Silver Level Adventurous Journey to Panchlingeshwar

Kartiki Maheshwari, Silver Award aspirant from The Heritage School, Kolkata sharing his Adventurous Journey experience

We all were extremely excited about the Adventurous Journey to Panchlingeshwar. We started our memorable journey to Balasore station from Howrah station by the Dhauli express. Our train left Kolkata at 6 am and we reached Balasore by 9:30 am. After reaching Balasore we were transferred to Pathaniwas by Jeep.  On reaching this beautiful place we were allotted our rooms. Introductions took place and we were briefed on the Do's and Don'ts of our trip. After a delicious lunch we started our trek to the Panchlingeshwar temple at around two pm. After seeing the five shivalingas that were enshrined inside the rocks,  we continued our trek to Kuldiho Wildlife Sanctuary. We then returned back to Pathaniwas. That very evening we had a session on rope knots. We learnt about the different types of knots such as Reef knot, Colwich, thumb knot, figure of 8 etc. We were also briefed about track signs and how they were helpful. We were also briefed about track signs and how they were helpful. Dinner was served to us at 8:30 and lights were turned off for that night by 10. 

Our next day began at 6:30 and we started with some warm up exercises and jogging. This session was followed by breakfast which was served to us at 8:30. Our trek for the 2nd day started around 9 o clock. Our trek was to Shikar Minar which is 3.5 km from Pathaniwas. We completed this trek in approximately 2 hours. During this trek we passed by a magnificent Shaal forest and also saw volcanic rocks throughout the route. The weather was definitely chilly but the trek was beautiful and memorable. We were back in the base camp by around 12:30 after which we had a challenging cooking session. After having lunch we had an unforgettable session on rock climbing and rappelling. It was a unique experience and was enjoyed by each and every one of us. That evening we had a session on the basics of camp craft which was followed by a gala camp fire night.

We were once again off to bed by 10. Next day once again we began our day with warm up exercises and some jogging. After breakfast we began our last day's trek to the Nilgiri hills. The route was admirable and had beautiful fauna. We returned to base camp at around 12:30. After an early lunch we had our last session which was on survival skills. Once again we found ourselves being transferred by jeep to Balasore station for the 4:20 Dhauli express to Kolkata. We were back in our city of joy by 8:15. This trip left us with great memories with both new and old friends. In this short trip we were taught to adapt with situations and also to manage time. We enjoyed several activities and also learned quite some things about trekking and camp craft. This trip would not have been successful if it wasn't for the continuous guidance of our teachers Kavita maam and Neil sir, our instructors Mr. Joydeep Ghosh, Mr. Shambu Nayak and Mr. Pranav Saha. This programme has taught us a great deal of things; it has helped us recognize our strengths and has made us realize our social responsibilities. We have IAYP to thank for all the great memories we were able to make in this short three-day trip.  Click for more pictures