2K5 ROCKZ

16^th July 2009

I was startled by the sound of alarm which struck over us like some shit falling from sky. But we were desperate to get ready as the first bus would leave for Jog falls at 6.30am and if we are to get that, we can leave for Agumbe by 12.30 and we would reach our nightstand at about 10pm after calculating all the kilometres and hours described in Mathrubhumi Yatra. But everything is not going to happen as written in texts as we were to see today.

And we got frustrated seeing Ajith curling up again in the bed and pushed him into the bathroom to get ready. The first stay costed us a meagre 300 Rs, and we were pretty happy about our savings.

Taking hold of the only seats available and those near the driver we started our long journey through the forests again to the largest or highest (?) waterfall in Asia- The Jog falls. The beautiful winding roads were gradually ascending to make us witness nothing for the fog that swept before us. But the driver was flying at hypersonic speeds.

Meanwhile many a school children mounted the bus, and to our surprise the driver as well as the few travellers were giving them biscuits and sweets and all the way talking to them. Wonder whether this could happen anywhere in our part of the ‘world’. The conductor hurled us to get out of the bus as we have reached a turn in the road.Seems this is an actual tourist destination as the place had a lot of hotels and shops inside with not many people. It looked as though the rain has deterred many people from visiting this beautiful place except for some hardcore travellers like us. The rain started to pour flushing all dirt from top of the buildings and trees. It looked as if the X factor has sensed our arrival and is making its presence felt as though following us. From there after having our morning breakfast of omelette and bread we could get a small glimpse of the magnificent falls. We decided to hike an omni van as the different falls are kilometres away through road.

He took us to the largest of the falls- the Raja and we watched musingly the sheet of water that from a height of nearly one kilometres fell into the air (since just a small amount of water had fallen to the lake below) which got splashed over us with the winds. The occasional mists added to the beauty. Thousands of steps were seen leading down to the bottom of the falls which we thought we would never complete. So we just decided to feel the heights by looking from the top of the falls into the rocky bottom which stood almost a kilometre away. It was fiery and simply fantabulous. The other falls like Rani and the many whose name I can’t remember any more are the figurines of beauty. We also had a walk along the 4 km long hanging bridge (according to us) and returned to observation point where you could cover the whole place and the Mahathma Gandhi dam too. But on the return the van jerked and stopped, and nothing else we could do except to push the omni as fast as possible. With the power supplied by all the idlis and omelettes in Manu’s stomach we at last made to the point where a bus was about to leave to Sagar were we had to reach if we are to leave to Agumbe.

The bus journey to Sagar also unravelled the naked beauty of the Canaras and by the time we had a nap, we reached Sagar one of the comparatively well to do places we have seen so far.

We entered the hotel and had our exquisite lunch which filled our tummy and hearts not to forget the pedas and jamuns and malais. Walking through the rain at last we could get a bus to Agumbe (a real private ‘bus’). And the bus started. It seemed that we would cover the 145km long journey within an hour as the bus was actually flying on the improperly tarred roads. The roller coaster ride didn’t last too long as a lorry coming at a slower speed grabbed off a bit of the mirror of our bus. And before we could understand anything, the driver, conductor and whoever responsible had got another lorry and started to chase the first one. We were left in the middle of that forest with nowhere to go, and no money to pay. When they arrived about an hour later, to our amusement the fellow travellers were appreciating them for their efforts. The conductor replied with pride showing off the 500 rupees note he got. And now the bus started moving at hypersonic speeds through those country forest mountain roads splashing water into banks and people, not stopping anywhere.

Yes it was during this time that we could get the direct sunlight for 5 minutes, a pleasant omen. But once we reached Agumbe we doubted. It took just 3 hours to cover the whole distance.

We crossed one police checkpost and then the second. We could not even see between ourselves due to the thick fog which made us shiver like hell and thrive for a shelter. There was a police van with guns pointed outside and two policemen checking and questioning us. We asked for a lodge and the cost made us faint Rs.400. And the much more amusing thing is that there is no current and phone in this land for the past 5 days. At last after heated discussions and exchanges we decided to hike an auto at whatever price to reach Shringeri 27 kms away.

Late to mention that Agumbe is the Chirrapunji of the south which gets the second highest rainfall in the country. True, the rain started. It started pouring like hell wetting us all even inside the auto rikshaw. We had to open our umbrellas inside. It was like a horror movie moving through the thick forest areas at night with no light or men in a downpour you cannot imagine would ever happen. We now accredit Agumbe as the first in the list mentioned above. Wondering what these X factors are doing we as the driver, why the police? Why no current?......No reply

“Would you please say whats the problem here???”

“Oh nothing, just a few naxal attacks”

Horrified we could speak no more. But we had never heard of anything like that here before. The X factor started working wonders. Perhaps tomorrow one could see some Shimoga news in Kerala newspapers too unless the hotel rent was too low or there was current there.