Chunchi Falls, located near the Kanakapura city, is one of the most scenic water falls around Bangalore. The water falls is formed in the Arkavati river, just before it meets Cauvery river. The waterfalls is located in lush green environment, and en-route to the famous Sangama, Mekedatu.

Last Sunday, 15th July, me and my friend were stumbling upon places to visit near Bengalore in bikes when we found Chunchi Falls. Without  a second thought in mind we both headed straightly towards Kanakapura Road. Upon reaching Kanakapura, one has to take the left road, the one towards Sangama, Mekedatu to reach Chunchi Falls. Upon traveling around 25kms from kanakapura, one can come across a entry collection checkpoint. Just after crossing the checkpoint, there lies a road on the left which would lead to Chunchi Falls. Though there's one more road to the left which is 2-4kms after the checkpoint, this road if taken will pass through farms, silk houses, giving a glimpse of local traditional life.

Not more than 3-4km, the Chunchi falls parking lies on this road.

Overview of Chunchi Falls

Chunchi Falls itself can be a place ideal for spending entire day with your loved ones. The place boasts of a lake, waterfalls, watch tower, rocks and what not. 

After parking the vehicles, one can usually see stalls selling edible items including water. From the parking one has to walk around 1km to reach the Watch tower. The watch tower provides a amazing panoramic view of the place. On to one side lies  a water fall formed through the rocks, and on the distant other side lies this beautiful water falls near the lake.

View from Watch Tower

  

Falls as seen from Watch tower

Further walking down the track towards the distant waterfalls, around another 1-2kms from here, one can reach the water falls base. The time we visited the water was quite fierce , but in season other than monsoon ,the water will be ideal to get into and enjoy under.

 

Beautiful Chunchi Falls

From Chunchi falls we decided to go to our next place of visit. The next place was Mekedatu, via Sangama. 

Sangama is the confluence of Cauvery and Arakavati. At Sangama, Cauvery River is very   wide at the confluence, which is joined by Arkavati river. After the confluence, both the rivers merge together to head towards the common destination. But the river then flows through a narrow 5-10 meter gorge at Mekedatu . Mekedatu, in Kannada, refers to the goat leaping and crossing the river. Its said that there was a goat once, which was being chased by a tiger, and in order to survive the goat jumped cross the river and saved itself. When reaching the gorge the river flows ferociously onto the rocks sculpting them into some amazing shapes. The water flow is very fierce at this place during monsoons making it very dangerous to swim here.

Water between 2 trees at Sangama

After reaching Sangama, one has to cross the Arkavati river, which sometimes can be either by walking through or by coracles. Since it was monsoon, the water was quite full, and we had to take coracle ride. Upon reaching the other side of the river, one has to board the bus to reach Mekedatu. We were charged somewhere around 110Rs per person for both the coracle and the bus. Upon alighting down from the bus, one has to walk a little further till he find the small passage leading downstairs.  But much to our dismay the place was closed, probably due to strong water current of the river in monsoon.

Mekedatu

Nevertheless, it was a amazing day, spent well amidst the nature in its pure form.

Also, here is  a small vlog attached:

Chunchi falls : A weekend getaway from Bangalore

Kiran K 0

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Just a week before I had landed into Bangalore in the pursuit of doing my Internship. The usual company life had got into me already in a week and this time I really wanted to do something new! Few days back I had met my friend who was talking about solo trips! She had been telling about Solo trips in such a passionate way that after listening to her, I decided on the spot that even I should have one solo trip! What more can I ask for?

So, after the usual party routines of Friday, I was heading back to my home on Saturday morning. Suddenly it occurred to me that instead of wasting a weekend in Bangalore, why not get something out of it! I just had reached my home by somewhat around 12 in the noon. In no time I was out of it with my luggage all set to head for a solo trip! But not knowing where exactly to go, I was wandering the streets of Bangalore till 2p.m.  I was heading on Bannerghatta road that suddenly I happened to see a lorry with TN registration. Seeing the lorry the first thing that came to my mind was Chennai. Without any second thought in my mind, I headed directly to Nice road and then set off to Chennai! 

Just on reaching somewhere near Hosur, I found a sign board  with my desitnation name written on it! Chennai 350km was written. Whoa ! For a moment that 350km seemed so huge that I began counting number of hours I have to sit in the rider seat of my bike! But as the journey began, I almost forgot of that number. The journey was equally awe-full as the destination where I was headed. Rain god had already blessed me and now it was the turn of Sun God to do so. After crossing Vellore I started feeling the blessings of Sun god. It was getting all hot and the climate change was so evident. If its your first bike trip , then I will have to warn you, youll be all fine for the first 200 kms , later on youll be requiring stops every now and then. So was my case. After crossing Kanchipuram I was literally stopping for every 30 mins. The heat wave was so much that I had to take rest in between and cool both bike and myself down .

Finally I happened to reach Chennai only by somewhere around 9 p.m. After checking in at a cheapest hotel I dumped my luggage, kept my bike and decided to go for  a stroll. I knew I couldnt ride any longer that day. Chennai was so beautiful at night. Not much crowd, roads being wide enough, it really is a nice place to roam.

The next day  I woke up quite early and headed to Marina beach to spot sunrise. But unluckily a cloudy weather was spotted and may be ill have to head again to see sunrise! After spending some time in the beach, I headed back to room and checked out. I was in a  confusion to decide where to visit. So had headed to a mall nearby, Skywalk Mall, it was starting to get crowd , the Sunday crowd. Theatres were getting full and people started to flock in large numbers. Next , I decided to visit the St. George  Fort Meusem. This was a cool place located well along the shores of Bay of Bengal and had a collection of variety of weapon's, coins, dresses,paintings and what not! 

From here I headed to Semmozhi Poonga . This was a pretty cool garden, but with couples situated everywhere. I'd say you are more probable to find more couples than trees here. But nevertheless in the scorching heat of Chennai , I definitely needed a place like this to cool off ! Still the cool it provided wasnt enough. As I was searching for a better place to take a nap, I was reminded of Planetarium . What other best place would one find where you would be given an AC room with push back chair and a dark environment to sleep off. 

Without loosing time i headed to Periyar Science Center. The Center had a science exhibition center , a planetarium, a playground, a 3D show all in a fare of just Rs.45.

So after avoiding the scorching mid-noon sun of Chennai , I decided to visit a beach. Initial plan was to visit Kovalam beach on the ECR, but due to time limitations I had to stick to a nearby beach. So, headed to Elliots beach .Spent some time sitting there peacefully.

By now, the time was all up! It was already 7 p.m and I had to leave to Bangalore (ride to Bangalore actually). So, I started after feeding my bike. The weather was getting cloudy and I could feel that i'd be  caught in a really bad rain tonight. But I didnt have a option either. So, I decided to cover the max distance possible. By around 10, I was at Vellore. 

After having dinner at Vellore, the second phase of my journey started. My stomach was full , it was raining heavily, that too in night, and a cool breeze. Everything was making me sleepy. Even though I took pit stops it didnt help. Then at one point I just found a empty bus stop and slept for some time ! Sleeping in this bus stand was no less luxurious than a 5 star hotel for me at that point of time! After a small nap, I started again.But sleep was still behind me. I had to take 2 more stops. Somehow I managed to reach Bangalore that night and it was already 3 by the time i reached ! 

That was it for the trip! My first SOLO TRIP was done and that too on my bike riding all the way covering around 750km in just 36 hours !

Chennai In BIke: A sudden Unexpected Journey

Kiran K 0

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