Vajrapoha falls (Jamboti)

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The Majestic Vajrapoha falls...

Vajrapoha, is a breathtaking falls in Khanapur taluk of Belgaum dist.  This is very famous among youngsters. Water falls from staggering height of 200ft to reach the ground..Its only around 30-40kms from Belgaum....  one needs to be very careful at the falls as it drops from large height.... 

 To visit the falls there are 2 methods...
1. Viewing falls from Side i.e going on top of falls.
2. Viewing falls from front...
  Both have different routes to be taken...

Route no 2, i.e viewing falls from front is a more difficult trek than route no 1.

        we decided to take first route. Own vehicle and guide is a must on this route as we need to first travel 12-15kms inside forest by vehicle (2 or 4 wheeler) .Then park the vehicle and trek for around 6-8 km. Vajrapoha falls is in Jamboti village of Khanapur taluk..Jamboti is just around 20-30mins drive from Belgaum. Connectivity of Jamboti village is good, as it connects Goa. So the route is, Belgaum to Jamboti, then go inside forest in Jamboti  by vehicle for about half an hour and then trek the remaining distance. Hence vehicle and  Guide is strongly advised, attempting without guide can be dangerous as route can be confusing for people visiting falls for 1st time.. There are no signboards to show directions. Also we need to come out of forest before sunset as trekking in dark is extremely dangerous,  Since falls being inside forest so we cannot find any people till main road except trekkers...
   
 Since we decided to take route no 1, so we hired a sumo vehicle and an experienced guide. And left Belgaum at 8.30am.. we stopped at Jamboti Village, which is on the way and went to  RFO office to get permission, although many people go in without permission but to be on safer side its better to take permission.. The officer present inside advised us to be careful about sloth bears as they are found in more numbers here...( Name of village itself is on sloth bear(Jamboti) )...well getting permission here is not an issue  and you need not make it advance as such, as this place is quite famous. Accordingly we got permission and left for falls. ....It is always preferable to follow rules, especially while going in forest.
 
           Once entering forest area the roads become bad and sumo was ideal vehicle for us to travel. After traveling around 12-15km inside forest our guide stopped vehicle at a point from where the trek begins.There is no name to this point hence i cant tell exactly where we stopped our sumo. There are absolutely no sign boards to display where to go. Hence be careful....

Initial trek path...

Crossing shallow water

Getting down last rock. be careful

                 Getting down from sumo, after quick snaps, we started to walk down narrow path where it is impossible for vehicles to go further, even for 2 wheelers. The path kept on moving downwards  and it was not at all an issue to move along...we were thinking about our way up!! as it was going to be hard climbing up while coming back.....finally after some 45mins of descent we reached a quite stream of water flow. That is river MAHADAYI. River Mahadayi itself goes further and falls down as Vajrapoha falls.From here trek route is along the flow till the falls... we did our breakfast sitting there which we had packed from home..after spending about half an hour we started to move again..The path further went along the flow of water.   

                Trek route for next 2hours is smooth one without much ascent or descent.. jumping through small and big boulders.. The trek path till falls is along the flow of water where it finally drops down as    falls....  At 2 points of trek we need to cross shallow water ,so its better to carry plastic covers along, if you dont want ur shoes to get wet. Finally after some 2.5hours of total trek, we could hear the roar of Vajrapoha water falls and reached top of falls within no time. The sight of water dropping from such a large height itself was scary.Beautiful falls.The way  forward is cut entirely as water drops down below at 200Ft...One can enjoy the view of falls from here itself.. But if you want to go to very side of falls then we need to get down which is a bit dangerous.. one has to absolutely confident and serious  in doing this, last leg of trek, because  it is a  a bit risky as we need to go  carefully down a huge rock. We climbed down the rock holding our dear life in our hand and went beside the falls which was breath taking, awesome view.  Those who don't have self-confidence of getting down final rock can watch the falls from above, which too is a beautiful scene. Water droplets while falling down gain diamond shape hence the name is Vajrapoha falls.(As Vajra  means Diamond). We sat beside the falls for about half an hour, It was indeed an awesome feeling to be seated just next to falls which roars so loudly that we cant hear each other speak..Also the sight of water falling below the gorge was awesome and wonderful. so we sat there for about half an hour enjoying the sight of falls and scary sight of below!!... till our guide told us that it was time to move back as it was getting late.so we got up having final glimpse at the pristine beauty of falls and  Carefully climbed the huge rock back again and started our journey back till the vehicle. One needs to be very careful at the falls  as water plunges down around 200ft down and playing with nature, here, can cost you very heavily.... 

           Thus, we started moving back. As trek path is along river, so you can swim in waters. We did not carry extra pair of clothes, so we did not swim. The route back was very smooth till the quiet stream of water where we had our breakfast while coming.... We again sat there for half an hour, looking at the route we needed to walk upside.....There we were encountered by forest department officials who had come for their routine work.... Guess what it was our permission that saved us from being fined for wrongful entry!! So always follow rules in forest.... By then it was 2.30pm and we were told to hit the main road by 5pm so as to avoid wild animals. Finally we started climbing up!!! and Phew!! it was indeed tough as we were already exhausted.. Trek upwards seemed never ending walk!!It is indeed very tiring than entire journey and we took rest at regular intervals of time to move further...Finally after a very tiring walk for about 1.5hrs we reached our vehicle where it was parked.  It was such a sigh of relief for us to see the vehicle!! Finally our trek ended and we moved out of forest  and hit the road by 4.45pm....It was back to home for us now....

                       The Trek indeed was an awesome journey through dense forest.. The experience of sitting before a gorge of around 150-200ft with waterfalls itself is a wonderful feeling...I Advise all youngsters to visit this falls.. We can't camp on this route as it is illegal.. camping can be done on route 2 with permission from Forest dept....The fact that this place is deep inside forest, has kept it free from tourist non-sense. But be responsible tourist and get back all the materials carried without littering the place.
                             
                         Since the area receives maximum rain during monsoons, it is advisable to visit the falls during post-monsoon duration. One has to struggle very much if your trekking in rainy season, as there are toooo many leeches. If it rains too heavily then it is better advised not to trek as water becomes very rough and trekking would be risky . since we had gone post monsoons,  so weather and water were very calm. It was ideal time to visit..

Quick checks :-
1. Vajrapoha falls is in Khanapur taluk of Belgaum Dist.
2. Own vehicle( with Higher ground clearance) and Guide is a must.

3.  Better to take Forest Dept permission at Jamboti, which is on way....
    Many people go  without permission.

4. There are two routes..
        a. Trek to top of falls.
        b. Trek to front of falls.

5. Travel by vehicle inside forest for around 45mins and then trek 8-10kms for falls.
6. Be very careful with falls as it falls down 200ft.. especially last leg of trek.
7. Hit main road before 5pm...
8.Camping can be done on route 2 with prior permission but on route 1 it is not allowed...


Some Photos...

         

       View from side                                            

                        Walking along river

Behind fall, be very careful here

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