A Tale of WG Nomads : Bandaje Falls & Ballala Rayana Durga Fort-2

Continued from here : Bnadaje Falls & Ballala Rayana Durga Fort-1

Our next day started with the discussion, which route to take ? Well! These kind of discussions are obvious in the situation where you don't have guide with you to show the route. Earlier our plan is to visit Ballalaraya fort and exit towards sunkasale (Horanadu main road). 

We did hold our discussion for a while and went towards the extreme edge of the Bandaje falls. The early morning event of sun touching the western ghat is a real treat to watch. I made hard decision to go till the edge of the falls and get a breathtaking view of the falls gushing from the height of almost 400ft. It was really a worth attempt to go there and enjoy such a beautyful event of mother nature. Some of them were really scared to step a single leg towards the edge. It was slippery and a slight descent makes you feel nervous. Don't attempt this if you don't have courage and good pair of shoes. I am very blessed to have my camera with me and captured the beauty. 

It was already 7 in the morning. We had Maggie and avalakki(poha) for the breakfast. Fortunately we got the mobile signal and called our guide who left us half way through the falls. We got clear instructions from him about the route and we did stick on to our initial plan. It was again 5km uphill trek from the Bandaje falls and the trail passes through lush green meadows.

Path from Bandaje Falls to Ballala Raya Fort :

After climbing some 3km(2-3 hills) one can see the fort at a distance. We got confirmed that we took correct path and we are right on the track. Finally we reached Ballalaraya Fort by 12pm. The fort on top of the western ghat hills gives you a splendid view and we have to salute the ppl who built the fort. There was only one cattle grazer who lives on top of the mountain. He offers water for the trekkers and even offers place during night time to pitch the tent. We had our lunch at his premises and offered him food too. In return we got some 2-3ltrs of water.

Ballala Raya Fort :

Finally it was time to bid adieu for the Ballalaraya fort. We started our descent by 1:30pm in the afternoon and reached Sunkasale by 4pm. Hired a local jeep and came to Kottigehara from where we booked our return bus to Bangalore. It was only 5:30pm in the evening and our bus would arrive by 10:30pm night. So we inquired the auto walas about possible nearby places to visit during this short time. I had read about Alekan falls in many blogs and it is very near to kottigehara (3kms) .

So we hired an auto till the falls and asked him to come back to pick us up. We enjoyed in the alelan falls till 6:30pm and our driver was already present at the place and started honking :p. We wrapped all our things and quickly got into the auto and came back to Kottigehara . Had sumptuous neer dose  (a type of dosa, which is famous in Kottigehara) and dinner . Our bus arrived exactly on time and reached Bangalore early morning 4:30am.