One Saturday early morning, we woke up to an idea
of trekking in Charmadi, the priced possession of the Western Ghats. Our plan
was to climb up to the nearest peak. We reached the base of the hill, and hereon
had to walk up to start our trek. The trek begins on a seasonal dirt track
meant for jeeps, which had become unusable due to the heavy monsoons during our visit. The driver
instinct in me only forced me wish that, some day, we could do this route on a vehicle.
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| Charmadi Ghats |
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| Curvy Roads of Charmadi Ghats |
Twenty minutes into the trek, we realized our
jackets which meant to protect us from rain, were not of much use, as the
chances of rainfall at that time were meager, and it only made us uncomfortable
wearing one. We removed our weather gears and walked further, through tall
green trees, bird songs and millipedes crossing our way. After a while of
nature trek, we reached a small human habitation, with few houses and even fewer
people. The home was situated amidst tall green trees and we were welcomed by
the owner of the house, an old man and his wife. While we walked in, a group of
young boys just walked out, to start their trek. The elderly person very kindly
offered us water so we could quench our thirst .Water never tasted this good,
by the way!
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| Lucky Home |
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| The Happy Family and the Little one |
While we shared our interests to visit a certain
peak and requested for a guide, we were told to join the group of boys who had
just left, as they were already being guided by a person, who fairly knew the
terrain. He then showed us directions to
the trek route and also cautioned us about rain any moment in the woods, which
could continue for days. We also inquired about the movement of elephants there
and the reply assured their presence deep inside the forests and that there were no immediate signs of threat of any kind from them. The atmosphere there was cool and humid.
It was greenery all around. We wished to
remain there all through the day, even before starting the trek! We rested for
sometime and put our feet down to start the trek. We also had to catch up with
the guide along. We temporarily bade good bye to the lovely family and moved on
with a lot of vigor and excitement.
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| Initial Trek Route |
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Grazing Cattle
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| Trek Company |
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| Tall Green Trees |
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| Rock on Edge |
Trekking along the directed
route, we walked past a cattle group who were busy grazing and looked
equally excited
as us! Not quite far away, we spotted the group of boys and picked up
pace, so we wouldn’t miss the route. The vegetation was quite dense as
we walked
along, at a few places. Very soon, we were at a high altitude and
looking down,
we had a beautiful view of the curvy roads of Charmadi, which
disappeared often
due to the moving clouds. After a few clicks, we went further and
reached a
lone rock standing at the edge, in the background of the charming
Charmadi,
though not sure of the name it carries. The view from here was
fascinating and
hard to miss. As we moved further, we were accompanied by two cute
puppies having
anklets around their necks. Wagging their tails and sniffing us, they
refused to
let go, until their owner forced them his way. A boy from the group got
lucky while he spotted a snake, though it was too late for the rest of
us.
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| Slippery Path |
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| Germinating Seeds |
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| Underside of The Purple Leaf |
We
were stuck at a junction as nobody was sure about the route from here, and
since the person serving as our guide was not very well versed with the
terrain, neither did he, nor us wanted to risk it, going too far and inside. As
we had come a long way, we rested for sometime and started our trek back to the
starting point. We reached the house and thanked the family for their support.
We made friends with a little cute girl and enjoyed conversing with her. The
family exchanged a few words with us and told us about how their timely guests,
the elephants, entered their fields and created havoc after drinking the
locally prepared liquor! With all smiles, they told us to come back again. We
were touched by their kind gesture and just as we were leaving, the girl’s
mother brought us a plate of freshly cooked ‘Anabe’ (Kannada word for mushroom)
fried with onions and turmeric. Mushrooms thrive here during monsoons and are widely
available. The art of picking the edible ones though, is attributed only to the
experiences hands.
We enjoyed it to the
last bit and bade the final good bye. We had to walk back to our vehicle and
while driving back, had a few clicks of the beautiful Charmadi. A lot more waits
to be explored during our next visit to the Charmadi.
Charmadi surely has an inherent
quality to it that makes it so magical and enchanting.
