Hogenakkal Falls

I had seen the circular boats that are used in this place eons back in some travel mag. Ever since I had been keen to experience the same !! These round boats are made from bamboo and are carried by the boatmen.

In monsoon Hogenakkal is not open to the public because it seems all the rocky areas are covered with water. We went in December and we could enjoy the boat ride.

We were lucky in that - we did not meet obnoxious touts. In fact I was beginning to wonder if we were in the wrong place for a while before I saw the boats ! :) It took just one talk and we got a boat.

Similar to Dubare - the first stop by the boat can actually be reached by a small bridge and as expected the boatmen are to be found before that. If you do go in further - you can find the bridge that can take you to the first hop where you can get fish fry / chips / drinks etc and a boatman too if you have not already booked one.

You will find masseurs and a place where you can stand so the water comes on you with some force to wash away the oil - if that is your interest.

The boat man will then take you to the actual Hogenakkal falls area - "Hoge" in kannada means smoke and "kal" means rock - so literally smoking rocks. There is a lot of spray from the falls.

The boat man will do the following

• Take you beneath / very close a fall so you can get drenched in the water and enjoy the spray
• Do a very fast spin that makes the boat go round in circles !
• Take the actual boat ride between the rocky outcroppings
• An area where you can play in the water and have your food / picnic

We enjoyed the boat ride. This is not well known but there is a way to this water way from the Karnataka side too. However this not developed and I am not sure boats ply in the opposite direction. They mention that the entire ride takes about 1 hour.

You can get fish fry on the boat to eat too ! :) There are boats which sells items like soft drinks / chips etc too :)

Tips :

• Our boatman did not hurry us up - but we did reassure him that we would pay for any extra time we took and I think this made the difference.

• I found the people in general friendly and not obnoxious so not sure of the truth of touts in this region.

Round boats

Round boats being carried by the boat men

Hogenakkal falls

The boat ride goes beneath the falls

Hawker selling snacks and soft drinks 

The water way between rocks

View from boat

View from the Karnataka side 

Boats propped against trees