Kudremukha - Admist Nature

My most happening friday nights usually start at majestic. We met at around 10 pm and i was glad to meet deepthy and her team heading towards chembra peak. Suddenly chaitanya distributed  home made ladoos which were sent by the founder virander himself. Rumour was he secretly got engaged. So next time you meet him, dont forget to congratulate!

Soon our TT arrived and after bidding goodbye to the chembra team we started our journey towards kudremukha.

After leaving the city behind we got down at a spot for introduction session. This time the characters were:

1. Chaitanya: the organizer or the complan boy. He admits that complan is the reason behind his superb stamina. If you dont believe me please check his email id.

2. Monisha: who is more scared of the smell of leech repellant oil than the leeches!

3. Rashmi: the cool dudette of the group who takes a power nap whenever possible.

4. Gautam 1: who became G1 (eventually jeevan) and is an expert at doing very elegant tai chi moves while taking videos

5. Gautam 2: who became G2 (eventually jeetu)

6. Srikanth: the leech man ( you will know why)

7. Jeevesh: the coach of visual volleyball (wait for it)

8. Mohan: the mabbar jabbar guy

9. Chetan: nicknamed as omlette because of his bright yellow t shrt

10. Mahesh: the guy who never had blue card while playing uno

11. Sreemoyee: no comments.

Most of us were tired and sleepy so we called it a day. However chaitu and jeetu were awake almost all night keeping an eye on our driver.

We reached our destination at around 6. From there we had to either walk or take a jeep to reach our homestay. We trusted chaitu who said its just a walk in the park. However it turned out to be a chota trek and we took an hour to reach the homestay. In his defence chaitu remarked it was a necessary warm up before the actual trek ( and he was right).

During this walk we saw the grand kudremukha for the first time. Kudre in kannada means horse. So kudremukha literally means horse faced. However I would personally prefer  calling the 'green hills'.

Our homestay was beautiful. The view was mindblowing and the hosts were extremely sweet. After a yummy breakfast of laddoo type idlis we set out for sightseeing. The plan was to visit nearby places on the first day and trek to the peak on the second.

We entered the kudremukh national park and theres just one word to describe it - green. We all have seen greenery, but this green is different. I dont know how to explain in words. Its just so so green!

We visited lakya dam first where we noticed jeevans tai chi moves for the first time. Next we proceeded towards hanuman gundi falls. Fortunately there were no hanumans. We enjoyed the journey a lot. To make things better, our driver had an amazing collection of songs.

After the sightseeing tour was over we had two options. Either take bath in a nearby stream or have hot bhajjis and coffee while enjoying the view. Most of the guys went to the stream while rashmi , monu and I had a lovely snack time.

The guys joined us soon. We decided to play some game. And the fun began.

Game 1: visual volleyball.

This was an excellent ice breaking game suggested by jeevesh. Rules were simple. You need to pass an imaginary volleyball to ur teammate by saying 'pass *name of the person*. He/she wud have to send the ball to other team by saying the same thing. Again the person has to receive it and pass it to his team mate. Everything has to happen very fast otherwise your team will lose a point. Jeevesh was the referee and divided us into two teams. We made sure we remember the names of our teammates. However when we started there was utter confusion. People got confused whether to pass it to own team or other team. Then we got confused between G 1 and G 2. Funniest was when someone pointed at G1 and passed it to G2. The worst was when somebody said 'pass sree" and both srikanth and I (sreemoyee) responded. Poor jeevesh had a tough time reminding us of the rules. But none of us cared. We were loving the chaos and confusion!

Game 2: 5 seconds antakshari.

Soon we got bored and it was time for a new game. Simple antakshari but you have to sing within 5 seconds and all were individual teams. It was hilarious. People just froze. One by one all got out. Funniest was when rashmi had to sing with v. All she could say was 'vishwas vishwas' and 5 seconds over! Jeevesh turned out to be the champ.

Game 3: Mabbar jabbar

We again got bored and this time mohan suggested a very unique game. In other words, another extremely complicated game. We sat in a circle. One has to say mabbar mabbar or jabbar jabbar. If mabbar then the person sitting right gets chance. If jabbar, then the person sitting left gets turn. Confusion started when he introduced two new terms : mabbar jabbar and jabbar mabbar. I will not go into the details and spare you the confusion.

Game 4: uno.

Finally we got too confused with mabbar jabbar and decided to play safe this time. We played several hilarious rounds of uno where we saw unexpected partnerships, backstabbing, cold blooded revenge and what not. Mohan turned out to be the villain, mahesh never ever had any blue card, rashmi got scrwed whenever she said uno and jeetu kept on forgetting the rules! Soon dinner was served and we decided to sleep early as we had to climb the green hill next day.

We woke up early and got ready for the trek. The guys complained that omlette had been snoring a lot and hence they didnt get much sleep.

We took a group pic and started the trek after a heavy breakfast of normal idly and laddoo idly. Our guide led the way. Immediately after crossing our homestay there is a steep trail. Few hundred metres after that you enter the forest. From here the entire trail can be divided into four parts. Each part takes around an hour.

The first part is the most balanced one and easy. You enter the forest, its dark greenish inside and also cool. You only hear the sound of a running stream and its extremely quite. After crossing the stream you walk a little uphill and the forest ends. The green valley welcomes you and you see the kudremukh peak a little closer. By the time you start feeling hot again you enter another dark greenish forest and it cools you down. Once more you come out and the valley gets greener and the peak closer. This cycle continues for an hour and then you reach a flat land.

From here part 2 of the trek starts. It begins with a vast green stretch. Difficulty wise its literally a walk in the park. Our guide was carrying leech repellant oil and advised us to apply it. I applied it in excess ( just like the free lotions and shampoos you get in fancy hotels). Monisha hated the smell and tried to be as far from us as possible. Srikanth wanted a feel of the leeches and refused to apply. His prayers were answered and got 28 leech bites in total. After crossing the flat land there was a fairly steep climb. By this time got separated into two groups. After the climb we spotted a lonely tree ( as its the only tree in that area) and took a chocolate break.

Here onwards part 3 begins and its my favourite part of the trek. All along the way you get spectacular views o the green hills. Like i said before, this green is different. You would want to get lost in this enchanting green land. Even though this part is easy you have to be extra careful. If you get carried away by the greenery you might just miss a step and slip (it was about to happen to me several times). So monu and I would walk for sometime. Stop. See the hills. Again walk. Stop. See. Walk. It was a beautiful journey! Soon we reached a small waterfall and filled our bottles while srikanth was happily removing leeches.

The beautiful walk ended soon and we saw the final trail in front of us leading to the horses mouth. It was steep and ofcpurse not easy. We took around half an hour to climb this part only. We then reached a flat land on top of the hill and could see the final stretch. It was again easy. We were actually on the horse's back..then neck...ears and finally reached the mouth.

We made it!!we were ecstatic!!! Millions of photos were clicked from various angles. We could actually see the clouds below. It felt heavenly. We had upma which our hosts had prepared, cracked jokes, posed 100 times, laughed, lived...

Around 1 we startd our way back and reached our homestay on time.

Again after having bhajjis and coffee we started our journey bangalore bound. We tried to watch the creature movie for some time but it was too lame. After dinner everyone gradually fell asleep.

I have done several treks with btc. Among all this is by far the best. Thank u everyone for making it so special..

Kudremukha, I am coming again!

Written By     : Sreemoyee

Organized By : Chaitanya Kumar Adusumilli

Date of event: 18th & 19th Oct 2014

Place            : Kalasa

Pictures        : BTC FB Page