Hogenakkal (or smoke on stones), is a pretty popular tourist destination. It’s in close vicinity to 3 major cities. A 180 kilometers from Mysore, 160 from Bangalore, and just 85 kilometers from Salem.
Due to its geographical closeness to 3 highly populated areas, it gets pretty crowded on Sundays. If you do plan to go to Hogenakkal, do make sure it’s early Saturday morning or on a week day.
The ride to Hogenakkal was pretty straight forward. Decent roads, marked road signs with speed breaker warnings. What more can one ask for?
If you’re riding or driving down, do have some tea once you enter Tamil Nadu. Most villages have steamed tea, that’s much better than what you would usually find in Bangalore.
The roads, as I was saying, once we do reach Tamil Nadu, are a joy to ride in. Long, winding, and with gorgeous scenery
After stopping for a photo or two, we headed straight to the waterfalls. We did have around 20 kilometers of single lane roads where a red Ford Figo did everything in his power to prevent us from overtaking him. It was frustrating to say the least. I dislike people who go out of their way to be assholes. I mean sure, you might be a jerk when the opportunity presents itself. But to go to great lengths to separate 2 bikes from each other,blocking their way during turns, is just inherently dangerous. It did take a lot of self control to not engage.
After finally overtaking the man who was clearly overcompensating for something, we reached our destination. What surprised us right away was how crowded it was. But parking space was ample and it was easy enough to find one.
You walk in and see tiny streams around you. It took some time for me to understand the set up of the waterfall.
You see, I was too confused by the hundreds of shirtless uncles getting oil massages. Yep. You read that right. Apparently one of the things this destination is famous for, is its licensed oil masseuses. So you’ll find scores of uncles lying around with such confidence, that it would put Lord Vishnu’s Govindaraja pose look less casual.
Such is the popularity of oiling there, that they have had to put advisories so that people do not relax a little too much.
After navigating our way through the crowds, we could see the streams getting bigger, the force of the water increasing. We were quite near now.
So the thing is, we realised we were headed to a bridge with a view of these mini waterfalls. My description of the water getting more fierce had nothing to do with the main falls. One had to take a coracle and go to the other side of the Cauvery river to experience the waterfall. So after we were herded like cattle to and from the bridge, I clicked a few pictures to remember the view.
Thankfully for tourists, the coracles are all licensed and the rates are fixed. So you need not annoy yourself with petty haggling. If I recall correctly, a single coracle costs Rs 800/- and seats 4. Of course, it is advisable to tip your coracle rower, as he could take you to less crowded places and back waters, so you, can have your very own mini waterfall to relax in.
What I never fail to notice on every trip I’ve been, is how plastic is littered everywhere. Several dried shrubs are covered in old, filthy plastic and the scale of it was pretty frightening. I did end up taking a few pictures, but these images do not do the quantity of filth justice.
After an enjoyable 20 minute coracle ride, we were at the other side of the waterfall. The falls were probably a walk of a kilometer or two away. The path was straightforward and was one of the easiest hikes I’ve been on
Midway through the hike, you can start seeing streams of water flowing towards the primary falls
It did get really crowded at the waterfall view point. Remember all the oiled uncles I was telling you about? Apparently they are all up in the selfie game. Too involved in getting good selfies that they do not leave you enough space to take in the view.
The view. The view was absolutely breathtaking. After playing a game of cat and mouse to sneak into a gap created between 2 uncle’s beer bellies, I could finally get a good view of the waterfalls.
Depending on the flow of water, the boatmen would take you to the base of the waterfall. Considering the flow was a bit high that month, we could not explore the base of the falls. Instead, we had to settle for a view from up top.
On our way back, the coracle rower took us to a backwater falls that was extremely relaxing. My friends and I probably spent a few hours there, bathing in the cool water on a really sunny day.
If you’re into sea food, you will find Hogenakkal a great place to be. They have fresh fried fish/prawns for sale and it is slathered in a cocktail of spices that most non vegetarians would find enticing.
Considering I was a vegetarian in sea food paradise, a cup of tea and some biscuits were my lunch that day.
That brings me to an important aspect. If you’re ever in Hogenakkal, do make sure to bring your own food and beverages. options are pretty low and even then, quality food is not a guarantee.
If you’re looking for a 1 day get-away on a Sunday after a tiresome work week, Hogenakkal is the place to be.
Why did the chicken cross the road? 
Looks like an interesting place. Pity about the oily tourists, though! And the ever-present plastic. So what do you enjoy more- the drive or the place?
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Definitely the place! The ride was nice, but nothing that deserved as much attention as the actual falls did.
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