Trekking into rejuvenation!

It was that time of the year again! Trekking time :D
Along with 3 of my friends and the ex- IGCSE coordinator- Mr.Srinivasan at school, I went on a trek to the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats is a vast mountain range covering a very large geographic area. We trekked to one  such peak known as Tadiyennamol, in the town of Coorg, Karnataka. It was the highest peak in Coorg!
We took a train on the 27th of October 2011, in the evening and reached Bangalore the next morning where Mr. Srini came to pick us up at the station. Seeing him after such a long time was truly heartwarming! Varun, Shashank, Sid and I were so happy to see him. We planned and initiated many activities such as ways to prevent littering while trekking. We built containers through waste wood and cardboard boxes in many places which could be used as dustbins. Because one of my friends was on the less-athletic side, and it was hard for him to keep on trekking, I had to consider the ethical implications of making fun of a person. I had to be very careful, and encouraging at all times.

Even though I'd been for treks in the Himalayas before, this was a completely different experience. The geographical features were completely different. It was much hotter in the Western Ghats when compared to the Himalayas, which made the trek even harder. The fact that it was only for 3 days, gave me thoughts that I'd breeze through the trek because I've trekked in the Himalayas before, but I had no clue what was awaiting at Tadiyennamol. 2 days of intense trekking, steep walks up the hill in hot weather and heavy bags of food, tents and luggage. Oh boy! Wasn't it hard! We trekked all day long, and in the evening, we finally reached our campsite. We pitched our tents, which was extremely fun, because it was the first time I was doing it. We never had to pitch tents in the Himalayas because we always had a group of guides and workers who did these jobs for us. As soon as we pitched the tents, we had another massive challenge ahead of us! Probably the hardest part of the trek! Cooking our own food! None of us except Mr. Srini had cooked before. We knew absolutely nothing about cooking. It was such a hard job. I had to collaborate with my friends really well because if anything went wrong, the food would get destroyed! We all listened to every instruction given my Mr. Srini very carefully and in the end, it was all good. I learned a new skill through this process- Cooking! :D

I discovered a lot of strengths and weaknesses within me. I discovered that I had a strong will power and focus as I managed to finish the trek successfully, keeping in mind the fact that, I was on the heavier side! I also discovered that I worked well within a team, I took orders very well from my friends and Mr. Srini, keeping aside all differences and ego.
I realized that I had to work on my stamina levels and physical strength if I were to finish harder treks in the coming future. That was a weakness I had discovered.

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Mr. Srini, being a fantastic teacher and a very knowledgeable person, gave us huge amounts of knowledge about the Western Ghats, its geographical features, the Shola forests, and the flora and fauna of that particular place!

I discovered the bond I shared with these 3 friends. It was special =)

It was an absolutely mind blowing experience! A beautiful trek! A few days which I am going to cherish for many years to come :)