All of us were up by 6 in the morning. Those who slept close to the burnt wood were up "half-baked and half-frozen"! We didn't waste much time and started exploring another route that Thomas assumed is the final way to Soochipara. (again!)
In an hour we were sure about one thing.
None of us wanted to spend another day roaming around in the forest where elephants were roaming around like cattle. Except for some sweets I had in my trousers and plenty of river water, we had no access to food.
We decided to trek back the whole distance we covered the previous day. At the least we knew the way and the time it takes to trek back.
Another ten hours!
Trekking back through semi deciduous forest
The fear was only in terms of climbing the last stretch from the foot hills to Meenmutty waterfalls. That is probably a climb from 200 metres ASL to 1300 in one stretch! Something that is quite possible on a normal day but not when fuelled by hunger, fatigue, fear and low morale.
As a last ditch effort, Anoop and I decided to climb a steep hill in front of us to check out the surrounding areas from a higher altitude. Halfway, we understood that both of us were literally risking our lives by climbing that slippery terrain with no equipments whatsoever. In half an hour, we reached on top only to see miles and miles of forest and mountains in front of us and signalled the rest of the team to continue the trek. We followed them.
From their onwards the speed in which we trekked was crazy! Those bamboo filled areas which we trekked carefully the previous day (considering the presence of elephants) were ignored completely and we were pacing as if we would just say a "Hello, nice to meet you" to the wild elephants and continue the run!
We just wanted to get out of the forest!
© GP 2007
