I have done many mountain treks. I have had the opportunity to walk in snow. But I have never done a snow trek in my life till Cochin Adventure Foundation came up with their snow trek programme to Kedar Kanta in Uttarakhand district.

The one week trip started on Valentine’s day of 2020; no better day chosen to start for a mountain lover. There were 15 of us from different places from Kerala united together under CAF. The team included Tony, Dr. Abhilash, Veena, Hari, Arsu,Nadeem, Jomy,Eby, Rony, Ashik, Amal, Zalesh, Sumesh, Shyamkumar and myself. The medical formalities were completed . We were supposed to fill and submit declaration and consent forms..I took a flight from Cochin to Dehradun and reached Jolly Grant airport in the evening. Half a dozen people have already reached the place.We got an idea not to waste the evening and took a cab to visit JHILMIL JHEEL SANCTUARY about two hours from Dehradun. We were taken in the forest open jeep.

We were fortunate enough to see different types of deers including swamp deer, Sambar deer and spotted deer. Among the lot of birds that we saw the most interesting was the ORIENTED PIED HORNBILL and CINEREOUS VULTURE in the vast field. During the drive we were able to see nail marks of Tiger on trees, wild elephants and wild boars. We were able to spot and hear the sound of the great SARUS CRANE.

On the way back we visited the famous religious destination, HARIDWAR. Some of our friends did rituals there. We had dinner on the way back. Most of us stayed in Nomads house Bunk stay with rooms and dormitories. Few people took flight to Delhi and from there to Dehradun by train. Some of them missed their trains and they had to take flight. 

By morning we were all ready. We started off in two jeeps to SANKRI, a tiny village base camp seven hours from Dehradun. In one hour we reached Mussoorie and had breakfast from there. I never missed the fried momos whenever I came to the North. We saw the KEMPTY WATERFALLS in Mussoorie.On the way we had lunch from Har Ki Doon restaurant. Most of us had maggi/roti. INitially we followed the Yamuna River till Naugaon and later we moved along the Tons river. We reached Sankri by around 6.00 pm

We stayed in the Himalayan High homestay. They had a puppy with a fracture of its leg and it was interesting to see someone aptly put a splint for him.This was a base camp for various other treks like Har Ki Dun. In the evening, we were briefed about the programme. We collected the trekking gear for rent that was ordered prior to coming. This included Rain Ponchos, Trekking shoes, Trekking pole, trekking pants and Jackets, headlamp and we also got sleeping bags,  gaiters and crampons to wear while trekking in snow. The night was chilling though it was nothing compared to what we were going to experience in the next few days.

Har Ki Dun Swargarohini mountains were seen from the homestay. There were apple orchards owned and leased by Reliance group in the vicinity. It was not the time for apples anyway.

Next day morning after breakfast, we set out  by around 10.30 am for the great adventure . We were supposed to climb 4 km on the first day. We started a bit late as some of us had to buy a few essential things from the market. We were quite excited to trek on snow. It was the first experience for most of us including me. There were a lot of other trekking groups. By 12.00 noon we reached the first resting point which was a dhaba. Some of us had tea and maggi from there. We saw a lot of people slipping and falling in the snow.  Though the surrounding snow was white, the walkway was almost black in colour as the mud was mixed with mule poop.

Mules were used to carry the load to the camps. The view of leafless trees on the snow covered mountain was a beautiful contrasting scene. On the way we saw a lot of mules climbing up and down the hill. We also started to see tents where people stayed overnight. Ours was yet to come.After walking for about 4 hours we reached our first base camp by around 2.30.

The tents were ready. I got into one of them. Three of us were supposed to stay in one tent. There were tents for other groups also. Our group had separate kitchen and dining tents. After a nice hot cup of tea we explored the surroundings. The beauty of the place really made us forget all our tiredness. We got time to mingle and talk more intimately. We had already become a close family. We were told that we had entered GOVIND PASHU VIHAR national park and sanctuary and so camp fire was not allowed.

We had a gastric feast at regular intervals, the tea, soup, roti, dal rice; everything felt so tasty there. The moment the sun came down, it started to become really cold. Though we got inside the tent early at night, the mattress, inner and outer sleeping bag and many layers of clothes just couldn’t prevent the freezing cold. Getting out for wee was really a nightmare and we had to do it a few times as we drank a lot of water to prevent altitude sickness. That night most of us slept just for around 2 hours from 4 am to 6 am.The sleep was quite shallow too.

Next day morning after breakfast, we started by around 9 am to the next base camp. One of our team members decided to go back and he was not feeling well and he waited for us in Sankri base camp.  Within 2 hours , we reached a beautiful frozen lake called JUDA KA TALAB. It was 2700 m high. We took some snaps and moved on.

We walked for around 3 km and reached TALKETRA, the second base camp by around 12.30 pm. The place was much more beautiful than the first one.  We had to wait for the mules with the tent materials to come. It was quite unfortunate to see the mules falling with luggage on their back and their masters were brutally beating to make them get up.We helped the guides to make the tent. Meanwhile some of our artistic minds woke up and we made a couple of craft work on snow including snow men. 

After lunch we were not made to rest much. Afternoon we were made to do a 1 hour acclimatization walk. The place around was mesmerising and no camera could capture the complete beauty of that place. We climbed the hillocks covered with snow and walked between the massive trees. Some of us on the way back slid over the snow. The night was almost the same as the previous one. We were told that the temperature would be around -5 to -6 degree C. I slept only for an hour. In short I slept only for around 3 hours in 3 full days. We were given strict instructions regarding the summit climb.

Two of our friends decided to stay back in the camp and so 12 of us with guides started off at 3.00 am in the morning after oats porridge breakfast. The final climb was 5 km. We walked in pitch dark and thanks to the headlamp we could see what was in front. We just followed the person in front. The traffic was quite heavy. Many places had space for only one person to walk. So the journey was a bit slow and we could manage easily. As the dawn creeped up, we could see the summit and excitement pumped up. We just managed to reach the summit by 7.10 which was 5 minutes before the sunrise.

The next half an hour was sheer bliss. One cannot explain the emotional feeling of a person who has sweat to reach a summit.  Moreover the 360 degree sheer view of that place made us speechless. The guide gave us an idea of the surrounding geography and showed us the various peaks around Uttarkashi including Har Ki Dun, Swargrohini, kalanag, bandarpoonch, Yamunothri, Gangothri etc. There was a sanctum with a flag hoisted at the 12500 ft high summit. After taking a group photo We started our descent.

We had to climb down all the 12 km and reach sankri by evening. It took only 2 hours for us to reach the second base camp.After lunch we started off by around 12 noon. With previous experience we took the descent lightly. But snow trek was a different ball game. We took almost 6 hours to reach Sankri. The path was so slippery as the melted ice was mixed with mud and mule poop.  Some of us fell quite a few times but luckily not injured much apart from some ankle sprains.

I had a busy time as an ortho surgeon with frequent consultations. One of the guides got kicked on the chest by a mule. He was stable but was quickly sent down for further treatment. I met a medical student while climbing down. He was limping due to knee pain. I came to know that he had an ACL reconstruction just a year back. He was happy with the first aid and my advice. The maggi noodles that I had from the dhaba during descent would have been the tastiest I ever had(Thanks to tiredness and hunger). We reached Sankri by around 6 pm. We returned the rented items. The guides expressed their appreciation by making us a cake. The electricity was not there. It didn’t make much difference as we survived the last 3 days without it. My iphone still had 30 percent charge even after 3 days. Thanks to airplane mode. The only place where  BSNL had range during these three days was at the summit where I called my family.

After dinner, a  good night’s sleep was most needed. We decided to go in 2 batches next morning as the first batch wanted to catch flight early. We started by around 8.30 am. We caught up with them in the har ki dun restaurant where we halted on the way to Sankri. The mustard fields on the background of the rivers were looking gorgeous. We halted for lunch in a small restaurant and had meals with Pakora and curry made from fish caught from Yamuna River.

We reached Dehradun by around 3. I was the only person to stay that night and I took a dormitory in Nomads house bunkstay. After a fresh up, I took an auto to the famous ELLORA’S melting moments bakery and bought famous caramel toffees. After dinner I walked around 4 km back to the dormitory.

Here comes the icing on the cake. When I asked the hotel guys to arrange a taxi to go to the airport, he requested whether I could ride a bike as they wanted to get 5 bikes to be sent to the airport to pick up bikers . I said yes and guess what; the next day I got to ride a Royal Enfield for the first time in my life and that too Himalayan ride. The one hour ride was a great experience. I got to reach the airport for free. There were 4 other bikes along with me.

I reached Cochin by around 6 pm and from there I took an auto to Angamali. I had to wait for more than an hour to get a Kottayam bus and I had to stand in the fully loaded bus for more than 2 hours. From Kottayam I took a bus to Thiruvalla and reached home by around 11.00 pm. I pushed my body to extreme exhaustion. But the reward was a blissful mind with memorable moments for the years to cherish. I’m looking forward to another snow trek soon.

I have had wonderful experiences living in the Western Islands of our country(Lakshadweep). Those were coral islands. But I knew the eastern ones could be totally different and I always wanted to visit Andaman islands. The opportunity came when Roshin’s and my  parents visited there for a christian mission annual conference in 2018. They went a week ahead for the meeting . Jonathan, Myself and Roshin started on the 18th October, 2018 for an exciting 1 week journey to the Andaman islands. We took a flight from Cochin to Port Blair with a layover at Chennai. We were quite excited to see the Legendary actor Kamal Haasan at the Chennai airport.We reached by around 4.00 pm and was quite saddened to see the airport being named after a staunch supporter of British colonialism and the traitor who was implicated in  the assassination of the father of our nation.

           

The same evening we went to the famous CELLULAR JAIL. There was a light and sound show. The quality of the program was nowhere near normal standard and also in comparison to the one that we saw in Delhi Akshardham. Moreover it was a complete over glorification of Veer Savarkar. The nearby park also was named after him.

The next day(19/10/2018) we started off at 3.00 am along the Great Andaman Trunk road to JIRKATANG Check post. We reached there by around 5.30. We were supposed to pass through the JARAWA reserve area. Vehicles were sent only as convoys at particular periods of time. The first batch was to start by 6.00 am. We got some information regarding the flora and fauna of Andaman islands from the photos kept there. Nearly 2 hours of drive along the Jarawa reserve, we reached Baratang middle strait Jetty. From there We took a ferry to the opposite bank.

We were taken in a small speed boat from there to another part of Baratang island.The journey took half an hour and as we travelled, we got into smaller distributaries between the thick mangroves and it reminded me of the movie Pirates of the carribean.We reached a small jetty and walked for 20 minutes. There were a lot of travellers along with us. We reached the mouth of a huge cave which was formed by limestone. We got inside the LIMESTONE CAVE around 100 m and saw different types and colours of limestones in different formations including stalactites, stalagmites and helictites. It was quite a different experience. We came back to Baratang Jetty and from there we were taken in another vehicle to visit MUD VOLCANO. I’ve not heard about it in the past. 8 out of the 11 mud volcanoes are in Baratang and middle Andaman island. It was interesting to see the active volcano spitting mud.

On the way back to South Andaman, we passed again through the Jarawa reserve and this time we saw the indigenous Jarawas walking along the road. These guys were really exploited by the locals.We were not supposed to stop the vehicle or open windows. As usual there were lawbreakers and these Jarawas including children would peek inside to get or snatch something. They would exchange those with tobacco in the local shops. Some of them wore no dress, some just enough to cover private parts. In one place we saw a big lady carrying a huge wild boar on her shoulders and walking. She would have hunted it for food. That scene got really imprinted in my memory folder. We saw some deers in the reserve. On the way as we were nearing the city, the car tyre got punctured and fortunately it was sorted soon.

           

Next day was for local trips. We took the speed boat from main jetty to NORTHERN BAY that took around 20 min. The activities in Northern bay include snorkeling, scuba diving, semi submarine,sea walking, glass boat ride etc. Me and Jonu just had a good time swimming in the beach and as usual Jonu enjoyed it so much,  it was hard to get him out of water. After spending 2 hours there, we were taken to ROSS ISLAND which was just a 10 min ride from the northern bay. The scene over there took us to many decades back. There remained the ruins of a great empire which ruled our nation. It had remnants of offices, quarters, church, temple, printing press, bakery, recreation centre, clubs etc in such a dilapidated stage . There was a large pond on the island.There were a lot of deers, peacocks and rabbits roaming around the island. We walked around the island and the eastern side was called FERRAR BEACH. We spent some time there. On the way back to the main island, we saw the TSUNAMI MEMORIAL and memorial of ‘BATTLE OF ABERDEEN’. In the evening we travelled to the southernmost tip of South Andaman island, MUNDAPAHAR and we visited CHIDIYATAPU BEACH. It was a beautiful place, quite unique unlike any other beach. There was a beautiful estuary and also green mountains in the background. It was also called sunset point and bird island. We were told that there was a mini zoo over there. Few lifers that I saw from there included Red breasted parakeet and collared kingfisher. It’s a place with good potential for landscape photography. Back in town, I was happy to see my old school friend, Santhosh in a restaurant where we went for dinner.

On 21/10/18 we attended Holy mass in the Orthodox Church. In the afternoon we visited the CELLULAR JAIL. On the first day it was late evening and we could see only the light show. This time we roamed around the jail. It is a must visit place for every Indian. We could understand a little bit of how our freedom fighters struggled during the period of fight for Independence. We could see GB Pant hospital nearby.Among the 7 arms of the building only 4 remained and the rest were demolished. There were 663 cells in the Jail and names of the freedom fighters were written there which included people from every part of the country. It was interesting that the majority of the names were from Bengal. We saw a lot of solitary and condemned cells. We saw many machineries used previously  in the jail and also the place of execution.

Next day we started early morning at 6.00 am for another long journey to HAVELOCK ISLAND in Green Ocean 2 liner at a speed of 40nm. We reached there by around 8.30.The guides took us in another speed boat and we landed in ELEPHANT BEACH. Every place was so unique. Jonu had a good time as he swam in all the beaches that we went to. Later we checked in at Ocean blue resort and in the evening we went to RADHANAGAR BEACH. Though there were too many people, the beach was clean and beautiful. Me and Roshin had a long stroll as we watched sunset. As we were going back there was a small drizzle which really cooled the place.We stayed on Havelock island that night.

On 23/10/18, we took the same Green ocean 2 to reach  Neil island. The boat had a cafeteria also inside. We spend some time swimming at  BHARATPUR BEACH. Then we went to LAXMANPUR BEACH where we saw  NATURAL ROCK BRIDGE. We had to walk some distance to reach there. It was low tide time  and  we did a reef walk. We could see a lot of Corals, sea cucumber, sea snake, clams, sea urchin, fishes and also a lot of  birds in that area. Back to PortBlair.

Next day we visited the CHATHAM SAW MILL. Andaman Padauk is the official tree of the Union Territory. It’s used for making furniture.Later we had a drive to MOUNT HARRIET NATIONAL PARK. On the way we saw a point where the Northern bay was seen. That is the picture seen on the back of a 20 Rupee note. The place was beautiful. There was information regarding the flora and fauna of the island as well as replicas of huts where the tribes lived. Mount Harriet is the third highest peak in Andaman and Nicobar islands. It was the summer capital of the then Chief commissioner during the British Era

We also visited the ANTHROPOLOGY MUSEUM as well as the SAMUDRIKA MARINE MUSEUM. Both were very informative. The Andaman islands are home to 4 Negrito tribes- The Great Andamanese, Jarawas,Sentinelese and the Onge. Nicobar is home to 2 Mongoloid tribes- The Shompens and the Nicobarese.

On 25/10/18, we visited a nearby JOGGER’S PARK on top of a hill where we could see the airport, the runway and the flights landing and taking off . It was a unique site.We visited the SAGARIGA EMPORIUM in the city. We also found time to visit a nearby CORBYN’S COVE BEACH. We heard that the only active volcano in India in the Barren Island of Andaman had become active again.

Due to the tight schedule, We missed the opportunity as there was a 6 hour one way ride which would not have been possible. We took the afternoon flight to Chennai, spent 2 days with our aunt and then reached home safely. During the visit I was happy to get shots of lots of birds including the endemic Brown coucal and Andaman Bulbul. I would surely want to do another trip to Andaman just for birding

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On the 30^th of June, 2017;my family along with my parents did a 1 week long journey to the biggest Himalayan plateau – The Ladakh range. It means ‘ the land of Passes’. We started from Trivandrum with a layover in Delhi and landed in KUSHOK BAKULA RINPOCHE airport in LEH.The view from the aircraft was amazing. The Barren and the snow covered mountains were still looking massive even at 36000 feet height. We stayed in the ‘High Himalayas’ homestay owned by Papa’s friend who worked in the agriculture field. The view from the cottage was exciting. We saw some snow mountains playing peek-a-boo between the brown mountains and misty clouds. During the evening, we had a chat with the owner and his family and he shared the stories of Ladakh which rocketed our enthusiasm. We had an evening stroll in the main bazaar.The place was so clean but it was packed with tourists and locals.

          Next morning (2/7/17) we were mentally ready to explore Ladakh. The homestay guy arranged a car with a driver for our trips. Our bodies were yet to acclimatize with the oxygen level in Leh as we flew directly to land here. We were anyway not planning to do heavy exercises.

The first place we visited was Druk white lotus school in Shay, which is now famously called RANCHO’S school where the movie 3 Idiots were shot.

Then we visited the HEMIS MONASTERY.They are called ‘GOMPA’ or ecclesiastical fortifications of learning, lineage and saadhana.Hemis is the largest Buddhist monastic institution of the Drukpa lineage in the Himalayas  with more than 200 branches.It was situated around 45 km from Leh and it was founded many centuries back. The flavours of these places made our senses so vivid that the colours are still imprinted in our memories. The monastery also has a museum where we could get glimpses of Ladakh’s religious culture. All these monasteries had huge statues of the Buddhist gurus who lived in the yester centuries.This one had a large statue of PADMASAMBHAVA(Guru Rinpoche).They conduct yearly hemis festival venerated as mystic mask dance performance representing reincarnation of Buddha

Then we visited the THIKSAY MONASTERY ( or Thiksey/Thikse) which was around 20 km from Leh. The view from the hill had a beautiful contrast of green valley with desert mountains in the background. The monastery had a two storied statue of MAITREYA or the future Buddha. There were lot of prayer wheels and drums of various sizes.

The next place that we visited was the SHEY PALACE and monastery about 15 km from Leh. It was the capital of Ladakh in the past. The palace was built in the 16th century. The main attraction apart from the building architecture was the 3 storeyed statue of SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.

We reached Leh and visited the famous LEH PALACE which was built in 1600. It was the highest building in the world of those times. It had 9 floors and overlooked the Leh town. Most of the floors are dilapidated. On the way we saw an arch on the road depicting the NAROPA festival that was held in 2016. It is called Kumbh of the himalayas for good reasons. It is conducted in Ladakh once in every 12 years.

After a good night’s rest, we woke up and got ready for yet another exciting 3 day journey to the North of Ladakh.

The 5 hour journey was to NUBRA VALLEY and we had planned to stay there for 2 days. We travelled via KHARDUNGLA pass which was the highest motorable road in the world(18380 ft high). We drove through the snow mountains. We spent some time in the khardungla pass and played in the snow and also took some snapshots of stalactite formation of ice.

On the way to Nubra valley, we met with a small accident. There were lot of military trucks on convoy travelling either ways. In that one truck hit us. Though our driver saw the truck coming and stopped the car, the truck carelessly grazed on to our car. It caused some damages to the car. The mirror was broken, the driver door could not be closed and there were a lot of dents. The complaint screams that the driver did were all in vain. Few Soldiers just lifted the car and moved it aside and they all went off. Well, We just had to continue our journey. Luckily no one was hurt. Couple of inches inside, I would have been jammed by the truck.

We understood only by seeing  the board that we were entering Karakoram Wildlife sanctuary. We saw a few shepherds taking their sheep for grazing.

We crossed the bed where the Nubra river originating from the Siachen Glacier met the Shyok river.  There were Buggy rides on the sand dunes.The place where we were going to halt was called Hunder which was along the banks of River Shyok. We stayed in Ibex guest house in Hunder. With the background of black rocky mountain, the rest house had a good garden with vegetables and fruits including apples & strawberries. There was a ‘SAND DUNE FESTIVAL’ going on in Hunder and we were fortunate enough to witness the various cultural activities and the food stalls. We roamed around the river bed and had a good time watching the dances, camel rides and enjoying Ladakhi food.

The next day we visited DISKIT monastery, which is the oldest Buddhist monastery in Nubra valley founded in the 14th Century. It also runs a school for Tibetan children.There is a 32 metre high huge statue of Jampa(Maitreya Buddha) on a hill near the monastery which was consecrated by Dalai Lama in 2010.There were also small statues of Guru Padmasambhava, Shakyamuni(Buddha) and Tsong-Kha-Pa nearby. On the way back we saw many rivulets originating from the melting glaciers along the green meadows. There were a lot of military trucks along the way. We stayed in Leh that night.

          On 4/7/17 we visited the PANGONG TSO which was made famous by the 3 Idiots movie. It was around 150km from Leh. We had breakfast from Durbuk. We reached the place by around 1.00 pm. The view of the lake was mesmerising. Major portion of the lake belonged to China. With time, it was wonderful to see the colour of the water changing from blue to green.We got an opportunity to ride on the Yak. Most of the hotel names had influence on the movie; Rancho cafe, 3 idiots cafe.We had lunch from one of those. On the way back We saw HIMALAYAN MARMOT at different places on the road side and took snaps of it.

          Next day was for local trips. The first place that we went was just 5 minutes walk from our home stay- “SHANTHI STHUP ”. It was on top of a hillock. We could see Matho and Stok villages from the top. There was a statue of Buddha inside the Sthup. The next destination was the confluence of the rivers, INDUS and ZANSKAR. The River Zanskar was more muddy & brown and the confluence of different colours were a feast for the eyes.  On the way back we also passed through the MAGNETIC HILL. Any vehicle parked uphill without the brake was supposed to defy gravity and be moved up by itself because of the hill’s magnetic powers. We actually didn’t feel the effect that much! The next place we visited was a Sikh Gurudwara called GURUDWARA SHRI PATHAR SAHIB. We could see a huge boulder inside which had a carved out shape of Guru Nanak in it.The boulder had a myth about the Guru converting a bad demon into a good person. We then visited the HALL OF FAME which was maintained by the military. It was very informative and there were a lot of military exhibits as well as information regarding geography & culture of the place. Jonu had an opportunity to play in the army physical training area built in for kids in that place. In the afternoon we visited the market place again for some last minute shopping.

On the 6th of July 2017, We bid farewell to this mystic place and took the flight from Leh. The view of the confluence of Rivers Zanskar and Indus was much more gratifying from the bigger height. The unchartered territories of the plateau call me saying; when are you coming back?

Trip to North East India was a dream come true. I got the best opportunity after I resigned from Amrita Institute before taking up the post in Believers Church Hospital. I took a two month break and started off with Papa for a 3 week journey to the Northeastern states of India.
On the 9th of March, 2014 at 6.30 am, we started off from Trivandrum and reached Chennai at 7.30 am by air India. We took the 10.10 spice jet to Bagdogra via Kolkata. Bagdogra is a defence airport. Reached by 1.30 pm. Mr. Sanjay had come on an Innova to pick us  and we started at around 2.00 pm. We met papa’s friend Mr. Joshua  on the way. I was happy to see Ayyappan Temple written in malayalam in Bagdogra
The road along the teesta river gorge was magnificent. On the way we Saw a Bike fell in teesta gorge near sevak.The guys were recovered. One guy looked quite serious. Only thing that we knew was that he was alive at that moment.On the way we saw factories of pharmaceutical companies like alchem, cipla, torrent, sun, Himalaya. We Reached Gangtok at 6.30 pm. Gangtok at night was looking great. papa had to buy a camera battery and we saw the Gangtok MG market; so beautifully maintained. The room was booked by papa’s student, Mr. Janga police ADGP in the Police guest house. The room name was Harini- Verditer flycatcher. We had chapathi, dal fry and chilly chicken for dinner.

Next day we started off to namchi. Sanjay was our driver for our entire journey in Sikkim We were told be him that there were three tribes or races in Sikkim, the Bhutia who are Buddhist, lepcha who are considered the indegenous nature worshippers and the Nepali hindus.On the way we saw a Dam built half way by the Andhra reddys
We stopped for tea in a shop near a Tea estate and the view of the estate and view and rhododendron trees were good.We had refreshing black tea.
On the way to Namchi, we visited Samudruptse Buddha statue which was a tall statue on a hill. I was amazed to see and excited to photograph innumerable species of birds around that area. We had to wait near the car for some time as our driver Sanjay was immersed in carom play with other drivers and we waited till the game was over.
Shirdi sai mandir was a good place to visit. The place was so silent and less busy when compared to our next destination. Siddheshwar char dham was a tourist destination on top of a hill and it had duplicated most of the temples in India. We could see the Samudruptse statue from far. We had Veg momos and wai wai noodles for lunch. I was a unique experience.
Due to the arrival of some VIP we had to change to the SIB the guest house and fortunately that was a better option. The night view of the city was awesome.
on the 11th of March we started off to  Nathu la which is a mountain pass to China at the Indo China border which was along the old silk route. The road was quite treacherous. We got passes on the way. The view of the snow mountains were amazing. The ride along the slippery snow road was quite risky too but so exciting. Finally after many hours we reached Nathula.

Its a must see destination. The cherry on the pie was the opportunity to photograph a Himalayan Griffon. Near to Nathu la was baba mandir which is a shrine of a soldier. It was a unique experience. On the way we saw the beautiful  Tsomgo lake. The scenic beauty was unexplainable. We had a  ride on the yak near the lake. The snow fall on the way back was a thrilling experience. Momo was a favourite dish there and we did not miss any chance. We had  veg steamed momo for breakfast and lunch, pork fried momo for the evening  and chapathi, rice and chicken for dinner.

Next day we did a  city tour . We enjoyed the Rope way, We paid a visit to a nearby Gojang monastery. There we had a funny incident where a monk hit a dog and  fell from scooter. Ganeshtok was a high point where the view of the city was quite magnificient, The Zoo had very little animals but with great potential to expand.We also visited flower park, namgyal institute of tibetology, tashi view point, Do drul chorten stupa, enchey monastery and  handicraft bazaar. On the way back we were shocked to see a scene where people were waiting to get the LPG cylinder. The queue was horribly long.
We had dinner from Tibet restaurant with Mr.Jenga  and the menu was wanton soup, momo, fing and  fried rice
On the 13th  morning, We started off to darjeeling. We took around 4 hrs including time for breakfast.We bid farewell to Sanjay, He was a wonderful driver. The stay was in luxurious circuit house. In the evening we did a joy ride in the toy train from darjeeling to ghoom which was 7 km one side. We also visited the ghoom museum.
Next day we woke up at 3.30 am and started towards tiger hills. We got a new driver. Got the super deluxe ticket on the waiting area building. The sun rise was supposed to be at 5.55 am. We sat on the top floor of the building on the luxurious couches only to see the thick white mist.the view of the great Himalayas including Mount Everest, Kanchendzonga hit by the golden morning rays still remain as a dream. After breakfast we visited the Buddhist monasteries and also rope way which was recently reopened. It had been closed for 12 years due to an accident where some tourists died. The 40 min ride above the tea garden was good but the ride above Gangtok City was better. The Padmaja Naidu Zoo was quite a good one and we visited the Himalayan Mountaineering institute which was nearby. We paid a visit to the Dunggon Samten Choling Buddhist Monastery. After lunch we came down to siliguri and visited papas friends Joshua and Jonathan. Joshua uncle took us to another place where we had a bible study session and papa shared his experiences regarding the Allahabad history of change of Ganesh mani Pradhan to Joshua Pradhan. After dinner he dropped us in new jalpaiguri railway junction. To our shock we came to know that our train was 6 hrs late. It was to start at 12.10 am on 15th. On trying to confirm it, we came to know that the delay was extended to 7 hrs. We found that there was a train to Guwahati at 2.00 am, the saraighat express. We took the second class ticket. The train came and I headed towards the general compartment. Luckily papa saw the TT getting down and we managed to get two berths in the first class coupe. It was my first time in first class. We had to pay extra 1000 each. Inspite of reminding the TT, we were not given the receipt and so we can imagine where the money had gone to. We reached Guwahati at around 10.00 am and we took a share taxi to Shillong. There were 11 people in the Tata sumo including the driver. It took 3 hrs including the 30 min break in Nongpoh where we had masala pineapple and banana.

Our stay was arranged in Don Bosco Savio juniorate, the minor seminary. We were received by Fr. Sebastian Palatty who is a friend of Lakshmanan. They were together in Silchar. We also met Fr.Jose who was the director of Don Bosco museum for indigenous culture. After lunch we visited the museum. It was a marvel. It’s supposed to be the largest museum in Asia. We could learn the cultures of  the various north east tribes. The view of Shillong City from the sky walk above the museum was unique and beautiful. There was a nine min video presentations also about north East India.
In the evening we met Mrs Peace Lyngdo who was a student of papa in agriculture college vellayani. They had met after 25 years. We did a city tour and visited golf course, ward’s lake and cathedral. We visited her house too.
She explained to us regarding the various tribes of Mekhalaya like the Khasi, Garo and Jintia. We had dinner from City Hut Dhaba and the ambience there was great.
Next day we set off to our dream destination the Chirapunjee or Sohra. Chirapunjee was a shocking experience. so unexpected. The place could only be compared to an inverted  empty tumbler because everywhere there were coal mine which caved the land and also there were massive waterfalls only during rainy season. No wonder it can be called the “wettest Desert”. The forst destination was Duwan Sing Syiem View point from where we could see the Mawdok Dympep valley. There was adventure tourism happening there that included the ropeway. On the way we saw Nohsngithiang falls. The view was gorgeous though the water was less.

Nohkalikai falls was yet another marvel. It is also a must see destination. It tells the story of a girl who jumped off the cliff. We could only imagine its massiveness during peak of monsoon.  Mawsmai cave was a unique experience. The walk along the 150 metre cave in the midst of forest was quite thrilling. I always longed for a cave expedition.  Next destination was Thankharang park. It was a large park and was quite well maintained. It was quite unfortunate to see the dry Kynrem falls in the back ground of the park. On the way we saw huge Khasi Monoliths; the femaale ones were lying horizontal and the male ones were erected up.  We also sawThomas Jones School of Mission named after a missionary who came in 1841. The Ka Khoh Ramhah was a huge rock that carried a myth of a giant that was killed. The place was unique as we could see the beautiful Bangladesh plains from there. The next destination was Elephant falls. It was a wonderful 3 step falls. Inspite of the pace being busy, it was clean and the bird life around it was also amazing.
For dinner we had Shillong noodles with chilly pork and also live music by Peace’s teacher Felix.
On the 17th morning 6.30 am, we started from Shillong. Peace arranged car driven by Sunil all along the Shillong trip. We had breakfast in local shop. We had jhado , it was masala rice with pork salad and fried veg. It seems there is a preparation where rice is made mixed with blood of pork, a Khasi delicacy. It would look red in colour. We missed it. jorabat kaziranga road had paddy fields on one side and tea garden on other. As we were nearing the park we saw tea garden on one side and national park on either side. We really started to enjoy Assam.
At Kaziranga we were welcomed by Lakshmanan’s friend, Sunny Choudhary, ACF. We did a Jeep ride in the evening inside the sanctuary . We could see lot of animals and birds. We had dinner with Sunny and he shared many stories.
Next day early morning we had a sanctuary ride on elephant. We watched many birds like vultures, storks, Pelicans and animals including rhino, deer,wild buffalo, boar really upclose.
After breakfast, Sunny dropped us at kaziranga bus stand. We waited there from 10 to 11.00 am. In between an Assam transport bus passed and didn’t stop. Standing was not allowed in the bus. We got a bus to jorhat. Reached at 12.30. After lunch we took the Assam transport bus to tinsukia. It was so luxurious with only around 30 seats.
Lakshmanan and family waited for us in tinsukia and took us to joinulabidins banashree resort in guijan, 8 km from tinsukia opposite to dibru saikhowa national park near the banks of river dibru. Cute looking bamboo huts close to nature. The huts were named after birds. We were staying in and Lakshmanan and family stayed in next hut. That night we went to nearby exhibition ground called riya enterprises. We got into the giant wheel, rotating helicopter and visited local stalls. We met the owner.Lakshmanan has helped to give permission to set up the show in his place sadiya. So everything was free for us as his courtesy.

On the 19th, we were taken to a near by ghat. Papa and me were on one boat, Lakshmanan and family on another. We had guides with us.it was maguri bheel (lake), a birders paradise. We were a bit late regarding the season. As things started to be exciting the clouds began to creep over. The thunder was frightening and it began to drizzle. Luckily we got back to the bank and found a safe cover. The downpour was heavy. As the sky became a bit clear, we roamed around the glasslands and did some bird watching. There were lots of ruddy shelducks and other birds. As we got on to our boats, a terrific lightning struck right on a metal wire right on top of us. Lakshmanans children got really scared. I felt a hit on my right ear. I guess it was a narrow escape for all of us. Lakshmanan and family any way had to go early and there was no better excuse to go earlier. We continued our ride in the boat. The climate became better. We had breakfast in the boat. I was really excited by the number,type and close proximity to the birds. In the evening we went for a grassland stroll and did bird watching.
Lakshmanan had discussed with ADC of Jairampur regarding the ILP(Inner line Permit) for us to enter Arunachal Pradesh to visit pangsau pass. So next day Joinulabidin took us in his jeep along with his helper . It was around 150 km from the resort. There were a lot of check posts including Arunachal police, Assam rifles army, Myanmar police and army posts. After all the hurdles, we managed to enter another country, Myanmar, without any passport or visa. Entry is usually permitted on 10th and 20th of every month when they conducted Burma market. Unfortunately Burma market was not there that day as the children had exams. But some shops were open. We drove around 5 km inside the entry check post.

There was a Buddhist monastery near by. I bought a handmade carry bag for my wife. The view of theChanglang ‘Lake of no return’ in the valley was beautiful. The condition of the road in Myanmar side was pathetic. While returning we met a malayali army officer at pangsau check post. From there I had to drive the vehicle as Joinulabidin was feeling so sleepy, we just escaped an accident and that was the reason I took over. We visited Digboi war cemetery and Digboi oil museum on the way back.
We stayed in Tinsukia circuit house that night.

On the 21st  we started our most exciting journey to the place where Lakshmanan was working as Chief Judicial Magistrate; Sadiya. It was a trip of a lifetime. We started off early morning on a bus and reached on the banks of River Lohit,one of the tributary of Brahmaputra. The bus travelled along the sand banks . From there we look the boat to cross the ghat. It took around half an hour to cross the river. We were told it would take around 2 hours to cross during floods. We could not even imagine the might of River Brahmaputra. A 10 Km long bridge was under construction and so we would not experience this in the future. We took another bus from there to reach Sadiya. In most places roads were not even there and the trip was quite bumpy. We reached Sadiya by around noon. straightaway we were taken along with Lakshmanan’s family and his guard in his vehicle to Mayodiya Pass which was in Arunachal Pradesh.

We didnt have any difficulty in entry. The border was Roing and from there Ghat road started. The crossing along the dried river bed, watching wild Mithuns and the view of the valley from the top were all quite exciting. But the experience at the top surpassed all these. Mayodiya was 2655 metre altitude mountain pass. The view of the snow mountains was so beautiful and they still cherish in our memories. We stayed in the Circuit house that night. Next day Lakshmanan took us and showed around Sadiya. It was a small beautiful village. We visited the silk wormm farm also. We thanked good bye to Sadiya and Lakshmanan , crossed the ghat and reached Tinsukia Station. The Railway heritage park in Tinsukia was a wonder and it threw a lot of light regarding the history of not just Northeast frontier railway but the whole of Indian Railways.
On 23rd morning we reached reached dimapur. Got refreshed in circuit house. We obtained ILP from Mr.Thavaseelan who was the SDO, Dimapur and Lakshmanan’s friend. We took a share taxi to Kohima which took 2 hrs. We were welcomed by Papa’s friend Lanuakum Ozukum and he gave us typical Naga lunch. He explained about the different naga tribes. It seems there are around 14 major tribes. Altogether around 30 tribes. All have different dialects. But they speak mainly nagamese, which is a mixture of Hindi and Assamese.
Next day we had breakfast with David and Merlin who was also Papa’s friends. We visited the Museum and war cemetery, The kisama naga heritage village was a good place to be. But it became active only during the Hornbill festival in December.   We had lotha which was a special naga dish  for dinner. We also paid a visit to the State handicraft emporium and had a good walk back home. The cathedral of Mary Help of Christians was near to our stay and the view of Kohima from the top was beautiful
We came back to dimapur on 25th and stayed in circuit house. We Met papas friend Sharon there. It was a good experience to visit bamboo resource centre.  We had dinner in Sharon’s house. The only thing we missed in Nagaland was to taste dog meat.
On the 26th of March we took the  12.00 noon air India flight from dimapur to Kolkata via dibrugarh.We saw a fascinating view of the Himalayan Mountain range through the aircraft window. The Kolkata to chennai flight was delayed by 3 hrs. We stayed in aunts place in chennai.
On the 27th we visited papas friend PC varghese in Chennai. We took the evening flight to Trivandrum with fond memories.

   On the way back from England in May 2006, I stayed about 10 days in Dubai and then 4 days in SriLanka. I reached Colombo airport on 14/5/2006. I got the visa on arrival. Papa had already come from Trivandrum the previous day. We stayed with cousin Sajan achachan. Without wasting time,we set out to cover Srilanka in achachan’s wonderful Toyota Verosa.

Buddha, Buddha and Buddha. All around SriLanka, it was he who stood out. It was Sri Buddha’s 2550^th birth centenary and SriLanka was in a festive mood. Wherever we went, we saw countless number of his statues.

On the first day, we went to a beach side town named Galle,1 hour drive south of Colombo. Sajanchachan,his 2 children, Papa and myself got a boat,the floor of which was made of glass and we went out to the sea. The life underwater was so colourful and mesmerizing. We enjoyed watching the beautiful fishes and corals. We saw a beautiful turtle too. On our way back, we had an opportunity to get toddy freshly tapped from the coconut tree.

On the second day, Papa and me started off towards east to Pinnawala. We had a driver for the rest of our journey. Enroute we saw on the road, a person who was selling Porcupines and Toddy cats.They were mercilessly tied to chains.

Pinnawala is an elephant orphanage. Little orphan elephants are saved and reared there. Elephants were having bath in the river opposite to the orphanage. There were about 60 of them playing in water and among them was a three legged member. Everybody was eager to take photos with the elephants.

Our car was caught for over speeding twice. I guess it was no different from our place, the way Police hide behind the curves and suddenly jumping out. We passed along a place called Seegiriya. A single large mountain was seen. We were told that there were ruins of a large city on the top of the hill. It was a plateau and from far, we could see stairs to climb the hill.

Our journey continued and we reached a hilly place called Kandi. There was a small  but beautiful lake in the midst of the town. There was a Buddha temple nearby and we saw the largest Buddha statue in the world with Dharmachakra posture(100 feet). We also visited the nearby museum.

Next day we went to Anuradhapura via Pollanaruwa. Anuradhapura had a word heritage city where we saw ruins of Abhayagiriya monastery. It included several Buddha stupas, caves, ponds, halls and museum.

On our way back, we visited yet another Buddha temple. It was really beautiful with gold plated railings around a huge Bodhi tree which was brought from Gaya.

On 18^th morning, we flew back to my home town, Trivandrum after one year of life in UK. The icing on the cake was the upgradation to business class. Though the journey lasted only 30 minutes, the experience was exciting.

Srilanka looks almost like Kerala, the only difference being the umpteen number of Buddha statues wherever you look. Thanks very much to Sajanchachan and his family for taking all the pains and making our trip most comfortable and exciting.

16^th November 2004 to 7^th January 2005.

Shattering everyone’s future career plans, the government came up with a new Compulsory rural service plan in 2004.  Some took it seriously but others didn’t. Anyway I was ready to take it and it was a blessing in disguise. Joe had got posting in Kumily which was near to Thekkady. With him I set off to Kattappana for a new life.

With all the big luggage, we took the train from Trivandrum and got down at Kottayam. We took a bus to Thodupuzha and then to Painavu DMO office to collect the joining letter as Assistant Surgeon. From there, we took a jeep to Cheruthoni and then a bus to Kattappana. Both of us stayed in Vimala Lodge. Joe left Kumily the next day.

17/11 My PHC was in a place called ‘20acre’ which was around 3 km from the town. The MO in charge was leave for 3 days and I managed the OP alone seeing around 200 patients.

18/11 I conducted a School Health camp in two schools atPuliyanmala. One of them was a branch of Christ Nagar where I studied in Trivandrum.

19/11 I climbed the Kurishumala hill which was very near to the town. It took around 45 minutes for the climb.  I could see the whole of Kattappana town from there and the view was very beautiful.

20/11 I went to Kumily to see Joe. We went for an evening walk with Shaji and Suresh who were sales tax officers whom Joe had met earlier. We crossed the check post and entered Tamilnadu. We saw a dam inside the forest and huge pipes which took water to Tamilnadu. We saw the town Cumbum from there and it was fantastic.

21/11 We roamed around Thekkady and saw wild boars, monkeys, giant squirrel and sambar deer

I took a week off to come to Trivandrum. I was back in Kattappana on first of December. I climbed Kurishumala once more but this time I had a camera with me. For all the trekkings around town I was enjoying  the loneliness. The place was just beautiful and the people were so simple.

2/12 I roamed around the Kattappana town and also the quarry in Puliyanmala.

3/12 I conducted the immunization camp in Kochuthovala.

5/12  After the OPD at 12 noon I walked to a nearby place called Anjuruli, a beautiful place bordered by the Idukki Reservoir. I saw a large tunnel which was around 3-4 km long carried water to drain in the reservoir. I couldn’t resist the temptation of climbing the nearby hill. There was a small teashop at the base and after asking the directions, I climbed up. The route was quite treacherous and there was no turning back. I took a break to sit down and have my packed lunch. All the time I was thinking that I was alone but I was not. As I was having the lunch, I was surrounded by a group of monkeys. Luckily I was not attacked and I quickly cleared the place. The summit of the hillock was picturesque. I could see a wide view of the Idukki reservoir and the Anjuruli, where I came from.  I also climbed another Kurishmala nearby. After watching the beautiful sunset, I climbed down on the other side to reach Nirmala City and from there I walked along the road for about 1.5 hrs to reach Kattappana. I walked for around 8 hours continuously that day.

8/12 I was part of theWagamon- Erattupettatrip. We named it “Tour deJumbo” as Abhishek who was doing CRS in Erattupetta was organizing it along with Joy John from Poonjar. I came from Kattappana, Joe from Kumily, Aby and Shabu from Pathanamthitta, Jujju and Deep from Trivandrum. We stayed at Erattupetta. We were lucky to watch the wonderful fireworks at the Pala Church Jubilee celebrations and we met our classmate Sherin Jos over there.

9/12 We visited the PHC of Joy John at Poonjar. There was a Python caged in a nearby church. We set of to Wagamon in Dandy Chettan’s Jeep. On the way, the tyre plate broke which made a delay of around 1 hr. In Wagamon we roamed around Rolling hills, Pine forest,
Kurishumala ashram and saw the fishes and the 6 feet tall cows who gave around 45 litres milk everyday. Joy and me climbed the Wagamon Kurishumala in 15 min. On the way back we got into a Toddy shop and had meals with fish and delicious frog fry.

12/12 I went to Kumily Church on Sunday. Later Joe, Neelesh, Joy(local guy) and me went to Cumbum in Tamilnadu. And from there to Suruli waterfalls. The irresponsible tourists were dirtying yet another nature spot. We got caught by the Tamilnadu forest guards as we tried to climb up the waterfalls. It seems there was a reserve forest with some dam over there and entry was restricted. Anyway we took photos of the falls. We climbed the Kurishumala in Kumily that evening. God alone knows how many Kurishumala hills have I climbed over these days.

14/12 Kumily was just 1 hour by bus from Kattappana. So I used to do frequent trips. On the way I visited Chellarkovilmedu.The whole place was covered with mist and I could see the beautiful Tamilnadu plains and the Cumbum town during the clearing of the mist. It was quite adventurous to explore the crevices beneath the rocks and I was alone.

15/12 After the night stay at Kumily with Joe we did a trip to Thekkady with Nilesh and Health Inspector Thankachan. We went in the “Vanadarshan” boat owned by the forest department along with a guide named Vijayan. We got the bed sheets from the Hotel Lake palace inside the forest. We got down on the forest banks after around half an hour of boat journey. We saw foot marks of many animals. Our path was blocked by a group of wild boars and we had to wait for some time

till they left. We walked for around 2.5 km to reach Manakkavala Bison Camp. It was a beautiful camp site. Our great friend Health Inspector forgot to bring the Chicken that he bought the previous day. But luckily Vijayan Chettan came out with eggs, rice, jam and other items that he brought during his previous visits. He had been a guide for the last 25 years. Chettan made Chappathi for us. We did an evening stroll around the camp for 2 hours and saw wild boars, a big herd of Indian Gaurs(around 17),Nilgiri Langur, a snake, lot of beautiful birds and  heard sounds of elephants and bear. We had a nice bath in the reservoir at around 6.30 pm and it was already dark .We could only guess the type of animals that watched us bathing. The experience was thrilling but not as thrilling as the wild life stories narrated by Vijayan chettan that night. How could I forget his crepitus laugh.

16/12 We had upma for breakfast. After a 1.5 hr walk along different route we reached the opposite banks of the boat landing area. On the way we saw a group of otters enjoying their time in water. We crossed the lake in a catamaran.In the evening, I took Joe and Neelesh to Chellarkovilmedu. This time there was no mist and everything was so visible compared to last time when I went alone.

18/12 Joe came to Kattappana. I got a bike from Koshy, the health inspector of Champakkara and with our health inspector Mathew, We went to Ramakkalmedu. The place was beautiful with 2 large statues of Kuravan and Kurathi, the rocks and the windmills and also the great view of Tamilnadu plains and cumbum town. We had dinner at Mathew’s house which was just half a km away from the tourist spot.

I went back to Trivandrum to spend Christmas with my family.

31/12 On the way back to Kattappana, I celebrated new year eve with songs and dance in KSRTC superfast bus with strangers. That was really a unique experience.

1/1/05 I visited papa’s friend Mr.V.M.Abraham and participated as chief guest and gave felicitations in their “swayam sahayaka sanghom” meeting.

2/1 After the morning Holy Mass I did trekking to a nearby place called Kallukunnu. The evening trip was to Puliyanmala rock. I really enjoyed the steep climb and the scenic beauty at the top.

3/1 Calvary mountwas near to Kattappana and after the regular OP, I went there alone as always. The view of the reservoir beneath was breathtaking and that’s still fresh in my memories.

7/2 Time has passed so fast. The doctors who got appointments via Public Service Commission filed as case against the compulsory rural service saying that their jobs were in stake. So we were given the option of relieving from the service. As I was midway doing the preparation for a career in UK, I got relieved from the job of Assistant Surgeon, PHC, Kattappana on the 7^th January 2005.

15/1 Joe had called me to join him for a medical camp in Pachakkanam near Kumily for the Sinhalese refugees. I couldn’t resist the temptation of another forest trip. I went to Kumily from Trivandrum.After the camp, we went to Gavi. There we saw around 6-7 wild elephants in different places and also a small deer. We visited Pampa dam too. From there around 8 of us took a jeep to Pullumedu.It was the next day of Sabarimala Makaravilakku and the Pullumedu was in the route of the pilgrims coming to Sabarimala especially from Tamilnadu. As we were nearing Pullumedu, the feel of the forest had gone and there were too many people and vehicles coming back after the ‘darsan’.  We literally ate dust. Pullumedu has become ‘mannumedu’. We reached there towards sunset. It was a bigger Wagamon. We could see the Sabarimala sannidhanam and Ponnambalamedu from  Pullumedu. This marked a thrilling end to my most unexpected Idukki life. I found the lone trekker in me. I pushed the limit of an adventurer in me to greater heights. The 2 month long first independent life away from my family marked a prelude to a greater journey  farther away and longer period which boosted my inner self, the great UK life…

September 2004

I have been longing for a Goan trip for quite some time. After my internship, along with Jibu, Jujju, Aby, Daniel, Deep and Sarath We finally did it.

We reached Margoa early morning by train and from there; seven of us took one auto to Bambolim. Kiran helped us to get accommodation in the BSNL guest house. Goa Medical college was nearby. The guest house was luxurious, fully, furnished, with AC and TV. We got two rooms and the garden around the guest house was beautiful. Surprisingly we only had to pay Rs 20 per day for this luxury.

We went to Panjim, which was 4 km from our stay, and took 4 bikes for rent, 1 pulser,

1 splendour and 2 passion. Jam packed thrilling sessions for the next 4-5 days. We covered almost entire Goa in our bikes.

Aguada fort had a pretty good scenic beauty and underneath it had a massive watertank which could hold thousands of gallons. It is not in use now.

Mangueshi, Santadurga and Saptakoteshwar temples- the first feeling that we had was that as if those Hindu temples were having Christian layout and Muslim architecture.

In Old Goa, we visited the church where the body of St Francis of Assissi was kept. The church was looking magnificient. There was also a museum opposite to the church.

Ancestral Goa was the next destination, where we saw Goan handcraft. The “bigfoot” didn’t look unusual as people said. We also did a boating there and rowed amongst the swans.

The bike ride to Vasco city and back reminded me of Formula one. The roads were thrilling. Vasco is a posh city.

It was our turn to get to the beaches in Goa. The beauty of the beaches were enough for us not even thinking of the other two things that people usually do in Girls,Ocean,Alcohol.  We were happy with the beach……

Colva, Wagatore, Anjuna, Calangute, Baga, Meeramar…… all these beaches were unique and beautiful. Anjuna was supposed to be a nude beach, well there was nothing special.

We went to DonaPaula which was the meeting point of the great Mandovi and Zuari Rivers.

The night cruise in Mandovi river was 1 hour of enjoyment filled with dance and lights with Goan music in the background.

I happen to see a picture of Dudhsagar waterfalls in Goa and from then onwards I had a severe urge to visit that place. We found that there was only a railway line to that place. To our desperation we were told that the trains to dudhsagar had been indefinitely cancelled due to landslide. Only one day was left for us and I just wanted to go somehow. Most of my friends were reluctant to take that risk of uncertainty. To my great relief Sarath agreed to come with me. We thought we would go as much as possible. I was even thrilled with that uncertainty and I knew any experience would make me happy. It was around 73 km from Panjim.

Me and Sarath started early in the morning in a bike. We travelled around 60 km along ancestral Goa. The road was decent till we reached … Railway station. From there, we were told that there was no road. So we drove by the side of the railway track. After a few kilometers, we found a mud track and drove along it into the forest, crossing the streams, along, away and under the railway track. We reached a settlement which had a temple nearby. The road ended there. We even lost track of the railway line. To our relief we saw few local people and enquired regarding Dudhsagar. They told us to climb a hillock to reach the railway line and follow it for around 2 km to reach dudhsagar. The moment we were nearing the railway line we heard the sound of a train and we ran just to see it. To our excitement, it was a single compartment with 3 engines and it was stopping at the nearby Sonaulim station. We ran towards it. We asked the people in it; Where can we get the ticket?  The answer made us ecstatic, “We are the railway workers going via Dudhsagar falls to repair the track damaged by landslide. Why don’t you get in? We’ll drop you at the Dudhsagar station”. What more do we need? In 5 minutes we reached our dream destination.

Like it’s said, it was a ‘sea of milk’. 2/3^rd of falls was above the railway line and 1/3^rd below it. The beauty is beyond description. We spent there for quite some time and the moment we started to have our snacks, we were surrounded by monkeys. We had a narrow escape. Filled with contentment, we walked all the way back along the track to where we kept the bike and drove back. On the way back we saw a wild gaur and a beautiful tiny waterfall. As the film in the camera was over, the pictures remain alive only in our minds.

The Dudhsagar trip was a well deserved climax for our trip to Goa. The next day we took our train back to Trivandrum with hearts full of fond memories enough to cherish for a life time.

Agasthyarkoodam was remaining as a dream till the 1^st of February 2004. It was during our internship. It was usually very difficult to get entry tickets. I stood in the long queue in PTP Nagar Forest Office to get the tickets days before.

Together with Jibu, Jujju and in Aby’s Maruthi Zen, four of us set out for the trip. We started walking from Bonaucaud Check post at around 9.45am with packed lunch. We deviated from the path after 2 km and  headed towards Bona falls. It was a massive  falls. We had a good bath in the pool. Later we joined the trek path through a short cut. It was one of the steepest climb and Aby threw up in the first 5 km. We continued the journey and reached Athirumala at around 6.30 pm. As the name says it’s the border between Neyyar and Peppara wild life sanctuaries. We could see the massive mountain staring at us and literally it was the base camp with the vertical cliff right above. The Canteen was made of bamboo and it was looking so close to nature. We stayed in a large hall. Outside the hall it was clearly written not to enter the hall due to the dilapidated condition.

Next day early morning we started the climb. The climate and terrain was so different than previous day. Geographically we crossed Tamilnadu border and then came back to kerala. The scenary from Pongalappara to the summit was so beautiful. We felt like walking along the wonderland of Alice. It was a heavenly place so close to Trivandrum.

The final climb to the summit was quite exciting. The place was so windy. We conquered the 1868m tall giant. Surprisingly the place where Sage Agasthya’s statue was kept was very calm. They even lit candles in front of the statue.  Actually there were thick bushes all around preventing heavy winds. The 2 feet high statue according to the people was life size. The legend says Sage Agasthya was a great physician. Anyway the whole place was full of high altitude dwarf flora most of them with high medicinal value. We walked back collecting the lunch from athirumala and reached bonacaud check post by around 4 pm.

      The second trip was from February 28 to March 1^st 2005. The dates were according to the Malayalam calendar. The pilgrimage period was from Sabarimala makara vilakku to Sivarathri. So luckily people were allowed to enter the sanctuary only for around 2 months in a year.

This time I was joined by Jibu, Anish, Lakshmanan, Sarin, Basanth, Harisankar and Joy. We parked our bikes at our classmate Rakhi’s home in Nedumangadu. We had bath in Bona falls. The scortching sun really hit us this time also in the meadows. I got cramps in hamstrings and quads of both legs.

On the way to Ponkalappara we saw few wild Gaurs from far. At the summit we met our class mate Niranjan’s brother. It was yet another unforgettable trip.

My third trip to Agasthyarkoodam was with Papa and Jibu. It was 23^rd and 24^th January of 2007.  As always, we enjoyed every bit of the trip taking photos, cherished those breath taking views. Papa had a very hard test of his endurance. We could only reach some distance short of the summit as we were getting late. We reached the check post at around 8 pm

When it come to endurance, Agasthyarkoodam trip was always the hardest trek ever done, ~55 km in 2 days. gone thrice. Even the thought of one more trip is so thrilling. Cherish those passing moments of

EXCITEMENT( at check post)-

TIREDNESS (attayar)-

DEAD MAN WALKING (grassland walk)-

HELPLESSNESS(the 7bend hills)-

RELAXATION(athirumala)-

REJUVENATION(the canteen food)-

THRILL(the final climb)-

ECSTASY(the summit) and finally

CONTENTMENT(u feel it all the way back).

U feel lonely, yet fulfilled; tired yet satisfied. I tell you anybody would become philosophical. AGASTHYARKOODAM IS A MUST SEE IN EVERY ADVENTURER’S LIFE

24^th February to 2^nd March 2007

One of my greatest treks covering Thekkady, Rajakkad and Chinnar. I was joined by Harisankar, Midhun, Sarin and Lakshmanan. We started from Trivandrum in train to get down at Changanassery and from there to Kumily by bus.

We reached Thekkady by evening and stayed in Tiger Bangalaw. I recognized the cook Vijayan Chettan who was the same old guy who came with me and Joe to Manakkavala Bison Camp in 15/12/2004. We exchanged old memories.

I still remember a funny moment happened that day on our way back from the trekking camp, we saw the spine and pelvic skeleton of a large herbivore(probably sambar deer). Vijayan Chettan had held it upside down and seriously describing each parts of the animal. He thought it was the skull and mistook the obturator foramen as the eyes. After all he is a naturalist and not an anatomist.  I still remember his loud and hearty crepitus laugh in the bison camp.

We also met the DFO, Mrs Padma Mahanti and the range officers, Mr Radhakrishnan, Mr Karunakaran and also Mr. Basheer(whom we later met in Gavi when he was the warden and also in Thrissur Birdwatcher’s meet).

On the 25^thmorning, we woke up in excitement. Everything set for the journey. Meanwhile we also met 2 foreigners, “the Timothy couple” from UK. With forest guard Chellappan and 2 other guides, we started off at about 9.00 am in the boat “vanalakshmi” owned by the forest department. We did not see any animals in the first 45 minutes. Unfortunately the boat with the tourists including the Timothys could not see any animals that day. I still remember my friends making fun of me when earlier that morning I was making a rapport with the Timothys by saying “this is the only place in kerala where we can see wild animals in close quarters”

But luck favoured us. As we sailed deep in to the forest interiors, we started seeing animals, a lone tortoise on a rock basking in the sun, wild boars lined up towards the banks to drink water, cormorants and later larger ones including elephants, gaurs and sambar deers.

We headed towards Mullakudy inspection bangalaw. Mullakkudy IB was situated at the junction where MUllayar and Periyar met to become Mullaperiyar. At the landing area we saw in the water a group of large tadpoles. Believe me, we have never seen larger ones than them till now. At the IB, we were amazed on seeing the size of the skull of a gaur kept there.

After tea, we got onto the boat and were dropped on the opposite bank after a 10 min ride. From there we did a 2 hr steep climb to Kumarikulam wireless station.The view from there was breath taking. The station was very near to the Kumarikulam pond and we spent some time there enjoying the beauty of nature.

From there we started walking and covered hillock by hillock, mainly grasslands to reach Thannikkudy forest bangalaw. It was built by the Travancore Kings.Nearby we could see remnants of forest fire which ate considerable area of forest.

We took bath in the virgin Periyar river. The forest guards said we took bath in the exact place where a tiger chased a sambar deer couple of days back. The mood was thrilling and we were ecstatic.

In the Thannikudy IB, we saw large skulls of deers. At dusk, we had a stroll towards the nearby watchtower. We saw tiger pugmarks in the sandy areas of the river. The trail ended in a place where we saw remnants of tiger kill. The guards said that the tiger had come the previous night. We were in the land where the real king reigns.

We also saw foot marks of other animals like herd of wild elephants and wild dog. We joined the guards at night for fishing and got “kooral” and had them for dinner. The day was really long and tiring for us and all we needed was a good night sleep.

We set off at dawn along the periyar river, proximally to Mlappara. On the way we saw a viper, gaurs, elephants and heard a sound which the forest guards told that it was of a bear.

We tied threads on a tree as a ritual where any person who makes the first trip was supposed to tie a thread to a particular tree. All the way, the views of periyar and its valleys were breath taking. We again saw pugmarks of tiger and also its scratch marks on a particular tree. Mlappara remains the deepest area of periyar tiger reserve that we have explored. The officers in the forest station of Mlappara were very cordial.

We reached Thannikkudy by around 4 pm for the lunch.On our way back we saw a herd of elephants. They were around 8 of them. Their positioning seemed so planned that the two little ones were standing in the middle and all the adults were feeding around providing good cover to the calves.

After a refreshing bath in the river, we walked to the watch tower. We came across a herd of elephants there also. This time we got “kuyil” fish.

On 27^th morning, we headed towards Mullakudy through a different path. We saw huge tadpoles, skull of sambar deer and also hornbill. We took bath in the reservoir. From Mullakudy, we took a jeep. The journey was quite adventurous. We reached  a place called Poovarasu and saw boars, skeletal remains of elephants.

We saw a group of hornbills. From there we went to Mangaladevi temple. Public were allowed to the temple only one day in a year. We were lucky to go there on a peaceful and silent day. We had a breathtaking 360deg view from the watchtower. We saw the thekkady reservoir, Periyar tiger reserve, Western Ghats border and the huge Tamilnadu plains.

We reached Thekkady back by evening.

On our way to Rajakkad, We took a lodge in Nedumkandam and stayed there. On the 28^thmorning, we went to Mangathotti and visited our friend Paul who was a health Inspector. We visited Senapathi PHC and Mohan Chettan;s studio.

We visited Kuthungal Waterfalls near Rajakkad that evening and joined Paul chettan for fishing and got fishes like ‘paral’, ‘Neikooral’, ‘Sucker catfish’, ‘prawns’, ‘kallemutty’ and lots of other fish. The fry was yummy.

Next day we did a road trip to Chinnar wild life sanctuary via munnar and Marayoor and we saw “ kezha Deer”, boar, spotted deers. At 9 pm, I took the bus back to Trivandrum with lots and lots of thrilling memories.