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

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Ooty , also called as Ugadamandalam, the jewel of Nilgiris , is a very famous tourist attraction in southern India. Ooty, a hill station with a lot of tourists density , is an ideal place to be visited all throughout the year,but people generally prefer the months after the monsoon(i.e., months of Sept-Dec) due to heavy downpour during the monsoon season . But nevertheless , each season shows Ooty in a different attire . Visiting Ooty in any season should be pleasant , as one would see mother nature in a different outlook during each seasons .  Coonoor , another famous tourist place is also located very close to Ooty. Ooty is also the largest hill station in the Nilgiris , followed by Coonoor.

The  Trip :

It was  a Thursday and  the weekend was about to come soon, and I wasn't  interested to spend the whole weekend in Bangalore . Soon enough, just to have a change from the usual city weekend, I decided to visit Coonoor . Coonoor was in my TODO list from long back but somehow I thought of visiting this place at least this time. Coonoor and Ooty are very close (approx 20kms ) . Even though I had been to Ooty many times before, I had never been to Coonoor , I still wanted to visit this place, for the charm it provides .

The plan was all set : We would be leaving Bangalore on Saturday morning . Reaching Ooty in the afternoon , seeing few places in and around Ooty . The second day was reserved entirely for Coonoor . We were supposed to return to Bangalore by Sunday night ! But unfortunately or fortunately, nothing actually happens as per plan . Fate has its own play !

The First Day :

It all started very well . We left Bangalore in the morning around 06:00 a.m. After having breakfast at Kollegala, we managed to reach Ooty around 01:00 p.m. After having lunch there , it was the time to explore few places in and around Ooty . We started by visiting Doddabetta .

Doddabetta is the highest mountain in Nilgiris region , located around 10 km from Ooty City . Doddabetta provides a panoramic view of the entire Ooty city ! There is a watch tower with  a telescope located there, thru which one can see Ooty City Streets .

After Doddabetta , we visited Ooty Botanical Gardens . Ooty Botanical Gardens is a very huge garden built in terraced layout . The garden boasts of varieties of plants and trees , all of which is beautiful and well maintained .

The famous Ooty Botanical garden

Later we headed towards Ooty Lake . Boating in this lake is so calm and peaceful that one would forget all his worries and get lost in the natures beauty.

Ooty Lake

After Ooty Lake we headed towards Kamraja Sagar Dam . Its a small dam  located very close to the main road .

Kamaraja Sagar Dam

It was already 06:00 p.m in the evening ,  and we thought to call it off for the day. Since we had our stay booked , we directly headed to our hotel .

The Second Day :

The second day started a bit late for us . We were supposed to wake up early and leave for Coonoor , but the cold weather was such that , none were ready to get up  ! Finally we left for Coonoor at 11:00 in the morning.

On the way to Coonoor , one can see some very beautiful landscapes . The scenery is really mind blowing.

On the way to Coonoor from Ooty , one can come across Valley View Point. The view point provides a very beautiful view of terraced Layout, Valley  and adjacent mountains. After Valley View we headed towards Sims Park.

View from Valley View Point

Sims Park is another beautiful place located in Coonoor . Its a  very huge park which is again in terraced layout. Its an ideal place to spend time with your family and kids .

Beautiful View on way to Sims Park

 After Sims park, our next destination was Lambs Rock. Lambs Rock is a another view point which provides a spectacular view of the scenic mountains around . But unfortunately , for us , the place was covered by thick clouds making it difficult to see ! Next we headed to Dolphin Nose.

MISTified Tea Estates

View from Top of Lambs Rock

A small bug @ Lambs Rock

Dolphin Nose is another famous tourist attraction located in Coonoor ! The place was named so because the tip of the peak resembles the shape of Dolphins nose. From here ,one can see the Coimbatore plains as well as the mountains of Nilgiris .

View from top of Dolphin Nose

View from top of Dolphin Nose

From Dolphin Nose,  one can also see the beautiful Catherine falls . Though its quite far , the waterfall looks amazingly beautiful from this distance too !

 Catherine Falls as seen from Dolphin Nose

Dolphin Nose marked the end of our trip .But the journey was still pending . We headed back to Ooty to return to Bangalore .  Just for a change , we decided to go through another route , ie., via Gudalur , crossing Madhumalai Forest and entering Karnataka thru Bandipur Forest . But unfortunately , the time we arrived the Gudalur check post , the gate was already closed.  So, we had to stay at Gudalur for that night and left next day early morning . ( Kindly note that the gate closes at 08:30 p.m and opens at 06:00 a.m and do plan your journey accordingly.)

Overall the trip was very good and Ooty-Coonoor is a place which everyone must visit . The scenic view that these places provide , are much more worth , and will never be perished .

(Note : Below Image gives various tourist attractions in and around Ooty )

Ooty-Coonoor Map & Places

Ooty-Coonoor : The Jewels Of Nilgiri

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Tumakuru is  a place, in Karnataka located very close to Bangalore, which boasts of  various tourist attractions. The land of Tumakuru has many temples with beautiful scenic views around it. This time , we decided to explore this land as much as possible in a days time. Though I had been to many of these places long back, I still thought that the time has come to cherish those memories and revisit a few of the earlier visited places.

A day in Tumakuru

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Dandeli , is one of the best Tourist Attractions of Karnataka . Located in the Uttara Kannada District of Karnataka state, the place boasts of a rich fauna & flora . Tourists flock here from all over the world to enjoy its beauty & charm . Life at Dandeli is all peace and calm for there are huge forest areas with very few habitants . Located at a peaceful and quite place , Dandeli is definitely a tribute to all the Nature lovers .

Dandeli : A tribute to Nature lover

Kiran K 0

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