Beyond Beaches

2014-08-07T08:46:00.001-07:00

This blog will share my- (Harish Kumar's) experience of an amazing journey to Dudhsagar waterfalls, Jungle trek and walking on the railway tracks.

The Waterfall

Dudhsagar waterfalls meaning ‘Sea of Milk’ is a tiered waterfall located on the Mandovi River in the Indian state of Goa on the border of Goa with Karnataka state. To be precise it is situated in the southern part of Goa at Mollem, inside the Bhagwan Mahavir Wild Life Sanctuary towards the border with Karnataka. The name comes from the local Konkanni language and gets its name as it appears like an overflowing sea of milk. It has a total height of 310 meters (1017 feet) and a width of 30 meters (98 feet).

It is one of the world’s most exquisite falls and one of the most powerful falls in India. Dudhsagar is listed as India’s fifth tallest waterfall and is 227^th in the world.

The Journey

Enjoy the Journey, Not just the Destination...

The journey begins as we start from Mumbai’s Dadar station to Pune by train. We were a group of 56 avid trekkers waiting to be joined by another 14 likeminded trekkers at Pune taking the headcount to a whopping 70. The trek was organized by a group named Trek Mates India lead by group leader Manoj Kalwar and they had made prior reservations for the travel. The distance from Dadar to Pune is 152 kilometers (94 miles) and Pune to Dudhsagar is 431 kilometers (268 miles). So that makes it a total of 583 kilometers (362 miles).

The morning was buzzing with excitement of our group as the train slowly came in to the platform we were waiting at. The next thing I heard was a roaring noise from our team – inner voice of joy I believe. We all got into our coach and occupy the seats reserved for us and preparing for the next 2.5 hours to reach Pune. No sooner did the train leave the station – people starting singing songs, morning breakfast and hot cup of ‘chai’ (Tea) served in the train.

Enjoying in the Train

We reached Pune railway station at around 1:00 PM and our train to Dudhsagar station was to depart at 4:30 PM. Soon everyone disappeared – some left for the midday meal, some of us visited the famous Dagaduseth Halwai Ganapati Temple and the Shaniwar Wada Fort just a walking distance from the temple. All of us re-grouped at the station for our train which got delayed by an hour.

Dagaduseth Halwai Ganapati

Shaniwar Wada Fort

Manoj gets a brilliant idea to start playing ‘Mafia’ at the station with railway tracks on either side of us. Soon a crowd gathered to watch what was going on. It was fun though I didn’t get to play there but decided I will be in the game next round. The train finally came in at 5:20 PM and all of us sprang up from our places and ran to the coaches.

70 of us would spend the next 12 hours in the train to reach our destination – Dudhsagar Railway Station. Once we settled down – the group played a mind game called ‘Mafia’ famous with Trek Mates India. I will not get into explaining the game but believe me it was fun playing it with so many participants. The dividers and different directions of the seats inside the coach did not stop us from playing the game while it’s best played with people forming a circle.

Playing "Mafia" Game at Pune Railway Station

Next morning 3:30 AM – the group leader blows a whistle loud enough for us to wake up as the entire coach was occupied by just us. “The train halts in an hour (4:30 AM) so wake up, pack up and get ready” he says, further saying there is no platform for us to get down – we alight directly outside the train. At 4:21 AM the train stops and we all get down from all possible exits. Yes – there was no platform we got down in the dark. Torches go on as everyone was asked to carry one. We realized a stationed goods train on the parallel track. It soon starts drizzling but all of us start walking on the track as our train moves to its next station followed by the goods train that also chugged along to leaves us.

It’s another hour or so for day light so the group leader asks us to rest for a while till day light else we would not be able to see and walk in the dark. We find possible places that have the roof coming out enough to give us some shelter from the heavy drizzle. Picture this – you are standing in the center, a railway track and huge wall of mountain on your left side and a railway track, a couple of small rooms that house the generator and station master and the valley on your right side.

Right then and there – we started digging into our bags for early morning munching. Biscuits, cake slices, theplas and khakaras galore. Sitting on the railway tracks and singing some good old songs – yes we did have a bunch of good singers. And then my wife and I explored the place to click a few photos around in the dark.

Group photo before starting the Trek

It was finally daylight and the group leader summoned all of us – we formed a circle covering both the railway tracks. It was time for a formal round of introduction. Each of us had to tell our name, what we do, where we work and if have trekked before.

You will be surprised by the assortment of people present there for the trek – branch managers at banks, stock traders, finance professionals, graphic designers, free lancers, photographers and software engineers. The group lead then calls for a serious talk to tell us about the trek and DO’s & DON’Ts that we absolutely need to follow for our own safety.

The entire trek is going to be 14-15 kilometers. Start point Dudhsagar and ends at Kulem railway station.
We start from Dudhsagar station walking on the tracks head towards the waterfalls and then walk further till we reach a place that is exact opposite of the falls to watch the train go on the bridge and the waterfalls in the back drop. Distance 2.5 kilometers.
From there on we enter the Jungle for Leech infested Jungle trek which will take us on the other side to the railway tracks that eventually lead us to Kulem station. Distance 13 kilometers.
All of us were asked to carry salt and matches. No guesses – that was for the leeches in case you get hooked on to by one of them. In case of a leech attack – sprinkle salt on it and if it still doesn’t leave you then burn a match to finish it.
As we will be walking on the tracks – all of us to move on either side of the tracks when a train approaches either from behind us or from the front.

The Trek

The gang of 70 trekkers starts off to explore this serene and peaceful yet dangerous terrain. We will be spending the next 9.5 hours starting from Dudhsagar station to our destination Kulem station enroute will be walking on the tracks, watching trains come and go, Dudhsagar waterfall, mini waterfalls, jungle trek that includes, walk on the green grass, mucky waters, river crossing using bridge / ropes, crossing river streams and again back on tracks. Yeah not to forget the leeches!

The trek started off from Dudhsagar station towards the falls which is hardly 1km away. The first glimpse of the Majestic Falls

The first glimpse of the Majestic Falls

We rushed our way to see The Legendary Dudhsagar Waterfalls in front of us & everyone just stood still for a couple of minutes admiring what is impossible to put down in words.

The Legendary Dudhsagar Waterfalls

We trekked the first 3 kilometers on the railway tracks going through tunnels meant for trains to watch the majestic Dudhsagar waterfalls and further walking to reach a spot bang opposite the falls to watch the train pass on the brigde with the falls in the backdrop. This first leg of the trek was fun and everyone was like wowwww look at the mighty waterfalls, the height from which water runs down was just mind blowing and the mist it throws all around it passes you like transparent clouds. Not to forget our partner ‘Rains’ visited us on and off.

It was a sight to see – rains on top of us, railway tracks below us, waterfalls on one side and the valley on our other side. People enjoying, clicking photos, cameras covered under umbrellas some didn’t bother if their camera got a little of the rain too. At a canteen nearby the falls – a traditional breakfast was being served ‘Poha’ with hot cuppa of ‘chai’ tea. After this very short stomach filling break all of us headed back on the tracks to reach the opposite side as Manoj called for all us to say the train reaches the spot in another 20 minutes and we have about a kilometer to walk. The next moment all were walking as fast as they could passing through a 2 tunnels.

Walking through the tunnels

We reached the spot and my GOD what a view – I was like this can’t get better, now we wait for the train to go by. All of us started clicking photos of the falls, self-portraits and then the moment arrived what we all waited for. We heard the train whistling from a distance and we screamed at each other to move away from the tracks as we were all seated on the tracks for a group photo J

The train came and passed us and all of us got on to our positions all set to click the most awaited moment as the train continued to whistle and move towards the falls. Click, click, click and click click and click was all I heard next from all the cameras there. WHAT A SCENE – as the train moved on after the falls I could see a sense of accomplishment on everyone’s face. We all finally clicked photos of the scene that travelers mostly watch on Google – we were there in flesh and blood to experience and capture that moment.

Dudhsagar Waterfalls & a moving train...a photographers delight

Manoj our group lead heads off on the tracks and we follow him for our next adventure – Jungle Trek. We are now joined by an experienced trekker who is familiar with the jungle and the route inside. Announcement time – do not stop anywhere in the jungle, keep walking said our guide whose name was Datta. We all guessed it why – if we stopped long enough we become the train and the Leeches are the passengers who will get onto us, sit on us and start their meal – our blood. The salt and matches we carried will come in use now in case we get caught by leeches.

Start of the jungle trek was a steep descent where we had to be careful as didn’t want to slip our way down. Continued the trek and the jungle was buzzing with so many different sounds – of birds, waterfalls, river streams, us talking and giggling and trains approaching the valley. We were first greeted by a small river stream that had to be crossed – one by one 70 of us crossed it not without playing in the water and splashing it on others. Mucky waters throughout the jungle and wild plants, some tall enough to leave a scar on our face as some of them had thorns with them.

Every now and then Datta and Manoj would ask us to check if there was any leech attack. Some had false alarms and some had 1 or 2 leeches but got pulled away as they walked. There came a spot when one of trekkers and my wife both had leeches on them. One on the leg, a few inside the shoe and my wife had 1 on her finger – a small guy but grabbed the finger tight and would not come up. My wife decided it to feed on her blood and not to remove it. In the next hour the small guy had his fill as he had swollen up and just uprooted himself and fell off. Sad that we could not click him before he left.

Next comes up an even more powerful river stream that we dare not fool around with as the mighty force of the currents would take us some place we don’t want to go. Bridge to the rescue – yes there was a bridge over it made of thick wooden sticks and a rope below for those adventurous enough to hold on to the rope and cross the river. Most of us went over the bridge and few like me and my wife used the rope as well to experience it firsthand.

We continued our trek till we reached back on the tracks that will lead us to our destination - Kulem station.
Once on the tracks – we would be walking for another 2-3 kilometers to reach the station.

Trek continues on the tracks till Kulem Station

This leg of the trek was getting a bit tiresome as all of us were tired with the heavy bags on our shoulders – taking breaks sitting on the tracks but all of us slowly inched to Kulem station.

Throughout the trek rains kept us company – at times drizzling on us and other times with a heavy downpour. The trek is very enjoyable and one gets to see nature first hand. Birds chirping all the way, you cannot see the waterfalls when inside the jungle but can hear it clearly, sound of the river flowing by and not to forget the echo of the train blowing its whistle that runs throughout the valley.

Rest of this trek is to be seen from our photos and videos as it will not do justice if I only wrote about it.

Return Journey

The trek got over at about 3:20 PM at Kulem station where all of us caught with some rest as our bodies were crying for rest. We had our meal and waited for the arrival of our train. 4:30 PM train comes into the station and off we go back to Pune station and from there back to Mumbai.

Life doesn't come with a GPS...
Get Lost, Follow the tracks, Discover yourself, Be Happy!

The memories each of one of us carry from this trip will forever mesmerize us of what we witnessed on that day.

Author: Harish Kumar (harrymkumar@gmail.com)
Special thanks to Abhineet Prakash for the two pictures borrowed to help us express the moment :)

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