Mullayanagiri

The monsoon had just started and the Western ghats were inviting us with both arms wide open. It was too tempting to resist. The non-stop rain was just an icing. We wanted to make it big, so we decided to really make it big. Yes, the first trek of the monsoon season to the highest point in Karnataka. What can beat it? Mullayanagiri was the choice. For a change, only two of us were the members of the team; Anirudh and me. Chikamagalur was the point we had to reach which is around 5 hours from BLR. We made no reservations simply because there are a plenty of buses plying in this route and it was a short haul journey. We reached even before dawn. Waiting with a lot of patience for the sunrise was the only virtue. The trail head to the hill top was around 30 minute journey.

Engaging a rickshaw than waiting for the bus was a viable option. The land throughout was wet, indicating that "rain was here". We alighted near the trail start point. It was just the two of us, so we didn't take much time to start. A few snaps near the entry point and then we started our climb. I had no clue how long it would take to climb. Considering that Mullayanagiri is the highest peak in the state, I was under the assumption that we would take a long time to climb. The gradient was too steep; our thighs and calf muscles were sensing it. The visibility was down to less than 2 meters as we climbed. Slowly the mist started clearing out. The view of the valley below was a feast to the eyes. We stood still looking at the adobe of the nature. Suddenly we bumped into another team, only then we realized that we were second. We didn't like it. A small Nandi has been placed on the way and a make shift temple also has been built around it. The other team was resting here. It was a good opportunity for us to take the lead. Anirudh and myself looked at each other, we knew what our eyes spoke; we decided to move ahead. As the mist was still not clearing, it was difficult for us to gauge the height of the peak and how far we are from the top. After a while I spotted one more Nandi in an open flat ground. A few steps later I experienced a chill in my body. The temperature dropped suddenly. I was feeling very cold. My jacket wasn't helping me much. A little more surprise was in store. Once we reached the top, we were literally pushed by the wind. We were finding it difficult to stay put. The wind speed was very high which wasn't easy for us to manage. But, the feeling of the wind gushing through would make you forget everything else. We couldn't hear out each other; sign language helped us communicate. We could easily lean on the wind, there was no question of losing grip and falling off, even the weight of the rucksacks didn't pull us down. Rain coats were out as the wind carried moisture which was as good as rain. A lot of snaps later, we headed to the actual hill top. We found a house and a temple and some cattle as well, poor ones were struggling to withstand the winds might. Oh by the way, we were on top in less than 2 hours as we hardly had anything to climb. It was a cakewalk.

A good one hour later we decided to descend. Our initial plan was to head to Bababudangiri. We enquired the localite. Instead of guiding us through the trail he guided us to the road head. We realized it only after we started our descent. There is a road which leads close to the hill top. We descended on that road and continued further. A distance of 8 kms later we reached the road which leads you to Bababudangiri. We decided to walk down. The walk was very different. The rain was playing around with us. By the time I take the rain coat out and wear it, it would stop raining. When I remove it, it would start again. However we were wet completely.

Since we didn't take the trail to Bababudangiri, we decided to walk down the road. The pleasant weather didn't tire us, the rains kept us busy. As we walked the stretch, we found more beautiful view points en-route and took a good lot of snaps. Navigating in the pot holed roads was difficult to us while we were walking, imagine the plight of the people driving the vehicles. A bus heading to Bababudangiri was approaching, we decided to hop in. We reached in less than 30 minutes. We barely could see anything as the mist had engulfed the entire place looking as though nothing existed. We thought we will get onto the Kemmangundi trail from here. Even cops weren't of much help. Surprisingly none of them could guide us. We decided to get back by the same bus. It dropped us near Kalhatti falls where we spent the night in the Forest guest house.

Day 2 morning, we climbed up the kalhatti falls to reach the top, it took us quiet a while. We had a bus to catch to kemmangundi from the Kalhatti junction which is around 4 kms away from the falls. We had to abort the climb. Both of us were unhappy, but we had to make it to the junction on time to catch the bus which we couldn't afford to miss. We reached kemmangundi just before noon. The locals guided us the way to Hebbe falls. We decided to walk to that place. They vaguely gave us the direction which we followed. The grasslands were looking so fresh. It felt as though they were just born. The dew on the grass added to the freshness. We spotted the Z point. Without a second thought we climbed up which took just 5 minutes. The wind speed was enormous; it was blowing us away. I had never experienced such high speed winds in my lifetime till date. Standing firm was indeed a challenge. Quickly we took our cameras out and started our photo shoot. Each of us leaning freely on the wind. I didn't want to come down, but then we had the task of reaching the Hebbe falls.

A jeep track from this Z point takes you to the falls. We walked down. We realized the worth of the walk only after seeing the water fall. It was a sight which would drop your jaws down. The water falls from a height of more than 70 meters. The water roars as it falls on the ground. The moisture in the air near the waterfall was enough to drench us. Taking pictures was a challenging task as the moist was depositing on the lens in seconds. Getting into the water wasn't a good idea. After satisfying us with the fascinating scene we decided to head back. Once we reached the entry point to Hebbe falls(last point for vehicles) we realized that we would not make it to kemmangundi if we walk. One of the many jeep driver's agreed to take us back. Luckily we just managed to catch the bus as we were dot on time.

Though nothing went as we planned, we bumped into many surprises which were mesmerizing. This trek cum trip would be remembered for long for the rain, for the wind, for the beauty of the Western Ghats. I thank all these for making this outing a memorable one.

Drive to Coorg

When it comes to drives, instant decisions work more than anything. Anirudh was very keen on driving down to Coorg, I was a bit skeptical about the time to start due to constraints at home. He was insisting on leaving on the Friday night, but he eventually ended up bowing to my pressure and decided to leave early morning on Saturday just before the dawn break. It was just the tow of us in a truck(Qualis). We set upon the journey and hit the Mysore road, the only stretch in Karnataka which is still in good condition, surprisingly. We cruised on the roads with hardly any traffic and pleasant music to keep our ears engaged so that neither of us fall asleep. As we were heading southwards, the Sunrise gave a respite to our gloomy eyes and woke us up completely. After an hour, we ended up taking a short break in Coffee Day near Maddur. Now we were entirely recharged and all geared up for the long drive to coorg.

We took the ring road of Mysore to avoid the city traffic and reached the Coorg Highway. The more distance we were covering, the more pleasant and green it was turning into. Never ending cultivated fields accompanied us throughout. With cool breeze brushing our faces from one side, the harmless sunrays fondling us on the other side it was indeed a drive in waiting. Kushalnagar was the next halt where we had yummy breakfast and then proceeded ahead. Now was the turn of the Ghat roads which crawl all over the Western Ghats cutting them across in length and breadth. There is nothing like driving on a ghat road, I just love it. With so many curves, variety of them in fact, ups and downs, it keeps you on tenterhooks. With two budding photographers, its difficult to just cruise along nonstop. We were in no hurry, so we stopped as many times as we wanted and took a number of pics en-route. Finally we made it to Madikeri and checked in a hotel.

Talacauvery is the birth place of the river Cauvery which is considered to be a holy place by the locals. People are often found taking bath here. A little ahead from here would take you to the top of a hill where you get a fabulous 360 Degree view of the entire range. It’s a whole set of Hill ranges covered with grasslands on top. The time of visit was May but even then it was lush green all around. The sun had turned nasty now, which made it difficult to open our eyes. We proceeded towards Bagamandala to visit the temple and then to the Fort in the hill town.

I had visited the Raja seat almost 10 years ago, I could hardly remember anything other than the Raja seat itself. It was a pleasant evening which added flavor to the place. The weather started to turn chill as the sun was setting down. Apart from us there were a lot of other people waiting for the sunset. We all got ready with the cameras and started our usual routine of taking pics. The sky gradually turned red and then the sun went down bringing darkness everywhere, but the locals had planned something different. A musical fountain started playing almost immediately which attracted and cheered the crowd as the curtains were downed for the day. Suddenly it struck to us about the sunrise. We decided to be here before dawn.

Early morning we started walking towards Raja seat. As we approached the view point, we were stunned by the view. It was jaw dropping. The mist had engulfed the hills all over, they resembled like floating islands, only this time it was a sea of clouds. I was so happy to look at the view, it was just spectacular. Quickly we got into shooting mode forgetting the chill weather which made us shiver. We couldn’t get a glimpse of the sun cause of heavy presence of clouds and mist, about which we never complained. Later in the day a visit to the Omkareshwara Temple reminded us of the spiritual life which we had amply forgotten in the abode of the nature. The blessings of the Almighty were sought and we set out to the next location, this time to a waterfall. Abbe falls is pretty close to the town. Here we were slightly disappointed cause of very less water. I am sure had we been here in Monsoon, it would have been a delight.

The rains were lashing while we drove down towards Nagarahole. Driving on a few stretches was indeed challenging cause of very poor visibility. Nagarahole is an island on the river. The forest department officials maintain a zoo here. We went around finding a lot of rabbits, deer, elephants and monkeys, of course. A walk in the area was very refreshing. It was time for us to leave as we had to visit Bylkuppe. Its pretty much close to Nagarahole towards Bangalore falling en-route our return journey.

Bylkuppe is a Tibetan Refugee Campsite. Thousands of Tibetans have settled here. A Golden Temple stands in the midst of this camp. Tourists throng this place quite often. Any direction you look around, you would spot a monk easily, there are that many. When we visited the temple, a mass prayer was going on which silenced us. We quietly moved around the temple and were trying to figure out what exactly these monks were doing but were not that successful. It was time for us to leave.We came via Mysore city to catch a glimpse of the lighted palace. The Authorities switch on all the lights on Sunday evenings. The illuminated palace was simply standing out of the darkness and projected its glory. I simply starred at the massive illuminated structure and admired the beauty of the Mysore Palace. That was the last stop of our Drive to Coorg and returned to BLR.

Ballala Rayana Durga

The first trek of the year 2008 was set for Ballala Rayana Durga(BRD) 30 odd kms from Dharmastala. We were longing to visit this place as it was dubbed as a sunrise and a sunset point. They say, it has its own unique features. I being a photo freak decided to go there the day I came to know about the place. A wait of 3 months fructified. The second week of January, 18 of us along with the organizer set out on our journey to BRD. We reached the bus stand and from there we hopped on an open top jeep. The ride on a jeep track was simply superb. I loved it. We were often thrown up in the air, thanks to the uneven track. Balancing on one’s feet was indeed an art which many of us happened to master after a while. We stopped near a house, freshened up, finished our breakfast (courtesy- the villager in the house) and then started on foot towards BRD. A walk of around a kilometer further on the jeep track was a warm up to our body. We couldn’t see much on either side as the track was covered with thick canopy of trees. Blindly we followed the people in the front.

A while later, we were stopped, the organizer, Mr. Shastri asked me to come along as I was the only one who was carrying a camera. The sight in front of my eyes kept me dumbstruck for a while. The scenic beauty of the entire range in front of me was simply outstanding. I just sat there, lost in thoughts until Mr. Shastri touched me to bring me back to the reality. The advantage of a digital camera was fully utilized, I just clicked and clicked. The rest of the team came in and all faces had the same expression as mine initially. We went around for sometime and then headed towards the top of the hill.The ridge on which we were walking had a slope on the left side and a deep cut which goes into the valley on the right side. Standing in the middle of the ridge we turned around to look at the ridge which formed a concave curve. The right end of it resembled a rock wall, almost 90 degree slope. It was a good pitch for rock climbing. We proceeded further and reached the top of the hill little after noon time. The rest of the evening we loitered around waiting for the sunset.
The weather started changing, it started turning chill. The view of the sunset was breathtaking. It was simply superb. Never had I seen such a beautiful sunset till then. With the sky turning entirely red and a glowing sun at the horizon, it was indeed a scene to watch. Till the sun was floating in the sky it took its own time to come down, but as he approached the horizon, he just went down in seconds leaving lasting impressions in our minds. I was starring at the horizon till I found it difficult to locate it. It turned completely dark. With only the dim light provided by the stars we started our fire to cook dinner. The light of the fire reached long distances as it was the only source of light (other than our torches) helping us to walk around. They say that the night life changes entirely in the jungle. All creepy creatures start coming out. It’s a kind of a different world in itself. We all geared up to meet the challenges if any aroused.
We continued to keep the fire lit as that was the only source of light. A team of 3 people were to stay awake for 2 hours as the others slept in order to stay alert, and this was to be done on rotational basis (in army style they call it sentry duty). When my turn came, I was woken up, I didn’t find it difficult as I had hardly caught any sleep. We were feeding the fire with dry wood and was simply looking at the fire. The fire danced around, with each flame trying to do something different. While one flame tried to reach as high as it could, one more tried to reach as wide as it could, another one twisted itself completely and tried to showcase its unique capability. Probably a little music would have made them compete even more effectively. I tried to capture the competition in a frame. I was trying out with different features in my camera. In one of the shots which I took I was taken aback looking at the picture of the fire. I could see a shape of a man dancing. This only proved the uniqueness of the fire.

It was time for dawn, the second part of the purpose of the trek was about to unbound. We all woke up before the sky was lit up with the sunshine. As the dawn approached, the horizon slowly started resurfacing out of the darkness. It became more and more evident as time passed. The sky in the East started glowing even more than the rest of the sky. It was time for the king to rise. The sky rolled out a red carpet, the birds hailed the king singing in chorus, the wind gave the background music as the trees bowed in uniform. With that the creepy creatures which ruled the world till then went into hiding. We all stood silent and watched the sun rise up from the horizon. The Sun rose with pride filling light all around us. The first sun rays are always the best. We two bowed looking at the scene which unfolded in front of our eyes.
We removed the tents, packed our bags and started our descent. We hardly took time, in an hour or so we were down. We freshened up in the same house where we had been the previous day. A relishing breakfast later, we hoped on in the jeep which was waiting. Amba Theertha was the next stop. An hour of travelling took us there. We all jumped into the water as soon as we saw it. The bath was very refreshing.
From here our next stop was at Horanadu which is a few kilometers away. We visited the temple of Goddess Annapoorneshwari and sought her blessings. Our programme ended there and we set out on our return to BLR.

Skandagiri alias Kalavara betta

Skandagiri was doing the rounds among the trekkers in BLR. I just had received an invitation to view the pictures in the picasa web albums belonging to my friend Raju. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the pics. They were standing on the edge of a cliff with a sea of never ending clouds below them. I decided then and there to make it to skandagiri. It is also known as kalavara betta. I spoke to my co-trekkers, Anirudh and Narayan to decide upon the dates. The next question was when to leave. There was no shelter on top of the hill to spend the night and none of us owned a tent. Anirudh and Narayan wanted to leave BLR in the middle of the night so that we could climb the hill in the night and reach the hilltop just before sunrise. Plan was sounding good. Only issue was I had never driven that early in the morning. We started at 3 in the morning on a Saturday/Sunday night. It just took an hour for us to reach Chikkaballapur. We saw a cop standing near a junction on the National Highway. We checked the route with him. We were exactly at the junction near the temple where we were supposed to take a left to head to the village. He gave us directions informing that when we hit a dead end, that would mean we are at the village. We headed in that direction on narrow roads. We travelled a few kilometers and saw a person directing us to the parking area. We were there. A forest guard was ready to collect entry fees and informed that we could utilize the guide services which we weren't keen of. Narayan checked for the start of the trail with him. He promptly gave us directions and asked us to go behind the temple where we will be able to spot the trail easily.

We started our walk, it was 4:30 AM in the morning. I looked up and to my surprise I saw a full moon. We thought it was a good co-incidence; a night trek and a full moon make a good combination. A while later we were behind the temple. The three of us started looking around for the trail. We were looking and looking but couldn't find the trail. Our torches didn't help us much. Every point we tried to move ahead we were at a dead end. Thick shrubs blocked our entry. Time was running out and we were nowhere near the track. We decided to make our own way. Locating a trail in the dead of the night is indeed a difficult task. We sneaked our way through the shrubs for a while and slowly climbed the hill inch by inch. Narayan who was leading the team finally found the path to the hilltop. We felt relieved. From there it was a cakewalk. We hardly made use of the torch. The full moon lit the surrounding enough for us to walk easily. The sky started turning red, which kept me in the doubt if we would make it before the sunrise. We still had a lot of distance to cover. We increased our pace gradually so was the sky, turning red gradually. It looked like we and the sun were competing against each other; who would appear first. The sky lit up completely, and I lost all hopes but maintained the pace. I saw a few people yelling on the top. I could hear their voices loud and clear; then I realized that we were almost there. Yes, we were on top and I looked at the East to find that the sun was yet to come out. We did beat him in the race. The sky was painted red, it made a good opportunity to take beautiful pictures. We weren't expecting company at all, but were unhappy when we found so many people on the hilltop, most of them who had camped in the night. I was expecting a silent sunrise, but we weren't that lucky.

As we got the first glimpse of the sun, I readied the camera to take the pictures. The sunrise was something very different, not found anywhere. As the sun started climbing, the reflection of it started appearing on the ground, mind you there was no water source anywhere in that direction. It was entirely fascinating, marvelous, spectacular and fabulous. Well too many adjectives I believe. But they aren't enough to describe the beauty of the sunrise. All of us enjoyed watching the sun climb up until its full size was visible. A few snaps were taken. Then we saw the moon on the other side still glowing in the clear sky. It wasn't an eclipse season to have them on the same side as the sun in the east; had it been on the same side of the sun, I would bet you that would have been the best sunrise witnessed by me in my entire life. It was time for the moon to pose with us. We took a couple of pics and suddenly found Narayan missing. We looked around and no where was he to be found. I saw him sitting on a boulder looking at the sunrise. Typical Narayan I thought. He was enjoying the sunrise in a spot where it was free of all the noise the other teams were making. We spent some more time on the hilltop and then started our descent from the East side which appears to be shorter than the North trail. We were back in our car and then headed towards BLR. It got over in less than 11 hours, but the sunrise would remain in memory for long.

Sailing on River Sharavati

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.

Gokharna Beach trek

I was all excited. Three pass outs of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering were going on their first trek all on their own. No guides, no one to organize, it was just the three of us. It was very thrilling since this was something which I was going to do for the first time ever. Narayan had done these kind of treks before unlike Anirudh and myself. He took charge and prepared a plan before we left. We had two options, either to start from Ankola and proceed towards Gokharana or vice-versa. We decided to start from Ankola for the reason that it would be easy to get a bus from Gokharna. The first trek entirely on our own and that too a beach trek. I was just waiting to start.

Friday night we boarded a bus which dropped us off some where near Ankola the next day morning. We had to board another local bus which took us to Ankola which is very close to the shore. Once we got down the bus we checked with the villagers for the way to the shore. One of them guided us and then we were there. The majestic Arabian Sea stood in front of us. We were waiting for it; we started our walk with the sea on the right of us which meant we were heading south. We just walked for ten minutes and we started feeling the heat. It was very sunny. October Sky was crystal clear. Walking on the sand isn't easy as done on normal ground. As we take a step, the sand would sink which meant it required extra effort. I couldn't stand the heat anymore. I took my umbrella out. The shade provided by it was very helpful. Otherwise the sun would have had a good day by sucking out all the water from our body. En-route we found many fishing boats which were being readied by the fishermen. We happened to interact with a few and learnt some stories of the sea which were mind blowing. Every now and then we crossed small villages which were on the sea shore most of whose livelihood was fishing.

As the day went by we were more and more eagerly looking for some shade which we could hardly find. It was a long path with no shade any where in sight. Though we found some plantations along side the shore, we couldn't reach them as they were fenced. We had little option so we decided to proceed further. A lot of shells were found all along the way. We spotted a few crabs too. Sadly we found a few dead fish also. Every time we entered a village we checked with the villagers how far was our first halt, the name of the village which I forget. They promptly used to give us directions for the bus stand. It used to take time for us to tell them that we were there for a trek and would want to walk the stretch, they would stare at each other. There expressions conveyed just one thing, "you guys are crazy". They don't understand the plight of the urban lads, how much we crave to get into such patches to walk around. Yes, that only an urbanite would understand. Finally we reached our halting village by little over noon. We checked with the locals for some shelter as we weren't carrying tents. They gave us two options: 1. Indo-Denmark collaboration office; 2. Govt School. We proceeded towards the Indo-Denmark office as one of the village folk said it would be ideal place for us to stay and we would like it. He sold it well. Listening to him we headed that way. It was at the end of the village. Fishermen were stitching their fishing nets as it was still early evening. They enquired about us and they said they would leave by nightfall. We walked around the place for a minute and then the three of us looked at each other. Just one thing could be read on our faces – 'lets get out of here'. It was stinking hell of fish. I wonder how they manage to work there. We just informed them and moved out of that place. We were back to the village and then reached the school.

A quick bath felt so good in the scorching heat. We had nothing to do so were just loafing around the village. A lady had a small tea stall just opposite the school. Three of us gathered there and had rounds and rounds of tea with some biscuits and returned back to the school.

It was a Saturday, all the village kids gathered in the school to watch a movie in the TV. The number was easily above 50. Once they were done, the women folk of the village gathered at the school. We were wondering what they were upto. Surprisingly, we realized that they had gathered there for a weekly meeting. All of them were self – employed and were helping out each other, say something like a group of individuals working together. It was something which I had unheard. India is indeed moving forward.

Day 2, we started towards Gokharna. Here we had to climb a small hill and deviate a little as there was no route which we could take along the beach. A while later we reached the other end of the hill where we saw a river joining the sea. How do we cross it? Well, good question. Of course we can't swim across. We had to walk almost a kilometer along the river bed away from the sea to the ferry point. We spotted a ferry leaving as we reached the assembly point which we happened to miss by few seconds. Now we had to wait for almost an hour as we had no other option. Meanwhile Anirudh picked up a water melon. That would be our breakfast. We boarded the ferry as soon as it arrived and within a few minutes we were on the other side of the river. Getting into a farm we had our breakfast – water melon. Today was nothing less, it was the same heat and the water which we were consuming was no where helping us. One more village was crossed and then an estuary came up. It looked very small but as we went nearer we realized the actual size of it. It was easily some 20 feet. How do we cross this? It looked easy but when we got into the water we could feel the high current. The current could drag us easily with our rucksacks on our back. We looked out for some boat to cross, but couldn't find any.

Twenty minutes went by and we had no solution to the problem which stood in front of us. Various alternatives were thought of but were ruled out. Finally one seemed to work, hence we decided to test it. Anirudh was the tallest one, 6 feet something. He would carry the rucksack on his head, Narayan would hold him for support and move along with him. I would move along to hold them just in case if they fall. It was a tough job. One sack was picked up and then the attempt was made. All the three stepped into the water, the high current could be felt as the sand underneath our feet just vanished and we felt the feeling of sinking. Slowly we moved withstanding the current and finally we made it without drenching the bag. We were all so happy and relieved. Two more rucksacks were left, each time we crossed it, it was more challenging than the previous attempt. Finally all three rucksacks were moved on the other side safely without drenching them. Now, it was time to relax, we got into the water in the estuary and spent some time.

Small star fish were spotted very frequently in this patch. The rest of the journey was more or less the same. It was only getting hotter and hotter as every hour passed with the sun showing no mercy. At certain point of time the heat was unbearable and we decided to take a break. The coconut trees gave us some shade as we relaxed and watched the never ending sea. By noon we were in Gokharna. We checked into a hotel, dumped our rucksacks and headed towards Om beach. It felt so nice to walk without the rucksacks. The sun finally was kind enough and bid a nice good bye while setting down.

Ideal time to trek this patch would be monsoon season which would avoid the heat. We heard that it's a frequented path but couldn't find any trekkers through out.