Ekdam Raamro

From Saturday September 14, 2013

Last night, my sister Rashmee asked me if I was interested in joining her for a hike with some of her friends. It sounded like a casual affair, and I was honored to be invited, so I said sure. The next morning my host dad raised some concerns about whether or not I would be able to make it.

"It's very steep. The trail is like this..." (puts hand almost vertical) "...and it will be hard."

I swallowed a little stiffer, threw some motrin in my backpack, and walked out the door with my sister.

(Side note: overnight there was a HUGE rainstorm. The drain on the roof became clogged. The roof flooded. The roof door opened. Water poured down all three flights of stairs. It was a huge mess... think buckets everywhere, bailing water, squeegeeing carpets, wringing out giant towels. My hiking boots, which I keep under the stairs, ended up with two inches of water inside them. I didn't realize this until the next morning so they had approximately one hour in the sun (and some newspaper jammed into the toes) to dry out. I was actually pretty impressed because I didn't have any problems with them being wet.)

Anyway, the hike was amazing. Ekdam Raamro means very good, very lovely. I'm not a super outdoorsy person, but the views were breathtaking and I even appreciated the sensation of having accomplished the climb. We walked about ten kilometers, and with the verticality it took us from 9am until 3pm (with some breaks).

I came home with a full memory card. Here are some of the highlights.

Looking back down to Godavari towards the beginning of the hike.

 The group on a flat section of the trail.

 

 A buffalo! I was pretty excited, and my host sister laughed at my excitement.

 

We passed by a school (the little building) at the very to top of the ridge. Glad this hike isn't my daily commute!

 

 

 R to L: me, Rashmee, and two of her friends at an overlook.

 

 

 

And finally one of my favorite pictures ever...

(be sure you click on it so that you can see it larger)