Majestic Agumbe

What is the ingredient to a fantastic trekking trip???

An unhappy and caustic Rajat, enthusiastic Vani at the heels of poor Rajat, one big man (khali like) who is impatient to put his new camera into action, one dear friend who always misses the trips but fortunately was free this time around, one frightened lady allergic to leeches, a new member into the group who is vary of 410 Talamshudha filled with its weird occupants and a 6 seater innova for 7 people.
One thing is sure: a good start necessarily does not mean good endings. Sometimes bad starts also make good endings.
One such bad start took place on the night of 28th Nov 08 when 7 of us Vani, Rajat, Imran, Sundar, Krutika, harshit and me (Gaurang) took off for a 2 day trekking to Agumbe. This trip which had been postponed due to the CAT exams got its due finally with lots of debating about its infamous leeches and the unfavorable distance from Bangalore. Rajat who is now a fan of these leeches and does not mind travelling such long distances for an unforgettable trip, came up with the suggestion of Chikmanglur to divert the enthusiasm that the rest of them had to go to Agumbe. Amid lots of debate with the Satyam, Infosys, hp and celestial system’s outlook server bearing the brunt, Agumbe was finally chosen as the place to go.
I thought booking a cab for the trip was pretty easy as I picked the cab company which was offering the lowest fares and was satisfied with my work when the Innova arrived. I opened the door of our companion for the rest of the trip and lo!!! The cab had a space of 3 extremely large people and 3 tiny ones and the 7th one had to be accommodated with the luggage. With some heated exchanges, an hour and half of waiting and 300 bucks the car was finally changed to a Qualis. We were off to the trip humming to the tunes of the “tandoori nights” from the torturous HR from radio as the CD that we had made for the trip did not work. (Rajat demonstrated his undying loyalty to HR by confessing that he liked the song). The only thing that could make this trip even worse was a naxalite attack.
But what we did not know was that luck was going to favor us brave souls eventually. Between short snaps, shuffling and kicking in the back seats, snoring and swearing the middle seats and driving in the first seat we were making strong on the journey. By sunrise we were in the Western Ghats and the green trees and unarguably the cleanest of air had replaced the concrete buildings and smog of Bangalore. The morning was fine on all of us except for Vani and Harshit who had frequent bouts of motion sickness and we had to stop frequently which provided opportunity for some to relieve themselves and some to take beautiful photographs (the latter had no connection with the former). Mallya residency was our destination and we reached there at around 7.30 in the morning. The owner of the lodge was pleased to receive us and we were led to our dormitory room.
Gulping down all the food stock that we had – namely bread, cheese spread, jam and other snacks, we soon became light headed and bottom heavy which prompted us for half an hour rest and then we hit out for the Barkanna falls – Our first trek.
The trek was around 6 kms going and coming back through dense forests. Never has any multicellular organism been such a threat to human beings as the leeches have – Atleast this is what was evident from the reactions of Rajat and Punam. Harshit, Sundar and Imran were not sure what they were going to witness and were neutral whereas Vani and I were already prepared for the Leech attack. With some prior wisdom of battling with the blood suckling parasites, we rolled up our socks to as far as they could go and then put our loose ends of trousers inside the socks. We were looking just short of some military colonel when we saw that Sundar chose to wear shorts. Had the leeches got an inkling of such a hefty prey with naked legs coming their way, they would have surely died of over joy. The forest was quite dense and we had to go through a lot of dense under-bush. The suddenly invigorated leeches started attacking us from the word go. The trick was to keep on walking and not give leeches the time to get onto us. While Punam, Imran and Rajat were busy keeping an eye on the leeches rather than the beautiful surroundings, we made it to the Barkanna falls. To our utter dismay, the falls were very far off and we were only travelling towards the point from where you can observe them. We made up for that disappointment by clicking lots of photographs and pulling each other’s legs.
We trekked the 3 kms back to the starting point so that we could again venture out for our second trek of the day to Jogi-Kundi falls. These falls though not majestic were beautiful. They could be reached by trekking for about 1.5kms through dense foliage and fallen trees. The falls were truly silent and picturesque. Some adventurous souls from the team decided to climb the rocks to go to the source of the falls and put their head below the chilling water while some decided to extend their photography streak. Gradually Sundar, Vani, Imran and me fell into the chilling water and had some real fun.
We headed back to our base camp to have our lunch. It acted as a sedative and before anyone could even heave a sigh of relief after hitting the bed, the room was silent with only the scores of snoring resonating. An hour passed by before I could wake up from the slumber and I tried with futility to wake everyone up. With responses like “uhh” and “oomph” I was forced to dole out the angry sentences like “wake up you beasts….I am not going to wake you again. I am not your mummy”. Finally the “groggy gang” was wide awake and we started off for the Sunset point. The Sun was not in a mood to display its majestic view as it was quite cloudy but still we waited till it was dark while we watched the monkeys steal the roadside vendor’s food packets. Vani was at the receiving end of one ferocious and greedy monkey who attacked on her and she had to let go of the food packet. It was one classic battle between two ferocious beasts :)
We had already informed the residency owner of our wish to have a campfire dinner and we were pleasantly surprised that night. The campfire was so warm and enticing that we soon started dancing around the burning wood. On top of that our driver brought the car nearby and started playing the tunes to the likes of “bahon main chale aa” and “aaa jane jaa”. We shook our booty to the splendid collection of songs which the driver had secretly kept hidden somewhere in the car. That night we had such a sound sleep that not even mosquitoes could not dare disturb us. Rajat and Punam must surely have winced with the nightmares of leeches but no one was awake to hear them that night.
Morning 5’o Clock and I was awakened by the guide who goaded us for going to watch the sunrise to Kundadri hills. I tried in vain to wake everyone up but only succeeded in gathering the company of Sundar, Punam and Vani while the rest of them still kept on dreaming. We got into the car and travelled to Kundadri hill top which was totally shrouded in fog. The view was nothing less than a heaven and we were amongst clouds. We explored the ruins of a Jain temple and stared down the hill top for any sign of Sun. The clouds still played spoil sport but we did not mind much as they also made us feel we were on cloud 9. After some scintillating moments when the Sun played games with clouds we got down from the hill and went to the base camp to wake all up. The menu for today’s breakfast was banana buns which we devoured with alacrity and got ready for the last trek of the trip – Kudletirth.
Reaching this fall involved some hardcore trekking (5 kms atleast), river crossing, forest climbing and balancing on the rocks, uprooted trees and fallen branches. We started the trip in very high spirits enjoying the scenery. But soon the sun and the steep ascent took its toll and we were struggling within half an hour. Just when the sweat had got to our wits, we encountered a small spring which was flowing down the hill. The water was refreshing and after taking some rest and pics we were again on our way. The leeches had now grown in vigor and number and lot of us were being bitten by it. Soon they were complemented by mosquitoes as we delved deeper into the forest. The ascent was getting steeper and harder and on top of it Sundar took a wrong direction and we were left clueless as to where we are heading to. Following the sound of the waterfall that we could hear slightly we got back on the right track. The sound of the waterfall rejuvenated us and after an arduous maneuvering just before the waterfalls where got the view which none of us are ever going to forget in this lifetime.
The gallant and imperial water fall fell from a height of 130 feet. The milky water fell into a small pond and miniscule droplets of water was splashed all around. The pond looked lovely with the clear water and at once it enticed us towards it. We just shot some snaps and then immediately jumped into the water. The chilling water was extremely refreshing after the hard trek and we were just kept staring at this wonder of nature. The water was not deep and few of us (Sundar and me) who knew swimming first went a distance to judge the deepness. There was one big rock outcrop in the middle of the pond near the fall and we went right there sitting and enjoying the droplets of water and the view of the waterfall. We must have sat there and played over there for almost two hours and then finally feeling really cold we got out and headed back the way we had come. This wonderful climax left everyone spellbound. We were left thanking to god for the wonderful gift that he provided us. The waterfalls were nothing less than heavenly and even now I can vividly see them when I close my eyes. We left the place with a promise to return in future and relive the immense fun that we had in Agumbe.