Nirmiti Hiking 2017- Invitation (Titan RT)
Hike to Titan RT
Participants: Abirami Anbalagan, Girish Bellad, Iswarya Ramu, Jhenkhar Mallikarjun, Maithily Nanadikar, Mohammad Siddiqui, Subrata Kundu, Soumen SinhaBabu, Rahul Raj, Nitin Yadav, Prerna Arora, Sandesh Dinesh, Sanjula, Shilpa Patil, Sowmya Krishnamurthy, Udhaya Bhaskar
We pulled ourselves
together on the chilling morning of 2nd September, 2017, to embark
on our journey to Titan RT, a 483 m long pedestrian suspension bridge in the
Harz mountains, which opened in 2017. Sitting in the 6:48 train from Goettingen
bahnhof, with friendly conversations to get to know each other, singing to
satisfy our high spirits, we began our adventurous trip. After changing trains
at Northeim(Han) and Niedersachswerfen, we reached Hesselfelde (the starting
point for the hike) around 10:05. People in the group showcased their German
speaking skills to seek inputs from friendly German civilians to decide among
the many possible paths to hike. After weighing our options, with Sandesh
leading the group, we set forward to the path through the woods.
Munching on our
breakfast, with Prerna reading to us the heritage of the Harz mountains from
the pamphlets she got from the information centre, we hustled across open fields,
streams of water, fully absorbing the beauty of the mother nature. A herd of
well built cows, grazing in the fields, welcomed us by giving `i don't care who
you are' looks. Lakes and scenic landscapes compelled us to take frequent stops
to capture photos to dwell upon. The smell of the mud united with the rain from
the previous day, the freshness in the air from the woods, the first colors of
the autumn, variety of strange looking mushrooms, well lit clear skies, beetles
and butterflies, chirping birds made us effortlessly march ahead until our
growling stomachs started to dominate over them all.
At this point, we were
through half way. We sat on either side of the hiking trail in the middle of
the forest to enjoy Indian delicacies such as rajma chawal, biriyani, upma, and
puliogare, along with sandwiches, cakes and flavored yogurt, while adventure
loving tourists, some ecstatic, kept passing by. Fully energized by sumptuous
meal, we reached the end point of the hike, Titan RT, in no time. With a serene
reservoir and a bridge hanging over it, this part of the Harz mountains is
mesmerizing. Titanium RT (the official name of this bridge) also hosts
adventurous zip-line and bungee jumping bases. We stood on the bridge, a
man-made marvel, cheering people who zoomed past us on the zip-line flying like
birds. On one end of the bridge is a small park with a playing area for the
children and every one of us let the child in us to live the moment to the
fullest.
When the Sun started
setting, it was time for us to head back to the station to get home. This time
we took a long bus ride enjoying every bit of the last sun rays, followed by a
fun filled travel by train. Thanks to Prerna and Sandesh, who agreed to enact,
we started playing dumb charades. In no time, everyone pitched in to suggest
movie names and to guess them. The hike, the train journey and the games broke
all the barriers and helped people, from different work backgrounds, to get to
know each other and feel at home in a land far away from their loved ones. Like
all the other good things, this beautiful trip also came to an end when the
train put us all back in Goettingen. It was time for us to bid bye to one
another only to meet again for many more exciting activities.
Cheers,
Sowmya
