Trip to Sakleshpur

A pleasant little hill station tucked away in the Western Ghats, Sakleshpur offers a refreshing getaway. Sakleshpur is a part of Hassan district in Karnataka and is a major producer of India’s coffee and cardamom. The drive from Bangalore to Sakleshpur is 5-6 hours, so we left around 9:00am and reached around 3:00pm with several stops in the way. We started our school trip, buzzing with excitement. It was a 3 days and 2 nights long trip. As soon as we entered the bus, we started chatting away to glory. There was loud music and we shared our experiences and memories from the past that we found funny or silly. And, as many of us believe, food is an important part of a trip. We had mouth-watering mini burgers, sandwiches, cupcakes and kachoris on the bus ride. After a lot of noise, reading, sleeping and silence, we finally reached our destination. After the long journey, we were all restless, excited and hungry, which boosted the taste of our lunch. The resort we went to was called ‘Tusker Valley’ and towards the east, it was still under construction. Still, there was so much greenery, it felt peaceful even with the noise of the construction. It was a clean and open place with less structures (of restaurants and cottages) and a lot of mountains in view. Our first activity was kayaking in the ice-cold river which was a new experience for many of us. We kept shouting words of encouragement here and there, and it was funny how we weren’t in the least tired. Being surrounded in pure nature, I could smell everything I could see. It smelt of the freshness rain leaves behind within the trees but in the sun, it felt warm. The weather was approximately 30 degrees at that point. There was also zip-lining which didn’t have much height or length, a great place to start with if you’re scared or a beginner. After we all had our chances, we couldn’t stop talking about it, but alas, we were all tired and went into the cottages to refresh ourselves. The water was as clean and cold as the river, which felt good after the sunny day. Although, as soon as we pitched our camping tents (after refreshing ourselves), it was freezing cold and we were all shivering the whole night. We had hot dinner and stayed up watching a movie. Then, as we realised, the night in the cottage was no warmer than the night in the tent. Early morning, as we awoke, we had hot tea and coffee and changed to go for a trek. We crossed a river and climbed a steep hill of 3 km. The view from these was just breathtaking. Mountains and hills of all sizes, trees, rivers and pathways…just amazing. We turned back and trekked downhill, right where we came from, although this time, we had to be even more careful on the slippery pathways. As we reached the resort, we were so hungry, we could have eaten the mountain! We refreshed ourselves and went river-crossing. The river below us was so clear and clean, we couldn’t resist ourselves from going in. Of course, after every activity, we had a meal, even after river-crossing. Each time we had a bite of food, it tasted like nectar and ambrosia (godly food) and we still hadn’t gotten used to it. The next activity was a jeep ride and it was one of the highlights. We were all holding on tightly as we went on the crooked, narrow road, and we went at full speed in the turns until we reached the hilltop. The scenery was the same as the previous one from the trek, but you could also see railways and trains this time. Also, our hands had got red and sore from holding the handrail so tight. After a deep breath of fresh air, we returned to the resort, this time in silence, watching and observing the nature around us. As we reached the resort, we refreshed ourselves and were in for a surprise…we had barbeque for dinner! We set our sticks on the grills and made ourselves cozy around the bonfire. After we finished watching the movie from the previous day, we returned to our cottages to sleep. We woke up early in the morning and got ready to leave. After one last hot meal of breakfast, we were set to go. We left around 8:00am and stopped at 1:00pm for North Indian/South Indian lunch (we chose one of them) on the way. We ended our meal with ice-cream for dessert and were back at school before we knew it! What had felt like a short time had been 3 days and it was once again, time to say goodbye.