Jun 16, 2007

Hogenakkal ...smoke that thunders!


Last month I went to Dharmapuri to visit my friend Sasi...and it is by now a tradition for Dharmapuriites to take their guests to Hogenakkal , a riverside spa some 25kms away. So off we rode to Hogenakkal.
The main Falls is a sight for sore eyes...


Coracles - small circular basket boats covered in buffalo hide- ... a must ride


the rocky gorges sculpted by the water...


line of boatmen waiting to take their customers for a 'ride'...Their charges are day time robbery ! Another common sight here is untrained 'masseurs' giving crude body massages to boozed pot bellyed customers . Tourists are crazed about eating the fishes freshly caught and cooked along the waters - but beware if you have a weak tummy- they are cooked in re re reused oil...



meandering waters...





my boatman...




maddening crowds...May is the worst month to visit this place I guess ... mad rush of tourists dirty the waters... the water thats supposed to heal is actually a potential threat to your health...with dead fishes , plastic bags and bottles floating and garbage and beer bottles tossed around...




beating the summer heat...Sasi and his wife somehow convinced me and my wife to enter the murky waters - It was great fun and ofcourse both of us were down with viral infection for the next 3 days :(



The place is great and has greater potential to become a classy tourist spot if only the tourism department is run by people with atleast average
brains.

9 comments:

  1. Welcome back, Sir!

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  2. Beautiful pictures :)
    Thanks for sharing!



    GBU
    Arti

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  3. Anonymous1:25 AM

    I also say:"Welcome back" both to blog and health (I hope)

    We in Sweden are just celebrating Midsummer´s Eve = summersolstice, that is very noticeble here up North - a compensation for our dark winters!

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  4. vanga vanga...welcome back....looong time..hope everything is fine!

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  5. welcome back! eppadi irukenga?

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  6. welcome back..! How are you ...!??! Its been long mate !

    Do write. Do ping...do stay connected mate..

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  7. You dont blog often these days! Enna aacchu?

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  8. *chakra.... nandri sir

    *Arti... tanx

    *granny...tanx

    *IBH...everythings fine...how r u & ur little one?

    *kavi...tanx mate...sure

    *deepa...works keeping me off..will try to blog as much as i can :(

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  9. Great pics of this great spot! I have been to hogenakkal 10 years back, riding on parisal and fish fry was awesome.

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