Getting ready
Mullayangiri
Some small fall
Jhari Falls
Baba Budangiri
Way back
Some shopping
A dip in the pool
Dinner
Catan Again
Getting ready
We had taken a cab today for covering all points.
While going down, there was a car stuck in the mud road up the resort. People had gathered up.. Trying to figure out how to bring it back. And Pulkit suggested that it could be lifted and everyone gave it one more haul and it was back on the road.
I sometimes wonder how difficult that mud road would become in rains.
Mullayanagiri Peak
This is the tallest peak of Karnataka. It is always covered with clouds, so it is always raining here. We covered most of the climb via the cab and then a jeep. Thankfully, they had left some distance for a person to hike :p.
Me and Ishika got ready in our single use raincoats. They were literally just polythenes. The climb was fun. But the wind was even more fun. This was the first time I felt how powerful wind can be.. It could literally sweep me off my feet.
There was a temple on the hilltop. With cows as well.. And a house probably belonging to the temple priest. It was Ganesh Chaturthi, so a lot of crowd.
Some small fall
Here the best part was smoke was coming out of nowhere. Some monkeys! And some local mirchis.
Jhari Falls
Till now, I considered driving in mountainous terrain was the highest level of driving skills. That was before I saw jeeps going off road in mountains. After 10 mins (around 3-5 Km) of maut ka kuan or adventure ride.. We realised why they charged 800 bucks for this jeep. This waterfall had turned red because of the high amount of red soil it was carrying. We made some jokes about the red color.. Khoon ki nadi of some sort only to be silenced by Ishu Don ka khauf.. :p
The last few hundred metres we walked to see the fall. Standing under the fall, the water pressure under the fall was again a testament of nature’s beauty and strength just like the wind we experienced some time ago at Mullayangiri. Tried walking under it till I was sure I would not slip away. And stopped at that.
The ride back did not send the same chills down our spine as we had while coming down. Yes, you get used to even offroad rides.
Baba Budangiri
Then we went to Baba Budangiri hills. It is said - Baba Budan is a Sufi saint who brought coffee to India. There was a small cave dedicated to him. The cave had dargah vibes. I could call it my first mosque experience in a way. :p
There was a small hike to the top. At the top, the wind was as strong as it was at Mullayanagiri, if not more. We stayed there for a few minutes and clicked some pictures as a memento I guess.
And then back to the cab.
This ended out treks and hikes for the day and the trip..
Way back
On our way back, we were talking about mountaineering and whether or not it is good for health. One point of view was it increases lung capacity and other - it ages us faster given the harsh climate. Finally, came to an agreement that going to mountains once in a while and moderate heights should be beneficial.
Everest comes synonymously with mountaineering. And somehow we came to - which side is easier to climb- Nepal/China. I was very sure it was China, though I couldn't recall why I thought so. If only Nitin had agreed to place that bet, I would have lost it.
Self Note - I should consider double checking my facts and overconfidence while placing bets.
Some Shopping
The previous day, we could not find any local stuff to buy, so we asked the cab driver to take us somewhere we could shop for locally grown stuff. And he took us to Giri’s. The stuff looked good. We noticed that the stuff was approximately double the prices. Like the small chillies we got outside- same ones here were more than double. Same with some essential oils that are also sold in Bangalore.
I liked some mugs. But when the others checked the prices on Amazon, and found similar products that costed way lesser, I had to keep them back. Having learned from my previous experiences of shopping, I chose to let go of them. :p
And we bought only what we thought we were less likely to find again.
Back to resort- A dip in the pool
Since we were already wet from the rain and waterfalls, we decided to check out the pool before taking a bath.
We changed into our costumes, I almost lost my earring, but thankfully found it given patient friends.. The water was somehow warm given the weather.. And the pool was not too clean! So were we! We chilled in the pool for some time. Trying out what we could - holding our breaths, floating a bit and just hanging around. I possibly lost my second bout of holding breath underwater to the guy who always comes first.. Not sure!
It was after the pool - that in my experience was unique. We enjoyed pakodas and tea in swimming costumes and towels.
Dinner
We had planned to go to the city for dinner.
Ishika and me decided to wear a dress. I had a dress I got sometime back and really liked. And today was finally the day I got to wear it. I got to wear it after some quick fixes, I wish I had taken some more pictures in it. :p
The food was okay, but the drive to the hotel Aadrika at night and the ambience was great. On the way back, we stopped to get some coffee, and to my surprise, we found the same mugs for much lesser here. This time I got them! Thanks to Pulkit for noticing them :D.
Catan Again
After coming back to the resort, we played Catan again. I could not have gotten myself more humiliated in a game. But, in my defence I don’t like board games as much and I was too sleepy to use the limited brain I have.. :p Again, the game was good, because of the highs and lows of the chit chat, the quips.. And maybe my roasts..
And we called it a day. Unlike the previous night, when we chatted for long, I felt asleep as soon as I got in bed.
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