Our College Tour:
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DAY 3: Edacal Caves and Kuruva Islands:
The morning was beautiful because of the fog outside. We had our breakfast, and
was all set for the adventure tour we planned. Our morning was fantastic as India won its first finals against Australia under helped by Master Batsman Sachin Tendulkar, scoring a glorious century (119 runs) with perfect shots and awesome uppercuts. We watched the replays of his innings and it’s pretty obvious that everyone praised him. Edacal caves was 18 kms from Regency hotel. The road was clean. We spotted Elephants on our way. Mythili got very much exited on seeing a male elephant. She wanted to get near it, but we held her back. Vidyazhini was in a white churidhar. She really scared everyone out there. Alan was most affected by this. We had to travel on a road which leads to Edacal caves and Meenmutty falls, you just have to take a left to reach the caves. We reached the foot of the hill and headed towards the entrance. We had to walk some few kms, around 2-3, I guess. The path to the entrance is a beauty. You can find Jackfruits, Betel plants on the way. Few monkeys were playing near a house, and it was good to watch them. The entry fee was 10/- per person. We started to trek up for the caves. The path was just small
; it can allow only one person to move at a time. We had to climb rocks that were pretty tough and huge. As the place was very steep, steel ladders were placed here and there to help out people. 
It was great to see people enjoying themselves trekking. I guess this was their first trek which had caused the excitement. Vishnupriya and Priyanka worked hard to climb; but they did it easily after a few steps. At one point the place offers a great view of a valley below, but that point was dangerous as it didn’t have any barricades. Alan found difficult to breathe, but he got ok a little later. We reached the caves after a trek of about 40 minutes. The caves got its name from a huge rock which rests in a gap formed between two more rocks. Nutti and others had fun with Alan (Mark). They made him believe that the stone was a part of a meteor that had hit earth few years back. Mark was dumbstruck hearing that, but later it found it to be a play. It was a nice to see Mark in his best shooting GOOD words towards Nutti. The cave is 4000 years old. It had inscriptions and paintings, which is believed to be carved by people relating to Stone Age man. A guide there explained very well about the caves. He showed us inscriptions of the tribal head, an ordinary man and an elephant. It’s the first time I see such inscriptions, I was really amazed. Also, there was an inscription which had the name of a king. We took pictures in front of a narrow opening inside the cave; it was very deep. We then started to the top of hill which was some 300-500 meters from the cave. The path was very narrow this time; peop
le have to crawl at some areas. Vishnupriya and Preetha stayed back at the cave, they didn’t want to take any risks. It was fun watching Mythili move up. Priyanka was towed by Rajasekar as she dint have enough stamina. Our guys were very much exited about the trek; they started racing towards the peak. At one point we came across an opening. One must definitely crawl better than a snake here. I shot Powder B a nice snap for him. The path seemed to go mad, sediments on the way the made us move with more care. Suddenly I heard VJ shouting in joy. I saw him at the top along with ATM, Srikanth and Gujako. They have reached the top; remember Tenzing was never here. Jokes apart; I too wanted to reach where VJ was and was amazed at a spot. Wow!!!! I have never been climbing on rock with the help of a rope and now I have a chance. Yes, one big rock was obstructing our way and we have to overcome it. The rock was huge and very dangerous to climb on. Ropes supported on steel pipes were there to assist people. It was great fun to climb it. LG was as the size of an ant when looked from this point (she was below the rock that time). We had to move hard as the path proved tough as it extended. Finally we reached the place. We were stunned on watching its surroundings. I realized I was on top of earth. Boundaries of 3 states-Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka, Chembra peak was clearly visible from there. Emerson (Bison) was at his peak, guess he is a fan of Saurav, started to take of his shirts and dance. For an instant i thought he was going to strip, luckily he wore vests which covered his big belly. It was great up there making us to spend 20 minutes there. I need to mention about our staff-Jackqueline Sahaya Pushpam; She was older than us yet she proved to be faster than all girls at all levels during trek. We then decided to descend as it was noon. We had no problem in descending, so we reached our vans in no time. We refreshed and started towards Kuruva Islands which was around 30 kms from the cave.
The Kuruva island was 3.2 kms from the main road and it was off season. The outskirts of the region were very dry. I feared I brought my friends to a useless place. The plac
e was dry just fit for wild animals. As we proceeded the place brought hopes as we could see green trees approaching. At one point vehicles could not go further, we got walk from there. The entrance fee per person was 10 /- and 50 /- had to be paid for the guide. The islands have five rivers flowing through it and its fun crossing all those. The first river was very deep. We have to cross that on a Raft. It was a great experience as we were on a raft for the first time. We went by foot throug
h the islands and it just like experiencing nature's greatness. We then came to the second cross where the water level was little above our ankle. It was slippery but it was enjoyable crossing. GK was little afraid to step in but we guys forced h
im to wet his legs. The credit goes to our Sir Balasubramanium (Baalsu), for the sudden burst of laughter. He wished Navaneeth would slip and fall in water. Believe me, I saw him floating the next instant. He had his butt wet; we could not be on work for few minutes but just to laugh. Busy Rajasekar made sure that everyone was safe. He had a long n fat stick; he had reasons for it. He explained he was driving Crocodiles away from people. Funny man, he drew everyone’s attention. Then it was Baalsu sir'ss idea again, guys started throwing stones near people crossing the river just trying to splash water on them. Mappi went furious on this; it is always a comedy to see mappi shout in anger. The 3rd and 4th crossing was little deep. The fifth was lengthy and little difficult. Navaneeth recorded the maximum number of falls- totally 4. Vishnupriya known for breaking records started her contribution to the comedy. We were all busy crossing, then suddenly there was a big splash. I wondered whether a meteor or something had hit earth; I was relieved to see that it was Vishnupriya, who was the cause. It was now Mythili’s turn for another big splash, but she held her strong on a rock thereby preventing a a big fall. Vishnupriya and Mythili then took turns to fall and they equaled Nava’s record. We finally crossed all rivers amidst great fun, we then headed back. We took good pics of us over a big log. It was big enough to hold 10 persons. Then we came across a valley. It was the most beautiful place I have ever visited, after Meenmutty falls. It was very long, almost thrice a football ground. Fully green, and with cracked surfaces I was amazed with the scene, I felt I was in heaven. We spent few minutes there, the sunset added more color to it. We went our way back passing by lovely paddy fields and tree houses. We reached our vehicles and started back to our hotel. We reached the hotel by 7. Vishnupriya had previously informed about the UTSAV that is going to be held in the evening the same day. Kishore and I witnessed the festival (at Sulthan Bathery). There were 5 elephants which carried the idol of Hindu Gods. People were in their traditional dresses. It was lovely to watch the women in white sarees with orange and red border. It was their trademark. People gathered in huge, it was a great evening totally.
The day ended, soon. We were very much exited about the adventure trip.
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