The 'count me in' thing was becoming real as I reached the Bangalore railways (Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Station). It was 10:10pm when I received a call from Ambi to reach her from the platform that I was in. 'I'm wearing a black sleeveless overcoat Ambi' I tell her and she still can't spot me. After a couple of lodestars, I see her. Ambi takes me to Sumati, a colleague from The Poorna Learning Centre who was accompanying the children on their trek plans.
The train arrives at 11:30pm late by half an hour; we get to our seats in S Bogie and I take the top berth for some reason. It's 12:01am, the train has gained full speed and I can feel my whole-body vibration. Ambi was on the other berth opposite to mine, nicely tucked under her blanket and dozed off. She must have been tired with no sleep from the previous night as she had to take care of Flavia aunty her mom. Flavia aunty on that previous night had faced problems with burping and slight chest pain all of a sudden.
It was an eight hours journey. Around 1:00 am the lights were off, I saw Ambi sleeping, silence sets in and I fell asleep too.
Woke up at 6:16 am, got down from the top berth, and got freshened up. Our seats were closer to the door where Sunaina and Deeksha sat enjoying the view. A lot of trees and one or two houses seemed to pass quickly in front of us (we passed by them), grey fog covering otherwise. We saw sunlight going bright and dull on the fields and fog began to disappear taking the slight chill along. We read a sign-board 'Sagara' after two more was our stop - Talaguppa.
It was a bright day! It was 7:30 am when we got off the train and walked, we took a group picture before we headed out of the station. There were small breakfast centers on our left while we walked. We ate at Acharya center - Avalaki Oggarne(Poha), Buns (that looks like Pooris), Idli, Kesaribath, and Halli Horlicks (Kashaya) and headed to begin our trek to Honnemardu. We were about ten people with all our backpacks entering the streets of the village that would lead us to our final destination. Abhay, the curious one, head on the deviated road that ultimately connected to ours. We decided to walk together and no more trials on trails to follow but just to listen to the guidance that we received over the call from the 'Honnemardu adventure camp'. There were berry plants, a lot of trees and plants to look around, Ambika noticed the berry plant - Karvanda and we stopped to munch on them. They were kaccha roads, but we enjoyed walking, 'a long walk, take left, follow the path just until you reach a tar road and left again' was something that I heard from Nachiketh, repeating what he heard over the phone. After an hour and a half, they had stopped ahead of us to relax while Ambika, Neil, and I exchanged some luggage we carried. We met the rest of them, sat on a fallen tree, and I had a panoramic view covering the entire area at one glance. There have been cashew trees not many just one or two, some tall trees which I couldn't identify, and the sun rays gleamed through them.
Woke up at 6:16 am, got down from the top berth, and got freshened up. Our seats were closer to the door where Sunaina and Deeksha sat enjoying the view. A lot of trees and one or two houses seemed to pass quickly in front of us (we passed by them), grey fog covering otherwise. We saw sunlight going bright and dull on the fields and fog began to disappear taking the slight chill along. We read a sign-board 'Sagara' after two more was our stop - Talaguppa.
It was a bright day! It was 7:30 am when we got off the train and walked, we took a group picture before we headed out of the station. There were small breakfast centers on our left while we walked. We ate at Acharya center - Avalaki Oggarne(Poha), Buns (that looks like Pooris), Idli, Kesaribath, and Halli Horlicks (Kashaya) and headed to begin our trek to Honnemardu. We were about ten people with all our backpacks entering the streets of the village that would lead us to our final destination. Abhay, the curious one, head on the deviated road that ultimately connected to ours. We decided to walk together and no more trials on trails to follow but just to listen to the guidance that we received over the call from the 'Honnemardu adventure camp'. There were berry plants, a lot of trees and plants to look around, Ambika noticed the berry plant - Karvanda and we stopped to munch on them. They were kaccha roads, but we enjoyed walking, 'a long walk, take left, follow the path just until you reach a tar road and left again' was something that I heard from Nachiketh, repeating what he heard over the phone. After an hour and a half, they had stopped ahead of us to relax while Ambika, Neil, and I exchanged some luggage we carried. We met the rest of them, sat on a fallen tree, and I had a panoramic view covering the entire area at one glance. There have been cashew trees not many just one or two, some tall trees which I couldn't identify, and the sun rays gleamed through them.
The route to Honnemardu was calm, there were few houses and we stopped at one of the houses for a small break. A lady came out hearing the murmur wondering who it was and was kind enough to provide us with water to drink later. It seemed like the house was built with blocks of red bricks. I loved the texture and the feel of it. We walked further after this break noticing the trees, leaving messages on the ground for the rest of the crew to have more fun! Around 11:30 am we could the Honnemardu water shining with a tint of turquoise. Nomito came out shouting a hello! When we reached the house, hugged Kavya and Nachiketh who'd met her already. She reminded them all the rules of the place and we went to wash our hands and legs, freshened up a little, and had our welcome drink - Tamarind juice. The tamarind drink was satisfying, 12:45 pm was our first circle, we ate Idlis and got ready for our first drill of floating, paddling, canoeing. We ate lunch and after a while got back to the water for the coracle drill, I had very little idea about the events and just went by the instructions. There was a boy, Nomito's son I assume and another person named Bali were instructors. The sun was so beautiful. We carried the coracle down, when I say down- The land is a bit rocky and higher next to the water since it was a rocky surface we couldn't slide it down but had to carry it. We understood the seating technique and to balance while on it, and row. We had to equally distribute our weight in the coracle to balance from flipping upside down. A group of four - began to row, we reached another shore after rowing for about twenty to thirty minutes. We saw the sunset in shades of orange-yellows after relishing that moment we rushed back to our coracle to get back to our rooms before it was going to get dark.
We had our circle time after dinner, to sort the items that we were to carry for our expedition. we thought packing all the things needed before sleep would help us save time and start early. To our surprise, on the next morning, we had to wait for another four people to join us before heading to the water.
We had our circle time after dinner, to sort the items that we were to carry for our expedition. we thought packing all the things needed before sleep would help us save time and start early. To our surprise, on the next morning, we had to wait for another four people to join us before heading to the water.
Day 2 at Honnemardu
Woke up at 6 am to freshen up. Halley Horlicks was ready. (Halley Horlicks - is a drink - milk with jaggery and turmeric, that is addressed in a fun way as Horlicks made by villagers) We met in the circle area that is the place where we have food together. It is also the place for our discussions and plans. 9:30 am we had our circle time, we were put into groups. There were two groups who were joining us in the coracle journey. We met one group on the previous night, who had been with us in the whole planning and we had dinner together. The other group joined us for the next morning. Instructions began at 10:00 am, it was short and quick. We carried food items, snacks, and a pair of clothes- minimal luggage as we had to keep coracle lighter. We started at 10:30 am from the bank and began paddling. A group headed in front to guide us, it had Swamy uncle, Nomito, their son, and a close friend-Bali. As we began, the morning breeze made us calm and paddling seemed effortless. It was a bright day. I wore blue shorts and a full-sleeved shirt to cover my arms. It seemed like time had slowed down. It was 10:54 am when we halted at the nearest rocky surface. We walked and stretched, had Chikkis (groundnut bars). I felt like a kid, energetic, and enjoying everything like I was looking at it for the first time. We spotted a shiny rock. Our next halt was at 12:15 pm. I was with Abhay, and two other people who weren't from Poorna, and by our third halt we were comfortable and joked while we paddled. Nachiketch had begun playing in the water during the halt, and Nomito screamed at him for doing that! This one was a good long break. We spoke to her for some time. We made shade out of the carpets we carried and sat under it for some time until everyone finished swimming and playing in the water. I dint play in the water. Ambika and some of us just sat and spoke to Swamy uncle and Nomito. (Refer to videos for convos)
We got into our coracle and began paddling, we changed the paddlers each one taking over, the water was so good, we could drink straight away, I noticed the bubbles and twirls, and the waves. They all seemed to be tuned in to make us move forward. I was taking a close-up video from my phone and I notice Swamy uncle's face grin and I at that point in time didn't understand the morse code he was making. Abhay and I took many pictures and once satisfied I rolled the phone in a cover to safeguard it from water and kept it inside the bag. My thighs began to burn because of the heat, it was turning red and I had to cover them with some cloth to avoid some more itch, lucky I had a scarf with me or I should have asked for Prasana's towel. I had thought about the face and wore a cap and arms - a full-sleeved T-shirt but I also realized about my legs, when this happened. Our next halt was to have lunch. We ate what he had in our lunchboxes, some of us shared and for some reason, I wasn't that hungry. Once we finished, we extended the break for ten minutes to relax and began our paddling once everyone was ready. The Sun that was above us had slowly slid down to our right. The sharp yellow colour was turning to orange and we could see the place, a dam that we were about to explore. We began estimating the minutes that we would take to reach, the paddling happened in full power. We cheered the paddlers, the ones in the other boats too, and sort of trying to reach first. By now the boat seemed comfortable to sit on and we learned to balance. We had to stay in line with the boat that was ahead of us. The boats were fifty meters away from one another and on water, though the horizon seems close it takes quite a time to reach. The horizon here I'm talking about is the dam that we saw from a distance. After an hour or so we reached, as we did- heard Swamy uncle yelling at one of the members who had walked ahead to explore the unfinished dam that we were to see. It is always important to stay in groups when on an expedition unless one really knows the place fully.
(To be continued)
(To be continued)
