A Tale of WG Nomads : Bandaje Falls & Ballala Rayana Durga Fort-2

Continued from here : Bnadaje Falls & Ballala Rayana Durga Fort-1

Our next day started with the discussion, which route to take ? Well! These kind of discussions are obvious in the situation where you don't have guide with you to show the route. Earlier our plan is to visit Ballalaraya fort and exit towards sunkasale (Horanadu main road). 

We did hold our discussion for a while and went towards the extreme edge of the Bandaje falls. The early morning event of sun touching the western ghat is a real treat to watch. I made hard decision to go till the edge of the falls and get a breathtaking view of the falls gushing from the height of almost 400ft. It was really a worth attempt to go there and enjoy such a beautyful event of mother nature. Some of them were really scared to step a single leg towards the edge. It was slippery and a slight descent makes you feel nervous. Don't attempt this if you don't have courage and good pair of shoes. I am very blessed to have my camera with me and captured the beauty. 

It was already 7 in the morning. We had Maggie and avalakki(poha) for the breakfast. Fortunately we got the mobile signal and called our guide who left us half way through the falls. We got clear instructions from him about the route and we did stick on to our initial plan. It was again 5km uphill trek from the Bandaje falls and the trail passes through lush green meadows.

Path from Bandaje Falls to Ballala Raya Fort :

After climbing some 3km(2-3 hills) one can see the fort at a distance. We got confirmed that we took correct path and we are right on the track. Finally we reached Ballalaraya Fort by 12pm. The fort on top of the western ghat hills gives you a splendid view and we have to salute the ppl who built the fort. There was only one cattle grazer who lives on top of the mountain. He offers water for the trekkers and even offers place during night time to pitch the tent. We had our lunch at his premises and offered him food too. In return we got some 2-3ltrs of water.

Ballala Raya Fort :

Finally it was time to bid adieu for the Ballalaraya fort. We started our descent by 1:30pm in the afternoon and reached Sunkasale by 4pm. Hired a local jeep and came to Kottigehara from where we booked our return bus to Bangalore. It was only 5:30pm in the evening and our bus would arrive by 10:30pm night. So we inquired the auto walas about possible nearby places to visit during this short time. I had read about Alekan falls in many blogs and it is very near to kottigehara (3kms) .

So we hired an auto till the falls and asked him to come back to pick us up. We enjoyed in the alelan falls till 6:30pm and our driver was already present at the place and started honking :p. We wrapped all our things and quickly got into the auto and came back to Kottigehara . Had sumptuous neer dose  (a type of dosa, which is famous in Kottigehara) and dinner . Our bus arrived exactly on time and reached Bangalore early morning 4:30am. 

A Tale of WG Nomads : Bandaje Falls & Ballala Rayana Durga Fort-1

It was Christmas vacations and our souls persisted to explore something, a grandeur trek amidst western Ghats. It was my dream to visit Bandaje Arbi Falls during my college days. Now it was the time to execute the plan. After discussing about the places and plan, we chose the entry point as Bandaje village and exit point would be BallalaRaya Durga Kote(Fort). Got all the necessary info from the Google and 8  enthusiastic blazing young guns were ready to scale the heights and put themselves in the adventurous driving seat. 

Boarded rajahamsa bus from Bangalore which would drop us till Dharmasthala. From there we went to Ujire to hire the jeep to Bandaje village. It was 7am in the morning when we reached the Bandaje Narayana Gowda's house. Kishore Gowda is Narayan' s son and he can arrange you trekking permissions and guide. Just you need to ring him before leaving your place. On arrival of Kishore Gowda, he told that forest officials would turnout by 10am and its waste of time to wait for them. So we paid the trekking fee to him and started our endeavor. What I felt at later part is , it's absolutely safe even if u do not pay forest officials. In fact Kishore told the same and considering our safety we paid the fee. Well..!! its your choice to pay or not. But if forest officials spot you, then you should pay the fee. 

Narayana Gowda's House - Badaje Village  

Our Troop : All geared up .. 

  Guide arrived little late, by that time we geared ourselves with all necessary stuffs. Initial path looks flat and you have to cross one small stream and couple of houses. once you enter the forest, then it's absolutely arduous task. The whole stretch till the falls consists of high inclinations , sometimes 70° . But you will be under the shades of the trees. After you enter the grassland then make sure to hydrate yourself. It's fully exposed to sun and he has no mercy upon poor trekkers :p . You can spot the falls as son as you enter the grassland. But you need to hold your horses, coz it needs some more energy to reach.

After some 3 km of trekking inside the thick forest from Narayan's  house we got one stream and decided to take a dip and finish our lunch on the boulders nearby. As usual water was very cold and clear. Enjoyed in the water nearly 1hr and it was time for our lunch. Unpacked the food which we got it from the home. Same time our guide bid adieu and showed us the path to follow. We got all the necessary route info from him, coz next day we planned to exit via BallalaRaya Durga Fort. It was 12:30 when we resumed our venture. Make sure to fill up all your water bottles. You won't get any water till you reach grassland. 

Initial Path 

Challenging task starts from here :

With lots of huffs and puffs we entered the grasslands by 2pm. We were welcomed by lush green grasses and pleasant cool  breeze. Within no time sun started to irk us with his weapon :p . Soon we got the view of the falls and it was a wonderful moment of the trek. All of them got pumped up by seeing the falls. Took some snaps and proceeded towards the falls. It looks near from the grassland but you need to trek some good 1.5 - 2 hr to reach the falls.

Breathtaking view of Bandaje Falls :

After you scale the first mountain on the grassland you will get one small stream. We halted here to wait for our fellow trekkers and took sufficient rest before the final stretch.  Finally we reached the falls by 5pm and started looking for the camp site. You need to cross the stream and reach the other part of the stream. Walk towards the falls, your will get the campsite just before the falls, 50m away from the falls.

Camp site :

 Yummy Soup :)

Quickly we did set up the tents and put the fire to cook. It was dark and soo cold that we dropped our plan to have bathe again. Also we decided to catch the glimpse of the falls next day. Some of the guys strived really hard to get the woods for camp fire. Later we got plenty of them far from the campsite. First we had yummy corn soup and kept rice for our dinner. Spent the evening with chit chat , cracking jokes , making next days strategies etc...  Some of them got settled in the tent by 9pm , rest by 10.