We all need vacations. To rejuvenate, to rekindle and to restore our lost energy.
Like everyone else, I love vacations too. In fact, the pandemic taught us the importance of vacations and time-offs more than ever.
I travelled a lot in the year 2017. I had relocated to Bangalore, and I was immediately captivated by its beauty and culture. Everyone in Bangalore believes in a good weekend getaway, away from the rushed life.
One such vacation was to a hilly town, located in the western ghats mountain range called Sakleshpur. It is surrounded by slopes covered with tea, coffee, and spice plantations. I travelled with my roommates who also happen to be my best friends.
The journey to Sakleshpur from Bangalore takes approximately 4 hours. We took the bus because it is the most convenient mode of transport to that region.
The eerie experience of the trip started even before we reached the place. The bus was scheduled to reach around 5:00 am in the morning, but to our bad luck, we slept off and missed our stop by a couple of miles.
It was a harrowing experience to begin with, given the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere and it was raining heavily and there was no one to give us directions.
With much discomfort and a long stroll, we managed to reach our hotel a couple hours later, being both tired and frustrated. We were all soaked because of the rain and the walk to the hotel was scary and filled with a lot of distress.
Instead of preparing for the day ahead, we slept off and woke around noon. We were a little disappointed, but we dint lose hope. We decided we won’t let something like this get in the way of the many experiences that lie ahead.
The hotel management helped us book a cab to visit the various locations. The place houses an 18th century star shaped Manjarabad fort with sweeping mountain views. No place will introduce you to the Islamic architecture in India better than the Manjarabad fort. The fort also led to a reserve forest, with the trails being home to cobras, deer, and a variety of birds.
The next day, we did a hike to a beautiful waterfall and felt rejuvenated after bathing in its pristine waters.
We enjoyed our trek through the rainforests, the hills, and the visit to forts.
The early experience of the trip did not bother us much, as the vacation came to end. But on our return journey, another harrowing experience awaited us.
The seats we had booked were purposefully assigned to another family and that lead to a heated argument. We were tired and to not have a seat to sit for 4 hours, made us feel bitter.
In all that drama, as the bus halted in one of the gas pumps, a thief stole some valuable items from a lady seated in the bus. However, the thief happened to have similar bad luck as we did. While running away with the valuables, he got hit by a motor bike and fell head over heels. My friend and I ran towards him, tied him to the ground, and applied all force to keep him grounded. People were alerted and the thief was eventually nabbed.
We were able to retrieve the valuables from the thief and received much appreciation for the same.
We returned as heroes and everyone thanked and congratulated us. We were proud of ourselves and for some reason, our weird experiences in the last couple of days felt much warmer.
Our trip to Sakleshpur was unique in every possible way.
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