K To The M - An Account of the Trek'athon

Author

Raghunandan.Keshava



The Cast;

StinkerMan: Santhosh_gr.

DagarMan: hm.ravi (who else!!)

Shit! Man: raghunandan.keshava.



Prologue

After the Kodai pleasure cruise Team D had decided on the challenging trekking endeavor from Kodai towards Munnar around December. Finally, the strength of the venturing team reduced to a mere 3 from the earlier 6 what with Dagar dany and Samsaarasta Narada backing out.



So it came down to the ace 3some - StinkerMan, DagarMan, Shit! Man.

The D-day (25th Dec, 2003) came and the trio was ready with their 10kg heavy backpacks and armed with Sharada Devi's small booklet in their pockets.



The Story begins...

The night journey to Kodai Road on the Toot'kudi express was uneventful. Their guide Kumar was waiting for them in the Station as the frikkin' train arrived late on Day One. They were off to Kodaikanal and reached Kumar's residence at around 11.30 am to complete their morning ablutions. Shit! Man was by then really feeling the thrusts in the pelvic region. It was a very cold December there. They were raring to go when Kumar came in and told them to board a jeep to go to a spot near Berijam Lake some 10 kms from Kodaikanal. The trio was also introduced to their Trail expert Udayakumar a.k.a Unge. For the next 2 days this soft spoken pro was to lead them safely through the dense jungles in Tamil nadu and across the Kerala border to Top Station.



It was around 1 pm when they started on the trek. At around 2:30 pm they halted for lunch. It was a pre-packed delicious meal all thanks to Kumar and Unge. They were off again to walk for quite some time. Breaking twigs on the ground, sometimes treading on the soft grass of the jungle & sometimes on hard terrain they had to walk around 8-10 kms to reach their first base-camp before nightfall. And walk they did, fast and furious. Unge led them wonderfully through the jungle and also showed them the haunts of the wild bison and the sambhar.

Circa 5:30 pm, the Go5 spotted their rest house. This was one cold place. Fortunately it had some mats on the floor for them to sleep on. Unge immediately got busy in getting wood for fire.

Soon they had a blazing fire. They sat down happy and tired thinking about the next day. They ate some snacks and brandy gave them some respite from the cold. After an hour they were back in the hut to start another fire inside. Dinner was a small affair with some rice & sambar.

StinkerMan and DagarMan were soon to face their coldest nights ever that night. They woke up often during the night to warm their cold arses. They were often up and huddling close to the fire for warmth.



Day 2 arrived.They all had a cup of tea early in the morning prepared by Kumar. The trio then went off to take their shit armed with tissue. Shit! Man sat in the hole (a moat like structure) prepared by the forest staff around the house so as to prevent elephants/wild dogs to come near the house. It was a nervous 'shitty' session for him. They had to cover quite some distance, around 20 kms to reach their next camp before nightfall.

So, they started off. Occasionally they rested for a while & savored the beautiful locales all around. They replenished their water stock from the mountain streams. This session was a tough one alright with most of the trek being uphill.

Kneeling & tripping through fallen trees, they trudged on through the dense vegetation to reach Pulimanjaru. They took a well deserved rest there; they were also able to spot a few trout in the nearby stream. Unge also displayed the skeletal remains of the head of a bison; two actually, one old and the other quite new.

The group also took large doses of glucose to boost their reserves. This was one helluva session for the group. Unge also urged the group to move on fast as they spotted pachyderm poop along the narrow, thorny trail.

Around 3 p.m; the group reached their stop for the second night. This was a dilapidated hut with no roof. It was also dirty. They got busy in accumulating wood for the entire night. DagarMan set about on this task with great enthusiasm. They cleaned up one corner of the house and laid plastic sheets to lie on.

Unge also cooked a delicious meal which included rice & tomato curry. The MTR ready to eats were also eaten up. Not to forget, the brandy and one quarter of rum (Thanks to Kumar!!). Unge also showed us the trail of an elephant that had passed just inches close to the house. StinkerMan had his thermals on, DagarMan wore jeans over jeans and Shit! Man wore his Cots wool shirt, all in anticipation of a very, very cold night. The 3some chatted for some time. StinkerMan was heard telling DagarMan a Birbal tale. Shit! Man was frequently tapping his feet to stave off the cold with not much success. They could see the starry night sky while sleeping. They could also spot a shooting star.DagarMan's opinion was that it was some satellite/planet in orbit. Shit! Man also put on the pocket radio that he had brought for the trek to hear on the cricket score but all that he could get to hear was some crap.



It was a cold Day3 morning they all woke up to. They had their fill of the morning cuppa prepared by Kumar. Then it was time to Shit. So the 3some sat down in close proximity to download their pile accompanied by some music emanating from their arses. Unge and Kumar cooked another delicious breakfast for them. Then they were off for the final session of trekking. They were told by Unge that they would reach Top Station by afternoon.

They marched along the elephant trail very ably led by Unge. For some time the trail was uphill. Then it eventually eased out. They reached the Chinnar forest reserve. They walked on and on for quite some time with relatively no rest periods in between. Unge urged them to keep on walking because he felt that it was risky. Unge also advised them to run downhill in case they came face to face with the pachyderms.The weather was pleasant and that alleviated their stress. The trail was also slushy as they walked on. They also spotted fresh elephant dung that really set them flying on their track. Finally, they crossed the check post and felt safe enough to relax. They found leeches crawling on their feet. They were disposed off with bits of salt that they had thoughtfully carried. Another 10-15 min of walking & they found themselves in TopStation, their final destination.



They posed for a group photo along with Unge and had a cup of tea to refresh themselves.

They deliberated among themselves on what to do and where to go next. It was decided that they would visit the temple town - Madurai from Munnar.



So, they took the bus to Munnar and found themselves face to face with some breathtaking locales (tea plantations all along!!) along the winding, hilly roads. Munnar was a busy little place. They spotted Saravana Hotel there (Note, Nagi!!) and very much wanted to eat there. But they were told by Kumar that it was a fake. So, they had a tasty Kerala style lunch and boarded the bus to Theni. This was another grueling 4 hours journey which had apparently 18 hairpin bends. Soon the 3some parted ways with their guides. It was another hour's journey to Madurai from Theni. Kumar had given them a map to move around in Madurai and also given us the address of a nice hotel called College House. It was around 10 pm in the night when the trio checked themselves into a nice double bed room of College House which also had the luxury of a TV.



Day 4’s morning saw the group in a relaxed mood. They first went to the Railway Station and booked general tickets till Kodai Road. Then it was time for a hearty breakfast at Arya Bhavan. Then they walked towards the famous Meenakshi temple. The temple was spread across

16 acres of land. Huge temple towers dotted the landscape. They also tried in vain to get a good guide to tell them about the history and subtleties of the temple architecture. The thousand pillared hall is a great place to visit. The trio marveled at the mélange of sculptures of humans, gods and animals. It seemed that great attention was paid to physical details by the artisans’ right down to even a lion’s testicles. It was art, sublime art at its erotic best. This perhaps highlighted the attitude towards eroticism in that period. Matter of fact, some figurines had revealing bustiers and some had nothing below their waists!!



They came out of the temple for lunch and resolved to go in again in the evening. Lunch over, they came across a theatre nearby which was showing a 3D movie called "Revenge of the Shogun Women". Some kinda Neeli chalanachitra. They watched the movie for about an hour and half. They went back to the temple and had a glimpse of Meenakshi Amman. An hour later they were back in their hotel room and packing up to catch the train bound homewards.





Epilogue

Like all good things, the adventure had come to its end. In the train the awesome threesome pondered on their memorable & eventful 3 days that they had spent together and indulged in “Yes, we did it!!”, “Sakkat kano!!” expressions. All in all, it was a worthwhile excursion perhaps physically demanding but very satisfying.