What
does travelling mean to people?? Some people travel for fun, adventure and some
adrenalin rush; some travel to meet and spend time with their near and dear ones
but for me travelling and exploring new places has become one of the biggest
passions in my life….. Something which motivates me to work hard and make
enough money with which I can explore new places….
This
time around my passion for travelling and exploring new places has led me to one
of the best kept secrets of the Western Ghats – “Dudhsagar
Falls”
…..
Dudhsagar
Falls is situated in Goa along the Goa-Karnataka border and is one of the best
falls in India…. The best time to visit the falls is in the month of August
during monsoons when you can experience the magnificence of the falls in its
entirety…. However like the famous saying “To
get something good you need to work really hard” the same applies for this
falls too…. There is no easy access to this falls and you need to really work
hard to reach this falls and experience its true beauty & splendor in the
monsoons….. May be this is one of the reasons that the beauty of the falls has
been preserved since decades as there is very less human exploitation!!!
Enough
of talking here is a teaser photo….
Planning Phase -
The
very first question that comes into your mind while planning for a road trip is
which is the best possible route to get there? Or which is the best mode of
transport to get to your destination? As I do not prefer travelling by Bus,
Train etc. and Driving is my passion so the only question that was lingering in
my mind was how to reach the falls from Bangalore by road. So I started searching
the best possible tool available to mankind – Google ;) Based on various
travelogues on the internet there are three ways to reach the falls.
1)
14kms trek from Castle
Rock Railway station – This is for the young and the adventurous and not for the
faint hearted as it involves a 14kms exhilarating walk on the railway track.
This is supposedly the best way or may I say the only way to explore the falls during
the monsoon season when the falls is in its full glory. So you need to walk
14kms on railway track to experience the true magnificence of the falls and as
I mentioned above you need to really work hard to achieve something good. But for
a Lazy person like me this was not at all an option ;) hence this option was
erased from the drawing board ;)
2)
Train ride from Castle
rock – You
can hitch a ride on any of the goods train plying from Castle rock towards
Dudhsagar this again depends on your luck in getting permission from the
railways to hop on to the goods train and the schedule of the train and I feel this
isn’t a viable option. To avail this option you need to checkout the Bangalore to Dudhsagar Train timings.
3) Jeep ride from Kulem to Dudhsagar – Kulem is situated around
12kms from Dudhsagar and there are private jeeps that take you to the falls for
a fee from Kulem. The jeeps operate only after the monsoons have receded, that
is end of September or beginning of October because they need to cross the
river stream in few places in order to reach the falls. This is the best way to
reach the falls for families involving ladies and children who cannot trek/walk
for long distances & for few lazy people like me who don’t prefer walking
14kms to see a water-fall ;). However the jeep ride doesn’t mean a smooth ride
to the falls it is as strenuous as walking since the terrain is not even and
you are in for a back-breaking bumpy ride. So if you are suffering from back
pain etc stay away from this jeep ride.
So as it is very obvious from the above I chose to avail the
Jeep facility from Kulem to visit Dudhsagar.
Since
Dudhsagar is situated in Goa and it is November so how could one just visit
Dudhsagar and not visit the beaches and indulge in some water activities and
shack food J in Goa….. So we planned to visit Goa after Dudhsagar…. So the plan was Bangalore to Dudhsagar to Goa :)
It
was a long weekend and the plan was to start from Bangalore on Thursday night
reach Kulem in the morning hire a jeep and visit the falls and head to
Calangute after visiting the falls to spend the rest of the weekend…..
So
this was the planned route
Bangalore-à Kittur à Ponda à Kulem à Calangute à kittur àBangalore
The
next thing was to plan for people who would accompany me on this trip…. However
it was not at all difficult this time to convince people to come for the trip as
the destination was Goa ;) People were more than happy to accompany me to Goa J
So
the plan was ready, people were ready now was the fun time Tour de Dudhsagar
Day 0 Thursday:
21:00 hrs. All of us were excited
and got off work early. We boarded my friend’s Skoda Rapid and were off for our
journey…. We were very hungry and planned halt at kamat near Sira for Dinner.
However one of my friend suggested having our dinner at the Chat street on
Sajjan rao circle and how could we say no to those yummylicious dosas so we
decided to pit stop at Sajjan rao circle for some hot Dosas and chats….
23:00 hrs. After some delicious ghee
dosa and chats we were off for our journey. There was a mad rush on the highway
due to the long weekend. People were heading home and almost all major
junctions were choked. We somehow managed to take some gully roads and reach
Nelamangala Toll….. We were stuck almost for 30 minutes in Nelamangala toll it
was a real pain.
Day1 Friday:
04:00 hrs. We reached Hubli toll and
were planning to take our normal route to goa which is Kittur à Ponda à Goa however we had never
even once tried the Dharwadà Ponda à Goa road so we thought
why not explore a new road so that we are aware of all possible road conditions
to Goa and it will help us for the return journey…… So we took the risk and
decided to travel through Dharwad..
So
this was the modified road
Bangalore-à Dharwad à Ponda à Kulem à Calangute à Dharwad àBangalore
The
road from Dharwad to Goa was in a good condition barring few bad patches but
overall this road is well maintained and can be used to travel to Goa…
07:00 hrs. We reached the Goan check
post and asked directions for Kulem. Kulem is not very far from the check post
hardly 10-12kms. We reached Kulem railway station at 8 in the morning. We were
directed to the reservation office for the jeeps that would take us to
Dudhsagar falls… We booked a jeep for 2100 as we were 5 of us…. If you are less
in number you can hop into the shared jeep for 350 per person. The distance
from Kulem to Dudhsagar falls is around 12kms.We parked our car near the
railway station. They have dedicated car parking facility for visitors in
Kulem. So you don’t have to worry about your car while you are on the way to
the falls by Jeep or via the train trek. Also if you are travelling from
Bangalore and plan to hit Dudhsagar on the way to Goa then you needn’t worry
about restrooms in Kulem as there is a change room and pay and use toilet right
next to the boarding point of the jeep in Kulem which are clean and well
maintained.
09:00 hrs. After freshening up we
boarded the jeep and were off to Dudhsagar falls. My fingers were crossed and I
only hoped that the falls had enough water so that all our hard work to get to
the falls doesn’t go in vain…. It was a bumpy ride though the Forrest and the
jeeps had to cross flowing streams at few places. There were people standing in
the flowing stream to push the oncoming jeeps so that they don’t get washed
away or get stuck in the flowing water ;) The jeep drove through some scenic
roads and we captured some beautiful landscapes on our DSLRs…. After 45 minutes
of bumpy ride we finally reached the entrance of the falls where we were
dropped off by the jeep. We were given exactly 1.5hrs to visit the falls and
come back to the point where the jeep would pick us up and drop us back at
Kulem.
Eleplant taking bath en-route to the
falls
Some beautiful landscapes en-route the falls
Jeeps crossing the river stream
People standing for a safe passage of
the jeep
Finally the entrance
10:00 hrs. We started to walk
towards the falls and after 15 mins of walk through the flowing streams and
slippery rocks we finally got the first glimpse of the falls…. It was
beautiful!!! It was not as spectacular as it would have been in monsoons but the
falls had adequate water and did not disappoint us. The falls is frequented by lot
of foreign tourists. They were very excited to spot monkeys on the way to the
falls and were busy feeding them…. After trekking a bit more we finally reached
the foot of the falls…. It was amazing… people were swimming right under the
falls…. It was really tempting. We too wore our life jacket and jumped into the
water…. It was really refreshing after a 13hr journey from Bangalore. It was a
great feeling to swim right under the falls….. We played at the falls for an
hour and were back at the entrance where we were picked up and dropped back to
Kulem….
Slippery rocks and streams that need
to be crossed by walk to reach the foot of the falls
Dudhsagar falls
Spotted a train passing the falls
Taking a dip under the falls
14:00 hrs. After having lunch at a
restaurant in Kulem we headed off to Calangute. We drove for about two hours and
finally reached Calangute where we booked an accommodation right next to the
beach…. Accommodation is not a problem during October or November in Goa…. We
don’t have to book it in advance unlike during Christmas and New Year which is
the peak season in Goa and getting a room is really very difficult….
17:00 hrs. After taking some rest we
hit the beach and had fun…. We were back at the accommodation by dusk had
dinner and were almost unconscious since we did not sleep previous night
because of all the driving and the excitement to see the falls…. We had our
dinner and were fast asleep…. That culminated Day1….
Calangute Beach
Day2 Saturday:
As
we were bored by the usual tourist places in Goa, we wanted to visit some new
place… I switched on my TripAdvisor app on my phone for some suggestions. I
came across a beach called Mandarem beach which was around 18kms from Calangute
and had good reviews on Tripadvisor… So our destination for Day2 was set….
After a sumptuous breakfast we headed off towards Mandarem beach on our rented
bikes…. However due to connectivity issues we lost the GPS signal midway and
reached Arambol beach instead of Mandarem… Arambol beach was not very appealing
so we again set off on the road to explore a better beach.. On the way we asked
a local who directed us to a beach called Ashwem beach. After 20 mins ride from
Arambol we reached the Ashwem beach… The Beach was simply spectacular!!! White
sands clean water not very touristy… you can hardly find any tourists here. It
was a hidden gem…. We spent the afternoon at the beach and headed back to our
accommodation in the evening…
While
we are in Goa we always make it a point to have at least one meal at the Kamat
fishland in Panjim…. So we had our dinner at Fishland and headed off to our
accommodation… This concluded Day2…..
Ashwem Beach
Day3 Sunday:
We
woke up early in the morning and checked out of the accommodation by 10… We
headed back to Bangalore via Dharwad since the roads were good… We had our
lunch in Dharwad and were back in Bangalore by 9 in the night…
Yummy lunch at Dharwad
It was a
great experience to have visited Dudhsagar which was always on my to-do list
and stumble upon a spectacular beach called Ashwem beach. All in all a weekend
well spent…..
