THE ONE TO ONE TREKKING CHALLENGE (17th to 28th January, 2008)

In January, 2008 the One to One trekkers from the One to One Children’s Fund, embarked on an amazing trek in Kerala, organized by Kalypso Adventures. They passed through some of the most challenging and beautiful terrains as they made their way from the tea country of Munnar until they reached Chinnakanal, near Suryanelli on the 5th day.
The One to One Children's Fund exists to support social and educational projects all over the world, relieving suffering, hardship and neglect wherever they arise and to help children overcome the trauma of war, prejudice and natural disaster.
Their aim is to build a one-to-one relationship of mutual trust and regard with local communities and to invest the time, skills and careful funding that would make the most positive difference to the quality of children's lives.
Before setting our on their trek, the participants from One to One spent a day in Alleppey with a charitable organization and visited the after-school project they had set up after the 2004 Asian tsunami, to develop resilience and leadership skills among children.

The students from the school aided by One to One

At a beach in Alleppey

The second day saw the participants board a houseboat headed for Kumarakom. The 3 hour ride took them through the tranquil backwaters, which allowed them the unique opportunity to get a close view of life of the locals as they went about their daily tasks on the banks. All aboard! The backwater view

From Kumarakom, they were transferred to Munnar where their stay was arranged in the Tea County resort. Munnar, once a favourite summer resort town of the British is set at an altitude of 1600 metres above sea level and proved to be a welcome change from the humidity of the plains. The team had the rest of the day to relax and prepare themselves for the long and arduous trek ahead. Tea plantations in Munnar

The trekkers awoke to a new day, ready for their first trek to Ellapatti. Led by guides from Kalypso and assisted by the locals who acted as porters, they set out on their trek. It turned out to be a comparatively hard first day, reaching the campsite only by 6.30 in the evening. The exhausted but contented trekkers, then settled down for the night, after enjoying the dinner prepared for them by the Kalypso staff. Starting out The local porters Small waterfalls encountered along the way

Trekking on the second day started a little earlier at 9 in the morning. Compared to the previous day, day 2 was a relatively easier day of trekking and they reached the campsite at Rodo Valley in the afternoon. This gave them time to have some fun of their own, resulting in a spontaneous cricket match that brought out their competitive spirit. After some fun and laughter, they got ready to turn in for the night, while taking in the breathtaking views as the sun set in the horizon. Trekking to Rodo Valley
Navigating the steep descent

Fooling around

Camp at Rodo Valley

Day 3, saw the trek begin at 9 in the morning. After about 2 hours they reached Meesapulimala. At 8750 ft, this is the second highest peak in South India and the view from this height was awe inspiring and rewarding after the long climb. Following the short stop here, the team continued onwards, passing through the highest tea estate on the way at Kollukkumala, while trekking to the Kalypso camp at Anaerangal. The camp was a welcome stop for the trekkers, tired after a hard day, with luxury tents and attached bathrooms and a great view of the surrounding mountains. Entertainment was provided by Justin, a musician arranged for by Kalypso, who delighted everyone with his singing. At Meesapulimala


Above the clouds Trekking down

Passing through the highest tea estate in the world

At the Anaerangal camp

Being entertained around the camp fire

The next day, the team started trekking towards the Anaerangal lake. The trek led them through a great route, passing through papathi chola, right down through the Muthuvan colony and through pine forests until they reached the campsite at 3.30. The Kalypso team had set up camp at a beautiful location, right by the lakeside, which proved to be the perfect pitstop for this leg of the trek.

Snake charmer!

A tree house Kalypso camp on the lakeside The lake view

The final day of trekking began with a taste of excitement when a slight deviation had to be made, as a wild elephant was discovered to be on the planned route. The trekkers then made their way upto Gundumala, through the HML tea estate. With an excellent lunch en-route they headed to their final destination- Sienna Village at Chinnakanal. This proved to be the perfect ending to the trekking challenge.

On top of the world

The jubilant team at the end of the challenge

Resting at Sienna Village

All in all, the trek proved to be a challenging, but satisfying experience and left the team with memories to last a lifetime.

GREAT ARC RALLY

(07th to 18th Jan 2008)

The Great Arc Rally aimed to take up the spirit of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India by asking participants to drive in as straight a line as possible from near the tip of India, outside Cape Comorin also known as Kanyakumari, to Hyderabad. The route follows in the footsteps of William Lambton, the father of the survey which was hailed as one of the greatest scientific undertakings ever.

This rally is the brainchild of Conrad Birch, event manager at Roarr, who when he heard about the arc, and read John Keay’s book ‘The Great Arc’, thought of retracing Lambton’s footsteps. He came to India in 2007 and did a reconnaissance trip assisted by Kalypso Adventures. It seemed doable, and so the Great Arc Rally 2008 was put together 200 years after the original survey.



For two weeks the 5 bikers battled the terrain and elements on their rugged 4X4 off roaders and TSM Enduros to find the straightest route possible along The Great Arc on the meridian. Winning was to have logged, at the end of 13 biking days, the least ‘non-arc’ miles. The rules were that they could not get to camp before 3, if they made it after 4.30 they got penalty points and they had to intersect the Arc every 16 km. Following in the luggage van and at the campsite was Julia, who used spreadsheets and uploaded all the GPS data into her laptop to figure out the results.

Armed only with a GPS to help them stick to the 77.41 line, and their ingenuity, determination and stamina, the bikers covered every grassland, biked over any mountain and crossed every river that fell on this line.





SO WHAT IS THE GREAT ARC?



In April 1802, as fellow British officers’ explored ways to escape the heat of the sultry Indian summer, Colonel William Lambton made plans to measure the Empire’s greatest treasure as well as the curvature of the earth. This ambitious and seemingly impossible plan was to measure the arc of the meridian, by trigonometric survey. Little did he know at the time that the task would take nearly 40 years and it would be his successor, George Everest, who would see it finally completed, while Lambton, the father of the survey, would be long forgotten.



Malaria, tigers, swamp fever and a host of other ills took their toll but the survey marched on and on Colonel William Lambton mapping the sub-continent from the tip of India in the South, to the Himalayas themselves.

The 2500 km of inch perfect surveying was, and still remains, one of the greatest human endeavours ever undertaken. Braving forest, flood and fever for nearly 50 years, the British surveyors and their Indian staff carried instruments weighing more than half a ton to make possible the mapping of the entire Indian sub-continent. Half a century of dedicated effort consumed the lives of more men than contemporary war.



At long last the venture succeeded, and today, nearly 200 years later, we celebrate and acknowledge the creation of what has come to be known as The Great Arc, upon which, modern mapping and surveying of the Indian peninsula is still based.



THE GREAT ARC JOURNEY



The drive along the Arc is best summed up in the words of one of the bikers Ron, “It’s not about points or winning, it’s about the experience, really”. It was in this spirit, that the challenging, first of its kind Great Arc Rally was flagged off from Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of the Indian peninsular on 07th Jan 2008.

Cape Comorin: where it all began!

Enduros Ahoy



The bikers had no other devices to assist in their navigation except for a GPS and a 100 year old map showing the passage of The Great Arc, making it a bit of the old and the new.



Each day two trucks from Kalypso would go ahead of the riders, to set up camp, complete with toilets, generators and cold beer. Vinay Sirsi in his 4x4, and another vehicle would tail the riders, with Vinay trying to off-road as much as possible.

Kalypso Support Vehicle



Camping on day 1





The source of the 3 course meals

Kalypso staff hosing down the bikes after a long day



According to biker John Watson Miller “The best part of the journey is rolling into villages and camping there. Everyone is really curious,”



Below are a few photos capturing what they got to see and experience as they traveled through the heart of India, passing through villages and countryside, experiencing the local culture, meeting people and entertaining visitors, both man and animal alike.

Catching a glimpse of village life

An incredible shade of blue

The Vaigai Dam

Visitors to the camp

The second group of visitors

The third silent visitor



Biker Darren preferred no other mode to see the country. “It’s the only way to travel. Sitting in an AC car and stopping wherever you want is rubbish”

As a result they traversed the most challenging terrains, taking the most difficult routes.

Darren



John has his own story, of his accidentally entering a farmer’s field and mowing down his paddy.

“But there he was, the farmer helping me get off his field,” he says incredulously.

John



Conrad’s goal was to stick to the route as far as possible. If there was a river on the way and there was a bridge, they wouldn’t take the bridge if it was not on the route. They would go through the water. If it was too deep, they would load their bikes on the coracles.

Conrad

Russell

The trip defining picture



Here are a few images to give you a taste of the ride, as the bikers made their way to Bangalore, the midpoint of the journey where they made a two day pit stop. On their way they passed through hills, plains, rivers and the territory of the dead forest brigand Veerappan.

The Kodai Hills

The Kalypso Camp in the coconut grove



Rehydration- tropical style



Serious off roading



Paradise?



Hogennakal



Veerappan territory



They then made a two day pit stop in Bangalore, staying at The Taj West End, to rejuvenate and tank up for the next leg of their journey.

Taj West End, Bangalore

During their short break in Bangalore they participated in ‘Bangalore Walks’ a guided tour of Bangalore’s colonial past. Arun Pai, the man behind ‘Bangalore Walks’ knows the story of the Arc, and took the group to Hebbal Park to the marker from the first survey that William Lambton undertook. It marks the highest point in Bangalore, and was the basis of the trigonometric calculations that followed. Bangalore Walks



Riding through Bangalore was quite a change, having to navigate through its chaotic traffic and patiently wait at traffic lights that had hardly been an issue while biking through the Indian countryside.

A rare traffic light



After the stopover at Bangalore, the other half of the journey commenced as they headed to their final destination, Hyderabad.

The Kalypso camp from afar



As before, they stuck to the 78°14’ meridian as far as possible, and this of course could not have been easy on the bikes as they had to pass through the toughest terrains in order to abide by the goal of the rally. This eventually led to one of the bikes breaking down.

One bike packed up

In the middle of nowhere



And so they continued on for another six days, passing through some of the most challenging terrains and scarcely populated areas, moving through all types of climatic conditions, as they focused on reaching Hyderabad while sticking to the rules.

The solitary biker

Being the kind of formidable and challenging journey that it was, there were bound to be a few injuries along the way. But these were all efficiently handled by the capable Dr. Praveen who accompanied the bikers all days, throughout the rally and assisted whenever needed.

Dr. Praveen in action

A biker is born

Dirt bikes?

These shoes are made for wallowing



At every campsite for the day, they were greeted with hot, steaming tea, and tents ready for occupation. Ravi, the camp manager ensured that all their needs were taken care of.

Chai with Ravi, the camp manager



And then there was some added entertainment as the bikers decided to try on the local attire- lungis! Another experience to cherish.

Lungi day!



At long last, after 13 grueling days of biking and camping out in tents the bikers finally reached Hyderabad. A satisfying end to an unforgettable journey.

Rod says he thinks it’s a tremendous thing that they’ve been places that Europeans, and probably Indians, haven’t been in several years.

But the common denominator to all their experiences is the small villages and their people that they were totally taken in by.

The Great Arc Rally was truly a journey to remember.

The Great Arc Rally team with Kalypso Staff