A trip to remember!!
As I left home on a cold Friday evening, off on a trek to the famed DudhSagar waterfalls, with a group of strangers... Little did I know what lay in store for me.I knew none, but one old friend of mine Sanath , and entered the bus being very skeptical about the next two days. Sanath, along with his friend Ajay started a tourism venture called CrazyYatra sometime last year and have organised quite a lot of trips in and around Karnataka. Having waited all year through to be able to make it to one such Yatra, I promptly registered when the DudhSagar trek was announced.
The desire and excitement to catch the DudhSagar in all its beauty narrowed down what seemed like a humongous distance, for an amateur trekker like me!
Yaay!!! Finally I was off on a crazy Yatra...and as promised, they left us with an experience that will remain etched in our memories forever :)
An overnight journey by bus took us to a resort at Anmod, and from there we started a journey... And what a journey it was! The overnight journey itself gave a glimpse of what the next day would look like... Rain..rain and more rain..an amazing beginning to the trip I thought! I don't know what's it with the rain that enthrals me soo much..whether its the smell of mud after a shower..or the dew drops on leaves that seem to envelope the world within them..or if its simply the rain! Having always enjoyed watching the rain from close quarters..I was supper excited about getting drenched..and moreover..trekking on a railway track.. :):):) The CrazyYatra team had just chosen the best combination of weather conditions and destination!!
A sudden cloudburst had all of us drenched and from the Castle Rock railway station, we started what seemed to be an endless walk on the railway track at first. Castle rock is a quaint little town on the Karnataka -Goa border and this region is blessed with amaaaazzzzing weather during monsoon!! Mile by mile, we continued our walk on the railway track and each time I looked up from the track, a beautiful view surrounded me. Mist covered lush greenery all around.. Sudden and heavy downpours.. Little streams all along the way.. Making way for big waterfalls.. Trains going up and down the track, and the chance to watch them from up close...a total of eleven pitch dark tunnels in the path.. The journey to the DudhSagar had all this and more. The only sounds we heard were either the gurgling of a waterfall nearby or the horn of a train..
You just have to keep walking..absorbing every bit of the bountiful nature around you.. Becoming one with nature and you realise that you've covered a whole 15 km stretch ...
And what a breathtakingly beautiful sight that was!! We watched in amazement as huge streams of milky white water made its way down the mountain. At one point of time it looked like as though the cloud above was pouring down with all its might...I don't think I'll ever have enough words to describe the beauty of the DudhSagar... It was a different world altogether.. I stood there, just looking at the water...with rain lashing across my face.. an out of the world experience that made the whole trek, totally totally worth it!!!
The rest of our trip was filled with lots of interesting things.. Be it travelling ticketless in an overcrowded train en route to Castle rock.. Or the staff in the pantry car deciding to choke us, just cos we occupied their space.. Or the games we played throughout the journey back to Bangalore.. This was one hell of a trip!!! A few years down the lane when I look back at this day, I wouldn't think if my legs hurt or my voice croaked.. I would definitely remember the way we laughed our asses off while playing the game of dares.. The number of new friends I made.. And those wonderful moments spent in front of the waterfall, those wonderful moments...
What a way to spend 50 hours of your life!!!
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