Nagala East - Sep 17,18
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post trek write-up by GayathriSai
I have done three treks with CTC so far (excluding the current one) and it has been Nagala West all the time! I’ve been waiting to go trekking to other places. So imagine my excitement when I receive a mail inviting registrations for a moderate trek to ‘Nagala East’! I did what I’ve been craving to do – ‘Register’, but I was not quite hopeful of getting selected as I learnt that the organizers had received 75 registrations (within 48 hours of sending out the invite) of which, just 30 members were to be chosen. To my great joy I later received a mail of selected members and found my name in it. And to my relief, I was given to understand that I needn’t bring my car as a tempo traveller was being arranged for the journey. Raj and I set out from his house, walking from Shastri Nagar to Madhya Kailash (a 25 minute walk) in the rain at 2.45 a.m on Saturday morning. At least I had an umbrella, but Raj chose to ignore the fact that it was raining, which could make him wet! I admire invincibility when I see it and I saw it in Raj! Well, through our walk to Madhya Kailash I guess I bugged him into silence (and hopefully not to death) with narration of my previous experience with ‘Nocturnal Nagala’. Finally we reached our destination and joined the other members. But my earlier relief was short-lived when we learnt that the van driver had a flat tire that he was trying to set right for 2 hours (which was conclusive of the fact that he didn't intend turning up!). Hence Raj & I had to bring our cars. But once behind the wheel, I can never stop driving - as my love for it is absolutely insatiable! We drove down to CMBT and merged with the rest of the gang. While, all were engaged in serious discussions on travelling arrangements, I sneaked out with Arun Prabakar and Shankar to satisfy my addiction – ‘tea’. The journey then started at around 5.30 a.m. After an hour, we again stopped for a tea break and finally reached Nagala at 7.30 a.m. As usual, the first activity was distribution of food articles. I must say that the menu was awesome – Idlis for breakfast, tamarind rice for lunch, bisebella bath & soup (to be cooked) for dinner, amongst others. Kudos to Rekha, the official cook of the gang for ensuring that unlike our muscles that constantly screamed for rest, our stomachs were never given the opportunity to voice their protest of hunger! She was so unconditional with her cooking, post which she was ever magnanimous with the food distribution (most important!). We started our trek at 8.00 a.m. and had to walk along a dam that was filled with water of 5 feet depth. I was given to understand that at times when the dam was dry it was possible to walk across it to reach the trail. Since it was full, we had to take the longer route and walk along and around the dam. The dam with water covering half of the trees in it seemed like a scene out of a postcard of some foreign land (except for the temple at the center) - picturesque!  The trail was quite clear in Nagala East (unlike the West, where it was just too easy to get lost). I could feel the excitement emanating from everyone around. To make myself relax, I began taking deep breaths and the familiar smell of trees, wood and insects clogged my brain. We reached the first pool in an hour. Rekha was the first one to get into water and swim across to the small waterfall at the farther end of the pool. Shankar & Arun Prabhakar followed suit. The first pool was lovely, but not deep enough, especially for the divers. We were just glad to stretch our limbs and subsequently took out our food packets to have breakfast. We then continued our trek onto the dead end pool. Though I had heard a lot about the dead end pool, I was irretrievably soaked in fascination when I set eyes on it. It was great fun, diving from atop one of the big boulders. The group generally had a whale of a time swimming and diving, after which we had to move on to reach the picnic pool before dusk. Being a dead end that had to be crossed to march towards the final destination of the picnic pool, it was named the ‘Dead End Pool’. It was heart-warming to see the entire group engrossed in getting all the bags and non-swimmers across. We placed the bags on a swimming tube (one at a time, of course) and with the help of ropes, used it to transport them across the pool. Similarly, non-swimmers were also ferried across the pool. So went all the bags and non-swimmers to the other side of the pool. It was a wonderful sight – amazing co-ordination and team effort!   Once across the pool, we had to cross a huge boulder. Climbing onto the boulder and off it was a bit tricky as the surface was quite smooth leaving no room for grip anywhere. Many of us had to be helped onto the boulder and subsequently off it as well. The dead end pool was a picture of aesthetic loveliness. The ridge formations were intriguing as it made me realize that many hundred years ago the very place where I currently stood could have possibly been the floor of the stream/river. After crossing the dead end pool none of us had the energy to move forward without refuelling ourselves. We thus raided our backpacks for lunch packets. We grabbed food off each other’s packets like starved creatures trying to satisfy our hunger. Once refuelling was done, we then proceeded to the picnic pool. After the dead end pool our trail got a bit difficult with steep climbs and equally steep falls.   The picnic pool was a visual delight. The waterfall was quite small compared to that of the fourth pool at Nagala West but was beautiful nevertheless. The pool was 20 meters in length and had an interesting shape – almost a perfect rectangle! The water was very cool against our sweat drenched body. As I was drinking in the beauty of nature and our camping site, I heard a couple of splashes…..Arun and Varadarajan had taken the much required plunge! Shankar’s never-ending chattering and enthusiasm helped in keeping all our spirits high. I was disappointed with the fish in the other pools as they refused to give me the much anticipated pedicure. But my disappointment was pleasantly short-lived as they all promptly came to kiss my feet in the picnic pool. I was basking in the glory of my pedicure as the others were getting settled. Most of us were dead beat and ravenously hungry. Our dinner menu was Bisibelabath and our chief cook Rekha got down to instructing the team to help with the preparations. That was the best bisibelabath I’ve ever tasted in my life (though I had to pay a price for my greed – I burnt my tongue and upper palate, which still hurts even after 3 days!). Amidst volunteering work, I had sneaked out for a bit, to play cards with Rajesh, Arun, Prem, Mani & Co. Having food at the top of a mountain, beside a gorgeous pool filled with magnanimous fish that are kind enough to oblige us all with indiscriminate pedicure, under the moon-lit clear sky with millions of stars casting their loving gaze upon us was the most soul stirring experience ever in my life!   As our tired and worn out muscles were torturing us for rest, we were forced to settle down for the night. We were just settling down and spreading our sleeping mats when I noticed that the sky was beginning to get cloudy. Promptly I started panicking because my mind recollected something not so pleasant. As much as I loved the ‘Nocturnal Nagala’ experience, the one thing that wasn’t too pleasant and which will be forever etched in my memory was the wet and cold night that I had to endure under the tarpaulin sheet. It wasn’t encouraging to note that we ran the risk of a repeat. Though all of us retired for the night, I woke up once every two hours to check out the sky and cloud density (like it was going to help, nevertheless, the human mind sometimes seeks solace!). At 6.00 a.m I was quite satisfied to note that the night went well (i.e., without rains). Most of us woke up at around 8.00 a.m and were soaking in the pool for the next two hours when our chief cook Rekha again came to our rescue. We had left over Bisibellabath which was recooked with extra vegetables and ghee. After swimming for 2 hours, food was a welcome respite to our starved stomachs. We then set out to pack our things and retrace our path to reach the car park by 6.00 p.m. Surprisingly our pace had improved from the previous day and we broke our previous records. We started from picnic pool by 10.45 a.m and reached the dead-end pool by 2.30 p.m. Resting our limbs for a while, we left for the first pool by 4.00 p.m and reached by 5.00 p.m. We were out at the entry point by 6.00 p.m. We took group photographs by around 7.00 p.m. and left to Uttukotai by 7.30 p.m. As none of us could wait to reach Chennai for dinner, we stopped at a road side dabha for dinner. Dinner was great fun as we again grabbed food off each other’s plates. Some of us proceeded to have tea after dinner (I had tea before and after!). After dinner, we left for Chennai and dropped off people at the respective pick-up points. A thoroughly professional effort from all – organizers and team members. The caring, sharing, giving and taking reminded me of that of a family, absolutely unconditional! It is astounding to note the inexplicable bonding amongst strangers coming together, with only one thing in common – the passion to live with nature and amongst its lovers! Here, you make friends for life and go back home feeling much lighter than when you’d left! I thank everyone for making this trek an exceedingly memorable one! Max (for fascinating me with stories of trekking in Germany and other parts of Europe), Shankar (with his infectious enthusiasm & rusks for tea, winky), Raj Jacob (for his poise and confidence), A.Raj (for his volunteering and thoughtfulness), RJ (for always getting caught by me with a mouthful of something – adorable!), Rajesh & Arun Prabhakar (the discussion on Spices, Mersk and Banking), Rekha & Chandrika (for being such a wonderful cook and assistant cook respectively – I am a fan of their youthful souls & extraordinary fitness levels), Sheeba & Cheruba (for the calm/peaceful exterior and solid interior, have tried my best to shut up but have never succeeded in 27 years), Ela (for being a cool cucumber throughout!), Mani/Nachiketa/Arun/Palani (was thrilling to keep pace with you guys and for helping me stay awake through our journey back to Chennai), Surya (for additional stock of food, winky and an untiring effort at keeping Ranjani comfortable & kicking!), Sunil & Aditya Prasad (best pals from yet another memorable trek), Shamim (for, he made my day by saying he liked my post trek write-up on Nocturnal Nagala), and all others including Kishore, Aditya Verma, Varadarajan!  |
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