Tips for trekking with Safety what to carry

Continuing on my previous blog on what to do and what not to do in a trek, this blog is on what all to carry and what to wear on a trek. 

I remember very clearly one of the treks in my very early days of trekking, it was a rain trek and the pre trek mail said “do not carry or wear jeans”, I was still in the college mind set, doing everything you are told not to do was perceived to be cool. So instead of paying heed to the mail, I decided on wearing jeans, thinking it’s the best all weather wear. 

I couldn’t have been more wrong. I am no trek fanatic, I always prefer travel over trekking, but rain is something I love and green places are something I would walk a lot for. I was already the slowest in the gang, and to add to this was my jean which had soaked all the rain water that was dripping onto us incessantly. It was like carrying a loaded bag on each leg, I was sore and worn out because of a stupid wardrobe choice.

So the first thing to keep in mind is , a trek is nothing like travel, while traveling you can always chose to stop catch a cab and get back to your hotel room and change into whatever the weather is, even if you are a hard core backpacker, you are still very less in the mercy of nature when compared to when on a trek. Most people , though it is obvious, tend to forget this. So if you get a mail telling you to stick to a particular kind of clothing, adhere to it and wear that.

Second thing while choosing clothing is , if you are headed to an area with a possibility of animal sighting, wear green, greys, browns, and muted colours,  avoid bright and jarring colours that don’t merge with the background. Faded T shirts, soft cotton clothing, thick cotton pants are preferable. Some places have a high infestation of leeches, if that is the case wear pants with a tying thread or elastic near the ankles, so that you can tighten it and stuff it into your shoe.

 Carry “snuff” which is a superb leech repellent, along with odomos – or any mosquito repellent, a sprain spray or ointment, lacto calamine or any equivalent which soothes  allergies or irritations.

Always carry your medicines, protein bars, some biscuits and water. Even if the estimated time is well before lunch, for you to reach a place, there is not guarantee you will.

One more incident I remember while writing this, three girls, we were in Bhutan/Paro and we were headed to the Taktsang monastery. We guessed we would get some food on top near the Monastery and carried water bottles and a few chocolates, but the steep climb was taxing and the only restaurant on top was heavily over priced and one had to book lunch in advance. Though we used our sweet talking and loads of smiling to procure some biscuits and uncooked Maggi noodles from the Monks,  it is advisable to carry some substantial amount of food. 

Do not carry extra luggage on a trek, always stick to bare minimal, the chances of you wearing accessories, hand bags, playing video games and such extravaganzas are almost nil and you can save a lot of energy which will go in carrying the unwanted luggage.

Always put everything in polythene covers and put them inside your backpack. So that you will not have soaked clothes and gadgets inside your backpack in case of a downpour, or you have to cross a water body and you slip and fall, you will have all your luggage intact.

If you are camping in the open, or in a tent along with your sleeping bag carry a mat. It is cheap and not heavy to carry. It will keep you warm and you can avoid the hard and stone filled ground from poking you through the night, it will also keep you from insects that dwell in the grass. Always carry a rope, a lighter or a match box, a knife and a torch. There are chances you will be needing one or all of these.  

Parinitha Konanur

Tips For Trekking with Safety

With many incidents and accidents happening in the recent past to do with trekking and trekkers like the Ombathu Gudda incident, I am writing this blog with a few must do’s and must never do’s on a trek.

First thing to do when planning on a trek is to see the level of difficulty, the norm is there are mainly three levels, the beginner level the mediocre level and a tough level.

If you are a first time trekker always go for a beginner level trek, if you are planning on some mediocre to difficult climbs in the near future, start with some simple treks and climbs with more experienced people before going to treacherous zones.

Just having stamina and a fit body doesn’t make you a good trekker, a presence of mind and love for nature are a sure shot must. Always listen to the instructors or friends who have had more experience.

Never take forces of nature and wild animals for granted, they are unpredictable and hence a sensible mind has to be applied. Going too close to Elephants to take a good photograph, or making too much noise in the jungle, trying to swim in rapid rivers just because you have done a few laps on a stagnant waters like in a swimming pool is stupid and must never be attempted. Never over stress yourself, if a beginner take your time and if you have an injury let others know and don’t make it worse.

Always go through weather reports before attempting any long duration treks in jungles, understand the climate, the route, soil conditions, before heading out. Preferably go in larger gangs in the beginning so that you can go in your own pace and there will always be company through the trek. Always look out for fellow travelers, keep an eye on others and keep your eyes and ears open. 

Always take a permit from the forest officials if required, and inform your friends and relatives as to where exactly you are going. 

Always carry enough water and juices as you tend to get dehydrated quickly in treks and climbs. Keep some sort of high carbohydrate snack in backpack like chocolates with nuts in them. Carry a waste disposal cover to dump waste in, and never litter in the forests. If they are dry thickets with Bamboo growth do not through cigarette buds or any lit matches as the chances of causing a fire are very high. 

These are a few things to keep in mind, if done with responsibility trekking can be adventurous and amazing , giving you glimpses of nature that you never dreamt of.

Parinitha Konanur

Kodaicanal – A Good Getaway

Kodaicanal is a place I had visited long ago , like many people in Bangalore, during school days. I quite remember it well, as a cool place with lovely weather and awesome flowers. It had been ages since I went there last and on a long weekend me and two of my friends decided to try it out. Taking a bus to Kodai, we reached there in the morning around 9.30, a lovely stretch of Ghat section woke us up, as soon as we got down there we were surrounded by travel agents, cab drivers and such.

The cab drivers informed us that place has no auto rickshaws, which came as a disappointment as we love autos for many reasons, best way to see a place, its airy, cheaper than cabs and not as suffocating as buses. My experience with auto rickshaw drivers away from Bangalore has always been fun, with their personal experiences colouring my travel experience, their preferred “Chai Kadas” their stories of how they came there and started work, even where they live . I think these stories are what makes a trip worthwhile.

We took one of the taxis and asked him straight out for a place that had a view, with shoe string budget and that we dint require luxury inside the room what so ever. We were shown some fancy places with a decent view and options of having a private bon fire, but all that came at a cost we weren’t happy with. Hence we pushed him to move more away from the main city area and show us a place that was more suitable to our nature loving tastes. Finally we did arrive at a nice little place, with a decent view. There was a homely feel to the place especially with the food being prepared at home. The view was of trees and some floral plants blossoming . We relaxed a bit ate well and it was late afternoon by the time we were actually ready to go out to check out the place. We walked to “Bear Sholay” falls which was less than 15min away from our room. It being summer there was very little water, but the walk to the place was enchanting. The roads that lead us to the falls was really good, with quaint houses, enthralling gardens in front of the houses, loads of flowers in bloom everywhere and the most pleasant weather , with a chill in the air and a warm sun.

When we reached the gated area through which we were to walk towards the falls we were more than happy to see the thick woods surrounding us, the evening light upon us we walked on, there is a stretch of the walk that is bar wired, and we thought that would be to keep some animals away, wondering what kind of animals though. There were absolutely no other tourist or soul in the vicinity which suited us well, and soon we were at the dry falls. Spending some good time there we headed back to the main town , walked around the lake and headed to our room, where good food was waiting for our time under the stars. We picked up a few bottles of sweet wine to go with it. 

The next day started early we walked towards the main town and took a taxi and cut a decent deal for the whole days visits, the route up was awesome, like most hill stations was filled with rich green growth and curving roads. We first reached the “Pine Forrest” which was unfortunately buzzing with loud and garish tourists, the driver loved his knowledge of movies, his explanation of any place had something to do with which song, which film was shot there, or which actor walked down which path and such. 

He did tell a number of songs that were shot there but the shouting tourists drowned his voice. The place was beautiful but noises don’t compliment such beauty and hence we were off to our next destination without much time lost, the next destination as told by our driver was called” Guna Caves” where the “Guna” was shot, the story goes that it was earlier called “the Devil’s Kitchen” as a lot of deaths had been witnessed there, who ever went in got into fatal accidents and such. But later the movie was made there, they actually constructed some temporary wooden staircases and barriers for the shoot. The famous south Indian Actor “Kamal Hassan” acted in the film. As soon as we got to the place all I could see were huge number of monkeys and vendors selling dry flowers, etc . There wasn’t much to eat and we hadn’t eaten anything since we left our room. We got a few bajjis which were promptly taken away from me by monkeys that intimidated me to throw them. I then learnt from a localite that I should intimidate it back to save my bajjis. I learnt the trick quite well and used it again on a trek. I assure you it worked. We were so exhausted by all the tourists and monkeys that as soon as we saw another path that lead to some nice growth of trees where there were no tourists we took the opportunity to explore the place and relax. We don’t know how long we sat there, then we headed to the Guna Caves. 

The sight was a mixture of disappointment and wonder, the climbing and walking lead us to a “Large Grill” which was the biggest disappointment ever because I thought a cave actually meant a cave and not grill. Then we realized that for the safety of tourists this was placed and there was no way of crossing over but only the view from there was to be had. When I went real close to the grill is when the wonder happed it was an exact replica of a “Chinese Painting” mist everywhere, sloping hills with protruding trees and branches, view stretched real far with tiny houses at the far end, we stood there in awe for a long time clicking photographs and with earphones plugged in tight to drain out the nasty, loud jumping tourists who wrent even bothered with the view but seemed more than content just with photographs of themselves being taken in front of a tall strong Iron Grill.

After all this we headed back to find our driver blowing steam from his ears running to us and yelling in Tamil, that he was worried we were lost and its dangerous and everything and a long drawn to and fro of words ensued with my broken Tamil and his fast Tamil. We cleared our differences and headed out, after all that we were in no mood for more touristy places, so we instead stopped to buy plants. Some small “Chadi” as they call it in Tamil, we had some food to keep us from dropping dead and headed right back. Stopping at some view points and shopping places. The driver unfortunately never understood our craving to see a nice place and non enthusiasm for shopping , but well we did shop for chocolates – home made delicious ones at that, spices , oils and all of that.

We headed back to our room with stomachs filled with chocolates and Dosa. The next day all we did was relax and not move an inch, sat in the open and just enjoyed the breeze.

The place has a lot to offer, but it is better to go by your own vehicle to be at ease, there are many places to see and some are called the “Valley tour “ and some are called “Forrest tour” with hell a lot of places jammed into the itinerary. If you don’t go by your own vehicle then make sure you have one person on the gang who knows some Tamil and explain your preferences before boarding the taxi.

Parinitha Konanur

Anthargange – A Cavernous Exploration

I just got back from an amazing trip/trek to “Antharagange” . I had heard the name many a times but this time I was just hoping for a nice ride and a laid back time on a hot summer Saturday. But what I found instead was a day full of activity, fun, sun and loads of climbing.

 Anthargange is about roughly 65 to 70 kilometers from Bangalore, you will need to take the NH 75 to Kolar. And just as you reach Narsapura ask for directions to “Anthargange”. The ride started early at 7 in the morning, the weather was pleasant and having had a short stop for breakfast and to load up on munchies and water, we headed straight to our destination. 

Then we reached the temple a little way up, a quaint temple structure with few tourists and priests about. The place is infested with monkeys , so you might want to keep those chips packets, chocolates and even water bottles tucked deep into your back pack. Then just a short while later we were traversing through a rocky climb up, filled with an array of boulders, thorny shrubs and plain dry heat. My distaste to climbing and to heat did not help or motivate me, but my fellow trekkers were absolutely hopeful and helpful, lending me a hand and putting up with my atrocious pace. With my plenty pit stops we reached the top or so I thought. The view was absolutely splendid, a nice expanse of hills and little villages nearby, a nice pleasant breeze, we even spotted a well and some stagnant green water that just added to the already amazing view. 

 

We had taken a localite with us to guide us to the caves, we had heard that there were a couple of them on top and we were hoping to explore them, the guide turned out to be an egoistic, knowledge less guy who was hoping we would give up half way through so he wouldn’t have to show us the entrance to the caves, the route to which he never knew.  Then we went through fields and then reached even more rocks, the place of entry to a cave was non existent, this disappointed our team to great degrees, we got rid of the guide and took the task upon ourselves to find the cave. We happened to bump into some local kids who said they knew the route , we had to take the chance, after all the climbing we had done, it would be a waste to let go of the caves having come that far. 

This time around it was a pleasant surprise, we not only found the cave entrance, it also had water inside it. It was too precarious to get in and hence I left it to my more agile team mates. They all went in , tasted the water and came out looking triumphant, happy and content. I was feeling low that I couldn’t get in and with that came another surprise, another cave large and awesome. We were all quite famished, with a few biscuits and water at our disposal, but we were very intent on exploring the other cave. The entrance was a deep slide and then it was superb fun, we sliding, and jumping, it was absolutely enthralling. There were places where I had no clue how to propel myself out , through a small hole , vertically upwards, with nothing to hold, but we all did it all the same, there were places pitch dark where we had to slide across a slimy rock, with a deep crevice below us. This entire experience was fantastic. 

After all this we got out of the final cave at 4.30 in the evening, we headed down, without a pause. My climbing down skills have always been exceptionally good, as good as my climbing up skills are bad, my stomach had  stretched to its ultimate hunger tolerance, all I could think of was food. After a very fast and easy climb down, we had loads of fresh cucumber and started to the main road to stop for lunch. By the time we reached the Shanthi Sagar it was already 6 in the evening. We belted on “Bisi Bele Bath” which was absolutely delicious. After the food we were all quite sleepy and tired, but we still had to do a 70 km ride back. The ride back was very pleasant, with a cool breeze, low traffic on the high way. Though the harsh reality of lights, pollution, dust, noise and traffic hit us as we entered Bangalore, we were still very happy with our little exploration and rest was the only needed thing now. 

Parinitha Konanur