My never ending journey led me to a mystic place called Kokkal. I tried searching Kokkal on the web to find out more about the place, and as I had rightly imagined , nothing could be found on Kokkal. I found few which did not throw light on this sleepy village.
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| Misty |
We started trusting the northern slopes of Nilgiris to such an extent that irrespective we spot any wildlife or not, we gear up with child like enthusiasm everytime. That’s the specialty of the place.
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| Our tracker leading the way |
We chugged into Mysore and started our 2 hour exciting trip to Theppakadu. I seriously wonder if I would ever get to know the number of times I have been to Theppakadu. I remember every bit of it as if I had been there for a life time. We had our lunch at Masinagudi and packed all essential needed for couple of days.
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| Elixir of life |
In an hour’s time we were near the fringes of the reserve forest. This was not an easy trek, as I had rightly thought. Fourteen hours of continuous travel, full stomach and a 15 kilo backpack for a 12km trek is not easy even for the fittest. It was uphill all the way except for a 200 meter downhill midway to cross a valley. Two months of relaxed schedule had made me a victim of exhaustion. I had a guide with me all along till we reached the end of our hike.
The terrain was unforgiving. We finally reached the camp site. It had splendid view of Seegur plateau.Negative impact on the environment can be seen from the distance. Resorts have usurped the land of the animals at a staggering rate and ruined the last remaining forests of this great land. A lot has to be done to our human behavior in order to restore and preserve the forest.
All these years I trekked inside forest never had I felt like giving up during a tough hike, but this time around I nearly felt giving up midway, but something inside gave me the strength to reach Kokkal.
Our tracker dropped a bombshell after few minutes “Sir, we have to walk 3 more kilometers to reach a village for our dinner”. The very thought of walking few meters was unimaginable and our guide wanted us to walk three kilometers for food. I thought of staying back. But the terrain and the area with no humans in vicinity made me do a U-turn. Few minutes of rest and changing to a dry cloth (I had drenched myself with sweat) we started the epic journey for dinner.
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| Kokkal |
After a kilometer we ran into a tractor which had completed the day’s work and returning back to the village. The driver was kind enough to give us a lift. The weather was beautiful. Cool winds and the drizzle of the mist and hot tea made our difficulty disappear.
We packed hot idlies for dinner and came back to our campsite. I had made a lot of friends in the tea shop by then. They were curious to know where we are from. Cameras, wind cheater and all other gadgets definitely make you stand out in a remote village. It had become dark when we had started to our camp site. Two britelite flashlights helped us reach the camp with no untoward incident.
We were awake till midnight to at least hear the tigers roar without luck. The climate was at its best and this combined with lot of other things made me fall in love with the place. Early next morning we made our way back to the place we started the previous afternoon. Except for a few gaurs we dint get to see anything. We still had an entire day and half remaining so we decided to camp at a new place which had a great reputation of seeing the elusive black panther.
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| Scenic view of the plateau below midway to Kokkal |
The very fact that only a handful have stayed at a remote place like Kokkal makes it more special. The view from the camp site was mind blowing. The stay, climate, people, the place which has a bit of history attached to it(Tipu sultan had used the same route to come to Kokkal) and finally the tea made us go gaga.
The trip as such didn't have on the edge of the seat thriller moments which we normally expect, but just the hike and the place made us fall in love with the quiet village. Waiting for an encore!!!
