Adventure Sports near Kanakpura

So far, I have blogged about outings which I have planned and organized myself. This outing, which I’m writing about, was conceived by my cousin and it was definitely a day well spent! I didn’t have to bother myself with driving, or the number of people who were coming, or making sure they were on time! All I did was enjoy the drive in my cousin’s car, have lots of fun throughout the day, and come back home completely exhausted.

At 12.30 in the afternoon, none of us
felt like trekking all the way up!

We headed off to this privately owned adventure sports camp near Kanakpura on Sunday, 23^rd of October. This place is approximately 3 kilometers away from the Kanakpura city. The place is somewhat a flat land full of lush greenery and wilderness, and beyond this place is a hillock where guided treks are conducted.

We reached the place around 11 in the morning and immediately started with the trek. Our guide, Madhu, a lad in his late twenties, patiently guided us through the wilds and slippery rocks. Reaching the hill top required two and a half hours of trekking and at 12.30 in the afternoon, none of us were up to it. Hence, we decided to trek up for another half an hour and head back to the base camp to resume other activities.

Our guide trekked down ahead of us so that he could get the equipment ready for the next activity... Jumaring! I had never heard of jumaring before and I had no idea how it was done. Jumaring is a technique to ascend a rope vertically with the help of friction-clamps. The mechanical device used, is called an ascender. The word Jumar comes from the name of the Swiss factory which manufactures these ascenders hence device’s name leading to the term Jumaring. (Thank You Wikipedia! ;-))

Jumaring!

Meanwhile, Madhu had tied the ropes to a branch of a tree and had set up the equipment in no time. Madhu also gave us a detailed demonstration of how (“easily”) it is done. After Madhu’s effortless demonstration, my cousins and I took on this activity one by one and I was the third person to go. I realized the difficulty of this sport only when I started doing it myself. Jumaring is certainly a tiresome activity for those who are not physically fit. It revealed to me the sedentary life I’ve been living for the past few years now and how I needed to exercise badly! However, I finished ascending the full height within 5 minutes. :-D It was time for lunch by the time all of us were finished and we headed back to the base camp.

Rappelling!

Parceled lunch had been brought for us from a hotel in Kanakpura and the food was tasty. After having a three course meal, we proceeded towards the hillock for Rappelling. Rappelling is an activity where you descend the face of a rock with a rope. Rappelling was also a sport I’d never done before. We trekked up the hillock for half an hour and picked a huge rock from which we’d descend. Madhu gave us a detailed explanation of how it is done and kept urging us to just trust him. Despite the demonstration, I had several questions concerning my safety and therefore (much to the displeasure of my cousins ;-)) I took a few more minutes to clear all my doubts with Madhu. There’s one rope called the BELAY rope which is tied to your waist and our guide would release it bit by bit as I climbed down the rock. There’s another rope which goes all the way down till the ground where the descending ends. This rope passes through a hoop attached to my belt. Anyway, further technicalities are not required unless you’re actually going to do this sport.

We Rappled down the triangular
shaped rock at the centre of this picture!

You may have vertigo, acrophobia or any other phobia, but I strongly suggest that you not miss out on Rappelling. Rappelling is a very exciting sport and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Although I was very skeptical in the beginning, it turned out to be very invigorating. You might be told not to look down so that you don’t get scared of the height...but do make it a point to look in all directions to feel the thrill!

My Cousin and I making
a perfectly steered U-Turn!

Unfortunately, as we were short of time, we couldn’t go for a second round of rappelling and we had to proceed towards the pond for Kayaking. Kayaking was yet another first time experience and it was absolute fun. Row too slow and you might not be able to steer properly…row too hard and you might topple the boat (with your feet stuck inside the boat…and if that happens…you’re stuck underwater until you slither your feet out of the Kayak!
;-)).

It was already dark by the time we finished kayaking and we were served with hot tea and biscuits as we got out of the pond. By 7.30 in the evening, we were completely exhausted and it was time for us to leave.

I slept peacefully thorough the two hour journey back to Bangalore. I was home by 10pm.

More information:

You can trek up the hillock and camp there overnight!

You can also camp out in tents which can be pitched near the base camp with a bonfire… or perhaps stay in tree houses!

If you wish to contact the owner of this place…feel free to send me an email.

Hogenakkal Falls

Karnataka Side of the Falls

After planning with my friends for more than a month, I got a chance to go to Hogenakkal falls on the 14^th of August. This place is around 160kilometers away from Bangalore. We left Bangalore at 10 in the morning; drove down to Hosur, stopped at a highway Kamat Hotel for breakfast, then continued to Dharmapuri; and Hogenakkal was a half-hour drive from there. We were ten of us in two cars. As we had gone on a Sunday, there were a lot of visitors and consequently we had to park our cars nearly a kilometer away. Our three and a half hour journey was spent head-banging to the silliest of songs, discussing college issues, racing with the other car, munching on junk food etc...and we reached the place at 2.30 in the afternoon!

The foreigner holding the pink bag
 referred to this as "Human Trafficking"

The Hogenakkal falls is also known as the Indian Niagara. These falls mark the exit of the river Kavery from Karnataka State and its entrance into Tamil Nadu State. Just like the Niagara Falls, it has a horseshoe bend and it lies on the border of these two states. And hence, we can see the falls from either side of the border.

We hired coracles for 250 bucks per person. The boatmen takes you a kilometer upstream, on road, in a pickup truck. These pickup trucks are overloaded with many people in them along with the coracles which they stack up on top of the truck. One foreigner who was coming with us in our truck correctly said…”This looks like human trafficking”. Nevertheless, you must hire these coracles in order to see the waterfalls from the Karnataka side.

The truck ride was bumpy and slow owing to the innumerable number of tourists walking on the roads in all directions. The truck dropped us off at a point very close to the river and we put our coracles into the river and hopped onto them. These coracles can accommodate 7 people at a time. The boatman we hired was very worried that we wouldn’t pay him properly and therefore wouldn’t talk about anything else apart from money throughout the boat ride.

The boat ride was fun otherwise! Our boatman spun the coracle making us all feel dizzy. We were dropped at a point and from there we had to wade across flowing water to reach the tip of the falls. This is as close as anyone can get to the falls. The sound of the flowing water is thunderous at this point. The gush of water falling down causes so much mist and foam, giving the name “Hogenakkal”.

While standing here in the water, tiny fishes gather around your feet, poking, giving a very funny sensation. Be very careful when you are standing here. If you slip and fall, you’re sure to get washed down the falls.

We spent some time here at the top of the waterfalls taking photographs and enjoying the constant spray of mist on our faces.  And then we had to get back to our boatman who was waiting for us where he’d dropped us. Next, our boatman struggled rowing the coracle away from the main current of the river, and took us around the waterfalls to another point where we could see the falls from the Tamil Nadu side. You will also find a lot of vendors selling fresh-water fish cooked and garnished with some spices. I was chiefly put off by the fish bones strewn all over the place.

Tamil Nadu Side of the Falls

The Tamil Nadu side of the waterfalls is a lot less adventurous. We can see the falls at a distance, downstream. We couldn’t get into the water at this place. The width of the river Kavery forms many small channels where people can get into the water for their amusement.

Although none of us had carried with us a spare set of clothes, we all got into the water and played for a while. By 6.30 in the evening, the water current had increased and it was getting difficult for us to resist the force of the water and so we decided to get out of water and head back to our cars.

It was 7.30pm by the time we reached our cars and we started our journey back to Bangalore. We stopped at a highway McDonalds on our way for a quick bite. It was 10.45 when we reached Bangalore.

One must visit Hogenakkal falls during the monsoon season when the river Kavery flows in full force. But try to avoid going there on weekends as it will be jam packed. The road is excellent throughout the journey. Makes driving very pleasurable!

Bajjis in Jayanagar

Today college got over at 3.30 and the weather was lovely! Aashray and I were joblessly waiting in the parking lot for the other members of our group to finish their lab and join us. The nippy weather added with our empty stomachs, made the wait even more edgy! A frustrating 30 minutes later everyone assembled at the parking lot one by one and we had our most important discussion which we have everyday… to decide where we should go, to eat!

We – Prasad, Aashray, Spurthi, Supriya and I – decided to go to the Bajji shop in Jayanagar 9^th block. At 4.30 in the evening, the shopkeeper would’ve just started making bajjis. Five hours of lecture in college had made me ravenous and I couldn’t wait any longer to devour those bajjis.

While waiting impatiently for the shopkeeper to deep-fry the aloo-bajjis, we started our first course with crispy jalebis which were still burning hot and dripping with oil. Then we went onto relish the baLekaayi bajjis and the meNsinkaayi bajjis. And finally, the first batch of golden colored aloo bajjis came out! Piping hot as they were, I almost burnt my tongue on the first bite. Meanwhile, Spurthi was shrewdly nibbling on the crispy outer layer while waiting for it to cool down!  Quoting Prasad – “This Spurthi is very clever!”  :-D

As fastidious and finicky my friends complain that I am when it comes to food, I can openly claim that the aloo bajjis sold at this shop are undoubtedly the best I’ve eaten so far! Also, the size of the capsicum bajjis sold here intrigues me. They are bigger than tennis balls! The shopkeeper skillfully cuts these bajjis into four pieces and garnishes it with carrots, onions, and spices!

Seven aloo bajjis, six baLekaayi bajjis, four mensinkaayi bajjis, one capsicum bajji and five jalebis later our battery level was back to 100%! Supriya had resumed her impish behavior and Prasad started cracking his wise acre jokes! A slight drizzle followed, and after that we decided to disperse!

Back from a long break

I was jobless today and so I decided to check on my blog! I started going through all the posts I’ve written and I just realized I haven’t written a single post this year, and it's already August! With September just round the corner, it does seem like a long break!

I haven’t blogged for a whole semester! 6^th Semester went by pretty uneventfully. I did just one trip to Shiva Gange! The rest of the semester I spent, cramming extra hours in my college library, for my GRE exam which was scheduled in May! My GRE score turned out more than what I expected, so no regrets! ;-)

And now my final year of engineering has finally started this August! 7^th semester! The semester where we’re supposed to begin campus placements! I’m eagerly looking forward to tackling all the interview rounds and getting placed into the company of my choice!

Fourth week into my 7^th semester and I’m still in the holiday mood! I’m trying to imagine what’s in store for me in the following months! More Road-trips, more blockbuster movies, and anything else… I’m all set to enjoy my final year of engineering to the fullest!