The first climb - Anish, Gulli and I - we climbed less than half-way up in about 45 minutes under bright hot Sun. Mostly we took the wrong path even though two local boys were trying to guide us through the ideal route. We were tired, thirsty and getting hungry ...we decided to head back and go home.
Second climb, Gulli and I, must have taken at least 90 minutes with local boy guiding us the way up. At places we would deviate from the path assuming it would be shorter and ended up doing circus.
Third climb onwards we started understanding the path better. Our timing got better with every climb. By the fourth or fifth we would reach Basava Mantapa in 60 minutes. I would start the stop watch in my Timex Zulu Time and note the time every climb. The best we managed was 40 minutes - from the base to the Basava Mantapa - we could not do better than that.
Base to Point 1, gateway in the ruins of the fort wall - 10 minutes.
Point 1 to Point 2, the turret - 20 minutes.
Point 2 to Point 3, the guest house - 30 minutes.
Point 3 to The summit - Basava Mantapa - 40 minutes.
With experience we had learnt few things NOT to do -
- talk (I would talk as less as possible though Gulli would chatter on non-stop)
- sit down (if we need rest, we would stop and remain standing but never sit down)
- drink water (chances of catching sore throat is high)
- hold things in our hands (always carried a back-pack)
My heart beat rate would shoot up pretty quickly and breathless in minutes but I learnt to push on ...sweat pouring out from my face and scalp. The path between point 1 and point 3 is very steep. By the end of 20 minutes I would be drenched in sweat, my tee-shirt would be completely soaked! My heart pounding and my shoulders ache like crazy ...I would question myself; why did I have to come all the way for this? Why go through this pain?
At times I would pluck a straw of wild grass and chew the tender end - it would give out a mild sweet flavor - I used to feel that boosted my energy.
Once we reached Point 3 it's as good as reaching the top ...from here it's more of walk then climb ...stretch of level walk, a quick descent and a quick ascent, walk over rocks, walk though rocks and then a short steep climb up and there you see the Basava sitting in the Mantapa looking towards the East. I would touch Basava's feet, circle him three times and offer him my Namaskara.
Going back to my thoughts 'why do i take all this trouble and pain'. Well, now I know that every bit of trouble I went though is worth the feeling I experienced here on the top ...the cold wind of fresh air, the sounds of the wind though the rocks and the scenes my eyes saw. My heart beat would be normal and would not even realize it.
Descending was relatively less strenuous but knees would start paining half-way down. Once during a solo climb, I came down in 15 minutes. At some parts I would leap from rock to rock ...my ankle-high Reeboks protected my feet from the shocks and supported my ankles. At the base, from Savandhi Veerabhadreshwara Devastana, we would look up at Nandi Mantapa and say bye and see you again.
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