vinay's experiences: Kudremukha trek [Nov 1st-2nd]

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????