Chennai to Kona/Kone Falls

It was a wonderful road trip. This time to Kona falls which is in Narayanavanam Mandal,Chittoor District, AP. The nearest railway station is Puttur which is only 10kms away from the falls.

Kailasanatha Kona being the full name is shortly known as Kona falls. It's a very good place to hangout, particular if you are residing in Chennai or Tirupathi.

Driving Directions :

The distance from Chennai(from Koyambedu) and Kone falls is just around 95 and only 10 km from Puttur but you don't have to drive till Puttur if you go via the Red Hills route. But, If you wish to go via Poonamallee-Tiruvallur-Tirutani and Nagari you have to take a right exactly on the outskirts of Puttur By-pass. Both the routes are pretty good but the one via Red Hills is a better one for the reason its a bit safer as it has wider roads at some parts atleast. Also for the fact that traffic is quite less compared to the other.

Route1 : Guindy - Porur - Poonamallee - Thiruvallur - Tiruttani - Nagari - Puttur
Route2 : Guindy - Koyambedu - Red-Hills - Periyapalayam - Uthukotai

You can also plan your trip from/to Tirupathi which is only around 40kms away.

Finding the exact location :
However finding the exact location of the Falls has been a difficult task for so many people who have been there. While coming in NH5 you have to look out for a narrow road that takes off from the highway at exactly 10kms before Puttur. So you need to watch for the milestone (on the right side of the road) that reads “Puthur 10″. This entrance comes immediately after that milestone on the left side of the road with a welcoming Arch in front. From here its a 2km drive to the foothills of the falls.


Kona Falls - An Overview:
The falls avails you a shower with its fresh and sacred water. You can bath either in the falls or start trekking up the hill where you can find a lot of small pools formed naturally by rock-cut ponds which gives you the feel of a natural swimming pool.
Activities to do:
Trekking
Swimming
Relaxing

Where to Eat:
Puttur is just less than a half-an-hour drive which is quite a big town. This is the only nearest place to the falls
where you can find some good hotels either inside the town or on the bypass road.

Adventure - Riding, Swimming and Trekking:
Our trip was very interesting. We were part of the group Metal Men - "Burn the Road".
Imagining what Metal men is all about? We are the riders of Royal Enfield's Thunderbird.

We started from Chennai on a fine Saturday morning.
We were a group of around 20 people each one having a separate bike.

At around 7.30 AM we were at the outskirts of the city after all the necessary planning and Breakfast.
And now came the BIG moment.. Everyone sat on their bikes and one behind the other, we burnt the road as well a lot of fuel. For the next two hours it was completely noisy with the engines screaming as loud as they can and everyone on the road-pedestrians to Huge trailers looked at us with amusement.

It was our turn to rule the Road - We overtook every single vehicle that was before us with the sounds of our yelling engines.

By 11.00 AM, we reached our destination after having a few pitstops here and there. We had a very brief look at the falls which din't had much water though it was active. So soon after we decided to trek the hill through its forests. It was very pleasant as we elevated up and we were actually in search of the ponds which were supposed to be a wonderful pool of fresh water to swim.


After 30 mins we found ourselves before a small but natural pond made of rocks and which was 6 feet deep.
We decided to trek up the hill for some better pools as told by some local guys. Amongst those who had come that day, we were the one to trek the most. We went very deep and high into the forest in search of the origin of water. But finally gave up this search and started chatting with ourselves in a very shady place.
After a tiresome trek:

After all the trekking we came all the way down deciding to have a swim in the same pool that we saw downhill. Hoooooo! Everyone started jumping into it and we were really having a great time there swimming and chatting. Even those who din't knew swimming managed to take their chances today for the pool wasn't that deep at all.The water was fresh and chill. So that was really a natural swimming pool. I would wish one of such kind (made up of rocks) in my home instead of the artificial ones.

After all the enjoyment, it was almost 3.00 PM and we decided to drive back to Chennai after having some lunch.

All together it was a wonderful ride as well the trek and swim. If you are adventurous you can trek as high as possible. Its really a good place to trek. You don't have to get anyone's permission to trek the hill. People say that there are better pools atop the hill but we missed them. So if you are adventurous enough try trekking  up the hills as high as you can.


END OF AN AWESOME TRIP

Chennai To Goa - By Road via JOG Falls - Gokarna - Dandeli

It was a wonderful experience from Chennai to Goa by road. It was the month of April 2009 and after a lot of up's and down's in our plans, with 11 members and a FORCE Tempo Traveller, we were all geared up to leave for GOA.


Driving Directions to Goa:

From Chennai, there are actually three different routes to Goa. All 3 of them pass through Bangalore. So you have to reach Bangalore first before deciding any further. From Bangalore, the best suggested route especially if you are only headed to GOA is to drive till Dharwad on the NH4 and then at Dharwad you have to leave the NH4 and head towards Londa where you will reach the NH4A that will take you to GOA.
From Dharwad, you can either head directly to Goa or plan a day at Dandeli which is yet another wonderful place that offers you so many water sports such as White-water rafting, canoeing, Kayaking, coracling etc.
Dandeli also offers you some intresting treks and experiences of staying in tents.

The second route is to drive on the NH4 till Tumkur and take the NH206 via Shimoga and Gokarna.
This route offers you two pictursuqe place namely the JOG falls and Gokarna. Gokarna is a scenic place with beaches enclosed by hills. Gokarna makes you fell an instance of what GOA is all about.
Hilly coastal areas, enclosed beaches and the famous OM beach is all that you can see at Gokarna.

The third route i would prefer is to ignore the NH4 at Bangalore itself and drive till Mangalore. There are a lot of places in between this route but the road might not be as best as the NH4. It might take you a long time to traverse this way but it has some real good scenic beauties especially while driving past the western ghats.
From Mangalore its another neautiful road that goes almost parallel to the eastern cost and you can always have a glimpse of the sea till you reach GOA. Once again the road might not be as best as NH4 nor that its
bad either. It's worth to go this way for you can enjoy the different landscapes of south india.


Our trip :

First DAy :

It was almost 12.00 mid night by the time we could gather ourselves and reach the outskirts of Chennai.
Away from a Busy Traffic, Busy Life, Here we Go...

Initially, our plan was to take the NH4 till Hubli and then divert left from NH4 towards GOA via Dandeli. But we were equally keen in visiting JOG falls and Gokarna which were towards the south of GOA. Hence we had to change some plans enroute to GOA.

So the route we actually went through was -
CHENNAI - Bangalore - Tumkur -Shimoga - JOG Falls - Honnavar - Gokarna - GOA - Dandeli


Bangalore being 288kms from Chennai shouldn't take you more than 6Hrs and Tumkur is just 68 kms from Bangalore which is another 1 Hr.
We reached bangalore by 6.00 AM and stopped at a highway hotel beyond Bangalore for Refreshments and Breakfast.

Jog Falls is 450Kms away from Bangalore and might take you 8-10 Hrs because the road is not at its best. After a Left turn from Tumkur it NH206 and you can no longer expect the road to be like NH4.


But if you decide to visit JOG falls, i dont think i can recommend you a better route than this one via Tumkur and Shimoga.

For us It took 16 Hrs to reach JOG Falls from Chennai after a couple of pitstops beyond Bangalore. JOG Falls was not its best due to its off-season. Though disappointed, we spent some 3 Hrs with other tourists in a game of Volleyball until it was obstructed by a local who insisted that we leave the place. Soon after that evening we headed towards Gokarna but decided to rest at Honnavar for a good BED sleep at night.

At Honnavar, it was our first night (nearly 24 Hrs passed) after we had left from Chennai and people have already started regretting for choosing this time-consuming route from Tumkur and for the fact that JOG falls wasn't that interesting.








The next day morning, we started early at around 6:00 and headed towards Gokarna.

In almost two and a half hours, we reached Gokarna and it was a really splendid place to hang out. Not only
beaches and cliffs from where you can have a look at the Gokarna bay, but it also has a historic Mahabaleshwar temple.

The Om beach is very famous and also has comfortable resorts where you can hangout for a day or two. Other activities to do are a boat ride to an island present nearby.









Wooden Cottages @ Dandeli :
















White-water rafting @ Dandeli :



Beaches @ Gokarna & Goa: