Travelling in groups is fun, however, solo backpacking was something which had caught my attention and I always wanted to give it a shot.
For a nature lover, there is nothing better than the evergreen Western Ghats! With great curiosity as to what lay ahead of me, I headed to the bus station and boarded an overnight bus to Hassan on a weekend. The journey took an interesting twist with the driver dozing off now and then, and me having to keep him awake with small talk on our way to Hassan. I took another bus to reach the sleepy calm town of Chikkamagaluru, which is 60 km from Hassan, and started walking towards the highest peak of Karnataka — Mulliyangiri.
Two km on to the road, I managed to hitchhike on an ice-cream truck till the base point of Mulliyangiri called the Sarpadari. I headed up the tiny trail all alone. After two hours of panting, I reached the peak. It was like being in the clouds. I headed back to Chikkamagaluru on a tractor, which turned out to be one of the coolest rides I have ever had.
Post lunch, I moved towards the forests of Sakleshpur. I had heard of a certain trek called the ‘Green Route Trek’, where you walk along the railway tracks, run through the forests of Sakleshpur, and run all the way to Subrahamanya on your way to Mangaluru. Out of curiosity, I entered the Sakleshpur railway station to ask about this and I met three people from Tamil Nadu, one of whom worked for NASA.
They were all geared up for Yedakumari Station — A station deep inside the forests of Shiradi Ghats with no access through roads — all on a goods train. I asked if I could join them and the next moment I’m there, hitchhiking on a goods train. Well, the rule of life is simple —just ask! After a surreal ride on the back of a train in the guards’ coach, we hopped off at Yedakumari Station by 6 pm. Amidst the chirping birds and the constant drizzling of rain, I took a deep breath and filled my lungs with fresh air.
We opened up our tents and the kind stationmaster lent us his stove for the all-time campers’ favourite, Maggie! Post-dinner, we took a night walk on the railway tracks and went deeper into the jungles of Western Ghats in pitch darkness, occasionally coming across wild dogs, foxes, bats and the light insects covering the trees like shooting stars.
After a good night’s sleep on the railway platform, we got up to the chatter of rains on the roof. We geared up after a quick ‘Snickers’ breakfast and started our 10-km-trek back to civilisation. Walking on railway tracks seemed easy at first, but due to the uneven sleeper blocks, you tend to slip a lot! Nevertheless, we walked through long dark tunnels, over the high bridges, along the tiny Monsoon waterfalls to find a great bathing spot. We were now in one of the long tunnels and right when we were in the middle of it, a train appeared from nowhere. This was the moment we all had feared and it came true! With nowhere to run on either side, it was time for us to stick to the walls of the tunnel and save ourselves. With just a foot distance between you and the passing train, a minute seemed like an hour!
Just towards the end of the trek, we found a small hole in the tunnel which we decided to explore. On the other side of the hole was a massive waterfall which stood hidden behind these dark tunnels.
After a painful walk, we finally made it to the roads. We were ready to bid farewell to the greenery but with a whole lot of memories.
(The author can be contacted on sriharsha.hk12@gmail.com)