Approximately 2000 feet above MSL as you cling to your dear life with those nimble fingers, along the crevices of a rock overlooking a deep valley; All you get to sense is the rush of blood across your veins up to your brains! For those few seconds, as you’re left with nothing but just sheer gut instincts to guide you through, you’re stupefied by the way Mother Nature whispers in your ears as to how important your life is! I guess at times, it does help to reason out how important that thin dividing line between life and death is!

Aug 30th

4:13 am I get a call from Suhas. He’s right outside my door waiting for me to open it, just after his night shift work. Damn! Some people never change. Aditya gets ready for work while I hit the bed again trying to spruce out those few moments of sleep. At 4:30am the first wakeup call goes out to Rahul. This time for some reason he doesn’t pick the call even after about six or seven calls. I decide to leave it to him for some more time and get fresh in a few minutes. A few more timess I try in vain and then call up Trupti, assuming she’s already shifted to her new house which is close to his place. But then, things just don’t happen the way you’d like it to be! She still hasn’t shifted.

Ashu arrives at my place at about 05:10am. With no other option left, we decide to move ahead and reach ShivajiNagar station to board the 6:00am Sinhagad express to Karjat. Ashu and Suhas suggest we board the train at Khadki. As we head to pick a rick. I give Trupti on final call to decide on how we need to proceed. Her suggestion was that we’d decide that at the station. So Ashu and Suhas head to Khadki and I head to Shivaji Nagar. Vaijan, Trupti and Sourabh reach ShivajiNagar station well ahead of us and meet Prashant, Parin, Monica and Anshuman who’d already reached the station. Once I reach at about 05:50am, Trupti and I decide to head back to Kalewadi Phata and wake up Nair or at least see what’s been keeping him down for so long. Monica and Anshuman quit at the station for unknown reasons. Our plan was to try catching up with the remaining team at Khandas. Anup was to board at Pimpri and Aditya at Chinchwad.

At about 06:30am we reach Nair’s residence and despite several bangs on his door no one responds. Finally after about five minutes, one of Nair’s friends fearfully opens the door and lets us in. We rush into Nair’s room only to see him sound asleep. Boy! You must have seen the expression on his face as his friend woke him up - the startled look just buys out everything that we had! As we head to Swargate, We still wonder as to how he could have missed all our calls despite his cell being in the normal mode!

As there were no direct buses to Karjat, we board an ST to Khopoli at about 08:30am. The remaining team had already reached Karjat by then. At about 10:00am we reach Khopoli and from there we move ahead to Karjat phata. At about 11:30am we finally manage to head to Karjat from Karjat phata. At Karjat, Rahul speaks to a chap to drop us at Khandas. The deal is set for 400Rs. At about 12:45pm as we reach Khandas, this weird driver demands 200 more saying he was totally unaware of the 400 deal. We do try to put up a bit of resistance but then it’s always better to play safe when you’re not in you territory, so we end up paying a solid 600 bucks for the one hour ride. Big time looting!

As we head towards Shidi Ghat, Anup messages me the directions from the starting point. We had to take a left after a small culvert and then keep walking the path after we take a right turn as and when we get to see two wells.  They’d been waiting for us for almost two hours now at a small stream ahead. As we walk towards the culvert seeking directions from the villagers, a stark reality looms ahead. Most of them without even volunteering to help, directly ask if we needed a guide. We out rightly reject it and keep walking based on gut instinct. Thankfully, we find a small shop where we ask for directions. The old man helps us out with pleasure in a jiffy and asks us to be cautious as Shidi ghat could be a bit dicey for first timers to this place. In about twenty minutes we finally manage to meet up with the remaining nine folks. It’s been a long long wait for them!

The ladder, the Stare, the Pull and the Jump!

At about 2:00pm we start moving ahead. The climb up Shidi ghat is pretty straight forward for the first sixty minutes or so. A few pulls on the calf muscles and you shouldn’t be finding it that difficult to tread up the hill. At about 03:15 pm we happen to meet Tukkaram, another villager. A few yards ahead and we realise how helpful he was. Right round the corner lay the first hurdle of Bhimashankar - a rickety metallic ladder that is supposed to take you up to another adjunct cliff. Though chances are highly remote that you’d miss your step here on the ladder rungs; midway through, as you climb up the sloping support the very look at the precipice below would definitely give you a few missed beats! Once you cover this span and move a bit ahead, the second daunting phase of Bhimashankar presents itself in all glory - In the same cliff, to move ahead you need to literally hook up with your fingers to the rock crevices and hang parallel to the rock for a few moments before you get a foothold on the rocks again a bit further ahead. Supporting your 65+ body weight with your fingers at a height of about 1000ft - The emotions on people’s faces as Tukkaram kaka helped us out through this spot would probably be the best Kodak moment of this trek! Ah, and then comes another close to vertical Aluminum ladder supported by freshly added bamboo supports. Just when you think you’re almost up there, the ladder starts its slant towards the right cliff. It takes a few moments to get your balance right and then when you finally reach the last rung of the ladder all it takes ;-) is just a mighty push on the slippery rocks to gain firm ground. Shidi Ghat ROCKS!!

One by one we finally manage to reach the first level of the climb - A wide plateau on which on which are banked four to five houses and Paddy fields. This is where Arun - a seven year lad comes and enquires if we need anything to drink? Not wanting to lose any time we plan to move ahead without any breaks. Even before we cross one of the fields, this chap runs home and gets a vessel filled to the brim with ‘Thak’ - Buttermilk. Phew! Now that’s business. I’d bet a 100$ on someone who’d morally and whole heartedly not want to have that drink after all the climb and jumps .

Once everyone’s rejuvenated themselves, we start moving uphill. At about five we reach the Shidi Ghat-Ganesh Ghat junction. This is the place where both the routes culminate to lead to Bhimashankar. Tukkaram kaka takes leave here and directs us to Bhimashankar. Probably Anup and Aditya would be the best people to describe the last level climb . We literally had Rahul behind their back at every step prodding them to move faster and bucking them up. For the last half an hour all we hear was a soaring ‘Chal’- Keep Moving. Probably, Had Rahul known Anup’s been in Infy for close to six years now, things would have been different . Around 6:00pm we reach a diversion. We randomly chose the one that went straight and moved ahead. A fifteen minutes climb and even before we realize, we’ve reached the Bhimashankar Peak. Wohoo! All that was left now was to find the temple / village.

In search of wildlife!

As we tread along the well laid path and look a few yards ahead, we just have gaping faces. For a few moments not one of us talks. We’re left spellbound by just another creation of Nature. It’s just clouds, breeze, sounds of birds chirping and you! At a height of about 3600ft as you sit silently on the edge of the cliff, with the chilling breeze whining across your ears what else could you ask? I’m lost in deep thought of things past, present and future. Flashes of incidents just whizz past and as you reciprocate to Nature with a smile on your face, another set of memories get frozen somewhere and etched out!

Darkness finally gets us back and then when it looms on us that we still had to reach the village, we try scouting for directions. Rahul thankfully gets the line across to Bhavna who’d been here recently. Ah ! Surprise. We were actually walking towards the Bhimashankar Wildlife sanctuary. A few yards and we would be lost in the wildlife . We finally head back and come to a place where diversions were found. Visibility was real low. With not much to believe on but sheer instincts we huddle together and head towards a path which seemed more convincing. Just then, a distant sound of a bell catches our attention. We tread in the direction of the sound and in a few moments we sight lights a bit ahead. The chime and people’s voices become much clearer. A turn round the corner and behold! We find the temple at a distance. In about five minutes we reach the village. We’re surprised looking at the village size. What we expected to see was a small temple and a few huts here and there. But what we saw was a total contrast – A well maintained temple with big huts and houses. The whole place was sort of commercialized -Thanks to the road route that you have to Bhimashankar!

A quick darshan in the temple and a dinner at the adjacent restaurant and we are set to hit the bed. This is when we decide to explore the place a bit more. Rahul, Ashu, Suhas, Vaijan, Anup, Prashant and I head towards thick foliage with no destination planned as such, while the remaining stay put near the temple outskirts. The temple was to close at about 10:00pm so we could loiter around till then. After a dense path, we finally reach a wide open plateau. Just to make things interesting, we switch off all the torch lights and sit in a circle and while away time. The Amavasya night made things all the more interesting. Finally at about 09:25 pm we decide to head back to the temple. Rahul, Anup and I had earlier spoken to the temple security guards’ to let us sleep in the temple. He was fine with it but then later we got a better place in the adjacent durbar type stadium. A bit of cleaning and most of us hit the ground by 10:15pm. Sleeping mats and bags were scarce. So we had to spread out the bags on newspapers. Bedsheets were scarce too! Most of us spend the night shivering under the sparse bed sheets. A marvelous night spent listening to dog wails and human snores J .

Aug 31^st

The alarm hoots at about 05:15am and I wake every sleeping soul in the team. It’s close to 06:30 by the time everyone finishes his obligatory duties and we decide to leave the stadium towards Ganesh ghat. We’d targeted the 4:00PM train to Pune from Karjat. Moving on those time lines we had to leave Bhimashankar by 07:00 am. Though we’d initially planned to re-visit the spot that we’d been to late last evening, it had to be skipped.

With some more help from the villagers we find the trek path back to Khandas through Ganesh ghat. We take almost an hour to reach the Ganesh Ghat-Shidi Ghat bifurcation. A quick breakfast here and we start off towards Ganesh ghat. We’d heard Ganesh ghat was a pretty simple trek path. It’s just about following the path downhill. Rahul, Ashu and Vaijan more or less keep the pace by leading way ahead. The rest of us follow a bit leisurely. By around 12:00pm we reach Khandas village. The eleven of us hustle in a sever seater Minidor and head to Khasheli village. Another Minidor from here gets us to Karjat station by 2:00pm. The train was at 4:00pm so we did have ample time. A sumptuous lunch followed by a much needed Sugarcane juice and we proceed to the station. The tickets that Rahul had booked were on WL so we had to book tickets afresh.

Anup, Parin, Prashant, Sourabh, Rahul, Trupti, Ashu and I decide to leave for Pune by a Passenger train at 03:30pm instead of waiting for the express at 4:00pm. We get seats but still hurl over to the upper birth, spread the sleeping mats there and sort of settle down totally. The 2.5 hr journey back to Pune is spent playing funny yet interesting games. As I head back home at 06:00pm, it finally sinks in me that Bhimashankar is finally struck in my to-do trek list.

Details:

Team :11

Route: Swargate ->Khopoli ->Karjat Phata ->Karjat ->Khasheli ->Khandas | ShivajiNagar ->Karjat ->Khasheli ->Khandas

Distance: Karjat ->Khasheli : ~30kms | Khasheli ->Khandas: ~13kms

Altitude: ~3650ft. above MSL.

Endurance: High | Difficulty : Ganesh ghat -> Medium ; Shidi Ghat -> High

Time : Uphill: 4.5hrs. Downhill: 4.0hrs

Transport: Train to Karjat: 6:00am from Shivaji Nagar | Karjat -> Khasheli : ST at 10:00am or TT for 16Rs. Per head | Khasheli -> Khandas: TT for 15rs per head.

Important Directions:

• Once at Khandas town ask for directions towards Bhimashankar. Keep walking straight till you reach a small culvert just ahead of a T Junction. The Right path leads you to Ganesh Ghat and the left leads you to Shidi Ghat
• For Shidi Ghat, Take a left and walk a bit ahead till you find a small Kirana shop. Not very far away take a right and walk ahead. You should be spotting two wells on your left. Walk along the path. Within twenty minutes if you do not spot a small stream / Cascade it’s time to think twice before proceeding.
• For Ganesh ghat take a right and follow the path. Pretty straight forward path up wards. Probability of getting lost for a sane soul is pretty bleak .
• Once you reach the Bhimashankar peak, to reach the village take a left and move a bit ahead till you find a Pond to your right. The village/ Temple is a straight path from here. Bombay point should be lying to your left as you walk towards the temple. Watch out for signboards en-route.
• One wild suggestion if you get lost - Take the path to the left. It worked more or less in our case

Expenses: Rs 250

Stay: Bhimashankar temple / adjacent stadium. Lodging available

Duration: Preferable opt for an Overnight stay.

Best time to visit: Monsoon!

(1 votes, average: 2 out of 5)

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Garden Path Sentence - A very interesting article on linguistic formulations, that I happened to come across. No wonder you thought you were right and the teacher was wrong in your fifth grade !

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If you’ve hit this page looking for directions on the Ratangad - Harishchandragad trek; I’m afraid, the bots have routed you to the wrong page. This is a travel tale of 30 wise morons from various places in India, on a mission to accomplish the R-H trek in three days as India rose to it’s 61st year of independence on August 15th. That said, you may want to refer to this link for more info and details. And if you just thought you’re going to find your way out and complete the R-H trek with the help of blogs and posts alone; Be forewarned, you’re surely in for hyper trouble and your close one’s would soon be contacting the forest gaurds to scout for yet another moron. Get the rules right and tread the path with someone who’s been there ample number of times!

The Planning:

Sometime during the month of July, one fateful day; Gourav drops a mail to Abhijeet and Suma on a long weekend trip to Pune for a trek. The plan then involved Kalsubai-Ratangad-Katrabai pass-Harishchandragad for a three day stint starting August 15th. With some cross checking and information from reliable sources, the plan is rejected, condensed, reworked and finally tuned. Two weeks before the dead line the plan is sort of base-lined. A team of 10 from Hyd, 12 from Pune and 35+ from B’lore were to touch base Pune on the early hours of August 15th. A series of conf. calls and mails throng the network in preparation for the I-day trek. Abhijeet monitors the status remotely from Kolkota. Nominations, food and travel arrangements are almost frozen.

On August 12th comes the bomb shell - Incessant rains strike Pune, Dams are full to the brim and a set of places are evacuated. Forecast for the weekend was remotely positive. Nishant gets updates from Nikhil and co. that doing R-H would be a bit dicey. Considering the situation, the B’lore team takes a call and all first time trekkers are given a NO-GO signal. The team is now brought down to 10 from B’lore, 8 from Hyd and 9 from Pune. All of us were to complete Ratangad - Katrabai pass- Harischandragad. The initial option of dropping out after Ratangad is obviated. So one mini bus and Travera is cancelled. At the last moment Nitin, Manzuma, Bhabhani and Balaji pitch in.

The final plan was that a set of seven people - Nishant, Nikhil, Kunal, Ashutosh, Suhas, Nitin and Bhabani would leave for Ratanwadi village by 6:00am and pilot the remaining team. Abhijeet and I would pick the Hyd and B’lore folks in a mini bus and move down to Ratanwadi.

Aug 15th:

Shekar wakes me up asking me for directions to Visapur. Giving him the directions I look at the watch. Damn! It was already 05:15am and I’d asked the Travera driver to be at Aundh by 05:30 am. I quickly contact him and wake him up from his slumber. By 06:00 am he hits for base and we go about the city picking up Ashu, Bhabhani, Nitin , Nishant, Nikhil and Kunal. The vehicle finally leaves for Ratanwadi at around 07:00am. I head back home and prepare a sumptuous breakfast for myself. A few more calls and I head to pick up the Theplas and chocolates that I’d ordered two days back. At 08:45am Gourav calls me informing that the Hyd team would be reaching Pune at about 10:00am. B’lore folks would be reaching at 10:35 am by the Lokmanya tilak express. To be on the safer side I google a bit on the place and important village names. At about 10:00am, Sami and I leave for the station with the mini bus. Siva joins us at the station as we wait for B’lore folks to arrive. A few minutes later the team arrives and as we hurl the Backpacks and other trekking gear onto the vehicle, Donald, Balaji, Sridar and a couple of other folks head to the station master to get the return ticket modified. For some reason this takes a while and we head for Breman circle at about 11:45am. Hyd folks meanwhile freshen up at my house and head for Breman Circle with Suhas. Abhijeet who’s been waiting for a while, gets into the bus at Shivajinagar. We finally leave the city outskirts by around 01:00pm.

The driver for some reason just wouldn’t cross 60kmph even on the Highway and we happen to reach Sangamner pretty late at about 05:00pm. All through the travel Abhijeet and I try contacting the pilot team to get status of the roads and weather there. As we have a late lunch finally we’re able to get the call across and Nishant hints that one of the roads to Bandhardara was blocked due to a landslide and by the time we reach, we may not be able to get a ferry across too. All that we had left was a longer route to traverse through and that would mean adding a couple of hours to the schedule. With no other option in hand we proceed towards Bandhardara through Akole and Rajur across the dam. The travel to the destination goes about with a weird mixture of anxiousness and enthrallment. We have a tough time rationing the Theplas. We were under the assumption that food would be available at the base villages but since we’d screwed the whole schedule totally, We had no other option but to stock them for further use. Bad news peps in soon with Nishant calling us and informing that climb uphill to Ratangad should be avoided as far as possible! We finally decide to split into two groups. Balaji, Manzuma, Sami and Pandey were to trek upto Ratangad and then get back to Pune on Saturday while the rest of the team would meet the Pilot team at the R-H bifurcation and proceed via Katrabai pass to Harischandragad.

At Rajur, we’re advised not to go further beyond Samrad colony as the dense fog and rain would make visibility close to zero. A bit of tinkering here and there in the dense fog and we hit Samrad colony finally. It’s close to 11:00pm. Hunger just adds up to the long travel strain that the B’lore and Hyd folks have had and all that anyone around there was thinking of was to hit the floor as soon as possible. Kedar and Sridhar distribute the Sleeping bags and mats and in a few moments everyone dozes.

Aug 16th:

Morning at about 4:30 am, we’re woken up and by 06:00am we head towards Ratanwadi. Abhijeet and I scout for a route, find the wrong one and lead the bus there. Fortunately a villager redirects us to the right path and from there on we manage to reach the Ratanwadi village. We pay a brief visit to the temple and about 07:45am leave for the R-H Bifurcation with two villagers as we didn’t want to lose any more time. At about 09:00am we reach the bifurcation. The pilot team too happens to reach at almost the same time. We have a quick introduction and from then on decide to walk as soon as possible to reach Kumshet village. After a series of getting lost in the foliage , despite having a guide we manage to reach Katrabai pass at about 11:30am. All that drives us ahead is the assumption that we’d find food in the base village. The road never seems to end and it takes a while before we reach the village. The moment we reach Kumshet all eye’s scout for a fireplace and a vessel above it. Ah! Surprises never come when you need them. The villagers inform us that had we been there a bit earlier they could have arranged something. Cooking now for 30 of us was simply out of question. Nikhil then informs we may be able to find something to eat at Pachnai village. But for that we’ll have to leave as early as possible as a river was to be crossed. From hearsay we get to know that the river was in spate and crossing it would be very risky and difficult. Theplas had to be kept as the last option and we move ahead after gobbling a set of munchies. Had blessings been tangible, I’m sure I’d be suffocating to death from people showering them on me for having made such wonderful arrangements for food.

Everyone is literally pissed off and we finally take a call. Not one of us walks slowly till we reach Pachnai village. Gourav, Animesh and Kedar brief people and we move on with high spirits. Food at times can be such a motivating factor! More so, if you’ve had literally nothing for the past two days! About fifteen minutes of pure hiking and thankfully we get to see a river flowing about 300 feet below us at the end of the plateau. It’s a breath taking sight from here and we’re literally hooked to this place for about five minutes. ‘Something’ again reminds us of our destination and we head down through the hillock and reach the base.

Learn the Fisherman’s knot !

As we near the point where the river is to be crossed we really get to see and feel the real currents. From the 300ft hillock, what looked like a silent stream was indeed a river in full spate. Nishant tries wading through to test and see if the stream was traversable. The rock climbing rope that the B’lore team got all the way from B’lore finally comes to use here. Nitin and Abhijeet wade through the currents to the other side of the stream and tether it to a bark of a tree. While Nikhil and a couple of other folks tag it to a stout tree at this end. One by one each of us cross the stream with the rope’s support and reach over to the other side. You need to have a look at the snaps and videos to really admire the team work that happened across there! Nitin was really helpful in doling out his scout expertise there but I guess the fisherman’s knot was the best part of it all ! As we cross the stream and walk a bit ahead, we get to see a village not far across. Moments before we fall under the impression that this could be Pachnai, we’re told by a few villagers that we crossed the stream unnecessarily and we had to head to another place instead of this. From here starts the way back across the stream but from a different point where the current was not that powerful. A couple of villagers help us cross the stream and get to the other side. Once on the land, we had to walk a few more yards ahead and cross another easily traversable stream and finally we hit land for good. I wonder what we would have done had we not carried the ropes along with us!

Trust your instincts.

The stream crossing sort of re-vitalizes us and we move ahead towards Pachnai. Walk, Walk and Walk was the sole mantra! Two hours and still no sight of any village. Every turn round the corner we hope in vain to spot a villager, but then Murphy always wins! At around 7:00pm, the gap between the team widens and people slowly start giving up. To avoid blackout’s we finally remove the penultimate reserve of Theplas and chocolates. About twenty minutes is spent flat in the middle of the road. Siva had brought some sweet bun and mixture. We’re least bothered of anything, as we rest in eternal glory chomping on the little food that we had in our hands. Having regained a bit of energy the ten of us walk along the path. Rains are something that we now start detesting! Dusk looms and we get our torches outside. Not one of us is really sure if we’re moving on the right path. All that we knew was that we had to keep moving on and on till wherever the road leads. At a certain point the road bifurcates into two. Tired of taking decisions we follow our instinct and take the road to the left. Finally after about thirty minutes of walk we come across a tarred road. A bit of relief thumps in our veins. The tarred road for sure meant we were heading to a village - How far was an issue, but then we at least had a goal now!

Someone’s found us!

As the quest for human beings continues, somewhere far ahead we hear a double whistle hoot. Boy, Oh! Boy. We’re overwhelmed. I instantly pull out the whistle from the sling and respond the call. We run a bit ahead and make sure the call is from one of our folks by the adventura whistle code. A bit ahead as we turn round the corner we see headlamps flickering. We’ve finally found the team! In a few moments we have Nikhil and Donald running in our direction. They guide us along a bit ahead and inform us that they’ve found the Pachnai Village. Food arrangements have been made and everyone in the team is safe! We’re sure had Donald and Nikhil not traced back the route to find us we’d stopped right at the spot where the tarred road was submerged by a small stream in spate. We finally make it to the village in about fifteen minutes guided by a villager. These villagers rock!

The expressions on the faces of everyone, as we huddle in the cow-shed warming up in front of the Kerosene lamps is something that I’d never forget! As the Besan dal and rice go down the our throats, a burning sensation grips the flow. Getting to eat proper food after about two days of hiking,wandering and losing the way is heavenly pleasure. Every little step becomes painful and all that anyone was looking forward to was to hit the floor. Nikhil and Nishant help in sorting out the temple floor for everyone to sleep.In moments we’re equivalent to dead logs!

Aug 17th:

At about 7:00am after a hot cup of milkless tea, Nikhil, Nishant, Kunal and Nitin decide to move ahead to Harishchandragad. The Hyd team had to reach Pune by 4:00pm and not many from the B’lore team were ready to walk another mile. The final action plan was to reach Pune ASAP! We had to contact the drivers of the Mini bus and the travera as they’d not yet reached Pachnai village as asked to. As there’s no network coverage in the village, Our host at the village volunteers to take us to a place about 3kms from here where we could get coverage. Once we reach this spot and dial the numbers, we’re in for more surprises! The drivers are not reachable. With no option left, we decide to walk another 4kms and reach lavaii village from where we could PROBABLY find a means of transport to Khireshwar and then to Pune. Abhijeet and I have literally no idea how we’re about to spell this out to the B’lore and Hyd team. As we almost come to a conclusion that the Hyd team would have to miss their train, round the corner the Pink Satava mini bus followed by the Travera winds up the road. Phew, We’re more than exhilarated!

The Hyd team leaves in the travera and later we get to know they’d reached right on time. The remaining twelve of us head for Rajur hoping to get news from the other four who’d started their climb up Harischandragad. All attempts to contact them turns futile as none of them are reachable Finally at about 02:00pm we get a call from Nishant from a village booth giving us their location. At about 05:30pm we reach NarayanGaon and stop there for tea. As we have a befitting snack, Nishant calls us and lets us know that they were somewhere close to Junner and would be able to make it to NarayanGaon in probably another thirty minutes. At about 07:00pm the group of four finally make it to the place where we were waiting and we head towards Pune. At 11:30 pm as I make the final payment for the vehicles at Aundh and head back home and recall the eventful past three days, I’m reminded of the first mail that Gourav had dropped .

Most of us haven’t covered Ratangad and Harischandragad as planned. But I guess, there’s a lot of learning and enriching experiences that we’d take back home from the villages that we’ve hit.

I wish I could capture the moment when people got to see real food on the second night at the Cow-Shed! That would have been the Kodak moment of the trip. As Abhijeet once put it, Trekking is not all about reaching the peak, It’s the expressions that you get to see on the faces of people at times that makes the trip all the more enriching. Miles to go before you Sleep !

(4 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)

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The Bombayz had come down to Pune a few hours before I reached home after rappelling at Kondividi. 10:30 pm at night,Tiwari and Pranesh join us for dinner at Rasoi Ghar. It’s been close to a year that I’ve had dinner with any of my Engg. mates. This time during dinner, there are no tickets to ponder on, no actions items to be worked upon, no resolutions to be done; Just plain simple talk pulling each others legs! This would probably be etched as one of those few dinner’s I’d remember for quite sometime. We reach home at about 11:30pm. I hit the ground with an aching knee reminding me of today morning’s incident while rappelling. At times, pain is pleasure!

10th Aug

My alarm hoots at 04:45 am. While Chandru gets ready in a jiffy, I literally kick sriram and get him on his toes. Sunil had come down to my place yesterday night. Hitanshu’s almost done with his morning breakfast. Suhas finally makes it to Aundh at about 05:40am. Suhas, Sriram and I hire a rick to ShivajiNagar bus stand. Half way through, I get a call from Akhilesh telling me the Bus to Bhor was to be boarded at Swargate and not at ShivajiNagar as I had mentioned in the final coordination mail yesterday. Damn! This is when it looms over me that what he said made real perfect sense. For the Rohida trek too we’d boarded the bus to Bhor at Swargate and not at Shivaji Nagar. I’d asked everyone to reach Shivajinagar by 6:00am and here I was to ask them to come over to Swargate again. As I call people and inform them of the change, I literally hear them swearing on me for my timely notice .

The bus to Bhor was at about 06:45 am. Twelve of us - Akhilesh, Ashish, Arjun,Suhas, Swati, Hitanshu, Sourabh,Sriram, Shekar, Sunil, Rohit and I board the bus while Soujanya narrowly misses it. We decide to proceed and wait at Bhor. At about 08:15 am we reach Bhor. We had to reach Korla village which is about 20kms from here, to start the trek to Raireshwar. The next bus to Korla was at about 09:00am. Suhas and I decide to talk to the local guys there and arrange for a Jeep. After some deliberations we hit on a guy who accepts to drop us and pick us from the base village for 550Rs flat. We’re more than happy and strike the deal. It would take at least another half an hour for Soujanya to reach Bhor, So we decide to have breakfast at Bhor itself. At around 09:00am Soujanya finally makes it to Bhor and at 09:15am we depart for Korla. The thirteen  of us hunch into a Jeep. Ashish, Shekar, Sriram sit on the front troubling the driver right from the start while Hitanshu, Akhilesh and I hang out from the rear of the Jeep enjoying the drizzle as the vehicle speeds up the road to Korla. About five kms ahead of the Korla village we come across a thumping river crook. The sheer force with which water was making it’s way out of the canal was simply exhilrating. A few minutes here and we move ahead to the village. At about 10:00am we reach the base village and start the trek.

From the Korla village a diversion to the left takes you to Kenjalgad fort while the one to the right takes you to the famous Raireshwar temple and village. As we start walking up through the clearly paved road up to the village, we have an uninvited guest who further happens to be the 14th member in the team. Dogs are known to be pretty faithful beings and they follow you everywhere you go. But I guess it’s the other way round when it comes to hills. You’re compelled to follow them !

The path up to Raireshwar for the most part of it is already clear cut. But what’s really spectacular about this place is that, unlike any other fort/ hill village; once you start from the base and walk a few yards ahead, You’d be walking literally through paths surrounded by high rise hills everwhere around you and it all looks so spaced out that you’re really showered down by the magnanimity of Nature. The incessant drizzle at a distance makes you feel as if Nature’s trying to unveil it’s creation slowly through a striated screen. It looks so damn beautiful that you’re literally left spell bound. The innumerable falls that rise out of nowhere keep you on your nimble feet and every turn round the hill only gives way to more picturesque landscapes!

Half way up the hill, we come across a person by name Gopal who says he could arrange food for us up there in the village. He then suggests he’d get there to the village and prepare food by the time we reach there. What he said made perfect sense so we agree. A waterfall on the way keeps us busy for a while and even before we realise we’ve almost spent close to half an hour there. Finally we decide to move further and cover quite some distance. At one point we come across a diversion and decide to take the one that went upwards. A ‘No Overtaking’ board round the corner indicated that this road was slowly being developed to help ply regular vehicles up the fort. We follow the path mindlessly only to realise a while later that we’re on the wrong path.. A frail old village woman finally guides us in the right direction and we tread forward. From here on, the further we go, the better it gets! There’s this particular spot wherein you climb up a small hillock and the moment you reach this spot and look ahead you get to see a massive rock ahead of you and a series of cascades to either side of it. A splendid combination of Beauty and Magnanimity, I would say!

From this spot, to reach the Raireshwar village you need to climb a series of about 3oo steps. At the end of the climb a metal staircase has been built to facilitate easy climb for the regular villagers. But for this, the climb up would have been really difficult. Once we reach the top of the hillock and walk a few yards ahead, we get to meet a person whom Gopal had sent in search of us. This guy leads us to the village temple which is believed to be the spot where Sivaji took his oath to Swaraj.  Based on the land they own each villager is given authority to maintain the temple. A small but extremely well maintained one! We then move over to Gopal’s house for a sumptuous lunch. None of us realised how cold it was up there until we sat still in the house for sometime. The moment we enter his house and settle down, cold fumes come out of our body! Sriram literally sits beside the stove to keep himselves warm. At about 3:00pm we leave from Gopal’s place and start out trek down. The way downhill is done with in about an hour and a half. The Jeep driver is a bit cross with us for having turned up almost an hour late, but a few minutes with the Bombayz is all it takes to get him back to form. The next bus to Pune was right in the Bhor Bus stand. The Bombayz too are compelled to get back to Pune and from then on move over to Mumbai as they’re left with no other option.

On a personal front, I’d rate Raireshwar to be my second best trek. Most of the credit goes not to the endurance or difficulty but to bounty that Nature’s got in store for you here!

Details:

Team :13

Route: Swargate -> Bhor -> Korla village -> Raireshwar/ Kinjelgad

Distance: Bhor -> Korla village [ 20kms ] Korla -> Raireshwar [~8kms]

Altitude: ~4250ft. above MSL.

Endurance: Low | Difficulty : Low/Medium [ At the fag end ]

Time : Uphill: 3hrs. Downhill: 1.5hrs

Transport:Reach Bhor by Bus from Swargate [ 6:45 am ; 07:30am ], Bus to Korla from Bhor is at about 09:00am. Jeeps available if required.

Expenses: Rs 180

Stay: At Raireshwar village

Prominent Spots:Raireshwar temple , Kenjalgad fort.

Best time to visit: Monsoon!

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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The blue tarpaulin sheet suddenly gives way and my feet impulsively tries to gain hold on the rocks. I lose grip and one of my slippers hits the rocks about hundred and fifty feet below. Even before I have time to think on what’s apparently gone wrong I foolishly tag the rope in my left hand instead of the right. And just one thought zips in my mind.. Damn! I shouldn’t have volunteered to be the first one to rappel down!

Aug 8th:

I pick the 4:00pm service back to Aundh and reach home at about 4:45pm only to learn that I didn’t have the room keys with me. A brief sprint towards Breman Circle and I manage to hitch a ride to Pune station. As Bhavana and Nikunj make their way from Kothrud , I purchase onward tickets to Karjat for the 6:30pm Indrayini express. At about 8:15pm the train hoots into Karjat. Amps travelling from Mumbai was to be at Karjat at around the same time. In about ten minutes she joins us. The plan was to camp at Kondu’s place at Kondividi that night. Folks from the Dhumketu trekkers group were to reach Kondividi early the next morning.

At about 09:00pm we get some light dinner packed for the night. Means of commutation to the Kondividi village is pretty scarce. Thankfully, for 250 bucks a rick. driver agrees to take us there. The 20kms of travel on the kutcha road devoid of any lighting with rain pouring all way through made for an indeed interesting start! To add thrill to the already distraughted travel , the rick’s headlight kept blowing off every time the rick bumped on the pothole ridden road. At about 09:40pm we reach Kondu’s place. As I learn later, Kondu’s place has been a vital pit stop for Dhumketu trekkers for quite some time now. We’re provided a warm welcome and a lady sets up the courtyard of their house for us to sleep. After a quick dinner we hit the floor. Sleeping in an open courtyard of an old village house with rain splashing on the extended roof of the house is not something that you get to experience nowadays! Besides company of a smelling dog all night long is also something that you never get to experience .

Aug 9th:

At about 02:30 am the Dhumketu trekkers core team arrives from Mumbai. The dog’s given me company long enough to keep my nose and eyes shut. At about 06:30 am we’re woken up from our slumber by Sanjay. In five minutes we’re up and start walking towards the Kondividi caves. The hike up till there reminds me of the Rajmachi trek. Kondividi caves is at the base point of the Rajmachi trek at the Karjat side.

By the time we reach the caves, the DT team had almost completed setting up the ropes for the rappelling. A blue tarpaulin sheet was being setup from the 150 odd feet rock to avoid bruises while rappelling down. A quick cleaning up of the caves and we’re set to have a great time. The Pune team was yet to reach so Nikunj and I hit to the waterfalls, while Bhavna and Amps pick a conversation with Sanjay and team. At about 10:30 am we decide to start rappelling. A quick climb up the hillock through the left side and we reach the top. Just another small yet powerful waterfall grabs our attention. A few minutes under the frothing waters and we’re asked to get back and adorn the rappelling gear.

Bhavna and I volunteer to be the scapegoats. This was my second attempt on Rappelling. The first was during the Skandagiri trek at Bangalore almost a year back. As I straddle the rope against my body, position my feet and let my body loose giving full control to the rope and the descender; a chill passes down my spine for no apparent reason. I get the go command and slowly start descending the cliff. The first few steps backwards and I already start faltering shamelessly by bending my knees and not giving appropriate distance to the feet. A stern look from the person above gets me back to my senses and I slowly gain control.

Rappelling at Kolar caves was on a low height, dry and flat surface all the way to the bottom. There you could get support from the vertical side too. But here after a few feet from the top, the cliff caves in and you have nothing to get grip on. The blue tarpaulin sheet in a way was misguiding and even before i knew the cliff was caving in, my left foot prods through the tarpaulin, trying in vain to get hold of something. One look down and I see one of my slippers hitting the rocks below. The rope suddenly swivels and I literally hang in thin air almost 100 ft above the ground - all at the mercy of the person controlling my speed of descent. In anxiety I let loose more rope from my left hand instead of holding it close to my body . Down I go faster than gauged. Fortunately, I soon gain control and stabilize myself. From then on the descent down goes pretty subtly and in about thirty seconds I touch ground! Bhavna follows suit in a few minutes. And it’s all done!

Nikunj and Amps warn me twice before I rappell down to click shots of them rappelling once I reach the base. I pick the cam from the bag and move over to a suitable place to get the snaps. In about another ten minutes they’re done with the rappelling too. It’s close to 11:00am and the team from Pune hasn’t yet turned up. Nikunj , Amps and I get back to the falls and spend almost an hour or so in the freezing waters. The pressure in the falls has tremendously increased. I finally manage to find my lost slipper amidst the rocks . At about 11:30am the Pune team finally arrives. DT folks give them a general precautionary briefing and starts the rappelling activity for them pretty soon. As we get out of the falls Bhavna asks Nikunj for a pic. This is when we realise someone’s stolen the cam from the bag. All cellphones, wallets and cards seem to be intact.There seems to be no leads as to when and how someone could have flicked it off!

Finally we decide to leave Kondivide by around 2:15pm. Amps was to get back to Mumbai and Bhavna had booked return tickets for three of us by the Deccan Express at 6:00pm from Karjat. So we had to rush! Bhavna’s throat gives in for no reason and she barely manages to speak a few syllables. We’re literally left penniless and hunger seems to be growing by the minute. Finally, At about 08:00pm we reach Pune station.

On another dimention, the Bombayz had already reached my home at Aundh. Nikunj drops me at my place at about 09:00pm. Pranesh and Tiwari join us for a sumptuous dinner at Rasoi Ghar and we head back home at about 10:30pm. As just another exciting day comes to an end, and as I hit the bed, I set the alarm to 04:45 am. The Raireshwar trek was planned for Sunday  ;-)   .

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There are three reasons why I’d not forget this trek! The first being, I wasn’t the youngest member in the team; the second being we had a 10 year senior,quite oblivious to us, sitting silently listening to all the *facts* about organisations and policies that we were putting forward; the third would get pretty evident as the print runs through till the end of this post!

01st August:

I manage to fling the much awaited Sev2 resolution off the DS3 connection and zip across the eggs to board the 9:15 service back home. Thankfully , there’s a seat left just beside Walia in the Medipoint bus. Even before I get to settle down, my cell beeps with an unknown caller at the other end. Chetan, I re-collect had not responded to the mail that I’d fired sometime earlier in the day. He’d called just to enquire if he could still make it for tomorrow’s trek. Some cross checking and linking and we’re all set for co-ordinating tomorrow’s trek. Walia bangs his head to the seat in front of him. Damn! You never change . He’s got no questions to ask on my plans for the weekend!

02nd August:

A couple of wake up calls gets me back to real senses and at about 5:30am I rush towards Aundh Junction where Prayank and Vishal were to pitch in. Hitanshu soon joins in a few minutes and we manage to reach Shivaji nagar station by 6:05am. Rahul, Vishal and co have been waiting there right from 5:30 am ! Soon people pitch in and by around 06:15 the final count swells to 26. Lohagad-Visapur spells out to be a sequel to the Koraigad trek. The 6:30 local to Lonavala pulls into the station right on time. Rahul,Trupti,Abhijeet, Chetan and I hurl ourselves into a coupe and soon in minutes everyone gets into form. From nowhere a heated up discussion starts about job roles, company issues, policies, coding goofs and what not. Amidst all this Hitanshu just confirms with others if none of us were Job band D or above. Wonder why the ball was never thrown to Chetan. This chap remains silent all through the discussion and just keeps smiling now and then. Later we get to know the reason for that wierd behaviour of his. 10 years of Experience does take it’s toll. NOM !

We reach Malavli station at about 8:00am. You’ve got to reach Bhaje village which is about 2kms from here by walk and from there on start towards Visapur/Lohagad. Dhok who’d been here before leads us through the follow-up over-bridge above the Express highway to Bhaje village.As our order of VadaPav and Chai gets processed, probably for the first time ever in DH’s trek history we have a formal introductory sesssion . This big a size definitely called for a formal introduction! As people go about introducing themselves to the group, we get to know there’re about seven folks less experienced than me in Infy. I’m on cloud nine! Nothing really spectacular about it. But I guess small things do make a difference .

At about 9:30am we start moving towards Visapur-Lohagad. Just a few yards away from Bhaje village, you get to come across a beautiful waterfall. Though a couple of us decided to cover this in the latter half of the journey, not many of us could control our anxiety to get under the chilling falls. Dhok and Swati are blessed with minor bruises. Probably, you could call it a sacrifice that they’d pledged to nature! About half an hour here sets the right spirits and we sprint over to the main path and get back on track. The road from here is pretty much well laid out and is motorable to a certain extent. In about an hour or so we happen to reach the Visapur-Lohagad diversion. Lohagad stands to your right and Visapur to your left. A small confusion pops in as to which is the right place but soon it all precipitates down and we decide to finish Lohagad first.

Giving consistent company to the monkeys, We hit Lohagad peak in about another hour or so and while away quite some time on the fort. One particular spot ( Burj) gives you a spectacular view of the valley below. The gusty chilly wind and the mist make it all the more beautiful. At the other end of the fort , there’s one another spot wherein the thumping force of the winds on the bulwarks, literally raises water from the down flowing cascades and spews it across all over causing an illusion of rainfall happening in the reverse direction.I’ve never experienced this powerful and scenic a phenomena as this till date.We loose track of time and even before we realise it’s already 3:00pm. In twenty minutes flat we hit the base and have a quick lunch. By four we reach the Visapur - Lohagad diversion. To have consensus and re-confirm if everyone was fine with doing Visapur a poll is done. Not surprisingly, everyone’s game for it.

Patience pays when Reasoning does’nt!

The Visapur trek starts at about 4:30pm. Rahul, Trupti, Dhok, Prayank and I happen to walk a bit ahead of the group and even before we realise, we make our first mistake - Loose track of the actual place where a diversion is to be taken to climb up the fort. Fortunately, we get to meet two people who’d already lost track before us and were on their way back looking for the actual path. You’ve got to take a left a few minutes after you take a left at the L-V diversion . The path from here to the fort up there is an awesome piece of the whole cake! Indeed thrilling to climb up the small rocks amidst water flowing through the whole path. As none of us were sure of the path up the fort, a few of us had to stay put in between while Dhok, Prayank, Parin, Rahul explored further. Abhijeet and I try in vain in exploring for a simpler route. Finally at about 5:15pm, having got not much of a positive response from the folks who’d gone a bit ahead to check for the path, Abhijeet gives the NO-GO signal and part of the team heads back to the base diversion point. I was sent to get back Dhok and a couple of others; but it so happened that I ended up reaching almost three forth of the climb so didn’t mind getting to the top altogether . At about 6:00pm Dhok, Parin, Akhilesh, Prayank and I head back downwards through the cascades to the base and meet up with the rest of the team who’d been waiting there. The moment I arrive, Abhijeet pulls me out and takes me away from the group. I was almost sure he’s going to give me a sound bashing for not having followed his advise and got back the people who’d ventured before me. Surprisingly he takes me to a small diversion just before the path we’d taken and shows me the path. One pointing made everything crystal clear - We could have taken the whole team up there and avoided the cascade climb . But damage was long done!

The sprint back to the base:

Visapur was indeed the apple pie of the Visapur-Lohagad trek. Probably this weekend trek wouldn’t have been as interesting as it was had we not covered Visapur. Vishal and I sprint all the way from the diversion to the base village Bhaje in about 15 minutes. We come across another waterfall that we had not stopped during our climb up and decide to jump in with no second thoughts. This waterfall was far more powerful than the first one and indeed pretty much comforting after the sprint. It starts raining heavily and only then do i realise that I’d left my Cell without much protection in my bag. Ah! There it goes…Plop - Contact service.

A quick bout of vada-pav’s and we board the 7:30pm local back to Pune. To be frank, neither of these two forts can be counted in as treks. I would put them in the Hiking bucket instead. But I guess it’s the smile that you get to see on people’s faces when they hit the peak after a tiresome climb up the hill that really brings in the vibes!

Details:

Team :26

Route: Shivaji Nagar –> Malavli ( One stop before lonavala) –> Bhaje village –> Visapur-Lohagad diversion –>(Right at diversion)Lohagad climb –> Lohagad Descent–> Back to Diversion –>(Left) Visapur climb–> Waterfall/ Cascade climb uphill–> Visapur Descent ( same route ) –>Back to Diversion–> Bhaje village –> Bhaje caves –> Malavli station –> Shivaji Nagar (Pune)

Distance: Malavli –> Bhaje village (2.5kms). Bhaje village –>Diversion (3kms). Lohagad Uphill (1km) Visapur Uphill (1km)

Altitude: ~3600 FT above MSL

Endurance: Medium | Difficulty : Low / Medium [ taking into account climb up the cascades]

Time :Malavli- Bhaje village: 15mins; Bhaje village to Diversion: 45mins; Diversion to Lohagad peak : 30mins. Diversion to Visapur top : 30mins.

Transport:Reach Malavli by train. No other transport required to Bhaje village.

Expenses: Rs 75.

Stay:Not Explored. Bhaje caves could be a probable place.

Prominent Spots: Bhaje caves, Lohagad kada ( A hole formed on a part of the fort / rock formations because of the wind pressure ).

Best time to visit: Monsoon!

(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

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An interesting read!

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No one can make you serve customers well. That`s because great service is a choice.

Years ago, Harvey Mackay, (Business Motivational Speaker & Inspirational Quotes - Harvey Mackay) told a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed him a laminated card and said:

`I`m Wally, your driver. While I`m loading your bags in the trunk I`d like you to read my mission statement.` Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:

Wally`s Mission Statement:

To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean! As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, `Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.`

Harvey said jokingly, `No, I`d prefer a soft drink.`

Wally smiled and said, `No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.`

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, `I`ll take a Diet Coke.`

Handing him his drink, Wally said, `If you`d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.`

As they were pulling away, Wally handed him another laminated card. `These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you`d like to listen to the radio.`

And as if that weren`t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he`d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

`Tell me, Wally,` Harvey asked the driver, `have you always served customers like this?`
Wally smiled into the rearview mirror. `No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do.

Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You`ll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad
day, you`ll rarely disappoint yourself.

He said, `Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don`t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.“

`That hit me right between the eyes,` said Wally. `Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.`

`I take it that has paid off for you,` Harvey said. `It sure has,` Wally replied. `My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I`ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don`t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can`t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend
to do it and I take a piece of the action.`

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. Harvey probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever
Harvey went to their cities, he would give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told him all the reasons they couldn`t do any of what he was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice , he decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.
How about you? Apply it in your own businesses and homes and see the change around you.

Where Eagles Dare.

Source: E-mail Forward

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Boy, Oh Boy! For the past two and a half months, I’ve been pampering hard ground every weekend ; but believe me,  I’ve never been this satisfied as I am today after the trek. It’s been an adventure in the real sense! Walking through the dense vegetation with no idea where, when or how we’re going to turn up, not even remotely bothered of what could have been happening in the cities out there; losing paths and realising it after you’ve covered two or three kms;Tramping the 40+ kms in the splintering rain stopping just for nourishment en-route right from 09:00am all through till 09:00pm; taking respite in those scores of waterfalls rejuvenating our muscles and senses; crossing knee deep torrential streams just to find another just a few kms away; Groping to find directions in the dark.Phew! Indeed been one of THE best treks I’ve covered till date during my brief stay here in Pune. RAJMACHI ROCKS!

July 25th:

Even at about, 3:00pm the count for this weekend trip stood at four. Blame us for not planning things ahead. Dhok! Abhijeet and Rahul were pre-occupied with personal work. Just as I’m about to drop plans to have a trek this weekend and plan to head for mumbai, Suhas calls and says he’s game for the weekend, come what may. In moments we decide to head for Rajmachi and drop a mail to the DH group and the Infy BB. Surprisingly and thankfully we do not have many takers this weekend. Neither of us had been here before and all we had was blogs and posts elsewhere to guide us till the end; so but for Ashutosh we did not consistently prod anyone to join us. Besides, Dhok had mentioned the plan that i’d sketched was a bit too far-stretched and we’d have to run against time if we had to get back to Pune that very day.

Suhas calls me sometime at night tells me that the trek route that I’d decided upon would be a bit strenuous and we should consider the Lonavala side instead.  Bet he’s still accusing me for not having payed any heed to his advice .

July 26th:

Post his night shift, Suhas gives me a call at around 04:30am letting me know that he’d be at my house in ten minutes and damn! he’s right on time at my doorstep. Gaurav drops a message that he and a friend of his wouldn’t be joining us. Vishal, probably deep in slumber, doesn’t even pick up my wake up call. The final count ends at five - Akhilesh, Sunil, Suhas, Ashutosh and I.

We’d to board the 6:12 Sahyadri passenger to Karjat. Akhilesh boards  it at Shivaji nagar, while the remaining four of us board at Khadki. I spend the two hour journey deep in sleep while others enjoy the sahayadris at Lonavala. We reach Karjat at 08:15 am, hit on vada pav’s for breakfast and head quickly to the Karjat bus depot only to realise that we’d just missed the 08:15 service to Khandpe. The next bus was at 09:45am. It didn’t make much sense to waste time there so we pick a rick. to a popular place called ‘Bridge’ and from there move over to the Khandpe village in a Tum-Tum. The driver suggested he would drop us at Kondane but we decide to get down at Kondivane and trek from there.

The road less taken huh!

We’re at Kondivide at about 09:30am - right as planned. The villagers guide us in the right directions; fortunately, we had Suhas who could help us out with Marathi. Nature seemed to hint that we’re in for some trouble right at the moment we set our foot at Kondane village. We reach a Y forked road and decide to take the right arm and move ahead. A few more enquiries and we seem to be on the right path. At about 10:00am we manage to reach a place which remotely looked as the base point of the actual trek. It’s been raining heavily for the past few hours and there are no signs of it subsiding any time soon. Just to re-confirm we ask a few people if it was reasonable enough to climb to Rajmachi in this climate. They’re not really affirmative and suggest taking one of the villagers as a guide. But thanks to our eccentric minds we decide to take the final call and move on without a guide.

We’re invited to the dense foliage by murky waters. We had to climb uphill, so by logic we decided to follow the downstreams upwards whenever possible just to keep track of our path. This did help us definitely to a large extent and we soon manage to reach a tableland. A villager was selling corn by the side. That just gave us the much needed energy for the path ahead. We’re then directed to the right path again and then in a few moments trouble looms in again. We again seemed to be heading to nowhere.

Who even wants to be at Kuttralam?

A bit of groping and topographic analysis does help getting us somewhere. Just then the sound of gurgling water happens to surge into our ears and we quickly move in that direction. A small turn to the left and we