14.8.2008 (Thursday):
It all started a few weeks back. The last trips we had were in January so quite a long time had passed without going out. The rains were here so we had planned to at least visit ShivaSamudram but even that did not fructify. The Jassi came here last week and he wanted to go out in the long weekend. Vinay and Jassi looked on the net and found that BMC is organizing a Kemmanagundi for the whole 3 days. We all agreed to it and registered for the trek. In office Kamal had sent the same web link asking us to join so he was in too.
Thursday night, I came back early from office. It was raining heavily so got all wet. Vinay came in a little later. Thereafter went for shopping of essentials. Neeraj from BMC had mailed us a list of things to have for the trek and we almost covered all of them like torch lights, plates, clothes, etc. As Ramesh also bunked due to the rains, ordered some chicken fried rice from Dal Roti. Had dinner and packed up our bags (three small and one big one). Got an auto after some searching which dropped us at Domlur bus stop. Till here everything looked quite planned.
I called up Neeraj (BMC) and he confirmed a bus will pick us up at 11:30 pm. We waited and waited in the rain. Another guy Abhijeet showed up. A very lean weak guy who looked quite a contrast to us (the bulky ones). He gave fundes about his previous trek to Coorg about what to eat, what to do and so on? Heard him and gossiped out till 1:30 when the bus actually arrived. We reached Bangalore Central then waited for another bus. Actually 2 buses were supposed to take us to Chikmagalur but one of them had met with an accident hence were organizers were looking for a replacement. Getting it was tough due to late night and the rains still by 2 o’clock we were all set to leave Bangalore. We were 29 in all which included 2 guides (Ravi: a local guy and Gaurav: a seasoned global trekker) and 2 girls too. In the bus met Aditya (a BT guy) , Vinod (another good trekker and photographer) and Satya (from I-Flex).
15.8.2008 (Friday):
On the way, our bus rear tire got a puncture near Neelamangala. It was a comedy when the driver tried to change rear right tire instead of the left tire which actually had the puncture. So they openend the right tire then put it back, then the left tire then replaced it with a new one and put it back. Back in to the bus , I tried to get some sleep.
By morning 8 o’clock we were in Chikmagalur. We were somewhere in I.G. Road (looked like the main road over there). Ravi had booked 3 rooms in a nice hotel (Malnad Paradise). Brushed and got ready soon and had a few cups of tea. Had some idlis for breakfast and then boarded the bus for Mullayanagiri which is the highest peak in Karnataka (6317 ft) located in the Baba Budan Giri Range of the Western Ghats. The road although went near the peak, we left it midway and got ready to hike up.
We gathered just in front of the gate (above).Ravi gave us instructions about what to do and what not to do. Two of us were made responsible to keeping count of all 29 of us so one of them was supposed to be at the head of the line and other at the rear. I was made responsible for taking care of the whole inventory which included food, tents, and all supporting stuff.
So it started. It was raining lightly. The mountains were covered with fog. People had a lot of enthusiasm and were singing ‘Pappu can’t dance saala’ and similar variations like ‘Pappu can’t walk saala’ , ‘Pappu can’t climb saala’, etc. A lot of photographs were taken but due to the rain and fog nothing came up bright.
Mullayangiri is around 2 kms high, and our climb had a delta of around 1 km. The whole trek was like 6 kms which we eventually completed in around 3 hours.
Took a lot of breaks in between. One of the girls and her group were the laggards which slowed us down. Despite the rains, the ground was pretty solid and not slippery. There were no leeches too. We reached a point where we saw a small Nandi temple.
It had some nice moss laden trees. Rested there for a while and then started again. Now the hike got a little steeper and our path had become a small stream. Wading through water we reached the caves. Normal caves which were home to a lot of bats and were flooded with water. A small hike up, we reach the boundaries of the Shiv and Vishnu temple. Up there the wind was strong. No wonder, Mullayangiri is the windiest point in South India. Looked around for a while. Everyone was pretty tired by now. We took shelter in the hall of the temple. Ravi talked to the priest (ShivShankar) and got that arranged for us. Once in there no one was in a mood to move.
Talked to Ravi for a while and he put the onus on me to get the inventory from the bus to the temple (as I was the inventory man). Called everyone up and luckily everyone started moving again. We went down some 432 steps (Jassi’s count; for me it was 6 left and right turns) to reach the road head where the buses were supposed to be. Reaching there, we found no buses. Gauav and Ravi went to look for the buses. In the meanwhile, we hiked up another hill nearby, which was windier than Mullayanagiri itself. It was like 150+ kmph coz when we jumped, we were pushed back by the wind and fell back around a feet back from where we launched.
The buses came some time later. Got the information that one of the drivers is creating some chaos and is not doing what’s required. Still both the buses had arrived. Picked up the food items first and carried them up to the temple. I took the small LPG cylinder on one hand and the water container on another. Carrying them up was tough as the wind and rain was against us and the slippery steps provided a more difficult and steeper gradient. On the way, the cylinder’s bottle and the burner got unscrewed and the bottle fell down. That was a pain to see it going down. Got down pulled it back and screwed it tightly this time. Was back to temple in some 15 mins but. Put some tampolin sheets on the floor as it was already wet. Asked everyone to put their jackets and wet stuff outside to keep the inside as dry as possible. Still it got wet. First brought some order by asking everyone else to sit and be comfortable. Ravi was there and asked me to cook something.
Maggi was the best option as it would cook fast and would fill every hungry stomach as early as possible. Now cooking magi could be so tough is such a situation was not dreamed of by me. We had the small 3 lt gas cylinder and had some 4 lts of water to boil. It took some half an hour to bring the water to boil even after covering the lid. Thereafter maggi was cooked, which everyone ate voraciously leaving nothing for us the cooks. So cooked it again for the 3-4 of us. With something in stomach, I felt energized. Asked Ravi for direction about what to do next but he left more of less on me to take care of everything.
I had a few things to do like take care of everyone, cook dinner, pitch tent and have some whisky ( I really wanted it in the rain and cold). So first things first. Asked everyone to change and take seat again. This time put is some more dry tampolins. Everyone got set and warm and some started gossiping and other started Antrakshari. I took the used utensil (with Maggi) for cleaning and a bull followed me. When I was near the tap, he was exactly behind me in a scary pose. I left the vessel for him and he devoured the left over Maggi and literally cleaned the whole utensil. He was followed by a cow then a calf which I pushed off. Cleaned the utensil without any soap, just water and hands and brought it back. We had 2 utensils , one small and one big. So we planned to cook dal first as it will take time. Had 4 kgs of dal so the planning started off. 4 kgs and we had atleast one more dinner to cook so 2 kgs max for today. Got some estimate and started boiling the dal. This time covered it will lid followed by a towel. In 5 mins the towel will become warm (something like the wet warm towels you get in Airlines when you board them). It was a nice feeling to put them on the face for a minute and then back over the lid to get it warm.
There were 2 cats too in the temple which were dangerously in our make shift kitchen area. One of them went pretty close to the burner and we had to push him off. They then settled in the living area where everyone was seated. Gradually the tempers got higher as none of the organizers were there (they had gone looking for the bus) so it left us to fend for ourselves. Satya tried to take side of the organizers but as any meeting where cribbing goes on – taking side of the management is a bad idea. So I took side of the workers (that is us) and cried foul and leaving the hike as the first thing tomorrow morning. My idea to calm people down and push things in the future (a tact which I had learnt from Vikalp). Some grew calm, like the Kamal group, but one of the girls (Dipti if I am not wrong) was the most vocal. They talked about what was their expectation (as if it was promised to them) so I backed out and came back to the cooking. Now it was time for rice. In between, Vinay, Jassi, Satya , Yogan, and Vinod were trying to get the tent up. Went out in the rain and near darkness with no idea how to pitch it up. No one had done it before and neither Gaurav nor Ravi were in sight. First was selection of a place. The sand bunk, which looked like an ideal ground to me was not good to sit (forget sleeping) neither was the granite chips bunk. So we took a cemented floor and put some sand on top of it to make it smooth. Now we tried to pitch the tent. No one knew which was the top and which part was the bottom. There was a black sheet on one side and a brown on another. We though the black would form a waterproof cover over the brown sheet and tried to conceptualize the final setting but it was completely wrong. The black sheet was supposed to be the floor and brown the roof. After much investigation we figured that out and put the metal sticks thought the holes and got the tent up.
Then there was a shortage of sleeping bags. So as a caution I pulled in 4 sleeping bags in to the tent so that we can sleep with some comfort. Went inside and found that the rice was in boil. The temper inside were back on the higher side. Everyone was literally cribbing and even Satya had changed sides now and said that we need to talk to BMC tomorrow. Vinod somehow felt that I was not in a good mood so he tried to console me saying if the other say to leave the hike tomorrow but if you say as you carry greater importance then it’s a problem. I replied ‘nahi bhai aisa kuch nahi hai’.
By now the dal and rice was ready. Jassi and Vinay came in and they had some whiskey which I could feel from the smell. Enquired about anything left but all was over. So now got set for dinner.I was in mood to use some ‘Ready to Eat (MTR)’ stuff but was hushed down to save it for tomorrow (which never came). Had plain rice and dal and I would say that the dal was pretty good (just dal and salt, not chilli powder, no oil for chonk). Had dinner and then planned for sleep. I brought it the sleeping bags from the tent. Then we came to know that there were some 19 sleeping bags for 29 of us. 2-3 guys had brought their own sleeping bags still we had a shortage. To resolve this we planned to open the sleeping bags and use one of them as the bed sheet and other as cover so that we can use 2 sleeping bags for 3 of us.
First asked the girls to settle down and they got 1 sleeping bag each. Then the boys. Jassi, myself and Vinay were pretty much at the end of the line near the door which was nearly full of water. Initially we had 1 sleeping bag for each of us but because of Pappu ‘Abhijeet’, vinay and myself had to share 2/3 sleeping bags. I was on the other side getting everyone settled up. By the time I came to my cozy bed, Pappu had already pulled up a lot of cover leaving a little for me which barely covered half of the ventral torso. The whole night, we played a tug-o-war of pulling the sheet but hats off to pappu, he kept himself fully covered till nearly 7 in the morning (when everyone woke up). Vinay was nested in between us. We had little space with us so we were sleeping in parallel. We could never sleep with our back on the floor as there was no space. When I turned right, he also did so that our bodies got perfectly aligned and vice versa. Our predicament was still better than Jassi who was at the end and was virtually made the door keeper. Whenever someone went out to pee, he had to get up and shut the door and whenever he comes back, he again has to get up to open it. And it was the wettest point too as it was near the door. Sometime in the night, some guys came in asking for ShivShankar. We did not know then that the priest’s name was ShivShankar so said there was no one with that name here. They got a little rough and Jassi was not is a very good mood (getting up the Nth time to open the door). They had a small altercation which was cooled down soon. Those guys left. We were still lying on the ground but had no sleep. The banda-bandi couple talked late till night and were playing a game of cards which made our sleep nearly impossible with their constant giggles and conversations. Still got some sleep late at night.
16.8.2008 (Saturday):
It was dawn. A few persons had woken up. Someone tried to wake me up so that I can cook something but I was in no mood. I wanted to sleep. Pappu had got hold of a new cover so I had the whole cover for myself. Vinay was up too. So slept for like another hour. The Ravi showed up at around 7 o’clock. Thereafter I woke. In the meantime, people were talking about using roti and MTR Ready to Eat for breakfast and someone had put in some water to boil. I went out. I was still in my wet innerwear and that was feeling bad. Had no brush so brushed my teeth using my index finger. Back in the kitchen, people had put in some Ready to Eat packets in the water. I pulled off hot water and put in some milk powder, sugar and dipped in 2 tea bags – and the tea was ready. Had tea with Ravi outside in the mild wind with droplets of water. It was quite refreshing. He enquired about the issues we faced yesterday night and whether we were all OK. I informed that pappu was not feeling well and one of the girls wanted to leave. He remarked so they are mentally ill and not physically. Then got some rotis and had them with mutter paneer. Post breakfast, packed up a few sleeping bags followed by the tent which we had pitched outside. All packed, I asked people to take stuff down. I asked the 2 girls to take the utensils down and got stares back but they agreed. Ravi picked up the tamolin sheets and vinay and vinod picked up the.
By the time I wore by wet shoes, everything was gone. I planned to just go down but found two of our gang just waiting in there. Talked to them and they informed that Ravi has asked them to wait there as they will go back through the temple. We waited and talked. Then the gang which came in yesterday night and had some hot talk with Jassi came up. Talked to them too. They had stayed the whole night in their car and were pretty cold. Waited for quite some then the rain picked. So planned to go down to the bus parking place.
Walked down and down there, there were no buses. Gaurav had went further down to look for the buses. Moved around. Went up the nearby where yesterday we felt the strongest gusts of winds. Came back and then killed. With much coaxing, Ravi agreed to go down the road to look for the bus. Four of us informed the others that we are going down the road.
In mid way, saw Gaurav coming up with the driver. So came back up. Put the stuff in one bus (as the other bus driver was in a foul mood and we had planned to dump him). With all the stuff in place, Ravi asked people who are ready to hike to come with us else other can be in the bus which will take them to ‘Kavikal Gandi’ (which is essentially a checkpost on the way to Baba Budan giri). Two the guys including Pappu stayed in the bus and the rest 27 of us planned to hike. So we went back up to the temple and then down a side.
Just when we moved a little down, we found a small jump which was like 10 ft high. Gaurav used a tree’s stem to slide down and so did a few of us but it was tough. So we found another way through the rocks which was easier. The rest of us came through the rock. Finally the girls too came down followed by Ravi who was watching the tail.
Thereafter the walk was pleasant with occasional sharp moss covered rocks on which we had to slide to get across. It was a long walk but the slight rain and the even gradient made in pleasurable. Initially I was near the tail with Ravi but then moved up with Vinay and Jassi. On way, during maneuvering through the rocks, I hit one of them and got some bruises on my left leg just of top the leg bone. On another occasions, while moving through the bushes, I got some scratches on my right ankle due to a thorny bush. On another occasion, I wanted to hold on to shrubs while sliding down but I held a branch full of thorns, two of which got lodged into my finger. Had some bleeding but it stopped soon.
After some two and half hours of walk, we were at ‘Kavikal Gandi’. The bus was there and we had access to our bags. Vinay was getting sucked up by a leech. I took had one crawling over my shoulder which Vinod found out and pushed away. So our first encounter with leeches had started. Some of us like Jassi changed their wet clothes for dry ones but upon suggestion from Ravi, I stayed in my wet and now muddy clothes and shoes. In the bus we went up the Baba Budan Hills.
On way we stopped at ‘Honnammana Halla’ which was like small check dam and some temple too. It used to supply tap water to Chikamagalur till recent past. I wanted to have some tea so took vinod with me and went to the tea shorp. I walked barefoot as my shoes were pretty wet. Met Ravi over there so had a nice chat over tea and some biscuits. Back to the bus we were off to our destination.
Our driver was a little drunk. In one of the curves, he went off road and the bus tire got stuck in the wet mud. Luckily the bus stopped else another feet or two, we would have been down the edge of the hill. With the tire stuck in mud, we had to push the bus out which we eventually did. Felt a little scared but reached to top of the hill.
Reaching the top, we saw a local bus waiting to leave for Chikamagalur. 10 of us left the gang and went to the bus which left at around 1:30 pm. Now our size got reduced to 19.
There were a few shops selling bread omelets, and plain omelets. Had some of them then moved over to another shop which sold paranthas. Had 2 aaloo paranthas. Kamal liked a dal a lot and had a lot of it.
It was good as it was hot moong dal with palak so had 2-3 bowls of dal myself. It was raining outside. Asked for tea. In the meantime, Ravi and Gaurav asked for a consensus about dropping the Kemmanagundi plan for today (as the drivers were drunk and were risky). They asked for votes on two options:
1. Be with our current drivers and go to Kemmanagundi.
2. Take a local bus down to Chikamagalur and then discuss about the future
course over there.
With few peopling speaking, I went for the second option. We take a local bus to Chikamagalur and stay there tonight. Tomorrow we will take another bus or may be quails (as our size had reduced now) and move over to Kemmangundi. All agreed to it. So the plan was to arrange all our stuff into bags and wait for the local bus. Upon enquiry from local shops, we came to know that the last bus was at 4:30 pm and this is the bus which the shop keepers take to go down to their homes. It was 3 o’clock now so we had time. First we went to the caves where Baba Budan. Ravi was not interested to go in as he felt bad to see Muslim and Hindu idolatry being placed side by side and the contention thereof.
A few of us went in but close to the cave the gate was locked. Upon asking the watchman, he informed us that the cave roof had collapsed in the heavy rains and was under repair so no one can go in. So we came back but still had about an hour to pass.
We found 2 roads, one leading to a lake called ‘Gali Kere’ and another to a falls called ‘Manikya Dhara’. The former was 4 kms away and the latter was 3 kms so we took the latter as we only had an hour. We went up the hill and were again off road. In between, Ravi was telling stories about Baba Budan who introduced coffee to India from Middle East and another incident where he was a tour coordinator and a driver and had a family in his Omni. There was no fuel, so he had to hike around and got some kerosene oil which he put into his Maruti Omni and brought the family safely back to Chikamagalur.
He said that the soil and the plants growing in Baba Budan Hills had some medicinal value hence bathing in Manikya Dhara was considered good for health. We climbed up but after half an hour, we were like half way through so we planned to come back.
Back at the shops, talked with Kamal about his pains at Qwest and his issues. Then had some PJ sessions over gaurav. It was getting late and there was no sign of any bus coming but finally it came in at like 6. It was already getting dark. We boarded the local bus and were back to Chikamagalur in like an hour and half. Our own buses followed the local bus and reached the spot. We first had some snacks in the restaurant wherein we had breakfast last morning. Then Vinay along with Ravi went and booked few rooms in the hotel.
In the meantime, 5 more (the IIIT Bangalore guys and the girl) left us to take an overnight bus to Bangalore. This left only 14 in our group now. Back at Chikamagalur, I felt a little warm and easy. For the last 2 days, I was in wet clothes and in rains. Now I can have some warm clothes. Packed up some gobi Manchurian and some fried rice and came to the hotel. Got some Blender’s Pride and started our small daru party. Invited Yogan too. Gaurav and Ravi knew about it but they were cool. They just wanted us to be quiet about it. Had the whiskey and then dinner. Had kept the clothes to dry up. Jassi wanted the fan to be ON. Slept. Somewhere in mid night, we felt cold and switched the fan OFF.
17.8.2008 (Sunday):
Next morning we were quite fresh. Was the first to wake up. Although had warm water in the bucket, threw it off and had a cold water bath. It was refreshing. Got ready. Ravi had arranged for a Sumo and a Qualis to take us up to Kemmanagundi. Had breakfast in the same restaurant and packed lunches too (just plain idlis). Then went to the KSRTC bus stand and booked bus tickets to Bangalore for 11:30 pm.
Came back to the restaurant and got others in. Checked the head count of 14 and moved off. On way, we got the school where Ravi had studied. Out of town, saw the side view of Mullayangiri. Ravi told about folks of the town climbing up the hill on some occasion and putting on lights on the hills.
Gradually we moved towards the hills and started seeing the coffee plantations alongside the road. Ravi informed that if was mostly NRI and big corporate who now own all the hills and grow coffee in here.
Still there were a few Anglo Indians living in the hills. Before we reached our pitch head, we got out of our cabs, and started walking. Another kilometer and we were at the pitch head. Everyone got out. Got some bags with water and biscuits in them. Put a lot of salt on our socks and shoes and the place was infested with leeched and they don’t walk to crawl over salty flesh.
All set, we started off road. The marker was electric poles which would lead us to Hebbe Falls. We were through the grass and some small streams of water which flow through the divide of two hills. It was pretty clear. Then we entered the forest / plantation which was tree lined. It was no longer open and we walked though tree shadows. The weather changed quickly and it felt like raining.
Initially moved with Vinay and then with Kamal and talked about his new company and future plans. We walked on the jeep tracks for quite some time but then again off road. This time we were over a steep gradient down, something like 45’ – 60’. We had to catch hold of tree stems to prevent us from falling.
Our group had gone smaller and sturdier so we were making our way fast. At the end of the steep downslide, we again hit the jeep road. There we met a local guy who said that there were too many leeched so be cautious.
We were talking to him, and leeches were crawling up our shoes. We just plucked them off and started walking. Standing at one place, allowed them to crawl. We saw some home stays on the way. Then saw a young couple (chinki one) who were drying themselves with towel. Moving forward, we saw another couple walking up and the girl was pretty wearing a normal T-shirt and pajamas but was all wet. Cool. Next we saw another couple (and another hot girl) who had her sleeves rolled up and pajamas rolled up to her ankle. The next couple was mind blowing. The girl was a real hottie wearing a red T-shirt and no bra. He pajamas were rolled up to thigh level and looked like hot pants. She was just out of bath and was cold so her tits were hard and pointed out of the plain cotton T-shirt. I had missed the tits part but Kamal pointed that out. This was a welcome pleasure to our long hike through mud water and leeches.
Thereafter we crossed the stream three times. The leeches were more in number now and the moment one stops, a few leeched crawl up. Jassi got a few of them. I also got 2 or 3 but none got the time to suck my blood. I was at the head of the line with Ravi. When we neared the falls, Ravi pulled my cap down so that I can barely see a foot or two ahead. He held my hand and pulled me through. I did not know what to expect and thought, he might be testing my trust in him. Just round the corner – I felt the sound of the waterfall but we kept walking. Standing just in front of it, he pulled my cap back and Lo! I was in front of the marvelous ‘Hebbe Falls’.
I shouted to all following us and came round the corner and was awestruck. In the monsoons, it was full of water and it water was roaring down the falls. The sound and the feel were electrifying. There was a small cave wherein without reason, I left my shoes (I needed them over the knife-sharp rocks of the river bed) and my T-Shirt. Then I moved into the water. Satya followed me followed by Vinay, Jassi and Kamal. We moved from one rock to another till almost reaching the base of the fall. The water current was great and the water was splashing on a main rock and gushing out making a thunderous road. I took seat in one of the rocks close the main rock, with the view of the top of the falls. It was like those computer screensavers. It was nice to note how water streams get converted into water drops, then come down some 100 feet and then splutter on the rock and then merge again to form a stream. Like one watches the ball in a ping pong matched, I watched cluster of drops forming at the top of falls, and then falling down. There I realized that water falls down slowly (due to buoyancy of air) and it takes quite some time for the drops to come down but they came down in a cluster.
Stayed up there for around half an hour. Till then I had turned all white with goose bumps all over my body. I was shivering and water and pierced through my nose, ears and eyes and made me feel sick.
Came back to the base. By this time, my soles were tender and walking over those sharp edged stones was a real pain. Got a small cut of the right foot sole. Back in the cave, I wore my jacket and shoes. Wanted to change my underwear so waited for the crowd to move on and then excused Gaurav who was watching the tail. While changing, I saw a big 2 inch leech stuck to my right ankle and another small on my right lower calf. Plucked them out. The smaller one had just made a small hole, but the bigger one had already starting sucking blood. Removing them, blood started flowing out and did not coagulate. My inner leg was full of blood. Passing through the stream thrice, the blood got washed off but fresh blood oozed out. Came to the point where we had seen the home stays. First I cleaned the wound but the blood won’t stop.
Had idlis over there for lunch. Then another gang of 3 guys came in, one of whom was literally shrieking on top of his voice that blood is coming out. There were a few leeches on his foot which he was trying to pull out (which was not right). So put some salt over it and they came off. Gaurav too pulled out his leeches. Some of our guys were tired and wanted the jeep service to take back to the pitch head. 7 of us got loaded into the jeep.
That left just 7 of us for the final hike back and now it was uphill. We were Ravi and Gaurav (the guides), Aditya (the BT guy), Yogan (hamare saath darubaaz) and the 3 of us, Jassi, Vinay and me. Walking up the jeep road was easy but when we started climbing up the steep hillside at 45 – 60’. It was pain. Vinay was just ahead of me and Ravi was behind me. Just managed to climb to the top and then just sat of the road for some time. Had nothing to eat and only a bottle of water with Aditya (rest were sent back in the jeep), we had nothing much. Then again started walking up the jeep track which was far easy. We broke into 2 groups, Gaurav, jassi, yogan and vinay who were like 20-30 steps ahead and Ravi, Aditya and me at the back. We talked about poor state of Karnataka tourism despite having such good sports and temples and falls and mountains and forests. Ravi wanted to setup a 911 type service for tourists in Chikamagalur. Then the discussion veered to politics.
Aditya contended than in India the middle class did not vote and wanted returns from politicians. I contended that even in developed countries, which half the % of people voting than in India, there was accountability. It was a never ending discussion, wherein we put in points after points but seeing no result we wandered to other topics. In the meantime, we caught up with the first group where Gaurav had pulled a slug out of the jeep road and put it on the side. Found some dosas in Aditya’s bag and had it. Walked on and then agin off road up a hill. It was not the path we had taken to come down, so there was some confusion but the electric poles lead our way. Finally we reached the Sumo and Qualis. Just put my shoes on the backseat and sat down. Ravi was on the backseat along with Vinay and we started chatting about trekking and life in the jungle.
On way we went to ‘Kalhatti Giri’ wherein as stories go, Sage Agastya used to meditate. It was a temple carved out of rocks and was in a cave. Had some tea over there and just crossed the river to the cave temple. It was closed so we came back to our Qualis.
On way to Chikamagalur, we had lot of talks about trekking and Ravi’s life. Back at Chikamagalur, we reached our hotel. In half an hour, we put all wet clothes in one and still dry ones in another. Put on dry clothes. For dinner we went to Malabar Paradise (wherein we got freshened up on the first day) as it served liquor and chicken instead of the pure veg stuff we were getting in the Soundarya Residency (the other restaurant). Had some vodka with chicken. The food was good or simply it felt good. Post dinner we converged back to the veg restaurant.
From there walked down to the KSRTC bus stand. Had the last tea with Ravi who left us to go to his home. The rest 13 of us came back to Bangalore.
18.8.2008 (Monday):
Early morning we were at Majestic. Took an auto and we three were back home. Put all the wet clothes in a bucket. Went to sleep. Woke up late still managed to go office by 1:30 pm. By then mail full of grievances were bouncing back and forth over the group. My take was :
“Hi,
I think there was a difference of expectations. Few of us thought about it as a regular trip wherein we pack our bags, load into a qualis and do a point to point hopping which has some hiking sprinkled all over.
This one turned out to be a little more tougher partly due to weather conditions and partly due to conditions which you wel said can't be controlled.
But hats off the ravi and gaurav who managed the situation well and tried their level best to provide the best services to us. And thanks to their efforts and ofcourse god's mercy situation got better day by day and Sunday was best with some fine weather and attuned bodies (for us).
Still before I end, things could have been made better, but I feel its the best that can be done given the situation on ground.
Thanks a lot to you for organizing the the trip and to ravi and gaurav for taking all the pains to make our situation a little better.
Regards,
Sandeep”
The with pics pdf of the above is available here.
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