The Plan:
One evening - out of the blue, i received in my Office mail (from Rony Saab) - "Yaar, Kahin Chalo. Mera Dum guth Raha hain Bangalore Main." As one followed the other, a chain of mails started floating around as to where to ride. Woof-i am totally out of places for short rides and anything that i would be thinking of - would be a repitition. Manish(another Jaali) popped to ride to a waterfall and taking advantage of the Monsoons. A short ride on Sunday with a good shower in the falls would be fun. So, our plan was to have a short ride to Shivanasamudra and hit back to base. I dont trust these 2 Jaalis - as they never carry a route map and a ride plan. So, i decided to do a small search on the place and route. Here's what i got about this place,,,
ShivanasamudraShivanasamudrais probably the largest waterfall in the Karnataka after Jog Falls. The place is also credited for hosting the first hydroelectric project in India. Here, Kaveri splits into two, falls into a valley in two separate places called Gaganachukki and Bharachukki and re-unites downstream. A good lot of water falls down from both the waterfalls. Gaganachukki especially is a steep fall where water gushes down with great velocity. It is quite risky to climb down and reach waters because of un-predictable depth and slippery rocks.
The Ride:
We met up at 6am at Oracle GFIC-near Shoppers Stop-Mantri-Banerghatta Road. I soon found an old RTMCian - Rocky and Pallavi heading towards Mysore for a 1 day ride.Manish was lil bit hungry by the time Rony and Pooja came. Without wasting time - the 3 Jaali's left for the highway. Once we passed Kanakpura, i could see Rony just zooming by on his Green Vintage bullet.Then followed Manish on an older version,,,. We were so engrossed to ride on that we did not even stop for Tea. By 8ish, we settled for Breakfast. Wow, the idli's and vada's were awesome with loads of spice. It was a superb morning amidst clear skies n fresh air sippin coffee. Once again, we hit the road crossing Galibore Fishing camp. I rode on this route when i was new to Bangalore (in 2004) and the roads were pathetic but now - it was a bliss riding.As the roads came wider with no traffic et all -we could here the dub,dub,,dub,,,getinn louder. By 9 we were at Shivanasamudra. Here, you could see the Monsoon Magik. I could hear the roar of the Waterfall. It was a spectacular view and worth the ride to get here. Mast Jagah hain-a true Rony comment. Without wasting much time - we wanted to get the real flavor of the guzzing fresh water--unpacked the riding kit and headed straight down to the waterfall.It was a perfect Sunny Day to laze around the Waterfall- above all, more spice to it-was less crowd.We got to the smaller waterfall and jumped in the water.
We negotiated with the local fellas-a Coracle wallah-to a better place near the Waterfall. Wow-when we reached- it was a perfect place to get a close look at the Waterfall and a superb view of the lake. I wouldnt have got a better view than this. Soma and Pooja were out of the coracle to jump in the waterfall.For those-45 minutesin water/waterfall- it looked as if - it was a private place with loads of singing n dancing. It was a treat to the Natural Spa.The 3 jaali's were ready even to pose-whats call'd - the Photo Shoot. Were we tryin to imitate the actual Raavan-he,,he,he. Dont even bother to look at the pics - you would laugh. As more visitors poured in, we were ready to leave to the main Island and head back. Me and Soma were ready to taste some local delicacy-fish n chips.Nah- the chips were missin this time-only river fish.As didi was preparing the barbecue-my mouth started to get the taste of the juicy n spicy fish.We had to trek uphil 15 mnts to get to the top. We settled for a good-Nariyal Paani. Had a wee trouble getin the bikes out of the parking lot,En route-we spotted a deviation to an old bridge. A superb view of mountains,river and road. Out were our jazzy cameras for 2nd photo shoot en ishthyle. All five us had a good round of photos. We settled for a while to get the fresh air once again and back to our riding gear to hit back to base.On our way back-Manish's air filter gave a lil problem.So, we stopped for a chai cum mech break. We also spotted our Bhai loge- the RD wallahs who were on a 1 day ride,,some 35 bikers. By 3ish, we were once again in traffic and could hear the loud blaring pressure horns. Oh no,,back to the city.
Well, it was worth a short ride covering 280 kms but worth a visit to the falls. We were the highway succers letting loose for a while on and enjoying Sundays far from the city.
Rajiv (Jispa) & Soma(pillion),
Rony & Pooja
Manish
Facts
Distance: 128 Kms from Bangalore
Highway:As good as you think
