Bandaje Arbi Trek
It was almost 4 months that we did any trek, it was all just Home, Work and some interesting Conversations that we usually have over tea. All of a sudden as usual, we were like “let’s get to some forest”, we started researching online for places with a unique trial and comparatively challenging with our previous trek (Kollukkumalai & Meesapulimala). After a quick peak on all the blogs and website, we narrowed it down to Bhandaje-Arbi Trek, simply because the trek is not widely known and most part of the trek is under the dense forest. Initially, we had about 10 guys interested in the trek (which always happens), but only 5 of us were actually interested. As usual Alok, Giri, Subish & Mohan joined me for this trek.
After planning the logistics and schedule, we gathered at Majestic on the 2nd Week of April, 2013 to board the KSRTC Bus to Dharmasthala at 11.15pm. As usual, the excitement level was high and we all were prepared to face the big day tomorrow. I just love the feeling and murmur to myself “wow! we’ve gathered for another trek and I am sure we’re going to return to the same place with lots and lots of memories”.
After planning the logistics and schedule, we gathered at Majestic on the 2nd Week of April, 2013 to board the KSRTC Bus to Dharmasthala at 11.15pm. As usual, the excitement level was high and we all were prepared to face the big day tomorrow. I just love the feeling and murmur to myself “wow! we’ve gathered for another trek and I am sure we’re going to return to the same place with lots and lots of memories”.
Bandaje Arbi is a waterfall located in the Charmadi ghat section of the Western Ghats in the Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka.
·Distance: Bang--300Kms--Dharmasthala--10Kms--Ujire–17Kms--Bandaje
·How to get: Bus to Dharmasthala, Jeep from Dharmasthala to Bandaje.
·Difficulty Level: 3.5/5
·Trek Distance: 20 Kms
·Water Source: Stream on the trail and Water Falls at the summit.
·Best Time: Except Monsoon
·Cost: Rs. 2000/Person including Forest Permission.
·Contact Info: Nagendra Gowda. Phone: 08256274231/09845693961
·Distance: Bang--300Kms--Dharmasthala--10Kms--Ujire–17Kms--Bandaje
·How to get: Bus to Dharmasthala, Jeep from Dharmasthala to Bandaje.
·Difficulty Level: 3.5/5
·Trek Distance: 20 Kms
·Water Source: Stream on the trail and Water Falls at the summit.
·Best Time: Except Monsoon
·Cost: Rs. 2000/Person including Forest Permission.
·Contact Info: Nagendra Gowda. Phone: 08256274231/09845693961
Day 1
We reached Dharmasthala at 6 am and finished our nature calls in the Public Toilets at the bus stop. We had Idly, Vada & Puri for breakfast at Arpana Hotel in the Dharmasthala Junction. We have two options to get to Bandaje, either take a bus till Ujire and get a shared Auto/Jeep to Bandaje or get a direct Jeep from Dharmasthala to Bandaje. Since we were already running out of time, we chose to take a jeep directly to Bandaje at 7.15 am (Rs. 350 to 400 is descent for a jeep ride from Dharmasthala to Bandaje). The Jeep ride was bliss until Ujire, with the cold wind laminating our body; it’s always the best part. On the way, we stopped at Ujire to pack lunch & snacks to keep us moving in the forest. We finally reached Nagendra Gowda’s House at 8 am. Late. Nagendra Gowda used to be the facilitator for treks around this location. His Son takes care of it now, but with an additional cost. After paying Rs. 1000/- to Nagendra Gowda’s Son for Forest Permission (which I am sure went to Gowda’s saving Funds ;-) we started our trek at 9.15 am with a guide who agreed upon dropping us till the End of the Forest for 500 bucks, from where it is easy to figure the route to the falls.
The Initial walk starts from Gowda’s house and goes around the village for about a km and we reach the entry point to the forest where the actual trekking begins. Before I start explaining about the difficulty of this trek, it is definitely not for the starters. The trek started with a walk for about 15 mins and gradually the steepness increases to about 30-40 degrees. In the first half hour, we spotted Cashew Fruits, Pineapple Plant and other medicinal shrubs. After munching a couple of those, we proceeded further to our never ending steepness. After an hour and half hours of climb, we finally reached our first pit stop - Stream at 11.45 am. After a long bus journey, a couple hours of trek, stream is just what you need! Dived into the water and stayed in there for an hour or so, it was out of the world. It was so relaxing that we didn’t feel like getting out of the water. Finally after an hour we got out and got ready, had packed Lunch – Upittu, Vada, Channa & Puri. After the meal, we proceeded further. The time when we left the stream was 1.45 pm.
The Trek from here is quite steep, we didn’t encounter even a short burst of flat land to relax while trekking. The forest is dense and as usual with really tall trees and dry leaves fallen all over. The Trek continued for the next 2 hours and the guide who agreed upon to drop us till the end of the forest denied later and said, I’ll drop you at a place from where the route is clear till the falls. As usual, our adventure sense of our brain with attitude said “Yes”, we should be able to manage. The Guide dropped us at a point and gave his Cell No to call in case any issues.
Adding to this, Mohan sat on a log which is connected to another tree with a bee hive. As usual he shook and got us stinged L. Moving forward, we didn’t see any signs of reaching the grassland even after 90 mins of trek at a good pace. Wondering whether we are on the right path or not, we moved again. All of a sudden, the forest just opened up to the grassland at 4 pm.
Adding to this, Mohan sat on a log which is connected to another tree with a bee hive. As usual he shook and got us stinged L. Moving forward, we didn’t see any signs of reaching the grassland even after 90 mins of trek at a good pace. Wondering whether we are on the right path or not, we moved again. All of a sudden, the forest just opened up to the grassland at 4 pm.
(Lessons Learnt) This is where one can get confused like we did, the route from the beginning of the grassland till the end of the falls is not clear. Once we exit from the forest and move ahead, we can see the Falls on the opposite hill. Just proceed towards falls and divert towards right to go up and reach the falls from behind. There are three hills that you need to climb from this point. On the Grassland, there is no particular route and it’s about 60 deg steep.
We reached a point and could hear the falls, but couldn’t really spot it visually since it was already dark. We had no water and no place to camp for the night. While we were looking around, we found a bunch of streams in which water is available but not that clean, it’s very small streams and the waters is little faster than dripping. Managed to fill our bottles and found a place to cook and sleep for the night.
Mohan took the responsibility of cooking and we all agreed upon keep the fire on for cooking. We cooked Maggi Noodles and I bet it was delicious. That was the first trek that we carried Noodles and I decided that we’ll continue to do so in the future. After the meal, as usual chatted about numerous topics like Animals, Mohan, next trek plans, past experiences, etc. The place where we camped was a little steep, may be around 15-20 degs and the sleeping bags were dragging us down all the time. While Giri, Mohan & I were struggling to sleep, Alok and Subish, were sleeping to the glory. After all the struggles, we slept at around 2 am.
We reached a point and could hear the falls, but couldn’t really spot it visually since it was already dark. We had no water and no place to camp for the night. While we were looking around, we found a bunch of streams in which water is available but not that clean, it’s very small streams and the waters is little faster than dripping. Managed to fill our bottles and found a place to cook and sleep for the night.
Mohan took the responsibility of cooking and we all agreed upon keep the fire on for cooking. We cooked Maggi Noodles and I bet it was delicious. That was the first trek that we carried Noodles and I decided that we’ll continue to do so in the future. After the meal, as usual chatted about numerous topics like Animals, Mohan, next trek plans, past experiences, etc. The place where we camped was a little steep, may be around 15-20 degs and the sleeping bags were dragging us down all the time. While Giri, Mohan & I were struggling to sleep, Alok and Subish, were sleeping to the glory. After all the struggles, we slept at around 2 am.
Day 2
Woke up at 7 am and it was bright. Only trek where we neither saw the sunset nor the sunrise L. Though it was just 4-5 hours of sleep, it was good enough to keep us moving forward. By the time we had breakfast – Bread, Oranges & Jam and packed all our stuff back, it was 9 am. We started walking towards the falls and 20 mins we reached the falls. After we climbed the third hill, there is steep descent that takes us to the falls.
We reached the falls and wandered around for some time to find out what all we have there, its just the water stream. We were at the top of the falls and the view is just out of the world. The view from the edge is scary and it makes it worth trekking all this way. After spending sometime for nature calls, we were sitting near a small stream and Subish goes “Do I see a toy or is it a real snake?” man a crazy looking snake which looks like a pit-viper, Turquoise Blue in color is just resting right beside the stream. After some shots and watching the snake, we took bath and started to decide the descend route. We can either go to Ballarayana Durga Fort >>> Sunkashale >> Kottigehara >> Dharmasthala or go back the same route that we ascended. Since one of us had to get home for a medical emergency, we chose not to take risk and decided to descend in the same route.
We started descending at 11.30 am from the falls and moved forward with a good pace to reach the destination within sunset. Again the grassland, with no route and tall grown grass, it made really difficult to descend. 4 of 5 steps was an ankle twist. The descending continued for an hour and a half and we reached the entry point to the forest at 1.05 pm. With short breaks, we kept moving at a good pace. Continued the descend for 3 hours and we reached the stream which means that we need to cover 1/3 of the trek, it was 4 pm and we had just enough time to reach Gowda’s house by Sunset. Moving forward at a good pace, Alok, Giri and Mohan spotted another snake on the way and didn’t really take any pictures as such. After 2 hours of trek, we reached Gowda’s house at 6 pm.
We reached the falls and wandered around for some time to find out what all we have there, its just the water stream. We were at the top of the falls and the view is just out of the world. The view from the edge is scary and it makes it worth trekking all this way. After spending sometime for nature calls, we were sitting near a small stream and Subish goes “Do I see a toy or is it a real snake?” man a crazy looking snake which looks like a pit-viper, Turquoise Blue in color is just resting right beside the stream. After some shots and watching the snake, we took bath and started to decide the descend route. We can either go to Ballarayana Durga Fort >>> Sunkashale >> Kottigehara >> Dharmasthala or go back the same route that we ascended. Since one of us had to get home for a medical emergency, we chose not to take risk and decided to descend in the same route.
We started descending at 11.30 am from the falls and moved forward with a good pace to reach the destination within sunset. Again the grassland, with no route and tall grown grass, it made really difficult to descend. 4 of 5 steps was an ankle twist. The descending continued for an hour and a half and we reached the entry point to the forest at 1.05 pm. With short breaks, we kept moving at a good pace. Continued the descend for 3 hours and we reached the stream which means that we need to cover 1/3 of the trek, it was 4 pm and we had just enough time to reach Gowda’s house by Sunset. Moving forward at a good pace, Alok, Giri and Mohan spotted another snake on the way and didn’t really take any pictures as such. After 2 hours of trek, we reached Gowda’s house at 6 pm.
Spoke to Gowda’s son and arranged for a jeep till Dharmasthala for Rs. 600. Uneventful jeep ride for an hour and we reached Dharmasthala at 8. Planned to get to the temple after the trek, but couldn’t. Had an authentic south Indian meal at Kamat Hotel (Not the actual Kamat that is well known) near Dharmasthala Junction and made our way to the Bus Stop. Once again with lots and lots of memories, we reached Bangalore and spread to our homes.
If you’re looking for an adventurous event and an unique trial which is not widely known, Bandaje Arbi is best bet. It’s challenging and worth the difficulty. The water falls and the mysteries route, adds to the adventure. Overall, again a unique experience.
If you’re looking for an adventurous event and an unique trial which is not widely known, Bandaje Arbi is best bet. It’s challenging and worth the difficulty. The water falls and the mysteries route, adds to the adventure. Overall, again a unique experience.