Achalu Betta Trek

Achalu Betta trek: Twenty strangers came back as friends down the hill

Twenty strangers came together on a Saturday morning in Bengaluru. But in the end, they went back as friends, carrying pleasant memories of the day. The one common thing that binds them during the day was their love for trekking, made possible thanks to the one-day trek to Achalu Betta at Kanakpuru, organised by Bangalore Trekking Club.
For past few days to the trek to Achalu Betta, Bangalore was reeling under hot sun during the day. But thanks to the heavy rain on Friday evening and the night that followed, Saturday (May 27, 2017), morning (the day of the trek) turned out to be chilly with a cool breeze that set the tone for the day.

When finally all the trekkers were on board the mini-bus, BTC organisers of the trek Parth Patel and Hiren Jobanputra asked all the members to enact their names to introduce themselves. Initially, the members played the dumbcharades with the names gamely, guessing the name quickly and correctly. 

But later, the members started ‘ragging’ the members, deliberately avoiding to guess the name correctly. The concerned member who has to enact his/her name went through a horrifying time to get his name guessed correctly even as other members had fun. The one-hour journey passed away quickly. The most interesting ‘surname’ that was attempted to enact was of Amarnath ‘Jabshetty’ who tried his best to show he is going for his job to help others pronounce ‘Jabshetty’.

We stopped for breakfast and then moved on to the trekking spot. We reached a small village and started our trekking to the top. The Nandi statue on the top was our destination. After another customary round of introduction, we were informed about the rules and regulations.

Hiren led the way with the batch of the girls following him as the boys slowly and steadily came behind. Parth kept a watch at the other end to make sure every trekker was on the right track. 

 

The climb and the path to the top were laden with weeds and thorns which rubbed and scratched trekkers’ arms and legs. But it was too small a pain to pay for the joyful trek to the top. The first kilometre was pretty easy. The next two kms became difficult as we have climb rocks to reach the top.

Boys, being boys, stopped at every opportunity to take selfie, make poses and take enough memories to carry back home. Surprisingly, girls stayed away from all the picture-spree.

After an hour of climb and many stops for rest, we reached the peak from where the view was just mesmerising. We took rest under the shade of a big rock. The cool breeze blowing across the rock made it a pleasant experience. We had sumptuous lunch there thanks to all the yummy food brought by trekkers. We had thepla, puri, rice, roti, biscuits, banana, chocolate...right on top of a hill. After the yummy lunch, we took rest and admired the beauty on top of the hill.

The climb down was quick and took less than half of the time taken to climb up. Once again, girls beat the boys in climbing down the hill.

We were not done yet. We went to a nearby tourist spot some 30 kms from Achalu betta. It was dried up river which was once overflowing. There was a rural temple there as well where we took the blessings.The ride back home was again with a game of dumb charades where trekkers challenged each other in guessing the name of the movies correctly. It was a fierce battle between two teams and it showed no sign of stopping even as Bangalore neared and the thought to go back to mundane life loomed large.
Overall, it was a journey that is difficult to forget where 20 strangers came together to share the common passion for trekking.
Written By     : Ashok Kumar Shaw

Organized By : Parth & Hiren 
Date of event: 27 May, 2017
 Place            : Achalu Betta 
Pictures        :  BTC FB Page