After the hectic schedule from Monday to Friday, I feel exhausted and my serotonin level drops. So in order to boost myself I travel locally as much as I can. It was on December 2019, after coming back from office in the evening, somewhere around 6 - 6:30 I called a friend to check if he's available to go for a short trip this weekend. Suddenly he comes with the name of this place called "Hogenakkal" and he said it's not very far, if we leave now we will reach by tonight. Without much delaying we left at around 7:15 pm by bike with two pairs of clothes, one for the night and another one for the next day. Our plan was to come back the very next day. There are few mistakes that I had made and my main intention of writing this blog is to provide all the necessary information one should know before visiting Hogenakkal falls. So my major mistake was to travel without proper planning. It was an impulsive decision and I didn't think it through. Although we didn't face any difficulty but luck doesn't favor all the time. And the other mistake was to start our journey late evening. Here are few of the things which will answer all the questions that might arise before planning a trip to Hogenakkal Falls.
Route I took - Bangalore to Hogenakkal falls is about 180 kilometres. We followed this route Bangalore - Hosur - Dharmapuri - Hogenekkal. Condition of the road from start to end is buttery smooth without any obstacles. There are two entrances, one from Karnataka side and the other one through the middle of the Reserve Forest on the Tamil Nadu side. We went from the Tamil Nadu side and you might need to tip the guard 10 or 20 Rs to open the gate. The advantage is that you get to go through the Reserve Forest.
Reminder: At night the place will be completely empty.
Parking Toll - Before going for the falls there's a parking where you can park your vehicle. You will need to pay 30 Rs. There's a free parking as well.
Things to Carry - Clothes to go into the water or swimsuit , sunblock, slipper, Towel. Strangely most of the hotels there doesn't provide towels. Instead of going there and buying it, you can carry it along with you.
Hotels & Food arrangement - I had booked from OYO rooms. Although the room was clean, there was no towel in the room and no AC. You can go there and book as well. Most of the hotels are basic and near the bus stand.
Budget- Rs 1000 - 1500
Coming to Food, you won't get a lot of good restaurants. There are few roadside eateries serving toothsome south Indian delicacies. They all close by 9:30 pm.
Best months to visit- November - December. As the weather will be pleasant and waterfall will be there. I didn't say monsoon because coracle ride is not allowed when the water level is high.
Famous attractions/ Things to do - Hogenakkal is famous for 3 things : Coracle Ride, Fish and oil Massage.
Things to know before going for the Coracle ride
The moment you enter Hogenakkal someone will be there to show you the road or suggest the vehicle to the parking way and try to help you throughout. He will be the coracle riding person and it almost happens to everyone. Then you go to the ticket counter, pay Rs 750 which is fixed by the government. The coracle can accommodate up to 6 people. Till here everything is fine and you go happily, sit in the boat, starting to enjoy the view and that's when the boat person will come with their mega offer. He will tell you about the two stage boating : one which shows you the Tamil Nadu side falls and the other at an excess cost takes you to the Karnataka side . There are stretches in between where you need to walk for around 500 mts for the Karnataka side. As we went from the Tamil Nadu side, he said this side is small there's not much to enjoy here. If we go to the Karnataka side you'll get to see a lot better view. But if you want to go to the Karnataka side, you'll have to pay extra 750 bucks as that's the charge. As we didn't know anything and language was a barrier over there so we paid and went to the other side. But after coming back I got to know from few people that there's no such thing called taking money for going to the other side and also few people told me that they charged 1200 or 1000 (apart from 750 initially). So what they charge varies from person to person. Also by the end of journey, they'll ask for tip. I didn't pay because we already paid so much. If you want you can pay. Nonetheless it is worth visiting this place as the view and everything there was breathtaking. The entire ride took around 2 hours as we didn't do swimming and stuff.
Now let's come to the picturesque view of the falls. If you like water, you'll fall in love with this place. It will mesmerize your eyes. The calm water, small alcoves, sound of the waterfalls everywhere and you sitting in the middle of it will be a delight and definitely take your worries away. As fish is very famous here, you'll get the option to choose the fish and they will fry them. Oil massage is also famous here. They will take around 100 to 200 for head & full body massage.
Safety
For safety you'll get life jackets while boarding the boat. There won't be any lifeguards but the ride will be safe anyway. Make sure not to do anything mischievous if are not a super awesome swimmer.
Note: From the Hogenakkal city you cannot see the waterfall. You need to take the coracle. There's nothing much to do in the city. Once you go into the water, it will altogether be a different world out there.
This is my personal opinion and I have shared my experience of the trip. I hope it's helpful. In case of any queries Please get in touch with me.
Happy Riding and Stay Safe 😄😄
