A trek to Kodachadri

Organizing committee: Jairaj, Ram, Binoy
Trekkers: Sudhakar, Vasuki, Anil, Rajesh, Prashanth, Jose, Sampath, Ketan, Kevin, Bharani, Dinesh, Nagaraju,Nitin, JP and me.

The route: Bangalore Bus 8.30 - KSRTC to Kundapur via shimoga / kollur__ Alight at Nittur__Trek on Road till Marakuttaka__after bridge take a deviation __walk till a stream__cross the Stream___walk till Reaching Hidlumane village___ Reach Hidlumane water falls__ climb the water falls through forest __Climb up the hill ___keep walking___ Climb up hil top to find Jeep track ___walk through___ Battra mane (Base camp)___Climb up to the sunset point and sarvagnya peeta …stay in base camp@ night__ Start trek back Battra mane (Base camp) next morning___climb down through forest___Reach kaka shop at basewalk till u reach Tar road__ Bus from Road to Kollur - 15 kms __ Return bus from Kollur to Bangalore - 9.00 pm Reach Bangalore 6.00 am

It all started few weeks back over a cuppa of coffee @ 5th floor stairs. Jai, Ram, Vasuki, Girish and myself ( I guess Suman was also there), were having coffee that evening, and were casually discussing about travelling in India. Girish said, he has travelled around many places across the globe but has not been able to see many places with in India. Jai shared his travel experiences during pre-OFSS days. During this point we all decided we needed to make a weekend trip. Ram suggested Kodachadri, as he n jai had already trekked this terrain, and that everyone would enjoy as it offers the combination of plains, high hills, waterfalls, forest and temple . So deciding on the place was instant without much effort.
It was decided that will go for trek to Kodachadri. Initially we thought of Jan 28, 29 as the dates. ( later it was rescheduled) Now it was time to put together the team. Girish opted out as he had personal commitments. Vasuki had concerns.( But eventually made it to final 18) We decided to place a formal invitation to the entire FCIS team to join us. We also coined an idea to form a trekking club..(may be with the success of this trek we hope to put it in shape soon)
For few days all were silent on this matter until on Rajkumar’s Malaysia Bon voyage lunch party. Binoy, Jai n Ram got to serious business and after series of Yes/No’s ..Sudhakar, Vasuki, Asheesh(could not make it due to his onsite travel), Anil and I were confirmed members of the team. It was decided that Ram N Jai will be responsible for arranging for travel, staying, food and above all Guiding through the trek. Binoy was vested upon by the responsibility of communication, coordination and most importantly ENTERTAINMENT.
Finally the final 18 ( including JP’ s friend Nitin) team was in place and the dates were decided as 04th and 05th of February 2012. Soon our finance manager for the trek Mr Ram collected the initial payment from every participant with the help of his collection managers Jai (D block Mgr) and Binoy (C block mgr). Tickets got booked and a formal mail to all the final 18, was sent by Communication Manger Binoy detailing about the schedule. Jai mailed about what to carry. On Thursday the 2nd Feb all of us met in the cafeteria in the evening for final briefing session. Jai told about things to carry, not to carry, tips of trek etc, Binoy briefed about the schedule for next 2 days. After a brief Q&A the meeting was over with every one anxiously expecting for the clock to turn 6PM on the following day. Was very happy to see Sudhakar and Vasuki , beating all speculations/ rumors ( especially, Prakash’s cautious advice to both) made it to the trek.
03.02.2012
5.30PM was the scheduled time of assemble @ the reception. Ram, Vasuki and Anil were to join as @ Mejestic directly. Rest of us were to start from office together. Only Jai n me were on time. Slowly and steadily every one came by 6.10pm. And the journey BEGAN…..
We caught local buses ( CVRaman Nagar – Lido – Mejestic) and reached majestic bus station at abt 7.30PM. Anil and Nitin were waiting for us. Vasuki also reached alongwith us. Later Ram joined. So all were ready to rock.
We boarded the Kundapur Bound KSRTC Rajahamsa bus @ 8pm. At about 10 pm bus stopped at a Kamat Restaurant for Dinner. We all had food there and went back to our seats. Some went to sleep few were chatting remaining were waiting to get sleep. There was an interesting discussion triggered by Binoy and Sudhakar over the full moon. Binoy’s seat was on the conductor’s side, he asked Sudhakar to see how beautiful was the Moon. Sudhakar who was sitting on the driver’s side and could not see it from his side and led to a humorous argument. ( RS/FS signoff, review comments etc..)
04.02.2012
At abt 3AM we reached Shimoga, and at 5.30am we got down at Nittur. Our starting point of the trek. We spotted Hotel Shridevi there to settledown. People who wanted to brush, get fresh and answer calls ( both nature and phone) did so(however only mobile signal available there was of BSNL which none of us had. Eventually few used mobile o the hotel owner to call their homes that they reached safely.) ...few lions ( who don’t brush/bathe) busy sipping Hot tea in the cold. Meanwhile break fast was getting ready. The hotel guy was preparing hot buns, wada and idli. Me n Jai were having dry cough so we had some Hot turmeric milk which gave us some respite.
While every one was busy in some activity, from no where an interesting question made the rounds in the air. “Who is Older??” was the question. The debate was on and the contestants were Ram, Sudhakar and Vasuki..All three were justifying that they are younger ( which they really are..at least after the trek results..)It was even agreed to have cat walk of the three and the younger lads of the team were to decide who looked old?? But interestingly while this debate was on some body from a corner pointed @ Anil that, he looked older!! And that’s it!! We had Anil’s weak point. He used to get irritated each time when ever there was any reference to age. Finally the debate was concluded stating that the fact would be known by itself @ EOD after we finish Day 1 of our ITR ( Integrated TRekking)
By the time all were ready having the breakfast clock ticked pas t 7.30AM…And everybody took their first step towards the amazing trek ahead…and the march began, on the road which leads to Kollur.
It was a pleasant morning ..cool breeze..fresh and natural air ( unlike Bangalore’s polluted air) empty road.. Greenery around..perfect for a trek start..
We had walk for about 3 Kms before we hit a diversion on the left side. There is a small bus stop on left hand side the main road. From there, there is a deviation taken by a mud road which we had to take.
Ram already had made a friend there who was accompanying him from the Shridevi Hotel. It was a four legged barking friend which denied to part away and followed us, especially Ram like a vodafone puppy.
After going some distance we halted to distribute the common luggage which ram n Jai were carrying. Fruits, cucumber, lime, sugar, salt, bread, jam..etc( they had carried enough..Which helped during the trek) was distributed among all to share the weight. People who wanted to change their dresses did so there. Caps were seen on all heads..warm jackets which helped fight last night cold were out..cameras made their presence felt..Once all was set, journey continued.. All were walking in almost same pace…mostly as one big group.. Jai was often seen absconding and we used to spot him with his best companion( or should I say second wife..?) his lovely NIKON camera. He was capturing all that he found interesting in the woods in his camera lenses. He was busy with that all through the trek.
While on the move one of the most memorable (could be other way round to Jose ) incident of the trek happened. Jai spotted a Hornbill & was taking its snap. People around were looking at the bird..when all the hell broke loose!! Ever silent Jose from Gods own country commented stating this was the “National Bird”. Somebody corrected him saying it was Peacock and not Hornbill. Immediately Jose said it was “The National Bird of KERALA” …every one broke into laughing to the max they can… “National Bird of KERALA” ..it still brings a smile on my face..from that moment on wards..there were several NATIONAL symbols of Kerala were discovered (national snack/breakfast/flag…of Kerala) . Jose would stare at any one who would refer this incident..
We passed through a small stream where Sudhakar n Vasuki took some pics out of their respective cameras..we came across a govt school on the way where children anxiously looked at our gang.. After some point we stopped at a KIOSK ( a road side shop) to get some chocolates.. while moving on.. it was Ram ‘s turn to play mischief. Most of us were trying to get rid of his Vodafone friend which was still following us.. By now it had got a companion..on the way another Dog joined..some time later couple of more dogs appeared and there was a fight between the two group of dogs..it disturbed sudhakr.he frustratingly said..if such is a case i have to go back to India..(we then learnt that for him ..any place outside B'lore is out of India...hmmm..Onsite effect!!!) While Sudhakar was walking from the front when Ram slowly got behind him and caught his leg with his fingers as if the Dog was biting him..with this unexpected event Sudhakar got baffled to see only Ram laughing all the way..
It was Fun watching the duo..even better was Sudhakar’s reaction towards the Dog. He tried hard to get rid of the dog. He even offered biscuit ( that to cream one) to it..but in vein.. ..He was a sport.. and we moved on.. we stopped at a house..it was so beautiful..it was surrounded by natural beauty.



Farms all around with forest in the sight and the mountain in the back drop..pleasure to watch!!! We got ourselves freshened up there a bit. We had buttermilk.. before we started from there.. we passed through farms..farmers were cultivating rice there. .. after passing through that stretch.. we encountered the most beautiful part of the trek..A WATER FALL.. !!
Barring few..all jumped in to water to take the natural water therapy massage.. it was refreshing!!! All of us had a great time.. after abt 30-40 mins in water we got ready to move on..some oranges had made their way into our tummies by then.. we had to trek along the falls till the top to reach the top. This was one of the most exciting stretch of the trek.. we had to climb up..no much of scope for free walk..only water marked roads…through the trees.. Amazing!!! There were couple of places in this stretch which really challenged our strength and balance.….. a slight miss could have led to slip down all the way..( though it was not risk to life scale) But every one passed it successfully…
Finally we reached the top.. it was a great feeling….but lasted shortly..when we saw the next stretch which we were supposed to trek.…we found ourselves standing @ the base of a hill.
to be continued…..http://padmarajshahapuri.blogspot.com/2012/02/trek-to-kodachadri-continued.html

Happy reading …Happy Trekking!!!!!