Sunday, September 28, 2008
Bloodiest trip ever : Kemmanguddi Day 2
Day 2
YAWWWWWNNNNNNNN !!! Time : 0600. Eyes open . Quick check, the chainsaw next to me in bed still running. The other 2 chainsaws still running in the other room. Konnie's (Konad) room is too far out to even try. 5 more minutes should be fine.
Cock a doodle doooo!!! 0630 so that takes care of that peaceful sleep I was talking about. Lots of nicotine lying around. Helped myself to it . 2 chainsaws still running while Ganesh wakes up. Warmed up myself to handle the cam cam and began clicking some decent shots of a waterfall that I can see in the background. Funny the place looks totally different in daylight. Narayan, one of the the workers comes along asking : Coffee or Tea ?. I reply: Coffee and lots of it. Ganesh joins me smoking and we move to the benches in the yard to gaze at the waterfalls. Konnie wakes up a bit later and points to the same waterfalls and says “That’s where we are going. It’s a pretty ok trek not really long . Maybe about 10 or 12 Kms. How do you feel about it? " I reply: " Anything to get over the lousy time at work that I am going through. " We share a hearty laugh before we hear only chainsaw. I’ve gulped down about 8 cups of coffee and whole 10s pack if cigarettes by now. Konnie does the gentle art of negotiating for a bit less breakfast to minimize wastage. (Like it worked. It would have been even worse if we hadn’t tried to reduce it. )
Finally the last chainsaw stops and joins us for more cigarettes and coffee and breakfast. We are all ready. Finally and we decide to leave to falls since the BIG Boss is ready and wants to venture out. Biju and me take stock of all the stuff we are carrying around. 2 DayPacks contain Swiss knives ,3 bottles of water, 5 packs of cigarettes. Savlon, Iodine Surgical spirit, bandages gauze, torches , one aircraft grade aluminium Fenix torch, Lots of biscuits, my trusty cheap lighter, 3 sprite bottles, our cameras and a variety of trekking shoes including Konnie’s brand new steel toed Caterpillar boots, my Woodland trekking shoes, Biju and Ganesh’s Puma and Nike trainers and Prashant s Reebok sandals. What was that .. Sandals on a forest trek ?
Prashant: Oh I’ve always done treks with these sandals. Had a bad experience with shoes so never wore them again.
(Little did we know that Boy O boy was he gonna be sorry)
Time check : 1000 ( that would be on time for us ). The Plan reach to the kallahatti falls and reach back sometime in the evening around 1800 or 1900.
Trek : Stage 1
We drove down to the Kallahatti falls start point in our cars alongwith lunch and the kid guide, Nandesh. We secured the cars and began the climb. Pass the common folk and began the fun. A quick 20 mins trek uphill brought me face to face with true fear. Not having grips with the situation. Wet and damp rock .My mind is going yeah so what you’ve done 4 of these before with lousy footwear( cross trainers ). At least this time you have got a good pair of shoes that will help you out . Woodland guys you may want to read the next few lines real carefully.
My trekking shoes were pretty heavy but ok for the rocky terrain. But Jungles terrain involves damp earth and wet rock ever so often. The damp earth you may be able to manage with lots of control and a good team of friends to literally back you up. But the wet rock ( even a damp one ) spells total disaster. The shoes don’t even let you feel if its rock or sponge before they give way and you almost walk off with a broken neck or dislocated disc.
Yes the shoes are BAD where moisture is involved. Would only recommend these shoes for Urban trekking on asphalt. ( then again your better off with a much cheaper variety for that)
So we press on climbing torturous terrain. Nandeesh has to keep yelling “ Banni Saar “ every now and then to make sure that we keep up. Lagger of the group : Me since I need a break almost every 5 mins. We finish the Sprites and still about 2 hours away from the waterfall.
Prashant gets a wild idea to carry the empty sprite bottle with him through the trek. We are yelling at him to let it go or keep it in the bags and does he listen?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. So. Ganesh is keeping up with the guide and forms the lead . We stop frequently to take pics and let me cool off since my ankles and knees have had it .Right as we trudge along Prashant has his fall and end s up sitting on the log since it’s a pretty hurting one. What Biju and Konnie see is the sprite bottle which gave him company till then goes flying through the air into the waterfall that we are walking on the edge of. What I saw was frustration hitting prashanth. He made himself comfortable on the log getting his balance back and doesn’t even try to stand up first. He throws the bottle as far away as he can and then tries to get back up into the trek.
Finally slowing down primarily at the streams that we have to cross we reached the waterfall. We chill out for sometime since our primary goal is met. We hang out at the falls and walk over to the falls again clicking lots of pics Ganesh goes into the falls to take a dip. The rest of us laze around on the limited rock face space for about an hour. In that hour I work up the courage (to take off my shoes) and get up close to the waterfall as possible. Prashanth obliges by snapping pics. Biju as well, in my camera. Ganesh decides to start a fire to warm us up .
Lesson in survival: Fire starting looks easier on tv and books than in real life. Especially wet wood fires.
We break out the biscuits and laze around some more. Finish the bottles of water and Nandeesh obliges by refilling fresh water from the falls. The water is clear and actually tasted better than the Kingfisher packaged water that we were carrying. As an after thought since we were trekking out and dint need so much water we refilled the 2nd one as well with water.
Nandeesh asks us if we would like to go back down the same way that we came up approx time was about 3 hrs. or we trek uphill to the peak and hit Z point approx 4 hrs . Easier than climbing down . We vote for uphill against Prashanths wishes. He has every reason to crib since his knee was giving him issues.
We began the arduous climb back away from the falls and the break has given enough time for my jelly legs to recover. WE begin the climb up and soon as faced with more streams . And the uphill climb takes its toll on me as I go skidding and slipping due to damp earth. Konnie breaks my fall in his CAT boots and we avoid an accident. As we are climbing uphill to hit the Jeep trail we meet our first set of leech bites. No problem , we light up and do a quick leech check and burn off the leeches. And Konnie refuses to smoke a leech cigarette along the way .Nandeesh goes around in circles as he cant find the Daari ( trail ). WE end up back tracking on the hill face itself to hit the jeep trail . While we are trudging uphill we pick up more of the leeches and the treatment time gives me and biju lots of chance to experiment with carious solutions and effective ways to get rid of them ( not avoid ). Spirit works amazingly well. Enroute Biju also keeps reminding me because of all the breaks needed for me that it will become dark soon and we are not prepped to stay the nite anywhere. I push myself to keep up and bring up the end of the line as we move left on the jeep trail to hit the next hill top to catch a bus from kemmanguddi to Joes home stay..
No one is in any mood to take pics anymore as we suddenly realize the guide has no clue where hes taking us and hes also equally lost as us. We keep at it pausing very frequently for leeches and Prashanths screams. “get off me you damn Leeches “ It was very funny to watch Prashanth who cares a damn for most things getting “ Very very personal “ with the leeches. We headed to the top and saw an amazing site. As we were trying to cover 2 steps a magnificent Stag. No it wasn’t the whisky bottle but the real deal . It saw us from the hillside and from the distance were at it was huge. The Shoulders would have been taller than me . It decides to let us be and takes 2 jumps and is out of sight. WE are left alone again. L . But we got sight a wild stag. Ganesh picked up leeches in the most inconvenient places. Just on his neck and hips and waist. ( What were you thinking off ?) we finally made it to the top where there are ruins of a bldg and the jeep trail .
Nandeesh needs 5 mins and a torch to get his bearings. The fog is rolling in and we lean against the ruins to catch a much deserved break and smoke. Biju and me do a quick leech check to all. I avoid checking myself since its too painful to take off my shoes and check . I can feel one wiggling but no ways . I pull off the ones on my socks. Nandeesh comes back with the Fenix light and he and Ganesh announce the new were expecting.
Ganesh : Guys hes lost . He cant find the trail that leads down off the hill top.
Konnie : WOW guys lets huddle together and we can warm ourselves and we can camp out here.
Me : What the f#$%, isn’t there any other way ?
Prashanth is totally pissed to talk since he just wants to get into a vehicle and reach home because of his knee. We corner Nandeesh and ask him.
Panic : Stage 2
One of the first rules of survival is not to panic and take stock of the situation instead of jumping to conclusions. Most of the eventualities in the survival situation are always due to people panicking.
Did we panic. No we decided to keep the panic for once we get back to Joes. If the alcohol and nicotine runs out you would have found us panicking.
At any rate we knew that we weren’t too far from civilization. How do we get the news to Ajay and get back was the question.
We cornered Nandeesh ahd he confirmed that the trail was hidden in all the tall grass and he couldn’t find it. That trail was about 4 Kms away from civilization.2 Options we camp out or we back track to the point on the jeep trail where we took left and continue down and hope to hit civi again.
We tried getting a signal on 3 separate cell phones and networks . No luck
We decide that we will not wait around. WE would get off the hill top and fast as possible.
We pack up the spirit and cotton balls and break out the torches and begin the trek back through leech territory, down the jeep trail.
WE continue the walk down the trail for about 4-6 kms to hit the point where we had met the jeep trail . In pitch darkness everything is lousy . The fenix torch gives out a wide beam which helped us pace ourself as a group and continue down the rocky jeep trail . We come across a rusty gate which reads as Bhadra sanctuary. Nandeesh gets cornered again and he reassures us that he will get us out of here cleanly in about an hour or so. 10 mins away from the gate we get a call from Ajay . He speaks to Nandeesh and Ganesh almost gets a blow from me because he confirms to ajay that “ yeah we are enjoying ourselves. “
Konnie : confirms to Ajay that we are lost and are headed to the jeep trail . we request Ajay to arrange a jeep for us to meet us so that we may have prashanth and the rest of the tired us reach back to the home stay in one place.
WE being the trek down and nandeesh in the lead . We refuse to hand him one of the roches to prevent him from scampering off without us. Instead everytime we wanted to slow him down we just moved the light away and he stopped since he couldn’t see . WE continued like this down the jeep trail for about the next 2 hrs. Stopping for leech checks and no water though.
Konnie : we have cigarettes left right ? ….
Silence
Konnie : Right ??? !!!!!
Silence
Konnie : What we are out ???
Yep it finally hit him that we were even out if Kings . We make the trail through someones estate and finally the jeep catches up with us and we reach back to joes.
Once we are in the jeep its around 2000 and we are beat like nones business. WE drop of Prashanth and Konnie at Joes and go over to the falls to pick up the cars. On the way back we pick up more cigarettes and water and reach back to a roaring fire and alcohol.
I pop in a disprin and 3 shots of vodka. I drink it down back to back which ensures that I pass out first.
We were glad to be back at the homestay.
Prashanths feet were like something out of a horror movie. They had turned Purple and red and brown with all the leech bites ( sandals remember ) and the earth and the strain that he going through with his knee.
I was smashed because of the alcohol and the strain . 20 – 30 Kms on a hillside. Watching it in a movie or on tv is alone to give me a headache. Konnie was glad to get rid of the 3kg that he had on his feet
Ganesh tried keeping a brave face but once the alcohol hit him he was out peacefully too.
Biju was bit high and took some time .
By 0100 the chainsaws were operational and the day finally closed out. We were planning on getting up the next day around 1000 to plan out something .
Lets see how that goes.
YAWWWWWNNNNNNNN !!! Time : 0600. Eyes open . Quick check, the chainsaw next to me in bed still running. The other 2 chainsaws still running in the other room. Konnie's (Konad) room is too far out to even try. 5 more minutes should be fine.
Cock a doodle doooo!!! 0630 so that takes care of that peaceful sleep I was talking about. Lots of nicotine lying around. Helped myself to it . 2 chainsaws still running while Ganesh wakes up. Warmed up myself to handle the cam cam and began clicking some decent shots of a waterfall that I can see in the background. Funny the place looks totally different in daylight. Narayan, one of the the workers comes along asking : Coffee or Tea ?. I reply: Coffee and lots of it. Ganesh joins me smoking and we move to the benches in the yard to gaze at the waterfalls. Konnie wakes up a bit later and points to the same waterfalls and says “That’s where we are going. It’s a pretty ok trek not really long . Maybe about 10 or 12 Kms. How do you feel about it? " I reply: " Anything to get over the lousy time at work that I am going through. " We share a hearty laugh before we hear only chainsaw. I’ve gulped down about 8 cups of coffee and whole 10s pack if cigarettes by now. Konnie does the gentle art of negotiating for a bit less breakfast to minimize wastage. (Like it worked. It would have been even worse if we hadn’t tried to reduce it. )
Finally the last chainsaw stops and joins us for more cigarettes and coffee and breakfast. We are all ready. Finally and we decide to leave to falls since the BIG Boss is ready and wants to venture out. Biju and me take stock of all the stuff we are carrying around. 2 DayPacks contain Swiss knives ,3 bottles of water, 5 packs of cigarettes. Savlon, Iodine Surgical spirit, bandages gauze, torches , one aircraft grade aluminium Fenix torch, Lots of biscuits, my trusty cheap lighter, 3 sprite bottles, our cameras and a variety of trekking shoes including Konnie’s brand new steel toed Caterpillar boots, my Woodland trekking shoes, Biju and Ganesh’s Puma and Nike trainers and Prashant s Reebok sandals. What was that .. Sandals on a forest trek ?
Prashant: Oh I’ve always done treks with these sandals. Had a bad experience with shoes so never wore them again.
(Little did we know that Boy O boy was he gonna be sorry)
Time check : 1000 ( that would be on time for us ). The Plan reach to the kallahatti falls and reach back sometime in the evening around 1800 or 1900.
Trek : Stage 1
We drove down to the Kallahatti falls start point in our cars alongwith lunch and the kid guide, Nandesh. We secured the cars and began the climb. Pass the common folk and began the fun. A quick 20 mins trek uphill brought me face to face with true fear. Not having grips with the situation. Wet and damp rock .My mind is going yeah so what you’ve done 4 of these before with lousy footwear( cross trainers ). At least this time you have got a good pair of shoes that will help you out . Woodland guys you may want to read the next few lines real carefully.
My trekking shoes were pretty heavy but ok for the rocky terrain. But Jungles terrain involves damp earth and wet rock ever so often. The damp earth you may be able to manage with lots of control and a good team of friends to literally back you up. But the wet rock ( even a damp one ) spells total disaster. The shoes don’t even let you feel if its rock or sponge before they give way and you almost walk off with a broken neck or dislocated disc.
Yes the shoes are BAD where moisture is involved. Would only recommend these shoes for Urban trekking on asphalt. ( then again your better off with a much cheaper variety for that)
So we press on climbing torturous terrain. Nandeesh has to keep yelling “ Banni Saar “ every now and then to make sure that we keep up. Lagger of the group : Me since I need a break almost every 5 mins. We finish the Sprites and still about 2 hours away from the waterfall.
Prashant gets a wild idea to carry the empty sprite bottle with him through the trek. We are yelling at him to let it go or keep it in the bags and does he listen?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. So. Ganesh is keeping up with the guide and forms the lead . We stop frequently to take pics and let me cool off since my ankles and knees have had it .Right as we trudge along Prashant has his fall and end s up sitting on the log since it’s a pretty hurting one. What Biju and Konnie see is the sprite bottle which gave him company till then goes flying through the air into the waterfall that we are walking on the edge of. What I saw was frustration hitting prashanth. He made himself comfortable on the log getting his balance back and doesn’t even try to stand up first. He throws the bottle as far away as he can and then tries to get back up into the trek.
Finally slowing down primarily at the streams that we have to cross we reached the waterfall. We chill out for sometime since our primary goal is met. We hang out at the falls and walk over to the falls again clicking lots of pics Ganesh goes into the falls to take a dip. The rest of us laze around on the limited rock face space for about an hour. In that hour I work up the courage (to take off my shoes) and get up close to the waterfall as possible. Prashanth obliges by snapping pics. Biju as well, in my camera. Ganesh decides to start a fire to warm us up .
Lesson in survival: Fire starting looks easier on tv and books than in real life. Especially wet wood fires.
We break out the biscuits and laze around some more. Finish the bottles of water and Nandeesh obliges by refilling fresh water from the falls. The water is clear and actually tasted better than the Kingfisher packaged water that we were carrying. As an after thought since we were trekking out and dint need so much water we refilled the 2nd one as well with water.
Nandeesh asks us if we would like to go back down the same way that we came up approx time was about 3 hrs. or we trek uphill to the peak and hit Z point approx 4 hrs . Easier than climbing down . We vote for uphill against Prashanths wishes. He has every reason to crib since his knee was giving him issues.
We began the arduous climb back away from the falls and the break has given enough time for my jelly legs to recover. WE begin the climb up and soon as faced with more streams . And the uphill climb takes its toll on me as I go skidding and slipping due to damp earth. Konnie breaks my fall in his CAT boots and we avoid an accident. As we are climbing uphill to hit the Jeep trail we meet our first set of leech bites. No problem , we light up and do a quick leech check and burn off the leeches. And Konnie refuses to smoke a leech cigarette along the way .Nandeesh goes around in circles as he cant find the Daari ( trail ). WE end up back tracking on the hill face itself to hit the jeep trail . While we are trudging uphill we pick up more of the leeches and the treatment time gives me and biju lots of chance to experiment with carious solutions and effective ways to get rid of them ( not avoid ). Spirit works amazingly well. Enroute Biju also keeps reminding me because of all the breaks needed for me that it will become dark soon and we are not prepped to stay the nite anywhere. I push myself to keep up and bring up the end of the line as we move left on the jeep trail to hit the next hill top to catch a bus from kemmanguddi to Joes home stay..
No one is in any mood to take pics anymore as we suddenly realize the guide has no clue where hes taking us and hes also equally lost as us. We keep at it pausing very frequently for leeches and Prashanths screams. “get off me you damn Leeches “ It was very funny to watch Prashanth who cares a damn for most things getting “ Very very personal “ with the leeches. We headed to the top and saw an amazing site. As we were trying to cover 2 steps a magnificent Stag. No it wasn’t the whisky bottle but the real deal . It saw us from the hillside and from the distance were at it was huge. The Shoulders would have been taller than me . It decides to let us be and takes 2 jumps and is out of sight. WE are left alone again. L . But we got sight a wild stag. Ganesh picked up leeches in the most inconvenient places. Just on his neck and hips and waist. ( What were you thinking off ?) we finally made it to the top where there are ruins of a bldg and the jeep trail .
Nandeesh needs 5 mins and a torch to get his bearings. The fog is rolling in and we lean against the ruins to catch a much deserved break and smoke. Biju and me do a quick leech check to all. I avoid checking myself since its too painful to take off my shoes and check . I can feel one wiggling but no ways . I pull off the ones on my socks. Nandeesh comes back with the Fenix light and he and Ganesh announce the new were expecting.
Ganesh : Guys hes lost . He cant find the trail that leads down off the hill top.
Konnie : WOW guys lets huddle together and we can warm ourselves and we can camp out here.
Me : What the f#$%, isn’t there any other way ?
Prashanth is totally pissed to talk since he just wants to get into a vehicle and reach home because of his knee. We corner Nandeesh and ask him.
Panic : Stage 2
One of the first rules of survival is not to panic and take stock of the situation instead of jumping to conclusions. Most of the eventualities in the survival situation are always due to people panicking.
Did we panic. No we decided to keep the panic for once we get back to Joes. If the alcohol and nicotine runs out you would have found us panicking.
At any rate we knew that we weren’t too far from civilization. How do we get the news to Ajay and get back was the question.
We cornered Nandeesh ahd he confirmed that the trail was hidden in all the tall grass and he couldn’t find it. That trail was about 4 Kms away from civilization.2 Options we camp out or we back track to the point on the jeep trail where we took left and continue down and hope to hit civi again.
We tried getting a signal on 3 separate cell phones and networks . No luck
We decide that we will not wait around. WE would get off the hill top and fast as possible.
We pack up the spirit and cotton balls and break out the torches and begin the trek back through leech territory, down the jeep trail.
WE continue the walk down the trail for about 4-6 kms to hit the point where we had met the jeep trail . In pitch darkness everything is lousy . The fenix torch gives out a wide beam which helped us pace ourself as a group and continue down the rocky jeep trail . We come across a rusty gate which reads as Bhadra sanctuary. Nandeesh gets cornered again and he reassures us that he will get us out of here cleanly in about an hour or so. 10 mins away from the gate we get a call from Ajay . He speaks to Nandeesh and Ganesh almost gets a blow from me because he confirms to ajay that “ yeah we are enjoying ourselves. “
Konnie : confirms to Ajay that we are lost and are headed to the jeep trail . we request Ajay to arrange a jeep for us to meet us so that we may have prashanth and the rest of the tired us reach back to the home stay in one place.
WE being the trek down and nandeesh in the lead . We refuse to hand him one of the roches to prevent him from scampering off without us. Instead everytime we wanted to slow him down we just moved the light away and he stopped since he couldn’t see . WE continued like this down the jeep trail for about the next 2 hrs. Stopping for leech checks and no water though.
Konnie : we have cigarettes left right ? ….
Silence
Konnie : Right ??? !!!!!
Silence
Konnie : What we are out ???
Yep it finally hit him that we were even out if Kings . We make the trail through someones estate and finally the jeep catches up with us and we reach back to joes.
Once we are in the jeep its around 2000 and we are beat like nones business. WE drop of Prashanth and Konnie at Joes and go over to the falls to pick up the cars. On the way back we pick up more cigarettes and water and reach back to a roaring fire and alcohol.
I pop in a disprin and 3 shots of vodka. I drink it down back to back which ensures that I pass out first.
We were glad to be back at the homestay.
Prashanths feet were like something out of a horror movie. They had turned Purple and red and brown with all the leech bites ( sandals remember ) and the earth and the strain that he going through with his knee.
I was smashed because of the alcohol and the strain . 20 – 30 Kms on a hillside. Watching it in a movie or on tv is alone to give me a headache. Konnie was glad to get rid of the 3kg that he had on his feet
Ganesh tried keeping a brave face but once the alcohol hit him he was out peacefully too.
Biju was bit high and took some time .
By 0100 the chainsaws were operational and the day finally closed out. We were planning on getting up the next day around 1000 to plan out something .
Lets see how that goes.
Bloodiest trip ever :) : Kemmanguddi Day 1
DAY 1
So here we are on a bright Sat morning of Sept 20th. All packed and prepped. Lots of stuff we never intend use ( read on to find out : chance favors the prepared mind ).
The day plan : Reach Kemmanguddi at Joes Home stay by 1800. The only routing we have is a list of instructions from a website.
Cars : Wagon R and Alto.
Supplies and equipment : Lots of redbull and our cameras all charged.
The drive is amazing except for the tumkur junction which takes us quiet a while to cross due to the trucking traffic and the roadwork. Once we cross that Biju takes the lead headint to arasikere. While enroute we decide to take a deviation to Shravana Belgola ( jain temple ). Once there we survey the rockface and the steps cut into it to reach the temple. Should be easy considering we City slickers could use the warm up for the trek tomorrowat kemmanguddi. We begin the climb and almost immediately break for a rest since our legs cant take it. Ganesh seems to be the only one who seems un perturbed by the climb. Biju and the rest turn red from the exertion.( I must've been purple) didnt look too good since we had the rest of the drive as well. But we did manage to climb all the way to the top and spent about an hour clicking pics of the temple and its surroundings. Ganesh gets an idea to go to a neighbouring temple as well. Immediately shot down :). We make the climb back down and switch from the Red bull to Tender coconut water. Nothing as refreshing as that to recharge you. While were are drinking prashant as usuall runs a thought saying that the cream of the coconut looks like a pretty orgasmic discharge being enjoyed. I in my usual style bottom up the coconut to rightly time the statement " that was good ". a pretty babe also at the stall suppresses her laughter considering that we were pretty loud with our comments.( who cares ).
We got into the cars and continued the drive zooming down. We contemplated adding another sticker to Bijus car which read along the lines of " Certified NEW driver " since there was no way anyone would have guessed that he was new to driving. WE finally pulled up a Joe's at around 2100 to be greeted by Joes son , Ajay . We are drained and we take up regular tasks of unpacking ( basically move the bag from the car to the room :) ). We settle for drinks and a campfire.
The food at Joes need to be mentioned. Its NOT high end ****** grade in presentation and preparation. But the food is fairly simple and really good. Also the reduced quantity that we kept requesting for never got heard until the 3rd day. Bottom line : you will not go hungry.
We dug in and discussed the route and plan for the next day. Kept drinking though and planned for a 0600 start the next day. ( Yeah right !!!! )
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