The bus comes to a halt at a checkpoint and after a regretful decision to pay an extra 50 bucks to drive past the checkpoint and head another 100 metres ahead, they put the things behind us and set off on foot towards the famous peaks.
Akhilesh, who has been here already and a few more of them decide not to stop anywhere in between and they move swiftly onwards taking in the real sense of the trek.He take some ferns for mum on the way.They finally stop near a tree, without a snap on which the trip is said to be incomplete.Staying true to his insanity he climbs up the tree and gets onto the very edge,an edge so edgy that he is directly looking down the valley as the tree branch extends way beyond the path they were traveling on, despite repeated warnings from his mates.They get a snap taken in all sorts of poses possible.But they ain't satisfied.They want one from a digital camera.They wait for a few more minutes and they get their wish.The snap is said to be "Ultimate"...it will be published on my blog sooner or later once I get my hands on it.If its really that good, I might as well honour it with a separate entry as well!
After carefully making sure he doesn't make friends with any leeches on his way down from "The tree" he heads off again...to catch up with the mates who carried on with their trek up the mountain instead of waiting for a memory on the tree.He catches up with them soon and then overtakes them...now running up the path.Its getting narrower,rockier and slightly risky.Life and limb are on the table.I think at least the limbs were.Running still, challenging his mates to dare and catch up with him he reaches the first peak.
Now the beauty of the place is really getting to him.There is another group of youngsters who are visiting the peaks along with us.They are a noisy bunch.But thats not on his mind one bit.Except maybe slightly of a girl in red but thats miniscule :D. Whats really on his mind is the Lush green landscape ...thats just filling him.Its so lush green...he has never seen a place like that in real ever before.He has only seen it in his dreams...and on TV.He recalls how he used to sketch pictures like this in his primary.He doesn't want to sound cheesy with his mates, so he keeps his excitement within himself.He is probably bottling it all up for this blog ;). He moves to the edges and is amazed at the depths.Heights don't scare him it seems as he runs over to a rock that gives you the feeling that its dangling precariously off the mountain.His mates are now really scared of his antics.They ask him not to do it...as he begins to walk to the edge of the rock.
Its a narrow rock...this much better than the tree...this time, beyond the rock is a mile deep drop to green and rocky patches of ground.He is enjoying this.Snaps are taken in a hurry...some of his friends dare to get to half way through the rock now.'If he can do it...maybe we can do it'.
But halfway :P. \m/ \m/
They hurry onwards...they don't want to miss too much.Yet again, our lead finds another stretch of rocks...that give you a look down the mile deep drop...some more pictures and we are ready for 'Z-point'.
Most people from his class didn't even bother to climb the first peak.Maybe they assumed it wasn't as thrilling as this group realised it was.And they didn't bother to tell[ hehe \m/ :) ], they didn't wanna slow the proceedings down did they?. Z-point comes and goes...none of them seem to know where the 'Z' comes from.Our lead figures that the slopes of the 2 peaks look together like a 'Z' formation when seen from there...but that maybe far from the truth as to why its called 'Z-Point'. As they trek to the top of the second peak[still Z-point] they see that their friends are resting on some rocks.He goes over and notices that one of his friends has found a red stone to carve his girls name on the rocks.Eternal romantic!He snatches the red stone only to be begged back...soon the stone splits unable to bear the intensity in his love for girl.The broken half lands in the hands of our lead character.He figures that he doesn't want to write his message anywhere very accessible...so move over and bends on the rock...stretches his arms and scribbles his message as far down as possible, where nobody is likely to erase it ever.He writes a name...but he claims he wrote the letter 'G'.
Peak number 3 , here we come.The 3rd peak is not as beautiful as the other two peaks - maybe.But the landscape is the best here.Its the greenest. Just a bunch of his friends hang around and take in the view.They see an eagle flying mid air , absolutely stationary , like a chopper.They try to get close and take a picture of the gorgeous bird.But the baby of the group - Kavya runs like hell shouting "Eagle!Eagle!" towards the bird only to scare it off before they can capture it in a stream of 0's and 1's.Still mocking each other and laughing they regroup and decide its time to head back.As our bloke gets in the front again...the group at the front decide to take a shortcut down the slope of the hill instead of the comfortable stretch of footpath ahead.
Its slippery, a bit.As they are midway through the slope something really amazing happens.
Rain bearing clouds just gust in and engulf the lot.Surrounding everybody.Its cold...chilling cold and full of moisture.It hard to realise the presence of clouds right around you if you are not looking far beyond.Our man, looks far...the first to do that...and then shouts to his classmates to stop talking and look around them.Cries of excitement break out.High point of the journey so far.
On top of the mountain, amidst the clouds...what more can I ask for?A memory that will last beyond a lifetime.
They move on...about 4 guys get far ahead of the rest of the group, our boy is one among them.They quickly move through the grass and reach the road back to the bus.They wash their hands and face and hair with the cool and chilly waters from the Shanti falls and move on.
Our hero is now with his buddy Pramukh.Its been a while since he has had a decent chat with him.There is about one and half a kilometer walk ahead and they talk all the way,plucking flowers and some more ferns on the way.
They reach the bus...to find some boozing going on.Nobody dares to make an offer...because his 'NO's are said to be like a slap in the face according what he has been told.He stuffs all the ferns into a plastic cover and shoves it into his backpack.Some more pictures are taken outside the bus as they wait for the rest of the bunch and their tired legs.They arrive about 45 minutes after the first group reached the bus.Lunch is served on paper plates now.Its much better than the so called breakfast that the hero had to contend with in the morning.He has his fill and shares his second helping with whoever he finds it fit to,including a hungry li'l mutt!
Somebody shouts..and he runs across to see whats wrong...Bhatta and Anil are bleeding from the leg.Our hero is slightly dumbfounded but soon realises its the leech that we were asked to look out for.They had their fill on both of them and had got off the ride long back.Anil went crazy!I mean more crazy than he usually is.Our man, calms him down and folds up his pants to check if there are any leeches left in there.Fortunately there are none.But he rues at the lost opportunity to have a look at a living leech.He has seen them in his lab in a bottle of formalin, but not a live leech and that too in action.His wish is soon fulfilled but sadly at the cost of Keerthi's blood when they find a leech still stuck on his legs.They pluck it out and demonstrate how they kill a leech.Must say...its quite strange how things work in nature.A pinch of salt causes the leech to vomit all the blood it just sucked in.He doesn't see the point in killing a leech that has already been plucked off the victim, though he does admit, that he is curious to know what happens to a leech when salt is sprinkled in it.
Its time.They take a vote on whether to return home or visit Thalaratti falls.They choose the latter and off they go.The mountains that are visible on the way back now show that they are completely engulfed in thick blankets of rain bearing clouds.It must feel like heaven up there he thinks.
A few minutes later the bus comes to a halt a noisy place as everybody begin to get off.
Thalaratti falls has arrived.
No comments:
Post a Comment