The day was 8th July 2006.
The earlier day we had a lot of fun at Abbey Falls. It was a great treat to the eyes.I along with Ramki , Lokesh, Anil first dared to descend the hanging bridge and go near the foot of the Falls. It is one hell of a sight. Later Venkat, vikas, ajay, anand, aditya and susheel joined us. U have to see it for yourself to appreciate the beauty.No words cud correctly express our feelings at that moment. That evening we had a discussion of who all are willing to come for Treking. Venkat,Lokesh and myself were marked for Treking, we were waiting for others. Vikas and Ramki came forword and later aditya also joined. But a walk that night to a near by restaurant in the rain changed few things. Aditya and Ramki dropped. They didnot like the idea of treking in heavy rain. Vikas looked a bit worried but later he confirmed that he would come with us in any condition. So there were 4 of us.
The next day (8/7/6) we started our journey. We took a Snap in the room before moving out .we had our tiffins and then set out. Nirmal, anil, ajay,adi, ramki, sekhar, anand came along with us (just to see the peek we were abt to Trek). The problem was that ,our driver didn't know were Nishani Motte was. He asked the local people for directions and suprisingly even they were ignorant of the place.He took us in the opposite direction and we reached Abbey Falls. There we stopped and everyone in the bus was thinking "Forget Treking, we can have fun here itself". But the 4 of us were in no mood to give up. Just then a police jeep stopped by and we asked him for help and he gave us the correct directions. At this point suddenly Anil Volunteered to come along with us. We were more than happy to include him. He is a good soul to be with you know...
We were Off to NishaniMotto but on the way stopped for Refilling. At that junction Lokesh asked the boy over there for directions just to confirm if we were in the right path. That boy took us directly into an office were we met Mr.Mahesh. He gave us further directions and instructions but at the same time warned us. He said " Why are u going there at this point of time. Its too dangerous. If u want to enjoy the sceneries then this is not the time .It will be covered with Fog and mist.You won't be able to see a thing". To which we answered " We know sir". He laughed back and said "So you want to have some adventure. eh? " We gave him a sheepish nod. He then gave us the address of Somsekhar were we could get a guide. We thanked him and went to the given address. Somsekhar wasn't of much help. His words were discouraging and he strictly warned us not to go in this weather. He even said that without a guide it would become even more dangerous and he expressed his helplessness as he cudn't arrange for one in such short notice. We didnot mind that a bit and interestingly our Enthusiasm just kept growing.We did some shopping ---a knife, a torchlite(in case we have to spend the night), bread packet, DilKush, chicklets, titbits,water bottles, etc. By this time the members of the other group who were travelling with us got fed up and decided to get down and have some lunch. We bid goodbye to them and headed towards our TARGET.
we reached Galibeeda (7 km from Madikeri) and then went to Vanachal(8 kms from Galibeeda). We got down there and sent the bus back to Madikeri were the second group which just got down, was waiting so that they could go to TalaKaveri. There was a primary school near by. we enquired them abt NishaniMotte. They showed us a path and said that ur Treking starts from here. They cautioned us abt leeches and said that we would come across a small house owned by Mr. Ramesh who cud be of some use to us.
We were all set and ready now. We tugged our pants into our socks and tied them with a rope. Lokesh didn't wear any socks . so he just walked along taking no precaution. Before starting the journey i gave everone a chicklet(as is customary for every trekker....at least that is what is shown in films). Slowly we took our first steps . The initial ascend was steep and this being the very first time everybody was panting heavily as we climbed. We could feel the pressure on our back and the initial climb was tough. We reached an open space were we saw this beautifull tea estates.we took few snaps over there but were moving all the time for fear of becoming easy targets to leeches. We were just moving along when Lokesh started to yell. A leech has got into his pants and bit him.We tried to remove the leech with knife and after a bit of struggle we were successfull.He now tugged his pant into the shoes and tied it around his legs with the lace.We continued our journey and i took up the job of freeing ppl from leeches(because initially i carried the knife).We then met Mr.Ramesh on the way. To our suprise he wasn't wearing any protection to his legs. He had blood marks and bites all over his leg. He said that his house is a little distance away and we could give us some salt which would help us to fight leeches better .We went to his home and he gave us a stick with something tied at one end.we later learned that it was rock salt wrapped in a cloth. I took the stick and handed over the knife to venkat. We both were now incharge of protecting the group.we travelled a little distance and now vikas felt that there was something inside.Both lokesh and vikas stopped to check themselves. In the meantime Anil and Venkat were conducting few experiments with leeches and came up with the following conclusion---"where ever we go , their network follows". During this experiment session two Leeches have successfully crawled inside Anil's shoe and one of them took the lead and bit hard.Venkat helped Anil and now we were more cautious. In the course of travel many leeches attacked us and many even touched the skin.But only 4 were successfull in giving a deep KISS. Interestingly I was the only one who didnot suffer a leech bite and all 4 have received a bite each.
Ok,anyway continuing with the journey-------- we came across some beautifull valleys and extremely tall trees.We were sometimes ascending,sometimes descending, sometimes moving on a flat ground.We were having a good time ,but now we came to a dead end.we reached an abandoned house and there was no road ahead. we kept moving around the house but there was no path leading forward. The only way we found was a very very narrow path with a slope of around 80-85 degrees.we had to push our way thru the bushes and branches which were covering the path. It might be a short distance of around 150 m but was highly treacherous.We decided not to stop in between and even if we felt that a leech has attacking we would only check after reaching the other end. Vikas led the path followed by anil and venkat. Lokesh was next and i was last. we had to run the whole distance because we feared that something might attack from the branches of the adjacent trees. It was one hell of a run. I felt a lot of pain in my inner thighs and for one second i thought i would give up.But the fear of leeches kept me moving and finally we crossed that barrier. Now we were out of the forest and we could see the peak of the mountain. we were into the open top and had little distance to cover before reaching the highest point. Vikas stopped for checking his shoes , venkat stayed back to give him support. Lokesh and Anil continued to move forward and i had to keep up with them. Very soon there was a lot of distance btw us and Vikas&venkat. We were at a much greater height and vikas and venkat were out of sight . Suddenly we heard voices of Venkat and Vikas yelling my name. At first I slowly descended the slope because i was afraid i might loose my balance on the slope. But as the yelling increased my speed increased and at one spot i slipped and fell. I immediately got up and continued my descend till i reached Vikas and venkat.The sight was not good. They were attacked by leeches on all sides and even with a knife venkat was helpless. Thanks to the stick i had we could clear out most of them but one managed to sip some blood of Vikas. We then cont. our journey and i showed them the spot were i fell. It was then that i realized the sevearity of the fall .Had i fallen even a bit to my right i would have been rolling downhill and into a valley. i thanked my stars and left that place. We finally reached the top and where mad with jubilation. We were shouting at the top of our voice. we were singing songs. we were jumping. WE FINALLY MADE IT. And in case if i forgot to mention, it was raining most of the time and we were walking on the edge ,making it much more difficult for us.We were on top of Coorg. we spent some time there but the cold wind coupled with hard rain was getting over every one, so we decided to come down much before we planned. The journey downhill was not easy and it was equally challenging. But we came across the most spectacular scenes during this time. We came across some stunning springs and valleys. Whenever we raised our head we cud see the tall trees looking down at us ,the birds chirping and the water gushing from the rocks. Picture Perfect Wonderland is what i call this place. Even now as i am writing this blog , i am still feeling those moments.The descend down was no ordinary one. As we descended one mountain, an ascend to another started. In the process we crossed 4 mountains and finally reached the road(Galibeeda).On road the distane is 8 km. Imagine the distance we covered on mountains.It was a great feeling.A feeling of satisfaction and the pride of accomplishment.
Call us crazy ,call us stupid.....but we did it. Did it against all ODDS.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Tour De Coorg
We(a group of 17) set out on a tour to Coorg.
We started here(Bangalore) on 6th July at 2 PM in a mini-Bus .The initial few hrs were uneventful as every one was busy either peeping thru the window or sleeping( Earlier that day we attended a 3 hr session of Finance Class...... so that was kind of expected).But everyone was excited for sure.Venkat tried to cheer everyone but the heavy dose of Finance finally got over him and even he slept. We gave a halt at around 5 pm to have snacks . I ordered for an idly. I was shocked at seeing the size of the idly.It was real big.The real shock came when the spoon i used, bent when it came in CONTACT with the idly.
we continued our journey and watched "Entrapment" in the mean time.It was around 10 pm when we gave a second halt for having dinner. We then continued after having a very good meal. It was around 11 pm and everybody was feeling the raise in altitude and decrease in temperature.We reached Coorg and were welcomed by the Aroma of NightQueen. We reached our hotel in Madikeri by 11:30, took our room keys and decided to sleep immediately as we have a busy schedule ahead of us.
July 7:
Our first destination was Sowarpet(44 kms away from Madikeri). The route to Somwarpet was full of beautiful valleys and scenic locations. We stopped at few places to take some snaps. In the mean time one of our friends- Vinod was not feeling well(allergic to bus travelling)He said that he wanted to return back to the hotel and catch us later in the Evening.Venu decided to accompany Vinod and both of them got down from the bus leaving the remaining of us a bit disappointed.We just abt started when suddenly Venkat shouted . The reason was that he was bitten by a leech. It had drunk a significant amount of blood and fell to ground with the slightest touch.(we assumed that it drank more than its capacity and could take no more) We continued the journey and reached Somwarpet stopped there for some snacks. Me along with Lokesh went into a coffee stall and ordered for Coffee . when he asked --"What more sir" i looked around and found a bread like item which was called "Kalathappa" and asked for 2 pieces of it. The Coffee was too good and Kalathappa was too awfull. We hid our expressions when Vikas and Aditya joined us and tricked them to have a piece of Kalathappa and enjoyed that dreadfull expression on their face. We did a little shopping and headed straight to Honnamma Lake--the largest lake in Coorg.The Basaweshwara temple is situated on the banks of this lake .There is a cave here which is belived to be visited by the Pandavas during there Vanavas.
We took few snaps and were enjoying when suddenly Vidyadhar started to vomit( even he was allergic to bus travel) we gave him water to rinse his mouth and he sat down by the side of the lake to take some rest.
we then headed back to Madikeri ,had our lunch at Chitra Restuarant,dropped Vidhyadhar at the hotel and then went to Abbey Falls.We had a great time at Abbey and the experience was too good. For all ppl planning a tour to Coorg ,make sure Abbey Falls is in your list. Although the view from Hanging bridge was extra-ordinary The sound of the falls was exciting and we couldn't resist ourselves from going down to the Foot of the Falls. The view from below is trully mind blowing and the feeling we had is undescribable. As we left for Raja's Seat ,everyone of us were still thinking and talking of Abbey falls. We visited Raja's Seat which actually gives u a magnificient view of the valley below on a clear day. And also the sunset is worth watching from this place.(The MahaRaja of Kodagu is said to visit this place every evening along with the queen and hence the name- Raja's Seat).But we were not fortunate because the whole area was covered up with Fog that day. We could see nothing except white fog. We then visited Madikeri Fort which is now turned into commisioners office. A part of it is made into a Museum which closes at 5 pm. we were late by half an hour and had to contend ourselves by walking on the walls of the Fort. The View from there was great and we could have a clear view of the city below. Next stop- Our hotel.On the way we buyed 3 packs of playing cards to keep us busy for the rest of the day.We had our dinner at Athithi Restuarant.
July 8:
We split into 3 groups.
group 1:
vinod, venu ,vidhyadhar ,sampath ,sandeep ,susheel.
group 2:
aditya ,ajay ,anand ,nirmal ,ramki ,sekhar.
group 3:
anil ,lokesh ,venkat ,vikas and me.
Group 1 decided to go to Abbey falls.
Group 2 visited TalaKaveri( starting point of Kaveri river and a holy piligrim center) and Bagamandala( where kaveri meets two other rivers)
Group 3 i.e The Crazy 5 left for NishaniMotte (one of the highest peeks in Coorg 12500 ft approx.)
All the groups had great fun that day and i will explain my treking experience in a seperate post.It was simple awesome.
July 9:
We checked out of our hotel rooms and our first stop was Hirangi Dam built on kaveri river. It was a Picture Perfect Scene. The group that went to TalaKaveri were amazed at the amount of water which was gushing down the open gates."It was just a small pond when it started but this is huge" Ramki exclaimed. Although cameras where not allowed we managed to fool the authorities and took snaps.
Next stop- Nisargadhamam.This is an island surrounded by the Kaveri river. Nisargadhamam is a picturesque picnic spot offering a true 'woody' experience amidst a bambo forest with a hanging bridge,deer park,tree top shelters etc.
Next stop-Bylakuppe. It is the largest refugee camp housing more than 18000 tibetians who over the last 45 years have created a mini-Tibet in this village. The architecture and culture were very different. The site of Tibetian children wearing those long red traditional Monk-type dresses , playing shuttle and football was amusing. We entered the Famous Golden temple without knowing what to expect. As we pushed aside the curtains of the main door and entered the Monastery, we were wonderstruck at the huge Idols that were present inside and also the large paintings on the walls.It is a very large hall and there are 3 huge idols each 60 ft high made of copper coated with gold. The paintings depected the life of Lord Buddha, the 12 great preachers and the Holy Deities.
We had our lunch and did some shopping,then left Bylakuppe with some unexpected but worthy experience.
Next stop- Mysore Palace.
Fortunately 9th July was a Sunday which ment that we could see the Palace when it is fully lit by lights. we Reached there by 5 pm and made a fast tour in the palace and came out of the palace by 6 pm. we then went to the Famous Cathedral,spend some time there and returned to the palace by 6:55. We were watching and suddenly all the lights were lit. It was a wonderful site.We spent some time taking photos of the palace in its full beauty and then retired to our bus which started its journey back to Bangalore.
We reached our College by 11:45, paid our bills and bid good bye to balu( our driver) and Wasim (cleaner).
3 days have just passed by and we never knew Time cud RUN until now. For all the frds who couldnot make it out with us, i wish to say ...." We missed u during the Tour and u missed a wonderful Tour".
PS: I am a very bad bad bad narrator and so the tour might sound dull and uninteresting but belive me it was not. It was simply superb. I had one of the best times of my life.
We started here(Bangalore) on 6th July at 2 PM in a mini-Bus .The initial few hrs were uneventful as every one was busy either peeping thru the window or sleeping( Earlier that day we attended a 3 hr session of Finance Class...... so that was kind of expected).But everyone was excited for sure.Venkat tried to cheer everyone but the heavy dose of Finance finally got over him and even he slept. We gave a halt at around 5 pm to have snacks . I ordered for an idly. I was shocked at seeing the size of the idly.It was real big.The real shock came when the spoon i used, bent when it came in CONTACT with the idly.
we continued our journey and watched "Entrapment" in the mean time.It was around 10 pm when we gave a second halt for having dinner. We then continued after having a very good meal. It was around 11 pm and everybody was feeling the raise in altitude and decrease in temperature.We reached Coorg and were welcomed by the Aroma of NightQueen. We reached our hotel in Madikeri by 11:30, took our room keys and decided to sleep immediately as we have a busy schedule ahead of us.
July 7:
Our first destination was Sowarpet(44 kms away from Madikeri). The route to Somwarpet was full of beautiful valleys and scenic locations. We stopped at few places to take some snaps. In the mean time one of our friends- Vinod was not feeling well(allergic to bus travelling)He said that he wanted to return back to the hotel and catch us later in the Evening.Venu decided to accompany Vinod and both of them got down from the bus leaving the remaining of us a bit disappointed.We just abt started when suddenly Venkat shouted . The reason was that he was bitten by a leech. It had drunk a significant amount of blood and fell to ground with the slightest touch.(we assumed that it drank more than its capacity and could take no more) We continued the journey and reached Somwarpet stopped there for some snacks. Me along with Lokesh went into a coffee stall and ordered for Coffee . when he asked --"What more sir" i looked around and found a bread like item which was called "Kalathappa" and asked for 2 pieces of it. The Coffee was too good and Kalathappa was too awfull. We hid our expressions when Vikas and Aditya joined us and tricked them to have a piece of Kalathappa and enjoyed that dreadfull expression on their face. We did a little shopping and headed straight to Honnamma Lake--the largest lake in Coorg.The Basaweshwara temple is situated on the banks of this lake .There is a cave here which is belived to be visited by the Pandavas during there Vanavas.
We took few snaps and were enjoying when suddenly Vidyadhar started to vomit( even he was allergic to bus travel) we gave him water to rinse his mouth and he sat down by the side of the lake to take some rest.
we then headed back to Madikeri ,had our lunch at Chitra Restuarant,dropped Vidhyadhar at the hotel and then went to Abbey Falls.We had a great time at Abbey and the experience was too good. For all ppl planning a tour to Coorg ,make sure Abbey Falls is in your list. Although the view from Hanging bridge was extra-ordinary The sound of the falls was exciting and we couldn't resist ourselves from going down to the Foot of the Falls. The view from below is trully mind blowing and the feeling we had is undescribable. As we left for Raja's Seat ,everyone of us were still thinking and talking of Abbey falls. We visited Raja's Seat which actually gives u a magnificient view of the valley below on a clear day. And also the sunset is worth watching from this place.(The MahaRaja of Kodagu is said to visit this place every evening along with the queen and hence the name- Raja's Seat).But we were not fortunate because the whole area was covered up with Fog that day. We could see nothing except white fog. We then visited Madikeri Fort which is now turned into commisioners office. A part of it is made into a Museum which closes at 5 pm. we were late by half an hour and had to contend ourselves by walking on the walls of the Fort. The View from there was great and we could have a clear view of the city below. Next stop- Our hotel.On the way we buyed 3 packs of playing cards to keep us busy for the rest of the day.We had our dinner at Athithi Restuarant.
July 8:
We split into 3 groups.
group 1:
vinod, venu ,vidhyadhar ,sampath ,sandeep ,susheel.
group 2:
aditya ,ajay ,anand ,nirmal ,ramki ,sekhar.
group 3:
anil ,lokesh ,venkat ,vikas and me.
Group 1 decided to go to Abbey falls.
Group 2 visited TalaKaveri( starting point of Kaveri river and a holy piligrim center) and Bagamandala( where kaveri meets two other rivers)
Group 3 i.e The Crazy 5 left for NishaniMotte (one of the highest peeks in Coorg 12500 ft approx.)
All the groups had great fun that day and i will explain my treking experience in a seperate post.It was simple awesome.
July 9:
We checked out of our hotel rooms and our first stop was Hirangi Dam built on kaveri river. It was a Picture Perfect Scene. The group that went to TalaKaveri were amazed at the amount of water which was gushing down the open gates."It was just a small pond when it started but this is huge" Ramki exclaimed. Although cameras where not allowed we managed to fool the authorities and took snaps.
Next stop- Nisargadhamam.This is an island surrounded by the Kaveri river. Nisargadhamam is a picturesque picnic spot offering a true 'woody' experience amidst a bambo forest with a hanging bridge,deer park,tree top shelters etc.
Next stop-Bylakuppe. It is the largest refugee camp housing more than 18000 tibetians who over the last 45 years have created a mini-Tibet in this village. The architecture and culture were very different. The site of Tibetian children wearing those long red traditional Monk-type dresses , playing shuttle and football was amusing. We entered the Famous Golden temple without knowing what to expect. As we pushed aside the curtains of the main door and entered the Monastery, we were wonderstruck at the huge Idols that were present inside and also the large paintings on the walls.It is a very large hall and there are 3 huge idols each 60 ft high made of copper coated with gold. The paintings depected the life of Lord Buddha, the 12 great preachers and the Holy Deities.
We had our lunch and did some shopping,then left Bylakuppe with some unexpected but worthy experience.
Next stop- Mysore Palace.
Fortunately 9th July was a Sunday which ment that we could see the Palace when it is fully lit by lights. we Reached there by 5 pm and made a fast tour in the palace and came out of the palace by 6 pm. we then went to the Famous Cathedral,spend some time there and returned to the palace by 6:55. We were watching and suddenly all the lights were lit. It was a wonderful site.We spent some time taking photos of the palace in its full beauty and then retired to our bus which started its journey back to Bangalore.
We reached our College by 11:45, paid our bills and bid good bye to balu( our driver) and Wasim (cleaner).
3 days have just passed by and we never knew Time cud RUN until now. For all the frds who couldnot make it out with us, i wish to say ...." We missed u during the Tour and u missed a wonderful Tour".
PS: I am a very bad bad bad narrator and so the tour might sound dull and uninteresting but belive me it was not. It was simply superb. I had one of the best times of my life.
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