Travelog: Kodachadri

== originally posted at http://raghu.mark.googlepages.com on 04/23/07 ==


Saying and Doing are two different things - i understood the real meaning of this statement during my trek to Kodachadri. It is now over 1.5 years since my trek to Kodachadri, but the memories are still fresh in my mind. This was my first trek ever and the first time i understood the real meaning of trek.


Kodachadri is a steep mountain near Kollur.It is about 40 Kms to Kodachadri from Kollur through road. Kollur is a holy place famous for its temple of the goddess mookambika. It is said that the 'moolasthana' (true source) of goddess mookambika is up in the hills of Kodachadri.


The plan to trek was mine and nanda's brainwave. We had been thinking about this for a long time but, could never make it into a reality. My early days at RelQ as a teamlead were very taxing and especially at one phase, i was under lotz of emotional stress. I finally scumbed to the pressure when i was doing a nightout. Next day morning, when nanda came to pick me up from office, he saw my pathetic state and decided to go ahead with the trek. We both hoped that the trek will give us renewed energy and serve as a break in our ever busy life. This was on Friday Morning. Nanda told me that his friend 'Guru' had recently been to Kodachadri and he had described the route in a mail. We decided to make the trek to Kodachadri. We reached Vijaynagar, and enquired about Bus tickets to Kollur. At the same time, i decided to invite Ashwin for the trek. I called up Infosys at 8AM and got connected to Ashwin. Ashwin agreed to come along (he was another guy, who was looking for a break). We booked three tickets to Kollur for the 8 PM bus. I rushed home and packed my bags (we had no idea what to take). Mom was really perplexed with these sudden plans. Nanda and i bought two pairs of Woodland Trek shoes and rushed to office. After finishing work, i went directly to the KSRTC bus stop from office at around 7.30 PM and met up with Ashwin. Nanda as usual reached late; at around 8.15 PM. We had to beg the bus driver to wait. This started our eventful 2 day journey to Kodachadri.


We reached Kollur early in the morning. Rented a room and freshened ourselves. After a quick visit to the temple and a meager breakfast, we started on our way to Kodachadri. The boy from the hotel warned us that it was around 25 kms to Kodachadri on the trek route. He adviced us to reach their by means of a Jeep. But, we ignored it as nonsense. Nothing according to Guru's mail suggested 25 Kms. On the way, we bought a bottle of water (1 litre). This was supposed to be our water resource for the whole trek. We started walking on the main road with the sun beating down on us. Soon, we removed our jackets and started to sweat. After about 2 kms, we came to the place where we were supposed to deviate and enter the forest. This was the phase we were all looking forward to (and unfortunately the point from where we started suffering). The walk from here was fully uphill on a jeep track. The jeep track was wide enough for a lorry with thick trees on both sides. This was my first experience of being in a actual forest. We walked, walked n walked. Guru's route described a deviation from the Jeep track to reach a water falls known as 'Arisina Gunndi'. But guru unfortunately had not mentioned the distance. Finally after 5 -6 kms walk uphill (which saw a reduction in our water resource and some loud singing by nanda to buoy our spirits), we reached the deviation to the water falls. Now, everyone was yearning to take a dip in the cool water. Again, guru hadn't mentioned the type of terrain to reach the falls. We descended rapidly for about a Km to reach the falls.


The place was one of serenity. The season being Summer, the force of the water was not very high and hence we all had a good time. Filled up our water bottle and started on our journey back to the Jeep track, from where we would eventually reach Kodachadri. The climb back to the Jeep track proved to be toooo hard. None of us were ever exposed to ascending a hill, which was around 60 degree steep. By the time we reached the Jeep track, none of us were sure of going forward. We contemplated the idea of turning back and heading back to Kollur. It is said that humans have the maximum intent of taking risks, we proved it that day. We decided to go forward and reach our goal.


To support our resolution, the track turned out to be more easier. We walked until we reached the deviation from where we had to enter the jungle. At this point, our water resource was again very less. We found some standing water as soon as we entered the jungle and drank it to quench our thirst. But, we being from the modern world, swallowed a Crocin along with the water (as a precautionary measure). The jungle turned out to be the worst part. Climbing steeply, we were unsure of the path. Sometimes, markings on the trees showed us a path, other times, we walked blindly. All we knew was that we had to ascend until we reached the top of the hill. We were afraid of loitering in the jungle in the fear of encountering wild animals (enuciated by some sounds). We finally made it to the top of the hill and came out of the jungle to find the sun blazing hot on our backs. It was around 3 in the afternoon.


From this point, we were supposed to walk on a path for half hour to find 'Hotel Santosh'. We made it a one hour walk by getting lost occasionaly. We finally reached a small house which also served as the Hotel Santosh and a snacks shop. We asked the hotel keeper to prepare us some decent food (money was not a bar). At around 4.30, we had our Lunch. Food never tasted better. We still had two hours of climb in front of us to reach the top of Kodachadri. Initially, we planned to spend the night near the hotel and carry on with the climb the next day. But after the food and some Glucose, we decided to make the final climb. We anticipated that it would get dark by the time we reached the top. But, we still decided to carry on.


After the first 10 minutes of climbing, we knew we had made a mistake. This was the most toughest phase of the whole trek. Not because of the steepness, our bodies were wornout. As we climbed in a spiral path, we witnessed some of the most beautiful sceneries. Most of the path was covered with knee length hay, the setting sun made the whole hill golden. The scene was a treat to sore eyes. But, it started to get dark soon. I lost the battle towards the last 15 mins of climb. Nanda was of the opinion that we should sleep in some clearing. But, Ashwin was notinterested in sleeping in the jungle, he also stated that we would get freezed, if we slept in the open. So the last 15 mins of climb was pure agony. It had become very difficult for me to just place my foot in front of the other. As darkness started to creep in, we reached the top. The hill top consists of a temple, a house belonging to the temple priest and a govt maintained guest house.


We took refugee in the house of the priest. The people of the house were very nice and seeing our state, they hurried us to dinner and offered us a room to sleep in for a nominal fee. The food was toooo good. After a hard day's trek, anything would taste good. We came out of the house after dinner, and were assaulted by cold wind. The temperature had dropped and it was freezing out in the open. The sky was full of Stars. I had never seen so many stars in my life earlier. This was a moment that i will treasure a long time.


We took to bed early, in the hopes of catching the sunrise. Before we went to bed, everyone of us swallowed a Antibiotic to counter any illness. I swallowed two pain killers to abate the pain in my leg.


Next morning, we woke up late. I woke to a leaden sensation in my leg. Nanda had a bad stomach. Ashwin seemed to be the fittest of us. After a bath and breakfast, we visited the temple. In front of the temple stands a long rod of unknown metal that is placed deep into the ground. The priest informed us that the pole was there from centuries. The pole did not show even a trace of oxidation (rust). The priest their informed us that a short way up the hill connected to another temple. We started on our way to that temple, and to my horror discovered that i was unable to walk. Heavy pain buffeted me with every step i took. At this point, i decided that i couldn't go further. I stayed back and let nanda and ashwin visit the temple. I swallowed two more pain killers. With three pain killers coursing through my body, i expected the pain to reduce soon. Alas, the pain never reduced. Once both the guys returned, we decided that we couldn't walk back. We took the help of the priest family and got the jeep drivers to agree for a lift till kollur. We thanked the priest family and started on our way back to Kollur. All three of us had to travel in different jeeps, bcoz they already had passengers from kollur.


The jeep ride was worser than i imagined. But, full marks to the driver who had to drive at the edge of the narrow road. One inch difference and we would go down the hill. As we were coming back, the jeep driver enquired about our journey to kodachadri. When i told him that we traveled thru the jungle, he was dumbfounded. He later revealed that the forest was the house of many wild animals including Tiger. This news shocked me to the core. We reached kollur in the afternoon.


We had booked return tickets upon arrival in Kollur and visited the temple to while away the time until it became night. The return back to bangalore was uneventful and we reached bangalore on monday morning.


I had to suffer with leg pain until wednesday. But, the pain reminded me of the enormous journey that we had undertaken. It taught me that things aren't easy as they seem.


Recently, i noticed an article on the web which stated that the metal has been identified as 'Iron' in its purest form. The article also stated that researchers were unable to come with any reasonable explanation as to how, such a pure form of Iron was produced.


Today, when i look back on the trek to kodachadri and compare it with some of the other treks that i have undertaken till today, i understand that the trek to kodachadri taught me quite a few lessons that i carried over to the other treks. I look forward to visit Kodachadri again. Hope it becomes true, soon.