I have lived in many parts of India and yet never had the opportunity to go to the nearby worthwhile visiting destinations. Lived in Mount Abu n never saw the Indian desert nor went to Jaipur, Jaisalmer, lived in Chandigarh,Delhi n did not visit Manali, Jammu etc, lived in Pune and never got to see Lonawala or Khandala and the worst of all, living in Chennai and never been to Mahabalipuram!!! It was always a wish to go to some nearby place n trek or enjoy the beauty of the place. So finally i did the unthinkable for myself(considering my nature), i went on a trek to Coorg with people whom i never knew or met before. Got a mail one morning on my official mail id regarding a trek trip to Coorg being organized and I promptly replied. Till date this was the best decision i ever made as i did things i never did before.
We started our journey from Bangalore at around 11 pm and reached Coorg by 6 am. The drive was amazing through all the lush green forests and mountains and of course the wonderful roads which i didn't expect. We reached the base of the home stay and the quiet and misty surroundings made me feel wonderful. The home stay was in midst of forests and plantations. It was a 3km walk up and a open jeep/mini truck would be there to pick us up. Instead some people in the group and i decided to start walking till the jeep picked up the others from the base. Soon we were picked up by the jeep and this ride was even better than the roller coaster ones. Initially none of us could imagine a vehicle up on those paths--hats off to the driver. On reaching the home stay we freshened up, had breakfast and set course to trek to the highest point. I finally also got the opportunity to try my hands on photography(a long time interest but never did anything about it) Some of the shots i took can be seen at www.aprajitha-art.blogspot.com
As we went higher some people decided to return and the others and i continued. The walk through the edge of the mountains, the deep valleys, marshy areas, rocky paths, bushes, trees was mind blowing. Looking back i wonder how did i even decide to walk through the edges n rocks- one wrong step i would have fallen down 1000's of feet below. Finally we reached the peak and the view was breathtaking!! We were all too excited and exhilarated as we reached the peak by overcoming small little odds like no water, hunger and leech bites. But at that time these odds were a big concern:) On return we were fortunate that lunch was still being served. After devouring on the delicious food we all decided to rest for while before setting course for the next walk. However our plans were ruined as it started pouring for the rest of the evening. Surrounded by greenery, clouds, and the perfect weather i got some hot 'pakodas' to eat and the rest of the evening was spent chit chatting with others or just gazing out through the veranda. It also happened that it was my first time to play a game called BLUFF and am never going to play it again :) I met a Japanese guy over there during dinner and when i asked his name, he replied 'Chandrasekhar'. Soon i got to know the guy permanently lived in India and his guru had given him this Indian name. He was at the home stay for the summer season. It was a wonderful evening and i didn't imagine i would have so much fun talking to all the new people.
Next day we all went to the waterfall. It was spectacular and without thinking twice i jumped into the water :D It was freezing and the breeze made it even better :) Hungry after being in the waterfall for a while, we finally headed towards coorg city to have lunch. Unfortunately vegetarian food was not served in any restaurant and i had to eat fruits :( ( I don't like fruits except few) Our final destinations for the trip was to see the dam and the Buddhist temple which are very famous in coorg. And again the view around to reach these places were amazing.
This trip was my first trek and was fantastic. Hoping to have more fun ahead.
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