Virajpet - April 08

Thora - a steep descent of about 4 kms down into the forest and back. It was a tough walk and I was struggling most of the time. It was hot and humid as in a typical rain forest. The trees were tall. We had lunch by a river sitting on the boulders. It started getting dark on our way back up and I lost my way a couple of times, which was scary. Actually, there was no 'way', we had to make our own way back following a general direction. So, many times we just had to heave ourselves up using a support like a tree or a rock or something sturdy. It was tough. We finally managed to come out of the forest around dark but we still had a long stretch of a coffee plantation to cross before we could reach our jeep. I was almost dead by the time I reached there, barely able to stand at all. I was dripping with sweat from head to toe, my throat was dry and parched and I was hungry. All I could think of was water, just one mouthful of cold water. It was dark and I was leaning against the jeep for support, knees wobbly with exertion. And then it was as if my prayers were answered. We saw two people coming towards us in the dark - a man with a girl - they brought us a jug of cold water and a bag full of bananas. It was like heaven sent. They were the caretakers/workers at the coffee estate. We had met them earlier before starting our walk and informed them we were going down into the forest. They were anticipating our arrival and brought us such life savers as water and bananas. Couldn't thank them enough.

View of a waterfall through a clearing

A giant evergreen

Forest as it was