Bheemeshwari trek by Cauvery river - Sep 8, 2012

Third trek by ourselves - but only to the extent of choosing the place and transport. Don't remember who suggested, but we got to know about jungle lodges maintained as part of KSTDC. The site has gone through lot of changes now. As we wanted to do a day trek, we chose Bheemeshwari - a fishing and nature camp set amidst the river Cauvery near Muttathi.

The biggest trouble was contact numbers were misleading and one needed to know Kannada to talk to officials. One of our colleague did eventually speak and got verbal assurance of booking for the event but no stay. The current page lists the activities as - Trekking, Coracle ride, Bird-watching, Mountain Biking, Zip line, Parallel/Rope walk, Rafting and Kayaking. There are different packages and different tariffs plus some taxes. We were mainly interested in trekking and coracle ride (at that time, trek was mentioned as including coracle ride and the path to be circular one to avoid trekking same path twice) and avoid having to stay at the camp, thus allowing it to be just one-day event.

We hired a tempo traveler, got details from colleague but eventually were cheated around 500 bucks :D Meeting point was outside our office at RMZ infinity and started around 6:30AM instead of original plan of 6AM. The event proved ice breaker for new joinees and camaraderie improved too :) The distance to Bheemeshwari is about 110 km. On the way, some slept and for a while "Neethane En Ponvasantham" songs CD was played in a loop (thanks to Praveen). We had breakfast at Hotel Sri Srinivas Sagar, which is just before a state highway diverges from NH 209. The food was good but had to wait a bit due to crowd. NH 209 is popular amongst cyclists and an alternate route to reach Mysore. Lots of hills and lakes and ponds can be seen on both sides of the road.

After bit of hiccup through village roads, we finally reached Bheemeshwari at around 10AM. Not before we made oft repeated mistake (got to know later) of confusion between two-three different camps here. We had to sign on entering the camp and ran into immediate problem - we had no written proof or online communication to show that we had got permission earlier itself for the trek. And none amongst 12 of us knew Kannada. We managed to give the phone number we had and after some waiting near the office, got confirmation to trek. I think we paid Rs 300 per head for the trek (no coracle ride though). Another 50 bucks for lunch which eventually proved a wise choice - we were thinking of finishing the trek and immediately leaving.

 Group photo to start trek

 Trees on the way

Around 10:15AM, we started the trek after customary group photo. The weather was cloudy and pleasant. We had to cross a small pit to reach the wide trek path which seemed well used and surrounded both sides with generous spread of trees. We came across new and old trees, some only stumps and some like a withered old human. Within 10 minutes though, path became narrow and then we reached a small hill with bit of steep grassy climb to follow. While organizing for the trek, it was informed to be a very easy trek and so some first timers found the climb tough.

 Unexpected climb

As we climbed higher, we took frequent rest to allow everyone to catch up, take snaps for profile pic and capture nature's beauty - mountains far and near and glimpses of Cauvery river. With rising altitude, the view got better and better. Despite having been to western ghats, the scenery here was captivating, perhaps enhanced by clouds.

  Cauvery river

 Watch tower at top of hill

Half an hour's climb (including breaks) got us to top of hill where there was a two storey high watch tower. Just trees and hills all around us with river flowing to our right. Few patches of red sand showed up and we tried to estimate where we had started from. We started the descent from other side after about 15 minutes of rest and more snaps. I shared some guavas. Looking back, I should have encouraged lot of snacks to have been carried that day. But then, we were misguided by KSTDC website and lunch wouldn't have tasted so good ;)

  Way down

Descent was more of grassy landscape, some more dead and new trees and some thorny ones too. It got humid by then as well. Another 15 minutes and we were at rocky shores of Cauvery. We dipped our feet for some well earned rest and spent lot of time playing by crossing stones set in water and reaching some far ones inside flowing water. A team passed by us rafting. Some birds on far side of river. The 20s something guide stood alone in woods, so it was good to see Sri talking to him.

  Rafting - some other group

Though reluctant, we started back to camp after about 40 minutes. The path was all along the shores instead of going back the way we had come. So, after all, some part of the statement in website was true. But the path was trickier all the same, having to negotiate rocks and branches. Somehow, throughout the trek, it became two groups - one leading in the front and having to wait lot of times for our back group to catch up.

  On the way back to camp

Our motive was to enjoy most and obviously lots of photo shoots held us up too. The dead leaves, new off shoots, butterflies, weird thorns with very thick cylindrical base, wild fruits, trees bent and leaning on river, trees with hole big enough for us to crawl in, lone young tree bending with river's flow, large and small boulders, mirror effect of still pond with dead tree trunk lying, stick on rock in middle of flowing river, trying to capture water splash when stone is thrown, uprooted tree trunk's diameter taller than us, two tall and large trees joined to form table to sit, sandy river bed with pebbles strewn around, our own profile pics, etc - uff endless pictures to take!!

  Serene relaxing after all the trek

  Some fun before leaving

In less than an hour, we reached back the camp. After waiting besides the river on useful benches and steps, we had our lunch - it was very simple but simply too fulfilling for our hunger. We relaxed for a bit after that - just sitting by the river, chit-chatting and capturing squirrel, butterfly, bird, dragonfly, etc. And then one by one started taking turns to swing - normal seater, tyre ones and one having just a sturdy stick. There was a hammock too, but we didn't actually sleep.

Around 1:50pm, we left the camp. Along the way, we stopped at a place to further explore river, but it was too dirty from all the cooking going on from villagers. And so, we continued to Bangalore. Most of them slept. We took Nice road to avoid traffic which cost us more. All in all, a nice outing. Could have been lot better if we could have communicated well with officials, but KSTDC is definitely a decent service and could improve - like they have already done with website and contact details :)

 On the way back to Bangalore

Trek to Rangaswamy Betta - 19 Feb 2011

Am on good trekking form, Rangaswamy Betta this time. My 4th trek with BMC. I decided to do this trek just for the variety of easy trek and as preamble to Tadiandamol trek on Feb 26-27.

There were only 7, including the guide Satya for this trek. Chetan from previous Antaragange trek had also come. After having breakfast at Krishna Sagar and crossing city limits, we hit the NH 209 towards Kanakapura. The road was fantastic with trees on either side forming archway at certain places. Satya is very talkative and throughout the journey we discussed about our trek experiences. Which meant, I had very little opportunity for my customary window-watching.

Wonderful NH 209 with archways

To reach Rangaswamy betta, one has to take a left turn from NH 209 (don't remember a landmark). Throughout the 6km stretch, one can enjoy the brimming village life. The farms, the huts, broken red-brick walls, villagers working in veranda of their houses, their enthusiasm of watching vehicles go past them, etc etc. By 10am, we reached the base of Rangaswamy betta. As is my wont, I was clicking away at anything and everything around when Chetan brought my attention to some sort of growing on a tamarind tree. I clicked a snap and saw that spiders were moving around on that hairy growing on the tree. I presumed that spiders were hunting for food. Then Satya came and exclaimed he has seen nothing like it and asked me to take a video. It was then we realised that infact the hairy growing was perhaps a nest built by the spiders! At the base of the tree were like millions of spiders. When Satya went close to the nest, spiders moved as if to attack him!

The Spider nest

Satya then brought us into a huddle and gave a brief of our day's itinerary and some note points to follow. It was sunny, hot and I regretted the decision to have only 1 liter of water despite Satya's insistence on 2 liters. I was arrogant on the fact that I did Madhugiri trek in searing hot conditions with 2 liters and hence I should be able to manage with 1 liter here. After about 10 min walk, we started the climb. There's a clear cut path for almost the entire trek path. The path is a mix of black sand, tree trunks/roots and stones. Workers from the village were ahead of us. As I mentioned before, our talkative guide Satya kept us interested with his experiences and his memorable incidents. During one of those talks - related to Kumarparvatha, we were rooted to our spot for about 5 min of his narration. 

Lion King anyone?

The pattern repeated itself throughout the climb - some or the other topic was discussed, we stopped - for the discussion/photo-shoot and continued. It meant too frequent a stop, not suited for a climb through arid conditions. I wasn't panting initially, but was sweating profoundly. By halfway, it seemed all too easy - nothing challenging courtesy the clear cut path. Some enthusiasts had even finished the climb and were returning. Satya stuck a conversation with them too! And so we stopped again for him to join us.

By now, we started feeling difficulty in climbing. So, our resting became even more frequent. Discussion had now moved to Cobras and Vipers and Black Mambas. As we neared the top, we met more trekkers returning. An old-aged worker caught up with us, and on seeing us resting said that the peak was just around the corner. And he kept climbing with ease.

To our frustration, lots of ice-cream covers showed up. The last part of the climb was like - trek 1 min and stop 2 mins! I was panting and puffing and not wanting to climb. But I did finish it and on reaching the flat peak, my relief knew no bounds. Cool breeze was flowing and the view from top is just awesome. Hills all around and farming fields of villages at the base could be seen. Also visible was a long trench on the work at the base. A dog followed us for a while. There were painted rocks (mainly of elephants) besides the Rangaswamy temple. We settled on a large rock sheltered with a mango tree's shadow nearby the temple.

Peak. The temple is on the other side of this rock

Luckily, got the macro-shot right ;)

It was around quarter to 1pm. I was yet again with my camera clicking away the flowers and hills on the horizon. As I turned to the group relaxing on the rocks, I saw that people from the temple were distributing 'prasadam'. It was a mix of rice, coconut, banana and jaggery. One of the best I have had and the exhaustion only added to its taste. Having to eat the oily masala dosa after the prasadam was more of a pain. Satya liked the prasadam so much that he didn't have his pulav, keeping it to give to some laborer. But, they were the ones giving us prasadam and later pongal too which only Satya and Chetan had. And the old-aged worker was kind enough to fill a water bottle - twice.

 Our resting spot, the old-aged worker in the background

We relaxed for about an hour. To me, the amount of discussion among 7 of us was surprising, perhaps Satya's talkative behavior seeped into us as well ;). Around after 2pm, we took a walk around the temple. There are couple of nice spots for the camera enthusiasts to take pictures of the valley below and hills around. Clouds were dotting the sky and their shadow mixed with trees in the valley betrayed the eyes to be a chunk of dense forest. Only after few minutes of deliberation did we realise it was cloud shadow.

 Cloud shadow

There is road connectivity from other side (relative to the trek path) and hence the peak is self sufficient with amenities like water. When we were leaving, some sort of ceremony was going on outside the temple. And at the far end of the peak, some were cooking meat. We met another group of trekker there! There's a small pond too with green water and plenty of frogs. The view from this 'edge' is stunning. I could spot atleast three big water bodies around.

Burger anyone?

The faithful

Around 3pm we started our descent. The dog magically appeared in front of us and started following again! We thought it would leave us around the trek path, but no. It followed us all the way to the base. The descent was a bit tricky and we had to climb down sideways. But once we got used to it, we kept going at a good pace. We stopped after about 20-30 mins and by now we were sure the dog would come with us to the base. Was it following us or leading us will remain a question. When we stopped and having water, we thought the dog might need water too. Now the problem was how to feed it! Chetan tried to pour directly which the dog shooed away. We saw a rock with some capacity to hold water and poured there. The precious water just flowed off and the dog did not even make a move for a sip. Satya had got his benefactor for the pulav but decided to give it to the dog only after reaching the base. At some point after, the dog ran off and came back with its back drenched in green-pond water. So much for our concern.

We reached the base in less than an hour. I was fully exhausted, wanting no more than to rest peacefully. And zillion liters of water. I finished my last drops just before the base and had to borrow two sips from the others. Pretty embarrassing. And a lesson learnt. We had about 10 min break, having snacks and water. Satya, as promised, opened his pulav and kept it for the dog which was gobbled up in less than a 1 min I think! We also gave the dog a biscuit as dessert ;)

The dog still didn't leave us and came upto the car as well. After some tamarind hunt and group photo, we left for Bangalore around 4:30pm. The faithful animal ran behind the car as well. The memory of the dog running seen through the window glass adds to my ever increasing unforgettable experiences on treks :)

Awesome Antaragange caves - Jan 26, 2011

After my last trek to Makalidurga, MS classes and other things kept me away from treks. So, as my sem exams approached, I started planning for trek. Jan 26 was the first holiday available and BMC had a trek to Antaragange on that very day. Being Wednesday, I knew some of my friends would be available and I was pretty much desperate from 1st week of Jan for the trek. After all, Antaragange was my first trek and the place where I found my love for trek.

Initially, I had 5 of my friends convinced for the trek with possibility of further additions, but finally came down to just two - my room-mate Prakash and colleague Thiru. Still, better than none in my previous two treks. But come Jan 25 evening, I wasn't much excited about it. Partly because of the exhausting and physically draining open book test I had given on Sunday. Or perhaps my longing for so long quenched the thirst. I went through the previous trek on my blog to get a feel, but was more like a chore. My room-mate's enthusiasm was a welcome relief and I started feeling better.

Woke up at around 5:35am (what will we do without alarms :-/) and got to the bus stop around 7am (Me and my room-mate were the only ones in the BMTC bus from cmh road to Domlur, talk about freedom on Republic day ;) ). While we were waiting for the BMC cab to arrive, 4 trekking enthusiasts arrived on the opposite side of the bus stop. I knew most likely they were coming with us, but I thought let the cab arrive before letting them know the right direction. My bad luck, the cab arrived shortly in the direction they were standing! The cab was late and had not yet picked others from Life-style stop on Magrath road. But since, all 7 of us had already arrived, we saved the round-about trip via Domlur.

By the time we picked up all of them, traffic had built-up steadily and took a while to escape city limits. Me and Thiru tried to recall landmarks from our previous visit, along with prepping Prakash up. The one thing that me and Thiru agreed upon fully was the road widening work still going on (from Aug 2008! ). But I wasn't yet looking forward with eagerness of previous treks. The prospect of possible rain (as it was cloudy) assured me that everything was right - there was rain all 3 times I trekked before. When the hillocks became visible, I picked the tallest one and told Prakash that we are gonna climb it. Thiru understood my pun and joined in casually. We drew nearer to the hillock so close that Prakash must have started thinking about how we were to climb it :D

Around 9AM, we reached the Sagar hotel to have breakfast - the same one we had in 2008, with perhaps few more letters of the hotel's sign board missing. The 3 of us conversed with Arjun - the guide for the trek, he is a final year student but looked more like a 25 year old working professional! Antaragange is his speciality, which was evident during the trek.

We reached Antaragange around 10AM and after brief intro, we started our climb via the steps (I was disappointed a bit that we were not going via the other path). The most visible change from last time were the increased eateries at the base. And no. of monkeys. We climbed the steps leading to temple at good pace dodging the attacks from monkeys (a particularly vicious monkey scared the hell out of two kids, God knows how long they cried). 

We had a brief stop watching the kids bathing in green pond below the perennial water source from rocks near the temple. It seemed all so very familiar, as if I had come there just a week before. The weather was perfect for climb - cloudy and little windy. As usual, I frequently troubled my camera (magically still working after the drop at Makalidurga) often so much so that the count was 224 pics by end of day! (800Mb). The trek felt pretty much like walk in the park and I was drawn rather to blooming cacti than enjoying the trek. 

We reached a fairly large monolithic rock and stopped. I couldn't recall that place from previous visit. There were large boulders few paces in front, some of us went to click pics and came back to ask Arjun (our guide) if there's a way through it. Thats when he said it is the cave entrance and we were to go through it! What followed is a 3 hour experience I will forever cherish.

I am sure I won't be able to describe how we passed through the narrow, irregular, low, dark and tricky and put-your-own-adjective pathways. I will however strive to do so with pics! After all a picture is worth 1000 words ;)

Click on the images for larger view

Cave entrance

Thiru is obviously enjoying ;)

Prakash too!

Am too tall :(

Pretty 'cool' place

Notice the use of torch - it was very dark

Around 12pm we reached the lunch spot

A pleasant rest in ac like weather (which is conspicuously missing in Bangalore these days). My friend Kathik called me (Airtel, good tower strength even inside caves :D) and asked where I was. I said 'inside a cave'. He was trekking at Kodachadri and stuck somewhere. He asked me how to proceed, but to his dismay I had to reply I had not trekked there yet :D He and his friends did eventually find their way and had a great experience. Now am wishing for a trek to Kodachadri :-/

After lunch and rest, we climbed atop the cave

Clouds had thinned out Sun's warmth was pleasant

Can you spot a group climbing? It looked pretty

dangerous to us

Time to go

Out of the cave - relief! But Arjun wooed

few of us to go through that gap!

Here's how they went!

We were out of the caves and had good rest. But it was only 2pm yet. In Arjun's experience so far in guiding here, it was one of the quickest. As we had enough time left, I suggested to visit the fields to which everyone agreed! It was around 20min climb. It's a pretty flat space with land used for agriculture. There is even road connectivity beyond the fields as well as power lines.

Around 2:30pm, we started our long climb down with blazing hot Sun hovering over us. Surprisingly, we reached the temple within 30mins in one stretch. My legs were badly aching for fairly short-trek and I wondered how would I do Madhugiri trek again! After watching more monkey mania, we were on our way to Bangalore. Stopping at Sagar hotel again, we had snacks which were very tasty, thanks to our exhaustion.

Alternating between sleep and watching through window, I noticed a two-line rhyming 'sentences' written on a Lorry:

गाड़ी चलती है तो उड़ती है धूल

दुश्मन जलते हैं तो खिलते हैं फूल!

So, yet again a wonderful and memorable trek. Hoping for more in the coming days. And probably it will be Kodagu next ;)

A note of caution: Please do not attempt these caves unless there is someone well versed with the cave routes - it is very tricky and full of dead ends.

Mishap at Makalidurga

Don't get alarmed by the title, I just had a small accident on the trek :D. Unlike my previous trekking posts, I promise to stick to the main details ;)

It was Saturday, June the 12th of 2010, that 20 enthusiasts and two guides from BMC embarked to climb Makalidurga, around 70km from Bangalore. Four of them I knew from the trek to Madhugiri. A cloudy and windy day, most of us were prepared for rain (some like me wished for downpour :D). After an awesome ride via new airport road and beautiful country-side we reached the scarcely populated village of Makalidurga. We chattered away for most of the ride and my customary penchant for enjoying the window-view noted just the one odd - a resort named something like 'Ramanashree - California' Resort!

Makalidurga - 1350m

There is a railway track at the foothills with a station close-by. One could even take a passenger train to reach Makalidurga. Just before we started our ascent, a train passed by and I craved for another train to pass which could be seen from top of the hill. The hill has a large base covered with vegetation and surrounded all-round with other hills. With Sun playing hide and seek with clouds and the relatively easy climb, I enthusiastically clicked away pics of the greenery all around. But pretty soon, the heavy back-pack (rain-coat and umbrella to go with snacks & water bottles) and increasing difficulty in the climb meant I had to slow down and take frequent rest. Had a energy-packed peanut bar and enjoyed viewing the lake which had begun to show.

Large base with greenery and rocky top

Multiple pathways posed a problem initially. And despite the cool weather, perspiration slowed us considerably. Bare, big rocks showed up much to the dismay of first timers. I tried to assure them that this is relatively easier compared to the one I has 2 weeks back. The slope being not so steep, it was like walk in the park. The rocky climb ended with a flat surface and rest of the climb to the top was greener bushy path again. After a rest on the flat surface and taking copious snaps, we started for the final flourish to the summit. And lo! we heard the unmistakable chugging of the train at the foothills. Took videos and snaps and the sight is still etched in memory. :)

Flat rocky surface with a view of railway tracks below

Can you spot the 'Train'?
Suit yourself to name it :)

Willing myself to go on without stoppage, I reached the summit which held a broken fort. The summit was 1350m above sea level, but the climb had been much shorter than Madhugiri. You gotta see to believe the wonderful view of the surrounding landscape dotted with hills, lake and farmland. Tranquility of the surrounding would have been a blessing experience but for the constant honking of the vehicles below. It was around 12pm and too early to have lunch. So, 4-5 of us started to explore the summit. The fencing was tattered a bit, but still strong. There was light drizzle too :). I had initially thought it would be some 10-15min walk. Little did I know the breadth of the fort. It would be some acres! Not that I complained, the summit is pretty flat, and the walk was never tiring. Infact I felt very fresh! And looking back we could see the rain approaching :). A lifetime experience that. One of them had a binocular - we tried to make out the color of shirt worn by the two-wheeler riders :P. We walked along the circular fence with rain starting to get heavier. We tried to find a shady place to have lunch when we saw the temple. The veranda was open space and we couldn't have gone inside the temple to have lunch. So we searched again. Search because, as I said the summit must be in acres . Presently we saw a man-made arrangement of rocks with a small passage. A fellow trekker was already there having lunch and the protected place was too small to hold us all. As we ventured further, we saw the remaining lot perched under a big tree. Rain had ceased a bit, so we resigned to have lunch on the rocks. It was wet but we had no choice, had we? To our dismay, some of us had not got the spoons from the co-ordinators :D.

Much of the fort is just the fence

Lake view from the summit

A different Angle :)

Within few minutes, rain hit back as though angered by our presence. We ran to the rock arrangement, and this time we managed to fit ourselves :D. While we had lunch discussion moved to 'bats' and how it's excreta could be dangerous! All along, rain was incessant but not heavy. On the stone walls that extended beyond the passage, there was a small space like a window. We wondered it's purpose. A tree's branches reached the window and one of us noticed an empty, small bird-nest. It was so well constructed and looked so cute when placed on the palms. The rain had stopped and one of the co-ordinator came searching for us. We were to start our descent in a short-while.

We explored around the fence again from where we had left. At one point, tree's branches blocked about half the path of two-feet wall. I got scared a little, but did not show externally and mustering courage crossed it. It was easier than expected, but I was relieved nonetheless. What lay ahead was something of a surprise, but we should have anticipated it. We had circled a full 360 degrees of the fort! We had agreed to the co-ordinator of coming back to that big tree and climb down all together. Instead, we called them (after two-three tries) to inform our location and waited.

Seemed an eternity before the group arrived and we reached the flat rock base to rest. Rain droplets on the grass blade were beautiful to look at and so were the purple flowers growing between the rocks. As like the Madhugiri trek, there was a photographer amongst us, clicking away the beautiful scenery all around us. I wasn't far behind in clicking and then I caught the sight of a chameleon, all still, head raised on a medium sized rock. Calling the photographer to come ASAP, I hurried to the rock, sighting well its slippery surface. It wasn't the usual rock wet by the recent rain. It was kind of the rock one could spot near a waterfall. I do not remember well enough, but I must have tried to put my right foot to test how much grip I can get. Before one could blink - there I was down, having slipped as I made contact with the slippery rock. Well of course there was flat base below the rock, or I wouldn't have ventured. But as with most uncontrolled falls, my right leg twisted and I landed on it. Within moments, the fellow trekkers were besides me asking have I injured myself. I felt pain, but I was sure it wasn't fracture. I was more interested to the fate of my camera - a small tapering on the cosmetic surrounding the lens which wouldn't allow the lens set to shut properly. With a little push with fingers, I was able to close it properly. And only then did I remove my shoes to inspect the injury. Talk about caring for oneself :(

One had fast-relief, which I applied all around. Somehow managed to put on the socks and shoes back again. I realised that I would have to keep going without rest if I had to reach the foothill. The co-ordinator now came with his spray. This time around it was even more difficult removing the shoes. There was a small-apple sized swell big enough to cover the Calcaneus bone. After applying the spray, the co-ordinator rightly suggested to put on the shoe without the sock and tie the laces tightly. Even now I wonder how was I able to put my leg into the shoe!

Everyone had gathered by now on the flat rock and time for group-photo. After what seemed an eternity, it was taken and we started to move. Only for the photographer to discover that the settings were not right! So again we stood for the pose, myself seething with pain. As we started the descent again, they offered to carry the back-pack for me. But that being a non-issue, I politely refused. They offered bodily support too. While that was generous of them, I knew that they would feel very difficult to support my weight. Yes, although am very lean, the pressure we put for supporting the body is not easy to manage. I wasn't that bad in a position to be not able to walk. I could place my right foot and apply as much pressure needed to lift my left leg and move forward. But, it being a descent through the rocks, I resorted to crawling most of the way, using my hands to place on the side rocks for support. It was Madhugiri revisited, but for all the wrong reasons :D. Where necessary, I used the generous hand supports. One thing I realized later is, at no point did anyone talk about my carelessness. And am largely thankful to them for it.

Slowly and steadily I reached (or rather, crawled to) the large base of the hill, from which it was more of a walk than climbing down. The rain Gods seemed to have waited for me to reach this point, as the rain returned and this time, it was outright downpour. Cannot imagine if it had occurred right after I had slipped, or for that matter, if it had been a fracture. Gives me the creeps thinking about it.

Rain in the air :)

It was half an hour or so, that we walked through the streams guiding us to reach the cab. My wish for rain had been granted, but I paid a price for it :D. Although I had put on my raincoat and my back-pack water-proof, I was drenched and water had found its way through the tiny gaps of zipped fabric. As I entered the cab, they asked me how did I feel. And I replied, 'Great'.

Thus ended another unforgettable trekking experience, for all the good and bad reasons. What followed was my visit to doctor (aided by my room-mate and his friend), plastering and realizing how uncomfortable one would be even though the swell in itself wasn't that painful. And oh, by the way, I did honestly think I would be doing much shorter post before the keyboard led my fingers to...

PS: Last Friday, i.e. 25th June, myself and some of my company colleagues had gone to a school-kit distribution near Bypanahalli, organized by YFS (http://youthforseva.org/) . I experienced the 'Joy of Giving' :)

Madhugiri Trekking Trip

It was only last August that I embarked on my first trekking trip to Antaragange. Seems long ago and no wonder am so pleased to have had another - Madhugiri on 29th May. And for that, I thank wholeheartedly to BMC (http://www.bmcindia.org/). Click on the images below for larger view.

I will try to keep the narration short, but my penchant for writing mundane details might prevent doing so. Let me begin with how to register for an event with BMC. My office being near to BMC office, I called them up and Krishna (guide for this trekking trip) obliged by collecting the fare at my office premises itself. Isn't that convenient? And then they sent a confirmation email.

Friday evening and I was really thrilled thinking about the trip. With much enthusiasm I brought snacks and water bottle, much needed for a trekking trip. Curbing my liking to read about the place, I took to dusting off the bag to carry the needful. And thankfully I recharged my camera batteries. I watched a movie and cooked too. Yes you read it right, I 'cooked' :).

I tried to sleep early as reporting was 6:45AM sharp at Domlur. But believe me, the excitement meant an intermittent sleep. I groaned each time I woke up to see that 5:10AM was still far-off. And when it finally was time to wake up, power-cut greeted me. That did not deter me getting ready by 6am. Had a cup of tea (to prevent headache) and reached Domlur by 6:25AM! I saw a buddy there, in jeans and t-shirt with a backpack. My guess was right that he (Rajendran) too was coming for the trek. And lo! I wasn't the only one coming all alone. Presently a group - an elderly man and woman with daughter, arrived there. They were joined by a foreign lady shortly. Rajendran observed that BMC must be very popular indeed.

Starting at 6AM

Right on 6:45AM (ok, 6:46 to be precise) the cab arrived. Krishna ticked-off the people assembled and to my surprise, the elderly couple were coming too! The next pick-up was at Lifestyle (7AM) and here we waited about 5 mins for others to arrive. I engaged myself observing the vehicles passing by and was amazed to see so many at this hour on a Saturday morning. At one point it looked to be all white - cars, jeeps and buses alike and immediately came a procession of varied colored ones! By this time the last of the 12 member party came. So that made 'unlucky' 13 including the guide Krishna, but I would say 14 to include the driver, who had a good part to play in our very pleasing experience.

Bangalore is really very big and traffic flow is tedious just about everywhere! After evading through the morning traffic, we reached 'New Agarwal Bhavan' on the Tumkur road around 8:10AM for breakfast and packing lunch. We bought water bottles and cold-drinks too. Soon we left the highway behind and villages started to show up. The narrow 2-lane road was good enough for a smooth ride. Like I always do, I was sitting near window seat and enjoying the view outside. Among various interesting things I saw, two stood out. Near a police-station in one of the villages, there were lot of trucks and vans and autos dumped for good covered largely with ivy. The other being a 'BSNL OFC' stone-mark surrounded by barren land.

Other vehicles passing was so infrequent, making me wonder where they got petrol/diesel from and however they coped with breakdowns! The roads started deteriorating and large number of hillocks became visible. Many of them had temple on the top. Or some scribblings in large white fonts. They were just too many of them that it seems by chance was this space available for road connectivity. Around 10:30AM we were nearing Madhugiri. I saw a very steep hill, higher than the surrounding ones and started taking pictures. I wondered if anyone can climb this one. Little did I know that it was the very hill we were headed too. And indeed, the climb was from the other side which is not so steep as the side I had seen.

Krishna assembled us in a circle and we introduced ourselves. Our elite party consisted of an ex-army, his wife (the elderly couple) and their daughter, a photographer (from the equipment he carried), a foreigner and other enthusiasts like me :P. We were to climb 3930 ft (perhaps lesser, as the height base from sea level is not known) which is more than Tirupathi and approx. half the height of Ooty.

And so, we started our ascent around 10:45AM. The fort entrance and wall-fencing were still in good shape. Initially it was all steps and easy to climb. On big rocks, small steps were carved out for convenience. The fort is centered near the base of the hill and circular towers few hundred feet above. A large flat surface below the towers was well fenced and a pool built which was completely dry. After these towers, it was all bare mountain with few resting places in between.

A bit scary for first-timers

Having fun ;)

The ascent was quite easy for most part except for the hot sun. Continuous breeze dried our sweat leaving crystallized salt on face and neck. We had to frequently rest, drink water and continue. About two-third of the hill upward comes the most dangerous climb. Iron poles were rooted along the path which were around knee level and not much of use. For inexperienced trekkers like me, one had to lean on the hot-rock with bare hands to feel a bit safe. The heavy back-pack made it worse. Thankfully they had built a fence near the steepest portion above to reach an entrance. I felt very very relieved to have make it. Taking a break there, the climb was resumed. Now it all seemed easier after the steep climb, but exhaustion meant more frequent stops. We did not mind sitting on the hot rock for it was nigh impossible to move on more than 2-5 min at a stretch. Ofcourse, there were large rocks here and there providing cool shade.

Very relieved to have climbed up the steep slope (fence and entrance can be seen)

After what seemed an eternity, the summit came in view. I say 'came' as I never felt like reaching the top. Ruined temple greeted us with scattered vegetation. Beyond the temple, one could go down to reach large rocks strewn on relatively flat surface. We chose a big rock providing shade all around to camp and have lunch. Grass, flowery plants and trees had somehow found their way to grow there. Whats more, we could see clear signs of goats having come there.

The veg-biryani from 'New Agarwal Bhavan' was very spicy but to our growling stomachs, it tasted sweet. After lunch, the ex-army gentleman shared his experiences in Infantry, 1971 war, snow-blindness, beauty of Ladakh, exported apples and so on. The foreign lady too enthusiastically shared hers. And to my surprise, the mobile signal strength was very good there!

Lunch time :) :)

Around 1:45PM, we started our descent. (But logically, we had to first climb to reach the summit again and begin the descent :P - to quote the ex-army gentlemen). The descent was faster compared to the climb, but one had to walk sideways for better grip. As in my first trekking trip, my legs started shivering, for reasons unknown. And the thighs too started paining. Somehow, I managed to climb down steadily, and sometimes running down small stretches. The steep slope I mentioned during the climb proved too tricky way-down. Mortal fear took control of me that despite good advice from the guide to do it easily, I did not turn my bodily-position. I was leaning on the rocks and nearly crawling along. The rocks were too hot by now. The forceful drag with palms resulted in two burn-like bubbles. Anyone watching me without knowing what went through my mind would have laughed relentlessly. I cannot describe what relief I felt on crossing that dangerous path. And to top it all, the ex-army gentleman just walked freely through the steep section! Of course he had 37 years of experience, but goes to show that perhaps it is only the fear that makes it very dangerous. The shivering and thigh pain increased and I took an extended rest. The rest of the climb was all about pushing myself to go. I kept the pace sedate and talking with the fellow trekkers helped a lot.

Not gonna forget in this lifetime (the ex-army gentleman is too happy to walk casually!)

Apparently, we had finished the trek well ahead. Replenishing with water and cool-drinks, we started around 3:45pm. Some wanted to have another trek, but most including me were not upto it. Here came the driver's role. Apparently he was a local guy and knew the surrounding area pretty well. He suggested to visit 'Sri Yoga lakshmi narasimha swamy' temple on a hill which could be reached via road. We reached there around 4:45pm. The temple closes by 5pm, so a guard placed at a diverging road halfway up the hill was going to stop us. But the driver got us through. The hill is populated with 'wild' monkeys. Lots of hills surround the place and this one had a provision for guest-house too. We had cucumber and tender-coconut and proceeded for the temple. Monkeys were on the lookout to snatch anything. They even 'attacked' the shoe stand near the temple. Some of them showed acrobatic skills hanging by the tail on trees, other monkeys or water taps. One intelligent monkey was peeling off a tender-coconut! And the skin which it tore were in other monkeys' mouth!

Atop the hill to visit the temple

Isn't it beautiful?

It started raining and the mist cover on the surrounding hills was a great sight. We hurried to the tempo, took a group photo with some missing and started our way back to Bangalore. But hold on, we were not done yet. There was another famous place 'Namada Chilume', around 2-3kms from the temple. Here again our driver got us permission to go through. It was light drizzle here and the climate too good with cool breeze. Apparently, during Rama's Vanvas, he visited the place and pierced a hole on a rock to get water. One story goes that Sita was thirsty and according to wiki, Rama needed it for his Thilak which is how the place got the name. Whatever be it, water continuously flows out of it throughout the year. Whats more, we saw for ourselves the water flow increasing when coins were devoted.

Perennial source of water - from a rock!

Finally, we started our way back to bangalore. Rain had picked up here too. Both the path we came for the temple and the one we took to Bangalore is surrounded by thick forest. Wild animals are supposed to be living there, but we did not cross any. After a while, I slept due to sheer exhaustion and when I woke up, we were on the Tumkur road jammed with traffic. It would be around 9pm when I reached home. Took a hot bath and slept peacefully.

What a day it was. Climbing more than a km tall hill, and two bonus visits to beautiful places among the hills with rain in the air.. oh inexplicable pleasure indeed. Antaragange was fun with friends, this was personal satisfaction. I am far-off from becoming a good-trekker, what with my legs giving way to fear. But it is one step forward in right direction. Both in the Antaragange trip and Madhugiri one, I had trouble while descending. And both times, it rained while coming back :D. All in all, another day added to unforgettable ones :)

PS: Some of the photos from Madhugiri posted here courtesy Rajendran :)