Sharavathy Valley: An Escapade into the wilderness of the Western Ghats
Prelude
“And I also know how important it
is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To
measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the
most ancient of human conditions. Facing the blind deaf stone alone,
with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.”
These days we are too busy and focused
about our career path that we forget take our eyes off the laptop
screen and take the road to places unknown. Though some of us find
ourselves gravitating towards the unseen and if we are fortunate, at
times, we find or revisit ourselves on the meandering corners of
those roads. Such was the trek to the land of Sharavathy.
A few weeks it had been that I
relocated to Bangalore and the wanderlust inside made me restless
when my friend Kabir chanced upon this trek organized by BTC.
Spanning over the long weekend from October 1st to 4th,
it was the perfect gateway to get my feet itchy once again.
The Journey Begins
The tempo traveller would start on
Thursday night (1st Oct) from Majestic for an overnight
journey to the place called Sagara in Shimoga district. Kabir
repeatedly informed or rather alarmed me about the punctuality of the
group and its reputation of sticking to the plan no matter what. We
freaked out on our way from office to Majestic as the quintessential
Bangalore traffic gave us jitters. Thankfully, we could make it.
There were 12 people in the group including us. A bunch of unknown
young guys to stick together for the rest of the journey. Yeah, we
both felt like we are entering into some reality show! To top that,
the others started conversing in the local language and we thought we
would get bored over the next few days. How wrong we were! Sonali and
Hiren, the organizers along with their long time team mates Ashwin
and Abhishek took the initiative to break the ice and we reached
Sagara in the morning before we knew it. It was 7 in the morning. All
of us freshened up, had a simple but fulfilling breakfast with idli
vada and tea/ coffee. Another one and half hour of journey into the
jungle and our trek started. For the next couple of hours we would go
past muddy, dense jungle, numerous slippery streams and lots and lots
of leeches. Over the next few days I would make sure I slipped every
single time I crossed a stream :P So make sure to travel light as
your wet luggage can become a big pain when clocking several
kilometers every day through the terrains. Finally we reached the
Dabbe Falls where the team would have to climb down a distance of
around one kilometer to go underneath the falls and it was 80 degree
steep an incline.
There were two guides with us- Mr. Ganapti and Mr.
Jayanth, without whom the whole trek would not have seen the realm of
possibility.
AT times we would use rope to get down along the way.
But once we had reached the bottom, the gushing wind, splashes of
water and the omnipresent rainbows would make the experience
worthwhile. By the time we would climb up, the team would be dog
tired. One of the acquaintances of Mr. Ganapati gave us shelter for
the time being and we had lunch, post which walking became
considerably difficult. For the next few days we would have lemon
rice (or its variants), chutney, sambar over and over again but would
love and respect the food so much that we would devour our pies like
famished giants. The adversities and the travails made us humble and
occasional stop overs at local villagers’ huts cheered us up over a
small cup of lemon tea. We were already in love with the landscape
and the leeches reciprocated it in a big way
They were literally inseparable from us.
End of Day 1
We trekked around 16Kms post Dabbe
Falls to reach a shelter inside the jungle (HEBAYANAKERE
village) where we had a home stay at night. A tank full
of hot water and a tiled washroom seemed heavenly! We had been given
one room to accommodate ourselves, though later on the host
generously offered us another room under his own roof.
Day 2: Destination Chaturmukha
Basadi
The next day we started at around 9.30
in the morning after having breakfast. The landscape would be
similar- muddy and mushy inclines, thorny bushes, small shallow
streams and occasional paddy fields would keep welcoming us. We
enjoyed a refreshing time playing inside the not so wide stream of
Sharavathi during noon, had our lunch post that. We would reach our
destination by 4.30 in the evening. Chaturmukha basadi, a jain temple
which used to be the a bustling religious community centre for the
local Jain diaspora, took our breath away with its serenity and
splendor. The place typically looked like a locale for the movie Lara
Croft : The Tomb Raider. We spent the evening under the open sky,
lying on the cushion of the green pasture at large. Discussing and
philosophizing on life, we spent the evening watching stars through a
clear sky. It was indeed an experience to lock away inside our psyche
for a long long time. We trekked around 10 kms on this day.
End of Day 2
Post dinner at the adjoining Digambar
temple near the Basadi, we all joined in playing ‘Mafia’. The
game became intense over the course of time and we were not ready to
sleep until we were forced to do so by the priest’s family who had
to perform a puja the next morning.
Day 3: Ferry Go Round
On the third day, we hardly trekked.
We started around 9 in the morning. Passing the hanging bridge was
fun. Post that a stretch of around 3-4 Kms after which we reached the
old fort. The guide explained us the historical significance of the
place. Then, it was the time for the ferry ride. The distance we
covered was around 25Kms along the Sharavathi river to the sea.
Midway we got down into the river for an extended water sport
session. We had life jackets. We landed on the banks of the river to
have lunch in the middle of somewhere and started our voyage.
For me, apart from the night at the
temple, another noteworthy moment was when we saw a train gushing
down a Konkan railway bridge over Sharavathi while we were floating
underneath it. We hooted and cheered the train away. That moment was
breathtaking.
End of Day 3
We reached Honnavar at the end of the
ferry ride. The tempo traveller awaited us near the port. We went to
the Ramanagindi beach thereafter. The feeling of the trek coming to
an end started sinking in. The beach was full of crabs, white sand
and the iconic existence of small hillocks parallel to the Arabian
sea that is a signature of the western ghats. We enjoyed a sunset and
a small breeze sitting on the beach- a perfect ending to the whole
saga. Tired and docile as we were from the strenuous journey, we
boarded the tempo traveller only to get down at Sagara once again, to
have dinner. By 4 AM in the morning, we were back to our origin.
And It Ends
On the way back to Bangalore, we
discussed how well we jelled as a team and made the trek memorable.
As our phones started receiving network coverage, our escapade into
the primordial way of life ended. But somewhere somehow the journey
did go through nooks and corners of my inner self and gave me the
sense of being one with myself.
Written By : Abhishek Banerjee
Organized By : HIren and Sonali
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