TRAVEL SPECIAL ..............Goa Beyond Sun, Sand & Beaches

 Goa Beyond Sun, Sand & Beaches 

A trek through a series of tunnels to the Dudhsagar Falls is simply mesmerising

Athick fog of uncertainty surrounds us as we start our trek along the railway track from Karnataka’s Castlerock to Dudhsagar Falls in Goa. Rain, leeches and faeces welcome us. We have to cover 14 km along the track.
    We, a group of 38 people, form seven small teams. Some wear long rain coats while others prefer huge plastic covers which can also accommodate their backpacks. Good idea. If your bag gets wet, it will weigh a tonne!
    Trekking on railway track is tricky. You either walk through the sleepers or take the beaten path through the blue metal outside the track. One should be very careful while walking along the track. You need to pick up the rhythm fast. Otherwise, a small twist or slip may spoil your trip.
    Monkeys look at you and make strange noises but dogs follow you, expecting a biscuit or bread. When we are about to enter the second tunnel, a guy with a torch in his hand stops us: “Sir, please wait for a moment. The girls are attending to nature’s call in the middle of the tunnel,” he said. It’s pouring, and we don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. We wait until we get a signal from the other end.
On Another Track
As soon as we enter the third tunnel, we hear someone blow a whistle behind. “Train...train...please turn towards the wall,” he shouts. The tunnel is narrow and we don’t know how to manage in the darkness. We remove our backpacks, and move towards the wall holding our torches on. Tunnels are strange places to negotiate. Even though there are electric bulbs, none of them work. Rain water leaks from the ceiling of every tunnel. A freight train passes blowing horn to alert. The engine drivers take extra care on this stretch, considered a prominent trekking route to Dudhsagar Falls, the fifth tallest waterfall in India.
    Rain plays hide and seek. I take my camera out and shoot a few photos. The silvery colour on the surface of the track always fascinates me. We stop for food: thepla with pickle and water. The packed lunch is over in ten minutes. A dog following us leaves after having its share. We try to walk fast. There are only two shelters near the fall — offered on a first-come-first-serve basis.
    As we reach the eighth tunnel, we realise the crowd is huge and we may not get the place to stay. “Somebody must have occupied it,” said Mohan Krishnan, a senior member in our group, seeing the rush of trekkers proceeding towards Dudhsagar.
    Barring a slight ache in my thigh muscles and a couple of leech bites, I manage in five-and-ahalf-hours. Our fears come true — one of the public shelters is occupied by a p r iv a t e tour group from Hyderabad. They put up separate tents in and around the place. Our group tries to cover the remaining place with blue and yellow tarpaulins, but the wind blows them off.
Rain Drain
The Dudhsagar Fall is furious thanks to the torrential rain. The water falls on the rock and then flows down crossing the railway track. Located in the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary in Collem, south Goa, the four-tiered water fall is the creation of the Mandovi River. “A couple of months ago when we came here, the fall was pleasant. We had bathed here,” said V Nithyanandan, an avid trekker, pointing towards the mighty fall.
A group of guys from our group walk to the second shelter. Soon a message is sent to those busy with the tarpaulin job. “We will be moving to an old building near the fall. All of us can’t sleep there but we can at least sit inside,” said a member. The half-tied tarpaulins are removed immediately. A heavy rain with lighting soon proves the idea wrong. The small shelter is flooded with water in 10 minutes. Frustrated, we start putting up the tent again.
    It’s 11 pm when we finally put up a tent fighting with the rain. It’s still not strong, and we somehow try to settle down. A group of guys in our group puts up a small tent and lie down. Soon they find themselves floating in water. Some take out their sleeping bags, and find solace inside. Others spend time looking at the rain, cursing themselves. I close my eyes, and try to sleep. The only fun I hear comes from those inside the small tents next to me. The group from Hyderabad is having a good time. A huge beam of the passing train’s headlight falls on our yellow tarpaulin. We wait for day to break.
    We pack up at 6 am. Although Dudhsagar has a railway station, it doesn’t sell tickets. But it’s a popular halting point for trains that go to Madgaon and vice versa. We get into the train at 9 and it takes 20 minutes to reach Castlerock, the distance we covered in six hours the previous day. A girl who cursed the rain the previous night comes up with a title for her new book, “Ode to a night we spent in the rain”.
MT Saju ETM130901

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