Memoirs Of My First Trek To Tadiandamol In Coorg
They say solitude can work wonders, it may make you or break you. I had a pretty much comfortable life at Mysore, everything was convenient, except for one thing: Passion. One Friday morning, I decided to take the leap. I had to do something great this weekend, I thought. Aimlessly, I started browsing about trips near Bangalore and about half hour later, I found Thrillophilia and came across this package called ‘Trek to Tadiandamol‘. I had been to Coorg before but had never heard of this name. It was one of those few itineraries in the entire site that were well written and was perfectly descriptive. Convincing enough. I collected all my guts in the world and clicked on “Book”. Done. Sigh. Period.
I was alone. Tad scared. I knew there would be groups and I might be left alone. I was not new to solo travel but was a toddler in travelling-with-an-unknown-group fiasco. Anyway, it was 3 am, I was in a cab at Mysore – Coorg highway, waiting for the group to pick me up. I wasn’t scared, though. I was communicating with the trek lead the whole time, making sure they find me. So they did. I entered the bus to find a bunch of people, already asleep. I sat along and took a nap. Not much later, I wake up to see the most magnanimous sight of tall trees, hiding the small cottages and narrow lanes covered with fog. It was whimsical.
Soon after, we reached the home stay, which by the way was located high up on the hills. The journey was amazing till there and the weather, aah! It was drizzling. We had a good wholesome breakfast, put our trek clothes on and started our way to Tadiandamol. It took us half an hour to reach the base. Till that moment, the rain got heavier. Thank God, for raincoats! We started the trek with magical views all around, little waterfalls, ferocious winds, muddy little trails, heavy water droplets and of course, the leeches. It was getting tiresome as it was more of a mild storm than usual rain. But, we continued. The entire duration made me realise what I’ve been missing all these days. I never felt this close to nature before. Stunning!
Few hours later, the trek was done. People were worn out with body pains and leech bites. It was worth it! We had a little bit of amateur kayaking then, near the home stay. While it was still raining, we sat there having a cup of Coorg’s coffee and endless conversations with our fellow travellers. Just what was needed.
The rain never stopped that day. I had 4 cups of coffee as I remember. The people in charge of the place were adorable. We had AWESOME home-like dinner. Soul satisfying, I must say.
Next day, I woke up to admire the most beautiful sight all around me, with a cup of coffee of course. I wish I never had to leave the place. But it was river rafting day. Yay!
As it continued to rain, we started the rafting and Wow! It was so good. The instructor was funny, made all sort of dangerous jokes on-water and with-water. I was scared to death (not a swimmer).
So, the trekking and rafting were done. We paid a visit to the Golden Temple, thereafter. Peaceful and serene.
The trip ended up giving me a lot of stories. The fact that you have to be really efficient to mark an everlasting impression in one’s mind is what made Escape2Explore different. In the end, I was a satisfied customer. And the traveller in me was grateful. 
Thank you for the memories!