“Too often. . .I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen.”
When I reached Shimoga the time was 1:30 PM the first thing I did after I got down from the bus was, asking the conductor about Kodachadri and how to commute till there..
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| Journey to Kodachadri |
The Month was July and the date was 23rd (of
2010) I was pursuing my MBA, stepping into 3rd semester… college had not
yet begun and I was bored…by bored I mean BORED…
So I decided to go for a trip… went to the internet searched
for some places where I can go… and found Kodachadri as a nice place..so asked
couple of friends whether they were interested to go…but they were in their own
world and din want to go… so I decided to go alone..
I packed few stuff and started the journey… went to
Mangalore bus stop at 6:30 in the morning…reached there at 8. There was a bus
to Shimoga at 8:30 so went and booked the ticket immediately…
Bought something to eat and boarded the bus.. was listening
to music and munching on few food items… the bus left at 8:30 AM… the journey
was good went through agumbe was lost in the hills and the beauty.. (Sometimes I
wonder why we don appreciate god for his creation and all we wanna do is work)
It was a good journey to Shimoga… after 5 hours I reached(am
writing this after 2 years so kindly bear with me if the details are not
precise)..
When I reached Shimoga the time was 1:30 PM the first thing I did after I got down from the bus was, asking the conductor about Kodachadri and how to commute till there..
The conductor took time and explained that there are 2 ways
one is wait for a bus which drops u to the trek point (it’ll come at 2:30 pm)
and second one is hire a jeep which will drop you to the trek spot.(problem is
the jeep charges 800 rs). So I found the bus idea better, so waited for the bus
and boarded once it came..
Got down at the point and saw that there was no one but me
there…and started walking into the Jungle there were Jeep tracks, so thought
that if I had hired the Jeep would’ve lost the fun…
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| King of the Jungle :-) |
When I was walking I saw an Oriental giant squirrel (golden
brown tail) could not take a pic as it was a glimpse and I din find it again
although I searched for a while…
As I walked further I had a strange feeling me alone in the
jungle no one to talk to and stuff..
Well after a while I heard a bunch of monkeys fighting at a
close distance… for a moment I got scared as I’d heard there are flesh eating
baboons in the jungle… so I walked silently without making noise… and nothing
happened :-)
I walked a lot…. Saw couple of jeeps en-route.. but felt I did
a better job walking…bcoz in the jeep it wouldn be fun per se..
Finally after a long time I reached the trek start point..
there was a tiffin spot.. I went and asked him the distance I’d walked.. the
shopkeeper informed that the distance from the bus stop to the guesthouse on
the peak was 11 kms and from his shop to the guesthouse was 6 kms… So I’d
walked almost 5 kms…Phew… but it was fun I tell ya..
Well after drinking water and filling up my bottle began
walking…it was a decent trek…moderate u might say.. was a little moist so the
leeches were ready to attack :-)
After the tiffin spot I found many people returning from the trek as it was
almost 4 PM… most of them were from Kerala (they spoke Malayalam) most of the
time I din understand so simply nodded along and smiled :-) (believe me it works).
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| Lonely Tree!!! |
Well I was walking continuously as I had to reach before the
light disappears.. I found a tree a lonely tree…The resemblance was uncanny :-) I saw myself when I saw
the tree..
Well I walked ahead and saw a cute girl walking towards me
with a surprised look on her face… She came upto me and started speaking
aggressive Malayalam…did not understand much but buy her expression and worried
look guessed that she was worried as to when I’ll trek and return as it was
almost 5PM and soon it’ll get dark… so I replied “ Malayalam ariyile” listening
to that she burst out with laughter… I din get it…(but later when I returned
from the trip and asked a friend she told me that I asked her if you don’t know
Malayalam…I got the joke then,
asking a mallu if u don’t know Malayalam!!! lol)
Well after an amazing laugh she bid farewell and left… I started
walking faster as the time was almost eating up...
After a long journey I finally reached the peak.. it was
amazing.. I saw a temple and asked shelter there but they were scared to let a
person alone, as there were cases of suicides.. so I had to stay in the
guesthouse… when I reached there I felt that i can finally rest and continue tomorrow peacefully…little
did I know whats coming ahead…
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| Guest house (pic clicked in the morning) |
I booked the guest house and the caretaker gave me a mat and
a blanket… he took me to show the guesthouse…and there it was..wow.. I’ve never seen anything
like that..old worn out house… real scary…
Well it was dark soon…and I went to chat with the caretaker
as I was bored… the caretaker was already asleep…I looked at the time it was
7:30 PM….i was like people do sleep very early :-)
Well I was bored dunno what to do so sat out in the cold
chilly weather.. looking at the sky… talking to the sky..asking few questions running in my mind.. When you
are bored I guess even time gets bored so it moves very slow..
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| the room and a mat... |
I had a tough time passing time.. so I went and lied down thinking I’ll
fall asleep… but it took a long time before I fell asleep.. but soon I slept
like a baby..
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| Itsy Bitsy Spider... got into my pants |
In my sleep I felt a hand feeling my thighs… I suddenly remembered that am all alone and who’d it be… I opened my eyes and
saw there was no one but I still felt something moving.. I jumped up and
started dancing ( believe me I put in lot of amazing break dance moves), and
when I did that.. something fell and ran towards the wall I took my mobile and
captured an image…it was a spider…huge spider in my pants…damn.. I was still
under shock so couldn sleep..
It was 01:30 Am and not feeling sleepy.. so I went out..it
was cold… so came back and rolled myself in the blanket.. I just sat on the mat
and without knowing what to do started exercising :-)
ya I do that wen I get bored :-)
So I did my regular Push-ups and sit ups etc and sat quite again…saw
the time.. it was 2:30…well this is when things got freaky…
I suddenly heard the creaking sound of the door… the door
when closing and opening makes a weird creaking noise I heard that… I got goosebumps… I was like where was the sound till now? Was I fast asleep when
there was that noise? I had absolutely no idea.. I did what others would feel
best “IGNORE”
After a while around 3 AM I heard anklet sounds….i frankly
don’t know whether it was my imagination or actual sound.. I din have the
courage to go out and check.. I told myself I’ll check it in the morning…
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| Low visibility |
I couldn't sleep..the sound of the wind was adding to my miseries… well I just sat and starred at the door..without knowing what to do… I
sat like that for almost 1 and a half hours and fell asleep…. Got up at
6:30AM and rushed outside to check which
door made the sound…found out that there was a door with the creaky sound.. din
worry much packed and got set to travel back…
I saw that the mist was covering the mountain.. the
visibility was bad… so waited till the mist reduced… found a person who was
also planning on trekking down…
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| Finally a leech got what it wanted... |
He knew only Malayalam so couldn't communicate well…although
he got annoying when he started wasting my time by chatting with each and
every passer-by…dam I felt like pushing him…don’t worry din do it :-)
So we reach very late and finally meet the shopkeeper.. I eat
puttu (kerala dish) and leave that friend I came with and start walking… when I
reached the bus stop where I got down and began this wonderful journey.. I found
out that buses are not frequent…. So started walking…. It mentioned 11 kms to Kollur
the place I had to board bus to mangalore..
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| The lift in a lorry :-) |
I walked for almost an hour and then saw a lorry requested
for a lift… He was happy to drop me… I reached Kollur in no time and boarded
Mangalore bus…
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| Met a friend: Name-"Slow Joe" |
The journey was awesome when I think about that night I still
get goosebumps…
Thanks for your precious time…..
