It's been quite a while since I have blogged about a topic after my Parvathamalai Sojourn. Finally it turns out that my next post is also about a trekking experience, albeit a different one from our usual Treks.
I have been to Mt. Annamalai a couple of times before this trek and both these times, we had scaled this hill at daybreak. At the top of the hill, I had noticed an empty hut with a dog guarding it. Curious to know about the inhabitants of the hut, My manager and I started our descent. On our way downhill, we were discussing how beautiful the hill would look during a full moon night and joked about climbing during a full moon night. As luck would have it, we stumbled upon a guy at Skandashramam, who introduced himself as the person living in the hut at the top of the hill. We told him of our idea about scaling this mountain during a full moon night, to which he replied nonchalantly that he climbs this hill almost every fortnight. Thanking our stars we got his number and returned to Chennai and got back to our daily rigmarole.
The thrill of climbing a mountain during a full moon night lingered in our minds for the next couple of weeks. Finally, unable to contain ourselves, we decided to climb on the night of 13th May 2011. We left office by 3 pm and reached Tiruvannamalai by 6:30 pm. We met the hut-person (Jodhi) and asked him to buy the necessary items to prepare our dinner on top of the hill and then visited Arunachala temple and offered our prayers and had a light dinner. We started our ascent at 8 pm.
Though I was quite enthusiastic about this to-be-night-trek, I was wondering how would I be able to climb, Considering the fact that in broad daylight itself, scaling the mountain is a pretty tough task and I had to stretch every muscle to reach the top. Just to put things in layman's perspective, at 2889 ft, this mountain is taller than Burj khalifa, Dubai which is the tallest man made structure on earth.
With my manager and his friend as company, I mustered enough courage and started the quite literally "uphill" task. 10 minutes up the hill, we came upon a small room which is Jodhi's (our hut-person-cum-guide) abode. He introduced us to his best friends, Kuppy and puppy, two very intelligent dogs which always accompanied him. Slowly, forcing our way through the darkness, we reached Skandasramam, the last human in habitation in the hill. We refreshed ourselves at the natural springs present beside Skandasramam and refilled our bottles.
Jodhi led the way uphill followed by Kuppy and then the three of us, with puppy completing the train. Along the way Jodhi kept us occupied by narrating stories related to philosophy, his guru who used to stay on top of the hill and some interesting things about the hill. The hill, its rocks and vegetation bathed in moon light looked calm and beautiful. A cool breeze, coupled with the smell of herbal plants, definitely helped our cause and made things a lot easier. In spite of that, we huffed and puffed and reached the top of the hill by 11:30 pm.
The sight from atop the mountain was truly breathtaking. Sipping hot tea with the moon in its full glory, the smaller hills surrounded by mist, the whistling and howling wind was truly an out of the world experience. We felt totally rejuvenated and fresh. I am sure words cannot describe this truly eternal feeling!!
Jodhi made us some delicious upma which we gobbled down in a trice and slept in the hut at 1:30 AM. The funny thing here is that we were feeling cold on a summer night, especially since the previous day I was cursing the Electricity board for the power cuts and sweaty nights! Here we were in the lap of mother nature, who showed us that even without these worldly things, you can spend a night in a calm and peaceful way.
We woke up by 5:45 AM and sipped the herbal tea prepared by Jodhi witnessing the beautiful sunrise which was again like a red hot coin tossed up over the horizon. We thanked Jodhi profusely for this truly enchanting experience and started our descent by 6:30 AM. We reached Skandasramam and meditated for about 30 minutes and then we were back amongst the blaring horns and the sapping heat.
Thank you Mother Nature for showing us some beautiful things which man cannot recreate.
 |
| Annamalai Hill at Sune |
 |
| The Trek 'Gang' |
The thrill of climbing a mountain during a full moon night lingered in our minds for the next couple of weeks. Finally, unable to contain ourselves, we decided to climb on the night of 13th May 2011. We left office by 3 pm and reached Tiruvannamalai by 6:30 pm. We met the hut-person (Jodhi) and asked him to buy the necessary items to prepare our dinner on top of the hill and then visited Arunachala temple and offered our prayers and had a light dinner. We started our ascent at 8 pm.
Though I was quite enthusiastic about this to-be-night-trek, I was wondering how would I be able to climb, Considering the fact that in broad daylight itself, scaling the mountain is a pretty tough task and I had to stretch every muscle to reach the top. Just to put things in layman's perspective, at 2889 ft, this mountain is taller than Burj khalifa, Dubai which is the tallest man made structure on earth.
 |
| Sunrise from the top |
 |
| The Human Habitation below us |
The sight from atop the mountain was truly breathtaking. Sipping hot tea with the moon in its full glory, the smaller hills surrounded by mist, the whistling and howling wind was truly an out of the world experience. We felt totally rejuvenated and fresh. I am sure words cannot describe this truly eternal feeling!!
 |
| Mr. Kuppy, as 'Vigilant' as ever |
 |
| Kuppy showing us the way |
Thank you Mother Nature for showing us some beautiful things which man cannot recreate.
