kodachadri

Early morning start:
We decided to start very early on sunday morning.Going to kodachadri meant trekking for more than 10 kms and we wanted to complete the trek before Mr sun become too torchy. So at 4.15 A.M or so, all of us were ready and set to go. The home-stay owner seemed surprised to see the party leaving at the pre-designated time. But he bid us adieu by taking a group photo of all of us and party took off.

kollur to nittur:
Off we went towards kollur. kollur is around 45 kms from Maravanthe and is famous for the Mookambika temple. We almost immediately entered the ghat section and i swear that i also saw a very confused deer in the middle of the road which ran helter-scelter on seeing the head lights of our car. After a brief visit to the temple we started towards "sagara" a small town in shimoga. Our destination was Nittur which fell somewhere along the way between kollur and sagara. We didnt know then but Nittur is a further 45 kms from kollur. The distance and the ghat section slowed us down a bit.

So it was almost 6'0 clock in the morning by the time we reached the foot of kodachadri hills. That's when the merciful sun decided to give us the first view of the hills. Kodachadri is deemed as the most beautiful place and trekking spot in coastal karnataka and now i clearly saw why. Though very enthusiastic from the start i was also a bit skeptical about visiting this place, as i has heard and read that the trek was a bit difficult. But looking at it now, there were absolutely no doubts left, easy or difficult i wanted to trek and go all the way to the top.

Foot-hills:
We went a further of 6 kms, as far as the qualis could go. We breakfasted here at one of the local home-stays and again here too food was home made and exceptionally good. It was a misty dewy morning and there were dews everywhere.
Its amazing how much difference a few drops of dew can make to the flowers and leaves,
i suppose a dew drop is to flowers as jewelery is to women :) . I could not let my camera miss some of these beauties so i also spent some time capturing them as the hot "upma" and hot filter coffee was prepared.

We started our trek from the home stay. We were told that the trek was around 9 kms and we started our journey excitedly. There are also jeeps that you can take to go till the Inspection bungalow. So the jeeps have left a wide track which is easy to follow. You can also take the short cuts as they are just adjacent to the jeep tracks.
Which ever way you take this trek was a lot of fun....

Kodachadri trek: 11 kms in 11 steps

Step1:
Bhattara mane Garden, misty morning dew drops

Step2:
The jeep track, Our journey starts, can you hear singing, teasing and chattering?


Step 3:
We are soo tired? how far yet? not even halfway?

Step 4;

We are alomost half way. I remember asking the passing jeeps how far? but the answer was always the same.."3 kms". It was good for us in a way, kept us motivated

Step 5:
We are half way through....

Step 6:
Pity we went in summer...all the lush green grass has dried up...
Step 7:
Can you spot the Inspection Bungalow? That is our destination
Step 8:
Hurray, we reached!!!!!!!!! or did we?
Finally after a non stop trek of 3 hours we reached the Inspection bungalow and what did we find there? That we have another 2 km to trek to reach the top :(.
We are exhausted...but can we stop? naaahhhhhhhhh

Step 9:
Phew! we cannot do it,
wait a minute, did u see the view?
we can do it off course ....

Step 10:
Just a little bit further....

Step 11:
Finally reached...sweaty , dirty and exhausted...

Shankara peeta and the cucumber seller:
Given above is the picture of shankara peeta, a small temple dedicated to Shankaracharya, who the legend says meditated on top of this hills.

I expected to feel euphoric on reaching the top, but right now it felt like my brain was dead. There was a guy selling cucumbers and nimbu sharbat next to the small temple. It also had a thatched roof kind of shelter, the only refuge from the sun which was now burning hot. I remember slumping in the corner of the shelter and gulping atleast 6 glasses of nimboo sharbhat. My glucose-deprived body suddenly seemed to get out of its waking slumber and the first thought that my brain registered was "wow, this must be how' amruta'- the celestial nectar must taste like.

I have no idea how much money this guy collects, but i am pretty sure he collects a lot of 'punya' and if there is a heaven anywhere, he will definitely be welcomed as a 'priced candidate'.
So after drinking 'amrutha' and taking some rest the feeling of 'mission accomplished' started to sink in which was celebrated by taking group photos of the troupe. I know we did not conquer Mt everest, but that did not make our sense of accomplishment any lesser, especially after seeing that we were above the clouds.

There is a perfect song for every mood and occasion it is said and i did find a perfect one too.
The hindi song' aaj mein uuper, aasma neeche' kept running involuntarily on my lips ;).

we returned back to the IB and had a hearty meal at bhattara mane next to the IB. We were in dilemma whether to take the jeep or walk the way back and it was solved by the sudden appearance of the clouds in the sky. So off we went chasing clouds until our feet cracked and creaked.

Clouds forming in the sky, you could see them moving in front of you. Now i can proudly say i have touched a clouds :D