Pavan Bhat's Blog

To watch the nature’s beauty at its best is an eternal bliss. Little did I know that one such present was waiting for me. All I had to do was to come out of the sleeping bag and open the tent’s zip!

It was 6AM in the morning, the grass in front of tent was misty green with numerous pearls of dew reflecting the Sun who had just managed to peep out of mountain ridge. The land abruptly ended and it was a bit cloudy but the beautiful snow covered peaks of Nandadevi sanctuary glowing gold sunbathing the first rays. With eyes still half opened, got hold of my camera and came out of the tent. There was Choukamba, Haati, Ghoda, Neelkant, Kedar range and Bandar poonch peaks on to East but were partially visible and Nandagunti, chanyakot, Trishul and Kalidakh on to south which were clearly visible.

Today’s trek was just a 3 hour one and we had to cover around 5kms. We could see half the route, ie. from Bedni to Ghoda loutani. We left the camp and leisurely started walking to the destiny. Every step was taking us closer to Trishul. This time I decided to be sweeper of the group with Rajesh and hence was kilometers behind the rest of the folks. The inclination was very less and the walk was comfortable. Nandagunti and Trishul began to disappear behind Kaluvinayak range.

We took a break at Ghoda loutani. The name has an interesting story behind it. During British reign, their horses used to feed in this area and they would reach until this point grazing but return back and never go beyond. Hence named Ghoda Loutani. From this place, our campsite Pattar Nauchoni was steep down and was the only place where water spring was available. We reached campsite by 12:30.

It was a wise decision to reach the place before noon as it started raining just after we settled in our tents. The weather sent shivers down our spine as we had lunch inside the porters tent. The rains stopped after a while and the clouds partially cleared to reveal the majestic Mactoli and Mrigthuni peaks from which the famous Pindari glacier originate. Then there was majestic black Kalidakh posing with fresh snow on its rocky layers. As an add-on, there was a Rainbow at the base of Kaluvinayak forming a semicircled entrance ring to the mountain.Check this! I wondered, how many times in a lifetime do you get to see a rainbow below you?!!

It started to rain again and Smita, Poonam, Neelima, Deepak and myself sneaked into a tent. Zillions of topics – from photography till generation gap – came under the scanner until Rajesh summoned us for the dinner. The night after such a rainfall at 12500ft was our plight to deal with.

The next morning I was woken up early and forcefully dragged to start the climb without breakfast at 6:30AM by Poonam – well 90 minutes ahead of others. Nitin ji and Kunalji accompanied us. In a way it proved to be bonus as I got all the time in the world to click the photos and enjoy the beauty Himalayas can offer waiting for the lady to climb

Pattar Nachunia to Baghubasa is a 3 hour climb. The path is very steep and exhilarating and one needs to cross the mighty Kaluvinayak. Kaluvinayak is at 15000ft and claims a significant place in the history and mythology. This is the place where lord Ganesha stood guarding Kailash when maa Parvathi went to take bath in Roopkund. This was the place where Lord Shiva beheaded Ganesha and rejuvenated him with a tusker’s head.

We reached Kaluvinayak by 9AM and began to explore the place before the rest of the team could reach the place. There is a Ganesh mandir at the peak which overlooks Mt.Trishul. We could see the Chanyakot – Kalidakh range completely and it houses our destination – Roopkund. The weather was at its best. Once everybody reached the place, we offered pooja to the Lord. The KMS team had bought sandalwood garland and sweets from Bengal to offer to the lord. Then Rajesh declared that we’ll be try to hit Roopkund the same day as the weather looks great!

On hearing this there was a sense of adrenaline rush and we raced towards Bagubhasa. The entire 2km path was rocky and we covered it in about 15-20 minutes. We blocked our tents and had to wait for the previous team to return from Roopkund and clear out the tents before we could occupy. By the time the other group came back, we noticed dark clouds appearing above Kalidakh. The views of the Roopkund crater looked very tempting. But we decided not to take a chance with weather and we’d try Roopkund the next day. We bid farewell to the team which had completed the summit successfully.

As usual the 5 of us got inside a tent for some callous discussion when it started raining. I slid to sleep after a while. But when I got up, I could hear heavy sould of hailstorm and was surprised to see the entire campsite covered in fresh white snow.  Most of us shared a single plate for dinner to save ourselves from having to wash it in freezing water! The night was a sleepless one with rocky surface to sleep on and freezing temperature to deal with. There were Himalayan deers roaming our tent late at night.

Above all, how can one get sleep with the excitement of a rendezvous with Roopkund and Junargali the next day?!

Summary:

*Fastrack:  Bedini to Bhagubasa can be covered in 1 day (experienced trekkers). About 12kms in all.

*Slowtrack: It can be split into 2 days. Bedini – Patar Nachauni and Patar Nachauni – Kaluvinayak – Baghubasa.

*If there is no snowfall, Pattar Nachauni is the only water source on the route (there are a few small water springs). Hence carry a lot of water.

* Best time to visit : June-July , Sep-Oct.

*Average day temperature : Around 10 degrees. At night it might drop below zero.

*Pattar Nachauni to Kaluvinayak is a very steep climb(about 3 kms).

*Do respect Mountains. Do not throw/dispose plastic.

Kodai(Kodaikanal) is the Carrot capital of India and a famous hill station located in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu. Munnar – The queen of hills of south India, located in idikki Dist. post, Kerala. Then comes The Escapade route. The route once used by the British to travel between these two hill stations. Now the route is history. It lies deep inside the reserved forests and one needs permissions from DFO of two stations to access it. I was at the end of roadmap of treks scheduled for 2009 and this was last but one. After discussing with friends for over 100 mails we zeroed in on date Nov 28-30, 2009.

As the date approached, the number of people reduced from 19 to 13 including the last minute dropouts. For the first time (in the history) there was a feminine majority in the group – yeah 7 girls and 6 guys. There was Joydeep – the GPS man, Poonam, Saritha, nanditha, Sushmitha, KD – the accountant and financial administrator, Satya, Videhi, Vani, Abhilasha – the taliban and myself.

Even after a lot of circus, the permission request was rejected by DFO at Chennai quoting bad weather and landslides at Berijam – The Lake at which our trek was supposed to start. Poonam crawled through the web and came up with the route:
Kodai-Berijam (23 Km) – Konalar (5 Km) – Sebastian Odei (3 Km) – Marion Shola (2Km) – Kathirikkai Odei(1 Km) – Kambippalam (3 Km) – Pulavachiar (5 Km) – Vandaravu (10 Km) – Top Station (10 Km)


View Larger Map

We spoke to several Guides cum brokers for the route – Kodai mani, Raja, Murugan and Charles who all quoted exorbitant rates ranging from INR 800/- per head to 1600/- per head for a two day trek. That would include permissions, food and stay arrangements. A lot of bargaining went on and finally Raja promised to try and arrange for permission and he said we can take a local villager as guide.

So, we board the KSRTC Rajahamsa that left Bangalore Shantinagar bus station at 9:30PM (yes, we had reservation). The roads are smooth once we reach Tamilnadu. The Bus stopped at a pretty looking restaurant by 7AM in the morning for breakfast. This place was still a good 2 hours from Kodaikanal. The bus then climbed up scenic hills passing through lakes, dams, a huge falls and reached Kodaikanal by 9:30 AM.

On reaching Kodai, we called up Raja who said he would arrange for a tempo traveller for 13 of us(costing INR 1700/-) and we could start our trek from Nattanpetti. For a 3 day trek, the route for the first day would be Kodai-Berijium-Munnavanur-Nattampetti. We decided to start from Nattampetti. We bought 2 rooms nearby and freshened up before the TT arrived.





The Driver of the TT said he can arrange for lunch at Munnavannur and we agreed. He called up the place and asked him to prepare lunch for 13 of us. We crossed over scenic villages and reached Munnavannur by lunch time. We passed through pine forests and stopped at a small so called waterfall. There were newly married couples posing in front of the fall which looked more like a stream jumping over a small obstacle. We laughed at their anxiety and continued towards Munnavannur. The hotel was named Bird’s eye view restaurant and it was placed in the uphill facing the valley and a small lake at some distance.



After a yummy lunch, we stopped a little ahead in the same village where the negotiations for a guide started with a broker. We finally settled in on a retired forest-fire watcher named Adamalai for Rs.2000. He said he knows the escapade route at the back of his head and he would take us. Passing through Poondi and a million carrot fields we stopped at Nattampetti and sent back the vehicle.











The day’s trek was an easy 8-10 km jungle walk on the escapade route with a little diversion to reach a deserted haunted forest guest house for the night stay. We passed through nice streams, enjoyed the sun rays penetrate through numerous pine trees and still reach is like yellow ribbons emerging out of an unknown source, lush green grasslands and also a little of leach infested dirt land. We spent some time on top of a waterfall (of around 100 mts tall). The Guest house was nothing more than a few walls. No proper roof or windows. I think the British had taken back all the doors along with hinges as there was no sign of their presence.





The guest house is surrounded by Manshola malai, Jhanda malai and upper palni shola reserved forests. With great difficulty, we cleaned a room in one of the houses and dumped our bags. Benjamin got busy lighting up fire for tea and Maggi and rest got busy with treating Joydeep with first aid after his unjoyful encounter with a rusted nail. After dinner and fun filled campfire we decided to retire as the cold was getting unbearable. Only we and God knows how 13 people in their respective sleeping bags + backpacks could fit in a 10×8 dirty room. With two powerful generators on(Names not disclosed ) , rest of us settled on jokes and PJs until the pressure on the mind exerted due to want of sleep overcame the sound of metal cutters!





We started the trek next morning by 9AM with a quick packed breakfast. According to Adamalai the route is short (around 8-10 kms) and its just a 3-4 hr trek. After walking for about an hour, he decides to take us through a shortcut to avoid mushy land. There comes the problem – everybody who knows which direction the Sun rise (including GPS) could sense that the stupid fellow is taking us in the wrong direction, but Adamalai was pretty sure of his experience. That takes us trekking through streams, dense forests, more mushy land, thorny fields and finally we end up reaching some road – only after trekking for some 25kms in about 8 hours and numerous scratch marks on our hands and legs, courtesy thorns. Adamalai then declares – from here, the kovillur is another 3 kms. We end up walking for another 3 hours – through pine trees, lovely village routes, crossing a stream and some 3 mountains. The stupid’s sense of direction and distance had cost us our precious time and we had already missed our Bus to Bangalore from Munnar which was scheduled to departure at 5PM.



On reaching to Kovillur, we wait having tea and chips at a local shop while KD(who knows tamil) was negotiating with the jeep guys for a drop to Munnar, some 38kms form kovillur. we were surrounded by tens of village kids who tried to talk to us in english and were baffled with the size of each camera.(photo courtesy – Benjamin)
We then took two vehicles – one jeep and one qualis which zipped through the smooth Kerala road that passes through Pampadam shola national park (we saw huge bisons) and kilometers of TATA tea estate before reaching Munnar – by 8PM.



Having missed the bus to Bangalore but still determined to reach it by the next day, we enquire the possibilities and decided to go to Theni and from there catch a bus to Hosur or Bangalore. After dinner at Saravana Bhavan, we boarded bus to Theni. The Hitler era Nazi military styled bus with completely sealed metal windows took us through hairpin bends for 3 hours that challenged KD’s ability to withhold all the Sravanabhavan dosa and Idli within his tummy.

On reaching Theni at 1AM, we found that there are no buses to either Bangalore or selum and hence decided to go to Dindigul and try our luck there. The bus we boarded was a discotheque styled with shining lights and bombarding music and jam packed with people. It had 2 TV sets – one for each row of people. We reached Dindigul by 2:30 PM.

Dindigul bus station at 2:30AM reminded me of Majestic at its peak hours! After running behind ‘n’ number of busses to Selem failing to get a seat, we managed to get in to one. Sitting on footboard, dashboard, corridor, seat, sleepingbag , someone else’s feet and what not, we reached Selem by 8AM. After informing our bosses that its not possible to get back to office that day, we had breakfast at Saravana Bhavan(again – but, at Selem) and boarded a nonstop express to Bangalore. That ends the story. I rest my case.

Summary:

* Kodai- Munnar is a 3 day trek, but can be done in 2 days with the help of some vehicular travel.
*Some brokers:
Kodai mani (9894048493) Most expensive and charges around 1600/- per head. Can bargain till 1200/-
Murugan: (9842316973) Charges around 800/- per person. Not sure how reliable he is.
Raja: (9842188893) can arrange for permission and vehicle

*One needs permissions from DFO Kodai and DFO munnar to complete this trek. The brokers/guides can arrange this but at some cost.
*The route one can take is:
Kodai-Berijam (23 Km) – Konalar (5 Km) – Sebastian Odei (3 Km) – Marion Shola (2Km) – Kathirikkai Odei(1 Km) – Kambippalam (3 Km) – Pulavachiar (5 Km) – Vandaravu (10 Km) – Top Station (10 Km)

* Busses ply from Bangalore to Kodai and Munnar to Bangalore. The Munnar-Bangalore bus start from Munnar by 5PM which is a asking for trouble if you plan to trek the same day and catch the bus. But still, its doable.
*If you plan to do a 2 day trek, Take a bus/jeep/TT to kuvanji/Nattampetti and then follow the escapade road.

*The end point can be either of Kovillur(easy) or Top station(uphill climb). From both these places one needs to take a jeep/bus to reach Munnar. About 1.5hrs travel.

Bandajje:

This place was haunting me from a long time. Twice had failed to make it to this place. This time, luckily, was serendipitous as there were no dropouts – Thanks to the enthu gang, good weather- Thank God, bookings done in time – Thanks KD and flooding the mail servers and inboxes with hundreds of mails(Spam?) – Thanks ME!

I had tough time porting 8 sleeping bags and 2 tents plus my backpack from my office to the Majestic bus terminal. Thanks Srushti and KD for offloading a few. The Rajahamsa left on time without Cuba and Hemanth, who boarded it running haphazardly at the exit of the terminal.

We filled up the last 1/4th of the bus. As usual soft targets were in the firing range with KD, Hemanth, Cuba and myself taking turns at the trigger. Benjamin was busy watching some soap in his ipod. We had to bring down the noise levels whn rest of the passengers looked annoyed. After a small tea break at kamat’s in Hassan, the bus took us to Ujire nonstop. At the end of the journey, I along with Cuba was sitting on the engine bonnet and bus driver was very enthusiastic in informing us about the places nearby and how adventurous he was during his childhood. The bus dropped us at Ujire by 6:30AM.

After a quick breakfast and packing up lunch at a local hotel, we hired a jeep to Mundajje Narayangowda’s house. The jeep driver charged us Rs 300( a bit exorbitant but considering 10 people and lot of luggage we thought not to negotiate) for a 12-14km drive. KD and myself stood hanging outside the jeep while the rest were stuffed inside like vegetables inside a veg bun. It was an awesome experience to stand outside a speeding jeep and at the end of the journey we could even spot the massive Bandajje falls at the hill top(People inside the jeep were not that lucky).

Narayan gowda(NG) was standing outside his old fashioned antique looking yet majestic house( reminded me of my Granny’s house). He asked us to get refreshened and leav asap and the guide(not one, but 2! – He had called another fellow as backup!) was already waiting for us. NG’s wife came out with their grand daughter Tanvi and girls set busy playing with the baby. NG went on to explain that he is a member of zilla panchayat and has plans to come up with a trek guide with trails in the surrounding areas to promote adventure. We appreciated his effort and bid goodbye and started our trek on a trail that begins right beside his house.

There is a definite trail for a few kms(until the stream) and it passes through the elephant trench(made to prevent elephants from attacking villages) and is fully leach infested. The stream crossing without dipping our backpack/shoes/sleeping bags was a little tricky and most of us managed to do it. After a short break, we entered the jungle where there was absolutely no route and the guide’s knowledge of the area was all we had to trace the correct route. The climb was quite steep and after about 3 hours of uphill and missing the route once or twice we managed to reach the exit point of forest. It was 1:30PM by then and we decided to have lunch before hitting the sunny grasslands.

Benjamin , Sangram and Poonam had gone well ahead of us and we started very late after lunch.The uphill trek continues even in the grasslands and one can see the head of the Bandajje waterfall after about an hour of trek. We found some shade under a tree and rested for an hour or so( No water). The discussions and topics in that one hour was one of the most fun filled times in my trek life!!(@Srushti, Bindu, KD, Saritha, Cuba and Hemanth: I’m too much tempted to write! but, i’ll hold on ) Its only when someone stopped laughing – after a good one hour or so, that we realized we are far behind an d the guide was waiting for us a KM away under the hot Sun.

The next 2 hours was a steep, never ending uphill climb on the grasslands. The surroundings looked hazy because of the heat. On reaching the top, we could see the head of the waterfall faintly visible behind the tree line. We climbed down the slippery path to reach the head of the Bandajje falls. In no time we dumped our bags and ran with our cameras to capture the bewildering drop of the waterfall and stunning sunset.  It takes more than courage to bow down and look at the chasm from the cliff.

Back at the campsite just beside the watercourse, Benji was busy fetching firewood and preparing tea while the rest of us started pitching tents. It was fast getting dark and the gushing winds repeatedly blew away the pitched tents. Later we had to dump bags stones inside to keep it at one place. Benjamin was more than happy to boil water for the ready to eat cuppa-mania dinner and prepare tomato soup to everyone. The spicy khatta meeta topping added the flavor to the dinner. The after dinner discussions was filled with PJs and anecdotes. It was a full moon night and the wilderness of the forest was getting creepier when the topic turned to ghost stories. Girls escaped one by one to the tent and hid inside their sleeping bags(out of fear? ). I had a good night’s sleep but somebody claimed they heard elephants nearby (later villagers confirmed it).

Come Sunday morning, we could not afford to be lazy. We had to leave early and it is not so easy to pull people out of water when they are in playing mood. We had to smother a few, threaten the rest before everybody were set to start. The trek continued in the grassland. It was very sunny and we could spot Elephant dung everywhere. After crosing a few hills, we could see the Ballarayan durga fort a sweet 3 hills further. I paced up along with Benjamin, Bindu and Srushti while the rest were far far behind. On reaching the base of the hill on which the fort stood, we could see a gunman and another fellow. They had disappeared when we reached the fort though. (There was another group who had come from sunkasaale just to visit the fort – They had a gunman too! )

The fort is a ruin. There is nothing inside apart from a compound. It looks like a small wall of china . There is a watch tower which gives 360 degree view of the surroundings. The place offers breathtaking view of western ghats and the green carpeted mountains are just mind boggling!

We rested for a while inside the fort and had our lunch by the time rest of the people dropped in. By 2PM we started downhill which seemed to be a easy route. After about 2 hours of trek we reached a temple at the base of the hill and rested there for a while before hitting the jeep track. It is about 8Kms to Sunkasaale from this place and we availed auto service available for the last 5kms. On reaching Sunkasaale we bid goodbye to our guides (paid them Rs.700, 300 per day and Rs.100 for traveling back). By the time we had tea at a local shop, A bus to Horanadu stopped at the bus stop and we got in. There is a bus every half an hour from 5PM to 6:30 PM to Horanadu, the autowala said. Horanadu is about 30kms from Sunkasaale and the bus passes through Kalasa.

We had our bus booked at 9:30 from Horanadu. Since we had wnough time, we booked 2 rooms to freshen up and visited the famous Annapoorneshwari Temple. We had the prasadam dinner at the temple hall and boarded the bus on time. (Just on time, as 4 poeple went missing and the rest had tough time finding them!)

The bus dropped us in Bangalore Majestic bus terminal by 6:30 and we all parted promising to meetup on a dinner someday the same week. And, we DID. Had a rocking time, AGAIN!

Summary:

* There are two possible routes: Mudajje – Bandajje falls – Ballarayandurga fort – Sunkasaale in that order OR in reverse order. I do not suggest reverse order as it takes out the fun and beauty of the route.

*Take a bus from bangalore to Ujire (All Kundapur bound buses ply this route)

*Jeeps are available from Ujire to Narayangowda’s house. Call him up well in advance and know the weather conditions, rainfall and guide availability.

*For the return journey, book Horanadu – bangalore 9:30 PM bus. One can reach Horanadu comfortably from Sunkasaale. About 32kms. KSRTC buses ply this route from 4:30PM to 5:30PM (around 3 buses)

*camp just beside the Bandajje falls. There is a small campsite where one can pitch 3 tents.

*On the 2nd day, Leave the campsite as early as possible. One can enjoy the mist filled meadows on the way to fort. It gets really hot later.

*Carry fire crackers (Helps scare elephants away)

*carry enough water. Only water source – Bandajje waterfalls!