A trip to Jog falls

It was Eid holiday on Sept 10 (Friday), which meant that we had an extended weekend of three days. It was a good time to plan a trip outside Bangalore. Thought about three four places, finally decided for Jog falls. Its the best time to visit Jog falls just after monsoon. Asked other friends (Anjani, Avinash, Bikramjit, Guru and Devendra), they all said yes and it was all set.

Transportation and other arrangement
Googled for tour and travels and found that KSTDC organizes weekly Jog Falls - Keladi Temple tour. Their itinerary looked fine. Now coming to the reservation, they have a website for online booking but unfortunately Jog falls tour is not listed there for online booking. So me and Bikram went to Badami house and booked 6 seats for the trip. Bikram bought a new Canon Powershot SX120IS camera for the trip as well.

Starting from Bangalore
On Friday evening we reached Badami house at 9:30 pm. Bus was on time and it maintained timings through out the trip. We started from Bangalore at 10:00 pm. Our tour guide Kiran briefed us about tomorrow's plans and timings. Bus was full with people in a group of 2-3 with their family. Our guide said that Bus will take a halt at Kamat restaurant that is about 50 km from Bangalore for 15-20 min. We decided that we will sleep after that halt. We had nice gossips, teasing one another for next one and half hour. After kamat though we weren't feeling sleepy still we tried to sleep so as to not disturb other people in the bus.

Reaching Sagar
We reached Sagar (30 km from Jog falls) at 6:15 am. Our guide said that we have time till 9:00 am to get fresh and have breakfast. Though accommodation arranged by KSTDC at Sagar was not good for stay but it was fine to get fresh. They provided two rooms for we six people. We got fresh by 8:00 am and had breakfast there.

Keladi Rameshwara Temple
Everybody got ready by 8:45 am. So we started 15 min early from there. First we went to Keladi temple. Its a 17th century built temple of lord Shiva, Ganesha and Parvathi. The temple compound was really beautiful. It was slightly drizzling at that time. We spent half an hour there and took some snaps. From there we left for Liganamakki dam view point.

Keladi Rameshwara temple

Another view of the templeGreenery in the temple compound

Liganamakki dam view point
This dam is built across the Sharavathi river and is located 6 km from the Jog falls. Water released from this dam flows into the Jog falls. Tourist are not allowed to go near the dam due to security reason. We halted there for 15-20 min. View of the Jog falls hill from here was awesome. We could see the fog coming out of Jog falls from this point. Then we went to a view point from where we could see a fall. It is about 700-800 meter from the Jog fall and it is not a part of main Jog fall.

Liganamakki Dam in the backgroundFog coming out of Jog falls

This fall is about 1km from Jog falls, it is not part of jog falls

British Bangalow View of the fall
We reached British Bangalow view by 12:00 pm. Our guide Kiran said we have one and half hour to visit falls from this view which was more than enough. Basically it is the top view of the Jog falls. We went till the point from which water was falling. From there we could see three segment of the fall (Raja, Rocket and Rani).

British Bangalow View of Jog falls

Raja fall falling down

Raja fall falling down

Stairs to go down to the falls on the other side

Jog Falls
Then we went to the main view point of the fall. There first we had lunch at KSTDC Mayura hotel. Again it was not very good but we didn't had any other option there. There was a complex where you could get snacks, maggi and dosa. We started going down by 2:00 pm. It took us half an hour to reach to the bottom by stepping down 1400 steps. The good thing was that steps were in really good condition and it had railing on both the side.

The view from bottom of the fall was just awesome. The height of the fall is 253 meter. The water comes down in four distinct falls, presenting a scene of transcendent grandeur and sublimity, whose effect is greatly heightened by the wild and beautiful country around, covered with a wealth of luxuriant vegetation. The left most fall is named as Raja (King) because of its apparently 'dignified' and 'serene' fall. It pours in one unbroken column sheer to the depth of 830 feet (250 m). Second is Roarer, it comes out of a cave in the rock and makes tremendous noise. It meets Raja fall on the way (about 100 meter from the top). Then there is Rocket fall which consists of a large volume of water streaming out of a small opening at a very high speed. And the right most fall is named as Rani (queen). This stream has a winding, twisting trajectory, resembling to the movements of a female dancer. Apart from these four main falls there are few other streams as well coming down from the hill.

The best time to visit the fall is Aug-Oct. Before monsoon when there is not much water in Linganamakki dam, then instead of the roar, the spray and the massive flow of water, there are only a pair of thin streams of water trickling down the cliff as the water collected in the dam is exclusively for generation of electricity. During monsoons local rain-water is the main source of water to the falls. In 2007, it rained very heavily in those area so authority had no choice but to release the excess water in the river, due to this water fall was seen at its best. But it also flooded many villages down the stream, destroying crops and the fishing industry for weeks.

An Oriya movie "Deewana" song shooting was going on there. But by the time we reached there, actress had already left. Down the hill it was not very crowded as compared to british Balgalow view. We spent one and half hour there. Water droplets bouncing from rocks has created scene of light drizzling.

From left to right, Raja falls, Roarer meeting Raja on the half way, Rocket fall, Rani fall

View of the fall from, taken from half way on stairsAwesome view of the fallRani fall in the backgroundAn Oriya movie (Deewana) song shooting was going on thereGoing upClimbing up was not that easyDone with the trip

Devendra's demo about how to approach a girl
We started climbing back by 4:00 pm. It took us 40 min to reach to the top. On the way Devendra suddenly tried to make conversation with a group of three girls (they were more like ladies :P). He asked one of them "Are you guys also for the first time to the Jog falls". One girl said yes and they just kept moving. It was totally unexpected. Earlier in bus he had given funda about how to approach girls, I guess he tried to show us a demo but buri tarah kat gaya.

Back to Bangalore
We were totally exhausted after reaching to the top. Had water, cold drinks and snacks at the complex. We started from there at 6:00 pm. Guide said that we will reach Shimoga by 9:00 pm and there we will have dinner. In the mean time he played movie "Chupchup ke" in the bus. It was really surprising and unexpected that he will play Hindi movie. We had dinner at Shimoga. From there we started for Bangalore at 10:00 pm and reached Badami house by 4:15 am on Sunday. We took auto from there and reached home by 5:15 pm. I was feeling very tired and my whole body was aching like hell on Sunday even I doubted that I would be in a condition to go to office tomorrow. But on Monday morning I felt much better and life returned to normal.

About KSTDC
They organized the trip really well. Tour guide was very co-operative, so was the hotel and restaurant staffs. The bus was non AC but it was a luxury 2 by 2 bus. They gave enough time to visit all places and still maintained their timings. It is a good value to the money.

More pics are here
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/chandany5/JogFallsTrip#

Story of my bike, Hercules Act 110

After getting out of college, I thought now I am done with cycle. Spent a year without cycle, never felt need for it.

But after joining Oracle, my colleague Sachin suggested me to get a cycle to commute to office as I live only 1.5km away from my office. He said to get a good bike which would make ride more interesting and exciting. He suggested Hero Octane. I checked its price on net, it comes around 9.5k.

Now there were so many unanswered questions. When I can afford a bike then why should I go for a cycle. Moreover why should I spend 10k on a cycle just to commute 3km per day (which right now cost me Rs20 per day in a Volvo). On the other getting bike would mean at least some physical activity. I have started gaining weight. I gained 6kg in less than a year. Though I have started swimming but that is not a way to lose weight. I thought why not give myself some time to find answers of these questions.

I found a google group Bangalore Bikers Club. It is an online community of some serious bikers. They organize trips almost every weekend. Joined it to get some info about bike and bikers in Bangalore. There it was another incentive to join them some weekend trips which will not only make the bike more useful but weekend interesting as well (and of course it will be a really good exercise). I decided lets start with a middle range bike.

I asked group member about bikes in the range of 6-8k as I really didn't want to spend much on a cycle. Also I wanted both front and rear suspension along with multi gears. On the group people suggested me to increase my budget by 2k and get either Hercules Act 110 or Rockrider 5.1. They said that you won't get good suspension in this range of bikes. They gave very negative feedback about Octane. I read specification of both the bikes on net, visited couple of cycle stores and saw both the bike and finally decided to get Hercules Act 110. There I came to know that a cycle could cost you as much as 50k.

Now once I decided for the cycle then next thing was accessories. Group members said that helmet, lock and back light are essential for a bike if you want to drive it in city. Other optional accessories are front light, cyclo meter, sunglass, spare tube, puncture kit, air pump chain lube etc. I thought that I wont need spare tubes, puncture kit or other optional accessories immediately but what about cyclo computer. It would be really a nice feeling to see myself riding over 30kmph on a paddle bike and record total distances covered as well. So decided to get a cyclo computer as well and make the ride more interesting.

Finally I went to RR cycle store at Marathalli bridge. Before going to the store I noted down price of accessories from Decathalon site for their members. After some negotiation, dealer agreed to give other accessories at Decathalon price. With hercules Act 110, I got BTWIN MIX helmet, DC4W cyclomener, front and back light and Coil lock SP5. All together it cost me 11.1k. Immediately I went on a small ride on Outer Ring Road, It was really a wonderful experience riding a light weight bike with 21 gear combination. It took me some time to get adjusted with gear combination. On returning, I touched 43kmph under Marathalli bridge (of course with the help of downward slope). The feeling was really awesome.

From Monday (05 Sep) I started commuting to office by bike.

Ready to ride to office for the first time

Bike rear view

Bike front view

Leaving for office.

It takes only five minutes to reach to office (It used to take me 15-20 minutes by bus including time to reach the bus stand, crossing the road twice, waiting for bus and then walking to the office).

Next step:
I am looking forward to join Bangalore Bikers club members on their rides to places near by Bangalore.