Day 3: Kundadri hills - Barkhana falls - Jogi Gundi falls - Kollur and Kodachadri.

There are autos which are arranged from Doddamane to take people to Kundadri hills. Autos charge around Rs.350 and pickup people at 5.15. We woke up at 4.30 to ensure that we don’t miss the sunrise. Kasturi Akka also wakes up around 5 every morning to server hot Kashaya to all the guests.



Sunrise at Kundadri hills

We finished our morning chores and quickly gobbled down the hot kashaya and were ready to witness the sunrise from the same town which mesmerized us with its sunset view. The road leading to Kundadri hills is not good at places. It took us a long 1+ hour to reach the base of Kundadri hill in the auto and we then realized that it was an easy beautiful drive sparing the bad stretch in the beginning and may be we should have got the car. Anyways what is past is past and putting these thoughts behind we ran up the stairs to reach the top of the hill.

Jain temple at Kundadri hills

Kundadri hill offers a fabulous view of the changing colors of the sky and its effect on the town of Agumbe during sunrise. The entire process of sunrise is something one must witness in their lifetime. There is no painter like the nature for who the sky is the canvas. The colors kept changing every minute and the reflection of this on the lonely Jain temple on the top is marvelous.

Once back at Doddamane, we bathed in the most traditional bathrooms I have seen so far. Though the facilities were minimal it was very relaxing. Water heated through logs of wood, constantly maintained by the family helpers’ added special effect to the bath.  

There are quite a few places to visit in and around Agumbe like Barkhana falls, Jogi Gundi falls, Onake Abbi falls, and Gopalaswamy temple which are around 3-4kms from Doddamane. We were short of time to visit all of these places and chose the Jogi Gundi falls.

Jogi Gundi falls is hidden inside a small forest area and there exists no board to guide you. We got the directions from the locals and headed into the forest. After driving for over 2kms we saw couple of taxis parked and asked people whether this was the falls we were looking for and the people as usual said that there is some waterfall here and needs a bit of walking. We had no issues with walking and went into the forest.

 This place had forks in the path all along. We had to make decisions every time to ensure that we are not lost in the forest. We walked past few bushes, crossed a small stream and reached a small clearing in the forest. The whole area had paths going in every other direction, with not even a single soul around to ask for directions, we waited to assert the situation.  The silence that accompanied us while we thought was the scariest silence. While Vivek was looking around for a path way I heard a small but loud howl, loud enough to petrify me. When I expressed this to Vivek he said he dint hear anything and then I heard it again!! I had had enough of this adventure and dragged Vivek out of that place.

We came out of the forest to learn that this was not the Jogi Gundi fall; this is instead the Barkhana falls. When we said we wanted to go to Jogi Gundi a man said he would accompany us back in to the forest to show this waterfall. The sight of this man holding a sickle in his hand, scary eyes and recalling my experience inside the forest I decided that I wouldn’t lose anything if gave this waterfall a skip.

We quickly headed out of this place to look for Jogi Gundi waterfall. With help of other locals we got to the Jogi Gundi waterfall. The trek to water fall is quite an adventure but the waterfall as such is nothing great. So we hurried back to our car to move out of Agumbe and reach Kollur where a Jeep waited for us to take atop Kodachadri.

Kodachadri can be reached by trek or a jeep which starts from Kollur and Nittur. We decided to take the jeep to reach the top. There is parking space available in the temple premises which allow parking for 24hrs. Once all camping stuff was ready and the car was safely parked we had quenched our hunger at a nearby restaurant right opposite to the Kollur police station. This is also the place where the jeeps are available to reach the top.

If there is a group of eight or more people then an entire jeep can be booked but if the case is like ours where it was only two of us, you would have to wait until the jeep is full and at time like 3 PM it is unlikely that we would get people to accompany us. We waited for a full one hour to get atleast 4 more people and decided to pay up extra to compensate for the two seats left out.

The journey to the hill is an adventurous one; I am not sure who the first person was to have dared to ride the jeep to the hill. There is absolutely no motor-able path to take a two wheeler forget a jeep. It is 2 hour journey uphill with lots of curves and bends which give you the thrill equivalent to a ride in any amusement park.



We were there at the peak by 5.30 in the evening and the first task on our plate was to look for a place to camp. We had known that the Inspection Bungalow at the top is under renovation and would not be able to cater to our accommodation and hence had taken the burden to carry our camping gear.

 

Our tent at Kodachadri

To our surprise we found that the IB was almost ready and we could get accommodation by paying Rs 100 per person. Since we had carried our camping equipments we dint have the heart to ditch the idea of camping and stay in a brick and mortar building. So after scouting around for a place to camp we were ready for the nomad experience.

We had had a stint with pitching tent earlier on the Tadiandamol trek and this time we were better with it and could bring the tent quickly. Once we were done with the tent, the rumbling stomach reminded us about the big task of cooking dinner. The boys taking care of the Inspection Bungalow helped us setup the fire for our cooking. We had about 3 packets of Maggi noodles with us and two small sachets of Tomato soup which would serve our empty stomach for the night. The cooking took some time but the end result was delicious. We ate to the heart’s pleasure in front of our tent under the stars. A tasty dinner at an expensive restaurant wouldn’t have given us the same pleasure or the content this magi noodles gave in the serene atmosphere. The setting was just right to settle down for a game of poker in the tent. We had setup everything to start the play but dropped the idea for waking up early next day to trek up and witness yet another sun rise.

With nothing more to do in the dark, we hit the sack and were fast asleep. We might have had about 2 hours of sleep when both of us woke up with a jolt to loud grunting just outside the tent. It was around 12.30 in the night. Whatever it was, it was right at our feet with only the tent rain cover acting as the separator. We couldn’t breathe as with every movement inside the tent, the creature would move in that direction. To avoid any contact with the creature outside we both discreetly moved to the centre of the tent and waited there. We waited in darkness with no idea of what was that which was showing its power just outside. We did not have anything to defend us in case it decided to attack us. The grunting continued for a long time and then it became a small growl and it started moving, or rather it started scouting around our tent. We could feel its presence all around us now. It came around to the entrance of the tent and tried to figure out the entry inside this weird looking structure in the middle of nowhere. When its attempt to enter the tent failed, the rage of the creature increased. The growl and the grunts increased manifold times and all we could do was to sit there in darkness with the fear that switching on the torch might bring upon its attack.

Time must have slipped 2 hours and we did not have a clue nor respite from the constant grunting. The worst fear for mankind is fear of unknown and here we did not have a chance to discover the unknown. After a while the intensity of the grunting reduced and so did the proximity. We had just let out a breather and I had decided to sleep when the slow grumble started again around the tent and this time very close to my pillow where my tired brain rested. I couldn’t get up with the fear that the movement may draw the creature closer. It looked like an endless waiting game. After a while the grunting changed to a painful howling as though the creature saw something more dreadful than itself. This creature sounded scared of something else in the open now. The thought of something scarier sent a shiver down our spine. The howling grew intense and after a while we could hear the creature pacing away into the wild. This should have brought us some relief but it dint as there was something out there which was silent and had the ability to scare away the creature and we couldn’t see it.

There was ominous atmosphere all around us now and a long wait before the sun came up. Every small sound started resonating fear within us. The waiting game was far from over and while we counted every tick of the clock, the first jeep arrived at Kodachadri carrying the first set of trekkers. I thought this was the time to venture out, but Vivek was still apprehensive. With some naïve tools and torches we finally stepped out of the terror. There was darkness all over and nothing in sight for few miles except for a haunted house and an eerie tree under which our tent was pitched. When we pitched the tent we neither had noticed the house nor the tree but now we realized that the sight would have scared anybody out of the place. We looked at our watch, it read 5.40 and this was an apt time to reach the top before sunrise. With nothing to look out for we treaded the path atop Kodachadri leaving behind the fear.