Ah! finally a trek after a long time….The long wait after the trek it is worth it… A monsoon trek…how better can it get? wow a thrill of a life time… thatz exactly how it was…
After the ligament strain I had, which had put me off for more than 6 months from any strenuous work, this was a return debut for trekking that I was waiting for… and how better can it get? a monsoon trek…my first one officially….All these years I would go on a trek and it was incidental that it would rain…this time it was a planned one… it was an high anticipation trek…It was one I expected to be a full rain trek….I was geared to it…
This trek was again with Arun and company, Shrikanth, Subbu-1, Subbu-2, Tarsh matte Harsha… all with long trek experience…My anticipation for the trek and the precursor to the trek with the bomb blasts in Ahmedabad, made the trek all the more memorable…
I reached the majestic bus stand much earlier, I was at 2015 in the bus stand and was waiting for the rest of them, at 9:30 Arun and company arrived at the station…a small intro to being with and then we were on our way to board the bus…We boarded the bus to HoranaDu at 2215… and we intended to get down at KaLasa…A long journey in the bus to Kalasa, and then we reached there at 7:45 pm.
The first bus to basrikatte which is on the way from HoranaDu to Shringeri reaches Kalasa at 730 am. We missed the bus and needed to wait for the next bus, we had some hot tea and were waiting for the next bus when the rain started pouring down. We got in to rain preparation mode, purchasing some polythene bags and using our creativity to design and apparel out of the bags…it was an experience in itself…didnt know that there was a fashion designer in all of us…or was it the necessity? some one once said – necessity is the mother of all invention…may be this is what he meant…
We got down at Basarikatte and then had tea at the hotel there…the bus stops there for some time and we had a nice breakfast there, with uppit, avlakki, idli humm all yummy…after our breakafast for half an hour we changed to the trek gear… track suit, shoes etc.. We then began our trek….
A small distance walk back on the route the bus had taken us would take us to Mertikhan estate entrance… we started our photography session on the way; the rain which had taken a breakfast break as well had started pouring again… it was nice… we were all thrilled by the way the rain would keep the excitement in our trek…
A walk through the tea estates on either side for around 30 minutes and we came to the entrance of the estate office… we asked for permission to get to the peak of the meruthi parvatha. The office people told us that the usual route which takes people to the peak is closed and we needed to go through a round about route…they tried to dissuade us by saying there would be lakhs of leeches down on the side, and getting through the forest would be really difficult.
While Arun and Shrikanth were busy getting the permission work, the remaining of us were busy with our photography sessions…the rain had stopped as thought to give us some nice view of the lad far off, the surrounding hills etc… we were in the middle of a lush green tea plantation, and we could spot the tea estate workers working at brisk pace in the estate… all a picturesque view to keep in our imagination… you need to live it to savor it…a image worth keeping for the rest of a life time.
Arun and Shrikanth had done their bit and got the permission… we started our photography cum trek ahead, the rain was pouring in periodic cycles…ya pouring…there is no other equivalent word to it… it was just too heavy… we had to keep our cameras in good care, else it would stop functioning…After around an hours walk we reached the estate guesthouse, and asked for directions again.
The lady in the house directed us to go through the estate plantations and then through the forest…you can get to peak that way!!! well we stared on our trek…Another walk of around 45 minutes through the estate and the forest, Shrikanth taking the lead as usual we reached a clearing above the forest over….
Subbu-2 the high enthu guy decided to see if there was any other way nearby, We only knew the direction of the peak, and didn’t know the actual peak…The rain had halted since we had asked for directions from the guest house lady. We took a break of around 15 minutes to see if any leeches had climbed on… fortunately there weren’t many till now…I followed another train not the one which subbu had chosen and spotted r peak on to the left of the clearing…subbu-2 came running down and wanted to climb the peak…we were busy clicking the pics… at the far end we could spot HoranaDu… the place where we wanted to go… it looked as if it would take eternity to reach the place…
Another 5 minutes and we were ready to leave to the peak… the weather got worse, it was just rain that we needed to face till now, and now almost at the peak it was the wind which was giving us more of a challenge than a rain… The wind made it look as though, the rain drops were bullets directed to us… A braved trek for another 45 minutes and we decided to take a break for lunch…for some time we thought the place where we sat was the peak – the meruti parvata…We couldnt see anything more than 5 meters away… it was that cloudy…
Just as we were done with our lunch half way through, as though to tell us – you people still have long way to go…We had some amazing fun there during the lunch break, and following which we decided to continue our trek to the peak… another 10 minutes trek and we were at the peak…
There is a ganesha temple at the peak…looks like there is some pooja done once an year, and not many people come there… we could see some cigarette butts at the peak…think these might be of some trek group that had come earlier….We spent around 15 minutes at the peak…the weather got worse again and we decided to get back…
We had to reach horanaDu by night and its only then that we could catch our busy and get to business the next day…With all the fun of a early monsoon rain, and a great trek we reached HoranaDu at 5:00 pm.
We booked a room at one of the lodges there and then took a hot water bath…The evening dinner was at the temple….We waited in the bus after checking out from the lodge, and then sat in the bus. The bus was to leave at 9:15pm but as the heavy rains had got the river overflowing, it was really hard to get over…this meant that we would not get to our business!!!
Another half an hour of intense prayers, and some fun filled memories being discussed, we got to know that the river had subsided, the bleak possibility of reaching Bangalore now looked to be a reality…
Another nights good sleep in the bus and we were in Bangalore at 6 am in the morning. All of us went on our own routes back to business… there was new set of friends to make, a new place to visit, lot new learning… and finally the memories… with every trek it only makes me appreciate the beauty of nature… not just the way the environment is, but the uncertainties the sudden twists and turns that emerge…all make it a course in itself…. a course for which the fees you pay is minimal, but the benefits are innumerable…well may be as a student at IIMB this is how I am looking at it…
And just to follow it up… I read in the news paper the next day that there was some naxal activity in the mertikhan estate, and the STF was searching for the naxals who had left some of their material and the sort there…What an experience!!! ya really… would be memorable..
After the ligament strain I had, which had put me off for more than 6 months from any strenuous work, this was a return debut for trekking that I was waiting for… and how better can it get? a monsoon trek…my first one officially….All these years I would go on a trek and it was incidental that it would rain…this time it was a planned one… it was an high anticipation trek…It was one I expected to be a full rain trek….I was geared to it…
This trek was again with Arun and company, Shrikanth, Subbu-1, Subbu-2, Tarsh matte Harsha… all with long trek experience…My anticipation for the trek and the precursor to the trek with the bomb blasts in Ahmedabad, made the trek all the more memorable…
I reached the majestic bus stand much earlier, I was at 2015 in the bus stand and was waiting for the rest of them, at 9:30 Arun and company arrived at the station…a small intro to being with and then we were on our way to board the bus…We boarded the bus to HoranaDu at 2215… and we intended to get down at KaLasa…A long journey in the bus to Kalasa, and then we reached there at 7:45 pm.
The first bus to basrikatte which is on the way from HoranaDu to Shringeri reaches Kalasa at 730 am. We missed the bus and needed to wait for the next bus, we had some hot tea and were waiting for the next bus when the rain started pouring down. We got in to rain preparation mode, purchasing some polythene bags and using our creativity to design and apparel out of the bags…it was an experience in itself…didnt know that there was a fashion designer in all of us…or was it the necessity? some one once said – necessity is the mother of all invention…may be this is what he meant…
We got down at Basarikatte and then had tea at the hotel there…the bus stops there for some time and we had a nice breakfast there, with uppit, avlakki, idli humm all yummy…after our breakafast for half an hour we changed to the trek gear… track suit, shoes etc.. We then began our trek….
A small distance walk back on the route the bus had taken us would take us to Mertikhan estate entrance… we started our photography session on the way; the rain which had taken a breakfast break as well had started pouring again… it was nice… we were all thrilled by the way the rain would keep the excitement in our trek…
A walk through the tea estates on either side for around 30 minutes and we came to the entrance of the estate office… we asked for permission to get to the peak of the meruthi parvatha. The office people told us that the usual route which takes people to the peak is closed and we needed to go through a round about route…they tried to dissuade us by saying there would be lakhs of leeches down on the side, and getting through the forest would be really difficult.
While Arun and Shrikanth were busy getting the permission work, the remaining of us were busy with our photography sessions…the rain had stopped as thought to give us some nice view of the lad far off, the surrounding hills etc… we were in the middle of a lush green tea plantation, and we could spot the tea estate workers working at brisk pace in the estate… all a picturesque view to keep in our imagination… you need to live it to savor it…a image worth keeping for the rest of a life time.
Arun and Shrikanth had done their bit and got the permission… we started our photography cum trek ahead, the rain was pouring in periodic cycles…ya pouring…there is no other equivalent word to it… it was just too heavy… we had to keep our cameras in good care, else it would stop functioning…After around an hours walk we reached the estate guesthouse, and asked for directions again.
The lady in the house directed us to go through the estate plantations and then through the forest…you can get to peak that way!!! well we stared on our trek…Another walk of around 45 minutes through the estate and the forest, Shrikanth taking the lead as usual we reached a clearing above the forest over….
Subbu-2 the high enthu guy decided to see if there was any other way nearby, We only knew the direction of the peak, and didn’t know the actual peak…The rain had halted since we had asked for directions from the guest house lady. We took a break of around 15 minutes to see if any leeches had climbed on… fortunately there weren’t many till now…I followed another train not the one which subbu had chosen and spotted r peak on to the left of the clearing…subbu-2 came running down and wanted to climb the peak…we were busy clicking the pics… at the far end we could spot HoranaDu… the place where we wanted to go… it looked as if it would take eternity to reach the place…
Another 5 minutes and we were ready to leave to the peak… the weather got worse, it was just rain that we needed to face till now, and now almost at the peak it was the wind which was giving us more of a challenge than a rain… The wind made it look as though, the rain drops were bullets directed to us… A braved trek for another 45 minutes and we decided to take a break for lunch…for some time we thought the place where we sat was the peak – the meruti parvata…We couldnt see anything more than 5 meters away… it was that cloudy…
Just as we were done with our lunch half way through, as though to tell us – you people still have long way to go…We had some amazing fun there during the lunch break, and following which we decided to continue our trek to the peak… another 10 minutes trek and we were at the peak…
There is a ganesha temple at the peak…looks like there is some pooja done once an year, and not many people come there… we could see some cigarette butts at the peak…think these might be of some trek group that had come earlier….We spent around 15 minutes at the peak…the weather got worse again and we decided to get back…
We had to reach horanaDu by night and its only then that we could catch our busy and get to business the next day…With all the fun of a early monsoon rain, and a great trek we reached HoranaDu at 5:00 pm.
We booked a room at one of the lodges there and then took a hot water bath…The evening dinner was at the temple….We waited in the bus after checking out from the lodge, and then sat in the bus. The bus was to leave at 9:15pm but as the heavy rains had got the river overflowing, it was really hard to get over…this meant that we would not get to our business!!!
Another half an hour of intense prayers, and some fun filled memories being discussed, we got to know that the river had subsided, the bleak possibility of reaching Bangalore now looked to be a reality…
Another nights good sleep in the bus and we were in Bangalore at 6 am in the morning. All of us went on our own routes back to business… there was new set of friends to make, a new place to visit, lot new learning… and finally the memories… with every trek it only makes me appreciate the beauty of nature… not just the way the environment is, but the uncertainties the sudden twists and turns that emerge…all make it a course in itself…. a course for which the fees you pay is minimal, but the benefits are innumerable…well may be as a student at IIMB this is how I am looking at it…
And just to follow it up… I read in the news paper the next day that there was some naxal activity in the mertikhan estate, and the STF was searching for the naxals who had left some of their material and the sort there…What an experience!!! ya really… would be memorable..
