How to salvage a ruined weekend or Awesome Kodaikanal: KM/2

The unknown is always an enigma. When the best laid plans go down the drain, it is merely an opportunity to embrace the uncertainty in all its glory. That weekend was yet another testament to the fact that universe has its way with things and if you are patient enough, you will almost always know the purpose of everything that has gone wrong.

Morning rays reaching the Mannavanur Lake waters.. Experiencing the monsoons big time in heights of summer was the highlight of the two day trip.

The outside scenes were a hazy blur as I barely opened my eyes. It was a lovely morning and I was expectant about the three days that were to be spent in the realms of mountains and greenery. The morning haze was just lifting as we started climbing on the ghat section to reach Kodaikanal. Given the crazy biking muse of late, we couldn’t help but discuss the idea of returning back on bikes here on a later date. The 36kms long ghat section was a lovely drive albeit full of traffic.

 Woke up to this view!

Kodaikanal at an altitude of 2030 meters is invariably cool most of the year and I fell in love with this place already as you’ve read before. Today was no different and I already had a good feeling being back here. Kodaikanal is no different and hasn’t been spared from the ubiquitous tourist crowd.  But why was I to care, I was headed to the lovely woods after all.

The reverie came to a shattering end when we found out our permission to trek was cancelled. We had three days and nothing to do. I made no effort to restrain the disappointment. I swore, I cursed and I thought of a wasted weekend. But today I was to know that attitudes are contagious. Arvindh and Nitin were hell bent on making the best of the situation and soon I was laughing along with others about the situation. What followed for the next two days can only be described as LEGENDARY!

After considering many options, we decided we would go with Kodai Mani to camp near lake called Mannavannur Lake and trek from there to Kookal Lake the next day. It was costing us extra but what the hell, we might as well have some fun if that’s all we were getting. We chilled out the whole afternoon watching the mist come and go. The weather did everything it could to keep my spirits high, it was cool and misty and a brilliant day to do nothing. If you know me, you’d know that I am not a person who is in favor of doing nothing on a vacation. Not that there is anything wrong with chilling out, just that I’d like to utilize every single minute to explore the awesomeness that is around. But today I was forced to do nothing and I was actually enjoying the joblessness.

It was 4PM and we were still waiting for Kodai Mani to take us to the lake. While we waited we took a tour of Kodaikanal Lake and watched the mist come down from the mountains and chase the boats on the lake. Soon enough I could hear loud noise suggesting some commotion on the lake surface but couldn’t make out what it was until huge raindrops fell on my cheeks. I was in a fit of frenzy because I had my camera with me without any cover to protect. I ran to a vegetable stall nearby when they were also busy covering the vegetables and a sweet lady offered me a plastic cover as she smiled. I smiled back and that smile lasted till I reached Bangalore. Officially the adventure had started! :)

Mist came down from mountains and engulfed the Lake

  And then it started chasing boats!

It was summer and I expected Kodai to be cool but certainly didn’t expect such rain. The first rains of the season brought all that was expected of it - the fresh scent of earth, dew drops in the air, mist through the forests and unrivaled greenery. We were headed to Mannavannur Lake, 40 kms from Kodaikanal and the route that leads to it was exquisite. The forests around this hill station are thick and verdant and rains can only make it better. We were passing by high terraced villages with green fields spread on mountain slopes. We hardly saw any traffic and it was absolute pleasure watching the forest go by through the tinted window.

It was almost late evening and I knew I wasn’t going to see the sun set given the cloud cover. But who knew I would see something even better! Consider a vast ground of rolling grasslands all surrounded by high mountains in the distance and right in the middle of all this lies something sparkling. The first sight sparked such enthusiasm I cannot describe in words. That is where we would camp for the day, right by the Mannavannur Lake side. Normally this lake wouldn’t be as spectacular, but today the whole mood was perfectly set by the rains and low lying dark clouds, cool winds and not a soul in sight. We went hysteric watching such beauty and then it rained. Then it rained more. Then it rained more and more. It was dark and we were drenched to the core and then lightning struck! A loud thunder and a second of light in the dark night and then more lightning while we wandered in the open grounds! We rushed back to the nearby village to take shelter at the village school. 

 The first view of our probable campsite, presenting Mannavanur Lake!

Where was I, Scotland?

We walked in the rain along the dirty road to reach a small place where an old couple seemed to be preparing something hot to eat. We were proved right and minutes later four of us found ourselves fighting for a piece of smoking hot delicious omlette dosas that were being served by the sweet old day. Sitting in the hut, on wooden benches eating hot dosas served on banana leaf over some conversations was a perfect end to the day. Later in the night, the rain stopped but I was woken up many times by scary neighs of horses, the thumping footsteps of running horses, barking of dogs and some other noises that I didn’t recognize. All this, while we were sleeping outside, well I was glad to see the morning light and boy! It was lovely.  

Mist never left our side, morning view from the school

The mist seemed to be moving in a gracious curve over the hill top and I couldn’t wait to run back to the lake. And run we did, only to find more awesomeness. The mist was lying low while sun had come up above the mountains. We spent another two hours by the lake and then we returned back to the old couple’s place for more tasty food along with some funny conversations.

Now, we had a vehicle with us, two more days to spare and no plan. I had been to Kookal Lake earlier and I suggested we all go to that lake today. After a hearty breakfast we proceeded along yet another exquisite leaf strewn forest route to the lake. It was much different from what I had seen last time, of course the difference being the magic that the monsoons lent to the place. Everything was green, I mean green green! The shola forest beyond the lake was lush and in its prime. On the other side of the shola forest was high mountains and grasslands. I knew this because I was here before. The weather was so perfect for just lazing around. Armed with my camera we wandered along the green pastures, we walked upto the village for a friendly banter with the kids there. We told them we had no place to stay for the night and they came up with a brilliant plan. They said each one of them would take two of us and we could stay with them in the village for the night. Sweet kids!

Along with the cattle, we were lazing around Kookal Lake. Beyond those shola forest lies the temple and the peak.

The greenery, the intermittent rain, the mist, the mountains and the joblessness were proving to be therapeutic. It felt great to be there that moment. It felt as if time could stand still, that was where I wanted it to freeze. By afternoon it started to rain again and I was in no mood to go back yet. I suggested we go trek to the temple on the peak behind those forests in the rain. After much persuasion everyone got to their feet and we entered the forest as thick as the dark tresses of the lady. It was pouring and as soon we entered the forest, the slimy black creatures got to work with an intensity that left only five out of the sixteen trekkers on the trail within the first 10 minutes. The leeches there were blood thirsty as if they were starving for ages and they attacked us with a rigor that could only be matched by the fiercest warrior! Blood was shed, I tell no lies.

The Leech Effect, not for the weak hearted! ;) It doens't hurt though, trust me.

The ordeal lasted a good 45 minutes before we reached the grasslands. Wet wood worked like a charm to scrape the leeches away. I removed my shoes and walked up the mountain in the rain barefoot. Since I had seen the view from top already, I wasn’t in any hurry to reach the top. I walked slowly enjoying the mountains and the rain. We reached the temple on top and as it rained more we started to gorge on what little food we managed to carry. Winds blowing on mountains at an altitude of above 2000meters in the rain was cold but we spent a good two hours on the top shivering to the core and yet reluctant to leave the magical mountains, yet.

While the guys held the rain poncho over my head, we all go out of the temple to get some shots of the views around

  Kookal Lake, Adieu!

When we left, we did so with a heavy heart for the trip had almost come to an end. We dreaded the thought of going back to the leech territory but it would be relatively easier now that we can run faster downhill. With Nitin at the lead, he started running. And so we all had a small trail running exercise in the woods and we crossed the leech territory in a record 10 minutes. It rained and rained as we deleeched our shoes and body by the Kookal Lake. After changing into dry clothes, we set out to reach Bangalore.

I would find myself at these lakes again in two months. I took my family this time and the lakes were lovely as ever. An almost ruined vacation turned into a beautiful exploration. A simple choice of not letting our spirits down led to having a ball of time enjoying the rains, during summer! In such rains I don’t know if we would’ve managed to do the trek anyway. Everything happens for a reason, don’t you think? :)

Route : Kodaikanal - Poomburai - Mannavanur - Kukkal(Kookal) - Kodaikanal

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Written by: Neelima (Courtesy: The Wandering Soul's Wander Tales ) 
Event organized by: Ramprasad
Image Gallery:
Aniruddha Gupte, Krishna Murthy, Girish NL

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In Search Of Wilderness- Olichuchattam Falls,Vellarimala and Vavul mala : WILD1

Firstly, I would like to thank BASC and Jinu for organizing this trek and also all those who came for the trek,. I do not write a blog, but after this trip, I am even more motivated to start a blog of my own. I was super exited to go on the trek to Vellarimala, from the time I heard about it from a friend of mine last month. I met Jinu and a few other strangers who were going to be a part of the trek to Vellarimala at the Satellite bus stop on Mysore road. In the bus, I overheard a guy saying “ next two days we are all friends da” and that put a smile on my face and I was assured that just like on any other treks, I will have fun even on this one irrespective of the fact that I came without any friends of mine. I do not get sound sleep while travelling, so I got to see a lot of forest after crossing God’s own country’s check post. Once we got down at Thamarassery , we walked till the next bus depot , while it was drizzling. I hate getting wet in the rain. But that didn’t dampen my spirits. I was just thinking positive and hoping that it will be sunny when we trek, so it is ok if it drizzles now. Once we were on the bus to Muthappanpuzha, all of us were staring out the window with our eyes wide and our jaws dropping. The driver was zooming past villages on a narrow lane but none of us cared as the view was just superb. It was like the paintings which we used to make when we were kids with huts and the mountains in the background. Sushruth was busy shooting pics of the scenery. It was an hour’s journey and once we got down from the bus, we had tea at a tea stand and started off our trek via a village to the Vellarimala peak J Guess what!! It stopped drizzling by the time we passed the village.

We munched a little, filled our water bottles and entered the forest area. The trek till the Olichuchattam water falls was pretty easy. We met some people from ISRO who didn't make it to the peak due to rain , who were on their way back and I was amazed that a few elderly people had come too and one of the women there was soaked with her own blood due to leech bite and Chaya was startled and wanted to run back home with them, but we convinced her to continue the trek. We started off at 400mts altitude from the village and reached the Olichuchattam waterfalls which was around 1300mts altitude. The falls was very steep and the view was beautiful J The view of the mist covering the mountains opposite the falls was awesome J

We continued our trek from the falls and the trail got steeper and the leech bites increased. Annoying creatures!! We came across a lot of places where the incline was anywhere between 60 to 90(like a huge step) degrees. Most of the trail was elephant trail ( with elephant dung all around else it was the trail made by Ram with his machete). We climbed on and on… we passed a lot of streams , and hence water wasn’t a problem. Whenever we made a pit stop, we checked for leeches, threw salt and eucalyptus oil on and made the leeches drop off our skin. We stuffed ourselves with food and hurried because, Jinu wanted to make sure we reach the peak before it starts pouring. Throughout the climb, I could hear Jinu shouting “move” , Ashwin shouting so many things and some of us shouting back at them for shouting!! It was 2:00 p.m. , close to 6hrs from when we started the trek. I was like where the hell is the peak!!

According to Trek Wiki, an average climber will take 9 hours to reach the peak ( 13kms to ascend ) . So if I was below average(which I thought I was ) it would take me at least 4 more hours!! Oh god!! Thanks to the GPS Jinu had, he told us we will me there soon and Ashwin kept me motivated saying he will give me dark chocolate when we reach the peak! J We passed through bushes which were curved & made a cave like entrance towards the peak and opposite to it we could see only mist!! It was breadth taking!! I loved it!! J We reached the peak by 3:15 p.m (2050mts altitude)!! does that make us above average climbers!! Wow!! J Priyanka was like, is this the peak??!! It was just a flat land and had bushes around it and there was no view!! I was also equally surprised even though I had read the blogs. I expected some opening which had a view but there were none. But we were all overjoyed that we reached the peak and all of us relaxed and ate lunch in peace. Since there was no water source here, Ram suggested that we trek for an hour longer and then set up the camp. We all agreed and Ram led us. This was the first time I could see Ram in action and I watched him in awe as he cut through the bushes with his machete to make the trail and still kept his pace very high, as I had to literally jog to match his pace. He went off the trail a little, but knew in a minute that he was off, and then was back on track. I made a quick 360 degree turn and looked around to find no difference at all!! How the hell does he know where to go??!! Finally we came to a clearing in Kethanpara which gave us a breadth taking view, for which I have no words to describe!! It was heaven on earth!! J J

Only those of us who saw it will know what an amazing view it was!! It was incredible!! J J None of us wanted to leave this place and camp elsewhere. But we had to as there was no flat surface here nor was there any water L Reluctantly all of us continued our trek to a beautiful open space called REC PaaRa, where we camped.

Jinu , Ram and some others had put the tarpaulin sheet tents.Once we were all under the tarpaulin sheet, we were trying to make space for everyone and also keep ourselves warm. It started pouring heavily once we were all inside. It was around 5:30 p.m. and it was pretty dark. We were hoping it stops raining, so that we could make a camp fire and then make soup for all of us. But it just didn’t stop. Prateek started entertaining all of us by singing old hindi songs with background music. I joined him , whenever I knew the lyrics and we were just shouting on top of our lungs most of the time. I realized that it helped me keep warm and started singing nursery rhymes whenever Prateek took time in deciding on the next song. I am not sure if we entertained the rest or bugged them, but Prateek and I, along with a few others were having a good time. It didn’t stop raining and they made fire under the tarpaulin sheet, making sure it doesn’t catch fire and cooked soup, which was yummy. Once I was snuggled up in my sleeping bag and stared out into the sky, I could see the outline of the Vavulmala mountain whenever there was a lightning. It was beautiful, I never got scared, even though it reminded me of the movie Castaway as I had the company of 16 others. The water from the tarpaulin sheet was dripping at my feet and half the sleeping bag was wet in a few hours. I hardly slept due to the cold weather and kept checking my watch every now and then waiting for dawn. It was around 11:30 p.m. when half of the tent fell down as the stick could now hold it any longer as it was raining cats and dogs. Most of us got up to hold the sheet and make the water flow away. Some of us tried to do whatever possible to make the stick hold the tent. Once we were sure this is the best that can be done ( we all knew we will be half wet ) we tried to get some sleep. In the morning all of us discussed how bad the night was. Prateek was sitting half the night with the tarpaulin sheet right on top of his head and later slept on his bag; Ashwin had no opening in his sleeping bag to breathe; Jinu had to hold the tent in one hand the whole time to prevent water from getting in and so on…

Once yummy leamon tea was made ( thank god they found sugar, else we would have had to drink Assam salt tea!! ), half the group went trekking to Vaavalmala peak, while the rest of took rest at the camp site. Dinesh was arguing with me saying that here, it rains from below! And when I asked him what about gravity, he said forget gravity, I will share the link with you. I am still waiting to see the link! The one thing I regret not doing during this trek is climbing Vaavalmala. Since I was feeling giddy in the morning, I didn’t want to risk it as I knew the descent would be harder than the ascent and I still had 14kms of descent. I hogged on an apple, two buns and three chapattis, before the group who went to Vavulmala returned. Most of them said the view was better than the view from Ketanpara which made me regret my decision to not climb it, even more. Once we cleaned up the place, we cut a cake to celebrate BASC’s 2nd birthday, and ate the yummy powdered plum cake which was given to us like it was prasada J

Finally we started out descent at around 11:00 a.m. We stopped at Ketanpara for sometime. Ganesh asked me to sit at the edge, along with the rest, and I cautiously moved front and let my legs hang. It was just awesome!! The view was even better here and I felt so close to Mother Nature. Even though I may have scared some people after shouting my lungs out while singing yesterday night, most of them agreed when I said I want to sing and I sang one of my favorite songs “I’m on the top of the world” by Carpenters. For about quarter of the journey, I was doing pretty fine we kept ourselves motivated by shouting in a friendly way (like ”ooi summne higo” , “poda dei” ) at those ahead of us J I should have worn a knee cap L by the time we were half way down, I was walking like Jack Sparrow in the movie Pirates of Caribbean!! Thanks to Saiesh , Karthik , Bharath , Jinu and Raj I was able to descend . I absolutely took no break till we reached one of the streams after which Jinu said we will stop only at Ochattilum falls. No matter how long we descended, the falls never came and everytime I asked where the falls was, they were like can you hear the falls?? We are almost there. This kept happening and we never took the turn to the falls and nor did we get a break. I could barely keep a step by myself by now. When we finally reached the village, Saiesh, Jinu, karthik, Bharath and I got to eat mangoes and guava grown in the farm. It was very refreshing. Since they took turns in helping me walk, they all got to goto a nearby waterfalls and take a dip. When we were around a km from the village, Saiesh got a brilliant idea of walking backwards down the inclined road, so as to put less pressure on the knees. I did the same, with a helping hand for around a km and I was walking at my normal pace backwards and then we reached the tea stand finally!!
We took a bus and then an auto to Thamarassery, in-between which I finally got to eat the dark chocolate J The chocolate helped me as long as it stayed in my mouth as I didn’t think of the pain in my legs. After eating dinner, we boarded the bus to Bangalore and I got sleep for a few hours due to fatigue. It is Wednesday now, 3 days from when we came back & I am still walking backwards J It was one hell of a trek experience , very adventurous!! Thanks BASC J I loved it!! J Looking forward for more such treks J

Orginal post by,

Keerthana: CLICK HERE

Other write-ups from:
Aswin Anand CLICK HERE

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Written by: Keerthana
Event organized by: Jinu John
Image Galleries:Jinu, Bharath, Debashish, Vikas, Sushrut, Raj

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Donation to Laksmamma Orphanage

April 17th on account of Bangalore ASCENDers second birthday we donated groceries of worth 2500/- rupees to Laksmamma Orphanage. They take care of about 30 orphan children.

This Orphanage is run by Nagaraj and his family; they do not have any corporate or government sponsorship. They are funded by people like you and us. Those who wish to donate personally can contact to the below address.

V.Nagaraj
Smt.Laksmamma Orphanage(R)
#27/1 , Amco Layout , Kodigehalli, Near Impact college
Godwin School Road, Sahakaranagara Post
Bangalore – 560092
Mobile:9845304581,9342198459.

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Coordinated by: Satish
Images by: Ram
Compiled by: Mudassar

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Leisure trek to Kannikai and Ermayee Waterfalls

The privilege to get drenched in the first rain of the year at the beautiful backdrop of the waterfall is something you will cherish for your life............not to mention the thrill of diving into crystal clear pools......all this and more at the onset of Summer, woah, what a life!!!!!....

Day 1--The onset:
All set for the Friday 25th night with 20 wandering souls to hit a few waterfalls in the western Ghats. All were in by 10:40 pm, including the bus!!!!!. It was a 21 seater and thanks to the organizers, it had ample amount of leg room, and I am 5' 10" tall, hence I know the value of it :) Started off with a bang and in no time team slipped into deep sleep with a few sudden wake ups due to bad stretches on the Mangalore Highway. No movies no music though, but the team had high spirits. We reached Donigal by 5:00 am where we had a coffee break for a few mins. The cab driver made us reach the start point exactly at 6:15 am. All geared up for the conquer walk to Kannikai waterfall.

Pit Stop 1:
We started off by 6:45 am, and an hour plus of walking, we spotted our first pit stop. Time to freshen up buddies!!! and of course the time for the morning divine tasks. Tantalizing clear water could not stop me and another fellow (kanta) to take a dip also before having hot cup noodles and bread jam for the breakfast. We spent around one a half hour eating and chatting.

Pit Stop 2:
When we started off ba ck it was 9:30 am. Again its a walk which is blessed with greenery around, empty and partially filled water streams along the way until we reached the second pit stop where we are privileged to play in water for more than an hour as the target to reach the falls was to be by 2 pm. The view of shallow water bodies with water slowly flowing through, morning sun rays and surrounding greenery was just mesmerizing. We spent around one and a half hour playing around in water, a few people preferred to sit and enjoy flowing stream, and others clicking photographs. Few guys had the so called 'stream massage'!!!!. We had our lunch here itself.

Destination 1:
Back on track by 12:30 pm, headed to Kannikai Waterfall, our final destination. We were welcomed with route where we had trees fallen across,  detours due to blockage etc, all was just a part of the trek as usual, however, the landscape was changing its colors from green to brown to ashes and again to green depending on the kind of vegetation and probable forest fire. We reached the Waterfall point after a brief steep decent by 1:15 pm. A few clicks, screams and a brief discussion on the camping, its time to get our souls wet in the pool formed by the waterfall!!!. This is the first time in my life that I dared to get into unknown waters, thanks to Prabhakar and Kanta who always been supportive promising to save me if i drown ;) I could swim comfortably across the pool multiple times!!!!!. A few guys namely Reddy, Prabha, Girish tried to do dives, got too close to the falls and stuff, hardcore swimming stuff you know :).....even Sandeep tried to swim with lifejacket on, that's the spirit!!!. The roar of the fall was the best luluby for us to fall asleep for a while before starting off all over again!!!. Till 5:30pm, it was all swimming, diving and photography sessions. There was another team of trekkers who took 11 hours to reach the falls following the stream literally!!!!. They also decided to camp with us.

An evening to remember:
We had nice soup (I had soup with noodles, remixing things is in my blood :), and  it works all the time) courtesy Girish/Prabha/Kanta/Sandeep, and that too two servings for the lucky ones at around 6:30 pm and it started to get darker. We had our camp fire up and water was ready to heat up MTRs again.

The First Rain:
We finished our dinner by 8:00 pm. Just before we could say its time to sleep off, someone pointed that there was a lightening, then it all started. In no time, all of us were under our sleeping mats holding onto our bags and it rained for almost 45 mins heavily. Thanks to the souring heat in the noon that the rocks were literally steaming after the rain and the water got dried off real quick. Most of the people now had wet sleeping bags, wet bags/jackets/pants/tees/socks and a few were just drenched. Somehow, we could gather the things up to sleep, however, the rain god threatened us for a min or so  but no harm done, thank GOD!!!!. All went down by 9:30 pm, and after a few hours, it was spine chilling cold that forced me to get into my sleeping bag to get a few hours of good sleep. The same thing with a few others too who were precautious. A few people got up in the wee hours to set the camp fire up again and kept it alive till morning too. Thanks to all the team members who did that.

Day 2-- The morning:
It was 5:30 am when I dared to check the time but all were just down!!!. One shout that its 5:30, good morning wishes were exchanged in no time!!. All packed up in no time and we started off by 6:45 am. Its Sunday, after the first rain of the year, a wakeup to see mist at the faraway mountain wishing us good morning!!! Today it was told to be a quick paced trek and the target was to reach the main road by 9:30. However, we had to take a break at the second pit stop to have breakfast and a dip again :), and with all that, it was 10:15 am when we reached the start point.

Ermayee Waterfall:
We started off to the second waterfall - Ermayee Falls. Since all were tired and hugry and the clock was ticking fast, we thought it would be good to have lunch before we hit the second waterfall ( Ermayee waterfall). Ujire was the stop and Hotel Kamadhenu was the place, for 20 bucks , it was a brief meal and Sanjeera, a special sweet which resembles our Kai Holige ( a sweet made up of maida and coconut powder with sugar/jaggery) was quickly gulped by the team and we were off to Ermayee waterfall route. It is hardly 12 kms from Ujire. We had to get assistance of locals to figure out the route. We reached Kaajooru by 1 pm. There went a discussion on whether to hit the falls or to avoid any further complications as we were not sure of the distance from the start point to the falls, but the team spirit overcame all that and a few guys including me started off after getting a few hints from the locals. It was really a short walk crossing a stream and a short forest trail of around 2 kms to reach the falls and let me tell you its worth each breath you took to reach there!!!!. The view was just mind boggling. The fall is a typical two storeyed one with a big pond at the first step which is a rock pond and second one at the base level. I dared again to swim to the bottom of the waterfall and I will be thankful for the people who have taken the snaps of we 5 guys ( me, prabha, reddy, girish and kanta) having gala time at the waterfall base!!!!. It will be too difficult to reach this point in rainy season as you will have to cross a roaring stream, a small stream as well as a steep decent to reach the fall, probably may have to walk along the stream for a while too :) .

Home sweet Home:
We started off back to Bangalore by 2:45 pm. A few team members who were exploring the capabilit ies of their mobiles for accurate GPS navigation kept the environment alive. We had a coffee break at Donigal and reached Bangalore by 10:00 pm. The only sad part of the trek was Mudassar not keeping well and frequently vomiting whatever he drank / ate. It continued for both the days. Hope he gets well soon. No causalities whatsoever and it was a perfect trek to rejoice!!!!.

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Written by: Raj
Event organized by: Mudassar and Girish
Image Gallery: Girish, Naveen, Raj, Chethan, Pradeep

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Trekking to Kalathgiri and Kemmangundi: KK/1

Its past a month and I can still feel the gush of the mighty Hebbe and not so calm Kalahatti in my veins. Yes the terrain reaching up to them is traversed by lots of episodes of chatter, clutter, murmur, screams and peals of laughter which started on Friday 25th at 10.30pm..a la..Majestic. I was a reservation against cancellation member of this vociferous team of 12, lesser known, less prepared and less capable. Ultimately I emerged as the most cared for..:P
Jinu, I applaud you for the way you started breaking the ice amidst the group. Nitin and Meetu replying the most unconventional way that they are serpentines-Ichha Dhari Nag Nagin opened up a host of other introductions..everybody obliged and we kickstarted well. I do not remember the time when we stopped for a cuppa at a roadside hotel..but I remember that I took my chance to have another good look at the motley crowd with whom I had set off to spend the weekend. Here I would add a note..I was little apprehensive towards joining a crowd of whom I do not know anyone..But then I thought I need to start..Click Click went some shots..and we hurriedly packed up again to continue with the rest of the journey.
It was barely 5am at Kalahattigiri..and our event manager had already started hoarding..as if we were supposed to queue up for a parade..Jinu..I wonder where was the whistle on the 1st day..it only made an appearance on the 2nd day to Hebbe..!!! I felt a little chill when I alighted from the TT. It was uneven, dusty and shoddily green here and there. I quickly picked up some snaps, the board reading Kalahatti Falls..yess..now I can boast I went there..We ambled towards the foothills..I was having queer feelings, little streaks of tensions and some high tides and low tides with each cycle of pumping of blood into my heart and this never stopped through out the odyssey..We climbed steadily towards a smaller base of Kalahatti Falls and I was already feeling tired..took mini breaks..Veeru's omnipresent hands pulling me out of every possible down strides and then I felt better. I was already munching on a chocolate bar Kiran had advised and offered me during the walk..Have it..You will get instant energy..I am not a big lover of chocolates..but Kiran..Many Thanks..I needed it.. We freshened up at the first smaller base..everybody enjoyed the rushing falls except me..Alas! I wasnt carrying extra pair of clothing..You all called me so many times to come inside water and I had to stay away from it..Missed it there.. The strides continued with trampling over dry leaves..I was slipping tad bit..soon I realized I do not have the right pair of shoes and it is going to be difficult further. I am glad I could be back to Bangalore with the same pair of shoes. Veeru the saviour never left me alone and thus I could keep up with my expeditions. Some time later we had breakfast guarding each pick towards the mouth from the monkeys. They were springing from one branch to another but we managed to quench our hunger and thirst by ditching them. Jinu and Veeu had by the time disappeared to discover route towards the main base. I have rightly names Veeru as Jungle Boy..he screeched like the monkeys and was as fast as them while crossing the grounds...amazing!! We embarked on the next part of the journey, to the main base of Kalahatti. It was a roller coaster..climbing, holding tree branches for support, guarding against rough bushes and a real tour towards the top. I do not know how many mini breaks I took along this path, but it was worth everytime..I ran short of breath, thanks to my sedentary life style back at Bangalore..promised myself..I would work to keep fit. The murmur of the stream gradually and eventually magnified into the beautiful sound and we knew we have reached Kalahatti. There were huge boulders strewn and one by one all of us resigned to one or the other to savour up some rest and sunlight. We did a lot of photo session over here..I posed a lot and assured myself..it was worth the ascend to view such a picaresque bounty of nature..We experienced leisure at the base with another round of water bath and sun bath. Little did I know that we would pick up the most alien route to descend after this..
If I say most alien route..I can still see so many hands up in consent..slipping, falling, bruising, trembling..we underwent all and it was not only me..Jinu might have posted some pictures of sturdy travellers..but all that is showing up is not true, not at least for the descent from Kalahatti. But we revelled together and covered quite a distance in lesser time, thanks to the uncanny short cuts we took...Then it was a combination of plain walk and some slides that we reached to the starting point. Battered and hungry, we gorged on rice and watery sambar, hankered for a second piece of papad and had the most memorable lunch of our lives, the simplest and humblest way. It was time to bid goodbye to Kalahatti and we were driving to Kemmangundi now. Kemmangundi, the land of the red soil..this is what I heard from my team and after a short journey of less than an hour we arrived at Raj Bhawan where we were booked for the stay. A good round of tea and the next deadline of 5pm for sunset given, we headed to catch up on a little rest in our guest house rooms.
Sunset from Raja's Bhawan was worth every drop of sweat that might have dripped across our faces on that day. I have never witnessed such mesmerising playfulness of colours while sun bids goodbye for the day. Dusk set in and we were suddenly not so tired for the day. I bet the most beautiful set of pictures from the albums of all of us belong to sunset on 26th evening. Kushal pushing the sun towards Srini's mouth, Kushal as statue of liberty, Remo, Srini, Aneesha and the rest of us lapped on every drop of sunset happiness at that moment. Soon after it was dinner time and veg thali seemed to be the best food in the world by then. By the time we had finished, another deadline, next day morning 5.30am, sunrise from Z point. I did not get enough time to curse Jinu on that...rushed and retired to room..luckily could charge my cell and camera for the next day. Nobody could tell at that time if sleeping was important or resting our legs and backs were even more important. No point on debating that.
Jet set 5.30am next dawn, Jinu the human alarm knocked through our doors and we did not want to wake up for sure. Aneesha wasnt feeling all confident to go for it..she was given a dose of apple and there she was ready for the go..Hurriedly we readied up and the morning blanket of clouds was all set to embrace us. Briskly we reached the point to bless ourselves with the sunrise. Had we been even a little late, we would have missed it. For a while it was a hide and seek of the sun and then we finally caught good glimpse of it from different peaks of the Z point. This also consumed little bit more time than might have been thought of. So we returned back to guest house to fill ourselves with breakfast and then head towards Hebbe Falls...our last agenda of the tour.
After a verbal tug of war of starting to walk from there itself or to travel by TT to the farthest point where it can reach, we zeroed in on the latter, of course, I was the major factor voting for it. But could not reap much advantage from it, TT soon huddled and stopped and off we went towards the majestic sight of Hebbe. Through grasslands, burnt ashes, uneven rocky ground, tethering bushes and overhead sun making it difficult by the day we followed the trail lead by Jinu. He seemes to be vanished from time to time..I realized later on it was his usual way to search for a short cut to the ultimate destination. And what discoveries he made while on it!!! I descended in a tumbling fashion, all the while Veeru holding my hand and carrying my bag too. I was feeling as if I belong to a super heavy weight group of human being, forwarding each step was as heavy as the previous one. I wondered..have I expanded so much.......After a stark downhill and a gradual walk..we could hear the flow of the streams..there were 3...studded with small pebbles to moderately sized ones..we rolled up our tracks, folded our sleeves for one more time to wade through the clear water. I guess I was the last person from the team to reach the base of Hebbe. My feet were immensely paining by then, struck by pebbles so many times. So I decided to relax on the boulder lining for a while before plunging into the roaring water of the falls. It was astounding, tall, heavy and gorgeous. So I did not waste much time, quickly took some snaps and dipped myself into the water. I could soon join others in the game of splashing water at each other. Needless to say all handfuls were directed to me for most of the time. I was almost blinded by rushing water. Happy wanderers enjoyed solace in water.
Our return to the TT was the most clamouring one for me. All the while I felt I would collapse. Doses of electral finally helped me to complete the walk back. Climbs seemed to be never ending, common bends also seemed to be rebelling. I kept pushing myself..kept walking..Veeru showed me a distant pole at one point and said it ends there...with measured steps I followed him and thus could finally complete the loop. The smile of a wary but triumphant soldier was smeared on the face of everybody. We were a victorious troupe. We bid goodbye to Hebbe and our TT started to drive back. We had an early dinner at a Dhaba, relished the spicy curries and Naans. Reminisced all that have happened throughout the ridges and grooves of the journey and peacefully consumed the food. Since I had already accepted to do the write up, convoluted thoughts were making appearance in my mind. After a lot of tour and detour, dropping people to their respective locality, I was the 2nd last person left to be dropped at NGV. I felt like a satisfied trotter...brimming with stories to tell to my roommates..famished but still going great guns...Perhaps these 2 days have infused a different grade of power in me. I learnt so much from all you people...Jinu, Aneesha, Kushal, Kiran, Karthikeyan, Veeru, Srini, Sujeevan, Remo, Nitin, Meetu..the strength of sharing and caring and being together...We need this each instant of our lives..Hope to catch up with you all in some or the other sphere of life..Terrific team!

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Written by: Chandreyee
Event organized by: Jinu John Image Galleries:Sujeevan, Srinivasan, Jinu

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Forest Fire Awareness Program: FFA_BRT/3

On the occasion of Shivaratri, a team of 14 volunteers from Bangalore had gone to Kollegala Area for Forest Fire Awareness Program. As on Shivaratri, people surrounding Maduvahalli and Hondarabalu, they visit temple on top of Siddeswarabetta and Adani Maramma. So on this day chances of Forest Fire is more. Karantaka Forest Department personals were there in both places to check Forest Fire.

Siddeswara Betta near Kollegala

We started early morning of 2nd March 2011, we reach Kollegala by 10:30AM. We spit ourself in two teams, 3 people went to Siddeswarabetta and other to Adani Maramma temple. Siddeswara Temple is 1.5km climb from Hondarabalu and Adani Maramma Temple is 5km climb.

Adani Maramma Temple near Kollegala

In Adani Maramma temple, many people gather on this day for worship and after that everyone will go back to village by afternoon. We followed them back to village looking for any forest fire or its chances.

In Siddeswarabetta, people will come for the Temple throughout the Day. And also many will be awake in the night. Unfortunately there was Forest fire near Thimmarajapura. With the help of Forest personals, Guruprasad, Harsha & Karthik, could completely set-off the fire after much hard work.

Forest Fire at Thimmarajapura near Kollegala

In the night at Siddeswara Temple premises we showed a old Kannada film and also things about FFA. Whole team did not sleep in the night, and were watching chances of

Forest Fire.

At early morning on 3rd March 2011 we started back to Bangalore, since there was mist, so chances of Forest fire is very less. It was great experience all of us. Those who are willing to participate in the future events, can mail me: ambareeshhs@gmail.com

Please note: There won't be any trek, fun activities or even we wont go to jungles, its just FFA Program. And should speak Kannada fluently.

Few words about FFA:

Forest fires are usually seasonal. They usually start in the dry season and can be prevented by adequate precautions. Fire can be prevented through removal of forest litter all along the forest boundary. This is called "Forest Fire Line". This line used to prevent fire breaking into the forest from one compartment to another. The collected litter was burnt in isolation. The best way to control a forest fire is therefore, to prevent it from spreading. Mainly in India forest fire happens because of human, may it’s accidental or intentional. So to prevent it awareness among villagers should happen.

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Join Bangalore ASCENDers @ CLICK HERE

Written by: Ambareesh Karanth
Photo Courtesy: Harsha & Jagadeesh

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Forest Fire Awareness Program: FFA_BRT/2

On Feb 19th & 20th of 2011, a team of 4 people, went to Kollegala (150km from Bangalore) for Forest Fire Awareness (FFA) Program. We covered Lokkanahalli and Thimmarajapura villages. Karnataka Forest Department (Wildlife section). Special thanks to RFO, Kollegal Wildlife Range, BRT Wildlife Sanctuary; and villagers.

Major Activities done:1. FFA in two schools in Lokkanahalli and Thimmarajapura villages.2. 'Jatha' (procession) with school children around the village, shouting slogans (total 250 children participated).3. Video show at Lokkanahalli school in day and in Doddamalapura village at night. Video was about Forest and FFA (totally around 300 saw it).4. Putting posters and banners about FFA at important places where people gather. Villages covered; Thimmarajapura, Kurubanakatte and Arepalya.

Those who are willing to participate, can mail me: ambareeshhs@gmail.com
Please note: There won't be any trek, fun activities or even we wont go to jungles, its just FFA Program. Those who are really interested can join FFA program. And should speak Kannada fluently.

Few words about FFA:Forest fires are usually seasonal. They usually start in the dry season and can be prevented by adequate precautions. Fire can be prevented through removal of forest litter all along the forest boundary. This is called "Forest Fire Line". This line used to prevent fire breaking into the forest from one compartment to another. The collected litter was burnt in isolation. The best way to control a forest fire is therefore, to prevent it from spreading. Mainly in India forest fire happens because of human, may it’s accidental or intentional. So to prevent it awareness among villagers should happen.

Visit our Group @ CLICK HERE
Join Bangalore ASCENDers @ CLICK HERE

Written by: Ambareesh Karanth
Image Gallery: Ambareesh Karanth, Danny, Sunil

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