ArasinaGundi

Arsinagundi Falls - In kannada Arsina means "Turmeric" Gundi means "Ditch". I came to realize why this falls is called "ArsinaGundi" or rather "The ditch of Turmeric (a color that is a mix of orange and yellow)" only after reaching the falls. The water falls from a height of nearly 50 ft and make a small pond there. This is a west facing falls, so when the sun gets past the afternoon mark, we can definitely expect the rays to spilt and form rainbows all around the pond. Every different angle will make the view look different, the colors that are seen will vary, but the most prominent of the colors that we can find there is in the "YOR - Yellow, Orange, Red” region of the spectrum that's the reason for the name... Nice isn't it?
Well I was on this trek as a plan for the next trek that I was organizing to Kodachadri in Jan. My cousin and I were the only two people on the trek. We set out from our native place... some 10km from Udupi at 645 a.m. We reached Udupi and then caught a bus that would take us to Kundaapura. We reached Kundaapura at 8:15 and waited for a bus to the famous temple town of Kollur. The journey to Kollur was around an hour (a bit more) from Kundaapura. Once in Kollur we decided to catch a bus to - "Kodachadri cross" from Kollur. This is around 10 km from Kollur.
Kodachadri cross is an entry point of a trekking route - to the Kodachadri Peak. We got down at the Kodachadri cross and then started the trek towards the "Mallu" hotel (hotel Santosh) on the way to the peak. It took around 45 minutes for us to reach the Hotel. We had some coffee and "Puttu" at the hotel and asked the route to "ArsinagunDi." He gave us directions but not everything registered in my brain so asked him if we could get a guide... He asked to enquire with one of the people assisting him there and then go ahead.
We spoke with the two people working there and one of them agreed to come along with us. He took us into the forest, I am sure that if just has taken the directions and moved on my own I would have got lost. He guided us for some 45 min into the forest and told us.. not to take any deviation and then you will get a route that will take you to the falls. We thanked him and paid a small amount to him and then continued on.
We trekked for another 1 hr on the route he directed us and then we got a small board indicating a route to the "ArsinaGundi falls". We took that route and some 20 minutes on the route and into the forest we reached the falls. Both of us were just too pleased to see the falls, our fatigue disappeared immediately. We were tired but the very sight of the falls was enough for us to forget all that... I went about taking some snaps while my cousin stood there enjoying the beauty of the falls.
We had brought some food from our home, we sat bu the falls, washed our hand and then continued on.. to the route that takes us to Kodachadri. We set out on this route and an hours trek though the forest we reached the asphalted road connecting Shimoga and Kodachadri.
This point is some 1.5 kms from Kollur temple. We reached Kollur at around 5:00pm. The last bus to Udupi was at 5:30-5:45pm.
We took that bus to Udupi and reached at 8:45. It was a nice trek; both of us had seen one of the best falls in our life. Every time I recall about this trek it fills my heart with happiness.
The falls is worth a visit, please keep the place free of plastic and non-degradable covers; this will keep the place worth a visit.... for a long time to come.