Going on a trek without proper planning has never turned out so successful as this one. Chalking out a one-day trip to this trekking spot wasn't so difficult, having had a hint of the route, thanks to few friends. Tadiyandamol, the highest peak in the Coorg district of one of the greenery rich states, Karnataka. Here it is: an epilogue of our adventurous tour to this trekking spot.
It all started with an enthusiasm created among friends at office. It had also been quite sometime I had gone on any trip, since last Feb. We formed a group of 8, and were ready off to go on the night of 5th Jan, Friday. Booking a 14-seater for this small group wasn't an good idea. But, as it always happens, we anticipated last moment join-ins. And surely, we were 15 of us by Friday evening.With the hired vehicle getting delayed a little, we finally started from Bangalore at early hours of 5th Jan, 2008. Travel was not tough, as we sang along, playing antakshari well into the morning. It was around 6 o clk, and we
were still around 40 kms from Kakkabe, near Virajpet. It was around 6 o clk in the morning, when we stopped at an amazing sight of clouds over a small hill on the roadside. After a few snaps, someone suggested we freshen up at a nearby hand pump. Now this is what I call the beauty of unorganized trips. Ideas cropping up like these can make wonderful nostalgia sometimes. Catch Gautham giving a good pose here. I prefer not to share some of the other natural poses here. ;-)Soon we reached Kakkabe. Now, this place, Kakkabe, happens to be the foothill of the Trek. A tiny hamlet of few houses and lots n lots of coffee estates. There are just two hotels there, as I got the info, which can help you with the breakfast and lunch. And
hthere is this little summer palace of the King of Madikeri. A vehicle would go only upto this palace, or 'Aramane' as is called in the local language. Little info here: There this guy named 'Suresh', who runs a small hotel at this place. I got the phone number of him from my friend, and had already spoken to him about preparing breakfast and lunch for us. This proved good for us. (Phone number: 0827238399. He makes good chapatis and don't miss his 'kadle saaru'). After having a quick breakfast and getting our
pack of lunches, we were ready to go, to the palace, 'Aramane' which is about 2 kms from here. This 'Aramane', a palace in the local language, happens to the summer resort and a hideout of the King of Madikeri. There is a Govt school also nearby, and you can spot few kids as we did.We started climbing up around 9 I think. Owing to our photography interests, surely me and my friends were left behind by others of my group. But, I was more determined to cover each and every detail of this trip. Gautham tries to touch the peak here. ;-)
This was not similar to my previous trek to Kodachadri, in Feb 2007. Here, the trail was quite visible and seemed known, except for little diversions at two places. There were quite a few other people along the track. The trail turns steep at the last two hillocks of the trek. And sure enough, with the lunch bag for the whole batch on my back, I could make it only an hour after the first of our group reached the peak. It was simply wonderful standing at the peak, with a heavy wind blowing.It was lunch time and people were eagerly waiting for me to open up the pack. Not sure whether it was really the taste or the hungry stomachs, but the chapatis with 'kadle saaru' seemed awesome. I had a Jam bottle too as a back-up. We sat for a while after the quick lunch, looking around and taking snaps.
The return was not that tough. Except again for the last stretch. I felt my legs were giving off. Reached back to our vehicle around 8 or so. Had a quick look at the 'Aramane' from inside. Got few info from the Gatekeeper there. Everyone just too tired to say anything. Dozing off seemed like a better option for all of us.
Altogether, it was a wonderful trip. Catch more photos @ my Picasa homepage. :-)
