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Doodhsagar-fall The next stop in our trip was of course, Doodhsagar falls. I would say this was the main highlight of the trip, and it is not in Goa, :P but in the adjacent state of Karnataka. Last time I came here when I was studying in Bangalore. We trekked along the railway tracks and the view was much better from there. You could actually see the fall very close on a height! The name Doodhsagar came from Sanskrit. It is made up of two words, Doodh (milk) and sagar (sea) so you can guess why it is called so. Private vehicles cannot go up to the waterfall. We had to get down and take a safari jeep provided by the administration whose fees was included in the tour package. As soon as you get down from the bus, number of local people will come to sell bananas and tomatoes to you for feeding the monkeys. I have fed monkeys a lot, it is quite dangerous and I do not find it exciting anymore. However, I bought it because my friend wanted to. I was unaware of the fact that feeding monkeys was illegal there and we cannot take any eatables inside. At the entrance of the protected area, government officials started checking our bags, though they were not so strict. They were asking politely and as polite was the response from all the fellow Russian tourists, “no, we do not have any bananas.” From that point, it took another 45 minutes to reach the falls through unmetalled roads and crossing rivers that filled water up to our feet in the jeep. As soon as we got down, I was surprised to see everyone taking out bananas and feeding the monkeys. I was laughing because I thought only Indians do such things, breaking the rules! Probably it is the effect of extra freedom, which Russians enjoy now, after the 74 years long strict soviet rule! After getting down from the jeep we still had to make our way to the fall, which required crossing fast-flowing mountainous rivers with the help of the rope and climbing small rocks. It was not as difficult as it sounds; people belonging to all age groups were doing it smoothly. Helping my friend and her mom cross all the hurdles, I started helping fellow tourists to cross whether I knew them or not. Girls, boys, men, women, babushki (grannys) and kids, I cannot remember how many people I pulled and guided or lifted to make them reach safe place. It was a bit strange for me, as men in Russia have to serve the army compulsory for one year; I assumed that it would be very easy for them, but I felt as if it was something new for them, and I had to guide them and pull them the same way.

Doodhsagar-fall The next stop in our trip was of course, Doodhsagar falls. I would say this was the main highlight of the trip, and it is not in Goa, :P but in the adjacent state of Karnataka. Last time I came here when I was studying in Bangalore. We trekked along the railway tracks and the view was much better from there. You could actually see the fall very close on a height! The name Doodhsagar came from Sanskrit. It is made up of two words, Doodh (milk) and sagar (sea) so you can guess why it is called so. Private vehicles cannot go up to the waterfall. We had to get down and take a safari jeep provided by the administration whose fees was included in the tour package. As soon as you get down from the bus, number of local people will come to sell bananas and tomatoes to you for feeding the monkeys. I have fed monkeys a lot, it is quite dangerous and I do not find it exciting anymore. However, I bought it because my friend wanted to. I was unaware of the fact that feeding monkeys was illegal there and we cannot take any eatables inside. At the entrance of the protected area, government officials started checking our bags, though they were not so strict. They were asking politely and as polite was the response from all the fellow Russian tourists, “no, we do not have any bananas.” From that point, it took another 45 minutes to reach the falls through unmetalled roads and crossing rivers that filled water up to our feet in the jeep. As soon as we got down, I was surprised to see everyone taking out bananas and feeding the monkeys. I was laughing because I thought only Indians do such things, breaking the rules! Probably it is the effect of extra freedom, which Russians enjoy now, after the 74 years long strict soviet rule! After getting down from the jeep we still had to make our way to the fall, which required crossing fast-flowing mountainous rivers with the help of the rope and climbing small rocks. It was not as difficult as it sounds; people belonging to all age groups were doing it smoothly. Helping my friend and her mom cross all the hurdles, I started helping fellow tourists to cross whether I knew them or not. Girls, boys, men, women, babushki (grannys) and kids, I cannot remember how many people I pulled and guided or lifted to make them reach safe place. It was a bit strange for me, as men in Russia have to serve the army compulsory for one year; I assumed that it would be very easy for them, but I felt as if it was something new for them, and I had to guide them and pull them the same way.