There have been countless times when I've put in 'trekking in sahyadris' into google and gone to look up the pictures posted by different people and cherished a hope that one day I'd go to and see the world what it looks from thousands of feet above, with no wings .. All the time, either something or the other always came up and I could never make it into the hills .. so on the lazy boring friday of 5th june, as I sat thinking how best to use a relatively free weekend that was coming up .. it suddenly occured to me - "trek into the hills ... " ... A little searching and a few calls to the trek'di office later, I was registered into the harishchandragad trek happening on the weekend of 6th & 7th june..
Hastily, I arranged for a bag from sonal, as my bag seemed to have disappeared mysteriously and packed up for the next two days. Following, all the instructions on their site to the T, I had a well stocked bag - complete with Snickers bars (I dont need too many excuses to down a snickers, this was an easy one - energy bar, I called it!!)
The next morning saw me, backpack laden.. heading out with the first light of the dawn ... to kurla .. to kalyan .. and then to khubi phata on the ST -the 'red box on wheels'. It's really a miracle that it stays intact on the roads. After reaching khubi, I had to go ahead to khireshwar. A local boy told me that the shortest way to go to khireshwar was to walk across the plains. He walked with me for a small distance, giving me directions, and cautioned me not to take wrong turns as it could lead to the jungles, where there is an 'ajgar' that recently gulped down a villager .. *gulp* .. despite the looming threat of the 'ajgar', the 45 minute from khubi to khireshwar go down my memory lane as one of the best walks I've had .. barren plains on both sides, not a soul to ask directions from, a pathway that often dissolved into the ground and only the sound of wind blowing across the plains .. I felt like a triumphant nat geo explorer when I finally made my way to khireshwar, in one piece - safe from the coils of the 'ajgaar'. celebrations took the form of pohe and chai .. I kicked my heels up and then and waited for gang from pune to make their appearance..
The Pune gang came in about 12:30 and a few brief introductions later, we were ready to begin to trek to the top of the hill .. The trek began at about 1:30. We had a few incidents on the way up .. we lost the way a few times in the thickets, a minor accidents happened when Mihir, the trek lead, lost balance and fell down with 23 kgs in his backpack.. it was a tense moment as we waited at that spot on the way up for news of his well being .. in hindsight, that time helped us to get to know each other better ..
amrita, with her chirpy and non-stop chatter, was aptly named 'chimni', by my only fellow mumbaiyya partner, pankayj, who kept referring to me as 'mumbai meri jaan'. So, pankaj, obviously became mumbai2. 'vakil' indrajit was one who seemed to be a veteran of many a treks with his backpack complete with sleeping bag et all, photographer rakesh took pictures of every leaf, eveyr branch, every pebble and every rock face possible with his cheerful face in it, therefore easily bagging the 'photographer of the trek' award, but he also had a huge thirst for glucon-d, what with having downed a sizeable portion of the packet within the 1st hour of the trek... we had a doc with us too - aishwarya, who on the exterior, looked like a delicate thing, but packed in quite a punch when it came to scaling the gradient, and later, in arm-twisting nachiket, the co-trek leader in having her way and doing the pradikshana in a water logged kedareshwar temple on the top. tejas, the shy and unassuming guy, who professed a love for horror stories and movies, showed the chinks in his armour, when he jumped up on hearing a few of them, mihir , nachiket & mayur, our resourceful trek leads .. so, slowly and surely, I got to know more of the pune gang and made many more friends..
So, soon after we got news that all was well and we continued our journey uphill. After a hard climb of 5 hours and Mihir's many assurances of 'the end is just around the corner of that hill', the beautiful temple on the top of harishchandragad revealed itself ... almost magically..
On reaching the top, we selected to stay in a cave which also had a small kitchen compartment ... we went in, dumped our bags and then headed for the underground watertank at the temple to refill our water supplies. The water was so pristine & sweet that it could put a mineral water company to shame. So, after refilling our water supplies, freshning up and a hot cuppa chai, we helped to cut the vegetables for dinner. amidst continuous chatter, we never knew when the time passed and very soon, dinner was served .. cooked by mihir.. nothing spectacular, just a wet gravy and bread, but the hunger made it doubly delicious..
Once done with dinner, we lit up a camp fire. We did the usual - antakshari, jokes - pankaj has a huge collection of unmentionables .. in his mobile, so I'll remember to flick them off his phone someday! .. tejas, the hero was puling my leg that I dont see horror movies. so, at the campfire, when we told him some real life experiences and happenings, he was horrified when a lady walked from behind him in the dead of the night, to the other cave.. we sat till 3 am that night, having fun and talking .. finally, we went in to sleep to rest our backs ..
The next morning, we went upto Konkan kada, a concave cliff, which was full with fog and it was looking like milk oerflowing from the container .... At times, when it cleared, I stood on the edge as close as possible .. when you stand on a cliff edge at 4600 feet and look down into the sheer drop .. it feels like you have wings that will stop beating if you go further a few centimeters .... the feeling is marvelous and also sends a shiver up the spine.. after spending some time there, we came back to have a fantastic kichdi cooked again, by mihir.
Rakesh, Tejas, Ninad and I went ahead to the water logged shiv temple and had a dip in the chilly water.. it was the most amazing dip I've ever had ... though it's given me a cold now, it was the most refreshing bath I've had in years - and that too, without using soap ... refilled and refreshed, we started down .. and in about 4 hours interspersed with a lot of twitter and the recital of a japanese poem by chimni, random jokes by pankaj, countless photos by rakesh, recounting of the horrors he faced last night by tejas.. and we were back on the ground .. it was an amazing descent .. the rock faces being the most exhiliarating & challenging parts ..
We had a yummy meal at the local dhaba and then, started back home ... After bidding adieu to the pune gang at khubi, I waited for the red box on wheels, and got one with no seat .. so I slept on my feet for 15 - 30 mins, and then when I could bear it no longer, threw caution to the wind and sat down on the floor of the bus and slept off till kalyan .. kalyan to kurla, in a fast .. and then finally, home !
two days of amazing climbing, making new friends, eating some of the best kichdi I've ever had, sleeping in the cave, enjoying at the campfire, watching fog cover us in seconds and having the most refreshing bath of my life ... completed a great weekend and left me exhausted and rejuvenated at the same time!
Hastily, I arranged for a bag from sonal, as my bag seemed to have disappeared mysteriously and packed up for the next two days. Following, all the instructions on their site to the T, I had a well stocked bag - complete with Snickers bars (I dont need too many excuses to down a snickers, this was an easy one - energy bar, I called it!!)
The next morning saw me, backpack laden.. heading out with the first light of the dawn ... to kurla .. to kalyan .. and then to khubi phata on the ST -the 'red box on wheels'. It's really a miracle that it stays intact on the roads. After reaching khubi, I had to go ahead to khireshwar. A local boy told me that the shortest way to go to khireshwar was to walk across the plains. He walked with me for a small distance, giving me directions, and cautioned me not to take wrong turns as it could lead to the jungles, where there is an 'ajgar' that recently gulped down a villager .. *gulp* .. despite the looming threat of the 'ajgar', the 45 minute from khubi to khireshwar go down my memory lane as one of the best walks I've had .. barren plains on both sides, not a soul to ask directions from, a pathway that often dissolved into the ground and only the sound of wind blowing across the plains .. I felt like a triumphant nat geo explorer when I finally made my way to khireshwar, in one piece - safe from the coils of the 'ajgaar'. celebrations took the form of pohe and chai .. I kicked my heels up and then and waited for gang from pune to make their appearance..
The Pune gang came in about 12:30 and a few brief introductions later, we were ready to begin to trek to the top of the hill .. The trek began at about 1:30. We had a few incidents on the way up .. we lost the way a few times in the thickets, a minor accidents happened when Mihir, the trek lead, lost balance and fell down with 23 kgs in his backpack.. it was a tense moment as we waited at that spot on the way up for news of his well being .. in hindsight, that time helped us to get to know each other better ..
amrita, with her chirpy and non-stop chatter, was aptly named 'chimni', by my only fellow mumbaiyya partner, pankayj, who kept referring to me as 'mumbai meri jaan'. So, pankaj, obviously became mumbai2. 'vakil' indrajit was one who seemed to be a veteran of many a treks with his backpack complete with sleeping bag et all, photographer rakesh took pictures of every leaf, eveyr branch, every pebble and every rock face possible with his cheerful face in it, therefore easily bagging the 'photographer of the trek' award, but he also had a huge thirst for glucon-d, what with having downed a sizeable portion of the packet within the 1st hour of the trek... we had a doc with us too - aishwarya, who on the exterior, looked like a delicate thing, but packed in quite a punch when it came to scaling the gradient, and later, in arm-twisting nachiket, the co-trek leader in having her way and doing the pradikshana in a water logged kedareshwar temple on the top. tejas, the shy and unassuming guy, who professed a love for horror stories and movies, showed the chinks in his armour, when he jumped up on hearing a few of them, mihir , nachiket & mayur, our resourceful trek leads .. so, slowly and surely, I got to know more of the pune gang and made many more friends..
So, soon after we got news that all was well and we continued our journey uphill. After a hard climb of 5 hours and Mihir's many assurances of 'the end is just around the corner of that hill', the beautiful temple on the top of harishchandragad revealed itself ... almost magically..
On reaching the top, we selected to stay in a cave which also had a small kitchen compartment ... we went in, dumped our bags and then headed for the underground watertank at the temple to refill our water supplies. The water was so pristine & sweet that it could put a mineral water company to shame. So, after refilling our water supplies, freshning up and a hot cuppa chai, we helped to cut the vegetables for dinner. amidst continuous chatter, we never knew when the time passed and very soon, dinner was served .. cooked by mihir.. nothing spectacular, just a wet gravy and bread, but the hunger made it doubly delicious..
Once done with dinner, we lit up a camp fire. We did the usual - antakshari, jokes - pankaj has a huge collection of unmentionables .. in his mobile, so I'll remember to flick them off his phone someday! .. tejas, the hero was puling my leg that I dont see horror movies. so, at the campfire, when we told him some real life experiences and happenings, he was horrified when a lady walked from behind him in the dead of the night, to the other cave.. we sat till 3 am that night, having fun and talking .. finally, we went in to sleep to rest our backs ..
The next morning, we went upto Konkan kada, a concave cliff, which was full with fog and it was looking like milk oerflowing from the container .... At times, when it cleared, I stood on the edge as close as possible .. when you stand on a cliff edge at 4600 feet and look down into the sheer drop .. it feels like you have wings that will stop beating if you go further a few centimeters .... the feeling is marvelous and also sends a shiver up the spine.. after spending some time there, we came back to have a fantastic kichdi cooked again, by mihir.
Rakesh, Tejas, Ninad and I went ahead to the water logged shiv temple and had a dip in the chilly water.. it was the most amazing dip I've ever had ... though it's given me a cold now, it was the most refreshing bath I've had in years - and that too, without using soap ... refilled and refreshed, we started down .. and in about 4 hours interspersed with a lot of twitter and the recital of a japanese poem by chimni, random jokes by pankaj, countless photos by rakesh, recounting of the horrors he faced last night by tejas.. and we were back on the ground .. it was an amazing descent .. the rock faces being the most exhiliarating & challenging parts ..
We had a yummy meal at the local dhaba and then, started back home ... After bidding adieu to the pune gang at khubi, I waited for the red box on wheels, and got one with no seat .. so I slept on my feet for 15 - 30 mins, and then when I could bear it no longer, threw caution to the wind and sat down on the floor of the bus and slept off till kalyan .. kalyan to kurla, in a fast .. and then finally, home !
two days of amazing climbing, making new friends, eating some of the best kichdi I've ever had, sleeping in the cave, enjoying at the campfire, watching fog cover us in seconds and having the most refreshing bath of my life ... completed a great weekend and left me exhausted and rejuvenated at the same time!
5 comments:
too!! good blog..........by d way.....i hope u will write another blog after our next trek...so let plan something at the earliest
Awesome...yaar
sahiii...:)
thanks guys .. well.. it depends on how much the trek leaves an impression on my mind. this was a fantastic impression, so the blog turned out good :-)
Ash lovely blog looks like u enjoyed u are mumbai meri jaan number one i agree
simply agreat piece of writing..
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