The Dudhsagar Trek

The Majestic Dudhsagar Falls

It was Sribacha Nayak (Shree) who sowed the seed of Dudhsagar plan in our heads with his stories of its breathtaking beauty and being there in the past. All of us put our heads up for this awesome plan and thanks to him for coordinating and guiding us to get ready for the journey. The first thing he did was he made a group in gmail and sent a mail about the destination.  
Dudhsagar Falls (literally Sea of Milk ) is a four-tiered waterfall located on the Mandovi River in the border of the Indian State of Goa and Karnataka. This Falls is amongst India's tallest Waterfalls with a height of 310 m (1017 feet) and an average width of 30 metres (100 feet). The waterfall forms the border between Karnataka and Goa states. The area is surrounded by a deciduous forests with a rich biodiversity. The falls are not particularly spectacular during the dry season but during the monsoon season however, the falls are fed by rains and form a huge force of water. 

I had never heard of Dudhsagar except that I had a glimpse of it in the movie  "Chennai Express", where Deepika's father meets Sharukh Khan for the first time. But for me it was a new adventure to try on so I immediately replied back saying " I am in, No matter What.. :)"and my reply was followed by Sameer , Swati, Swateek, Gauthem and Roopa  finally with Seven of us all set for it. Sameer was my college friend, Swati, Swateek, Gauthem and Roopa were my colleagues from Thomson Reuters and Shree was our scientist friend  whom we called as a foreigner because of his unique look.   

Shree started getting the tickets done and then divided the responsibilities for arranging tents, ponchos, foods items etc.

It was 1st of August 2014, a Friday and the train was scheduled in the evening. I had little challenge with my office schedule, but I decided to work on early shift for that day. I got up early and checked all the things I had to carry and kept my rucksack ready before I headed to work. I was to reach the railway station by 8:00pm, since our train to Castle Rock was at 9.30pm . It was 6.30 am when My office cab driver gave me a missed call as a signal to get out of my PG(Paying Guest). I rushed down and got in the cab. I was among the Asia team to work that morning and they knew I had a plan that evening that's why I had changed my shift. By 9:00 am my senior manager came in and was suspicious that I had another travel plan that weekend, I told him about the 14 kms trek that we would be doing and his reply was "I envy you for your weekend adventures". I smiled and welcomed him to join me some day. 

The day seemed really long at work when I was actually was super excited to travel.

Exactly at 4:00 pm I stood up to rush to the cab and my team mates wished me Happy journey and to come back with lots of stories.  I got to my PG and picked up my bags and waited for Swati and Gauthem to pick me up. Though we started early, we could reach railway station only by 7.30pm, credits to Bangalore Traffic for taking so long. 

Yestwanpur Railway Station, 01.08.2014

Roopa, Shree and Sameer were there already. As always the Indian Railways was hardly on time so as we waited the three ladies wanted a picture before the journey and Gauthem joined us to pose.

It was 10:00 pm sharp when the train entered the platform. We looked for our compartment and got in. It was a wonderful night with lots of story exchanges and as I was seated at the window side I was busy making a collage for my dad's birthday that was on next day 2nd August. I was told that we will not have mobile network so I had to post the picture (my way of usual birthday greetings) and wishes before I lost the network.

Soon after boarding the train

 We chit chatted for long  until we started hearing loud snores from other compartments and  we also started making our beds.

Next morning I was woken up by a voice which I thought was of a chai wala (tea seller) but it was one of the guy of our group teasing us to wake us up. Shree then announced that we were nearing the station to get down- Castle Rock.

Fresh morning pose, 02.08.2014

As we got down from the train we all posed in front of the Railway board, all excited to reach the point of start.

That's the startpoint

We took out our Ponchos as we were told that it will rain throughout the journey so wore it  and got ready to walk. But as a little kid  I was already posing for a picture just below the  board saying a alien from Bhutan here.

A must picture with Poncho

Before we left the Castlerock station to kick off the walking for 14kms to reach the falls we stood to capture the moment with all of us in Poncho and our ruck sack well covered to protect from getting wet.

All set to Go.

We started our walk and  we came across this ruins of a Castle after which we thought that the place was named. But it was said that for many years this village marked the frontier between Portuguese-held Goa and British -held India.

Castle Ruins

After the castle there was a suspension bridge where we quickly posed . All seemed energetic and anxious of the journey and the view of the falls.

Happy Dent Smile please

The 14 Kms stretch was just on the railway tracks and there was no uphill nor downhill. It rained couple of times but we were all covered to face the rain. We stopped as we got good place for pictures and for snacking.

Always ready for Pictures

We laughed, we made memories  and kept motivating each other to walk.

SRK fan & her followers

This is one of my favorite picture. It was taken on a railway bridge which had a tunnel opening right there. The picture looks so beautiful but we all were worried not knowing what we would do if the train arrives.

My Favorite Shot

We kept crossing one tunnel after another with torches in our hand with great excitement as well as little fear of any approaching train. Suddenly this fear came true! We were in the middle of one of the most narrow tunnel among all and suddenly we heard sound of an approaching train. 

Train inside the Tunnel

We all were literally terrified and didn't know how to react. They was no way we could pass the tunnel before the train got in. We literally stuck ourselves to the walls as the train arrived. Each one of us held our hands and pushed ourselves very had towards the wall praying for safety. The train was in very high speed and thankfully none of us were hurt. It was such a relief after the train passed and we all shouted in joy.

Sameer captured this inside tunnel memory beautifully! 

As we were getting out of this tunnel we had a skinny puppy following us so we named with different names of our own choice and then fed him with some bread, it kept following us. Then suddenly another train came and we had another narrow escape. Roopa lost her balance and almost fell but saved herself by sitting down just little away from the track. Her rucksack cover got torn but nothing happened to her. Train nearly touched her before she could bend down. People in the train shouted out loud at her as the train passed her.

That's Roopa walking with her torn plastic though she was little scared.

As we were all occupied looking at what happened to Rupa, we heard the little puppy crying so we immediately attended him thinking he was hurt too but luckily he wasn't. Sameer picked him up and kept him away from the railway track.

 As we walked we reached a place that was the boarder of Karnataka and Goa. There was a demarcation of the state boarder and a tunnel opening right there. I immediately ran to the board and swung on it and everyone took turns to pose in their own style.

 

Let me pose first.

We are here.

After that was the 4th tunnel and before entering the tunnel we all waited for a picture and counted that there were 10 more tunnels to cross before we reach our destination for the day.

Not so lengthy this time.

It rained heavily but we kept walking admiring the beauty of the wet forest and capturing memories whenever possible.

A picture break

Every time we got bored we picked up each person and teased and this moment was my turn. Since I used to call Sri as my daddy, he came to me saying I am his daughter and I can be a good hand rest for him.

While daddy posed, daughter was exhausted already.

Then, next was Roopa and Gauthem, as they walked we called them so many times in all the South Indian Languages we knew but they did not respond back but kept walking busy talking to each other. I guess they were seriously discussing on some programming codes.

That is how IT guys walk/work.

Swati and I kept teasing each other throughout the way and played like those little kids just out of the cage running around and competing to walk fast.

Two kiddos of the group.

Swati's favorite picture.

At one point we reached a railway station where there was a train parked and we had to pass through in between the two trains. One of them started moving so we had to stand still and let it go. When I was small my parents had warned me saying if we stand near the moving train we would be pulled under its wheels and that thought scared shit out of me but after this trip I realized that wasn't true.  That must have been their way of not letting me move around in the railway station.

Stuck in between two 🚆

As we walked further talking we noticed that Roopa usually used "Jiii" after every name she called and that sounded very cute. While she called we all imitated her as - Shreejiii, Swateekjiii, Sameerjiii, Gauthemjiii, Swatijiii & Bhawanajiii. Hence the name of our group was discovered then as the "Jiii Gang", which still exist today as a Whatsapp group with few of us leaving and getting back.

 We reached at a small waterfall where we met other fellow trekkers who were taking pictures. We again started teasing each other among ourselves saying who would be brave enough to be able to convince the other fellow members to take our group picture and I don't remember who actually did it.

Monkey Pose we called it

We the Jiii Gang then posed with our hands on our cheeks saying Jiii to the photographer. I guess that fellow is still wondering why did we say "Jiiii" instead of "Cheese" while we posed.

After that all the rest went to the water fall but I stayed back to click their pictures while they got wet.

Mini water fall

We resumed walking after the picture and little further we again stopped. I was trying to get a quick nap while Swateek wanted a picture so here's the two in one picture.

Nap while I pose

We then reached the Dudhsagar Station which was less than a kilometer before the Dudhsagar falls. We had to cross one last tunnel to reach the falls. The station had lots of people waiting for the train. We were told that normally the passenger trains does not stop at this station but people who give up walking try getting into the cargo trains to reach other stations to catch their scheduled trains. That was the reason this station was crowded.

Last tunnel before Destination

As we approached the falls there was a board which said "Dudh Sagar Water Falls". A different excitement crept into us and we were thrilled to see the Majestic Dudhsagar falls. On the left as we approached was the falls and the mist from the falls had made the view a bit cloudy. We could feel ourselves getting wet with the mist.

Our Camp Site

We then went towards the right side of the falls where we could pitch our tents there adjacent to other fellow trekkers. There were around thirty to forty similar tents. We had carried two tents so we pitched in one corner facing each other. Three girls in one and four guys in the other.

Girl's Tent

Boy's Tent

Next to the camping site was a cafeteria which only served hot water and Maggie but as we had carried buffet lamps with us for boiling water, we used it and had cup noodles for dinner. It was chilly and that was the best time for enjoying the  Maggie Cup noodles. There was no electric lighting but our torches were enough. We  could even use the torch to make our tent look bright and take pictures. This was all of ours first time camping except Shree and we knew we were all making awesome memories. Throughout the night we kept talking as well as listening to our neighboring tents.

Morning Picture, 02.08.2014

For using the loo we had to carry our torch light and go inside the tunnel that was just next to the camp site. That was only the bad part of this camping site- no proper toilets. Next morning, we got up and visited the falls. The view was so mesmerizing that one would feel like watching it forever and not moving away.

Just next to the tunnel was a small water fall where almost all the trekkers went to take bath, which was actually to get wet and enjoy in the natural water. We also followed the crowd and enjoyed.

Three cheers to the ladies who made up to the falls!

While we were posing we heard the train approaching so we quickly put some coins on the track to carry that with us as souvenir from the falls. When the train went over our coins, the coins had become flat.

Jiii Gang

We wanted a group picture of the Jiiii Gang at the falls and got this. This is the best one with all smiles and it does remind us of the wonderful journey we had.

After breakfast which included -biscuits and chocolates we started our journey towards the opposite side of where we came from as we had to catch our train from that station. It was 12 kilometers walk and our luggage were lighter as the food items were almost over. While we walked we reached to a point from where the view of the Dudhsagar falls was awesome.

Pointing to the falls

The second day was very relaxing and we were familiar with the train and the signals so when we saw the train coming we posed for a perfect picture.

Lets pose before we die

We just found many monkeys on the way and fed them with our left over snacks.We reached our destination much ahead of time so we rested at the station.

Eating while waiting

It was again a wonderful train journey as the train had to get back to Bangalore through the Dudhsagar falls so we were again seeing the falls from the train. The view from the train was again a very beautiful one.

As we reached the Dudhsagar station, our train stopped (which was actually not a stop) because there was an accident. Hearing that I shivered wondering what it could be and got to know that a trekker was trying to jump into the moving train but he slipped and hurt himself. That was one thing people do not care about. In their adventure they enjoy and do not care if that would hamper their life. Our end of the trip had this sad story though we did not know him but since he was our fellow trekker we hoped he got well.

We had a good night sleep in the train that night and we hoped we would get to Bangalore and to work on time as it was a Monday Morning! 

Back to Square one & ready for work

After we got out of the train this picture was a much needed one as it clearly showed on everyone's face what we got from the trip! We were returning with our "Jiii Gang", loads of lovely memories and stories to share life long! 

I wrote this blog so that we could read and revisit those memories. I would like to thank each one of you for making this possible! Jiiii gang Rocks! and to everyone else, you must plan to visit this fall. It is not just the fall, but overall journey makes it a lasting memory!

Friends Forever