Spectacular Shivanasamudra

 

It had been some time that i went visiting nature. The last was to Karwar and Dandeli for white water rafting and that was an year ago!!! The wait and the delay were well rewarded with a relishing break to Shivanasamudra. 

 

Bharachukki - Shivanasamudra

What started as of a two day plan of going out somewhere and relaxing on a weekend turned out into a one day trip to this wonderful place. I live in Bangalore,India and the options of a one day/two day breakouts from here are unlimited. We have Gods own country – Kerala about 5 hours of drive away, then there is Tamil nadu and not to forget our state of Karnataka which has numerous options.

The excitement was three fold:

1.I was going out with my friends; a niche 5 Member team
2.The prospect of a long drive was luring, something i love
3.Then there was Nature.

Some Trivia:

Outing:Bangalore -> Shivanasamudra -> Mysore -> Bangalore
Route Taken:Bangalore -> Bidadi -> Ramnagar -> Channapatna -> Maddur -> Malavalli -> Shivanasamudra -> Malavalli -> Young Island Resorts -> Foothills of Chamundi Hills (Mysore) -> Bangalore
Total Distance: 470 km
Vehicle:Indica Diesel
Mileage: 17.86
No of People: 5
Total Expenditure(Per head): Rs.535/-

After a little hickup in the morning, we finally left Bangalore at around 7; about an hour off our scheduled time. Shivanasamudra is about 120 km, but a little bit of research said that there is about 20 km of that stretch that is bad and hence we had to leave early due to the colossal plan we had of visiting so many places.

After driving for about 75 km and people in the back seat starting to feel sleepy, we took our first stop: Shivalli Restaurant. Road is very good in this stretch and it did not take us more than 90 minutes to reach the place. Its a small place just before Maddur. But do not underestimate its size as it if guaranteed to surprise you with the food. I, by far, had the best Idly, Dosa and Vada of my life.

You cannot miss it on the Highway as it is the most prominent Restaurant after Channapatna and for the folks who are Familiar with Maddur Coffee Day – The first 24 Hour CCD on Bangalore – Mysore Stretch, Its just adjacent to it. My vote 10/10 to this place. Dont wait to get a place to sit and eat in the Restaurant, order the food while you are in the car. They serve you food in the car itself, that’s exactly what we did as it saved us time and fighting our hunger.

Everyone just enjoyed the breakfast and it was evident in the amount of life it pumped into Jagannath aka Jags, Nuthana aka Nutty, Prasanna aka San (Don’t know why the name – ask Nutty, she can explain), Divya aka Diviand Ankith aka Ankith

 

Enjoying the Shivalli Delicacies (L to R) Me, Divi, San and Nutty

 

 

Jags - Busy Belting Breakfast

 

 After a relishing breakfast, we headed straight to Shivanasamudra. Distance from Maddur is 44km, out of which about 20km as i mentioned is treacherous. Vehicle takes a beating so snail your way through. The entire belt is filled with flowering sugar cane and ready to reap paddy fields a sight so different from the traffic that i encounter everyday. There was traffic on these roads too, but of cattles and goats crossing the roads.

 

A small insight to visit these falls. There are two sections to it. Bharachukki and Gaganachukki (Sign boards and the helpful people around can guide you to either of them). Gaganachukki is the place from where you can see the top view of the falls with no options of  enjoying the waterfalls. Bharachukki is the place where you can get into the water. Enjoy the falls right above your head and also get close to the bigger offshoots of the falls with a Theppa.

 

This is the ideal month to visit the falls i would say. The water is just enough to enjoy getting in and having a taste of some fresh Cauvery water. We did in two ways. First up was Theppa ( a round shaped boat steered by a heavily skilled person – my definition ). This was a nice experience for Rs150/- ( for one and a half trip). A great way to get close to the waterfalls and very enjoyable too. Must do for all visitors due to the sheer thrill of getting very close to a fresh water falls.

 

Jags, Divi and Me getting close to the falls in a Theppa

 

San and Nutty in a Theppa

 The next way was to jump into the water and have the falls shower you. It is a refreshing and magnificent feeling to be standing below the falls with the water hitting you as if it is punching you with all its valor. (Do not forget to take a pair of spare clothes) 

Natural Shower

After having spent about an hour in the water, it was time to say good bye to the falls with a silent promise to return again to the place. The clock was striking 2:15, we had not known the time flying, and the beating given by the falls had made us hungry. Without any second thoughts we hurried towards our next destination: Young Island Resorts, Srirangapatna.

 

It is a resort located on the banks of river cauvery just on the outskirts of Shrirangapatna with a peaceful ambience and very good food. We were joined here by our friends and hosts for their home city Mysore – Eshwar and Rohini. No no they did not treat us, it was Nutty’s treat for her birthday .

 

Lunch at Young Island Resorts

 The place we went next was the reason for us thinking of the Mysore trip in the first place – Planet X. It is a gaming zone at the foothills of Chamundi Hills in Mysore. We reached there after a small de-tour for a side view of Mysore palace, courtesy Eshwar and Rohini. Thanks to them for being wonderful hosts to their city. It was my 4th trip to Mysore this year but this was different in many ways.

We had time for just one round of Bowling at Planet X as we still had to cover 140 km back to Bangalore and it was getting late. It was fun bowling with friends. Eshwar got the better of me and Debutant Divi was the surprise at third. Job well done . It was such a coincidence that the part in which we video taped her, she got a strike. A clip well captured

Finally, we departed Mysore at 7:30pm and reached home around 11. A wonderful day spent with friends and Three Cheers to Shivanasamudra !!!

I like this pic    

Embrace the Falls