One of the best trekking exp of my life.. We ll see abt my trip to velliangiri.. Velliangiri hills s located around 30 kms from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. One of my friends called me last week and said he s going to velliangiri and there is a spot open. I was supposed to go home but planned otherwise..
To the "GREEN HOUSE"
so I reached Coimbatore around 8:30. went to a friend's home and came back to railway station around 11:30. Guys had been waiting for me. Around 14 guys left for the place we stay by a cab. Bought snacks and food for all of us on the way. Reached the place around 1.. The house was called a "Green House" bcoz it was painted green :D.. We had lunch under coconut trees, slept for 2 hours and took a shower and all set to go around 4.
There was too much hype going on that most wont go through the entire trip.. I was just laughing inside. (Nothin can be tat tough!!). We all got the following things n our bag - 3 food packets, banana, chocolates, 3 packets of juice, a water bottle, change of clothes, biscuits, other snacks, a torch light, electrolyte packet.. And yes its quite heavy..
Meeting SHIVA
Few other guys joined us and the count is now 19. We hired a cab and left for the temple. we had to pay 50 bucks just to enter the facility. It was the usual Tamil Nadu style temple. Very spacious. There was a big varandah and people everywhere were standing with big sticks. They luk like support sticks for walkin. Seems that everyone should get one before we start climbing and its almost impossible for most ppl to make it without those.. So, we went on to buy one each. 20 bucks apiece and 5 to scrap the edges so that we can hold it without hurting. We had to leave our shoes since its a sacred place. The whole trip was supposed to be made with bare foot. I wouldnt ve worn my shoes all the way from bangalore if I had known this :-(
We went inside the temple. There were beautiful statues of Ganesh, Shiva and Ambal there. Awesome sight.. we came around the temple once and got ready to climb. The time was 5:30.
And So IT Begins
We got ourselves separated into different groups. The count is 21 now couple more joined us. Our group was 5. Me, my friend Srini, his friend Bharath, and guys named Arul and Sathish. As and when I took the first step, I knew its going to be tough. The steps were small and it was very steep. Arul is a regular here. He has come around 7 times just in 2012. He said the first, third and 7th are the toughest. And yes, there are 7 HILLS that make velliangiri. We had to cross those 7 hills to meet mr. Shiva.
We start climbing. I climed slowly knowing that I would need my stamina. Just after the 100th step, I could see Sathish sitting down.. We knew we couldnt proceed like this and let him join with the next group and started again. It usually takes me a 2.5 kms run before I start sweating. But just after 200 steps, I was sweating horribly. I had wore a full handed T-shirt since they told me it would be cold as we go up. But the evening sun and hot ground made me change it to a half sleeve. Half the guys took their shirts off.
And Yes We Made It
Bharath was down totally after sometime. He couldnt take another step. We gave him glucose to eat and waited for some time. But it didnt seem to be working. When the next group came, we let him join them and started again. So, leading the entire gang were me, srini and Arul. Me and Arul were a bit steady but srini was a little tired. Half way through came a bridge where everyone sat. I didnt. I wanted to see how far I could make without resting. Neither did I use the stick for support. We put some electrolyte into the water and gave it to srini. We rested for sometime and started again. With two more rests, we could see a small temple at the end and that was the end of the first hill.. A great relief.
Want a Lime Soda?
I was so happy to see Mr Ganesh waiting for me there. Offered my prayers and turned to the lime soda shop there. by the time we ordered, all other guys made it and it was 21 lime sodas ordered totally. We all drank it, I had some water finally. Clicked few group photos. Now, that we are completely refreshed, we started again.
"SUNAI" on the second hill
It was not so tough now. The terrain was slanting with bigger steps which made it very easy (comparatively ;)).. few mins later, srini and me were discussing abt films. Obviously "aaranya kandam" first. Our favorite movie. And after that Kahani. Since he had not seen it, I started telling him the story. As the story progressed, so did we and by the time Vidhya Balan was pushed in front f the train, we made it to the second hill. The time was 7 now.
There was a small water source coming from somewhere else via bamboo sticks. Arul told us that it was the water source from this mountain. It was very cold and by the time I started drinking it, I could feel the energy flowing through my body. it is the purest form of water I have ever tasted in my life. We drank so much and filled our bottles with water.
There were few ladies coming in a separate group, completely exhausted. They would be in their forties and one in her fifties. I admired how they made it that far. Pure faith I believe.
The Third
We started again and so did the Kahani story(nice na.. Kahani actually means story in Hindi.)half way through the third, the story ended and we were starting to feel exhausted again. It was a very tough hill with small steps and bad terrain. Very steep and irregular. There were a lot of trees around and so we couldnt see anything. It was around 7:30 u nw.. We got our torches out and started walking.. We had to stop at some places to rest. Most of this phase went in silene. We were just talking occasionally about Arul's previous trips and our other trekking experience and occasional "Are we there yet"s. By the time we reached 3rd, it would ve been around 8. There was a small shop on top of that. We bought some groundnut chocs and started eating on the rock nearby. The sky was so beautiful . It was the day next to the full moon day.
There was a Sunai there also and we filled our other empty bottle there. Small Shiva statue was nearby and I went to offer my prayers.
Molangaal Mutti
Arul told us that the next hill s called Molangal Mutti and we would understand why. And yes we did.. There were no steps from now on. Only man made paths. Every step was knee high and we had to raise our leg and put pressure on our knees (molangaal mutti means knee in Tamil). In a few mins, we could start feeling the pressure on our calf muscles and thighs. We just stopped occasionally for the view there. There were no more trees nearby and the naked moon made it so beatiful. We switched off our torches. It was bright as day now. The Coimbatore City view was so beautiful with all it lights and glamor. We enjoyed the view from time to time and kept moving. At the end of the fourth hill, we got used to the strain. Our bodies were no more tired. We bought some coconut burfi in the shop there and started munching.
Easy Fifth
Fifth was as long as the others but the terrain was flat. We walked rather than climbed for half the time. it was very beautiful sight with dense forest on one side of the road and a deep valley on the other side. We rested halfway on the grass nearby and talked for sometime.. About wat I cant remember :P. We started walking again and at the end of the fifth, we saw the place where "ODDAR" was buried. He is supposed to be the guy who made this path across the seven hills. Offered our prayers and started for the sixth.
Thiruneeru Malai
As we entered the sixth, after few hundred metres, there was the source of the Sunai. It was a very small pond where everyone was washing their legs and hands.. The water was so cold, we couldnt even touch the surface. We washed our feet and hands and started moving again. As we started leaving, I saw the same set of women again coming at the end of the fifth. Their determination was incredible.
Sixth was a combination of everything so far. It has plains, knee high steps and after few hundred meters, it started going down again. The downslope was so steep, it was getting very dangerous very each step.It was just one way so we had to wait till the guys coming in the opposite direction crosses. It was around 9:30 now and you would not believe how many ppl are climbin or leaving. We were never alone in this huge set of mountains. Thousands of devotees are climbing this tough mountain on some not so auspicious day in the middle of the night.
As we climbed down, we started noticing that the rocks on either side have white powder and we started smelling thiruneeru. It is a sacred ash used by hindus to put a little streak on their head when they offer their prayers. This whole mountain was made of this substance. I was under the impression that thiruneeru was made from young calves dung. Anyway this went on for a long time, we had to be really careful as it exerted lot of pressure on our leg to climb down. Finally we made it to the end of sixth hill after a long long time. The time was 9:40 and we started feeling hungry.
The Rest
Most of the things we brought were still there all those chocs, snacks, food, water. We didnt feel tired or thirsty anymore. It was all ok after the first trip.. We opened our food packets, ate some chappatis and tamarind rice. washed our hands and gave the rest of the food to a grandpa in nearby shop.
-To Be Continued..
