Bangalore – Hosur – Krishnagiri – Dharmapuri – Pennagaram – Hogenakkal – Bangalore
This was my 3rd trip to Hogenakkal Falls after the previous bike trips in Nov2004 and Sept2005 but maiden one on car. It was a sudden decision taken on Saturday to go to Hogenakkal Falls on Sunday.
Sunday, 25th June: We get up early at 4:30AM. Pack up the necessary stuffs, medical kit, extra clothes for bathing, food etc, take a nice warm bath and start at 5:45AM. Weather was cold as usual like Bangalore.
The road was deserted and it’s always enjoying to drive in city in early mornings. Within 30min of driving we were in Shell outlet in Bommanahalli for tank full. We spent another 30min there, filling petrol, checking tire pressures of all 5 tyres, also bought a mineral water bottle from the shell retail shop.
We left petrol station at about 6:55AM and back to NH7. Traffic was ok but we kept 70-80kmph till Electronic City and close to 100kmph till Hosur. Traffic eased out after Hosur and the speed increased when we kept 100-120kmph throughout till the breakfast break in Krishnagiri. Weather played a great role in this trip. Even in TN there was no sun and the drive was more pleasant. We didn’t put on the AC till Dharmapuri.
We had our breakfast break in Hotel Uthyaiah at around 7:45AM where we regularly halt for food. Had delicious masala dosas and hot tea.
We started our journey at 8:30AM and headed towards Krishnagiri. At Krishnagiri we left the GQ stretch and headed to Dharmapuri along NH7. It was amazing to see that the stretch from Dharmapuri to Krishnagiri has improved a lot. Lots of patchwork has been done on the graveyard potholes which we encountered in my last trips both by car and bike. Also in 2-3 places reconnaissance work is underway by NHAI engineers means soon we might see that turning into a beautiful 4 laned highway as part of the NS Corridor. Anyway this time in mango season saw lots of mango walas on road side selling mangoes next to the mango garden. Maan, we stopped by to check it. It was damn sweet mangoes again and that too Rs10 / kg. We bought 7kg of mangoes and dumped in the boot.
t Dharmapuri junction, we take a right turn for Hogenakkal (arrow marked). This road was under construction when we visited Hogenakkal last time in Sept2005 but this time it is smooth and also broader. We drove 40km in 35min via Pennagaram (Veerappan’s wife stood for TN election from here) and before entering the jungle paid the toll (Rs40 for car which I felt was very high). One funny thing that I noticed for the first time was that in the second gate and policeman took note of car number and took Rs10 don’t know for what. He gave an explanation in Tamil which we couldn’t understand. Finally we reached the falls in another 15min through the jungle and ghat road.
At Hogennakal, the Cauvery River enters the plains and the river dashing against the rocks is a great sight. Hogenakkal is a riverside spa. The sound of the Cauvery, roaring between rocky banks, is a constant presence in most places in Hogenakkal. The Hogenakkal Falls is not a single waterfall but a series of falls. The mighty river Cauvery flows through a relatively plain land before mother earth suddenly opens up and the whole river falls to a depth of between 50 to 150 feet on a bed of granite rocks. There are so many waterfalls, both big and small, all over the place. The whole spectacle is spread over a kilometer or so. The fine spray that rises as the water hits the rocks below have given these rocks the name Hogenakkal, which means "Smoking Rock" in Kannada. On one side is the gushing, roaring waterfalls spread over as far as your eyes go, and on the other side, there is relatively calm water flowing through a narrow but steep gorge. People cross the current-rippled waters in circular basket boats called coracles. To reach the falls you have to take the coracle (there is no land access). We didn’t take that instead enjoyed the mist and the beauty. I am also told that the shooting of many tamil films takes place here and I also think that some song sequence in Roja took place here too.
After some photoshoot, it was bathing time so we all plunged into the flowing water and spent a nice 2 hours inside it. At 2:30PM, came out of water, took a coracle to our bank.
We started the return journey at around 3:45PM. Weather was very pleasant; it was also drizzling inside the jungle. We stopped by at about 10km before Dharmapuri had our sandwiched and potato chips and drank lots of water. There was no stop after that and we zoomed the Bommanahalli junction by 6:30PM. We did a nice 140km in 1hr 40min.
Overall it was a Nice trip!! Even nice weather!!
Total Trip distance 380km.
Signing Off
Vijay
