How i did my first trek

My Deep Regret

I was on a ride to Jawadhu hills. In case you didn't know, it was about 200 km from Chennai. During that time, I just saw a very steep hill on google maps. It looked dangerously steep and it was the one which I eagerly wanted to hop on to the top. It was Sunday, and I wanted to reach my home soon in Chennai since I have an office on Monday. It took almost 3 hours to descent from jawadhu hill range to the foothill of Paruvathu malai. By the time it is almost 6 pm. This is because I had to ask the locals for the way to foothill since I won't completely believe google maps. I would like to trek that time, but I couldn't because I had my riding jacket on, my bag with a camera, and worried about those things. From my knowledge, the locals said it would take at most 3 hours to reach the top. So I had to return home, deeply regretting the time which I don't have. The night ride is a new and thrilling adventure for me, much more on that on a separate blog.

The Rain ' Hate it or love it '

Fast forward to 2 months, it's a Diwali holiday. I and my office colleague planned to trek the paruvathu malai hill. We started from home at around 4.30 am and met at Tambaram. The weather was cool and I sensed some drizzle on the way. When we crossed chengalpattu , the rain started to show up. We decided to ride in the rain so that we can start and finish the trek soon before noon and there would be time to explore some routes to JAWADHU hills. Riding in the rain was beautiful and thrilling. 

After about 50 km we stopped for a shelter in the bus stand since the showers were too harsh and there was no visibility, only to find out that my smartphone which I kept in my pocket of the riding jacket was long gone. At that moment, I don't know whether to hate myself for being overconfident or to hate the rain. After the showers turned into drizzle, we started the ride again. Irrespective of the loss the ride through the rain was beautiful and thrilling, for which I had wished to be well prepared for the next ride. We took a few breaks in between near a beautiful pond, a beautiful mountain and finished our breakfast.

 While we are riding in the rain I figured out that, we are the only two people actually riding the motorcycle in the rain. People who saw us gave us an expression like "Are they crazy? really ?", 

We reached the foothills of paruvathu malai hill at around 11 am.

An unplanned and underestimated trek

The way to the foothills was slippery and muddy. We once again asked the locals about the time it will take to trek up and down, and they said it will take 3 to 4 hours.  So we decided that we shall return before 4 pm. There is a temple with a small house before the trek route starts. People have to park their vehicles and keep their belongings which they don't want to carry up. Two old nice people take care of the area. I just kept my tripod and bungee chords there and decided to carry my jacket and bag with a camera and other kinds of stuff. Only later I found that it was a huge mistake and I severely underestimated the trek. We started slowly, since there was rain the route was muddy and slippery. After half an hour the weight I just carried started to drain up my energy fast. The entire trek is like climbing two mountains and finally climbing steeply a hard tall rock. My energy gets drained really fast so that we kept on asking the peoples about the distance which is remaining to reach the top. It went so bad, I started to think about whether we can give up and return. It was until I saw a  beautiful view after climbing for 1 hour, which brought me the courage to continue the trek. 

We don't know where the way will end

After drinking some water, and resting for some time, we continued our trek. The way we went was where mostly small streams emerge and flow downwards during heavy rain. Our legs began to hurt and I started to rest consistently for every 10-minute trek. Since I have slowed down, my colleague west past me and I took my time to trek. During our trek, it was so rare to see people going to the top. I once saw a person carrying an empty cylinder from the top going past me. It was twice the weight of my luggage he was carrying. Out of nowhere some tribe of goats followed us, walked past us, and disappeared later. The way kept going on and on, and we started to think whether we are going in the correct direction or it may lead us to some steep valley until we saw some arrow marks painted on a stone giving us some relief. We barely While we are resting, we figured out that our sweats were actually transforming into water vapor and it went like mist above. That was the beautiful thing I have seen during the trek. The way began to change to grasslands, it was grassed surrounding me. The aroma of the wilderness made my day.

A breathtaking view

For a long trek, we got relief after seeing some people who are making a pilgrimage. We asked about the distance remaining to reach the top. They told us that it takes still 1 and half hours. As we continued the level of steepness began to increase and my heartbeat also started to increase. There were broken pathways and it is easy for people to fall. Since the weather is more humid and rain was not for too long, the soil became hard and easy for my foot to have a grip. My entire effort for the trek paid off with a breathtaking view of JAWADHU hills and the town of Polur. It was so beautiful for my first trek. It feels like you are at the top of the world, but it's still more. We can see the way in which we have trekked and the foothill where our motorcycles have been parked. 

The jawadhu hill range looked magnificent and I felt like going there while doing paragliding. We only completed 60 percent of the trek and the real challenge is yet to come. We also found a store with a nice old woman selling snacks and water bottles. At last, we got happy for the energy we spent, it's time for a refreshment. We bought and ate for the amount of money we got in our packet.

The rain again

After all the beautiful moments we had, we continued our trek. We had to climb steep stairways in order to reach the top. If we had slipped it was an absolute disaster. This is due to the fact that the only way up and down the rock is the two steep iron stairways used for up and down. People told me not to see down while climbing the ladder. I tried not to, but when I saw it it was both frightening and beautiful. It was so damn steep valley beside me on the right. It was so unbelievable for me taking this daring adventure. Once we crossed the stairways, there was like a small ancient temple. There were a lot of monkeys and they didn't do anything to since I minded my own business, not throwing stones or sticks at them. Suddenly the weather began to change, the sky which was clear was full of clouds and we are surrounded by clouds, actually, we are in the clouds. Rain began to start and some people who accompanied us halfway got shelter inside the ancient temple. We decided not to hide and experience the rain on the top. It was really a new experience, where you are in the clouds and showered by pure rainwater. While it was raining and shivering, I  and my colleague shared some life moments and experiences. We began to argue about something which either one of us didn't agree with. I told myself I

want something just like this. I am really living in the moment. The showers stopped and we are entirely wet except for the bags we had. We don't know that this situation will hit us hard until night.

The top

We finally made it to the top. For the entrance to the temple, we have to climb through rocks that seem to be sandwiched between big two rocks. We had no visibility since there was rain before. When we finally reached the top, the clouds slowly began to clear, leading to a view which I won't forget. The clouds were literally going through us. I felt like I am at the top of the world.'Beautiful views require greatest effort'. The wind speed was so fast. It was around 4 pm when we reached the top. I got to speak with fellow pilgrimages and I took some pictures of them. There was a situation where I cannot believe it in with my own eyes. When I saw below, the clouds emerged from the land of the mountains and were going above. It was absolutely stunning to see which I had never seen before. I spent watching them for about half-hour and with fast winds, my shivering starting to increase since I am all wet. I went into the temple after taking all the pictures I want. 

 

I was offered some peanuts inside the temple and everyone had some talks. I and my colleague discussed whether we can descend down or not. Since it is going to be dusk and due to our experiences i and my colleague decided to stay for the night as it is not safe for us to trek down during night. Fellow peoples also advised us the same.

The Night that never ended

There was a place called 'madam' near the in which people can stay for the night. Every one of us went to go there after 6 pm. The place was too dark and it had barely any doors to keep the cold winds from coming inside. The worst part is there was no electricity, but it was not also fair to expect that in a tough reachable area. The entire place was made lit by a saint with the help of a lantern. He made us maintain silence as it was the time to do meditation. He asked everyone to come to the new room above. The pathway to the room was narrow and small. He made us meditate while he delivered some slogans to lord shiva. We meditated for 15 minutes and after that, some people asked him doubts regarding lord shiva and about the temple. Later we returned where we have stayed. I started to wonder how the situations will be on the outside, so I decided to take a glimpse of it. I went out and I found out the wind speed kept on increasing, there was no visibility and the temperature is slowly dropping. I went inside and we were offered 'rice gruel' (

கஞ்சி

 in Tamil). I had never eaten such a tasty dinner in my life. Everyone complimented the saint and thanked him for offering the dinner. It was around 9 pm and we decided to trek down tomorrow at 6 am. We started to lay down with what we got. The floor was so chill. One person helped me with his extra blanket. My entire clothes were wet, and I was shivering the whole night. My riding jacket helped me with some warmness. The night was so long, I spent my entire night difficult to sleep due to shiver and everything finally came to an end.

Time for goodbye and a new trip

We started to descend at 6 am and I felt happy for doing this trek, taking on the last look at the views around the temple. While descending I found that there was another way to reach the temple which is from the opposite side of the mountain and that path had steps. I also learned that how crucial it is for one to know the way inside the forest. While going down, we met a person from Pondicherry who was going up solo since his friends were not interested in doing the trek with him. We were also accompanied by some cute dogs while going down. Finally, we reached the foothill within 2 hours of trekking. When we reached down we laughed out loud for the plan of returning within 4 hours of doing the trek. We started our motorcycle, packed everything, and started our trip to Jawadhu hills with absolute satisfaction.

How to reach

The hill is called 'Parvathamalai '. 'Kadaladi' by the locals. The place is around 200 km from Chennai. New trekkers will need about 3 to 4 hours to reach the top depending upon the luggage. There was also an easy path to reach the top. Starting early will be a good option if you want descent soon.

The google map location above shows the route I have followed. While reaching there, you can also park your vehicles and keep unwanted things to people staying there on a trusty basis.

checkout the route map to reach this place - Paruvathu malai

Follow me for more content like this and,

Check out My IGTV for the short version of the above experiences

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CHn0DzLpqIz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Join my new letter