Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Savandurga on sunny afternoon


Life was standstill for me when Bangladesh beat India in the opening match of 2007 world cup cricket. I wanted a break and refresh my mind from the shock, so on sunday afternoon I decided to explore Savandurga, a rocky place situated in between Magadi and Ramanagaram of Karnataka. I had been there couple of years back with my Web Spectrum friends, however I couldn't’t make it to the peak. This time was alone, I took my two wheelers for a lazy afternoon ride. I had just tucked in 1 liter of water bottle and a pound of bread in my bag along with a handy camera.
I left at around 1.15pm, the road was pretty calm, however it was dry though scenic with a view of other rocks situated on the way. It could be around 60kms from Bangalore. I reached savandurga at 3.00pm, I could see couple of enthusiastic college goers gathered at the foothills of Savandurga. The sky was crystal clear, I parked my two wheelers under the shade and headed towards the foothill. Its hardly 500mts of walk till you reach the base of the mighty rock. Aaah...what a pleasant look from the down, It can make anyone nervous. I was staring at the rock, it was sun bathing and welcoming the rock climbers with a challenging smile.I started to ascend the rock, well I could feel my feet getting heavier and body breathing faster. I stopped after 30 Min's of stretch. I had to rest under the sun soaked rock.
In the second stretch you could find some shades, the beauty of Ramanagara rocks are real treat for the eyes from here. After few Min's of breaks ( Snacks & Snaps ) I proceeded further and finally mantap, I could see a lake with quite greenish water in it.
To reach the peak you need to crawl and move under the mighty rocks. It's quite chilling experience for me as I was alone On reaching top one could see a beautiful nandi, and a magnificent view of the nearby rocks and a warm breeze healing your tiredness. I enjoyed the view and stayed till 5.00 PM roughly around an hour in the top. I heard that when its getting darker wild animals like Bear's and foxes would make their presence at the top. I started to descend at 5.05 PM and reached the base at 5.50PM. A trip to Savandurga would make any one's day a memorbale one.

Friday, March 9, 2007

Moon light trek to Kumara Parvatha


Wow, Finaly the day had come for "Kumara Parvatha" Moonlight trek populary known as KP.
Luckily this time i was part of the moonlight trekking after missing the earlier ones. I was determined to make it this time and was phyiscally/mentally prepared, coz I knew that KP was one of the toughest trekking spots that i have ever seen or been.

KP is situated in kukke subramany of South kanara district and about 5000 ft from the sea level. It belongs to the western Ghat mountain range. It was summer and Our packed bags had "ready to eat MTR foods packets, bread &Jam, Torch, Sleeping bags & limited clothes.We ( Chandan@PHILIPS, Nagarag@TATAELXI, Sujeevan@PHLIPS, Avinash@TATAELXI, Ravishankar@AOL ) five of us boarded the bus from KSRTC bus station. We got the seats and unfortunately it was in the last row. The road was pretty bad and bumpy, however it was fun travelling in the bus seated in the last row. We reached kukke early morning at 7.00 AM.

As usual, we had our breakfast (without brushing) we started off at 8.00 AM from kukke. The total distance from kukke to KP is around 18 KM's. The first stretch is ascending the forest, is quite tough one, I was really felt fainting when I walked continusouly for 30 mins ...coz i was the last one trailing in our gang. I believe it took nearly 4 hrs to reach Bhattr'u mane after intermediate breaks etc etc. We reached bhatru mane at round 12.15 PM. We had good food and slept in bhatru thota for nearly 2 hrs. We left bhatru mane at 4.00 PM and started to ascend KP.
With new rules and regulations we had to pay Rs 70 per head to the forest officials . We reached Mantapa around 6.30PM. We nearly rested till 8.00PM when finally Moon came on top of us after escaping from the cluthes of the dark dusky clouds ... It was really a treat for my eyes. I could see the whole KP glistening by the moonlight.....We started to ascend further, It was cool breeze that soothed our sweating body. We reached shesha parvatha at 11.00PM, We dined with the MTR ready to eat food packets. We further climbed to reach the peak of KP. Finally we rested y over there and quietly tucked into our sleeping bags. It was the day of lunar eclipse, Around 3AM I could see Moon partially covered by Sun. I dozed quickly only to get up in morning to find the clear sky awaiting for the sun to start his day....It was awesome. After having bed tea, we started to descend KP at 8.30AM. Wow the sight from the KP top is just amazing, All I wanna say that KP is just amazing.