acoustic grunge: Dial A for Adventure(also Abhi :P): The Monsoon Assignment 2:

Some of us were whistling and to our surprise somebody was whistling back. We looked around hoping to find some people. Then, US pointed out that it was a bird! I stood there thinking for a second in astonishment, appreciating god's creation. We finally started at 715 at the 49th kilometer milestone. We walked, talked and more often than not stopped for photo sessions.

A result of which was the fact that we did not have any momentum. After almost 6 kilometers on the railway track where we walked, talked, sang and slipped, we took a detour to have breakfast. This was where we first saw leeches sucking our blood. US was the first one, followed by me and the rest. There were all sort of jokes on the same topic. In the meanwhile, we drank some instant coffee and ate 'Figure rice'(Chitranna!) on disposable paper plates which we did not dispose. Instead we washed them and kept them safe for further use. I saw a mini landslide in the meantime. The water at the Kempu Hole was at its furious best. Imagining the same on a large scale I couldn't help but cross my fingers. I think it was a warning for all us greedy human beings screwing around cutting trees and causing harm to nature.

We left again at 11 AM, lacking momentum, stamina and agility. The water from the rain had entered our shoes and soaked our socks. The rashes on my sole hurt me for every step I took. We stopped at another station called Kadagaravalli. We finished some of the food we had and got rid of some more leeches. US and Karthik interviewed some more locals and we were off again.

The best thing about walking on railway tracks is that you get to walk over the bridges and under the tunnels. Walking over the bridges was like watching a 3D movie for me coz there I was, between the clouds and i could see waterfalls below my feet. Felt like I was walking over them. Gosh! I can still remember the sound of the waterfall. It still haunts me.

Walking through tunnels can be a lot more awesome. It is usually pitch black till the end of the tunnel. We had our torches in full glow. Watching every step to make sure we did not slip. I actually freaked out when Vasu pointed out that there were heavy chances that we would encounter snakes. I would frantically look around! Some of the tunnels had inhabitants. There were a couple of tarpaulin sheets lying around and also some cooking vessels. Somebody had cooked chicken apparently. There was fire too. If I were to walk alone through these tunnels, and come across such a thing, I would ve tried to run away as fast as possible.

In the meanwhile Santosh was hunting crabs down for dinner and Karthik was the brain behind four of the preys. Karthik would locate them and Santosh armed with his killer knife would do the rest. Santosh later announced that he had the confidence that he will survive in the forest for 3 months easily!

We planned to take a break at 230 near one of the tunnels and decided to have lunch. All of us got rid of our bags on the track and started taking the food packets out. We had chapatis in our hand and were waiting to get some pickle, and suddenly we heard a train honking! We waited for the train to cross and got down at the sides without thinking much, since it was a goods train, we did not panic. The train did come, but a little later than we expected. Now this was another moment! Here we were, watching a train whizz past right in front of us and eating. Just like watching a 3D movie! After eating, we packed our bags again and were leaving and we heard a

train honk again. For a second we thought it was the same train but doppler effect was indicating otherwise. It was another train! We jumped to the sides of the tracks again. We finally left after that train whizzed past in front of us.

The last five kilometer stretch was the most strenous part of the entire trek. We were all tired and the rashes on the sole started hurting all over again. I was literally looking at every milestone hoping to find the number marked 67. After a very silent session, we managed to get to Yedukumari. After the eighteen kilometer walk, all of us were tired. We thankfully got a place to stay. Manju, an employee with the railways agreed to let us stay in his place for the night.