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Blog Entry# 1679554
Posted: Dec 14 2015 (22:28)

33 Responses
Last Response: Jan 04 2016 (11:11)
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Travelogue
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Dec 14 2015 (22:28)  
 
PKV~
PKV~   25536 blog posts
Entry# 1679554               Past Edits
The NMR SAGA
Trekking along the Nilgiri Mountain Railway track is veritably a life time experience. One which combines both ECSTASY & AGONY. This ambitious venture was planned twice in the past but deferred if not shelved because of preoccupation and hence non-availability of some of the proposed participants. But God willing what had hitherto remained a wishful dream finally saw the light of day in the Nilgiris on Saturday, the 12th of December, 2015,
NMR is the steepest gradient in Asia and 8th in the world. Many have trekked from Coonoor
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to mettupalayam (down hill) ,No one had done an up hill trek , So we planned one such. Kallar to Runnymede, a steep gradient (1-12.5) and 16 kms…….. . However, keeping in mind the age and physical condition of Yours Truly, the trekking party consisting of 8 IRI admins and one ex-admin, kept me out of that group. A plan of action to which I perforce had to acquiesce with mixed feelings. It was a classic case of the " spirit being willing while the flesh was not ", more so, as I was in the recovery mode from a month-long bout of acute bronchitis. And so it was that the adventurers saw me off at 7.10 am by the MTP-UAM Passenger at Mettupalayam before they themselves proceeded by road to KALLAR to commence what proved to be the MOTHER OF ALL TREKS by an IRI admin group. Exhausting yet memorable, back-breaking yet exhillarating, arduous yet amazing. I guess in an effort to bring to you the thrill of the participants I could go on endlessly. But that would be a travesty of justice. For if the ends of justice were to be adequately served, it stands to reason that those who underwent the experience, and they alone, should narrate, both in prose and pictures, the sheer beauty of their endeavour.
I am merely doing the honours of initiating this post at the request of all those who actually undertook this MISSION PAR EXCELLENCE. And they are in no particular order 8 IRI admins Dr. Nazeer, Jayaraj, Subawarna Kohilan, Minti aka Pradeep, Shashank Bhatt, Raam from VSKP, MS Narayanan and last but not the least Pramodh Kommattil. One of our ex-admins Dr. Amit Kumar also participated.
I would be failing in my duty if I did not acknowledge the pioneering and organizational contribution of Dr. Nazeer, Jayraj and Kohilan who ensured that this venture was a resounding success. I as well the rest of the party are deeply indebted to these three gentlemen.
Now over to the others for their accounts of the expedition

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2 Public Posts - Mon Dec 14, 2015

13 Public Posts - Tue Dec 15, 2015

1 Public Posts - Wed Dec 16, 2015

1 Public Posts - Thu Dec 17, 2015

5 Public Posts - Fri Dec 18, 2015

1 Public Posts - Tue Dec 22, 2015

4 Public Posts - Wed Dec 23, 2015

1 Public Posts - Mon Dec 28, 2015

1 Public Posts - Tue Dec 29, 2015

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Dec 31 2015 (10:58)
MSN_Ponds~
MSN_Ponds~   2477 blog posts
Re# 1679554-32              
Pic 1 : click here
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Under Belly Check : A small area to climb down and check the loco and the cars from below
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Mission Restarts : After a welcome break at Adderly, we continue on towards our next destination, Hillgrove
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A Striking Pose : Couple of our gang, strike a pose at the entrance of the tunnel immediately beyond Adderley
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Yours Truly : Well, what is it if I am not around :)
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Nothing Can Stop Me : With a terrible sprain around the knee, Captain is all ready to complete the trek. The crepe bandage around the knee area is not seen here
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Light Dispels Dark : It is the lack of light we call as darkness. Darkness doesn't exist. All we need is a source of light
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Road At Last : After walking close to 3 hrs, the view of road was, well a divine sight
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Abundance : One thing which our trip never lacked was water. There were loads of it as streams, falls or as natural mountain water channelized into pipes. One thing for sure. We were never dehydrated
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Lunch Break : Bridge No 37 and a small temple like structure. A perfect place to relax and enjoy our lunch. However our lunch time had a pleasant surprise for us
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Surprise : There were no trains expected on this line except for one last downhill service late in the afternoon, but we had a surprise unexpected breakdown special going downhill as we sat enjoying our lunch
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And It Goes : The Breakdown special vanishes into thick green foliage while we continue on with our lunch
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Fully Reloaded : Happy smiles as we were fully reloaded for the final 4 KM stretch
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A Modern Bridge : Amidst old wooden sleeper based bridges on the NMR, we end up with a modern version of another of the numerous bridges along the route. The scenes around are too breathtaking from the middle of the bridge, but the vastness, wind and the height make you a bit wobbly forcing you to not stop and move on
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Protective Rock : A protective like rock formation after bridge no 42. Bridge No 42 had some drama in store for us. One of the gangmen had to run and escape from a wild elephant on his way here. We had to escort one of our gang along a wooded pathway next to bridge no 42 down to the road as he was suffering from cramps probably due to dehydration. The short trek below was not short of drama as we had to wait out an elephant hunting jackfruit. We wasted around 40 minutes here or should we say, survived
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I Bless You : The rock seems to bless everything and everyone passing beneath it. One of the well known and famous landmark on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway
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The Last Mile : As we decide to finish our trek at Hillgrove, we had to literally pull us through the last mile to reach our destination. When the destination is near every step feels a hundred
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Hillgrove : When I went to this place a couple of years ago, it was on one of the passenger services and any hopes of capturing this train along with the name board was a distant dream. This time we walked all along from Kallar and just in time to get this very view which I have always wanted to take, the downhill MTP bound passenger descending to enter Hillgrove station for a relaxed halt.
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Seeya Later : The train had a relaxed 30 minutes no hurry halt at Hillgrove for passengers to freshen themselves up. Monkeys had a gala time waiting for passengers to treat them. Atlast it was time for continuing with the descent. As the train Chugs and fires along, we decided to pack up for the day and go down to the road along a narrow but defined path with the railway employees

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