This trip is about a recent school trip to Uttara Kannada.
DETAILS OF TRIP BEFORE YOU READ THIS...
Left for the camping trip by train with friends; Avyay, Meher, Aadhi, Sriram, Rajdeep and Joey.
Educators : Vishnu sir and Indira ma'am.
DAY 1 (MONDAY 16 DECEMBER 2019)
Arrived at Thalaguppa railway station. Got into a tourist van and reached and unpacked at the campsite called Laughing Elephants. We trekked at Devarakadu forest with a local guide and learned about the various endemic species there. The river there is fit for drinking and the soil is good for your skin. We had lunch and lemon juice from a nearby temple in the village and thanked them in Kannada ( Say dhanyavadugalu as thanks.) We travelled by van to an arts college, where our Kalari
(martial arts) instructors studied in. We found a cute puppy, we named Rafael/Button (Sriram was scared of it, as he's a health nut.) Next, we visited a cotton cloth weaving and dying factory, made by a man named Prasanna, who made this to give jobs to the poor and encourage traditional cloth manufacturing the natural way. We learnt the process. Next, we picked up our trekking guide, Ganapathy from his house. We sang songs on the way back (mainly Old Town Road.) We had a campfire session and listened funny stories from Vishnu sir. (Also, I forgot to mention, there are two dogs there named Raju and Karabi. The caretaker's name is Sachin.)
DAY 2 (TUESDAY 17 DECEMBER 2019)
We went for a long trek with our trekking guide to the summit of a mountain, it was a breathtaking view 😮. While we were walking back, we found a golden grass plain, I named it Golden Retriever Valley. We found an old holy spot called Bhima's Footprint on the way. We swung on a tree on the way too. Now this is the hard part, going down the hill in a forested path down, you can easily cramp your foot( It happened to me, I'm ok now.) We finally got to the main road and walked to a house, where those nice people refilled our bottles and we played with two puppies there. One was a Labrador, other was a Indian stray breed. We walked back to camp, had lunch and after some time,
went for swimming in the nearby lake. We swam in the lake with life jackets and for people who don't know swimming, Ganapathy will instruct you. We swam to the nearby island and spotted a sleeping viper and we swam away. We swam to another island, where we spotted a kingfisher. We also played Tag in the river. Joey is sick and he will leave tomorrow. Before dinner and sleeping, we sat by the fire.
DAY 3 (WEDNESDAY 18 DECEMBER 2019)
We pack up and leave for the Sirsi campsite. We drop off Joey to his brother, who has come to pick him up. We visited an old temple in Banvasi and studied it's architecture. We visited Jog Falls and learnt about it. We even saw a hydro-electric Plant and discussed about it and it's uses and left. We reached the Sirsi camp and unpacked. We played Tag and found two dogs there called CookieKumar and Max. We watched a Yakshagana play(Yakshagana is a mix of dance-song and drama.) We watched a documentary by Vishnu sir's friend about the nearby river, Aghanashini. Aghanashini is a river that existed when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. There are many prehistoric forests, fruits, existing here. It has a lot of tribes inside the land near the forests. It's protected by the holy people there and once in a while, they have a community lunch in the forest. It is famous for rainbows shown on the waterfalls at night and day. We slept at single bed dormitories there. with a pail as your bath bucket. The food is vegetarian and yummy. This is run by Firoze and Manu, the caretakers.
DAY 4 (THURSDAY 19 DECEMBER 2019)
We went to a beekeepers place and learnt that pollen from different plants = different honey flavour.
Rock bees produce more yield of honey but are aggressive and are big and found on cliff faces. We visited Aghanashini river and was allowed to swim in a particular area of water. We visited Unnchali Falls and you have to walk through a forest path and go down stairs to each viewpoint. We travelled to a place where we trekked up the mountain and watched the sunset.
DAY 5 (FRIDAY 20 DECEMBER 2019)
We found a cat at the camp, Aadhi named it Chummie. We visited Yaana, a rock formation made by the fissures called the Deccan trap and a huge natural cave. It was situated in a temple town and the only way in is remove your footwear and enter the temple route. We swam in Vibhuti Falls and there are fishes there which remove your dead skin. We reached Gokarna, a coastal town. We had lunch in a bus stand. We walked to a salt factory and learnt their process of making natural salt, which is brown. We visited Gokarna beach and Om Beach and had fun! We sang and listened to music on the way back. We had snacks on the way back. I was too full for dinner and changed clothes and slept.
DAY 6 (SATURDAY 21 DECEMBER 2019)
I woke up early and packed my bags and got ready. I listened to true scary story from Sriram about two guys driving on a road and finding a ghost.(I don't trust it, as it's forwarded from someone in WhatsApp) I had tea and sat down, talked with everyone. I learnt carving on a Plaster of Paris and got hurt during the finishing touches, Vishnu sir helped me get better. We left the camp and learnt about rock carving and two rocks used mainly, Black basalt and granite. We visited this NGO called Chetana, that gives jobs to the disabled. We bought some items they made of banana fibre. We helped them make paper bags, danced with them and gave them snacks. We left for the railway station and on the way, had ice cream. We reached the railway station and had dinner outside. We gave chocolates to Meher and Sriram as birthday gifts. We got on the train and listened to music provided by Raj, Indira ma'am played a prank on me, we talked for some time and slept. We woke up on the crack of dawn and reached Bangalore. We said our goodbyes and thanks and went home.
END OF TRIP
(Until Next Time)
