I know I have been a bit missing in action in the last couple of days but that's because I wanted to take some time and effort before writing my latest blog - my trekking adventure to Asia's largest monolithic hill - Savandurga.
About 60km away from Bangalore (aka civilisation), my friends - Ramya, Deepika and Ramya's sister Radha all decided on embarking on this trek. Radha was not interested the moment she found out that people had died sliding off the steep hill and I myself was worried that I might end up twisting my ankle therefore putting me in jeopardy to run the 10k in July. Deepika simply refused to believe that the trek would be at all dangerous and Ramya, well, she spent a lot of time telling everyone just how scary it could be while sounding terribly excited. But a sense of adventure prevailed over commonsense and we took off early morning on Saturday talking about water, chocolates and weirdly enough Bollywood gossip.
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| Me, Radha, Deepika, Ramya and Chincha! |
We were to join a group from Bangalore Mountaineering Club. Ramya and I have both gone on treks arranged by this group before and I can vouch for them for being the best in the business. Thus we turned from a group of four to a group of 20 by the time we touched base at Savandurga.
So here's what you need to know about that hill - it's bare, it's steep and you are essentially screwed if it rains because it is bare with not too many plants to latch onto. One look at the hill and Deeps finally realised that this was going to be both fun and definitely challenging. And at around 10.30am the group started trekking up the hill, which fortunately offers panoramic views right from the beginning.
Radha, was scared not of climbing up the hill but she kept talking about how scary it would be on the way down because one slip of the foot and you might as well be history. Only hours later did we realise that Radha was more on point than we would have liked to have believed in the beginning.
For one thing, poor Deeps had the first misfortune within the group when the soles of her shoes started coming undone. We thought little of it in the beginning, just asking her to come slowly. Ramya, who jogs nearly every day, was incredibly fast and was right there with the top of the group. I decided to keep up with her, so Deeps and Radha fell behind. Only after a while did we realise that Deepika was actually climbing the hill barefoot! Our guide Swamy, was also nowhere to be seen because apparently he was helping up some poor teenager who had decided that she was simply not up the trek. His assistant Chincha (we called out his name at least a million times between all of us) was there to usher us all in to the peak that stands at 4,000 feet. The last part is perhaps the most adventurous because you sometimes even have to crawl through small arches to get to the top. Of course there is also a 70 degree sheer fall you climb using crevices and praying that your body does not fail you. I have no idea how Deeps did this barefoot but if she was scared, she didn't let on and remained cheerful till the very top. Ramya and I had reached a good half hour at least before Deeps and Radha, so we just lay on top of the peak feeling the wind hit us with force and enjoying it.
The peak itself was a haven to all those who love amazing views and high speed winds. The four of us took a ton of pictures between us and also with the rest of the extended group and decided that it was time to go back. Of course one of the members in the group wanted to stay further but common sense prevailed and a little of bit of whining and complaining later, the group was ready to go back to ground level. And this is where the true adventure begins.
For one, Deeps was climbing down barefoot. We were all scared for her. Radha was also scared of slipping and falling (a fear I generously shared along with her). Ramya on the other hand was one of the first to start climbing down which she did with the ease of an experienced trekker. Before I knew it, she was nearly in the bottom waving at us cheerfully. At that second I thought to myself - oh this looks like fun. Maybe we will be down in no time How WRONG I turned out to be.
I slipped down the 70 degree fall. I caught myself on time but it was enough to tear across my track bottoms and scrape my skin through and through. You see the soles of my worn out shoes had become completely flat. The other reason being? Well, it started raining....pretty badly. Which meant I had to hold onto someone else (I borrowed a sweatshirt from Deeps and wore it around my waist to cover the tear) all the way down. It also meant that I went on to fall another five times, scaring the bejeesus out of me. I refused to take off my sneakers because I wanted to cushioning on my ankles, so I can keep running (the things runners worry about!). And we were all pretty drenched.
Deeps however was the one who gave us the biggest scare. We were all huddled at one point under a rock to shield ourselves from the rain. Deeps decides she does not want to wait and starts walking down. PLOP! She slips and falls pretty badly on her back. Thankfully she was ok but I think I hugged her five times because she slipped right before an area that looked like a freaking cliff. Swamy thankfully managed to get both me and Deeps to the ground. My right elbow by then was generously bleeding and the stupid Sun came out blazing which meant my knee was burning.
And Deeps? Well, she had to walk through rocks that were still moist and wet and rocks that were scorching thanks to the Sun. I swear I still don't know how she found the humour to do this with spirit. The biggest surprise? Well Radha climbed down without much incident and helped Deeps through a lot of the tough times. I clung onto one of the trekker, Steffy, who listened to me patiently talk about Hrithik Roshan and marathons (I tend to ramble when scared...go figure).
So, the four of us reached the base, Ramya had reached ages ago and was sitting like a rockstar drinking some coconut water. She lent me her rain jacket to cover the two big holes on my track pants! That's when we as a group decided we would also go rappelling in Ramnagaran, which is also a hill en-route to Bangalore.
You might be thinking why me or Deeps or even Radha, who were pretty scarred from the trekking decided that rappelling made sense - well, adventures are like that, when you get even a little whiff of it, you want more and more.
Deeps and I made a small detour however on the way to Ramnagaram where she bought slippers and I bought pants and suddenly we were strapping the ropes for rappelling! As everyone in the group was a bit apprehensive, I volunteered to go first...I mean no one wants to walk off a cliff and hope the ropes are tight enough but I had done this before and I was sure I could take it. Unfortunately on my way down my hair got caught in one of the knots which turned out to be quite hilarious. No great damage but I have to get a hair cut now :P
Ramya came right after me and she climbed in true Ramya style - which is essentially doing it without any fuss and just doing it. Deeps and Radha went later. From what they told me, Deeps froze by the time she reached the top of the rock and tried to call it off but Radha and Swamy helped her through and she had also done it! Radha followed shortly. After that, we were all more than ready to go home. So we filed into the back of the bus, each trying hard not to fall asleep on the other and talking about the day that we had been through. I just want to take a moment and talk about the four of us as we were on Saturday:
The rockstar: That title belongs to Ramya. She looked effortless while climbing up and her cheeks were flushed red, so she actually looked fresh! She was the first girl to reach the base and honestly you would have never known that this was her first time rappelling, she was so good!
The sport: Deepika's sportive nature throughout the trek was unbelievable. This is a hard trek on good shoes and this woman climbed up and trekked down barefoot in the rain. And she did with grace and humour and at the end of the day she was talking about doing it again.
The brave one: People might be surprised that I anointed Radha the brave one but honestly like they say in all movies - courage is not the absence of fear but rather the realisation that something is more important. She was honest about being scared but she was brave enough to keep taking the next step.
The painkiller: I think it's because I am a runner but I can take pain. I am used to it. I was not great like Ramya and I don't know if I was sportive enough like Deepika but I took the blood and the scratches and shook them off. One of the girls saw the extent of skin damage on my back and wondered why I was even thinking about rappelling or why I was not making a bigger fuss....I think it's not because I was not scared or that I was brave but I am used to running over 10k with an injured knee, this was really nothing.
The final note:
We were four average girls and we had to deal with a scary trek during monsoon season. A lot of people chicken out of great experiences in life because they are too scared of what might go wrong...well the truth is even when things go wrong, you can still have the time of your life. Oh and make sure you go with great friends. So I raise my glass to average Joe adventurers. You might not recognise that you are sitting next to one....hell you might not even realise that you are one! So go out...take chances...make memories and have an adventure.
P.S My running schedule has taken a hit but I am doing a 11k tomorrow!
