A trip to Hoganekkal and Yerkard

It is still a surprise, how the whole thing came thru. Seven of us in different places, stuck with our own busy schedules. But I guess it was those timely kinks that pop when you go thru, an otherwise droning hum of meaningless, well structured dumb life. Most of us felt it deep ... that we needed to break away into some freaky oblivion ... some sun kissed beautiful mountain or some shell strewn bright blue beach. After a week or two's live exchange of pepped up mails we reached the consensus that our peep hole to freedom would lead us to Hoganekkal & Yerkard. Hmmm... now a bit on the chosen spots ... Hoganekkal is a beautiful mass of rolling water right between the fast blurring borders of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. It so huge, fast and green that it offers an experience akin to water rafting when u ride the local cup shaped flimsy wafer boats. Then there are the many mini waterfalls, secret spots (well, I'll get to that in good time) and a lot of eye candy!!! As for Yercard ... it’s falsely called poor man's Ooty. A hill station with vast spread coffee plantations and plenty of stupid cliff spots named after every gender/age in the human species (Lady' spot ... children's spot ... God knows what other spots the place sports).

Bali, Sudhir and I took the night bus to Dharmapuri where the rest of the gang (Jaggu, Deepu, Manoj and Sanjeeth) joined in from B'lore. We were too thrilled at the prospects of a long awaited holiday cum reunion, that we didn't mind the sweaty cramped overnight bus ride. Once we reached the Dharmapuri (around 5 in the morning), we had a hot cup of local tea and went about freshening ourselves. In about half-a-hour's time the others landed. Well, actually they came much earlier and had taken a room near by and fell asleep waiting for us. After ample hearty greetings and fulfilling leg pulling, we jumped into the first bus that left to Hoganekkal. It was cool and crisp ride, up and down the slopes of the surrounding hills. On reaching Hoganekkal we found a decent lodge to leave our baggage and have a quick and light breakfast.

Chirpy and happy we skipped and ran towards the boating spot. There we found two boat men waiting to shave us with a mind boggling boat ride each costing Rs.450. After much thought, we went in for it. The boats themselves were nothing but a few bamboo sticks stitched to form a bowl, pretty flimsy ... adding to the whole adventure. We stopped in a few places, midway, where we found moss coated sharp rocks, with the fierce falls very close. Like seals soaking up the sun, we sat there amidst nowhere with the water thundering upon our heads. After we had screamt enough and slipped enough on the thick green slimy moss.... we were schooled away into calmer water where we were promised of serene backdrops of bright green slopes kissing sun colored sands that mysteriously vanished into the grey green waters. My! it was a sight for the Gods who had a bit of adventure in their blood. We pulled over on a small archipelago of wild growth ... the water was still, yet cool ... we all got into the waters while the boat men, resting their over stretched muscles had a quick meal of fried fish. In the water..... it was all that we could ever ask for .... we splashed, ran loose, and did all that we could. The best part of it was, we all learnt to swim in a matter of few minutes.... Deepu was our tutor.... so a best part of the time went in swimming up and down the silent currents of the water.

When we felt our limbs grow heavy as lead ... we decided to crawl back into the boats and move homewards ... it was already noon. The boatmen ... seeing us enjoy the trip so much ... offered an additional 1/2 hour of free ride over the waters ... but we opted otherwise, heeding wisely to aching muscles and growling stomachs. However, before we left the falls we went to a nearby place where the tourism board had built railings beneath an extremely strong falls, where people could have a great oil massage and roast in the sun and then go into the fierce waters holding the railings and feel heaven beating drums all over them. We skipped the oil massage and went under the falls ... that was the icing on the cake .... After half an hours of natures' massage ... we emerged soaking, like a piece of dead wood.

We then rushed back to the hotel, dressed up and checked out. Catching a bus back to Dharmapuri, we all fell into a blissful stupor. On reaching our initial meeting place, we found a suitable restaurant, had a belly filling meal, and dashed to take a bus to Salem ... Jaggu's home town.

We reached Salem around 4 in the evening. Jaggu took us to a good hotel where we booked our rooms for the night. Had a wash, fell into a short nap, woke up and got dressed to go over to Jaggu's place to meet his parents. Had coffee at his home and with ample pleasantries exchanged, slipped out to make it in time for a movie at a near by theater. Not a good movie ... but.. fine. After the film we went to a local eat out ... out in the open under a cool black night's canopy of dazzling bright stars. Closing the dinner with generous helpings of multi-flavored ice-creams we dragged ourselves back to our rooms and pulled the sheets over our numb heads.

The next morning we all got ready by 7:30 and went over to Jaggu's place, where his father had booked a sumo for us to go to a place called Yercard, a hill station about an hour and a half's journey from Salem. With a sweet brown coffee quickly gulped down we sped towards the hills. There we visited many spots ... none too extradinary or out of the world ... but just had fun with photos and climbing over safety railings to walk around not-so-dangerous cliffs. We spent around 5 hours there, and drove down back to Salem. With lunch over by 4:00 we had to rush back to the rooms, for the B'lore people had to catch the 5 o'clock train ... for which they had to go and buy the tickets at the last minute.

Some how, managing to make it in time ... we jumped out of the same sumo into a bustling crowd at the station. Waving a quick and pretty unceremonious farewell to the B'lore guys ... we made it to the bus stop where we Chennai guys took our bus back home.

On the whole ... the trip was more than satisfying ... All are eagerly looking for the next best opportunity to make another great escape into such wild holidays.

Paradise discovered ... Tada Falls

I must have written much earlier … when the memory of it all was still fresh and vivid in my mind. Often as I read big fat novels describing soulful escapes into thick green unsullied jungles …. I have found myself dreaming of a gurgling brook of crystal water running through a canopy of dancing shadows of heavy branches … with the sunlit patches of the forest floor forming a thousand kaleidoscopic images … with the noisy birds and omnipresent deafening silence … all just waiting with their arms thrown out to wrap you up in an embrace of a lifetime.

Phew! … well I saw that and much more … in an office trip to a place named Tada Falls. Somewhere on the border of Andhra Pradesh and that of Tamil Nadu, there is this magical Eden hidden beyond huge hills and long hours of rugged walks up and down the dales. We started out early in the day, taking a Tempo Traveller. Stopping en route on NH5 for breakfast … we headed straight out of TN. We reached the place in about one and half hours. But the journey actually began from that point onwards. We were told that beyond that point we had to rely on God given means of locomotive structure, our very own legs. So we began … at first chirpy and full of fun …. After climbing up and down a hill and stopping to realize that we came the wrong way … some of us began to show signs of agony, anguish and simple raw red pain.



Retracing our steps to the place where our cab stood waiting … we took ample pictures of both the right and the wrong directions to pass on as valuable legacy to any future generations of extra adventurous group from our office who decided to make it to Tada falls to enjoy a peaceful holiday! Then we walked …. Walked …. Walked ….. and walked …. Hey wait …there seemed no damn end to it ….. but the only thing that kept us going was the distant rubble of a laughing stream …. Both our bodies and minds were aching to lever ourselves in to the cool depths of that running water.

After a short span of endless eternity we came to the foot of another ominous looking hill where there stood a temple of sorts. There were a couple of elderly looking villagers who readily offered us advice, direction and “if willing” paid assistance. Politely refusing their guidance offer …. We proceeded towards thicker foliage admits rockier terrain. Finally, along the way we spotted the brook … that grew into a stream … and then led us to a steadily flowing glass like mass of water. …. GOD!!! We couldn’t have asked for anything better after the inhumane torture that we put ourselves through. The sight of water rejuvenated us to go further and try to reach the base of the famed water fall. But that was a long way off …. soon realizing that … we settled for a beautiful clearing, where the water was flowing faster and clearer with multi colored fishes swimming in and out. Skirting the banks of the stream there were tall trees held in place by huge rocks and kept alive by a group of wild monkeys. It was simply as if we had run away from reality … somewhere out of the world through a window of beauty.


Stripping bare we jumped into the welcoming water. Ahhhhhhh….. I can feel the cool water over my chest … hitting me on my back …. Splashing and diving we washed the weariness off our sore limbs. Imagine … lost in the middle of a serene forest … neck deep in see through clear water …. No one to call you out of the fun!!! Bet we had a whale of a time … Infact, we had our lunch standing in the water waist deep. After we had had enough we walked out dripping wet with shriveled skin. Wiping dry we reluctantly got dressed and bid adieu to that pool of paradise.
And then began the return stroll … ah! an after lunch stroll …. After walking a rough two and a half kilometer distance under a bright golden sun, who somehow found it merrier on that particular day …. We found ourselves kissing the floor of the cab in thanks for the air conditioner that it had …. We then drove back home, well reclined in our seats … watching some crap movie. And before we knew, another day of great adventure had come to a fitting close …. We were earlier in our home than we would have been on a normal working day!!!!

A weekend by the sea ...

After a long week of rebellious planning and last minute hitches and change in schedules, we managed to find ourselves on a bus that took us to our weekend adventure spot - Mahabalipuram. Before I could talk of all the fun we had, I must.... shall we say ...pause in awe to gape at the grandeur and mystery that shrouds the place.
No one knows for sure when or how or even for what Mahabalipuram came into existence. Oh! It slipped my mind to tell you what you would find in Mahabalipuram. It is a rough green sea lashing ceaselessly against black rocks and sun colored sandy shores. Along the coast are excavated temples and cave temples which stand as timeless testimonies to the superiority of the ancient Pallava dynasty's architectural consummacy. With a shift in the sea lines and perhaps an unforeseen catastrophe, a large part of these monuments got entirely submerged, not in the sea but in the sand! Because of this a major part of the intricate carvings and sculptures are eroded and what is left behind is a hazy clue of what they must have set out to depict.
You don't need to know about the smoky history that adds to the magical flavor of Mahabalipuram to enjoy it. However, when I came back from my trip to blog about it... I decided I must know a little more about Mahabalipuram. So I did some web research (not much though) to rediscover the enigma that Mahabalipuram is. It was then that I felt ... that had I done this internet look up prior to my trip, I could have better appreciated it (not that I didn't enjoy it).
OK! That cursory salute to all my high school history teachers would have made all their stuffed souls happy. Now to the trip! It was in the early hours of a cool and crisp morning that we set out. As soon as we landed at Mahabalipuram we had a light breakfast to keep our minds off such mundane things as the rumblings of a grouchy acidic stomach. We then headed straight to the biggest of the excavated temples. It is a huge temple made out of a single rock, standing solemnly in a large and deep pit cut out to better reveal the long sculpted treasure. Like a seashell singing the secret depths of the soul of the ocean, the walls and the stones were almost humming the tune of a long forgotten tale colored by the pangs of pain in waiting for someone ... someone who would listen to them. It was as if the whole temple was desperate to tell you something ... if you would only listen. Oh my God! What an experience. There were three shrines and each held an idol of a God in the most unusual posture ... all of them like clues in a treasure hunt or pieces in a bigger puzzle. I could have sat there all day long, had it not been for the boisterous sea calling out to the kid in me. Oh! I simply cannot keep from the waves...
All around the temple, in the direction of the sea ... a long stretch of mighty black boulders were thrown in to keep the sea at bay (an attempt to save the findings from further future damage). We decided that we would climb high on the boulders and sit there for a while looking far into the green sea ... chatting and cracking jokes and of course ponder upon the meaning of life ;-) Salted by the peppery sea breeze and made crisp by the warm sun we recollected all our student days. When I could hold myself no longer ... we got down and went into the waters. Or rather I went in and the rest, preferring to stay dry sat on a lower rock to continue chit-chatting. I had a whale of a time. It’s a totally unexplainable feeling when your body rocks with the waves. It’s like you're a part of it and at the same time you're not. Only when I had enough and had a call from home (some how parents have the instinct that tells them when they need to panic, even when their children are miles away on a supposedly safe outing near the beach. Mind you it was not long before we had the tsunami here.) with my mother checking in on me did I walk out of the waters to lay on the rock to get myself dry. She knows too well how irresistible the sea is to me.
After changing into a new pair of clothes we moved over to the cave temples, not far from the sea. You have got to be there to see what I am talking of. There are numerous caves amidst a cluster of small rocky hills. On each one of these hills was a temple beckoning you to climb up to them. Most of them have no humanly mitigable path that leads to them. We felt like a bunch of explorers who for the first time are treading fresh grounds, discovering never before seen wonders. Puffing, panting and laughing we went up and down the mountainous hills looking into every cave we came across and stopping before every shrine we passed. Finally we climbed the highest hill and lay there roasting in the sun (just to catch all the lost breath) for quite some time.
I guess it must have been the primitive urgings of the base growls from the bottom most pits of our stomachs that pushed us down to the lower realms of earth in search of organic edible substance made fit to eat. And so we drove back home from there dreaming of good food!