Now young women are opting for high octane excursions like trekking, hiking, or cycling. Adventure travel has become the new fashion word in the girly girl world. Relaxing in a beach chair, applying sunscreen and listening to music , such scenes have been replaced by challenging journeys with close friends.
EDGE OF GLORY!!
Four girls from Chennai , thrill seekers, went on memorable trip to kodai this April. The pictures speak for their adrenaline rush. Not sure of what was in store for them to view, they innocently began their trekking to an exotic location in Kodai, still not pampered by tourists, ended up watching elegant and serene beauty. Struck with awe, disbelief, excitement and fear they realised it was a memory that could be cherished for a lifetime. Now here comes their breathtaking experience by Esha Sivakumar, who was one among those travel enthusiast
EDGE OF GLORY!!
It was one of those days when you are talking to your friends and realise that u need to get away and go on a trip. The conversation always ends with us planning an exotic trip that we never go on. So one of my friends suggested that we plan a simple, fussfree trip to KODAI.
We have all been to kodai before, but it was scorching hot as it was the infamous indian summer and the reprieve from the heat was reason enough, but who doesn't want to go on a road trip with friends? And so Kodai it was and we set off after much planning and anxiously waiting for ticket confirmations.
The first couple of days was spent doing “touristy” things, reminiscing about old days, and jabbering away non stop about what is happening in our lives. When we couldn't amuse ourselves we would just float around the lake and bask in the idyllic and serene surrounding.
On the third day we chanced upon a small kitschy sandwich place that sold some delicious sandwiches, we struck up a conversation with the owner and asked him what locals do in kodai and if he knew some place that is worth our time.He gave us rough directions to this place that was supposed to have some amazing views. He also warned us that it was a good 5km hike downhill. What was alluring about the prospect of this trek was the fact that he said that not many tourists know of this place. By then we were weary of loud tourists littering around eco spots, middle aged men giving us the looks and noisy kids.
So the next day we were more than happy to go on this hike, after innumerous stops for directions and getting lost we finally arrived at this narrow road on a hill that had a couple of tea shops and some bare foot hippies enjoying hot tea. We really had no idea what we were in for, a narrow lane led us to a flight of rough stone steps entwined with thick roots from the trees that lined the sides of the pathway. A few miles hike down the hill we came across small streams with ice cold water.
The entire pathway had small trails leading into thick forests. We took a short detour into one of these trails to explore the forest filled with shrubs, pear trees and large wild ferns, we sat down on a small clearing in the forest and listened to the crickets and song birds. We never wanted to get up and leave but we had this view we came all the way to see. After about twenty odd minutes of climbing we came upon a rough ridge that had a sharp fall, all we could see were pine trees towering above us. It was so misty that we couldn't see anything beyond the trees. Then the skies cleared up, the sun shone and we could see what the sandwich guy meant when he said the view is worth the trek.
I was asked to write about my experience for this blog post. But before I write about what I felt, here is what my friends had to say about the place:
Neeraja Ravi, “Scared to death”.
Nihila Suren, “ It was an endless space before me. Heaven like and mysterious because nothing much was seen…And I felt minuscule”.
Aishwarya Suresh, “ A step less to meet heaven”.
A friend who saw all our pictures said this, “Edge of glory”.
What did I think about standing on the edge of this narrow piece of rock and looking into the wilderness that stretched before me? I have read and heard the phrase ‘words cannot describe’, but I was one of those people who believed that I can explain and express anything with words. For the first time i felt like words were not enough to express what I felt. I was literally rendered speechless. I felt small and insignificant and nature has its way of making you feel trivial. It was magical standing there and taking in all that my mortal eyes could see. Again words fail me, so I am going to insert pictures here so you can see what all the fuss is about!!
I am going to try and explain the emotions I had while sitting on that ledge. I felt blank and stripped of emotions, like a blank canvas. The place inspired me in ways I never dreamt of. It gave me a moment to take a step back and marvel at what is around me. In this rat race of a life we always fail to appreciate the small things around us. We fail to see that there is more to life. As I glanced back at the mist covered expanse I made a promise to stop and appreciate everything around me.
P.S. This place we visited has name, but my friend made me promise that I would never divulge it. Her explanation was, ‘ i do not want this to become another touristy place for people to litter and hundreds of tea stalls’. She wanted the place to remain how it was, clean, serene and breathtaking. It is sad that people do not appreciate nature and respect the environment enough to keep it clean.
- Esha.
I remembered the ad in which Anuska Sharma was saying ' why should boys have all the fun ?' , on seeing these girls' challenging journey with no boundaries.
- -Murugeswari Ravi.
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