A Gruelling Trek

After a gap of 2 weeks from our Udupi trip, we decided to trek to Kodachadri on the weekend of 7-8th April. We were quite close to Kodachadri during our Udupi trip couple of weeks ago, but never managed to see this place. I was interested in this place as it had good waterfalls besides trekking upto Kodachadri. Certainly temple town of Kollur is an additional bonus. Located near the famous temple town of Kollur, Kodachadri at an altitude of 1800 mts is a beautiful hill in western ghats of Shimoga district. It is most famous for Sunrise and sunsets. One can see the Arabian sea on a clear day. It has significance as Adi Sankaracharya meditated on top of the hill and mythologically believed to be the Sanjeevani Parvat carried by Hanuman.

So it was a complete trekking trip after KP trek last year. Ankur\Rami from my team agreed to join. Sahil and Kokil among Ankur's acquintance joined us as well. We booked the tickets a week before but just managed to get last seats. We decided that we shall take the most difficult route to Kodachadri (via Hidlumane falls). The required information was obtained from http://dreamroutes.org/dreams/mkhan_kodachadri.html. This article has good details about the route. One can simply follow this article by word (except after reaching the top of Hidlumane falls). We took the bus from Majestic at 8:00 PM after having dinner at the Andhra restaurant at Majestic. Except me, others were sitting in the last row and had a bumpy ride to Kollur.

We reached the Sigandur cross at around 5:00 AM in the morning. It was a pleasant morning. The fresh air and the calm surroundings were good. From Sigandur cross we have to walk back for a km towards Nittur till we see a bridge. One will see Marakuttaka bus stop before the bridge on the right side. Take the right deviation here and walk straight. After few km, one will reach a small stream. Here we finished our morning activities. Completely refreshed we marched ahead till we got the Yemmehonda junction. We have to take right here to reach the Yemmehonda school. From there we walked till the road ends at a house. It will be Gururaj house. Now here there are two routes to go to Kodachadri. One from the left and one from the right. By default Gururaj's family will direct to left. If the intention is to go via Hidlumane falls then it is good to ask the direction for Hidlumane falls, which is towards right. We initially took the left. After finishing the breakfast I realized that way to Hidlumane falls shud go thru GuruRaj's fields. Since this route didn't had any fields we went back and took the route to the right. Gururaj is a very helping person. He is ready to provide free guidance to Hidlumane. But we didn't bothered him as the route was pretty clear. On asking If we can go to Kodachadri from Hidlumane falls, he told us to come back from Hidlumane and take the route to the left from house to avoid any misadventure. We nodded our heads and then left for Hidlumane. The route is quite rocky and there is good chance of slipping on these rocks. Not sure how one can trek here in monsoon. Hidlumane is a series of waterfalls. Didn't counted how many but there are many. :) The final waterfall is nearly 50 ft tall and quite nice. We took a bath at this waterfall.

Now trekking from here to Kodachadri was going to be tough as there is no proper trekking route. There is a small route on the right which ends at a big boulder. The goal is to get to the top of the falls. Hence we crossed the boulder. Now there was no proper route to go to the top of the falls. Kokil and Sahil took initiative and went up to find the route. They didn't came back for some time and then I had to go behind them. With no idea of the way they went, I just climbed up the hill. I was able to locate them after good enough screaming. They were sitting at one place and were insisting on a route nearby. Not sure y they insisted to go to right when Kodachadri was on left. Anyhow with few more screamings, I convinced them to come down. After reaching Ankur\Rami we just walked towards left. There is no route and one has to make their own. After few steps we reached the top of Hidlumane falls. As per the dreamroutes article, we have to follow the stream till we find a path to the left. We never found this path and after quite a bit of dangerous jumping on these rocks we decided that we shall simply climb the hill on our left. It was little tough to climb it as there was no route and mud was quite slippery. The thought of getting lost in jungle is little troublesome. After a treacherous uphill trek we reached the top and were delighted to see a small route towards right. I was pretty much sure that this route will lead us to Kodachadri. We had snacks break there. Then we walked on this route. After crossing couple of hills we reached the Gowrikere-Kodachadri jeep track. From here it was an hours trek to Kodachadri. The mud here was quite soft and deep. We were completely covered by the mud raised by incoming Jeeps.
After a muddy trek on this Jeep track we reached the PWD guest house at Kodachadri. We managed to get some sleeping place in a dormitory for 25\- per head. The lunch, Dinner and B'fast is serverd at the guest house. After a refreshing bath and a fulfilling lunch (25\-) we went to sleep for sometime. We woke up by 4:00 and went up the Kodachadri hill. There is a very small temple housing Adi Sankaracharya. Had few drinks here. Then we proceeded to chitramool caves. This route is from behind the temple. This takes nearly a 30 minutes to reach this cave. It is said that Sankaracharya also meditated here. Now a sadhu is perfroming meditation here. This place is nothing spl and can be avoided if you are too tired of trekking. The climb up from Chitramoola to the temple was a strenuous task again. I always find climbing up to be difficult. We reached the peak and then relaxed and had snacks. Waited for the sunset. A cool breeze had started to blow at this time of the evening. We just chatted and were having good time. Soon a dense cloud was flowing toward the peak. It was a nice view.
After taking some nice snaps of the sunset we trekked back. Reached the guest house just in time. Sahil was waiting for us there. After freshening up we waited for dinner. It was such a relaxing moment. My body was tired after a long gruelling trek but my spirit was completely relaxed. A cool breeze of the night, countless stars in the sky and jovial friends made my time there. We stood in Q for dinner. After first round, the rice was over. We have to wait for nearly 0.5 hrs for next round to commence. We had lot of jokes there. Myself and Ankur loved to scare others by telling them about next day's gruelling trek (20 km). We went to sleep pretty fast.

I promised Sahil to accompany him for sunrise next morning. So I was woken up at 4:30 AM. I was feeling quite sleepy and showed no inclination to stand on my words. Sahil insisted for sometime and gave up after finding no response. I didn't fell asleep after this disturbance and hence decided to take Sahil up to the peak and see the sunrise. It was almost time and hence we started to run towards the peak. We were close to the temple when we stopped and decided to see the sunrise from there itself. The sunrise was real good. We captured the sunrise in the cameras. We visited the temple and on the way Sahil gave some spiritual enlightment lessons. While coming back I visited the Agastya teertham. It is a small waterfall from where water is supplied to guest house.After refreshing back at the guest house we had breakfast. Paid the PWD manager and started to trek downhill.
I shud say that trekking downhill was pretty quick. We took few breaks and were at the Kaka's hotel. We inquired for a guide to take us to Arsinagundi directly from that point. It is a dreaded route through thick jungles and I wud have loved to do that. Santosh (Kaka) gave us a rough route towards the Arsinagundi. With few doubts here and there we reached the pole from where we were supposed to take left. There was a small route and we did took few steps down. But after few steps it was felt that it is quite risky to venture inside without a guide. Lot of earlier trekkers have warned not to venture this route without guide. With not much time left before we have to leave for bangalore we decided to go to main road. From there we can catch a bus to the Arisinagundi gate near Kollur. It is a straight jeep track to Arisnagundi from that gate and hence much easier. So we started towards main road. It was a long walk and almost tired us out for the day. Just walking and walking on the jeep track. When we were close to the limits we saw the main road. What a delight it was. Relaxed for sometime there and boarded the bus to Kollur. After nearly 20 mins we reached the Arisinagundi gate. Trekking here is prohibited (legibly written on the gate) but not strictly followed. We ventured inside. It is a 4 km trek to a board and another km from there. So the trekking started, Initial 1 km was fine but then there were these ups and downs which took lot of energy out of already tired beings. After another 2 kms, even taking a single step was becoming difficult. We took breaks wthin 5 mins of last break. Going was getting tough and our bodies were giving up the challenge. Stories of ppl giving up in the middle of Arisinagundi trek was ringing in my ears. I didn't wanted to be counted one among them. At this moment we saw the board to Arisinagundi. With a renewed energy we took the left here and it was a steep downhill. Unlike the way we thought, the falls was still far. One has to get down the valley and climb up the adjacent hill. I was hearing the sound of waterfall since long back. But there was no sight of the waterfall. I was anxious to see the waterfall and hence went ahead fast. A plain 0.25 km on this hill will take us to Arsinagundi falls. Finally I was standing in front of Arisinagundi. What a nice waterfall it was even during summer.
Not many people visit this place and the peace and solitude at this place was truly touching. In the middle of nowhere, We cracked few funny jokes imitating a news channel anchor famous for his loud crime quotes. It was time to reap the rewards of the gruelling trek by taking a dip in cool refreshing water. After that we had lunch of breads and buscuits.Sahil was not able to eat the stale bread and jam. Immediately after lunch we started back. It was real tough to retrace the steps we took. Now it was a climb down the hill, reach the valley and climb a steep hill to rech the board. This was one of the toughest single patch of trekking I ever did. Taking a step forward was tough. Ankur had wonderful ability to climb (perhaps attributed to his long legs) and reached the board well in advance of us. Rest of the gang dragged themselves up. I just fell to ground after reaching the board. After few mins of huffing and puffing there, we started back to the main road. It was again a long and never ending trek but atleast this time we knew the distance and had the sweet feeling of goiing back. Though it was tiring but we somehow managed to get back to main road. Kollur is 2 km from here. I shall remember this day for long long time. 20 km of gruelling trekking in a day. We reached kollur and freshened near a borewell. From there we visited the Mookambika devi temple. Once outside the temple we dragged ourselves to the bus stand. There we were having snacks when we almost missed our bus to Bangalore. Once on board, I was thinking of the trip for a long time. The beautiful place we had been, nice trekking we did, the physical hardships we went thru, the challenge we stood up to and feeling of making it back home successfully.

As I learnt from NGC,The most beautiful places at the ends of the world have to be reached on foot. One has to endure the physical hardships to reach them. The picture of these beautiful places have become my wallpaper. Whenever I see these images, the feeling of "being there, done that" is priceless.

Adventures at Sirsi

It had already been 2 weeks since my last trekking trip to Kodachadri. The excitement was growing and I decided to go to Unchalli falls and Benne Holle falls near Sirsi. Tuesday was a holiday on occassion of Labour day. I wished to take a leave on Monday so that I could make a 4 day trip. But unfortunately most of the guys were going home and I was starved of any company. Finally I got my old buddy Mahesh. We both were graduation classmates. He didn't want to apply leave on Monday so we reduced the 4 day trip to a 2 day trip. We booked the tickets quite early and managed to get front seats both during onward and return journey.

On Friday evening, We caught the 7:00 PM bus after a quick snacks at Majestic. Reached Sirsi old bus stand by 5:30 AM. Took a double bed room in Jaishree Lodge(120\-). Jaishree Lodge is close to old bus stand but is not that well maintained. We were told that Hotel Panchavati on Sirsi-Yellapur road is the good one. Anyhow since we didn't had any vehicles so this hotel close to bus stand was a good choice. We freshened up and took the Bus to Heggarane(it is supposed to come at 7:15 but both days it came close to 8:00 AM).
Heggarane is a small village between Sirsi and Kumta. One has to take a deviation to the left from Aminalli. From Aminalli it is 26 km inside. One can see very nice views on the way between Aminalli and Heggarne. From Heggarane it is 5 km walk to the Unchalli view point. Few buses will travel further 2.5 from Heggarne so that one has to trek only for 2.5 km. The falls was not as impressive as it will be post monsoon but it was good enough.
From the view point there are steps to go down till another point. From here one can trek to the base of the falls. It is tough, treacherous, tricky and thus in my terms it is fun. One has to jump, bend and hop on these rocks. At one point, there are huge boulders and the way down seems impossible. Here take few steps to the right and there will be a small valley. One has to make their own way to reach this valley. From here it is just jumping over the rocks and cliffs to reach the base. Mahesh was finding it difficult and I carried his bag as well for some distance. In monsoon it should be close to impossible to trek down this route. We went to the base and bathed at the stream. The view on the way down and even at the base was amazing. Took lot of snaps here.

Climbing up was real fun. We took another route which seemed to be a short cut. As is always, nothing comes for free. This route was more riskier then the first one. There were almost vertical cliffs with just enough crevices to hang on with our fingers and toes. This reminded both of us of MI2 scenes. The whole weight of the body was on a single toe of a leg. One has to push his whole body to reach another foothold. This is dangerous but with good shoes, balance and some confidence, one can have fun.

It took 1 hr to go down and 1 hr to come up. Rock climbing was real fun. More then the waterfall itself. We took bath at a nearby pump and had lunch of bread and biscuits. We Walked back till Heggarane (But actually bus will come inside till a foest checkpost at 5:00 PM. This will cut short ur walking by 50%). At Heggarane we had local cool drinks called "Number one". It was awful and helped me to get the cold and cough after a looong time.
We took the bus back to Sirsi at 5:15 PM. Reached Sirsi by 6:00. Had bath and visited Marikamba temple. The statue of Devi is carved in wood. Had dinner at nearby Hotel (Didn't liked any Hotels in this town, Perhaps the one which I went were not good.) and fell fast asleep.

Next day we got up by 6:00 and checked out the Hotel by 7:00 AM. We took a bus to Kumta which will go via Kasage and also has a stop there. It seems most of the Kumta bound buses don't stop at Kasage. From here we walked nearly 2.5 km to reach Hosur village. We saw a house on the left, someone told us that we have to walk straight till we reach a board which shows the direction to Benne. The board never came and hence we returned to this house at Hosur. The person living there gave us the directions and warned me not to go alone (Mahesh gave up trekking at this point.). He tried his best to scare me away from trekking to Benne alone.

Me and Mahesh rested for some time there and then I tried to convince Mahesh to come along. But he didn't budge, He felt too tired, weak, physically and mentally worned out. I thought for a second and told Mahesh to go back to Kasage and wait for me there till evening. Then we bid good byes and I ventured into jungle alone. I was always afraid of trekking inside dense unknown jungles alone. Anything could be lurking in dark corners of these Jungles, ready to grab you from behind. But the feeling of giving up to the fear and abandoning the trek would have haunted me for long long time. From this house at Hosur we have to go straight till a second telephone pole with a Y junction is encountered. Take the right turn here which will lead u to a Jeep track. Take left at the Jeep track and go straight till u reach the Benne Holle board. I took two pieces of wood and kept it in my hands for protection. Took my pocket knife out of the bag and dropped it inside my pockets.

The forest was very thick and beautiful. I saw a woman coming from opposite direction who told me that Benne Holle board is just around the next corner. She asked me If I am going alone to which I nodded in "yes and no". Soon I was delighted to see the board. We have to take a right from here and it will be another 2.5 km from here.

I just kept walking on this route. There were lizards on the way. On hearing my footsteps they made a quick exit towards the side. The soound of running lizards alerted me now n then. After 0.5 km, the forest cover gave way and there was opening above me. After few more steps, I came across a small farmhouse. The house looked deserted but the farm land seemed to be in good condition. I looked for people whom I could ask some information about the falls. But there was no one here. I trekked ahead where the forest cover again engulfed me and I could not see the sky above. It seemed that no one had walked here for long long time as the whole route was completely covered in dry leaves. There were ferocious mosquitoes here which inspite of constant movement, stuck to my legs. I still have itching sensation on my legs (3 days after the trip). Anyhow, I just kept walking here till the route ended at a tree. There was a small marking on the tree. It pointed to right. There is a small route here and one has to continue down the hill for another 0.25 km. After walking for some time, I got little worried as there was no sound of waterfall and the route was getting narrower. I had no idea about the distance from here and was afraid to lose the way back. It is easy to forget the route here as the route itself is coverd with dry leaves. I didn't wanted to get lost in this jungle. I devised a plan whereby I cleared the ground at each doubtful corner and made the arrow marks there with a stick. Thus when I returned I hoped to find the arrow marks directing me to the correct way. Fortunately after little distance I reached my goal, The Benne Holle. Though there was no water at this time but I could easily imagine the marvellous waterall it would be just after monsoons.

I enjoyed the trek back as I was fully aware of the path, distance and the feeling that I made it to Benne Holle. As said, fear is not outside us but within us. Fear which slowly creeps inside us and makes us vulnerable to anything. It is just a matter of conquering our fears. It didn't took me much time to trek back. I wanted to reach Mahesh as fast as I could so that he could stop worrying about me. I crossed the Benne Holle board and for a while was doubtful about a right turn. After a km, found the right turn I was looking for. I even found the little stick I threw away earlier. I bid goodbye to the other heavier sticks which I was carrying all along the trek. Content and happy, I reached the house at Hosur. The trek from Hosur to Benne is not that difficult and one can easily reach it within an hour. I took some rest at Hosur and left for Kasage. Reached Kasage and found Mahesh sleeping in the small shop by the road. The shop owner asked me If I was not afraid to go into Jungle alone. I smiled and said "NO". I luv jungles and why should I be afraid of something I luv. I Just sat at the shop for some time till Mahesh woke up.

We had few oranges and boarded the bus back to Sirsi. Once again (perhaps 1001th time), I lost my heart to a beautiful lady in the bus. She was very gorgeous and was accompanied by her father. Our eyes met for for a second but it felt like eternity to me. Allright, The last statement was a lie. :) Who would want to look at a trekker with his shabby and dirty clothes. But anyhow, My urge to get married grew stronger.

By the time we reached Sirsi, It was only 3:30 in the afternoon. With lot's of time to kill we decided to watch the "all time hit" kannada movie Mangaru Malhe. This was the second time I was watching this movie in theatre. Guess what, Never before I watched the same movie in theatre twice. What a way to break this record for a Kannada movie. But giving back the credit, Mangaru Malhe is a real good movie with it's breathtaking locations (obviously, western ghats in the monsoons). I plan to watch the movie again after it is remade in Telugu. We came out by 7:00, Killed some more time in a small temple. Finished our dinner at Kamat and then waited for the bus. The bus was scheduled at 9:15 but it turned up at 10:15 (Hail KSRTC). Reached Bangalore by 7:00 AM on Monday morning.

For me, The adventure in this trip was amazing. Be it the amazing rock climbing at Unchalli or lone trekking in the dense jungles towards Benne. Both Unchalli falls and Benne Holle falls are good places to see in post monsoon. Benne gets dried up by Feb end and not worth visiting unless u just luv to trek inside nice jungle.

Destination: Sirsi
Distance: 370 km (approx),
Best Time to go: Post monsoon (Nov to Jan end). Unchalli has water thru out the year. Benne gets dried up by Feb.
Transportation: Frequent KSRTC buses are available to Sirsi. For Unchalli take a bus to Heggarane (30 km), Trek to Unchalli (5km). For Benne, Take a bus to Kasage (36 km). Trek to Benne (6 km).

Above the blue skies

what a way to start my frist trekking trip, Making it to the top of Kumara parvata. We had been doing lot of biking trips, The adventures of which are available at HiwayRebels.blogspot.com. But a complete trekking trip...This was my first. We did hear about KP from friends. THE most difficult trek in entire Karnataka, people giving up in the middle...stuff like that. So it was already an interesting and challenging endeavour. Something to test our physical endurance levels.

The plan was made a week ahead. We shall be taking a bus to Kukke on friday night, Trekking on KP on saturday and sunday before taking a bus back to Bangalore on Sunday night. I got Ankur and Mudit as fellow trekkers for the trip. We booked the tickets on Monday and were eagerly waiting for Friday. We were looking for tents but unfortunately they were already booked for the weekend. So we just arranged a car cover (with no idea of how to make a tent out of it) of one of our teammate (Murali Bathina). Atleast the car cover could give us some respite from the rains while sleeping in the open.

The day dawned when we will be commencing our big adventure. We all packed our bags and brought them directly to office. In the evening we started from office in an auto. Just before it reached Majestic, I realized that I left my camera at the office reception. It was a disaster for me...Trekking all up to KP without capturing a single photo...I would instead jump from the top of KP. At such a disastrous moment, I called one of my best buddy Suresh, who was still in office. He rushed on his bike and brought the camera just in time. Certainly a friend in need is a friend indeed (Suresh dhakkan, r u listening). Finished our dinner at Majestic and took the bus to Kukke Subramanya. Inspite of booking tickets well in advance we just managed to get the last row seats. This promised a bumpy ride for us. Once our bodies got used to all the bumps, we managed to get little sleep.

I guess, It was nearly 7:00 when we reached Kukke. Kukke Subramanya is one of the beautiful and religiously auspicious place, located amidst hills of western ghats. Lord Subramanya is the deity worshiped in the form of a Cobra in the temple of Kukke Subramanya. The lodges here are quite cheap (compared with Bangalore standards). We took a room for freshening up. The Hotel manager/owner was surprised when we vacated the room within 1 hour...."Hee Hee Hee Dhakkans from Bangalore have come".

After a good breakfast and little shopping (torch, tobacco powder etc.) we started our trek. The route starts just in front of the temple. One has to take the small street to the left before the temple. A km from this point we shall get a Y turn...Keep right..Few steps from here..u will see sign boards which will point towards a path to KP. This will end up at a house. The trekking trail to KP starts on the left. It is quite clearly visible. Just keep walking on it..The initial trail is quite steep and could be hard especially with the bags for city dwellers like us.

After 2 hours of trekking like this..One will reach the grasslands. The sun will be harsh in summer seasons. Just stick to the path visible and after another hour you will reach the house of Bhatte. He arranges food for hungry trekkers. We called him from Kukke itself (u can get his phone number from the Hotel near the temples). Food is good (not 2 many varieties) but after along march it is good enough.

After little rest we marched ahead. The forest dept has a small camp here. The gaurd stopped us and didn't allowed us to do a night stay on top. He allowed us to go ahead except that we have to come back to the camp for night stay. This was kind of blessing in disguise as we didn't carried the tents and were afraid to sleep in the open. We dropped all our luggage at the camp and just started towards the Mantapa. After climbing a km or so, It started to rain and we have to come down to the camp. We could see the clouds covering the mountain. It was very beautiful view. So with nothing much to do that day, We just relaxed at the camp. We started a nice chatting session, Mudit told us about his misadventures with girls. We sympathized with all the girls he cheated. It was a warm and cosy place to sleep.

With a hectic trekking waiting for us in the day, We got up early in the morning. It was still dark and we could see the stars and moon. It was clear sky and I could see the countless stars in the sky. By the time everyone got refreshed, daylight was just starting. Mountains covered in green and getting engulfed by clouds created a verdant display of green and white. I pesonally feel that the best part of the day to trek is early mornings. With fresh morning mist still in the cool air and all the elements of nature revived n refreshed, it is certainly a good feeling for the body, mind and sprits. It is simply beautiful and refreshing experience. We left all our luggage at the camp and packed water bottles and snacks in a single bag which we planned to keep rotating among us. After about 1 to 1.5 km we just turned and looked back, That was the most beautiful scenery I had ever put my eyes on. It felt that we were above the clouds. Everywhere around us were clouds. It was like a sea of clouds (many ppl who saw the photos mistook it to be a sea).
After clicking few snaps we headed towards the mantapa. It was tiring. There is a small stream, few steps before Mantpa (don't think it will be flowing in summers). We reached Mantapa and took some rest. Clicked some photos and then began trekking uphill. KP was another couple of hours from this point.
We had to cross few more hills before a patch of forest comes. It was pleasant trek over these beautiful hills. The trail inside forest will lead to a large rock. It is difficult to cross this rock and people give up here. It might be quite tough in monsoon as the edges of rock will be slippery but if the rock is dry then it is manageable. So we climbed the rock carefully. Now there was a patch of dense bushes in front of us. With some more efforts(crawling on both hands and legs) we finally reached the other end of the bush. A few more steps uphill and we were on KP. A feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction is so good that it makes the efforts taken worthwile.

There are few stone structures (temples) with some idols inside. Soon clouds covered us and visibility reduced. Getting engulfed by clouds...Feels like in heaven. We must have spent 40 minutes up there. Finished the snacks we brought with us and headed back. For a brief period we lost our way and could not find the rock through which to get down. Once it was found we realized that climbing up this rock was not as difficult as climbing down. It was little scary especially to Ankur who will remember it for quite some time. Then we trudged downhill with quick steps. Walking downhill is easy on ur lungs but harsh on the knees. We reached the Forest dept camp after taking few more wonderful snaps on the way. Packed our bags hurriedly and paid the forest personal. They didn't gave any reciepts and on asking they told that they will charge us for cameras if we wanted reciepts. Hmmmmmm I guess, these guys would be making lot of money this way.

We finished our Lunch at Bhatt's house and said bye to that pleasant Bhatt. Walking under the burning sun immediately after the lunch was very harsh. I felt it difficult and had to take some breaks now and then. Our knees were getting full punishment during the climb down. We soon met another party on the way. The trail downhill never seemed to end. We were amazed to find the distance we trekked uphill the previous day. Ankur's toe had some problem and it was more difficult for him. Trek...Trek...Trek...But when will it end. We took rest and had snacks at a large boulder which is kind of midway in the Jungle. Few feets after this boulder we saw a ferocious scorpion on the path which was in a "ready-to-strike" position. We all had to jump over it. Aaaah our knees were shaking and sometimes I felt that they will crumbple up. Still there was no respite. It was nearly 5:00 and started to get dark. We were afraid to walk in the jungle at night and started to move our "already tired" legs fast (remember that we had been trekking all the way with our backpacks on). At this time, I was amazed to see one of Bhatt's family members coming from opposite direction with a bag of groceries on his shoulder. It was already getting dark and he had to trek uphill through dense jungle with an uncomfortable load on his shoulder. I am sure this guy would be doing this most of the days if not everyday. I was thinking of the scorpion which we found on the path early. How the hell he could see that scorpion in the dark. These guys have amazing physical fitness and courage. We city walla's with our sky high ego levels are not even toe of this guy in terms of fitness and courage.

Finally after a long long trek, God heard our pleas and we saw the end of the trail. It was a feeling I will never forget....We "the first timers" have conquered KP and returned back after an arduous trek.

I threw my bag on the ground and fell on the ground. Our bodies were tired, exhausted and punished..But our spirits were high with a sense of accomlishment and pride. We then dragged ourselves to Kukke and took a lodge for freshening up. Had a nice and relaxing bath. Visited the Kukke Subramnya temple before having dinner and catching our bus back home.

Kumara Parvata is really an amazing place to visit. It will test your physical endurance but you will be more then rewarded with breathtaking views. I wish to come back. This time from Somvarpet after seeing the gorgeous Bidalli falls upclose.

Destination: Kukke Subramanya
Distance: 230 km
Best Time to go: I think November is the best time to go if you are terrified of leeches and still want to enjoy the breathtaking views from top.
Transportation: KSRTC buses are available to Kukke. I forgot the fare and timings :(

My Journey

Remember the day, while travelling with my mom to Dharmasthala, I was awe struck by the sheer beauty and glory of western ghats.

Monsoon was at it's peak. Netravathi river originating from somewhere in Kudremkuha ranges was in it's full fury, flowing just beside the road. The trees, plants, grass and everything visible around was covered in morning mist. Beautiful hills were covered in dense green foliage through which sun rays were struggling to enter. The crisp, cold and fresh mountain air, I was breathing created an aura of eternal bliss.

I realized that these are the most beautiful, unspoilt creations of god and being part of it draws me closer to god. Perhaps this is why people tend to find spirituality high up on these hills. The peace, solitude and tranquility on the hills could touch a man's soul.

Ever since, I wished to be part of this beautiful terrain. Hence started my long lasting relationship with the hills, jungles and waterfalls.