Twinge for some; fun for some. It was an unconcealed effort to visit the Sharavati backwaters. After so much of dilly-dallying around with the dates, we finally boarded the bus on 17th. Initially the team size was 18 and then, as I had expected, it was ultimately a team of 12. 18th morning we reached Mavingundi at around 4:45. A shop was open to serve us tea. We managed to get over with our morning ablutions at the cleanest government toilet I have ever seen. After the tea, we got on to the Jeep with sanctified souls to reach Muppane at 6. A welcome KASHAYA was served. We were all ripping around exploring place and were discussing the possible causes of the death of a tortoise which was lying at the shores of the back waters.
Brimful with idlies, we then got on to another Jeep to get to the base of the first day’s trek. With initial muse at the sight of the Leeches, we moved on, only to deal with a lot of them. Vidya and Kiran are the ones who I reckon, enjoyed the most. With all those ooohs, aaahs, eeeks we reached the stream beneath. Standing in the stream – the leech-less place, folks started to get rid of the possible leeches latched in their shoes. While I went across to check if I can get the shoes that Anita had let go in the stream (that too after the local lad reclined), folks managed to get on with the game. Since, the next part of the trek was in the water and against the current, I thought of doing it bare footed. Sometimes, the fool in us wakes up at the wrong place. When I realized my foolishness, another fool in me woke up – this time making me wear the shoes sitting on a slippery rock. I slipped. So did a shoe from my hand. I could manage to find myself in one piece but not the shoes. The pair which served my feet for 5 years unpaired unfairly. We finally reached the base of the water fall but not before Arvind had his 6th fall. Yes he had 6 falls. He was rocking on the rocks always trying to dock himself. But nothing happened to the bugger. Chirbi ne bachaliya saale ko – baar baar. Che baar. All of us had fun under the water fall that was ruthlessly banging on our backs. With those Yogic antics from Madhav coming to a full stop, we all got up to enter the leech zone again. We however managed, this time, with very little ooohs, aaahs and eeeks. After reaching the hut where the guide had prepared food for us, we again started checking for possible leeches on our bodies. When we were done with filling the tummys with Anna-Sambhaar we got on to the Jeep to get back to the base camp.
Enter Mr. Ram and fun started oozing out. The deadly dialogues targeting Arvind initially and Vinay later on were really dodging. We were lucky to hear some fascinating stories from Mr. Ram with some interesting inquires and clarifications flowing from Mayesh and Arvind. Then came the camp fire and started off with Antaakshari – the easiest, non-boring and non-expensive option on any kind of trip. For a change we had a buzzer round with Natesh whistling and the torches acting as buzzers. After I messed up with a song, we started off for the dinner. Bisi bele bhat and payasa were waiting for us. Certainly the best food we have ever had on a trekking spree.
It was water sports planned for day 2. After nauseated Ashwini got on her foot, we were taken to a ‘safe’ place to play around. With me and arvind swimming off to another shore, guys had fun and had swimming lessons from Mr. Ram. Santhosh was neatly trapped by his own Suma and was thrown out of Kayak. Santhosh got me a kayak when I was at the center of the stream trying to cross it. Vinay also, to his dismay, fell into the trap laid by Mr. Ram and Santhosh.
With a short stint at the Jog falls and a long one at Sagara private bus stand, we boarded the VRL bus to get back to the busy city life. An unforgettable weekend free from all networks came to an end. But, more memories are on the internet than they are in our minds.
