Travelogue : My quickie getaway to Hoganekkal Falls

rjstyles69 · 19th February 2008, 16:19

Hiya folks

Am back with another quickie trip report..

Have been on a hectic work schedule and work hasnt permitted me to take off for a long drive as yet. Its been the same mundane weekdays of work and a mysore drive over the weekend. This time around on Saturday I decided to stay back at home and spend time gulping some draughts with a movie marathon.
Well things were going my way and by about 11am I have my bro' and BIL's land up at my place. Their idea of spending the weekend wasn't any different from mine. Ooh yes they were home for the same beer and movies and infact they wanted to check out my new home theater and LCD.
Things went on as planned and thats when wifey comes up with the idea of doing a drive in the night. We usually do this during the weekends in Mysore. Chamundi hills tops the list !!

I was in no mood for a late night drive after all the draughts. Promised her that we will do a drive the next day. 11pm in the night on Saturday we are still speculating on which place to head to.
Was browsing through flickr and stumbled upon some pictures from Hoganekkal Water falls. I decided on Hoganekkal and then again the distance was eating us up.

Some blogs said 150kms, a few others mentioned 180kms and so on. I decided to drive no matter what the distance. Apparently we all sat up till 2am Sunday watching movies. Plan was to start on Sunday by 8am and it seemed to be too far a distant goal to do. We woke up by 8am

. We were 8 of us with my wifey, cousins and in laws.
Managed to pull outta our house by 9:30am and then again my in-laws and cousins start arguing about what would be the 2nd car. Decided to take the esteem with my baleno and finally head out.

Traffic was minimum since it was sunday. Within no time I cross e-city and start doing good speeds. Please watch out since there is a lot of work going on and you gotto be really careful.1st stop at hosur for breakfast !! With so many people you tend to loose a lotta time when you stop for food.From there on manage to pull everyone in and we start driving again.
Excellent roads coupled with minimal traffic was a blessing in disguise for us. Soon we were driving metal to pedal and the esteem giving my baleno a good run.

Damn the esteem is quite a capable car. Except for the low GC , the engine's perfect and peppy(Wish I could convince my FIL to get a Conical Filter and a FFE for this car).

We reach Hoganekkal at abt 1pm and damn its crowded. Barely could find parking and managed to bribe the gate keeper who had shut the gates for parking and we get our cars in. Once in we find parking space for about another 20 cars and no clue as to why they closed the gates saying Car parking full(this parking lot is rite at the entrance to the water falls).

Cheap crowd coupled with a dirty place now was getting on to me. Found a lot of cheapo's around howling at a group of girls and my bro' had the nerve to give them a annoying stare indicating " dude you boo once again and my fist is gonna be on your face " types. Oh yes we were also a group of 5 thugs with 3 people from the fairer sex.Getting each of them to cool their flying tempers was again a herculean task.

I wonder what the cops were doing since I found quite a few chaps drinking and passing lewd and cheap comments at women there.
Wifey made it clear to all of us that we weren't here to take the eve-teasers to task and that we should move on with our plans.

Most people in the south know that Hoganekkal falls is also pretty famous for the masseur's. Found a masseur for us and the next task was to hire a boat.

Negotiations started and managed to get a good deal on 2 boats for 1 grand. The deal was to take us to a nice place where our family could spend time in solitude without much intervention from the other visiting public.

As promised he takes us to a nice isolated place and its only our family there.I got a super massage done and so did my bro' and cousins.Was worth every penny we paid him.

Let the pictures do talking now..

Top view of the valley

The boats stacked neatly

View of the waterfalls at the entrance

These dude's would dive for you from the rocks if you pay them 5 bucks.

Shot at our personal space

Sunset from Hoganekkal

Spent time till about 6pm at the water falls. Perfect and a secluded place for us.

We leave Hoganekkal falls by about 6:45pm. On our way back to our dismay the truck traffic on the road has increased. Looks like the truckers use this road to reach CBE . The Phillips 130/100's did the magic all through with my car being the lead car.

Got back home by about 11pm after stopping over for dinner.Was a well spent day absolute value for money.

Witnessed 5 accidents which included 3 fatalities. May their souls rest in peace.

As for the baleno she gave me a mileage of 15 odd kms and the esteem also pulled off a cool 17kms per liter with all the pedal to metal driving and wheelspins we did.

I have great respect for the esteem after this trip. Now I know why we get to see so many in all our INRC events.

Thanks for your time reading folks. Have a great day.

Route Taken : Bangalore--Hosur--Kelamangalam--Rayakotta--Palakkodu--Hoganekkal.
Distance : Roughly about 140kms from the silk board flyover.
Road Condition : Excellent (full 5 stars) .

VJ_MAVRICK · 19th February 2008, 16:25

Nice writeup and pics there Riju. certainly you had a good time itseems and damn such morons who get awkward in public places and what a waste that such places are not taken care off properly.
So when is the next draught session goin to be? dont mind joining you for that though

..kidding man...anyways drive safe..

phamilyman · 19th February 2008, 16:27

Aaaamazing pics. Very naish, esp portraits of the paddlers.

benbsb29 · 19th February 2008, 17:05

Riju kuttan, nice pics, as always. Reminds me of my first trip there, and similar to your case, had my BIL along.

I agree with the part about the cheapo crowd. Looks like thats something we cant help. Go as a gang, and majority would keep away.

Did you encounter any cases where the locals put hay on the roads for the vehicles to flatten? I found them quite irritating. Also certain speedbreakers which just pop out of nowhere.

As for the distance part, you were right about that.

Thad E Ginathom · 19th February 2008, 17:05

Fantastic pictures

akroy · 19th February 2008, 17:43

Excellent pics Riju and thanks for the update on a different route.

Abhi

csentil · 19th February 2008, 17:46

Awesome fotos. really good.

Yup, Hogennakkal on weekends is for idiots who get drunk and try to spoil everyone else's pleasure. Very sad considering the fact that its heavily promoted as a tourist location. You have excellent roads leading to Hogennakal.

You paid 1K for 2 boats? Was it for the whole day?? Or just for a ride. Coz for a ride if you haggle well enough its like 30 - 40 bucks a person max.

Never talk to the idiots on the road especially the ones with cycles. these guys are agents and they coolly fleece you. I've heard people pay 1K per boat for a ride which is for about 45 minutes to an hr.

s0uljah · 19th February 2008, 18:01

Adipoli salam!!! Vivid and Crisp Pictures

Visit overdue, time to put the diesel savings to use.

RufRoc · 19th February 2008, 18:15

Nice pictures, brings back memories from college days.

rjstyles69 · 19th February 2008, 18:57

Thanks all. Well we really cant do much about the el cheapos hanging out other than ignoring them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Did you encounter any cases where the locals put hay on the roads for the vehicles to flatten? I found them quite irritating. Also certain speedbreakers which just pop out of nowhere.

Oh yes we did encounter that, but then Benny since the roads were well laid we never bothered to slow down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by csentil

Awesome fotos. really good.

You paid 1K for 2 boats? Was it for the whole day?? Or just for a ride. Coz for a ride if you haggle well enough its like 30 - 40 bucks a person max.

We paid 1k for 2 boats for the whole day.

iraghava · 19th February 2008, 21:19

Very nice pictures Riju Singh!! Looks like you guys had a great time!!

theMAG · 19th February 2008, 22:17

Riju,

I use a standard template while posting in any of your travelogues: "Brilliant Photography"

sreenidhibr · 20th February 2008, 09:34

Nice travelogue, good information and pleasant photos.
I have got same feedback about presence of a few cheap people and untidy sections from others also, hence Hoganekkal has not yet been on my radar yet. Your photos make me want to visit this place now.

surajs · 20th February 2008, 09:47

Beautiful pictures riju, as always and a nice write up too

OT : Looks like your cam sensor needs a bit cleaning..

dadu · 20th February 2008, 10:10

Nice pictures, what was the route taken and how long was the drive.

Where did you have breakfast in hosur ??

19th February 2008, 16:19	#1
rjstyles69 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bengalooru.. Posts: 4,343 Thanked: 842 Times View My Garage	Travelogue : My quickie getaway to Hoganekkal Falls Hiya folks Am back with another quickie trip report.. Have been on a hectic work schedule and work hasnt permitted me to take off for a long drive as yet. Its been the same mundane weekdays of work and a mysore drive over the weekend. This time around on Saturday I decided to stay back at home and spend time gulping some draughts with a movie marathon. Well things were going my way and by about 11am I have my bro' and BIL's land up at my place. Their idea of spending the weekend wasn't any different from mine. Ooh yes they were home for the same beer and movies and infact they wanted to check out my new home theater and LCD. Things went on as planned and thats when wifey comes up with the idea of doing a drive in the night. We usually do this during the weekends in Mysore. Chamundi hills tops the list !! I was in no mood for a late night drive after all the draughts. Promised her that we will do a drive the next day. 11pm in the night on Saturday we are still speculating on which place to head to. Was browsing through flickr and stumbled upon some pictures from Hoganekkal Water falls. I decided on Hoganekkal and then again the distance was eating us up. Some blogs said 150kms, a few others mentioned 180kms and so on. I decided to drive no matter what the distance. Apparently we all sat up till 2am Sunday watching movies. Plan was to start on Sunday by 8am and it seemed to be too far a distant goal to do. We woke up by 8am . We were 8 of us with my wifey, cousins and in laws. Managed to pull outta our house by 9:30am and then again my in-laws and cousins start arguing about what would be the 2nd car. Decided to take the esteem with my baleno and finally head out. Traffic was minimum since it was sunday. Within no time I cross e-city and start doing good speeds. Please watch out since there is a lot of work going on and you gotto be really careful.1st stop at hosur for breakfast !! With so many people you tend to loose a lotta time when you stop for food.From there on manage to pull everyone in and we start driving again. Excellent roads coupled with minimal traffic was a blessing in disguise for us. Soon we were driving metal to pedal and the esteem giving my baleno a good run. Damn the esteem is quite a capable car. Except for the low GC , the engine's perfect and peppy(Wish I could convince my FIL to get a Conical Filter and a FFE for this car). We reach Hoganekkal at abt 1pm and damn its crowded. Barely could find parking and managed to bribe the gate keeper who had shut the gates for parking and we get our cars in. Once in we find parking space for about another 20 cars and no clue as to why they closed the gates saying Car parking full(this parking lot is rite at the entrance to the water falls). Cheap crowd coupled with a dirty place now was getting on to me. Found a lot of cheapo's around howling at a group of girls and my bro' had the nerve to give them a annoying stare indicating " dude you boo once again and my fist is gonna be on your face " types. Oh yes we were also a group of 5 thugs with 3 people from the fairer sex.Getting each of them to cool their flying tempers was again a herculean task. I wonder what the cops were doing since I found quite a few chaps drinking and passing lewd and cheap comments at women there. Wifey made it clear to all of us that we weren't here to take the eve-teasers to task and that we should move on with our plans. Most people in the south know that Hoganekkal falls is also pretty famous for the masseur's. Found a masseur for us and the next task was to hire a boat. Negotiations started and managed to get a good deal on 2 boats for 1 grand. The deal was to take us to a nice place where our family could spend time in solitude without much intervention from the other visiting public. As promised he takes us to a nice isolated place and its only our family there.I got a super massage done and so did my bro' and cousins.Was worth every penny we paid him. Let the pictures do talking now.. Top view of the valley The boats stacked neatly View of the waterfalls at the entrance These dude's would dive for you from the rocks if you pay them 5 bucks. Shot at our personal space Sunset from Hoganekkal Spent time till about 6pm at the water falls. Perfect and a secluded place for us. We leave Hoganekkal falls by about 6:45pm. On our way back to our dismay the truck traffic on the road has increased. Looks like the truckers use this road to reach CBE . The Phillips 130/100's did the magic all through with my car being the lead car. Got back home by about 11pm after stopping over for dinner.Was a well spent day absolute value for money. Witnessed 5 accidents which included 3 fatalities. May their souls rest in peace. As for the baleno she gave me a mileage of 15 odd kms and the esteem also pulled off a cool 17kms per liter with all the pedal to metal driving and wheelspins we did. I have great respect for the esteem after this trip. Now I know why we get to see so many in all our INRC events. Thanks for your time reading folks. Have a great day. Route Taken : Bangalore--Hosur--Kelamangalam--Rayakotta--Palakkodu--Hoganekkal. Distance : Roughly about 140kms from the silk board flyover. Road Condition : Excellent (full 5 stars) . Last edited by rjstyles69 : 19th February 2008 at 16:27.
	() Thanks

19th February 2008, 16:25	#2
VJ_MAVRICK Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Sydney Posts: 1,239 Thanked: 34 Times View My Garage	Nice writeup and pics there Riju. certainly you had a good time itseems and damn such morons who get awkward in public places and what a waste that such places are not taken care off properly. So when is the next draught session goin to be? dont mind joining you for that though ..kidding man...anyways drive safe..
	() Thanks

19th February 2008, 16:27	#3
phamilyman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 5,968 Thanked: 4,642 Times	Aaaamazing pics. Very naish, esp portraits of the paddlers.
	() Thanks

19th February 2008, 17:05	#4
benbsb29 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brisbane Posts: 9,969 Thanked: 13,234 Times View My Garage	Riju kuttan, nice pics, as always. Reminds me of my first trip there, and similar to your case, had my BIL along. I agree with the part about the cheapo crowd. Looks like thats something we cant help. Go as a gang, and majority would keep away. Did you encounter any cases where the locals put hay on the roads for the vehicles to flatten? I found them quite irritating. Also certain speedbreakers which just pop out of nowhere. As for the distance part, you were right about that.
	() Thanks

19th February 2008, 17:05	#5
Thad E Ginathom Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 11,005 Thanked: 26,447 Times	Fantastic pictures
	() Thanks

19th February 2008, 17:43	#6
akroy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA, USA Posts: 2,423 Thanked: 85 Times View My Garage	Excellent pics Riju and thanks for the update on a different route. Abhi
	() Thanks

19th February 2008, 17:46	#7
csentil Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,349 Thanked: 38 Times View My Garage	Awesome fotos. really good. Yup, Hogennakkal on weekends is for idiots who get drunk and try to spoil everyone else's pleasure. Very sad considering the fact that its heavily promoted as a tourist location. You have excellent roads leading to Hogennakal. You paid 1K for 2 boats? Was it for the whole day?? Or just for a ride. Coz for a ride if you haggle well enough its like 30 - 40 bucks a person max. Never talk to the idiots on the road especially the ones with cycles. these guys are agents and they coolly fleece you. I've heard people pay 1K per boat for a ride which is for about 45 minutes to an hr.
	() Thanks

19th February 2008, 18:01	#8
s0uljah Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: BLR Posts: 2,222 Thanked: 26 Times View My Garage	Adipoli salam!!! Vivid and Crisp Pictures Visit overdue, time to put the diesel savings to use.
	() Thanks

19th February 2008, 18:15	#9
RufRoc BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 259 Thanked: 28 Times	Nice pictures, brings back memories from college days.
	() Thanks

19th February 2008, 21:19	#11
iraghava Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bhaiyyaland Posts: 8,033 Thanked: 265 Times View My Garage	Very nice pictures Riju Singh!! Looks like you guys had a great time!!
	() Thanks

19th February 2008, 22:17	#12
theMAG Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Avon, CT Posts: 7,217 Thanked: 1,807 Times View My Garage	Riju, I use a standard template while posting in any of your travelogues: "Brilliant Photography"
	() Thanks

20th February 2008, 09:34	#13
sreenidhibr BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 119 Thanked: 2 Times View My Garage	Nice travelogue, good information and pleasant photos. I have got same feedback about presence of a few cheap people and untidy sections from others also, hence Hoganekkal has not yet been on my radar yet. Your photos make me want to visit this place now.
	() Thanks

20th February 2008, 09:47	#14
surajs BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: TVM Posts: 105 Thanked: 15 Times View My Garage	Beautiful pictures riju, as always and a nice write up too OT : Looks like your cam sensor needs a bit cleaning..
	() Thanks

20th February 2008, 10:10	#15
dadu Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 3,803 Thanked: 462 Times View My Garage	Nice pictures, what was the route taken and how long was the drive. Where did you have breakfast in hosur ??
	() Thanks