This is not the usual one.. especially for those who are older in their knees than what their birth certificates show. Atleast, it has been the case with my first few treks...where every step I took beyond the first few kms, I had to drag myself, .. my irises had to contract and fixate on the narrow patch where my next step was to fall, lest I may topple! Naturally, all the visual delights I meant to enjoy fell far beyond the 'focus'.Thankfully & refreshingly this was different. After all those busy treks where the organizer had to be on my back to keep me going, this one made me (& us) feel like God with all the time in the world for enjoyment! More time and less agenda. 
We trekked (ahem), camped out (the sleeping bags, campfire stuff), celebrated, cooked a full course meal, bathed in waterfalls, ate guavas and all like starving wolves, organized frisbee tournaments, ate snake-skin-textured-table-cloth-like-rotis (this thing must have been patented already - like the tirupathi laddus)!, visited an ancient temple(we didn't bother to ring up the priest though!), some ppl discovered alternate professions for recessions like 'maggie selling', a few ppl even paired!!:)) Sounds like a perfect recipe, doesn't it? Such an experience produces wonders in the form of memories. A bunch of seemingly reluctant strangers .. we were, when we boarded the bus @Shantala. And it was fun, energy and antakshari on the way back... and pure nostalgia for all the days that followed!
The estate was filled with old trees and the sounds of water in streams and falls could be heard all along. The sight of ettina bhuja never left us. We sighted waterfalls in many places and didn't leave any without bathing. By noon we reached our camping spot. It was a wide patch by a serene tile house with a small waterfall right beside the house. We made merry in the stream water for hours together. And later frisbee tournaments began. A part of the team chose to play, a part decided to cook, & a part simply rested. Now comes the most interesting part - the account of all the delicacies we relished.. Jinu seems to have some mystery recipes. As soon as the cooking session began, ppl gathered around jinu, hoping to catch the details of his highly successful recipes. Ofcourse there were other expert chefs too.. And coming to actual recipes during the elaborate cooking
sessions, here is the account of all the delicacies: 'sweet' semiya (I mean arguably 'sweet'), 'lemon' tea, Jinu's miracle 'buy-all-varieties-of-soup-available-in-market-and-mix-them-all' soup, 'raw mango' maggie, 'snake-skin-textured-table-cloth-like-rotis' (like i said) with achaar and honey , guavas, berries from the estate.... and .... the rock and roll cake for a dessert! phew! By now u must have guessed already that we spent half of the time eating ;) Before we retired, we lit campfire.. cut the cake.. sat around & shared our experiences with BASC. It was a wonderful way to celebrate a birthday. And BASC which set many thousands in the path of nature exploration and adventure, filled many lives with memories... deserved such a great tribute. We rested beneath the open skies, with the sounds of water streams ringing in our ears, and a backdrop of fireflies blinking in the darkness of woods like stars in the sky! What a sight it was!
The next day we went trekking into the woods, witnessed several breathtaking views and traces of wild dogs. Jinu led us to an ancient natural shivalinga shaped rock. We then headed back to the waterfalls and enjoyed the chill waters. We then bid a good bye to the beautiful campsite & headed back. During the detour, we visited an ancient veerabhadraswamy temple with ettina bhuja in the backdrop which was truly a photographer's delight. On the way back our bus rocked with great music & energy.
Thanks to Jinu, for creating such an 'awesome' experience.. I know that these words hardly do any justice to the kind of experience we had in the woods for two full days. It is just a humble attempt to put it into words .. for the records.
Written by: Sreevalli 
We trekked (ahem), camped out (the sleeping bags, campfire stuff), celebrated, cooked a full course meal, bathed in waterfalls, ate guavas and all like starving wolves, organized frisbee tournaments, ate snake-skin-textured-table-cloth-like-rotis (this thing must have been patented already - like the tirupathi laddus)!, visited an ancient temple(we didn't bother to ring up the priest though!), some ppl discovered alternate professions for recessions like 'maggie selling', a few ppl even paired!!:)) Sounds like a perfect recipe, doesn't it? Such an experience produces wonders in the form of memories. A bunch of seemingly reluctant strangers .. we were, when we boarded the bus @Shantala. And it was fun, energy and antakshari on the way back... and pure nostalgia for all the days that followed!
The estate was filled with old trees and the sounds of water in streams and falls could be heard all along. The sight of ettina bhuja never left us. We sighted waterfalls in many places and didn't leave any without bathing. By noon we reached our camping spot. It was a wide patch by a serene tile house with a small waterfall right beside the house. We made merry in the stream water for hours together. And later frisbee tournaments began. A part of the team chose to play, a part decided to cook, & a part simply rested. Now comes the most interesting part - the account of all the delicacies we relished.. Jinu seems to have some mystery recipes. As soon as the cooking session began, ppl gathered around jinu, hoping to catch the details of his highly successful recipes. Ofcourse there were other expert chefs too.. And coming to actual recipes during the elaborate cooking
sessions, here is the account of all the delicacies: 'sweet' semiya (I mean arguably 'sweet'), 'lemon' tea, Jinu's miracle 'buy-all-varieties-of-soup-available-in-market-and-mix-them-all' soup, 'raw mango' maggie, 'snake-skin-textured-table-cloth-like-rotis' (like i said) with achaar and honey , guavas, berries from the estate.... and .... the rock and roll cake for a dessert! phew! By now u must have guessed already that we spent half of the time eating ;) Before we retired, we lit campfire.. cut the cake.. sat around & shared our experiences with BASC. It was a wonderful way to celebrate a birthday. And BASC which set many thousands in the path of nature exploration and adventure, filled many lives with memories... deserved such a great tribute. We rested beneath the open skies, with the sounds of water streams ringing in our ears, and a backdrop of fireflies blinking in the darkness of woods like stars in the sky! What a sight it was!
The next day we went trekking into the woods, witnessed several breathtaking views and traces of wild dogs. Jinu led us to an ancient natural shivalinga shaped rock. We then headed back to the waterfalls and enjoyed the chill waters. We then bid a good bye to the beautiful campsite & headed back. During the detour, we visited an ancient veerabhadraswamy temple with ettina bhuja in the backdrop which was truly a photographer's delight. On the way back our bus rocked with great music & energy.
Thanks to Jinu, for creating such an 'awesome' experience.. I know that these words hardly do any justice to the kind of experience we had in the woods for two full days. It is just a humble attempt to put it into words .. for the records.
Event organized by: Jinu John
Image Galleries:Sandhya, Prosenjit,
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