Kabbaladurga - The short and sweet challenge

It was one another weekend and I wanted to do something productive rather than lying in bed all day. Then I saw a trek to Kabbaladurga and registered without giving any thought. The icing on this was it happened to be a woman only trek. However, any trek does not happen without convincing my over-thinking parents, this was no exception. The Kaveri issue happened to be a blocker, yet I sneakily escaped! 😃

With full enthusiasm, I got up by 5am on a Sunday morning. As the meeting point was Banashankari this time, I had to travel to another city from Indiranagar. Google maps gave an estimated time of 1 hour and I had to reach the bus station by 6.45am. The punctual angel in me made me to book the cab at 6am and the outcome is reaching much early than expected. I reached at an odd time of 6.20am. As I waited opposite to the bus stand, I noticed a restaurant open for breakfast. DAMN! I spent my morning hours in preparing dosa, just because it was mentioned that we had to get the breakfast. If only I had known the existence of a restaurant, I could have parcelled it. As my mind was fighting, an uncle walked to me and asked if I was going to the Kabbaladurga trek. No wonder he spotted me because of my attire and trekking shoes. Then he introduced me to his daughter who was a first-timer in trekking and I was able to see that excitement. I was so impressed with his dad that he had read blogs about this trek and motivated us telling that we are going at the right time. The situation would have been completely different in my case, if only my parents were in Bangalore.

Then we walked to the bus stand where we met a group of girls who looked like trekkers, and surprisingly many were first-timers. They were totally geared up without missing even a single item in the checklist. Meanwhile the group expanded and Raja Lakshmi decided that we could finish our breakfast in the restaurant as most of us were already there. Quickly gulped idlis and got into the bus to Kanakapura. That's when I found two of my juniors as well, who registered for the same trek. The enthusiasm paused during the travel as all of us were seated in any vacant seat that we got and I dozed off happily. In another 2.5 hours, we reached Satnur, a small village in Kanakapura and quickly packed our lunch. Got into two autos and in no time, we were on the base of the mighty Kabbaladurga. 

Kabbaladurga is famous among the local for the powerful Goddess Kabbalamma. Sunday was no exception to these localities that the temple at the base was so crowded. This is supposed to be the only temple for 28 villages around this area. The mountain also possessed a fort which was well positioned in a 250m high monolithic rock that was steep on all three sides and moderate on the fourth side, which will be the trekker's path. 

As the sun was scorching our skins, we decided to climb quickly without wasting our time. Since the group was mostly filled with first-timers, I got the privilege to lead the team with Raja Lakshmi at the end. The trek started off with a mild walk, crossing trees and bushes but suddenly there was a steep climb. Even though we had the support of rails here and there, the path was angled little crooked that it always felt like we were going to fall. Yet, if you focus on the steps without looking down, you could cross the small challenge quickly. 

Then there was a small obstacle where we had to climb without any support, yet you could always cling to the rocks. As the group was filled with first-timers, the leading group got multiple breaks where we tortured our beloved Kurkure Aunty (just got married 3 months back) to narrate her wedding stories. Once you cross the two obstacles, congrats! You'll reach the top even before you wonder where you are!

We sat on an open space and finished all the snacks, as many had brought so many things and wanted to reduce the weight of their luggage. While our photographer Rashmi was clicking many to-be-dps, we gulped a range of food items from healthy bananas and orange to homemade sweets. As we were getting fried under the mid noon sun, we quickly finished our lunch and wrapped up. The bonda helped in finishing the dabba full of rice. 

Then we explored the peak, visited the hidden fort and went to the other side of the hill which had the best view than any part of the mountain. A small slip would land us in the base, alive or dead would depend on the luck. After a couple of group pictures, we started to descend and the route was the same. Being a steep hill, there were few phases where we had to sit and crawl like a kid, yet most of us reached the base quickly. There was cold buttermilk waiting for us at the base by a couple, sold at 10rs per glass. Since we were devoid of water, the buttermilk was heaven to the group. As we waited for the final group, we sat near a water dump and gossips started. Then everyone came and we marched towards the Kabbalamma temple, yet didn't step in. Drank sugarcane juice and bid goodbye to the mighty beauty - Kabbaladurga.

Same as how we came, we took an auto to the bus stand and had our feedback session. As our eyes kept waiting for the bus to Bengaluru, patience was flying off and hence we boarded the next bus to Kanakapura. The bus journey was even more fun as Rashmi got into an argument with a localite for chasing her out of the seat, yet everything ended with laughter. An old lady was impressed by our kala chasma woman as she taught her how to pose for pictures and took selfies. Our next halt came quickly and we got into a private bus as the government buses were too crowded. Reached Bangalore by 6pm with lots and lots of memories.

A big salute to the lady who dared to take the ownership of 16 other women in the group, out of which many were first-timers. Good job, Raja lakshmi! You will always be an inspiration to all of us. Thank you everyone for an amazing day and see you soon!

No of people in the group : 17

Total Expense : 250

A night out in Horaginabetta

Another long weekend was ahead and I was eagerly waiting for some 2-day trek from BTC, but then I realized little late that long treks in summer would drain out the life in you. Expecting at least a night trek, Horaginabetta popped up and registrations were closed overnight. So, it was just not me but many people were interested. 

After doing some extensive food shopping with my friend, we got ready for our first night trek with BTC. Since it was Friday, the roads were jammed and we had to reach Majestic before 5.30pm. We were running to find the platform and finally found the big group. Boarded the sophisticated bus at 5.50pm and bid good bye to Bengaluru for the night. Reached Chikballapur around 7pm and then we had to catch another mode of transportation to Karahalli cross where our trek would start. Our organizers were smart enough to get a van and the entire group travelled together. Reached the base at 8pm and we had our first intro session. Since we were 21 in number, it was getting difficult to keep track of everyone's name. Then people got scattered to hunt for dinner (few lazy ones including the organizers did not get dinner from home despite mentioning in the list 😝), but poor things could only find few packets of lemon rice. While few others had some snacks in the so-called-bakery, I was watching everything silently. Being an early-to-bed person, I was in my own world fighting to get rid of my sleep.

It was 9pm and all were set for their night trek adventure. Nandi hills were right in front of us, but we were not able to spot Horaginabetta in the dark. As we walked across the village, dogs welcomed us and we reached the mountain base. Lokith would walk few extra miles and look for some trail. Ameer was at the tail end to keep track of the entire group. While we had torches to find our path, Vj had an emergency lamp and brought light to the entire group. No wonder people named her as the “lantern girl”! 

The initial path wasn't very difficult, although we had to cross between huge thorny plants which scratched our hands and legs. We walked across boulders and bushes and reached the "main road". It was a proper mud road which lead to the misleading junction. Under mere human assumption, we took a wrong decision of taking the path towards right. Took small chocolate breaks while waiting for the late comers to catch up and our trek progressed with enthusiasm. We started to mingle with the group, but little did we know that we were walking in an incorrect path. At some point of time, there was no trail ahead and few went searching for any. This became the perfect adventure and we were sitting under the almost full moon and chatting. The silence and the moon light made us forget the noisy Bangalore environment.

After an extensive search, the organizers came back with a sad news that we had to walk all the way back. As we had no other option, we followed and quickly reached the junction. Few torches found that people have actually drew arrow marks to help us, but we had happily ignored it. Although we knew that we found the right path, the steep climb made us tiring. There were no flat surfaces and we kept on climbing assuming that this would take us to the hilltop. We came across long bushes and a small temple was visible. Few more steps and there we were under the moonlight with the complete view of the city.

Destination reached! It was 1pm and I didn't know where my sleep went off. Set our campfire and started to open our food items. Few heated the water and used it for their cup noodles. Dinner time done and it was time for some fun. It started with the so-called-ragging session for the first timers with people singing and narrating ghost stories. Then mafia came into the picture. While people were finding it difficult initially to keep track of the rules, the trial game broke the ice. Poor guy Ragothaman was always killed in the initial rounds. Ali was using his brains extensively and made his decisions. Soon the game turned into a big chaos.

Meanwhile few were sleepy and the crowd became lesser. Dumbsie was the next obvious game in the list. All the weirdest movie names came into the limelight. I am sure no one in the group would forget how Vj enacted "40 year old virgin" 😁 While few movies were very difficult, there were easier ones too. It was 4 AM and people started singing songs. It became very cold as the wind was very ferocious. We were surrounding the campfire and didn't let the fire to go down. Then we played food Antaksharie, while it turned to be very hilarious than expected. New innovative dishes from around the globe were invented, best would be the yoghurt varieties and African to American cheese pizzas.

The sun started to rise and it was time to take some of the best profile pictures. We started posing in all the cameras and jumped to the sky for some fancy pictures which turned out to be very funny. Bidding goodbye to the peak, we started to descend quickly as the sun would burn us. As usual, getting down was super quick. Indeed we took the rocky shortcut path and reached the base in an hour. There were few places where we had to be extra careful as the path was very sloppy, but it added to the adventure.

 

At 8am, the night out at Horaginabetta came to an end. We drank tender coconut and had fresh water melon and boarded our return bus to Chikballapur. Took another bus to majestic and reached around 10.30am. Bidding good bye to the group, we parted in our way. Thanks a lot everyone for making this an another amazing trek. The enthusiasm level never went down, which was the best part of the group. Of course, all these wouldn't have been possible without you guys - Ameer & Lokith.

Makalidurga - Memories to cherish

If you are in Bengaluru and if you are a trekking enthusiasts, then you would have definitely heard about this group BTC - Bangalore Trekking Club! I have always wanted to trek with this group and the opportunity came to me in August,2015. Grabbing my bestie Vijayalakshmi (vj) to register, we were finally set to go on this trek. We got permission from her mom the previous day in CTR, while having their yummy masala dosa and Mysore bonda. The food indeed helped us to convince her mom!

Woke up early at 5am on a Sunday morning and got ready for the trek. Vj's mom took extra effort to prepare our breakfast and lunch, thanks Aunty! Since we were asked to be at Cantonment by 6.45am, we planned to leave the house at 6 and we did. This was our first trek with BTC, and we didn't know anyone in the group. Ashwin directed us to come to Platform 3 and there we were! We looked out for a group dressed up in typical trekking costume and found one. Hoping that it would be the BTC group, we tried our luck and it worked!

Our train was already in the station and we took our seats. It was a passenger train to Vijayawada which starts from Cantonment every morning. I highly doubt if people would go all the way to AP in this train, but I noticed that it was mostly used by localities who move between villages for selling their stuffs. Our group size increased and we started mingling with the group. That's when we met a chatter box Vikram, our favourite thatha and the bond happened so quickly because he was a Tamilian. We had our breakfast (chapatti) as soon as the train started because we were warned that the train will be flooded with people in the coming stations. The slow moving passenger train finally halted at our destination point Makalidurga and we hopped out quickly as the train won't stop more than two minutes.

The station looked very remote, we could hardly see people around and the majestic mountain was right in front of us. After a quick round of introduction, we started to walk along the rails and took a slight deviation into the bushes. Being a first-timer to BTC and treks, the enthusiasm and thrill exponentially increased as we moved forward. While a little kid was happily climbing, munching all the chocolates every 10 minutes, he motivated us indirectly. As there was no proper route (not sure if we got deviated), the path was little scary at certain places, yet our organiser Ashwin and an experienced trekker Dev helped us cross the barricades. Even though my mind was asking me to rest as I was gasping, my heart asked me to move on. Well.. the heart's technique worked! With multiple short breaks, we reached the top of the hill. After all, the view from the top was worth the effort.

The history behind Makalidurga dates back to the Vijayanagara times, where the hillock was used to conduct army trainings, which was finally ruled by Kempegowda. The top of the hill had a small Shiva temple, mostly visited only by the local people. We finished our lunch quickly to escape from monkeys stealing our food and rested for some time. Then the real adventure began on our descend. We lost our path and our organizer Ashwin suggested one route while our new-found friend Dev suggested another. We trusted Dev in a hope that we would meet the rest of the group soon, but that never happened. We didn’t know if we were lost in the middle or moving in a completely opposite direction, but we were just hoping to reach the base. Amidst all these, Vikram got a leg sprain and he was struggling to walk. Ashwin was trying to reach us through our mobiles but alas, there was no network coverage. The other group was also worried about our safety and we were also unsure about the trail.

A small deviation which we took just for fun became an adventure, but it was worth it. We reached the base much ahead of the entire group as we did not take even a single break on our descend. We waited for more than an hour till we met the rest of the group. We were confident that a ban is definitely waiting for us from Ashwin, but he was kind enough and ignored us. Being my first trek with BTC, it taught me lot of things more than trekking. I learnt how to interact with people and trust them and tackle unexpected situations. Bidding goodbye to the group, we boarded into the train and headed to Bangalore. While the good bye was only temporary, I knew that the new-formed gang would definitely stay in touch. And it would be a surprise if I tell that the overall expense of the trek was 30Rs. (15Rs * 2 for the train travel) If only I had stayed back in Bangalore on Sunday, I would have definitely spent more than 100Rs.