick western ghats. This region is also home to wide variety of medicinal plants as well as King Cobras. From many years, I have been planning to visit this exotic destination but everything in vain despite being hardly 200kms from hometown. This time I made up my mind to visit the beautiful place and spend few hours in middle of western ghats. My first travel in new year turned out to be quite exciting too! I do not have to venture into distant locations to feel nature. Within 200km radius of my hometown, I have lot of glorious spots to visit during leisure. I have plans to cover still more locations nearby my place before venturing outside region.
The plan was executed just a day back. My parents were running on ill-health and I decided to travel alone. Travelling alone is not a new experience for me nowadays. I enjoy travelling alone as well as with friends. Father wanted car for specific purpose. Hence I decided to drop the drive. The other option was none other than wonderful Konkan Rail route. Wow! thats a cute decision. Eventually plan turned out to be travel to Kumta in Konkan railway and hire an auto to Yaana. Everything was set now except for waking up early. The train departs from Udupi station around 7:45AM and I had to start by 6:30AM from my village to reach 20km distant station.
Early morning, the village woke up to slight chilly weather (bit unusual in coast) and dancing fog. I packed essentials and ready to start by 6:30AM. My father joined me till railway station. Enroute, I enjoyed colorful sunrise reflecting on beautiful Udyavara river sneaking through coconut trees. It was easy drive till railway station and reached within 20minutes due to feeble traffic. There was not much crowd too! My father left the station and I collected the ticket which was costing only Rs.35/- for 191kms. There was hardly any person in ticket queue too! The train is Mangalore-Madgaon passenger which runs to and fro on same day. It requires 6hours to reach Madgaon along Konkan railway route. Few minutes later, a dissappointing announcement was aired stating the train would arrive by 8:15AM :-(. The railways never improve in time :-(. Finally our train arrived at 8:20AM and we were set to go. I could easily grab a seat inside relatively empty bogie.
The train started chugging towards north and our first station was Barkur. I missed shooting beautiful swarna river however was foreseeing a colorful journey past Kundapur. Mere 30 minutes of journey, here we are at Kundapur station. I grabbed the footboard and managed easily since there were less crowd on board. Here starts my shooting too! Those memsmerizing hillocks, mighty rivulets, swaying coconut trees teasing river, the beautiful fields makes journey an enduring experience to cherish. The route is best visited during peak monsoon season during which one can see water and greenery everywhere. Not to miss those kissing clouds towards hillocks too! The stretch between Kundapur to Gokarna receives very heavy rainfall during monsoon season (averaging 4000mm) due to the fact that western ghats are relatively closer to coast. I shot good videos of rivulets all along with paddy fields. One can see majestic shiva statue of Murudeshwara too from railway line. Excitement increased as we reached breath taking sharavati river basin of honavar followed by 3 tunnels. Sharavati river has the longest built bridge along the Konkan route and train journey along the stretch is simply mind blowing. From Honavar station, kumta is 15 mins journey. Around 11:20AM, we reached Kumta station which was an hour of delay from usual schedule.
Lack of morning breakfast was eagerly driving famished soul to a decent lunchhome as early as possible. I hired an auto to Yaana from here and asked him to stop at decent hotel for lunch before resuming journey. He took me to a very good hotel along highway (Panduranga hotel) and meals here was perfect for me (less spice and salt). It was tasty too! We resumed journey after lunch and I had first distant glimpse of beautiful aghanaashini river of Kumta. What a great landscape it has. Those blue waters coupled with serial coconut trees swayed all along banks makes it perfect place for nature lovers. This place has been one of my favorite spots ever since I came across. One can enjoy landscape from highway bridge provided the traffic is less. If you have your own arrangements, you can reach divgi to have broader look of the river.
From Kumta, Yaana is around 30kms in distance. We crossed NH-66 to reach SH-69 which is Kumta-Sirsi highway. The roads are well laid and still in good condition. Few kms later, here starts beautiful stretch of lush green rainforests. Uttara Kannada has dense and wide cover of rain forests barring few kms of coastline. 12kms after, we reached Aanegundi cross. From here, Yaana is around 16kms. One has to drive through very thick rain forests to reach Yaana. The rainforests are very dense which shrouds the region with sheer darkness even during scorching mid-day Sun. The region was decorated with lush greenery by these tall woods. Also the stretch is home to wide variety of medicinal plants and wild animals. The road leading to yaana is average (some times well paved and few stretches have nasty pot holes). There are numerous streams along this stretch which finally meet aghanaashini river. The interesting fact was that despite many months after monsoon retreat, the streams had considerable amount of water. The first 6kms is somewhat straight road while remaining 9kms is ghat section road with steep hairpin bends. The road is also narrow and difficult for a bus and a car to negotiate simultaneously. Our journey was delayed mainly because of such incidents. After enjoying the journey along the beautiful forests, we reached Yaana gate around 1:30PM. From here onwards, one needs to trek for 1.5kms to reach the Yaana.
INTO THE SKY - THE TALL WOODS
MAIN ENTRANCE
ONE OF THE HUGE LIMESTONE ROCK
THE DENSE CANOPY OF RAINFOREST
The trail is not straight but not much steep either. There are numerous streams nearby the place. The tiny streams cascade to form a larger stream which eventually meets aghanaashini river near Kumta. The trail is easy to manage. We did cross 2-3 streams enroute before reaching the monolithoc rocks. The last few steps can be covered either with steps or the trail. Due to my recent treks, I managed the 1.5kms in matter of 15 minutes comfortably however with prolific sweating :-). Being well known tourist spot, the place was crowded especially with school children. It was joyous to watch those intermittent streams with pure and sweet water (I tasted from one of the stream too!). The entire trail is covered with brown soil which is unusual in coastal Karnataka being predominently covered with red soil.
THERE ARE MANY ENROUTE
SPECIAL BOULDER STRUCTURE
WE NEED TO CROSS THESE
There are around 61 limestone rocks around Yana. Out of which, two are largest. One is Bhairaveshwara shikara and other mohini shikara. They have mythological importance too. The place is mentioned in 'Skanda Purana' and 'Shaiva siddhanta' The Bhiaraveshwara is dedicated to Lord Shiva and has a temple beneath the rocky hill. The shiva linga inside the hill is self-originated (udbhava). The temple is called as Ganga Chandika Bhairaveshwara temple. The name Ganga signifies the water dripping on shivalinga all through the year while the chandika signifies the Paravathi bronze idol inside temple. It is believed that Shiva-Parvathi resided beneath the hill to repress demons. The complex look of the cave temple gives feeling that it is not man made but naturally evolved. The daily offerings is done to the shivalinga originated on the boulder. The visitors are not allowed to enter sanctum sanatorium of temple except during Mahashivaratri when the place gets heavily crowded. Some enthusiasts even visit during peak monsoon season. The shop keeper mentioned that it is not easily manageable due to presence of leeches.
WE ARE ALMOST THERE
SILHOUETTE OF MOHINI SHIKARA
ONE MORE VIEW
THE PLACARD DESCRIBING YANA
Fable:
The priest narrated the above fable to everyone who visit the temple, gently and crisp. The fable is narrated only in Kannada though. There is intention behind narrating fable to everyone. People visit the place as excursion spot rather than having sacred feeling disturbing the peace of temple. The priest narrates the mythology in an attempt to make people aware of the place. He also requested us to cascade the information to people who are willing to visit the place. The narration was crisp, clear and prudent.
The name Yana:
Earlier during British era, the pilgrims had tough times to reach this place. They were toiling towards Yana through deep dense jungles. When Britishers enquired these people trudging towards this holy place, the people responded saying they were on "Yana" (Yana is Kannada means travel or pilgrimage). This habitual response over years, named this place as Yana :-). This story was also narrated by priest of temple.
Once we finished the darshan, we went to circumambulate temple which is around the rocky hill itself. One has to leave footwear before proceeding to circumambulate. We entered inside the rocky hill and it was natural AC :-). Due to our trek, we were profusely sweating and the region under this rock provided great relief. What an experience :-). The boulders inside have weird alignment. The trail at some places is too narrow. Watch out for flying bats :D. There are no steps to climb down instead rely on the natural rocks. After finishing the circle, we came across vast honeycombs engraved on the rocky hill. Do not pelt stones at them to grab some honey ;-). Once we finished the circle, it was time to rest in nearby shops and have some liquid.
THE CONTINUOUS FLOW OF WATER FROM BOULDER
ENTERING AC ROOM :)
BENEATH THE BOULDER
THE EXIT
EXIT PATH
We had brief friendly chat with local shopkeepers before concluding the journey. In matter of few minutes we were at the entrance gate. Along the descent, I stopped at few places to have deep breaths to enjoy those pristine air arising out of healthy rainforests and drank water from flowing streams. All along, people were seen toiling upwards desperately wanting to reach culmination. They were inquiring us the difference distance from relative point :-). During my ascension, I was ahead of many travelers who started along with me, however the auto driver was quicker than me :-). This was because he had lot of experience climbing hills. Once we reached the gate, we started back to Kumta. In matter of 30minutes we were back in Kumta. The main attraction point driving down along Kumta-Sirsi highway towards Kumta is the gorgeous Aghanashini River. It has breath-taking landscape. I enjoyed the place for around 15 mins before proceeding further. I could have shot better glimpses if I had my arrangements which would have enabled me to travel towards Divgi area to have much broader look. As of now, I was happy to spend atleast few moments of bliss here. It was 4PM when I reached Kumta Railway Station. Since the train arrived an hour late during my to journey it was expected to arrive with same delay. The scheduled time of depart from Kumta was 3:50PM. Consequently due to delay, I could get ticket to Udupi. I handed over money to auto driver Sri Ganesh and thanked him for support. We exchanged phone numbers in case if required during my next itinerary. After brief talk, we bid adieu and myself entered the station platform. Wherever I hired auto, the drivers were kind to me. Be it in Kolar, Devarayanadurga or now in Kumta, I never faced problem of cranky auto drivers. May be it's my luck :-).
Uttara Kannada is great place for nature lovers. The region is blessed with exotic waterfalls, shimmering hilly beaches, exhilarating landscapes, vast cover of rainforests, heavy monsoon season, beautiful temples and rivulets. I have been exploring this region from quite sometime and each time I find new places around it. The Kumta-Siddapur and Kumta-Yellapur stretch is home to myriad of splendorous waterfalls with vivid landscapes (especially the magnificent 5 stage burude waterfall). I still do have lots of places on paper to visit here but not sure when will it get materialized. This time I could not visit Vibhuti Waterfalls since we did not take Gokarna-Sirsi route. Please do not miss the Vibhuti Waterfalls if you plan for Yana. Also there is house self-constructed by an enthusiast nearby Yana which is environment friendly and designed for energy efficiency and maximize ventilation. I once thought of staying in Kumta to visit Vibhuti waterfalls and Apsarakonda beach. Later I decided to defer the waterfall visit to peak monsoon season and beach to sometime during summer.
The scorching sun at west was waiting for its time to sink down the horizon. The weather was warm and slightly humid. I love warm weather of coast which keeps me away from sluggishness. The train arrived honking gently to Kumta station at 4:45PM. It was relatively empty too! I enjoyed the Sharavati river basin during my return journey too! This is third time I am enjoying the mighty river and willing to enjoy it forever. As train neared Murudeshwara, I enjoyed the golden hour Sun shimmering the Arabian Sea with beautiful yellow spectacle. You can have glimpse of Arabian sea from train near Murudeshwara. Nearby Bhatkal, I enjoyed those ecstatic sunset of winter with bright red-orange rays. I could just hope if at all train stopped right now but that did not happen :-). My eyes enjoyed to the fullest though ;-). The entire stretch is perfect place for monsoon timelapses with beautiful landscapes! Previous new year, my journey was special traveling along Subramanya ghats in train. This time it was the magnificent Konkan railway journey for the new year. I reached Udupi at 7:20PM and thus ending one more memorable journey. I boarded a city bus to Sri Krishna Math and later enjoyed wonderful carnatic concert by Dr.Srivatsa Menon.
The route:
From Kumta, there are two routes to reach Yana. One from Kumta via Anegundi cross along Kumta-Sirsi highway. The trek distance is 1.5kms if you approach via this route. The other route is via the same highway but deviate along Gokarna-Sirsi road. From this route trek distance is mere 500mts. I strongly recommend the second route not because of smaller trek distance but due to presence of Vibhuti Waterfalls. One of the beautiful waterfalls of western ghats which can be visited during monsoon season, as well as 2-3 months after monsoon season.
Food:
Kumta is nearby and hence no problem for food. The shopkeeper at the gate informed that they would prepare on request. The shops nearby Yana sell only snacks and beverages. There are no churumuri shops though :-(.
A humble request:
Yana is brutally littered with plastic and other non decomposable wastes which is eyesore sight to watch. It is propensity of Indians to garbage unprecedently without knowing consequences. If you are visiting the place, please do not garbage this beautiful nature. Authorities have placed sufficient garbage bins to dump the waste. Please make use of them. Understand and respect the habitat of wild animals and have a heart for lovely rainforests of India. Kindly do not visit this place if you want to celebrate and make merry. The place is sacred and maintain the sanctity of this unique temple.
The mistake this time:
I shot many pictures and videos during my travel. I was quite unaware why the videos were bit unsteady and pictures required bit more trial to stabilize. As I reached home, Alas! I realized IS was off on my lens :-(. This was done during my star trails experiment the previous day and I forgot to switch it ON :-(. Last time during my train journey I did the mistake of inserting earphone to microphone jack. This time no grinning. I am utterly dissappointed with my dismal show. There is something wrong with me since this cannot be perpertual. I am trying to work out strategy before getting started. After few hours of contemplation, I realized the need to be attentive, patient and neatly prepared before starting travel :-(. Fortunately, since the shutter speed was moving beyond 1/100s, the IS was not required but videos turned out bit unsteady. There are software approaches to correct such mistakes but they are never close to on board approaches. I corrected the few shaky videos with KDENLIVE but deeply dissappointed with my frivolousness :-(.
The related blogs of Sharavati and Aghanaashini River are here:
Here is one more timelapse from Kodachadri Peak. This is 12th timelapse video in my youtube channel :-).
It was 5:30PM on bright Saturday when we reached Kodachadri peak after trek from Santosh hotel for about 5kms. We were sweating vigorously following long hike. After seeking blessings of Lord Shiva at Sarvajna Peetha, it was time to rest on one of the rocks awaiting sunset. In between casual chat, Rajesh pestered me to start a timelapse. I was bit lethargic but he was persistent :D. Finally, I started the intervalometer for 2images a minute. As a result it turned out to be wonderful fast setting sun ;-). Since there was an hour of time for complete sunset, I kept interval for 30s capture. I did not use manual mode since wanted to grab bright Sun always. The problem with Manual mode is it turns out quite darker gradually as sun loses intensity. As you know, the disadvantage of using Av is variation in lighting which can be corrected with software approaches. I did not carry tripod and consequently mounted camera on rocky surface for interval shots.
Next is sunrise timelapse. I realised a bit late there was only few time left for sunrise and hence tuned intervalometer to grab a shot per 10 second. The mode is Av mode due to said reason as mentioned above. Even this capture was based on Rajesh's input. I was bit skeptical that heavy breeze would shake camera which may result in out of frame pictures. However, the camera stood upright ;-). This time also I placed it on one of the rocks in sunrise point. Once Sun was arisen with golden colors, I could not resist and turned off intervalometer :-). The timelapse of Sunrise was achieved though ;-) however with less interval. Combining both the timelapses, here is a video. I thought of combining these with the already pending ones to form a bigger one. However, demand from boys and draining disk space forced me to compose the video and share. Hope you enjoy the same.
Settings:
I do not remember exactly. Both scenes were shot in Av mode. The video is rendered in KDENLIVE 1080p 25fps and 2pass encoding MPEG4/MP3.
Music: After lot of internal tussle, I settled for the Simon O Shine's musical brilliance - Your Distant World. Other options considered were excerpts from Sunset-Beautiful Life (Vol Deeman Remix) and SoundLift - Horizonte (Andy Blueman Intro mix). All of them matched well for video however could not resist the fabulous orchestral breakdown and eventually applied for the timelapse. It did fit too ;-).
Composing timelapses makes me exhilarated. Ever since I stumbled upon timelapse photography from internet sources,
it has been one of my favorite hobbies. I enjoy composing timelapse
despite requiring longer time. From my experience, timelapse requires
persistence, perception, a bit of intuition and lot of patience more
than camera techniques. To some extent few video editing techniques help
a lot too! In order to bring up my mood (when I am down) and also since my disk space is exhausting at faster pace, I hope to upload more pending timelapses in coming days :-)
Ashutosh also pulled a wonderful timelapse and here it is. He has also some collection of star trail timelapse which he might share in his channel.
These were the pictures shot during our ascension of Kuduremukh ghats towards Horanadu
Annapoorneshwari temple. The beautiful roadside waterfall is named as Kadambi (not sure what does it mean)
As you see, the waterfall is not at its best as compared to peak monsoon season
still has considerable flow to rejoice :-). The kuduremukh ghat mainly consists of shola grasslands along crest while thick rainforest along coastal line.
The forests are very very thick with high woods from the forest gate near Karkala till Hanumangundi falls.
Despite being daytime during our ascension, we felt like evening :D. You will not dare to park
vehicle for longer time in this creepy environment :D. These forests are recognized as world heritage site by UNESCO due to presence of vast
bio-diversity and fragile ecosystem. I even noticed Kuduremukh
peak from Kalasa road (the face of horse) but did not grab any pictures
due to lack of time. Here are some picture. Apart from pictures of old trees enjoy some pictures of our ancestors too :D. They were many in numbers all through kuduremukh ghats pulling out food from resting travelers. They even grabbed our apple too :-).
KADAMBI WATERFALLS
ONE MORE PICTURE
FOREST NEARBY
TALL WOODS
LETS SEE WHATS NEXT FOOD OPTION
WHAT YOU ARE SNAPPING ME? I AM GOING TO HIDE
From childhood, my interest was for geography and mathematics. However, my country does
not provide congenial environment to excel in such areas. In geography, my main interest was on tropical rain forests particularly amazon rain forests. Even now, I pursue such
areas as hobby which keeps me always curious. My biggest dream is to visit amazon rain forests if possible :D (distant dream!). It is believed that amazon rainforests produce nearly 20% of earth's oxygen. As of now I enjoy
India's rain forests which are our pride, the western ghats :-). I love western ghats mainly because of such waterfalls and dense forests.
Their energetic plunge, pristine water provides mesmerizing experience.
Some of the waterfalls cannot be reached during monsoon (like Arishinagundi waterfalls and Burude waterfalls)
can be targeted immediately during post monsoon season. Hope you enjoy the pictures and
small video of Kadambi waterfall. Since the spot is mere 70kms from my village,
I hope to grab some energetic plunge during peak monsoon season.
Apart from Kuduremukh, enjoy some pictures of rainforests nearby Yana located in Kumta Taluk of UttaraKannada district. One of
the exotic places in UttaraKannada district with surreal rocky landscapes and rain forests. Also the region is home to King Cobras too :-)
ONE OF MANY STREAMS
LUSH GREEN RAIN FORESTS
ONE MORE VIEW
INTO THE SKY!
The trees in rainforest have stood for many years despite the inclement weather. Whatever may be the scientific reason behind it, I derive inspiration from those tall trees to stand tall during complexities. It is not guaranteed for how many years the trees will remain tall before falling captive to human greed. People need to self educate to understand the importance of western ghats and how they influence the monsoon patterns.
Speaking of Rainforest, hear beautiful unfinished music "Rainforest" by Andy Blueman. Ever wondered a trance music with bass can imitate a peaceful rainforest? Thats beauty of Andy Blueman music. He has blended soft bass along with rainforest surrounding into the music so brilliantly that one does feel being inside a rainforest. Imagine the flow of thunderous waterfall and galloping water stream when you hear soft bass. I have great respect for this music and have some thoughts racing in my mind.
One day, I will try to compile a small video dedicated to this music.
Keep staring at the picture while you hear music and feel the ambiance of rainforest. Andy has mentioned that he would be finishing the unfinished tracks of 2008-2010 which includes the "Rainforest" too! Hence expect the full version of song in early future :-)
Andy Blueman - Rainforest(Energetic Mix): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Us452ED2o
Also do not miss some of exciting documentaries on rainforests given below.
I have noted some of the excerpts which will tickle your soul and body :-).
"There is no place like this on earth
The turtles strike like snakes
Adaptation is key to survival
One of the greatest natural habitat on earth
It's home to greatest diversity of living thing anywhere and dozens still discovered every year
Crisp clear waters make their way through rainforest filling it with life. They also create a magnificent spectacle
Tiny streams weave together to form the grandest of waterfalls that roar like thunder
Waterfalls plunge hundreds of feet into pools below Huge trees stand like monuments amidst symphony of life
Shrouded in a translucent vale, millions of living organisms compete for light beneath the canopy
Layer upon layer life here exists in harmony
Trees in rainforests have been known to live for 350years and grow to nearly 200feet tall. Here we can discover the world 100 million years old.
Mother nature at her very best"
1) RainForest: Beneath the canopy Part 01: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HfeBP3vaEI
2) RainForest: Beneath the canopy Part 02: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAnDo_LqYRg
3) RainForest: Beneath the canopy Part 03: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyS7_fE1LvI
4) The Amazon rainforests: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qOpPo-onf0
5) A tour of Amazon Rainforest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VggJYbtoN8g
6) What is rainforest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS2VrgRFCzc
Today I would like to narrate some of our experiences of trek to Arishinagundi Waterfalls visited a month back. Hope you will enjoy our experiences :-)
16-Nov-2013
Arishinagundi waterfalls is situated in exotic location amidst western ghats. It was well known for me from past 2 years, however lack of partners inhibited me from visiting this beautiful waterfall. In addition to that I also knew that there is no roadway to waterfall and need to trek from kollur for 6kms in dense rain forests. Not to forget, the region is home to wide variety of serpents :D. This time two of my office colleagues showed interest to visit the waterfalls and we planned just 2-3 days before commencement of journey. Rajesh booked Rajahamsa which was the only bus option available to Kollur. Since we decided just few days back, we ended up reserving last rows of bus :D. We were foreseeing a great trek along with bumpy journey :D.
We three congregated at Majestic bus stop and the bus started journey around 8:40PM. Looking at the condition of bus, we were sure of having good gymanstics inside the bus. We had preamble of what is going to happen further with greetings from poor suspension. We were getting massaged across every humps and bumps and sometimes high jumps! The bus stopped at Kamat hotel near Dabaspet and fortunately Rajesh occupied vacant seat in front row. Now myself and Amit were left stranded in last row. The bus resumed the journey and I was able to get good sleep till Shimoga. Like pitching the ball, we were getting pitched high by bus :D. A passenger alighted at Shimoga bus stand and Amit grabbed the middle seat immediately. Even though it was Friday, the off-season kept bus relatively empty at last rows. Also to my knowledge, people ply to kollur mostly by private vehicles. From Shimoga onwards, roads are simply ridiculous. Also the last seat added more pain to journey. I was the only now left in last row. After many hours of wobbling and jumping we are here in Kollur at 6AM. Ourselves found a room to refresh and ready by 7:30AM
We left to Mookambika temple to seek blessings before we could start. There was small queue and main door of temple was supposed to open by 8AM. We had to wait for 30 minutes before door could open. It was open exactly at 8AM and crowd had gathered by that time. Since we occupied the queue very early, it was going inside. We had darshan of mother mookambika and were out in matter of 15mins. Later Rajesh and Amit had blessings from the temple elephant :-). We had breakfast nearby hotel and then ready to start :-).
It's finally time to visit the famous Jog Falls :-). Planned just a week ago, we had tough time to find some lodging due to flurry of tourists. Also all of us were chasing nasty bugs in office at the last moment. Whatever may be was the reason, we decided to visit Jog falls for a day. The plan was to reach Sagar, get refreshed and travel to Jog falls. There was room crunch at Sagar too :(. My uncle helped me to book a room at Sagar and eventually travel seemed seamless. Albeit, there was hesitation until all of us reached KSRTC bus stop ;-). You can also book train till Talaguppa if you plan beforehand. Since we planned just 3-4 days prior to journey, there was no possibility of getting train ticket.
We had booked tickets in sleeper bus till Sagar. My uncle had booked a lodge for us to refresh in Sagar through his colleague. There was an option to book a stay near Jog itself, however they turned up to be too expensive to afford. Instead, Sagar is best option and from there one could find frequent buses plying towards Jog Falls. We boarded the bus and it finally took off from Majestic bus stand at 10:20PM. Barring some initial hiccup, the journey was very smooth. The beds were neat and very good condition too. The bus stopped at Kamat Upahar near Dabaspet for brief break. Around 6:15AM, we reached Sagar. The journey was smooth however with deficient sleep. The bus dropped us exactly near lodge which is nearby NH-206 and 3kms away from town limit towards Shivamogga. The road condition seemed relatively good. The NH-206 runs between Tumkur and Honnavar. The road is known to be Bangalore-Honnavar highway but technically should be Tumkur-Honnavar highway.
Leaving the unwanted stuff apart, we were ready for breakfast around 8:30AM. I was very much hungry too! There is a vegetarian restaurant nearby lodge which serves limited variety of breakfast. The breakfast quality and taste was very good albeit the high price. The price was somewhat matching Bangalore standards :-) but we had very tasty and hefty breakfast. Few hours after refreshment, we took an auto towards Sagar private bus stand. We waited in bus stand for some time to catch the bus. Few minutes later, the bus arrived and we were ready to start. The bus was jam packed with college students who get down after 3 stops.
Jog is around 30kms from Sagar. It was drizzling in Sagar and as we traveled deeper into Malnad towards Western ghats, the rains got stronger at times. However not the vigor which could be seen during July monsoon season. The scene from Sagar to Jog is absolutely stunning as expected. The beautiful streams, lush green paddy fields, well built roads and of-course the rains were simply marvelous to watch. The travel from Talaguppa to Jog was absolutely mind blowing with western ghats and rivulets. The riads were also in good condition. We could have stopped at many spots if we had own arrangements. Even then I enjoyed from inside the bus to full extent. The bus had stamp of Non-Stop service but was stopping everywhere :-).
2kms before Jog, there is a deviation from NH-206 to reach waterfall site. The interior roads are not so good but manageable. It was around 10AM we reached Jog Falls. It is required to buy a ticket of Rs.5 to enter the premises. The ticket is valid for entire day though. Jog falls comprises of 4 water plunges namely Raja, Rani, Roarer, Rocket. When we neared view point, the falls was completely covered under clouds and mist :(. We could not view anything at all. Few minutes later, clouds faded away and we could somewhat see all of them except Raja. The powerful plummet of Raja water falls coupled with narrow gorge, creates huge mist cover around it which does not fade away so easily. Either Sun or strong winds only can blow them away.
A taxi driver was compelling us to show some of the view points nearby through which can see falls bit close. I knew about British Bungalow view from many people who visited the place. After brief discussion among ourselves, we decided to hire the taxi. He promised that if we notice only mist for most our time, we need not have to pay for him. The British Bungalow view is around 6kms from main view point. One has to travel again along NH-206 to reach the place. When we alighted at this place, we saw only mist again :(. The driver re-iterated that we would see the falls very soon clearly. Both Rajesh and Sudhir started staring at me since I was the person who convinced them to hire :D. Fortunately the clouds and mist faded away and bright SUN turned up after few minutes :-). What a ravishing sight to watch with Rani, Roarer and Rocket. They were so clearly visible with roaring sound. The velocity was not as much during the time water let out from Linganamakki reservoir, however it was considerable. The Raja falls is located sideways and visible only from view point few steps down. An unfortunate incident during past week had forced the authorities to close the view point path :(. Few drunk people tried to execute some sort of adventure by crossing the Raja falls. All of them fell into the deep gorge without being traced. It is difficult to understand why is it not possible for people to just enjoy landscapes than engaging in nasty stuffs :(. Those lives are no more, however there are huge number of people who get affected by such incidents especially local businessmen.
VIEW FROM BRITISH BUNGALOW
TOP OF RANI FALLS
Meanwhile, we had very nice views of all waterfalls except the Raja falls for the reasons stated above. Next the driver carried us to a view point near Rani falls. We had closeup feel of the Rani falls. Absoultely stunning nature in between dense western ghats. There was also abandoned bungalow nearby site. After the small journey, we were back in Jog falls main site. At a few distance from Jog falls view point, one could even have glance of Sharavati River valley. The source of water in Jog Falls is the Sharavati River itself stored in Linganamakki reservoir. The excess water from reservoir actually brings back the glory of jog falls. The river finally joins Arabian Sea in Honavar which is 60kms from here. Not to mention, the Sharavati River basin in Honavar is picturesque destination with beautiful nature.
There are two more waterfalls nearby which are only alive during monsoon. One is gerusoppa falls and other Gowri shankar falls. Both seemed non-reachable. The gerusoppa falls can only be enjoyed from view point and not possible to reach nearby. It was only 12:30PM when we finished our short view journey. We wanted to spend entire day near jog falls due to mist cover. We were hoping atleast for few minutes we could have full view of waterfalls. As expected, even nature did not betray us. The waterfalls was completely unmasked and we had fantastic view of all of the four :-). That was really gorgeous sight! We took some snaps from slightly elevated point nearby a bungalow.
SHARAVATI RIVER VALLEY WITH LOVELY RAIN FORESTS!
DISTANT GERUSOPPA FALLS
GOWRI SHANKAR FALLS
VIEW FROM NEARBY BUNGALOW
VIEW FROM PLATFORM
This cat seemed to have hefty food and was drowsing under rarely visited Sun. The cat was very much friendly and stayed even if went nearby it.
LETHARGIC CAT
We had packed food packets to relieve our intermittent hunger. A monkey
saw our food cover and started following us :D. We all had umbrellas to
chase it away. The monkey did not leave us for very long time :-).
Somehow Sudhir managed to cheat the monkey by disguising the food packet
from monkey's sight. Through out the pursue, the monkey
was threatening us to hand over the food packet but we were also ready
with umbrellas :D. It also got raged by camera's flash ;-). Fortunately,
it was alone. Had it been in group, we would have given up easily.
Sudhir's trick and pouring rain eventually made monkey to lose battle.
But we really appreciated its persistence before giving up.
GUYS YOU HAVE BEEN RAIDED, HAND OVER FOOD COVER!
FINAL WARNING! HAND OVER OR FACE THE BATTLE :D
Time for lunch ;-). We went to have lunch at nearby Mayura hotel. There are also lots of local vendors inside Jog premises, however Mayura was best option. The charge was Rs.60/- but food was not good. We had no option since we were very much hungry. After having lunch, we walked towards resting place nearby. There were lots of monkeys here! The number was high since many people were having packed lunch here. However a guard nearby used to chase monkeys away and hence they never dared to enter the resting place. Despite of that, they were waiting outside the place despite of heavy rains hoping for some share!
WE ARE SHIVERING IN RAIN BUT NO ONE IS GIVING FOOD!
After lunch, it started to rain heavily. It is impossible to get view of falls in rain since cloud covers entire area. Time for small nap ;-). We had power nap on benches of resting place. We had alternate sessions of nap so that at-least one will be awake to look after luggage :-). 45 minutes later, the sight became fully clear and it remained clear till 4PM. Later the rain started pouring again. It was time to say goodbye to beautiful waterfall site. We had in tea nearby shop and I cannot resist churumuri during Monsoon weather :D. Me and Rajesh had churumuri which was relatively expensive too! We caught bus to Sagar and it started around 5PM. Some pictures after clear sight.
SHOT FROM VIEW POINT
DELIGHTFUL JOG FALLS
The bus takes detour and enters Mahatma Gandhi power station to pick up
employees of the power station. Later it reaches Kargal to pick up
passengers from there before finally taking normal coarse to Sagar.
Throughout the journey I enjoyed the paddy fields, streams and
beautiful western ghats. We really missed those spots since we did not
have private arrangements. Nevertheless, we had great time in Jog falls.
Around 7PM, we reached Sagar town. We had healthy 2 more hrs to catch
bus. We wandered around the town for sometime before having dinner in
one of the restaurants. The food was good. Eventually it is time to say
goodbye to gorgeous Malnad region. We plan to visit again when
authorities let out huge pile of water from Linganamakki dam which may
happen only next year!
Some milky ways
I could not grab full milky way of Jog falls since it was open sight. Despite the overcast weather, the open space could not bring down the exposure to at-least .5s. Also the falls was not plummeting with huge amount of water and hence at-least 5 second exposure was required to capture flow. A ND filter would have served the purpose which I did not have. Eventually I took some close-up milky way with tele lens which can go upto f/45 @300mm. Some pictures blurred out, since it was difficult to hold camera steady due to heavy lens weight. I required tripod here.
CLOSE UP MILKY WAY!
THIS CAME OUT GOOD HANDHELD!
When to visit:
Watch out for the water outflow from Linganamakki dam in newspaper. When the dam authorities let out huge amounts of amount of water, start immediately :D. Of-course it will be raining heavily too! You need to compromise on certain things in life ;-).
Stay:
Stay in Sagar and make sure you book lodge in advance. There is flurry of visitors during these seasons. Jog accommodation is too costly. Make 3 day plan. Don't miss the magnificent boat ride along Sharavati river backwater to Sigandhur Chowdeshwari temple (around 60kms from Sagar I believe). We could not visit the place since we did not have own arrangements. One more day better stay in Sirsi which is 70kms from Sagar to visit Unchalli falls and Magodu falls near Yellapur, an hour journey from Sirsi. Whatever may be the complexity, visit during monsoon season ;-).
2) The clouds and mist intermittently enveloping and de-enveloping falls, provided perfect setup for timelapse ;-) along with sneaking Sun. It is short but I hope its sweet ;-). Do watch it!
3) Here is the compilation of videos shot during our visit. Hope you enjoy the same
