This was a long planned trek, that some of us decided to do. Plan A: Start from Chennai and reach Kodai. Meet the District forest officer (DFO) and get permission for the trek to Top station Start the trek midday and trek for atleast 12 km the first day to reach a place between Berijam lake and Top station. Camp here in a guset house/ abandoned house or in a tent. Next day trek for another 20 odd km and reach top station. Some how reach ernakulam to take the train back. Step 1 was executed perfectly (well more or less). But step 2 itself came with a catch. DFO was not going to be in the office that very day. We tried to beg and plead to all the other officials to give us permission to go for this trek. We had heard that DFO was very keen on giving trek permissions, however other officials were really reluctant. We almost felt like taking their snaps and posting them on the blog. They were extremely rude and wouldn't even consider giving us permission. Then we tried to ask for a per...