Dabbe Falls and Kanooru Kote

              This was the toughest trek/ travel organized by me. We needed to get permission from forest officers. We had many contacts but no one was picking the call. I tried for 2 weeks but couldn’t manage to get any information. But luckily we got the information 3 days before the trek. Lady who arranges accommodation in kanooru kote was out of town for 2 weeks. Finally when she picked the call, she told me to call her boss and boss told me to contact Kargal forest ranger. Generally we don’t get this much difficulty in getting forest permission but election happening in local governing body made us quite difficult. Anil also tried some contact and got 2 people who can help us. Finally we settled with this guy Lokesh (name changed as he has told us to keep his name secret.), who guided us in this trek.


       I have gone through many blogs before finalizing this trek over others. Anil who was supposed to accompany me in this trek pulled out. Without co organizers it became hard on me to organize this trek in the busy schedule. But Anil helped me in getting the contacts from his cousin who went for the same trek last year. It is Anil who suggested me this trek over the other treks and after going through many blogs, I finalized it. Since Anil pulled out, I have to be there in spite of falling ill.

      We had some new members to come for this trek. I have gone with Adarsh for Kudremukha. Guru is my trek Guru with whom I went to most of the places. We have been to Himalayas, Rameshwaram, Doodh Sagar, Hogenikal falls, Ramanagara. Mrs. Megha Gururaj, Arjun and Mahesh were the new members for this trek. It was in last minute Guru decided to take his wife.

Dabbe to Kanooru Kote Trek is not an easy trek. You should avoid in Monsoon. We can divide our journey as follows.

 

1. Bangalore to Talguppa.
2. Talguppa to Hosagadde
3. Hosagadde to Gowdru Mane
4. Gowdru mane to Dabbe falls back to Gowdru mane
5. Gowdru Mane to night stay
6. Night stay to Kanooru kote via Doctor mane
7. Kanooru Kote to near Sabru mane
8. By Lorry to Sharavati river, chaturmukha basidi and Gerusoppa main road
9. Gerusoppa to Siddapur. From there disperse.

Bangalore to Talguppa

We booked train ticket to Talguppa. Train will be starting from Bangalore at sharp 11 PM. It will come in either 9th or 10th platform. I have cancelled Abdul’s ticket since he went for seeing a girl. Anil didn’t come for personal reason and I have to accommodate Megha instead of Anil. Somehow we managed and reached Talguppa at 7:20.

Talguppa to Hosagadde 

Talguppa is a place which comes in between Sagar and Siddapur. From Talguppa we decided to take bus to Kargal and then there to Hosagadde. But we got direct bus from Talguppa to Hosagadde. A Gajanana bus which reaches Talguppa at 8 AM goes to Bhatkal via Hosagadde. We had Dosa in front of railway station before we took bus to Hosagadde. Bus will stop for tea for more than 15 minutes near Kargal. When we reached Hosagadde, it was almost 10. Our guide was waiting for us. He said hi to all and was asking for me. Then I asked the plan and he briefed me about the plan.

Hosagadde to Gowdru Mane

Hosagadde to Gowdru mane is around 2 km.

First jeep track

Then farm land

Villager's house

We used jeep track followed by paddy fields to reach a villager's house. We had a small talk with them and they gave water. We were just like parasytes, thirsty for water. Throughout the trek whenever we meet villagers I used to tell them, I am from Sagar. That makes them to feel I am one among them.

 

Is it a mini dam ? :-P

The couples in the forest

Without permission no trek :-D

When we reached Gowdru mane we had water and took rest for few minutes. . We told them to prepare lunch for 7 people. Our guide took a rope and we got ready for one of the steepest trek.

Gowdru mane to Dabbe falls back to Gowdru mane

As per the difficulty level, this 2.4 km to and pro trek was very difficult. It was almost 80 degree elevation. You have to use your rock climbing techniques here. Be careful about rocks which are not stable. Put your foot carefully, examine it and then place your foot. Megha found it very difficult to cross and she was also scared. Guru took his time to take her down to falls. Even I had come from 2 days dehydration and fever. I felt little bit tired. But my enthusiasm was unstoppable.

When we reached Dabbe falls, it was really worth the difficulty. We were finding where water level is not deep. Near falls, on the left side it very deep. But on right side we sat under the falls for few minutes. The force in which water was falling down it was pushing us back. That is why the name Dabbe falls.

After getting totally wet in water, we decided to move. We forgot water bottle in Gowdru mane. That was a big mistake. We thought it will be near, but we were not aware of difficultly level. Finally when we climbed up and reached Gowdru mane, we can see a satisfaction in tired faces.

Gowdru Mane to night stay

We were hungry and we had lunch in banana leaves. It was a simple lunch with rice, sambar, butter milk and pickle. We were lucky to get little bit of butter milk. After having lunch we moved towards our next destination. We were sure that we will not reach the same day. We had planned to stay in some villager’s house.

Still long way to go

We had tea in some villager’s house. They were very nice that they even served us with their home made kashaya. They were wonderful host and those people are the reason our places are good tourist places. We continued our journey. We crossed the paddy field, thick forest and came near the main road. Mahesh was really tired since he was a first time trekker. I was very aggressive during the trek moving fast and finally when we reached the place where we need to stay, it was night 8 pm. We sat in the dark road while our guide went to arrange accommodation. We were provided accommodation in his uncle’s house.

Taking a hot bath in night in a village surrounded by forest is a great feeling. I wanted to sleep in open space in front of their house but then decided against my wish after seeing clouds in the sky. I had very good sleep despite people were snoring. Even they were disturbed by my snoring :-D. I fell in love with what we have encountered that day. We have crossed 16 km to reach this village. I had 3-4 bites of leeches and what we were about to face was even worst nightmare because of leeches. Over all it was satisfying day for us.

Journey to Kanooru kote :

Morning we decided to move early. I woke up early and went for toilet in open space in their banana farm. I had some 4 leeches bite that time. Then only I understood the next journey is going to be full of leeches. We had tea and some mangoes. We left for Kanooru Kote. I also gave my number to them for any help regarding his son’s CET counseling.

We have to cross a deep forest to reach Kanooru kote. We have to cross Doctor mane on the way, where we had our breakfast in their plantation. They even served us the black tea which was really good. Some people stay here in the night. But food will not be served. 

We took some mangoes with us but we forgot water bottle and the dustbin cover in village house only.Then I told them the importance of not to throw waste inside the forest, also not playing loud music inside the forest. Music might disturb the animals and we should not forget that we have come to their house. We should come as a good guest and we need to return as the same. But here after I made sure that all those chocolates cover are kept inside our bag only. As I told we badly needed more water since on the way we don’t get good water source. Even if water is there it is not good for drinking. So make sure that on the way to Kanooru kote, take sufficient water.



This time I had some 20-30 bites on leeches. 4-5 leeches were on the back. 2 leeches were on the neck. Even some leeches have reached near my underwear. My legs were badly beaten by leeches. I removed my shirt and pant made sure that all those leeches were removed. I and Arjun were badly beaten by leeches but leeches had more affinity towards my blood. I had leeches experience when we went to Sada caves. That time leeches were even inside the cottage and we were very careful about the same. But this time I was prepared for leeches but we had not brought any precautions like salt and tobacco.



There are 4-5 benches before fort. We checked leeches and made sure that there is no leeches on our body. Adarsh was killing leeches and we told them they are used for medicines and not to kill them. My request to all those trekkers, please don’t kill those leeches even it bites you. It is nowhere poisonous but can make you weak. So you need to take precautions to at least reduce their affects.

 

Journey to Kanooru Kote



When we reached Kanooru Kote, we had very little water left. We had finally reached our destination and now it is time to explore. We saw the well which was used for punishing soldiers. Those days they used to put the soldiers here and they were not given food for weeks. That is what told by our guide and we believed also. This fort is constructed by Keladi queen Abbaka Devi who was popular as Kari Menasina Rani. The reason was she was exporting spices to European countries. Keladi is very near to my birth place Sagar.



The well is used for punishing soldiers.

Temple which is destroyed

Then we saw remains of the temple which was destroyed by some Sultans. Our guide had different story for everything. Some villagers tried to steal the windows from the fort but something bad happened to them it seems. So they placed it back into the forest. Even I and Adarsh had discussions on various historical topics. There is a cave which goes and connects to a village where Sabru mane is there. Sabru mane is the land mark guide gave us for reaching Gerusoppa.



Trying to hold big stone but expression is not good enough :-D

The cave which leads to village near Gerusoppa.

Kanooru Kote to near Sabru mane

After exploring the fort we returned to same place where we sat in benches and cleaned all the leeches. Our guide told us he will not accompany us in further trek, since he has to return to his village before evening. He charged 1000 Rs for a day and we paid him 2000 Rs for 2 days. Now it was time for us to go down to Sabru mane with few drops of water.

When we reached some house in village after crossing the forest, we have already crossed Sabru mane. We were tired totally and Mahesh was totally down. I waited for others but Guru was in hurry. After few minutes Adarsh and Arjun came and we sat there only thinking that Guru and Megha will come back. Mahesh and Arjun had train at 7:30 and we had to trek for 10 more kilo meters. We decided to take one lorry which came to that house for unloading sand. We waited and had stomach full of water. The house lady also offered us some bananas.

By Lorry to Sharavati river, chaturmukha basidi and Gerusoppa main road



Main attraction of  Gerusoppa

Our main goal was to get wet in Sharvati and decided to get drop near river. Lorry owner told us they will drop us near river where we can take bath. They also told they will return back after some work to take us to Gerusoppa. We said ok and got down in river Sharavati. We enjoyed nearly for half an hour in river. After that they took us to Chatur mukha Basidi.





Chaturmukha Basidi is famous attraction of Gerusoppa. It was built during Vijayanagara Empire. It is a very calm place to spend your time in the evening. Since we were tired we couldn’t enjoy much. After spending few time here we left to Gerusoppa.On the way we also saw the Gerusoppa dam. The lorry people took 200 Rs for safely taking us to Gerusoppa.

Gerusoppa dam

Gerusoppa to Siddapur. From there disperse.



Lorry people arranged some vehicle to take us to Siddapur. He told 1000 Rs but we could bargain only up to 900 Rs. We dropped Arjun and Mahesh to bus stand so that they can take bus to Talguppa. It is home coming for me and taking my best buddies to my house was something I always wanted. Mamma has prepared my favorite green vegetable palya and it was very delicious. For Adarsh fishes were calling to eat. After having dinner it was time to leave to Bangalore. Our bus was not booked. I somehow arranged two tickets in sleeper bus for Guru and Megha. Then I and Adarsh went in some other bus and that too last seat. Whole night I didn’t get proper sleep.

And Journey continues

Dabbe falls to Kanooru kote will remain as my first trek near my home town. It is more memorable because of the villagers who served us and the thick forest. Journey is not going to end here but it has started. Let me come up with much more interesting journey in coming days. Till then Good bye.

Regards,

B.J.

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