A trekker for once…

Sid, is one of the unique personalities I have met so far, an unexplainable phenomenon, a simple yet complex down-to-earth person and a good friend. He is probably the only competitor I have had over these years in being ‘lean’ and mean and just being inches shorter than me. Routine work and an occasional visit to his native is all his life about.

On a trek I had planned, I invited him to join and having no inclination, he refused to undertake such strenuous activity and after being constantly pursued, he agreed reluctantly. As the days got closer, the excitement of this challenges and relishing it no end for once kept him occupied.

Well, he almost missed the entire plan by missing the bus and luckily hopped on in the middle to be received gleefully by us, a firm decision that would change him and challenge him over the next couple of days. With the initial stuffing’s and preparations, we started off slowly on the almost level gradient path and within walking a little distance, I turned around hearing a thud and he was on the ground, a slip and a fall.

(a trekker for once...)

Getting him up, we moved ahead and he was always in between some of us, not to lose sight of him and lest he has a fall again and as I was thinking of the same, he dropped once more now slipping on a stone with another thud. Offloading some of the weight from his back, we moved ahead in conquest of the peak we had set our sights on. The breakfast had fast disappeared and with the sun rising up, the hungry demons in our stomach had started squealing no end.

After the break, we pursued further and now the gradient became a little more steep and we were trekking right out in the open under the mercy of the sun god and it was an all out effort to keep ourselves cool and balanced carrying all the weight along. We passed this and entered a forest patch and then out into an open green meadow, Sid started to hop and jog in a way to get ahead of us and yet again landed on his back with a thud. Now, instead of the moans, he started laughing and everyone joined in (well, we were holding it back for a long time now) and the teasing started and in the process he was challenged to be stable and not fall for the rest of the trek.

Being a confident fellow, he instantly hit upon it and accepted the challenge and got lost in thoughts of the alive is awesome moments once he would have defeated us and the thought of a further fall free trek kept us going.

(a sunset view of a lifetime...)

We reached the top without any more falls as Sid was relishing the challenge and had been more careful stepping in the right places and avoiding slippery stones and carefully moving ahead balancing himself well. Tired bodies and with a little rest, we moved to a nearby hilltop for an amazing sunset view, probably one of the best so far.

Time flew as we spent our time amongst the clouds and clean, fresh air and soon we had to head back the way we came. Now betting had started on Sid’s challenge and he was to gain a lot of praises / favors if he would win the challenge, he surely was now relishing the challenge more and all the more determined.

(trekking in the mist...)

Trekking down a hill is faster but more painful as your legs have to have more balance and lot of pressure is exerted on them. It’s always advised to trek downhill in a cross manner as that helps you balance better and good shoes/sandals that do not slide also help. 3/4th of the way, Sid was just perfect and looked all set in winning the accolades, way to go.
After a small break as we resumed on a fairly even path, over a heated conversation, I cursed him to fall and in the next 10 steps, he slid and fell with a thud again and this time all of us almost fell down laughing and rolling. He had braved all the slopes and slides but had this fall on a flat surface when anybody least expected. Cursing me back, he too joined the laughter and it became so loud that our stomachs started to ache no end. Gosh, that was some wonderful moments in those days!

 (a long walk back...)

From there till the end, he had two more falls and with each fall, the laughter’s became louder and the fun part was that it was from everybody including him. All of us had relished the challenge and enjoyed it to the hilt and he almost soaked in his glorified alive is awesome moments, just missing it by a whisker.

Nevertheless, keeping aside the challenges, we all soaked in our successful completion of the trek, conquering one of the mighty beautiful peaks in the Western Ghats infused with a lot of determination, pride, laughter and team bonding. We surely relished all of this and were soaking in our own alive is awesome moments.

Simha farms - Monsoons, Macros, Western Ghats

So far, it has been a quite year for us with fewer adventures and more work and this seems to be continuing into the 2nd half of the year too... After the NTP, I should confess with pride I no longer venture into the field looking out for either birds or mammals only, its every life form that now enthuses me and everything looks interesting :)

With new work and new responsibilities, my Saturdays are a little jeopardized with a couple of hours work to be done and that reflects wherever I travel. Instantly we decided on visiting my friend Adithya's Simha farms for the weekend that is located at Madodi village at the foothills of Kodachadri very close to Hosanagara and Kollur. We needed a break and we were well aware, it would be raining and we were happy about it! (What else do lazy bums need...) Rains in the western ghats is different - it rains, it rains and it only rains. Just when you think the rains have stopped, it starts again, its not a heavy downpour but a slow steady drizzle for hours together and this is the story every day for couple of months when the monsoon is at its peak. Seeing the sun is uncommon and he may not be visible for a couple of days together and all that you get to see is dark clouds hovering above threatening to open up anytime... and with it comes lots of mosquitoes and mosquito bites!

The whole place turns green and you get to see a lot of shades of green all around, the amphibians, reptiles, bugs, beetles, insects are all out and its a macro world out there for the people interested. The little drops of water on the flowers, on the rich green leaves, the moths and caterpillars, centipedes and millipedes, bugs and beetles, frogs and toads, lizards and snakes, you just cant stop smiling. Shooting macros is not an easy job, you need to get wet, dirty and slushy and suffer zillions of insect bites to get close to the subject. Of the lot, frogs are the friendliest who do pose for you diligently, the bugs and beetles are the ones that make you run around, but are good posers once they are tired and realize you are still behind them! I'm still in the infancy of macro photography and now I have started venturing into manual focusing and different exposure combinations with my Tamron multipurpose lens. 

(not sure whether it is the Common Green Forest Lizard?)

With the KSRTC Rajahamsa service running full, we had to choose the Durgamba travels to Madodi and we were bed bugged the whole night :( As we landed early in the day, the rains had just stopped and the fantastic weather was so rejuvenating for our tired limbs. Probably for the first time ever, my Canon camera was in the bag for more than a couple of hours since I landed there. My eyes were scanning all around for something interesting and a couple of hours passed by waiting for the rains to recede and in finishing my work. Stuffing ourselves with breakfast, lunch and snacks and with continuous rains and our continuous bouts of sleep, it was evening time before we even realized. Briefly for about an hour or so, the sun was out  and all of a sudden the place was brimming with bird activity in a hurried manner. In a span of less time I sighted the Racquet tailed drongo, Malabar Grey hornbill, Velvet fronted Nuthatch, Small Minivets, Asian fairy Bluebird, Verdited flycatcher, Purple rumped Sunbird, Golden Oriole, Vernal hanging Parrot, Golden flameback Woodpecker and many more that I could only hear but not see that finally brought out my Canon zoom lens into action. The evenings were colder and the day ended with a bachelors party for Raja and with rains, rains and more rains! (Well Nag aka Nagaraj Gaitonde had a very long night and a night to remember for sure :)).

Day 2 started of with less rains and sun was more prominent than the day before and it sure was an interesting day for all of us. Snails, Centipedes, Caterpillars were all around the place and there were varied life forms all around. When it rains the Cicadas and the Crickets are the most noisiest around but hardly visible, got a single view shot of a Cicada luckily. The massive bull sized Indian Bull Frog was very co-operative and didn't move an inch letting us close by and a couple of other frogs too. The Cicada, mating Grasshoppers, the tiny yet beautiful Blue banded bee kept me occupied till the time we departed from the place. The session of badminton that we played made us realize where it hurts the most if you are playing after a long gap. The most interesting happening was the Cicada kill by the Praying Mantis and the after events.

(@ about 2:30PM)

After lunch, as were were gearing up for a team photo shoot, we were attracted by the shrills of a cicada close by but a little unusual and off sound. Closely inspecting the surroundings, finally we found the cicada firmly in the grasp of the spiked forelegs of the mantis on the bark of the nearby tree. The shrill from the cicada continued as the grasp of the mantis became stronger.

(@ about 2:45PM)

What amazed us all was the manner the mantis was holding on to its prey firmly standing upside down on the bark of a tree and the prey being heavier than itself. As the cicada was still moaning, the mantis was on its job chewing of its prey from the top and it was a sore sight for us observing all the action. The life in cicada was not out completely as it still tried to wriggle away even as the mantis kept on munching on its prey.

We could not get too close as the position of the mantis on the bark was not conducive but all of us sat observing the game of life and death through the binox and our naked eyes and somewhere in our hearts we felt sorrow for the cicada. Half an hour later, the boys went for a nap and I went around chasing the bees and the grasshoppers around.

(@ about 3:40 PM)

The action went on for more than an hour with the mantis enjoying the feast and the cicada now only half visible. I left the mantis to feed further on its pray without causing further disturbance to chase the insects and the bees. I could not find the mantis after an hour or so past 5PM nor could find the shell of the dead cicada. Amazing nature and amazed to see such instances live!

We bid goodbye to Adithya and proceeded towards Shimoga town from where our reservations on the KSRTC Mercedes Benz was confirmed to Bangalore. Somewhat, we were not happy with the Merc ride and felt the Volvo's are much better in comfort.


Personally for me, a good beginning into the macro world and I know for sure this will linger on for some time to come :)


You can contact Adithya Biloor @ www.simhafarms.com
and @
9449652173 / 9379535738 / 08185253738

Simha farms - homestay near Kodachadri

Simha Farms - A homestay in Malenaadu at the foothills of the mighty Kodachadri!

What else do you need? Exquisite environment, beautiful locales, Hornbills at your doorstep, Non-stop bird watching, Cosy cottages, Delicious home food and Hospitable friendly hosts.

Malabar Grey Hornbill had eluded me so far and seeing one such image on INW left me dumbstruck and from there got to know about Simha farms and Adithya Biloor through Ashwini Bhat. More info on this homestay here. Another uniqueness in Simha farms is Mr. Udaya Simha, father of Adithya and who is a sculptor and whose carvings are spread across the estate and they look very real and the pieces of work are exemplary. They also arrange jeep rides to Kodachadri, Hidlumane falls and nearby places.

Nag was not in this time, and Raja had a Sunday wedding to attend at Shimoga, so I, Raja and Guru for a change decided to travel by bus this time around as it was more convenient. 4th and 5 dec were our planned dates. We took the 8:30pm Rajahamsa bus that goes to Kundapur via Shimoga, Ripponpet, Nagara and Madodi, this is the only one that plies on this route. We reached by 5 in the morning the the conductor was familiar with the stop and the homestay and there was a person waiting for us to guide us home. It was still dark as we approached the homestay and there we started seeing the sculptures of deer, bison, apemen who looked like real in the dark. This place is famous for the hornbills who perch at striking distance from you when there is nobody to disturb. The cottages were very good, cozy and traditional and with slight chillness in the morning we had no intentions to sleep.

Adithya came a little later and he also being a photo enthusiast and bird watcher, our conversations started off with both of us having common interests. The Malabar grey hornbills came and perched on the fruit tree right opposite the sitting area and i made some good shots moving at a snails pace. We spent the early morning watching and photographing the hornbills and few other ones that were visible. Then time to fresh up and a heavy breakfast. Strolling around the farm, birding and after a brief rest and lunch, we met the hosts - Adithya's father and wife and saw some of his sculptures. Looks like Adithya's father Udaya Simha's hand is "Made of Gold", seeing the various sculptures you cant hide your amusement and excitement.

Later we hired a jeep to the Hidlumane falls that is at the foothills of Kodachadri. A few kms of nerve wracking jeep ride and then further a small trek to view the falls. The falls is in 4 stages and it needs some trekking skills to reach the last stage. Water was less but the rocks slippery and there were absolutely no souls around to disturb, it was fun time for the three of us. After whaling some time here, then back at the homestay and after a hefty meal, time for some rest. The evening passed with us loitering around doing some birding activity around the farmhouse and near the backwaters close by. Wooly necked storks were the highlight for the evening. Evening time some hot tea with pakodas and games of carrom, what more you require!

Next day myself was the first to wake up past 6, immediately picked my camera and went out for the hornbills. No luck this time, met Adithya and both rode off to the nearby waterbody to shoot some birds in the golden rays. Munia, Barn Swallows and the Vernal Hanging Parrot gave some good moments and there was knowledge sharing b/w both of us on the use of light and background. Raja and Guru joined me later and after spending some time came back to our cottage.

After breakfast we went around the sprawling farmhouse cornering all ends and also to view the sculptures spread across the estate. Heavy lunch and after casual talks we left the place bidding goodbye to the wonderful hosts on our way to Shimoga town.

Raja had a reception to attend, me and Guru whaled time and then we boarded the 11pm Volvo towards nama Bengaluru.

A lovely place, wonderful ambience, lovely weather, humble hosts and a good weekend place away from home.

Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!

Kodachadri - 1 year later!!!

2009 April 10-12...

Kodachadri has been always special to us and when its time to celebrate the first anniversary - we were filled with thoughts of how to go about it?

Finally the best way I could imagine is to go there again and again...! Our thinkings are weird and we would not like to visit the same place again till all the others in our wish list are conquered and it was a bit tough to convince my team to trek up Kodachadri again! This time around, the group was bigger with Badrinath wishing to team up along with his wife.. that made the group 6 with Raja, Guru, Nag, me, Badri and his wife Anu...

With the people in place, next was on how to reach the place? Badri came to the rescue and his grand old Tata Estate vehicle was the knight in shining armour and the Good friday weekend was fixed for this activity.

Accomodation was a problem this time... Rajendra (the guest house guy) could not accomodate us this time as being a holiday weekend, mad rush of people were expected... and he had started a package trip too! how weird and he suggested us also to go in for the package trek! We being freelance trekkers were now in a fix! But as we had been earlier there, he gave us the contact of the Bhat living there who also hosts guests and trekkers. The contact person was Parameshwara Bhat (main Archaka @ Kodachadri temple) who was more than glad to host us.. but he had a condition.... we had to be like staying at home... i.e., do your own cleaning activities and stay as if its your home not a hotel! Well, that was a not a problem for us and thus all things in place... we were off again to reconquer Kodachadri!

Finally the D-day came... and our expected start off from Bengaluru @ 10 pm got delayed and by the time we left it was almost midnight... Badri's sedan was very comfortable and Guru loved his "dikki seat" all through the trip... Badrinath was the lone driver and he had no intentions to share with anybody too...! The drive was smooth and good except for a few hump jumps whenever Badri & his wife missed seeing them.. This time as were in a car, we drove up to "Hotel Santhosh", i.e., the initial 4.5 kms of walk-trek was covered driving! (this was in some way compromising on our actual trek plan...) Hungry stomachs and you gobble up whatever is served.... the same old "Puttus" and "Idlis" with lime juice were gobbled up by all of us in a flash and after a few minutes rest we were all ready to start...

We started off enthusiastically carrying a medium sized watermelon for a break mid way... things change and the weather was not pleasant, it was hot, dry and even the hillocks were sore all thirsty and dried up desperately waiting for the rains!

Badri and his wife Anu were the slowest (I imagine forget trekking would I be able to even walk around normally another 10 years down the line? kudos to them for their agility and courage...). With a few breaks we reached the top this time quite faster within 2 hours from the hotel santhosh.

The IB was swarming with people all around and we went ahead to Parameshwara Bhat's house that is situated at the back end of the temples and the IB. No bathrooms and we were asked to go to the Agastya theertha for bathing purposes. Leaving Badri's wife there, 5 of us went ahead and somehow finally managed there to find water dripping through a small pipe.. the force of water was decent but the chillness never subsided. Turn by turn standing on the edge of the rock, we bathed in the cool water and then we came back after gulping down few glasses of Majjige.

Heavy lunch, some rest and we were off to view the sunset at the Shankara Peeta (last year we had some fabulous sunset view from here)... and we were there early as the crowd was more and we expected them all there! Our gamble worked and we occupied the balcony seat (edge of the cliff from where you can view without any obstructions in front...) but as the saying "Man proposes god disposes". It was cold and overcast weather and the clouds were playing spoilsport all along... (they were not relenting to let the sun shine through!). We were also not there to give up and slowly the crowd was thinning... and we just sat still enjoying the cool breeze and the groundnuts sold there hoping for the sun to be out! Finally just to please us, the sun was out just for a few minutes to allow us click some snaps and then vanished again behind the clouds. Badri and his wife left early as it was getting dark and chill, but we 4 stayed chatting and enjoying the cool breeze.

We left the place not till we were convinced about no chances of the sun coming out again and slowly trekked back to our resting place. The main disadvantage of staying at the Bhat's house is that you dont get any space of your own... its a common hall let out to all the trekkers and the family uses it too.. so either you watch the tv with them or sit out in the darkness chatting with your group! With the stay being not so comfortable and convenient, the next day's plans were 1. to stay back only if we could manage a room in the IB or 2. trek back and halt at Shivamogga (Badri's relatives house)... Again a heavy dinner and a heavy sleep... lazy bums... we were the last ones to wake up to find the entire hall empty.. @ 7.30 am, all the other groups were out and we were still snoring!!! Woke up finally and checked in the IB with no luck, then went again to Agastya theertha for bathing and decided to trek down back... We thanked and bid goodbye to Bhat's family paying the charges (only the food and tea were charged!) and started our trek downhill stopping for some photographs in between. Plastics were still abundant everywhere and I did my bit ragpicking some strewn plastics and collecting it to dispose in some better place than the hills. At the tea stall in between the guy offered to dispose these plastics at some better place and we reluctantly gave it to him. 90 minutes of downhill trek and we were back at the mallu hotel santhosh for more refreshments and to move ahead.

Change of plans.. we guys were wanting a night out at Shivamogga, Anu was willing to stay back at her relative's house there but Badri wanted to go back home! Finally convinced Badri to stay at his in laws house for the night and we 4 took a room for the night near Shivamogga bus stand. We were out for Bengaluru the next day morning by 9am, the highway was good with minimal traffic and we reached home in a span of 5 hours time!

We ended this trip by watching the movie "Jhossh", in which Rakesh Adiga, my relative is one of the lead @ the Garuda Swagath mall.

Happiness for conquering Kodachadri for the 2nd time with a bit of dissappointment for not able to view the sunset, neither the sunrise nor getting the IB and the hot weather in all - all the hills looked brown in dark contrast to the green cover it was last year during the same time.

Trek route: We took the Karakatte gate as the previous year. However there are routes from Nagara and Kodachadri cross. All routes converge near the mallu Hotel Santhosh.

NO PLASTICS please... as mindless people come, dump and go! Am really thinking of alternatives on how to check this dumping!

Accomodation: IB - Mr. Rajendra - 092428 92299; 08185 290368

KK Parameshwara Bhat - 08185 295934

Next time I will ensure I'm there at the right time when there is no crowd and spend some quality time there in the heavenly abode!

Happy Trekking! Preserve Nature!

Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!

Kodachadri Magic !!!

Kodachadri was on our wishlist from a long time and more so after the recent kannada movie "Gaalipata", conquering kodachadri was on the top of our list which finally came true in the summer month of April 2008. As refereed in the movie, (referred as Mugilpete), Kodachadri is always covered by clouds. Sun is allowed only to play hide and seek here and it’s not for a longer duration you get to see him. Finally 4 of us achieved the feat in the summer of 2008. (Many suggested avoiding the summers, but we went on and we were convinced either summer or spring or winter or monsoons, Kodachadri could be visited anytime).

Kodachadri is the second highest peak in Karnataka at 1813m (next only to Mullaingiri) located in the Shivamogga district nearby to the pilgrim center Kollur in the Western Ghats. It’s around 380 kms from Bangalore and about 20 kms from the temple town of Kollur and can be reached by either a trek or a rough jeep ride.

We had 3-4 days at our disposal and we clubbed Kodachadri with a few other places to suffice the days we had. We covered Bangalore-Sagara-Sigandoor-Kollur-Kodachadri-Byndoor-Murudeshwar-Gokarna circuit. The second part was quite tiring and we struggled a bit because of the weather and the travel part...

Our journey: 25th 26th April 2008 – Took off from Bangalore by the Kollur bus (those who plan to go to kodachadri directly can board this bus and get down at the Karakatte gate - one of the gateways for the trek), which leaves razor sharp at 8:30pm from the KBS. Reached Shimoga somewhere early dawn, got into a hotel with influence for the morning duties and left for Sagara to head towards Sigandoor, which was our planned destination. Private buses rule in this part of the state and they are very dependable and convenient. Sigandoor is around 35 kms from Sagara town wherein you need to ride on a launch (Crossing the river on a launch with the bus, cars bikes and people on board) and further ahead can reach Kollur via Nittur. The launch ride was itself an experience with the surprise that such mode of transport still exists.

 

 

(1)early moring at Shivamogga ..... (2) posing at the now defunct sagara railway station....

 

 

on the way to sigandoor... (below).. the launch ride....

 

 

(below)... disembarking from the joy ride; (2)the sigandoor temple....

 

(below).. the kollur bus stand; (2)posing at byndoor beach....

 

27th April 2008: The D-day... There are 4-5 trekking routes to reach Kodachadri in addition to the jeep track. Advised not to take the jeep ride unless you have strong backs and are lazy enough not to trek up. The experience, excitement, freshness added with the opportunity to view nature at its best is only when you trek and not in the tiresome jeep ride. We started off at 6.15 from Kollur, 15mts delay from our scheduled departure, had a quick breakfast (eventually missed the 6:15 bus) and managed to reach Karakatte gate(our starting point) at 7:10 after paying 200 Rs for the auto ride of around 20kms in the ghat section. There is no gate as such but only a wide mud path, which is to the left when coming from Sagara, which is known as Karakatte gate. From here the peak is about 10 kms, the first 4.5kms on an almost straight wide path ending up near the mallu hotel “Hotel Santhosh”. This is the pit stop for all trekkers passing by where idlis and puttus are available to regain your lost energy because the trek ahead is completely uphill and quite straining for lazy people like us. We reached here at 8:40, a good 90 minutes from the start; it was a nice walk amidst the forest with only the buzz of insects and the chirping of birds to accompany you. With a rest of 40 minutes, with our batteries recharged we started off from there with no idea of what lay ahead but with lots of zeal and enthusiasm to conquer the beautiful peak which lay around 5.5 kms ahead...

 

(1)warming up...notice my juttu.. (2)... ready..steady..go... at the karakatte gate...

 

 

(1)take a break...; (2)posing yo yo guys...; (3)the terrible foursome....

 

(1)long way to go... (2).. at the mallu hotel santhosh.....

 

 

(1)mouth watering idlis & puttus..; (2)a view of the valley as we ascend...; (3)tired ???

The wide jeep track, which we took till now suddenly turned into a serpentine narrow path ahead of this hotel and the ascent, starts from here. In this trek, follow the straight path ahead and you will surely reach the top, don’t take diversions unless you are sure of it. We went ahead passing through dense jungle and suddenly on to bare stretch and again through the foothill of thick forests and again through a bald patch of a hillock, it goes this way as almost you trek through 3-4 smaller hillocks with mesmerizing scenes of the kollur forest range all around you. You can spot the guesthouse from quite a distance, but it’s not as close as it appears. The trek through the forests is quite exciting and frightening sometimes when you suddenly hear growls around; the ideal way is to trek as a group not letting anyone stray away. As it was summer, it was dry around and with no leeches around; still the pale green hillocks offer a soothing scene for us people who are getting used to see no greens at all in Bangalore.

 

 

(1)posing for a shot; (2)see the valley behind; (3)the much needed pit stop.....

At a place where we were exhausted and tired and were about to breakdown, we suddenly spotted a makeshift shop where the person was selling juices and cucumber for the trekkers. It was rather surprising at this place, somewhere in the dense jungle, with hardly few people coming by, made us realize what all people do to earn a living. From this point, the guesthouse is around 30 minutes trek, but we went ahead lazily and casually stopping even for a dance in between with those heavy sacks just in excitement, as we were almost near the peak. Finally after almost 3.5 hours of exciting, entertaining, frightening, water dripping, exhausting trek, we reached the guesthouse, which is the base of the peak. Here there are few bhattara manes and also the guesthouse where you get accommodation as well as food. Half the mission accomplished.. what was a dream just hours ago was achieved and we couldn't believe ourselves that we were really atop the pristine Kodachadri...

 

 

(1)the guest house atop; (2)We did it mate....... ; (3)its just 2pm and the cloud cover.. truly amazing...

It was a bright sunny afternoon and the skies were clear and suddenly at around 2 pm, thick clouds engulfed the sky and the sun was shadowed completely, this hide and seek continued almost till the evening when it was time for us to trek to the peak for the sunset. A 30 minutes trek (the mindblowing valley view..) to the ultimate peak at the right side from behind the guesthouse passing by the ganesh guha, walking amidst the clouds blowing directly onto you (the cool breeze of the clouds is best experienced and not described) the shankara peeta can be spotted with the background of beautiful clouds and the golden sun setting up for a beautiful photo shoot (THE best sunset i have ever witnessed)....

 

 

 

(1)ganesh guha; (2)on the way to shankara peetam; (3)the sunset magic unfolds.....

The thick blanket of snow white clouds huddled together with the golden rays falling on them and topped up with the cool breeze and the calm surroundings makes you feel ecstatic and the scenery mesmerizing. Sitting on the rocks watching the sun go down, with the cool breeze is itself rejuvenating and exhilarating making you forget all your city blues. Chitramoola and Agastya theetha (a small waterfalls with leeches) are the places around which we could not trek due to lack of time. We came back on a slightly different route, but fast paced with the help of a high beam torch we had to the guest house, gobbled up what was served for dinner, chatted for quite some time sitting in the cool breeze and finally laid down and almost everyone dozed off instantly after an exciting day and mind load of memories to cherish.

 

 

the pictures tell it all...........................

 

 

 

28th April 2008: We planned to catch the sunrise atop another peak, but being lazy enough, got up only at 6:30 and lo behold the sight outside was awesome - zero visibility, thick fog cover and forget the sun, nothing could be seen. Still we started our trek to the opposite peak of shankara peeta where supposedly the sunrise had to be seen. Halfway through we were lost because of the fog cover, forgot where we had seen the route the previous evening and just stood still with no idea of where to go and hardly could see anything leave alone the peak. Luckily a strong breeze cleared the fog cover for us and the route became visible and we just followed the path, sometimes the path wading ahead at the edge of the cliff with only the fog blanket which could be seen below. Atop the peak, with only fog-covered landscape to see accompanied by strong winds, it was time again to dance and cheer with the gaalipata song playing in the background aloud to express our excitement and happiness.

 

 

(1)na nai na na nai !!!; (2)poor visibility.. foggy morning... Back to the guesthouse and after having the breakfast we moved ahead next to the peak where supposedly shots of the movie Gaalipata were filmed. The peak is itself a treat to the sore eyes covered by small green plants presenting you a green blanket with a background of a thick green forest covered hill to one side and a beautiful valley on the other side.

 

 (1)the peak; (2)the valley view; 

We started back by 12pm with a promise of coming back here again and again more rather as and when time permits, to rejuvenate ourselves, find solitude and to rediscover oneself amidst the nature. It took us almost 3 hours to (with the customary break at hotel santhosh) descend savouring the beauty of the hills and wading goodbye to them to reach the main road (karakatte gate) at around 3:15. We had to camp on the roadside for the next 2 hours as we had missed the bus at 3 which went off early at 2:45pm. So utilized the time effectively once again dancing away and playing with the amused stares of the passer bys encouraging us all the more. Thus ended our most memorable trek coupled with a few more first experiences and memories to cherish forever... Hail Kodachadri !!!

The only thing that haunted us was the disposal of plastics near the guesthouse as well as the shankara peeta, why are people so callous towards nature even in such a place? Also alarming was the no of people who undertake the risky jeep ride... ??? and when we came back, the place was crowded with jeeps all around confusing us whether did we descend directly into Bangalore or what !!!!

 

(1)dump of plastics; (2)the board telling the history of kodachadri; (3)the numerous jeeps lined up near the bhattara mane......

 

 

(1)bye bye kodachadri; (2)long wait for the bus at the karakatte gate....

Came back to kollur, made the customary visit to the mookambika temple and rested for the day... Still the feeling of conquering Kodachadri was sinking in...

29th April 2008: After a good mosquito night's sleep, woke up and left kollur by 10am to cover murudeshwar and gokarna for the day and return back to our place by the night sleeper coach of vrl from gokarna. The travel turned out to be quite hectic and with the sun blazing hot along the coastline, showed no mercy on us (2 days.. two sides of extreme temperature was felt).... After visiting this, finally left for bangalore from gokarna after 4 days of travel with loads of memories and lots of fresh zeal and enthusiasm to carry on our mundane jobs left behind !!!

Tips: Trek route: We took the karakatte route as this was the most publicised on the net. There are also routes form Kodachadri cross and Nagara. Al routes converge near the mallu hotel. Distance: rather time: Approximately 4 hours even for the laziest bums... Carry light baggage, lots of water and fruits, avoid oily snacks and NO PLASTICS please. High beam torches and sufficient battery backup for the cameras as electricity is only for 2 hours in the night at the guesthouse.

Accomodation: available at the govt. guesthouse as also the few bhattara mane's present there. guest house contact person: Mr. Rajendra - tel no: 092428 92299; 08185 290368 atop kodachadri.

Bus: Direct bus from bangalore to Kollur at 8:30pm everyday, get down at Karakatte gate. Time to visit: All round the year, but avoid peak monsoons. Surf the net and you will get loads of information. Happy Trekking! The team: Nagaraj, Siddesh, Gururaj and Santosh.

Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!