Bountiful Blissful Backwaters

All I cud see was the comforting, welcoming bed at midnight. Wasn’t very long before I drifted into sleep thinking of another night. Somewhere there a few hundred miles away, under the starry sky, the moon would shine bright on another group of people bereft of werewolves:).And how the night before seemed surreal, almost like straight out of a postcard. The valley with no sodium lamps. No blaring horns from vehicles. Just the dark of the night, the buzz of crickets, the thick bushes, wet swampy land, and the sound of the ripples hitting the bunds of the water body was wat we had for company as we coracled our way into the island with the paddle making tiny whirls on the surface of the reservoir.
The trip started off as expected on Friday evening after doubting and doubting more if 5 of us could fit in the small alto. The 707 ripped its way along the highway unmindful of the potholes,drizzles and blinding headlights. Reached pati's place at night for a warm welcome and devoured on idlis ,hungry we were for we stopped no where to eat on the way. Disturbed sleep , early morning alarms are something that I am not happy with most of the days but the prospect of roaring jog falls masked it all. At 6 we packed and left from shimoga to jog. A drive of 3 hours on reasonably well maintained roads and pristine green. watching people wake up to a new day , stopping for breakfast we reached the much-heard-of train track. No wonder it was so popular. Now who on earth would not want to travel by a toy train right thru the plush green paddy fields and clear streams? we walked on the tracks and then headed towards jog.

It was majorly disappointing to watch rocket trickle down like a meek stream.Sometimes in life its like that.U know wat is in store already.U have been told that there would be more people than water near the falls.But still the mind wants something grand... u know that small amount of freak chance that says what if by chance it has changed.what if they decided to open the gates of the dam today and jog is in full swell.huh! after a minute of staring at the falls I realized its beautiful. The mighty falls amongst the rocks stood towering in front of us. Almost as if to show its power, water had cut thru the rocks and carved it beautifully like a skilled sculptor. We decided to trek down to the base of the falls. Shoes without a strong grip not jus make u slower and make u concentrate on each step but also give shaky knees. To watch Raja, Rani, Roarer and Rocket pour down relentlessly was beautifully awesome to say the least. Climbed back in a record time and then munching munch we set out to Honnemardu.being guided rightly by the well read man , driving along the reservoir boundary , made it to THE PLACE. The road was motorable for most part. But the last few meters before the base camp were swampy and all of us except captain got off the car. After we inspected the track and gave a green signal , he almost propelled the car thru the mire and we were greeted by ganapathi-the rep of "The adventurers”. The Adventurers are the group who have conceptualized Honnemardu and developed????? Ok I would rather say made it congenial for adventure/ water sports. Each of us was hungry and wanted food and some rest to get our legs back in shape before we started any other activity . We chose our room - the one to the right and placed our luggage, took out our plates and assembled in the circle for lunch.Beetroot+onion palya, onion sambar+rice.Filled to the brim barely managed to walk back to our room that was a few meters away from the circle.R and I went to the loo , the door of which din close and when we were done, she pointed to something on the ground, very close to the door, that was brown in color with black spotted dots and curled up in circles like chakli .I immediately recognized it was snake.But the amount of noise we were making din cause it to move, so I thot may b some1z playing pranks keeping a clay model of a snake close to the toilet door. I initially thot of taking it in hand and throwing it away but something in me suggested that I shud confirm first. So we poured water close to it. No it dint move. Now I was sure it was a model and she thot it was rusted iron .Another splash on it and it suddenly crawled up with its hood a lil expanded. That’s it. I jus freaked out , screaming out loud started running away from there. For almost 10 minutes anything, that touch me slightly I perceived as the snake we saw.P and the others thot we were exaggerating and went to inspect.O wanted a foto n they opened the door fully to get more light. I guess they still dint believe fully that it was indeed a snake albeit a small one, so they used a stick to jus tickle it.Yuckkkkkkk it started moving on the cemented floor making creepy sound that freaked all of us out!!!We headed back and were about to drift into sleep the other group knocked on our door.Ganapathi had sent for us .Cursing the noisy group we reluctantly got ready and yeah on the way saw another black snake(rattle I guess--*shrugs and twists lips as if to say oh snakes- they are a common sight*). We guessed Ganapathi was a trained rural man as he spoke understandable English and insisted we form a single line circle each time before he spoke. Thus we christened him Circle Ganapthi ;).He briefed us the agenda for the rest of the day. First swim in the water and get used to life jackets. Learn to coracle and manage it on our own and then finally pack bags and coracle to the near by island for a night's camp. Now it does not sound like fun when one is asked to get into cold water that deepens in a slope to about 150 feet.U need to trust life jackets and believe that come wat may thy shall not drown. After dips and shivers finally started enjoying. The mild sun, vast expanse of water boundaried by green mountain on all sides made it very pleasurable. Next we had to coracle .5 of us in one coracle , 2 long alumimium paddles, some rusk and chakli and we had an awesome time trying not to hit the bushes that had grown into the water along the bunds. Then we had hot tea, and left for the island at dusk. The almost-full moon reflecting the sun rays, the mirror like water surface reflecting moon light was blissful and made the valley feel like haven.we reached the island rowing in turns , 4 in a coracle. It was dark and we jus walked thru the barely laid out tracks to the camp site.

Pitching tents on our own, giving out werewolf cries we were ready for dinner famished by the swim.Criss-cross campfire that later became a star type. Nonstop irritating banter by the other group and the wet clothes made us feel cold. When dinner arrived we gorged on the chapathis and bele paysa endlessly. Finally laid out the mattress sheets and went to sleep. It started raining at night and the tip tip sound on the tent+fear of some creepy crawlys sharing our tent dint help us sleep much but we caught up enough to feel recharged for the next day. The day was welcome by a 100 hundred chirping birds , patterned dew drops, fresh air and sky looked innocent for some reason. Sun hid behind the clouds and we went to spot the Linganamakki dam that held all the water from flowing at Jog. The almost-a Kilometer long dam was a sight. same exercise of coracling brought us back to the main camp. we had tea and poori palya for breakfast.Musambi to wash down the pooris.Finally spotted the much expected leeches , washed plates pouring out water from the only source of water to drink/wash/clean - The well near the dining circle. There was still a trek to catch the view of the valley and canoeing to be done. Though we surely knew the view at the end of the trek would be worth every drop of sweat , we wanted to do canoeing and head back home. After convincing the other group and Ganapthi for the same, we ran back to the back-waters. Canoe looked cool as it cut thru the water and moved at a lightning speed when compared to the coracle of the previous day.R and I bravely took one canoe and set out. Somewhere feeling like Columbus/ Marco polo/ vasco da gama;).The spirit of sailors instilled :)It was a lot of fun to prevent the canoe from toppling. All about synchronization circle ganapathi explained. Make a C in the water when u want to turn left, ulta C if u want to go right. Co-ordinate and shift to the centre and then change sides.Dont let the paddles sink, u wont coz u have life jacket he said. So simple...!2 rounds of it and hands started singing in pain SEEEEE....... ulta SEEEEE...........It was noon time and we had to leave soon.One last time for this trip , we thot and plunged again into the water unmindful of another set of wet clothes. Floating with hands spread wide apart and drifting with the flow of water, staring at the blue sky dotted with clouds feels amazingly good. Staring at the rain drenching mountains that border the water body and watch the rain run towards us , sitting alone on a canoe far away from the crowd is equally blissful guarantees P.After a sumptuous lunch, we hit the roads to Bangalore at 2.Junk was the food for stomach and philosophy food for the mind. Talking of less eventful drives on US roads, Buddha, vipasana,society, dreams, choices, we brought to life the skydivers, tennis coaches, astronomers, fishermen, politicians, journalists and mechanical engineers in us to life as we discussed with vigor and passion the ideas and the different schools of thot.Bottlemani with tired legs and strained eyes offered to give up training on Proj management if we went out on such treks every weekend. The sole driver captain conquered all of the 800Kms brilliantly and this trip shall remain fresh for a long time to come. After all its not everyday that u hear stories of buffaloes swimming across islands for food, that u see peacocks flying right in front of ur car to cross the road and snakes crawl fearlessly by ur side:). And here are my 1000 words and a few pics worth 1000 words to bring to life the wonderful trip.