December Escapade - Ultimate Thrills nooo Frills - Shivasamudram

December Escapade - Shivasamudram
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Destination : Kollegal also called Shivasamudram.
Distance : Approx 120 Kms from Bangalore.
Route : Malavalli(55Kms) -> Malavalli(35Kms) -> Shivasamudram(30Kms).
In and Around : Talakkad(20Kms)
Favourable Time : September to March
Best Time : November to January

Write Up
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It was a cool christmas morning 5Am, 25th Dec 2004.The air was cool and not a regular cold morning as it used to be in bangalore, the weather was cozy, started our trip from our house in bangalore at 5:30Am.

The team consisted of four guys including me, all my room mates,
Shyam, Ameen Khan, Venki and myself.

The main reason we purchased a bike in bangalore is to tour places.Mine is a shiny Black Victor (completing nearly 6000Kms) and my friend Ameen Khan's is a firey
Black Chrome Fiero Fx (new born, just finished 1000Kms).

We headed towards Kanakapura road, chose this road instead of the shorter mysore road bcos of the
heavy traffic in mysore road.The Road was excellent and we were ripping, suddenly to our amazement we saw the speedometer showing some wehere between 80 and 90........(cant resist driving slow on good roads).

Reached Kanakapura by 6:45, and the sunrise was awesome, took a couple of shots of the sunrise, the
lakes and the trees lining them, we had a gooey temptation to capture every scenary we could see,
but consoled ourselves, "saying we got many more on the way......."Alittle more into the town and it was already 7:30 and we all could hear the bells ringing inside our stomach. We needed some fuel for ourselves....I wish we were like Camels (fill it once a month???)Stopped at a Hotel had some idly vada & Tea. Started form there by 8:00AmThe Road has a "Y" junction with a board saying turn left for Sangam, head straigt for Shivasamudram.

After a couple of bumpy town roads, entered the highway, it was very smooth, i guess its due the skiny amount of traffic... on that way.....My friend Ameen Khan as a pavillion rider, was not able to resisit the temptation of the winding roads lined with beautifull trees, had a couple of them caught inside his HP digicam.

After burning some more rubber through the mallavalli town, reached a junction which had a turn
left for "Gaganachukki Falls", also called as BLUFF (dont ask me why??...).....Took this road and a 20 minute drive took us to the top of the falls.
The dissapointment of not being able to get into the water was more than the scenic beauty of the
falls, took some snaps there and were on our heels to know the route to the base of the falls, went
back the same route upto the same junction and had to take a left turn to get WET in the
"Barachukki Falls".Reached the place by 11:00Am and our friend Ameen sensed the place very much familier, he started recognizing the place and said he has come there 3 times before and this is his 4th visit.
We just felt a bit relieved when he said we can get to the water and he knows the route to the base
of the falls.....
Cant Imagine a Trip 125 Kms away and without a dip into the Water....NO WAYyyyy........
We were at a moment of ecstacsy when we saw the water, and immediately changed our clothes and went
into the water, it was so cold and freezing even at 12 noon.Had fun in the water for 2 hrs, ate some haldirams alu Bhujia that we took along with us.
On the way back took a diversion to talakkad some 20Kms from Shivasamudram, the road was totally
bad and had to tread at 10Kms/Hr just to make sure we dont burn a hole in the tyres.
We found a Tree with a pond nearby which was the apt place for some bread and Jam that we had
packed before starting, the bread was already out of shape and was like small crumps.......
Reached talakkad by 3:00Pm took some rest in the sand, as we already had enuf water, this water
wasn't very much attractive.

Finally started our journey back to bangalore by 4:00Pm and reached home by 7:30Pm.In short the trip was an exciting and a wonderful trip and shivasamudram is a wonderful and scenic place to visit.

Pictures speak more than words, if u believe this, then u must have a look at the scenic beauty,
Here is the link to that.........

http://www.kannanv.com/travelogues.htm