This weekend’s trip to Seetha Nadi was great fun. Short, of course. 2 back-to-back 12 hour bus journeys would have been back breaking to say the least, but our enthusiasm levels made it bearable.
My camera died in the raft. We got stuck at one point. Water gushed in. Everything got wet including the camera, which stopped functioning after making uncomfortable noises. It served me well through the years (not the SLR, or I would have been heartbroken!) so was rather crushed. Anyway, no pictures from my side.
So instead of doing a travelogue this time around, I decided to write a bit about the folks I met during this trip. I only knew one person when I started off. And another one, via email exchanges.
But one of the fringe benefits of these trips are the interesting people you land up meeting and befriending! Some you will probably never meet again. But with some, the bonds strike instantly and you know that you’ll meet again, sometime, somewhere.
So here’s presenting the seven musketeers, in no particular order.
Apra
A blessing in disguise he turned out to be! He had that one vital quality missing in all of us : the ability to speak in Kannada. For many miserable moments on Friday afternoon, I tried communicating with the bus fella, trying to convey to him that I wanted 8 tickets to Hebri. If we had continued the conversation, we might all have been on a bus to Kerala! Apra stepped in and took over efficiently 🙂 A photographer to boot, he was found in many vertically and horizontally challenged positions after our rafting expedition. I am not sure of the pictures he came up with but we applaud his flexibility.
Ansh
Quiz question: Is it possible for someone to be in Bangalore for 5 years and not be on a single trip anywhere? The answer apparently is yes, as I discovered with Ansh. However, this Delhiite has not wasted any time discovering places outside India. Now, discover India, I say!
Another enthu photographer, Anshu was accompanied by his flashy Olympus camera. He also gave us demonstrations of his cool gadget while we drooled (you know how we women drool over anything that has many buttons!).
G-Gal
She first signed on for the Honnemardu trip, but it didn’t work out. G-Gal was determined to make it for this one and sms’d me from Chennai saying she was coming! Trouble was afoot when we boarded the bus and after about 5 minutes she wailed, “Are we there yet?†And then more trouble when she told me that she would feel more secure if she was belted in. Like in an aeroplane? Aha. G-Gal hadn’t done bus journeys for a while. Nor had she roughed it out in the jungle with basic accommodation and cleansing facilities. However, after this first encounter with living on the wild (and rather basic) side, she promises to go on more trips. We are counting on that G-Gal!
Wernie Boy aka Gypsy aka the Worm (actually, you can call him anything and he’ll respond)
What can I say about Wernie boy? Both G-Gal and I pounced on him the moment he boarded the bus : he is such a pouncable character. He thought we were the ‘evil twins’ after that and kept giving us suspicious looks throughout the bus journey. When he got a chance to stop eating BJ’s head, of course. Werner belongs to that school of thought that believes in speaking, irrespective of whether someone is listening!
Also, very impatient, Wernie Boy kept asking, What’s the plan? What’s the plan? This when it was obvious to everyone that it was raining cats and dogs and pretty much all our options like trekking and walking were impossible given the conditions. I didn’t kill him because I sensed he was genuinely asking the question. And not just acting dumb :>)
BJ
Moving on to the Texan who, when we were about 2 hours from the destination inquired politely if we could take a plane back. The bus journey obviously had proved a little too much for him. However, BJ has been in the country for about 3 weeks and one must say that with his initiation into the India season with the monsoon, I was wondering why he didn’t look more harassed. Even G-Gal managed to look more flustered at times at the lack of luxuries! And then when we were all seated on the raft, all ready to battle the elements, he asks rather curiously: “What river are we on, by the way?†And then a little later: “And we’re still in Karnataka?†Geography lessons for BJ, anyone?
The Prince
But we never quite discovered what he’s the Prince of! This gentleman has done 3 treks in his 4 months in India (Anshul’s jaw dropped to the bus floor at this point!). He’s adapting quite well to the Indian climes and when asked if he liked India and Indians, he said (looking in Wernie’s direction). “Yes, until now!†Poor Wernie. I think he got too much of our verbal bashing!
Ann ‘T’
A common friend introduced us knowing our common love of traveling. Ann mailed me one day asking if I’d like to do something over a weekend and thus plans were hatched. We zeroed in on the rafting plan. She asked if it was okay as she didn’t know how to swim! I said, all the more fun!! Ann T, thankfully turned out to be calmer and more serene than G-Gal and moi, who don’t usually know when to stop talking and blabbering (and laughing loudly!). Can you imagine 3 women talking at the same time? Recipe for disaster, I say!
And that’s me!
No! Yoko Ono didn’t come rafting with us folks – it’s only me!
Fun description of a fun-filled trip.
Kudos
Anshul
Some one needs to write about you too…
Anita reminds me of a 60’s Hippie when she puts on her “superman” glasses!
Initially I found the name amusing, Bora is Kanglish for “Are you getting bored?” (Bora-A?). It was only later on I found out that she was no way boring!
Other than starting a water fight with the other raft, she was pretty much harmless. She insisted on calling her neighbour Sah rukh Khan and he refused to speak to any of us during the entire trip…
when we were about 2 hours from the destination inquired politely if we could take a plane back.
Have to say after many weeks I cracked up like hell and laughed out aloud. Luckily am alone at home. I am from a village near Hebri originally so you can imagine why I am lauging like hell at this question. The closest to airport is either Mangalore airport or the helipad at Kudremukh Iron works – both quite far from Hebri.
What buses did you take to Hebri? AFAIK, there are daily at least two LUXURY buses to Hebri from Bangalore. Used to take every weekend when I worked at Bangalore.
BTW any snake stories? As you may know Hebri is one of the last places where there plenty of King Cobra snakes (Kaalinga).
Later
A
It is said that even the journey is tough if u have a good company u can pull it through and actually enjoy the hard journey. Looks like ur trip fits the frame perfectly. 🙂
Testing comments
Amazing. You make me miss Bangalore even more – and the desire to join you is at an all time high. Unfortunately I have no trips to India planned for the next 1.5 years.
Hay
anitha, this is regarding your 12 hour bus trip both sides… I don’t know what route you guys take, but here is an alternate route to Hebri..
Take a bus from bangalore to shivamoga, if you start by 9 in the night you will be reaching shivmoga by 4-4.30. come out of ksrtc bus stand and you can see many mini-buses their ( these look like a normal bus but short in length.)get in to any them they stop at hebri. By 7-7.30 you will be in hebri..
One more thing if you start at 4.30 from shivamoga you will be in agumbe by 6-6.30, keep your cameras ready because this is where the real scenery is (and you will also know why you can only take a mini bus).
while coming back, you can go to agumbe from hebri. from agumbe you have good buses to bangalore…
( I know you guys have done this 2 times and would not plan to do it once again, but if you go next time to sita nadhi go to agumbe,and i know you will never regret it..)
you may have to enquire at KSRTC for exact bus timings..
Nag…
Hi
loved the texture of potraits and the descriptions. we had rafting of a differnt sort in mumbai:)
Hey,
Am commenting for the first time in this blog, but an avid reader of this blog.
I really liked the wonderful trips you had made.I thought such trips can be made only by intimate groups and very rare…but you people are rocking actually …
How i wish even i could join the group…
Keep writing…
hey anita, next time u plan a trip just drop me a line…
this time rafting aint fr me.. i knw no swimming..
trekking, mountain climbing, just visiting places are all fine for me…
btw, thats quite nice description of all & u shld ‘ve written abt u also in 2nd person perspective.. 🙂
Nice snaps and also the write-up…
pity your camera died..
ps: the system is not allowing me to comment here !!!
hahahah liked that Yoko ono part 🙂
Nice pictures..Kinda like an indie movie promo which is pretty cool. You should have taken your extraordinary cat on your trip. That would have been fun.
hi.
this is off topic.
could you change my url in your blog roll from to the current one. tnx
harini (i am in there as gargi – which is the name under which i post)
I hope you have bought another camera now. You should continue with your photo rich travelogues !!!!
Wow Anita!
This is a Wow that is long pending! Came to your blog from Vaishnavi’s and Usha’s a long time ago, and have been meaning to tell you that I admire the way you do so much with your life, the way you create happiness instead of just waiting for it to happen, the way you connect with people, the things you observe, and of course the way you write!
I share your interests in travel, photography, French (taught French literature for 7 years!)books – and cats! – saw your rafting invite and wanted to come, but did not happen – would certainly love to accompany you on any other trips you plan!
Would love to get to know you better, do mail if you have the time. All the very best!
anshul: thanks man!
apra: superwoman glasses, you mean! i won’t forget the expression on charu’s face when i called him shahrukh! and there i was thinking i was so lucky to be sitting next to the namesake of bollywood’s most famous idol 😉
anantha: we cracked up too! and no cobras thank you, though one of the adventure guys did warn us about them!
deepa: so very true 🙂
colours: that’s rather sad. but you can keep reading about them here 😉 and when you come, please do join us for a trip 🙂
nag: thanks a lot for that information! we didn’t get bookings this time and therfore took about 2 hours more than the usual time.
harini: yes, have been reading all about it on mumbai bloggers blogs!
vinu: thanks for commenting and please do sometime 🙂
kris: will do definitely. am planning another trek soon. and btw, you don’t need to know swimming to raft! a lot of folks didn’t. all you need is a life jacket 🙂
prashant: thanks!
pallavi: sad, but true 😉
suchintya: i wish i could take her for all of my trips!
harini: done!
srs: actually, it was my back-up camera. my slr is still intact…
asha: thank you soooo much. that was a really nice comment that made me smile. especially this bit: “the way you do so much with your life, the way you create happiness instead of just waiting for it to happen, the way you connect with people, the things you observe, and of course the way you write” i went through a phase in life where i waited desperately for some peace and happiness and realised that it wasn’t going to happen, unless i made it happen myself. you’ve been teaching french literature! wow, i am already impressed. and you like cats. okay, that’s it! i don’t really need anything else! will be in touch, definitely!!
I am new to blogging. Besiders I get so little time. So now I get up at 5 am to do blogging.
Ok so it was very nice to come across your blog. Its quite comprehensive. I enjoyed reading it.
All the best
Mohammed
Karachi
Wow!! i like your spirit! I admire people who know how to live their life and I feel you are one amongst them!
Found your blog thru google as i was planning a trip to kudremukh myself. You have described it so beautifully that I am longing to get there now.
Hope you have many more such adventures (minus the leeches 🙂 )
Enjoy!!
Hey Yoko ( a way cuter version of the original),
great Post . Sounds like a very cool trip… your descriptions of ur fellow musketeers was hillarious , especially the one about wernie, poor boy sounds like he was verbally molested by u guys ! woul have loved to see pics… is there a posting by anyone of the others where the pics would be avilable?
TC and keep those posts coming…
Willy
Dear All,
It was nice to read your experience of travelling to HEBRI..
I am also from Hebri
Thanks