YEDAKUMERI TREK CONTD:
Pic 1: After all of us were on board, we started wondering how to get to Yedakumeri. Go left or go right? After scratching our heads for 10 minutes (I guess the "high" altitude had disoriented us for a moment), we took the left. Anyway, note the guy sitting on the wooden plank on the right. His entire torso goes in between the wooden planks - that's how wide the planks are placed. This is what makes the bridge crossing a slightly unnerving experience.
Pic 2: After trekking for 10 minutes, we found a waterfall. Whenever Karthic sees a waterfall, he strips off almost completely and sits under the falls. That's how he got his nickname "Shakeela". And once he gets into the water, its difficult to get him out. It takes two men to convince Shakeela to come out of the water.
Pic 3: Soon, everybody starts complaining about the weight on their backs. Solution? A breakfast to transfer the load from the rucksacks to our stomachs. Since, this was our first trek, we never realized the importance of travelling light - so we carried an entire kitchen with us - gas stove, non-stick cookware, milk powder, tea-bags, maggie etc.
Pic 4 & 5: Although it was december, the hills were all bare. We expected them to be covered with greenery.
Pic 6: Binny & myself were leading the pack - we were actually far ahead of everybody else. We saw our first tunnel. We switched on our tiny torches and walked 10 metres inside the tunnel. But when we heard strange noises inside (Bats!), both of us scampered outside and posed for the camera till the others caught up with us. Then with high powered torches, we entered our first tunnel. The bats bombarded us with crap, and we crossed the tunnel with the jackets over our heads.
Pic 7: Now you know how we got the phrase "
Light at the end of the tunnel"
Pic 8: The Bangalore - Mangalore train journey in the monsoons through this type of landscape will be fantastic.
Pic 9: Not everybody finds crossing bridges scary. Some take on the bridge like they are walking in a park (see the guy in the middle with a stick), others like Me/Shakeela/Binny have our arms outstretched for balance and look only down & nowhere else. And a few others have the philosophy of "
We'll cross the bridge when we come to it" - they just don't think too much about it.
Pic 10: With a heavy load on his back, Shakeela's face is contorted, red and sweaty. But put a camera infront of his face, he starts grinning. After the photo is taken, his face goes back to its original state.