There was this bar near Bowring Hospital, Bangalore. Food was decent, prices reasonable, the crowd a quiet one. Given all this, it should have been very popular. But it wasn’t and it was never full.
They claimed seafood as their speciality and the nice Mallu owners chose to have ocean themed interiors. That meant a lot of blue.
A popular theory goes (actually its just my theory, might get popular who knows) that the reason for the mediocre patronage was mainly due to the fact that while the colour Blue was clearly the colour of the sea it was nowhere close to being the colour of food. Samudra Bar and Restaurant no longer exists.
Today I drink at Manoj Dhaba.
- Stretch before you start the trek. This will make your joints flexible in advance so that there are no surprises (sprains, muscle tears) during the trek.
- If your trousers are hung low, they can interfere with your gluteal muscles (i.e. bum) as you walk. Similarly bulky things in your trouser pockets can mess with your thighs. Just make sure all muscles from hip downwards can contract and relax freely…
- Except around your ankles. They could do with some support. Ankle height boots. Firmly laced.
- Trim your toe nails. Especially the big toes. You really don’t want a toe nail coming off halfway through a trek.
- Carry a plastic bag to hold your electronics for when it rains
- Extra briefs (i.e. chaddi, undies), trousers, t-shirt
- Carry medication for diarrhoea, nausea, tummy trouble.
- A hacksaw blade is useful if you ever need to cut branches, rope, metal. It takes very little space. (This is only for emergencies, in usual circumstances: leave no trace.)
- Make sure you are not carrying any precious/important non-essentials like ID cards, vehicle documents (except for ones related to the vehicle you are using for the trip), keys, jewellery.
- Carry ORS or alternatives (Gatorade, enerzal) to avoid muscle cramps.
- On foot care (from The Navy SEAL Physical Fitness Guide)
- To be continued…