Wonderful day-Wonderful person
It was on March 6th this incident had happened. I had to attend a trek early in the morning and then was supposed to be back for lunch with the trek members of dandeli. The trek was at chityal which is 80km far from city. initially before the start of trek I thought that it would not be much fun as I assumed it to be a small hill and thought that we could reach the top in an hr,but it took nearly 2hrs to reach the top as I had to carry 3l of water and snacks along with me and after reaching the top i was happy that it was not as easy as what I had expected it to be and had some great time and then after descending down I had to start back alone as the rest decided to have lunch and do a trek at near by hills. it was 12 noon by the time I had started my return journey and after 90 min of some crazy driving I finally caught up with the other group and I was so happy that they had not finished eating their lunch and that I reached on time. After the lunch, said goodbye to the wonderful gang and I started back home and after about 10 min my bike stopped as there was no fuel and this ruined all my happiness. Somehow I managed to reach till the KBR Park entrance and then I parked my vehicle at the subway and then inquired a person who was standing out at the entrance regarding the petrol station and the person gave me directions. He asked me if I could wait for a while as he had to buy snacks. he was back in 10 min and then he asked me to get on his bike and said that he would drop me at the petrol station and I was very happy for it. After filling the petrol in the bottle that I was carrying in my bag i thanked the guy for his help and said that I would take an auto to go back, he then said that he was waiting to drop me back at my bike. I was so grateful to the person for all his help and I thanked him. I was then surprised to hear his reply asking me to help others who r in need(this concept was shown in a telugu movie and the person was a fan of the hero in that movie. it is then I realized that not all movies are for time pass and that it all depends on how we take it.)
Monday, April 26, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
UNPLANNED TRIP
Hi all. It has been some time since i posted my last blog. In between thought of writing on a couple of events, but being lazy I hadn’t done that. Here I come with another trip which was unexpected one and still we had loads of fun.
After many discussions we had planned to visit Chikmagalur on the 1st of April and I was really happy to attend this after taking my final exam in the morning, but unfortunately my exam got postponed and the trip was cancelled because of the clashes and the curfew. I was in a dilemma whether to be happy that my exam got postponed or feel sad that the trip was cancelled. After the chikmagalur trip was cancelled we looked up for other places and we could not decide. Then all of a sudden at 8.30 pm I got a call from Jay asking me to join them and I replied back saying that I need time to decide. Later at 9pm I got a call from Ashwin saying that they r starting at 10.30 pm and that I should come to Himanshu’s place to join them. Then I was really worried to tell my parents about my sudden trip and with the help from my sister I was able to convince them and in no time I packed my bag and started for himanshu’s place. In my hurry I forgot to take my shoes and when I realized this there was no chance for me to go back to get my shoes as there was heavy traffic. By the time I rea
ched himanshu’s place it was 10.45 and hmshu and ashwin were waiting for me. We immediately settled down and went to pick up Jay. We had to wait at his place and when he finally arrived we were amazed to see the luggage he was carrying. He was carrying luggage that would be sufficient for a weeks trek. At 11.30pm we 4 started our journey. initially himanshu was amazed to see how the drivers managed to overtake even when the gap was very less, and after a while he settled down and after traveling for almost 2 hrs we stopped at a dabha for refreshment and himanshu rested while ashwin drove the car from here. We enquired about the route and after taking the directions we started and later found that we actually took a longer route and by the time we reached Rajhmundry it was 6.30 am and we still had to cover 200+kms to reach maredumilli. We relied on Jay for the directions as he had some idea about the place and when we finally asked a villager for the direction he told us that we were in the opposite direction and we all got a nice chance to play pranks on Jay. After about another 2 hrs of journey we finally reached our destination around 11.30 pm and we decided to take a cottage that was being maintained by the Forest dept and when we enquired about the rooms the Manager informed us that all the rooms were full and then later after checking the register he told us that the Hill to
p cottage was available and when we asked him if we could see the rooms he told that it’s a waste of time to go all the way to see the rooms and he immediately settled down in front of his computer and showed us few pictures of the rooms and after seeing the pictures we decided to take the A/C Cottage without knowing if it would be the same as what he had shown in the computer. After entering the room we were amazed to see the place. It was very well maintained and we were provided with an inverter for back up power, fridge and TV. We all had snacks and after taking bath we all took a power nap. We woke up and got ready by 4pm and we started for the 1st water fall-Jala tarangini which had no water. we took some snaps here and then explored the place for some time and then started again not knowing what our next destination would be. After 15min we stopped at a bridge where there was a water stream and the place was picturesque, so we decided to take some snaps here and by the time we were done it got dark and we decided to start back. on our way back we decided to have bamboo chicken for dinner as it was a popular dish in this part and Jay wanted to record the process of making. We stopped by a house that had a sign board of bamboo chicken and had given advance to Krishna reddy who was the cook and told him that we need to pick up some supplies in the town and asked him not to start until we came back as jay wanted to record. To the disappointment of jay and Ashwin they did not get the booze they desired, but had bought that was available and I was happy to get mine (coke). By the time we went back it was 8.30pm and 
manage with it. After our dinner we had to change the room as we had some problem with the a/c. we hit the bed around 12.30am and thought of getting up at 5am to take snaps of the sun rise, but could not and we finally managed to get up at 6.30am for a morning walk except for Himanshu who wished to sleep for more time. We walked along the road in search of a clear water stream, but could not manage to find one. We thought of exploring the place but expecting it to be a sunny day we turned back. By the time we reached the cottage Himanshu was busy washing the car. we then took bath and by the time we hit the roads it was already 10am and we decided to go directly to the 2nd water fall which was 16km from the cottage and it took us 45min to reach the place as it was a ghat section. We parked the car on the road and we had to cover 800m most of which was down hill trek to reach the water fall. It was slippery as the whole path was covered with dry leaves and we moved cautiously. In 30 min we reached the water fall. We took some snaps here and freshened with the cold waters of the fall. I was more interested in finding out the origin of the fall and so started doing some bouldering, I was initially accompani
ed by Himanshu for a short distance and then he wished to stay back and I kept going alone. After ascending about 100m I was able to see the origin and when I thought of taking snaps and it is then that I realized that I was no carrying a camera and then I had to go down to get the camera. After climbing back again to the same spot I took some snaps. Later I was in a dilemma whether to climb up further which was risky as I was alone and 1 wrong step can take me to hell or heaven. My adrenaline rush overpowered my fear and I started ascending along the edge of the rock which had an inclination of 50-60 degrees. I took my time in ascending as I had to look for support for each and every step. I some how managed to reach the origin and I was glad for that and at the same time was tensed thinking about the descent. I somehow managed to find a different route to get down and when I got down rest of the guys were ready to leave and after some refreshment we started the uphill journey and we were so exhausted that we had to stop for every 100m and Jay was so exhausted that he wanted a car to pick him up. After about 1 hr we reached the road and after 1hr of journey we reached pamuleru vagu. The information board read that it is dangerous to get into waters as crocodiles are present, but we were not so lucky to find one. It is here for the first time I had seen ducks coming close to us as if they wanted us to take pics of them. We spent some time here and then visited the jungle star nature camp site. While goin to the camp site we had seen a forest fire and while we were retuning back it had spread and it was close to the walking path. We then tried our level best to prevent the spread of fire and I can say that we were successful to an extent.
In our 2 days of stay we had seen more than 10 forest fires. By 3.30pm we reached the town and we had lunch. After having lunch we took rest for a while and then we made preparations for camping in the forest. In no time we were able to pitch Ashwin’s 8 member’s tent. We spent some time in the jungle and even after having all the supplies needed for cooking dinner we decided to head back to the town as we wished to start our return journey early in the morning. We then went to the same place where we had our lunch and packed food and came back to our cottage and had our dinner and slept, next day we were all ready by 5am and after taking 1 last group picture we started our return journey.
As Jay had no office for the next 2 days, he decided to visit his grandmother’s place and so we dropped him at a nearby village from where he took a bus. Our next stop was at khammam where we had a good break fast and after taking the correct directions we started and by 3pm we were back in city.
For more pictures--http://picasaweb.google.com/pamidipraveen/MaredumilliTrip?feat=directlink
High lights of the trip-
Unplanned and unexpected road trip
Never take directions from a drunken man
Jay always kept talking about the girls hostel
Every dog in maredumilli had bite marks.
I had done my best solo bouldering
Even after all the freedom given the alcohol consumption was less.
Can never forget the taste of Bamboo chicken.
Hospitality was very good.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Gandikota Trek
I was eagerly waiting for this trek as I had to drop out the coorg trek at the last min and since then I was thirsty for a trek. The day finally arrived and was busy packing until the last min. I was supposed to catch mmts train at hitech city which was scheduled to depart at 6.54 and would arrive at kacheguda at 7.28pm and tht would leave enough time for me to catch venkatadri express which was scheduled to depart at 8.05pm.unfortunately it never happened as planned…
NEVER RELY ON MMTS:: ----------I arrived at HC station and the train had arrived on time and was happy for it, but my happiness did not last long as the train started moving so slow as if people were pushing the train from behind and after 10 min train picked up speed and everything was going on well until the train arrived at secbad station where it was halted for 15 min and it started to bother me again. Finally the train arrived at kacheguda station at 8.20 pm and by then venkatadri express had already left. I informed the same to the grp members and came out of the railway station to check with the bus timings. I immediately called vamsi annaya and he helped me with the directions and I hired an auto and asked him to take me to the nearest travel agency from where I could catch a bus to jammalamadugu and he suggested going to Lakdikapool sayin that there would be many number of buses and I agreed to it .I purchased a ticket at a travel agency in lakdikapool and when enquired about the route the bus would take it was surprising to find out that all the buses would go via kacheguda .the bus started at 10.30pm and arrived at jammalamadugu by 7 am.
Day--1
I met the group members at the jammalamadugu bus station and we had break fast while few of the members had gone out to purchase groceries. At the depot there was a lady who collected money for the usage of urinals, she was a disturbed woman and she liked the sweater that lakshmi was wearing and she wanted it. We gave the woman bananas and saporta to eat. The members of the grp were busy applying sun screen lotion and seeing this the locals had asked if we had come for shooting. we were asked the same question many more times during the trek and it had become a routine question….we all had our breakfast and started our journey .we hired two autos and after 30-40 min of journey we finally arrived at the en
trance of the fort where we met sudhanshu who was waiting from 6.30am.we filled the cans with water from an old well. The entire luggage was distributed equally among the members and we started our trek. We had to rest for every 15-20 min as we were carrying heavy loads. After walking for 1 hr we reached the view point and it was so picturesque. We took some photos and started again. We had to cross a barrier of rocks and thorns and on the other side there was a berry tree and we plucked as many as we could and ate. After taking the directions from a local we walked along the wall. After we had walked for 200 mts we had stopped again as we had no clue how to reach the other side of the wall. Diyanat sir came up with an idea of using the rope to descend down the wall and few of the members had some concerns regarding it. Mean while Devyani had done some exploration and she found the SECRET passage and we all were happy .it is so sad that we never got a chance to make use of the rope that we had carriedThe passage was a small tunnel along the breadth of the wall. we had our lunch in the tunnel .nimboo paani was prepared by kranti and co and it was refreshing. After resting for a while we all started again and I took the lead. I thought we all were going down to the lake and I walked in that direction. After a while when I turned back to look for the group members I found none. Expecting to meet them enroute I started walking and even after walking for 20 min there was no sight of any of the group members. I heard some sounds and thinking that it could be the grp members I started walking back, I put my bag and the luggage on a rocky elevation and increased my pace and at 1 point I started running, not that I was afraid ,but just to get back to the group asap. After reaching the edge of the gorge to my disappointment I found no one. While running back to pick my luggage a rabbit came out of no where and I was totally taken by surprise and I had to hold my breathe for a min.i picked my luggage and started walking in the opposite direction and after walking for 15 min I spotted the group members who were waiting for me and caught up with them. we had to stop again for a break and we were served with refreshing nimboo paani prepared by ranjitha & co,mean while diya sir and keku had done some exploration and found a place where we could rest for the night. We started again towards the so called- base camp for the trek and after walking for 10 min we finally reached the base camp which was a plain bit of rock. In no time we freed our shoulders and started making preparations for dinner. Ranjitha was the chief cook, under her supervision along with the helping hands from the group members dinner was ready in no time .the dinner menu consi
sted of aloo+tamatar ,dal ,rice and a spl package of omletes which were made on the portable stove by diyanat sir. After dinner we put up tents and few of us slept while others kept singing. Sentry duties were given and each member had to guard the post for 1 hr. I woke up at 2 am and found vikram and imran guarding the posts,they retired and I along with kranthi took the charge. the night sky was clear and for the first time I had seen so many stars in the sky,it was amazing..after 1hr kranti retired and I did not feel like sleeping and continued guarding the post along with sudhanshu and sukumar. Mean while chaya who kept coughing through out the night woke up to take medication and at the same time lakshmi woke up as she was feeling hungry. they kept talking and I retired to sleepDAY—2
We all woke up by 7am and I along with daya and sudhanshu had gone to the nearby village to fetch water and by the time we came back break fast was ready. we had vegeta
ble rice, egg burji, bread and cheese for break fast. After taking some group photos we started our journey back.we were supposed to catch a bus to go back to gandikota and it was the only mode of transportation available. As we were nearing the road we had seen the bus and we all shouted and the bus stopped, had we been late by another 2-3min we would have missed the bus and the situation would have been different. We got in the bus and after 10 min of journey we arrived at the gandikota fort. By the time we reached the fort the reporter from ABN news channel was already waiting for us. He took us to a location which was simply superb. If the reporter had not taken us to this place we would have missed it, we are very thankful to the reporter. After a few minutes of talk with the reporter diya,daya,keku,venkat and myself descended down to do some bouldering. After 20-25 min of effort we finally reached the peak. All 5 of us got on to the peak and there r no words to describe the feeling. By the time we reached the peak,rest of the members followed . we returned back to the place where we started while the rest of the members were busy taking some photos. After reaching the starting point venkat had given a good interview to the reporter. Once every 1 reached we went to temple and we all were busy eating pepsis. Every one had eaten a min of 2-3 pepsis an
d I had eaten 5-6of them. After spending some time we all started back to the bus stop to go to our next destination. The fare for hiring an auto was expensive and we decided to take the bus which left us with spare time of 2hrs. Mean time few of us had gone to the well to fetch some water and we came back.we spent time by singing, playing gilli danda, running for berries, preparing nimboo paani. wehad scrambled eggs, coconut and soft drink for lunch as we had no time to stop again . The bus finally arrived and after 20-30min of journey we reached jammalamadugu .we hired a taxi and all 18 of us got in to a single taxi and after 20 min of journey we reached the dam and most of us got in to the water .it was so refreshing. the sunset was good to watch. We spent an hour and a half in the waters .we then hired 2 autos to get back to jammalamadugu. From there we boarded a bus to prodduturu ,after 40 min of journey we arrived at prodduturu and from there we hired 2 autos to reach yerragun
tla station. we all sat down in the waiting hall and had dinner there itself. The train finally arrived and we settled down at our respective seats and had a good night sleep.the train was delayed by an hr and we finally reached kacheguda by 6.50am.we exchanged our contact numbers and took a group photo before dispersing.link for more photos--http://picasaweb.google.com/pamidipraveen/GandikotaTrek?feat=directlink
This is how you can remember the members of the group
singing troop--pushya,pavithra,vikram,sukumar&kranthi
Chief cook—Ranjitha
Fire expert---Devyani
Anda wala----Venkat(nxt brand ambassador after sachin for NECC)
Youngest------Lakshmi
Guardian-------Sukumar
Animal lover---Keku(he also loves omletes)
Helping hands---Imran
Camera men----Vinit & Jayantha
Water bag------Daya
Translator-----vidyasagar
1st to arrive----sudhanshu
Portable stove---Diyanat
Missed the train---_______
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