After an eventful and exciting day at Wayanad we are ready to set off towards Coorg.Waking up at 4:30 am in the morning we took turns using the bathroom.I got ready pretty quickly and went down to the parking area to find our bus. On the way down i had to use the stairs because last night the boys had a rough run and they ended up destroying the elevators(True Story!)Its around 6:10 and we're on the road to Coorg,travelling via the Sultan Bathery Pulpally route. Our tour coordinator had told us that we might see wild animals (no, i know what you are thinking,if you thought tigers and wolves and other fierce 'wild animals' you are wrong!).Behold the wild animal - a deer.
Now i get it, when the guy said that we'll see wild animals, he meant that we'll see a lot of deer. And we cant blame him,cause he never said different kinds of wild animals did he?? Anyway this picture was taken by Shilpa T.S.(special thanks to her), and moving on we saw another wild animal- an elephant.Great, how lucky we are (sarcasm intended). We reach Pulpally, and being a Sunday most of the restaurants are closed, and many are just opening. After searching for a while we find Hotel Greens. It was a decent hotel, but not as posh as the one in Wayanad. And as expected we had crappy food(still, not as crappy as the one from Mint Flower). I guess its a general trend that as the overall quality of the restaurant decreases the quality of the food increases slightly. I had my breakfast and came back to the bus. While waiting for the others, it hit me. Sundays,.... of course, i usually go for the morning mass. Oops! completely forgot about that part. Then i told myself that its OK because He knows i forgot and that it wasn't intentional. Its almost 8:00 am and i am still waiting.....
On the way to Coorg we stopped at Irupu Falls. Its a part of the Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary.We reach the entrance and move through the gates that lead to the falls. And by the look of things i feel that its going to be yet another long walk. Along the way on either side we see fields growing plantain. And towering above us a huge hill. Great! i guess we'll have to go through it, is this a tour or a boot camp?
The way to the falls is full of puddles and muddy,if you are wearing shoes there's a good chance that they'll get wet.
Our coordinator had told us to leave our footwear behind,but i was too confident to listen to him, and now i have to jump step across puddles and tread carefully so as to keep them dry. To the right you can see a picture where the road is completely submerged underwater.This was the very first obstacle i came across. After weighing all my options,the solution was quite simple, take off the shoes cross the damn creek and put them back on the other side. Hope i dont have to do this very often,cause its not as easy and quick as it sounds. Moving on,......
After some more walking i find this. Its from this board that i came to know that all the adjoining areas of the waterfalls are part of the Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary. Its a pretty good painting with an awesome catch phrase. I've got no idea how much further i have to walk....
The anticipation of what i'll see keeps me moving forward. From the puddles and small creeks all around us i think that it might be a big waterfall. After some more distance we come across this strong torrent of water. Its flowing very strongly and swiftly. The water is white and foamy.After covering some more distance i reach a hanging bridge across this stream. It's a good spot to take some photos.
On crossing this bridge there's more steps and after more walking you get to see the falls from afar for the first time. walk some more and you reach a view point. And from here you can see the falls in its full splendor and glory. Its a sight to behold. The Soochipara Falls at Wayanad is nothing compared to this one.Here's a picture to prove my point.
Yup that's me in the center with Ayyappa Raj to my left and Anand Raj to my right (No they aren't brothers, in case you were wondering). There are steps that lead further up to the top. The force of water gushing down is so great that there's this constant roar and you have to speak up to be heard in this din. To get good up-close shots of the falls you have to risk your camera getting wet. Since it's only day 2 and there's a lot to be shot in the days that follow, i decided not to do it. As the water is falling from a great height and that too onto rocks, it creates a huge spray of water. Get too close and you'll get wet from the water that's floating around in the air carried by the wind.
I believe i haven't introduced these two people. This is our dear Akash Sir and his wife. This may sound hard to believe but these two are the ones in charge of us. For every study tour a staff from our college should accompany the students, and in our case its Akash Sir. We'll get to more on him later(Yeah and that's Harish standing behind them).
Thats it for Irupu Falls. We trace our way back to the bus. And some of the guys and gals who decided to take a bath anyway went to change into dry clothes and I along with the others waited for them. Funny thing, my shoes are still dry, yes!!, high five!!!
While waiting for them to return Harish and I went for a walk and found a temple nearby.He asked me to take a photo to show his mother, that he's a god fearing, religious kid. Why not?(By the way,this is as far as he got to the temple, he never went inside it ).
To be continued.....
Now i get it, when the guy said that we'll see wild animals, he meant that we'll see a lot of deer. And we cant blame him,cause he never said different kinds of wild animals did he?? Anyway this picture was taken by Shilpa T.S.(special thanks to her), and moving on we saw another wild animal- an elephant.Great, how lucky we are (sarcasm intended). We reach Pulpally, and being a Sunday most of the restaurants are closed, and many are just opening. After searching for a while we find Hotel Greens. It was a decent hotel, but not as posh as the one in Wayanad. And as expected we had crappy food(still, not as crappy as the one from Mint Flower). I guess its a general trend that as the overall quality of the restaurant decreases the quality of the food increases slightly. I had my breakfast and came back to the bus. While waiting for the others, it hit me. Sundays,.... of course, i usually go for the morning mass. Oops! completely forgot about that part. Then i told myself that its OK because He knows i forgot and that it wasn't intentional. Its almost 8:00 am and i am still waiting.....
The way to the falls is full of puddles and muddy,if you are wearing shoes there's a good chance that they'll get wet.
Thats it for Irupu Falls. We trace our way back to the bus. And some of the guys and gals who decided to take a bath anyway went to change into dry clothes and I along with the others waited for them. Funny thing, my shoes are still dry, yes!!, high five!!!
To be continued.....
