Trek to Brahmagiri - from Iruppu side

[December 2006]

Brahmagiri was very enchanting when we trekked there earlier this year from the Thirunelli side and during that time we had decided that sometimes again, we will return to this place. And little did we realize that the day would come so soon. Probably, the best time to trek in Karnataka is from November to March when the rain gods would be taking rest. We planned to visit Brahmagiri again during the first weekend of December but this time from the Karnataka side in Iruppu, near Coorg. Brahmagiri is a much frequented place from the Iruppu side based on the numerous blogs available on the net. We collected two important points from all such available informations: (a) one needs permission to do the trek from the DFO at Srimangala and (b) the trek can be a one-day trek or a 2-day one with the possibility of an overnight stay at Narimale, almost halfway between the base and the peak. We planned to do the two-day trek and so called up the DFO office at Srimangala to book accommodation at the Narimale rest house but were dejected to know that the place had already been booked. But they told us to come down there and check for the availability as there were chances of last minute withdrawals.

For most of the treks, our team remains the same and we travel on bikes. As always, myself and Kunal were there and this time we had a new member, Samy for the trek. Unlike earlier occasions, when we used to start from Bangalore in the afternoon, this time we decided to start in the morning instead and reach Iruppu, which is more famous for the Iruppu falls by afternoon. This will give us sometime to rest and then do the trek with full energy the next day. Iruppu is in Kodagu district and it’s around 280 kms from Bangalore on the way to Madikeri, the headquarters of Kodagu. Iruppu can be reached from Bangalore by two ways, one via Mysore and the other via Hassan, the Hassan one being a bit longer. Either way, one has to reach Hunsur and from there proceed towards Gonikoppa. At Gonikoppa, one has to take the road going towards Nagarhole, Srimangala and Iruppu Falls. Based on the inputs from one of our friends (who had gone to Coorg a few weeks back) regarding the road conditions on the Mysore-Hunsur highway, we decided to take the Hassan route to reach Iruppu. Although our plan was to start around 7:00 o’clock in the morning on Friday, 8th Dec., it was already 9:00 when we actually hit the Hassan highway at Nelamangala. We traveled at an average speed of around 60 kms an hour and reached the Hassan city bypass around 11:30AM. We need not go into Hassan and proceeded on the highway going towards Mangalore. We took a small break just close to the bypass for a quick tea and hit the road again. Just after 4 kms, we came to the circle where we are supposed to take the left to go towards K R Nagara and further towards Hunsur. The roads were in excellent condition except for small patches which were under construction. We reached Hunsur pretty soon via K R Nagara and from there we were on our way towards Gonikoppa. Around 5 kms after crossing Hunsur, we reached a road fork. For people traveling to Madikeri, one can take any of these two roads. The one on the right goes straight to Madikeri, whereas the left road goes via Gonikoppa and Virajpet. We took the diversion on the left for Gonikoppa, which was around 45 kms from this fork. Very nice village road with open land on either side gave us company till the entry point of Rajiv Gandhi National Park. A brief stretch of road (around 10 kms) inside the forest before reaching Gonikoppa is in pathetic condition with potholes spread out like bubbles in water when you blow with a pipe. We had a tough time negotiating this part of the road and with lot of pain in our hinds and back, we reached Gonikoppa. Samy, on the pillion with me had a really horrible time. But still more was in store for him. After filling our petrol tanks at Gonikoppa, we took the road going towards Nagarhole. The road on this stretch was even worse. It’s difficult to understand why roads inside a forest area are always in bad shape. We took around an hour’s time to reach Srimangala which was just around 20 kms from Gonikoppa. We directly reached the DFO’s office at Srimangala and enquired about the trek. The office bearers in the office spoke good English and Hindi, so we had no trouble in conversing with them. They told us that it would not be impossible for them to provide accommodation at Narimale since it was already full. They gave us the option of doing a one-day trek which would be slightly strenuous. We had no other option and we decided to go for the one-day trek the next day. After paying our trek fees at the office, we started enquiring about the accommodation for the night and we were told that some accommodation would be available at Iruppu which was around 5-7 kms from Srimangala. We had not taken any proper food since morning and all of us were very hungry. We started to look around the Srimangala bus stand for some solid food, but it was not available. We had ice-creams and cookies and immediately proceeded towards Iruppu. We reached Iruppu in around 15 minutes. Except for a temple and an eating place, there’s absolutely nothing in Iruppu. As told to us, we contacted the eating place for a place to stay the night. The temple had a small resting house called the Lakshmanateertha Guest House just close to the waterfalls and it seems only one room was vacant at that time where we can stay for the night. We were more than happy at getting a place. The eating place can provide dinner also if informed in advance. We asked them to prepare dinner for three people. It was already 5:00PM then. We dumped our baggage in the room, took a quick shower and then went to Kutta which was around 7 kms from Iruppu to buy some necessary stuff for the trek. By the time we came back, dinner was already prepared. The dinner was simple with two chapattis, potato curry, rice and sambar. We needed good rest for the trek the next day and lo, we were in bed immediately after dinner.

We didn’t need a wake up call the next morning. Our neighbors in the adjacent rooms were up pretty early and their loud talk regarding the availability of hot water for bathing cut short our cozy sleep. We were ready for the trek by 8 and we reached the eating place where we were supposed to meet our guide. Our guide was already there in full readiness, but we were told that another group would join us and so we had to wait for them. The other group was there in a short time – 5 members in their 40s. We started our trek from the restaurant at 9:00AM towards the waterfalls. On reaching the waterfalls, a path is seen going up towards the right and the guide mentioned that this was the trekking path towards Brahmagiri peak. We slowly started the climb. Having experienced the problem of leeches in this part of the region, we were in full gear. We had realized earlier that it was difficult to repel leeches with any of the available traditional solutions like salt etc. Since the most common path for the leeches to enter into blood territory was through the socks and shoes, we wore 2 pairs of socks with a polyethylene wrapping between them to prevent any chances for the leech to contact the skin. The initial stretch of the climb was little bit steep, but trekking was not very tiring. Narimale was around 5 kms up from the falls. We were truly amazed by the stamina of our co-trekkers from the other group who in spite of their increasing age were able to climb pretty comfortably. Leeches were definitely less this time, very few of them sticking to our shoes. This is the time when Kunal got a novel idea. By some thought he was carrying his deodorant with him and he wondered whether this would have any effect on the leeches. He sprayed the deo on some of the leeches on his shoes and to his surprise found that the leeches became immobile and it was easier to remove them. Life became very easy afterwards. Just spray deo on the leeches whenever you see them on you. The forest was not very thick and the climb was comfortable. Except for few obstacles in the form of thick shrubs on the way and crossing a bridge made of two bamboos with no sidebars to hold, we were in Narimale by 11:00AM. There’s a house at this place, where one can stay overnight if they are on a two-day trek. We stopped at this place for around 15 minutes, filled our water bottles from a small stream nearby and went ahead for the final onslaught towards Brahmagiri peak. Brahmagiri is around 5-6 kms from Narimale. The guide told us that the trek from this point on would be very easy and only the last stretch of around 700 meters would be the toughest. We kept on walking in the midst open grasslands. After crossing around a kilometer or so, we could see at a distance Brahmagiri peak on our left. In the meantime, 3 of the 5 “uncles” with us decided to drop out. They were having problems with their knee. This stretch was more like doing a long walk beneath the open sky and of course elephant dung gave us good company throughout. This was elephant territory and without the guide we may not be in a position to react if at all we encounter one of them on our path. In another hour or so, we were right below the Brahmagiri peak. As mentioned by our guide, the climb from this point to the peak was really steep. It was more like looking straight up towards the sky. At the base, another uncle dropped off citing knee problems. We started our climb slowly up the slope. We had to crawl also in between. We were surprised to see lot of elephant dung on this steep path too. We began to wonder as to how such a huge animal could go up and down this slope. The distance towards the peak was not much, but the climb was tiring. When we completed around 70% of the climb, we looked down to see how far we had hiked. Well, well, the next level of thought struck us. How are we going to get down now from the top? It’s so damn steep. Within a short time we were right at the peak. Another peak to our list. The view from the top was just amazing. Down on the other side, we could see the Thirunelli temple, the place from where we climbed a few months back. The entire Brahmagiri range spread far and wide was awesome. We rested for sometime here, had fruit juice and buns. From our other group, only one person could finish the trek. We started planning as to how to climb down. Maybe sliding would be a better choice with a very low risk of tumbling down, but our trousers would be scraped clean on the hind by the time we reach the base. Finally we decided that we would get down slowly with a sitting posture but with the bums not exactly touching the hilly surface. I was the first to climb down. I found a better technique instead. I started sliding on my shoes with my hands for support and within 15 minutes, I was at the base. Our guide was waiting for us at the base. He mentioned that he has become sick of climbing the peak everyday and so he usually drops off at the base. The others also came down without much of a problem in a short while and we all started our way back towards Narimale. While walking back, occasionally, we would turn around and appreciate each other on the steep climb upto the peak. We took an hour and 20 minutes to reach Narimale rest house through the same road. On the way, we passed a group of 7 students on their way to the peak. When we reached Narimale, we found that the place was full of activity. There were so many people. Everybody has the same urge to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life the moment they get a chance. A big group of BPO folks numbering around 35 were there to stay at the guest house in Narimale for the night. I strongly feel that trekking is probably the best exercise for building teams and enhance interactions amongst people. We rested for around 20 minutes at Narimale and then started our descent towards habitation. I wanted to climb down as fast as possible, so I broke away from the group and started walking down at a brisk pace. I reached Iruppu falls within 40 minutes from Narimale. In another 30 minutes or so, our other friends also arrived. This trek to Brahmagiri was the least troublesome of all the treks we did and we really enjoyed a lot. We bade goodbye to our friends from the other group and returned to our room at the Lakshmanateertha Guest House. During our interactions with the “uncles”, we came to know of something very interesting – it seems there is a Shiva linga just behind the waterfall before it falls to the bottom and during Shivaratri day, this place sees a festive atmosphere with pilgrims from several parts of south India gathering together to seek the Almighty’s blessings.

Our next plan was to leave Iruppu that evening and stay for the night at Gonikoppa. After a quick shower and a small rest, we started our drive towards Gonikoppa. It was getting dark when we reached Gonikoppa and we straightway landed at Hotel Nandanavanam (as suggested by our trekking friends earlier in the evening) for the night’s stay. We dumped our bags in the hotel room and decided to search for a nice eating place for dinner. We checked with the hotel reception and they suggested Silver Sky restaurant just opposite the hotel. Still we wanted to check out for any other better place. Gonikoppa is a small town and all the business activity is dominated on a 1km stretch of road on the highway. A quick search later, the only choice was Silver Sky. We had a sumptuous dinner and a long chat pretty late into the night and finally crashlanded for a good night’s sleep. The return trip was already planned. We wanted to take the Mysore route to reach Bangalore.

The day dawned pretty early for us on Sunday and we were on the road immediately after a quick breakfast. We reached IISc at around 3:30PM and dispersed. Brahmagiri is a nice place for trekking and all trek lovers would like it. We would suggest people to go for the two-day trek and make a night’s halt at the Narimale guest house. You can either take your own food for the night or cook there itself with firewood. The stillness of the night in a jungle with the constant fear of elephants giving company, the stay would be exciting and memorable.

ABOUT BRAHMAGIRI

Brahmagiri Hills can be accessed from Coorg on the Karnataka side or Thirunelli on the Kerala side. With a height of approximately 1600 meters, Brahmagiri is well known for the famous Iruppu Falls and the Thirunelli temple and also for the enormous opportunity to do trekking. On the Kerala side, Brahmagiri falls in Wayanad district with headquarters in Kalpetta. The entire Wayanad district is abound with natural beauty and has several places of historical importance making it the ideal place for nature lovers and bhakti tourists alike.

TREKKING FEES

Rs. 300.00 for 3 of us (including guide charges) to be paid at DFO Office, Srimangala.
PLACES OF STAY AT IRUPPU

- Lakshmanateertha Guest House near the waterfalls. They charge Rs. 100.00 per head per night from us. Only during Shivaratri, that place would be crowded. The charges go for the development of the temple.

- Narimale Rest House on the way to peak (5 kms from Iruppu Falls). To be booked well in advance at the Srimangala Forest Office.

TREK DIFFICULTY LEVEL

Moderate to slight difficult towards summit.