Sep 26, 20213 min read

Journal #21: Lively Journey to the Fort of Death, Savanadurga!

Updated: Oct 12, 2021

Travel Log #15

Onerous Ascend at Savandurga Rock

Location: Bengaluru

Altitude: 1226m

Surmounted on: 25th September Saturday 2021

SO! After an ineluctable moratorium of two months on one day trek outing that I used to go with my buddy, I finally was able to get hold of him and schedule a trek in the month of September and it was none other than the long pending Savanadurga Trek. Cited as the Fort of Death, Savan means death in more than a couple of South Indian languages, Savanadurga is the largest monolith in whole Asia and one of the most popular treks in the outskirts of Bengaluru. We were not alone this time because couple of buddies had joined us on the car drive for this trek and we began the onward journey by 6:30 a.m.

You need to book entry slots for Savanadurga Trek at myecotrip.com and the entry fee is put to good use in Savanadurga with clean and tidy restroom facilities, and parking space. This was similar to all other trekking spots which has started charging the entry fee. After reaching the spot, we circled a temple at front before we figured out the entry path for the trek. Here starts the arduous climb up the rock hill; right from the base it's just sheer rock till the peak and the most excruciating aspect of ascending any rock is, your energy gets sapped out immediately and rapidly.

We started ascending the hill around 8:30 a.m. and it took an hour and a half tiresome climb to get to the peak. I remember myself drained of energy and had to consume electrolytes and a cucumber to regain my stamina and strength to continue my hike up the hill. It was indeed one of the unforgettable experiences I've ever had in all my treks. And you can imagine my level of relief when we reached the peak. Immediately, we sat down on a secluded spot overlooking the mesmerising view of the villages and forests nearby along with couple of gigantic rocks, on top of which monkeys had their habitat.

I had ensured I packed a delicious meal, aloo parathas, for our breakfast at the peak. But when we reached the peak my buddies were wavering between thoughts whether to have breakfast or not. I did not had any such vacillations and so I opened my box and started having it. Now you could guess what happened next. The aroma of my delectable aloo parathas lured my buddies and tempted them to have breakfast. Indeed they gave in to the temptation. After the meal, I had a short slumber and woke up to the alarms of my buddies crying out and warning me of the aggressively arriving monkey towards me. We then had a memorable, technical and informative conversation for quite a long time before we descended the hill.

The descent was as usual - tantamount to the ascent and required utmost cautiousness, which we ensured with diligence and came down hill within an hour. After recharging ourselves with the natural electrolytes from tender coconuts, we started our return journey to Bengaluru. This one day trek was special and highly memorable because we were 4 in number and the banter contributed a lot to the fun element alongside trekking.