21 April 2012
The hot weather had put a stop on
our trip plans. The list of destinations on our mind was long but dry
conditions did not encourage us to proceed further. “Why not we try out places
where we can find water?” was the usual question. The only place near Bengaluru
with some water is Kaveri River. The stretch of Kaveri River between Shivana
Samudra and Hogenakkal flows though the forest area with occasional human
habitation. According to me it is a good place for trekking.
Our plan was simple. We had a day
to spare and decide to walk along the river. The starting point would be
Bheemeshwari that is 100 km from Bengaluru. Subbu Krishna, Subbu Subramanya,
Srikanth and Girish join for this mini adventure!!
I always had problem in finding a
good restaurant in Kanakapura. My friends suggested “Vaasu hotel” which turned
out to be a nice place providing tasty food!! After eating heavily and packing
lunch, we set out towards our destination. Before Kaveri River, we passed
through the forest which was dry thanks to hot weather. Muthatti was the first
village along the River. A place abused
by human being to no end. No civilized and hygienic minded person would every
get down at Muthatti. Words are hard to explain the filth of that place. We
quickly escaped from Muthatti to reach relatively peaceful Bheemeshwari.
After parking the car on road
side we headed towards the River. We were expecting dry river bed but there was
good amount of water. That was encouraging from trek point of view. And so we
started walking upstream along the river. Fortunately the cloud cover provided
some relief from the blazing sun. We had short walks followed by long stops
with lengthy discussions!! The area was
peaceful with only sounds coming from birds and flowing river (And obviously
our talks!).
After walking for few km, I
checked the map and found that we were nearing the confluence of Shimsha and Kaveri
River. We decided to return back. But now the clouds had cleared exposing us to
the direct sun. The journey was tiring and our energy was refueled only after
jumping into the river.
A word of caution:
We see in news papers about
people drowning in Kaveri River at Muthatti and other nearby places. Most cases
can be attributed to drunken people but carelessness is also one of the main reasons
for deaths. Swirls in the river are dangerous. Crocodiles do not pose much
problem but one need to be aware of their presence.
