And so I finally sit down to write about my trekking experience. Don't chalk up the delay to the idea that there's nothing much to write about! Au contraire, it was a brilliant experience filled with picturesque scenery, fresh air, gorgeous butterflies, mist covered mountains, green that was augmented by lucid rain drops that were a constant benediction, and oh wait - let's not forget the leeches... and the tiger droppings (I kid you not!).
I'm wondering if a chronological dysentry is what is called for here or a more artistic portrayal of things. In the end, I believe that a combination of the two will do very well :P
A Little Background:
To set the stage a little, I should recite the following short narrative. I have had the ardent desire to go a-trekking for a long while now, especially in the Karnataka area. An aunt of mine has been on quite a few treks and the favorite story that I recall of hers is her account of a night spent in a tree house in one of our Karnataka National preserve forests, overlooking a water hole and watching different animals break out of the surrounding wilderness to slake their thirst, cohabiting through necessity. She has mentioned many treks undertaken under the auspices of the bird watching club, the YHAI, BMC etc and ever since arriving in Bangalore, I was keenly driven to try atleast one, if not more. To that end, I joined the BMC (Bangalore Mountaineering Club), CTC (Chennai Trekking Club), and kept a watch on different orkut and facebook sites to get any details about upcoming treks. My main constraints were cost and safety. Since I was not earning at the time, and living with my mother (who had valid worries about safety and the unknown), and not knowing anyone else who was as mad about treks as I was, I was stuck firmly in the non-trekking arena for a while.
Recently (to be more exact: three months back), I started earning. Ever since then, I have been watching the emails from BMC and drooling, literally drooling and panting, over their various trekking activities. I was still a little unsure about going at it on my own with a bunch of strangers about whom I did not even have a clue as to any basic characteristics of the trekking group (average age, background, etc which would give me some idea about their idea of safety, wit and enjoyment and whether or not I would be able to fit in). Yeah, yeah, apparently I am as paranoid as my mum in some ways, and proud of it, mind ye! :P But about 2 weeks before the Shingani Gudda trek was to take place, my cousin mentioned that he was coming to town to meet me for the weekend, and could I plan some fun activity that we could do together? He's the outdoorsy type. And I also knew that another of my friends had similar aspirations with regards to trekking as I did. The stage was set, and my heartbeat was racing! I decided to go ahead and take the plunge and go out for the trek with strangers. Atleast I would have two known, fun people along with me who would keep me sane and definitely help us keep safe. We booked ourselves for the trip and started on the insane mission to be completely organized for the trek. We bought shoes, backpack for my friend, safety supplies, medical supplies, made lists upon lists, made phone calls upon phone calls, planned shopping trips around insane working hours... And finally the day dawned - Friday, that the adventure was to begin on!
D-Day arrives:
My cousin arrived by train and reached home before me (as I was stuck at work getting finished with the business details of getting out of a project and getting onto bench - yes - the "b" word that sounds the death knell to employees of service companies India-wide, especially in our recession-trammelled times). I got home, completely wired, yet sleepy, and sat around chatting with my cousin and my mum and being lazy because I was counting the hours before the adventure would start. Finally, after going out on a short trip to buy Glucon-D and Odomos, we took an auto and headed out to MG Road, Symphony theatre. We reached there well ahead of time, about 8:50pm, whereas the bus was to arrive at 10:30 pm to pick us up! My friend arrived at around 9:15 or so and we met a couple other people who were going a-trekking with us. There was another girl who hadn't been with this group before and one who had, as well as a couple people who were going on a different trek under the same BMC blanket.
Some Apprehensions being raised:
I remember this with a fond smile, but I am biting my tongue while writing the following up. There was one person who was heading for Kodachadri, which had the disclaimer of accepting only experienced trekkers (which I so was not so I decided not to dare it). He told us that he had sprained his ankle rather badly during a previous trek and had been limping for quite a while. He told us about leeches (about which pesky critters we had had a warning email), and other details that made me a little nervous. And by this time, both me and my friend had noticed that we had massive backpacks to other people's much more economical ones. Over-planning had struck at us with a vengeance. I'm sure that if we had not both been brown skinned, we would have been a charming shade of hot-pink! But, to get ahead of myself, we did have a very comfortable trip later and, since we were able to leave our packs at our base-camp, and let the bus take their weight during the journey to and from Bangalore, we were safe from the massive shoulder aches that would have been a definite accompaniment else! :) Thanks be to the god who watches over over-enthusiastic fools and provides cushioning for our backsides :P
The Start is well-organized:
So we were waiting in the Bangalore night air (which I somehow remember as being fresh, although near MG Road how that could be possible, I know not!), waiting for the bus that would be our portal to our friendly base-camp from which would ensue our journey to hitherto unknown splendors. After spending a year surrounded by the concrete jungle and mall-heading population that is Bangalore, this was an experience that I was looking forward to with a thirst that rivaled my thirst for a well-made triple-grande caramel macchiato which is truly the only main thing I miss about my past... After a little bit of milling around, and the required amount of confusion, we got to know one another a little bit, started a nervous chit chat that got more comfortable as time went by, and then headed off to a different venue where the bus was actually supposed to come by to pick us up... The best part is, that I don't believe that anyone got left behind! In a trip like this, it was really well organized... Cheers to BMC!
At the second pick up point, I bashfully went off to another female companion and expressed the desperate urge to find some facilities, so off we went (she was wonderful about making me feel comfortable about asking her for company - thank ye lass - you know who you are :) ), and went into another mall (heaven forbid), and hunted out the loo. We came running out after a harried sms sent by my cousin stating that the bus had arrived. On to the bus we went, quite tired and sleepy but I was nonetheless looking forward to the experience ahead!
Karnataka Roads (a short but necessary aside to vent my spleen):
I don't have much recall of the bus trip to Arasinamakki because I was unconscious through most of it. I remember waking up every once in a while when it felt like the bus was sure to overturn because of some satanic pothole that stood out from its hellish brethren. Bangalore roads, forgive me, Karnataka roads should have a disclaimer: Dislocated joints, broken bones, concussions generated by foreheads gently meeting with windshields or seats in front, are not our responsibility...
"Stream of Joy" BaseCamp:
Morning, cloud filled, fresh, green morning... We had reached our destination. Our base camp was a place known as "Stream of Joy" which sounds very artistically inane, but it was a brilliant place so I find myself having no arguments with its' owner's naming conventions. It was a collection of small one roomed shack-like buildings amidst a green so vibrant it hurt the eyes, in a valley that had to be reached by climbing down some steep steps, and walking over carefully laid bamboo-branches so as to keep people's feet from sinking in the wet, wet mud that was to be the least common denominator for everything we did henceforth. We blithely climbed down the concrete stairway, and went into an open-sided, covered area where we milled around, letting the knowledge that we were "there" settle into our consciousness - which I must say mine was still more than half in lalaland than not... :P
Armed with the knowledge that we were to be six girls in one room, with an attached bathroom (God is beautifully brilliantly stupendous!), I headed off in company to drop my backpack (which was getting strangely heavier with each step) off, and freshen up before heading off into wilderness. Bags dropped off, room looked at (one single bed and one double bed - I always had a very strong faith in the almighty - my faith deepend here I must say!), hot water given its due respect, dirt sheared off with our faithful body-washes... we headed out to some hot chai and breakfast. Now, a quick aside - I had been expecting muddy accomodations, and cold food... as we had had a specific email letting us know that luxuries would be unheard of in this trip - Neeraj - you liar! Breakfast was a pure Karnataka spread with paddu (I had never heard of it, and I am a fan now - a complete fan!), chutney, sambhar, and a sweet fried item which I do not know to name (it tasted like an appam). We had brought water bottles and some medical items to be carried during the trek, and among the 3 of us, we put it all into one backpack and the whole group set off after some photographic asides.
Introductions and Stretches:
We reach the road, and Ram (our lithe, energetic, extremely friendly, and very helpful adventure guide), yells out for us to get into a circle. After trying, and failing, to make the circle more circular, and less squashed, but succeeding in atleast making us spread out in some regular fashion, he tells us we're going to play a game. Well, first we introduced ourselves, but since there were about 31 people, I cannot remember the intros too clearly :P. After this, we played a quick game of Simon Says, during which he made us do a few excercises to loosen our muscles and hopefully prevent cramps (which worked for me!), and made us all yell "jugujugaa" in a hilarious fashion. I must say, very gratefully, that everyone in our group was very laid-back and ready to let go and have fun. No stiff spines to worry about here! We went off on the bus to the beginning of the trail.
And finally... The TREK:
The Way UP:
The actual trek was a delightful experience. It was also cold, wet, leechy, foot-numbing, head-ache causing, and, at places, nerve-wracking! But people were helpful, everyone was willing to laugh at the least provocation, and the surroundings were gorgeous enough to make up for anything! We picked our way through ups and downs, over rocks, through stream-beds, over broken tree-trunks trying to provide some more adventure to an already adventurous track, and my feet made it through! I believe I need the next size boots for my next trip, but the pain in my feet did not register much during the time I was on my feet. I finished up with a broken toe-nail and cramped toes, but helpful advice to take a crocin and rub my achey muscles with volini, took care of the pain overnight. My rain coat was entirely superfluous because I ended up the day with not an inch of me dry. We had some fun experiences with leeches, after which we spent about every five minutes examining any open skin for their friendly presence. Leech alerts were called quite often, with the spray holder trotting to and fro, trying to make the little pests curl away from tender human skin and not cling quite so true anymore. We hiked and hiked with no end in sight, taking a few breaks, with great initial energy that was not dampened too much by the continuous rain, until we came to a break in the trees. We reached open ground and looked about at mist ridden, green surroundings and peered at the peak which we had yet to climb. The mist helped I must say, else I might have balked if I had seen clearly how much was yet left to be climbed.
On we plodded, with the local guide (an old granther in a red turban carrying a wicked looking sickle, scraping off leeches with his blade with a gap-toothed, carefree smile - he was adorable!). I must say, were it not for the encouragement of my friend's helpful hand and my ankle boots keeping me from spraining any part of me, and were it not for the frequent smiles from the rest of the gang, I might have given in to weariness and decided to take a lengthy break at some point. But the damp, the cold, and the tiger dung, did not stop me from continuing on - and that makes me feel pretty darn good about myself... :) The way went on to be pretty steep, with only a couple feet between my feet and the edge, and my main company other than the group was the knowledge that if I lost my footing, I would keep rolling till eternity held me captive. But there were people around to stop that from happening, and I managed to keep a smile on my face and the adventure kept my blood running and my feet warm, and my complaints were hopefully minimal as I trudged up the steep slope through broken rocks coming to flat areas once in a while, which seemed to be islands of peace and quiet in a world gone mad with workaholics and malls, walled away from the universe with curtains of mist and dew that, while being cold, kept me invigorated and fresh at the same time.
The PEAK:
We reached the peak - He had continued to watch over his little fool - and I had reached with no problems and a reserve of energy that was to be used while getting down. The wind blew hard, and the rain lashed at us, and all of us sat down to chow and get some much-needed nourishments into our systems before attempting the steep forbidding climb downhill. The food was ambrosia, literally! It pumped some life into my arteries and let me smile for the photographs and helped me shudder a little less at the idea of walking all the way back (oh I felt puny and wrung out - but I was still happy - and I continue to be so!).
The Way DOWN:
Then we toiled and trudged and added a few laughs on our way down. A few of us graced the hills with a solid impact of our backsides. The rest deigned to drop some pearls of laughter and provide a few more mLs of blood for the native inhabitant leeches (my cousin's blood was apparently very tasty - pore lad). The way back was faster, but felt like it was never-ending. A ready hand and a ready ear to listen to my complaints from my friends helped ease my heart and my way down. Although my poor feet were surely ready to curse in every known human tongue by the time we finally came to the end of the trek. Our sweet, tiger-dung identifying, leech-adoring, snake-skin-wearing guide, lengthened our route for us by making us turn back in the middle when we should have continued on, but Neeraj - I forgive you as you more than made up for it throughout by joking around and helping us laugh ourselves brighter and organizing such a brilliant trip! thanks to you and Ram da!
It was a wet, bedraggled, yet happy lot that ended up back on the bus. We had a little bit of an adrenaline injection when we found two of our group missing, but the guide and Ram brought them back to the fold with nothing to bring the general feeling of well-being down.
Temporary Insanity:
We got off the bus and some completely insane people actually raced down the road to base camp (you guys are awesome fun! :P I wish I had had the energy to do the same and I completely bow down at you energy levels, milord!). The rest of us, who had kept our sanity, plodded on like old, drooping camels, and caught up when the "children" ended the race (this is pure jealousy talking here - I wish I had been one of them!). We stopped off to take some pics of pretty scenes along the way and my friend decided he wanted a photo of a non-existent cave, so he forced the surroundings to take on the "cavey" look and somehow ingeniously succeeded in getting a strange such photo. Then we looked with joy and gratitude at the signpost for "Stream of Joy".
Winding Down:
Back to base camp, where as-much-as-you-want hot chai, and mmm hot coffee, hot, soft bondas and chutney were awaiting our pleasure. We ate and "kodaked", milled around, gossiped, got to know each other a little bit more, then headed for our rooms. I went in, sat down, and the gals pointed out that I had blood on my pants. I gulped, pleaded with the others to butt ahead of them in the loo-going line (which they so so generously let me - and I am infinitely grateful to them as I know how much of a sacrifice waiting for hot-water was at that moment), went in to bathe and found, to my dismay, a leech-site. That is to say, the leech was missing (else everyone at camp would have heard my scream of disgust and fury), but the blood was flowing freely thanks to the pest's infusion of its' saliva that stopped my blood from clotting. Oh, it was nothing bad at all, just an irritation. After a hot bath and letting my feet uncramp, putting a band-aid on the leech-site, and sitting down on my butt to get my considerable weight off my poor feet, I felt more human once again.
There was to be a night trek that night which I decided not to join. But we all got together in front of the next room, and played a little bit of musical chairs for seating was short, and dumb charades, where people came up with insane movie names like Yojimbo and Mr Holland's opus which the actors were somehow able to handle. All in all, it was hilarious and heart-warming and I saw the brave night-trekkers off with nod of my head at their wonderful enthusiasm, crashed on the single bed, gossiped a little with a fellow crasher, and did not hear or see anything till the light of a new day teased at my eyelids.
I would have made jokes about the trek being a wussy one for the amenities such as restroom and hot water, but the leeches did bring an element of danger that should be associated with trek... good that you enjoyed it but be proud that you survived....
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