Narasimha Parvatha Trek
Narasimha Parvatha is the tallest peak in Agumbe Ghats. One of the pristine trails in western ghats that has been on all the trekking enthusiastic's list.
Agumbe is also called "The Cherrapunji of South" due to its heavy rainfall and also houses a Rainforest Research Station. Its also called as "The Captial of King Cobras" since its the home of longest venomous snake in the world.
Trekking Narasimha Parvatha is good in Summer too since 75% of the trek is within the forest. With availability of the best guides and transportation, this trek is one of the easiest to plan.
Before I mention, I am sure you already know the regular team for this trek, but still I am going to mention since there are a couple of New Members. It was Subish, Alok, Avinash, Jay and myself.
More info Narasimha Parvatha Trek:
·Distance from Bangalore: Bangalore --- 350 Kms ---> Agumbe ---- 5Kms ----> Malandur (Starting Point of the trek)
·How to get: KSRTC/Private Buses are available from Majestic and we can either hire a Jeep or Share Auto to Malandur. Train available till Shimoga and then Bus from Shimoga to Agumbe.
·Difficulty Level: 3.5/5. Difficult from Malandur (Agumbe side) to peak, Moderate from Kigga (Sringeri side) to peak
·Distance & Time: 13Kms one way. 6-8 Hours from Malandur side and 4-6 Hours from Kigga side.
·Permission: Required, should be taken from the Forest Office.
·Food, Shelter & Water Source: Water Source available at the peak as well as en-route. There is a PWD Guest House at the peak for stay and also there is enough place to fetch tents if required.
·Best Time: Except Monsoon
·Guide: Needed. Thimappa: 09483496142 OR Avin: 8277411618. Doddamane: 08181233075
·Cost: ~Rs. 2000
·Mobile Signal: Mobile signal intermittently available en-route, stable on the Peak though.
Agumbe is also called "The Cherrapunji of South" due to its heavy rainfall and also houses a Rainforest Research Station. Its also called as "The Captial of King Cobras" since its the home of longest venomous snake in the world.
Trekking Narasimha Parvatha is good in Summer too since 75% of the trek is within the forest. With availability of the best guides and transportation, this trek is one of the easiest to plan.
Before I mention, I am sure you already know the regular team for this trek, but still I am going to mention since there are a couple of New Members. It was Subish, Alok, Avinash, Jay and myself.
More info Narasimha Parvatha Trek:
·Distance from Bangalore: Bangalore --- 350 Kms ---> Agumbe ---- 5Kms ----> Malandur (Starting Point of the trek)
·How to get: KSRTC/Private Buses are available from Majestic and we can either hire a Jeep or Share Auto to Malandur. Train available till Shimoga and then Bus from Shimoga to Agumbe.
·Difficulty Level: 3.5/5. Difficult from Malandur (Agumbe side) to peak, Moderate from Kigga (Sringeri side) to peak
·Distance & Time: 13Kms one way. 6-8 Hours from Malandur side and 4-6 Hours from Kigga side.
·Permission: Required, should be taken from the Forest Office.
·Food, Shelter & Water Source: Water Source available at the peak as well as en-route. There is a PWD Guest House at the peak for stay and also there is enough place to fetch tents if required.
·Best Time: Except Monsoon
·Guide: Needed. Thimappa: 09483496142 OR Avin: 8277411618. Doddamane: 08181233075
·Cost: ~Rs. 2000
·Mobile Signal: Mobile signal intermittently available en-route, stable on the Peak though.
Day 1
Since we travel by Bus all the time, we decided we'll choose Train this time. We booked the train from Bangalore to Shimoga and decided we'll take bus further to Agumbe. After planning the logistics, we got to our Majestic Railways Station on 2nd Week of Nov, 2014. Like always, the excitements were high and we were trying to settle down to prep for our big day. Comfortably settled in our births, the train departed from Bangalore at 11 pm. After chatting for a while we were able to comfortably catch a few hours of sleep.
Day 2
The glimpse of freezing air penetrating our blankets, we knew its time to wake up. It was 4.30 am we reached Shimoga City. With great difficulty, we woke up and got down. We took a share auto from Railways Station to the bus stop, its about 3 Kms. Sipped hot tea opposite to the bus stop and boarded the bus to Agumbe. Bus availability is not an issue from Shimoga to Agumbe, its available throughout the day. The Bus departed at 5.40 am from Shimoga, took the tickets and it was time for another lap of sleep. We reached Agumbe at 8 am. Headed straight into the Doddamane which is walkable distance from the bus stop.
Doddamane is the same house where the famous show Malgudi days were shot. The house is not modified much, its as good as we saw in the TV Series. Kasturiakka, usually takes care of food and accommodation for the trekkers. They provide breakfast and packed lunch for trekkers with nominal price. There is no fixed price for the food, they accept whatever we pay. Since we were already late, we took bath swiftly and got ready for the breakfast. It was Veg Palav and Sweet Avalakki for breakfast. They also made us a drink of Dry Ginger (Chukku/Tarla Dalal) also known as Sukku Malli Coffee for better digestion after breakfast. More than the food, their hospitality is much fulfilling. By the time we had breakfast, the Auto was ready to take us to the starting point of the trek, i.e., Malandur where our Guide Avin would join us. Malandur is 5 Kms from Agumbe, Rs. 120-150 would be fair deal for the auto. Thanking Kasturiakka and family for a wonderful meal and hospitality, we left Agumbe through the share auto. Reached Malandur at 9.45 am, quickly placed the food, adjusted our bags and started the ascend at 10 am.
Doddamane is the same house where the famous show Malgudi days were shot. The house is not modified much, its as good as we saw in the TV Series. Kasturiakka, usually takes care of food and accommodation for the trekkers. They provide breakfast and packed lunch for trekkers with nominal price. There is no fixed price for the food, they accept whatever we pay. Since we were already late, we took bath swiftly and got ready for the breakfast. It was Veg Palav and Sweet Avalakki for breakfast. They also made us a drink of Dry Ginger (Chukku/Tarla Dalal) also known as Sukku Malli Coffee for better digestion after breakfast. More than the food, their hospitality is much fulfilling. By the time we had breakfast, the Auto was ready to take us to the starting point of the trek, i.e., Malandur where our Guide Avin would join us. Malandur is 5 Kms from Agumbe, Rs. 120-150 would be fair deal for the auto. Thanking Kasturiakka and family for a wonderful meal and hospitality, we left Agumbe through the share auto. Reached Malandur at 9.45 am, quickly placed the food, adjusted our bags and started the ascend at 10 am.
The initial trial started from just opposite to Avin's house, it went through a rough terrain for 200-300 mts and we entered the dense jungle. Finally, the feeling of inhaling fresh and courageous forest filled up with adventure ahead of us. The ascend started with 10-15 degs steep walk for 30 mins while there was a quick burst of climb every now and then. Taking short breaks we moved on, we entered dense forest with no proper trial, that's one of the reasons that a guide is mandatory if we take this route. The trek goes through dense forest with steep climb testing our limit. At about 11.30, we got a glimpse of Barkana falls. Listening to the water flow, we trekked further and reached the falls at 11.55 am. The water here is very similar to that in rest of the treks. Cold and fresh to rejuvenate your energy. We reached to the end of the falls and got a view of 200-300 mts falls, it was one of the best views. We took a quick dip in the water, had some oranges and moved further to the peak at 12.45 pm. An hour of negotiating the steep ascend, we reached the grassland at 1.45 pm. Overall, this route is over-rated in terms of difficulty, it is definitely not 4/5, it is moderate to difficult (~3-3.5/5). We stopped in the beginning of the grassland for food, the packed lunch from Doddamane - Veg Palav was tasting better than breakfast, I know....universal feeling among the trekkers :-)
At 2.30, when the Sun was at its peak we started the climb towards the peak, the climb from here is pretty steep with no proper trial. Literally puts your confidence to the limits, the steep climb with loose mud and Sun at its peak, it is quite an amazing feeling to push ourselves, after all that's what we are there for ;-) At 3.35, we reached the peak. The Peak is quite spacious unlike other treks, easily a couple 100 people can camp. We sat for a few mins taking a look at other groups fetching their tents and getting ready for the night. Meanwhile, Avin had explained us the route to descend through Kigga side. Bailing Avin with a Thank you Note, we started getting prepped for the night. The Water source is available at the peak, we have a stream within 100 mts from the peak. The water is pretty clean and fresh for drinking.
It started getting dark around 6 pm, as it usually happens within a few seconds the weather changed. Since we already had collected firewood, we were all set for the camp fire and cook food. We moved a little towards the outer part of the summit where we wouldn't have any interruption from rest of the group and started with the camp fire. The fire kept going with less effort keeping us warm.
There were several groups on the peak, there was one of the groups who were drunk and were creating a mess on the peak. Nothing that concerned us other than a bit of noise. We cooked Cup Noodles, and in a place like that..noodles tastes like never before. Munching some snacks, we were all prepped to sleep. We all slipped into our sleeping bags, Subish and rest of the group spotted a rotten moving around. Since we were sleeping just beside the stream, this was expected. We moved inside the Guest House on the peak and swiftly fell asleep.
There were several groups on the peak, there was one of the groups who were drunk and were creating a mess on the peak. Nothing that concerned us other than a bit of noise. We cooked Cup Noodles, and in a place like that..noodles tastes like never before. Munching some snacks, we were all prepped to sleep. We all slipped into our sleeping bags, Subish and rest of the group spotted a rotten moving around. Since we were sleeping just beside the stream, this was expected. We moved inside the Guest House on the peak and swiftly fell asleep.
Day 3
We all slept comfortably till 8 am, Jay was awake much before and had already finished his morning duties. We got up, packed and moved towards the stream to brush and descend. We started descending around 9.30 am. The initial part of the descend involves quick burst of climb and flat terrain. After about 30 mins of walk, we entered the Shola Forest. The lose mud and steep descend doesn't go with each other, most of us had a ankle twist. At about 11.30am we got a glimpse of the Kigga pond, at 12.15 we reached Kigga.
We stopped by the shop beside Kigga Temple and had tender Coconut. We inquired about Sirimane falls, seems like it is pretty crowded on weekends. We had another alternative stream to take bath, its enroute Sirimane falls about 3 kms from Kigga. Quickly we decided to take bath and then visit Sirimane Falls. The stream was pretty clean and it was definitely refreshing to take a dip. The auto came around 3 to drop us at Sirimane Falls. The place was pretty crowded and was not much of our kind of place. We grabbed some snacks and moved towards Kigga. Buses are available from Kigga to Sringeri, the plan was to visit Sringeri Temple and board bus the Bangalore.
We stopped by the shop beside Kigga Temple and had tender Coconut. We inquired about Sirimane falls, seems like it is pretty crowded on weekends. We had another alternative stream to take bath, its enroute Sirimane falls about 3 kms from Kigga. Quickly we decided to take bath and then visit Sirimane Falls. The stream was pretty clean and it was definitely refreshing to take a dip. The auto came around 3 to drop us at Sirimane Falls. The place was pretty crowded and was not much of our kind of place. We grabbed some snacks and moved towards Kigga. Buses are available from Kigga to Sringeri, the plan was to visit Sringeri Temple and board bus the Bangalore.
Sringeri is a temple town which houses two beautiful temples, Sri Sharadamba and Vidyashankara Temple. It seems Adi Shankaracharya established his first Matha at this hill town. We visited the temple and the part that attracts the most are the fishes at Thunga Bank. We got a few packets of Biscuits, Puffed Rice, etc., and fed the fish until it was dark. Pretty amazing feeling to see huge fishes, ~2 Feet long just a meter away. As usual we went to a restaurant and treated ourselves with a nice heavy meal and moved to the bus stop to board our buses. It was an end of another adventurous journey, the bus departed at 10 pm and we all reached Bangalore at 5.30 am.
Narasimha Parvatha is one of the unique treks with most of the climb within Shola Forest which makes it possible in Summers too. Definitely one of the must do treks in Western Ghats and I am proud to mark "Completed" on this one. Hala Western Ghats!!!!
Narasimha Parvatha is one of the unique treks with most of the climb within Shola Forest which makes it possible in Summers too. Definitely one of the must do treks in Western Ghats and I am proud to mark "Completed" on this one. Hala Western Ghats!!!!