Santa's Crazy Ride to Dudh Sagar Falls

Santa's Crazy Ride to Dudh Sagar Falls

Route* - Panjim-Old Goa-Ponda-Mollem-Kollem-Riding on Track to Dudh Sagar parking lot-Trek to Dudh Sagar . SOlo July 2012.
Duration* - Morning 9 am- 7pm
Distance* - 80 one way
Short Story* -Being High on Feni the Previous Night, I wake up with a crazy hangover, Severe headache.Get some breakfast.
A rented Honda Dazzler , Non Stop July Rains In Goa.
Just a waterproof Pant , A galaxy Note and Camera , tank bag .Leather Slippers , No gloves, a 200 rs Rented Helmet .
Find out the Route , Although heavy rains , i ride slowly and then reach Mollem , 6 kms from there is Kollem.
This is where the road ends .
And there Are Pilots at collem station parking-- Guys with bikes who take you pillion on Splendors and Impulse and charge you 600 odd rs .
SInce It was monsoons , the roads are closed , And the previous day , one of the pilots died crossing a overflowing river in the forest.
Not that he dint know swimming , Hit the rock on the fall and lost conscious and swept away.

So the pilot service was also non functional,They blocked me saying , its too risky , don’t go .
I wasnt gonna listen.
I take off from the last Point of Civilization , No network , no Food , And Pouring.
Biggest mistake , Dint carry any Food , its 1230 pm and i still have a hangover headache.

Off roading begins, Easy for Few 100 meters , and then the slush starts, And You are riding in the forest parallel to the Railway track on the stones.

6-8 kms of riding on that stones on stock MRF zapper tyres ,slipping sliding.No directions where to get off the track .
If you go on your own , the pilots DONT give you any information.
And In all of this im on the track and theres a train approaching.i try to get the bike off the track and i have no enegy and i cant.
To my luck its a goods train and with 4 engines , and its slow , The Driver stops the train , yells at me. With no choice , Comes out , Helps me lift the bike off the track
Tells me i shouldnt be here in Monsoons and im Mad . I acknowledge that . thank him for stopping and not running over me.

Miss the place where i need to get off the track  , ride few more kms , Then sense im wrong .
Ride backwards , take a wild guess and I cross a Bridge and reach a check post in the forest.
Its Just a small Bunker . Nothing more , Guy has been posted there so that No one can enter .
EVen 4*4 Jeeps dont ply during this season.


In the Forest after the check post

The guy at the check post tells me there are 2 over flowing rivers and I cant go .I aint gonna turn Back .

Next back on track , Some thorny trees on the path and its blocked :-(. Trying to find a way , My shirt gets stuck in it , bruises on my shoulder , Tearing the rain coat that im wearing. Get my Swiss Knife out to Cut the small Parts that are stuck to my shirt and Jacket .

ANd its still raining , In goa it doesnt rain for Hours , It Pours for Days.

I reach the River and Im Dumbstruck at what i see .And i need to cross this .

Iv done quite a bit of riding in my life and I knew this is not to play with .I park the bike , Cam , click. Then Cross the River On foot ,making sure how i cross it with the Bike and finding a Route , Its COld , Deep and Now my Underwear and Shirt is all wet . Im on the Other Side , bike on the Other .

Leave the cam and other stuffs , and come back to Take the Bike back .
I start the Bike and Push and with 8-12 mins of fear filled , struggle for life and I dont know where i got the energy from , Reached the Other side .

I am Still alive .Im happy and Try to calm myself and get some energy back , I still dont know how far the waterfall is and Dont know the Route .
PS: I dont know swimming .

Yes the Bike Was Underwater , With the Carb in the water , Exhaust in the water. I did not expect it to start .
15 mins of kick starting, and losing all energy , I hear the Sweet Honda sound in the Middle of the Forest .
This is how 'Joy feels'.
Riding another Few Kms i see the First View of the Water falls .

Im at the base still ,and the waterfalls is somewhere else. Mixed emotions .
Now i see that Im bleeding from my shoulder , And There are leeches all over my leg , hand . everywhere .
I had salt.. Now its mixed with water and Gone :-(
Out comes my swiss knife and again leech cutting begins.

Back on the saddle i reach The Dudh sagar Parking lot.Deserted. No one in sight. No tracks of vehicles . Just Slush. No count of slides i had .Not falls .. MRF ka slides .

Now i leave the bike here and Start to trek , This involves another river crossing , rain gets heavy and im shivering now.

Treking 2-3 mins into the forest, Its steep and slippery ,any plants u touch have thorns , Im carrying my tank bag and Helmet with me .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_fQjw9T9pbU
The video may need a Rotate ,Pls adjust , i tried my best.Listen to the sound of the forest.

15 mins into a walk , I see millipede , centipede and dont no names of insects .. Im wearing leather slippers  , remember.

Next i see a snake and im freaked out. I run back wards , Sliding down. a feeling difficult to describe.

Gather all my composure , take a stick and come back up , and run at the point where i saw the snake.
Finally i see the railway track and some small waterfalls and Tunnels.
Walking another 1 km or so i see the Mighty waterfalls in Full flow.

Video of the Dudh Sagar falls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74DzYvRYQBM&feature=youtu.be

I see a bunch of guys who have come in the train , I beg borrow for Towels and Food . U dont have a shop there .
Sit for over an Hour there .Relax
I start back from there to repeat the whole scene and Back to Panjim by 7 pm or so.
Crossing the River again wasnt easy at all .
And the Guys at the Collem station on my return enquired how it was, showed them pictures and they were telling Im Lucky to be back :-)

Im filled with leeches again , I get back to panjim to the hotel and My clothes are soaked in blood. And yikes leeches getting them off.

Back for another day.
Santa