Sunday 14 October 2012

Udayagiri Trek

I was expecting the combo biking and trek for a while. That was when I got an email from Arun. Without even reading the complete details, I registered for this. Then only I saw in the email that it is a 1 day trip covering 600 km and a trek. First I wondered if this is a good plan. But then thought if 10 other people can drive for that distance, then I can also do that. Probably every other person would have thought the same way.

Lines from Wiki
The Udayagiri Hills is the main tourist attraction here and is mingled with history. The hill is mentioned in the Ramayana, where Hanuman carried the hill to Lanka for a rare herb called as Sanjeevini, which is found on this hill, to cure Lakshman. After serving its purpose, the hill was supposedly thrown by Hanuman from a great height into the same place. The hill landed upside down, and till this day one can find many boulders strewn around the hill. Also it is believed that some trees grow upside down too! The hill has crystal clear water flowing downhill from an unknown source, which till date has not been found

Plan
Start from Guindy at 3:45 AM. Reach Udayagiri. Trek. Ride back and reach Chennai by night. That was the plan. Before I could reach Guindy, I got a call from Muthu saying 'You are late. Please can you come directly to Koyambedu Nathan's cafe'. When reached there, I met some 10 people and as usual 'Hi .. Hi .. Hi ..' to everybody. We waited there till 5 AM for everybody to assemble.

It was 6 bikes and 2 cars. 2 Apaches, a pulsar, fz, classic, a bird, punto and a spark. Arun started first and we all raised our pace to match with him. Me in my Apache, Sivaraj in Pulsar, Prakash in his bird , Rahul & Ajay in fz and sharon in classic were riding along. Punto and spark being the sweepers. There was one place where some insect went into my eyes and I stopped for 2 minutes. After that i was riding in a good pace for around 30 minutes but still couldn't catch the fellas who were riding with me. I was sure that they couldn't be ahead of me and I stopped near a toll gate for tea. Came Mohideen, Vijay and gang in Punto after some 10 minutes. Then again after 10 minutes, came the riders. Then only I came to know that these guys waited for me when I stopped because of the insect hit. Wonder how I missed them. But it was very nice of them. Biker brotherhood you see !!

After everybody had chai, we started again. Not to forget, some guy in the gang ate some 10-20 biscuits in that petty shop. Evannu therila. Then it was ride, ride and more ride till we reached Nellore. It was freaking fun riding in the highways, that too in tandem. Me and Sivaraj were zooming past each other. At that moment When I thought, Good that I didn't come in the car, I remember this quote 'If Driving is Dreaming , Riding is Living'.



We all met near Nellore Bus stand where Arun and Shubha were waiting for us. Checked into some hotel and living life the perfect south-indian way. I think by 9AM we started from Nellore and still 100 km more. It was necessary to reach Udayagiri as soon as possible, so that we can complete the trek and return on time. Mostly everybody reached Udayagiri around the same time with the exception of Emmanuel's Gang in Spark. We waited for them near the Udayagiri Bridge and started after they arrived. We reached a road which has never seen tar in its life. We rode in that and parked our bikes and cars near some rocky steps leading to the top.





The start of the trek was like walking in tirupati where proper steps were there. Wonder who built that and for what purpose. We were walking in normal pace only but still half the team were coming far behind. We crossed a group of telugu boys and sharon showed his telugu skills by speaking some dialogues that he remembered when watching some Balakrishna movie :P



We reached half the distance and decided that we regroup and then move ahead. By the time others came, we finished off the pongal and Kichidi we had packed and decided to start from there. So it was Arun, Shubha, Muthu, Sivaraj, Ajay, Raghul and me. We started ahead and walked in a brisk pace. Never we rested. There was a small mosque kind of structure in the top. Awesome bird's view of the town. we rested there for a while and started clicking some Pics. Munch and Airbag. Purinjavan Sirichikko !!



When we were about to return from the top, we saw 3 guys in the adjacent hill. They went in some wrong route it seems. We saw the rest of the group when we were returning from the top. Arun informed everybody not to spend too much time after reaching the top, as it would get dark by the time we would return. The return was quite pacy and on the way, we saw a cannon-throw place which was part of the fort. We waited there for regrouping and in a while most of the group reached that place.



We all started from there and exactly by 6 PM, we were at the base where we parked our bikes and cars. We all were relieved that we were back on time but still another 300 km drive was on the cards.

Reached Nellore and nobody had any idea where to halt, how to regroup and what's the plan for dinner. But hunger pushed everybody to the same restaurant where we had breakfast. So after a heavy meal, it was time for a good sleep. But we have to ride. We regrouped after every toll gate and reached Padi by around 12:30 AM. I just don't have the count how many times I was caught by police after that. Atleast 7 times. I thought only IT people had this pathetic night shift job.

The Trip was over. 600 km drive and 5 hours Trek. And the satisfaction it gave me was immense. It definitely gives me the confidence to go for more. The trip lasted for only 21 hours. So I couldn't mingle with each and everyone in the group and hear about some crazy stuff. But it was nice to know about fellow freaks like Arun, Ajay, Rahul, Sivaraj, Shubha, Muthu and the list goes on. Also I should mention about Radhakrishnan sir, who showed good spirit. He is a good example that age is not a criterion for trekking and biking.

Ride to Live !!
Happy Trekking !!

4 comments:

  1. I remember the insect thing, waited for a good 15 mins over there. Was good fun and amazing spirit.

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