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Thursday 1 September 2011

A HOLIDAY!!

Getting up at 4 in the morning to visit any place is what i call violation of my sleeping rights!! that's right!! family had planned to visit the famous hogennakkal falls on a holiday. "do we have to get up so early?", i asked smuggled in my warm blanket."yes,you don't want to get stuck in the traffic rush",  everyone says.. drat!! there goes my sleep!! but nevertheless, I wake up with all  my courage and get ready cursing everyone. little did i know, that this trip was gonna transcend me through an entire new facet of nature' beauty. located 170km away from Bangalore, hogennakkal falls originating from the river cauvery falls right into the state of Tamil-Nadu. it's just a 3 hour drive by car. taking the hosur road, you go through the electronic city and from where starts a carnival of sorts fro the toll. there are  numerous tolls dotting the super-highways all along. entering the state of Tamil-nadu, you find the sky turning red at first, and then yellow with the sun rising to wish you a good-morning!! you pass across numerous villages and towns and also places of just very few inhabitants structured along either side of the road!! is it even a village?? i wonder...eating hot idlis floating in sambar and chutney and washing it down with a cup of coffee with the village's old man makes up for lost sleep. finally, reaching the destination, iam in a shock!! all my complaining goes down the drain.. the picture before me is an unending breadth and length of bubbling stream of water flowing majestically and then suddenly plunging down into deep crevasses and cliffs!!! breath-taking!! hogennakal or hoge-na-kal means stone giving out smoke... due to the river falling down from a great height, it creates a mist...hence its name.. all along the river are mountains of karnataka. it's almost as if they are protecting the river and its kingdom!! there are numerous points from where you can view the beauty. welcoming you is the short and sweet cine-falls, the location of numerous Bollywood movies.. its here that the roja bathing scene was shot!! then you have a more greater view of the cine falls and a rain of the mist!! walking further and crossing the stream a-la-man-vs-wild style, you have another facet of river cauvery!! here you can sit on the cement bridges and dip your hands and feet into the cool water!! pure heaven!! you suddenly realize that life's not so bad!! then you have a watch tower, from where you can have a panoramic view of the entire falls!! deep crevasses covered in mist and lush greenery all around, you just are transported to another world!! its pure untouched by anything artificial.. i just couldn't believe my eyes when i saw the water just gushing down unmindful of anything else. its very justifiably called THE NIAGARA OF INDIA!! Don't forget to take your pictures from the photographers there!! lovely  memories!! also, if you wanna have even more closer view of the nature, take the boats. the boats are very natural and are circular,made of bamboo sticks and lined with tar!! the person takes you through the entire stretch of the river telling you about the stories of various shootings of movies, the stars, and also veerapan!!  he lived in one of the mountains surrounding the falls!! as the "theppa", the boat traverses the river slowly, you look around and find only lush greenery and the water on it's way to join its sea!! unconsciously, a smile comes on your face!! then a spot comes, from where you can view the karnataka falls and the Tamil-nadu falls!! take a dip if you feel like!! four or more streams of water just goes straight down into the cliff creating a very beautiful atmosphere. every tourist around me goes click-click-click  with their cameras and mobiles and handy cams as i stand stunned at the marvelous scene before me!! its highly recommended especially during or right after the rains!! please do visit it and rejuvenate your souls the natural way!! this has been a holiday to remember!! :):)...and for those who think that we don't have the right places for a holiday in our country, pay this spot a visit. i am sure you will bite your tongue after an appointment with hogennakkal falls!!

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