I had plan to visit Hogenakal long back, visited many travalogues to get the details, After visiting the place, I decided to write something which others didnt cover. I started my journey from Vijayanagar.
There are two routes to reach Hosur road, One from Jayanagar, BTM layout and then Hosur. second one was Mysore road then take left to NICE road till Bannerghatta, Jigani and Bommasandra and Hosure road. I took second rout to avoid the trafiic. But I end up with long distance and worst road (After bannerghatta).Next route was Hosur -> Krishnagiri ->Dharmapuri ->Pennagaram ->Hogenakkal. Distance is 185KM.
ROUTE : when Dharmapuri is about 3KM, there is flyover, don’t go over that, take left and then rigth (below the flyover) Hegenakkal is 42KM from that place. road is good. the overall rating for the route is 9/10.
Parking/Toll fees : When Hogenakkal is about 9KM, there is toll gate to collect Rs 20 (with reciept) Beside that, there is policeman to register your vehicle (Pay Rs 10 without reciept)
Again at the entrance, pay Rs 10 to park your vehicle on the road. About Boatman:When you enter the place, suddenly 3-4 boatman will surround your vehicle. they would demand 500 -800 per ride. If you are family of two person, negotiate for Rs 300 for 2 hrs.
In addition to that, they will ask you to pay Rs 100 to carry the boat to another end by tempo or mini vans, don’t agree. Make sure the ride charge includes carrying the boat to other end. Don’t forget to ask the boatman to show his identity card. Govt has issued ID cards for boatmans. One boat can carry 5-6 persons, if you are in a group more than 6-8 persons, its better to hire 2 boats. There will be waiting charges if you would like to spend extra time near the falls. please talk to them before fixing the charges.
Water fall : Waterfall is not visible unless you hire the boats to reach the place.There are two water falls, one belong to Karnataka, other one to Tamilnadu. Its the part of Cauvery river and it is about 250 meters above the sea level. Water falls from the hieght of 20 Meters with rocking sound.The boatman will first take you to the Karanataka falls.
After spending some time, he will take you to another end of river where people sells the fishes. You need to getdown there and can have some fried fish then walk for a minute, your boatman is waiting for you The food may not be hygenic, but I saw most of the people were enjoying the fish. After visiting Karnataka side, boatman will move towords Tamilanadu falls.There is a viewpoint tower (Fee Rs 2) to see the waterfall. If you are carrying your food, there is no place to sit and have lunch. You can do it in boat while riding.
Body massage : Along with the roaring water falls, there is facility to get your body rejuvanate by having massage. There are seperate masseurs for male & female visitors at seperate location.
Standard rates are Rs 50 for head massage for 10-15 minutes and Rs100 for full body massage for 30-45 minutes.These people should also have valid licence for massage.
Travel tips : The place is very hot. You need to carry caps. Take care of your clothes while riding on boat. The boats are tarred, that may leave mark on your cloths. Do not wear pointed footwares as it is diffucult to walk. Be careful while walking on rocks.
Food :I strongly advice you to carry your own food. Only fried fishes are available in the river bank. Hotels are not good enough to serve better food. There is a hotel operated by TTDC
Other places to visit: There is Crocodile park, and Aquarium. Not worth to visit. Accomodation : It is always advisable to spend the day in Hogenakkal and come out before night. TTDC operates a hotel. KSTDC runs a tourist bunglow (080-2275869, 2275883) Hotel Tamilnadu ( 04342-56447, 54448). Hotel CM. There are good hotels available in the nearest city Dharmapuri (45 km). Best hotels suggested are 1. Adhiyaman Palace 2. Rama Boarding 3. Hotel Saravana. Overall : If you have already seen the Jog falls (Near Sirsi.Karnataka), this is not worth to see.