Talakona Falls Near Thirupathi

AnandRaj! Thanks for this Write up.

July 2008
Chennai.

“Too tired. Let me sleep”
“There is an implementation over the weekend. So cant go out of town”
“Jagan has come to Chennai. Let me have a drink with him. Bugs would also come. It will be fun”
“Who cares about implementation. That’s not my responsibility”
“Have to go on a trek this weekend. Its been too long. If we drink, cant make it”
“Dad’s not in town. I have to go home and spend the weekend at home with mom rather than doing something else”
“The client will escalate if there are problems in implementation”…

These are the thoughts that run thru my mind on Friday evening. Finally the devil rules and I decide to go have a few drinks with my college mates Jagan and Bugs. As usual, it is the Tiruvanmiyur guest house, which was Keshor’s rented house before running away to the Bush land. Signature - tastes good. We go the beach at around 2 a.m, enjoy the sea breeze, stare at the stars and hear the rush of the waves (only Jagan and me)!

“Get up”… zzz 5 mins.. “Eh”… “lets go have breakfast”… “Eh”….
That is Jagan constantly waking me up. He is really become a pain in the neck. Keeps nagging, has started asking too many questions, talking too much. 10 a.m in the morning. Gosh! Can we go for the trek now? Talakona. That’s the place we have in mind. One of bug’s friends had made some good use of the internet, searching for waterfalls and this is one of them. All we know is this is in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Couple of phone calls and we decide to start by 12 noon. Gopal joins without any hesitation. It is said he has a bag pack always ready to jump in anytime for a trek. A crazy guy who makes others crazy with his arguments! So Bugs, his friend, Gopal and I meet in Koyembedu bus-stand at 2:00 p.m. Board the bus to chittoor.


Chennai ---Bus (4 hours)----- > Chittoor ----Bus (2hours)---- > Peleru --- Night Halt


Peleru -----(Bus) 1 hour--------- > Bagrapet ---Jeep (30 minutes)---- > Talakona



We start at 5 am from Peleru on Sunday after our halt at a hotel in Peleru. Get into a dabba bus, which takes us to Bagrapet. “Talakona epdi’lu pogunnaru’lu? Dabbu endhuku? Evalo dhooram’lu?” Stuttering and stammering with a language we did not know. Its pathetic, isn’t it. So close to Chennai, but don’t know the language. Have to learn telugu in 30 days, ok, lets atleast make it 60! Anyvays, from this place, one has to take a share jeep to Talakona, covering 21 km. The Jeep driver initially asks for Rs.250 and finally settles for Rs.100 for four of us!!! Later we realize, the share jeep rate is only Rs.20 per person. At Talakona, there are a couple of huts which are busy preparing breakfast at 6.30 in the moring. Hot idlis, dosa and vada. For a south Indian, nothing can beat this combination. We have breakfast, order for lunch and start our trek. By the way, there is a guest house here (having 6 double rooms – Rs350 for non-ac) run by AP govt of tourism. One has to book in advance though.


The trek to the falls is roughly about 3 km. Pretty easy and pretty green all along the way. We look at the falls from a distance and the water falls from about 200 feet. Quite high right. But it doesn’t look that great. We actually want to climb even further before getting into the falls. So find a small route that actually turns out to be very very steep. Bug’s friend decides to stay back. Bugs, Gopal and I take frequent breaks before we finally make it to the top. My God. Amazing! Worth very breath we took to reach to the top. A hill or a mountain, however small, is always rewarding once you get to the top. Green all over, good view points, the damp smell of the trees, the sound of the water flowing in the valley – chancey illa. Sooper! Sooper! Sooper! We roam around for an hour. We also get to see a big red tailed squirrel. I initially thought it to be a mongoose climbing trees :-)) Silly me… !

We get back and get ready for the water fall. Thanks to gravity, one gets to enjoy a waterfall :-)) Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh…….. Oooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh! The other guys out in the falls are shouting at the top of their voices. And they do it only at certain times. Think they are crazy. No one is staying in the falls for more than 10 minutes! Why? Lets find out. We get in. Ayyo! The water is so chill. And the water is literally drumming our backs. Due to the wind it sways and hence you find water hitting you for a few seconds and the next moment it is gone. And when it hits again, we start shouting, without even realizing it. I cannot explain that feeling. It is cold. It is crazy. Your head and back aches because of the hitting water. But you don’t want to get out. It is so much fun. It actually gives you a kick! You are overjoyed. You remain in the waterfall for a half a day, you will keep laughing and go mad I guess :-) We spend about an hour in the falls and then return. One of the best waterfalls I have been to.




It is not like Tada falls where guys come, drink, litter, spoil the whole place and roam around in underwear. The place is quite descent with families also coming and enjoying.

On the way back, encounter a few hungry monkeys trying to grab the musk melon that we carry. So watch out!

Take the return route via Tirupati and reach Chennai by 11 in the night.


Talakona -- > Bagrapet ---Bus (45 mins)--- > Tirupati---Bus (3.5 hrs)---- > Chennai

Some snaps.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/564112659cENjhX?vhost=good-times


I remember My friend Bugs always telling me “The best things in life are always for free!”