Savandurga- Save me Durga!!
As usual the invites were sent out and fence-sitters, post-hoppers, and house-shifters got lost in the way and the usual count of 4- Anand,Anisha,Bugs and me, were the ones left. The other coriee Raves was for some reason missing. Dont remember off-hand what the reason was.
As we set on road from Prasanna theatre in Rajaji Nagar, Alok failed to make it on time and he and his wife were supposed to meet us in Magadi Bus-stand. We were enjoying the lovely terrain enroute Magadi Bus-stand. In the Magadi Bus-Stand our favourite trek food- Oranges , were waiting for us. The connecting bus came and in the melee' forgot to pick them up..
So we would have gone about 500 m in the bus when we realised that we should not be taking the bus, but should be walking. 5 Rs for 500m..That was the costliest bus journey I have had in my life much to the amusement of the co-passengers.
We started walking from there to Savandurga. The distance would be 6 kms..Nothing great.3 times 2 kms, which was pretty simple. The action plan was to reach Savandurga- not thru the main gate, but thru the left side.Climb the hill, get down near the foothills of the temple and take a break in the park and post-lunch proceed to the forest in front of the hill and return by 5 PM.
Plans are plans. They never work.
We reached the diversion to Savandurga on time and Mr.Jagdale was still missing. We treated ourselves to some lovely tender coconuts and it felt like nectar. Then we proceeded to the left side of the hill and started our ascend on one of the smaller hills. After much panting from us (when I mean us, it excludes Anand. He never pants).. we reached our first destination. This being the first trek for Bugs after quite some time she was obviously feellng the heat. She decided to take time-out and Anand,Anisha and I went up the hill. Again after much panting and 2 mini-breaks we reached the top of that hill(Again we excludes Anand).
The descend was much easier and picking up Bugs from her resting spot we proceeded to the park for our lunch. There the swings and the see-saw was too much to resist for the gals. As Anand went in his eternal search for the still missing Alok, Anisha and Bugs relived their childhood.
Actually the plan did work till the lunch part. Then some thing got royally screwed up. We planned for a blissful 30 mins sleep . We knew that those 30 mins are precious as Anand won't allow more sleep. In the midst of our bliss Rama invaded Lanka with the aid of the monkeys. Well, what I mean by monkeys here are school kids who had come for a picnic invaded the park like mosquitos on swamp. That was the end of it. Total chaos!!
With sleep in our eyes we went for the final chapter of that trek. We went into the forest on the front side of the temple. By the looks of it very few people had gone thru that. The amount of litter, beer bottles and gutka satchets were very less. It had a dense growth of thorns and poppy stuff. The poppy stuff were all over the body and Bugs had a crown made of poppies. We had a difficult time going thru the shrub and hence decided to take the rocky part which was an offshoot of the Savanadurga hill only. We went parallel to the temple and after say an hour of hustle bustle we were back to the jungle. It was a wierd sort of a jungle. Could hear no birds and no sounds from insects. We waded our way thru the dense canopy and found a footpath made by human. We followed the path for about 30 mins. The time was 5:00 PM. We had ample time to go thru the forest and hit the road before it gets dark. We kept following the path and reached a water body. By this time the legs were becoming limb and some Hook-shaped thorns have punctured us.
We crossed the waterbody and kept following the path. It was 5:30 PM. The path had fresh clearings which indicated that it was recently cleared. It took us to a spot where we could not decide which route to take.There were two hills and we had to take one of the routes.We took one and went in search of the road. It was 6:00 PM. The path was getting less walked and out visibility poor. 3 of us were getting tired. Anand and I explored every possible way we could find to get back more punctured and determined. The routes were leading nowhere. It was 6:30 PM and we hardly could see anything apart from silhoutte.
The impending darkness and fear of spending the night in the wild gave us a fresh lease of energy. Anisha and Bugs were getting tired and so was I. The fear of getting lost somehow pushed me along. It was 6:45 PM. Visibility was almost next to none. We had to take a final call. Spend the night in the wilds or go in search of yet another route. We decided to go for a final shot in finding the route and at the same time keep ourselves near the top of the hill opening so that if left with no other option we stay there for the night.
Anisha's and Bug's energies were completely spent and they wanted a break. Anand pushed them for the final lap. And what a push it was! We hit something resembling a footpath again. We kept following that. Bugs realised that she had kept a torch in her bag. That came handy. Using the torch we followed the path. I was all the way bugging (oops..sorry Bugs..that is ur forte') Anand to check out Airtel connectivity. I was more afraid of my parents worried about me not turning up to the home in the night than staying in the forest in the night. He handled the situation beautifully. It was 7:00 PM. The path bifurcated at a point and we had to take one route. We took the left one and after 10 minutes could see the lights of a village. It was the most awesome lights I have seen in my life and believe me when I say that!!!
Life came back into the system. We went into the village and came out to the roads and to Bangalore. I have missed out on some wonderful moments during the trek. Anand, Anisha and Bugs shall add more fervour into this.
We had a lovely meal at Bheemas to cap it all. Till date it remains as one of the top 5 treks!!
Till next time, adieu!!!!!
As we set on road from Prasanna theatre in Rajaji Nagar, Alok failed to make it on time and he and his wife were supposed to meet us in Magadi Bus-stand. We were enjoying the lovely terrain enroute Magadi Bus-stand. In the Magadi Bus-Stand our favourite trek food- Oranges , were waiting for us. The connecting bus came and in the melee' forgot to pick them up..
So we would have gone about 500 m in the bus when we realised that we should not be taking the bus, but should be walking. 5 Rs for 500m..That was the costliest bus journey I have had in my life much to the amusement of the co-passengers.
We started walking from there to Savandurga. The distance would be 6 kms..Nothing great.3 times 2 kms, which was pretty simple. The action plan was to reach Savandurga- not thru the main gate, but thru the left side.Climb the hill, get down near the foothills of the temple and take a break in the park and post-lunch proceed to the forest in front of the hill and return by 5 PM.
Plans are plans. They never work.
We reached the diversion to Savandurga on time and Mr.Jagdale was still missing. We treated ourselves to some lovely tender coconuts and it felt like nectar. Then we proceeded to the left side of the hill and started our ascend on one of the smaller hills. After much panting from us (when I mean us, it excludes Anand. He never pants).. we reached our first destination. This being the first trek for Bugs after quite some time she was obviously feellng the heat. She decided to take time-out and Anand,Anisha and I went up the hill. Again after much panting and 2 mini-breaks we reached the top of that hill(Again we excludes Anand).
The descend was much easier and picking up Bugs from her resting spot we proceeded to the park for our lunch. There the swings and the see-saw was too much to resist for the gals. As Anand went in his eternal search for the still missing Alok, Anisha and Bugs relived their childhood.
Actually the plan did work till the lunch part. Then some thing got royally screwed up. We planned for a blissful 30 mins sleep . We knew that those 30 mins are precious as Anand won't allow more sleep. In the midst of our bliss Rama invaded Lanka with the aid of the monkeys. Well, what I mean by monkeys here are school kids who had come for a picnic invaded the park like mosquitos on swamp. That was the end of it. Total chaos!!
With sleep in our eyes we went for the final chapter of that trek. We went into the forest on the front side of the temple. By the looks of it very few people had gone thru that. The amount of litter, beer bottles and gutka satchets were very less. It had a dense growth of thorns and poppy stuff. The poppy stuff were all over the body and Bugs had a crown made of poppies. We had a difficult time going thru the shrub and hence decided to take the rocky part which was an offshoot of the Savanadurga hill only. We went parallel to the temple and after say an hour of hustle bustle we were back to the jungle. It was a wierd sort of a jungle. Could hear no birds and no sounds from insects. We waded our way thru the dense canopy and found a footpath made by human. We followed the path for about 30 mins. The time was 5:00 PM. We had ample time to go thru the forest and hit the road before it gets dark. We kept following the path and reached a water body. By this time the legs were becoming limb and some Hook-shaped thorns have punctured us.
We crossed the waterbody and kept following the path. It was 5:30 PM. The path had fresh clearings which indicated that it was recently cleared. It took us to a spot where we could not decide which route to take.There were two hills and we had to take one of the routes.We took one and went in search of the road. It was 6:00 PM. The path was getting less walked and out visibility poor. 3 of us were getting tired. Anand and I explored every possible way we could find to get back more punctured and determined. The routes were leading nowhere. It was 6:30 PM and we hardly could see anything apart from silhoutte.
The impending darkness and fear of spending the night in the wild gave us a fresh lease of energy. Anisha and Bugs were getting tired and so was I. The fear of getting lost somehow pushed me along. It was 6:45 PM. Visibility was almost next to none. We had to take a final call. Spend the night in the wilds or go in search of yet another route. We decided to go for a final shot in finding the route and at the same time keep ourselves near the top of the hill opening so that if left with no other option we stay there for the night.
Anisha's and Bug's energies were completely spent and they wanted a break. Anand pushed them for the final lap. And what a push it was! We hit something resembling a footpath again. We kept following that. Bugs realised that she had kept a torch in her bag. That came handy. Using the torch we followed the path. I was all the way bugging (oops..sorry Bugs..that is ur forte') Anand to check out Airtel connectivity. I was more afraid of my parents worried about me not turning up to the home in the night than staying in the forest in the night. He handled the situation beautifully. It was 7:00 PM. The path bifurcated at a point and we had to take one route. We took the left one and after 10 minutes could see the lights of a village. It was the most awesome lights I have seen in my life and believe me when I say that!!!
Life came back into the system. We went into the village and came out to the roads and to Bangalore. I have missed out on some wonderful moments during the trek. Anand, Anisha and Bugs shall add more fervour into this.
We had a lovely meal at Bheemas to cap it all. Till date it remains as one of the top 5 treks!!
Till next time, adieu!!!!!
posted by Simply_Siva at Friday, February 24, 2006
4 Comments:
Simply Siva - A vivid account of the thrilling experience. I missed it, because, as it has been happening these days, had to attend a wedding in Chennai. In the last one month, I had attended three weddings !!!
Full credit goes to Anand for having held all of you together during those crucial moments and to the trio - Siva, Anisha and Bugs to have gone that extra mile, even after having exhausted all your energies.
Folks, I bet, you have gotten better than what you people were before the trek.
I really, really missed this one !!!.
As always, there is a next time ...
Thanks Siva for sharing this experience ....
Siva, for nit picking's sake - this was not the costliest journey - Rs 5 for 500 mts. When we went to arohalli, we got on the wrong bus (near Metro) after paying Rs 10. We got out after 1 km and had to pay 15 bucks to the rick guy to get us to the bust stop outside...
Have wanted to post this blog for quite a while, but thanks to my procrastination skills, didn’t get around to doing that. The word document version of the blog has been on my desktop for ages!
Was determined to post this blog/ ‘comment’, before I take off on the next trek, and that’s tomorrow -B’lore trekkers will be exploring the caves at Anthargange.
21Jan '06 was destination Savan Durga. This was my first trek and was all excited about it. Was looking forward to a “different weekend” …needed a break from multiplexes, house hunting and nagging brokers.
I conjured up a totally different image about the trekking group….was expecting to see a bunch of track and cargo suit clad folks with sunhats, binoculars and back packs at Prasad theatre Bus stand, Rajaji Nagar (this was the meeting spot). But on the contrary, the bus stand didn’t look any different. It bore the same dull and drab look. like the numerous bus stands I had crossed on my cross country ride from Banergetta to Rajaji nagar – one of street hawkers, urchins, paper boys and people jostling their way into crowded buses.
Was hoping people would trickle in, because the group was a very small one; we were jus’ 4 in all - Anand, Siva, Anisha and myself. It was 8:15 am by Anand’s watch and it was time to board the bus to Savan Durga. The bus ride was an enjoyable one. Anisha tried catching up on some sleep, but we wouldn’t allow her to do that. I had a volley of questions for her and Siva and Anand chose to test her knowledge of tamil. She aced it pretty comfortably. Kudos to her Gurus (Siva and Ravi, if am right)??!!.
The first lap of our trek was to Nayaka Palya. The terrain was a flat one – trekking through fields and fairly well laid roads, we only had to battle the sweltering heat. The trekking track after this point was some challenge though – getting across barbed wire fencing and thick scrub jungle growth.
It was around 14:00 hrs when we got to the playground, (Relaxing ground', by B’lore trekkers parlance) where we hoped to catch up on some sleep, energy and also touch base with Alok. But unfortunately the ‘plan’ didn’t quite succeed. With no mobile network, it was near impossible to track Alok and thanks to a bunch of school kids who had come for a picnic, the siesta plan had to be shelved.
On trek back to Nayak Palya is where the excitement begins. Plan on hand: Trek parallel to the temple road, through the jungle. We were aware that the trek would be through thick scrub jungle, but I guess we underestimated the family of Xerophytes. We had a whole lot of these thorny xerophytes all over our clothes, shoes and of course our heads! It was quite an ordeal getting them off. The other challenge we had to face was the partial rocky terrain – ended up doing quite a bit of rock climbing.
After 3 long hours of trekking and rock climbing we found ourselves right in the middle of the valley and were closing in on daylight. Siva and Anand made about a dozen attempts of finding a way out of the valley, but we would hardly progress a couple of meters through all the cacti and spider webs and it would turn out to be a dead end. We were stuck in the valley with no natural light, no mobile network and no water either! Were mentally getting prepared to spend the night in the jungle, if luck favours perhaps in the village. As luck would have it, Anand managed to locate the path frequently used by village folk and cattle perhaps. But by now, Anisha and I were nearing zilch, with regard to energy levels; and Anand refused to halt for a break. He instead chose to pep our energy levels with his adventure at Belgium , the food at Bheemas and of course the ‘2 km funda’. The ‘2km Funda’ being, you ask him after a 15min of trek, huffing and puffing, he would say, “Yeah…. , we are almost there, jus 2km walk from here”. You would get the same reply after the second (and nth) 15min lap. We finally reached the village around 20:30 hrs, jus’ in time to board the last bus to the city.
We cherished every bit for our final lap back home –trekking under the star lit sky and only a torchlight to guide you, the cool drink (Sprite to be specific) at the small shop at the bus stand, the bus ride; though it rattled every bone in your body and the pleasure of talking over the mobile as well....
good trip.why don't you guys put photos ? make your blog more interesting.
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