Excellent Write up from Siddharth Ramana:
Unlike most CTCians, I din’t start my first trek at Nagala West or East. After venturing into some lesser known (but equally exoctic) CTC spots, after a rather long wait and after a cancelled trek to Nagala East…at last I got to visit west-thanks to Prem!! The very mention of words like 1st pool…5thpool, mini kutralam ,western peak enthu’d me n I logged in, without hesitating. This was my second trek with Prem and he has this habit of sending in some pics of the spot, like a trailer some days before the trek-this further increased my expectations. And of course ,the menu for the trek- a grand discussion was going on in a huge mail thread. I was once again haunted with nightmares of a huge, heavy backpack taller and wider than me :P But it was worth it J Adding one more AND….last but not the least, a crew from Makkal TV would be accompanying us to cover up the entire trek-media partner J
Here goes the graaaand menu :
Some of them moved forward and the rest of us packed up the leftover food, cleaned up the vessels and then moved up-the boulders were a bit tricky now-all slippery. We moved up, maintaining the pace, towards Mini Kutralam . A few of us chose to bath and the rest of them gave some rest for their legs .It was then a small ascent up the ridge and then a climb down, again to the stream. The small ascent was toughened by the loose rocks and then someone spotted a beehive under formation in one of the trees :O Prem’s agenda was to camp at the 800m Western peak , and we were rushing towards that. But a couple of halts on the way made it impossible and so he decided to camp at the 5th pool, providing some rest for the team and to avoid trekking at night. Some of us ventured out to collect firewood and the others were preparing the camp site.
The fire was ready, soup was under preparation and Vallabh was out there, letting out all his grievances in the form of a thousand QUESTIONS. Prem was feeling shy :P and others found it too difficult to answer L Archana’s comments on IIT guys needs to be censored though J Magesh & Co were busy with the cards. Vallabh’s questions made several rounds, only to bounce back to him at the end. Fortunately the soup arrived and we escaped :P After soup,it was time for halwa-special Tirunelveli halwa and butter murukku sent for us by Venkat sir J It was a fitting finale to the day-none of us wanted to eat anymore- pasta was rejected and kept in store for the next trek J
We slowly started settling down for sleep- Sollin had some dirty issues with his leg,which can be explained better by Magesh ji J
The next morning, it was time for kesari after a quick coffee-Some of us set out to the peak with Prem, after gulping down the Kesari of course J The climb up to the peak was a nice morning exercise J Loose rocks had their share of fun on us,but we never stopped. The breezy breezy peak was an awesome location-worth the climb JSo many photo sessions and a Video session with the makkal TV team J Hats of to them for covering up this entire distance with such a heavy camera and so many other supporting devices J
After a quick climb down and a upma breakfast, we dipped in the pool and then proceeded towards the 4.5th pool (Donno why it was named so). Again started jumping in crazily here and there. The Makkal team, who were busy with the coverage on the way up were quite relaxed now and were participating with full enthu in our fun. Meanwhile, bajji, Gulab jamun were getting ready in our campsite and they promised to carry it down all the way to us J *Gulab Jamun was prepared in the campsite with Jira –we din’t carry tins or dry jamun* .
Guna and team decided to stay and prepare jamun and bajjis of us, meanwhile other started to climb down. On the way the we halted at 4.5th pool and then moved towards mini kutralam. In mini we emptied jamuns and bajjis. Ganganam style dance was unforgettable. From there we moved towards 3rd pool, halted and had the fun playing in water. Then we headed toward 2nd pool.
Second pool was shallow. Vallab and jaga started fishing(more precise playing with mosquito net). Only few jumped into water, other were tired after the long trek. After this we headed towards foot hill. It was getting dark. Finally we reached the foot hill about 7pm. This trek was so memorable, thank you friends for making it so special. Special thanks to Prem of organising the trek. Jaga and vallab, thanks for helping me climb.
Lots and lots has been written about this place-its probably the most trekked location and is better described as the ‘Home Ground of CTC’.Ya-Nagala West was our choice for the weekend’s Emperor’s Special trek.
Unlike most CTCians, I din’t start my first trek at Nagala West or East. After venturing into some lesser known (but equally exoctic) CTC spots, after a rather long wait and after a cancelled trek to Nagala East…at last I got to visit west-thanks to Prem!! The very mention of words like 1st pool…5thpool, mini kutralam ,western peak enthu’d me n I logged in, without hesitating. This was my second trek with Prem and he has this habit of sending in some pics of the spot, like a trailer some days before the trek-this further increased my expectations. And of course ,the menu for the trek- a grand discussion was going on in a huge mail thread. I was once again haunted with nightmares of a huge, heavy backpack taller and wider than me :P But it was worth it J Adding one more AND….last but not the least, a crew from Makkal TV would be accompanying us to cover up the entire trek-media partner J
It was a super duper team-almost all regular trekkers and familiar faces, and I was chosen to be the innocent accountant of this group L On the day before the trek, the finalized menu was sent by Vasanth-and this ‘Finalized’ menu was subject to additions, depending on the situation and availability of materials J
Here goes the graaaand menu :
Satuday(15th)
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Sunday (16th)
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Morning :
Bread and Jam
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Morning
Upma,Kesari,Egg podimas,Boiled Egg
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Noon :
Chicken Biriyani,Veg biriyani,Fish Fry, Riatha, Chips ,Pakoda
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Noon
Bajjis(Potatos,Egg,banana), Gulab Jamun,soan papdi
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Dinner :
Soup,Therunelveli halwa,Muruku
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Dinner
Uthukotai Dhaba
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Others: Tang, Sneakers, Orange, Electrol, Biscuts
| |
And..there were those usual coffe,milk,snickers,biscuits, tangs,lemons and oranges-they lost respect in this trek :P No one cared for them-never did anyone feel hungry -we were pampered with food-thanks to the cooking team-Guna,Vasanth & Co…(Sorry Forgot veg Chefs ).We also had Pasta & Aval ,sambar and rasam waiting to be cooked but cancelled at the last minute cos we were tired of eating. It was a mini foodie trek of sorts J
And then, on the day of the trek, as punctual as ever, we headed towards Nagala -with a small break at the Poondi reservoir ,for a change. People started combing their hairs, practised smiling and tucked in their tummies-courtesy Makkal TV J Prem explained us the details of the trek-the terrain and our approach to it. We then headed towards Pichathur, to purchase meat and vegetables and the usual tea break…with such small small delays and some photoshoots on the way,we reached Nagala, only to be received by a huge crowd of cap clad, Noise making TOURISTS L It was some corporate team outing with around some 75-100 people. Only then did I realize the difference between TREKKERS & TOURISTS !!Prem was justified in his opinion that Nagala would soon get as polluted as Tada :(
After letting that gang pass by, we slowly proceeded towards the foothill after distributing the common gear -with minor breaks to facilitate the video coverage, we proceeded .Breakfast-ie bread & jam was opened up at the first water point . Prem split up the team into two-the cooking team which would proceed with the utensils and necessary items to the 3rd pool and the other team, which would have a small halt at the first pool and then slowly move up. Myself and Sollin were sweeping and whenever we tried to put the entire team in front of us, there was some one behind-it was the Dog.it was following us with ease & grace, irrespective of the terrain-a quick dip at the 1st pool and then we moved up-only to find that gang again making noise at the second pool(On our way back-we foud many of their caps and thrash left behind ). We skipped this and moved ahead, and even the dog chose to come with us, ignoring the crowd :P But the cold water from the stream made the dog lose its determination and it returned back- The poor creature had to be satisfied with a few biscuits & breads- missed chicken and fish :P At the third pool, food was getting ready – in classic CTC style-everyone was doing their part and people like me were disturbing and pestering them on the pretext of helping :D Some people started jumping in and there was a photo-session going on.
After letting that gang pass by, we slowly proceeded towards the foothill after distributing the common gear -with minor breaks to facilitate the video coverage, we proceeded .Breakfast-ie bread & jam was opened up at the first water point . Prem split up the team into two-the cooking team which would proceed with the utensils and necessary items to the 3rd pool and the other team, which would have a small halt at the first pool and then slowly move up. Myself and Sollin were sweeping and whenever we tried to put the entire team in front of us, there was some one behind-it was the Dog.it was following us with ease & grace, irrespective of the terrain-a quick dip at the 1st pool and then we moved up-only to find that gang again making noise at the second pool(On our way back-we foud many of their caps and thrash left behind ). We skipped this and moved ahead, and even the dog chose to come with us, ignoring the crowd :P But the cold water from the stream made the dog lose its determination and it returned back- The poor creature had to be satisfied with a few biscuits & breads- missed chicken and fish :P At the third pool, food was getting ready – in classic CTC style-everyone was doing their part and people like me were disturbing and pestering them on the pretext of helping :D Some people started jumping in and there was a photo-session going on.
The smell of the biriyani and then the fish fry slowly pulled us in-the food available was more than enough and hence there was no fighting .Missed the usual fight though L The taste was awesome-ultimate preparation by Guna & team .Feel blessed if you are shortlisted for an emperor’s trek where Guna is coming :P
Some of them moved forward and the rest of us packed up the leftover food, cleaned up the vessels and then moved up-the boulders were a bit tricky now-all slippery. We moved up, maintaining the pace, towards Mini Kutralam . A few of us chose to bath and the rest of them gave some rest for their legs .It was then a small ascent up the ridge and then a climb down, again to the stream. The small ascent was toughened by the loose rocks and then someone spotted a beehive under formation in one of the trees :O Prem’s agenda was to camp at the 800m Western peak , and we were rushing towards that. But a couple of halts on the way made it impossible and so he decided to camp at the 5th pool, providing some rest for the team and to avoid trekking at night. Some of us ventured out to collect firewood and the others were preparing the camp site.
The fire was ready, soup was under preparation and Vallabh was out there, letting out all his grievances in the form of a thousand QUESTIONS. Prem was feeling shy :P and others found it too difficult to answer L Archana’s comments on IIT guys needs to be censored though J Magesh & Co were busy with the cards. Vallabh’s questions made several rounds, only to bounce back to him at the end. Fortunately the soup arrived and we escaped :P After soup,it was time for halwa-special Tirunelveli halwa and butter murukku sent for us by Venkat sir J It was a fitting finale to the day-none of us wanted to eat anymore- pasta was rejected and kept in store for the next trek J
We slowly started settling down for sleep- Sollin had some dirty issues with his leg,which can be explained better by Magesh ji J
The next morning, it was time for kesari after a quick coffee-Some of us set out to the peak with Prem, after gulping down the Kesari of course J The climb up to the peak was a nice morning exercise J Loose rocks had their share of fun on us,but we never stopped. The breezy breezy peak was an awesome location-worth the climb JSo many photo sessions and a Video session with the makkal TV team J Hats of to them for covering up this entire distance with such a heavy camera and so many other supporting devices J
After a quick climb down and a upma breakfast, we dipped in the pool and then proceeded towards the 4.5th pool (Donno why it was named so). Again started jumping in crazily here and there. The Makkal team, who were busy with the coverage on the way up were quite relaxed now and were participating with full enthu in our fun. Meanwhile, bajji, Gulab jamun were getting ready in our campsite and they promised to carry it down all the way to us J *Gulab Jamun was prepared in the campsite with Jira –we din’t carry tins or dry jamun* .
It was then the same route back-but we spent more time in each and every pool and remembred to collect thrash.Bajjis and gulab jamuns were emptied at mini kutralam J Sollin started the game at the third pool ,when he went down and came up with a few twigs and small pebbles from the floor. Prem responded by bringing up a huge double brick sized rock from the bottom of the pool in his hand :O And he was coolly posing for pics ,swimming and floating in the pool with that rock still in his hand :O
After this,it was a small break at the second pool and then a quick descent down to the base-where the Makkal Team had a concluding scene ready to be shot. After the shot-it was a long walk to the dam and again a shoot there and then we started to Chennai. The next stop was at the Dhaba – but ,after that heavenly food which we had for two days inside the forest, the stuff given here din’t taste like food :@ It really lacked salt :P The wait here was in fact the longest part of the trip –almost 2 n half hours :O
We half-heartedly left the dhaba, after paying the hefty bill – it was then a sleepy ride towards home-with all those tales from Sathish, Magesh, Guna & Myself :P Reached home safe, and as always, lots of pics on FB for the next two days and then a typical Wednesday Emperor’s post trek meet J
Thanks da guys for the wonderful trip-and the heavenly food J And ya-we ‘ll soon meet on the next trek or some Wednesday or some b’dáy bums party-we never require this to be mentioned J
After this,it was a small break at the second pool and then a quick descent down to the base-where the Makkal Team had a concluding scene ready to be shot. After the shot-it was a long walk to the dam and again a shoot there and then we started to Chennai. The next stop was at the Dhaba – but ,after that heavenly food which we had for two days inside the forest, the stuff given here din’t taste like food :@ It really lacked salt :P The wait here was in fact the longest part of the trip –almost 2 n half hours :O
We half-heartedly left the dhaba, after paying the hefty bill – it was then a sleepy ride towards home-with all those tales from Sathish, Magesh, Guna & Myself :P Reached home safe, and as always, lots of pics on FB for the next two days and then a typical Wednesday Emperor’s post trek meet J
Thanks da guys for the wonderful trip-and the heavenly food J And ya-we ‘ll soon meet on the next trek or some Wednesday or some b’dáy bums party-we never require this to be mentioned J
Excellent Write up with Extraordinary narration from Ravi Munnangi:
Where do I Start:
It is difficult to tell a story what has been told, it get even more difficult it the story has been told many many times. It is further difficult when the story has been told just yesterday. But then, there is the challenge, I landed into this challenge by my own procrastination to tell the story before others told. Sidharth was the first followed by Archana… let me see if I can keep the narration interesting and help you relive the moments and keep the interest till the end of the write-up. The location is same … Nagalapuram west, characters are same … 23 escape artists and 5 television crew.
I have already tried starting from the end … there have been many starts from the start… starting from the middle means …I will have to start with the fish fry … with fish fry is a more to eat thin than write thing. The very thought of the fish fry conjures up the images of Guna frying the fish, me and Prem serving hungry friends … whatever was left on the plate was ours. Thanks to the folks enjoying the swim in pool 3 … there was more left on the plate. Starting in the middle is not going to be of much help.
Finally I Start:
Lets do the makkal TV style … anbarndananbargalukku en mudarkanvanakkathaitherivithuk
With some hectic shopping on Friday evening with help of friendly volunteers our trek started pretty early on Saturday, some of us waited the whole night for the clock to strike 4 AM. Sidharth and I met Manic SIR. We had few extra minutes for Shyam … He forgot bag of oranges and went all the way back home to bring them back… that’s the CTC spirit. The first meeting point of the team was at KFC poonnamallee.
In the comfort of Manic SIR’s car and skillful driving Shyam and I were enjoying the morning drive. We crossed a fairly insignificant looking neighborhood – Kuthambakkam. Till 1996 Kuthambakkam had communal tensions between the so called dalits and so called upper caste communities. A dalit by birth and intellectual by his own efforts – a B. Tech graduate from Anna University … he gave up his engineering job and stood for the Panchayat elections in the Kuthambakkam. He won the election with majority and redefined what a gram panchayat head can do. Like every sincere person – he was suspended but late the collector revoked his suspension and offered full support.
Elango built houses in a colony and made a dalit and non-dalit live together in the same colony… the first implementation of Samathuvapuram. Of-course political establishments later took over the brand and credit to a good extent. Elango later went on to establish a more systematic training approach for aspiring panchayat leaders and is building a network of gandhains. This is just a glimpse of what Manic shared with us… Thanks a lot for sharing
Poondi Reservoir:
The first stop over was at poondi reservoir … Prem was busy mentally ruminating the lines he has to say in front of the camera. The lines in tamil seemed pretty easy, this is the best opportunity to impress more than one million girls through television. Lights … its bright enough… no lights… Camera…. ON... Action… this is live and real … so no action … Television crew introduced the team and spoke to Prem about the plan for next two days and we moved on after a few group pictures and our still photographers were busy capturing candid shots to give us FB profile pictures.
Saar enakkuoru tea vangikudungasaar…
Saar enakkuoru tea vangikudungasaar… endhirichi 4 manineramaachi… oru tea koodakudikkalasaar
Saar enakkuoru tea vangikudungasaar…
Nadu kaattulaindhaavala tea kuralakeetkravangayaarumeillai
Pichathur Dam: pit stop 1
We reached Pichathur Dam to buy chicken, fish and other vegetables. When most of us were busy relishing the morning tea few were busy buying food. The background work was done so efficiently and quietly. The forms were filled and we proceeded towards our destination…
Base Camp:
We were in for a surprise… three buses with incredible India written on them unloaded more than 70 odd youngsters. Trainees of a reputed organization came for team building exercise and were scheduled to return the same day. Common gears were distributed and off we go …. Makkal did a shoot of the activities and recorded our journey. Prem and Guna decided to stay an hour behind the tourists so that we can enjoy the trek with our group and avoid the crowd.
The overflowing water from the dam was a sight to watch ... pleasant of water splashes and quiet welcoming forest and chips packet in my hand ... cannot ask for a better start.
Na ungalukkuippovishayamsolliyeaa
Breakfast and Pool 1:
Had sweet bread with lots of jam for breakfast, followed by a relaxing pedicure by the fish in the pond. We crossed the tourist friends at Pool 2, they too enjoyed pretty responsibly, there was no plastic or trash left behind by them. Everyone had great time in the pool, this is one thing none of us ever go tired of during the entire trek and any other trek we had enjoyed.
Biryani and Fish Fry:
We halted at the usual spot for lunch, the united team quickly split into two, the unity was lost, we were having war of words. We were competing with each other for one up-man ship over the other team. It all started at the Biryani … the veg and non-veg gang took the challenge very seriously, both tried their best to make the better Biryani. The non-veg took the challenge to the next level, we did multiple rounds of tasting to ensure that we got the finest aspect perfect. Prem, Guna and I were the in-charge of the tasting team. And you guessed it right .. Chicken Biryani was the best that day.
The veggie team wanted to score a winner on the next one, deep fried potato. There was only one deep fry kadai, so we had to wait. Guna fried the fish and Prem and I were busy tasting to make sure the level of perfection was achieved in this too. I had covered the best part of the fish episode in the second paragraph. Guna made the best fish fry I had in a long long time, soft and fried to perfection. Do you believe if I say fish melts in your mouth… I never believed that ever happens, till that day I ate the fish fry.
Swimmers paradise:
Pool 3 is swimmer’s paradise, there are three awesome points to dive, 10 ft, 15 ft and 30 ft points. I was seeing with jealousy and stomach burn the dives of Prem, Guna and Makkal Team and others. I must one thing here… Shyam did 10 jumps and landed on his belly no matter which direction he jumped. He has some gyro in his body which aligns the same way. Photographers were busy capturing the jumps, to capture as many buggers (dono’t expect any better words to address that group … enakkuinnumvayirueriyudu) in a single photo as they jump. Makkalnanbargal captured the lively moments to show the fun side of trek to their viewers, I am sure we would have few of the viewers get inspired to join trekking.
My false jump and a great lesson:
I got inspired too, did a jump from 10 feet and by the time I came out of the water there was darkness everywhere, all around me. My long hair formed a curtain in front of my eyes, I realized the mistake of not having a swimming cap,the small disadvantage of having long hair. Prem encouraged me to jump off the 35 Ft point, I too went and after one false alarm came down out of fear. I did not feel shamed, but really felt bad, it was a sign that I had long way to go. The group was so kind not to tease me any further and consoled me. Guys I will never forget those comforting words that I did the right thing by coming back and I must practice swimming to get more confidence. It’s a great lesson to me in human relationship, interaction, personal effectiveness and softskills.
Night under the canopy:
The effect of pool 3 and biryani was quite obvious, we did not start on time as planned and had to settle for Pool 5 for night halt. We crossed pool 4.5, But why is pool 4.5 called 4.5 ???.Prem had the idea of climbing up further and put the camp. But considering safety, Prem avoided any night trek and we settled at Pool 5. Tarp sheets were spread, firewood was collected and camp fire and cooking fire were setup. How do you know if the lunch was great ??? … if supper in the evening is light… that means lunch was great. We just had soup, little halwa and couple of murukku. Team split into two one playing cards and another discussing the most complicated topic ever discussed under the sun. It was boys and girls… Vallabh and I got a flattering compliment that we are husband material. I was very proud till I read Archana’s write up. Apparently she was on a high, I guess she ate some weed on the way to pool 5. I am assuming she had some weed, as she herself confessed the statements were zero brain statements. She is studying in the reputed IIT and her conversations the following day definitely proved that she would never make any zero brainer statements unless she was under influence.
Spelunking ..this is not fancy name for college bunking
I had the opportunity of meeting Kanna during our tada trek in march, Kanna was from the navy team which successfully climbed one deadly peak in Mount Everest. This trek we met Manic, he is really cool guy, @ 50 he is more active then many of us in the group. He has done more than 120 treks and many long distance cycling and participated in marathons. Manic learnt salsa dance for the heck of it and told me that I still have a chance. I have zero rhythm in my body .. I cannot nod my head rythmatically. Apart from scuba diving and manic has done spelunking when he was in US. Spelunking is the technical name for cave exploration or trekking in caves. Manic – you are great inspiration for us and your modesty reminds me of the saying niraikudamthalumbadu. I wish I could speak as fluently as you, be as fit as you when I your age.
AvaloruthodarKathai:
Na ungalukkuippovishayamsolliyeaa
Wakeup call service – Mark Anthony
We had planned the previous night to start the climb to the west peak by 6 AM, we all slept so well that we got up at 7 AM and had to provide wakeup call service for many other friends. Jaga got nice little warm wakeup call service, Makkal gang saw the proceedings and realized soon that being on the receiving end of the wakeup call service will be an expensive mistake in the morning. Mark Anthony form some reason rubbed couple of folks on the wrong side by his comments and was offered wakeup call service after he woke up. Prem, Guna and Vasanth caught him and tried their best to serve him, but Mark Anthony than Bashakkuthavirayaarukkumasiyam
The climb to the west peak
We had black tea followed by Kesarikindified by Jaga and lot of boiled eggs, Kesariwas half boiled but still was tasty, no complains at all. Finally we started our ascent and couple of our team mates decided to stay back. Guna, Avai, Priya, Aruvi, Sreeni and couple of others as well. I joined the group which went to the west peak, but I am going to tell you about the group which did not go the peak. They were busy chopping onions, slicing potatoes, raw banana, boiling sugar, kneading flour, batter was prepared.
Chips were cut with precision, gulabjamun mix was kneaded to perfection, sugar syrup was boiled to excellence and batter for bajji was mixed to culinary brilliance. Yummy gulabjamun were prepared in the wild, tasty plantain bajji, potato bajji and pakoda were prepared in no time. The group which went to the west peak too had fun and captured lot of pictures for FB profiles. Jaga got as many pictures clicked as the entire team had managed. Makkal team did a great job in keeping pace considering that they were carrying heavy equipment taking turns.
After reaching back to the camp site and thanking the team which stayed back for making yummy delights for us. We spent more sometime in the pool 5, I got the best FB pic here. Sidharth patiently waited through my retakes of getting out of the water, toss my head back in a flash. Sidharth captured a moment where the water from my hair was falling like a rainbow.
NaduvuleorumarathaKanom:
Our next destination was Pool 4.5(why is it called 4.5). . We packed our bags as fast as we could and proceeded. Pool 4.5 is really beautiful, the waters were crystal clear and thee was a large boulder in the middle and a poetically swinging tree with its crown right in the center of the pool. Every one got into the pool as if we were seeing a pool first time in the trek, adapaavigala..ippothaan da thannilamukkumukkivandhinge. Vasanth or was it Prem, recalled a funny incident of someone climbing up a branch to get a nice FB picture and ended up in the water as the branch broke. We were laughing on that and suddenly the crown of the tree landed on my head. Karthik (Makkalnanban) enquired me with lot of concern if I was hurt. Idudaanmachi ..when a friendship starts in a trek, it turns into a great bond very fast. Adumattumilla, there was another reason,andha Maratha kavuthapunniyavaan was Karthik. Luckily I escaped with just scratches. We all toiled to push the tree to the side so that there is enough of the pool free for people to swim and enjoy. After some more fun we started towards the base camp.
Ennaaachi… oh trekkuvandhom, nallavelandom, nallasaptom, appuram swimming pool ulleiranginen, oh swim pannalaiya, vilunthittena, adipatttiducchi.. konjamnerathuleseriaayidum.
Ennaaachi… oh trekkuvandhom, nallavelandom, nallasaptom, appuram swimming pool ulleiranginen, oh swim pannalaiya, vilunthittena, adipatttiducchi.. konjamnerathuleseriaayidum.
Ennaaachi… oh trekkuvandhom, nallavelandom, nallasaptom, appuram swimming pool ulleiranginen, oh swim pannalaiya, vilunthittena, adipatttiducchi.. konjamnerathuleseriaayidum.
Mini Kutralam – Gangnam style
Our next destination was Mini KutralamThe name mini kutralam itself is enough to make us go wild, we all jumped right in and enjoyed the water hitting us with mild force, just enough force to massage our heads and backs. It was so much fun the one of the team members suggested Gangnam dance under the falls and we followed his suggestion. We got exhausted quickly after couple of rounds of dance and went back to quietly enjoy the back massage. Suddenly there was hard stoke on the back … not a mild spash of water, mahapaavivallabh took the chance to put one big pachak on our backs and everybody started yelling. Thambivallabh … ninallavaruve da…
What do you think of most at Kutralam
Without an exception, every bugger going to Kutralam or mini Kutralam think of bajji and sweets after taking bath under the fall. We had all of it onion pakoda, potato bajji, plantain bajji and gulabjamun. But surprise is the fun element ..machi we had muttaibajji too…. We had enough boiled eggs after our breakfast that Guna and team mademuttaibajji. Machigala ..neengasooper da. All these stuff formed our lunch for the day and it was on heavy lunch.
Fish net
We buggers stopped again at pool 2 and enjoyed for one last time on this trek. Vallabh brought a big net – which he claimed is for catching fish. But Archana is more than convinced that Vallabh tore a part of the mosquito net at home and brought it for catching fish. Jaga and Vallabh tried their best and managed to catch 2 small fish - which were left in the water again. Prem had difficulty in making us get up and get moving, after some persuasion we proceeded to return to the base.
Do it twice and make it nice
Makkal team wanted to end the program with a nice ending, thanking prem for guidance and support. Karthik Karthikwould forget one critical word in the middle and the shoot would start again. Karthik forgot Manic’s name once. Producer and cameraman and camera assistant were telling the lines and made Karthik more nervous and conscious. It was hilarious, we had a retake of our exit from the trek.
Muscles, Tissues, Mind over body
It was obvious some members had different plant to celebrate the spirit of CTC, folks whe needed to go to Chennai at the earliest joined Manic. The discussion got very technical in very fast with all of us discussing our hobbies and associated fitness aspects. Vallabh -ortho by profession and Manic – by his experience were sharing lot of inputs on fitness aspects. We discussed the history of names, how we chose the names of our kids and many many other things. I would need a lot more time and pages to bring out the essence of conversations we had. I am sure many of you had equally interesting conversations. We also had an extended discussion of man vs women / boy vs girl discussion, but this time it was at different level with Manic sharing the synopsis of a “Brain Sex: The Real Difference Between Men and Women”
Machi–if you read till here then there is serious problem, you have too much time, quickly join the next available trek opportunity
Beautiful Write up from Archana:
In todays world, life is so fast and mechanized. We cannot imagine a life without mobile phone. But this trek to nagala west gave me an opportunity to slow down and feel how miraculous mother nature is. Pure air, fresh water, great food and wonderful set of people made the weekend memorable.
We ( 23 CTCians and 5 from makkal TV) started our journey to nagala-west (nagalapuram, chitoor dist, AP- about 100km from chennai) at 4 am. On the way we took a break at Poondi reservoir. Our photo shoots started here, something special about this trek was makkal tv was also with us. Prem explained makkal tv about the trek and there was a short intro of participants. We restarted our journey, on the way we purchased chicken, fish and vegetables. And finally reached the foot hill about 10 am.
At the foot hill we distributed common gear and slowly started our journey. From my last trek, prem very well came to know that I wont be able to carry my own luggage, so this time he didnt give my any common gear to carry(Gr8 escape). Slowly slowly we reached 1st pool, were we had our break fast. Our breakfast was bread and jam + Tang. Our team got splitted into two, few moved towards 3rd pool to cook food for us were as other halted for a while in the 1 st pool to have the fun. Water in the 1st pool we crystal clear with lot of small fishes in it, hence we had free pedicure. Then we moved towards 3rd pool, on the way we crossed 2nd pool which was already occupied by another group, so we decided we will dip ourselves while returning and continued our journey to 3rd pool.
As soon as we reached 3rd pool we found that Guna and team had done all preparation for cooking our lunch. We had our super-duper lunch. Menu was Veg-biriyani, chicken-biriyani, fish fry, potato fry, raitha. Then few of us jumped into 3rd pool. It was total fun.
We ( 23 CTCians and 5 from makkal TV) started our journey to nagala-west (nagalapuram, chitoor dist, AP- about 100km from chennai) at 4 am. On the way we took a break at Poondi reservoir. Our photo shoots started here, something special about this trek was makkal tv was also with us. Prem explained makkal tv about the trek and there was a short intro of participants. We restarted our journey, on the way we purchased chicken, fish and vegetables. And finally reached the foot hill about 10 am.
At the foot hill we distributed common gear and slowly started our journey. From my last trek, prem very well came to know that I wont be able to carry my own luggage, so this time he didnt give my any common gear to carry(Gr8 escape). Slowly slowly we reached 1st pool, were we had our break fast. Our breakfast was bread and jam + Tang. Our team got splitted into two, few moved towards 3rd pool to cook food for us were as other halted for a while in the 1 st pool to have the fun. Water in the 1st pool we crystal clear with lot of small fishes in it, hence we had free pedicure. Then we moved towards 3rd pool, on the way we crossed 2nd pool which was already occupied by another group, so we decided we will dip ourselves while returning and continued our journey to 3rd pool.
As soon as we reached 3rd pool we found that Guna and team had done all preparation for cooking our lunch. We had our super-duper lunch. Menu was Veg-biriyani, chicken-biriyani, fish fry, potato fry, raitha. Then few of us jumped into 3rd pool. It was total fun.
Then we moved towards mini-kutralam. From there we walked towards 5th pool. Prem's plan was to reached the peak by dawn, but unfortunately we could not make it up. So we decided to camp near 5th pool.
Fire was setup, soup was being prepared, some started playing cards and vallab hosted his neeya-nanna. I was one of the guinea-pig in vallab's neeya-nanna ( Wat ever statements that i made was zero brain statements, just meant to increase the TRP of conversation). Special thanks to venkat for halwa. We had a chill night.
Next morning after coffee and kesari, few decided to stay and prepare breakfast, while others were set to explore the peak (800m above sea level). This stretch was the most exciting part of my trek. Mild breeze and green brushes was mind-blowing. I thought that we should have set the camp at the peak, imagine you open your eyes and the first sight you see is blue sky, cloud touching you now and then, mild breeze, it would have been a wonderful experience(hope i get this experience in next trek). Finally 15 of us made it to peak. View from peak was a bliss.
As soon as we reached we started our photo-shoot( mainly for profile pic in FB), followed by makkal tv video shoot. It was time for breakfast, started feeling hungry, soon we climb down. As soon as we reached we had our breakfast. Uppma was so delicious, thanks to aruvi and ezhil.
Fire was setup, soup was being prepared, some started playing cards and vallab hosted his neeya-nanna. I was one of the guinea-pig in vallab's neeya-nanna ( Wat ever statements that i made was zero brain statements, just meant to increase the TRP of conversation). Special thanks to venkat for halwa. We had a chill night.
Next morning after coffee and kesari, few decided to stay and prepare breakfast, while others were set to explore the peak (800m above sea level). This stretch was the most exciting part of my trek. Mild breeze and green brushes was mind-blowing. I thought that we should have set the camp at the peak, imagine you open your eyes and the first sight you see is blue sky, cloud touching you now and then, mild breeze, it would have been a wonderful experience(hope i get this experience in next trek). Finally 15 of us made it to peak. View from peak was a bliss.
As soon as we reached we started our photo-shoot( mainly for profile pic in FB), followed by makkal tv video shoot. It was time for breakfast, started feeling hungry, soon we climb down. As soon as we reached we had our breakfast. Uppma was so delicious, thanks to aruvi and ezhil.
Guna and team decided to stay and prepare jamun and bajjis of us, meanwhile other started to climb down. On the way the we halted at 4.5th pool and then moved towards mini kutralam. In mini we emptied jamuns and bajjis. Ganganam style dance was unforgettable. From there we moved towards 3rd pool, halted and had the fun playing in water. Then we headed toward 2nd pool.
Second pool was shallow. Vallab and jaga started fishing(more precise playing with mosquito net). Only few jumped into water, other were tired after the long trek. After this we headed towards foot hill. It was getting dark. Finally we reached the foot hill about 7pm. This trek was so memorable, thank you friends for making it so special. Special thanks to Prem of organising the trek. Jaga and vallab, thanks for helping me climb.
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