Its rainy fury over the Western ghats. The hills are collapsing like flowing water, the rain gauge is crossing 200mm everyday, the rivers are entering the human habitats, the skies are exploding, the rains are unrelenting, towns are morphed into islands, the roads caved in, . The skies together with rainforests are enraged due to human malpractices. When pristine rainforest is morphed into rubber plantations, when tall pinnacles are culled for tea plantations, when resorts engulf the bio diversity hot spots, the disaster ensues.
Time to restore the lost treasure for future generations
These pictures were snapped when Monsoon had just begun its show. Now the picture is entirely different. Some places are not even in picture due to the ruckus created by monsoon rains.
For now, get ready to immerse in the beauty of nature and behold its divinity.
A winding path at Kottigehara
The pinnacles of rainforest
Apart from the eternal greenery, the Charmadi ghat is also known for myriad of unnamed seasonal waterfalls which are pleasure for eyes and soul. You spot them every 500m during monsoon season diving right onto your feet! Most of them is seen beside the main highway. Many of them lurking deep inside rainforest which are accessible only after monsoon season. The monsoon glory of nature obliviates the torment and rejuvenates the moment. Watch out for leeches amidst the excitement.
Today is Ganesh Chaturthi and I am at home alone writing this post. Need of travel to native in subsequent week withheld my festival visit. Consequently, I celebrated alone at home with my own cuisine :D. Unfortunately nobody distributed sweets today on the festival occasion. That is when your mind veers towards home for those festive yummies.
Back to post, today evening as usual my friend joined the walk along Rachenahalli lake. Nowadays walk along the lake involves completing the circuit of 3kms. This long heavy stroll not only freshens you up but also helps in burning considerable calories. Today, it was different in Rachenahalli lake with massive clouds hovering around the region. I thought the clouds would tantalize by not pouring even a drop. The situation was as predicted until the clock the reached 7PM. Later on, the clouds gathered around the region dissipating huge amounts of rains for an hour. I escaped the wrath of rains by reaching just on time to home. The rains coupled with light winds, lightening & thunder further lowered the mercury levels but not the enthusiasm of festival. Following are the pictures shoot during our long stroll of nearly an hour before storm broke out.
Authorities have setup artificial pond to immerse the Ganesh idols installed at various houses/establishments. Some conclude the pooja on the same day while few prolong it to week. The lake had considerable gathering of devotees waiting for their to immerse the deity of intelligence. I too enjoyed the festive fervor along with snacks distributed by the people. As the rumble over sky amplified, it was time to leave the place and reach home to avoid soaking in rain. The rains beat down again for an hour. The humid weather during the daybreak hinted at more rains in coming days.
Last weekend, we visited the flower show for the first time in our history. Despite landing in Bangalore for almost 8 years, I have never witnessed Flower show. This time it was opportunity for me and my better-half to witness the carnival of flowers during the Independence day. We reached the crowded Lalbagh on an overcast Saturday (2 days before 15th August) and drenched in beauty of florets and monsoon rains :). Being weekend, soaring crowd was not surprise. The authorities charge 60/- per head on holidays but camera fee is free :). Variety of flowers have been displayed inside the glass house but the time is limited for photographers. This is again attributed to ever amplifying crowd. The police officials whine at you if you prolong even a bit to step ahead. The situation becomes worse if the fumigation is turned ON and now its your turn to fume! The area inside glass house is intermittently fumigated to maintain freshness of flowers.
We faced similar situation on our entry to glass house however atmosphere cleared after a while. Somehow, few shots turned out well despite the pushy crowd :). It is difficult to stave off thronging people during these days. One option would be to visit on weekdays especially Wednesday.
Every occasion of Independence/Republic day, authorities choose a theme to This time, the theme chosen was the Indian Parliament made of red roses. It is difficult to describe though since we had little time to view it. However the sight was awesome to watch and people were deluded in selfies to document their visit :). I was no different either :D but limited to subject than selfies ;).
Once done, we strolled towards Lalbagh to relax under setting sun. Few mins later, the clouds gathered over the skies of lake bed and there was downpour for 10mins. We took shelter under the roof of one department structure. After the rains, I took snaps of glistening sunset to conclude the day.
Turn right and turn left into NH-66 ( I don't recall if the navigation uttered slight right, slight left). This was the bizarre instruction provided by Google navigation system after descending Suratkal fly over towards Mangalore. My wife was sure that some more drive was needed straight for 600m as per the map. We spotted our destination comfortably but I was still inquisitive about misleading navigation. After a while I realized that this information was due to the presence of barricade right after fly over. We had to move right and then left to cross barricade.
The barricade was something like below but without second level. Probably, for the below case, the navigation would have sounded "turn right, turn left and turn right onto NH-66". Since this is known location, navigation is not required. I will experiment during next visit though!
A barricade at Udyavara near Udupi. Suratkal also had similar setup
This was confusing message since there was right turn after fly over. I thought we had to take right and then move left into wrong side of the highway. At once, I assumed that Google tweaked it's navigation to match Indian traffic mentality. Its irony that we have to pay toll to such barricaded roads . Anyways, that is secondary but the audio needs to change. May be something like
"Barricade ahead, cross the barricade and continue/stay along NH-66"
Generally barricade implies junction. Hence turning right is confusing. And then left also is NH-66 which is the other lane. For a moment, I was perplexed if Google is suggesting me to take wrong side. I even slowed down my vehicle past barricade :-)
This is last part in Sea Tides series and not the end :-). I frequently visit Kapu beach and every visit has unique flavor. On ending note, thanks to the great support from G+ Nature Photography, Landscape Photography and Skywatch Friday groups.
The boulders quiet the swaggering sea tides pulverizing them to tiny pearls. And when the tides reach the shore, they have more humility than before. However large you grow, let us maintain humility and reach our destination with humbleness.
On closing note, apart from the flamboyant nature, the three part series is dedicated to the beautiful music Andy Blueman "Sea Tides". The new cinematic remix, reflects the beach ambiance post the storm which I exactly remember at the moment. Every rhythm of music was echoed on my ear when my knees dabbled in the gentle sea tides. The ensemble of violin, piano, cello is impeccable which reminds me breathing those calm breeze from Kapu beach even while seated in Bangalore. Such is the magic of his orchestral music. A thumping comeback by uplifting master!
It's all storm till 4:26 but pleasurable as well. The majesty starts at 4:26 when the storm recedes and so the roar of sea. The waning synth-pad at 4:37 is mesmerizing. You will see this waning reverberation at many instances. They are such a pleasure to hear! The enveloped clouds disperse at 4:50. The graduating piano is as smooth as gentle sea tides and builds up for the enticing sunset at 5:32 with soothing breeze. The melodies reach heaven at 6:00. The cello opens at 6:17 as smooth tides caressing your feet with their gentle sound. The Sun finally opens up at 6:45 paving way for that craving golden hour by shimmering the sea, glistening the sky and opening up the camera eye :-). Watch out for that blissful baseline at 6:45, it feels a lot to me.
Monsoon in its full vigor from past 2 months along the western ghats region. The paths to coastal karnataka is damaged due to excessive landslides. Hence we chose shivamogga route since the mountains are stable.
After gorgeous views of jog falls we headed towards kundapura via bhatkal. From jog falls, bhatkal is about 85kms distant. The path has been numbered as state highway 50. We were skeptical to drive along this unknown road fearing treacherous paths marred by landslides and potholes. The caretaker in one of the restaurant in sagar cleared our apprehension by asserting clean & clear road without pot holes and believe me he was bang on target.
On the way after visiting linganamakki with only distant views, our journey towards bhatkal resumed. Snaking through the twists and turns of rainforest highway, we enjoyed the drive along the thick forests. The region was sparse with humans/vehicles, however dense with trees.
All along the path roads are wider and pot hole free. The path consists of innumerable curves or only curves. More than that it has thick cover of pristine rainforest for about 30kms out of which a patch has been concreted. The roads in middle of forest is quite narrow but at safe distance from ground. Since the region belongs to sharavathi valley conservation the roads would not have widened to preserve the treasure of western ghats. Owing to feeble traffic the road does not need much maintenance. We could hardly notice traffic in this area. Few ksrtc buses originating from bhatkal could be seen here. There were couple of landslides enroute but not major as to block road. This may be attributed to the tall & thick rainforest tress underpinning the hills with giant roots. Small villages located all along route but hardly any shops. Hence carry food and get your vehicle checked and fueled before driving along this highway.
For nature lovers, this place is heaven especially the thick rainforests covering the mid stretch. We spotted a hornbill, a langur and green snake :-). Since monsoon has taken break, we only encountered intermittent rains. However, streams were flowing with full vigor. Along the thick rainforest stretch, you spot two waterfalls which is worth beholding for hours. Both were pounding with exuberance. The second one had enough energy to sprinkle water onto road and generate wind. I had tough time shooting this might. Apart from these two roadside waterfalls, you can also visit bheemeshwara temple (2km interior) to main highway and dabbe falls (9km interior to main highway). I was eager to visit both of these but dearth of time thwarted our plans. Nevertheless these spots are earmarked for further visit (not sure when). We had plans to reach kundapura before dusk breaks out mainly due to following reasons.
This was the first drive in this path and with toddlers. Hence no question of staying till dark. Also sparse human presence fueled additional fear on us.
The incomplete road work between kundapur-bhatkal stretch. This untidy haphazard stretch is under the 4 lane work and unscientifically managed. The unsafe boards, the ad-hoc humps, the truck traffic, the tortured roads and the rains would make it difficult to drive during dark hours.
Consequently, we dropped our plan to visit aforementioned interior beauties. With rains unabated, I was confident that Dabbe falls would be at its peak charm. Lack of time postponed our plans.
Indication of humid weather means ghat descent was over and coast has arrived. It was further confirmed at the concluding gate of sanctuary. The confidence doubled when the widened road re surfaced and horizon turned bright. Even plains nearby bhatkal portrayed finest views to behold those lush green rainforests with thick monsoon clouds smashing & kissing the pinnacle. It is an enticing moment to watch the low clouds resting over fjords.
The stretch in summary. Based on my estimation.
Jog falls to Bhatkal - 85kms
The first 35odd kms consists of hilly regions with sparse human presence. The roads are wider even for two minibus to simultaneously pass. Too many curves but manageable.
The next 30kms is thick rainforest with absolutely no visibility to sky. Chances of heavy rains are high. The roads are narrow even for two cars pass by. The stretch has steep curves as well. The stretch is scenic with 2 waterfalls beside road.
The last stretch of 20kms is coastal road with intermittent curves and straight path. The sight of western ghats from here is magnificent to behold especially during evening hours.
Road condition is fantastic as of now with zero potholes.
Things to remember
Keep your vehicle in healthy condition and sufficiently fueled before your journey along this route. There are absolutely no repair shops or fuel stations all along stretch.
Carry ample food again owing to lack of shops
Mobile network is unavailable throughout.
If you have kids carry scarfs and warm clothes to cover their body especially ears.
Carry polyethene bags if you prone to vomiting along the ghats (due to never ending curves)
Visit during break monsoon season to avoid hassles like flooding rains landslides etc..
Last but not least do no trash the rainforest. Carry waste along with you and dump it in designated trash locations. Also enjoy the waterfalls silently. Do not scream in this paradise which may disturb the peace of rainforest residents ! Do not embitter the idyllic nature with trash and clamor. Let the euphony of nature prevail.
Eventually true nature lovers hope to (Not my lines.)
Leave only footprints Take only pictures
Video time
We hardly had time to capture pictures but it is worth stopping every meter. We spent 90 mins in this 85km stretch but it is more worth than 90mins. Here are two waterfall videos for you to enjoy.
Our journey of 550kms from Bangalore to Kundapura concluded around dusk. We took long route via Chitradurga-Shivamogga-Jog-Bhatkal and was worth. I never felt tiredness due to omnipresence of natural beauty from Chitradurga to Kundapura. We reached our place around dusk time just before night could break out with warm greetings from heavy monsoon shower.
This region vis-a-vis to Coorg receives heavy rains but still with lesser disasters. This is attributed to the tall beauties which strengthen the hills. Despite the persistent warnings by nature, politicians are deliberately oblivion to monsoon tragedies due to their greed. Even if authorities try to obviate such disasters, it is not possible to overpower nature. Because the war is always one sided and nature's victory is imminent!
