Day 2 started very early at about 4 am, when the alarm bells started ringing madly on every mobile that we could spot and people begging them for mercy, for few grace minutes.I and Jay donning the role of roosters, had to start crowing just at the break of dawn, so that we dont miss the train to Araku and give way for more twists in the story.Four of us took the pole position for the race of the day and somehow managed to make it to the railway station on time.
Breaking the long queue and forcing our way to the ticket counter, I was surprised to hear that a ticket to Araku was only as costlier as the auto fare that we had to pay for the travel from the cottage to the station.And with this, the job was not over by any means.The best part was when I had to bring out all my experience of the monkey tricks I had learnt during my school and college days, by jumping into the running train and reserving seats for the entire team.It was almost an hour wait for us to see the faces that we left behind, while hurrying up to the station.
Loading our bags with few packets of biscuits, we were ready for the train to depart.And how can a train journey be complete without chatter and games, especially with such a unruly gang like us.And guess what, we too played the same 2 games that would be on every one's lips when asked to think of a list of games to be played on a trip - dumb charades and antakshari.After trying our hands at acting for some time, people really got irritated with the expressions on the faces of the Shahrukh Khans and Priety Zintas in our troop, that made them switch to the back end mode.This time the playback singers had to take the curse as people tried to become crooners and started imitating them.As time went on, the adrenaline started pumping up with excitement and very soon, the decibel levels of our noise crossed the limits of tolerance,that if we had continued it even for ten more minutes, the engine driver would have come down all the way, to catch us by our collars and literally push us out of the train.Thanks to the tunnels and the beautiful greenery all around,that made us dumbstruck.
The series of tunnels that followed brought out the childishness in us, that made us shout and jump in joy, whenever she went into a cloud of darkness.After a round of clicks on the cameras, the ranges and the valleys around, ceased to impress us anymore and looked nothing more than a patch of green art.The throats that shouted till the point they could be dampened with the little amount of water left in the bottles,now wanted some solace and energy conservative talks and thus the topic slightly moved to history.After having loitered all around the twin cities for almost three years,I felt ashamed that I didnt even know the logic behind the naming of these 2 cities, until Dixith enlightened me, with his rays of wisdom and explaining us about the same.(Hyder ali ke baad = Hyderabad aur Sikhandar ali ke baad = Secunderabad).I had goosebumps when I heard it and trust me when I say this - your brain has to be preserved in a museum and people should be charged with an entry ticket for seeing it.We just had to kill half an hour from then to reach Araku,the slot being filled with the bout between Neha and Dixith.
A deserted place with two rail tracks and a name board confirmed us that it is actually the railway station in Araku.With only one auto that could be spotted there,we had no option left but to make an entry to the Guinness book of world records for 15 people travelling in a single auto(I am really poor at numbers and might have counted some people twice knowingly or unknowingly).The cottage that we chose to stay, was designed like huts and wore a different look from the rest of the ones in the surrounding.
An hour to refresh and time for us to leave to the waterfall,in the post lunch session.The jeep had enough space to accommodate everyone except me.After a round of re locations,I was finally offered some space, but I had to be as flexible as Prabhudeva to get myself parked into that.The drive lasted smoothly on the ghats for an hour and half, till a point after which the road ceased to be a road and a mesh of pebbles and gravel.But the driver did well, to literally drag the entire load over those pebbles, which made me think if he possessed a licence for a tractor or was ploughing the fields before this job.
The final point that he could take us to, was still 3 km from our destination.So the long walk started and was interesting too, till we noticed an array of 100 steps in front of us waiting to be climbed.I managed to get past this even and when I was in the last few steps, I was ready to remove my shirt, preparing myself for the water flow,which is when I realised that there was nothing more than a lonely railway track and nothing else - not even a drop of water to quench my thirst, leave alone the waterfall.But to encourage people to get deceived like me,I kept waving my hand, as if I was really enjoying out there.This was the first check point when people started analysing the worth of travelling further.Never mind,after a couple of minutes,the hiking resumed, till a point which instigated a belief in us that there is truly a waterfall in that locality.
By the time we reached this checkpoint 2, everyone was on their last legs and decided not to go ahead, but I could convince them to put the final foot forward.But this strip of trekking was the most enjoyable and dangerous too as we had to press our foot hard on the terra firma to get a grip and move ahead.But the moment we landed on the water, all those pains got evaporated and we were really tempted to get ourselves drenched in it.An hour under the ice cold water and all possible nuisances that we could make, made us think of the way back before it gets dark.But since it being a summer and the water level not so encouraging, the guys decided to improve it with the bottles of water that they had bought(not sure if it was Aquafina or Kinley) and wanted to stay back.
It was then that I realised that we had an acrophobic in our troop,whose legs start dancing automatically on a trekking.It was only that day when I watched a live show of a ballerina pirouetting on the pebbles in the path back home.If you are still guessing who am I talking about, it is none other than Pallavi, who kept her eyes shut tightly and never opened it till we reached the plains.The drive back to the huts at that time of the night, was really smooth and enjoyable with a bit of DJing that helped its course.A self served buffet was the order of the night and the end of the day too.
Day3 was the most leisurely one of the three as we had just one spot left to be covered and plenty of time to do it.A nice breakfast is all that was needed to kick off the day and travel to the Borra caves - the last spot on our itinerary.Located at a place worth an hour's journey, it was almost noon when we reached it.The caves were much beautiful and eye catching than I imagined of,but since we didnt hire a guide to lead us, the trip was as good as watching a Portuguese movie without subtitles.With lots of locations and camera flashes, people were still not convinced to leave the place - especially Dixith and Srikanth, who were busy shooting their honeymoon pictures, with such high levels of enthusiasm.By the time we came out, the sun was at its scorching best,training us for the day ahead in Vizag.After the lunch, we started just at the right time to catch the train back to Hyderabad. Oh forgot to tell you about the Dhimsa dance with the tribal.Though this lasted only for a bubble's lifetime,it almost tops the list of memorable moments of the trip.Although the ladies found it really hard to match the steps of those professionals, they did a decent job to portray that they too danced, in the videos.Suresh was the man of the moment with his quirks and twists, as if Michael Jackson's soul has entered his body momentarily and he had to be literally pulled back to the jeep to bring him back to normal.
Few Highlights of this trip:
- There were few dostana pairs identified on this trip and in a move to encourage them in the future tours, they would be given the first preference to avail the honeymoon offers like separate rooms, travel tickets etc.
- For the interest of the acrophobics, we shall not plan for trekking for a waterfall on a hill and even if we plan for one, take care that it originates from a plain and not from a cliff.
- A secretive note to all you guys. If you are impressed by the Axe Deo ad and you ever dream to have the girls behind you all the time, then take up the role of the financier. Believe me when I say this, it really works - but just like the deo, your magic will work only till you have your purse with you safely.
- A personal lesson for me - what you give is all you get back in life. On the same lines, what SEE gave me, is what the SEA took back from me.
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