[Thermodynamics]

“The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”
- Karl Marx

I am one of those useless ones occupied by television, mobile phone, laptop and video games, who doesn't venture out but remain longing to explore. I am of those who read travelogues after travelogues, e-travel using google maps but never take that extra effort to overcome the potential barrier. I am of those who curse themselves every time a Leh/Sikkim story pops up of Team-Bhp, stare at those breathtaking landscape shots, then turn to their mobile gallery, yeah thousands of pictures, all selfies with funny face, well, the same funny face in a repetitive pattern . This day was different. Sunday morning 7:00 AM pushed myself out on a Honda Activa. Absolutely no preparation whatsoever.

Disclaimer
This is my first travelogue, pardon me for my mistakes. This is probably also a first travelogue on this place.

On the route from Bangalore to Hogenakkal via Anchetty many would have stopped at a hairpin bend just before Anchetty stream to take a view of the valley. Some would have noticed a waterfall at a distance amidst the woods. This is Metre Falls, Boothattikottai, Manchi Reserve Forest, en-route Denkanikottai to Gonamakkanapalli. The locals call it Metray, sounds more like met+ray not miet+er. It is a tiny stream that plunges 50m or so and is nowhere in league of Athirapalli, Kunchikal or Jog.

At 60km from Bangalore city limits, it gets little or no attention probably because of its neighbor Hogenakkal massif. That's the beauty, it is zero touristy, zero litter, serene, absolutely pristine. With no established route, one has to trek through woods to reach the falls that majorly serves as a hangout place of local teenagers. You will find no sign boards, no travelogues, no trek routes in public database. How many times we go to a touristy place such as the likes of Ooty and Kodaikkanal and find a sign board "xyz falls" but no water . Metray will not dissappoint you, it is perennial.

How to reach
Route 1: Bangalore->Hosur->Denkanikottai->Kundukottai->Arulalam->Boothattikottai
Route 2: Bangalore->Hosur->Denkanikottai->Salivaram->Arulalam->Boothattikottai

By Bus: Reach Hosur bus stand, plenty of buses run between Bangalore and Hosur. From Hosur, buses ply to Denkanikottai every 10 minutes. From Denkanikottai board a bus towards Gonamakkanapalli. There is one every two hours from 5:00 AM till 09:00 PM. After Arulalam get down at Boothattikottai cross. A km of walk from here would take you to the hamlet of Boothattikottai.

Preparation:
Vehicle type: 4x4? even an Activa will do
Trek difficulty: Easy. Maybe just a kilometer and the trek should take less than 20 minutes
Shoes: well you can do it barefoot if you like
The only preparation I beg is to prepare mentally not to litter and not to turn this gem into another sewer.

I left home at 7:15 AM with no idea how to reach this place. The only clue I have from google maps is "Arulalam" the nearest village that has road connectivity. My best bet was to reach this village and ask locals. Several things ran in my mind before I started. Can I go alone to an unknown place?, on a two wheeler?, what if someone intercepts?, what if someone robs? what if my vehicle is stolen? what if wild animals encounter? what if I get injured? bla bla bla. Ignored everything and ventured out with empty stomach not even a sip of water. Filled fuel to the brim at a local pump, had tea at Hosur railway station and grabbed a bottle of water to hydrate me. 24km after Hosur I reached Denkanikottai and continued towards Anchetti.

My vaahan. Sorry for parking it on the wrong side.




At 7km from Denkanikottai one can turn left to Salivaram village and this is route 2 that I took on the way back. For now I continued on Anchetti road for 6km to reach Kundukottai.



Turned left at Kundukottai on Salivaram road. Traffic was high on Anchetti road perhaps due to Hogenakkal tourists. The moment I turned left the road transformed, narrow but serene. It was just me and my wife's Activa .



After 3km took a right turn and proceeded 2km to reach Arulalam. Enquired about my destination. They could not get it the first time when I said Metre falls. Being a native Tamil guy, it wasn't hard to get what I needed, they call it "Metray". They showed me two ways to reach Metray, either way you have to walk about 3 kms in the Jungle. They suggested I cannot go without help so better continue towards Gonamakkanapalli and somewhere between ask local guys to take you there. As soon as I crossed Arulalam I came across a bridge and the stream flowing underneath is the one that powers Metray and ultimately becomes Anchetty stream. It gives an apriori idea of the amount of flow one can expect that day. Post the stream I took a right turn towards a hamlet Boothattikottai (you will not find this in google). When traveling by bus this is the point to get down.



The hamlet is about a km from the main road.


I enquired local people in the hamlet, some one said go straight there is a tree, take right, go straight and you will find a handpump: walk from there. For a moment I thought this is probably the end. A short distance further was an Anganwadi center.



I met an old lady who lives next to the center. She said, go that way, that way and that way. I wondered which way, her every gesture was pointing the forest and there is no "way". I politely asked her "can anyone take me there". At this point her son stepped in and agreed. I greeted him, parked my vehicle and followed his footsteps.

[Thermodynamics]

From the Anganwadi center there are two ways to reach Metray. Easiest one is to follow the path to temples that are close by the falls. A more adventurous way is to follow the stream. I took the latter for the onward journey and the easier one while returning. The below picture gives an idea of possible routes, I followed the red one whereas there is also another way from Arulalam, shown in Green. Thicker lines depict motorable limits.



Soon after I followed him via the red route (right one) we hit the stream



was quite slippery


we reached a place and there was a 10 feet drop. I asked him is this it, he replied this is small Metray the actual one is further downstream.




The rock bed was so clean, every rain seems to sand blast the bed revealing a fresh layer of mosaic.



Can you spot my Guide, He is right there in the middle of the pic and that's our way.

[Thermodynamics]

Soon the woods opened up and boy it was a sight to behold












Note at the top is a faintly seen hairpin bend called by google maps as Krishnagiri falls view point.


I met a pack of local teenagers, it is their favorite hangout place. They were happy to strike a pose.






























I miss a few things. I wanted to get a full shot of the falls but could not go down as they warned me of a recent bear attack down there. Reserved it for another day. I also miss because of my poor preparation, a polarizing filter to aid slow shutter shots that produce silky water effect. The direction of falls is the direction of sunset, golden rays reflecting on slipping water with the sunset as a backdrop should be mesmerizing. But that is not easy because this land is possessed at dusk by some others, the Tuskers.

On the way back I noticed a hand pump adjacent to the anganwadi center.

That's me and my new friend . He is Mallesh and his mobile number is 9786094581


When I got back home multitude of memories were fizzing in my mind, it was a sensation of having achieved something. All these happened in a matter of 5 hours (7:15 AM to 12:30PM) and all I had to do was to step out.

I wish to conclude the post with a quote from one of the greatest travelers in history.
"I set out alone, having neither fellow-traveller in whose companionship I might find cheer, nor caravan whose part I might join, but swayed by an overmastering impulse within me and a desire long-cherished in my bosom to visit these illustrious sanctuaries."
-Ibn Battuta


I thank the Almighty for this experience

[.anshuman]

Note from Support: Thread moved here from Assembly line. Thanks for sharing

[Mafia]

Thanks for sharing! I did not know about this place at all!
nice images and write up!

This is on my to-do list the next time I am in Bangalore! I guess the visit has to be seasonal! any advice?

[Thermodynamics]

Originally Posted by Mafia

Thanks for sharing! I did not know about this place at all!
nice images and write up!

This is on my to-do list the next time I am in Bangalore! I guess the visit has to be seasonal! any advice?

The flow has to be high during monsoon but as per the local's words, it flows all year round. The catchment area is not huge, as a result the flow is sensitive to the amount of rain that day. They say, at times during heavy rainfall the whole rock bed will immerse.

[Coplay]

Such a quick and wonderful thread and your honesty is very commendable.
Good job on your first trip. Now plan to go to Chota Ladakh. Its bikeable and can be easily found on Google Maps.

[anand.shankar]

Originally Posted by Coplay

Such a quick and wonderful thread and your honesty is very commendable.
Good job on your first trip. Now plan to go to Chota Ladakh. Its bikeable and can be easily found on Google Maps.

I thought Chota Ladakh was out of bounds to public, have the cops relaxed the entry ban now ?

[ARAY]

A short crisp and informative narration. KA has so much left unexplored and its because of travelers like you new places come under the spot. The place looks very scenic from the pictures you shared. Keep travelling and sharing such wonderful places.

[Coplay]

Originally Posted by anand.shankar

I thought Chota Ladakh was out of bounds to public, have the cops relaxed the entry ban now ?

Hi, a couple of my friends have been there Multiple times in the last few months. They never told me anything about the cops scene. So i'm assuming its cool.

[gkveda]

Honest review has made this travelogue a gem. When i read your words "No comparison to Jog, Niagara, below thoughts came to my mind. could not resist putting them here.

Nature is always beautiful. No matter whether big or small, near or far, hot or cold, Green or yellow !

Honestly, when I started reading this, I got the same feeling as when I read a Leh Ladakh travelogue ! Then, Why do humans make comparisons with others and create unhappiness?

By the way, how did you get to know that a place exists here?

Also do you have GPS coordinates for this place, If yes, please share. This will help to plan a trip for this place

[Thermodynamics]

Originally Posted by gkveda

Honest review has made this travelogue a gem. When i read your words "No comparison to Jog, Niagara, below thoughts came to my mind. could not resist putting them here.

Nature is always beautiful. No matter whether big or small, near or far, hot or cold, Green or yellow !

Honestly, when I started reading this, I got the same feeling as when I read a Leh Ladakh travelogue ! Then, Why do humans make comparisons with others and create unhappiness?

By the way, how did you get to know that a place exists here?

Also do you have GPS coordinates for this place, If yes, please share. This will help to plan a trip for this place

Thanks,
The co-ordinates for boothattikottai is 12.388749,77.764706
and for the location where we need to bifurcate from the main road is 12.398737,77.769013.
To avoid confusion please reach Arulalam and ask for directions to Boothattikottai.

[hangover]

Ah. Now you tell me?
I passed that turn last night. Around 1am.
I will be sure to check those falls next week.

We went past Anchetty and reached Satyamangalam. The plan was to hit Chamarajanagar via Kollegal.

There were 2 routes.

One via MM hills and forest or through the tiger reserve with BR hills on your left. An unknown route until then. For me.

We went through the tiger reserve at 2.30am heading towards karnataka border.

It was the scariest 60km I have ever driven. There was not a single vehicle on the road in either direction. Dense jungle on both sides. Absolute silence. Not even a light from some distant lonely house.

No sounds absolutely. One would expect basic jungle crickets or frogs to be chirping or croaking. Nyet. Zero sounds.

Here and there we saw trampled bamboo plants. I assumed these were the doings of elephants.

An unrelated point - the bamboo plants were green, unlike the brown and yellowish ones you normally see. Huge old eucalyptus plants were growing both sides. Each about 3 feet in diameter.

Luckily, or unluckily, we didn't see tigers or elephants. We saw two varieties of Civet cats, a jungle cat (very rare) and some wild boars.

At the K border (approx. 40km from Satyamangalam) the barrier was down. We weren't sure if we could legally travel through a tiger reservation at 2.30am. The guard house looked deserted.

We could have turned and reached Kollegal via an alternate route. Or waited till dawn. But the prospect of driving back 40km through a dense tropical jungle, probably infested with dacoits (in my timid mind) wasn't tempting.

We honked at the barrier. A sleepy guard woke up. We were ready with vaguely legitimate reasons for being there at that time. Not needed. The guard merely raised the barriers and we were in karnataka.

The Jungle continued another 20km. Not another vehicle or human in sight.

4km onwards we came across the karnataka check post. Another barrier. Loud honking did not rouse anything or anyone.

I stepped out and raised the barrier myself. Got the car across, lowered the barricade. And drove on. Reached Blr. 5ish.

Thank you for this information about the falls. It's definitely on my bucket list now.

[Thermodynamics]

Originally Posted by hangover

We went past Anchetty and reached Satyamangalam. The plan was to hit Chamarajanagar via Kollegal.

Hey, Thanks.

I guess we are mixing Avinashi with Anchetty, I believe you crossed Avinashi and reached Satyamangalam then took the BR hills route to reach Chamrajnagar, Kollegal and Bangalore. I think it is called Dhimbam Ghat Road and I have heard is an amazing route. Have never been though before. Didn't know this section is accessible during night.

Thanks for sharing your experience, must have been scary .
I also remember a similar experience when I was driving at odd hours (must be 1:00AM I guess) through Tholpetty reserve forest, there was neither a vehicle ahead nor any behind and an elephant was standing on the road with a baby elephant lying beside. I wasn't sure if it was a new birth or a fresh death due to accident, either way it was bad news .

Some how I managed to maneuver the car away from the Elephant.

[hangover]

Originally Posted by Thermodynamics

Hey, Thanks.

I guess we are mixing Avinashi with Anchetty, I believe you crossed Avinashi and reached Satyamangalam then took the BR hills route to reach Chamrajnagar, Kollegal and Bangalore. I think it is called Dhimbam Ghat Road and I have heard is an amazing route. Have never been though before. Didn't know this section is accessible during night.

Thanks for sharing your experience, must have been scary .
I also remember a similar experience when I was driving at odd hours (must be 1:00AM I guess) through Tholpetty reserve forest, there was neither a vehicle ahead nor any behind and an elephant was standing on the road with a baby elephant lying beside. I wasn't sure if it was a new birth or a fresh death due to accident, either way it was bad news .

Some how I managed to maneuver the car away from the Elephant.

I think we are both right. I don't remember the name Avinashi.

I concur on all the other points.

The route we followed was - Thally, Denkanikottai, Anchetty, Hogenakkal.

Then go to Mecheri. Beautiful roads.

From there go to Mettur dam. It should be on your right side. Go past Mettur thermal plant.

Turn right. Cross the river.

Cauvery river is now on your left. You can actually smell the water. The same Cauvery is now called Bhavani river.

Reach Ammapettai.

Right again to a place called Anthiyur.

Continue towards Satyamangalam.

I had read elsewhere about Dimbam ghats. It exceeded all expectations. Excellent roads.

Traffic at midnight is like Avenue road in day time in bangalore.

If you are from the US, you will feel at home here!

Vehicles drive on the right side. That is the best way for trucks to go across the 27 hairpin bends.

There are boards at each turn 1 of 27, 2 of 27 and so on.

From Satyamangalam go towards Thalamalai forest reserve.

You will come to a TN govt. prohibition checkpoint.

A few km from here is the critical turn.

Right again.

If you miss this turn, it's still ok.

2 km more is another TN govt. Check post. This is just a time pass post, as the cop simply sits on a chair with the barrier up.

Turn right here. No further ado.

You will find a huge brightly lit place,. Probably a chicken farm or a marriage hall. It's nearly half an acre in size. Lights ablaze like it's Diwali every night.

After that it's time to be brave. You are going through the the tiger reserve. 60km.

Reach Germalam. Here is the state border. Cross it to reach Dhonderling tibetian settlements.

A bit further is Kollegal.

Regarding permission:

I urge everyone to read the first page of our constitution. You and me are sovereign citizens. Nobody on earth can question your right to be anywhere in the country for peaceful reasons.