Hiking around Bangalore: Another trip with Ankit and BMC

Ankit and I went for a day trip via BMC to Turalli  today- It was a hiking-rockclimbing-rappelling trip for newbies and sounded perfect for a twelve year old.
It was a 7am - 6:30pm trip with all arrangements - transport, food, guide and equipment - for Rs 900 pp.

The not so good part:

1. It turned out to be a trip of twenty nine people. I had made the mistake of booking last minute and not asking how many people were on the trip. As this is a long weekend here I should have expected this. I do not like huge groups of people to go on such trips so was a little overwhelmed. This also meant you had less time to do an activity as you were waiting for people.
2. Trash - as usual there was plenty of it on this trail too. Broken whiskey bottles and plastic clogged puddles of water.
3. Random groups of  men drinking and  playing cards - many with their shirts off. This seems to be a popular activity in this area - come on your bike, drink, play cards and leave all your trash behind. Made me feel happy I was part of a big group and not here alone.

 The great parts :

1. 
   

1. As usual BMC arranged everything ( inspite of the large number of people) very nicely. Timely pickup and drop off. Good food and a great rock climbing instructor.
2. As stated in the trek description this was for newbies and there were plenty of kids on this trip and they all had a great time.
3. Made some good friends - Ankit has one over for sleepover tonight. He clicked with the kid and me with the mom. Similar people do similar activities. Met some other really interesting people too.
4. I know I cribbed about the large group. It interfered with my hiking ideals but it did show me something that has kept me smiling all day long - a family with three generations joined us. Grandparents, parents, aunt and uncle and four kids. The grandma was old and was helped along the trek with the help of a stick and family members. The grandpa - at 65 - rappelled and climbed a boulder. The kids cheered them and they clapped for the kids. I really had not seen this in India before. Just showed me another moment where I misjudged a traditionally dressed family.

So all in all - glad I spent another day out with Ankit. We walked and talked and had fun. I'll look for a smaller group next time but once again am happy BMC is here - helps me go into the jungles of Bangalore with its semi-clad 'trashy' dudes without any worries.