Post Trek Write Up: Emperors Trek to Kumara Parvatha

Write up from Sundhari

November 15^th Friday 4 P.M

It was quite a hustle at work,trying to wrap up things as there was a 7 P.M bus to be taken from Koyambedu. I was planning to take the MTC bus to Koyambedu from office. However to my boundless joy I am informed that I have a seat in the TATA SUMO that has been arranged for all the IT’ians on OMR. I was quite thrilled to see a chirpy, happy crowd come to my gate and there we were, off to add on another treasure of memories to our ever so corporate lives.

We reached Koyambedu just in time, well maybe not all. We had the bus wait for almost 20 minutes as one of the member had not come in as yet. After all well we were onto the first destination-Bangalore(My Home)!!.We got off the bus stop by 2 ish, waited for other folks from Bangalore and then took off to Kukke Subramaniya which was the base to KP.

Wait! It wasn’t that easy. Cab was for 23 people and we were 26. After a lot of convincing and haggling with the driver who had the feel that we were at his mercy, we finally made the journey.

We stopped by at the Ghat section to have a sumptuous breakfast and awesome coffee. This might seem civilized but definitely not! Gone are the days when you order food and get to eat from your own plate. Unless you gobble it down before the plate hits the table you will have nothing left.

We reach KP base by 11ish and did a last minute shopping for essentials and started our ascent. Suddenly my body felt like it was bent 45 degrees to the ground. Not flat ground, this was totally uphill. We puffed and sighed upwards. The next destination was “Bhatra Mane”(Bhats house) for Lunch.

This place is specifically set-up for feeding the hungry souls which trod up KP. Each meal costed us Rs.90 which I personally felt like adopting a secondary business option at KP. After resting for a while we started to reach the gate of the Mandap where we were to camp.

This was at 4 p.m. Apparently the gate closes at 1 p.m!!! Another series of haggling started, But this time we lost. We were asked to camp at the same place and were allowed permission only by 5 in the morning.

With heavy hearts we went about collecting wood, putting up tents and  preparing for the night meal. As the night passed it did not seem like a bad idea at all. We were all pretty pepped up with the long tent like a dormitory set-up. Will we all 26 fit into it? Wait and watch!

Post Dinner which consisted of Soup and Maggi, for which people could have killed each other, fortunately no casualties, we sat down for a round of introduction and chatting. We got to know a lot more of people that we walked along with so far.

We finally retired for our sleep. AND of course we fitted in quite well…a few moved out in the open and the rest snoozed away to dream land. I think it was after 5 minutes we were woken up. Time however read as 5 a.m! The team started packing, brushing, etc etc etc. All ready we started out climb to the mandap. Teams made it as per their own capacity and stamina. We kept re-grouping at points and finally got together for breakfast. Ate all that was available, Bread, milkmaid, rusk, Flattened rice and  ready mix. I will skip the part on how the food was prepared and eaten. Its beyond explanation and imagination!!

Everyone was knackered. But has anyone ever walked in the clouds? we did. It was freezing and extremely windy. Even some of the strong ones were getting blown away. None of this mattered. We felt at the top of the world. Breathtaking experience!!! Some got emotional and even cried.

We had lunch, oops wrong word, we killed for lunch and then got descending to the base. This was easier compared to the hike, also being a shorter trail, we reached our cab below at about 2 ish and started our journey to Shanthi nagar bus stop at bangalore.

This was a mad rush as we were running late (again)!! To catch the bus at 9.We called the driver and all was arranged. We settled into our seats and least what we expected a quite journey back to Chennai. Thats not what the gods had in mind. It was in the books that there was to be a speed breaker and people in the last bench hit their heads and got a nasty sprain.

With a lot of running around in the hospital (With only me talking Kannada) we managed to get the folks wrapped up to normalcy and headed back to Chennai, Reached almost 3 hours late.

As you saw there were quite a few things that did not go as planned. But when I look back I don’t think that mattered at all. Quick thinking by our organizers Praveen and Masu just brought about everything back on track. Thanks guys!!Looking forward to many more of these!!