3rd November 2013
During my visit to my native place during Deepavali, I decided to visit some lesser-known falls in the area. My brother and two cousins joined me. It was the same group that visited the base of Unchalli falls last year. This time I was better prepared by bringing a car!! Else, I don’t think that I could have managed to drive the last few km to MG village given my minuscule two-wheeler skills.
There are two ways to see this falls. An easier way is to reach the top of the falls. But the view is not great and will not justify the long journey we have made to reach that place. A better way is to hike to the base of the falls, which is more demanding but provides a cleaner and closer view of the falls.
The first person whom we met in the village tried to dissuade us from going to the falls. His reason was that the water was too deep. But it did not deter us at all, and he reluctantly showed us the direction. The path continuously went down through plantations and forests. A dog decided to join us. He seemed to be a little confused about our destination as he tried to direct us towards local houses!!
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| First view of the falls |
Within 20-25 minutes, we had descended nearly 700 feet to reach a tribal house next to the stream. Two dogs in the house did not like us and started barking loudly. The house owner had to pop out of his house to investigate the reason for barking. First, he restrained the dogs from hounding us. Having known our intentions, he asked us to continue walking upstream to reach the waterfall. He also mentioned an alternate way that avoids walking along the stream. Somehow it did not register in our mind, and we continued walking along the stream.
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| The village |
With limited trekking experience, it was tricky for other members to walk along the stream. That path was slippery. We had to cross over to the opposite bank many times as it was difficult to navigate on the same bank for long. What I thought would be a “quick and swift” trek seemed to stretch for a long time. Even after one hour of walking, there was no sign on the falls. The slow progress was the culprit.
We reached a point where my brother and my cousin Abhiram decided to halt their walk as they could not cross over to the opposite bank. The dog also stayed with them. (Later, we came to know that it tried crossing the river but could not succeed!!) Ajith and I continued further and reached the waterfall.
There are three stages in this waterfall. The first stage is on the left side of the valley. It is the second stage that dominates the landscape. The third stage is very short, where the water finally drops into the gorge.
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| First stage of the falls |
The valley narrowed as we approached the base of the waterfall. It looked possible to get down into the water, but it was not safe. A safer place to enjoy the water was on a “side waterfall”.
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| Second and third stage |
The waterfall seemed to be home to snakes as we saw some fresh mounted snake skin!! We saw a real one on the way back. Basking in the afternoon sun, it was blocking our way. We were scared of snakes and stood still. The problem was that we could not recognize snake species. While I could identify green snakes, wipers, python, I struggled to differentiate between cobra or rat snake. It was not facing us and hence could not see whether it had a “V” mark. It was not a good idea to ask the snake to show its hood!! Also, some cobras do not have that mark!!
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| A closer look at the third stage |
We decided to wait and watch and allow it to move away. We could have shooed it away or threw stones at it. But what if it was a Cobra and decided to attack us? Killing or harming a creature was not in our minds. This snake had not even been aware of our presence. No snake would attack without provocation.
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| ‘Bathing’ falls |
The wait seemed to be a long one, but finally, the snake jumped into the water and crossed over to the other side. It was amazing to see it braving the currents to cross the stream. We breathed a sigh of relief, but unfortunately, we also had to cross the river at the same point!! We preferred to “struggle” on the slippery path on the bank instead of crossing over to meet our friend again!!
In that tension, it never occurred to us to take a photograph of the snake!!
Country Hopping Couple
Those are some amazing pictures. Loved that waterfall closeup picture.
R Niranjan Das
Amazing captures of the gorgeous waterfalls. What is the expansion of MG?
Team G Square
Lovely disscovery. Snake encounter must have been amazing experience.
Aravind GJ
Country hopping couple,
Thanks!!
Niranjan,
Thanks. Will send the details to your mail.
Dhiraj,
Snake encounter was memorable!!
Srik
Wow… great falls, wonderful pics and a neat presentation!
Aravind GJ
Srikanth,
Thanks for your comments.
Sana
Nice narration and I was laughing reading about the snake encounter. The macro shot is brilliant!!
Aravind GJ
Thanks Sahana for your comments. The snake experiences are always good to cherish at a later point of time as long as the snake does not bite!!