Old readers of this blog might remember the post which I wrote after a tiresome day time trek to the Skandagiri hills near Bangalore last year. That time, we heard a lot about the joys of night time trekking on a full moon day. This saturday(a boring working Saturday) night, me and my 3 roomies set out from our home at 11 PM. Though it was just the day after full moon, the cloudy and almost rainy atmosphere made sure that the moon was nowhere to be seen. And unlike last time, we had a big vareity of food stuff with us. The new airport road at night time is even more beautiful. The whole stretch was all washed in a white glow. After the airport, the width of the road began to decrease till Chikballapur. Me, being the only one among the group who visited this place previously, was expected to know the route thoroughly. Me, also well known for my excellent memory power, was helpless in that respect. After a round of confused riding and asking to equally confused locals, we somehow reached our destination. We were surprised to see a lot of bikes there. By this time, the full moon was out in full view to guide us through the trek.

my scary roomies

Lonely day ahead

The local guides were at hand to give us scary details of wild animals roaming about in the hills. But we turned a deaf ear to them and said 'No, thanks' to their offer to guide us. We shined all the four torches and started the trek. A little into the adventure, we understood that we had begun at the wrong place and was actually stranded at a not so safe place. Added to that, we were going up the wrong hill. We saw snake pits at some places and thorny bushes all around. The bravest among us, my roomie Praveen did the honours of clearing the thorns and leading us. And now we were well on our way up the right hill. We could see torches shining at the top of the hill. The trek which started at 2 ended at 5.30 in the morning. Even while reaching there, we were travelling through a bushy thorny path used by nobody. The place was already a bit crowded with tents and lots of people on view. The wind was so powerful that we found it hard to balance. Taking decent snaps was a pain with added effect of the biting cold. To our disappointment, the clouds were not on view. Later, we came to know that its usally seen around January. Still, we savoured the awesome view from the top. The trip downhill was easier and took less than half the time of the uphill journey.
The most eventful part of the trip took place on our return journey in the bike. We were all feeling sleepy by the time we started from there. I had slept only about 6 hours in the last 48 hours. As we rode on, I almost fell asleep 2-3 times and Praveen who was sitting behind me, sensing this began singing songs and tapping on my shoulder to keep me awake. At a point, he stopped this excercise and made fun of Manu who was sitting behind the other bike and sleeping to glory. The next minute, me, Praveen and the bike were lying on the road. Yes, I had fallen asleep in a gap of just 2 seconds. Thankfully, there were not much vehicles on the road and we were not going at a high speed. We escaped with minor cuts and bruises. From there, Praveen took control of the vehicle and ordered me to sing songs non-stop else I fall asleep. So, it was a virtual on the road concert for the next 2 hours and he endured some of the worst moments of
his life. After a point, even I couldn't bear my singing but he won't let me stop. After reaching home, we slept the whole of Sunday. It was a short weekend, well spent..

your crusader Praveen