Chunchi Falls, Sangam and Mekedatu - A Biking Experience
With the summer gone and temperature going south, a good and bountiful rainfall during the past few weeks prompted us (me and a couple of biker enthusiasts...) to take an one day trip to Sangam and Mekedatu. Me and another friend with a couple of pillion riders started around 6.30 am from our place, Jakkur and picked up another friend near Cauvery theatre. Kanakapura main road is about 20 kms from Jakkur, it took us about 45 mts to reach the road. The route is as follows, Jakkur to Hebbala and to Majestic to Chamrajpet to Basavangudi followed by Banashankeri, where we saw kanakapura main road sign for the first time.
Kanakapura is about 40 kms from Bangalore. The roads are good mostly, they have been relaid but in patches. But overall the roads are pretty decent. Keeping a speed of about 60 km/hr, we reached Kanakapura in about 1 hr. Here, we had our breakfast in a small restaurant. All the locals pointed us to this restaurant, i guess it has its advantages being the only one in town. Here, we also saw another group of bikers who, had already had their breakfast and were starting their journey ahead. We had breakfast and continued our journey which was to Chunchi falls about 10 kms before Sangam.
Another 20 kms on, there was a huge arch and an diversion towards left leading to Chunchi falls. We took pictures near the arch and then started our journey towards chunchi falls. Chunchi falls also houses a mini hydel project, so most of the water has been diverted from the falls towards the hydel power station. Even otherwise, there was considerable amount of water. It was mainly a rocky area with huge boulders. These rocks were very slippery also due to formation of moss on them due to water flow. There were many small waterfalls just around the rocks at different places with one major one at around 100 ft (my guess). The sad part is that, even though enough water was there, we were not able to get inside and play in the water. We had to be satisfied with only pictures.
Next, we journeyed to Sangam that is about 10 kms from Chunchi falls. Here, Arkavathi merges with Kaveri and only Kaveri flows after this. With a copious amount of rainfall during the last few months, the Kaveri river was flowing with its full might. We had to cross the river, which was about 100 mts at this point, using a boat. From the other bank, we took a bus to Mekedatu, which was 4 kms away. The bus ride was very rickety but a lot of fun. Reaching Mekedatu, we had our lunch, bread and fruits which we had packed from home.
Mekedatu, the goat crossing, gets is name as such because at this place the river flows through the mountains and the width is shrunk to such small dimensions that even a goat can jump across it. Well, we couldnt exactly find a place where the goat could jump across, but here the river flows in a very narrow channel. It was a scene worth watching, the river bending and flowing in might within this narrow channel. We had our lunch and went down a trek near the river. After this, we took the 4 km trek back to sangam. This rickety "road", if you can call it one was very scenic one as it goes parallel to the river. Anywhere during the trek, you could just walk across n within 20 - 30 mts you could reach the river shore and see the river flowing in its full might.
And finally, we came back to sangam, where our whole bike trip was fulfilled. We played in the water to our heart's fill. The currents here were very strong. The sangam had taken place, so both the might of both the rivers combined made the flow very strong. So, we went upstream for about 10 mts or so, after that we had lots of fun in the water. For about an hour we were in the water, after which we returned back to the other shore of the river again back by the same boat.
Having a small snack, we left for bangalore. An interesting anecdote which happened during the trip, is regarding our eating location. I somehow came to know that there was an Adigas restaurant in Kanakapura, so in the morning, we searched the whole of Kanakapura with no avail. Then on the way back, very close to bangalore, we found out the adigas. But, the most important thing is that, actually there is no Adigas in Kanakapura, the restaurant I wanted to eat was in a completely different place. It was a Kamat restaurant and that too not in Kanakapura road, it was in the Mysore road. But anyways we did have breakfast and dinner at a good place.
The place is worth watching. We were in awe of the full might of Kaveri, as in Mysore its not very forceful, because of the dam. Also, for most part the roads were also very good, new roads have been laid, so we did not have that much of problem driving. The trip was a bit tiring for everybody, but was a very memorable one as there was a lot of water and we could have our bit of fun. We could stop anywhere we wanted too and have fun.
I would like to end the blog with only one note. Please keep the place clean and do not throw garbage around. Its a scenic spot with lots of tourists, but to remain attractive, please do not throw plastic waste and used bottles around. Keep the place clean, it shall help you and other tourists who shall visit afterwards.
Kanakapura is about 40 kms from Bangalore. The roads are good mostly, they have been relaid but in patches. But overall the roads are pretty decent. Keeping a speed of about 60 km/hr, we reached Kanakapura in about 1 hr. Here, we had our breakfast in a small restaurant. All the locals pointed us to this restaurant, i guess it has its advantages being the only one in town. Here, we also saw another group of bikers who, had already had their breakfast and were starting their journey ahead. We had breakfast and continued our journey which was to Chunchi falls about 10 kms before Sangam.
Another 20 kms on, there was a huge arch and an diversion towards left leading to Chunchi falls. We took pictures near the arch and then started our journey towards chunchi falls. Chunchi falls also houses a mini hydel project, so most of the water has been diverted from the falls towards the hydel power station. Even otherwise, there was considerable amount of water. It was mainly a rocky area with huge boulders. These rocks were very slippery also due to formation of moss on them due to water flow. There were many small waterfalls just around the rocks at different places with one major one at around 100 ft (my guess). The sad part is that, even though enough water was there, we were not able to get inside and play in the water. We had to be satisfied with only pictures.
Next, we journeyed to Sangam that is about 10 kms from Chunchi falls. Here, Arkavathi merges with Kaveri and only Kaveri flows after this. With a copious amount of rainfall during the last few months, the Kaveri river was flowing with its full might. We had to cross the river, which was about 100 mts at this point, using a boat. From the other bank, we took a bus to Mekedatu, which was 4 kms away. The bus ride was very rickety but a lot of fun. Reaching Mekedatu, we had our lunch, bread and fruits which we had packed from home.
Mekedatu, the goat crossing, gets is name as such because at this place the river flows through the mountains and the width is shrunk to such small dimensions that even a goat can jump across it. Well, we couldnt exactly find a place where the goat could jump across, but here the river flows in a very narrow channel. It was a scene worth watching, the river bending and flowing in might within this narrow channel. We had our lunch and went down a trek near the river. After this, we took the 4 km trek back to sangam. This rickety "road", if you can call it one was very scenic one as it goes parallel to the river. Anywhere during the trek, you could just walk across n within 20 - 30 mts you could reach the river shore and see the river flowing in its full might.
And finally, we came back to sangam, where our whole bike trip was fulfilled. We played in the water to our heart's fill. The currents here were very strong. The sangam had taken place, so both the might of both the rivers combined made the flow very strong. So, we went upstream for about 10 mts or so, after that we had lots of fun in the water. For about an hour we were in the water, after which we returned back to the other shore of the river again back by the same boat.
Having a small snack, we left for bangalore. An interesting anecdote which happened during the trip, is regarding our eating location. I somehow came to know that there was an Adigas restaurant in Kanakapura, so in the morning, we searched the whole of Kanakapura with no avail. Then on the way back, very close to bangalore, we found out the adigas. But, the most important thing is that, actually there is no Adigas in Kanakapura, the restaurant I wanted to eat was in a completely different place. It was a Kamat restaurant and that too not in Kanakapura road, it was in the Mysore road. But anyways we did have breakfast and dinner at a good place.
The place is worth watching. We were in awe of the full might of Kaveri, as in Mysore its not very forceful, because of the dam. Also, for most part the roads were also very good, new roads have been laid, so we did not have that much of problem driving. The trip was a bit tiring for everybody, but was a very memorable one as there was a lot of water and we could have our bit of fun. We could stop anywhere we wanted too and have fun.
I would like to end the blog with only one note. Please keep the place clean and do not throw garbage around. Its a scenic spot with lots of tourists, but to remain attractive, please do not throw plastic waste and used bottles around. Keep the place clean, it shall help you and other tourists who shall visit afterwards.
posted by Arun Narasimhan @ 11:11 AM
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