So far, I have blogged about outings which I
have planned and organized myself. This outing, which I’m writing about, was conceived
by my cousin and it was definitely a day well spent! I didn’t have to bother
myself with driving, or the number of people who were coming, or making sure they were on
time! All I did was enjoy the drive in my cousin’s car, have lots of fun throughout
the day, and come back home completely exhausted.
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| At 12.30 in the afternoon, none of us felt like trekking all the way up! |
We reached the place around 11 in the morning and immediately started with the trek. Our guide, Madhu, a lad in his late twenties, patiently guided us through the wilds and slippery rocks. Reaching the hill top required two and a half hours of trekking and at 12.30 in the afternoon, none of us were up to it. Hence, we decided to trek up for another half an hour and head back to the base camp to resume other activities.
Our guide trekked down ahead of us so that
he could get the equipment ready for the next activity... Jumaring! I had never
heard of jumaring before and I had no idea how it was done. Jumaring is a technique
to ascend a rope vertically with the help of friction-clamps. The mechanical
device used, is called an ascender. The word Jumar comes from the name of the
Swiss factory which manufactures these ascenders hence device’s name leading to
the term Jumaring. (Thank You Wikipedia! ;-))
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| Jumaring! |
Meanwhile, Madhu had tied the ropes to a
branch of a tree and had set up the equipment in no time. Madhu also gave us a detailed
demonstration of how (“easily”) it is done. After Madhu’s effortless demonstration,
my cousins and I took on this activity one by one and I was the third person to
go. I realized the difficulty of this sport only when I started doing it myself.
Jumaring is certainly a tiresome activity for those who are not physically fit.
It revealed to me the sedentary life I’ve been living for the past few years
now and how I needed to exercise badly! However, I finished ascending the full
height within 5 minutes. :-D It was time for lunch by the time all of us were
finished and we headed back to the base camp.
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| Rappelling! |
Parceled lunch had been brought for us from
a hotel in Kanakpura and the food was tasty. After having a three course meal,
we proceeded towards the hillock for Rappelling. Rappelling is an activity where you descend the face of a rock with a rope. Rappelling was also a
sport I’d never done before. We trekked up the hillock for half an hour and
picked a huge rock from which we’d descend. Madhu gave us a detailed
explanation of how it is done and kept urging us to just trust him. Despite the
demonstration, I had several questions concerning my safety and therefore (much
to the displeasure of my cousins ;-)) I took a few more minutes to clear all my
doubts with Madhu. There’s one rope called the BELAY rope which is tied to your
waist and our guide would release it bit by bit as I climbed down the rock. There’s
another rope which goes all the way down till the ground where the descending
ends. This rope passes through a hoop attached to my belt. Anyway, further technicalities
are not required unless you’re actually going to do this sport.
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| We Rappled down the triangular shaped rock at the centre of this picture! |
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| My Cousin and I making a perfectly steered U-Turn! |
;-)).
It was already dark by the time we finished
kayaking and we were served with hot tea and biscuits as we got out of the pond.
By 7.30 in the evening, we were completely exhausted and it was time for us to
leave.
I slept peacefully thorough the two hour
journey back to Bangalore. I was home by 10pm.
More information:
You can trek up the hillock and camp there
overnight!
You can also camp out in tents which can be
pitched near the base camp with a bonfire… or perhaps stay in tree houses!
If you wish to contact the owner of this
place…feel free to send me an email.
