Velliangiri Trekking - II

...in continuation to my earlier blog - Velliangiri Trekking, posted Tuesday, August 23, 2011...

...But this is not going to drain away our desire to trek the mountain again - if time permits and Shiva wishes we will trek once again to kiss the peak...

Last time Velliangiri throwed us a different experience, but didn't allow us to reach the seventh hill for a Shiv-Darshan. We had to return back. Few months back (Dec/2012), there was a mail from our great Elavazhagan proposing a Velliangiri trek on 23/Feb/2013. Generally we plan few days in advance, but to our surprise this was planned a couple of months earlier.

Though I had my Kumbamela trip planned in the first week of February, I still opted for this trek for two reasons.

1. My First trek to Velliangiri went incomplete

2. There is a two week gap from the finish of my Kumbamela trip to start of Velliangiri trip - If at all my body runs down due to side-effect of Allahabad trip, i have sufficient window to get it corrected.

Generally, we don't call in for too many people when going on a spiritual trek. As a thumb rule  in a spiritual journey, being alone is best, two is good, more than it - its picnic. Being alone gives you the space and time to think over any problems/questions running in your mind without much diversions and helps find answers. That's the very intention of being alone, like a meditation. Being two, is supportive and helps with some suggestions, but more than it - the very core intention is lost. But that's pretty okay, as long as the trek serves a good exercise for the body. Other big issue with more people is about logistics - conveyance, lodging and boarding will become difficult to manage.

Keeping aside all the negatives of a group trekking (as Linga Travels took care of logistics), we called in for few more enthusiastic's who were also interested to join the trek. After last minute additions/deletions, it got shortlisted to a 14 member team prepared to trek the hills.

After my Allahabad trip, for the next one week, my health condition was going good, and I thought I could very well manage this trek. During the week we planned to trek, jitters started. It started with a mild leg pain and spread throughout the  body. I generally avoid allopathy for fever/cold and leave it to the body to cure it by itself, but this time, I didn't have enough time. Its only 4 days left to get ready for the trip. So, went to  doctor, and he as usual suspected a viral. Standard Prescription - One Injection (oh!. for that nurse, I could go for one more injection :)) and colorful antibiotic tablets for next 3 days and come back for a blood test, if symptoms exist. After three days of honestly swallowing tablets on time, nothing big happened.

Whenever Velliangiri trek gets planned, I will run into some trouble. For the first time, I couldn't join the trek due to viral. Second time, we couldn't go past six hills due to rain (btw, its a deadly rain), and this time its viral again. With my body condition, I decided to skip the trip. Friday we need to leave, and till Thursday evening my condition was poor. I couldn't even climb 50 steps to reach my second floor apartment bypassing the lift. Imagine walking 4000 steps just for starter alone in Velliangiri. Mission Impossible. 

Since there were at least six other folks joining from my office circle, I don't want to discourage them by saying "I'm not joining". So, I chose to keep my decision tight till they board the train. Once they board, I know MSK/Ela will take care of them. 

Friday morning I woke up curiously to see how my health is. Mild improvement. Pain showed some kindness to me. It shortened itself from a whole-body pain and started targeting only the knee joints to its fullest. Better than before, but trekking without knees is not that good. I dont have the stamina, guts and devotion like Kaaraikaal ammaiyaar to walk upside-down with hands.

Walking such a path with Fever.. No way..!

Thought hard and hard on whether to join the trip or to inform my no-go decision to MSK and leave it, ended up with a headache. Something inside me was yelling "NO" and throwing all negative reasons (14 hrs walk, 4000 steps etc) and other thing feebly-saying "GO FOR IT". If I start from my house at 12.00am, I could be in Central Station by 1.00, well before to catch the 2.00pm train, but to avoid further thinking and confusion, I started from my house at 11.00am from home and came to central by 11.45 itself. That way, I could relieve myself from thinking too hard. I didn't even care what I packed in my back-pack (just one additional spare dress, tablets, and torch). I purchased two Red Bulls (non-alcoholic energy drink) this time :). It really works when you are deprived of energy, but don't take it too often. Redbull taste really sucks, but it gives you that booster energy for few hours.

After reaching Central, I ended up with two choices - 

1. Once everyone gathers introduce them to MSK/Ela and return back to home. 

2. If possible, join the team till Coimbatore, but skip the trek. Have a Plan-B to visit Isha-Dhyanalingam Temple alone.

After meeting MSK, my decision changed to travel till Coimbatore. I know that would happen, that's why I had that extra set of dress packed as mitigation. I'm better-off with friends, than fighting with fever all alone in bed. After dinner, it was around 11.00pm, we checked-in to the hotel. For next day, conveyance arrangements were made to travel from Hotel till Foot-hills, and instructions was to get ready by 3.00am sharp. (that's more tough than climbing 4000 steps :)), so that we could start trek by 4.00am and return back the same day.

At 12.00pm before going to bed, I informed MSK that I may not join the trek and "requested" him with due-respect not to disturb me at 2.30am. My legs were paining like hell that time. By then, through Balaji (our co-trekker), I got a couple of pain killer tablets as backup.

Next day, alarm was ON at 2.30am, and my body condition seem to be improved a bit. It was like, if I start thinking on the leg pain, it would come back again in full force, otherwise it seems to be waiting like a dog ready to bite. I just got myself ready by 3.00am sharp. Literally throwed all responsibility on Shiva and started :).. It may sound foolish, but sometimes, such faith helps us avoid too much thinking.

Velliangiri - Sunrise through Trees

With one Redbull stacked-up and having swallowed one pain killer tablet (not a good practice though), we reached the foot hills by 4.45am. The mountain was standing dark before us like a night-mare. Just like in any other treks, the Rajdhani express with Ela as engine disappeared suddenly. Few members who are physically fit traveled along with Rajdhani. Due to my physical condition and reduced stamina, I specifically requested MSK to be with my side and trek as slow as possible. Don't care about the time - Shiva wont run away if we are one hour late, so lets go as slow as possible - one step at a time. I personally say, I share a very good rapport with MSK, especially during trek, for we have very similar wave-length and understanding. (purely my opinion, not sure what MSK has to say :)) Also I love trekking as slow as possible - for I believe the benefit of trekking lies in the path, not in the peak. We shouldn't afford to miss any sceneries on the way; the dense jungle with serene views of clouds passing through us, chirping birds, wild-puppy barking along our side for a piece of meat, the breathtaking landscape etc.. Just sit back, breathe, relax and absorb as much as you can. Even if it takes few additional hours, I would go for it. 

With clear expectation set, our passenger train started to creep. There were other Rajdhani's passing-by and we took side-track to let them go. After 1.5 hours, I was really feeling better, for I had sweated a lot, and hope some bad virus has sweated along Around 6.30 am we reached our first milestone; the Ganesh temple at the end of killer steps. Further its going to be a mix of stones and steps for next two mountains. Not too hard, but still painstaking. 

Water Source - Drips from the bamboo stick

In the entire stretch of 7 hills, there will only be three spots where you can find water. Again, water spot doesn't mean a pond or a pool or tap. Its a small water source that runs "inside" of the mountains, tapped through a bamboo stick in the  spot, and the excess water immediately sinks down through a nearby hole back into the mountains (See Picture) . Literally, it is like someone has inserted a big bamboo stick to a hole inside the mountain to get some under-water dripping out. Natural mountain water, its pretty sweet and refreshing. (If you have tasted Qua Mineral Water (Himalayan waters), it will pretty much taste the same as this water. Few days back, been to ITC Chola for an office OC Treat, and water means Qua there. They charged 195/- per 1L bottle :(, and I found this Velliangiri water more tasty, crispy and refreshing than Qua which had a good taste but  felt blunt.)

One step to heaven. Below is the Siruvani water plant

Wind was chill and we couldn't feel that much pain walking for three hours. After reaching the fourth hill, scenes changed. We were literally in midst of passing clouds. Sun has risen up then and started its heat. On one end it was hot and other side the clouds were cool. A perfect combo. Wherever possible, we stood-back to enjoy the nature to its fullest. At one spot, we sat down on a huge rock leaving our legs floating in air. Just one step further could throw us some 2000 feet down into the clouds. In fact, we were sitting above the clouds. Every bit of it, enjoyable. We halted to have our bread-n-jam breakfast on the way in a monkey-free-zone. After a tiresome walk, even a marie biscuit will taste like amrudham. No need to say how bread-jam tasted like.

Ready for a dip..

After reaching the end of 6th hills (the place from where we returned back last time), we took a bath in a small water source there. With clouds floating all over, the water in the pool was literally freezing, and we couldn't even stand in the water for 5-10 seconds. [Remembered Bear Grylls saying "Hyperthermia" in Man Vs Wild]. Such cold was this water. After few mins of acquainting the body to the freezing cold, we had a full dip, that was completely rejuvenating. Body pain accumulated during 5hrs of walking so far literally vanished, and it gave the stamina to climb up the last hill.

Velliangiri Eesan - Self-formed lingam

One good news we had was that Feb/23 was Pradhosham, especially Sani-Pradhosham, which is even special for Shiva temples. After one more hour of climbing through steep rocks (not that steep though), we reached the top. Rajdhani team appeared to have reached there an hour in advance. Mid-day pooja just then started and we caught up right on time. After a good darshan and nice prasadam (they served some lemon rice :)), we took rest under boulders for few minutes and decided to walk back. Seven more hours of trek to reach the base. Even if you are not willing to walk, there is no other way now. 

Rest

As usual, the Rajdhani express departed, and the passenger train (Me and MSK) stayed back leaving all others go ahead. That will give us some space to talk, walk slowly and freely and also take care if someone moving ahead of us falls-back due to sprain or something. As organizers (sari.. sari..), we had that little responsibility to take care of those new trekkers. We don't want to leave anyone behind us bringing bad name to our reputed VTC (Vetty Trekking Club) :)

paavam thambi..

As expected, one of my colleague who moved ahead of us lagged, and we accompanied him all the way down. Last three hours, MSK teased him like anything, that he should have felt his sprain better than our mokkai. During the regular chat he touch-based on the "GOD" topic without realizing that he put himself into a hot-cake discussion trap. (namma onnum illadha vishayathukke kaatu kaatunu kaatuvom, idhula lead eduthu kudhutha... paavam payyan.. moonavadhu malaila "kadavul irukku"nnu sonnavan, keezha erangum bodhu "irundha nalla irukkum"nnu solla vaendiadha pochu.. appadi oru ottu..).. [BTW, remembering SBK here - SBK, our 5+hrs debate on Raamayana during the Thiruvanamalai trip still holds the record]

After a successful trek down, we reached the foot-hills by around 7pm. Though wanted to avoid stating an incident, just narrating for the sake of others who are interested in trekking. 

In the clouds..

During our trek down, we met one other guy who was also from Chennai and have come alone for a Velliangiri trek. He joined one of our sub-group who moved ahead of us and trekked  down with them. When we reached foot-hills, we came to know he has fainted soon as he reached the base and others were trying to give him some water/glucose things. Regaining his conscious for a while, he requested us to take him to our hotel for the night and again he fell unconscious. His body was getting cold like ice, and one of our group member who is a nurse (male-nurse'pa. During our travel he said narrated some of his experiences as a nurse. Most of his incidents turned out to be stomach-burning things for us), was giving him some first-aid. We took hold of the fainted-guy's mobile and after a quick discussion, we decided to get him to hospital for further treatment. We don't want to take him to our room. That's risk for us and more risk for him. We straight away drove to a hospital, and Ela with his friend located a good hospital just opposite the hotel we stayed. Me, MSK and Karthik (Ela's cousin) took charge of this hospital part. We don't want everyone to be in hospital. His BP was running pretty low, and the doctor started "her" first-aid accompanied along with two sisters. (I don't know why should we call them sisters. I prefer calling them Nurse..).. 

Okay, kadhaya kelunga. In between our guest regained his conscious and informed that he didn't have any food for last 18 hours and he started trekking without any supplies. More good, he didn't inform about this trek to even his better-half. Though he had trekked Parvathamalai before, he really has under-estimated Velliangiri. Then we got hold of his room-mate number and informed him of his case. We don't want to scare his wife for the moment (he preferred not to inform), and since we were sure he is running a severe dehydration problem and possibilities of him to recover are good after injecting a couple of glucose bottles., we skipped calling his wife. Also the doctor gave us some hope that he is recovering.

A part of our group.. Others already started..!

I stayed with him in hospital till 12pm and asked MSK to take care of staying overnight, since my leg-pain started again and I'm going down by then (by 11.30pm, while I was curiously watching the colorful LCD scopes charting some live BP/heartbeat graphs, parallely wishing him to recover in next few hours to catch the return train the next-day, a nurse came in and tweeted - "anna neenga paduthukonganna.. naanga paathukarom..". My mind voice grunted "adhaan anna'nu sollitalla.. mathadha naanga paathukarom, nee po thaayi. eppadiyum MSK anna dhaan night thanga poraru.. avara venumna nallaa paathukko..."). With MSK taking charge, I left for the hotel and had a good sleep in the A/c double-bed room and MSK more comfortably slept in hospital along with a couple of cute little --  mosquitoes. By 7am, the next day, MSK informed that our guest regained his conscious and doctors gave the go-ahead to get him discharged. MSK, after bidding a personal bye-bye to specifically one nurse there (naane paathen, naeradiya paathen. ivan ta-ta sonnan, aana andha side'la perusa onnum reponse illa.. 100% ping loss), we took him to our room for some rest. Since we had an extra train ticket, we accompanied him till Chennai. Good that he called us back the next day to tell that he is fine and doing good. Stating this incident here since nature is very raw and wild in its den and never under-estimate the power of it. Again, don't ever start any trek based on what is scribbled in internet like this blog. (Ex. Nurse in all hospitals may not be as good-looking as mentioned in this blog. Oops... did i mention "good-looking" anywhere.? :)). Always have a supply of your prescribed medicines, water, spare dress and necessary food for your travel. [Alternately, you can get in touch with professional trekkers like us for any clarifications.. konjam over dhaan.. but..]

Velliangiri - Done :) :) :)

Overall, it was a very satisfactory and enjoyable trip and most of "my places to visit" is nearing completion. Few places, I still wish to visit are Palani, Rameshwaram and Kailash-Manasarovar. While the former doesn't require big planning, the latter requires better planning, medical fitness and most importantly financial support. Isha has already opened their registrations for this year Kailash programs, but the per-head cost seems to be beyond affordable for the moment. Let me wait to see what Shiva has in for me :). Till then, I'm planning a logical break from trekking (how long?), enjoy week-ends at my home (that's a lie!) and watch some good movies.. (in fact, yesterday I was thinking on where to trek next, but finally went to Vishwaroopam movie.. paravalla.. :) )..

Trip Album - https://picasaweb.google.com/114643271152565647128/Velliangiri

PS - It took 6 hours for me to write this blog - Sorry Extreme..!