My dear Ajju...

It’s been almost three weeks I am trying to lead my life without you. Am I getting used to this? I don’t know. Am I sad? I don’t know. My dear Ajju,  I really do not know what’s happening in my life after you left me. I feel I am not reading my own mind. Its taking me a bit of while to get over the fact that you are not with us. People here tell me not to cry, not to feel bad etc. etc. But the fact is I am missing you Ajju. I am missing you big time.

It’s a unique bond which got created between us and the bonding got better and better till the very end. No one taught me to love. I loved you and still continue loving till my last breath. You were everything to me. From last few years, you were literally our baby. That sweet smile of yours still stays in my eyes ,those cute god rhymes you chanted everyday resonates in my ears, those sweet kisses you gave me used to remove all the bitterness that existed in me. 

You used to enjoy those memories when I plucked your spectacles just five minutes after my birth. This shows that our bonding had already started when I was in your daughter's womb. I have all those sweet memories when I came jumping during school holidays. You used to hug me tightly, brush my hairs, softly touch my chin and said "nan muddu bangaara bandbidta" (my sweet grandson is here). You took all my mischiefs and I can’t even recall if you actually scolded me? at least once? No one could stop my happiness when dad said, myself and mom would stay with grandparents for 2-3 years and join a school in Bangalore. I was literally going to heaven then. And when dad took us away to Raichur, I was leaving you with heart full of sorrowfulness. I can’t forget when you took that courage to go and book a railway ticket and come down to Raichur to meet me. And in high school, when I shifted back to Bangalore and was staying in Guru's house, I was hoping for a chance every now and then to meet and spend time with you.

When grandpa expired, I saw tears in your eyes for the first time. I could not control myself at that situation. I know you had suffered your whole life with body full of fractures, struggling everyday with kerosene stove, not even a boiler to heat the water and what not. With so many difficulties also, you never spoke back to anyone and took all the beatings to yourself. You were literally like a "Punyakoti" (A holy cow), always wishing others success, blessing younger ones and never did bad to anyone.You are the true inspiration. I promise that I will inculcate as many values that you taught us. 

A small incident which stuck my heart. It was almost one week Ajju had left us. I had gone to airport to pick my cousin. I was waiting and was observing people around. I could see two pretty kids, a boy who was like 5 yrs. and his sister who was almost 7. They were having good time playing, shouting, pulling each other’s leg. The next moment I could see both of them running towards the door which opened up for a couple, on their wheel chairs. They were the kids grandparents. Boy ran and hugged the granny and girl the grandpa. Affection towards their grandparents was overflowing. Those scenes filled my eyes. For a moment I felt, I would go home, enter my room, go tightly hug MY granny, similar to those kids. However my dreams were shattered the next moment when the brain said, this can’t happen :( :( 

Ajju, the last 5-6 years is a golden era in my life. You stayed with us, gave us love, poured the happiness and made our lives totally worth it. I don’t know where you are, however you will be in my heart till it beats. Every day I question myself, why couldn't she stay with me for another few years? I need your blessings every moment and I know without which I can’t even move an inch. Ajju, wherever you are, be happy. I derived and continue deriving energy from your happiness.

Missing you a lot !!!!

Kudremukha trek [Nov 1st-2nd] - A WILD EXPERIENCE !!!!!

14^{th May}, the day I did my last trek and it was in the Great Himalayas!! Never ever did I had such a huge break between 2 treks. Hook or crook, my next expedition had to be somewhere in the Western Ghats and definitely there is no better place to choose than Kudremukha.

Kudremukha trek is pretty famous in the Western Ghats for its range, varieties of Flora and Fauna, ever running-never stopping streams and greenery all-round the year. One has to catch bus which goes to Kalasa and get down in Balehole, go to Mullodi and trek starts from here. We were a small gang of 15 who wished to travel a day before long Deepavali vacation. All knew without prior reservation, chances of getting a seat in any bus is almost zero. However, with whatever you call, laziness, ‘YO’’ YO’ ness, we dint reserve. And as expected, October 31^st (Thursday), Kempegowda Bus nildaana (Kempegowda Bus Station) was flooded with travellers. Almost half of Bengaluru were there if my guess is right. By the time we all reached Majestic, it was 11 PM and the last bus to Kalasa was at 10.30!!! You know, this is the advantage of having no plan. We are free to take any bus, free to go anytime and do anything. With this independence, we boarded!!! Sorry, foot boarded a Karnataka Sarkara Sarige(red colour bus with no AC, no blanket and no water bottle) which took us to Moodigere. All 15 of us were foot boarding, some were trying to sit on the way until the bus conductor shouted for place to issue tickets and few were on the engine, beside driver. Getting sleep was just a matter of dream. No one slept. By 7.00 AM, we were in Moodigere. From there, we had to take another bus to Kottigehara, Jeep to Balehole and to Mullodi house. Few blogs helped us to find Satish’s phone number who resides in Mullodi house and assist trekkers in providing food and shelter and also getting forest officer’s permission, a compulsory thing for Kudremukha trek.

Mullodi is a small village with maximum of thirty houses, every house 2-3 kilometres apart from one another. However, every house is a masterpiece surrounded all 360 degrees by mountains. There were Banana plantations, flower plantations, vegetables and what not!!! It was feast for the eyes. We freshened up, had yummy Kadabu with sambhar plus coconut chutney for breakfast (Kadabu is made of broken rice. Many won’t like this, especially people having it for the 1^st time) and made our journey towards a waterfall, just 5-10 minutes from Satish’s house. It was a small waterfall yet a soothing one for strained bodies. We almost spent two odd hours before our stomachs shouted for food. Had good amount of rice with vegetable sambhar plus papad plus cucumber kosambari plus buttermilk along with pickle for lunch. Time on my HCM watch was pointing 3 PM. It was time for a 6 kilometre acclimatisation trek to “Durga betta”. And guess who our guide was?? a 70 year old, Satish’s father. For me, he looked like a Bruce lee, body full of muscles. He was so young and dynamic that, not even a single guy from our 25 year old gang could match his speed. 9 of us decided to trek “Durga betta” and the other 6 prepared for next day’s expedition.

The route to “Durga betta” is just amazing. We almost took 1.5 hrs to climb and 1.5 hrs to descend. We spent good amount of time on the peak. We could sight Kudremukha peak from there. It was just mesmerising. It looked as if Kudremukha was floating amidst clouds!!! Descending was almost a night trek and we luckily carried torch with us. By the time we reached Satish’s house, it was 8 PM. By then, boys had pitched tents for night stay, made arrangements for our dinner. We had an agreement with Satish that we would prepare our own dinner and he had made all arrangements in the form of ingredients plus vessels. Recipe for the day was “vegetable pulav”. All 15 aspired to be part of cooking show but 5 did win the race. One was weeping cutting onions; others were with capsicum, potatoes and tomatoes. After an hour and half of constant struggle, we were proud presenting the world with so called “vegetable pulav” plus raita. Dinners are always special when you are on a trek with the camp fires, songs, jokes and twinkling stars. Many more of singing and fun around campfire ended the days play.

Day two started on a fresh note with a cup of hot tea. Everyone was aware that it would be a tough day’s trek where one had to cover a minimum of 26-30 kilometres. Plan was to reach the base of Kudremukha which is 2 kilometres from Satish’s house, Dump all our bags, trek to the peak which is 8 kilometres to and fro. And start walking towards Beltangdi route to reach Naavooru which is again a 16 kilometre walk. Girish was our guide for the day. He gave us an option to extend the trek with “Gomukha” peak which will add 5 more kilometres to the existing route. Luckily boys were in a normal state of mind to say an instant NO. On demand breakfast for day 2 was idly with coconut chutney. We filled our stomach, carried packed lunch in form of puliogre, thanked Satish and his family, hence our journey started. Satish charged us RS.600 per head for two breakfasts, two lunch and trekking fees. We crossed countless streams, bamboo plantations, varieties of plants with rarest of flowers on it. With a bit of photography here and there, we all moved towards destination. It was a cake walk till the base and who knew the coming 4-5 hours would be a tough challenge. After dumping our bags on the foot, reaching peak was our next milestone. To be very frank, it wasn’t an easy trial. Slippery paths all the way and huge boulders made our lives tough. For a moment I just turned back and my eyes witnessed heaven. Clouds were cleared and I could see complete range of mountains. Sholas in-between added to the beauty. Best part of Western Ghats is you get water all 365 days. There are thousands of streams which serve chilled fresh water. Finally we reached a place where there was a carving on a stone which said “2 kilometres to KMP” (Kudremukha Peak). This boosted all of us and rest 2 kilometres were covered in less than 45 minutes.

I could spend my whole life on that peak. However “Time and Girish waits for none”!!! He began chasing us for descend. Before we left the peak, I promised to come back again and again for the luxury Kudremukha offered.

Descend wasn’t an easy job, atleast for my legs. I have the reputation of twisting ankle on every trek especially while climbing down. As greats tell, reputation should not be spoilt and hence I believed that. Yes!!! I twisted my right ankle again, very badly. For my bad luck, we had to still cover 4 kilometres to reach bag spot. With sweetness in my eyes and soreness in legs, we finally reached bag spot. Everyone quickly had Puliogre lunch. I applied volini(pain relief cream) on my twisted ankle and our journey towards Belatangdi started. It was almost 3 PM and we had to cover 16 kilometres of long trek. The route wasn’t favouring my legs. Also for our luck, there were some special guests on the way who welcomed us with open hands. LEECHES!!! They were all scattered on ground, plants, trees, bushes, rocks, boulders everywhere. It was like a war between sixteen humans and sixteen crore leeches. And you know the result. Everyone had atleast thirty leech bites. My reputation did not end with the first ankle twist. I had one more on the same leg. Oh GOD!!!! This was killing me. On one side there were countless leeches and on other I had double twisted ankle. What a combination!!! I was almost carrying twenty kilograms on my back. Goddess Nature did not show any mercy; rather she was testing me with heavy rains and by 4.30 PM the forest turned pitch dark. All our expensive, high-end mobile phones came out in the form of torch. I was literally suffering with uncontrollable pain which was a real test of my will power. I knew we had to still cover ten odd kilometres to reach Naavooru and was hoping that my ankle supported at least till there. I thank God and my will power for that. We reached an estate house in Naavooru by 7.30 PM. All turned busy cleaning off guests from their bodies while Girish called up jeep and an auto to take us to Beltangdi. By that time, my ankle had turned half the Elephant’s size. We took jeep and auto to reach Beltangdi and a 9.20 PM Rajahamsa to Bengalooru.

Kudremukha is known for its heritage. Please do visit. Overall it was a WILD trek. With all the heavy rains, twisted ankle, thirty kilometre long walk, always blood craving Leeches; one question pops up in my mind. WHERE NEXT????

a journey to remember.....

BALLARAYANA DURGA AND BANDAJJE FALLS TREK

That was the third phone call which Guru had made to Narayana Gowdru of Bandajje. In the first two, we got a negative feedback of visiting Ballarayana Durga because of the rains. But it was Guru who kept in touch with Gowdru about the weather forecast. The third call gave positive news of rains having stopped; the weather conditions were perfect for the much awaited trek.

I still remember me and Guru having yummy masala poori at ‘gullus chat’ in Sheshadripuram. It was pouring heavily that day. The rain droplets made us think about the Western Ghats.

Guru: If it’s raining like this in Bangalore, think about the intensity in Western Ghats!!!

Me: True. Hey shall we call up Narayana Gowdru of Bandajje?

Guru: Hmmm... Yes. We still have seven days left for our next weekend. We can plan out for the trek if there are no rains.

Talking about the rains in Western Ghats, it reminds me of my childhood days which I spent in Coorg for eight years. The schools in Coorg often declared holidays for the obvious reasons.  It would rain for days together and Kushalnagar, the place where I stayed looked the most beautiful in that particular season.

2^ND OCTOBER

Guru: Namskara Narayana Gowdruge, how are you? How’s the weather?

Gowdru: Namaskara. The rains have stopped and the trekkers have already started. There were 2 teams which went up just 2 days ago and I have sent 2 of my guides.

Guru:  Oh that’s nice. So we shall plan out for the next weekend that is on 8^th and 9^th.

Gowdru: Hmmm!!! That should be fine. By the way, how many of you are coming?

Guru: May be 4-6. I will let you know once it is decided.

Gowdru: Fine. Hope to see you soon. Take care.

  The news from Gowdru pumped both of us and made me spread the word around my usual trek gang. A week before, Dilip and I had discussed on going for a weekend trek to Amedikallu or Ettina bhuja. However I had declined the idea since I had already visited the place earlier.

Me: Dude, I have good news for you. Guess what?

Dilip: Are you going abroad? Really? Enjoy madi (Have fun)

Me: Wait!!!!

Dilip: You are getting married then. Thank god. There will be no one to bug me from now on!!!!

Me: Wait and listen to me.

Dilip: Ok, go on.

Me: Next weekend, we are going to Ujire, Ballarayana durga and Bandajje falls trek.

Dilip:  That’s cool. By the way, where is Ujire?

It took me more than 20 minutes to explain the details of the trek and finalize the list of people who would join. Finally a group of seven that included me, Guru, Dilip, Vikas, Sumanth, Rajesh and Seena packed our bags with clothes and food required for 2 days and boarded the bus to Ujire.

8^th OCTOBER     2011-10-26

5.30 in the morning, Ujire could see 7 heads, each of them holding a cup of hot coffee in their left hand and a bun in their right. Yes, our day began like this in a small shop in Ujire that served hot coffee with buns. Next, we had to take a 15 km – 45 min jeep ride from Ujire to Bandajje.

 We were welcomed by a huge estate house which belonged to Narayana Gowda. One could sight an antique Mahindra tempo in front of the house and at the other end, a tent like structure which carried coffee seeds. The house looked colourful with the variety of paints used to decorate it. There were hibiscus flowers of almost every colour in and around the house. The pillars of the house stood majestic as Narayana Gowda invited us and offered breakfast with tea. The next half an hour we listened to Narayana Gowda who talked about he enacting in an old kannada movie as a drunkard, his house being part of the shooting of “ Chigurida Kanasu “ (a Kannada movie) and him currently presiding over as the GramPanchayat head. Sundar, our guide for the next 2 days was waiting in the canopy. To me he looked strange with his pitch dark blue full armed T-shirt, a formal pant with Hawai slippers. He had a bag with REEBOK symbol painted on it. Like all city geeks, the first question which stuck my mind was ‘Is that original? ‘ !!!! His bag was so small that even a single jacket wouldn’t fit into it. In contrast, we were seven guys who wore shorts, funky T-shirts and each one carried an almost 20 litre bag which didn’t even have an inch of free space left. We greeted our host and his family and started our journey.

View in front of Gowdru mane

Greenery everywhere !!!

Gowdru mane interior.

A small way up just beside the house took us into the dense forest. We could sight two more estate houses, each a kilometre apart. On our way, Sundar spoke about the toughness of the trek and advised us to maintain a good pace. According to him, peaks like Kumaraparvatha and Kodachadri are cake walks in front of Ballarayana durga. As usual, the fit guys of Hoskote led by Seena and Dilip were at the front. The target was to reach our destination before dawn.

Vikas, also known to be ‘the glucose baby’ of the gang was surprisingly not carrying glucose this time. However my surprise lasted only for a few seconds when he took out ‘Gatorade’ (an energy drink) from his Wildcraft bag.

Me: You can’t walk without these energy drinks. Can you?

Vikas: Doesn’t matter unless I am making it on time.

Me: Good. How come no glucose this time?

Vikas: People ask for change, my friend. Can’t you see, glucose is been upgraded to Gatorade.

Me: I have never tasted it. Can I take a sip?

Vikas: No ways!!!! I can’t afford to finish it by doing charity!!!!

“DHAMAAAAR”!!!!! There was a huge noise just 500 mts away from us. Later we came to know that it was our guide who used a cracker atom bomb to scare away the elephants. His Reebok bag contained atom bombs and a small match box in it. On the way, we could not see any elephants; however it’s dung was visible everywhere. Around 12.20 pm, it was time for our first break. Delicious Mysore pak and Dates burfi filled our mouth. After resting for a few minutes and a quick photo session, the journey resumed.

            

Guide Sundar, Dilip, Seena and Rajesh increased their pace and they went almost 2 kms far away from rest of the team. Me, Guru, Sumanth and Vikas were taking a lazy walk.

Me: These guides are amazing man!!! Their stamina is extra-ordinary.

Sumanth: Give me a break. What is the difficulty in moving fast carrying such a small bag? Make him walk lifting my bag. Let’s see how fast he can move.

Me: That’s not true. They are adjusted to this style of living; hard work and stamina run in their veins.

Vikas: It’s not stamina, Gatorade. Gatorade is in their veins!!!!

There was a deep conversation between Vikas and Guru related to IT and people in software industry. Vikas, who once was an IT techie had switched jobs and now is a supply chain analyst. He almost turned into an Amitabh Bachan, firing questions at Guru. Questions such as – why parents in India want their children to become software engineers? Even people who study mechanical or chemical go to software field? Is software not boring after sometime? What are the options after B.E? What kind of higher studies one can take up? Is US economy going down day by day? Guru with 11 odd years of experience in IT was able to convince him with his sharp answers. Sumanth I and just remained spectators in that show!!!

On the way to falls.

Wake up Sumanth !!!!

1 more km left !!!

Water streams on the way.

One more !!!

It was 3.30 in the afternoon. Clouds began to accumulate and it felt it could pour heavily. The concern was we didn’t carry tents. The past five days had reported no rains. The Sun began to sink inside the clouds and it became extremely dark. Quickly we had chapattis with tomato chutney for lunch and headed towards Bandajje falls. From a kilometre away, we had the first glimpse of the water fall. It looked extremely beautiful from that distance. Sundar gave us an alarming notice that we should reach our destination soon and within one hour, we were at the falls.

First glimpse of Bandajje falls.

Nice click by Vikas.

And a bit of posing as well !!!

Fantastic View.

We had to cross a stream on a bridge like structure that Sundar had created. This had 3 bamboo trunks for support. Everyone crossed the stream EXCEPT Guru and Vikas. WITHIN NO TIME SOMETHING INTERESTING HAPPENED. The force of water increased tremendously and crystal clear water turned muddy. The water force made the Bridge lose its grip and wash away in the water. This meant Guru and Vikas couldn’t cross the stream until another bridge was built!!! A bit of anxiety filled inside me as questions started popping in my mind. When will the water force come down? Can Sundar build another bridge? How long Guru and Vikas should be standing at the other end? If the water force does not decrease, what’s next? Isn’t there any other way they could cross the stream? Sundar reasoned out the increase in the water force. He said there might have been heavy rains somewhere far away and this was the reason why clear water had become muddy. The scene looked similar to that of Patni video which I had watched on facebook. Sundar had to wait for 2 hours until the water force decreased and within no time he cut 4 bamboo trees with his knife, tied all 4 together with an iron thread, and made a nice looking bridge. In the mean time, Seena, Sumanth and Rajesh fell asleep on huge boulders on the other end of the stream. They looked like lazy crocodiles that had just bathed in the water and exposed their bodies to sunlight.

It was 5.30 in the evening when all of us were sitting near the edge of the water fall and waiting for the sunset. Suddenly I was shocked seeing four men walking towards us. They wore monkey caps; their red colored eyes frightened the rest. The most shocking part was they carried guns with them!!!! At the first go, anyone would have felt they were terrorists or naxals. Later they introduced themselves as the local hunters who had come from a nearby village in search of food. They were pissed off since they couldn’t find anything on that particular day. However a broad sarcastic smile of one of the hunter made me wonder if we were their prey. Luckily all went well and within no time Seena’s camera clicked a photo of mine holding the gun posing as if I am a shooter by profession!!!!

The gunman.

Misty.

Sunset about to happen.

Dinner on day 1 had to be maggi. In the mean time, another guide Viswa had also joined us. Campfire lit by Sundar and Viswa kick-started the cooking process. Sumanth and Seena began cutting onions and potatoes. The Rest of them were busy in 

finding us a place to sleep. Dilip was cutting dry grass and was spreading them to form a cushion. I have maggi almost twice a week in Bangalore. But the taste of Maggi after a hard day’s trek is no match to the one we have in the comfort of our dining room. After yummy maggi treat with knoor soup, all our faces looked at the sky. One thing pricked everyone’s mind that it could rain. Sundar was 100% sure that it would. And yes, Sundar was right. It started drizzling and we did not have tents. No other option was left other than to get drenched in the rain. I squeezed myself inside the sleeping bag like a rat!!!! It poured for 2 odd hours and it was a nightmare that we were waiting for an end.

9^TH OCTOBER

My plan of waking up early to watch the sunrise went in vain when my morning began only at 7.00 am. The day was perfect with cool breeze. Muddy water was clear by then. After some hot tea, a long bath and playing in the falls, we started for our next destination –Ballarayana durga fort. The route to Ballarayana durga is extremely good with four kms of grassland. One could see the mountain ranges; and the sholas (i.e., forests between 2 mountains) looked great. We met another group who had started from other end of the fort. It took 2 hours to reach the peak. On the way, misty peaks got us confused and Seena almost missed his path until Sundar guided him back on the right way. The broken fort of Ballarayana durga has a long history. The place which once belonged to a king named Ballaraya was later acquired by Tippu. Tippu used to spend his summer months on the mountains. However now, there exist only the remains of the fort along with Tippu’s memories.

Sholas.

View from the fort.

A wider view from the fort.

We spent at least one precious hour at the peak and the return journey towards Sunkasale began – a 17 km hike. By the time we reached Sunkasale, it was 3.30 pm. With coffee and vada at a local shop, we greeted our guides and headed towards Horanadu. Our journey ended with a darshan of Devi Annaporneshwari and a prasadam dinner at the temple. It was time for us to board the 9.15 Rajahamsa which would take us back to our routine. All charged up though.

The group.

Horanadu temple.

The diversity which Western Ghats offers is extremely vast. It takes years to cover the whole of Western Ghats and even after that, one wouldn’t be confident of having explored the region to the fullest. However, anytime you visit, the mountains won’t disappoint and it would for sure be an everlasting experience.

KUMARAPARVATHA TREK [ 12th Aug 2011 ]

As far as I remember, the last time I had been to KP was in my 6th semester with my college friends. From that time, something was striking inside my heart to do the trek again. This time it was with my friend/ colleague Dilip and my green trek colleagues Seena and Rajesh. I love to trek with these guys. They are the energy boosters and their enthusiasm to do any trek is high and they proved it this time. Only Vikas was missing from our usual gang :(

This trek is special to me because we went on to do it in the rainy season where there is high frequency of leeches, slippery rocks and the rain in Western Ghats need no explanation. We boarded Dharmastala bus at 11pm on Friday, got down in Dundya, and took another bus to Kukke Subramanya and by 6am on Saturday we were at Kukke which happened to be my 3rd visit this year!!! It was pouring heavily and the rain god dint show any mercy even when we took bath in that chilling Kumaradhara river. Soon after god's darshan and with a plate of idly vada and Mangalore buns, we set out for our journey. But the rain even got worse which made us to think twice whether to start our trek or not. As I said before, I had the bunch of Amaron high power batteries with me in the form of Dilip, Seena and Rajesh who energised the team to go ahead and do it. We applied neem oil on our legs as a protective measure against leeches and within no time we were at the base of KP where the poster told us the exact distance to various places on our journey to the peak. (One needs to walk approximately 1-1.5 km from Kukke temple to base)  



Kukke temple



The way

Our first destination was to reach Battru mane which was 6 kms from the base. We had the first look into our darling leeches and the pace in which we walked increased tremendously . I couldn’t believe myself when we had covered almost 3 kms just in 1/2 an hour. Believe me the route in this direction is hell. It’s so damm tough. Even though I was doing this for the second time in my life, my energy was literally zero after those 3 kms of continuous hike. I was literally sweating in that heavy rain. Was my heart pumping almost 1000 beats per second? I Donno...!!!! It was strenuous. We told ourselves that we reduce the pace in which we were traversing.

On the way to Battru mane



First view



By that time our fear for leeches almost became negligible and we finally reached the first destination, Battru mane. Within 2 mins, one could see almost a Kg of rice with Minimum 2 litres of sambar in each of our shining plates!!!! We ate hard, I dint know my stomach could bear so much quantity into it. The rain was still pouring heavily and we had to pause our journey for the day. Here we met 2 other trekkers, Kiran and Priyanka (she was doing her KP trek for the 3rd time). Now our team of 4 expanded and became 6. We dint have tents; this made us to stay in forest office which is like 300 mts from Battru mane. Forest guard, Jairaj gave us the sleeping mats. And I should not forget to mention those tasty Guavas we had in the forest office. I went asleep in less than a minute.



In front of Battru mane



Top view off Battru mane

  

 The next day (Saturday) was quite a tough day since we had to make it to peak in 5-6 hrs of time at max. This made us to wake up early by 6 and we resumed our journey . Our next destination was mantapa which is 3 kms from battru mane. With lots of energy, and lots and lots of posing and snaps, we reached mantapa. Had cucumbers, bread-jam, obbattu, chalki for our breakfast. There was no rain on that particular day, but the visibility was totally zero with the mist and the clouds. We spent like 1 hour in mantapa and continued our journey towards the peak. First we get Sheshaparvatha which is an awesome place. Many trekkers get misguided this to be Kumaraparvatha. Actually we get to see the range of mountains, forest from the peak of Sheshaparvatha.We were not lucky enough to experience it. Immediately after Sheshaparvatha, we get a thick forest with leeches of almost my finger size. Leeches exist here even during summer. We were just 1 km away from the peak and we went crazy. Some of us started singing which was soon followed by rest of the team. This last stretch is filled with huge boulders, and water was continuously flowing on them, the trees were almost touching the sky. This is the way which heads to the peak. I told myself " Man !!!! this is life " .Any person would go mad when he comes here. It was mind blowing experience. Yeeea, finally we conquered Kumaraparvatha which is supposed to be the toughest trek in Karnataka. I was lifting this crown for the second time.

Our team

On the way to mantapa

Nice capture from Seena

My happiness did not seem to end. We were getting blind watching that greenery. Even sun was favouring us with his bright sunshine. Within no time all the mist covered mountains started revealing themselves. It looked like those mountains were waking up after a long sleep, taking off the misty blankets. Even 2 eyes were less to sight those spectacular scenes. Truly Nature at its best!!!!

View from Sheshaparvatha

On the way to peak

After spending a hour or so at the peak, we started descending towards mantapa, then Battru mane, had lunch and finally we were there in Kukke by 6 in the evening. Caught 9 pm Bangalore bus and we were back home. 

From different angle

Kumaraparvatha is special. It makes you feel alive. I had a peculiar feeling when I was on those mountains. I was totally away from those ever ringing mobile phones, computer, gadgets, work, tension and what not. I learnt many human values which you tend to forget in this busy, competitive, fast running city life. The best part when you go to these places is that you make lots of friends, get to interact with more people, exchange ideas. You tend to think differently and talk those things which you had never thought in your lifetime.Godess Nature, I promise to come to you again and again. Please treat me with the same gratitude which you always do to anyone who visits you :)

View from the peak

Gentle request to trekkers. After use, please, please, please do not throw waste papers, plastic covers, chocolate rappers etc etc. One of the team member take the initiative to collect it and throw it to the waste bin. GO GREEN :)

    

Donigal – Yedakumeri Railway track trek [Green Trek]

2008 – Beda Kanro, land slide agtidyante…DANGERU!!!!!

2009- Sikkapatte heavy rain ante, maneli bidalla…next time hogona.

2010 – Internals alli average illa, project complete agilla, seminar bere tale novu, eee time alli trek ella beka???

21^st April 2011

Finally after 3 consecutive years of flop planning, the 4^th year i.e. 2011, and the time came for me and most of my friends to go on a green trek. This time we decided not to plan as we had done the past 3 years. We had 3 precious days of holidays on 22^nd (Good Friday) and weekend. Me along with 7 of my friends ( dilip, sumanth, seena, vinod, harshit, rajesh and venkat ) told ourselves “ YES !!! This is the time for our much awaited green trek..Evag hoglilla andre life alli hogalla “.

On Thursday, me and Dilip set out to send messages to rest 6 of them of what all to carry for the trek, since many of them were doing their first trek. Till Thursday night, we had not decided what transport we are taking, whether to take a train or a bus or what? by 8.00 pm we came to know there is an 11.00 pm KSRTC bus which goes to Sakleshpur.Since it was raining heavily and huge traffic jam, Dilip and his buddies reached bus stand at 11.15 pm and we missed the bus which we intended to take. But luckily there was a special bus at 12.00 to Dharmastala which goes via Sakleshpur. With all the cheering, with josh we rushed inside the bus and with 5 odd hours of journey, we got down in a place called Donigal which is around 7 kms from Sakleshpur. We had to walk 3 kms from Donigal to catch up with the railway track. With the morning cool breeze, the curvy roads, the greenery of the trees, birds chirping, sound of water streams, We were off to a different world .

After walking for 3 kms on road, there was a bridge where we had to take a right turn to catch up with the railway track. We were there on track by 6.30 am and with couple of snaps here and there, our “Chukku Bukku “journey began!!!

The best thing about the green trek is there is always greenery, 365 days 24*7 there is water flowing and those beautiful mountains kissing the sky makes you feel so special, we were happy. Finally we made this trek possible and with this joy, we had covered around 3 kms. This was the time we witnessed the first bridge. Some bridges along this trek is so steep that you will not be able to witness what is the depth, but the railway department has done a wonderful job of placing the iron plates in between the railings so that it’s easy for the trekkers to walk in those bridges.

I had seen those bridges on TV, had read in news papers. But believe me, the kind of joy you get when you are on those bridges cannot be explained. We continued our walk and were eager to see the first tunnel on the way.

We got the first tunnel after 2 hours of slow paced walk. Some tunnels here are as long as to 564 mts (half a km). You need a torch to walk in those tunnels. It’s so dark that you will not be able to visualize anything, NOTHING!!! ALL ARE BLANK!!! I had a feeling of blindness in those tunnels. We almost get to cross 14-15 bridges and almost 15-16 tunnels on the way from Donigal to Yedakumeri. By 1.00 pm, we removed chapattis for lunch, had to full of our stomach, had bath in the stream flowing nearby and our journey resumed.

By 6.00 pm, we were in middle of the tunnel and it suddenly started raining.” Superb weather” was the reaction by one of them .Clouds were merging together, sunset was about to happen, all the birds were heading towards their nests and we headed towards yedakumeri. It was mind-blowing to witness all those scenes. We walked in the rain and finally reached our destination, Yedakumeri station by 6.45 pm. We stayed there in one the railway guard’s house, who prepared dinner for us. He served us with rice, sambar and mango pickles. After dinner, 10-20 mins of chit-chat, we broke asleep.

Next day morning we took 4.30 am train from Yedakumeri to Kukke subramanya and 10.30 train from Kukke subramanya to Bangalore.

In the whole, I felt I had achieved something which I was not able to do it from past 3 years. It was an amazing experience to walk through those scary bridges, darkened tunnels, in middle of water streams etc. we were lucky enough to get 3 trains on our way during the journey. Anyone who is a nature lover has to visit this place at least once in their lifetime and in turn can be a part of those auspicious presents rewarded by goddess NATURE!!!