So we started our trek from that place.-->>
Walking on the narrow road through the jungle, we had no idea where we were going,
or how long it would take us to reach where we
would reach.
But all of us were very enthusiastic, and full of energy, hence sarcasm overflowed. Now, in hindsight,I think if any one of us had any idea what awaited us, we might have tried to conserve every bit of energy we had.
By the way, this was tiger territory. In
between our jokes about how a yellow-with-
black-stripes-predator of prey would jump suddenly in front of us, we suddenly heard a loud commotion very near to us, in the jungle.
To tell you the truth, all of us were stunned by the noise, and at least for one second, we were petrified. Then it dawned to us that the animal was not yellow-with-black-stripes, but simply black. It turned out to be nothing but a wild buffalo!.
Fortunately or unfortunately, this was the first and the last encounter we had with any sort of wild animal throughout the trek.
Thus we continued our walk. Now I am saying 'walk', but at that point all of us were thinking we were trekking.
Actually what we were doing then, seemed to us like a 'trek' because except one, all of us were trekking for the first time, and the path on which we were walking had steep ascends and steep descends. Each time the path
descended for a small distance, we would look back and wonder how we would climb up the sam
e way when we returned - whether we would have the energy to do so?.
This (in hindsight) irrelevant question arised because of our ignorance. Like all humans, we too had a fundamental flaw. We lacked the power to see even an hour into the future.
After about an hour of walking, we caught up with this group of four malayalees, whom we had earlier seen walking into the jungle ahead of us, just before we had started. They told us they were frequent visitors to the place, and then they dropped a bombshell.
It seemed whatever we were 'trekking' till then, was just the approach to the actual hill. The Kodachadri hill, as they pointed to us, stood towering before us, almost challenging us to ascend it.
From the small clearence we were standing in, we could make out that it was around 2 km till the base of the hill, and god knows how many more till we reach the top. But there was no need to ask god. Those guys themselves told us. It was around 6 km. Add to this the four kilometeres we had already walked to get a peek at the hill, and the total distance we would have walked before we (hopefully) reached the hill-top would be a staggering twelve kilometres.
This is no kidding. It is like walking from HAL to majestic, that too against the one-g force that was literally sucking you down, towards the valley.
The Tresspassers.
Thankfully, just when the journey was becoming a little monotonous, and just when all our bisleri-water bottles were empty,we saw a small tuck-shop. This tuck shop was also owned by a malayali. Hence language was no problem. There we re-energized ourselves, drank morin-vellam and lime juice, ate the fruits which we had bought back in Shimoga, and after a brief rest resumed our journey.
After walking for around ten minutes, we reached a junction. There, the road split into two. The branch to the right was very narrow, and seemed to lead into deep,dark jungle. The branch to the left also led into the deep,dark jungle, but it was a tad wider than the other, and seemed the safer one to walk on.
We had to make a choice.
As there was nobody to ask directions, we took the path that looked safer to walk on, even though it was so obviously leading us in a direction opposite to the hill which we wanted to climb.
After a kilometre or so, we reached a fence. Another glaring sign to turn back. But who are we to be stopped by a stupid fence?
So we jumped over it and continued, walking for some more time before we reched yet another fence. This time, we could see that just beyond the fence there was something like an adivasi settlement.
There was some smallcultivation area, and on top of a small hill a little distance ahead, there were some thatched houses.
In one house, there was a lady sitting with two kids. We waved at her, like bourgeois tourists
do, thinking that it was her duty, as a localite, to show us the right way.
But instead, what did she do? she let her dogs loose, and although I didn't see it very clearly then, but my friends confirmed later, she charged out of her house with something in her hand that looked distinctly like a shot-gun. Amidst noises of barking dogs and gun-shots(just kidding here :)) we ran for our lives (no kidding here :)), and
finally reached the very junction from where we had de-toured.
From there we took the other path. We were starting
our real trek. We were still short of four
hours of anti-gravity excercise before we would reach the top.
From this point till we reached the top ,when I try to recollect, I can't remember much detail except the very narrow and treacherous path that was always there in front of us, always getting steeper and steeper as we climbed higher and higher. Exhaustion had mutilated my senses.Then there was the beautiful jungle on either side, with its haunting sounds of small insects that seemed to echo from all sides, and the trickling sound of water from one of the many streams which we passed over.
This was endurance test at its toughest. We were taking breaks every five minutes. I personally was taking ten minutes break after five minutes of trek :).
Finally we reached a clearing, where somebody or a forest fire had burnt
a part of the jungle.
Through this clearing, we could see down to the valley - what a beautiful sight it was - and how
high we had climbed. We rested there also, enjoying the view.
Then when we resumed the trek we realised how important the trees were to us. Without the shadow of the trees, we were left to the mercy of the sun, and it was excruciatingly tiring to clim
b the hill in that stretch, in th
e scortching sun.
And in some places, the climb was almost 90 degrees -MI-2 stuff, as one of my friends put it.
Finally as we again ran out of water, and fruits, and almost ran out of our determination, just at the right time, and at the right place, there was a guy who was selling glucose, and lime-juice. This place would be like heaven, for the poor trekker.
Near the small wooden bench where he kept his supplies, we sat on the flat stones which he had put for tired trekkers like us to sit.
After an extended rest there, and with a lot of gratitude to that guy, we set of for the remaining part of our trek, which was the easiest. We had left the steepest climbs far below us.
Aha!
Finally, we reached the hill-top.
We just sat at the top for some time, doing nothing. Not even thinking. Because we were tired.Mentally and physically, we had(atleast I personally had) almost nothing more to offer. Hence there was this calm - a very peaceful ten minutes to be enjoyed.
And again, the evening was getting very beautiful with the sunset approaching.
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