Muktihole - An unfulfilled excursion We the V3 trekkers wanted to go for Muktihole trekking which was suggest by one of our senior colleague Mr. Srinivas, which he had trekked almost 12 years back. The team members were Manoj, Sudheesh, Ramesh, Santosh, Darshan and I. We dint had much information about this place as there was only one blog which we find from the dream route. Thanks to Mr. Srinivas who briefed us about Muktihole. How to reach Muktihole: Take the bus to Honnavar. From Honnavar take any local or govt bus to Hirebailu. (To reach Hirebailu the bus goes via Hadinbal and Gundbal) Reach Mahadeva Nayak’s house at Hirebailu and take a guide who can take to Muktihole. We started from Bangalore at 9.00 pm Rajahamsa sleeper bus, since it was festival season ( Dassahara ) we had booked the tickets 1 week in prior. I reached the platform No.4 at exactly 8:15 pm and the bus came at 8:30 pm. The bus station was filled with people with hardly any place to stand. My colleagues came to the platform 4 at 9:00pm by the time the conductor and driver were sitting on my head to call our people. The bus left exactly at 9:10 pm. Since it was a non ac sleeper we had no problems during our journey. The bus which was supposed to reach Honnavar at 6:00 am reached at 9:00 am. We hardly had any time to relax, so we immediately booked a Hotel (Lodge) just for taking bath. We were ready 10:00 am, had some Idle and pulav (2 days old) in the nearby hotel. Then after the breakfast we enquired about the bus to Hirebailu. We were told that the only Morning bus at 8:30 am has already left for Hirebailu. Left with no choice we had to take a private vehicle paying Rs.600 which could have been done with just Rs.102. Since we were in the costal belt it was very hot and humid. We feeling tired even before we started the trek due to the heat. We reached Hirebailu via Hadinbal and Gundbal at around 11:00 am. The driver of our vehicle dropped us near the bank of a river saying this is place where we should start our trek. Taking out our shoe, we started crossing the river with utmost ease as it was just 2 to 2.5 ft deep. We found a small shop cum house just after crossing the river. Here we enquired about the route the route to MH. To our surprise we were told that to reach Muktihole we need to take a guide who is very much aware of that place and secondly we had come long way ahead of the starting point. This gave us an opportunity to cross the hanging bridge made of Bamboo by the villagers on which only one person at a time can cross. This was a really trilling experience for us the bridge was shaking and the walk way was uneven. After crossing back the river with the help of bridge we decided to ask some more people who can help us out guide us to reach the destination. When we were coming back we could catch hold of small boy on a bicycle who took us Mahadeva Nayak’s house. At his house Mahadev Nayak gave us water to drink and told that since it was Vijaya dashami on that day it is very hard to get any guide who could take us to Muktihole. By that time a person by name Uday came near Mahadev Nayak’s house who told us that he came to show us the route to Muktihole and drop to certain distance. Later it so happened, looking at our condition he decided to take us to the final point and stay with us in the forest at night. Here we started the actual trek approximately at around 11:45 am, planned to reach Muktihole falls by 3:30 – 4:00 pm max (As per Uday’s previous experience). The route starts with the elevation, it was very steep which made compare this route with the route to Kumara Parvatha. The total distance to reach Muktihole is around 7 – 8 km from Hirebailu which is around 4 – 5 km less than KP. But the route to MH is very steep and it is very difficult to trek without taking break (sitting for 10 min). Adding to the heat we had carried lot of luggage especially Sudheesh’s bag was really heavy as he was carrying the tent and other important things!!!! Because of which we could not trek at faster pace. It was a dense forest and because of previous days’ rain we had to negotiate with lot of leeches. It would have been really impossible to make out the route if we had not taken the guide. The actual route leads to Sidhapura, after trekking in the steep forest for around 3 km we could see some level land. If we continue this route, it leads us to Sidhapura. Here we need to take a deviation and trek down to reach the konda where the water from the falls flows as a big stream. Here even Uday got confused to take the proper deviation. Later we came back around 100 mtrs and took the deviation towards right side stared moving downwards to reach the water stream. By this time we all had shared our blood with the leeches. Even after applying oil and nesshya mix we had few leech bites. By this time we were very hungry and dint had anything after having the unforgettable breakfast at Honnavar. We had taken very little food; some 20 chapathis with eerulli(onion) gojju (for the night) and 1 pound bread (for the next day morning). This particular stretch was very steep and slippery; we were worried that how we are going climb while coming back. We reached the konda (river stream) at around 3:30 pm and had good bath at the fast flowing stream the force was tremendous. As mentioned above about the shortage of food, we had to control our hunger at this point of time. At the konda we had a nice bath which was very much refreshing. Here we relaxed for a while, then moved toward the falls and left this place at around 3:45 pm. From here we had to really struggle a lot as there were obstacles in the bank of the river. The skidding small rocks made everyone of us to fall minimum 3 to 4 times. At this particular stretch we took more than the actual required time because of which we could not reach the falls before it became dark. Here our guide Uday told us that we will not be able to make it to the falls the same as it was already 5:30 pm. We planned to stay back and started searching for a place to erect the tent for the night stay. After searching for 15 min we could find a place which was flat and spacious. Unfortunately there was lot of red ants at that place which made us impossible to put the tent. So we had look for another option, myself and Sudheesh started searching for suitable location. Sudheesh pointed out a place where it was suitable for putting the tent to some extent. Here myself and Sudheesh erected both the tents, simultaneously Darshan and others were trying to put campfire. Later we had chapaathis which I had brought it from home. It was too good and we were waiting to eat such a food for a long time. Next day morning we decided to go back as we didn’t had anything to eat for the next journey. Hence this Trek to MukThiHoLe became an unfulfilled excursion. Nevertheless we had made a very good attempt and actually we had almost made to the destination. We were just 1 an hour away from falls as told by Uday. We trekked back to Herebailu in the same route as we came. After reaching Hirebailu as we had already informed to Mahadeva Nayak, they had prepared good food (anna, kayi huLi). Then we took the 1:30 pm bus from Honnavar which came to Heribailu at around 1:50 pm. Our trekking ended here, later we continued to Murdeshwar, Udupi and St. Mary’s Island. Usefull Information: Start from Hirebailu not more than 8:30 am. Inform the guide in advance (Mahadeva Nayaka’s house Ph No: 08387256171). Take sufficient food but do not carry much luggage. Take precautionary measures against Leech. Please take a guide for the first time as there is no proper route. Private Jeep is available from Honnavar to Hirebailu. Govt. bus comes to Hirebailu at 1:30 pm and 4:00 pm everyday. Tent is must as there is no other way to stay in the forest. How to contact me: I am Sridhar Saligram. My mail id: sridharsaligram@yahoo.co.in. Ph No.:9740029645