Travelogue- Hogenkal falls

Recently my friends and I visited Hogenekal falls. This is a waterfall about 200 odd kms from Bangalore. There are 2 different routes to reach the place. One via the highway (Nice Corridor) and other one which goes through the interior of villages. I suggest you take the smaller route in case you are leaving very early since it is really picturesque. However, the roads in this route are in a bad shape.
We left at 6.45 from Bangalore via the shorter route. After a quick breakfast at Hosur, we proceeded. The atmosphere was wonderful. At the Karnataka TN border you have to shell out about 500 bucks. 250 official 250 unofficial. After travelling for about 2.5 hours you will reach a slight Ghat section.

After giving some poses and looking worse than the monkeys sitting around, we decided it was better to proceed towards the final destination. The curvy roads are a great fun especially if you are nature lover. Next thing i remember was some Tamil mumbo jumbo and a black arm reaching out as if it would just strangle me....I woke up from my slumber to be told that we are entering the Forest area and we have to pay 20 bucks for the ticket...and 20 bucks for something else which did not provide us with a bill. Soon after paying another 20 bucks to enter the Hogenekal area we encountered this dude who started telling us about the boat ride and prices etc. We had hardly caught a breather but our dude was explaining us everything...After 20 minutes and overcoming of the initial shock I realized that we would have to shell out 300 bucks per head for a whole day boat ride.
Well let me explain....There are two major falls in Hogenekal one on the Karnataka side and other on TN side. Both on River Cavery. The area where these falls are is known as Dharmapuri (TN). There are a few small islands on the River. The current is very strong at some points and its quite deep at these points. There are round boats which are technically "Coracle". Each of these Coracles will be able to carry about 7 people excluding the navigator. They will take around on the coracles, let you take the pics of the waterfalls...Our boatman was also ( apparently) a hobby phographer...and clicked tons of photo's of our...in various poses some of them were grotesque to say the least :P.
Then after visit to one falls ( the one on TN side) we were taken to a spot where the water was no deeper than 4 feet and we could enjoy in the water. If you have some aching muscles, you can get massages done here...(using oils which you have never heard of!!). After spending a good one hour in the water with lot fun we had a lunch consisting of fish, rice and sambar. Well the food is cooked on the banks, in pots darker than anything you have seen on firewood by people who have not heard of hygiene in their life...but guys the food rocks. I enjoyed every bit of the sambar with extra chilli. Carrying your own pack of water is good idea as the packaged water is expensive and not authentic. The Karnataka side of the falls is a bit smaller but looks equally good. You can see a lot of salmons's trying to swim upstream and getting caught in the nets places by the local folks.


Over all the place is a real good one to be. Things to remember are

• Carry Water with you if you dont want to shell out lot of bucks
• Try to negotiate a lot....You should be able to get yourself the whole 3-4 hours journey come enjoyment for less than 200 bucks. But do this if you have sufficient people...Its fair that way since the guy has to carry the coracle on his back at many places and will spend all the time with you. 
• Carry an extra pair of clothes, you can enjoy the water ( it is really fast and you can have a great time...even though you do not know to swim).
• Carry a lot of small change you will have to give 10 bucks for this 20 bucks for that...etc. Btw, the coracle ride will cost you 20bucks per head separately for something...i could not understand for what
• Take a good camera...You can get some really nice shots..not like the overexposed ones you find here. 
• Start early before there is too much crowd...so that you can return early too :-D...before the Bangalore traffic threatens to kill you.
  

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