Date: Oct 2, 2012
Janta: Mewan, Ramya, Raj, Jeeva, Srini, Vishnu, Me :)
Destination: Tada (aka Ubbalamadugu Falls)
We decided to leave early morning from Chennai so that we could reach Tada at a decent time and get good amount of time to trek. The cab picked up Raj, Jeeva first (they were the bakra's to wake up early) and then picked up Ramya, after which they came to pick us (Mewan, Vishnu and Me) up. This was probably my 6th trip to Tada falls, though with separate gangs! Tada is close to 2 hrs drive from Chennai towards Chittor. The drive is pretty good until you reach the entry point of Tada. After which it gets a little uneven with almost no roads.
Until my last visit, Tada was not really a big hangout place and there were almost no shops/security/entrance fee/parking lots. This time, loads of change! There was a specific entry fee charged for every vehicle and for folks with Cameras. They also checked vehicles for liquor! Looks like Andhra tourism department found a new way to get some income ;)
We started trekking towards the falls close to 11 am. The trek started with a long walk on a not so stoney path. The small stones turned into bigger ones and then got more complicated with a pile of rocks! All of this was along the stream which is created due to the falls and we had to cross the stream several times during the trek. At some points, it was easier to walk in the water than get on to the shore and climb the rocks! Not complaining, as the stream water was amazingly clear and cold, we loved getting drenched in that water. Our walk went on for close to 3 hours until we hit a point where it was impossible to climb - impossible not because of our capability but because of the amount of crowd present! It was a herd out there, As if Gandhi bapu had specifically asked people to gather at Tada for a march or something!
We couldnt reach the actual falls due to the heavy mass of people :( Better luck next time! Anyways, All of us had our share of adventures during the trek - I lost the sole of my shoes (Yes! this has happened to me at the same place before!), Srini fell while jumping from one rock to another! Ramya had a royal fall from a small rock (she calls it hillock), Vishnu slipped a couple of times and scared the stones! Jeeva slipped too - I am assuming it was because of the slimy stones, but you never know who he spotted and slipped ;)..And Mewan lost his walking stick :P Nevertheless, all of us had an awesome time teasing Ramya and Mahes babu, making fun of Raj at every thing he spoke, fighting with Mewan whenever he tried to pull my leg and making funny faces wherever we saw a camera focusing on us!
We returned back to our cab completely exhausted and starving! We had walked for close to 6 hours and had woken up every muscle, ligament and bone in our bodies. The only thing we wanted now was a good meal and sleep! We grabbed a nice hearty lunch on the way back and then enjoyed the car ride back home with Jeeva as the DJ :)
For those of you who are interested to go there/just curious:
Route to Tada: http://goo.gl/maps/54l0v
About Tada: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubbalamadugu_Falls
