A page from a travelogue

There are a lot of certainties in life. Like the last minute preparations before the exams, the topics you leave appearing in the exams, disappointment after the results come out, swearing the examiners and so on... Similarly a certain output when you have a bunch of cool headed guys, bikes full of petrol, decent amount of money and a great place to go is what results in the trip which I had been, a couple of days ago.

The place rounded for the trip was “Skandagiri”. We also thought of visiting the Nandi hills on the way. A group of 12 gathered near the college temple (Not that we were wary and all religious, it was incidentally right in front of the gate). By 2 PM we were ready, and flagged off the trip. With intermittent stops all along the way, we were heading in a casual pace. Having stopped for lunch, snacks, to exchange bikes and so on, we managed to finally reach Nandi Hills by 6 PM. A rude shock awaited us. The entrance was closed! The entry is only between 6 AM to 6 PM. You had to see our faces... A drive of nearly 70 Kms for nothing! This was the first time I saw guards so honest – we couldn’t bribe them! With demoralized faces, we returned to our bikes praying at least Skandagiri to be kind on us. With rats running in the stomachs, we hunted for hotels at every village that we passed. Finally, got one. What appeared to be dull was a great one inside. Ate sumptuously. Asking for directions, we finally reached the village (what, I guess is Kalvaar). At the first house, we talked to a family, who warned us about the Police, who come at weekends and puncture the bikes parked. How ridiculous you think? But what if it turned out to be true? We were not in a phase to judge the person or take the risk of having flat tyres. Requested the family to let us park the vehicles in their back yard, for which they obliged.

Originally, we had thought of staring the trek by 12 or 1 AM. But the climb to the top started around 10 PM. The leader of the pack, let’s call him “The Joker” supposedly “knew” the path. He had come once a couple of months ago. Since he’s called the joker, there has to be something funny right? Well, yes it was funny. We had only been walking for about 15 minutes, he was unsure. Again, after climbing for about 15 minutes, he announced that we were heading in a wrong direction. Looking into the positive, he warned us in just as the climb was getting tiresome. Moreover, what is a trek where you don’t get lost, right? So, in a way, we had to thank the Joker.

The trek was certainly something new. First of all, it was a night trek. The other thing being I had absolutely no clue as to how the trek was or what awaited us on the top. Out of the 12, 6 of us had been in the “Kumara Parvata” trek. The comparison was evident. But in contrast, in this trek, we took rest of about 15 minutes for every 15 minutes of trekking. Not because we were tired, but we had a lot of time to kill. Yet, we managed to reach the top by 1. The trek was great. Not very tough, but enduring. Some places were a bit tricky and the first timers found it quiet hard to conquer.

The view from the top – even at 2 AM was spectacular. We could see the whole of Chikballapur and Bengaluru all lit up. Our initial challenge was to set up a fire. A couple of us fetched twigs. That was all we could find. It took a great deal of our energy to keep the fire ablaze, thanks to the wind. The wind that blew was surely a force to be reckoned with. The gang slowly diminished with many of them falling asleep. The fire kept me awake all night. It burned till about 5 AM. Only 3 of us ended up without sleeping. It was dawn and everyone woke up. It was light, but no sight of the sun! We had to wait about half an hour for the sun to rise. As always, it’s always a great sight to see (Specially, if you hardly see him rise – like me). But with all the effort we had taken to witness this, it made it a little more special. It was while descending, we could see the path we had traversed. Looked scary at a few places. Felt a sense of relief and triumph at the base of the hill we just trekked. Headed back to where our bikes were parked. It would have been a great disgrace, if we did not visit Nandi hills after coming so close. But, 4 amongst the group didn’t feel so. They returned back. The remaining 8, visited the Nandi and returned.

All in all, it was a fabulous experience. The journey was a special one; the group made it a good trip. The trek was nothing like I had guessed. It was challenging and very rewarding too. A night under the starry sky, with the chill of the wind and the fire in front – it was like living a dream, with no worries and the tensions. Hope such moments come often...

By the bye, do check out the photos clicked...
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/bharaths9688/SkandagiriNandi#