A journey full of experience and learning

Award participants of Sarala Birla Academy, Bangalore, completed their Adventurous Journey under the supervision of Award Leader K S Biradar in the month of February 2018. Gurusharan G -IAYP student representative, Nikunj Tulysan and Shorya Vardhan Singh are sharing their experience with us.

On 16 of Feb 2018 in the chilled early morning at 5:00 am we - Bronze, Silver and Gold

participants with our escorts left our school campus and headed towards Somvanpet, a place in northern Coorg. We reached our destination at our expected time. Post lunch we assemble on the ground nearby for the briefing about the place. We were then escorted by the owner of the farm, who gave us a brief insight about the plantations of fruit, vegetable and coffee. He explained to us about the various stages of the coffee plantation. We all had some team building activities where we enjoyed playing various games. The instructors briefed us about how to trek up and down the mountains or hills and described safety measures while trekking, such as: while trekking on the hill carry a stick and put a cross mark at every diversion point, so that the people coming slowly behind us would understand that their teammates have gone this way. After the tour of the area, we all enjoyed the bonfire after that and called it a day.

Next day in the early morning we had to go for an 18-km trek on the third highest peak of Karnataka - the Pushpagiri Hills. Everyone was very enthusiastic and excited about the trek. We all enjoyed the cool breeze in the morning while summiting the peak and the bliss of the hot sun while at the top and while coming down. The trek was rather challenging and gave us a lot of exposure and sense of determination, and we all had a wonderful experience while trekking. It was very challenging and difficult for a few of us but we all helped other team members climbing the hill. The hill took us through all types of terrains, forests and areas of rock steps where a few of us got bitten by the leeches over there and learnt to apply some salt over the wound. It was again quite challenging while coming down the hill. Some of us slipped and fell but all in all we enjoyed the trek. It was really a different kind of experience summiting one of the highest peaks. While we learnt a lot while trekking, everyone enjoyed to their fullest after the trek. After reaching our campsite, we played some team building games in the evening.

The next day everyone was very enthusiastic about the trek. We boarded our buses after having breakfast and then set off for the trekking destination with our group in-charge, Mr Karthik. After an hour we reached our destination: the Pushpagiri Hills. We set off to summit the highest peak of the hills. It was a 19kms trek and was challenging for a few people, but everyone was full of enthusiasm and excitement.

On the third day, Gold participants escorted by one teacher left in the morning towards the Irrapu Waterfalls, which was far away from our campsite. We trekked to reach the Waterfall and also come down. On reaching our campsite we were given guidelines about how to pitch a tent; it was a new experience for most of us and everyone learnt and enjoyed doing it. The Bronze and Silver participants went for a small trek to the nearby stream where we dipped in the cold water in the hot sun.

Next day the Bronze and Silver participants went back to the school with two escorts. The seven Gold participants went for a morning trek for around 8 km. Post breakfast they participated in zip lining, boating, rope balancing and many more adventure related activities. After completing all the activities they left the campsite and headed back to the school with a lot of experience and learning.

By this trek, we learnt that we should not give up at any point in our life. Challenge yourself and move forward, definitely, success will meet you. We also got to know a lot about each other as we cooperated and helped each other during the trek. It was overall a very memorable experience for all of us, including the teachers, escorts and the in-charge, and we look forward to more activities and trekking. Click here for more pictures