Midnight Trek to Kalavara Betta

A trek after a long time. And my first trek at a place so close to Bangalore. This time I went to Kalavara Betta, close to Nandi Hills. The uniqueness about this trek was that the upward trek was completely at night!!!
It was organized by KMA, and so there were over 40 people. Many of my friends and colleagues had joined me, because I got the information well in advance, and so I was able to inform all the interested ones.
So, after parking our bikes at one of my friends' house near Hebbal, we (Rachana, Ashith, Gurunandan, Murugesh, Suraj and I) went to the meeting point in Hebbal. Many of the trekkers were already there, some I knew from earlier treks and some new. Thomas was already there, wearing full trousers (after we told him about the leeches earlier that week). A bus took us to the bottom of Kalavara Betta. It took about an hour. After some food at the temple there, and taking further food (Frooti, chikkis and Parle-G biscuits), we started our trek. Everyone was excited because in a country far far away, Indian cricket team had almost triumphed over the ODI world champions. Within five minutes of our trek's start, Indian cricketers had eliminated the Australians from Twenty20 championship.
The black night was all over us. The moon and the stars were hiding behind the black clouds. We could see the lights of the city at a distance. We could see a few flickers of lights of the small houses nearby. They were of no use to us to show us the way. We had our own torches and headlamps. Or at least, a few of us. There were many who, despite knowing that it was a night trek, had failed to bring their own torches. Pretty surprising!!!
One of the guides led the way. I think it was Laxminarayan. He is a man in his 40s, but still has the energy and enthusiasm of a young trekker. This was my third trek with him. No matter how the terrain is, he always wears a t-shirt, either shorts and full track pants, and slippers. There were other guides at the end of the line, to make sure that people don’t get left behind or lose their way.
After crossing the fields, we started our jorney through the huge rocks and boulders. The guides showed us the way. After an initial journey on the flat rocks, the climb began. All of us slowly climbed through the rocks in a long line, a few of us struggling, some even slipping and falling. Some parts were really steep. And there were parts where we had to climb straight up on the artificial steps (very small, just enough to keep half your foot over them). And I was wondering how to trek on these treacherous rocks while going back. One false step, irrespective of whether you are going up or going down, would push you a few tens of feet down. That would surely give you a fracture or two!!!
After the long climb, we came across an almost flat land. We probably had covered about three-fourth of the distance. And at that place, we were shocked to see a tent. We got further shocks when a small black head popped out of the tent and said, "omlette, tea, coffee...". Who on Earth would expect a tea shop at that height??? Those who didn’t see this small boy thought that someone among us trekkers was shouting like this.
From there, we trekked further to reach the fort there. It is not sure who built this fort. Some say that Hyder Ali started building it and it was completed during Tipu Sultan's reign. Some say that it was built by Kempegowda himself. However, one of our guides told us (with an initial warning that he himself isn't sure of it) that it was built by a local ruler called Mahadeva Nayaka to protect himself and his people from Hyder Ali and later Tipu Sultan. May be this is true. There was a temple at the top of the hill and a lifesize statue of Nandi.
I think the time was around 4 AM at this time. From this place, we went to the campsite where we would stay till the dawn. This place had big flat rocks on which we could rest. And the wall of the fort protected us from wind. How fast the wind was, we would discover only the next morning. But for now, we were not bothered about exploring. It was too dark, and thus it was too risky. And it was really cold. I hadn't worn my jacket yet. But many of us had curled ourselves like prawns (hmmmmm!!!! My favourite food!!!!) to protect ourselves from cold. Some of us were sleeping on each other, at least partially, with the intention of sharing the body heat. I could see Thomas sitting with his chin on his knees. He was fully covered up, and only his fingers and a small part of his face could be seen. Gurunandan was sleeping on a rock. Suraj was sleeping with his head between two sitting guys. Rachana was sitting between Ashith and Shivnanad. Murugesh had covered himself in his leather jacket. Within half an hour, I too wore my jacket, the same one that has been my companion in every trip since four years or so. It is thick and gives perfect protection from cold. But this day I was wearing three-fourths, and so my legs were still exposed. Somehow I managed to survive the few hours there.
After about three hours, the sun could finally be felt. We could see the light, but the clouds were still thick, so we couldn’t see the light giver. A few us now decided to explore the place. We climbed on to the wall of the fort that protected us from the wind. And now we realised how strong the wind was. It was hard to stand straight. Wind was probably strong enough sweep a child off its feet.
By this time, someone had lit some wood and made a "campfire". Though we had wished for the fire during the night itself, it was not unwelcome now. We gathered around it and warmed ourselves up. And soon we left that place to go to the top of the peak. Though we had already visited this place the last night, now we could clearly see what all was there. The small temple, the statue of Nandi. I found a nice, almost flat rock and I slept on it. Within seconds I was asleep. But within minutes someone woke me up to tell me that we had to leave. So disappointing. It is so much fun to sleep on a rock with your backpack under your head!!!!
Our initial journey was through the bushes that have grown around there. And I was still thinking about the huge rocks we had climbed while coming. Ascending part was easy, but descending wouldn’t be. Then we reached the place of that small tea tent (or tea shop). The right turn at this point would take us on the path that we took while coming. But our guides turned left. We were taking totally different way, and I was happy about it. The path was good, and under full sunlight, we had no trouble in trekking. As we trekked, we could see the Kalavara Halli (Halli = village in Kannada) lying at the bottom of the hill. We could see vast land filled with rocks, and beyond that the Bangalore city. And soon we were back at the temple from where we had started our trek. Pongal and tea were waiting for us. Though I didn’t eat anything, I had a tumbler of tea. So refreshing it was!!! After all the trekkers reached, we boarded the bus and our return journey to Bangalore had begun.
And throughout the trek, not a single leech bothered us!!!
And we were already thinking of what to do after going back. Thomas suggested that we go to Coffee House on MG Road for our midday snack. I immediately agreed. Where else on MG Road would you get snacks that you can eat to your heart's, mind's, soul's and stomach's content and still pay a bill in 2 figures? I convinced Murugesh and Suraj to join us. Thomas decided to ride pillion with Murugesh, which would be his first bike ride in India.
So we went to Raghavendra's apartment where we had parked our bikes, and went to Coffee House, filled our bellies and went to our homes.