acquired monk syndrome

The plan was straight forward.. We JUST wanted to ride out of town and I had to do the planning for the group! Having the best of bikes its no justice to ride on Bad Roads..

The first thing that came to my mind was, Tumkur Highway! And the obvious breakfast restaurant had to be Kamat - Yatri Nivas..

Friday Night : The planning is as disorganised as ever.. Most of our HIGHLY organised trips always fail to take place.. SMS’ going all around trying to get “The Four Horsemen” together.. As always no one put down the offer..

Satruday :

06:00 : After another series of SMS’ to check if everyone’s awake and ready, we meet at Sandy’s..

06:07 : We depart from Sandy’s place[Trip Metre Reads 210.0].. We take a simple route out to Mysore Road through Jayanagar, Banashankari, Outer Ring Road, Mysore Road..

Our calculations to avoid traffic was Spot on! There was real less traffic.. But Too many Speed Breakers that slowed us down a LOT.. Well, when torture is inevitable, ENJOY IT!!

We found good stretches of EMPTY roads where i ripped like no one’s business.. Sandy, sitting behind me, had probably frozen or something.. He was too stiff and we had to stop for Coffee..

07:16 : We stopped for some HALLI Coffee/Cha.. The whether looked real good and we really really enjoyed the Coffee/Cha.. Well after the 10 minute or so break we left..

We made it thru to the Toll Gate..

I had promised the guys that the Toll Gate was the ultimate mark, after which the road was sexy.. And it turned out to be true.. There is no Toll collected for Bikes.. But for the road, i guess we wouldnt mind paying up a toll fee because of the way it is maintained..

The distance to Kamat was around 30 Kms from the toll.. My bike[HH-Karizma] was really raring to go.. And i let it…………….

Sandy and Me hit really good speeds by streamlining outselves[Leaning forward].. We clocked around 135kmph more than once..

Bharath and Deepak[Unmentioned so far for some reason - He he he] were enjoying their ride on the Bajaj-P150.. And after a few miles, Bharath decided to try the 135kmph experience, ultimately after a few more RIPPING, we reached Kamat..

07:45 : Approx - We at Kamat..

08:30 : After a good breakfast, we were kind of happy that we got out finally.. Well it was time to ride back and the guys[Including me] didnt want to JUST GO BACK HOME after coming this far..

We called one of the guys who worked at Kamat and asked about places to see in an around.. The obvious choice for us was Shivagange!! We didnt think twice we just left[Trip Meter reads 267(I think)]..

After a short and simple Fuel stop, we left for Shivagange.. Was a short, bumpy and pothole laden ride[6 Kms from the Highway]..

We parked our bikes appropriately and set off on the trek[More like a stair ascent]..

The place is quite steep but somewhat easy to climb too.. We stopped quite a lot to admire the view from the top.. In agreement to all of our experience from our previous treks, as we go higher, the view gets better..

We trek until a good point, we found a good spot of camp.. Its a place little off the actual trek path.. Also this gives a view of the other side of the hill.. It got really windy and we were enjoying ourselves enough.. The fact that this was not part of our plans at all made it even better for us.. All we could do is thank ourselves for taking this detour[Thats what we thought it was till now]..

I got a call from Karthik saying he was leaving town and couldnt Jam with us at 1 as planned.. That was the only time constraint we had.. Well, since we didnt have to Jam, we pushed our trip a little more[Ignoring Sandy's request to get back soon ;)]..
For “The Four Horsemen” its common to lose a certain amount of sanity in such situations.. And it was evident…….

We had a good time just running the boulders, making fun of each other, ignoring Sandy’s repeated requests to leave…….

After spending some amount of time at this side of the hill, we decided to do some justice and move to the other side.. This place turned out to be really great..

We just did some more MASTI around here.. We have all the evidence for stuff done around here[He he he].. Evidently by now we were insane..

The trek to the top was about 3 miles[Unconfirmed info].. After spending quite some time at the top, we finally decided it was time to decend.. The

descension was simple.. Managed to go down in half the time it took for us to climb.. We did stop for some Tender Coconut and a Mandatory visit to the

Temple.. Legend says that anyone who manages to touch the water at Shivagange gets healed off all their ailments[Didnt know where the water was but]..

It was lunch time and we decided to head back to Kamat for lunch.. The meal was satisfying and heavy[Atleast for Deepak and Me]..

After just resting there we started our journey back.. The Journey back was quite event free, except for a small race where i chased a Hyundai Accent and overtook him.. Maintaining a constant speed through heavy mid-day traffic we returned home.. SAFE!!!

Will complete once i get all the other snaps..

It was Jan and time when Aspiring Engineer ME finished my exams and needed a go break.. The other guys were around and we planned a trek..

The trek needed quite a lot of planning as we were gonna stay overnight and had to find suitable accomodation, travel schedules, etc..

After an unsuccessful attempt to book anything at Coorg, We Settled for Kodachadri..
It was the beginning of summer and we knew what was in store for us..

The driver just didnt slow down[Except for the Stops].. He did stop for breakfast somewhere..

Since we had decided to trek on the following day, our destination was Kollur[11Kms post the trek start point].. We reached Kollur at around 11:00.. We didnt have a tough time finding accomodation as there was a lodge right where the bus stopped.. Accomodation was decent[200Rs per room for one night].. We had our “Breakfast” in Kollur.. Food at Kollur is pretty decent.. Well since we didnt have options, we didnt complain..

After a good Nap, we set out to roam the streets of Kollur.. We visited the famous “Kollur Mookambika Temple”.. The temple had prohibited photography inside.. So this the only shot of the temple i have..

The whole township revolves around one road.. We walked to the IB to ask some details about the IB[Inspection Bunglow] on top of Kodachadri.. The guy was pretty friendly and told us whom to talk to and other details.. More info about food and what to see came from random people in the town.. We walked further.. The road is laden with lush green plantations..

We now walked all the way to the other end.. We needed some tablets and some medicine.. The only Medical store in town was on the other end[Info: This road goes to Kundapur(45Km)]..

We returned to the lodge and decided to play a little prank on Deepak.. We called him up from a PCO and posed as Call Executives and told him we were going to take away his cell phone connection for some reason.. After he started yelling, we gave in and told him to chill.. For him this was probably one of the worst Pranks ever.. We had a little chat with him headed back to lodge for some rest..

Just for the record, i got a lot of stares cause of the RED HAIR!!

We had dinner at some place and Slept!!

DAY 2: Sweet Serenity

After some good sleep, it was a real rush in the morning.. The three of us needed to be ready by 06:00 to catch our bus.. So there a full round of repacking, putting our trekking outfit, cameras, food on the top and a thorough inspection of the room, we left for breakfasr.. It was the most significant meal for us as we didnt know when our next meal was gonna be.. We ate,keeping in mind the trek ahead..

We got our bus quite right on time.. The 11Km bus ride was really chilling.. the ghats were real cold in the morning.. None of ushas our jackets out and suffered the morning chill!

Kodachadri has high spiritual and religious significance.. People who visit here on religious purposes light lamp at the start of the trek.. We got off there at around 07:00 and started the loong march..

The first part of the trek is a jeep route.. Its just a simple march with some highs and lows with a morning chill to top it all.. The trek was about 6Km on the Jeep route..

The actual Jeep route is scenic and is about 12 Kms to the Top.. Well we preferred the trek route[Which was seriously steep].. Before we took the detour to the trek route we stopped at a tea stall[The Only One Around]..

The trek route to Kodachadri is abour 5Km.. Its a steep climb and by then the sun had taken a strategic place right above us.. As the tree cover is less on this route, we sweat all the way..

The hills in and around the Kodachadri is scenic and breathtaking.. For the first time we had carried along a video camera with which we captured most of these scenes..

We reached the top at around 11:00 after taking lots and lots of breaks to sit and admire the mystic beauty of the place..

Upon reaching the IB, after all the initial formalities, and a good lunch at Ajji’s house, we settled down for some rest.. The IB is just located about 5Km below the peak..

We set out to conquer the peak in the evening.. The trek was quite simple compared to the morning rounds.. On the peak, there’s a small temple with high significance[I'll write about this seperately].. We just sat there in the wind waiting for sunset..

The actual peak which was a little further, was filled with tourists which we avoided but we did visit the edge as a formality.. The descension was insignificant as the path is same..

We actually got an opportunity to use our cell phones and frantically made a few calls.. We informed everyone where we are.. Even tried to make a few friends jealous..

The evening sky at Kodachadri is breathtaking[I'm running out of adjectives].. We visited a small cave temple on the way back.. Ajji’s house was our official food joint.. After the final round of gluttony for the day, we headed back to the IB..

Photography enthus that Bharath and Me are, We started playing around with a few photography tricks.. Well since Sandy was just there.. He was the obvious subject for our photography experiments..

There is absolutely no electricity at Kodachadri.. They do have a diesel generator which will be run at Rs 50/hour.. After negotiating with the occupants of the other rooms in the IB, we decided to have the gens on for a couple of hours.. The reason being, we were running out of batteries and they needed to be charged..
Close to midnight, we ventured out of the IB to have a look out side.. There was not a single cloud in the sky and it just showed off its Astral Beauty.. There was a very contraversial Camp fire in front of the IB which unpredictably spat sparks in the direction of the strong wind.. So we decided to stay away from it even though it was real cold..

After a good time we lay down to sleep[We reached the IB first and got ourselves the biggest room at Rs 250/Day - With Four cots and neat beds]

DAY 3: More?

The day began with a big conflict as to whether we should go to Honnemardu/Jog or just trek around more.. Its a tough choice considering we had one entire day to ourselves and no plans[Big surprise].. Also adding to this is the Bathroom funda at the IB.. Lots and lots of people and one Bathroom[Oops]!

We headed off to Ajji’s litle hotel for special breakfast[Avalakki and Uppit].. Ajji
told us ways to get to Jog/Honnemardu and timings of bus and other random details.. Any plans of going to Jog falls would have us trek down immediately.. We headed back to the IB and on our way back we just caught sight of another hillock.. We decided to trek that instead as Jog Falls and Honnemardu can be planned for seperately.. We did a little enquiry with the IB guy and he gave us the little directions that was needed..
So began this new adventure.. It was a 2 km walk down the jeep route and a deviation.. I’d never find words to describe this place.. All we had carried with us was a packet of biscuit, our cameras and a whole thirst for fun..

I’ll break this so called Deviation into two parts.. The conflict arised here as to whether we have to go left of the road or the right.. Both of them were equally breathtaking.. Well what do you know, We covered both..

We took the the right side first.. We always think right.. The first part of it was easy[Actually most of it was easy].. But as we walked on and on, we realised that this hillock doesnt end.. We got a crazy idea to check out how far this thing actually goes.. We went on and on.. Sandy, The Runner, was ahead as usual.. And we never stopped.. Finally we stopped to have some biscuit and we had network at that place.. So frantic messaging and calling began.. Then we just sat down to observe and absorb this beautiful place..

After the little break, we went a little further with a crazy idea to find out how long this hillock was.. But then we had to give up! We walked back to the main road, taking pictures randomly[Yeah we did that through out the trip].. We hadnt really killed much time..

Once we reached the road, it was out turn to explore the otherside.. The other side told a completely different story.. It flaunted a high wind condition and a few rocks which absolutely did not gel with its surroundings.. We just started the climb to figure out what it was all about! From the top we could see lots and lots of hills, trees and of course our IB from where we began the day.. On top of these rocks , we guess that the wind speed was close to about 90kmph[Judgement based on my experience with Karizma].. After enjoying this little serene place, it was time to head back to the IB..