Finally Kamal insisted that I sh'ld come to Mammoth Caves, no escape for me. Started around 9.30a.m. with Kamal's dad, mom, myself & Kamal, from our house with sandwiches & chutney; masaalaa rice; chips; biscuits for our share. Ramya's friend bharath joined us with his uncle & aunty & a kid & for his share brought idlis with chuntey powder; curd rice & pickle. Kamal was driving the car with so much of ease that made me somewhat comfortable even at a speed of 80 miles per hour:). Bharath's uncle was cracking jokes; narrating some incidents & the kid for her share entertained us with her 'mazhalai':).
Reached the destination, well within the time. The guide was supposed to come only around 1.30p.m. We decided to finish our lunch at that interval. Kamal started spreading the bread on the table making sandwiches for us; the sales was pretty decent & for my share, i took 3 sandwiches with idlis & masaala rice. Soon after we finished lunch, the guide came & explained what all we are gonna see & how the trip inside w'ld be & all. We started following the guide. Myself & kamal's mom hafta really make an effort to keep pace with the rest.
There were limestone deposits; stalactites; stalagmites & columns. Of course the guide explained everything in detail though the crowd was more interested in proceeding further. It seems the deposits were used to make gunpowder & slaves were only doing that work, holding a small lamp in their hand since it was pitch dark inside the cave. Saying this, the guide switched off all the lights, called Kamal (the hero of the day:), to hold the lamp in his hand. When the lights were blown off, it was really scary, with no light, sound or vision. The crowd 'yelled' hoooo & within a few seconds the lights came back & I had a sigh of relief. Like this, the guide stopped us at some important places & finally we finished the 1st trail successfully & came out. Took some fruits to get ready for the 2nd trail.
A small bus ride was there to take us near the entrance for the 2nd trail. The entrance gate itself was soooo small that i hafta squeeze myself in & was wondering how I'm gonna finish the trail. The guide, for his share, was telling the crowd that it's gonna be a more strenuous one :(. Started cheerfully in the beginning, following the guide. There were steep 'metal' steps right from the beginning & with some difficulty, I was climbing up. There were some places where u hafta go in sideways since no space to go straight. There were places where u jus h've 'rails' to hold ur hand, but no steps & simply go like trekking. All was well, until i felt that I'm rolling down the steps that has about forty steps at a stretch. Somehow Kamal stopped me from rolling away further, by blocking me, on the steps, since he was climbing down jus b4 me. Luckily, not much damage done though I had bruises & some muscle tear on my back.
From then onwards I became a VIP since each one was asking, including the guide, whether I'm fine & all. Of course we hafta cover similar dangerous curves & steep climbings & now the added attraction is water underneath. In some places, where it was too steep, without any steps & water underneath, both Kamal & Bharath hafta give me support & somehow I successfully finished the 2nd trail. Went to the restroom to check my bruises as advised by the helper there, but didn't take any help from them. Came home with juntha. Return trip, Bharath drove, with much caution & the travel was cool.
In the house front, Ramya was bc preparing vatthakozhambu, Pradnya came with delicious cooked sprouts. For my share, i made quick coconut chutney & all dishes good or bad (including the curd rice) disappeared in a 'jiffy'. After chatting & viewing the fotos taken on the trip, Bharath's family left & i saw Ramya's dance in the video for sometime & went for sleep. All said & done, both the trip & the fall will stay in my mind for sometime to come.
