The lucky trip.
NB: This trip happened four years ago in 2019, so none of us look like the pictures anymore. I guess college life hit us all very hard.
There aren't many days when I wish I were this ignorant, but one such day was when 20 of us planned to go hiking 18.5 kilometers in Agasthyarkoodam. You will soon see why that was ignorant.
One person can book a slot for a maximum of 10 people for a day. Each person has to pay a sum of Rs. 1000 (which has since been increased). So Sayooj (one of my close friends) and I decided to split the cost and each planned to book for 10 people.
We knew the bookings and slot allocation were tight since there was only one slot available for 100 people each day and only for 3 months, but we didn't care much. We both waited with the necessary details of all the members, and as soon as the clock hit 11 am, the booking was open, and we hurried to fill in all the details and pay the fees.
I was able to make the payment and confirm the tickets, but Sayooj wasn't lucky enough. Ten of my friends couldn't get the tickets, including him. It was a bummer. The friends who got tickets were me, Bala, Ali, Japu, Prakashan, Josettan, Amit, Rayyan, Sreehari, and Monuttan.
Mainly water, biscuits and bread.
We had booked for January 23, 2019. On the previous day, we bought some food items to bring with us to use during the hike, along with a pack of salt to keep off leeches.
On that cold January morning, we set off to Bonecaud Forest Office.
On bikes and scooters.
We only had four vehicles available, but one of our friends agreed to drop one off near the forest office.
After that, it was 3 on 2 vehicles. Simpler times.
V for Victory Bala
Thumbs up Sreehari and Chill Ali
Smiling Bala and excited me waving.
Cool off enroute
Ride on the long winding road on that cold morning was experience in itself.
We reached the starting point (Bonecaud Forest Office) at around 7-8 AM. We bought some canes as support for hiking. All 100 of us for that day were given a small briefing by the forest officer about the hike, and he also shared some terrifying stories.
He casually mentioned that a forest officer was killed by a wild bull last year and advised to always be vigilant of the surroundings. Otherwise, he warned, you could end up in a similar situation to a guy who came to visit last week and got lost in the woods for three days before being luckily found by the officers.
Most importantly, he said, “ഇത് കാട് ആണ്, നിങ്ങൾ കണ്ടിട്ട് ഉള്ളത് പോലെ അല്ല ഇവിടെ, ശ്രദ്ധ ഇല്ലെങ്കിൽ കാട് നിങ്ങളെ കൊണ്ട് പോവും” , ("This is a forest. If you don't pay attention, you might get lost."). We didn't fully understand the meaning and, to be honest, we were stupidly confident and didn't care much.