#2 - Meesapulimala Trek | A Travel Memoir

My office colleagues were planning to go on a trip for quite some time. Before 2 months,after many discussions,we zeroed in on a place & budget which was comfortable for all 8 of us. And,Yes, the place is "Meesapulimala" (The one Dulquer says in "Charlie" movie). It was a trek into the mountain forests.

The Trip's plan was from Chennai-Meesapulimala-Chennai.Tickets were booked to and fro for all 8 members but atlast I had other plans as I was in my native place Madurai. So I would join them separately in this journey.(It was like Mankatha movie dialogue "Kadaisiya than Vinayak Mahadev vandhan" ie., He came last 😜)

They all started from Chennai Central Friday night and got down at Dindigul on Saturday morning around 6AM, and there they boarded another train which was going to Bodinayakanur through Madurai. So I got that train & assembled with them at around 8 AMin Madurai. The train halted for around half an hour, as there was no electric line on the Madurai-Bodi route, so the electric engine was changed to Diesel engine. Then we got down at Bodi around 10AM. Had our breakfast at a hotel in that bus stand. Idli, sambar,and chutney were very tasty. At around 11:30AM we boarded a bus to Munnar, and while the bus started to raise the altitude, the temperature started to lower gradually & it started to drizzle. And guess what people, the views were extraordinary.We reached Munnar bus stand at around 2 PM. For lunch few thought of eating Parotta & Beef Curry.(Yes buddies its Kerala). But we could'nt find any shops as it was raining, so we went to a hotel that was shown in one of the youtube videos we have seen.There we ordered chicken biryani, beef biryani, and meals.Here the food was okay not upto the mark.

We booked the journey through the official Kerala tourism board, they told us to call once we reached Munnar to make arrangements for a vehicle to go to Meesapulimala Base Camp. So as said by them, a jeep was being arranged & it was ready for us. We boarded around 3 PM and it was drizzling & the route was off road, the journey was so thrilling(Like in the movie Viduthalai where Soori drives a jeep on mountains). Our jeep driver was a B.Sc Computer Science graduate who was driving during his semester holidays. His jeep had a malayalam text pendant hanging named "Kaduva" which means aged tiger.  The driver told us many things about the places & experiences. He drove very swiftly & carefully as the roads were wet & muddy. We never knew when the tires would get struck. And as we went along the driver stopped at a waterfall with a bridge and the view was very scenic. We spent some time there taking photos, and on the grass we could spot leeches everywhere. The next stop was near a shop that was the last stop as we were about to go deep into the forest. And opposite to the shop there was a huge grassland with a football goal post and adjacent to it is a pine tree forest, and behind these two were white milky clouds moving slowly uncovering mighty mountain ranges. This scene was so heartwarming. Also, there were furry dogs, we bought some snacks, gave a few to those dogs, we took pictures there & dogs too accompanied in the photoshoot. A notable mention is that one of the dogs is so photogenic and it knows the poses as if it were a model.(I think it has adapted & evolved with the travelers coming over there). After a while we started the ride, and at around 05:30 PM, we reached the basecamp where all the tents were available.

While entering the camp, we could see around 20 motorcycles, mostly Royal Enfields, and our mouths gave out fog, when we breathed out,it just looked like we were smoking. We were wandering here and there, having hot black tea which was kept, choosing our tents, relaxing and taking pics.Now, one of our boys got leech attack, so I was very conscious while walking, as there were countless leeches everywhere in all sizes. At around 07:30 PM,we had a campfire under a shed & not on open space,as it was raining continuously.On the whole, there were around 40+ people, mostly boys and a few girls. And out of the whole crew we 8 members were only Tamils, rest all were malayalis. The trek guide gave us an introductory session about the trek and asked all of us to introduce ourselves.While introducing one wise man said "I'm so and so & I'm 26 years old,40 years ago", man,everybody laughed & clapped instantly.Absolutely, Malayalis are chilled and travel loving people who celebrate life.After all being done, it was a vibing session. First, a Malayali guy, started to sing, that too a tamil song,it's just to make us comfortable I guess. The song was "Thooliyiley aada vandha vaanathu minvilakkey". Few other malayalis took the plastic chairs and started to put drum beats according to the song. After completion of the song, they asked us to sing a song & said " Tamilnaatu maanatha kaapathunga". Man, they knew Tamil. We just said, we'll sing later. The next song they sang was also tamil, this time it was "Ottakatha kattiko", after that few malayalam songs. We all were clapping & listening. All of a sudden, they again asked us to sing. I suddenly got up and was in the center, thinking about singing a song. And I thought I could sing a malayalam song, so I started "Malarey". It was only 2 lines, I forgot the lyrics. They said "onnum kollapam illa, tamil paatey paadunga". Then suddenly "Naa Ready" popped in my mind, I sang a few lines & came back.It was very bad, but its okay, I tried. This is the first time I sang out loud in front of so many people & I found out that I could actually sing.Then the session was continuing till the food was ready.The dinner items were ghee  rice with cashews & raisins, chicken gravy, chappathi, pineapple slices. After dinner, we were given sleeping bags, and 2 people could stay inside the tent. We checked all our shoes and pants for leeches, then went inside the tent & ziplocked it. I fell asleep very soon because of the tiredness of the trip & also we have to be ready at around 05:30 AM the next morning. During midnight wind was blowing and rain was pouring heavily, it felt like the tent would fly away. Even with the sleeping bags the temperature was so cold. I guess it went single digit. Then at around 4 AM we woke up, the climate was very cold, I didnt even shit as it was western toilet & the toilet seat was also freezing. I just brushed my teeth, face washed & went to the shed to charge my mobile and after 5 AM people started coming one by one. All the malayalis were so friendly and they very much tried to greet us and started off conversations. And around 6 AM, hot black tea,bread with jam was served. I drank tea & ate a slice of bread with 2 flavored jams one with red & other with yellow. At around 06:30 AM we started to the Lodge camp in the jeep, which was the official starting point of the trek.It took around 30 mins to reach there. We waited for all the team members to arrive, by then 2 of our friends had leech attacks & blood was flowing nonstop. Then by around 07:30 AM, we started to trek the mountains. The total trek length was 8-10 kms and would take 4 hrs time. The first mountain was quite easy. But the only problem for me was the temperature, I couldn't withstand it, as it was continuously drizzling & I wore a jerkin that was not waterproof . I was shivering. And to my goodness, it's aadi maasam. ("Aadi maasam kaathadikka maaney maaney" song was blowing in my mind) Wind was blowing heavily and clouds were moving like timelapse footage at a great speed. This reminded me of "Aanandha Yaazhai" song & Maari selvaraj's interview clip about that song, where he tells "director ram gathered all the crew to a mountain full of clouds, we were thinking, why he brings all to this place, then after waiting for few hours,when clouds were gone, the place became so scenic & the song was shot"). So this was mistake number 1, during monsoon season in cold weather areas,wear a rain proof jerkin or rain coat, wear waterproof gloves, waterproof cap & muffler. Or else you will be wet & freezing at the same time.

Then after reaching the top of the first mountain, there was a long wooden chair where we took snaps, but it was very foggy. And few of us got tired & we ate glucose. And now, we needed to descend down, which was very steep and slippery. But somehow we managed to go down, now it was a flat stretch down there, and again another mountain started and after climbing it we got down off it and a small water stream was going, we crossed to climb again to the 3rd mountain. Due to this continuous climbing up & down motion, my stomach got into motion & shit was knocking the doors and it was making me uncomfortable to climb. I was saying this to one of my friends & he was also feeling the same.  I was very shy to shit in open, but suddenly Super Deluxe aunty's dialogue came into my mind  "Vaazkaila bayappadalam, aana koocham mattum padavey koodathu". So we were hunting for a place and near a slope of the mountains there we found 2 bushes, I shited behind one of the bush & my friend shited behind the other, we had water bottles, used stones, leaves to clean the shit. We felt like cavemen.So this is the 2nd mistake, eat light & shit before you trek compulsorily.

Then we started to climb comfortably. But as we started to climb, the wind speed got increasing gradually & was becoming even more colder. We all somehow managed to climb the top by resting here & there. Then at the top of meesapulimala, the wind speed must be gushing around 50kmph. If we jumped for a second, we might have flown away. Every Malayali was taking pics & enjoying themselves. I couldn't even tolerate the weather. My motivation was so low. But my friends accompanied me. When we started to descend, it was a herculean task, all were human chained our hands and were descending slowly.As people were wearing plastic raincoats, the sounds were so haunting.

Winds were literally moving us, the descend was very steep & slippery.This was the day I felt, winds are also dangerous. I haven't felt such dangerous winds. After this dangerous stretch, it was a flat surface and walked a few distance into a grassland with so much watery mud. Then again a small mountain. And after this we have reached the starting point. On seeing the lodge, it felt like what Dhanush feels in Maryaan's climax on seeing the Sea ("Aatha"). It was around 12 PM when we reached. So the last mistake is, this trek is an off season trek, and we can't see any beautiful views, sunrises from the hilltop. It's better to go during the season or know about it & come well prepared for the offseason.

Then we got on our jeep, reached our basecamp tents, had delicious food ie., puttu, kadala curry, the same ghee rice, and bananas. We then freshed up and got in our jeep at around 01:30 PM to Munnar at around 4 PM. This time everybody was tired and sleepy, didn't take any pics, we were just chatting with the driver. And, we planned to go to the tea museum but it was shut. So we took a bus to Theni. Here the bus was going on a different route as there was a landslide on the regular route but somehow managed to reach Theni around 7 PM. From there my friends boarded the Chennai bus and I boarded the Madurai bus to go home. This journey was a different experience for all of us, and the one thing that I learned from this journey is that, you may have a plan, but situations are not favorable for that plan and it can make you weak and so you become so low. At that time you can fight back all by yourself or seek someone's help. Just a little push or spark is needed to come back on track. On the whole, it's a worthy and memorable journey.Thanks for reading this far. PEACE.😍