It was a long weekend and we decided to go to Goa for 4 days. Day 3, we decided to go up to Dudhsagar Falls, 60 km from Panaji. It was as unpredictable as it could be – riding along railway tracks, crossing streams, my great fall – by the end of the day, I’d say it’s definitely one of the crazier trips.

From Goa, travel along NH4A towards Ponda – proceed towards Molem beyond Ponda. Once you reach Molem, watch out for the signboard for Colem. You’d turn right there and ride to the end of that road (about 7km). You’d find a number of guides/pilots willing to take you on a bike (for about 360INR). They are not the best people to ask for directions – they are more interested in scaring you in to riding their bikes.

We decided to go on our own and turned left – thankfully, there were some very helpful local folks who gave us directions. Before I get on with our route, a couple of pointers – There are a number of routes to the falls and the easiest would be to take the train to the Dudhsagar station. The road looked quite used (relatively) – still, not your normal road. Be prepared for some tough and careful riding. If you are not game for riding, you should take one of the guides along or take the train ride. It was a moment of relaxed riding that resulted in my head injury. Enough of scares – let’s get on with the route!

Turn left at the Dudhsagar board at Colem and find your way to the manned level crossing. As soon as you cross the railway tracks, you’d find a mud road going up to your left. You should leave the tarred road and get on to the mud road into the bushes. When you go up the mud road, you’d reach an unused railway track. This unused railway track will lead you to a path right next to the railway track in use. You’d reach around the 49/500 or so signboard. Keep riding till you reach 46/000 and 45/900. You should also find a milestone that has 51 on one side and 50 on the other. Around that spot, you should look for a bridge beneath the railway track. Look for the steps leading down – you’d also find a path for bikes. Riding down that path will lead you right into the stream flowing below the bridge.

As long as it is not monsoon, the stream should be crossable – it was hardly ankle-high when we crossed it last weekend. Once you cross the stream, that path would join another road at right angle. Turn right at this road and ride on – it is not a short ride from there – at least 10kms, I’d say. Somewhere along this road, I had my near fatal fall – resulting in 4 stitches. Please ride carefully!

The mud road, with slopes – up and down – and stones, big and small – will be your riding challenge. Keep riding till you reach the board that points to the falls, and refreshments (a closed shop).

It is quite a short walk from there to the falls. You’d cross the water a couple of times before you can get right in front of the falls. It is one trip where the journey is much better than the destination (purely, my opinion). In fact, if you are game enough to walk 14 km, it would be one of the nicest walks you’ve ever had.

I was already on my way to Bangalore, so I called up an old friend of mine who had a litter of puppies at home! After a photoshoot at his place, we moved on hoping to find gumboots in Bangalore – but then, it was getting late. So, we decided to go to Jog Falls (via Shimoga). I was eager to compare my photos with my pre-SLR days

We reached Shimoga close to 10pm (after a 6.5 hour bus ride from Bangalore) and found a room at one of the hotels opposite the bus stand. The next morning we left for Jog Falls – 2.5 hours from Shimoga. It seemed to be a sunny day – so different from our last visit when we were drenched by the time we reached the entrance! Though, the sunny day was to last for just about 10 minutes – I guess there is nothing called a sunny day at Jog! Yup, soon there was a heavy downpour – I began to wonder if we’d be able to trek at all!

We started once the rain abated – we had to walk a little further to find our way down – the normal path was closed because work is going on. They are laying concrete steps all the way to the bottom! God save this beautiful place once that’s done and the whole world can go all the way down to dump their waste! I’d hate to see this place get crowded and dirty.

Anyways, soon we reached the stairs (which is work-in-progress) – you get on it and start walking. It’s not like a trek anymore And then, all of a sudden, the stairs end! Well, they haven’t finished it yet. So, instead of concrete steps, you walk along gaping holes with iron bars sticking out! Their idea of making up for the lost adventure so far? I don’t know! But, if you are going there, you better watch your step! After walking around a number of such holes, I began to wonder if it was worth it all – this place looked so mutilated and here we were carrying our cameras and tripods …

There was point when it was pouring like crazy, the holes dug up for the stairs looked like a never-ending mess, and I thought we should turn around. But then, we moved on – and reached the base of the falls! I still remember standing there wondering if we should go on – the bag seemed heavier, the camera seemed bulkier, we seemed to be carrying way too many things … and it looked like the downpour would never stop. Looking back, I think I can begin to understand what climbers/trekkers feel when the weather isn’t the best!

Was it worth it – definitely! It’s such a great feeling the first time you step in to the stream after the trek – though, you’d get your shoes wet in the process! It’s not a good idea to walk barefoot because of the sharp stones. It is such an awesome experience to stand there in the middle of gushing waters and look up at the waters falling all around you – to be surrounded by nothing but rocks, shrubs and water!

Soon, it was time to make our way up -with the rain for company. It rained so hard… the waterfall turned brown… was awesome to look at! It had barely stopped raining when we were on the last stretch – a pretty steep climb. We made it over the wall and it started pouring again!

We waited for the rain to stop and then dashed to the hotel – only to find they had nothing interesting We got out

PS: v2 – is visit #2 not version 2