The Loop Trilogy Part II: Indiana Jones and the Gradient of Doom

Namaskaara and welcome to our sequel of the blockbusting Loop Trilogy. Pete, Sam, Theja, and Bob went out to visit Charlie 1 and Charlie 2; I myself had the honour to spend five eventful days exploring Kerala with the beyond lovely Tango 5. So here is what happened there:

When driver Big Manju played Biffy Clyro’s “Many of Horrors” in the Bravo (Raleigh for “car”) that brought us to Kerala, I knew it would be the beginning of a wonderful trip full of positive surprises. After a short stop for lunch and – important important – a birthday cake for Ramesh, we greeted a knackered group of trekkers, who wouldn’t even bother to get up for the promising, but misleading bag from “Domino’s Pizza” that carried the cake. It seems like I had landed at the right time: A rest day was ahead of us! Accordingly, the group was in high spirits, smearing cake and henna into each other’s faces whilst watching pokerfaced Abi win “The Question Game” with, in turn, questionable item/action combinations.

“Rest”-day in Raleigh means “Raft”-day, so we put on our life jackets and went down to the Pozhutana river, where the MuddyBoots trek guides waited with a bunch of bamboo poles and a lecture on how to build a raft out of it. After having utterly successfully implemented theory into practice, we row- row- rowed our boats gently down the 2 km stream, merrily enjoying nature and the clothes-cleaning effect of water.

The next day sounded equally enjoyable with a 40 km bike trip - excluding annoying rucksacks - on the menu. Except it wasn’t: Steep and lengthy uphill phases and tricky, rocky downhill sections made most of the team not care too much about the beauty of the Indian tea plantations and Claude Monet painting-like lakes that they passed by. Getting off their bikes and pushing it the last metres to the next break stop, some even reminisced about the good old days of uphill walking, which now seemed to be the much easier option of mobility. However, capitulation is not a word in the Raleigh vocabulary, and definitely not in Tango 5’s. Arriving at the Banasura campsite – happy but with sore derrières and thighs, our guides had a lovely surprise for us: Just a five-minute walk (yes! finally! walk!) away was a reservoir in which we could cool off our stressed muscles! One has never seen a camp set up so quickly; and faster than Richard “Indiana” Jones can set a Trangia cooker on fire everyone enjoyed this perfect conclusion to the day.

Everyone still smiling. Still...

Chai break

Shaveh showing off

Everyone’s prayers (well, maybe not those of bike-pro Shaveh and anyone Dutch really) for uphill hiking were answered the day after, as we shouldered our incredibly heavy rucksacks – packed with tents, snacks, and an unnecessarily high amount of breakfast oats – for a 15.5 km trek along the Banasura waters. During snack and lunch breaks by small rivers, the discussions revolved around what music would be sufficiently energising to tackle the steep forest paths and how clean Dan could get this glass of Nutella. Arriving knackered (the Chai break half an hour earlier did not do the expected miracle) at Meenmutti campsite, which we had all been looking forward to, we were slightly disappointed upon realising that accessing the toilet required another hike. We were furthermore slightly terrified, when it suddenly started raining for 3 minutes, but greatly rewarded with a beautiful view over lush forests in front of the Banasura waters. Our high-altitude home provided the perfect setting for a round of Mafia. Or rather THE round of Mafia, that would change the course of this game forever (for better or worse has yet to be determined) by shamelessly perverting the role of the little boy.

Group except highly efficient photographer Alex

Lunch break

I'd like to thank Ferrero for getting me through this...

Alex kissing ground upon arrival.

After 15.5 km, the 9 km trek the day after looked like a waltz on the map, with a steep ascend and descend right at the beginning and some ostensibly gentle flat strolling for the rest of the way to Panthipoyil. Except downhill trekking turned out to be a demanding exercise for body and brain, as dense grass lands made finding a safe spot to put your foot somewhat impossible and the promised 200 meters distance to the next break stop were either a horrendous arithmetic error or a cruel, deliberate challenge posed by our guides to push us to our limits (I suspect the latter). However, the sentiment changed into rather cheerful directions when when the relatively flat second leg of the trek made singing possible. Spirits slowly bubbled upon arrival at camp with the “installation” of an open air shower, then intensely simmered when watching a can of Milk Maid being downed in 1:37 minutes, and boiled over when the Loop (including Coke and Mars bars) arrived to spend the night – and the night trek with us.

Ramesh the engine

That's what happens upon arrival to campside: Absolutely nothing for at least 30 minutes.

After Caspar had been handed the meticulously carved day leader baton, he made sure to wake up everyone at 2am sharp to start our 13.5 km night trek equipped with head torches and dressed in Longs. Fatigue quickly vanished when the distinct advantages of this trekking form became apparent: Less sweating, complete ignorance of tricky gradients to come (if you don’t see it, it’s not there), and of course the chance to watch a beautiful sunrise. 

After daybreak we used the energy saved during the night to face the way up the 1200 meters mountain of Kurisumala, a pilgrim centre for Christians in Kerala, offering stunning views over the region and breathtaking photo and video (!!!) opportunities:

A motion picture group hello to friends and family from the top of the world 

(we are sorry for being a bit brief, but the climb left us breathless and the view speechless)

After a rather tricky way down to the group’s next campsite, it was time for the Loop and me to say farewell. It has been an absolute delight spending time with you guys. Thanks for being my Phase II highlight. Love, your Quebec.

A small taste of Tango 5's dedication

And now: Messages written with the scarce remaining drags of physical and mental energy:

From Abi

From Alex

From Caspar

From Dan

From Frances

From Rhian

From Richard

From Roos

From Rory

From Sammy

From Sofie

From Venetia