A night and two days in Dandeli - Jyothi H.R

7.30! Damn…I held my breath as I was zooming in an auto that was falling apart with a cheerful auto rickshaw driver who had clearly understood my need to reach home soon on a Friday night when everybody else on the road had the same intention as I did. The need for speed that evening was to catch a bus to Dandeli which was due to leave in an hour’s time and here I was stuck right in the middle of maddening traffic and blaring horns. The automan had not given up hope but I almost did. Back home Sangu, my friend has started packing my things along with a hyper tensed mom and a neurotic father. Congratulations to you Sangu for dealing with them! After almost knocking a lady off her feet I managed to reach home, have dinner and felt utterly deceived when Sangu revealed that the bus departs at 8.45 as against 8.30! Geez… I think I lost half a kilo of weight that evening! Not knowing what was thrust into my bag and what I had left behind, Sangu and I headed towards the bus stand where Gai, another friend was waiting for us sleepy eyed and dazed not even knowing the destination that she was to reach! Yes she works in the night FYI!

So, the three of us started towards Dandeli (not Devanhalli) in a rickety bus which had something rolling beneath it the entire night making helluva lotta noise, upsetting quite a few people who are good sleepers while traveling. The journey lasted a good 10 hours and we reached Dandeli at 6 in the morning where our luxury car (a Maruthi van) with a chauffer included was waiting for us. We got into the car had breakfast at a hotel where an old man kept looking at us! After the old man received a culture shock when Gai and Sangu bought ciggies we were off in our Maruti van towards, ‘Stanley’s farm’ our camping ground for two whole days! Ah the bliss we felt when we were driving past small village’s on bumpy roads through bamboo shoots! I felt proud to be an Indian; the feeling somehow crept in somewhere! So less has been discovered of so much in Karnataka! Anyway we finally saw the red building looming in from around the bend! Aww! What a pretty little house we thought! The driver whose name I forgot dropped us there and we were welcomed by Stanley the man himself who was our rafting instructor and the owner of the farmhouse. We were asked to sit down and were served tea while our room was being made. A friendly cook whose name I did not ask came out and smiled at all of us beaming! We were then escorted towards our room which, blimey! was quite comfortable but dark because of power shortage. Lighting candles in the toilet and inside the room we settled down awaiting our adventure.

Stanley came into our rooms and told us that we were to go rafting in the late afternoon. Till then, he said, there was a little stream where us city dwellers could relax and wait for the other team who were to join us while rafting. We headed of towards the stream with Stanley running behind a snake and Sangu running behind him to catch a glimpse of the slithering creature but the clever thing never revealed itself. We reached the stream in the thickest of woods with birds chirping and the sound of water was, oh! so sweet! Me being a Piscean absolutely love water and Gai also being a Piscean hates water..hmm..Sangu on the other hand was already scampering over the rocks in search of a place to cool off in the clear water. This was what all of us were waiting for! Absolute solitude with nature! Now what happened next was something that was expected out of us! You see, the three of us have always been a little crazy and the craziness got to us, what with nature and solitude, we were on a high with nature so we decided to go topless the American way and shock the langoors who were curiously watching us from the trees above! Every boy’s fantasy come true! So long to traditional Bharatiya Nari’s!

After soaking in the whole environment and when our stomach’s called out to us we decided to head back to camp.

The smells of the kitchen kept wafting through the windows which btw had no shutters just one thick curtain to protect us from the outside while world while we changed! When we dried ourselves and headed out towards the porch, the other group, we saw had arrived and seemed like a friendly bunch mostly comprising of married couples. Settling ourselves on the other dining table with a lazy dog resting beneath it, our lunch was laid out. Oh what a spread it was! Relishing every bit of the meal we were satisfied enough not to move an inch! How in the world we were going to go rafting, was the million dollar question running in my mind.

Lazing around in the front porch we never knew how the weather suddenly changed from a bright sunny day to a sudden downpour! As the paper napkins flew from their holders we scrambled for cover! The dog underneath our table had vanished and was enjoying itself running madly in the rain! The welcome rain was like a starter to what was going to be a whole meal of adventure! It did not play spoilt sport and it did stop raining in an hour just in time for us to go rafting!

The river seemed calm and mysterious through the small clearing. The rexin boats and our safety gear were all lined up neatly. Sangu had to attend the call of nature then but unfortunately could not as she was wearing a swimsuit much to gai’s and my amusement! The laughter gave me goose bumps or maybe it was just my nervousness. The three groups of amateur rafters gazed wide eyed at the calm river and then a loud voice that of Stanley’s zapped us into attention as he gave us all the instructions. A bunch of rowdy boys irritated us but it did not matter. Shivering we put on our life jackets and helmets and got into the boat one by one. Stanley steered the boat away from the banks and I could not help thinking that it was going to be the last time I am ever gonna set foot on land!

After Stanley gave us all the instructions and shocked everyone when he asked one of us to jump out of the boat and demonstrated the techniques of pulling a person back into the boat, mass hysteria got into us and all of us got out of the boat and the cool water gave us the shivers. We were just getting back into the boat when Stanley told us we were approaching our first rapid. The calm water turned whitish and the cottages on the banks of the river and the scenery were breathtaking! Who says we need to go abroad to try adventure stuff! The scenery looked straight out of a Hollywood flick! The rapid was approaching rapidly and we all held on to our seats, the water was treacherous and looked like as if it could swallow us whole! Stanley’s voice was the only thing everybody was paying attention to! And then we were in the rapid being thrown around next to vicious rocks yet enjoying the force of nature. The sound of the water was deafening. It surrounded us from all sides and we were on a downward rush and suddenly thrown in the air and as fast as it began the thrill of crossing our first rapid was over! We looked back and wondered if it was us who just crossed the rapid. The rapids after the first one were equally exhilarating and we enjoyed every bit of it ignoring the maniacal boys who were creating a ruckus.

After crossing many rapids and covering a stretch of nine and a half kilometers we approached our last rapid. The last one we were told was the icing on the cake, the climax to the adventure movie! The rapid was tough, yet it did not topple our boat and we conquered it! Just when we thought the ride was over, Stanley asked us to start rowing towards the rapid! What! I thought. Was he crazy or out of his mind! We saw the boat ahead of us fiercely rowing towards the rapid, the water playing a game of its own and not letting us win again, yet somehow we kept rowing and rowing and as we approached the rapid the water filled into our boat and at one point in time we were almost vertical! Gosh I thought this is it, we are all going to fall into the water. But miraculously the boat was adrift and we were pushed back. The might river Kali had spared us. As human nature would have it we wanted to try it again! And the whole saga of rowing towards the rapid and holding on to dear life while we were tossed about like pop corn in a machine finished. We were tired but not exhausted. We decided to go for it again and went for the rapid. But river Kali was kind to us all the three times and we did not topple over. Is that a good thing I thought? After the grand finale we were back in calm waters and were allowed to swim in the water! The ride of a lifetime was over! Oh, could we do it all over again please!

Back in home base after drying ourselves we relaxed and waited for the campfire to begin. The power had still not yet returned. Dusk had dawned over us and the sun set was beautiful! We saw that out tents were being put up. The fire was lit, the booze was out and the campfire began. Round after round of appetizers devoured, we had no place for dinner! Mind you, the cook is a fabulous one at that! After eating whatever little we could, we started our “night trek” into the woods. The leaves were soggy and so were our spirits. Too tired from rafting I forced myself to join the gang. We walked on soggy ground and scarce torch light batteries, hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive wild elephant. But as luck would have it, we came across only the dumping which was fresh! Mistaking a sign board for some creature and scaring half the group we trod back to the farm house when we spotted a bird. “night something”, Sangu again ran behind Stanley and I did not care. Tired inside every bone in my body the thought of sleeping in a tent was so tempting. We headed of without no further ado and slept like logs awakening to the sounds of birds chirping and bees buzzing!

After a healthy relishing breakfast we headed of again to our nature trek to bison river valley resort. The guide was surprisingly cute and I was really not concentrating on the different types of trees and plants that he was explaining. He was like a monkey climbing and walking really fast and Gai and I were panting and puffing to keep up with him! After learning about some trees and birds and walking past a beautiful coal mine, we headed back to bison river valley in the scorching heat.

The guide, “Mutthu”, rowed us in a coracle to a bunch of rocks which was called a Jacuzzi in the middle of a river. The rocks formed there are a natural Jacuzzi where water falls under tremendous pressure. Mutthu seemed at home there and we were a little apprehensive. Holding onto dear life was a difficult thing to do because the water was very strong. We finally found a place settled down there and I let the water massage my tired back and legs. Ah! Sheer bliss only to be interrupted by yuppy teenage girls. Our guide Mutthu was no longer ours and we left him behind and got into our coracle and headed back to shore.

After swimming in the water (lifejacket included) for sometime we headed back to base camp. Dried ourselves had a hearty meal and went to catch up on a few Z’s before we were woken up by the friendly cook informing us that the cab was here to take us to the Dandeli bus stop. Sadly we packed our things and dragged ourselves to the Maruthi Van. The journey to the bus stop as usual was spent talking nonsense. We got of at the same place we had breakfast and had some weird juice of sorts with the trip organizer, Imam. After bidding a farewell to him we went to the stinky bus stop and waited for our bus to arrive. The return journey back to Bangalore was a pleasant one with showers in between and our singing talent quite appreciated by few.

We reached Bengalooru around 6 in the morning and parted ways. I reached home and headed straight for bed dreaming about the lovely time I had and saddened by the thought that I had to reach office at 11.30 through maddening traffic and blaring horns. Cheers to Dandeli for awakening the adventure in all of us!

Dandeli!

Our love for travel took us [Joe, Gai and I] to a quiet village, Dandeli.. Joe made a journal entry on the trip, and I've uploaded the same on my blog...