Another Monsoon Trekking in progress and that explains my absence from this wired (Read weird)world. We always choose the wilderness for our trekking expeditions. This time we chose the Silent Valley and the wilderness around it for trekking.
Shiruvani is the place that we visited first.This place is near the Kanhirappuzha Dam, [Near Mannarkkad] in Palakkad District of Kerala. Almost 22 KM scenic drive from the base of Kanhirappuzha Dam!
Monsoon, is when the nature is at its awesome prime. I loooove it!!! Beauty it is!!! The weather is sooooooooooooooooooo amaaaaaaaaaazing!
The winding road on the way to the Shiruvani Dam area is a wonderful way to unwind from your nagging boss and those nagging feelings. Be careful while you are cruising along this road.
Keep your eyes open for domestic animals like humans and cows without directional coordinates, wild animals like elephants and also the killer iron nails on the road which are strategically placed so that the tyres wont miss it.
The road is narrow, but quiet good and well maintained, which is enough reason for biker dudes to attempt and break land speed record or what ever they can break.
Unlike us geniuses, do keep a spare tyre and do make sure that the spare tyre has air in it. keep Sodium Chloride also called Common salt [ A WHOLE LOTS OF PACKETS OF IT] if you are planning to swim
This is the wild stream where we took our first break.Brrrrr......Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..the water was soooo brrrr...coooolllddd!! The stream water is so clear and see through like the Victoria Secret Lingerie. We took off our shoes and dived into the ice cold water. Took some good snaps.A few primates in our group managed to find a fallen tree trunk in the stream and climbed on top of it,George of the Jungle style.
Check yourself for 'politicians' clinging on to your body.Errr..I mean leeches.Here we have the cute dotted variety leeches.Unlike politicians, they won't kill you . Common salt is a good remedy for leeches.
"An idle wall is any guy's awesome canvas" So sayz the Sorcerer. Some great personality [no..Not me] has said that, we should always leave our mark on this planet. That explains why many people shoo shoo out in the streets, leaving their scent marks. But when its soo sooo cold and fog comes out through your nose while you breathe, it's not a great idea to shoo shoo in such extreme climate and have a 'system malfunction' cuz of ice factor.
So I decided to do it the caveman way and wrote my name on the fern infested stone wall with another stone.[Shamelessly! Yes!]
The climate is great. Even after mid-noon, the climate its unbelievably cold. If you ask me to choose between Ooty and this place, I will definitely choose this place. Cuz, this is scenic, untouched by dirty human hands and unexplainably beautiful if you have patience to stay and cherish it.
Every time the sunlight changes its ambiance,the light pattern bathes our surroundings with a different color filter.In the horizon, you can see the fog drifting with the upwind and below the earth like a beautiful carpet in green. The valley way below changes it's appearance every moment with the fading lights and the retracted light from the clouds above.
With the fog settling around you, the whole setting feels like heaven!!!
The valley way below, looks beautiful every time.The whole of it is thick forest![ The last of the reserved forests trying to keep us humans alive] . That hill at that distance is a beauty. The cliff face bald and steep gives it an impressive and bold look.
As we stood there waiting for the tyre change, nature cycled through the many awesome light show.You are way..way above the sea level and you could hear the wind howling [Loud!!!!!] in your ears. Instances like these puts you on an entirely different emotional level. Somewhere deep within you, it kick starts your respect and fear for the unpredictable nature.
Do notice the trees that stand tall on both side of the road.The trees those bare to the elements are beautifully sculpted, always! so are those humans !
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Mission Briefing:
If you are planning for a trek along these roads
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Be sure to pack enough ration, and drinking water while you are on these roads. There are no hotels in these parts and very rarely you find another of your own species[humans] on these roads.Means..roads are almost deserted. There is always curves and blind spots! respect your commonsense while you are driving on these parts.
Blaring music too loud will attract unwanted attention from humans and animals,.If you are there to see the nature, use all your senses to feel the views.
Vodafone has a decent network on these parts.[Muaahahahahah!!!] .Make sure you fill your vehicle with enough fuel at the base of the hills or else be prepared to buy fuel with a proportion of 80% kerosene 20% petrol from people who 'refine' own oil.
Apart from gravity that sucks around these parts, there are leeches. Carrying common salt is common sense.NO!! Beer does not work!
The natives here is quiet friendly and always ready to help. seriously. These people rely on agriculture for their living and most of them doesn't have 'corporate' human emotions.So treat em right and they will go that extra mile to make you comfortable and help you.
If you are coming down hill on the same day, make your way back down before its too late in the evening, as fog could limit the visibility beeeeeeeg time, combining that situations it with HUGE wild animals on the narrow strip of road gives you limited chance to say your prayers.
Ps: "OH FUCK!!" Doesnt work .[Darn!! it rhymes too!!]
Unlike humans who put a different face and act entirely different from what is shown on face, you can trust wild animals.Don't panic.Stay calm, don't fiddle with your headlight beams; nor switch it off or try to scare[annoy] a many tonne animal with your air horn and impress your fellow traveler with your low I.Q.
Remember that animals don't read news paper and won't have the information that you have 'connections' with people in power and the animals need to get their arse off the road for you, cuz your uncle has opium farm..
Give the animal the priority on the road. Have patience and wait. They would move off the road and give you ample space to drive off.
DO YOU KNOW!!! your TERMINAL VELOCITY?
While passing that animal , make sure that you howl, throw stone/beer bottle at it and try to touch it; just to make sure who is the BOSS!! around those parts.Do remember to blare music soo loud that astronauts in space stations can dance to it.
Thus..you can know attain your terminal velocity!
Remember..It's the wild and we humans are sooo way down the food chain and they don't speak human nor ASCII
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There are many, many, places in our own country that's so amazing with breathe taking views.
The second part of the Monsoon trek is scheduled this weekend..will keep you posted!
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