Maklidurg (Makalidurga!) Trek

Situated 60 km away from Bangalore, Maklidurg is a nice location for one day trekking(moderate). The easiest way to reach there is by train(Guntur passenger from Yesvantpur Jn. at 8.15 am and the train back to Bangalore starts from Maklidurg around 3.30 pm). You can also travel by road and reach Maklidurg via Doddaballapur. Carry sufficient food and plenty of water.

Maklidurg is a tiny but tranquil railway station without any mad rush - not a single hawker, not a single porter, not a single beggar and all other craps that drive you crazy in any big Indian railway stations. As soon we got down from the train, we were welcomed by monkeys. If you do not tempt them by showing the food items you are carrying with, these creatures are quite harmless in general. We followed the railway track for another kilometer or so and reached a temple at the base of the hill. This place is not as famous as Skandagiri with trekkers, but still finding the way up in broad daylight should not be very difficult. Moreover, there are some yellowish arrows marked on the stones to help you. Once you find them, the rest is pretty straightforward. We started ascending with intermittent reposes and the whole thing went quiet eventless. After two tiring hours we were standing jubilantly on a dilapidated fort wall - mission accomplished :o) The landscape is dotted with several other hills, including Nandi Hill and Skandagiri, which we managed to identify! You can see a big lake not too far away from the foot of the hill (it seems from the top), the railway track lying like a giant metallic serpent and the moving trains remind you of your childhood toys. Everything looks so small from the top!

We spent some time exploring the top, which is a fairly large plane area protected by fort wall from all the sides and a temple of lord shiva roughly at the middle. We later came to know that twice a year devotees come to the temple to offer prayer. We rested our weary legs, took photos, consumed food and drinks and were ready for descending in an hour and half. And suddenly a queer idea struck our mind – lets try out some other route rather than walking down tried and tested one! This is a perfect example of what one should not do in a hot day with depleting stock of water. After an hour or so the track we followed suddenly disappeared and a very steep slope were lying ahead. All of us were very reluctant to go all the way up and take the right track. Stranded and desperately looking for some way that can take us all the way down, few of us scattered in different directions searching for it. After a brief survey, Soupi came up with an outrageous plan! He suggested that if we can manage to climb down around 50 mt, all along one branch of tree to another, we are out of the hell (heavenwards if we slip). We were prompt to vehemently oppose the proposed acrobatic adventure and after few more despairing moments, sense of practicality enlightened our mind (at last) - we decided to go all the way up in search of the good old route. It took a while (and a lot of energy) to find the right track and we totally ran out of water by then. Our voices gradually fell silent - no chitchats, no jokes; just the sound of footsteps going down. Battling extreme heat and dehydration for another hour, we somehow managed to trudge all the way back to the temple at the base of the hill. A few people were around and they offered us water (read life) to drink. No comments about the hygiene but the poor fellows drink this day after day for survival and so did we. The return train was gone by then and we took a bus to Doddaballapur and from there to Bangalore.

Team members: Anshu, Ankur, Bota, Pratap, Titas, Sukrit, Soupi, Somnath

Photographs taken by Anshu