Here’s how it started..
11:30 pm Majestic Bus Depo,Bangalore:
I,Neha,Rumz,Neel,Abhi,Santu and Chaitu boarded the bus to Chittoor.
Reena,Ezzy and Gousie weren’t able to make it. Missed them.
Reached Chittoor in the early hours of Saturday and checked into a hotel. And before we could get a few winks of sleep, it was already time to take off again. Dawn was beautiful!!!
The Sumo started off on its 2 day long journey. We reached Kaanipaakam and had a darshan of Lord Ganesha. The temple was beautiful!
Next stop was Sri Kaalahasthi with a breakfast of this n that on the way. Took the blessings of Jal Ganesha ( a small temple which gets flooded during the rains) and entered the Kaalahasthi temple.
There was a huuuuuuuge crowd and it wud’ve taken us almost 3 hrs to get the darshan in the queue, and we didn’t have dat time. So, bribed the security guys, side-sstepped the queue and took a short-cut 2 direct darshan. ( well, it wasn’t our idea.. d security guys do it all d time.. n we did feel a li’l guilty).
Finally reached tirupati around afternoon. Zoomed up the 58 turns, round and round the hill in the Sumo and reached the top. The air itself was so pure and serene. Loved it up thr. Dumped the lugguage in the room and zoomed back down. The view on the way was breathtaking!!! We cud just stay there and stare and stare…..
And then, reached the foothill where the Mega journey up the hill on foot was about to begin..
Step 1, Step 2,Step3…
Water, mirchi bajji, buttermilk, gossip, songs on anil’s mobile..
Step 499, Step 500…
First milestone..BIG rest.. it started drizzling
Step 501,Step 502..
Gasping for breath, more frequent breaks, Waaater, more rain
Step 1000 something.. Gaaligopuram.. Interval
Sat down and had super yummy dosas!! One of the best meals ever!!
Going ahead from here was harder.., the feet were finding it harder to pull our bodies stuffed with food.
Step 2499, Step 2500
Rumz and Santosh keep going at an unbelievable pace, so agile and seemingly comfortable still
Rest of us dragging ourselves forth, and Abhiram quite comfortable with the climb, but walkin slowly for us.
Deer-park on the way.. they were sooooo cute n gorgeous
Step 3000
Me totally out of breath, feet aching inhumanly, partially blistered.. Rumz, Santu Abhi ploughing on.. Neha and Chaitu quite commendably going gud... Anil being slowed down coz of me.. :P ..I andAnil made up a silly crazy song ”mango-tangy”..
Mokaalla Parvatam.. Step something..
Supposed to be the hardest.. but wasn’t as bad as it sounded. Rain still pouring down, we making jokes n laughing..
STEP 3550..
Finally !!! The number I’d been waiting for, for almost 3 hours!! I felt like doing an African war-dance or apna hyderabadi ‘teen-maar’ in celebration, and the others looked like they felt the same.
Dinner was a blur.. reached the room, hit the bed,, BLACKOUT!
Woke up (dunno how?!?) in just 4 hours, got ready and went for Darshan. Can’t put in words, the deep feeling of contentment, devotion and happiness and thrill during those 10 seconds!!
A brief rest at the room and a long Sumo ride to Talakona Waterfalls.. A trail through the forest, nature at it’s best! And a looooong walk.. met a couple of mountain monkeys.. dunno who was scared of whom..
And then, back to Chittoor , a 2 hr wait for the bus and the long-awaited 2-day journey came to an end. The last tour with Neha before she leaves 2 US.
2 of the happiest, craziest,most wonderful days during life-at-bangalore!!
