Ramnath Kamat

Day 3 started with the chants of shlokas at Vadya's place. I woke up, had the yummy breakfast and decided to roam around Kasargod.  I had the time till afternoon. So decided to cover as many places as possible.The plan was to leave to Puttur after lunch. 

Mom's wish was that I should visit the centuries old Edneeru matha. Couldn't say No.. So the first visit was to Edneeru matha. This Matha is situated in Kasargod Taluk. Its followers are spread around south of Dakshina Kannada and Kasaragodu Districts. They speak the Tulu language. Unlike Shivalli Madhava Brahmins the affiliation of Shivalli Smartha Brahmins to the Smartha mathas is not exclusive. People can be followers of more than one smartha matha. In some parts of Kasargod and southern Dakshina Kannada the Madhava mathas also yield some influence.

Edneeru matha, photography isn't allowed inside

 

The second pitstop was the Bekal fort. The fort is about 20kms from Kasargod town. The fort is situated on the sea shores which reminds you of  Chapora fort in Goa. Bekal Fort (Malayalam: ബേക്കല്‍ കോട്ട), is the largest fort in Kerala, situated at Kasaragod district, North Kerala and it is 67 km from Mangalore spreading over 40 acres (160,000 m²). Some important features of this fort are the water-tank with its flight of steps, the tunnel opening towards the south, the magazine for keeping ammunition and the broad steps leading to the Observation Tower, which is a rarity. From there one has an ample view of towns in the vicinity like Kanhangad, Pallikkara, Bekal, Kottikkulam, Uduma etc. The nearest railway stations are Bekal Fort, Kotikulam, Kanhangad,and Kasargod. This observation center had strategic significance in discovering even the smallest movements of the enemy and ensuring the safety of the Fort.

Bekal fort

The wave hits the shores

I also find some butterflies..

The fort was huge and took a lot of time to cover. So, I decided to head back for lunch. On the way, I visited one more temple called Madhur temple.

Madhur temple was originally Madhanentheswara (Shiva) Temple and as the lore goes, an old so called "low caste" lady "Madaru" discovered an "Udbhava Murthy" (a statue that was not made by a human) of shiva linga. The Ganapathy statue was drawn by a priest's son, a small Brahmin boy, on the walls of the Garbhagriha(sanctum sanctorum) while playing. Day by day it became big and fat; so that the boy called Ganapathi as "boddajja" or "bodda ganesha". The legend of Kumble seme says Tipu Sultan wanted to demolish the temple like Adooru Mahalingeswara temple during his invasion of Coorg, Tulunadu, andMalabar. But after drinking water from the well of the temple, he changed his mind on attacking and demolishing the Garbhagudi and marched towards Malabar. But to satisfy his soldiers and Islamic scholars he made a cut with his sword symobolising the attack. The mark is still visible on the building that is built around the temple well.

Madhur temple

Being Sunday, the temple was crowded and I had reached just for the mangalaarati. After the aarti, I left to Vadya's place for lunch.. 

After lunch, we started riding to Puttur, to Vadya's home. The ride being small there weren't any pit stops inbetween. Though we stopped for ice cream after reaching Puttur. 

Gadbad

Vadya's house

Night we tried to utilize the dark sky before rain struck and moon rose over the horizon. Had a little success..Day 1 Ride: Kasargod -> Edneeru -> Bekal fort -> Kasargod -> Puttur

Route Map:

National Parks covered: None
Waterfalls covered: None
Total distance traveled: 110 kms


Ramnath's happiness index: 5/10.

Top Station is a hill in the Kanan Devan Hills of Tamilnadu. Top station was the uppermost railway station in this region which was used to transport tea from Munnar. From Top station there was a ropeway to transport tea to Kottagudi.

We had booked return ticket from Munnar and hoping to book a tatkal ticket to Dindigal. But the tatkal tickets got booked in a flash. So, as a quick reroute, we booked KSRTC bus tickets to Theni. We gathered as much information as possible from Pavan who had been there before. He told us that he will join us at the top station in the evening.

The Rajahamsa bus left one hour late from Shantinagar but reached Theni on time by 7:30 am. From Theni to Kurangani(Trek starting point), the distance is about 30 kms. Vadya spoke to a rick in his broken Tamil and the rick guy agreed to take us to Kurangani for 500 Rs. He also agreed to stop for breakfast at point. After breakfast and the diesel rick which was climbing the hills at 10kmph, we reached Kurangani by 10 am. 

Top Station starting point

We got the information from the people at Kurangani and they showed us the starting point. They also told us that if you dont wander off the trail, its hard to get lost.

We started following the trail to be welcomed by much graciously by colorful butterflies  on the way.

A well defined trail

The Common Fivering (Ypthima baldus ) mating

Blue tiger

View on the left side

The lemon pansy.

Common jay

Stone Gods at the waterfall After the waterfall, there is a well laid stone path which will go through endless zig zag turns before you reach the middle station. One thing about the Top station trek is that there is no plains to walk unlike Kudremukha or Kumaraparvata treks. Here, you will always be climbing slowly steadily from 800 meters to 1800 meters.

The zigzag path to Kolukkumalai

Trek path to middle station

Few beauties I found in between..

Common tailorbird

Red whiskered bulbul

The Common Sailer

Nilgiri laughing thrush

We met many villagers who on the way were coming down from the middle station. When asked how far is the middle station their answers were just 2 more turns. But those two more turns turned out to be more than 2 kms and after a while when we had given up hope we saw a temple. The temple had water tap. Finally we had water to refill in bottles.  Soon after the temple is the middle station where there are around 10-15 houses and a shop where he sells only some local drink(sharbat) and nothing else.

After the middle station you will find a big water tank which is used to supply water to the village. You need go around this water tank to climb a pretty steep hill before you see the first glimpse of Top station.

On the way to Top station from middle station. You can see dam in the background.

Spotted dove

After 1km of walk from middle station you can see the top station and get excited that its just half an hour away but its not. It takes about one and half hours atleast before it drains out all the energy you have until you start to listen to vehicle noise. That means you are nearing the top station.





We had food at a hotel at the top station. It started raining. We had to find a place to pitch the tent, so we quickly moved out in search of tea estate  which Pavan had recommended.  After walking a mile in the tea trail we found a place which was cement floored. That was it, it was a perfect camping spot. We pitched tents quickly before one more round of shower poured in.

That's all of us. Pretty still for a long shutter

We put out a campfire cooked food and went to sleeeeeeeeep...



Day 2:

Woke up at 6 am but the sun was already up. Moreover, we couldnt see the sunrise as we had camped in the valley. I climbed a nearest tea hill and took some pictures none the less. 

Thats the cloud covering the whole mountain the background

We packed our tents and put off the fire and walked to the Top station. Had bread omelet and tea there. We enquired about a jeep there to Munnar. One guy agreed to take us for 700Rs. Sounded like a good deal. We hopped into it and drove to Munnar. On the way we had elephant sightings as well.





We reached Munnar by 10 am. Searched a hotel and crashed for the day. Our bus to Bangalore was at 5 pm. The bus was on time and so were we back to Bangalore by 5 am...


Trekking details:
Base camp: Kurangani
Connectivity from Bangalore: KSRTC goes to Theni. IRCTC goes till Dindigal. 
Bangalore - 370Kms -> Dindigal - 74Kms -> Theni - 15Kms -> Bodi - 16Kms ->Kurangini
From Theni you can go to Bodi in Bus or hire a auto directly to Kurangini
Trekking distance:
Kurangani --- Middle station - 6kms
Middle Station ---- Top station - 6kms
Trekking time -- 6 hours
water availability - Available at waterfall, middle station and inbetween middle and top station.
Food availability - There are restaurants and lodges as well on Top station. One can book lodge if don't want to camp.
Camping - Camping is allowed at top station but there is a camping fees around 1000 Rs per tent which is provided by them. You can camp in a tea estate as we did for free :)



Trekking season:
August- March

Difficulty level:
Difficult for amateur trekkers.
Moderate for frequent trekkers.

Must carry:

• Tent, sleeping bag and mat.
• Good trekking shoes.
• Water(1lts). You can fill it up at waterfall or the middle station
• Leech repellent if you are going before november( Iodex spray, salt). Leech socks are the best options.
• Flashlight, First aid kit, Knife, rope, energy drinks and food items.

 Important guidelines:

• Reserve your tickets in advance.
• Start trekking early in the morning, sooner the better. Try to reach the summit by eod.
• Stay with the crowd always. 
• Keep your backpack as light as possible. Dont carry too much of food. 

  Total trekking time:

• If you are a frequent trekker, you can reach the summit  in 3 hours.

Tips for photographers:

• Dont forget to capture the macro beauties of the jungle.
• View from the mountain gives a perfect landscape.
• Get up early to capture the beautiful sunrise.

Trekking rules:

• Do not carry alcohol. Do not smoke in the jungle
• Do not throw anything during the trek. Dustbins are seen at many places. Keep the trekking place clean for the following trekkers.

Ramnath Kamat's Happiness Index for the trek: 7/10

The morning was misty. It had just rained. Kalpetta town was just waking up and so were we. The morning breakfast Appam and Egg curry were a boost as we bid adieu to Wayanad.

We were in our rain suits above the riding gear, prepared for anything to come. We passed through Padiri reserve forest and Begur reserve forest before cruising through the road sandwiched between Nagarhole NP and Thalpetty WS(Wayanad WS).

Thalpetty WS

Tiny planet

Vadya cruising

As we headed out of Jungle we were invited by a board that said "Irupu falls, not so far". Tempted us to take a detour again through a coffee estate. The waterfall had already invited quite a lot of visitors. Hiking 1km with riding gear did not sound attractive. So, we kept all the riding gear at the ticket counter. The guy happily agreed to it.

Irupu waterfall full view

Irupu waterfall

The Paris Peacock.

From Irupu falls, we headed towards the land of typical mustaches aka Coorg. We were taking the route via Madikeri to reach Sulya and from there to Kasargod. We reached Virajpete by lunch. After searching a goodrestaurant for about half an hour we finally settled for an ugly one where he offered only meals.

And we put on the rain gear again as the clouds emerged from the north western side. Soaked us for some time while we passed through coffee estates and forests. We took a bypass to Madikeri   and directly joined the Mangalore Highway. The downhill ride with twists and turns definitely made the day.

10 kms downhill, you can see Devarkolli waterfall on your left side. There are some tea stalls for a quick refresh.

DevarKolli waterfall

We reached Sullia by evening 4 just in time for a cup of tea. The road from here goes to Jalsoor and you need to take a left towards  Sullia from here. Ah! This road definitely has been the highlight of the day. It was about 4:30 but felt like its too dark. The forests were thick and the twists and turns tested our flexibility. And we  touched Kerala, no! Karnataka, no Kerala again! Yeah! That's right, we crossed states 3 times within a span of 5 kms. As we approached the urban land, it started drizzling again. And we rode to Vadya's uncle's house.




Day 1 Ride: Kalpetta -> Irupu -> Virajpete -> Madikeri -> Sullia -> Kasargod

Route Map:







National Parks covered: Padiri Reserve forest, Begur Reserve forest,Thalpetty NP, Pushpagiri WS, Brahmagiri WS
Waterfalls covered: Irupu
Total distance traveled: 270 kms


Ramnath's happiness index: 7/10.

Hesaraghatta Lake is a manmade reservoir located 18 km to the north-west of Bengaluru in Karnataka state, India. It is a fresh water lake created in the year 1894 across the Arkavathy River to meet the drinking water needs of the city. The lake is approachable by road from Bangalore at a distance of 26.5 km to the north-west of the City.  However now only remains of the lake remain as the lake was last filled completely about 15 years back. This has caused a vast area of grassland which has attracted wide variety of birds. Over the weekends, these grasslands have become popular among bird watchers.

This was my second visit to the lake in last 2 years. So I have combined the images from both trips. Have a look and enjoy :)

The Indian Silverbill