August 11-13, 2006
"There was Rain - There was Train - It was a perfect TERRAIN.
The rain poured all the way, the train roared all the way.
The beauty of the western ghats was the best of the feast.
Feast and the train was like Beauty and the Beast"
The green route of Karnataka is not just green anymore. It has a dash of red chugging along the tracks of western ghats. South western railway are operating Container trains on the terrific terrains of the western ghats.
Trail a bit ---- rail a bit --- across the green route --- nothing to beat it
That's what the Chalukyas did to celebrate the 60th year of Indian Independence.
Friday, 11th August, Bangalore
Incessant rains, traffic jam, racing with time Chalukyas manage to reach the KSRTC bus stand just in time. This follows with utter chaos and confusion with the Bus we are supposed to board and the conductor allotting seats to other passengers. Left Bangalore an hour beyond schedule at 23:00 hrs.
Saturday, 12th August, Bangalore-Mangalore Highway (1 km away from Donigal)
Raincoats and torches out of the bag, we walk towards the track which is just a stone throw away from the highway. It’s 04:30 hrs and we decided to head towards Yedakumeri straight away in the darkness. Crossing the first long Bridge takes us about 15 mts in faint moonlight and drizzle.
Signs of daylight brightened our hope of rains stopping and making our trek a little easier. Alas, the clouds had plans to play hide and seek with us. This neither deterred us and we had the long tunnels to play the same with the clouds.
07:30 hrs we took shelter in one of the tunnels to silence our growling stomachs with some Chapatis and Bread. 08:15 hrs we decided to continue as we planned to reach Yedakumeri by lunch. From some helpful websites we had found that there are only a couple of rooms in Yedakumeri which are suitable to spend the night and better if we were able to occupy them earliest in case there were other trekkers on the route.
The trek was quite tedious as we had to watch our steps on the slippery tracks throughout.
As we expected after about 2-3 hrs we saw another group of trekkers behind us. Our saviors Chandru, Manju and Sunil decided to step up their speed and reach the station at the earliest. The rest of us continued admiring the wonderful terrain as some of us were first time trekkers.
Crossing a few of the long bridges with extremely slippery tracks made us remember the almighty quite often. It was one memorable experience which would most of us would not forget for a long time to come. One wrong step could have proved fatal. The most scenic trail during monsoons can be most tragic if one is not cautious while trekking on this route, especially on the bridges.
Just as we crossed one of the longest bridges about 5 kms before Yedakumeri we heard the Red Beast asking us for the way. With 30 to 40 containers of Iron ore it had all the rights to do so. It was sheer timing as we had just stepped out of the bridge and our fate was quite certain if the train arrived a few minutes early.
We saw a group which had already got on the train to alight at Yedakumeri and hoped Chandru, Manju and others ahead of us would reach before them. The train just passed by us as we stood contemplating whether to hop into one of the containers. To our surprise there was something more exiting in store for us. As we lamented over not getting into the train, we heard a shrill sound from one of the tunnels and there was a patrol vehicle with five railway staff on it. They were very kind to accommodate six of us in that trolley and take us on a exiting and much needed ride till Yedakumeri.
As expected our pilot team had occupied the generator and the signal room for the Chalukyas. Legs aching and stomachs growling we attacked the Chapatis, dry fruits and chocolates. It was time for some rest and then followed with some banter in the evening.
The other group had brought along a tent with them and were finding it quite tough to place it firm in the windy weather. It got very cold by the night as it was raining without a break. We slept with a hope to see some sunlight in the morning as we had to cover another 15-18 Kms before reaching Shirabagilu to catch a jeep to Kukke Subrhamanya.
Sunday,13th August, Yedakumeri Railway station:
Early morning the first wake up call was from the guard and the second was from the train. Early morning a goods train headed towards Kukke stopped over. We were quite excited at the thought of experiencing the green route on a train without a roof. The railway staff had some problems with changing tracks and the Chalukyas more than willingly jumped at the opportunity to help them. At 11:30 hrs we left Yedakumeri standing outside the guards cabin at the end of the train.
The next one hour was a journey of lifetime. Soaking in the best of nature on the green route would not be possible sitting in the cozy compartment of a passenger train. We considered ourselves extremely lucky to have experienced the Green route on the container train under the incessant showers through the countless water falls and streams, through the unguarded bridges and pitch dark tunnels. We had every reason to cherish and feel exhilarated after the arduous trek the day before. The numerous strips of water falls on the far off mountains of the western ghats looked like Silver linings. The cloud formation and the mist on the mountains would come nothing less than an Artists impression of a perfect picture. It was pure delight.
To add to our excitement few of the train wheels caught fire due to the excessive heat caused by braking and we stopped for a while to douse the fire. Fortunately it was nothing serious and we were close to Subhramanya road station.
The first half of green route was conquered on foot and the second half on wheels but by the end of the journey the Chalukyas were conquered by the pristine beauty of the wild western ghats.
A bumpy jeep ride to Kukke Subrhamnya thereof and a wholesome meal. Freshening up we visited the temple to thank the Lord for all his blessings and pray for all our future endeavors. All the while the rains never left us behind till we reached the IT land .
Monday,14th August, Bangalore
JAI HIND
Passengers on Chalukya Express:
Nabonita,Victoria, Soni, Sanjeev, Sudhir, Chandru, Sunil, Manju, Ramesh, Chintu & Nitin
Trek Summary
Bangalore- Donigal by KSRTC Rajahamsa (230 kms approx)
Donigal- Yedakumeri ( 19 kms)
Yedakumeri- Subramanya road Station ( 30 kms)
Subrhamanya road Station – Kukke Subrhamanya (15 kms)
Kukke Subrhamanya – Bangalore ( 280 kms)
Total of 57 tunnels from Donigal to Subramanya Road varying length from 40 meters to 800 meters.
Number of bridges varying height from 5 to 50 meters.
Necessities
Comprehensive first aid kit.
Good trekking shoes.
Good raincoats and caps ( during monsoon).
Good hunter torch.
Tips
Carry as less luggage as possible.
Minimize clothes.
Chocolates, dry fruits and glucose as energy boosters.
Chapatis for food.
Plastic covers to carry back the waste.
With good torches the trek can be started early dawn to save time and reach Yedakumeri at the earliest by avoiding resting at Donigal station.
Trekking in the monsoon can be very tiring as one needs to be very careful on the long bridges where the wooden planks are extremely slippery.
It is better to trek with someone who has trekked previously on this route
Encountering a train while crossing the bridge can be very risky. Make sure that there is enough space to stay away from the train on the long bridges. Its a personal risk and Railways would not be responsible for any mishap.
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