Dudhsagar Falls

Dudhsagar Falls (pronounced "dood-SAH-gur"; a sign here also spelled it "Doodh Sagar") is certainly one of

The name of the falls means "ocean of milk" due to the white water appearance as the water tumbles. Though I reckon the religious influence probably also played a role in the name of the falls considering the reverence for cows in the Hindu religion. I've also seen this waterfall referred to as the "Milky Waterfall."

Apparently, it's possible to experience the Dudhsagar Falls in a couple of ways.

The most popular way of doing it (and the way we did it) was on an organized day excursion. We first had to head east (see directions below) to get to a little village where we then switched vehicles and rode a rugged 4wd jeep to get right to an area that allowed us to access the pool at the base of the waterfall.

During our visit, we were joined by heaps of other tourists (mostly European though we were quite surprised at the quantity of Russian tourists) as well as monkeys (which I believe can be either macaques or rangoons) who seemed to have become dependent on the food fed by the tourists in spite of the signs discouraging this practice.

There was a basic viewing platform to see the upper two tiers of the falls between an opening in the foliage. However, we then took a short 10- or 15-minute walking path with a bridged river crossing that led us right to the base of the falls, where it was very crowded with tourists clad in bathing attire as well as monkeys, local guides, and a sign listed the names of people who have drowned here.

Our local guide did show me an interesting little alcove or "cave" not too far to the left side of the falls. This was significant because apparently it was a favored den of some tigers who take shelter from the rains here during the monsoon (when the falls are pretty much inaccessible except to locals who don't rely on the 4wd road).

As for getting decent views of the Dudhsagar Falls itself, we weren't able to achieve very satisfying views from the bottom given the sloping nature of the falls.

It turned out that the best views (albeit fleeting) were from across the forested ravine on the Konkan Railway some 10km from the Kulem Station (by the way, rail is the 2nd way of experiencing the falls). Unfortunately, we weren't able to exercise this option given time constraints. Also, there was apparently a fairly difficult hike up to a similar viewpoint from the official trail of the falls, but the local guide here said we needed permission in order to do the 1.5-hour each way trek through steep terrain, high humidity, and dense jungle to get there.

As for timing a visit to Dudhsagar Falls, the waterfall is at its most impressive during the monsoon. However, that would also be when the 4wd road becomes impassable (thus train would be the only option at that point). We visited just outside the monsoon in November and I felt the falls still had a healthy flow (though the experience would've been better had we been able to see the falls from a higher, unobstructed vantage point).

Finally, there's quite a bit of false information regarding the height of Dudhsagar Falls. I suspect that it was either started or fanned along by the 603m claim given in our 2007 edition of Lonely Planet: India, and I'm beginning to suspect that perhaps they really meant 306m but somehow flipped the numbers around. The local signage here says the falls is 300m, and the local guide and others in the literature claim the falls is 310m.

In any case, I think we could put to bed any notion that this is one of the tallest waterfalls in the world (it's not), but it certainly does remind me of the way Langfoss tumbles down a mountainside (albeit with less volume in this case). Now some claim this is the second tallest waterfall in India, which is a more plausible claim, but then again I suspect someone will come up with numerical examples probably disputing even this claim.

Directions: From Panjim or Panaji (the capital of Goa), we were driven some 60 or 70km east to a village where the 4wd part of the excursion began.

When we switched onto a rugged 4wd jeep which did the final leg to the falls, we had to traverse very bumpy roads with a handful of deep river crossings (I recalled one or two of them were deep enough to let water inside the jeep). At the end of the road, we were dropped off at the fairly busy jeep parking area.

All told, the day excursion from Panjim or Panaji was about 6- to 7 hours total.

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A particularly deep river crossing

Partial view of the upper part of the Dudhsagar Falls from the viewing deck at the end of the jeep road

It was pretty clear that most of the people here ignored the signs (including one prohibiting the feeding of wildlife)

A monkey at the falls totally dependent on human handouts

Right at the base of Dudhsagar Falls where lots of people were enjoying themselves swimming and cooling off

A local guide led me over to this little natural rock shelter where a couple tigers have been known to take refuge here during the monsoon season

Sometimes there are jeep traffic jams on the 4wd road

The preserved remains of St Francis Xavier in the Se Basilica of Old Goa

The Catholic theme of the cathedrals in Old Goa were further evidence of the Portugese influence here

A pretty cathedral in Panaji at the heart of Goa

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Brief bottom up sweep of the falls right from the busy plunge pool area

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• November 13, 2009

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