Last weekend i had been to a trip to River SITA with few of my new friends. Sita river is famous for white water rafting. Therz a myth that when Hanu-Man was carrying the jewel of Sita given by Rama it fell into this very river- this is why it has been named after Sita!!! When karthik (frd of mine) sent me a mail regarding the rafting i thought for a while and decided that i am in the game. However i had my own set of apprehensions. First thing i was strictly cautioned by my parents that i should never get into water - probably river or sea...some kindaa "Water Ganda". Secondly i heard the river has an average depth of 40 feet so there are good chances of being drowned for i dont even know the abcd's of swimming theortically itself forget the real time expereince. Finally its monsoon and we may have chances of doing the rafting in a deluge. With all these fears in mind i was still in the game for taking a risk - for i thought therez no meaning to life without taking those big risks. Karthik a new frd of mine (probably 2 weeks of fship!!! ) has arranged the logistics and other services for the trip. There were 2 of his other frds Jai & Pradeep who joined with us for the trip whom i met for the first time. Rest 2 i have know them for quite few months. So total 7 folks set on for new adeventurous and thrilling trip who don't know much about each other and most them its the first expereince of white water rafting . This place where we were supposed to go is roughly around 370 kms from blore...towards Udipi!!! Though the ride in the bus was slightly tedious the moment we entered Udupi..it was like a heaven. I just fall in love - love at first sight!!with the surroundings...what a thick vegetation does the someshwara wild life forest has...We reached the base camp late than expected so there was a slight change in the plan...the rafting activity was shifted to the noon...With in the camp we had a small trek..played a ball game in the shallow portions of the river !!! All this while my apprehensions were going on somewhere at the back of my mind!!!
Atlast the real moment has come. We were given the life jackets, helmets, oar and a Raft which can hold 10 people including the guide. Some how managed to pull in 2 other folks just to make sure that our group is intact :-) The expereince started off with the instructions which seemed to give me some confiedence to overcome my apprehensions...and finally the moment had come to get our raft into water...we were taught how to hold the oar and row the raft..and the rowing started....soon we encountered the first Rapid ( i guess its of level 3 )...and it was an amazing feeling after i was compeltey involved in the activity leaving behind my fears....after few encounterance of the rapids we reched a portion of river where we were allowed to get into the river...and i guess the depth should atleast be 30.. i like a major dude just dived into it from back...and i started getting deep into the water...that very second all my fears crept into my mind... i didnt even remember that i was wearing a life jacket which can hold upto 160 kgs and float the body even in a whirlpool... i thought i am out of the game...for i had gone atleast 14-16 feet depth....then immediately the instruction given at the beginning struck to my mind just float backwards... there was lotz of water entering into my body through my ears nose and mouth ..and the moment i reached to the raft i felt like i just got a new life!!! After this episode i felt like i can take on anything its just matter of how you follow and execute the instructions by the guide...and i started enjoying myself in the raft - rowing...and water splashing on me when we were encountirng the rapids....it was real rush of the adrenaline...it was an different kindaa feeling that i had never expereinced before!!
We did the rafting for about 4.5 hrs for a stretch of 22 kms..and its was a non stop fun all the way... By the time we reached the camp it was 7 PM. And one of our folks AJay had leave. We goodbyed:) him!!! had enough number of bhajji's..went to the so called farm house which actually is a normal house without a farm freshened up and returned to the camp for dinner. dicovered that the other group had finsihed the dinner..and the food is being cooked for us!! So we had to wait for food..meanwhile we joined this group playing dumbc's...we started giving movies to them,and they were treating us as a god level in this game!!! somehow managed to get food and by the time we reached the farm house it was around 11 PM. Though planned to sleep since we had to for trek the next morning....i dont from where the enthu popped up.. we thought of playing a game of cards...soon it ended and followed by couple of game ofmafia..probably will write another blog on mafia..though i was victim in both the games i enjoyed this game very much. The night ended with dumbc's and realised that it was 2AM already..then decided to sleep..though it took me a while forme to sleep..for i dont adjust to new sleeping envrionemnt very easily...
got up at 6.30...time to join the trek..though initially we were reluctant to join for it..for we had go with another 40 people..we wanted to go on atrekfor ourselves..having had enough number of poories..we got the route of the trek from the guide...and leaving the guide and those 40 odd people behind we moved ahead for trek..we reached a river crossing point which has thin log which can hold only 1-2 person at a time..and is supposed to be the life line of the villagers in and around this forest area... there we met three guyz who were really worried since 2 of their friends were missing...(just called him up and found that they could trace back their friends )...
since the terrain was slippery and also the trail was not that obvious we were advised to go in a group...which we were anyway adhering to that always..it was raining then sunny..again raining..the trek was really good with this sort of climate...finally we reahced the koodlu theertha falls....what a beautiful falls...just enjoyed watching them..since the entire trail was full of leeches..once we reached this place everybody was busy clearing the leeches and enjoying the falls...after a while headed back...and this was more fun....there was deluge for most of the time..and i was just enjoying it...getting drenched..singing to myself..oohh...first time in my life i felt that i was very close to the nature!!! as if nature is happy to see me there and pouring so much....this was an ecstasy of rage which cannot be expressed......i just loved it...by the time we reached the camp it was 2.00 Pm..had a quick lunch...for the next activity lined up was mountain biking..intitially i thought of missing it...but realised if not now than never..so gave it a go..by 3.30 we were ready with the head gear,knee gear..and elbow gear (not sure if its the right terminology) and with a geared cycle...it was so uncomfortable....though i knew how to ride a bicycle..but never tried a geared one..however after few couple of rounds..i felt at ease...we entered the biking terrain..there were couple of steep slopes...and really had to push hard for the challenge is not get down..but just go on and on!!! one of gooddies shilpa was feeling dizzy..so had to stop at couple of places..for we didnt want to leave her behind...the guide who was accompanying was tired..he made a comment on one of the gooddie shamala.."yeh rafting karthi hain..trekking karthi hain..biking bhi karthi hain...yeh kya ladki hain yaar thakthi hee nahin hain" and ofcourse the entire group was filled with lotz of energy..and even after doing so much of much of biking for more than 2 hrs we were still in game for another one....
However there was no activity for the the time had come for us to pack up and leave to blore..
we did a rafting of 22 kms..then trekking a round trip of around 12-14 kms...and biking for 10-12 kms..over 2 days and still at the end of the day we were still not tired...had a quick refresment at the farm house..packed the luggage..had the bhaaji's..and now ready to leave to blore at a more uninteresting note....
And now its time for vote of thanks : )
3 cheers to karthik (if u r reading this) for making this trip successful for he organized it so well that every moment of this trip is memorable in the years to come. Though most of us were new to each other you can see that i had known karthik hardly for 2 weeks..then pradeep and jai first time..though known shamala and shipla for quite a while this trip has bonded the fship futher!!!...we jelled in together so much as if we had known for years...The rafting ,trek and biking we did together and the room that we all shared together to sleep is symbolic of our togetherness and willingness to fight against all adversities and still wake up smiling and ready to face new challenges all over again!!! Couldn't have been such a wonderful expereince without these guyz!!!
The innumberable stoppages for tyre changes...the bumpy to & fro ride from mlore to udipi..
the leechy bites ( for one went into almost my unde) ...the slippers that shilpa lost beacuse of which she had to return barefoot...knowledge feed by jai on different kindaa birds ...hot bhaajis' on both the days..the casual fall's by pradeep..ajay and shamala during the trek..the lighter moments of water-fights in the raft (and of course shamala's "natural and synchronzied paddling" -- read as pouring of water on people behind her ), walking in the dark from the camp to the farm house...cramps i developed bcause of the morning jog..wonderful trek decorated by the intermittent rains to see the Koodlu falls (with the much-hyped river crossing), mountain biking with a faithful canine follower, and finally the 16-people-in-a-jeep ride to Hebri....
Though the trip ended with quite a few aching muscles, really tired eyes, moderately damp, mildly soggy and really dirty clothes/shoes/socks. ....the mental happiness we got out of this expereince is something memorable in the years to come
truly its a life time expereince for me....always ready to take new risks..and counter life's tides with more positive attitude!!!
PS: Karthic i have taken few lines from ur mail to make the blog a better read!!! Hope you dont mind!!!
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