After the historical expedition at Badami, it was again time for the next trip. Everyone was game for a rendezvous with mother nature and no brain-storming session was required this time. We decided to visit the Jog Falls and other spots surrounding it as we had not seen them before. Google results suggested us to choose Sirsi as the center and travel along its circumference. As there are no direct train services available to Sirsi, we had to choose the same SEABIRD(which took us to Gokarna)bus  service this time as well.

The D-day arrived at last and we were off to the boarding point on time only to find that the bus had already left the pickup point. The incidents which happened during the Gokarna trip quickly flashed through my mind. When I was thinking that we were already due for a hectic boarding schedule once again, another guy came from the office and said that the bus was waiting on the opposite side. He crossed the road and took us to the place where the bus was waiting. We crossed the road quickly like school kids holding hands together. We heaved a huge sigh of relief after boarding the bus . It had already started raining when we boarded the bus and the rain brought with it the moments during our Gokarna trip once again along with the aroma of fresh air.

A misty morning welcomed us to the district of Shimoga. All we could make out was a dense growth of trees on either side of the asphalted road with mist all around us. The mist took us again to the hibernate mode and it took an hour for the sun to wake us up. The hour hand of the clock was at 8 when we reached Sirsi. This means that we traveled for almost 12 hours to cover the 400km distance. As usual, we got more than what we paid for.(In Tamil, this translates to “KUDUTHA KASUKKU MELA OTTINAN”). We took 3 autos to reach the hotel which was about a km away from the bus stand.

After refreshing ourselves, we were ready to explore the beauty of Western Ghats. We had to bargain with the hotel taxi driver to convince him that his distance-cost equation was absolutely making no sense at all. Though he did not accept our version of the formula initially, he later brought with his TATA WINGER another upgraded version of the formula which we accepted at last.

So it all started with a sixty km ride to the Jog. The Jog was vibrant and vigorous as we saw it from the distance. Water was gushing out from the top of the rocks , literally tearing them apart. Multiple streams of water were visible everywhere. We managed to walk along the edges of the rocks and see the Jog. It would have been difficult to walk along the edges if it were rainy season. After spending some time there, the driver took us to the other side of the Jog so as to get a glimpse of the other side. It was a bit crowded on the other side and we did not feel like spending much time there.

By then it was already time for lunch and the driver made us finish our lunch in a small eatery near the Jog as there were no big hotels available in the vicinity. Our next stop was Unchalli falls which is almost 30-40 kms from the Jog. The actual falls was about a km away from the place where the vehicles are stopped. It was a small trek to the waterfall along a dense growth of trees on either side.

Like the Jog, this is also a view-from-distance waterfall and is not meant for taking bath. This waterfall looked a bit large in terms of the amount of water and it presented a spectacular view as we neared it. A picturesque rainbow separated the waterfall from us. As the huge volume of water touched the earth, it generated a drizzling effect all over the place. The drizzling effect will make the visit to the waterfall an unforgettable experience.In fact, we never felt like leaving the place which was undoubtedly a heaven on earth.

 

The next destination on our list was Sahasralinga. Sahasralinga is about 15 kms from Sirsi. It is a river on which a thousand lingas have been carved out of the rocks and placed. Legend has it that a king did not have child and so he made the Lingas on the river and worshiped them.The place was serene and quite beautiful in the evening. A group of ladies had arrived there and performed some rituals. Sahasralinga is an ideal place to spend time with a family. With this, we were done for the first day.

When it dawned the next day, we were quickly up for an adventurous trip to the Yana. Yana is about 40kms from Sirsi and it consists of a huge rock formation of limestone.Like the Unchalli falls, Yana also has to be reached by a small trek of about a km from the place where all the vehicles are stopped. One can easily spot a huge number of leeches in Yana.

There are two monolithic rocks in Yana which are known as the Bhairaveshwara Peak and Mohini Peak respectively.A small opening at the bottom of the first rock leads to a cave with a formation of  a swayambu(self-manifested) Shiva Linga over which spring water trickles from the roof of the tunnel overhead . After worshipping the God inside the cave, we went for a small trek around the cave. We climbed the small rocks and went a little up and then stepped down from the other side. A small cup of “Gokam” was waiting there for us when we were tired after the “small trek”. “Gokam” as explained by the shop owner is a drink made of some herbs and ginger and he claims that it cures asthma as well.

After Yana, we had originally planned to go to the Vibuthi falls and Bennehole falls. The driver said that both of them were again view-from-distance waterfalls. Luckily while we were heading towards the Vibuthu fals,we spotted a signboard which mentioned the distance to Gokarna. It was just a matter of seconds when we changed our plan and decided to visit Gokarna as we were already getting bored of waterfalls. Though the driver did not oblige initially for the plan change, he then agreed as we offered to pay some extra bucks.

We had planned to go to the Om Beach and take a boat to the Paradise beach which we had missed out last time. But it was a huge disappointment when we reached the Om beach as the water games had been stopped during the rainy season and they had not resumed it. So we had to spend the next few hours in the Om beach only. The scorching heat forced us to get into water very soon and it was absolute fun for the next four hours. The sea was a bit rough and the waves were a bit forceful frightening anyone who dared to get into the sea. As the sun slowly disappeared into the horizon, we also had to leave the Om beach as it was already getting late for the bus.

It took nearly two hours to reach Sirsi from the Om beach and we just managed to catch the bus to Bangalore on time. Another painful adventure awaited us the next morning when the bus broke down near the outskirts of Bangalore. Luckily another SEABIRD came to our rescue and carried us to the final drop point.