TALAKADU : Blown over by the sands of times

TALAKADU-BARACHUKKI-GAGANACHUKKI

This is my first travelogue, so please spare me if I make any mistakes.

Me, My Brother, My cousin’s and My brother's friend had planned to go to Talakadu-Gaganachukki-Barachukki falls this weekend (Aug 15, 2009) and this time we finally went ahead as planned unlike most other plans we made before. All of us decided to meet at Banashankari Bus-stop petrol Bunk (Start Point) and then proceed with our journey to Talakadu which is aprrox 136 Kms from Bangalore. According to the plan we were supposed to leave Bangalore at 7 am and reach Talakadu by 10 am, but Rain gods had some other plans that day. It was a over-casting conditions, drizzling all over Bangalore early in the morning even then everyone was geared up for the trip.

Oh oh! I forgot to mention my ride. I was driving a 2008 Karizma Black colour, My cousin had a Pulsar Black colour and My brother’s friend Avenger Black Colour.

We managed to depart from Bangalore by 7:30 am (A mere 30 mins delay). Everyone got their bikes filled up with Gas and started towards Talakadu. We took a Bangalore-Kanakapura-Sathnur-Malavalli-Talakadu route. I was initially planning to take Bangalore-Channapatna-Maddur-Malavalli-Talakadu route, but we needed some change from the traffic-filled monotonous Bangalore-Mysore Highway.

I never imagined the Bangalore-Kanakapura-Malavalli route to be such a wonderful road to ride with newly laid aspault and crossing curves which is a delight for any rider! Even the Climate made it more interesting to ride with mist covering on the way. We hardly found bad roads on the way to Malavalli, except in the town of Kanakapura (Pathetic road conditions) . By the time we reached Malavalli (where the good road ends) it was around 9:20 am. Here we managed to take a break for our Breakfast. We had to go inside the town to have our Breakfast where you can find quite a few hotels at affordable prices (Compared to Bangalore)
The road conditions are so bad that it kills your precious travel time. There are two ways one can reach Talakadu from Malavalli which comprises of 30-odd kms. The road is bad in patches and very often, it is long and winding, without any landmarks or signboards. More or less both the road conditions are same which doesn't make a significant difference.

* One can either take the highway towards Kollegal from Malavalli Junction. This road is well posted with signs and directions indicating different locations and distance. After 8-10 kms from junction look for Talakadu (20 kms) sign board at the right side which leads to the Temple as well as Cauvery river.

* At the end of Malavalli, Sign board indicating to Talakadu at right side which passes through several small villages leads to temple as well as Cauvery River.

Finally we reached the destination after a long hard 45 minutes ride from Malavalli through the bumpy roads. Here the Cauvery River changes the course and seems to be magnificently vast as the sand on its banks is spread across a wide area which makes tourists Perfect weekend destination! We Played Volleyball and Water-Rugby in this shallow water stream which was great fun, but one has to take care about the river depth as well as its currents which can be real nasty as you move further into the deceivingly inviting waters. More or less Talakadu is a historic site, one has to go through the stories told by guides which really enthralls.

After visiting the temple we were very hungry, fortunately we found Brahmins home meals (Strictly veg) which is right opposite to Sri Vaidhyanatheshwara Main temple in Old street, Talakadu. The next time you visit Talakad don’t miss an opportunity to have your lunch at that place. The food served here can be described in one word *Awesome*

Our final destination - Finally, after travelling for over 30-32 kilometers, we reached Barachukki, the one of the two falls that represent Shivanasamudram Waterfalls. The other one is Gaganachukki which can be found on the way to Barachukki. Here raging waters are so notorious for devouring many a daring adventurer. So the authorities have come up with fences all around the view-point, with sign-boards WARNING against any trespassers.

If anyone who wants to enjoy then definitely Barachukki is place you should never miss particularly at this time of the year. A flight of steep and rocky stairs leads us down to the foot of the falls. A One hundred-rupee ride (May be less in off-season) on the theppa - left us spell bounded with the view as the boatman takes you closer to the action, you cannot help but pray that nothing goes wrong at that stage and admire the experience.

The feeling of nature sprinkling its cool and crystal clear water on your face is nothing short of sublime. One has to pass the heavy gush of water flowing across the banks of river which is quite dangerous to reach the falls. Somehow we managed to cross the river with our luggage. That was quite a experience! After that we had a thorough bath in the falls and quite a long photo-shoot at these natural showers and bid good-bye to Barachukki with a filter coffee late in the evening.

We started back to the Bangalore at 6:45 pm and took the other way around i.e., Bangalore-Channapatna-Maddur-Malavalli-Talakadu route. The highway leading to Malavalli-Kollegal was in pretty bad shape, Looked like aspault work was in progress. For about 20 kms there was heavy traffic towards Malavalli, where there was no grid which made it even harder to ride. Even the road condition from Malavalli to Maddur was in pretty bad shape which is about 30 kms. Finally we came out of bad roads and reached Maddur at 8 pm and took some much needed break at "Maddur Coffee Day". Started back towards Bangalore (86 Kms) at 9:15 pm. The journey from Maddur to Bangalore was excellent with very less traffic (Surprisingly!). Somehow, made it to Bangalore without any Bad incident. After Kengeri, my cousin and my brothers friend took a right turn towards Banashankari and onto Jayanagar and BTM Layout and I reached Yesvantpura at 11.15 pm. Final odo reading showed 330 kms to & fro.

Phew!!!! That was one hell of a trip.