ಹಳೇ ಕಡತಗಳನ್ನು, ಫೋಟೊಗಳನ್ನು ಕೆದಕುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗ ಬಿ.ಆರ್ ಹಿಲ್ಸ್ ಗೆ ಟ್ರೆಕ್ಕಿಂಗ್ ಹೋದ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನೇ ಬರೆದ ಈ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಲೇಖನ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿತು. ಟೂರ್ ನ ಅನುಭವ, ಇನ್ನಿತರ ಸಚಿತ್ರ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ನಿಮಗಾಗಿ ಸಂಚಾರ ಮಾಲಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ...
-------------------------
Here is my trekking experience:* Saturday morning 7.00 - started from Bengaluru
* Breakfast near Ramnagar - Kamat Lokaruchi; also had a glimpse of "Janapada Loka" here
* Slight drizzle throughout the day, weather was chill
* Visited Nanjangud, Nanjudeshwara Temple premises, "Teppa" ride on Kapila river, lots of fun here
* Reached Chamarajnagar around 3.00 PM, Lunch at Sharath’s (colleague) house - Bisibele bath, Nippattu, sajjappa, anna-sambar-mosaru, chips
* Towards BR Hills, road was not good
* Reached Wild Life Sanctuary gate around 5.15 PM, This gate closes for public after 6.00 PM, from here ghat section, road is pathetic, dense forest starts here, jungle safari
* We were lucky to see - Bisons, Elephants, deers, Sambar, Peacock, Fox on the way
* Reached K Gudi (Kyatadevana Gudi) forest gate around 6.30 PM, BR Hills is nearly 20 KMs from this place. Here also guest house/IB's are available for tourists
* Reached BR Hills around 7.30 PM, place is on top a hill, weather was very very chill with slight drizzle, wind was rough
* We were total 18 (including 7 ladies), our colleague had booked 3 rooms in Inspection Bunglow couple of weeks before through some forest officer's contact, but some guys from B'lore who had minister's influence already occupied most of the rooms, we got only one room here* Had no other option but to find some alternative as quickly as possible, temperature was also declining
* Some police officials came to our help. They told us some of us could stay in empty "Police Quarters" and prepare the dinner. For a while we thought we got a good alternative. But after seeing the rooms condition no one was ready to stay there. No power, no water, no proper doors, rainwater-dirt-dust on the floor, was looking like a "bhoot bungalow", they also cautioned us ‘beware of snakes’. Who will dare to stay with all these odds!!!
* Luckily there were some dormitories for people visiting "Bilagiri Rangana Temple". Localites informed us about a vacant dormitory. We quickly rushed there. Owner of the dormitory told us it is already booked, but not yet occupied due to some reason, party might occupy next day (24th) early morning. After convincing him he agreed to rent that to us on one condition, we must vacate the dormitory as soon as the party arrives. We agreed to all his conditions. There was no basic facility, but it was big enough to accommodate us and power supply was also there
* It was already 9.15 PM, we started preparing for the dinner, we had all the items, gas, stove etc with us. “Figure Rice” (Lemon Rice), Curd Rice was the menu. Mr Vinod and Mrs Vani were our Head Chef, we all accompanied them. Some people washed utensils; some brought water from public borewell; some chopped onions, tomato, ginger, cucumber, chilly; some sung songs; some cracked jokes; some did mimicry; some simply took nap. Around 10.30 our dinner was ready. “Figure Rice”, Curd Rice, Salad, Chips etc etc.
* All of us feeling very hungry, items were simply superb, we had a very good dinner
* Clock was showing 11.30, temperature still declining, not enough bedsheets, blankets with us. Ladies group occupied the vacant single room of Inspection Bungalow. Some guys preferred to sleep in the bus. We 4-5 guys had no other option but to stay in the dormitory itself. One guy in our group some how managed to get 5 mats (Bannada Chape) for rent, that provided some sort of relief. Luckily we had 4-5 bedsheets with us. We decided to sleep close to each other to keep us warm and had a good sleep to charge our battery for sunday's trekking
........... Sunday, 24th June 2007 ...........
* Sunday morning... me and Vinod woke up at 6.15 AM. We quickly rushed to a public toilet avoid the rush later, as it is open to all people. One localite already occupied a toilet and “Bidi” smoke and smell was coming out, my friend told it is to warm up and increase the pressure
* Alone went for a walk with my Camera as most of the guys were still sleeping, captured some early morning shots
* 7.15 AM, Vinod prepared Coffee, it was yummy. Soon our ladies troop also joined us. Started preparing for the breakfast. Menu: Uppittu - Kesari Bath - Sandwiches
* Some of us preferred for a quick sight seeing, Sharath who is familiar with the place led our group. When we were halfway mark our mobile started ringing, call was from Vinod who is preparing breakfast along with Vani in the dormitory. He asked us to return immediately as the party who suppose to stay there had already arrived
* We returned back, quickly started dumping all the items inside our bus. By that time uppittu, sandwitch was ready; some how finished kesaribath also, shifted the prepared items again to “bhoot bungalow” and vacated the dormitory
* Our ladies troop was not ready to have breakfast in that “bhoot bungalow”. Thank god, they didn’t see the night view of that bhoot bungalow
* Soon we shifted to an open, beautiful scenic spot nearby for our breakfast. View and location was excellent. Had a delicious breakfast
* Around 10.30 AM, jungle trek. We started trekking from one of the forest gate; our destination was “Dodda Sampige Tree” 5 Kms walk. We followed each other in single group (on a jeep track) as the forest guards cautioned us to be in-group to avoid possible animal especially elephant attack
* Climate was good; luckily no rain, but the only problem was “leeches”. Yes, as we covered some distance and entered thick forest leeches started attacking us. Most of the guys in our group never saw leech before. They were all scary. They soon stopped enjoying the beauty of nature and started walking seeing only their legs and peeling leech from their legs. As a precautionary measure we carried salt packets with us. It helped us to a great extant
* After covering nearly 4 Kms we met a “Soliga” (stays in jungle). He said chances of seeing animals are less at this time, they only come out during early morning or late in the evening
* We all were wearing a common green T-Shirt with a “Protect Nature” sign printed on it. Nature's beauty was amazing, we really enjoyed the walk, we saw rare species of plants, insects, birds, shrubs, flowers etc on the way, also spotted wild animals/elephants foot prints on the track
* Reached “Dodda sampige Tree” after 90 mins walk. Last one kilometer walk was bit difficult due to slippery and steep steps
* Enjoyed a lot here. Stream was flowing here. Water was chill. “Dodda sampige Mara” is the oldest tree in this entire forest. We could also see some statues belonging to “soligas” here.
* We met a “Soliga” on the way; he guided us to their “hatti” (small hut). Soliga haadi is very beautiful place covered by thick forest. Soligas live in small huts. They grow coffee, banana, lemon, vegetable etc., also collect honey and other items available in the forest for their living. Government recently covered their “haadi” with electric fence (trench) to protect them and their growing’s from elephants attack
* We headed back to dodda sampige mara, started walking towards our bus. Clock was showing 1.30
* Around 2.30 PM we reached the road and boarded the bus. Had some snacks, water. We must appreciate driver, cleaner’s daring. There were no shops, no people. They waited for us without food in that dense forest
* We returned to BR Hills, visited “Biligiri Ranganatha Temple”. It was closed, took darshana from outside. This area is the top most point. View from here is breathtaking. Spotted group of wild bears from this place. Temple authorities even provide afternoon lunch between 12.30 – 2.00 PM. We missed prasadam also.
* Quickly had some snacks, cold drink. Returned to Inspection bungalow, checked out the room. Around 4.30 we started our return journey towards Bengaluru
* Till mysore, full of songs, masti, enjoyed. After dinner, everyone busy sleeping
* Night, around 1.00 AM we reached Bengaluru
ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು: ನೆಂಪು ಗುರು
-o-
