a goat's leap... of faith?

karnataka does itself very well in the rocks department. from hampi to ramanagaram, large boulders sit amongst rivers and greenery, inviting me to climb them. did a bit of that at mekedatu this weekend. for those of you who don't know- its a 100k drive from bangalore where the arkavathy joins the cauvery and goes through a narrowish gorge that reputedly a goat could leap across.

the road was good enough to make the roads in koramangala gnash their potholes in envy.. and there was a lil series of road signs on a steep patch. the first one read "change gear".. the next one said "you have been warned". we had indeed been warned. a little later i almost fell out of my seat when i read "chat ends". closer inspection proved that the sign said "ghat ends".

the weather was perfect too- cloudy enough to ensure that the rocks didnt get hot. but no rain, so we could bask above the river, eating our jackfruit chips, apples and chikki. it became a bit daytrippy after a while though- far too many people laden with chatais, bagsnbags of food and littleuns running about.

there's a little stretch of the arkavathy that you have to cross, it cant have been fun lugging all that luggage across. i did try to create some artificial excitement by claiming that the water was getting higher, the current stronger.. and (ending in a high-pitched scream) was that a croc edging towards me? but apart from a squeaky couple, nobody else bought it.
sigh. back to the drawing board.

after i got back i heard that a number of people had contracted cerebral malaria after a visit to mekedatu. but my cerebrum, cortex and cerebellum seem to be ticking along or sleeping on the job, as the case may be.
(is mr smart e. pants going to write in comments about the "real" contents of my brain? with links?)