On a rainy morning, we ventured out towards Hogennakal. It was not in our original itinerary, but a friendly chat with a local in Yelagiri convinced us to give this a try. The detour was of 90 kms. The roads are wonderful, and the GPS was a life saver. I am very proud to say that my sense of direction has improved by miles. On a couple of occasions, I pointed out wrong routes to Gurdev just based on memory, and Gurdev is great with directions. So, I was mighty pleased with myself :).
The falls are in the dense jungles of Hogennakal, which was once the area where the dreaded dacoit Veerappan terrorized the people. We reach Hogennakal around noon, and it is stiflingly hot. The experience was a dampener. The falls look beautiful, but the place is littered with plastic, dirty, and the water has become grimy. The people visiting are mostly from the lower strata of society. At the entrance to the Falls, you see people washing clothes in the downstream water! I was aghast! There were potbellied men in their kachchas getting oil massage, and later washing themselves off in the water. It was disgusting. How can they expect us to drench ourselves in this water? The water looked a grimy green, and we steered clear of taking a coracle to visit the base of the Main Falls. Gurdev even joked that we would require acid wash if we bathed in that water. Really, the Tamil Nadu Tourism people are doing a horrible job of maintaining these beautiful falls. Besides, you have thugs of all kinds charging you exorbitant fees for some trivial reasons at every step. It left a bitter taste in our mouth. The Falls look beautiful, and there is something called Cine Falls, which I assume is the place where movie shootings take place — the recent one being Raavan. Though I heard that they shot in Kerala. This place, anyway, is at the border of Karnataka, TN and Kerala.
By this time, we were really hungry. There were only roadside shacks and no sit down places to have a meal at, but we managed to find a really tiny place which had a hand washing facility and some ramshackle stools and tables. We ordered a South Indian meal for each of us — the only thing on the menu, and then came the best part — fried fish as an accompaniment. It is the best fish, I’ve eaten in a long, long time. Crisp, spicy, well-fried, juicy, just perfect! I wish I could speak Tamil, so that I could ask the lady her recipe. I think the taste also came from the freshness of the fish. So, we stuffed ourselves with it, each of us having two servings, and it was really cheap as well :). After lunch, tired as we were, we proceeded to our final destination — Yercaud.
Little did we know that this was going to be the best part of our vacation!
Fish pic courtesy hogennakal.com
Hogennakal..wow..wanted to c that some years ago..but they scared us with some huge octroi or some other entracne tax 4 trucks…so v retracted…have fun buddies:)
Hogennakal..wow..wanted to c that some years ago..but they scared us with some huge octroi or some other entracne tax 4 trucks…so v retracted…have fun buddies:)
Let me recount the fees that we paid until we saw the falls:
1. Entry fee of Rs.30 at the entry of the hogennakal forest area.
2. Immediately after they ask another Rs.10 saying that it’s a separate fee, just like that.
3. There is a fee of Rs.20 panchayat fee as you enter the hogennakal village.
4. Then you pay Rs.20 parking fee to park your car.
5. Fees of Rs.20 including camera for going ahead seeing the falls from closer quarters.
6. When there was another Rs.20-30 fees to go ahead a even closer look of the main falls I drew the line.
In Tamilnadu people have this habit of charging entry fee in the most mundane of places! These people must thank us that we even came this far in that heat.
In Yercaud they wanted to charge us Rs.10 per person to go into a nursery to purchase some plants!
Do we look like foreigners to them? We aren’t that white!
SO, except the fish fry, Hogennakkal dint give you any nice memory. Our people’s culture has to be changed, then only d govt can succeed in doing wonderful jobs in such cases.
Any way it was better than the encounter with the elephant!Most of out tourist destinations are unkept,especially those under governmental control.The same thing at Kuttalam falls.
Better days ahead..go on..
@Ramesh Even, I was wow. But, the entire experience was quite sad :(. Unless you like the grime, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the beauty of the Falls.
@GP Yes Gurdev, good that you wrote down all the fees. That was such an irritant too.
@Tomz Yes, sadly no pretty memories to share here. Yes, we need the attitude of people to be changed big time, else their livelihood based on tourism is bound to be hit badly. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. The sad part is that the falls are really beautiful but have been spoiled badly.
@dr. antony I guess so! Sad state of affairs.
I think I understand when you talk about the dirt and people that bother only by their presences. Here, in Rio de Janeiro, to speak of a famous city, I get really sad when I see a dirty beach, a situation that is very common, or when I a meet a pickpocket ( here they are called “trombadinhas” it’s a slang and has a meaning a little different than pickpocket but as my English is not a wonder…) requesting money in the street with his look that says “if you not give what I ask you may regret”.
But isn’t that bad. Like you I also enjoy “carioca” ( the name of who lives in Rio as Indian is who lives in India ) food. Someday you have to experience a “feijoada with caipirinha”.
Enjoy your trip and keep us informed, it’s been fun to read your stories!!!!
It feels horrible when you can’t enjoy a beautiful place! The fish fry was the silver lining I guess 🙂
Waiting for the next part…
@David Wow, I have never been to Brazil. And, I also did not expect to hear that it is saddled with the same problems as we have in India. I get troubled too with dirty beaches and neglect and though I haven’t encountered beggars in Bangalore, I’ve encountered them in Mumbai. Your description of the beggars there sounds very funny :). I looked up feijoada with caipirinha, and it sounds really lovely. Though, I have to tell you that I don’t eat pork or beef, just chicken and sea food. I hope that feijoada has a chicken variant too.
Thanks David; it is fun sharing stories with all of you.
@Destiny’s child Yeah, the sad part is that only the fish was a good part. The other sights were so putting off.
Rachna, I knew you would not enjoy Hogennekal.It is a beautiful place but people there have made the place horrible. I was never tempted to visit it again. We went there many years ago after the place became famous for the film Roja. I can’t believe that the Tamil Nadu Tourism has done nothing to make it better. Their hotel too was very useless. We were there only for a few hours, thank God.
I have seen all the hill stations in Tamil Nadu, at least 4 or 5 times, and I have even been to Munnar a quite a number of times.
Yes Yercaud is the best and the Sterling there is very beautiful, one can never bored with that place.
I was trying for a long time from morning to visit your space but somehow I couldn’t log into your space. Must be some internet problem.
Hope your final trip was really memorable. Can’t wait for the pictures.
@rama I think the place must have become worse than when you visited. And, luckily we also spent only a few hours there. You must see the plastic water bottles just strewn around, and the place is really in bad shape. You are right, Yercaud is way better than other places, I’ve been to except Kerala, of course. And Sterling’s location is extraordinary. Surprising that you could not log in, maybe some technical hitch.
No idea about these places, you know we in india have some very good places for tourism pity the country doesnot do that much..
and the fee as mentioned in article and the comments too.. thats not good.. leaves a bad taste..
but m glad u loved the fish at least the stomach was filled 🙂
Bikram’s blog
@bikram Yes, the tourist places are not being taken care of nicely. Btw, I don’t see anything wrong in writing the fees; it is to give others an idea of what to expect. More than the amount, it is the sense of getting fleeced, which is irritating. It seems like everyone is out there to take you for a ride, and that does not want you to recommend the place to anyone else.
Ohh my gosh!!! Can you believe I thought this before send the last comment: ” She lives in India therefore there is two possibilities: She is Hindu or from some Yoga ramification and don´t eat red meat. Or she is Muslim and don´t eat pork like the Jews. You really sure you want to talk about “feijoada” with her, David?” And then I said yes to myself. I’m so sorry, I’m little stubborn with my conciousness…
Unfortunately there isn’t a chicken version of “feijoada”. But we have some good fish plates like “casquinha de siri” or “bobó de camarão” or even “peixada”. If you drop by São Paulo don’t hesitate en call me. Will be my pleasure take you or you family in some restaurants. And don’t worry, I know where the pickpockets are. I don’t will bring you there. 😉
@David Oh, that’s fine. I am a Hindu but not a rigid one. I have no problems in others eating any kind of meat. I stay off it due to habit, nothing else. You don’t have to feel so apologetic. And, you know, apart from Hindus and Muslims, we have large numbers of Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Buddhists, Jains, Jews and so on. I think, India has the largest diversity in terms of religions. And, even among Hindus, you find people ranging from strict veggies to eat every kind of meat types :).
I haven’t come across Brazilian food in Bangalore though Mexican, Thai, Italian, Vietnamese, Moroccan, Chinese are popular. Anyway, it was sweet of you to offer. And, surely if visiting Sao Paolo, we will take up your offer :). Thanks!
I’ve been to Hogennakal years ago. It wasn’t that bad before, but yeah, it wasn’t too clean either. Looks like it’s only getting worse 🙁
The fish sounds good (the only catch I guess!). I remember the fish fry that I got to have then and yeah, it sure was fresh & crispy.
Yercaud? I’ve been there too. When in school, we’ve been to Montford and Sacred Hearts Yercaud (SHY) for basketball tournaments and interschool competitions and for excursions as well. It’s a lovely place! Looking forward to your pics 🙂
thats what i meant .. not that why someone mentioned the fees.. its all the fees for silly things like it says entry X amount but then another Y amount without any description.. entry is entry.. 🙂
And I know for myself india has such beautiful places if only the govt did something positive 🙂
Bikram’s Blog
@RGB I wish someone had told me about Hogennakal earlier, and I’d spent that time in Yercaud. Ah, Montfort, we got to see it from outside. It is one of the oldest schools, right!
@Bikram I get your point :). It is bugging when fees are charged without anything written and by seeing your faces, they feel that you are fools and you must pay :).
i remember goin to a place once. it was written ‘Plastic free zone’. there was a waste bin kept in front of a guy
But he preffered to do throw balls with his plastic food wrappers.
thts the biggest problem if Indians become tourists
@Jon Yes, very true. Our behavior is atrocious in following rules.