The day I lived again!

When I say this I mean it and I am sure when you all read this post you will agree with me. This is going to be a long one to read so, I appreciate your patience in this regard in advance ;-).

From long time we we planning for a trip to Nandi hills(Chickballapur) 50 Kms from Banglore but due to some or the other reasons it was getting postponed. So this time we all thought that if not Banglore we will plan a 1 day trip nearby. So the idea of Kuntala and Pochara water falls came up. These water falls are in a small small village named Bodh (it comes up 60 Kms before Adilabad town) in Adilabad district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.

We finalized to start at friday night from office after Ashok's and Pavan's shift and the trip started..read on....

Date: 3'rd August 2007, Friday.
Time: Past 11.30 pm
Gang: Jairam, Pavan, Ashok and me
Transportation: Santro Xing
Fuel: 30 liters petrol, Beer, Vodca
Distance: App. 250 Kms(one way)
Other Equipment: Canon S3 is(Ashok), Nikon L7(Pavan), Sony H2 & tripod(me)

Started off from office, JaiRam pushing the peddle on the high way for the first time. Halted at A1 Dabha in medchal, fueled up and started again. being monsoon the climate was awesome all the way with lots of wing and showers here and there. We stopped on the highway couple of times for enjoying the cool breeze and of course nature calls.

Date: 4'th July 2007, Saturday.
Time: Past 05.00 am

We reached the ghat road in between and enjoyed the view. It was green...green..green.. everywhere. The clouds touching the forest of the hill, cool breeze and monsoon forest, it felt like we can stay there forever.

Above: Ghat road, Forest and the clouds

Above:The Gang (left to right) - Ashok, Jairam, me and pavan.

Reached dabha at Bodh at around 6.30 am. gave the dhaba vala breakfast order and checked out the surroundings clicking and having fun talk.

We spent hour and a half there admiring the scenic views and enjoying the freshness in the air. Not to forget clicking around some snaps.

Pavan on the Hutch tower at the Dhaba

Got info from the dhaba guy that it will take another hour for preparing the order and we thought we will first cover Pochara water fall which is the smaller one and come back for breakfast and then head for Kuntala.

At Pochara we walked around for a while clicking, talking and exploring the place. we all freshed up with the wered thootpaste Ashok got, its called Meswak. Pavan did not take any chance with Meswak, instead he used his left over Kingfisher to fresh up.

Freshing up in the morning

Jairam @ Pochara waterfalls

Came back to dhaba from Pochara. All were hungry and we all pounced on the paratas, tomato curry, egg burghi and dal fry he made for us. After having a hearty breakfast, it was a time to relax. So was saw a local barber shop(shop..??) right beside the dhaba and all except JaiRam had an oil massage. I also had my hair trimmed. ha ha ha...from L’Oreal studio to Local, I covered it all.....LOL. Breakfast getting ready at the dhaba.

Ashok enjoying his massage

After the massage, we all started to Kuntala. I had no idea of what I am about to see. We reached Kuntala at around 10 am and the drive was awesome with greenery on both sides, small villages and things we never see in our busy city lives.

We were welcomed at Kuntala by a board which describes its history and astonishingly with the list of people who died here accordantly and how they died.


Board at Kuntala, we can see the list of people who died here at the bottom.

I forgot to mention that just 2 days before we were here, 4 JNTU students were washed off here, and were found dead later. What makes this place dangerous is the huge crack at the bottom of the falls where whirlpools form due to the force of the water falling from the top and people who slip in, go straight into the whirlpools and there ends the story.

When we reached Kuntala we were the first group for the day. Ashok and JaiRam decided to take the steps down and Pavan and me fixed upon to trek downwards. Just look at the picture below which I took later, to see the path we took to trekked down the hill and see the height of the rock.


The path we took to climb down the hill

Once we started to climb down the hill there wes no looking back. There was not a bit of fear in me, I was testing my courage and confidence. And with Pavan by my side encouraging me always it was a ride of my life.

At two points on our down climb, one zillionth of fear creped in was when I was having my both hands on two cliffs stretched and my left foot on a small ledge and my eyes searching for a place to put my right foot. Any wrong step at this point would send us crashing down the rocks and a sure ride to hell/heaven. Got a hand from Pavan and pulled myself up and got a place for my right foot.

By this time we were half way down the hill and when we were there we realized that the toughest part is still in front of us. Till here the rocks were dry but from here downwards the rocks were wet, and with green algae forming here and there our chances of slipping were more. I and Pavan sat there for a while enjoying the breeze and the water of the powerful falls getting sprayed on us. We were reluctant to move from there but the camera in my hand and all our mobiles and wallets in the bag Pavan was carrying made us move.

Pavan @ half way down, rocks get wet and slippary from here

It was difficult for me to get grip at most of the places and at one point I slipped. I slipped for 3 or 4 feet down and in a fraction of a second, my fingers found a small crack in the rock to which I hung on. The thought which came to my mind at this point is of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 2(I know its too much but that’s what I felt). Again with the help of Pavan I got my grip on the rock and from here I thought I will slide down on my bum slowly with my hands and legs getting grip on the rocks.

And we were down, it was a moment of triumph. The moment I trashed my fear to death and adrenalin was on full pressure in my blood.

Moment of triumph...the day I proved once again that I control my fear, not the other way.

Natures fury

We met Ashok and JaiRam downstairs and we all squatted on the rocks talking. My eyes just looked the rock in front of me and I tried to trace the patch we took down. The feeling itself sent shivers down my spine. Now people started pouring in and we thought we will call it a day at Kuntala and move on.

We were back to Dhaba, ate Natu kodi(Country Chiken), roti and with liquid fuel.

Celebration for being alive

We were back to our office at 10.30 pm 4'th August 2007. While coming we had lots of fun listening to Iliyaraja's old songs, stopping here and there for tea and stuff.

So the trip came to an end and we all had a time of our lives. I am ending this post wishing that more adventures come my way in future.

More pictures from the trip can be found at Picassa and Flickr.