First Trek: Ultimate Experience Trek To Kodachadri: Western Ghats

It was just an usual day at office when suddenly a random spark came up on George’s mind and no wonder we three executed it in the best manner with Kodachadri Trek.

This trek is really good for first timers , only prerequisite it requires that you need to be little fit but even if you are not, no worries you can still do it with a heavy breathe.

So we three me(Harit), George (Technical planner) and Sindhu looked for some trekking trip where none of us had no experience, simply booked randomly with BMC (Bangalore Mountaineering Club) and started counting days with keeping a faith in heart that this Trip should go well.

So here we are, it’s Friday (10th March, 2017) and we all were set with a little enthusiasm in our mind which is rising moment by moment to start the trip by night. After leaving office early we gathered at the most happening place of Bangalore , Marathalli and started moving towards to Domlur , our pick up point. We had a nice dinner at New Shanthi Sagar and we kicked off the journey with smiles at 10 pm quickly grabbing leftover seats in the bus.

Having some unknown faces in the bus and a bit rash driver feeling little sleepy, as he stopped the bus for at least 5 tea breaks and that too only for himself was little annoying. Journey was pretty much OK unless we were near to our destination and then there was terrible engineering on the road with speed humps which was a truly wake up call with a bright ☀️ welcoming us to Kodachadri.

Around 7 in the morning the bus stopped and we were at our destination. It was nice, clean and a decent homestay with lot of rooms. When I say rooms I mean both bathrooms and bedrooms ☺. Anyone would love it coming away from creepy Bangalore traffic to such a silent place.

After quickly freshening up, we packed one bag with some eatables n juices and we’re ready for home cooked breakfast. We grabbed some nicely cooked Poha, upma and had a nice milk tea. Immediately​ after breakfast we got into the bus to reach towards the starting point, a couple of KM’s away.

Part 1: The beginning

To start off, there was a small intro session among the group . We were almost 30 in number and many of them were first timers like us but there were experienced ones also. So the real journey begins…

We started walking on a wide gravel road alongside tall trees. Sky was clear and sun was bright and we continued walking under sun, sometimes shade. Eventually we started feeling like ^yes we are on a trek king trip now^. After a quick count of people at the checkpoint , the real fun was awaiting us.

Here comes a narrow lane as we entered jungle one following the another. No doubt, route was confusing and guide is a must there as you can lost very easily. The trees were giving us a good protection from the sun and we were clicking few random pics on the way. There were some ups n down and also electric wires on the sides to protect from wild animals, but don’t worry it will be switched on only in the night. Walking on the path is not that simple as it will become more inclined as we move on. There were few wickets already down n George was also struggling. In short couple of them were carrying stick to climb :p. After about 4 kms there was first break point or you can call it a butter milk point, oh man how yum it was. It was a small home in the valley having agricultural fields and surrounded by Western ghats.What else you can wish for!!!. We rested there for some 30 mins and had a group pic.

Trekkers!!!Part 2: Waterfalls

We moved forward with more expectations n enthusiasm as what next is coming to us. Initially the way was pretty flat and we started hearing the peaceful noise of water as we were heading to our second halt “Waterfalls”. There were small waterfalls on the way and water was so fresh n pure . You touch it and you feel it. It is always beautiful to be in lap of nature. Also there were points where path was becoming little rocky and tough to go up but after crossing all the hurdles we reached to waterfalls. Even in this much dry weather the water flow was very much on. It was a good halt for about 30 mins to have a sit around there on rocks and chat with your friends.

Part 3: The real challenge begins

As soon as we started from there it was getting tough at least for first timers. The route was very much inclined and it was not just a simple path to walk on. It was more zig-zag with shapeless steps and on one side there was no support at all. You need to be little cautious to walk there and better don’t slip, grip in the shoes matter a lot here. For about a km it was like that only and I heard people saying. “Yaar ye toh mera last trek hain”. Yes it was a challenge and I guess challenges are tough and should be.

So now we have to tighten our shoes and gear up for the most exciting part of the journey to get on the peak. Just to remind you, now we are directly under the sun with 4–5 kms ahead and a peak which is about 60 degrees in angle. Yes you need good energy for that so please have juices n snickers always along with you. It was again a gravel terrain and you just need to climb because an awesome view is waiting for you up there. We climbed n climbed with no mercy from sun showering it’s heat on us but yes we didn’t stopped at all. After some time it was silence and we were there at peak, with a feeling of achieving something. From left to right n from right to left you will see green and beautiful Western Ghats. I am sure with a little cloudy weather view must be more awesome with more lush greenery. Reaching to the peak and looking down will really make you feel that you are up near to clouds.

First PeakPart 4: Lunch Break

After reaching to the peak we all sat down under a big tree to have lunch. Aah we 3 forgot to carry lunch but thanks to Rohit (coordinator) to share his own lunch with us and it was good enough as we also have lot of eatables with us. We settled down there for almost 1 hour and came to know that we have to go climb more high and I was charged up .

Part 5: Ultimate experience

We started again, although the distance was not that much but it was more Inclined than the previous one. Well it took 30 mins for us to reach another milestone and surprisingly we found one uncle selling buttermilk and lime water. You will get to know the real value of both the drinks once you reach there.

Filled with energy now it was time to just walk beside the Western Ghats , to enjoy the view , time to click some really great pics and just rejoice the feeling. We were heading towards one famous temple at peak and view from top was great. We settled there for some 45 mins after having cucumbers with masala to beat the heat.

Western Ghats and mePart 6: Time to go down

Path to come down was not same and we followed the Jeep trail path on to the dusty road. Dusty here means too Dusty. It’s like any Jeep crosses and we can have our own ^Desh ki mitti ki khushboo^. Overall the path was same surrounded by trees in between and we nearly walked 11 kms down to reach back from where we started. Trust me if you do any physical activity daily in your life this trek is for you and you won’t feel tired even after coming down.

We waited for all the guys to reach back and then moved towards back to homestay. It was evening time and was getting pretty cold so we had some bhajji and chai to relax. It was a good warm feeling. Till the time dinner was ready everyone was chatting to each other and seeing pics. It was a amazing day for many of us as it was a different experience altogether. After sometime it was dinner call and we had chapati/cabbage/daal/rice/rasam. No food can beat home made food prepared with love n care. More to this we had bonfire after dinner under the so clear sky with moon showering it’s light in the dark. It was like after so many days I really can see the stars twinkling. It was good to talk with some unknown people around before we get into sleeping bags.

Mornings and time to Depart

As it was too chilly in the night and I forgot to pack my pullover it was a little disturb sleep. Around 7 AM everyone got up and started getting ready as we have to start for bangalore around 9 AM. But before that last yummy home made breakfast was waiting for us. There were Idlis/Poha/banana chips, and everything was so awesome.

After all this, we finally packed and were ready to depart from there. On the way we stopped to visit one fort beside a lake. There were couple of good points over there to have some random clicks and we spent an hour over there. On the way back to Bangalore, we stopped couple of times for lunch and snacks and finally we reached around 12 in the night.

It was an amazing first experience and I hope after reading this you are encouraged to go for a trek wherever you want to go. Please do like my post if you felt it was worth reading and do share it. You can also follow me if you are interested reading more about my future trips.