We all met in Swathi Delux (hotel inside majestic). Everyone looked same except Neethu, for she has put on little weight and was looking like goods vehicle ( comment passed by Swapna,chubby's comment "Zorro" was better) with large bag on her back, camera on one shoulder and purse on other criss crossed.
We were meeting after our last trip to Bandipur,which was a year back.We planned for many trips in between but there were some issues which holded us back.Everytime we planned someone in our group faced ressistance,But this time Neethu and Chubby were dedicated.
After Neethu completed her research about Bisle and Nature admirers, She gave me a call,I had doubts about me going to this trip as i had diffrent plans for myself. No sooner our conversation through phone got over, I got call from chubby, Civil engineer arguing with a lawyer didn't make good sense, Moreover you say "No" to chubby you will be in hell next minute. I said,I will come with no comments and no doubts.
The day of departure had come. Meeting point was majestic at 10PM in the night, I left office after lunch( I can write a big article about the way i escaped from the office).After dinner in Swathi delux we climed down to meet Mr.Dev balaji who was guide for us at the trekking.He was supposed to come at 10.00PM but came at 10.30. none had seen him till then, all the dealings were done through the internet.As soon as he came we had breif introduction session. I heard Swapna passing the comment that ha looks like Sri lanka cricket player Arvind. D Selva. The other guy who was coming with was Mr. Dinesh kumar, who looked like proper porki ( well porki is too sweet a word, we thougt lot more.....Dinesha please forgive me, this is what we thought at first ). He said you have packed too much for two days which we thought was very less and were planning to buy lot more in kukke subramanya.
We setoff from majestic by 11.00PM. there was truck traffic between Penya and Nelmangala, It seemed as if all the truck in this world were there.We reached Hassan by 3.00 in the morning, until hassan the roads were very good, it gets apalling when you close by Sakleshpur.As we were all bOrn and brought up in Hassan we didn't need any explanation.By the time we reached Kukke Subramanya it was 5.30 A.M which was too early to start the trekk.
Mr Dev said to use general toilets for freshning up which angered everyone of us. Swapna and Chubby went to book the lodge on there own, but they didn't get one.Chubby tried to convince everyone and told not to damp our spirits.For breakfast we had Avallakki and Buns which was wish of mine and Swapna's since our last visit to Kukke Subramanya.
After breakfast we set off to Bisle. The roads were narrow and winding, we were greeted by lots of greenery and rain. we stopped at forest rangers house to change in to suitable clothing, once we finished all formalities we plunged in to dense forests. It was green everywhere. The land was wet and slippery. we reached the river walking for about 15min. I belived that river crossing needed some talent you can't be saved from diving down in to the river without slipping on to the right rocks. we crossed the river with Mr Dev heading first, rope around his waist and we behind him holding the rope. After strenous river crossing we sat for a while (neethu was very scared , the first question she asked as soon as she crossed the river was " Do we have another river to cross?" and was relived when Mr Dev said no).
Well the big time was yet to come . Except me and Neethu none had seen leeches .The first leech victim was Kaddi, who came just after me. I had a great laugh, seening her expression when first leech latched her shoes. The expressions got worse on others face as they fell in to victim's category. Gayana and Swapna were literaly crying. leeches are kind of pests which latch on you ,once they have your blood fill , they drop off, leaving the wound bleeding for the next few hours (yuck.....ha ha ha.....).I knew tht leeches would be there , but didn't realise that it would in that range. you keep your foot still for 1 min atleast 30 will be crawling upside.:)
After walking for two hours , struggling through leeches ......we reached nature camp. The camp had only one shelter . Mr dev cleaned shelter for us, we sat in circle .Mr. Dinesh showed the photos he has taken which amused us.He had great knowledge about everything which he expressed in right way ( Never thought a 12th standard kid can talk so much:)):):)).
It was 1.00 PM and was raining by the time we left nature camp. though Gayana and chubby were very reluctant we had no other option. We skipped the idea of crossing the river thinking it might be overflowing and took the other way which was in to the forest.
We trekked at the waterfalls which was great. At first I was too concerned about the leeches for i had never seen leeches in that range. But overtime the fragnace of damp Earth, the bird calls and the sound of rain gradually worked thier way in to my system unkotting my muscles, soothing my brain and winning over me.Away from that rush of the city like Bangalore, duing Mundane and ordinary , I was here in this quite and peaceful place, in which only your legs work ,whereas your heads and hand are empty.Mr Dev announced that we will be ascending the mountain for another couple of hours until we hit the road. Some of us lost the balance and fell/sat right on the wet rocks( Most of the time it was Mr DEv who fell.......).At his announcement I didn't feel tired rather felt very strong, as if I am connected to the nature and all the energies of nature are getting in to me. I walked with full joy watching nature.
The first to hit the road was kaddi, After her it was me. Kaddi lied flat on the road, she was least bothered about how muddy the road was.Mr Dev gave something to eat, we drank water from roadside waterfall and felt as if the water was pouring right down from the heaven. Dev and Dinesh were appreciating all fus for accomplishing it without any comments.
As we started off our van came in which there was a forest officer along with the driver. Mr Dev had not informed the authorities. This angered all of us again. we thougt he was very irresponsible. he did some calling to authorities and setteled the matter( I still belive he has left us seeing our face ).
Mr Dev took us to some hole at forest check post for tea and snacks. evryone ordered coffee and omlete. the combibed smell of coffee and omlet was good. Mr Dev discouraged all of us by saying that we are going to halt in the same hotel for which chubby and had quite and argument, and we all supported her.After everyone took bath in hot water. we sat in circle around kerosene lamp. While Mr Dev was sleeping ( Very tired.................)Mr DInesh talked about varied topics, like orkut, facebook, camera,photos, most interesting were his trekking experience. we were thrilled even just by hearing them.....seeing him speaking so much without any doubts reminded me my sister's common dialouge. " Don't judge someone just with there apperance". Had it not been for him we would have never enjoyed so much (Thanks buddy). After dinner for which we had hot sambar and rice, we went for sleep. The night was perfect with no sound of traffic outside.The domestic amimals in the house freaked us out. It was hotel owners dog which made chubby scream by standing next to her while she was trying to sleep
Being a light sleeper I woke up first in the morning. Aunty was already preparing for the breakfast. neethu woke up while I was checking out Hatti .even before brushing our teeth we decided to explore the region. by the time we came back from the walk everyone was up except chubby. I went to check chubby's temperature. except for bad cold she was normal.For breakfast we had hot Rotti's and chutney mininum you could eat was 4, though I was amining for 8 i could finish only 4. after breakfast we left for bisle beauty spot. which rendered nothing more than ocean of clouds. we took photos in diffrent poses and headed towards Manjrabad fort. It was built by Tippu sultan in 1752AD, at a height of about 3240ft above the sea level. By the time we reached the base of fort it was 1.30. Mr. Dev told us to come back by 2.30, for which everyone cared a damn. we had to trekk for the fort as it is sutiated on top of the hill . once you reach there you will see great walls built with stone masonary, bricks bonded with lime. DInesh did lot of explanation about the structure which i didn't get being a civil engg. we took good pictures there( swapna was posing in all filmy style). After spending some good time we headed back to van.
we had lunch in the small hotel along NH48 and left for bangalore.The way back to Bangalore was total full of fun. Neethu and me were showing all karate stunts on each other. Kaddi got down in Hassan which made someone feel very bad (:)))..........)By the time we reached Nelmangala it struck me tht the weekend is over.
One special thing i noticed about everyone was that they behave so natural
(except for Mr DEv). Guys I am proud that I have friends like you. we should keep going trekks like this. I need not tell anyone how the departing was, with this I am ending my long writing.
P.S- cheers for all my friends who made my weekend, Dinesha thanks a lot for such comfort.
LOVE
Anusha Sugglur Gowda
"BEST TREKKING I HAD EVER BEEN"
Posted by
Anu
|
Labels:
Travel
Read User's comments(3)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)