Place: Chunchi Falls, Kanakpura
Distance: 90 km one way
Type: Waterfalls
Ideal for: Friends and Family
Permission Needed: No
Best time to visit: August to February
Best season to visit: Monsoon and early winter. Avoid summer
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| Best of the Beast: Beautiful Chunchi Waterfalls |
My friend Satish had got a new Royal Enfield Bullet a couple of months back. After getting his new bike his first and the only ride was to Swami Nityananda Ashram in Bidadi. Now that he had all the blessings from great Nityananda Swami :P, I wanted him to join me for a short ride. I would usually prefer a trekking place around Bangalore but I was very lazy climb this time. So we decided to visit Mekedatu and Sangam instead. I pinged a couple of my friends to see if they want to join the ride. Finally, 7 people turned up for the ride.
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| Tea and bike rides are an integral part of my life |
Sunday Morning: We decided to assemble near the Nice Road junction on Kanakpur road at 7 am. Being a typical Indian, I followed standard Indian time and reached the assembly point at 8.30 am 😀 . My sincere friends were waiting for me patiently until I arrived. We had a hot cup of tea before starting the journey.
I had always avoided going on the Kanakpura road due to a bad incidence that happened during the initial days of my rides. We were on Mekedatu in 2013 that’s when I had the first bike accident of my life. The reason for the accident was due to the poor road conditions. Thankfully we had escaped with minor injuries at that time. Every time I am on this road that incidence keeps haunting me. That’s the reason I avoid choosing this route for my rides. Riding on Kanakpura Road is not joyful as the roads are narrow, too many vehicles on the road (especially on weekends) and the roads aren’t safe in the first place.
Breakfast time: We rode non stop till we reached Kanakpura. It was time to fill our tummy with some hot food. As I have not been on this route often, I had no idea about the best place for breakfast. I inquired traffic police for a good place for breakfast. He just pointed to the hotel on the other side of the road and told that’s the best place for breakfast. I turned my head towards the hotel, it was old, shady, and had no charm to appeal the foodie. I just nodded my head and started calling my local friends to inquire. Surprisingly, they recommended the same place. We entered the restaurant hesitantly only to see it was crowded crazily. Apparently, masala dosa is pretty famous here. There was a waiting time of 30 minutes for masala dosa. That’s when our carving for the masala dosa to reached the sky. Finally, the dosa arrived after half an hour and I must say the wait was worth the wait. It was one of the best Masala dosa I ever had. The price of every item was shockingly low as well (Rs. 30 for a big Masala Dosa and Rs. 5 for tea). I highly recommend you have breakfast here if you visit Kanakpura.
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| Not an ideal place I would go for breakfast, but this hotel turned out to be the best masala dosa serving hotel |
We resumed soon after breakfast. As started riding towards Sangam, the crazy busy road turned into a charming driveway with greenery on either side and beautiful surroundings. The traffic gradually thinned out and it was just us and the nature around us. Another 30 minutes on this beautiful road we reached Purushagondanahalli. We were stopped by locals who were collecting the vehicle entry fee of Rs. 10 for bikes and Rs. 30 for car. There was a direction board that read 10 km to Sangam and 6 km to Chunchi Falls. We didn’t have Chunchi falls in the original plan but looking at the detour distance, 6 km didn’t look like a big deal. We decided to visit Chunchi falls first and then go to Sangam. 10 more minutes into the ride and we reached Chunchi falls.
Chunchi Falls: I’d been to Chunchi falls back in 2015, where I visited this place in the peak summer season (April). During that time it was a relatively unknown place for tourists and there was no crowd at all. But time has changed now, it is now attracting thousands of people every year. From the parking, one needs to walk around half a km to reach Chunchi falls. I would suggest you reach here as early as possible to avoid the intense sun in the afternoon especially during summer. After walking for 10 minutes we reached the watchtower. From the watchtower, you can have a birds-eye view of the Chunchi waterfalls. I could see there was plenty of water in the falls.
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| 10 minutes of walk from the parking area to Chunchi falls. It would be a challenge to walk during sunny days |
After a good photoshoot, we walked towards the waterfalls. 5 minutes of the downhill trek would lead to an open area from where you can have an enchanting view of the majestic waterfalls. This would be the last point beyond which one is not allowed to go. There will be guards who will be looking after the people to keep them away from risking their lives.
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| Photographer taking the photo of the person taking the photo of the photographer. |
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| And that’s Chunchi falls for you guys. |
The last time I had come here we could explore the place without any limitations but due to the increased popularity and risk of strong water current, the accessibility has been restricted. I talked with the guard who probably was from the forest department. He mentioned there is a guided trek arranged by the forest department, which would take you near the waterfalls. It will cost around 300 Rs per head. It would take around 20-30 minutes to reach the waterfalls and the guide would accompany till we come back to the starting point. He showed a few videos that were taken near the falls. The videos were entrancing but Rs. 300 per head looked overpriced. He offered the deal for Rs. 250 per head but that still didn’t convince us to go for it. FYI – One can’t get into the water here unless you take the guided trek. Anyways the place is dangerous for any water activity and also we had plans to get into the water in Sangam.
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| My gang 🙂 Had some refreshments in small tents en route the falls. |
We spend around half an hour clicking amazing photos. We had buttermilk and lemon juice on our way back to crunch the thirst. Our next destination for the day was Sangam and Mekedatu. I would like to end the blog here. You can read the second part of the journey in my next post. Until then you can watch the vlog of this journey on my YouTube Channel. I would be happy to see you subscribe to the channel as well 🙂
Important Notes :
- Visiting Chunchi falls would need one to walk for around half a kilometer. Plan accordingly if you are getting kids or aged family members.
- There are so many food stalls in the entire stretch so you need not carry anything in hand.
- There is no restaurant near the waterfalls for breakfast or lunch. The nearest place for lunch would Sangam.
- Drinking is strictly prohibited. There will be cops in the weekend who would check your bags for any alcohol.
- You can opt for a guided trek to go near the waterfalls. It would cost you 300 per head (100 per head for bigger groups).
- You can take bath under the falls if you have opted for the guided trek, otherwise, there is no provision to get into the water.
- The river water is not safe for drinking.
- Avoid staying late in the evening or night as you might end up calling for unnecessary troubles.
Parking fee: Rs. 10 for Bike and Rs. 30 for Car
Entry: Free
Timings: 8 AM to 5 PM
