Catherine falls, Kothagiri

A trip to the Queen of hills always puts a smile on your face. That can also turn into laughter all the way if you happen to travel with a bunch of your college buddies, all of us meeting after a long time. The decision to go there was spontaneous since the hill station of Nilgiris is quite close to Coimbatore, our hometown and offers a quick getaway.

So with the mighty XUV 500 with us, (a close friend bought it and he wanted to test it in the hills), we started at around 1.30 in the afternoon on a sunny Sunday. Driving to Mettupalayam from Coimbatore took us an hour, with the afternoon traffic not heavy. From Mettupalayam, we took the road that leads to Kothagiri, rather than the conventional Coonoor-Ooty route, since Catherine falls is located near Kothagiri. 
                      

                         View of Kothagiri hills

                     

The pretty views that are on offer en route are instant energy boosters, not to forget the refreshing mountain air. The Kothagiri route of the Nilgiris is often regarded as one of the best-maintained roads. Many travel bugs swear by this route, which offers great views and an almost pothole free road, and a pleasure for anyone behind the wheels.

The May sun, which was with us for a few hairpin bends, suddenly disappeared behind the clouds as we were gaining altitude the warm air gradually turned to cool mountain air, with mild essence of eucalyptus. The road to St Catherine falls branches off at Aravenu, snaking through the valley, a steep descent. The XUV handled the corners pretty well, inspiring confidence in the hilly terrain. The road ends at a point and you have to trek a small distance to the falls.
 
The route to Catherine falls

  
The view en route to Kothagiri

To reach the falls, you have to climb a couple of small hills by walk, through the tea plantations. Finally, the trek through the tea plantations gives way to a mini river crossing, which leads to the top of the waterfalls. Even a small river crossing should never be underestimated; as the rocks beneath us were slippery the force of the current was surprisingly strong. What made the trip more fun was the thunder, lightning, and rain, which gave us company when we began climbing, all the way to the falls.  A word of caution: the trek to the falls is unmarked and not known to many people and it’s easy to get lost in the jungle if you take a wrong turn. So it is advisable to accompany someone who knows the route well. The falls itself is very small and the area is prone to flash floods.  Surrounded by tea estates and forests, the area surrounding the falls is scenic. A good couple of hours were spent playing in the cold waters.


       
Catherine falls

The return trek back was spent taking selfies, pictures and removing leaches from legs. We hit the road at 6.30 in the evening, the clouds turning dark and ready to pour, and at that time I realized I had a leach stuck in my leg too  when I noticed red in on my finger while pulling my sock up. So a pair of shoes, comfortable jeans had all proven to be of no match for a tiny leach to stick to you. Sigh.

The comfort levels in the XUV for the occupants were quite good that no fatigue was experienced at the end of the journey. The seats offered good thigh support and ample legroom as expected of an SUV of this class. The Bluetooth connectivity is seamless and the Bose sound system offered great levels of clarity in music. The overall mileage we achieved was 13.6kmpl, tanking up 8.9 liters of diesel at the start of the trip.

Though we started late in the afternoon, the trip was fascinating as we had the falls all to ourselves for a whole two hours. Catherine falls is 60km from Coimbatore and offers a lot for a one day trip.  A weekend would suffice to explore Ooty and its nearby locales, but that’s another story.