Kemmannugundi

6th August 2007

Another month, another journey. This time to Kemmannugundi, in our own Karnataka. And this one was without Ramesh and Shivanand, who are usually there on the road with me. It was with a totally different bunch of people. We were seven guys this time, Praveen Madhukar, Conrad, Allen, Nithesh, Bejoy, my brother Roshan and guess who? ME!!!!
Conrad, Allen, Nithesh and Bejoy were so excited about this trip that Conrad would call me everyday to ask about the arrangements. Bejoy had already applied for leave for Saturday. Never before have I seen such an enthusiasm!!!
I had contacted Babu from Kemmannugundi (whose contact I got through another friend, Prathibha). Babu had made arrangements for a jeep to roam around (his own) and a big room in a guest house.
So on Friday morning, these four guys came to my place soon after the clock struck 6. As Roshan and I had woken up just five minutes before, it took us some time to get ready. As usual, I never pack things until five minutes before leaving!!! After much getting cursed by these guys (obviously!! They had to wait for some twenty minutes!!!), we left my place at 6.30 AM, had breakfast at Domlur (obviously, at Shanti Sagar) while waiting for Praveen, and once he came, we were on the road.
Through MG road, Minsk Square, Mekhri circle, Kavery Theatre and Sadashiv Nagar, we reached Yashwantpur. Thence it is a straight road (Bangalore to Pune road) to Tumkur. We stopped for tea at Arsikere. Praveen saw a rooster and a buffalo and somehow managed to go very close to them and get their snaps. Both these animals, though initially shy, posed for the photographs. Then we headed towards Birur, stopping occasionally. Allen had brought a box of chicken curry which we finished within two minutes, somewhere on the way.
From Birur, we took the diversion to Lingadahalli. It is a narrow road, with fields of corn and sunflowers on both sides of the road. Though the road is bad, the scenary is really eye-catching. At a distance, on one of the hills, we could see a falls. Though I am not sure, I think it is one of the earliest steps of Kalhatti Falls (coincidentally, last Sunday's Times of India had an article on this!!). I have been told that this Falls falls in ten steps. Anyway this place was pretty far from where were. We stopped and went into a sunflower field. Ugh, the farmers had put big branches of thorny plants. After crossing this barrier somehow, we went into the fields. Luckily the people working in those fields didn’t chase us away. We also found a tamarind tree and ate a few too. So after a photo session, we were back on our bikes.
Soon we were climbing the ghats towards Kemmannugundi. We took a diversion (1 km only) to Kalhatti temple, to see a part of the falls. A badly maintained place, with people making money in the name of God. You have to pay for bike parking (2 Rs) and even for keeping your footwear (1 Re). It is pretty disgusting to see plastic bags, Coke/Pepsi bottles and paper cups stuck between the rocks. I wonder what these people do with all the money they get!!!
We were still 20 km from Kemmannugundi, and we were about two hours behind schedule. So we were off towards Kemmannugundi. We reached there at 2 PM, met Babu, had our meal at the canteen in the guest house which he showed us and went into our room. It was a decent one. With eight cots and two toilets, it was worth its rent. That is 600 Rs a night. Then Babu came with his jeep and we headed towards Hebbe Falls.
Babu had no problem in driving to Hebbe, though it was raining heavily, visibility was about 10 metres (at 4 PM!!!) and the road was, well, non-existent. Babu said the temperature was 4 degree C, but I don’t think it was that low. But I am sure it was below 10 degrees. When the rain reduced, we stopped, had a photography session and continued towards Hebbe. The ride itself was mindblowing, with misty greenery all around and some faint tall figures that looked like trees, it was a perfect horror movie setting, said Praveen. At one place, Babu took the jeep to extreme left to make way for an oncoming jeep and our jeep's left tires got stuck in the muck. Though we volunteered to get out of the jeep, Babu said it is not required. Then he put the gearbox in 4-wheel mode and accelerated. The jeep moved as if it was a normal road!!! It was the first time I was actually seeing the power of a jeep. Loaded with eight people, it came out so easily from that ditch!!!!
At a certain place, Babu stopped and told us how to trek towards the Falls. Within a few minutes of our foot journey, we came across an overflowing stream. Though initially skeptic, we crossed it. The water was thigh-high. Within a few ten metres, another part of the same stream. Cross that and in few moments, another part of the stream!!! Deciding that we would turn back if we had to cross the stream again, we crossed this section too. I felt this was the toughest part of the stream to cross. By the time we crossed this, many of us had fallen into water. Bejoy fell at least five times I think!!! But we could not afford to let Conrad fall. In his bag were all our cameras, mobiles and wallets!!!
And now we could hear the deafening sound of the falls. Soon it was in our sight. HOLY $#%&!!!! I had never seen such a magnificent falls before!!!! Water was falling from about 50 metres, and after hitting the rocks, the water droplets would fly horizontally for quite a distance. We stood with our backs to the falls and spat. And our spits were flying for at least three seconds before falling!!!! There was no way I could take photographs using my camera. However, Nithesh the brave man took out his mobile and recorded a video of the falls.
After some time, were heading back to the jeep. Crossing the stream sections, we reached the place where Babu was waiting for us. Got rid of the leeches using salt, and now we were climbing up towards Kemmannugundi. It was getting dark and clouds were closing in. the fog was thick and visibility was reducing. But no rain. So another photo session. And we reached our guest house at around 6.30. Babu said it ok to go to Z-point, but we weren't really interested. We were tired. Babu said he can arrange for non-veg food and drinks (both of which aren't available in Kemmannugundi). So we asked him to get some chicken curry, chapatis, vegetable curry, rasam and of course, whisky (Royal Challenge).
While waiting for the food and drink to arrive, Praveen took out his Gudang Garam (for those who don’t know: an Indonesian cigarette made not just from tobacco, but also from other spices, such as cinnamon, cardomom, cloves etc. Available in Manipal for pretty less price) and we warmed up with that. Then Allen took out his half bottle of Signature (whisky) and soon we were warming ourselves up pretty well. Then our food and whisky came. By this time Bejoy was fast asleep. And we were troubling Allen all the while (as usual).
After a decent meal, we were off to sleep at around midnight. The meal was a candlelight one. The power was there only for a couple of hours or so. So most of our mobiles were off. It seems that the power comes there only for a couple of hours everyday. So little power for a place that is so close to Karnataka's first hydroeletric power station!!!
Sunday morning, it was time for us to pack our bags. After finishing packing by 9, we had breakfast (pulav and poori). And after settling the dues, we headed towards Chikmagalur. This is one of the best rides in my life. Not a very bad road, mist all around, visibility getting lesser with time, cold that is determined to make you numb, raindrops that are slashing on your face like needles, water that is shrinking your skin and still it was a fun to ride. It is risky too, with a green hill on one side of the road and a green cliff on the other. For about twenty km, hardly any humans could be seen.
After a climb, we came to the junction of the Kemmannugundi main road and Bababudangiri road. We had no intention to go to Bababudangiri, as we had no time. So we went through the ghats and entered the Chikmagalur district, had some tea. Praveen said tea was never so much welcome in his life. Quite true was it for all of us!!! We held the glasses tighly in our hands, hoping to get rid of the shrinks on our palms. Continuing, we came to another junction. We took the road that went up towards Mullayyanagiri. This road goes almost to the peak of Mullayyanagiri. The peak is 1925 metres above sea level. When we were riding, two guys followed us on their bike. When we came to the end of the tarred road, we stopped our bikes. It was raining heavily and the cold was unbearable. All of us were shivering from top to bottom and we had no way to warm up ourselves. Water had seeped through our jackets long ago and more and more water was flowing inside our jackets. If I had squeezed my jacket, I am sure at least ten litres of water would come out!!
The two guys also had stopped with us and they were discussing among themselves whether to go to the peak or not. Their conversation seemed very artificial, as Praveen pointed out. Also, they were telling us to climb the peak giving the reason that it was the first time we were coming there and that they've been going there for twenty years. And also that no one would steal or harm our bikes. All these words of theirs made us realise that they had sinister intentions. So we decided to go back. And in a few minutes, we were back on the road to Chikmagalur.
We entered Chikmagalur, and the road to Hassan took us right through the busy area. We could not find a non-veg hotel, so we continued towards Hassan. Do you know, even Chikmagalur has a Nilgiri's supermarket!!!! And we saw plenty big brand names on the shop boards.. My oh my!! I didn’t know Chikmagalur was this improved!!!! The only time I had been there was more than ten years ago!!! I had always thought that it is one hilly place full of estates.
The road to Hassan is very good. Neatly tarred and well maintained. We reached Hassan at around 2.30. through out our trip, rain gave us company. In Hassan, we stopped at a hotel for snacks. By this time we were totally drenched. The place where we sat in the hotel was filled with water, as if it had rained inside the hotel.
The rest of the trip was eventless. And we all guys drifted apart. By now the rain had stopped completely, and it was getting dark. Allen and Conrad had gone way ahead. Then I stopped once for refuelling. When I got back on the road, I met Praveen riding alone on his CD 100. then I caught up with Bejoy and Nithesh. Once I reached Yashwantpur, I had lost contact with all the other guys. I reached home at about 9, had a quick bath and then slept until today morning.