Travel Diary: Savandurga

Best moments in life  are unplanned.

It was the winter of 2018. The weather in Banglore was amazing. It was a season of road trips and picnics. I was staying in a boy's PG with my friend Sukumar as my roommate. After college, both of us were working in different companies in Banglore. Four months back, I had bought a bike. We would always plan that we will go on a road trip somewhere, but somehow we never could.

25th November. It was a Friday. We did not have office for the next two days. After dinner, I was watching some movie and Sukumar was lying on a sofa in the adjacent room, surfing the internet on his mobile. I got a message from Sukumar at 12.30 am. "Shall we go to Savanduraga?", the message read. "Where is it?", I asked. Sukumar came to my room and said. "It is sixty kilometers from here. We can go on the bike. I was reading reviews on the internet. People are saying sunrise from the top of the mountain is amazing." In both of our minds, it was clear that we are going today. "So when shall we start?", I asked. He opened up his google maps. I walked up to him. "If we start at 1.30, we will be there before 3am. Then we have to climb the mountain. The sun will come up at around 5am. We have to reach the top before that." It was decided. We put our mobiles on the charger. "Take a quick nap for half an hour. I will wake you up", Sukumar said. He knew I have to ride. So I may need to sleep for some time. I lied on the bed closing my eyes but I could not sleep. We put two water bottles, some biscuit packets we had, and the power bank in a bag. We were ready to start our trip.

"Savandurga is a hill 60 km west of Bengaluru off the Magadi road, in India. The hill is considered to be among the largest monolith hills in Asia. The hill rises to 1226 m above mean sea level and forms a part of the Deccan plateau." This is what the Wikipedia says about Savandurga.

We reached the foot of the mountain at 3am as planned. We saw many youngsters with their bikes. Everyone was there for a getaway from hectic work life. We parked our bike in front of a small shop. Gave our helmets to the shopkeeper for safekeeping. You can find small shops like this near any tourist spot in India. These small shop owners are really helpful, they earn their livelihood from hikers like us. We asked him where shall we start. He pointed us towards the starting point and said, "Babu (a common word in India to address people younger than you with respect and/or affection). There is an electric line gone to the top of the hill. Follow those poles."

We started walking towards the hill. Before we start climbing we had to walk through a hundred meter long bushes and uneven ground. It would have been easy to pass through them in the daylight. But in the night with no street light, it was difficult. As we were passing through that we saw a group of young people, three girls, and a boy. One of the girls was standing on a big rock. She was afraid to jump down as the ground was slippery because of the rain two days back. Her friends were standing down, asking her to jump. "But you have to jump down or find some alternate route and time was of the essence." One of the other two girls said. They were also aiming to reach the peak before sunrise. As we approached her she looked back. We understood the situation. "See you have to keep your leg there and jump it will be easy for you," Sukumar said. And when he saw the girl hesitating, he went on to demonstrate and with two quick leaps, he jumped down. She was still unsure. "I will hold your hand. You won't fall down. He (Sukumar) will give you support." - I said. One of the girls also shouted, "Yes Roma. You can do it." We helped her get down. And a momentary friendship started. The six of us started climbing the hill. They did not know us. We only knew the name of the girl we helped.

Our trek mates were fully prepared for the night trekking. Their dresses were also suitable for climbing hills, they had proper trekking shoes. We were completely unprepared. I was wearing a pair of jeans and Sukumar had a pair of formal trousers. They were wearing headlamps. If it would not have been a full moon, we had to wait till the sunrise to start climbing. Also, I was wearing loafer shoes. Before starting the trip, when we were getting ready in our room, Sukumar asked me to wear sports shoes. But I paid no heed. When we started climbing I felt the mistake I made. Savandurga is a monolith. That means the hill I am referring to is actually a single piece of rock. The rain also made the surface slippery. My shoe with its rubber sole was making it impossible for me to climb.  So I had to take off my shoes. I tied them together and put them around my neck and started climbing. But climbing a hill with bare feet was also painful especially when I step on gravel. 

We were following the electric poles as the small shop owner told us. But as we climbed two or three hundred meters, we observed there are arrow marks on the rock to help the trekkers. So we started following them. As we climbed more and more up, we found, in places, there are cactus trees and small water streams. It was difficult to climb at these watery places. They are very much slippery due to the formation of green algae. At these places, we had to take the help of the long grasses to give us support. Roma was afraid of these places. So the guy in their group was helping her. And the four of us, Sukumar, me and the two other girls were climbing together. At one point we realized we were far ahead of Roma and that guy. So we stopped and had some water and shared food. We were becoming friends, talking about us, introducing us to each other, helping each other as we kept on climbing. I don't remember anyone's name except Roma. So let's call the two girls with us Jaya and Sushma and the guy with Roma, DD. Jaya was a dietician, a very talkative and friendly girl. Sushma was a teacher, in a school in Banglore. Roma was a doctor and DD, well I don't remember DD's occupation. Jaya being a dietician was very much fit and she said she had done many trekkings mostly in south India. DD also loves trekking. He had been on a trekking camp in the Himalayas. On the way, he kept on describing his experiences to Roma to motivate her. All these guys were childhood friends. They knew each other from school. And, after all these years, despite choosing different career paths, they had kept their friendship intact.

Climbing was becoming difficult as we approached the peak. We could not see the arrow marks. There were more cactus trees and slippery areas. My feet were aching at that time. I had almost given up hope of reaching the top. So was Roma. It was her first trekking. DD kept on telling her not to look down. Now, we could sense a fire on the peak and listen to the music and occasional shoutings from the top. Some college kids were having a night out party. I knew the peak is near. But my legs were not ready to walk a single step. At that point, a part of my brain was telling me I had climbed a good height, the view of the sunrise from here would also be good.  But the other part was telling me I was sitting near the peak, I had to endure a little more pain and I would get there. It was 4.30am. We started climbing again. We reached the top at 5am. The last hundred meters were tough but we were tougher. 

When the red sun, came up from the horizon, my feet forgot all the pains they had endured. The view was breathtaking. All of us were sitting on a rock and enjoying the view.

We roamed around. You could see all of Banglore from the summit. We clicked some pictures, had some more food. At about 9am we decided to return. Many people had come up at that time. Some of the villagers were up there selling food items. When we started climbing down, we saw there is a much clearer path. We saw women and children climbing up easily. So, why was it so difficult for us in the night? We realized that after climbing down half the mountain. Remember we were following those arrow marks while climbing up. Well, at one place the direction was a little confusing and we took the wrong route. After coming down, we said goodbye and came on our way.

I was quite frustrated with myself after realizing we had taken the wrong route. But today after a year and a half, when I think about my experience on Savandurga, a small smile draws on my lips.

 [From Left to Right: Sukumar, Sushma, Jaya and Me]