We left at about 10 p.m from Bangalore. Since it was a hectic week I was tired and dozed off immediately. Only when I heard the bus conductor scream Basrikatte Stop did I get up. That was at 6 in the morning. Quickly gathered the luggage and jumped of the bus, luckily the bus to the next destination was just leaving. We managed to board it and find seats.
Basrikatte is a small village in between the hills. Since it was still very early in the morning of the 3 food joints in the village only 1 was open(Hotel Lakshmi Bhavan).
The hungry lot that we were we pounced on the first thing we could find. While the hotel prepared the dishes for the day we kept eating these. Finally after dozens of idly, vada, upma and coffee we were a satisfied lot. After packing lemon rice for lunch from here we were ready to start.The initial part of the trek is though Tata Tea Plantations (Merthi KhanPlantations) therefore we had to stop by at the manager’s office and take permission. The morning sun and mist gave a beautiful effect to the whole plantations. We walked in a relaxed pace talking about tea and coffee stopping now and then to take pictures.
Soon the plantations disappeared and the path became steeper. There was barely any conversation except people asking Arun for directions.
As we huffed and puffed we could hear Arun hum some old hindi songs. This synced well with the birds singing at a distance.As we got closer to the peak the tree cover disappeared and the sun was harsh but the scenary got better. We could see range of hills and clouds forming beautiful shadows on them. As the path got steeper, based on the speed of walking small groups started to form. As we climbed 3 hills to reach the peak the distance between the groups increased significant.
Some of us who reached the peak earlier found a comfortable spot and went to sleep while we waited for others to join. This turned out to be a bad idea, most of us ended up with bad sun burns. Once the rest joined us we ate lunch, spent time discussing and started our descend.
This was a longer route (about 12 Kms) but was mainly on jeep track and turned out to be very boring. Along the way we met some locals who were kind enough to offer water and juice.
Just as we neared our final destination (Honnavar) the boys stopped at small waterfall to freshen up while I walked ahead to find a lodge. By the time we met again and finished our coffee it was time for the evening puja at the temple. Then after a quick and tasty dinner at the temple we were ready to head back to Bangalore. As soon as the bus started to move all of us dozed off bring the trekking trip to an end.
Some of us who reached the peak earlier found a comfortable spot and went to sleep while we waited for others to join. This turned out to be a bad idea, most of us ended up with bad sun burns. Once the rest joined us we ate lunch, spent time discussing and started our descend.This was a longer route (about 12 Kms) but was mainly on jeep track and turned out to be very boring. Along the way we met some locals who were kind enough to offer water and juice.
Just as we neared our final destination (Honnavar) the boys stopped at small waterfall to freshen up while I walked ahead to find a lodge. By the time we met again and finished our coffee it was time for the evening puja at the temple. Then after a quick and tasty dinner at the temple we were ready to head back to Bangalore. As soon as the bus started to move all of us dozed off bring the trekking trip to an end.
