Trek to Tadiyandamol

A week before
The plan for Tadiyandamol came from Karthi who emailed a bunch of my friends containing pictures and information about the place. I wanted to go to the place as soon as I saw the pictures. Things didn’t go out well for the first few days since I couldn’t get enough details about my travel to the place. Karthi and other friends are going to start from Banglore and I have to start from Mysore. I got the information that there are buses from Mysore to Virajpet (On route to Tadiyandamol), so my travel plans got cleared though I didn’t have exact timing of the bus and bus routes.

Friday, 16th June 2006
The day came I confirmed with Karthi I will join them early next morning at Virajpet. I got my things packed. I picked up few extra plastic bags since karthi said that there is a high probability of rain (I had been on trek 7 – 8 years back in the Kullu Manali Valley of Himalayas. We got drenched in rain on the last day. The camp instructor told us plastic bags to save our things from getting wet! Also put plastic covers over socks prevent them getting wet and keep our feet dry). Mer my room partner was kind enough to drop me at bus stand.
I enquired about the buses to Virajpet, the people at the bus stand told that there are quite a few buses and all starts from Bangalore. I called up karthi to know about route the bus they are in is taking, he told they won’t be touching Mysore. So I waited for the bus which at 12.15, I thought I have to wait for 2 more hours. I regretted my decision on bringing the novel I was reading then. I roamed in the Mysore Bus stand and finally picked up a Magazine to keep me busy for the next couple of hours. I was skimming through the pages. I felt sleepy so was looking for some places to lie down on any raised platforms available. I found a good place; made myself comfortable and put an alarm just before 12.15 bus in case I overslept. I was quite tired after the days work so closed my eyes.

Saturday, 17th June 2006
Wee hours
I got just before 12.15AM bus and found myself comfortable in the middle of the bus. The travel was for 3 hours. I got down at Virajpet and was waiting for my friends from Bangalore. They arrived quite late than what I expected. There were 7 people Karthi, Sasi, Arvind, Maharaja, Siva and couple of Karthi’s friends. We booked up a room got some rest and got our breakfast done at Virajpet. We traveled by bus to Thadiyandamol. We reached the place after an hour. Karthi had already spoken to this person who drew a rough map and handed to us. He also gave some valuable instruction to Karthi. I was looking over the place and pulling Sasi kumars leg.

Late Morning
We started on our trek. The view of the mountain made every one us to gape. We have to trek for around 5 KM to reach the peak of the hill. Everyone was so happy that they were here after being reluctant about the trip since there was very less detail about the place. We followed karthi who took us through a small mud road using the map as guide. It was green just green every where except the 5 feet wide road which had less grass because of the movement of people and bullock’s .Every one was full of energy and we traveled a mud road for 1 kilometer. Then it the road became thinner and steeper. All picked up a stick to help them in their walk. Except Sasi who told he doesn’t need one and started off walking quickly. Every one was surprised by the speed in which he was walking.
We climbed up and where at a good height to look around. There weren’t lot of trees around but it every thing was green. The hillocks looked like they were covered with green carpet.

We stopped at a place to have some snacks before we reach the peak. We had breads with jam and the biscuits which I packed. I was sitting next to Arvind and sharing bread. I felt some thing moving behind me. I thought it must be sasi who has gone nearby to pickup the bag which we have left under the tree. Heard some barking from dogs... And then had some strange sound which I hear too often… God damn shit it was alarm on my mobile. I woke up from sleep I found myself in between two people on the raised platform I slept. I did hell a lot of dream for 1 hour. The other sound was from the stray dogs in the bus stand. I stopped the buzz from my mobile before it could wake the strangers sleeping next to me. I rushed to the enquiry to get info about the bus. The bus came in 5 min. To my disappointment I found the bus to be full. I waited for the next bus which will be there in another 30 min. It wasn’t my day; I found the next bus to be also full. I waited till 1o clock and told myself I won’t make it. Caught an auto to my home and slept soon after I lied down. I do not remember of any more dreams about the trek.

Couple of days later
I heard from the Bangalore guys that they had a good time. They also went to couple of new places. They didn’t say a lot of details feeling that it will sadden me. Sasi told some tale about their trek. They told they missed the path and didn’t reach the peak. I was happy inside my heart ;) They told it was an enjoyable trip and we should go again to reach the peak. Looking for the day to come to trek at Tadiyandamol.

Adding pounds :(

I have been eating quite a lot these days, with very less physical work done added couple of kilo's around my waist.
Should workout atleast 4 times a week.

All work and no play

Work has been keeping me busy for the last few months. Since I was new to the work place I was also not able to manage time properly. I wish I would be able to manage time more properly and spend some time outdoors on weekdays. The only happy thing is that I read few pages before I go to sleep.

Learning new things

My interest always inclines towards learning new technical things. I would like to break my head, hours together to find a solution for the problem at hand. Few days back I had a real challenge. I had to debug a .NET Web Application on a remote machine. Thinking on how to solve the problem with a little knowledge on how it work was real pain and fun. I learnt a lot of information on the topics related to remote debugging and Windows platform the hard way.