Once upon a time... a trek to Kurangani Hills

TCS Maitree (CSR Team) in collaboration with http://ecologin.org organised a two days trek to Kurangani Hills in Meghamalai for its employees. It is situated atop Western Ghats and lies near the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The place is yet to be encroached by tourists. This has kept the place still very green and close to nature. You can find waterfalls, forests and small tribal villages in this region. All together it made a perfect place to be my first trekking destination.

Place: Kurangani Hills, Tamil Nadu

Date: 5^th to 8^th March, 2010

With: TCS Colleagues

We board the bus near Thiruvanmiyur Bus Deport after Dinner at 8 PM. The entire trip from-to Chennai was arranged by Ecologin. They charged 1600 per person and 31 of us were together in this trip. Mostly from different projects and I didn’t know anyone other than Purnendu. We stopped on the way in the morning for breakfast. Then two teams were made, one with all the girls and some boys (total 18) travelled to Kurangani Hills and the other team with all guys went to some other place in Meghamalai (now I don’t remember what’s that place). Our team was given packed lunch and the bus dropped us at the foot hill of Kurangani.

We started trekking with our luggage. The weather was hot (Most of the hill stations in south get hot by March but it was bearable). After an hour of trek we reached a small waterfall. Some people enjoyed it by taking bath and I enjoyed by watching them splashing.

We again started trekking, our plan was to reach central station before sunset and target top station next morning. We stopped after an hour or so for lunch (none of us were full-fledged trekkers so these frequent stops were required). By the way there were two guys and one girl with us from ecologin to help us with the route. They were not just great guides but also Eco friendly. It was amazing to find that they carried packets to collect our lunch/dinner plastic or papers packets and to ensure that we maintain the sanity of the place.

Now our destination was central station where accommodation was arranged. We trekked throughout the afternoon and evening through the forests with one-two small stops. And I swear carrying your own luggage seemed to be a pain while trekking. But we finally reached central station where a small cottage was arranged for us with kitchen and bathroom. Bonfire was arranged during dinner. And we had few rounds of Antakshari to relax. Most of our legs were paining like hell and bed started calling us :P. We went to sleep but six guys had few more steps before they could hit the bed. Because of space constrain they trekked few KMs more in dark to another cottage. Purnendu was one of them, he told later that it took them half an hour to reach the place but they got nice mattress and beds unlike us to rest their legs and ofcourse body.

Next morning we got up fresh to start for top station our last destination. After breakfast we started trekking but this time without our luggage (well that was a big relief).  The day was hotter and there wasn’t much of forest around so we had to trek in hot sun. We reached top station (the place is in Munnar). So we trekked from Tamil Nadu to Kerala (this makes me happy). Top station had many tourists who were all happy and gay because unlike us they have come in buses or cars. Some small shops were selling ginger/honey soda and it tasted like amrit after the tiring trek :P.

Then we came back to the cottage to have lunch and collect our bags. Trekking down is much easier than going up but we all were dead tired and last hour of trek got really difficult. We reached the foot hill with a huge sense of achievement. Bus was already waiting for us where we meet the other group of trekkers who went to some other place.

On the way back we again stopped at the same place where we had breakfast to have dinner and we reached Chennai early morning next day. And it was time for office ... (most of my trips end with office, I know it’s boring to read same stuffs again and again but trust me it’s even more boring to go to office after such a tiring yet exciting trip.)

For more photos (mostly clicked by Purnendu)