Monsoon Series - Dudhsagar Trek with Tambdi Surla

Its monsoon season of the year and time for yet another monsoon trek. And one should not miss visiting the enchanting Dudhsagar falls during this time. So Dudhsagar was in my bucket list right from my college days. But somehow plan did not work out and could not make it.

This time of the year, thanks to my travel buddy who instigated me to join her for this trip and we decided to tick this place off from our bucket list.

Basically, there are 2 ways you can plan to see Dudhsagar falls – Firstly, the majesty of the Dudhsagar falls can be best viewed from a train as it passes the small Railway station of Dudhsagar but that fun would be for just some fraction of seconds. Secondly, trek through the lush green dense forest to the base of the waterfalls so that you can absorb the view at your heart's content. We chose to do the latter.

After a lot of research, my friend had shortlisted Muddie trails since their itinerary had mode of travel as train from Bangalore to Goa and back which we felt would be the best and comfortable mode. The itinerary was planned for just 2 days of the weekend. So, we booked this tour with them and started our preparations for the trip.

Day 0 – 20th August 21

We started off on Friday night on KSR – Miraj Junction train for an overnight journey. It started right on time at 10 PM from Majestic station, Bangalore.  We quickly had an ice breaking session onboard, got introduced to our fellow trekkers, trip leads and slept off with excitement of another wholesome experience that is going to unfold over the next 2 days.

Day 1 – 21st August 21

We reached Londa station at around 7 am in the morning. 

We came out of the station and our private vehicles were waiting for us to pick up and we set off on our journey to Mollem. Once we crossed Londa, we took the Goa-Belgaum road and entered Uttara Kannada district, Joida Taluk.  

We stopped here for breakfast since we have been starving for a long time. We had yummy pav bhaji here prepared in typical konkan style.

We then entered Anmod ghat and this entire drive took around 1.5 hours to reach the Karnataka Goa border. Here we were asked to get down from our vehicles and another set of vehicles with Goa registration were waiting to take us across the border to Goa. At the border, our RTPCR negative reports were checked. And those who don’t have the certificate, can take the RAT test at the check post itself.

From this check post, our homestay at Mollem was hardly at 200 meters distance. We were put up at Roshan Guesthouse, Mollem. We checked out into our homestay, quickly freshened up and set off to explore Tambdi Surla.

We had 2 places to see today – Tambdi Surla (Mahadev) temple and Tambdi Surla waterfalls. We decided to conserve our energy for Dudhsagar trek next day and decided to spend more time around Mahadev temple premises.

We were given our packed lunch and except my bestie and myself rest of the group set off on their trek to Tambdi Surla falls.

From the entrance, a very good stone pathway takes you till the temple. 

But the main entrance was closed, and we had to take a diversion to reach on other side entrance along the Surla river.

Social distancing was very well organized with only limited people entering at one time.  We were asked to wait in line outside the gate and only when 2-3 people came out of the temple, the next 2-3 in the queue would be sent inside.

We explored the Mahadev Temple at Tambdi Surla which is the only temple of Kadamba architecture preserved and available in Goa. Nestled deep in the forest with the backdrop of rolling western ghats this place is a must visit for nature and peace lovers.

We then came out of the temple and sat on the banks of Surla river. We soaked our legs in the stream flowing by and relaxed there a bit.

It then started raining heavily. We took out our ponchos and took a stroll around the premises which was a thrilling experience altogether.

Once rain stopped, we sat on one of the benches within temple premises and had our packed lunch. Drinking water facility is there including clean rest rooms. So, you don’t have to worry about it.

We saw lot of plastic waste thrown outside on the lawn around the rest area which was really disheartening to see. Request everyone to carry their own bottles from home since drinking water facility is there everywhere. In case there are arrangements for packed lunch, then please carry your own lunch boxes from home along with spoons/forks. If you want to have tea/coffee/juice/any other drink, you can carry collapsible silicon pocket cups (it is available in amazon) with you. Take hand towels or kerchiefs instead of tissues to wipe your faces/hands. Travel responsibly with these small efforts from your end which can help conserve nature.

We then set off on a stroll along the forest which was really rejuvenating. 

We spotted one place where vehicles were parked, and one family was enjoying picnic there. We saw that there was a nice stream of river Surla flowing by. So, without a second thought we found a nice spot, soaked our legs in water and relaxed for a while. Much needed healing therapy amidst nature’s resources.

We sat there or almost an hour and then headed back to the Mahadev temple premises since our group would have come back from falls. 

We took hot tea and pakodas at the rest area. 

By now our group of trekkers had returned from falls and were taking tea break. We got into our jeeps and came back to our homestay.

We had early dinner and called off for the day since we had to be ready at 5 am in the morning for our yet another most awaited trek – Dudhsagar

Day 2 – 22nd August 21

We all woke up very early today at around 4 am and were ready by 5 am. We then hopped onto our private vehicles which took us on a bumpy off-road ride to the trek starting point in Collem.

So we were told that the 22 km up and down trek of Dudhsagar falls usually takes 6 to 7 hours to finish in a leisurely way.

From this trek starting point, we started our long walk along the railway tracks for around 3-5 Km.

After reaching a point, we took a diversion to enter dense forest. 

We came across lot of tiny river streams enroute. It was soothing to hear birds chirping early morning, honk of far off train passing by and also the sound of river stream flowing by – Total melody to ears 😊

The area around the falls is forested and falls into the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife sanctuary. The roads to the falls are maintained by the Goa Forest Department and we were charged a nominal fee of Rs100 on our return.

We then stopped at one point to wait for rest of the folks since breakfast was arranged at a homestay and we all had to go together with our trek lead there. During the wait time, we quickly used the rest rooms and saw a temple nearby. It was the Dudhsagar temple.

Once the entire group had reached this point, we all walked for another 5 minutes to reach homestay where breakfast was arranged for us. 

We were served poha and tea here. After relaxing for a while we set off on next leg of our trek. 

We also crossed a hanging bridge enroute which was another adventurous experience.

After covering quiet a distance, we got a chance to get a first glimpse of Dudhsagar which pumped up our excitement. The sight of sparkling white Mandovi river cascading down steep mountain slopes is a spectacular sight to behold. Dudhsagar in Hindi literally means “Ocean of milk” ( Dudh = Milk and Sagar = Ocean).

At around 10 am we reached Dudhsagar falls entry point. 

Our trek guide told us that from October Jeeps will start plying from Mollem to this entry point. So if you are planning to visit this with your family, you can plan this option as well. 

From here the journey to the last leg of the falls is thrilling as you need to pass by heavily flowing streams with knee deep water. Human chain comes to our rescue here. Thanks to all the Goa trek leads who were at the spot for helping us wade through the strong currents of the river.

One thing we noticed that our shoes (along with socks) was getting fully soaked in water while crossing every stream here. One tip for footwear – You don’t require the Decathlon Forclaz 500 shoes for this trek since there is no steep ascend/descend. You can carry regular hiking shoes for this trek along with floaters/slippers. When you reach the Dudhsagar Waterfalls entrance, you can remove the shoes and keep it in your bag. These Floaters/slippers will help you wade through these water streams easily.  

With all these adventures with water, finally here we were at the main spot – milky white Dudhsagar falls falling from mountain top amidst lush greenery with a tiny railway track and a natural pool at the bottom. Here people can take a dip or soak their legs in water or just sit back and admire the beauty of this majestic falls. 

It was amazing to watch the Dudhsagar fall from a height of more than 1000 feet. If lucky, you can watch a train pass by with Ocean of Milk (Dudhsagar) in the backdrop. This place got even more fame after Bollywood movie "Chennai Express" was shot here. 

We spent quite some time here. Please carry extra pair of clothes. We found some toilets and changing rooms at the falls entrance. Ensure you have enough water and food for a day, as there are no options to buy anything inside the forest reserve or near the waterfalls.

At around 11:30 am we started our journey back to homestay. Return journey was strenuous since our shoes were heavy with water and wet socks. And to add to this, it started raining heavily. So even though we were stopping to clear the water from shoes and socks, after a mile it would start raining again and we had to keep doing this exercise at regular intervals. So big lesson learnt to carry right kind of foot wears during monsoon treks. But the feeling of being close to nature and mesmerizing views along the journey gives you immense energy throughout this trek.

Finally, at around 3 pm we reached our trek starting point. From there we hopped onto our jeeps to stop by at our lunch place since we were starving for more than 7 hours. Goan Cuisine was served here with veg thali and non-veg (Fish fry). We literally hogged the lunch to our heart’s content.

Credits for all food pics in this blog goes to my bestie😋. 

After lunch break since we were already late, we reached homestay, quickly freshened up, packed, and left back to Londa station to catch our return trains to Bangalore.

Although the trek was bit tiresome in the end (due to the blunder with our shoes), the sheer majesty and splendor of this natural wonder made our trip worthwhile. Would suggest all nature, water, mountain, trek lovers to visit this during monsoons(June to September) as it won’t fail to leave you awestruck with its beauty. But please don’t litter around and travel responsibly 😊