On Friday evening, We caught the 7:00 PM bus after a quick snacks at Majestic. Reached Sirsi old bus stand by 5:30 AM. Took a double bed room in Jaishree Lodge(120\-). Jaishree Lodge is close to old bus stand but is not that well maintained. We were told that Hotel Panchavati on Sirsi-Yellapur road is the good one. Anyhow since we didn't had any vehicles so this hotel close to bus stand was a good choice. We freshened up and took the Bus to Heggarane(it is supposed to come at 7:15 but both days it came close to 8:00 AM).
Heggarane is a small village between Sirsi and Kumta. One has to take a deviation to the left from Aminalli. From Aminalli it is 26 km inside. One can see very nice views on the way between Aminalli and Heggarne. From Heggarane it is 5 km walk to the Unchalli view point. Few buses will travel further 2.5 from Heggarne so that one has to trek only for 2.5 km. The falls was not as impressive as it will be post monsoon but it was good enough.
From the view point there are steps to go down till another point. From here one can trek to the base of the falls. It is tough, treacherous, tricky and thus in my terms it is fun. One has to jump, bend and hop on these rocks. At one point, there are huge boulders and the way down seems impossible. Here take few steps to the right and there will be a small valley. One has to make their own way to reach this valley. From here it is just jumping over the rocks and cliffs to reach the base. Mahesh was finding it difficult and I carried his bag as well for some distance. In monsoon it should be close to impossible to trek down this route. We went to the base and bathed at the stream. The view on the way down and even at the base was amazing. Took lot of snaps here.
Climbing up was real fun. We took another route which seemed to be a short cut. As is always, nothing comes for free. This route was more riskier then the first one. There were almost vertical cliffs with just enough crevices to hang on with our fingers and toes. This reminded both of us of MI2 scenes. The whole weight of the body was on a single toe of a leg. One has to push his whole body to reach another foothold. This is dangerous but with good shoes, balance and some confidence, one can have fun.
It took 1 hr to go down and 1 hr to come up. Rock climbing was real fun. More then the waterfall itself. We took bath at a nearby pump and had lunch of bread and biscuits. We Walked back till Heggarane (But actually bus will come inside till a foest checkpost at 5:00 PM. This will cut short ur walking by 50%). At Heggarane we had local cool drinks called "Number one". It was awful and helped me to get the cold and cough after a looong time.
We took the bus back to Sirsi at 5:15 PM. Reached Sirsi by 6:00. Had bath and visited Marikamba temple. The statue of Devi is carved in wood. Had dinner at nearby Hotel (Didn't liked any Hotels in this town, Perhaps the one which I went were not good.) and fell fast asleep.
Next day we got up by 6:00 and checked out the Hotel by 7:00 AM. We took a bus to Kumta which will go via Kasage and also has a stop there. It seems most of the Kumta bound buses don't stop at Kasage. From here we walked nearly 2.5 km to reach Hosur village. We saw a house on the left, someone told us that we have to walk straight till we reach a board which shows the direction to Benne. The board never came and hence we returned to this house at Hosur. The person living there gave us the directions and warned me not to go alone (Mahesh gave up trekking at this point.). He tried his best to scare me away from trekking to Benne alone.
Me and Mahesh rested for some time there and then I tried to convince Mahesh to come along. But he didn't budge, He felt too tired, weak, physically and mentally worned out. I thought for a second and told Mahesh to go back to Kasage and wait for me there till evening. Then we bid good byes and I ventured into jungle alone. I was always afraid of trekking inside dense unknown jungles alone. Anything could be lurking in dark corners of these Jungles, ready to grab you from behind. But the feeling of giving up to the fear and abandoning the trek would have haunted me for long long time. From this house at Hosur we have to go straight till a second telephone pole with a Y junction is encountered. Take the right turn here which will lead u to a Jeep track. Take left at the Jeep track and go straight till u reach the Benne Holle board. I took two pieces of wood and kept it in my hands for protection. Took my pocket knife out of the bag and dropped it inside my pockets.
The forest was very thick and beautiful. I saw a woman coming from opposite direction who told me that Benne Holle board is just around the next corner. She asked me If I am going alone to which I nodded in "yes and no". Soon I was delighted to see the board. We have to take a right from here and it will be another 2.5 km from here.
I just kept walking on this route. There were lizards on the way. On hearing my footsteps they made a quick exit towards the side. The soound of running lizards alerted me now n then. After 0.5 km, the forest cover gave way and there was opening above me. After few more steps, I came across a small farmhouse. The house looked deserted but the farm land seemed to be in good condition. I looked for people whom I could ask some information about the falls. But there was no one here. I trekked ahead where the forest cover again engulfed me and I could not see the sky above. It seemed that no one had walked here for long long time as the whole route was completely covered in dry leaves. There were ferocious mosquitoes here which inspite of constant movement, stuck to my legs. I still have itching sensation on my legs (3 days after the trip). Anyhow, I just kept walking here till the route ended at a tree. There was a small marking on the tree. It pointed to right. There is a small route here and one has to continue down the hill for another 0.25 km. After walking for some time, I got little worried as there was no sound of waterfall and the route was getting narrower. I had no idea about the distance from here and was afraid to lose the way back. It is easy to forget the route here as the route itself is coverd with dry leaves. I didn't wanted to get lost in this jungle. I devised a plan whereby I cleared the ground at each doubtful corner and made the arrow marks there with a stick. Thus when I returned I hoped to find the arrow marks directing me to the correct way. Fortunately after little distance I reached my goal, The Benne Holle. Though there was no water at this time but I could easily imagine the marvellous waterall it would be just after monsoons.
I enjoyed the trek back as I was fully aware of the path, distance and the feeling that I made it to Benne Holle. As said, fear is not outside us but within us. Fear which slowly creeps inside us and makes us vulnerable to anything. It is just a matter of conquering our fears. It didn't took me much time to trek back. I wanted to reach Mahesh as fast as I could so that he could stop worrying about me. I crossed the Benne Holle board and for a while was doubtful about a right turn. After a km, found the right turn I was looking for. I even found the little stick I threw away earlier. I bid goodbye to the other heavier sticks which I was carrying all along the trek. Content and happy, I reached the house at Hosur. The trek from Hosur to Benne is not that difficult and one can easily reach it within an hour. I took some rest at Hosur and left for Kasage. Reached Kasage and found Mahesh sleeping in the small shop by the road. The shop owner asked me If I was not afraid to go into Jungle alone. I smiled and said "NO". I luv jungles and why should I be afraid of something I luv. I Just sat at the shop for some time till Mahesh woke up.
We had few oranges and boarded the bus back to Sirsi. Once again (perhaps 1001th time), I lost my heart to a beautiful lady in the bus. She was very gorgeous and was accompanied by her father. Our eyes met for for a second but it felt like eternity to me. Allright, The last statement was a lie. :) Who would want to look at a trekker with his shabby and dirty clothes. But anyhow, My urge to get married grew stronger.
By the time we reached Sirsi, It was only 3:30 in the afternoon. With lot's of time to kill we decided to watch the "all time hit" kannada movie Mangaru Malhe. This was the second time I was watching this movie in theatre. Guess what, Never before I watched the same movie in theatre twice. What a way to break this record for a Kannada movie. But giving back the credit, Mangaru Malhe is a real good movie with it's breathtaking locations (obviously, western ghats in the monsoons). I plan to watch the movie again after it is remade in Telugu. We came out by 7:00, Killed some more time in a small temple. Finished our dinner at Kamat and then waited for the bus. The bus was scheduled at 9:15 but it turned up at 10:15 (Hail KSRTC). Reached Bangalore by 7:00 AM on Monday morning.
For me, The adventure in this trip was amazing. Be it the amazing rock climbing at Unchalli or lone trekking in the dense jungles towards Benne. Both Unchalli falls and Benne Holle falls are good places to see in post monsoon. Benne gets dried up by Feb end and not worth visiting unless u just luv to trek inside nice jungle.
Destination: Sirsi
Distance: 370 km (approx),
Best Time to go: Post monsoon (Nov to Jan end). Unchalli has water thru out the year. Benne gets dried up by Feb.
Transportation: Frequent KSRTC buses are available to Sirsi. For Unchalli take a bus to Heggarane (30 km), Trek to Unchalli (5km). For Benne, Take a bus to Kasage (36 km). Trek to Benne (6 km).
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