The Open Door

Bhoranda dwaar
Dwaar means door.
This is an ancient trade route from Konkan to Desh. adjacent to Nane Ghat. Guru mentioned it to me the last time he met. He had told me to ascend via Bhorandyache daar, stay in Nane Ghat caves and descend via Nane Ghat. So after my knee pain had significantly subsided I decided to take the route. Winter season that too December end,    मस्त trekतो होना ही चाहिये, यही सोचकर हमने अपने साथियों से पुछा। कुछ ने कहा के इस weekend नहीं। कुछ गाव गाये थे तो कुछ का बदन दर्द हो रहा था। इतने में हमारे पुराने मित्र शार्दुल मालवंकर की याद आयी। कहे थे के exams के बाद वो trek करने आ जायेंगे। and there he was on Kalyan Station 1 hour late due to the courtesy of local train लफडा। कोई बात नाही

We took Kalyan -  Ahmednagar bus at about 7.30AM. Conductor didn’t knew where the village Bhorande was, but he agreed to stop the bus where we wanted to get off. The bus swept through the Kalyan Malshej ghat road like a hot wheel toy car. This road is so beautiful that I recalled all my bike rides through here. This was the 5th time I was coming through this road for a trek. Beautifully paved. Well banked at turns, this road makes you wanna keep riding. We alighted at Bhorande village which is about 7 kms from Nane Ghat starting point on Kalyan Ahmednagar Highway and about 11 kms from Tokawade village, where there is a official bus stop. You if you reach Tokawade you can get shared jeeps to and fro from here.

I had read that the trail to Bhorande Cha Daar starts about 200 meters from this Bhorande village junction. So we started walking towards Malshej Ghat in search for the start point. except we were walking in the wrong direction. After walking about a kilometer ahead we realized that there is no trail and we need directions. We decided to go back to Bhorande village and ask someone. We did so. The villager said that the trails starts a couple hundred meters towards the Kalyan side of Bhorande village, and not towards Malshej Ghat. So off we go. We had clocked 4 kms till now. It wasn’t a waste as now we got to see the mesmerizing view of the Sahyadri mountain range from Bhorande village. The only recognized by me was the Bhairavgad and the Nanacha angtha.

So, the Bhorandyache Daar route starts on the highway a few hundred meters towards Kalyan from Bhorande village. It is marked by a tree shaped maharashtra shashan sign post with “भोरांडा द्वार वॉटरफल”. The route started with a concrete trail which ended in about a hundred meters giving way to off beaten dirt and stone trail. A few villagers were chopping and collecting wood here. On telling them that we are going to Ghatghar in desh from here, the villager told us that he is ignorant of  any way from here, the way is through Nane Ghat. I told him that there is a way from here too and that the route is called Bhorandyache daar. He was from Tokawade village so he prefered the Nane ghat route to Ghatghar village.

The trail was not marked, and seemed barely used. so we used to take the most prominent trail where there were diversions. The climate was at its best, the cool breeze was whooshing the ears, दह्याच्या हंड्याला हाथ लावल्या सारखी सगळी झाडं आणि दगडी यांच्या मुळे  गरमी जाणवली नाही. We reached a wide dried stream way and rested for a bit in the cool shade of the mountain. Sun light had not touched us from the start of the trail as the trail was pointing South East.

We started again and soon heard a distant voice from up, someone was coming down the valley. They were two villagers, they expressed their surprise on seeing our group size of two people and as always they asked us why we do this, may be now I have many answers for that question why, but I don’t want to answer. They told us that we have reached the main steep ascend and that we will reach the top in 30 mins. कसलं काय आम्ही आपल चढतोय  30 - 45 मिनिटं पण टॉप काही गवसला नाही. We did lose trail a couple of times but we soon were able to find the right one.

By now we were out of the forest cover and were climbing stones between two stone cliffs closing down on us with every step. Like a double doored opening. The mountain range has really cut itself like a cake slice to pave way and habitat for living organisms. View of Konkan from here was breathtaking. It took away all the tiredness and filled us with excitement and hope. We reached up. I looked back and thanked the sahyadris for opening a Door way, a द्वार to its heart for us the organisms, the foot holders of food chain.

We reached the top. We had our lunch under shade of a tree and started walking towards a water body which we could see before us. A short hike further took us to the paved vehicle road which comes from junnar to Nane Ghat. Road to a beautiful location means vehicles to a beautiful location means people to a beautiful location means plastic to a beautiful location. This wasn’t my first hike to Nane Ghat but last time I was here it was scorching october sun burning everything, it kept the vehicles with their people with their plastic away. This time it was 26th December, हमारे बचों का christmas vacation, people’s reason to get out in their vehicles with their plastic. The problem is not them bringing the pastic, the problem is leaving it there. As I had predicted I saw lots of cars parked where the road came to an end. As we went towards the caves the silence was slowly being engulfed by giggling and पोरांचा चिवचिवाट आणि त्या पोरांच्या चिवंचिवाटात, “ए तिकडे नको जाउ”, “त्याला हाथ नाको लाउस”,”बेटा go carefully OK?”, “don't put your hands in that water बेटा “, म्हणत त्याच पाण्या च्या टाक्यात दगडी टाकत होते.

असो, I will try not to talk about buffons this time, let them do their buffongiri. So The Nane Ghat Caves. Carved more than Two  Thousand years ago these caves and potable water tanks look like black crayon sketched over dark grey paper. We went into the largest cave of all. The cave where the history to the सातवाहन काळ  is inscribed on the walls, the caves which gave rest to many traders  and villagers and trekkers/hikers like us even till date.

I spread my make shift flex banner mattress on the floor in the cave and we relieved ourselves of our sacks. Outside we could see slope of the mountain going deep in konkan. A guy from archeology department came in and asked us if we were there for stay. He told us not to have alcohol or set campfire in cave as it damages the inscriptions on the walls. We agreed. He also gave us a heads up on a group of 30 rappelers who were gonna stay the night in the cave. झाली ना रात्री ची पण चक्की, च्यामारी 30 लोक, हि कुत्री भुंकून रात्र जागावणार.

After a family entered the cave with mattresses and रझाईs and चटाईs. WTF!, I said to myself. It was a family of about 12 people. Kids and elders and ladies and old people. They stormed in the cave spread their mattresses and sat in circles. I will not mention their चपड चपड, as it was sound of utensils being wash for me. They also bought large water vessel, lots of food and utensils to eat the food. OK they just came to have food in the cave. Point नही समझा अबतक मुझे. There was a kind of digged hole in one end of the cave. They started washing their hands over there. बस आता मला राग आला. They were gonna eat and go, leave the place, but we were going to stay there, many people are going to stay there for fuck's sake. I asked one of the family members not to do that. He agreed and instructed his family not to do it. Still some buffoons washed their hands anyways. Fuckity Fuck.

While this family was at it, another family was outside the cave with their mattresses and food and water. They waited for the first family to be done, like they wait outside the hotels for a table on weekends. साला डोम्बिवली च गोविंदाश्रम बनवल त्या लेणीं च . We went outside, but kept our things in. After a while we came in and we saw that one of the kids was running around the cave beating the walls and ground with Shardul's jungle treasure, the wooden walking sticks. Shardul became furious and started running behind the kid and got his treasure back from them.

The rappelers came in after a while, equipped with huge backpacks, sleeping mats, propper head lamps, they seemed professionals. They were from Pune a group of mixed aged, men and women and guys and girls. They had trekked hadsar fort and came there by bus. They were gonna stay the night and head for jivdhan fort the next day.

As soon as they came in, a few of them started preparing food on their stove while others went out to see the sunset. We also decided to go see the sunset. A short hike took us to the highest point of nanacha angtha. Towards north and west there was huge konkan below and towards south and east there was huge vast sahyadri Mountain range. I could recognize Jivdhan fort to the south, with it's Vandarlingi pinnacle, Gorakhgad and Machindragad, far far towards west in Konkan region and Ahupe ghat right behind it, rest all was unknown to me then. The sun was red orange by now. Going down slowly, disappearing right in the middle of the sky, till it was gone, leaving streak of red behind it.

We climbed down, went near the caves and I climbed a smaller cave opposite to the larger one. And sat in silence. Looking at the टीमटीमणारे lights in konkan region. Lights of cars on Kalyan-Ahmednagar road were playing hide and seek in the jungle. We sat there for a while and went in the cave. The cave sounded like School recess. चपड़.चपड़ चपड़ चपड़. I had left all hopes of having a peaceful evening. We couldn't even leave the caves as we wanted our space to sleep. It was dark outside anyways. We spread our mattresses and dozed off for a while.

When I woke up it was 8 PM. We had our dinner. Shardul's mother had blessed us with theplas. I had the theplas. After a while I came to know that one more group of about 20 people was going to come. Fuckity Double Titty Fuck.

We went out for a short walk and whooooosssshhhhhhhhh came the wind on our face. It dried my lips and watered my eyes. We went on the plateau. Torch was not needed as there was bright beautiful Moonlight outside. Nothing mattered then, in that moonlight I saw everything. Saw everything that I had and saw everything that I didn't. Its not only what you see that matters, it’s also what you don't see that does. The thought still lingers my mind as I write this.

We went to sleep in the चिव चीवाट. If sleep intensity could be measured I was 3 fourth asleep, when the group of 20 people came in at about 3 AM and the चिव चीवाट turned into तांडव. It was a huge family, they had trekked the nane ghat route in the night. Now they were cooking dinner. Camping ethics and silence ki marriage ढोल ho gayi thi. Tried to sleep amidst the तांडव, but I couldn't, Shardul was snoring stones. Some of the rappelers were snoring hail stones.

Unable to sleep I stood up, wrapped myself in shawl and headed outside. Whooosssshhh, the wind was still there and my shawl started फदफडing in air. Moon was brighter now. Konkan was lit with moonlight in shades of grey and black. अंदर cave से लडकिया चिड़ा रही थी, “कौन है भूत बाहर?”, “भुत आल बघा”  etc. etc. I wasn’t minding them I sat on the stairs and stared at the sky. Spotted jupiter, the brightest shining object in the sky via Phone Sky location Application

It was 4 AM. One thing about being on the mountain is that it will never tell you to leave, it will never ask you to go. You go yourself understanding your own place and limits. These limits told me to sleep for now, told me that I was tired. I agreed. Even the तांडव group was asleep by now. I went inside and slept.

We woke up at 6 A.M. and went to see the sunrise on Nanacha angtha. Wind was gushing towards the angtha like streaks of winds were racing and jumping off the cliff. Few people were already there on the cliff waiting for the sun to rise. Wind was trying to dry my eyes, but they were continuously producing tears in protest and my nose joined in too. Through these tears I saw the sun rising. To a little left of Jivdhan it pushed itself up.

We sat there in peace till it was completely up and then we headed for the caves. We found a few water cisterns on our way down. I had missed spotting these cisterns on my previous visits.

We went to the caves, had our breakfast, packed our bags, chatted for a few seconds with the तांडव मंडळी, waved good bye to the चिव चीवाट मंडळी and started our descent from Nane Ghat. The trail is of stone, wide, continuously steep, winding the valley like a thread pulled and released from both the ends. There was cool shade of the mountain on the trail.

I wished that the trail would never end and I would keep walking endlessly but alas! it turned left after 2 and a half hour and vehicle sounds were audible. We reached the Nane Ghat trekking point on Kalyan - Ahmednagar highway and relieved ourselves of our sacks, ate bananas and started off towards vaishakhare village to find transport to Kalyan. We reached Vaishakhare village in about 30 mins. Got a shared vehicle to Tokawade village and hoped into a Kalyan bus. The conductor warned us that there are no seats and said “standing standing”, we agreed. The bus swept on the road while  the conductor shut the bus door close.

Hooked a Thread

Rajmachi. A name heard over years. When I hear the word Rajmachi, a memory comes to my mind. An old conversation by an old friend about his visit there which includes lots of Forest officers, jungle and rain. So when I planned about this trek I was very excited.

This time the team was Sudhindra, Akash and me. With eggs, and fruits, and clothes and blankets, and water we caught Pune bound Indrayani express. This train always takes me back to my CDAC training days in Pune. The journey didn't take long and by 8.15AM we were at Lonavala station.

What a pleasant morning. The thrill of walking in this morning set a धधम धधम rhythm in my heart. Having सटर फटर breakfast we started our hike. On some enquiry we found our trail. Which was a dirt motor-able road along the beautiful mountain range of Lonavala. To our west was a deep valley which raised a mountain far away running parallel to our path. To our east was a huge mass of stone wall. Wow! Magnificent. The mountain on the west had a railway track running on its stomach. Like an ant line the train passed blowing its horn. There was no sound except the thud of the railway diesel engine.

We walked with a fair speed. There wasn't any ascend or descend. Plus the morning air with low humidity. वाह!!. We reached a clearance and we found four huge buses parked on the way. लफडा. Four buses, we thought our silence and peace was gonna ruin. On enquiring with the drivers, we found out that they were gonna return the same day itself. A relief!. So again धधाम धधाम we continued. Many bikes, cars passed us on the way.

Shrivardhan and Manaranjan which were to our north west magnified with our each step. We reached a fork in the road, left way was Rajmachi. We took it and the way entered a thick forest which curved the mountain range to left. Here there was a very mild ascend. We heard a very distant चपड चपड. Kids! We thought and there they came a whole bunch of 5-6 year old with their barbie and doremon zolas towards us. So they were the ones who came in those buses!. Akash waved the stick in his hand in front of a kid and did हहेहे. That kid angrily snapped back at Akash with a louder हॅहॅहॅ and an insulting ,” चल जा बे”. Further one cute little girl in the group said, “ hello, go and see the Rajmachi fort”. We thanked her and said, “ sweet kids”. “But not that other one”, said Akash. We successfully stopped him from complaining their teacher about that knucklehead.

Now the fort shrivardhan was to our right. We had turned over the curved mountain and the route we came from was to our left. It felt like we were heading towards the pointed end of a hook. A short walk took us to Rajmachi village. The village has a tourist air to it. The development was new and decent. The primary source of income seemed to be from the tourists visiting the forts. An hour long rough drive through forest has made tourism possible. We found our contact - Janire family's house and made dinner and stay arrangements at their place. We reduced the weight of clothes and blankets there and with food and water we went towards the forts.

The trail to the forts start from a col between the two hills. There is an ancient temple in this col. Or should I say was. Because the pictures I had seen of this temple were completely different. What I had seen was an image of a ancient stone built monument with silence of nature. What I was seeing was a shop, laid at entrance of a house, oil painted with yellow and pink. There was drunk मंडळी in its yard cooking food in a huge vessel. Their clothes and undergarments laid out on its roof and stones. Keeping that monument to see for some other time( without the undergarments but still with the oil paint ) I headed towards shrivardhan fort.

This hill is stone walled beautifully, the walls dissolving in the mountain do not make its existence known. Let's just hope buffoons don't paint this wall with yellow and pink, their underwear color. This fort has beautiful caves and potable water cisterns carved in it. Water in one such cisterns was so clear and tempting we just filled our bottles with the sweet stone juice. It cooled our bodies and soothed our muscles. The view from the top of this fort was tremendous. Mountains and mountains around. I was sure that all these mountains and hills had their names with numerous trails in their midst. But I knew none of them. I could just see but not know where I could go. But yes they were all welcoming. And yes some day from one of those cliffs and trails I would recognize the place from where I was seeing them.

We descended shrivardhan. None of us were hungry and in hurry for lunch as we had been munching on fruits and snacks on regular intervals. It was about 3 PM. We started to hike Manaranjan. It was a pleasant and a short hike. On Manaranjan there are water cisterns and some damaged house like structures. The reflection in these cisterns was another sky in the water. We hiked Manaranjan on along its edges witnessing a different view with each step. Rajmachi village looked beautiful with slanting roofs on its head, fields on its shoulders and a lake in its ears. We had our lunch in a stone walled house with no roof.

It was about 4.45PM when we came to the edge where trail towards the col starts. Seeing that we had time on our hands we laid down on a flat rock bed. I was seeing a tremendous vast sky with streaks of clouds, high in it. When I saw the sky and the mountains I knew that they will be there. The question is will we be there? Sun was slowly going down the sky to light new mountains and trees somewhere in the world. We descended Manaranjan quickly.

Reached the col and saw that बेवडा buffoons were now painting the wooden columns of the temple with pink. There was a different trail going somewhere. A man told us that there is a potable water cistern there. We went there and came back to head towards the village.

We relieved ourselves of our bags and shoes and rested for a while. Our dinner was being prepared in the house. We decided to take a stroll till then. Mountains around looked orange in the twilight. When it was dark we looked at the stars. Played with them actually. Mind was wandering towards everyday worries but stars brought it back to the now. There was singing and noise in the village. Silence was stolen by अंताक्षरीs and किलकीलात. It's OK I said to myself. It's still beautiful out there.

A group was sitting around a campfire singing. We went to our place for dinner. There was a group of middle aged बेवडाs swearing and cursing their fate. Apparently our hosts had not let them drink because they were swearing and disrupting others. They were furious. I was glad and felt good that commercialization had some ethics after all.

We went in for dinner. Such food!. अंडा कडी, तांदळाची भाकरी, भात, कांदा, लिंबू, ठेचा, आणि ते पण unlimited. Had a good conversation with Janire family and headed out. Akash and I decided to take a stroll in the night while Sudhindra decided he would go and sleep.

So we went out. People around the campfire were gone leaving sparks in the fire behind. We sat there and took some warmth off the hot extinguishing wood and went to sleep. It was after years, many years that I slept at 9.30PM. We woke up in the morning at 6. Again it was after years that I had slept for such a long time. We freshened up packed our bags and had our morning breakfast. कांदा पोहा cooked by Janire काकी.

We asked for directions to descend towards Kondhivade village near Karjat and bid our farewell to the Janire family. The view from the edge from where we were gonna descend was mesmerizing.

We kept our pace slow and had fruits on our way down. Our next stop was kondhane caves which I knew were somewhere on the right hand side while facing the valley. We went there and found that the entry was restricted on account of a film shooting. They said that shooting would go on the whole day. We decided to leave because the sound of their generator and restricted access was frustrating.

I don't know, if holding a public place, for a movie shoot or any such thing, where people come from distant places is right or not. But it's not good to make others adjust for your benefit either. I believe in, "your poop, your mess, your job to take care of it". We continued down. Many people were on their way to see the caves. They were either gonna be excited that they were going to see a film shoot or they were going to be pissed off. “Beauty lies in the eyes of the observer”, they say.

We descended down. Looked at the mountain we had descended. We could see the beautiful Manaranjan from here. About an hour walk from base took us past Kondhivade village to Khandape. From where we got a shared टम टम to Karjat station.

So we took a hook like trail from Lonavala to Rajmachi and tied a thread to it towards Karjat. GPS device clocked 30 kms of hike. This hike has again hooked something in me.

Elbowed away

Pleasant morning. Didn't feel like coming to work. Work? Stuck in abyss of blue desk partitions. Pinned and stickered  with other colours. Not everything is blue. Started a little late today. Actually started at proper time but slogged and dragged along the bath, the oatmeal breakfast and travel. If I was riding the train I would have dragged it too. Felt like train was in tremendous speed today. Got a seat too. Dozed off to wake up to अगला स्टेशन destination. Huh!! Destination.
Again dragged through the steps over the bridge. Through the walk towards the bus stop. Ahhh!!! No buses. Stood in the line happy that situation was dragging itself. But the bus came. Hopped in. Commuters had already occupied almost all the windows. Just the last row was रिकामी. Sat there. Bus का cushion portion was not screwed properly. Bus was decorated with plastic and paper decorations on occasion of Diwali festival but wasn't screwed properly.
Wait I got distracted. I was talking about the morning.
So a pleasant morning. Morning in which you wanted to go deep in till it fades away. Just go and go and go. With every step the morning would slide away like the sliding bus का seat. It was really annoying till another bunch of commuter asses put their mighty weight on it.
Now the seat was fine. It was bummed and didn't need screwing. But the bum sitting next to me was taking his phone , earphones, and what not from his bag elbowing the shit out of me. OK. He didn't settle but I got settled of his elbowing.
See I again got distracted. But then the pleasant morning was distracted too. Gone, elbowed away.

The Golden Canvas

This was an important trek for me as I had not done a long trek since Nane Ghat. Also my last two treks didn't go without any incidents. Of course it was well planned, researched and googled. There wasn't much information about the trek on the Internet. No GPS track file was available. But I got a rough sketch of a map explaining the route from a blog. So with this information and my gurus instructions I finalized this trek. which was going to Matheran Via Garbett Plateau.

One thing that I noticed from all the blogs I read was that everyone had got “lost ” on their ways. That everyone “should have” taken a different route, which “would” have been easy. Important thing for me from all these blogs was that all these people had finally reached to the top. So after Researching a lot, gazing at the map for hours I finalized on a rough route and decided to go for it.

Akash was going to be there for sure. Sushant was going to confirm me at,”the last moment” whatever that is!. Sudhindra was busy. Bagade was wavy.

Sonam expressed that she would like to come. My blog research said that this trek could be done as a first time trek. So I agreed. I knew somehow that she would be able to do it. So on the last day it was Akash, Sonam and Me,l

I decided that we would go by train as the trek starts from a place and ends at another, so public transport would be ideal. We all voted on the first CST-KHOPOLI train which reaches Dombivli at 5.42AM.

So Akash came by bike to Kanjur station and took a train to Dombivli from there. Sonam took the same train from Mulund station and came to Dombivli. Now the catch was that Akash wasn't knowing that Sonam was the third teammate. It was supposed to be a surprise for him. I had just told him that a girl is going to join us this time. So this guy अगदी केस-बीस मस्त वींचरून came to Dombivli station on perfect time hoping to meet a new girl. But then he saw Sonam and he was “WTF!!!”. So it was three of us very comfortable with each other. I just knew that it was going to be a wonderful trek.

Sonam got some batteries from a local shop near dombivli station for her torch, which is “useless” for a day time trek according to Akash. The train was on time. We hopped in it, and our journey together started. I took a short nap in the train while Akash and Sonam were चपड चपडing their mornings out.

I woke up and saw a beautiful mountain peak from the train near Vangani station. I supposed that it was Chanderi. We went to the train door when we almost reached Neral. Matheran lied right ahead of us and I started picturing my route from Garbett Plateau. I made a mental line of the supposed trail on huge canvas of the mountain.

We got off at Bhivpuri Road station. We were blessed with a beautiful sunrise. We had breakfast in a local hotel on Karjat highway.

The trail started right at the end of the Diksal village. There is a beautiful lake to right of the village which we traversed from its left hand side. Sonam lead us through here using her navigation skills. The lake water was clear and steady with tri colored reflection of the yellowish mountains, green trees and blue sky.

After hiking around the lake we came across a water stream. Its magical sound filled us with some enthusiasm. We cooled ourselves off with the cold water and started again.

A small ascend had started now. We came by a huge tree along the trail. It provided ample cool shade. We sat here for a while admiring the views, when we realized that we had missed a turn after the stream and were now heading towards Sagachiwadi village which was to the southwest from our base village Bhutivaliwadi. Again my research said that Bhutiwali wadi can be reached through Sagachiwadi too. So we decided to stick to the taken trail.

We reached to the border of village Sagachiwadi in a short time and I decided to pass the village from its east and not entering it. When a kaka carrying stuff on his head asked us if we were heading towards Matheran. He told us to go through the village. We listened to him and started walking through the fields. Different fields here were at different heights. We had to climb up and down to avoid getting our shoes wet in a water stream. Following a trail we reached at Sagachiwadi Public well. It was a huge well. A मावशी was filling water there. Akash and Sonam helped her fill the utensils using the rope to pull water from the well using their s"trong" hands. I refilled one of my bottles with the well water. Somehow water from wells/cisterns streams is more thirst quenching than water we bring from the cities. I asked kaku the way to reach Bhutivali wadi village when she said that there is a trail to Garbett plateau right from this village. She said that it's easier and marked. We agreed to take the trail.

So again we started. So did the ascent. Ascent was steep but was tiring for us. We took occasional rest whenever we spotted some shade. We were maintaining our pace slow but steady. At a point we had a quick bite of Apples and Bananas. View now was awesome. We could see the lake, hill from where we started, the lake which we crossed., the way to the village, and the well from where we came right in front of us, in a single sight.

After our quick break we were able to maintain a steady pace up. Garbett plateau was just five minutes ahead when we saw down the valley. Wow what a splendid view lay ahead of us!. We could see our whole way and also Bhutiwali, wadi village which we were considering our base village. Canvas was golden and red with streaks of green.

Then we reached the plateau. It's plain was vast and golden with grass. It was magnificent. To the north there was the Garbett point and to the west there was Matheran hill station. View towards east was of course magnificent but view to Matheran valley in the west was also mesmerizing. There were few houses in Matheran valley too.

We walked on the Garbett plateau towards the Garbett point. We had our lunch below shade of a tree near the start of Garbett point ascent. After a while we saw monkeys hurrying down the Garbett point towards the plateau. We were almost through our lunch, so we packed our bags and started towards the point.

Here the ascend is a bit steep, with rock patches to climb in the middle. Akash had reached up before us and was sitting on a rock. So we sat on an adjacent rock and there it was ahead of us, The Garbett plateau. Golden with grass and cool patches of individual green trees.

We were talking when I realized that Sonam was meditating, we stopped talking and Akash asked me if I have a pencil. I said no, but then Sonam the stationary की दूकान took out a pencil and a notebook from her bag and gave it to Akash. Then Akash converted the pointed pencil lead into mountains, valleys , plateau, and trees. Everything was quiet till he finished. A kite floated above us in the air, its wings spread, its eyes on the ground looking for what he wanted. He will be up there until he gets it.

We started off again, reached the Garbett Point in seconds. The point is guarded by a grill. It was ironic to climb the edge which was guarded by the grill so that people won't fall off the edge. On viewing the valley and the plateau from that guarding grill we started to walk towards Dasturi naka, Matheran. Here the forest started, shading us off from the hot sun. Walk was pleasant. I saw a crowd of noisy 10 people walking towards us, wearing jeans and formals. They asked us how far to get there? I asked genuinely where there? For me there was a huge infinity. For them it was an iron railing.

Ahead we reached our last landmark, A Huge Stone, which was mentioned by my guru. I was advised to take the rightmost trail. We took it and a long walk took us right above the Neral Matheran valley serpentine road. Where weekend tourists were hooting, whistling, their lungs out in their vehicles. After a short while we reached Dasturi Naka. We realized that we were inside Matheran Hill Station. While I had read that the trail would lead us to toy train track from where we would reach outside the Hill Station Checkpoint. Anyways we walked towards the checkpoint, took a shared cab to Neral and descended down the serpentine road.

I have read in books that Hiking is more fun and enjoyable when done with people you know well and are comfortable with. On this hike everybody was comfortable with each other. Every time I hike with these few people I understand it better.

Wandering Off Far But Near To The End

I had decided to go to Surgad on whichever holiday came the next. दसरा आला. सुट्टी आली. Sushant agreed to join me.

We started a bit late than was decided. Not because we didn't wake up early but because we are scared of dogs. Yes we are, and I am ashamed of it!

We started at about 5.30 AM. It was dark, roads were empty. I was able to maintain 70kmph speed till I hit Pen highway.

But then the roads were not much in our favor. We made it to the base village, Vaijnath by 8.30. It's a modest village with sweet people

On reaching the village we asked a kid, " bike इथे park केली तर चालेल का?". Some women over heard us, actually misheard us. One of them said, "वरती गाडी न्हाई जात, चालत जावा". Sushant and I gave each other *looks*.

A kid told us to check in at police patil's house, his wife made sweet “गवति चहा” for us. It was good. We felt refreshed

I turned my GPS location tracker on, and started the trek

Besides the police patil's house there was a water tank, where women were filling water. The woman who had taunted us must have told the other women of our misinterpreted ignorance, because all of them were giggling as we went past them.

We just walked on the road in the village thinking that it would lead us to the trail, when we heard more giggling from behind. We looked back. The women were laughing loudly by now."अगदी पोटावर हात ठेऊन हसत होत्या!" They told us to take a left for the fort. We waved thank you. We went ahead through the fields of tall grass. To the right there is a small stream. and a huge well, from where the trail starts.

We were treading slowly, chatting our way up. The trail was well marked with arrows on stones. There were metal plates on trees as well where there are multiple paths.

We reached a plateau. From here we got a nice view of villages and plains below. Everything was light green. Like Sun was slowly converting color of the jungle with yellow, not at once but slowly, like you add chocolate in cake batter and whip it till it is dark brown.

We started again, reached a rock patch. There must have been steps here, which were destroyed by now.

We climbed in between two mountain walls, keeping large wall of Surgad to the left. The view from here was tremendous. It was like sitting on huge swing tied to the sky, from that V shaped cliff we could see nothing but beautiful wilderness.

The destroyed steps became prominent as we reached to the top. There was a moustached Maruti idol here.

We took some rest here, had our lunch.

We started off again after having lunch, We were almost at the top. Keeping Surgad to left there is a trail ahead, which curves to left where there are stone steps carved in stones, which will take you up. This is the edge of the mountain, The landscape below was painted with lakes and streams and villages.

We went up and saw tall dried light brown grass everywhere.

Here there is a very narrow trail covered with trodden long grass. After much hesitation we followed it ahead. There is a huge water pond ahead. The water in this pond seemed potable but was not easily accessible.

Further ahead there was a stone chair, which looked like a throne. This chair caught my eye because of a boat like structure behind it.

Further ahead were a group of water cisterns in the ground.

Water in these cisterns didn't seem potable.

We went till the north of the fort as long as there was a trail. The trail ended with a long stone wall. I climbed the wall and checked out the surrounding. There wasn't a way to go further without making way through the tall grass. We voted against it. I was firm on sticking to the trail. "खाली Stunt मत मार", was what my guru had instructed.

We decided to head back now.

We reached the moustached maruti statue and rested there for a while. Had some snacks.

It was about 11.30AM when we started the descent.

Sun was not much bright, the climate was pleasant. One good thing about this trek is the forest cover. It cools you down by letting only few streaks of sunlight on you.

We reached the open plateau and continued on the trail.

We were walking on the flat land when I realized that this wasn't the way we came up. I asked Sushant if he recollects it. He told me to check the GPS. I told him lets not as we would get used to it and won't be able to do without it in the future. I thought it was safe as we were on a proper trail and as we were descending we would definately get to the village.

The descend got steeper and I felt that we were on right track now. Thing was that we were not. Realizing that we should have reached the village by now I decided to finally check the GPS. We had totally missed a right diversion on the plateau and kept heading on some trail. We were pretty off track. but we were close to the start of the trek point. It seemed like a little hike towards the right and we would reach the base. So we took a waterfall route downwards.

The descend was not much steep but it kept getting narrower. There were thorny trees on the route. As we descended the thorny trees and branches started getting on our way.

We reached a trail  which was not much in use, but it was definitely a trail. I followed it, till we reached a dead end. Dead end as in the bushes and vegetation now got thicker around us and it was difficult to go ahead. I was scratched and pricked with thorns already. We could see a cactus plant compound right before us and just a 5 minute hike along it would have ended our trek. We went through the forest to find an entrance to the cactus compound. We had to stoop to avoid branches and thorns. There were thick spider webs in the way. We saw a huge spider in a web and decided not to follow this wilderness as we didn't know what was lurking under those leaves or behind those branches. Lack of knowledge and experience took its toll on me. I became a bit frustrated. Anxiety took over my sane mind and I started taking things under my control. After discussing with Sushant and checking if there was a trail we decided to head back the way we came till we reach the correct diversion. That it would just be safe rather than risking and wandering in wilderness.

We headed back. I was a bit disappointed in myself. It was taking a toll on me. Not because we were lost, but because I was careless while descending.

I gave my phone with GPS tracker app to Sushant and told him to lead, I knew that I wasn't in mental state to take any decision. He agreed.

Again ascent. I was feeling tired now. Its funny how your mind can make you feel extremely tired, or extremely energetic sometimes. My mind was making me feel tired, although I wasn't.

We met two villagers- a woman and a man who were carrying logs of wood on their heads. They were walking towards us. We asked them how to reach the village. They told us that we were on right track and the village was just further there. We asked if they were going to the same village. They said no. We decided not to head back but stick on the track.

We reached the diversion we had missed. After a while we even reached the well and the water stream to the base of the trek.

I washed myself of thorns and leaves and what not!. I checked the GPS and found out that the place we got stranded was just a little bit away from here. We went to check through the stream if it was accessible. We found out that it was just a few meters away across the plain of a field. We could have found a way as it was compounded by the villagers.

Were we lost? -  No

Was there a way ? -  May be

Could we have found it? -  May be, if we had look around properly.

Did we do the right thing? Heading back? Yes definitely. Because chances of error here were negligible, while chances of "safely" finding our way through the unknown were not negligible. We do not have much experience.

Maybe next time if I find myself in a similar situation I might do something different. Of Course first of all I will always try not to wander off.

What I learnt from this trek is

Keep a mental note of diversions and trails

No matter what staying calm is must.

Panicking is of no use in situations like these.

Getting lost and wandering off are two different things.

It is OK to wander off. It is NOT OK to panic.

We headed back towards the village. I Kept looking back at the mountain.

As we reached the village, we walked quietly towards my bike. Village seemed to be taking a afternoon nap. Women who made a laughing stock out of us were probably deep asleep after completing their daily tiring chores.

Part Of You

Written on 10th September 2015

After 7 consecutive weekends and 11 total treks/hikes in past months I still don't know what I am doing. I don't know if I am overdoing it or over obsessing about it. I don't want to give it a tag, be it passion, obsession, hobby, or anything else. I don't know where I am taking it. I don't know if I am taking it in right direction. I don't even know what "it" is. Some say its a recovery phase I am going through, some say I am trying to forget something, some say I am trying to prove something to myself. I don't know, but I even don't agree with any of these speculations. There is nothing to recover from, nothing to forget, nothing to prove.

I just want to go there. I don't feel "enlightened", "relaxed", "changed", "awed" by going there. Yes I learn a many things, some of which I am able to express, some of which I even can't think about consciously. May be I am selfish. Wilderness, mountains, etc. are all welcoming. They all seem to say the same thing, " I am here, and I always will be. I can't come to you. You have to come to me ". They do not tell me why. They just call me. I feel for them. I want to care for them. They let me care for them. There are no expectations. No promises. Just care. They let me be a part of them. When you are carrying a baby in your arms, the baby is a part of you. If there is a accident you will take care of it as if it's a part of your body. You will try to protect it with priority. Like when you fall on your face your hands go take the impact even if they hurt, safeguarding your body, your brain. Your brain is a part of your body. When you are in the wilderness, you are the wilderness, you are the mountain, the mountain is you, the wilderness is you.

No, I don't want to tag it with words like passion, obsession, hobby, conquer, glory, etc. whatever. I just want to go, to be a part of it. To care, to be cared.

“Thank you, for letting me be a part of you!”

The Question - Why

Written on - 3rd August 2015
What are we really trying to do?
Travelling really teaches us something. Every time you travel out of your routine, you learn something. Teaching you good, bad things like a moody professor is what's life is. A professor once told me " life me har aadmi se knowledge Lena chahiye, chahe fir wo aadmi koi bhi ho" (We should be able to learn something from everybody.)
Yes it's right, everybody can teach us something.
So a Sunday's trek from khopivali village to ahupe ghat taught me something from some people, people I never knew, strangers I never thought I would meet.
Tired and fatigued with Akash and Sudhindra, I  reached near a water cistern on the ghat.  I was admiring the cistern when a guy sat on a rock behind me. I bet be didn't make any noise. I asked him, how much time more to reach top from here? He smiled and said I will get there in 30 mins. You guys will take 1 and a half hour. I wasn't offended. As I knew very well that it could be true. Remembering the fact that I had already thrown up twice due to nausea and my calf muscles pained as if they were shouting their existence, I thought that this man is awesome.
And he really went in ahead on the trail swiftly and easily
He told us that he was going to Pune from some long route which I don't remember. He said that it would save him a hundred bucks.



We met him twice up there. It seemed that he was waiting on us. Akash was a little skeptical of his presence. Akash asked him. " you were gonna reach in 30 mins. How come you're still here? "
He smiled and replied " I thought you guys are going so I have company i am taking a far away route just because I have 100 bucks less on me. It would help me a lot if you help me with 100 bucks.".
We didn't give him money. He went on his own.
When we reached ahupe and were having our lunch. A farmer brought his buffaloes on the field. He started to have a conversation with us. We spoke with him for a while, then while leaving he asked us " are you going to visit someone in the village " we said no we will get back down. He asked us coldly, "what's fun in coming here? I don't get you people ". He went a few steps ahead and pointed us to another group of trekkers.
These two incidents made me think why, why why am I doing this. This route used by villagers on daily basis have no clue why we take the same route and come back? Why a guy trying to save money takes the route? We had even spent more than him, just for coming on that route.
What was worse. The guy asking for money or me asking why. Why am I doing this.

First Solo Trek

Written on 10th August 2015

First solo trek.

This was an unplanned event. Planned but not planned.

Kalavantin durg was the planned one but unavailability of partners and commitment with them about that trek was an issue. Also I wanted to try something with offbeat partners.

Not that I hate people I go with, it's just that the priorities and reasons I go to the mountains are very different from their reasons. Again that doesn’t mean that I am better than them or they are not so good. Its just the things they do on a trek do not fit in things I want to do.

For instance I do like photography, but I don’t click photos for preserving memories. Yes, photographs can be good memories but people have to start preserving something in their memories too.

So stopping every now and then if there is something photographic is not a problem or an issue but stopping every now and then to click your own photo with the subject is a big turn off for me.

So I asked my trek guru for the Neral - Peb -Neral trek route, which was supposed to be a long trek. I asked him whether it was safe enough for me to do it solo( just out of curiosity and enthusiasm ). He strictly said no and gave me this another trek near murbad, which was safe and easy and pleasant.  

I asked around people who I thought would make a difference in my trekking experience ( Yes I was being selfish ). After lots of pleading and lots of convincing, people politely refused me. I felt bad yes. I felt lonely, yes.  I even cancelled the plan out of rage and sadness, but then the people who “politely” refused me were the ones who got me out of my rage and sadness and motivated me to keep up the plan. Somewhere the “Show must go On” enthusiasm took over me and I decided to go. ( Note for the “people” involved - I know it was a lots of emotional drama. I am sorry if I hurt anyone and am really really thankful for your efforts and precious time ).

Ok, then…

Motivation - Checked

Enthusiasm - Checked

Willingness - Checked

Lie to parents - Checked ( Of Course they didn’t knew that I was going solo ).

I was feeling lonely though when I started my ride. But then I gave it up for the beautiful morning and the green roads. I started singing songs( Pretty much loudly ). I reached the town from where I was to take the village route. I felt damn hungry, but I didn’t want to stuff myself. So I agreed on junk snack. I didn’t enjoy it. I tried to hurry through it. It’s weird to have junk food alone on a stall.

After eating I again started my ride towards the base village. It was a long ride. A man going towards the same village asked for a lift and I agreed. I reached the village. Parked the bike at a safe spot under a shed. Took a kid along to guide me towards the start of the trail. Reached the trail and started the trek( Yes, solo ). I couldn’t see the mountain where I was supposed to go because of fog and rains, but I decided to stick to the most prominent trail whenever I came through a diversion or multiple routes. I used my instincts( not my skills as I don't have any yet ) and my amateur internet blog research. Yes I was a bit paranoid and bit extra careful, I was surrounded by a jungle after all. I am scared of snakes as I don’t know enough about their behavior. Trail was fairly simple, it comprised of a few ascends and a few straight walks and monkeys. Ascend towards the end was a bit steep. It took a test of my not so good stamina and endurance. As happened on a couple of treks before I felt nauseous. I took a rest for quite a while. Started again when I felt better. Now I could see my destination and I was again enthusiastic. I went ahead with excitement and guess what it was just 5 mins from where I was. I said to myself, Yes it’s all worth it.

I realized that I am alone up there, It was a feeling I had never had in my entire life. There was a jungle under me and there wasn’t anyone ahead of me in kilometers(I could see the trail, there was no one on it).

I spent some time up there, clicked a few photos. Had some snack, then I saw a few people coming up on the trail. I still had some time all by myself there. I decided to start my descent as soon as they reach up.

I started the descent as soon as they got up. I took the same trail downwards. Was extra careful as it was slippery and as there was no one with me. Went a bit off trail but i realized it soon and found the correct route quickly.  I looked back towards the mountain when I had descended quite a bit and saw that the fog had lifted, clicked a few pictures, made a mental note of the confusing trails and headed towards the base village.

I reached the parking spot, spoke to a villager who was friendly to me in the morning and started my ride back.

Note: Going alone for me was more of not finding company at the last moment. I was guided well about the route and the trek. Wilderness is a vast unknown, which is to be respected and cared. Remember- We are the visitors there. Don't overdo the welcome!