Trek to kodachadri
It was as expected ; when sameera came running down the road to the bus stop an hour late to catch a bus to the KSRTC bus stand, to board a bus to kollur. The bus was scheduled to leave bangalore at 9:30 pm. The time it takes to reach the KSRTC Bus Stand in the 9pm traffic of bangalore is unbelievable and we did not want to miss the bus. Suman, Akshay and Anil were all quite tensed fearing we could miss the bus as it had already been reserved. It was decided that pavan would be waiting at the market bus stand and he would board the bus in which we are in, as it reaches the bus stand. And he called up thrice all tensed enquiring our late departure. Anyway we did manage to board the bus to kollur on time. It sure was a big sigh of relief. Adventure had already been begun before we started our trek to kodachadri. I said to myself , " shashikanth, this trip will for sure be an exiting stuff". Many may criticize that kodachadri is not so adventurous, but i say it is one of the best. I will explain why, shortly.
We reached the KSRTC bus stand at 9:15pm and we boarded the bus. I should appreciate the Karnataka Road Transport Corporation at this point, as i always do, for their time sense. The Raja Hamsa class KSRTC bus left for Kollur at 9:35pm. The journey was to be for 10 hours and it was great fun. Pavan was in his all nutcracker mode, making us all laugh like crazy and he never lets anyone sleep until he feels sleepy. It is only then that he shuts himself down.
We then had a small coffee pitstop at midnight in a place, off Dabaspete near Tumkur. Anil had a plate of idly, suman and myself slurped on a cup of coffee in the cold. KAMAT UPACHAR was the motel, and it was good. The journey then continued and at around 3:00am we reached shimoga. Kodachadri is like 3-31/2 hour drive from shimoga. The conductor of the bus had earlier promised that he would lead us to the kodachadri trek route as we all were first timers and had no idea on were to get down and were to proceed..etc. So i confirmed once again with the conductor at shimoga and he was a bit hard on me this time around. I still have not understood why he reacted that way. But still all thanks to him as he started directing us on the travel as we reached nittur. Kodachadri is like 10 minutes from nittur. If anyone wants to climb up the kodachadri peak in a jeep, then nittur is the starting point and they charge around Rs 1400 per jeep for one side travel irrespective of the number of travellers. But we wanted to walk through the jungle and reach the summit. Finally we reached the place at 6:15 am and it was pitch dark. We could not see anything and there was no one travelling on that road either. Thanks to the cell phone's back light as we managed to brush our teeth and freshen up ourselves. It was a brilliant feeling; being in the middle of the jungle (western ghats) and with the jungle sounds, to be just standing there. Finally when the sun rays tried its way out of the canopy, we could see the trek route, which started from right beside the road. The fog cover was amazing and the reduced visibility, in this case, was a treat to our eyes. And our lungs sure did enjoy the breath of the fresh air. We started walking through the jungle at around 6:45 am. The cameras had a hard time out in that weather as we could not resist clicking photgraphs and more importantly posing for it. The most awaited Kodachadri trek had thus begun.
The route was amazing, and the jeep track was clearly visible. It took us an hour and a quarter to reach the 'kaka angadi' a hotel for the trekkers. We rested for around half an hour after having the breakfast at the same place. We ate the chapati's which we had carried from home, and also tasted the idly's from the kaka angadi. It was decent enough and was easily affordable. Suman didn't quite like it though. He tried to make the dog there happy by feeding it with the "puttu" ( a cylindrical idly) and as we all know that the dog is a faithful animal, it did follow suman to the peak all the way. It rather proved to be a fantastic guide to us inside the jungle.
As we started our trek after the breakfast, the route went straight into the jungle. And there were no jeep tracks and the route was like 30 cms in width and was getting steeper as we hiked. It was then we realized that we had lost the jeep route ; the normal trek route. We were in the middle of the thick jungle with the bushes and the plants rubbing our shoulders all the way. This then led us to another such route which had a different starting point. We were exhausted at this stage and opted for a 5 minute long rest. Glucose was shared and other sugar candies too for energy. We drank water in small quantities as we were adviced not to drink water at once while trekking. The jungle sounds were really amazing, it sure was creepy sometimes . The light drizzle added to the beauty of the jungle. It is my dream to trek the amazon basin, and at that moment i said to myself that this would be my first step in achieving it. I have seen how the rain forests are, only on television and this was close to one such experience. We also met other trekkers who were trekking down the mountain. The cameras were again put to work as we posed for it. We then trekked for another 30 minutes or so to reach a place where a person had set up a small table, selling cucumber's, water bottles etc. We had our share of cucumbers and continued our trek. The view from here on is divinely elevating. You are more than just happy at the sight of the terrain. This part was the toughest of the trek i should say. We had to rest for every 5 minutes of the trek. May be because we were the first timers or i would now proudly say that we were the first time trekkers. We then entered a plain land on top of a mountain which stood next to the kodachadri. We then removed our wet shirts off and just slept, resting our head onto our luggage bags. It was quite disgusting as we had not taken bath yet. But the freshness of the jungle completely masked it out. After some rest we then continued our trek and at this stage we were able to see the 'Poojary's house' (bhattara mane). It is the place where trekkers can rest, eat and stay. It was at around 12:00 pm when we reached this place. The ecstasy for having achieved till here is very difficult to put it in words. We had to do a virtually 90 degree climb of around 10 metres before we could reach the poojary's house. We took it one by one, as it was full of loose stones. I took it up first, pavan then followed, with anil, akshay and suman following up. Sameera took a little help out from us as he was carrying two different bags. It was then that we learnt that we should always travel light, especially during long and tiring treks as this. Trekking up till this place surely was a biggest feeling; a feeling that you get when you achieve something. There was more to come and we knew it. We were exited.
The room was booked and the lunch was ordered and we had to wait for around half an hour to dig into the plate. It was the longest wait of my life. Finally, at around 1:00 pm we got a chance to show our capacity, our strength in filling our tummy's full. Co-incidentally for the tough trek we had, our capacity had increased leaps and bounds. We were blessed with generous people out there who served to fill even the minute gap in our stomach. After having such a sumptuous meal we slept for more than an hour or so. It was 3:00 in the afternoon when we woke up. And now it was time to scale the peak and reach the summit.
We left for the peak at 3:15pm keeping other places to visit( Ganesh Guha and Agastya Theerha ) in mind. We could see nothing but the clouds. The silent walk through the clouds to the peak was and is one of my best moments of my life. Finally we reached the summit at around 4:30. Visited the Sarvajna Peetha ( Shankaracharya's shrine) on the peak. We could see nothing but the clouds, 360 degrees. It was very windy. And i felt like flying in the air. Cameras had a hard time out again. At around 5:00 in the evening we started our climb down and reached ganesha guha. Its a 5 minute walk down the peak. The setting of the nature at this place was very picturesque. It was a 1 km climb down at virtually 60 degrees to agasthya theertha, a waterfall. The very idea of it being in the middle of the jungle, in our mind, was so exiting. Suman and sameera didn't join us for the agasthya theertha trek as they were completely drained out. We (anil, pavan, akshay and myself) too were not sure on making it as it was 5:20 in the evening when we started to this place and the sun rays dies down quickly in the jungle, we knew it. But thanks to anil for pushing us into it. We finally reached this place and were jumping with joy. It was a tough one. If there were no tree roots protruding out of the ground, it would have been highly difficult for us to go to the place. We four then huddled together to celebrate the beauty of the mother nature. As we were jumping in joy pavan missed the grip on the water bottle he was carrying and it fell down the mountain. It was funny. Anyway we started our journey back to the top (ganesha guha) where suman and sameera were waiting for us. We then started our way back to the poojary's house. And we reached the place at 6:45 pm, our energy completely drained out.
We then decided to proceed to kollur that very night itself. Our energy levels and the darkness of the jungle night didn't permit us to trek back. Therefore we hired a jeep to travel down the mountain. While trekking up pavan had kept a part of his luggage in the kaka angadi. It was a very wise decision to do so, as it helped him to trek light. So it had to be taken back from the kaka angadi, thus we requested the driver to go to that place and then proceed to kollur. He accepted though but for an extra 300 rupees. And the actual jeep cost as mentioned earlier was 1400 rupees. Thus the deal was settled for 1700 rupees, nothing less nothing more. We settled all the finanaces at the poojary's house ( bhattara mane) and we were off into the jungle by 7:45 pm in the evening boarding the jeep. It was an experience of a totally different kind. The route is like, the route to hell. But all thanks to the driver, who made sure that we were all safe. At one point all the tyres of the jeep were on loose stones and it skidded of the so called road. Man ! it was scary. Suman sat next to the driver and went speechless after the drive down the mountain, or rather climb down the mountain. The boulders which sat boldly in the road made life difficult to the driver, the jeep and of course its passangers. We had thought that 1400 rupees is a bit too much for one side travel, but then we realized that it was nothing after going through this hell of a ride, bumpy all the way. At the end it was another brilliant jungle experience, with the stars shining clearly and brightly in the night sky. It was one sight that is not often found in the bangalore night sky now-a-days. It was like 9:30 in the night when we reached the kaka angadi. And we left the place as soon as pavan took his luggage back. Here we bid adieu to kodachadri and we thanked god for such a wonderful experience of the jungle and the mountains of the western ghats. And at this point we were exited to explore more such places, which is more than a plenty. And it flashed to my mind at this juncture the statement made by nemichandra ( traveller and author) that " you only have to dream of flying, and the wings sprouts out itself and will help you do so".
Adios to kodachadri !
We reached the KSRTC bus stand at 9:15pm and we boarded the bus. I should appreciate the Karnataka Road Transport Corporation at this point, as i always do, for their time sense. The Raja Hamsa class KSRTC bus left for Kollur at 9:35pm. The journey was to be for 10 hours and it was great fun. Pavan was in his all nutcracker mode, making us all laugh like crazy and he never lets anyone sleep until he feels sleepy. It is only then that he shuts himself down.
We then had a small coffee pitstop at midnight in a place, off Dabaspete near Tumkur. Anil had a plate of idly, suman and myself slurped on a cup of coffee in the cold. KAMAT UPACHAR was the motel, and it was good. The journey then continued and at around 3:00am we reached shimoga. Kodachadri is like 3-31/2 hour drive from shimoga. The conductor of the bus had earlier promised that he would lead us to the kodachadri trek route as we all were first timers and had no idea on were to get down and were to proceed..etc. So i confirmed once again with the conductor at shimoga and he was a bit hard on me this time around. I still have not understood why he reacted that way. But still all thanks to him as he started directing us on the travel as we reached nittur. Kodachadri is like 10 minutes from nittur. If anyone wants to climb up the kodachadri peak in a jeep, then nittur is the starting point and they charge around Rs 1400 per jeep for one side travel irrespective of the number of travellers. But we wanted to walk through the jungle and reach the summit. Finally we reached the place at 6:15 am and it was pitch dark. We could not see anything and there was no one travelling on that road either. Thanks to the cell phone's back light as we managed to brush our teeth and freshen up ourselves. It was a brilliant feeling; being in the middle of the jungle (western ghats) and with the jungle sounds, to be just standing there. Finally when the sun rays tried its way out of the canopy, we could see the trek route, which started from right beside the road. The fog cover was amazing and the reduced visibility, in this case, was a treat to our eyes. And our lungs sure did enjoy the breath of the fresh air. We started walking through the jungle at around 6:45 am. The cameras had a hard time out in that weather as we could not resist clicking photgraphs and more importantly posing for it. The most awaited Kodachadri trek had thus begun.
The route was amazing, and the jeep track was clearly visible. It took us an hour and a quarter to reach the 'kaka angadi' a hotel for the trekkers. We rested for around half an hour after having the breakfast at the same place. We ate the chapati's which we had carried from home, and also tasted the idly's from the kaka angadi. It was decent enough and was easily affordable. Suman didn't quite like it though. He tried to make the dog there happy by feeding it with the "puttu" ( a cylindrical idly) and as we all know that the dog is a faithful animal, it did follow suman to the peak all the way. It rather proved to be a fantastic guide to us inside the jungle.
As we started our trek after the breakfast, the route went straight into the jungle. And there were no jeep tracks and the route was like 30 cms in width and was getting steeper as we hiked. It was then we realized that we had lost the jeep route ; the normal trek route. We were in the middle of the thick jungle with the bushes and the plants rubbing our shoulders all the way. This then led us to another such route which had a different starting point. We were exhausted at this stage and opted for a 5 minute long rest. Glucose was shared and other sugar candies too for energy. We drank water in small quantities as we were adviced not to drink water at once while trekking. The jungle sounds were really amazing, it sure was creepy sometimes . The light drizzle added to the beauty of the jungle. It is my dream to trek the amazon basin, and at that moment i said to myself that this would be my first step in achieving it. I have seen how the rain forests are, only on television and this was close to one such experience. We also met other trekkers who were trekking down the mountain. The cameras were again put to work as we posed for it. We then trekked for another 30 minutes or so to reach a place where a person had set up a small table, selling cucumber's, water bottles etc. We had our share of cucumbers and continued our trek. The view from here on is divinely elevating. You are more than just happy at the sight of the terrain. This part was the toughest of the trek i should say. We had to rest for every 5 minutes of the trek. May be because we were the first timers or i would now proudly say that we were the first time trekkers. We then entered a plain land on top of a mountain which stood next to the kodachadri. We then removed our wet shirts off and just slept, resting our head onto our luggage bags. It was quite disgusting as we had not taken bath yet. But the freshness of the jungle completely masked it out. After some rest we then continued our trek and at this stage we were able to see the 'Poojary's house' (bhattara mane). It is the place where trekkers can rest, eat and stay. It was at around 12:00 pm when we reached this place. The ecstasy for having achieved till here is very difficult to put it in words. We had to do a virtually 90 degree climb of around 10 metres before we could reach the poojary's house. We took it one by one, as it was full of loose stones. I took it up first, pavan then followed, with anil, akshay and suman following up. Sameera took a little help out from us as he was carrying two different bags. It was then that we learnt that we should always travel light, especially during long and tiring treks as this. Trekking up till this place surely was a biggest feeling; a feeling that you get when you achieve something. There was more to come and we knew it. We were exited.
The room was booked and the lunch was ordered and we had to wait for around half an hour to dig into the plate. It was the longest wait of my life. Finally, at around 1:00 pm we got a chance to show our capacity, our strength in filling our tummy's full. Co-incidentally for the tough trek we had, our capacity had increased leaps and bounds. We were blessed with generous people out there who served to fill even the minute gap in our stomach. After having such a sumptuous meal we slept for more than an hour or so. It was 3:00 in the afternoon when we woke up. And now it was time to scale the peak and reach the summit.
We left for the peak at 3:15pm keeping other places to visit( Ganesh Guha and Agastya Theerha ) in mind. We could see nothing but the clouds. The silent walk through the clouds to the peak was and is one of my best moments of my life. Finally we reached the summit at around 4:30. Visited the Sarvajna Peetha ( Shankaracharya's shrine) on the peak. We could see nothing but the clouds, 360 degrees. It was very windy. And i felt like flying in the air. Cameras had a hard time out again. At around 5:00 in the evening we started our climb down and reached ganesha guha. Its a 5 minute walk down the peak. The setting of the nature at this place was very picturesque. It was a 1 km climb down at virtually 60 degrees to agasthya theertha, a waterfall. The very idea of it being in the middle of the jungle, in our mind, was so exiting. Suman and sameera didn't join us for the agasthya theertha trek as they were completely drained out. We (anil, pavan, akshay and myself) too were not sure on making it as it was 5:20 in the evening when we started to this place and the sun rays dies down quickly in the jungle, we knew it. But thanks to anil for pushing us into it. We finally reached this place and were jumping with joy. It was a tough one. If there were no tree roots protruding out of the ground, it would have been highly difficult for us to go to the place. We four then huddled together to celebrate the beauty of the mother nature. As we were jumping in joy pavan missed the grip on the water bottle he was carrying and it fell down the mountain. It was funny. Anyway we started our journey back to the top (ganesha guha) where suman and sameera were waiting for us. We then started our way back to the poojary's house. And we reached the place at 6:45 pm, our energy completely drained out.
We then decided to proceed to kollur that very night itself. Our energy levels and the darkness of the jungle night didn't permit us to trek back. Therefore we hired a jeep to travel down the mountain. While trekking up pavan had kept a part of his luggage in the kaka angadi. It was a very wise decision to do so, as it helped him to trek light. So it had to be taken back from the kaka angadi, thus we requested the driver to go to that place and then proceed to kollur. He accepted though but for an extra 300 rupees. And the actual jeep cost as mentioned earlier was 1400 rupees. Thus the deal was settled for 1700 rupees, nothing less nothing more. We settled all the finanaces at the poojary's house ( bhattara mane) and we were off into the jungle by 7:45 pm in the evening boarding the jeep. It was an experience of a totally different kind. The route is like, the route to hell. But all thanks to the driver, who made sure that we were all safe. At one point all the tyres of the jeep were on loose stones and it skidded of the so called road. Man ! it was scary. Suman sat next to the driver and went speechless after the drive down the mountain, or rather climb down the mountain. The boulders which sat boldly in the road made life difficult to the driver, the jeep and of course its passangers. We had thought that 1400 rupees is a bit too much for one side travel, but then we realized that it was nothing after going through this hell of a ride, bumpy all the way. At the end it was another brilliant jungle experience, with the stars shining clearly and brightly in the night sky. It was one sight that is not often found in the bangalore night sky now-a-days. It was like 9:30 in the night when we reached the kaka angadi. And we left the place as soon as pavan took his luggage back. Here we bid adieu to kodachadri and we thanked god for such a wonderful experience of the jungle and the mountains of the western ghats. And at this point we were exited to explore more such places, which is more than a plenty. And it flashed to my mind at this juncture the statement made by nemichandra ( traveller and author) that " you only have to dream of flying, and the wings sprouts out itself and will help you do so".
Adios to kodachadri !
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