Kodachadri Trek, Shimoga With Jeep Ride

One hell of a crazy trek this one. The views were just splendid, and the organisers had it all charted out, and were extremely helpful. Initial route through the forest is what we go through which is not that tiring, but after this stretch we move on to the most difficult part of the trek, where we come across the Hidlumane falls and we need to trek in quite a difficult terrain. Post all this stressful climbing, whatever the view you get is unmatched, all that pain, even though there physically, would have vanished mentally.\n\nBest to trek during monsoon or after the monsoon has receded to an extent as the hills are completely covered in green until the eyes can see. It's a treat for the eyes to feast on watching the western ghats in full glory.

My first ever trekking experience and I could not have asked for a better one. Booked for this trek just 2 days before, solely based on other trekkers' thrillophilia reviews and amazing pics they have posted on Thrillophilia website. Moreover, it was going to be a solo trek for me and quite obviously, I had so many questions and apprehensions but after experiencing one hell of an trekking expedition, what I could say is 'If you want to go for a trek, just go for it, don't think too much and you won't regret later and experience it as done by so many folks who have shared about their amazing adventures at thrillophilia reviews. Firstly, the tempo traveller which picked us up from Bangalore was quite comfortable and clean. Colin, who was our host for the trek initiated some ice breaking sessions at the beginning of the travel itself so that we all become familiar to our co-trekkers. Once we reached homestay at the destination point, I would say the arrangements were quite decent. Of course, we could not expect lavish facilities in an economical trip but must say, it had all that we truly required, good food, hot water shower, spacious balcony for all fun activities and amazing view outside. We were literally in the middle of the forest. Only thing that was a little turn-off for me was that the bedsheets were giving foul smell and 8 of us were sharing a single room so that one had to be patient to allow fellow trekkers for the use of washroom. However, please note there were separate rooms for guys and girls. The itinerary was more or less the same as shared by people at thrillophilia reviews.Starting at around 10pm from Bangalore, we reached the homestay at around 5am on Saturday. We rested for few hours, had our breakfast at around 7.30 and kicked off our trekking at 8.00. To begin with, it was just a normal road with forest on either sides but soon comes the path literally through the dense forest and since it was the time of monsoon, it was drizzling a bit and the forest was full of leeches clinging onto us at every step and trying their level best to suck our blood. We were quite vigilant to get rid of them and once they were being difficult to be removed, we were using salt. Just sprinkle a little salt on them and they will detach from you instantly. After an intriguing forest journey battling those leeches, we found ourselves on a grassy open field. We then scanned our body and shoes for any more leeches and once we were clear, marched ahead through the paddy fields to the rocky terrains with water flowing by your side. Soon, we reached a small water fall area. We took some pictures at that spot and when I was thinking that we would probably go back and resume our journey from some other point, I felt quite adventurous when I came to know that we were actually going to cross the water canal and climb up to the top through the super slippery rocks by the side of the fall, all the way to the top where actually the main water fall lies which I always wanted to visit after reading thrillophilia reviews.My advice is not to step on the green patches on the rocks covered with mosses, those are damn slippery and since there was nothing where you can take the support or cling onto, one have to be really careful that they don't slip through these rocks. After some uphill climbing, we finally reached to the, so far the most amazing spot, right at the main waterfall area. Without thinking twice, we rushed under the fall and trust me it felt so damn good and relaxing. It became even more thrilling when our host guided us to the small cave formed right behind the fall. It was definitely not easier to get inside with the water hitting you so hard that you could not see or breathe properly for few seconds but I felt victorious when I reached inside the cave finally and to witness the waterfall from inside the cave was a different experience altogether. Once we were done with the waterfall, came the part of journey which involves a lot of steep climbing through the forest and mostly the trails were on the edge of the hills, where we had to be careful not to slip not unless if you want to experience a free fall :-) And soon we were out on the open area again but this time it was on the steep slope of the hill and it was quite tiring to reach to the peak of the hill fighting with the muscle cramps. Nonetheless, each part of journey was fun and even more pleasing when we got to see diverse landscapes. Once we reached the peak, rested for a while, had our lunch and then started our descent downwards. The lunch box which included tomato rice was provided at the homestay in the morning itself. Soon, we were again under the attack of leeches but must say we fought bravely one more time. We then resumed our trek through a much easier lane to reach to a tea point and had a tea break. Then, came the last part of our trek, which was 1.5 kms uphill climbing to reach to Sarvajna Peetha, a small shrine dedicated to Adi Shankara about which many people have recommended visiting it at thrillophilia reviews. This part was even more fun as it rained heavily and the entire area was covered with fog that we could hardly see few yards ahead. Moreover, the wind was blowing so strong that sometimes I felt that it would carry me away with it. Since that spot was where our itinerary ended, we all felt so jubilant, took some pictures and then again descended back to the tea point, where a jeep took us all the way down, back to our homestay. Not to forget, the jeep ride was so damn fun that it sure would give you some chills and adrenaline rush, the reason being there's no proper road and the way the jeep's driven through the rocky, muddy and bumpy surface, it would be a memorable ride. Once we reached homestay, took bath in hot water shower and got rid of our wet clothes. We then played no. of group games like Mafia and Uno, had the dinner and called it a day. Woke up next day (Sunday) with few body aches, cramps and leech bite marks but eh! nothing could ever beat the amazing experience we had the earlier day. Wounds and pain will heal but the memories will last forever. We then had a breakfast at around 7.30 and departed back to Bangalore at 8.00. We stopped at Nagara Fort at around 30 kms from homestay, took some pics and resumed our journey. So all in all, it was a great experience getting close to the mother nature and far from these modern gadgets for a day. Besides the amazing trek we had, I would always cherish the camaraderie I shared with my co-trekkers in such a short span of time and I would really like to thank Colin, our host about whom many people have mentioned at thrillophilia reviews for organising such a wonderful trek and making us so comfortable throughout the entire trip. Colin was associated with the vendor team and as a satisfied customer, I will definitely look forward to more of such trips with the same vendor for sure. With all this, I would happily recommend my all trekking enthusiasts to go for this trek and I can vouch that you will come back with nothing but all smiles and tons of fascinating memories with you.

1) Our Trek lead Manoj was very friendly and enthusiastic and did a good job in guiding us throughout the journey and tried to give us an enjoyable experience to his best efforts. Also our local guide Naveen Anna was very efficient and was well connected with the local authorities which was very helpful. 2) Our homestay was good enough for the money paid. The food provided in the homestay was very homely, tasty and digestable. Overall Kodachadri Hallimane homestay was a very good budget friendly accomodation. 3) The overall trekking experience excellent. We had to cross multiple terrains such as forests, water bodies, waterfalls, slippery rocks, jeep tracks, and normal uphill climbing. A very holistic trekking destination indeed! Conclusion: Overall barring the negatives mentioned above it was a highly satisfactory experience. Yes it was a very challenging trek which pushes you outside your comfort zone but it's not impossible by any measure! All you need is a basic level of fitness, postive attitude and determination to complete the trek. It will instill confidence in you and make you feel proud of yourself for completing such a holistic trek. It will be a good experience if you are solo trekker, you'll get to meet few nice people. It will be even more wonderful if you go with your friends and loved ones. I will definitely recommend Kodachadri Trek to anyone looking for a different kind of recreational experience away from the cities. Worth the money!

This was my 2nd SOLO trek through Thrillophilia. I am passionate about trekking and i feel Thrillophilia is one of the trusted platform, through them i can plan my solo trekking without any 2nd thought. Kodachadri trekking was one of my awesome experience. They experience going through Jungle, waterfall, the valley of mountain and at the end reaching to the peak of 1343m its just awesome. #loveKodachadriTrek....!!

Amazing trek!!

General info: The trek to kodachadri hill top by road from check post of forest department might be 11km The trek by forest, streams, waterfall and vast steep grasslands is 17-18km [ONE SIDE]. We came back by Jeep, which is one more experience, I will be talking below. ATTENTION TO ALL READERS: DO NOT CARRY ANY PLASTIC COVERED FOOD (CHOCOLATES, PROTEIN BARS, LAYS ETC) DURING THE TREK. FOREST RANGERS CHECKS THE BAGS WHILE ENTERING THE TREK AND THEY CHARGE FOR THEM, BASED ON NUMBER OF PLASTIC ITEMS THEY FOUND. ALTHOUGH IT IS REFUNDABLE IF YOU SHOW THEM THOSE PLASTIC WRAPPERS WHILE COMING BACK. BUT WHY TO TAKE THE HEADACHE. Please have the below: A light weight milton bottle, a tiffin box in which you can put your food given by homestay people. Please note: Do not carry use and throw packing tiffins, which we get from zomato or any other food delivery joints: forest rangers charge for them too. Starting for the trek from Bangalore We got late from Bangalore because of heavy rain and worst traffic. We started approx 7pm from silk board and after all pickup points, we were still in Goraguntepallya at around 11 pm, then after till some extent the traffic continued. The trek guide: Our trek guide Manoj, a jolly young fellow. Good, enthusiastic and friendly with all the fellow trekker. His "2km only - 2km only" strategy worked for most of us in the trek and out of 12, 11 reached the top of kodachadri trek. The tempo traveller: Vehicle was good, driver was good fellow. He was driving safely. The hallimane homestay, kodachadri The homestay was good, food was awesome, I mean really awesome. Simple and tasty at all times. They gave seperate rooms to ladies with washroom facility attached and hot water. Whereas for men, the bathroom were seperate. About Trek We reached homestay on 15 oct, around 8 am. We all freshened up and had breakfast, The homestay people gave tiffin to eat during the trek we and started the trek with a local guide. The road was good till some km, then we entered the forest and leeches started attacking us as we invaded there territory 😅 (Please have good shoes and long socks, do carry some salt water spray or dettol spray. Spray it on your shoes socks, leeches won't come nearby) We reached the so called check post. Where forest rangers were sitting. They checked our bags, charged us for PLASTIC ITEMS we were carrying and gave a ticket. While returning we have to show them the plastic and the ticket, they will refund the money. After that, we resumed our trek again. Till this point we all were ok, normal trek. Then came the adventurous part. Trek through the waterfall stream. It was good. We climbed a few small rocks and reached the waterfall. It was a little crowded as a lot of trekkers were there. We opted to stand aside (leeches fear in water) and clicked few pics, rested for few minutes and then resumed the trek. Now comes the hard part. The jungle, leeches again, the humidity and the steep straight walking trail. After walking for an hour or so, we came out of jungle to open grasslands. But the trail was still the same, straight and steep. After a lot of courage and small small breaks of 1-2 minutes we crossed that hurdle too.. but the trek was only half covered. We started again and this time the trail was normal walk. We came across a small natural water resource, we had our lunch there and after few minutes rest, we resumed again. Half hour or say 1km of straight climbing, and we were on the road towards the main point. We walked along side of the road and reached the 3rd point. Till this point only jeeps will go beyond this everyone has to climb up. No vehicles only legs😅😋. We took a break of 10-15 minutes and one of our fellow trekker decided not to walk ahead. Remaining of us, started again and the beauty can't be described. The clouds, the greenery the valley, but we had to reach the peak. Manoj was like only 2kms more and we are there... 🤣 Anyway we keep on walking and after approx 7hours of walking we reached KODACHADRI HILL TOP. We took rest for a few minutes, took some pics and started back to our homestay. By the time we reached top it was approx 4:30pm and it will definitely go dark if we opted to come by walk. So we all decided to come by jeep. Off road driving I don't know how to explain the experience we had in the jeep while coming back. The mud roads were like a roller coaster ride of 1hours. For a while we all thought the jeep will fall at one of the turn, but the drivers are quite an experience fellows. They were fast, we enjoyed this off road driving. We reached our homestay at 7pm. Freshen up, had hot pakode and chai. Heavy downpour started, we had dinner and all slept for the next day Next day 16 October We all freshen up in the morning, had breakfast and started back to Bangalore. On the way back we stopped to see the ruins of Nagara fort. The veiw at the top of the fort was peaceful, calm and nice. After some time, we resumed our journey towards Bangalore. We entered Bangalore around 8:30pm and reached to struggling with traffic we reached to home by 11:30pm To summarise the trek: it was an achievement for me, that I completed the trek. Thanks to thrillophilia for the trek option. Just that please correct the 11km (to and fro) to actually kilometres. All the fellow trekker in this trip were under impression that its 5km to and 5km back... But i believe we all enjoyed it. Thanks for reading through Good luck to all for this trek. May the force be with you!!

The trek was all I needed, relaxing but also challenging at the same time. Meeting new people, talking to them along the way was huge add on. Looking forward to many more adventures with the team.

I was quite curious how would my trip be organized at such low fare, but I must say it was too good beyond my expectations. Trek lead was highly professional and caring, supporting all members throughout the journey with whatever smallest of needs that would arise and his motivation kept all members complete full trek which was looking bit difficult after half journey. Homestay and food arrangement was quite good as well. So overall great experience and value for money that I have recommended my family and friends as well!

Trek was extremely excellent..... I would like to thanks our trek guide Gautam he was too good with all us kept us motivated throughout the entire trek..... Without him this trek was not possible but his kind words made this trek happen... Thank you.... Homestay is ok food is good.. The most exciting jeep ride was ultimate... As of all whole trek was just wow....