Monday 14 November 2016

Another wedding, another trip and a memorable experience

I ended my last post about our trip with a question, "So. who's gonna be the next and where will be our next trip?",  and the answer is here. It's Dharun's wedding and our next trip was to Munnar via Erode again.

Happy Married Life Dharun bro.

What's special about this trip? Campfire. Right from my college days during my every trip always wanted to enjoy a campfire. Just like I have seen in TV and also in some places, sitting around the fire, chatting, singing, dancing, enjoying, etc. And, it never happened in any of my previous trips and it's finally fulfilled in this trip. But, I have to admit it wasn't as great as I imagined, still something is better than nothing.

So, this time everyone boarded the train on time and 'action eh illa' this time since few people were missing this trip. We reached Erode as early as 3:30 am followed by a short bus travel to Komarapalayam to reach our hotel rooms. As usual, most of us dressed in traditional dhotis, which we all try once in a while like these functions, reached the temple just on time to catch the wedding ceremony. After finishing the 'pongal', we started our photo sessions, which went on and on, even the newly wed couples and their family left the temple before us. And, the wedding photographer took some good pictures, hoping that we will get it ;).

Followed by a lazy afternoon, few of us went to Achcham Enbathu Madamaiyada, in a local theatre. It was a half-open hall theatre without AC, but the screen and sound system was much better than what we have expected. As far as the movie, it was just watchable with ARR dominating the first half which tells the romance and turns into an action thriller in the second half. And, the climax was underwhelming. But, anyway it was nice to catch it on the release day in that area, Komarapalayam.

And, then we started to one of my memorable trips. Just like our last trip to Ooty, we started early morning 3:45 am to Munnar, we mostly slept throughout the journey and a wild elephant on the road woke up everyone and welcomed us to Munnar. Two innovos started reversing and we too started going back, but there were two more elephants at the back as well. Fortunately, those two left and it was quite thrilling for few minutes to see that big fat elephant with tusks walking slowly towards us. Anyway, it left without causing any damage.

This time we didn't have a hard time finding hotel to eat. Our plan was to reach our destination, our camp site after the breakfast around 10 am, but the travel took very long and we reached there for lunch. After a not-so-satisfying lunch we walked towards our base, which was nearly two hours long draining and tiring walk in a hot weather. After a refreshing tea, we started our actual trekking on the mountain. That place was surreal, the scenery around us was truly blissful. The mist passing through and touching our face. Even though we were little scared as we climbed up, but it was an extraordinary experience. And, as usual we didn't have much time and energy to explore fully.

Faking a smile for the picture, it was a tiring walk.

And, that night after dinner the campfire happened finally. That location was little awkward we didn't have much space around it. Following that everyone slept in the tents that was set around. This was the first time I ever used a sleeping bag and we all slept inside the tent, first time for the most of us, without fearing about any wild animals poking around our tent. We didn't have a problem with our mobile signal even at that top, which was disappointing though. I thought we would be cut off from this world for two days.

The next morning after having "puttu" for breakfast and clicking few more photos, walked towards the place where we left our van. The return wasn't as tiring and the weather also worked in favour of us. We were all set to Erode, and once again we were not sure whether we would catch the train. On the way we stopped at Lakkam Waterfalls. I went in without the intention of bathing, but seeing the falls couldn't resist myself from getting in. And, oh boy, I have never bath in a freezing cold water like that before. It was definitely a highlight of our trip, but it's a shame that we didn't have enough time to spend in that falls fearing we would miss our train. We managed this trip without much cash reserve and we searched for ATMs everywhere, thanks to Modi ji.

We reached Erode station well before our train's departure time, once again Dharun anna sent us some extra ordinary dishes for dinner, we couldn't thank him enough, it was overwhelming. Thanks for your hospitality Dharun bro and we all wish you a fantastic married life.

Overall, I finish my experience of the trip to Munnar, trekking, camp fire, staying in tents, etc., with this lyrics from Rasali song in AYM written by Thamarai. I feel pity for those who couldn't stay with us for the whole trip, yeah Muthu I am talking to you ;).

முன்னும் இது போலே புது அனுபவம் கண்டேன்
என சொல்லும் படி நினைவில்லை..
இன்னும் எதிர்காலத்திலும் வழி இல்லை..
மறவேனே!

So, this could be my last trip with Kone guys, I will really miss these trips. Will there be another trip, let's see what future holds.