DESI DISCOVERY QUIZ 22

The silver doodle  you see in the photo is unique in the world. It is the ghat road to Kolli Hills with its dizzying 70 hairpin bends .

In fact the 70 hair pin bends occur in a span of 18 KM upto the main town at the base  of Kolli hills. The road is in superb condition with green canopy on both the sides.  Traffic is always  thin except summer holidays. Despite the danger labels – the roads are perfectly safe. Kolli hills last spot lies a further 11 kM from the base spot called –Semmedu.

The climate was cool & the air was fresh. But for BSNL, you do not get range for any other mobile coverage.

At the  last spot,  after the visit to the 1000 year old temple,  you come across a board saying  “Agaya Gangai Water Falls -1 KM”.   I felt relieved at the distance.  The net searches prior to the trip did not prepare me for what was in store. The 1 KM to the falls was in the form of steps down the hill. Numbering around 2000 steps, it went down & down, turning around rocks & steep at times.. Though the thoughts of difficulty  while returning flashed in everyone’s mind, the journey continued. At last , it was there, falling from a steep cliff atleast 200m high. A spectacular sight. After walking over a stretch of rocks & wading through water, the experience under the falls was amazing &refreshing.

The ascent up took exactly an hour after numerous rest stops & I was not bad. Others did it a tad 10 minute faster; That’s  it. Though   I was heavily panting, I was not sweating .  It was as though my annual medical check up was completed.

The cool water is also tasty. Jackfruits here are famous for their sweet taste & are soaked in forest sourced pure honey. That’s a special here. The Herbal soup at the tea stall –tasted good. Do not miss it. You can also get powdered version for making at home.

The trek down & up & the bath in the falls consumed so much time that I had to miss the  boating in the lake which was 11 KM away. Buses are scarce & I had to  leave fast.

Kolli Hills  have lot of ,mystery around them involving the sidhars. You will need  quite a few contacts, lot of stamina to go up the hills on foot & a couple of days even to have a glimpse of one of them.

It has been totally kept off from current day commercial  crap . A few resorts around 11 KM from the last spot exists. But since the visits are generally an 1 day affair people prefer  to go back rather than stay

A totally offbeat, cool place with splendid greenery. Ideal for rejuvenating oneself away from the  mobiles & city life.