The river Kaveri is one of the 5 great holy rivers of India, revered by pilgrims for centuries. From its source amongst the coffee and cardamon plantations in the cool hills of the Western Ghats, the river flows 500 miles across southern India towards the hot plains of Tamil Nadu and the Bay of Bengal.
I walked from one coast of southern India to the other, following the river from the coast all the way up to its source, then dropping down through the mountains to the Arabian Sea. I did no more planning than that.
I took lots of nice photos, blogged about the trip, and wrote a book. You can either buy the book here, or read it for free, serialised online here.
Good Luck !!
Have a good time walking along. If you happen to be in Bangalore we can plan a tweetup.Incase you want to meet some of your followers in person .
Prakash
totally admire what you do sir.
one question I could not figure out– what camera (specifically)do you use? from what I read, it seems like you dream for an DSLR, but some of your shots have great depth. please let me know– very curious!
Hi Jon,
Most of my pics were taken with a point-and-shoot. But a year ago I upgraded to a Canon 400D. Heavy, but worth it. Set my dreams on the new Canon 5d Mk II…
I am fortunate enough to meet Sir Alastair Humphreys, I have never seen anybody like him in my life, he was So dedicated and determined in his goals. In my opinion he is a role model to the worlds younger generations who really taught how to walk in life, howlong can anybody walk in life, a walking limit indeed, he has walked one thousand kilometers within one month. I think its difficult for one to even to dream about his adventure but its true, walking in a tropical country like india in summer season is not a cake-walk, Its steaming hot the sun is baking in here. there is a lesson one should learn here, if we can walk happly to our nearby destinations like Schools, Bus stops and Markets etc. we can save a lot of Money, Energy, and can cut Carbon emissions save our mother earth. So please avoid vehicles to your nearby destinations always enjoy walking forever…..!
Ask Sir Alastair Humphreys how to walk he has walked more than me and you, I am more than happy to call him “Cauveriyakandha”, ” Preeminent Adventurer” and above all he is Walking Legend…….
I wish him a Long and Strong Life, so he can achieve more like this along his Adventurous Life.
Wish you happy Walking.
from.. San
Well done Alastair on your walk. I was talking with your dad yesterday at bells and he said you had completed it. I also look forward to reading your new book. Best wishes from the home village and look forward to seeing you in the Vic when you are up here. Congratulations from Diane & Tony
Congratulations on your knighthood Sir Alastair!
Knighthoods come in return for saying that you will help them find a job if they make it to London…
I’m also looking for adventure. I walked the himalaya in the 80’s and that was something I’ll always remember. Looking at the Kaveri trek, I think this is a much more rugged and uncharted path. I’m curious how you went – sleeping out many nights or staying in villages. You don’t talk much about what you carried. Were people cool with your free camping and did you have to worry much about animals like the crocs you mentioned or the elephants and tigers?
Afterall, do you recommend it? And would you actually recommend skipping parts of the journey because they weren’t good and then to favour other parts with more time?
How long did it take you in the end?
I’m inspired. I love India and think it all sounds fantastic.
Hi Mark,
I would definitely recommend walking in India. But I would not suggest the Kaveri – I recommend choosing a river by yourself so that the project, the mystery and the challenges are all yours, and yours alone.
My book is coming out this year about the walk. Hopefully it will be of use to you.
Al
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