The trail was covered with tree roots forming a natural step like pattern and the mist that engulfed the mountains was refreshing. We were proceeding at a very good pace as we were pretty excited to trek after a period of almost 2 months. Soon, we were into the wild and the only sounds we could hear were that of the birds and the leaves fluttering in the winds..Some places looked like scenes from an NGC show on the Amazon forest. We were soon at a small peak and from there, I saw what is probably one of the best sights I have ever seen.
The hamlet of Vellagavi was perched on a nearby peak and we could see mist enveloping the entire place..The plains of Theni were visible in the background covered by all sorts of plantations. Lucky people!
We proceeded with the trek and soon saw a spring with fresh water coming out of it. We drank it and were carried away by the taste of the water. Soon, we reached Vellagavi and we had a small confusion on leaving our slippers outside the village. So, karthik entered the place first and after making sure that we could carry our shoes in our hands without hurting the sentiments of the locals, we put them in a raincoat bag and carried it with us. Oh...I forgot to mention that Vellagavi has a temple in every single corner of the place and the natives consider their land holy. Hence, no one is allowed to wear footwear inside the hamlet! The people are extremely friendly and hospitable and invited us to have coffee. After speaking with them for sometime and finding out that they have a school for kids till 5th std and after which they leave to boarding schools and also the fact that the nearest hospital can be reached after a 3 hour trek uphill to Kodaikanal or a 2 hour trek downhill to Periyakulam, we considered ourselves to be lucky to be provided with all the luxuries that come with staying in a city. We were even asked to stay back for that night and proceed the next day as there was a risk of bisons downhill after the dark but we decided to leave that day itself and promised them of coming again another time..
And Karthik was having a tough time with blisters on his right foot but still, he trekked at an amazing speed. Kudos to you da :) We encountered numerous waterfalls enroute and it was also beginning to rain heavier than before. Taking photos and checking our positions periodically in our GPS was proving to be very difficult and hence we were proceeding blindly just following whatever looked like a trail. We heard a dog bark and this scared me(dogs scare me :D). We proceeded cautiously and saw a man sitting near the dog. He was a native of Vellagavi and was on his way from Periyakulam. He asked us for a matchbox(for obvious reasons) since his matchbox had become wet in the rains. I gave him my lighter and after checking with some trail details, we proceeded. We filled our bottles in a waterfall and Karthik slipped here but luckily escaped without any injury(lucky pellow :P ). After sometime, we encountered another stream where I saw two men. I went to speak with them and they told me that they will accompany us on the remaining part of the trail. They also told us that they will be taking us along a different trail bypassing the Kumbakarai falls as there was a flash flood there at that time and it will be too risky to cross the stream. We obliged and did the last 15 minutes stretch of the trail with them. All of a sudden, they stopped and I immediately spotted a bison standing just 2 meters away from us. It gave us a weird look and disappeared into the woods..Good Bison :D We continued walking and emerged victorious out of the jungle :)
But, one of the bikes didn't start so the two villagers were attempting to start it by pusing it downhill. They asked me to drive the other bike(an old tvs-50 kinda vehicle). I checked with Karthik and he said me that it was just like a scooty. And he was wrong :D I drove for sometime in the 1st gear irself and then the bike stopped. When I started it again, I had forgotten to put the gear back in neutral after Karthik finished his "demonstration" on changing gears and as a result, the bike lifted itself in the front and karthik had to jump down to save himself :D "This is not a scooty", I told Karthik and asked him to drive it. Soon, we met the villagers and they had failed in starting the other bike. So, we decided to drift the bike. I held a towel in my hand and the villager whose bike was not starting held the other end of the towel and there we were...Soon we reached Periyakulam and after thanking them, we entered a local tea stall where we had some nice, hot tea :) We boarded a bus to Madurai and we used the bus ride to dry all our wet currency notes by holding them in our hands...We then had our dinner at Madurai and made it back to Chennai from yet another awesome trip :D
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