It was the month of July when the monsoon was vigorously active along most parts of the western coast of India.  As the planning went underway, the focus lay centered on adventure and photography.  The immediate thought that struck my mind was a trip to the Western Ghats.  The Western Ghats and adventure are synonymous to each other.  The entire stretch of Western Ghats, during the monsoon, offers a picturesque view.  My friends I agreed to a decision, almost instantaneously, to visit the northern region of the state of Karnataka, popularly known by the name Uttara Kannada, abundant with natural resources.  The first in the sequence of places to visit was Dandeli – an amazing gateway to nature and adventure.   And, the mighty Dudhsagar falls wasn’t too far away from this place as this part of the state shares its border with Goa.  With the monsoon active, the Dudhsagar falls offer a majestic view of waters gushing down with tremendous intensity.  Undoubtedly, a visit to this place was on our travel itinerary.  We were brimming with hopes of a great adventure experience.  The levels of excitement rose gradually as we were inching closer towards the start of our journey.  Read on to know what this adventurous journey to the mighty Dudhsagar falls is all about! And, there are many such adventurous stories that are queued up.  So, do subscribe to my travel blogs at https://www.xplorewithvijay.com, so you don’t miss out on fascinating travel stories.

Day 1: The Inception – Friday, 25th July, 2014

We were all set and super excited.  The train we were to board was scheduled to depart at 13:50 hours  I was there before anyone among us could be and got seated in the passenger waiting section.

As each minute passed by, we were frequently exchanging messages on our whereabouts.  As my friends were still on their way to the railway station,  I decided to walk all the way to the platform from where we were to board the train and put my luggage in.  Just minutes before the train could chug out of the station, did I find my friends making their way to the platform.  I waved my hands to signal them.  Finally, we were all in.  It was 50 minutes past 1 in the afternoon and the diesel locomotive blew a sound horn indicating its start.  The train started chugging out of the station making its way to the right track to pick its acceleration.  Within the train, we were comfortably seated in our respective seats picking up a chat conversation excitedly.  As time went by, we caught up having a chat with fellow passengers by the adjacent seats.  It was dusk by the time the train entered the state of Karnataka.  The air was getting colder each passing minute.  We had our dinner, rolled in warm clothes and got into our respective berths.

Day 2: Exhilaration and bliss – Saturday, 26th July, 2014

The sheer magnitude of excitement that was prevailing had set my biological clock to a meager dysfunction.  I woke up as early as 6 in the morning and had a peek at the window.  The view outside was breathtaking.  It was greenery as far as the eyes could see on both sides of the railway track with the sun making its way out of the horizon at a distance.

There was chill in the air and a faint drizzle brought in a dramatic scene.  We were now nearing the largest city in North Karnataka – Hubli.  The train made its halt for about an hour here.  We got refreshed after a long cold night’s sleep.  The journey, henceforth, was awesome.  The view outside was picturesque.  The Green paddy fields, chirping birds, and streams of water kept us seated by the windows.  After about a hour’s travel, we reached the city of Dharwad – popular for its lip smacking  sweet pedhas.  We couldn’t resist avoiding it.  We purchased a couple of boxes and had our taste buds satisfied.

Soon after, we reached our destination, Londa.  We bid goodbye to our fellow passenger with the hopes of meeting him again.  With dense trees by the sides of the station assisted by faint drizzle the view was spectacular.  This is a popular location where people alight to trek in Western ghats.  This town, surrounded by lush evergreen forests, shares its border with Goa.  We took some snaps and headed towards the exit.  We, then, hired a tuk-tuk (auto rickshaw) to get us to the nearest bus station.  The auto driver was very kind.  He started enquiring about our place of visit and offered some tips to reach our destination – Dandeli.  We were informed that the frequency of Dandeli bound buses are less and that they usually take long to reach there.  He then helped us board a cab that took us to Dandeli – a journey of about 50 minutes.  By the time we reached Dandeli, we were extremely tired and hungry.

We moved into a roadside hotel, had our breakfast and then headed towards the resort we were to stay – Dandeli Jungle camp.  This resort is located in the serene lush greenery of the jungles of Dandeli.  The air was refreshingly cool.  Upon reaching the resort, we had a little conversation with the manager of the resort giving us the details of the places we will be visiting.  We were very excited on listening to him.  We got refreshed in no time and hopped on to the jeep that took us to the place of action – the magnificent Kali river.  We had our life jackets on started off with Kayaking.  That was so much fun.

The Kayaking offered us considerable amounts of thrill and excitement. The next activity had the raw zeal of adventure – River crossing.  One has to cling on to a metallic rope that moved back and forth by the sides of the river via a overhead cable to go across a flowing river.  Though, intimidating at first, it was a great fun. Later we moved over to experience Jacuzzi.  The rapid flow of the river Kali offered a rejuvenating massage.  A prolonged stay by wet rocks along the river Kali was a satisfying experience.  We got back to resort and had our moments captured by the bonfire.

Day 3: Melancholy and Elation – Sunday, 27th July, 2014

Waking up at about 5 in the morning hearing to the voices of the people at the resort asking us to get ready and having a cold water bath was refreshing.  With great enthusiasm of seeing animals in the wild, I got ready in no time.  After about 30 minutes of travel, we were at the forest check post.  We switched on to the forest department’s jeep.  The forest ranger briefed us about some do’s and don’ts on sighting animals while in the forest.  As the safari began, we could only sight few peacocks, langurs and spotted deers.

We, then, reached a viewpoint that offered a spectacular view of the landscape surrounding the forest.  With high levels of dissatisfaction we returned to the resort.  The next destination was a place named Syntheri Rocks.  These are the Canyon like structures boasting of huge granite cliffs and the river Kali flows through these canyons.  We had to descend down from where our vehicle was parked.  The view of these rocks was majestic.  The time spent here brought in a sense of satisfaction among us.  In fact, the real thrill started off from here.  We were getting a little late as we had to vacate our rooms by around 2 pm.  As we were heading out of the resort, we thanked the resort manager for making us feel great during our stay.  Our next destination was Dudhsagar falls in the state of Goa.  Having got some valuable inputs from the resort manager we bid goodbye to the resort staff with hopes of visiting their resort again someday.

There were no buses plying between Dandeli and Goa.  We had to travel back to Londa to board buses bound to Goa.  By the time we had our lunch and hired a tuk-tuk to Ram Nagar in Londa, we were extremely tired.  The bumpy ride made us feel much more tired.  After about an hour’s ride, we were at Ram Nagar bus station in Londa.  We then hopped on to a Goa bound bus.  Soon after, all my tiredness vanished.  The bus journey from Ram Nagar to Mollem via Anmod was scenic with dense trees by the sides of the road, accompanied by mild to heavy showers, and mist covered roads.  We were passing by the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife sanctuary.  Anmod is a town at the Goa-Karnataka border.  As we went past the Anmod Check post, the visibility dropped drastically.  With faint drizzle and visibility as low as 10 meters, the view was breathtaking.  The journey via the ghats was truly a great moment to cherish.  Soon after we were into the state of Goa and we had to alight at a place named Mollem.  We were lucky enough to get rooms for our stay that evening, eventually for a visit to the mighty Dudhsagar falls the next morning.

Day 4: Frenzy and Excitement: Monday, 28th July, 2014

Hysteria gripped each of us.  We were getting ready to witness something majestic.  We had prior information on non-availability of food all along the Dudhsagar falls.  So, we had to pack in some food.  At around 7 am, we stepped out of the hotel room and hopped onto a bus bound to Colem.

This stretch, of about 7 km, from Mollem was scenic with trees lined up almost in a straight line on either side of the road.  There was hardly any vehicular movement.  Upon reaching Colem, we hired motorcycles to take us to the water falls.  We were riding pillion.  The motorcycle ride was a great fun and a different experience of its kind.  The slushy mud path parallel to the railway track is where the ride started off and then moving into the forest.  The ride was extremely dangerous and risky.  It required enormous proficiency in driving and the people who drove the bikes were skilled in doing so.  I was extremely thrilled.  Frequently, we had to cross streams of water flowing across, that were knee deep with a decent current good enough to throw you out of balance.  After about 9 km ride we were deep into the forest, the bikes couldn’t go any further as the river that had to be crossed was swelling and carried more current to be able to take you off balance.  And the depth of the river deemed it risky to be able to drive through it.  So, we had to alight, cross the river by walk and trek along the remaining distance to get a view of the waterfalls.

Then, came the view point.  The view of the Dudhsagar waterfalls was majestic.  However, we were still at a good distance from it.  We were informed that to be able to get near the waterfalls, we had to trek uphill for about 3 km.  I was thrilled with the option of trekking uphill.  We started trekking along the narrow path to the waterfalls.  It had rained all night and the path was extremely slushy.  We were at risk of being bitten by leeches and were cautious of it.  After trekking for around 45 minutes, we reached a leveled surface, along the railway track that passes via the Dudhsagar falls.  As we were proceeding, I noticed something unusual on my legs.

I was shocked to see my toe bleeding.  Yes, it was a leech.  I had to remove that off and apply some ointment.  Unmindful of all these, I was more excited to see the waterfalls.  We were finally at the location.  The view was magnificent.  There was a railway track in front of the waterfalls. The passing of trains made it look dramatic.  After about spending an hour at the waterfalls, we had to pack up.  We walked past the slushy paths of the terrain.  The bike ride, again, was splendid. We had a very satisfying visit to the Dudhsagar waterfalls.  We thanked our riders and reached our hotel room.  We were so excited that we didn’t feel having lunch.  We, then, boarded a bus bound to Panaji.  As scenic as it was all along this trip, the journey from Mollem to Panaji was a spectacle.

Upon reaching Panaji, we checked into a hotel and got refreshed.  We, then, headed towards one of the popular destinations in Panaji  – Miramar beach.  We had a great time.  We managed to find tickets for a travel on a cruise ship.  The cruise took us into the waters for about an hour before returning.  Within the cruise, we witnessed cultural activities in the form of dance.  It was a great fun.  The clocks ticket 10 PM when we got back to or hotel room.  Hunger pangs got each of us relentless and we were on the lookout for a decent hotel but noticed most of them shutting down.  We spotted one, finally, and had our dinner.  We, then, headed back to the hotel room extremely tired.  The next day we had to board the train at Londa at 10 am.  We had our alarms set and caught on with sleep instantly.

Day 5: Exhaustion and Satisfaction – Tuesday, 29th July, 2014

We vacated our hotel room at around 6 am and reached the bus station only to find the first bus to Ram Nagar is at only 6:40 am.  We were getting anxious as we had to reach the railway station on time.  One of my friend picked up a conversation with the bus conductor who gave us enough hopes that we would reach Ram Nagar by 9 am.  As the bus made its way out, we caught on with our sleep again.  After about 2.5 hours of bus journey, we reached Ram Nagar at around 9:30 am.

We couldn’t find any auto rickshaw at Ram Nagar bus station that can take us to the Londa Railway Station.  After a desperate lookout for a tuk-tuk, we reached the Londa Railway station at around 9:55 am. and noticed that our train was delayed by 5 minutes.  There was a sign of relief among us.  By the time, we had our breakfast at the station, the train was making its entry.  We got into the train and got settled in our berths.  We frequently picking up a chat conversation.  This wasn’t a direct train to Chennai.  We had to alight at the Katpadi Railway Station to switch trains.  So, we went in for an early sleep.

Day 6: Contentment – Wednesday, 30th July, 2014

The train reached the Katpadi Railway Station at around 2:40 am.  We were, then, waiting by the platform to get into any train bound to Chennai.  At around 3:10 am, a Patna bound train passing via Chennai made its halt at the Katpadi railway station.  We started looking for unreserved coach for seats.  We knew it is going to be packed and rightly so.  There was hardly any place to stand.  We let go off this train.  At about 3:30 am, a train from Ernakulam to somewhere passing via Chennai made its halt here.

I settled by the main door of a compartment.  The travel experience was awesome.  At around 5:50 am, we reached Chennai central.  I was extremely tired.  We bid good bye to each other as we made our way to the exit gates of the station.

The entire travel experience was amazing and satisfying.  Lots of memories and photographs!

Resources:

How did I travel?

I love train journeys and I always look for an opportunity for one such travel.  A majority of journey for this trip was on a train. We were on board 17311 – Chennai Central Vasco Da Gama Weekly Express.  A journey with this train will take you through some of the most scenic and breathtaking landscapes across the Konkan coast connecting the western Indian states of Goa, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.  Alight at the Londa Junction and hire a taxi to head to Dandeli.  The roadways are some of the most scenic and serene landscapes you will ever see.  To reach Dudhsagar falls, we took the roadways from Londa along the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary to Mollem in Goa.  This stretch of highway is the most scenic I have ever seen.

Best time to visit:

It depends on the the type of person you are. If you are the adventurous type, the best time to visit Dandeli is between October and May. Dandeli is home to a variety of birds and can be easily spotted between October and December.

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