Tadiandmol... Check!

2015 ended on a happy note because most university exams ended by the last week of December. 2016 had to be given a flamboyant start. The plans and discussions for this had begun way back in November and by the time the first day of January had arrived, a conclusion was finally arrived at. The Wanderlusts of the 2014 batch of Sri Aurobindo PU College, Shimoga had ticked off Doodhsagar from their bucket list of places to travel to. The next destination decided was Tadiandmol, the highest peak in the Coorg district of Karnataka. Standing at 1,750m above the sea level, this particular peak was a major attraction because even though it stood that tall, the walk to the top was supposed to be an easy one, at least according to what we all read on the internet! So, it was decided that Tadiandmol was going to be the next place where we would go, we would see and we would conquer!

On the chilly night of the first of January, 14 of them left the Shimoga Bus Stand in a hired Tempo Traveller and left for Hunsur, a small town in Mysore district, where I was waiting for them at home. They finally arrived home at 3 in the morning. Wrapped in sweaters, shawls and what not, it was decided that they'd all rest for some more time and then leave for our destination at around sunrise time. Lying down wherever one could, we all dozed off. One by one, everyone started to wake up and wash up from 5 in the morning. Waiting in line to use the hot geyser water, it took some time for everyone to get ready. At 7, we were all geared up and waiting for my Dad to return home with the packed breakfast that had been pre-ordered the previous night. After he was back, we started with great enthusiasm, determination and excitement. Playing innumerable games, having spicy yet memorable conversations and listening to good music, time flew by and we reached the base. Apart from the one stop in between for breakfast, the drive was unstopped! 

There was a small school with a huge field that acted as a playground for the kids as well as parking lot for the tourist vehicles.

The playground cum parking lot

Loading our backpacks with biscuits, chocolates, chips and as many water bottles as possible, we took off on the steep, tarred road. Walking along the beautiful plantations, the sight all along was spellbinding. According to most online tourist guide sites and travel blogs, the walk to the peak was supposed to be around 4 km. Over estimating ourselves, we all thought that we would reach the top within a couple of hours, stay there and have fun for another hour or so, and return to the base in the next two hours and leave for the famous Raja Seat at Madikeri, a sunset point. What we were unaware of, was the fact that we had parked our vehicle way before the actual point from where people usually start hiking. So, in reality, we had added uncertain distance to our reach to the top! It took us a long time to reach a point where we saw a couple of cars parked and a couple of stores selling basic trekking amenities like water bottles, fruit juice bottles and other such things. After resting there for a while, we started again. The tarred roads ended and we faced the original trek, on the muddy and rocky path. The way started to get narrower and steeper as we progressed. We stopped again at place with a huge boulder. The trees and the bushes were relatively less around this area and we had a clear view of our destination, which we realised was still a long way ahead and above us!

The walk was long, yet awesome!

The rocks started to increase in size and number, yet they failed to dampen our enthusiasm. We kept asking all the hikers, who were descending as we ascended, how far the peak was from that particular point and how long it would take. Each one of them gave a different answer, varying from 'just another 20 min' to '3 more hours'. Deciding to ignore all these statements, all of us decided to have only one thought on our minds, the peak! Walking, resting, trying to save water as much as possible and having doses of glucose frequently to keep ourselves energised, we reached the top of Kodagu, literally! The view of all other shorter peaks around us made us feel like the Kings and Queens of the place, albeit for a short period. We had walked a lot, tired ourselves a lot and had spent 4 hours walking under the scorching sun. The view up there was worth all of it. I decided to check my iPod for its pedometer reading and was astonished to see that we had covered a whopping distance of 12.2 km and had walked over 23,000 steps, an achievement for amateur hikers like us!

Ain't that beautiful?

The various other shorter peaks!

After another bout of conversation and snacks, we set off on our return journey. It wasn't as daunting as we had expected it to be and covered the same distance in a shorter period. The distance was long, but the wonderful company made sure it didn't seem so. The satisfaction of having traversed through such a difficult terrain over such a long distance gave us enough strength to endure on the return journey. Even with so many differences in speed of hiking, the agility and the endurance, there was nary a misunderstanding or fight. The slow walkers would try to match up the speed while the swifts would patiently wait for them. The coordination was impeccable and was a major contributor in making this particular trip an accomplishment!

The feet were tired, the bodies were aching but the spirit was as high as ever! Music and sound sleep in the van and we reached Hunsur at around dinner time. After having Maggie Masala Fried Rice for dinner at a small restaurant, we headed home. Four of the hikers had to head back to Shimoga as their college started after a day's gap. After bidding them a goodbye, all of us took a shower to clean the dust off our bodies. My Dad had spread out the mattresses for us and our tired bodies took no time in falling asleep. After all, the next day was going to be a busy one as well! The GRS Fantasy Park at Mysore awaited the Family that was related not by blood, but by friendship and fernweh!

The following morning was a Sunday. Waking up long after the decided time, we all got dressed up, had a quick breakfast and left for Mysore in the KSRTC bus. The conductor agreed to drop us off in front of GRS for an extra 100 bucks, which we were happy to oblige as it would save us both time and cab money. We got off, entered GRS, changed into comfortable clothes and started another day of fun and adventure! Spending hours in water, taking rides on different tubes and pipes, it was time to call it a day. Photographs of us had been clicked while we were enjoying the rides and we all went to select and get the best ones printed. After all that, we had our own photographing session, booked cabs and set off to the Suburb bus stand to board the buses home. Since there was some time for the buses to depart and we were all hungry, the penultimate destination was the Mall of Mysore for dinner. Having the last dinner and profuse talks, it was finally time to say goodbye! We all returned to the Bus Station and I boarded a bus back to Hunsur with a heavy heart. The two days had been amazing. Yet another journey, yet another endeavour with the best people had come to an end.

Outside GRS

Well! That was FUN!

Tadiandmol is a great place for someone who is interested in travelling to new places, likes to trek and hike and is a beginner. It is long, but moderately challenging making it the perfect beginning for a travel life. This wasn't our first trip together and is far away from being the last. When you have people you love around you, who have the same thirst to travel and have fun as you, the longer the journeys, the more memorable they become!

We Came. We Saw. We Conquered.