An outing at last!! Long time since I have traveled and something in me yearned to get out of Bangalore at any cost. I chose Hogenakkal as the destination, since it was near to Bangalore and could be covered in a day. Along with my friends, we crossed Silk Board junction roughly at 7:30 AM and were across Electronic City by 8:15.
Hosur to HogennakalAs Hogenakkal is situated in Tamil Nadu, crossing across the border from Karnataka costs you around 500 bucks as the fee for a 4-wheeler for non-TN vehicles. One can find the trademark hot weather of Tamil Nadu as soon as we reach Hosur and one may need to bear with it for the rest of the journey on a sunny day. The road is smooth and pacy from here. The added factors to the highway are the mountains that follow it and the best road-divider I have seen till today in India. (A vast stretch of the divider has flowers blooming!!). One could stop at Krishnagiri to have breakfast which is around half-an hour travel from Hosur. I would suggest to have breakfast before hitting this town. There are decent restaurants attached at petrol bunks, so watch out. The drive from Krishnagiri is equally pleasurable which crosses numerous villages at regular intervals of time. Heading along we reached Dharmapuri in 2.5/3 hours.
The road now cuts off from the national higway at Dharmapuri. You could drive into Dharmapuri and ask for directions for the falls. (Though a couple of sign boards are present there are not installed visibly). Hogenakkal is another 30km drive from Dharmapuri. The initial stretch of road is not very good and gives you a slightly bumpy ride. Very soon we reached a checkpost that would guided us into the ghat road connecting Hogenakkal. One can stop over at a couple of points along this stretch to get breathtaking views of nature. All you have are green-covered mountains as far as your eyes can see.
Very soon we approached the town of Hogenakkal and the first thing that caught our eyes were the sea of blue-clad men approaching us. They were the 'coracle' owners and don't be surprised, they have the Govt. support and also have a trade union! The coracle is a circular boat that is made from bamboo sticks primarily and has its bottom coated with tar to make it water-proof. It's advisable not to stop at this juncture as it would leave a bigger hole in your pocket. We moved on a few metres forward till we saw the river beside the road. You can get down here as this place has fewer coracle drivers and you have better scope of bargaining. Having reached the place we bargained for the coracle.
Hogenakkal!!
The coracle owners speak Tamil and understand Kannada. Having studied in TN, we managed to bargain for 250 bucks/head for a 4 hour trip down the river.The calm waters of Cauvery before us gave no clue of what’s ahead. The river slowly drifted over minor gradients and the mountains and trees along the bank made it a perfect landscape for an outing. We got into the coracle along with the owner and gradually paddled into the river. The coracle was gently swaying in the water and soon we were greeted by another checkpost. This collects toll-fee for the river(!!) and costs 10/head. The river left behind tiny islands along its way. We curved around a couple of these islands and suddenly the coracle was stopped at one of the islands. We could see the river gushing down ahead of us. It lead to a waterfall! We had to walk across this tiny piece of land to continue the journey. Along the way we came across a tiny waterfall whose force was enough to kick us a mile away. This piece of land is elevated when compared to the rest of the terrain. We could see the gorgeous gorge lying ahead of us. The view was breathtaking. We went in the month of July when rains haven't yet kissed the floor. So the gorge was not overflowing. It was a wonderful sight with small waterfalls along the walls with the river in between. We could see coracles down there and this sight couldn't stop us from getting there soon.
The coracle was waiting at the other end and now we were here, right at the entrance of the Indian Rockys. Gradually the coracle took us deeper into the gorge and it was worth every second. Along the way you can ask the driver to get you under a few waterfalls too. Get your coracle spun in the river. Ask the owner to do it. Not always can you spin in a boat. Its a good experiment to get dizzy. The cruise and the surrounding makes sure we 'lazy' ourselves to the max. After a couple of kilometres we could see the river getting wider and on either sides of the river were vast stretches of sand. One can try out the fresh fish fried, if interested, here over one of the banks. We parked the coracle along the bank and soon got into the river. The flow wasn't rapid being pre-monsoon though the water was plenty. After a good 1.5-2 hours of water-play we were pretty exhausted. The landscape is very scenic with large stretches of sand and mountains along the river. We started back in our coracle and paddled upstream the same route. Soon we were at the boarding point.
The weather was pleasant, neither very hot nor cool all throughout the day. We started back at 4:30 and reached Bangalore at 8. It was a very pleasing and exhausting trip. Its the best one-day trip from Bangalore that gets you physically exhausted and mentally refreshed!!
Route to take: Elec. City-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Hogenakkal[Click]
Distance: 170-180km from Silk Board,Bangalore
Best time to visit: Its worth visiting twice. Once before the monsoon(May/June/July) and another after the monsoon(Sep/Oct/Nov). The ride course is different before and after the monsoon. Boating through the dry gorge would be a pre-monsoon delight and breathtaking waterfalls would be post-monsoon. Both these seasons have decent temperatures too.
Food: Carry some food along. All you get is fish and Lays and softdrinks. Rice is available along the bank in some places but its not great.
Rough cost: 250/person pre-monsoon for coracle (180/200 with good bargaining). 350-450/person post-monsoon for coracle
