Rain drops are falling on my head….. rain drops are falling on my head…. Well it really was when my mother and I left Bangalore on Tuesday night. Hoping against hope and praying as hard that there will be no rain at the JOG FALLS. It was a very unexpected and an unplanned trip (that’s the way trips are to be according to me). The time here was for mother – daughter bonding…..
Well we began our journey at 10 p.m on Tuesday night. I hate late night bus journeys, but you gotta lose some to gain some. The journey was not as bad as it could have been, at least there were no bugs or termites (gross creatures those are). I couldn’t sleep the entire night (thanks to the bus driver who made us dance around all night with his sudden breaks), but nature by night kept me quite busy. The wonderful ghat section by night has a exquisiteness of its own.
We reached a place called Sagar by 6:30 next day morning. A break of 2 hours meant sleep finally. A room had to be shared by four people. So it was my mother, I and one more ma-beti jodi sharing a room. When the rest of them had their bath and got dressed for the rest of the journey, I was busy watching HOME ALONE 3. Finally I decided to skip bath and just washed my face and got ready.
Some journeys have little to do than twiddle your thumbs in transit. This wasn't one of them. The time spent at the falls though, proves worth its while. After stale idlis and watery sambhar we borded the bus. As always, according to our Indian belief, “remember God before embarking on a journey” we were off to the Keladi temple. This temple was soo much like the Kerala temples. A stop for about 15 minutes there and we were off to see the JOG. According to the tour plan we would have first visited Linganamakki Dam. But the government now has banned visitors from entering the dam, because of terrorist scares. Well, were don’t you find people petrified of terrorists? The world today is scared only about one word in the entire dictionary and that is terror-campaign!!! Moving on, our guide decided to take us to a spot, from where we had a lucid view of the Dam. With water till its brim, the dam looked like a marvelous spectacle.
On began our journey towards two more small falls before the big daddy. But rain and fog had other plans in store for us. The road towards there falls was narrow and to add to the excitement, was the fog. The visibility was close to 0. At the spot where the falls was supposed to be visible was rocky and slippery and to add to that, the rains decided to pay us a visit. With an umbrella in my hand, I was anxious to get out and admire the foggy scenery. But my mother wouldn’t allow me. After a few minutes a persuasion I managed to get out. With the camera in my hand and the umbrella over my shoulders and my mother’s anxious voice in the background asking me not to go too far towards the edge, I began to snap some of the most marvelous snaps of the foggy nature.
Finally we were off to see India’s Niagara…the jog falls. The first view of the falls was to be seen from the British bungalow. The fog and the rain were there to greet us again. We could only hear the ROARER and the ROCKET growling away to glory and proving their mightiness behind the thick and the dense curtain of fog. The sun had decided to take a day’s off the moment it saw our faces. There was a rampant war between the rains and the fog.
My tour friend Swetha and I decided to trek down to the rocks and have a closer look at the mighty falls. With both our mom’s screaming over their heads, we turned a deaf ear to them and made our descent down the rocks. With the slippery earth beneath us, we had to be more than careful. Moving step by step, with a vigilant eye on the mischievous rocks we reached a point from where we could see the ROCKET splurging out of the rigid Western Ghats. Immediately came out my camera. But my best enemy- the fog was back to say ‘hi’. We waited patiently for a few minutes but the fog was very dead set against reducing even by an inch. We could not even climb back up coz the visibility level was virtually 0. With no other option Swetha and I set our camp on that narrow piece of rock for about half an hour. The ascent is deceptive. Though it looks easy, it is so easy to trip & go rolling down the hill. No Jack & Jill here. One tumble and hello Humpty-Dumpty.
As always, hordes of hawkers selling everything from postcards to masala bhel storm trooped me. A cold, indifferent glance was all they got. But the masala bhel fellow must consider himself a bit lucky.
From the British bungalow, we were off to another view point from where we could see all the four falls (RAJA, ROCKET, ROARER and RANI) that make up the mighty JOG falls. I must admit, that nature has its own beauty and no man-made falls can match up to its majesty. The sight of the falls was absolutely marvelous, splendid, amazing, grand, impressive…. No words of mine can catch up to the charisma and charm of nature’s fall. My camera too was fascinated by the allure created and could not resist its temptation to capture the most magnificent of the magnificent sights.
Amidst all this astounding and awe-inspiring sights I completely ignored my stomach’s cry for some attention. This time the cry was loud. It needed some input to give me the energy to admire more precious sights of the falls. We found a hospital (restaurant) to provide some needed calories to my poor stomach. Tough the rice was cold and the rasam was tasteless, my taste-buds didn’t report any harm in gulping the food, for this was an emergency cry.
After lunch we sat on a bench that provided us with a direct view of the falls. The scene was so romantic and all I could think of was all the possible romantic songs that our film industry provides. Just then a couple who were traveling with us asked us to take a rickshaw and go visit a Chowdeshwari temple and the RANI FALL’S POINT. The temple was closed so we had a quick darshan from outside and moved on to the RANI FALL’S POINT. This was the point from where RANI flowed down in a graceful manner i.e. the apex of the RANI falls. The water here was slow moving. Swetha and I decided to walk into the river. My mother was for once sporting enough to come a little into the slippery grounds. The place was filled with rocks and slippery terrain. A wrong step or a slip was enough to have tea with God. We went a few kilometers upstream before Mr. Rain decided to pay us another visit. With no other option and without daring to become God’s favorite, we decided to walk back. A slight slip and thankfully the rock caught me. With no major concerns, we were back safely to our bus.
It was time to bid adieu to the JOG. One last snap with my mother and we waved good bye to the breathtaking sight. Back to the bus and my legs finally got the chance to rest. Journeys back home after an enjoyable trip is never a happy one. Finally the getaway from the mundane daily routine has come to an end. The tired body has taken a beating, and it calls it a day.
Well we began our journey at 10 p.m on Tuesday night. I hate late night bus journeys, but you gotta lose some to gain some. The journey was not as bad as it could have been, at least there were no bugs or termites (gross creatures those are). I couldn’t sleep the entire night (thanks to the bus driver who made us dance around all night with his sudden breaks), but nature by night kept me quite busy. The wonderful ghat section by night has a exquisiteness of its own.
We reached a place called Sagar by 6:30 next day morning. A break of 2 hours meant sleep finally. A room had to be shared by four people. So it was my mother, I and one more ma-beti jodi sharing a room. When the rest of them had their bath and got dressed for the rest of the journey, I was busy watching HOME ALONE 3. Finally I decided to skip bath and just washed my face and got ready.
Some journeys have little to do than twiddle your thumbs in transit. This wasn't one of them. The time spent at the falls though, proves worth its while. After stale idlis and watery sambhar we borded the bus. As always, according to our Indian belief, “remember God before embarking on a journey” we were off to the Keladi temple. This temple was soo much like the Kerala temples. A stop for about 15 minutes there and we were off to see the JOG. According to the tour plan we would have first visited Linganamakki Dam. But the government now has banned visitors from entering the dam, because of terrorist scares. Well, were don’t you find people petrified of terrorists? The world today is scared only about one word in the entire dictionary and that is terror-campaign!!! Moving on, our guide decided to take us to a spot, from where we had a lucid view of the Dam. With water till its brim, the dam looked like a marvelous spectacle.
On began our journey towards two more small falls before the big daddy. But rain and fog had other plans in store for us. The road towards there falls was narrow and to add to the excitement, was the fog. The visibility was close to 0. At the spot where the falls was supposed to be visible was rocky and slippery and to add to that, the rains decided to pay us a visit. With an umbrella in my hand, I was anxious to get out and admire the foggy scenery. But my mother wouldn’t allow me. After a few minutes a persuasion I managed to get out. With the camera in my hand and the umbrella over my shoulders and my mother’s anxious voice in the background asking me not to go too far towards the edge, I began to snap some of the most marvelous snaps of the foggy nature.
Finally we were off to see India’s Niagara…the jog falls. The first view of the falls was to be seen from the British bungalow. The fog and the rain were there to greet us again. We could only hear the ROARER and the ROCKET growling away to glory and proving their mightiness behind the thick and the dense curtain of fog. The sun had decided to take a day’s off the moment it saw our faces. There was a rampant war between the rains and the fog.
My tour friend Swetha and I decided to trek down to the rocks and have a closer look at the mighty falls. With both our mom’s screaming over their heads, we turned a deaf ear to them and made our descent down the rocks. With the slippery earth beneath us, we had to be more than careful. Moving step by step, with a vigilant eye on the mischievous rocks we reached a point from where we could see the ROCKET splurging out of the rigid Western Ghats. Immediately came out my camera. But my best enemy- the fog was back to say ‘hi’. We waited patiently for a few minutes but the fog was very dead set against reducing even by an inch. We could not even climb back up coz the visibility level was virtually 0. With no other option Swetha and I set our camp on that narrow piece of rock for about half an hour. The ascent is deceptive. Though it looks easy, it is so easy to trip & go rolling down the hill. No Jack & Jill here. One tumble and hello Humpty-Dumpty.
As always, hordes of hawkers selling everything from postcards to masala bhel storm trooped me. A cold, indifferent glance was all they got. But the masala bhel fellow must consider himself a bit lucky.
From the British bungalow, we were off to another view point from where we could see all the four falls (RAJA, ROCKET, ROARER and RANI) that make up the mighty JOG falls. I must admit, that nature has its own beauty and no man-made falls can match up to its majesty. The sight of the falls was absolutely marvelous, splendid, amazing, grand, impressive…. No words of mine can catch up to the charisma and charm of nature’s fall. My camera too was fascinated by the allure created and could not resist its temptation to capture the most magnificent of the magnificent sights.
Amidst all this astounding and awe-inspiring sights I completely ignored my stomach’s cry for some attention. This time the cry was loud. It needed some input to give me the energy to admire more precious sights of the falls. We found a hospital (restaurant) to provide some needed calories to my poor stomach. Tough the rice was cold and the rasam was tasteless, my taste-buds didn’t report any harm in gulping the food, for this was an emergency cry.
After lunch we sat on a bench that provided us with a direct view of the falls. The scene was so romantic and all I could think of was all the possible romantic songs that our film industry provides. Just then a couple who were traveling with us asked us to take a rickshaw and go visit a Chowdeshwari temple and the RANI FALL’S POINT. The temple was closed so we had a quick darshan from outside and moved on to the RANI FALL’S POINT. This was the point from where RANI flowed down in a graceful manner i.e. the apex of the RANI falls. The water here was slow moving. Swetha and I decided to walk into the river. My mother was for once sporting enough to come a little into the slippery grounds. The place was filled with rocks and slippery terrain. A wrong step or a slip was enough to have tea with God. We went a few kilometers upstream before Mr. Rain decided to pay us another visit. With no other option and without daring to become God’s favorite, we decided to walk back. A slight slip and thankfully the rock caught me. With no major concerns, we were back safely to our bus.
It was time to bid adieu to the JOG. One last snap with my mother and we waved good bye to the breathtaking sight. Back to the bus and my legs finally got the chance to rest. Journeys back home after an enjoyable trip is never a happy one. Finally the getaway from the mundane daily routine has come to an end. The tired body has taken a beating, and it calls it a day.
3 comments:
lovely pics!
Absolutely mindblowing pics!! :)
And very well written!! Kudos!! :)
coool ... er.. rather moist pictures.. I did not go through the complete blog. Somewher you had mentioned that as "India's Niagara" I had been to Niagara but not Jogg falls. BUt going by your photo, I can say for sure that you are doing injustice to Joggfalls.
Niagara is well marketed while places in India are not. In a way that is good too :)
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