an incredible trip!

I set out on a fantastic journey, of tedious trekking and of beautiful sights! I've always wanted to go out into the wild, with my friends and experience nature at its best! We were 4 of us, and we embarked on this journey, expecting the unexpected(thought, I must admit, that we didn't come across anything insanely awesome!). On trips like this, its important that you have 3 different types of people travelling with you, to ensure an enlightening experience. Firstly, you need a master manipulator, who can bargain and get you the best prices. Secondly you need a really dumb guy, who can make a real fool out of himself, make the stupid jokes, and acts like a constant source of entertainment. Lastly, you need an intelligent one, who makes the right choices, and makes sure you don't get into any sort of trouble. Once you have these three types of people in your group, your good to go!

The two places we visited were Kollur and Kodachadiri. Kollur is a small temple town, with the very famous Mookambika temple there. Kodachadiri is a peak, and you need to trek for 4 hours to get to the top.

After our brief visit to the temple, and all the pseudo praying, we set out to the starting point for the trek. After a car ride from the town of Kollur, we reached the foothills of Kodachadiri. As we began our long journey to the top, we felt we could do it. 5 minutes into the trek, we all collapsed, begging for water.

The climb to the top was strenuous, yet a wonderful experience. We were surrounded by nature at its best. Humongous trees, birds chirping, leaves rustling when we walked over them. 5 hours, countless number of pit stops later, we reached the summit. We were awe struck, watching the clouds above us, moving ever so slowly. where ever we looked, we could only see mountains and more mountains, covered with trees of all sizes. We stayed at cottage, which by far, I must admit, was my worst stay ever!

We also decided to have a bonfire, in the night of our day. Since we were at an altitude, it was freezing cold there. The bonfire immensely helped in keeping us warm. The nights at such places are amazing! When you lie down, you find your under a billion starts, some scattered, some together. They were all twinkling above us, lighting the sky!

As the night ended, we realized we had very little time on this peak, as we had to head back to town the next day. We had a lovely time on top, having fun, admiring nature's beauty. we vowed to come back here, and stay here for longer, for we had only seen a tiny part.

We had a very busy next morning, since we had to make our return trip back to the town of Kollur. We decided not to climb down thins time, as we knew it'd slow us down, and we would not make it in time. We hired a jeep, which could take us downhill. Riding this jeep, was no joke. The rugged terrain, the sharp rocks jetting out from the sides of the road, and not to mention the steep curves of the road, called for an expert driver. After a very very dusty and bumpy, nevertheless fun ride downhill, we headed back to our hotel, where we had to pack our remaining things, and bid adieu to this lovely small town.

After a quick meal, we found our bus, hopped onto it, hoping that some time later, in the near future, we will visit this place again, and go back to that majestic peak, and sit under the billion twinkling stars....

Driving!!

Every time someone says that 7 lettered word, it sends chills down my spine. Yes, I have a phobia of driving cars. Each time I pictured myself sitting on the drivers seat, holding that steering wheel, a sense of fear would engulf me. The seed of this fear was sown in me when I was 7 years old. While I was trying to cross the road, a rider on a bike, obviously oblivious to the fact that the signal was showing red, which in many parts of the world, means stop, rammed into my right leg. Ever since then, I've feared crossing roads, riding bikes and cars. Its been long since that incident, and I've gotten over most of my fears. I do not fear crossing roads any longer, though I must admit that I do occasionally hesitate, when I find myself in the middle of the road, and surrounded my cars and trucks with their monstrous horns! That is the thing about India. If you hesitate for a moment while crossing a rod, you either get killed of abused. And if your really unlucky, you wont understand what they are saying.

I found it hard to believe that, even though that fateful accident took place ages ago, my phobia of driving never went. I cannot see myself not driving, because it has become a necessity now. One cannot always rely on buses and autos, and it is very important for one to have an independent means of transport, be it a car or a bike. So keeping that in mind, I decided to learn driving.

I enrolled myself in classes. The first day, when I had to drive, was a NIGHTMARE!!!! Oh god, how I sweated, and shook. The only thing that gave me the confidence and the strength to carry on was that my mother was behind me, sitting in the back seat. It was a harrowing experience, on that I will never forget. Its still a mystery, how I came out of the car in one piece!

I never thought i'd never learn driving. I always felt it was something beyond my reach. But here I am, done with 5 classes, and still going strong. I don't shiver anymore, when I sit on the driver's seat and reach out for the steering wheel. I realized that, if I have to learn anything, I must first remove the fear of not learning. Then only, will the learning process take place.