When I was about see the trails for Megamalai , I had a got a call from Prem inviting to one of his trek . It was very long time since I had trekked with Prem , of course the trek level and speed with which he treks is the reason for that .I did not want to decline the invite this time and soon I loaded the trails in my GPS . When I was asking about the team , he said the team is perfect. It was raining heavily in the evening although it did not stop my craziness to start my weekend trek . My bagpack was ready and set , around 9 pm I reached the railway station .
I was having a quick dinner and soon met fellow CTC ians waiting near the train .Our train was at 10:50 pm and we were waiting for Prem and Shyam . A quick intro with others , we were moving towards the platform and the train was about to start . It was 10:52 pm and the train started slowly moving , all members were waiting outside to see whether Prem and Shyam has caught the train or not. We were walking along with train , soon I got a call from Prem saying that I jumped into General compartment , GET INNNNNNNNN.
Soon everyone hopped into the train , a few in different compartment . Phew!! Whatte a start . I called Prem and wanted to check how he managed to catch the train with 7 huge covers of food. After 15 minutes , the train had stopped and I went to Unreserved compartment with Shyam to take the luggage and atlast we settled in a coach . Each one lying in different directions with hell lot of food . For the first time I am encountering this much amount of snacks . Literally YUMMYYYYYY.
3 hours later ,
We got down in the station , and checked the head count . Only 9 of us were present and somehow we missed Arun who was sleeping peacefully in the compartment . The train had started to pick up its pace , soon we witnessed Prem’s long winded sprint to enter into the correct coach and wake him up. Arun did not step down until our shout woke him up from his dreams.
After everyone got down , we had to distribute the food ,tarps and pot. I was totally surprised to see the variety in snacks and only Prem could bring assorted food . The never ending menu started with Haldirams Halwa, Ingimarappa , Pal kova , Murukku , Athirsam , Kerala Chips , Karnataka Chips , Chennai Chips , Elantha Pazham, Sundal , Seedai , Mixture , Corn Flakes , Laddu , Soan Papdi, Nanari Sarbath , Lemon , Pepper Rasam , Soya Meal Maker , Tang,Lemon Thokku , Paruppu Podi , Coconut Podi , Masala Balls, Snickers and lots more . Soon we walked out of the station and had a cup of tea . Prem,Ravi,Arun and myself were looking out for transport to reach the start point . I loaded the GPS and checked the distance , we had walked a km to ask for a Jeep. After reaching the start point early in the morning , we were cautioned about the bear movement . So we were mentally prepared and entered the beautiful jungle after 16 km jeep trail walk .
It was a blissful morning for me and was eager to document this trek as SLR was given tome . Should thank Arun for this ! I had wonderful company from Guna and Magesh ji. I loved the experiences shared by Dr.Manick and was shocked by the looks of Ravi after hearing his age . Yoknath and Roop were first timers who came along with me and were totally flabbergasted by the beauty of nature. Shyam’s company made the walk relaxed and Prem’s stories motivated me all the time.
After reaching the stream , we were heading towards a beautiful fall . But Before that , wait wait , We forgot something . BREAKFAST!! We had Halwa , Muruku and Tang , loved it each and every bit . Had a nice dip and power nap . After some time I started moving towards the huge falls asking Prem to sweep the team . Guna and Ravi were accompanying me and we were totally mesmerized by the rock formation and faces in those rocks .
I was upset with the water level , but when I reached the place , was happy to see the amount of water and the fall slowly but gorgeously plummeting. It was damn cold , soon Guna dived and reached that end . I was waiting for the team to arrive and within few minutes everyone came . And it was time to Dive!!! Safety was first priority always . Prem and Guna were diving from one end . That was really tempting and they invited me to the party . The water was freezing . Magesh ji was taking stretches and started swimming . Manick , Ravi ,Arun ,Yoknath and Roop entered the icy waters . Shyam was documenting the whole thing with his SLR , as he wanted to take a nice video for the team .
After diving , swimming , filling up icy waters , we rested for a while . And it was time for me to take the pictures of these guys sleeping
That Halwa was really amazing , hats off to Prem for making an awesome menu jam packed with variety of snacks. Then another 5 km in the tracks lead us to a temple and pool , literally mind blowing . It was about to become dark , so we started collecting Fire wood and started cooking . A nice advice from Magesh ji and Guna made me realize Briyani Cooking requires larger woods and lot of time . Shyam’s sincerity in cooking made it faster and Guna’s constant observation made it faster and tastier . The Vegetable team : Prem, Roop ,Ravi ,Yoknath , Manick and Cooking lead : Magesh ji ,Guna helped in making Nice Briyani along with Murukku and tasty Soup. Listening to Guna’s marine stories , Manick’s experiences , Ravi’s thoughts along with the awesome hot and tasty food made that night . I had a nice sleep on a flat space with stars overlooking.
Day 2,
Morning we had a nice dip in the pool . Everyone started diving inside the cave .It was so beautiful that words are not enough to describe it . The colors , rocks , formation , water and the gorge is an asset to eastern ghats .
Almost everyone was taking a nice dip in the water , sharing stories , floating above waters , forming an array and swimming in line , jumping to make lotus waves . I lost my glasses while diving . This was my third one after losing two in Picnic pool . The waters were so deep and dark that we couldn’t spot the glass. The team was getting along very well , every one sharing things , listening to each other patiently , learning from their experience and this is all about Attitude and trekking . The refreshing dip motivated us to cook more and again take a dip and again cook . We decided to make Upma and started playing Cards . Again we started to have a nice dip in the crystal clear pool.We started to cook rice and have Parupu podi , Coconut Podi and Lemon rice . The hot food served after icy dip was unforgettable. After lunch, till 3:30 pm we were having nice dip . How can I forget my swimming session with Prem and Guna. Around 4 pm we started back to the jeep track and exit . It was long way and without glasses it was tough for me , but I got used to it as I did it previously twice. Prem was warning about the bears and we were walking , walking and walking . I loved to jump on the boulders without my glasses . Manick was telling about dynamic mapping that runs in our brain when we do bouldering rather than walking on jeep trails . Jumping and Hopping on the small rocks was fun , but when I saw the long stretch of rocks , I jumped on to the parallel track along with Prem saving time
Shyam was documenting and checking for movement of Bears , soon we reached the gate and waiting for transport . And I noticed forest fire , on the ridges . I was not convinced by the explanation given by many , though Manick said it was done once in 8 months for regeneration . We could not find any other possible reason for the fire created by local people . After exiting , we had a surprise meet up with the officials who enquired us about the trip. After two hours of talking and justification , they let us go ! They were contented about the plastic and garbage we collected along with us. Soon we headed to Dhaba for nice , yummy food. We had roti’s ,rice , thumbs up and more roti . It was one hell of a weekend for everyone!! Loved the way it went and with such ease .
Certainly, it was two days of heavenly Bliss. Thanks to my dearest friend Prem for organizing one .
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