At last the day arrived when we(21) from meetup had to start to Agumbe.It is a small district located in Shimoga Dist,Tirthahalli taluk in the Malnad region of Karnataka.Also known as Chirrapunji of the South,Agumbe is known for scenic beauty and bio-diversity.The sun rise and sun set points are amazing.I was the last one to be picked from Yeshwanthpur.Due to Diwali Holidays, the traffic was too high and finally I entered the TT at 2 AM ! It was so tiring to wait in the bus station with a hell lot of crowd. Luckily, we started and Reached Agumbe the next day at 10 AM ! On the way at about 8 AM we had tea/coffee in the road side canteen which was refreshing .
It was indeed a long journey.We were taken to a beautiful location (camp site) which had a room, kitchen,a dining area and rest rooms.
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| Our camp site |
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| The team |
After freshening up we packed our lunch(rice bath ) and left to Onake Abbi falls which was around half an hour from the camp site.Since vehicle is not allowed after a certain point, we need to trek and decided to take the route which led to top of the water fall.It was a thick jungle with 8 Km trek to reach the falls top.Not so tiring though .View of the falls from the top was mesmerizing !
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| Trekking Onake Abbi |
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| At the top of the falls |
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| Trekking Onake Abbi |
It is the tallest water fall in Western Ghats." Onake " is the vernacular word for the long pole which is used to grind spice.The rock cliff of which this water falls rush over resembles this pole after which it is named.Interestingly Seetanadi is not the source of Obake Abbi falls but rather it is fed by small estuaries and jungle streams and hence the falls dries up during summer season.We explored in and around the falls , took some lovely pics and walked back .
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| Group pic near the falls |
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| Small snake on the way back |
It was about 2.30 PM when we reached the starting trek point near the TT.After having the lunch, we moved to a small stream of water on the way back and spent some time swimming.There was also an old fort near to that stream where we had a stroll .
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| The small stream where we had lot of fun in the water |
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| Fort near the stream |
It was around 5 PM in the evening.After having a small tea break, we headed towards Jogi Gundi falls.It is just 3 km from Agumbe and located in Udupi - Teertahalli Road.The water here flows from a cave that runs through a hill.
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| Jogi Gundi Falls |
Water falls from 20 feet and there is a huge pool underneath.It was already dark and we had to move to our camp area.Yummy hot potato & capsicum bhajji was ready to quench our hunger .Camp fire was set and we all started to sing , dance , play, crack jokes and enjoy in our own way ! It was 10.30 PM when we started to have our dinner.Rotis,curry,rice rasam,butter milk , chicken was ready which continued with dumb charades .We got into our tents at 12 for a good night sleep.That was all about day 1.
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| Camp Fire |
That was a foggy morning .I woke up at 6.30 AM.We all freshened up after a hot cup of tea /coffee.After having breakfast , we headed to Sirimane falls and reached there at 10.00 AM.Also known as Kigga falls is located at a distance of 35 km from Agumbe and around 20 km from Sringeri.We spent lot of time enjoying in the falls.
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| Sirimane Falls |
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| Sirimane Falls |
We were hungry so had fruits in the nearby stall .Later we reached camp site by 12.30 PM for our lunch.Without wasting much time, we freshened up and headed towards Kundadri hills .It was a half an hour ride from the camp site covering a distance of 19 km.It is located in Shimoga district and is known for 17th century Jain temple dedicated to tirtankata and also known to have given shelter to Kundakunda muni.The main deity is Parshwanatha, 23rd tirthankara.
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| Relaxing on the Kundadri Hill |
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| Steps to reach the temple |
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| Temple at the back |
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| Group Pick |
We had a walk around 6 -8 kms to reach the hill top which was quite tiring but was worth it ! Cool breeze took away our tiredness.After spending around 2 hrs , we left to Doddamane from our TT at 6.30 PM from the hill top.Doddamane also known as Malgudi house where the entire series of the famous Malgudi days serial was shot.It was a beautiful big house with wooden pillars around.We were freely around to move inside the house but since it was late, we were prohibited to enter upstairs.There was a small pani puri stall nearby which forced to fulfill our hunger.After purchasing kokum juice, we left to our camp site.Our chef prepared kokum rasam which was super tasty and hot.This was followed by delicious onion pakodas and later dinner.Camp fire boosted our energy along with music and dance.Few slept early and few late night ! That was about day 2.
Day 3 began at 7.00 AM with the left over kokum hot rasam followed by hot/coffee & tea.After having the breakfast, we started to Udupi which is around 60 km from Agumbe.Playing Mafia was fun throughout the journey.It was 12.30 PM when we reached Udupi.All were hungry so we decided to have lunch in a hotel near Malpe beach.Later few decided to take a ride to St.Mary's Island and around 4-5 people chose water sports.
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| Lunch near maple beach |
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| St.Mary's Island |
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| Maple beach |
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| St.Mary's Island |
15 people along with me went to St.Mary's Island after taking tickets under the hot sun waiting in the queue.St.Mary's Island was very calm.We spent some time there clicking pics and took a walk.By 6 PM we returned back from the boat to the beach.It was time for some yummy snacks.So we all freshened up and started to roam around the promenade to have local chats by ganging up together.I had bhel puri , raw mangoes and sugarcane juice.
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| Corns :) |
Later we started to Bangalore.On the way , team stopped at a 5 star hotel for dinner.We ordered food as per our likes where i tasted dahi wada .
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| Dinner Time |
We reached Bangalore the next day early morning.I can never forget the enjoyment that we had for 3 days especially the camp fire.Bye Agumbe. Hope to see u soon again !
