Much awaited rail trek to Dudhsagar!

Crew Members: Geo, Arun, Jerry, Tony, Deepesh, Melroy and myself.
Duration: 2 Days.
Expense: ~2000 per head.
Date: 21st and 22nd of June 2014.
Terrain: Loose Gravel over the Railway line.
Abstract: Into the lush greenery!


Route taken: Castle Rock -> Dudhsagar -> Kulem

Dudhsagar held a position in my mind ever since I saw a picture of the place and learning the way to reach there made me add it to my bucketlist. Geo and Arun had a plan of doing this trek on July first weekend and because of my unavailability on those dates; the trip got pre-poned to June 21^st and 22^nd. Tickets were booked in prior but our onward journey tickets were in waiting list. Not much of preparations happened until Geo called each of us and gave a push on June 17^th. ARs were prepared for each of us and deadline for completion was given as 19^th of June. Since we are all engineers and are very used to this ‘deadline’ thingy, no tasks were completed till 19^th morning and by evening of the same day, we had all completed our deadlines! :D

Geo had to struggle on 19^th morning to arrange for tatkal tickets in Chennai-Vasco express and thus we had our onward tickets ready. I was in charge of getting dry fuel tablets for which I contacted BTC organizer Chaitanya and I got info about a place named Balepet in Chikpet where it would be available. I had to roam around a bit to secure the stuff. You can find the store info at the end of this blog. I also had to get a sturdy pair of sandals since wearing shoes isn’t advised for a rain trek. Yes! The walk over the rails to our destination during this time would be in rains most of the time. Arun went to our regular trekking gear rental guy and got 2 three person tents and 6 sleeping mats. Rain jackets were arranged for everyone from a contact in Tamil Nadu by Geo. But I decided to borrow a poncho from a colleague of mine. Since there are no options for food anywhere close to Dudhsagar, we had carry supplements for two days by ourselves. Geo carried 100 chapathis and three MTR ready to eat curries; Arun carried two packets of Museli, one bottle of chocolate spread and 4 tetra packs of milk; Deepesh carried 8 apples; Jerry had a bottle of jam.

And thus 20^th evening came up and we were all excited to escape from Bangalore. Myself and Melroy decided to board train from Banaswadi as it is close to our stay and others boarded from K.R. Puram. Train was supposed to reach Banaswadi by 8:20 PM and leave in two minutes and the usual drill happened! We hit station by 7:30 PM and driver took his own time and brought train to us by 9:30 PM! Meanwhile we could go and arrange for lighter and match box, an incomplete AR of Deepesh’s. Once we were all aboard, we decided to make sure we are all equipped with the gears and supplements required and to evenly distribute the load among the team. By the time we reached Yeshwantpur, train was jam packed. So, we decided to go to sleep as soon as possible. We bought 7 bottles of water, the most valuable thing that was pending to be packed.

Train was supposed to reach Castle Rock railway station by 9:00 AM. Geo woke me with a plate of two vadas at Hubli station and once train crossed Londa station, there were lot of Vada paav guys roaming in the train. So we decided to have that as well. Dharwad Peda guys were also walking to and fro since Dharwad station. Why to leave that! Bought a big pack worth 120 bucks! Weather gradually changed as we got closer to Castle Rock and it was all cloudy and cool. We alighted in the station by 9:47 AM and we were more than just happy to see ourselves as the only trekking group at the station who got down from the train! We made use of the waiting room and made ourselves light weighted! :D
In exact one hour, we got ourselves geared up and decided to move. Arun had done this trek last year with BTC and he knew the route. 

Soon a group of 10-12 trekkers appeared out of nowhere whom we later met and got know that they are a part of trek organized by BMC! The moment we stepped out of the station, nature gave us a welcome rain. Alarmingly, we learned, we are short of one rain coat! Arun who packed ponchos for all thought, I had poncho for Melroy as well! So, I decided to give away my poncho to Melroy, made sure all of my belongings in the bag are in zip lock polythene bags and decided to walk in rain! Yeah! I know, I’m a bit nuts! :P

Walking over the loose gravel isn't an easy task. But the lush greenery around kept our mind occupied! We came across a hanging bridge soon after the Castle Rock station and we took our time to take couple of pics there.

We decided to move slowly taking our time since reaching Dudhsagar is the only task that we had for the day and that’s just 14 Kms of walk. Sooner we reach there; more would be the time we’ll have to spend jobless there. But, there is a catch here. If your trip is going to be in July/August, the peak trekking time, it’s better to get there as early as possible since the camping spot can accommodate only a maximum of 25 tents and it’s a first come first serve luxury.

The place was covered with fog and the feel was so good! I decided to carry one tent all by myself and the other tent was going on rounds. We were having a load of 10-15 Kgs on our shoulders and we weren't sweating a bit!

By 11:30 AM, we came across the first tunnel. All our torches were out! We were so damn excited to see a tunnel and walk through it. It was a short one and hence there was enough light in it.

In another 20 minutes, we came across the second tunnel and the longest one in the entire route. It was half a kilometer long (450 m to be exact). We decided to turn off our lights for a moment once we reached the center of the tunnel and enjoyed the emptiness!
By 12:20 PM, we had hit the third tunnel and immediately after crossing this one, we decided to take a halt and we had our snacks session. There came the first train through our track.

We were short of snacks as it wasn't a specific AR to anyone. We adjusted with what we had - couple of biscuit packets and butter chakli(or murukku). After a 10 mins break, we started our walk again. Jerry noticed blood on his toes and he was in no pain. He examined his wound and blood was flowing out profusely. And thus, the first leech attack! Leeches secrete a chemical as soon as they bite which slows down blood clotting! Immediately, Geo switched to doctor mode! He found a plant that we call communist pacha in malayalam (botanically named Chromolaena Odorata King) and squeezed juice out of its leaves and applied it over the wound and tied a tissue paper over it.
A little ahead on the left side was a beautiful small water fall with in an arch. There was a iron stairs for the visitors to step into the falls. Arun, Jerry, Tony and Deepesh stepped in and filled our bottles. Unlimited supply of water is why we equipped only one liter of water per head in our bags. Mean while, I was trying out some low shutter experiments with my camera.

We moved ahead and our left side was a very scenic valley with spectacular view. A hill that stood out alone caught our attention and we named it the lonely mountain.

By 1 PM, we reached the 4th tunnel and that's where we enter Goa state!

Once we crossed tunnel 4, we were terribly in need of a second halt! We decided to take halt at the starting of tunnel 5 where, there is a pretty big waterfall so that we can have next round of water refill as well. 

We opened our chapathi packets and had it with chocolate spread. There was a monkey that tried to snatch our chapathi packets and failed! We could successfully scare it away. But soon, we could see more monkeys moving around over the trees. So we decided not to stay longer with food there and thus, we wrapped our lunch quickly and resumed our walk! We saw a small trail on the left side which took us to a view point over the cliff! View was breath taking!

The moment we stepped back to the rails, I could feel some thing soft between my sandal strap and toes. Yes! Leech again! Geo had to do the same communist pacha drill again. Leeches attach when you step out of the rail. Because of the presence of oil and such stuff on the rail, they don't thrive in the rails. So, watch out when derail yourself! :P

And thus we crossed tunnels after tunnels. There were trains moving in the rails once in every hour! We reached Caranzol station in no time and there was a passenger train halted there. We passed by the train and the passengers were all staring at us as if we were some aliens! They were taking pics of us! For a moment it was like red carpet walk! Lot of clicks from around! :D
Immediately after Caranzol we had a good shower and every one except me put on their rain gears. Mean while, Jerry scored 2 in leech bites! Medicine was applied and we moved soon! The 8th tunnel which was 289m long was the second longest in the route. By 3:40 PM, we had hit the 10th Tunnel. There are 11 tunnels up till Dudhsagar. In another 13 minutes we could see Dudhsagar railway station and that sight was great relief as we were pretty close to our destination. There were lot of tourists in the station who had plans on boarding the trains that slows down there. Falls is supposed to be close to 1 Km away from the station. In another 15 mins, we came across our 11th and final tunnel for the day and we could hear the rumbling of the falls at a distance! By 4:02 PM, we could see the Dudhsagar waterfalls name board! We were ecstatic!

I could see the first glimpse of falls at a height and that gave me goosebumps!

As soon as we reached the rail bridge in front of the falls, I stood there staring at it. Remaining crew rushed to the platform where tents are to be pitched. To our fortune, there was only one other tent pitched already and that was inside the store building there. Yes! There is a store with snacks and tea/coffee available there. We pitched our tent close to the falls and we had the two of them laid face to face. Arun had had a practice session with this tent at his room; so we faced little trouble. Mean while the shopkeeper closed the shop and was leaving. We stopped him and bought a major chunk of his commodities! He was extremely happy and so were we. He advised us not to step in to the falls.

By 5 PM, our tents were upright and we dumped all our bags in. It was drizzling every 10 minutes. With our dry fuel tablets and the compact stove, Jerry started making tea for all of us. Arun knew of a falls immediately after 12th tunnel. We went and explored it out and it was good enough to take a bath.We went back to tent, got our towels, soap and shampoo and had an awesome bath that lasted more than half an hour in the shower of nature! I just didn't feel like stepping out of it.

By the time we returned, tea was ready and we kept our ready to eat curries in boiling water to heat it up. I went and sat on the wall facing the falls and was pondering through every bit of details of it. The force with which the water was falling was immense! There were two monkeys on the trees which were also enjoying the beauty of the falls! :D

By 8 PM, we decided to have dinner. All 7 of us could sit in round inside a 3 person tent! We had a 45 minutes of luxurious dinner time with chapathis, dal makhani, palak paneer and aloo mutter! By then there were around 21 tents around us! Can you believe that!

We decided to go to sleep soon. Myself, Deepesh, Melroy and Jerry took one tent mean while the other three slept in the second one. I had to struggle to get some sleep as it was damn hot inside the tent! Trains and rains where hitting the place every now and then. But I was too tired to notice it! :D
Arun woke us up by 7 AM and we dismantled our tents in no time. We packed our stuff and brushed our teeth and had long photos session by the falls and started our walk back by 8:15 AM.

Our return train is to be boarded from Kulem station by 4:30 PM and that was 12 Kms from Dudhsagar.

In a kilometer of walk from Dudhsagar towards Kulem, one could reach the view point where you get to see Dudhsagar completely. There is cement bench in this view point where you can sit and admire at the beauty.

We decided to have our breakfast and then discovered milk packets for which Deepesh was in charge were left behind in the train! So we were left with no choice but to have dry museli and an apple for each. We soon decided to move and had a single stretch of 3 Kms of walk that took us to Sonalium station. We got some signal there and we could make calls. From Sonalium station, Kulem is 7.89 Kms. But there is a forest route which could be taken that starts immediately after the station on the left hand side. The mud stairs on the right side would take you to Dudhsagar Temple and thus to a mud road through which bikes can travel up till Sonalium from Kulem.

Walk in this route was very scenic and extremely relaxing to our feet after the continuous walk over the loose gravel.

Soon we entered into thick jungle and it was awesome time pass. There were streams passing and we had to cross them.

Jerry struck again inside the forest! 3rd leech! Walking 4 Kms through the forest finally took us back to the rails. We were supposed to enter the rails from there. But this mud road was going in parallel to the rail and thus I suggested a crazy idea - why not we continue walking in the forest and see where it would take us. To our surprise, in another 10 minutes we confronted Goa Forest Department shed and they charged us 20 Rs per head and 30 Rs per camera as forest fee! The crazy idea costed us 200 bucks! We could do nothing but to pay them. We soon entered the rail track. Weather was hot and sunny and our next destination is supposed to be a small water fall. We walked endlessly trying to find this water falls and finally at the milestone with 48/600 on the left side we found this falls!

The very view of the falls made us forget our tiredness! Beauty of this falls is beyond what words can explain. It was exactly like a studio setup and perfect in every sense. We were all tired and drenched in sweat! After all that scorching heat this was a perfect sink to quench ourselves. We stripped ourselves to just shorts and climbed over the slippery rocks and found comforting positions and leaned back to allow free flow of water over us! Aah! No couch can grant you that cozy comfort! We decided to call it Spa of Kulem! I tried couple of low shutter experiments here. Mean while, chapathis were out and last bit of chocolate spread was licked off the bottle! 

By 12:30 PM we decided to make our move towards Kulem even though none of wanted to part with this falls! In another 10 minutes, where the mile stone showed 49/500, we came across a wide river with pretty forceful current on our right side! Lack of another pair of clothes helped us control the craving to jump into it! :D

We sat beside the river and had some calm and quite time spent there. By 1:30 PM, we could see the yellow board displaying Kulem station at a distance. Station was deserted with only the station master and few staffs. 

We threw our bags at a corner, dumped all the plastic garbage of ours in the waste bin, made calls and decided to take a walk outside the station. There are lot of hotels, wine shops, ATM and other stores on the side opposite to the station. Making Jerry sit back as security for our bags, we rushed to a hotel and had pooris and meals. We also packed gobi manchurian and Paneer Tawa Fry to finish off the 3 packets of chapathis that were left over. By 2:30 PM, we were all back at the station. Every one except me spread their mats and dozed off. I was charging my phone with Geo's power bank and happened to meet a mallu train driver. I had a chat with him and he was explaining all sorts experiences he had with Dudhsagar. One among that being, in August 2013, Dushsagar area was so damn rushed up that the visitors made a goods carrier train stop in front of Dudhsagar and rushed into the engine and Railway Police Force had to come to sort out the situation it seems! He also told, visitors come to Kulem station and try bribing these train drivers with 1000-2000 bucks to drop them in front of Dudhsagar!

Our train, Vasco-Yeshwantpur express arrived an hour late at the station and it moved through the route we walked for two days! I should say, that's a wonderful experience. That's like fast forwarding your favorite movie after watching it completely just to see the highlights. The river, Spa of Kulem, distant view of Dudhsagar, Dudhsagar falls, our camping site, place where we confronted monkeys, lonely mountain, falls within the arch, longest tunnel, hanging bridge and finally Castle rock station where it all started. 

And finally, our group pic:

Do's:

1. Dudhsagar can be reached in multiple ways.

    i. Walk from Castle rock to Dudhsagar and then walk back.

    ii. Walk from Castle rock to Dudhsagar and then to Kulem.

    iii. Walk from Kulem to Dudhsagar and then to Castle Rock.

    iv. Get down at Dudhsagar station, see the falls and board train back.

    v. Get bike taxi service from Kulem to Dudhsagar. (Costs ~900 per head).

2. Reach as fast as possible to the falls and get a tent pitching spot.

3. Get as much snacks as possible.

Don't:

1. Never attempt climbing the rocks beside Dudhsagar falls as those are extremely slippery and dangerous.

2. Try to stick with rail unless you have preventive measures for the leeches.

3. Try to stand a good distance from the running train as there are chances that goods carrier train might have the doors closed properly and the passengers in the train might throw their face right at your face (Jerry was lucky enough to experience the later one)!

Things to Remember:

1. Carry a torch as the tunnels can get very dark and you don't wanna stumble.

2. Carry dry fuel tablets if you are planning on cooking or setting up fire for any purpose.

3. Get enough plastic bags/zip locks to protect your belongings from rain.

4. Watch out for monkeys. There are a lot of them near Dudhsagar falls. 

Important Information:

1. Dry fuels can be procured from the store:

    Zenith Trading Co.,

    No. 144, Zenith Building, 

    Balepet, Bangalore - 560053.

    Phone: 9986793972/8095684274

2. Tents/Sleeping mats/Sleeping bags/Travel bags can be rented out from www.shadytents.in. This guy always give me damn good deals.