Juwal Bose Says

The idea was there when i first did my trip to wayanad. I selectively left out Chembra peak for the sole reason to conquer it with fellow trekker Anish. So we planned to execute it on the third weekend of March09. Anish came to my home the friday evening and stayed with us. The next day we had an official agreemetn signing of a court case which had been prevailing for some years now. That was a satisfying settlement as we were getting some money back. We started our travel on bus before after noon. We had to see Devraj as Anish had to collect a mural painting which dev was doing. At trissur we met up with dev and he handed over the 6 foot mural of ‘Ashtalakshmi‘ which pictured 8 lakshmi goddesses. Anish settled the payment and we took a bus to kozhikode where we planned to deliver the mural, get the Fuji camera that anish had a friend bring him from US. When everything got settled it was very late at night and we planned to book a ticket to wayanad. Although we booked our tickets we found that our seats were already taken, thanks to some real sloppy work by the people at the ticket counter. Duplicate tickets were given out for the same pair of seats and we were left out. We got a refund and waited for the next bus. We reached Kalpetta at nearly 2 am and started enquiring about lodgings. Alas all the lodgings in Kalpetta was booked. This was news and the reason was that during weekends people from bangalore make weekend getaways to this place and all locdgingd got booked on weekends. We looked around for some time and found that the onl y option left was to find transport to sultan bethery and find a lodging there. We waited at bus stand and then the magazines arrived. Bunch of people started sorting everything. We were amazed to find this activity and to our happiness we found that the vehicle was going to sultan bethery to deliver news paper. We got a ride and it was real fun as the vehicle was free rolling onto shops to throw paper kits over to them. At sultan bethery we got a lodge for Rs 450 which was not worth Rs150, but we had no complaints.

We started early after 3 hours sleep, took bus to Kalpetta where we enquired about any bus leaving in the evening in which we can book tickets back. But the timings were not right. So we had food and got on bus to meppadi were we got an auto to Chembra peak. We actually stopped over at the forest range office at meppadi and the officer there informed us that the permission was not to be given from there. We would get the pass and guides from the office near the peak itself. The auto guy took us to the ticket counter which was on the way upto the chembra estate.

From Chembra_Mar_09

The tickets were for Rs 1000 for hard trekking and Rs 500 for mild trekking. This was an overkill as i had made treks on Himalayas for much cheaper rates. They will provide a guide for the rate and we were charged Rs 500 and allotted the hard trek. We all know that no one will come trekking if they charge Rs 1000. The auto took us to the bottom of the estate for Rs 70. It was 7kms and it was fair enough.
We started our walk towards a look out post where we found another guard. It was a scenic poit from where we can see the landscape.

From Chembra_Mar_09

The trek was supposed to be 4 hours up and down if we took it at a stretch. It was 2100 feets climb to the top and we took turns to rest when the guide simply walked on. We saw some other gangs returning from the trek and some foreigners too. It was only after a while that we saw the peak for real.

From Chembra_Mar_09

The whole area was barren due to a recent wild fire. Actually there should have been long grasses which were 6 feet high blocking all views. But this time we could see everything and that really killed the fun. We reached the lake where the mild trekking will end. Had some chocolates and bananas and lots of water. Advise is to carry 2 bottles of water atleast.

From Chembra_Mar_09

The trek consisted of 5 tiers of mountain climbing one after the other. We could reast after each steep climb. It was kind of severe when considered to the other treks that we had made.

From Chembra_Mar_09

It took us 3 hours to reach the summit. After some initial troubles we had become accustomed to the trek and towards the end it just ended abruptly. Last stretch of climb was rocky and fun.

From Chembra_Mar_09

On reaching the summit every one lied down basking in the mild sun. Sun had gone behind clouds and there was good breeze. This was relaxing. No one spoke a word, we just rested there watching the beauty all around us.

From Chembra_Mar_09

We were feeling real hungry by now as we didnt take much food on the way and have not had a good nights sleep. Suddenly we found that it was going to rain. We both had new cameras and were terrified at getting wet. So we had to rush down to beat the rain.

From Chembra_Mar_09

So we rushed down and made it back in record time. We just beat the rain and reached our Auto ride whom we had called up on our way back. We got back to our lodgings and took some rest, food and refreshment. We cancelled the idea of going for the Air bus as it was really late. We took a late night KSRTC to my place and Anish exited at his Uncles place at Kozhikode. We both knew that this was the most severe trek we had performed yet. It was also kind of dry as the vegetation was all removed due to the fire. I think i will take a break from dry treks for a while and rather look for scenic places for the time being. Looking forward to a getaway in the coming months.

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