2006-01-24T01:10:00.001+05:30

We, "The Gang" from BC22, along with some close friends, went for a Trek @ Kumar Parvata from 20th Jan 2006 (Friday) to 22nd Jan 2006 (Sunday). Its a 16 kms long trek from the foot hills, situated in The Western Ghats.

We left at 11:00 PM from Majestic, with all the fifteen of us eagerly waiting for the adventure to begin. See the smiling faces. Will these faces be still smiling when we return? Will there be the same energy in the faces when we trek downhill? Wait and see.

We stopped by at a tea-stall at around 2 AM. It wasn't particularly cold but still people were getting really cosy. But I dont know why these gals were hugging each other when there were so many great guys around. Sangu, Kruthi, bad manners haan!! You must understand other people's emotions yaar ;-)

Everybody was in a melodious mood in the bus. Especially our "Kumar Sanu" aka Manish bhai and "Lata didi" (read Sangu didi) were in dazzling form. Niru played a vital role too in keeping all of us awake by singing some deadly numbers of Anu Malik, in the very amusing "Anu-Malik ishtyle" :-)

We reached the place at around 5:00 AM and took three rooms to freshen up and relax. Some rested, some hogged, while the others got afresh. Some people (read gals ;-) ) wished Niru wasn't covering him with the towel. We got some exclusive snaps of Niru and Rakesh ("Please delete kar na...") but are not posting it here cos of the objectionable content :-)

Before we all set out, some went to the nearby temple for a darshan. Glad that we did that, cos the mighty challenge that laid ahead of us required all the good wishes and blessings of god. Here is an overhead view of a part of the gang, before we picked our back-packs upstairs and left for the ascend.

Just before we were all set to leave, a small fight broke up ;-) between me and Kapil. He was insisting on keeping the chocolates in his bag and not the cucumbers. That did hurt Kapil @#%$#*&@$ !!! Beware of me from now on!!

"The journey of a thousand mile begins with a small step." It was a small stroll till the foothills till where we walked briskly. The Kumar Parvata stood in front of us with its arms wide open. We made sure we were carrying enough water and carbohydrates which'd prove crucial during the 6-hr long trek.

Here we go !! All of us were hyper, unaware of the fact that energy will prove really costly later, when the trek starts taking a toll on us. Carrying both a back-pack and a tent (Yeah, thats not a baby that I'm carrying) ain't an easy thing to do even for the Pros.

After two long hours of ascending, we stopped for a well-deserved break. It was time to shed some weights of apples, oranges, cucumbers and water from our back-packs.

The trek is covered by a dense forest for about first 10 kms, after which the dry grassland begins and the sun starts hitting you right on your face.

In the final few steps when most people were breaking down like a castle of cards, our very own "Baby", Kruthi, was all guns blazing. There was hardly a drop of perspiration on her face and it seemed as if she had been directly sky-dropped. Niranjan and Sangeetha followed suit and reached before the most of the gang.

After reaching the peak, we went to the forest official's cottage where our lunch was arranged. Some people used this opportunity to catch a nap under the shades of the cottage. Here's me and Bibs enjoying the lunch, which tasted like heaven, after the drenching effort it took for us to reach till there.

After resting for two hours there, we went to catch the sunset. The view was simply breathtaking! Everybody forgot all the pain we felt during the ascend. We just sat there and saw the sun hide behind the mountains.

Niru was feeling really cold in his half-sleeve T-shirt so I came up with a kick-ass idea to keep himself warm. That big hogger didn't complain of even gas problems the next morning!

As the dusk began filling up the skies, stars began to pop up. One could feel the dew drops forming a shiny layer on the grass. It wasn't very cold in the evening, but the scenic beauty left all of us breathless.

After the sun set, it was time to put up the tents. With the help of just torch lights, I - the official tent expert, started putting 'em up. Kapil and Bibs later came down to lend me a helping hand.

Bow-wow!! Scooby and Snoopy (Ya, thats what Bibs named us and later Niru as Pluto) just couldn't wait to get our pics clicked. That might look like a typical doggie style but we dont have a "doggie-style" as such in any other things. Nope!

It was then time to lit up the camp-fire. It wasn't very chilly at that time but still cold enough to enjoy it. Although, Vinod thought there were better means to keep oneself warm but later realised we had to trek downhill as well ;-) Can't do that with a hangover. Right Vinod?

It was then time for some more fun! Sangu entertained everyone with a great performance on the "Saki Saki " song. We also had another round of Antakshari around the camp-fire. Popular songs included Rukmani-rukmani, Doodh doodh doodh doodh and Mile sur mera tumhara. Clearly, a fun-filled time.

It was then time to hog. We ate Cup-Noodles along with a lot of other junk food like cakes, chocolates, chips, biscuits and blah-blah-blah. After the fire went off, we returned to our tents to doze off. Since we had a really hectic day climbing 16 kms uphill, we slept within a matter of minutes.

It was a beautiful clear sky the next morning. Some people left the tents early to catch the sunrise. The view from such heights was simply amazing. Have a look.

It was then time for the Ultimate Photo Session @ The Peak. People in various permutations and combinations came along and posed for the snaps. Some of the gems are here.

After the photo session was over it was time to descend. The weight of the back-packs were far less, as compared to when trekking uphill, cos the food items had already been used. We started descending cautiously as the morning dew was still there on the grass.