Bharachukki Waterfalls
This was a much awaited trip since we had spent amazing time in Bandipur(Bandipur Weekend-plan) with utmost piece. I along with my GANG planned this 2 full day trip from Bengaluru to Bharachukki water falls, Talkadu, B.R. Hills, Makedatu & back to Bangaluru.
Day - 1:
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We rented a self-drive this time as well. Coincidentally this time we had booked Honda Jazz for 5 people and since it was still with the previous customer at time of pick up, the car rental company gave us 2 choices: Hyundai Verna/Maruti Ciaz (of course for the same price as Jazz).
And guess which one we chose???????
Yes, U got it right, Verna it was ????. A dashing Red beauty ????with Sunroof. And we started out trip with greater excitement yet again. Our plan was to start before 6 am from Bengaluru but we started at 7 in the morning under the cloudy sky, as we got late due to the self-drive issue (What happens, happens for GOOD :) ).
As usual our first stop was one the most famous breakfast point in the state, Kamat Lokaruchi (kamat lokaruchi). Muddle idli, Vada, Ghee roast and Onion Uttapam. We had covered for the lunch as well. Since it rained heavily in Karnataka this season (except Bangalore ????) we were worried about the rain & road blockage. However to our surprise there were very light showers and that too only for few minutes.We reached our stay KSTDC's Hotel Mayura Bharachukki in Shivanasamudra, Chamarajanagar District. It was the best one can expect specially when it is maintained by state tourism department. This was probably the only and the most beautiful place for stay in that region.
Bharachukki waterfall are just about 1.5 km from Mayura Bharachukki and it is highly recommended to visit it by walk from there. It was a pleasant view from the view point but it was very crowded too. As it was rainy season, stair case access was closed which leads you to the base area. This will probably be open after January. We spent about an hour here & left for Talkadu, which is about 32 km from there.
One major misconception which people have and I also had before this trip is Shivanasamudra is not a waterfall it is a village & Bharachukki is the waterfall. However this is more famous as Shivanasamudra waterfalls.At Talkadu we visited an ancient temple called, Vaidyeshwara temple. There are a group of temples nearby, however we visited only the most beautiful one. It gives similar vibes which you get in Vithalla temple at Hampi. Be aware of monkeys here, u can't carry around any food in your hand????. After spending about an hour here we left for the hotel.
It was 5pm and Sun was still little far from the horizon. We decided to visit Bharachukki falls again by walk. But unfortunately 5pm was closing time and we were not allowed to visit. On our way back very near to our stay my friend got a wonderful idea of playing game Hopscotch which many of us have played in our childhood. She proposed to play this game to which everyone agreed quickly????, except one who finally joined us after getting taunted by all. I played this game after more than a decade and I felt that nostalgia for my childhood after so long.
At night we had very tasty veg dinner at Mayura Bharachukki and each item was very satisfying in taste & hygiene. After this we played cards???? till we could (9:30pm). It was a long but a day well spent in the lap of mother nature.Day - 2:
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We woke up and got ready around by 8 am the next day. We had breakfast there itself, checkout the stay and left for B.R. Hills around 9am. It is around 52 km drive from Shivanasamudra. We passed through many villages (It was exciting to remember my own village as I was seeing very similar places) and reached the base of B.R. Hills????.
After giving 20 Rs entry fees (without any receipt) we started our ride in the hilly area. All sights were very pleasant. Some of them were great for pfoto shoots.Finally after 40 minutes of ride we reached the top of B.R. Hills. And this was the view from top.
A very rare dense forest in today's time. I have seen forests of Bandipur-Karnataka, Gir-Gujarat and they are not at all dense. It is very necessary that we have all the forests very dense like this one as we have started facing issues of water scarcity, flood, global warming & so on. It would be great experience to do a bike trip to this place from Bengaluru and other nearby places.
Since we had to return the car at 11:30pm we had much time to visit one more place on our way to Bengaluru and we decided to visit Sangama & Makedatu on our way. It was 50 km detour from our original plan to return to Bengaluru directly from B.R. Hills.
Makedatu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekedatu is the place where Arkavati merges with Kaveri.
Here they will unofficially charges Rs.30 for entry & another Rs.30 for parking????.
From the base to see the main spot in Makedatu we have to cross this water flow. Rs.50/person roundtrip. Mostly after January when waters are very shallow And from there Rs.60/person round trip in bus to reach the main point. This can be done by walk as it is less than 2 km. Our return journey in the bus was more thrilling than the roller coaster ride????????. We literally felt that the driver was mad as he was making the bus (at least 20 year old) bounce on the very small track where the one side was the deep valley.We collected few pebbles from the river bank before we crossed the river to reach our car. In the return trip the sailor of our boat asked if we want to experience the swing????????, we said yes as we had nothing left to do before our return journey. Indeed it was unique experience and we should try it at least once. Sailor asked for the tip for this(swing) at the end and we gave him Rs.50 for his good work and we started for Bengaluru after that.
This was the end of our thrilling & pleasant 2 days trip????.
Hope you enjoyed the read. See you again with the next blog.
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sayonara !!!
See the trailer, For Full fun video click the link below.