Hang En Cave trek

My friend Sowmya and I were planning our places to fit into our 10 days trip of Vietnam and cambodia.Trek to Hang en cave idea was suggested by her and i readily agreed to it with out much thought.In the 7 days Vietnam trip, 2 days go for this trek.After confirmation of the dates with Oxalis Adventures for the trek, we have planned other things and dates for remaining places in south Vietnam.

Hang en cave is one of the 3rd largest cave in the world and it is a must see place when you head for Vietnam. This 2 day 1 night trek shows you all sort of terrain ranging from downhill, uphill,river crossing, walking along the plains in the midst of chirping birds and drizzling(Depends on the weather).

A pick up van arrived on Day 1 to our stay at 8 am on dot to the Oxalis Adventure office.After waited for a few minutes, a slide show having details of trekking place, route for day 1 and day 2,Ban doong village and the instructions to follow was presented to us.Our group had 13 people from all over the world including Norway,US,Malaysia,Thailand and Korea.We got two guides, 4 porters and 2 helper guys.

"Grab your trekking shoes, choose one size larger..."
"Submit your passports in office and put the most needed items like cameras inside your dry bags to carry"

After all these instructions we all transported to a different vehicle to reach the base site from where our trek began.

Day 1 trekking started and people were walking real fast with initial set of energy.Small breaks were taken in the middle for some instructions about leeches.Leeches already got into one guy and i had a feeling that leeches were on my foot too.I took quite some time to change my socks and wear the boots again.Guide said since cyclone is looming over this place we should rush up to reach the cave before it starts pouring heavily.We crossed many small streams on the way.Forest was looking more amazing and lot of plants to see.Though we scared of poison ivy i walked fast to keep up the pace with other trekkers.We reached the village which has very few tribal people.Refreshments were kept  separately for vegetarians and non vegetarians.I gulped down whatever i could to get back energy.

After the refreshment lunch we rushed walking as it started glooming and it would be tough to enter trek if it gets dark early.There came the big river crossing.Flow was high as it started raining and two helper guys jumped in to access the current of the river.Guide instructed us to wait till rope was tied at one end of the river to help us crossing.Slowly people started crossing the river and reached other end.I crossed half way. Middle of the river was little deeper to my height and i was not able to keep my feet down so it pushed me up.I was literally hanging horizontally by holding the ropes.Helper guys jumped in and made me to cross somehow.Now reality sank in and the same scenario for my friend as well.Totally 9-10 river crossings went like this.Except my friend and I,other people crossed the rivers easily.I have always wondered on seeing the videos of rescuing people in the flood,why people are dragged in the flow while still holding the rope.I don't doubt the power of water anymore after having experienced this now.

By the time we reached Cave entrance it was already dark, we slowly entered into cave with the help of head gears and a little bridge was there to walk by holding the cave.Bats started making noises and we entered the cave finally.

Our tents were ready and it was set up neatly with sleeping bags.Instructions like how to use environment friendly toilet and how to roam around the cave in the nights were told.We changed to our dry clothes before having dinner.I found blood spots at my arm and a dead leech.I already scared to the hell whether i would be alive tomorrow as i have to cross the same number of rivers with much flow if it rains heavily.I scolded myself for agreeing to this trek as it seems like suicide mission.

Dinner was awesome.Food and stay was arranged by oxalis and included in the package itself.I relaxed a bit after having food and went to sleep immediately.It was the first time i slept in a tent inside a cave.There was a small pool beside our tents.I did not know that the sound of air would be scary until that night.There were so many thoughts running in my mind like am i fool to die here by paying this money, how will my family get my death news etc.I slept eventually.

Day 2 started with exploring the cave.We climbed the top of the cave to see the fossils, stalactite and stalagmite formations. Little bit of climbings and crawling was required.We reached the spot which was shown in a Pan movie.After all our photo shoots we came down in other way.Small stream of water was flowing down in the cave exit. It needs us to cross the pool again to reach the cave entrance.In the day light the entrance looked so small but when you reach near by, it looked big enough to let you walk in.

We had breakfast and begun our day 2.Now we all organised and formed a chain like weak person in the middle of two strong person while crossing the river.This was made sure to save time.Day 2 was comparatively better for me though uphill was tough, muddy with lot of falling downs, running fast to keep up with the group.Few were struggling to climb up though crossing river was easy for them.I ditched the idea of taking intermittent rest and climbed fast to reach the base site.Other than guides, porters were really helpful.They were the ones who came with people who lagged behind the group and stopped wherever we were taking breaths, encouraged us with whatever english words they know.

Finally i could hear the pick up van taking the first set of people from the base site.I rushed further to climb and reach the base site.I relaxed and waited for some time till my friend comes up.After a while two other people and my friend came up.After cleaning our mud filled shoes we got into our van to reach the office.After bidding goodbyes and feedback we were dropped at our hotel.There ends our once in a life time trek with oxalis.If it was not for my friend Sowmya,i would not have preferred to do this trek even in India let alone Vietnam.

Know your worth

Disclaimer: It is written by Amy chan in Huffington post.I like it so much that i can't justify her thoughts in my own words.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-chan/know-your-worth-understan_b_663194.html

We’ve all been there — feeling victimized by a friend, a boss or a lover who has treated us poorly or unfairly. It’s an easy and common tendency to blame the other, make yourself out as the innocent one, while seeking out particular people who will reaffirm that pain body within that encourages a “woe is me” mentality. But if you start to look back and analyze a bit, you may realize that the there is one common denominator in each scenario and situation. That common denominator is you.

You allow people to treat you the way they do. Your energy, confidence and attitude is the currency that others will transact with. I know many women who have settled for less, and simply “accepted” cards dealt because deep inside, they don’t believe they deserve more. I’m sure you know of someone who seems to have it all together in their life, but when it come to relationships, they just can’t seem to shake the habit of dating douche bags and douchettes.

In my life, I’ve created my destiny within my career, friendships and community. With friends, I’ve really embraced the fact that friends are all unique pieces of a pie. Some will be lifetime friends that are next to family, some are social friends, some acquaintances. I’ve learned to appreciate the various types and unique forms of value each friend brings, and as well as a system of how much and what kind of energy I invest to whom. I am blessed with the best friends ever, but that inner circle is sacred and thoughtfully selective.

However, in my relationships with men, I’ve witnessed myself apply a different system — if you can even call it a system. I’ve tolerated men who don’t appreciate me, who don’t value my heart, who take and take, who don’t call back, who have disrespected me — I’ve allowed men to not treat me what I’m worth. This is all a matter of self-esteem and my sense of self worth in the realm of being a woman in a romantic relationship. I’ve made excuses, justified and eagerly re-entered the game of push and pull with men who clearly don’t really value me much at all. And you know what, it sucks and feels pretty crappy at the end — chipping away the low self-esteem that got me there in the first place even more.

It took me 28 years of being hungry for love, even desperate for it at times, heart aches, heart tramples, picking up that phone when every cell in your body knows it’s the unhealthy thing to do, obsessing, infatuating, idealizing, you name it, for me to finally wake up and realize that my most important relationship is the one with myself.

I’ve learned to embrace self love. And while I’ll always be a perpetual student in this journey, I’ve made the decision to apply my successful method in dealing with friendships and business to how I do my relationships. I’ve stopped apologizing for who I am and have learned that I am “perfect” the way I am, right now, right here. I will constantly be growing, evolving and working on bad habits, but those flaws, those imperfections are part of the beauty that makes me, me. I can now easily recognize men who are drawn to me only for the best of me, and as Marilyn Monroe best put it, “If you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”

If I could talk to my younger self — that girl desperate for love and therefore often blinded by ideas, fabrications and untruths in order to try and capture it, I’d tell her:

“Amy, love will come to you, when you learn to love yourself, first and foremost”.

I can’t go back in time to correct my mistakes, but I can today share what I’ve learned with younger women, some who may have a misconstrued idea that giving their body away carelessly can equal love. In the words of my wise friend Sima Kumar, “Be the gatekeeper.” Your heart is a precious gift. Your body is a temple. Be selective. Respect it and be respected. Love yourself and be loved. It you don’t respect and love yourself first, building a healthy relationship with another is like building a house with no foundation — eventually the cracks and lack of a strong base will eventually cause it to crumble.

Know your value and don’t accept being treated in a way less than you deserve. Now, I don’t mean to start going out there with unrealistic expectations, demands and a sense of entitlement. I am saying that you deserve to be treated the way you treat others, and vice versa. The minute you negotiate your self worth and accept less, you say to the universe that you don’t deserve any better, and the vicious cycle/pattern begins. Change for yourself and of course, friends and partners are great mirror reflections that help you grow. But don’t change out of the wrong reasons to appease someone or in hopes that they will like you more. If they judge you for who you are now, they aren’t your fit. I’ll end off with a quote from “Sex and the City” that is an inspiring reminder:

“But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that’s just fabulous.” 

Dhanuskodi

When it was decided tat my next place to visit is Ghost Town "Dhanuskodi",i googled it just like anybody else.There are so many posts mentioned about the local jeep is the only transportation we should hire if we wish to go till the end point of Dhanuskodi.Thats how people would have gone by till recently but now full stretch road has laid down which takes us easily even by public bus.There are many government public buses which runs between Rameshwaram and Dhanuskodi.

Yet you can go ahead and hire a 4 seater local jeep for your own comfort.This gives you a chance to interact with the driver who can have a lot of tales to share.If you are going with a group of elderly people then i recommend to go with the jeep as you have luxury to stop at wherever you want to.

This deserted place was kind of the busiest town until 1964.One fateful day in december a sudden cyclone had hit this place and grounded everything right from railway track to all the houses.Only ruins are left over today.

Lord Rama marked a spot with one end of his bow to build a bridge (Adam’s Bridge aka Ram Sethu bridge) that connects India and Srilanka. That spot is called Dhanuskodi (“Dhanus”-Bow).There are so many spots through out Rameshwaram which relates to the epic Ramayana like Mount Gandhamadana,Ramar patham,lakshmana theertham,kothandaramaswamy temple etc.

Dhanushkodi is located at the tip of the Pamban island. Like any island you would soon be approaching the path surrounded by water on both the sides if you drive from Rameshwaram.Here it is two different oceans on both the sides of the road.One is the silent less wavy Indian ocean and the other is Bay of bengal which is full of ferocious waves.

It was a major hub before 1964.You can see the ruins of hospital, high school and churches still.The harbour remaining were scraped few years back just for the metal pieces.

It’s just 30 kms from Rameshwaram. There was a train running from Chennai (Boat mail) and drops the passengers at Dhanushkodi  From there they were transported in a ferry to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is only 15kms from here.There were some stories like navy officers might arrest if you wander there aimlessly, it is because of smuggling activities happening in this area.

Very little traces of train track can be seen near Mukundarayar chathiram.Non local transport are checked at the check post in Mukundarayar chathiram. 

Some times you can see the people digs up few feet down to get sweet drinking water in the shore area.Though homes are allotted to them they are living around this deserted place.Neechal kali, a 1964 cyclone survivor and a swimmer who was the inspiration for many generations of Dhanuskodi.By seeing him staying alone in this area, inspired others also to engage in their daily activities in Dhanuskodi.

If you are a religious person and want to remove all the committed sins then you should go Rameshwaram as it is one of the Char Dhams and also one of the jyothirlingams. If you are interested in mythological stories like Ramayana,then this place is like fodder for your interest.You have just little interest in Geography? then you should visit Dhanuskodi just to be amazed by what two different oceans can offer you.

Rameshwaram

Rameshwaram which is one of the shiva’s jyothirlingam (Only one in Tamilnadu).This temple town is quite crowded yet serene.One can see the divinity go hand in hand with all the turbulence.

A word of caution, please visit this temple in off season or any non holday to engulf the entire town in single visit.

We reached Rameshwaram via train from Madurai.It is easy to go from Madurai (Another temple town alias thoonga nagaram i.e Town which never sleeps).Handful of passenger trains run between Madurai and Rameshwaram in the day time but its all unreserved passenger trains. Only two early morning trains run on Mondays,Wednesdays and Thursdays at   around 2 am and 4 am.I took an unreserved train at 12.20 pm from Madurai and landed at around 4.20 pm in Rameshwaram.

Though many buses ply from Madurai yet i preferred train since i want to go on Pamban bridge.Train track over the sea is another thing you need to indulge in when rameshwaram calls you.Parallel to the track over the land you can see Anna indira Gandhi road which is a nice stretch road where you can see the part of Bay of bengal and the fishing boats parked at the end of the day.

Railway station is normal one with newly built retiring room.As people from all over India are thronging this town the entire town ranks low in cleanliness.

We visited Dr.APJ Kalam sir's house just out of curiosity.Though there are shopping places inside and beside this house, government has showcased his dedication for the nation, kids and also his knowledge.There are so many books kept almost everywhere around the house which shows his voracious reading habit.I saw almost 4-5 variations of thirukkural,bhagavad geetha. Quite a remarkable person this world had.

After that we went to the main Sri Ramanathaswamy temple (story of the temple in the later post).We entered through west gate, east gate is facing towards the sea (Agni theertham).You were not supposed to carry your mobile phones, there are many shops which has locker that keeps your mobile phones for certain amount.This temple has lot of pillars (roughly 1212 pillars ),stands so majestic in the veranda.Few are ornated with characters which are common among the temples built by same king around same period.The rock pillars are painted to emphasise the beauty.

En route to main deity story of how lord rama became reason for this temple are enacted in framed photographs around the corridor,you can mediate for few minutes inside epitaph(yogic samadhi) of saint Patanjali.One can't miss the direction boards to theertham no: N (there are 22 theertham wells inside the temple) all around the temple.We planned to do "Spadiha linga" dharshan and theerthams at next day early morning.

Based on the story, lingam built by Sita in the sand resides as main one, beside that there is one brought by Hanuman from kailash called Viswalingam which is supposed to be worshipped prior to main lingam.Beware of big queue even in special dharshan if you go there during holidays.

Since it was already temple closing time, we worshipped outside and came out for the day.

Next day we entered through East gate to the temple around 4 am for spadiha linga dharshan which starts from 5 am to 6 am.One can get token by paying 50/- for this special dharshan.A small linga made of spadiham would be kept in the main sanctum (the lingam made by sita is behind the veil for this one hour, after that spadiham will be removed and normal darshana starts for the day).

After that we went straight to Agni theertham to start our theertham counts.By taking bath in Agni theertham,one can get rid of all sins.Mind you people been throwing so many things into sea so wherever you step into Agni theertham your feet lands into clothes rather than sand.Heard that even fishermen dumps their waste there only.Municipalities effort is much needed to clean the revered sea.If you go early morning you can enjoy the beautiful sunrise amidst of all buzz.

Then you should go to queue for getting entry token tickets to theertham wells.There are totally 22 wells each one for each purpose, in some wells you will be poured on separately and in others they throw the water to the entire group.If you hire guide then you can skip standing in queue and following the crowd.The guide will take you everywhere.

Once all the wells are completed, you should change into dry cloth before worshipping deity again.This entire process in over crowded busy day takes almost 3-4 hrs.If you spend another 2 hrs you can enjoy the architecture of entire temple.

You can go to Dhanuskodi from the temple if you have time.It takes 30-40 minutes to reach.Since tar roads are built,Government buses are running now to the end of Dhanuskodi.We took a local 4 seater jeep (for 800/- to the full trip).The driver acted as a guide as well.