Travel writing is always about things seen and experienced.

We spent the fourth night at Shimoga. An important centre in the ‘Malnad’ (the hill districts of Karnataka) region, Shimoga has much in store for nature enthusiast, historians and culture aficionados. It is considered as the seat of Kannada literature.

Given the tight schedule to cover 3,000 kms, we could not do justice to Shimoga. If there was time, these were the places we would have visited – Gudavi Bird Sanctuary, Shettihalli Wildlife Sanctuary, Sakrebeilu Elephant Camp, a few waterfalls and some ancient temples like Kedareshwar.

We have now tasted a little bit of Shimoga - Jog falls, Linganamakki dam etc. But we have decided to come back for more.

Being on the ghats and the forests is making our drive a little more challenging now. For there are places worth enjoying throughout the route and every inch of the road is exciting. So covering 3,000 kms in 10 days would now mean skipping a few attractions and taking long drives.

And we now hear that some of the cities en route are on swine flu alert!

Will keep updating.

As soon as we reached the parking lot at Jog falls, a bunch of guides surrounded us offering to take us to all the nearby places of interest. We chose Nagaraj, for no particular reason. He did his job with utmost patience and diligence.

We chatted up with Nagaraj to know more about him and the status of his likes. He is one of 6-8 authorized guides in Jog. Nagaraj is the sole bread-winner of his family consisting of his mother and sister. Unfortunately, his mother is a cancer patient and is under treatment at a hospital in Madikeri, which is far from Jog. Like in most such cases, it is a struggle to make both ends meet.

But what’s more concerning for Nagaraj now are the changes that is happening in Jog. According to him, the TAJ group will soon take over the complete management of the tourism facilities at Jog falls. Though the guides have been told that they would not lose their job, it’s still a worry for them. We wish and hope that life will change for the better for Nagaraj and his colleagues.

Jog falls is on Sharavathy river and is the highest plunge waterfall in India. No amount of photos and videos can capture the magnificence of this natural wonder. Yet, some are here.

While we were mesmerized by the Jog Falls, some monkeys decided to have fun with our Cedia.