Sangama and Chunchi Falls

Time: Nov 14th 2020

Place: Sangama and Chunchi Falls

Company: Wife, daughter and mother

Highlights: Well, after having been cooped up in the house for almost the entire year, always wanted to get out on a long drive. Also, with monsoon being good, wanted to enjoy the water. So, river bath it was! Had not shown Sangama to daughter, so destination was chosen. 

The way I remember Sangama (have been here since 3-5 times, I guess) is that the water level is about knee-deep. One can easily walk across the water from one side to the other and once you reach the other side, you can then trek to Meke Daatu. So, we planned for the trek accordingly. At the same time, we didn't wanted to rush ourselves. So we took it easy in the morning. This day being the first of the long weekend (Diwali), it was all very exciting.

We started at 11:30 am after a heavy breakfast. Due to Corona, we had resolved to not eat anything outside. So also had to pack for lunch. That added to the delay in the start. It took 2+ hr to reach the destination. Although road is good, it is still getting widened - so lots of diversions and road-humps. The road from Kanakapura is ok-dokey. Daughter had her usual case of car-sickness but soon after we reached Sangama.

What beheld my eyes was something I had never seen before at Sangama - the place had LOTS of water. The current from Cauvery was heavy. Flow from Arkavathi was good too. Now, it was almost waist-deep with current - and thats not safe. So, forget about crossing the river, the trek to Meke daatu was out of the question. But hey, when the river is this good, who wants trek! I mean this seemed better than Talakadu!

Daughter had a great time, and so did we. Thankfully the sun too came out of the clouds and it was a fine afternoon. Maybe I was here about a decade or more ago and a lot had changed now - with dressing rooms, toilets, restaurants, road-side stalls, etc. All for the better, I guess.

We were in the river for about an hour or more and left at about 3:30 pm. But just out of Sangama, on the road-side we had lunch. It was a wonderful picnic, just the way daughter wanted - under the trees, listening to mother nature. Soon, we were on our way. We had seen a board for Chunchi Falls (on our way in the morning) and for some reason I had clean forgotten all about having been there in my life before (although I sure have)! So anyways, this was just a few kms deviation - so we went for it. Theroad was completely country-side with lush greenery all around. 

Once we reached the Chunchi Falls, we saw now here was a long trek. Mom accompanied some way but after some time she said it was getting difficult for her, so she headed back. And the trek was indeed on tough terrain - climbing up, climbing down, single-lane, amidst rocks, etc. There was a huge boulder in the middle of the trek, we climbed up and saw a gorge down below with gushing water sound. We assumed that was the Chunchi Falls but then when we went on top of the checkpost, we saw the actual Falls which was to our right. 

So we went down the trek towards the falls but then the trek route was very steep down plus it was getting dark now. The forest officer was whistling, shooing away the oncoming visitors telling it was time to head back. Now, I remembered this path and going down to the river when I was a kid. Anyways, it was not meant to be today. Still we were able to see the falls. We took some snaps and off we headed back to the car. 

Rest of the trip was uneventful. It was a journey straight back home. Munched some snacks and this time there was no carsickness as she slept all the way back. We left at about 6:15 pm and reached at 8:45 pm. 

A simple day outing with a refreshing bath in Cauvery - much needed Nature-time! :-)

Turahalli Forest

Time: Oct 11th 2020

Place: Turahalli Forest

Company: Wife & Daughter

Highlights: My daughter wanted to spend her birthday with Nature! I knew about this forest since quite some time and it is just 20 minutes from my place (owing to me being now at outskirts of BLR). But had postponed visiting for some reason or the other, and now it seemed to be the right place to visit - to celebrate her birthday.

However with the Corona Virus pandemic, it was difficult to find entry into this reserved forest. Finally we found Turahalli Mini Forest. This one was protected, guarded and had de-marked trek paths. Although it was right opposite the reserved forest (separated by a highway like road), this one seemed to have less trees. But there were enough view points, benches amidst silent nature and all in all a very peaceful and soothing atmosphere filled with birds and their loving screeches.

We walked straight through first, and then took left on the unpaved trek routes. The trees gave way for shrubs and they made the trek route narrower and narrower. After few more minutes, it started giving away for wide open spaces. So we took one more left, and this led to a panoramic view of BLR south albeit just being a little high up on the land. Spent some nice time reflecting and then walked again where the nature was in full splendour. 

Surprisingly very few visitors made the occasion extra special even though it was Sunday. We seemed to have the park all for ourselves! Almost like we were in the middle of a sparse forest! Spent about 1.5 hours inside the park and once we had had enough, we made our way back to the exit.

Most of what we had seen on the internet regarding Turahalli forest seems to be more on the reserved forest - but this was not too bad either. A perfect place for those who wish to spend time with nature but not wanting to go too far from city.