Note: For photos, go directly to Page 8, or click here. You can also checkout my cousin Rajith’s website for photos.

When I was around 18, I read James Redfield’s ‘Celestine Prophecy’ and was quite blown away by the concept of synchronicity. A lot of things in my life have happened due to meaningful coincidences and the Silent Valley trip is one of them.

During the first or second week of joining my new workplace (just about 2 months ago) I got to know that one of colleague’s husband is a photographer working on a one year assignment in Silent Valley. I immediately told her that I would like to visit the place when he is there. With October 2nd being a holiday, it didn’t take long before four of us decided to make the trip. His assignment was drawing to a close and he wouldn’t be there for long. With another friend and two of my cousins (one of whom is an avid photographer himself) joining in, the Silent Valley trip happened and I now fondly remember it as one of those life changing incidents. If you are wondering why, read on.

Gearing up to go

I wasn’t tracking upcoming holidays but Sandeep, my friend, was really desperate to get out on a vacation. He pinged me about a week before October 2nd, suggesting we hit the road by converting the holiday into an extended weekend. Our initial plan was to go to Hampi but once I got into the groove of holiday planning, I suggested Silent Valley. Having just got back from Kemmangundi and the memory of the wonderful time we spent there fading, I wanted to rest in mother nature’s lap once again. He was game for Silent Valley and I made inquiries with my colleague about her husband’s availability and accommodation at the National Park. I wasn’t really sure what kind of place it was going to be, but the photos I saw at http://silentvalleynationalpark.com got me really excited. My colleague’s husband, N.P Jayan, has done a wonderful job in photographing the different moods of the forest. And with people like Kalyan Varma always inspiring me to follow my calling, I just couldn’t wait to get out of Bangalore (the same feeling that I get ever so often).

I kicked off an email thread in which my fellow travelers and I discussed what we going to carry. We were warned of leeches so I head out one evening to Adventure Works in Jayanagar and found good quality leech socks. At 300 rupees each they were rather expensive, but we were to realize later how important they were. We were asked to pack light so we froze the list of thing to carry. My cousin Rajith and I were to carry our camera gear in our respective Lowe Pros while his brother Rohith and Sandeep were to carry rucksacks with our clothes and stuff.