Nishani motte/ nishani betta trek,Talacauvery, Baghamandala

How to Reach Nishani motte trek?

Bangalore -> Mysore -> Madikeri -> baghamandala (Take forest department guide) -> Talacauvery (Trekking begins) -> Nishani betta (almost 12 KMs) -> return to APC (Anti poaching Camp for over night stay) 3 Kms-> Back to Baghamandala next day Guide charge: Per head Rs. 200 + permission Rs. 500

Contact Person from forest department: Mr. Uthhappa (09448108280)

What to carry?

• A nice trekking shoe
• A light and strong backpack.
• Extra pair of clothing packed in garbage bags to make it rain proof.
• Tents, Sleeping bag and sleeping mat (optional) (personal)
• Toilet paper, mouth wash, hand wash
• Water bottles (at least 2 liters each), energy drinks ex glucose/ energy bar/electrolyte
• Wind- cheater & warm inner
• Personal camera, Torch, Mobile & sufficient battery back up
• ID card, sufficient cash and emergency contact info (personal)
• Iodex spray, cramp bandage & personal medication
• petrol (for making fire) and match box/ lighter (shared)
• light weight utensils, disposable cups & plates. eatables to cook up there
• slippers to roam around at top (personal), salt/ snuff powder to avoid leeches

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It was a heaven but, different from our spiritual experiences. It was definitely some other piece of the earth. In my words, it was a hardcore man’s paradise- Nishani Betta.

A place where angels do not fly but the rain brings sweep pain when they fall hard on  our innocent cheeks. A place where there are no golds but I aver, every path is paved with the gold.

Taking the side of alpha manhood-

The androstadienone defined our manliness; The gushing adrenaline propelled us to the top; The force to stand alone against the wind defined our extremity And, Never to forget each drop of sweat that we shed, marked our territory.

Yeah, I am talking about those 24 hours which we spent walking through heavy leech-infested forest in monsoon just to realize the virgin beauty of mother earth.

Yeah, I am talking about the times when hard rain drops were pattering over our poncho  almost deafening us. Yeah, I am talking about the sheer cold and wet nights when we six spent nights in three sleeping bags on 200 GSM tarpaulin

The story of Nishani Betta: The Talacauvery Wildlife sanctuary: Journey begins

Ahead lies a serpentine trail crisscrossing through through forest conversing into potholes. It’s misty. Rain playing hide and seek. Crunching pebbles under our heavy shoes and the soaked fallen leaves making perfect ambiance of wilderness. The flummoxing beauty around, sliding mists over hills, long trees glimpsing out of mist as Giraffes anticipating the mood of the weather and grasses holding precious pearl dews. The leech fate: We cant avoid our fate and eventually we meet them.

Leech vs Girlfriend:

Leech stick to you like your girl friend. Sucks your blood (read money). The more you push them, the closer they come. In a nutshell, it affects your heart (Remember heart breaks and the heart pumping blood). A dreaded thought from one of us: There might be a tiger following us quietly but alas! that tiger never attacked us in 12 hours. And, Another queer notion: Predicting the size or the presence of an elephant by looking at the freshness of the big lumps of the poop. Well! a naturalist in making.

Lesson: Never stop to pull away leeches, you cant get rid of them because the new leeches falling in love mostly outnumbers the fat leeches being pulled away (Does the girl friend concept apply here too?)

So, Run! Forrest Run! With  trails left behind Forrest was into core forest. Dark old woods; Moth-eaten smell of soaked fallen leaves; Some ghostly trees; The constant fear of carrying few leeches inside your shoes and around your knees and around thigh area and …(Left for the reader’s discretion as where?); The mist brushing through hair and the awesomeness was dimensionless.

Here comes the Nishani Betta part-one (The fake one)

“Anna! this is Nishani Betta” (Read the same in Kannada for better flavor), told the guide. What the feck! I never saw so much of lean and thin Nishani Betta over internet like a handicapped cock. A few minutes of discussion and we were informed by guide that that was Nishani betta part- one. He could not take us for a ride. Haha. Poor devil.

The ball of steel walk to the top:

Strong winds mighty enough to push away the solid sea. Cushy drops of water being swept away by wind turned into prickly aqua-arrows. Yellowish brown mosses wore green bridals. We were then walking in plumb line to mighty winds. Being pushed. Zigzag. Trying to check the lateral movements. “A few more minutes” –  Pushing the newbies further. And, they believe and walk. We struggled in monsoon but we were the conquerors tasting the victory – Mellifluous wind; mellisonant drops, monsoon cascading amorous pelting and we standing firm against every odds for minutes. Facing the pelts & winds at 1270 meters above sea level. We had left our marks on a trail of 14 kms. The pleasure of 10 minutes at the top had surpassed the thousand years of worldly delights. Calm, serene and tacit.

Back to APC (Anti Poaching Camp):

Looking at breaking air currents, It was impossible to pitch our tarp there lest that should be carried away in winds. We decided to return to APC. It was a descent of 2 hours. The scary walk had turned into a fun-walk, call the credit to our satiation of climbing at the apex target.

But, where to sleep?

To our surprise, some another group of 22 people had already occupied the APC. Walk down further to the town? Nah, we again will encounter leeches. Then comes our lease of line, a house down below. Knock, knock– we were welcome inside. A weird idea: (Someone asked me innocently at my hostel) How do then girls remove leeches? I mean are they supposed to remove….. and who pulls the leeches away because I think a girl would get too scared. I had no answer but just a smile. But trust me, I saw girls in the trek too. They know how do they manage?

The night falls in our shelter:

A dark curtain covered the whole valley. There were rain showers at regular intervals. It was windy too. Our shelter was unique not lesser than Ark’s bridge in anyway but I think was designed to test the threshold of our extremity. There was no door and window had a single curtain. Temperature dropped soon.  Thanks to our tarp in thin times, at least we had something in between our back and cold earth. 6 people accommodating in 3 sleeping bags. Thanks to the hut-man using whose woods we prepared our hot noodles. Eat and sleep but it was not so easy. Necessarily, it was surely one of us who was always awake due to cold or leechophobia or for some other reasons.

Sunrise next morning:

We made it. Shared the joy of looking at the cloudy sunrise. Gentle clouds hovering over hills and sliding along ridges and valleys. We even ate wild guavas from the farm fresh of the hut-guy.

Back to basics:

Eventually every beginning comes to an end. So was our trek. We trek down 6 kms to Baghamandala following a jeep trail through green coffee plantation estates. It did not take more than 2 hours. We had nice dip at Cauvery Sangam. Boarded a bus to Madikeri and every thing we did was left behind. Each casual step that we took; Each trunk we rubbed our shoulders with;  Each laugh that echoed across dark woods; Every kisses we had with nature. You will never miss the wonders that surround you because every tree, every rock, every anthill, every sun ray, every star is filled with wonders of nature. Have you ever noticed how graceful you are to see daylight after coming through a long dark tunnel?

Bus was moving slowly in hand in hand with nature love; We smiling at our favorable fate and the clock ticking away like a dreamy world fading away and the worldly reality appearing gradually. The bus moved on, moved on and moved on until we all fell asleep….. we opened our eyes just to realize the fact that we were into mundane world again.