Have you ever gone hiking in highly effected leech forests?? Did you ever go for a trek in a continuous downpour while leeches sucking your blood for the whole day?? Did you ever slept overnight with bleeding legs?? Did you ever stayed in anti Poaching Camp which was a single hut in the middle of the forest, sharing with 15 other trek mates???
This intro may sound crazy but yeah … the bites I had on my legs and the pain I had for weeks are my first motivation to write this blog…
“Travel as much as possible when you get time“ this is what I have decided after my first Monsoon trek to Dudhsagar falls the previous month. That was my first self organised trip to North Karnataka and Goa. Working as an intern in PSU gave me ample time to do some research about travelling and even to travel also (thanks to my managers 😁😁) . I have decided to explore a new destination every month. After my recent disastrous Lo-bhi trek attempt near Lonavala in (where we lost in a forest for a day without food ) I decided to do some trek in Karnataka this month.
Planning about trip :
Am very excited about my first monsoon trek in Karnataka. I was doing some research about the craziest treks to do. Suddenly I got to know about this trek in Coorg district of Karnataka. I realized that this is rarely done trek, So it’s obvious that we will get very little information on the Internet as you know that information is directly proportional to how frequently the trek is done. I gathered all the information that I can and got the forest guard contact number as we need to take prior permission from the forest department. I spoke to him on WhatsApp and said we are planning to come the following week. He said he will help with formalities there and guide us.
Now am in search of another person (who knows Kannada well) to accompany me to this trip as I don’t know Kannada. I remember one of my school friends ( Kartik) who used to speak in Kannada and called him without thinking a minute.
I told him that am planning to attend Cauvery pushkaras at the birthplace of river Cauvery, and asked if he is interested to join along. I have a gut feeling that he would come for sure. I didn’t say him about the trek plan. Just want to surprise him ( which ended as a disaster 😝😝)
About the place
Nishani Motte is an Egg-shaped mountain located in the Bhagamandala range of Coorg. It is one of the must do trek in the Karnataka. It can be accessible from Talacauvery. It offers the best view of the Brahmagiri hills and Kerala forests. This trek especially very famous for leeches. Prepare well in advance. It connects the trail to Kerala also.
Also read : Tadiandamol Trek– A Thrilling Monsoon Trek by Kumar
Basepoint: Bhagamandala ( 40 km from Madikeri)
Trek Distance: 20 km
Forest permission: Required (can be taken on the spot also, but enquire in advance)
Entry fee: 200/- Per Person, Guide: Jayakumar (contact me for his mobile number )
Accommodation: Trekkers can stay at the APC ( Anti –Poaching Camp) overnight with prior permission. Few homestays are also available near Bhagamandala.
How to Reach ??
KSRTC runs regular buses to Madikeri ( Major town in Coorg) which is 280 km from Bangalore. One can reach Bhagamandala from Madikeri by bus. Once you are done with the forest dept official formalities you can take auto/ jeep to Talacauvery, the starting point of the trek.
Off to the Scotland Of India : Coorg
We started from Kacheguda, Hyderabad, and got into the train and reached Bangalore by morning. Our bus to Madikeri is at night so we have decided to roam in Bangalore. As we both had previously visited Bangalore we just visited few places to pass the time till evening.
We boarded our bus to Madikeri at the Satellite bus stand around 10.00 pm. I started thinking about the next morning trek and got into considering next day trek. I just woke up to the chill wind when someone opened door to get down. It was raining heavily outside, I asked the driver which area it is?? he replied: “We are almost near to Madikeri“. It was my first visit to the hill station and am a little excited. We have reached the Madikeri by 5.00 am.
My first Hill station visit
I just got out of the bus and stand staring at the dazzling beauty of Coorg. Colorful lights of homes around the hills in the early morning fog are completely stunning. Though it was drizzling outside it added a monsoon flavor to the hill station. We had a cup of hot coffee ( Coorg is very famous for coffee) and waited for our bus to Bhagamandala which came after 30 min. The ride through the narrow roads of hills is amazing to experience, as we go up the hills it was like we are passing through clouds. We crossed so many coffee plantations and local villages, the journey itself made me feel happy about the place I have chosen.
Also read : Magical land of fireflies – Rajmachi by Koustubha.
Attending Cauvery River Pushkaralu :
As per our plan, we have reached a place Bhangamandala which is also called “Triveni Sangam”, confluence of three rivers – Cauvery, Kannike, Sujyoti. It is considered as the holy place for the Cauvery river pushkaras. We have finished our rituals, had breakfast, and waiting for our guide Jayakumar.
Gear up for Adventure
Now comes the surprise part to my friend 😉😉. I informed him about my trek plans and convinced him after some discussion. In the end, we both were ready for the trek.
To our surprise, another group of 6 members came from Bangalore. They already got permission from DFO to stay in APC ( anti-poaching camp) for the night. Our guide suggested us to do it a day trek as I didn’t have permission to stay overnight. I requested the other group to take us along with them. They seem quite unhappy with us (as I didn’t ask them in Kannada) and rejected straight away. They hurried guide Jayakumar to start early. He suggested us to go with another guide who will reach there in 30 min. But am very much excited about staying in APC which was in the middle of the forest.
Little drama to get permission…
My background work before coming to the trip came of help now. I enquired about this trek with Forest Range Officer of that region a few days ago. I got his number saved on my mobile. I told the forest guard that FRO is my family friend, I already spoke to him and I got permission also. In the starting, he didn’t allow us but when I showed him my whats-app text, then he realized that I already know FRO personally. Surprisingly he started treating us as his special guests and called the guide Jayakumar and told him to take us along with the other group.
While the other whole group was awestruck about we getting permission, we went to a hotel nearby, packed Palav and parota for lunch, and bought some Maggi to cook for night dinner. We took an auto to reach Talacauvery, the starting point to trek which is 7 km away from the forest office.
Trek Started Finally…
Day 1 ( 23.09.2017) : 16 km trek ( Talacauvery – Nishani motte – APC )
As soon as we reached the starting point it was completely covered in fog. We couldn’t see anything beyond 3-4 meters. It started drizzling also. We don’t have a rain cover for our bags, not even raincoats for both of us. Luckily there was a small shop at the temple , we bought a big plastic cover to protect our bags. We decided to get drench in rain 😁😁
The trek started at the entry gate of Talacauvery wildlife sanctuary. The initial path was jeep road for 2-3 km, all were excited and going fast. I was going in front along with the guide trying my Kannada skills to talk to him about the surrounding area.
Fun started with leech bites..
Within 20 minutes of our trek, some of our trek mates started feeling the attack of leeches. I wore full pants and a full sleeve t-shirt that helped me to save myself a little more time than them, but not totally. People started applying Dettol, tobacco powder on their shoes. It didn’t work as the rain washed them away. After a few minutes, it was my turn. I don’t even know until my guide said to check my legs properly during our halt (as I was wearing sandals). Both my legs were having almost 20-30 leeches each. Meanwhile, my friend was very angry at me for not informing him about the trek and leeches.
As I already read in some blogs I carried salt with me. I applied salt to remove leeches, it started bleeding a lot. After an hour of trek except our guide everyone walking with bleeding legs. Wherever we see rocks we used to stop on them and check for leeches, clean them and hike again, and the rain didn’t stop throughout our trek.
Also read : Bhimashankar Trek via Shidi Ghat by Sudheer
For a moment I felt a little happy about wearing sandals because I can at least remove them quickly whenever we stop and wipe off leeches of my body. People who wore shoes suffered a lot and had a really hard time as leeches went inside shoes and socks started hurting the feet.
Perks of Good packing :
As I had a crazy experience of Dudhsagar trek in peak monsoon a few months ago. This time I packed my stuff little better. Except rain cover for bag (which I replaced with plastic cover I bought), I packed all my stuff in separate covers to keep them safe. I was little confident that even though in downpour my backpack will be little safe. Even I put my mobile inside the backpack (got very less pics in trip )
Crazy lunch in rain…
As we going to enter the open forest after 5km of the trek our guide suggested us to finish lunch. Although it’s tough to trek with full tummies, we have decided to have our packed lunch as there was no shelter after that and the rain was of no mercy upon us. We stopped under a tree used our rain covers as shelter to food, finished quick lunch. Almost our food got wet in that rain, but no one had any objections about food in the middle of the forest. ( food during treks is just to survive) .
Our guide showed us some places on the way which were destroyed by elephants the previous night. After a 4- km walk through the dense forest it opens into open shola forests. If there was no rain, we would be able to see the Nishani motte from there itself and the surrounding peaks.
Also read : My Incomplete world tour – completing 31 countries and spending almost 4.25 lakhs.
Final Ascent :
Once came into the open forest we can see two main ridges to cross in order to reach the summit. Each will take 30 minutes each to cross with a gradual ascent. When I reached the top of the second Ridge I can see some of our mates were lagging behind. They are stopping regularly to clear the leeches. But the worst thing here was, there was no stopping for those bloodsuckers!! If you stop to clear them off your skin double the leeches stick to you. I try to divert my mind from leeches as much as I can and encouraged others to do the same.
I was waiting for my guide, he said to me to continue to the top with the rest of the members . I was going along with 3 members, they are almost exhausted and wanted to take some rest and join with their friends behind. I reminded them about our companions throughout the trek which were waiting on the ground to suck our blood (Bloody Leeches) and encouraged them a little to push themselves to the summit of Nishani Motte. The final ascent was too steep. I just following the trail in that rain, it took us almost 1 hr from the last ridge to reach the summit of Nishani Motte at 4100ft.
I realised how worthy was summit moments. Everyone forgot their leech bites in the joy of reaching the top, enjoyed the 360 views of Hills around. We can see the surrounding peaks of Brahmagiri ( like Tadiandamol can be seen ) also if the weather was clear. Nishani means egg in Kannada, it’s an egg-shaped mountain. Hardly there was space for 10 people on the top.
Crazy descent
We thought reaching the top was the end of adventure.. but within no time we realised the real adventure was ahead. The first few meters of descent is to steep, that too on a small ridge. The rain made the trail more slippery, we had to literally sit and get down till we reach some safe point. After an hour of the trek, we reached the green lands but no exception from leeches. We were not sure how many leeches on our bodies and where were they exactly. It took another 30 min to spot our camp in the mid forest.
Night stay @Anti Poaching Camp
We reached the forest hut (APC) by evening.
We started hunt for leeches on our body. Those forest guards were really kind they had already prepared hot water for us. As am wearing sandals there was barely less area left on my foot without leeches. My legs were full of them as I didn’t remove during trek. Everyone was scared and asked me to sit near the fire as it is impossible to remove leg full of leeches by any other mean.
Even Kartik got few leech bites but wearing leather shoes saved him from deadly attack of leeches. We removed few leeches from his body using salt and applied some direct pressure to stop bleeding.
The forest guy said “ you are very lucky as we recently build bathroom in APC”. They have traditional wood stove set up inside Bathroom (alternate to geyser 😜 😜). I directly went into Bathroom and put my legs almost inside the Fire. Most of them fallen down from skin and I removed some and I made sure I burnt every single leech. After my legs were cleaned I found some leeches at other parts of body also (irrespective of Full sleeve t shirt and pant) I cleaned everything , took a hot water shower and went inside hut.
To our surprise there was already one more group came before us to APC which we were not aware of. APC is basically a single room with a narrow kitchen room. We were almost 15 members totally that night. The other group people started cooking their food early as we also have to cook after them. Forest guards were really helpful in doing whatever they can to make us feel comfortable. We sat in the kitchen along with forest guards discussing about their daily routine and wildlife spotting.
During our 6 hrs trek, the 6 members group became friends with us. Now I am realizing the motto of BCF, that we got a potential friend in every stranger we meet. They were surprised to know that I came from Hyderabad to do this trek. They bought MTR instant food packets , we cooked our Maggie and had our dinner together along with forest guards. It was quite delicious ( after that day I realized that food after the trek feels tasty than normal time )
One Room 15 people..
People who had dinner early went to sleep as they already know getting place was very difficult in that room. We got little space for ourselves by occupying whatever empty space we found. The room was like bunch of people fell off unconsciously. My legs were still bleeding, I just applied some turmeric but it didn’t stop bleeding completely. I used some paper (as I didn’t have any Band-Aid) over every leech bite so that my blood won’t stick to my clothes. I opened my new Coleman Sleeping Bag and jumped into it. It was my savior for that night as I got good sleep even in that cool weather. ( It was gifted by Rakesh.. my roommate for last 4 years )
In no time everyone off into sleep as our bodies got tired a lot. That was really crazy experience to stay inside the forest in Anti Poaching Camp. We even heard Elephant sounds in the night which made us scary but forest guards assured that they won’t come near APC.. as its raining a lot they come out in the night . Finally our day came to an end crazily beyond my expectations.
Bye bye to APC .. Trek Back to Bhagamandala
Day 2 : 4 km Trek till road
We woke up in the morning and weather was really superb outside. We just took a walk around the camp and started our trek back to road. The biggest relief is that after 1.5 km there are no more leeches on the trail. We reached the road , freshen up near by stream . Our guide Jayakumar arranged vehicles to reach Bhagamandala, it’s time to say sayonara to our Guide and trek mates and then we started back to Madikeri.
We reached Madikeri and went for local sight seeing to Abbey falls. Tasted some delicious local Coorg style food . Did some shopping , Coorg is famous for chocolates. Started back to Mysore with cherishing memories of my first hill station visit and amazing trek.
Epilogue :
This is always one of my best trek ever. I don’t need any reason to go back there and hike again and again.
Karnataka Forest dept. is doing great job in encouraging the Trekkers to explore the best trails. Most of the treks have been identified and developed for trekking purpose and One thing I must appreciate is for some treks which are in little dangerous areas taking guide with us is mandatory. Don’t throw the litter anywhere. Bring back the all the plastic you taken into forest. Save the trails , save the nature so that our future generations also can enjoy . Follow Leave No Trace Policy in Back country .
Notes from BCF:
We organize this trip very often throughout the year. You can follow us on Instagram for regular updates. Insta ID –bcf.official. For more info on BCF upcoming events visit us here. About the logo, you can read here.
Contributed by Bharath (BCF’s Organizer)
Follow Bharath on Instagram here
Bharath is a full-time trek lead with Backpackers and City Freaks for the past 3 years. He has completed the Basic Mountaineering Course(BMC) and he is a certified Wilderness First Responder also. He is available @ 8008072787 / whats app direct link
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Backpackers and City Freaks (BCF) 
Sir we are planning for nishani, can we get details like guide number etc
And how to get permission to stay at apc
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