Agumbe - Sringeri trek passing through Narasimha Parvatha is a very famous trekking trail. Agumbe, being one of the most heavily raining areas in Karnataka, the whole area is densely vegetated and lush green.
This time again, it was Dev Balaji and Nature Admire [1], along with four other guys (Ravi, Ravee, Prasanth, Rathan). We took an overnight KSRTC bus going to Agumbe. The route is via Tumkur (NH4), Shimoga (NH206) and Thirthahalli (NH13). We reached Agumbe by around 7.30, went to a nearby hotel for the morning stuff. Then started looking around for a guide and permission from the local police station. It wasnt there!!!
Due to naxalite scare, guides refused to come to Narasimha Parvatha. After a lot of pleading, police gave us permission to trek but the original plan would not work. We were to trek to Barkana falls around 8KMs from Agumbe, come back and take a bus to Sringeri the next day.
The gang.............................../
Enter the jungle ... where trees fall ....
Along the tarmac road
... and streams flow through
Mushrooms ... are these edible?
The king in his throne ... with the club
After some hours through the jungle, dodging some deadly leaches, we almost reached road's end. The monsoon has almost erased the route and covered it with thick green vegetation. When it became almost impossible to go ahead, we unpacked our food reserve, had our lunch and turned back. Later at the town, one of the guides told us that we were only around a KM away from the falls.
Return of the king(s)
In spite of the disappointment of not reaching the target, this was one of my best treks. With, thick green trees around, lots of leaches and creatures like scorpions and some wierd looking spiders ... you couldnt be with the nature more.
In a couple of hours we were back in the village, taking a well deserved break near a public well.
From the village, we took another detour and went to a view point, around 3KM from there. We atleast needed to have a glance of what we missed ... and it was indeed
big.
Spoorthi, Preethika and Thrupthi
That white band is the Barkana falls
On the road they fell ...
It was almost 7.30 by the time we reached back at Agumbe. Had a good dinner at the local hotel, fixed up a tent at a nearby compound and slept ...
Where is my Bed Coffee?
Next day around 9.00 we were at Sringeri. 25 KMs away, Sringeri is less than an hour by bus. And ofcourse, the route was picturesque with greenery on both sides. We took a room there, freshened up and proceeded to Kigge 10 KMs away, from where you can trek to Narasimha Parvatha.
World is in vein without water - Thiruvalluvar
Sringeri temple
Once again, we didnt go to Narasimha Parvatha, but took the route towards Sirimane falls, around 5 KMs away from Kigge. The route was tarmac for some distance and then mud road, but still motorable.
Last look at Sirimane falls
After some fun time in the water, we started back by 3.00, reached Sringeri by 5.00, had lunch, chatted up for some time and it was time to catch the bus. The bus to Bengaluru / Bangalore .... to the real jungle.
No comments:
Post a Comment