The agreement was to assemble at 8:00pm on Friday, 10th Aug 2007 at Shantala Silk House. No special reason for choosing this place to start except the parking is free there! It was Rohit Rao(alias "simply" Rao) and me(alias Hesaraghatta) were the first to reach the place at around 8:05 pm. So, one can guess how we would have felt after reaching the place 5 min late and also being the first to reach! Within 15 min Naveen arrived at the spot. And later, as expected we called almost everyone (11 Guys in total) to know, where they were and it took almost 9:30pm to start from Majestic. So, when we started from Majestic, we were 9 +1 (including the "mystery" driver). Let me introduce these 9. So far, we know Naveen, Rao and myself. The others in the TT(Tempo traveller) were Anand(alias *%$#^ - censored), Santosh (alias Market), Yeshwant(alias putta), Venkatesh(alias gowdru), Anil Thovi(alias "simply" thovi) and Sandeep(alias Shande).
Near Agarwal hotel in T.Dasarahalli our Anil (alias "Anil anna") and Suhas (alias Rao) got into the vehicle and thus the team was complete. As usual when friends meet, the TT was noisy in the beginning with lot P.Js being cut. Our driver didn't spare from cutting jokes (I'm not sure to call them jokes. The driver used to make statements that one would have never heard. For instance, "Sir, naanu maathu kotre, t***a kottange"). After having dinner at a dhaba on NH4, we continued our journey. Again, it continued, some more non-veg jokes and in a short time, all our "software engineers" were lost in their dreams. Some of us did dare to remain awake and watched the latest movie of Mr.Bean.
Then it was surprise of my life. The TT is stopped on the roadside and our beloved driver is enjoying a good sleep. He had asked to wake him up after around 1 hr. So, it was 1:15hr approximately when he woke up and went to a nearby tea shop. He was there at the tea shop for almost 30min (after 1:15 hr sleep) that scared all of us in missing our trip plan. So, Yeshwant and I went to the driver and put some awaaz's about he delaying our journey. From then on, it was a smooth trip and the driver turned out to be a mystery with his dialogues but quite good at driving and zipping through in the ghat sections.
We reached the Rafting spot at around 10 a.m(Saturday) after a disappointing search to book a hotel near Hebri. We reached the farm house provided by the rafting organization. And to our luck, the morning slot for rafting was occupied by some other team. So our rafting slot was scheduled at 2:00pm. So, what to do until 2? What not did we do during this time? Just have a look at pics - this is called time pass OR the priceless time with friends :-)
Time. We travelled to the rafting starting point and our guides Sanjeev and Vishnu were ready with raft. We carefully listened to the instructions and got ready to finally experience the adventure that had been in discussion from few weeks. We started in two rafts. Unfortunately, carrying camera was discouraged as the water could splash any where!
Then, it's just the experience. Amazing! Huge river and humans are nothing for that flowing life.
Our guides commands were simple - forward, backward, left front-right back, left back-right front, watch-out and stop. It was an amazing experience whenever the raft would get into a upstream and the water would rush into the raft splashing on us. Since we were in two raft, that increased the fun! Whenever our rafts would come across, it would be a holi celebration with everyone(including the guides) splashing water on each other. At some point during the 12-13km rafting, we were allowed to jump in
to the river and float along with the raft. Aaah! what a feeling! You floating in a river that is around 20-30feet deep and one can find anything underneath. And to add spice, the rain also joined us - making us feeling great about the designs of nature. It was a thrilling experience - having an experience that you watch in Nat Geo or some extreme sports programmes!And let me tell you very clearly that rafting with professionals is safe and adventurous. But yes, lot depends on the guides, their experience and the natural calamities. One need not know swimming to do rafting. All it requires is the will to do.
So, our goal is achieved. We had our first experience of rafting (However, for people like putta, anil anna and gowdru, it was their second time). We went back to the farm house and got refreshed and it was time for us find a hotel to spend the night. After a discussion, we all started to Kundhapur (famous for pretty women) for our night stay. We were lucky to find a hotel there with a rate of around 400 per room - clean and hygenic. Again, after another discussion we all decided to have dinner at the beach nearby.
Beauty! The sound of waves piercing the silence of night. Though there was no moon light, we did go near to the beach to feel by its roaring voice. Then we returned back to a beach-side hut for dinner. And the weather inside the hut was extraordinary. All the stories/feelings were uncovered in that hut! It was the time when we least cared about our past and future but just enjoy the present time. I would be doing injustice by trying to frame sentences for such an experience. Its just the time with friends! Unmatchable!
The next morning(Sunday) we all started to the Jog Falls in Shimoga district. That day's Deccan herald newspaper had Jog falls in their main page stating its in full steam. It increased our curiosity and made us feel satisfied about our trip plan. On the way to Jog Falls, we got down at a roadside beach. It was humid, ofcourse and to add that road was completely blocked. Finally we reached the Jog Falls at around 3 pm!
What a sight that was! Water rushing through the rocks, don't know to where? Just splendid! Amazing! Due to lot of visitors, the roads were blocked and we had to walk a lot to have a look from all the three view-points. Thanks to the recent superhit kannada movie "Mungaaru Male" that brought Jog Falls into limelight!
It was 7 in the evening. The trip was over :-( Our dear organizer Naveen was absconding and had tough time finding him as there was
no network coverage. Finally our Thode turned up at a roadside hotel where we were fighting for food on a single plate. Then we started our return journey to Bangalore. The final moments of the trip were filled with flashback of the last two days and the awesome time we spent together. We did miss other friends of our group who made to so many trips in the past!
We are getting busy in a race of achieving something called "social" life. Such kind of experiences will always remain within us and will cherish for ever.
If you are planning to do rafting, then I suggest you to go sometime after the rainy season, so that one need not worry about the possible flood situation!
Contact Details:
Adreno
98454 0767, 94481 66970
www.adreno.org
Images: Courtesy Shande
Link 1 : http://naanushande.blogspot.com/
Link 2: http://picasaweb.google.com/sandeep.shande/SitanadiJogFalls/
1 comment:
good one .. it's always nice to read a narration from a different perspective.
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