It was a quick plan for the night trek to “KALLAVARAHALLI BETTA” aka “SKANDAGIRI”.
Friday night I reached home 11:30. After a long day at work and a quick drink at Cirrus. Soon at 12:30 the three pals reached my pad. Had beef and bread and we stacked whatever was available.
In between I tried an half-hearted attempt to take a quick but it was fruitless . We packed our bags and left in our roaring bullets. I sat behind Roy and the journey began.
First stop near Ulsoor lake for tea.
Next stop by the Cops, on the road that takes to Palace grounds. The freaky cop was playing the usual role. Asking questions in a rude manner. Papers!
Fortunately both the drivers had documents and the before he finished with us, his boss, another super cop with big tummy came and asked us to leave.
Next it was a long ride.. towards Mekri circle, then the Esteem mall, and towards New matchbox airport, past Yellanka. The road was wide and empty.
Soon we hit the first left deviation - Road sign showed - Nandi Hills. Stopped there to decide. Suddenely a cop came in a bike. We told the destination and he said it's the way...
Again we went in the Nandi hills route... went bit a long distance and Ajith got doubts about this. We decide to return. Again we reached the main road. Decided to find another left deviation. Travelled another 5 -8 km and saw a tea shop. Doubts were cleared. Route to Skandagiri lay much further.
Had another round of tea and hear the comments from the tea seller.
Reached the road that took to the left. Still no ROAD SIGNS to Skandagiri. Took this route , a good guess we went forward. Some positive landmarks started to appear. One college and then another query from a person. He told us to go even further. Another left road came. In that corner, a fellow was selling tea. He said left and 4 km.
We started another long ride - another mistake. Probably, we rode some 10 km in that direction. We're lost again. Lost time, and we came back. Asked another fellow. We took the way he mentioned. Through the fields and small hamlets. STILL NO ROAD SIGNS.
We thundered on, saw two three waving lights. Ray of Hope. These we guides who can show us the way.
We again went further. Reached the base. Many bikes and few cars were parked. Soon the locals came up, asking for direction. We said we can find our way. Asked us to pay for parking. 60 bucks. 30 of each bike.
Another group came in a car. Thought we could follow them without paying for the guide. One man still came along with us. He was asking for 400 bucks for taking up to the summit. We still said no, as we say the group ahead of us. But then, again we lost sight of them. These terrain could be very tricky.
We started our climb around 4:45. Stopped. Ajith was breathless and Santhosh was having calf pain. Fortunately, I was climbing without feeling any hitches. Again we resumed, with many stops in-between.
Soon we saw streaks of morning and at one point I could see the beautiful pains, well lit by light. The beauty of stars was another treat to all of us.
Reached the summit. In the last stretch towards the pinnacle I stopped twice. My heart was pounding and I was sweating profusely. It was cool and we could hear the sound from other climbers.
Reached on-top. Gusty chill winds. I removed by jacket and sat on the rock. The magnificent view of the clouds was not there. We were a bit late, thanks to all the confusion of finding the right route.
Roy had egg omelet and hot tea. Omelet is Rs 40. It pays to get this service here. Paid the guide Rs 300 + 20.
There were many on top. Many girls too. These young lot seems to have sailed up without much effort or did they sweat it out? Took lots of pics.
One the way back we say few local guys putting fire to dry grass. God knows what fun they get out of it. The smoke added misery to those who come from behind. They need a kick in the a**.
Close to ground zero, saw one man selling butter-milk. One glass Rs 10. We four had around 12 glasses. Paid Rs 100.
Down to the base.
NOW the questons: ROAD SIGNS
Why are there no sign boards towards Skandagiri? Every weekend, scores of people climb this hillock to get the rare sight of clouds. Still no SIGNS or Pointers to reach the base.
See how many local people earns a small livelihood with this event.
Friday night I reached home 11:30. After a long day at work and a quick drink at Cirrus. Soon at 12:30 the three pals reached my pad. Had beef and bread and we stacked whatever was available.
In between I tried an half-hearted attempt to take a quick but it was fruitless . We packed our bags and left in our roaring bullets. I sat behind Roy and the journey began.
First stop near Ulsoor lake for tea.
Next stop by the Cops, on the road that takes to Palace grounds. The freaky cop was playing the usual role. Asking questions in a rude manner. Papers!
Fortunately both the drivers had documents and the before he finished with us, his boss, another super cop with big tummy came and asked us to leave.
Next it was a long ride.. towards Mekri circle, then the Esteem mall, and towards New matchbox airport, past Yellanka. The road was wide and empty.
Soon we hit the first left deviation - Road sign showed - Nandi Hills. Stopped there to decide. Suddenely a cop came in a bike. We told the destination and he said it's the way...
Again we went in the Nandi hills route... went bit a long distance and Ajith got doubts about this. We decide to return. Again we reached the main road. Decided to find another left deviation. Travelled another 5 -8 km and saw a tea shop. Doubts were cleared. Route to Skandagiri lay much further.
Had another round of tea and hear the comments from the tea seller.
Reached the road that took to the left. Still no ROAD SIGNS to Skandagiri. Took this route , a good guess we went forward. Some positive landmarks started to appear. One college and then another query from a person. He told us to go even further. Another left road came. In that corner, a fellow was selling tea. He said left and 4 km.
We started another long ride - another mistake. Probably, we rode some 10 km in that direction. We're lost again. Lost time, and we came back. Asked another fellow. We took the way he mentioned. Through the fields and small hamlets. STILL NO ROAD SIGNS.
We thundered on, saw two three waving lights. Ray of Hope. These we guides who can show us the way.
We again went further. Reached the base. Many bikes and few cars were parked. Soon the locals came up, asking for direction. We said we can find our way. Asked us to pay for parking. 60 bucks. 30 of each bike.
Another group came in a car. Thought we could follow them without paying for the guide. One man still came along with us. He was asking for 400 bucks for taking up to the summit. We still said no, as we say the group ahead of us. But then, again we lost sight of them. These terrain could be very tricky.
We started our climb around 4:45. Stopped. Ajith was breathless and Santhosh was having calf pain. Fortunately, I was climbing without feeling any hitches. Again we resumed, with many stops in-between.
Soon we saw streaks of morning and at one point I could see the beautiful pains, well lit by light. The beauty of stars was another treat to all of us.
Reached the summit. In the last stretch towards the pinnacle I stopped twice. My heart was pounding and I was sweating profusely. It was cool and we could hear the sound from other climbers.
Reached on-top. Gusty chill winds. I removed by jacket and sat on the rock. The magnificent view of the clouds was not there. We were a bit late, thanks to all the confusion of finding the right route.
Roy had egg omelet and hot tea. Omelet is Rs 40. It pays to get this service here. Paid the guide Rs 300 + 20.
There were many on top. Many girls too. These young lot seems to have sailed up without much effort or did they sweat it out? Took lots of pics.
One the way back we say few local guys putting fire to dry grass. God knows what fun they get out of it. The smoke added misery to those who come from behind. They need a kick in the a**.
Close to ground zero, saw one man selling butter-milk. One glass Rs 10. We four had around 12 glasses. Paid Rs 100.
Down to the base.
NOW the questons: ROAD SIGNS
Why are there no sign boards towards Skandagiri? Every weekend, scores of people climb this hillock to get the rare sight of clouds. Still no SIGNS or Pointers to reach the base.
See how many local people earns a small livelihood with this event.
- Guide fee - They earn between 100 onwards. Mostly they get around Rs 200 -300/-
- Parking fee - They get 30 average for a bike and more for a car
- Omelet is Rs 40 - They earn a small price for the effort
- Butter milk - They too earn a good money. We finished his beverage.
This is an opportunity to get a small share from the travelers wallet. Money from BPO can trickle to these people. Why not someone take the effort to put more direction boards towards Skandagiri and make it more visitor friendly.
Just few sign-boards at the right places is all I ask for. It can save the pain of asking for directions and bring in more trekkers to reach for the clouds.
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