We were going to the sailing camp on the river Sharavati for the second time. I wasn't that keen but then I decided to make it because I hadn't carried my camera the first time. We were told we would be sailing in a boat through out for 24 hours or so, that scared the hell out of me which made me avoid carrying the camera the first time. Now that I knew how things work there, I decided to carry it along. The camp is planned when a full moon day falls during the weekend. The whole river and the places around it would be lit up with the moon light which makes it a really different experience.
We set upon our journey on a Friday night from BLR. The bus took us to Honnavara. We were taken to a house on the banks of the river. After freshening up and yummy breakfast we all got into the waiting motor boat which had a carrying capacity of 25 people. The owner of the boat started the engine and kept it roaring. Slowly the boat started moving inch by inch until it gained some speed. The plan was to sail to the point where the river converges with the sea, by night fall. At a shallow place we stopped the boat and all of us jumped into the water with the life jackets on. The water was dead cold. Shivering is not the word I would prefer to use here, it was much more than that. We played in the water for a good one hour and then we set on our journey further. En-route we stopped near an island. We all got down and started walking along the cultivated fields. In the midst we found a house and a few people around it. We were offered fresh sugar cane juice. I would bet that you wouldn't get such a taste in BLR. It was very relishing. They were making jaggery paste. I was seeing some thing of that sort for the first time. I always assumed you get jaggery either in cube form or in ball form. Learning that a paste is also formed, I was kind of surprised. It tasted as good as honey. A few of us filled some of it in the water bottles we were carrying as we were told that it makes a good ingredient for sweets. We headed further to ascend a small hill. On top of the hill we found an abandoned British Bungalow and a watch tower. The British had set up bungalows in the nicest locations for a holiday, very smart. We hanged around for some time and then we started our descent and were back in the boat. It was evening by now. The weather which was very hot till now, started cooling down gradually. The boat continued to proceed further. After sunset, we happened to stop at a secluded spot on the banks of the river. All our rucksacks were taken out and preparation for dinner was initiated. A walk around the place yielded good amount of firewood for cooking. As the other people started to cook, we all played around the bank of the river. It resembled a football field with grass grown on it. The dusk turned into night as we were waiting for dinner. Once it was ready, we almost pounced on it, that hungry we were. Some time was spent resting after dinner and then we set upon our return journey.
The whole funda of the camp was this - To sail through the river in the night with a full moon in the sky. The engine of the boat was started, we could here the echo of it miles away. We were told its only to gain speed. The driver navigated the boat to the centre of the river and gained some speed. Then he switched off the engine. It suddenly became so quite. We were surprised, there was absolutely no noise at all. Our whispers were sounding as though we were yelling around. We all fell silent. One of them spotted the moon on top of our heads. It stood with full Majesty in the middle of the sky with an army of stars guarding it in the sky. It was a spectacular scene. Below we could see the reflections of the moonlight which was dancing all the way to the tune of the wind. The water occasionally splashed the surface of the boat which sounded like applause to the performance which was being carried out in front of us. It was indeed a scene to watch. I was lost in thoughts admiring the scene. Some of them added some more music to the already wonderful scene by singing melodious songs. It was soothing to the ears. The whole night passed like that. By dawn we made it to our starting point. We all alighted the boat and bid a good bye to it and the river.
Our next destination was the beach. We travelled by jeep to reach a temple in Apsare konda. Behind that is a path which would take you to the beach. It was very hot and we all were waiting to get into the water. As soon as we reached the beach, we all got into the water without a second thought. It felt so nice. We played tug of war in the water with the team divided into two and each of them trying to prove their strength. Most of the times we used to fall off at just one pull cause we couldn't balance ourselves in the water.
A while later it was time for us to move, we realized how much salty we were smelling only when we got out of water. we took a circuitous route to reach the temple for which we had to walk on the sand on the beach. We were made to walk bare foot. Initially all were cool about it. I knew how it is to walk on hot sand, it's as good as walking on hot charcoal. Though I had done it the last time, I didn't say a word cause I wanted to watch the fun. They all started slowly, a few steps later, the heat started travelling to their heels and then the inevitable happened. It was unbearable for many of them, they started running to find some shade which was a luxury next to the beach. Where ever they found a shade of a small bush, they rested and then sprinted again. It was fun. I managed to walk 90% of it and then I couldn't manage and started sprinting towards the shade. All of them were looking at their heels to find if they had any boils, but none of them had any.
Just behind the temple where we started earlier, there is a water fall which has a height of about 50 feet. We all got into the water here to take a bath. Standing just at the place where the water falls was simply amazing. It gave a nice body massage which we were all striving for. The force at which the water fell on our body made us forget all the pain which we had developed in the last two days. Our lunch was ready at the temple. Once we were done with that, we all proceeded to the bus stand to start our return journey.