So, here comes the first entry. TADA falls. (24th Feb, 2007)
Tada is the best place for bachelors planning for a one day picnic. Its proximity to Chennai is one of the main reasons for Chennai's youngsters to prefer this place. It is located 85Kms from Chennai in the Tamilnadu-Andhra border. This is well connected to Chennai through road and rail. Tada is a big waterfall in the midst of a dense and raw mountain. You have to walk for around 3 hours from the base to reach the top most falls.
I have been to Tada twice. First with some school mates in the EMU train. The second was with my colleagues where we hired a cab (white board) and started from chennai early in the morning. Our first stop was the Redhills reservoir. This was really a surprise for us, as we didnt expect the reservoir to be brimming with water. It was around 7 when we reached there. So, there was not much crowd and that gave us ample time to pose for numerous photos.
Redhills ReservoirThen we started the vehicle and reached Tada where we finished our breakfast, loaded our bags with the necessary drinks and some snacks and took the long road leading to the mountain. Its better to get the food in the town itself as you cant find any shop en-route the falls. We reached the base of the mountain, parked our vehicle, changed so shorts and started our uphill trek. The mountain is 8 kms away from the town.
A Click of the mountain from the baseWe walked for around 1 hour before we came across a small stream. The water was not even knee deep, but it was crystal clear and really cool, in-spite of the sun coming down heavily. We took a small dip here. Immediately after crossing this, we were invited by the gushing sound of the water and took a small path leading to the left. A 5 minutes walk led us to a small stream cum pond. Here again the water was very clear with a tinge of bluish green color. Too tempting to take a bath and we duly did it too. There is a place for non swimmers where you can stay safe in the rocks over which the water flows. Once the water crosses this path, there is a place where the depth is up to 40 feet, but still the floor bed was seen. Such is the clarity of the water. This is strictly for those who know swimming as the water current is pretty high.
The path aheadFrom here, we went back to the main path and started the uphill trek. Crossed couple of streams, a small shiva temple and again a stream. I wonder how people build a temple in the remotest of places.
Last stretch of the way to waterfall
Near the base of the waterfall.. see the color of water and how transparent it isFrom the temple started the real trek. There were huge boulders all through the way and we have to cling to them, walk over them step by step. Some places were very slippery too. Somehow after a small walk of around 15 minutes we reached a water fall and quite a big pond. Here again the water was at its clearest and absolutely cool. Wat a stunning sight of a water fall and a clear pond in the midst of a dense forest. Immediately we plunged into the water and spent an hour or so there. It was like heaven to be in the midst of water (both inside and outside.. if u understand what i mean). Gulped a couple of beers, took sunbath for a while and again dived into the water. This continued for quite sometime before we realized that we were running out of time. Some of us were to attend a reception that night in chennai. So, half heartedly we came out, packed things and started the descend. We heard that there is another waterfall above the place where we went, which is even more stunning, but time was not on our side.
We came back all the way to the base of the mountain got into the car, gave rest to our heavily worked legs and came speeding in the highway. Thus ended a very interesting and tiring trip.
There wasnt much water this time, compared to my first trip. Anyway, need to go again and conquer the top most waterfall. Anybody game??
Points to note* Its better to go on a group and not to take any girls here. Even if you do, ensure that there are enough guys to ward off any danger as this place is not all that safe.
* The mountain is not steep, but still it is a bit difficult as the path is fully covered by stones. So, wear some good shoe/chappal. There is only one path to climb up the mountain. So, walk on as the path leads you to. Depending upon the season you may come across some streams on the way.
Modes of transport* Bus - Available in plenty from Chennai CMBT.
* Train - EMU trains are available to Tada. There is a train from Chennai around 5:30 AM. Return train to Chennai around 5:00 PM. Travel duration is 2 hours.(Kindly check with the current train timing).
* Cab - This will cost around Rs.2500. Recommended to ask for a white-board vehicle to avoid the permit charges
* Bike - Most preferred as you can cover most of the distance into the mountain
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