Originally Posted on: Sunday, March 4, 2012
Yesterday (3-3-2012), I went on a Trekking trip to Rajmachi. It was a great experience (a statement even I wouldn't expect from a lazy couch-potato like me).
It so happens that one of my friends in office, Sushant, is a regular trekker. He invited guys from my team on this trek. Everyone agreed and there was no reason for me not to. And that's how I got myself involved into this little adventure.
The Auspicious Beginning
On Friday (2-3-2012), me and 4 of my team members (Rahul, Ashish, Sam and Rizwan) left office on time (shamelessly leaving our poor TL to grapple with the bug-infested code). The Thane bus dropped us at Kanjurmarg. From there we caught a train and went to Rahul's home in Ambernath.
It was a nice experience. We got to meet his family, especially his playful cute little daughter. Rahul and his family proved to be very generous hosts. We freshened up, had some nice food, and decided to catch a few winks. The plan was to meet Sushant and the rest of the trekking team at Ambernath station. So we had up to 1:15 am to catch some sleep. But the 5 of us were busy chatting (mostly cribbing about the job in general and the boss in particular :-P) until midnight. Then one by one they all fell asleep - except for me. For some reason, the fact that we had to get up in an hour's time kept nagging at me and 1:15 am found me still awake as alarms went off in more that 1 mobile phones. We brushed, freshened up and left for the Ambernath station.
The ticket window was closed (obviously). We punched some coupons we had, and met Sushant and the rest of the gang at platform number 2. From there we caught the 2:15 am train. It was the last train to Karjat.
Sushant was accompanied by 6 others including Sachin, Amol, Nilesh, Shobith, Aditya and Harshal. All of them are regular trekkers, which showed later as the 5 of us (apart from Rahul and to some extent, Sam) struggled while the rest trekked effortlessly.
Most of us fell asleep in the train, but for some reason I was still wide awake. Same was the case as we spent 2 and a half hours on the Karjat railway platform, waiting impatiently for morning to arrive. It was a long wait indeed. Sam entertained us with his tales from his days when he was studying in Delhi.
It was cold and getting colder as the night progressed. There was no tea available on the station. The first tea-stall opened outside the station after 5:00 am. Most of us had some nice warmth from the tea and the little bonfire lighted besides the tea stall.
On our way to start the Trek
We left the station at around 5:30 am. The first lap of our journey involved traveling to the Kondivade village that resides near the foot of Rajmachi. We were informed that we could get a 6-sitter rickshaw or an ST bus from a nearby bridge. It took us 15-20 minutes of brisk walking to reach this bridge. There was a rest-stand nearby. There was a ledge (bench like, build into the wall) that stretched along all the 3 walls. We went inside and sat down. It had no lights. It was dark and smelled of fish. Most of us tried to catch a few winks. I was still wide awake.
We missed a ST Bus which did not stop long enough for us to run out and hail it. But soon a rickshaw arrived. It was a 6 seater. The driver said, he could accommodate 10 people. All 12 of us crammed into the rick. I was the last one to go in. Already the vehicle was crammed with guys and bags. 3 guys were sitting in the front with the driver (Aditya, the leanest one, was on Sachin's lap). 7 (3 + 4) were sitting on the two 6-seater-seats. One more was sitting on the left hand side rod that blocks the entry-door at that side. Where was I supposed to sit, or even stand? Sushant, who was sitting near the door let me sit on his legs, with my backside jutting out of the door.
It was a rough ride. I could feel every bump in the road in the strained muscles of my body. I was unable to get my bowels cleaned up during the night. I had made the mistake of mentioning it to some of my friends. And there was some teasing about my "doors opening up" at the wrong moment. I took it all in stride. But soon most of them were dozing off. I was too uncomfortable to even think of sleeping.
As we neared the village, Sushant, now quite awake, suddenly said "Hey, look, that Dog". At first I did not get what he was referring to. Street dogs are quite common everywhere and I had no idea what the fuss was all about. So I looked back and there it was. A somewhat dirty furry canine chasing the rick, right below where my butt was hanging out of the door! I was scared. Getting my backside bitten off was the last thing on my agenda for the trek... But fortunately we reached the end point just then. The rick stopped and I jumped out. The dog had stopped a few paces back. It approached us cautiously. At first we all ignored it and started walking our way towards the foot of the Rajmachi forts. But it kept following us. It looked tired from its long chase of the rick. So finally, one of us threw a biscuit at it. We thought it would now leave us, but after gobbling away the biscuit, it kept following us. None of us had imagined that this dog would follow us all the way to the top of the Shrivardhan fort and back! Later we named him Yedu.
Somewhere near the foot of the hills, we stopped for some tea and snacks at one of the houses in the village. The sky was beginning to brighten, but the sun was still hiding behind the hills. We all had Poha and some had Vadapav. Some of us even had double helpings of poha. It was tasty. The tea was especially awesome. The proprietor owned a dog named Khandya. It was a small canine, probably just 4-6 months old. But was it full of spunk! That little dog kept growling and trying to intimidate Yedu! It was curious too. When Aditya suddenly decided to change into his trekking gear, and went inside the house, Khandya followed him in to investigate.
The Trek Finally Begins
Finally, with our stomachs full with (much-more-than-)breakfast, we moved on. The Sun was finally sneak-peeking above the edge of the hills. Further on, we took a left turn and that's when our trek began. We passed an Emu farm. The terrain was flat for a while. But it soon gave way to boulder-strewn rough terrain. Foliage became denser and the trail we were following became narrower. Now we were in business.
Yedu and Pedu, our resourceful canine guides
Somewhere during this time, Yedu was joined by another dog. We named it Pedu. These two canines kept walking with us all the way. It might sound unbelievable, but they were acting like guides to us. One dog would accompany the leading guys, while one of them would wait until the last one of the group had passed it, and then trail us. The trailing one would sometimes get impatient of the slow pace of the laggers and then it would dash forward right past us, sometimes passing between our legs! But both of them acted pretty intelligent. They both had specific tastes. Neither would touch plain bread or sweet laddoo. But they easily ate biscuits and stuff. Every now and then, we would stop and offer them water. We would pour some inside a concavity in some rock, and the two would lap it up thirstily. Both of them guided us and followed us up to the top of the fort. But on our way back, Pedu got enamoured to a tasty looking hen in the Rajmachi village. That's where we parted ways with Pedu. As for Yedu, he faithfully kept us company right till the end of the trek. During the afternoon, as we descended back on our way down, Yedu would follow us for a while. Then he would find some nice shadow, lie down panting, take some rest and then he would come bounding back to our group. He kept us company until we reached back to the Kondivade village. And then he disappeared as suddenly and mysteriously as he had appeared. That was the last we saw of him.
Up, up and (the destination is so far) away...
On our way, we visited the Kondane Caves. One can see some pretty nice stone carvings on the walls of the caves. As we moved on, we passed open plateaus that afforded us a great view of the ever expanding miniature landscape below. We also passed a few dry waterfall beds. Now the stress was beginning to show on some of us, especially Rizwan and Ashish. Even I would have felt tired since I am as out-of-shape as they are. But I like climbing. I was enjoying every moment of it. So was Sam. He was in a great mood. One time, at the mention of Rajmachi, Sam asked "where is the Rajma in Rajmachi?" Yup, only a true foodie like Sam would see the "Rajma" in "Rajma"chi...
In fact, Sam was so excited, that once he mentioned "Its great we came along. This Sushant revived the dead worm of trekking inside me." But following our careers and the soft city life, we all had become out-of-shape. And by the time we reached halfway, it was beginning to tell. Later when I asked Sam about his trekking worm, wiping his sweaty forehead, he said "What trekking worm? Its already dead, man."
But this was not the case with Sushant, Sachin and the rest of the regular trekkers. They were experienced. They moved faster and effortlessly. We lagged behind. Me and Rizwan always managed to be the tail end of the group. By the time we reached a clearing, the rest of them would be waiting, some sitting, some refreshing themselves with precious gulps of water. As a consequence we hardly got much chance to rest.
The Sun was trekking too, as it ascended towards the center of the sky, and we all had discarded our sweaters and jackets. The shivering cold of the yester-night was a distant memory. We all were sweating and puffing and breathing heavily. Each of us had carried at least a couple of 1 liter water bottles. Its back-breaking, yes. But its the most precious thing you will carry on your trek. Apart from water, the 5 of us were carrying some picnic snacks (bread, jam, biscuits, etc) we had bought at Ambernath. Again our inexperience showed. Picnic snacks are not much use on long treks. The experienced ones carried Glucon-D, chocolates, oranges, etc. Glucon-D was especially useful - an instant source of energy. Our Trek Guide (Sushant) and Trek Leader (Sachin) advised us to have it raw, in its powder form, instead of wasting precious water to mix it with.
Sushant, the avid photographer, was always busy clicking away either using his Cam or using his Mobile phone. I tried to click a few snaps, but as the going got rough, carrying the camera in the hand became too cumbersome. So I stowed it away for good. I would have liked to click a lot more pictures. But I had to have both my hands free in order to balance myself at some rough spots.
Sachin, the Trek Leader set our pace. He would advise us where to stop and for how long. He would rush us whenever we were lagging behind schedule. And in a way, it was a good thing. Its important to stick to the schedule when on a trek. If you take up too much time on your way up, you will have to hazard a descent in the fading light of the dusk.
We conquer the Fort...
After what seemed like eternity, with cramps threatening to stop us in our tracks, we finally reached what appeared to be the end of our mountainous trail. it was past 11:30. The Sun was high in the sky. We saw in front of us a flat plateau, and to our left hand side, above a cliff, was the Manaranjan Fort. As we followed the wide well-trodden trail, we came upon the small Rajmachi village. We decided to place an order for food at one of the villager's place. Then we continued on our way to the Shrivardhan Fort. The climb became even more rough as the cliff became steeper and steeper the nearer we approached the fort.
Riz and I take a bold decision...
Somewhere near the entrance of the fort, we were passing a steep cliff-face. Sushant, Shobhit and Aditya had stopped and were debating whether to risk climbing the wall, instead of following the regular easier route. Rizwan was dead tired so I was surprised when he said "Lets climb from here". It was a thrilling prospect for me too. So I encouraged him. Shobhit had already scaled the wall and reached the top. Rizwan started climbing and I followed. Sushant was encouraging us from below. Somewhere in between, Rizwan appeared to get stuck. He could not find a foot-hold to proceed. Then Sachin arrived above us. He guided Rizwan and Rizwan reached the top. All this while I was stalled at one place. Before I began to proceed, Aditya passed me. He is light-weight and very agile. He eats so little, yet where he gets all his energy from, God only knows.
I proceeded further and then I got stuck. My legs had gone wobbly. My foot-hold was weak and so were my hand-holds. I could not seem to find the next strong foot-hold. Neither was there a prominent enough hand-hold in sight. Now I was really scared. Was I gonna let go and fall down? Should I stay where I was, and cry for help? Help from where and from whom? I was right in the middle of nowhere. Where were the guys gonna get help from? Would someone from the village come with ropes to rescue me? How long could I hold on? All these scary thoughts raced through my mind. But the fear pushed me forward. In one of those rare occasions, I took the name of God, and forced myself to move up. I groped with my hands and pushed with my legs and soon I was heaving myself at the top where the others were standing. Sushant followed me. What took me 5-10 minutes to scale, Sushant climbed in less than half a minute. He was that fast!
When I finally reached the top, I was thrilled and scared and fascinated and terrified. It was a great experience. In fact it was so great that I decided then and there I would not repeat such a reckless feat again in my life... Am I a scaredly rat or what?
The Shrivardhan Fort
Finally we had reached the fort. Most of the walls and fortifications are crumbling. But the view from up there was awesome. I could see the valley below, the village we had left behind a few moments back on the mountainous plateau below, a lake on it's left and the Manaranjan Fort on its right.
After a brief photo-session, we began our descent. This time I was really scared. I like climbing. I can do it, with some efforts. But descending down is very difficult for me. I always seem about to loose my balance and pitch forward. So I usually descend slowly and cautiously, making use of my hands wherever I need to. Sometimes I have to squat on my backside and slide myself down from one boulder to the next one. The boulders were hot, their edges were sharp. My hands and my bum were scraped and sore. But apart from the initial difficult patch, our descent to the village was comparatively smooth. But my legs were done for. I was having intermittent cramps and all my leg muscles were aching. Sachin suggested we next proceed to the Manaranjan fort. But we decided to instead have food first. And a good thing too. I don't think I could have managed one more climb.
Lunch-time, at last!
We reached the Rajmachi village and had lunch. Some of us had ordered Lunch plate which consisted of traditional Maharastrian style potato bhaji, bhakri, rice and dal. Others had ordered the traditional Jhunka Bhakar. Me and Rahul had got tiffins. But I tasted the food from others and it was very tasty. Then again, isn't hunger the best appetizer?
After lunch, we visited the lake. There is a small ancient Shiv Temple near the lake. We took some rest in it's cool shade. There I finally fell asleep - the first wink I had in more than 36 hours. I managed to sleep for just 15 minutes but it felt like eternity. When I was jolted awake by Sushant, I had a massive cramp in my leg. I had to rest for a while. Sachin offered me a Relispray (these guys were really well-prepared), but I declined.
Finally I felt a bit better and we started off on our way back.
The hellish Descent
Descent was difficult and not just for me alone. Most thought it would be easy but for some of us it wasn't. Sushant, Sachin, Aditya and some of the others pulled it off pretty effortlessly. But me, Rizwan, Ashish and Amol found it pretty difficult. Even Sam had a massive headache. Fortunately most of us were equipped with caps.
One time, Ashish lost his footing and slided down. Sushant and Nilesh tried to hold him, but he slipped past. Finally Rizwan caught him, with one hand, his other hand holding a nearby tree branch for support. So, Aditya carried Ashish's bag and Sachin carried Amol's.
Our clothes were dirty, our bodies sweaty. Our faces were shining red with the heat and sweat.
I myself was pretty tired. I had to rest every now and then. While climbing, I had managed to ascend most of the part without much rest. But now I had to stop and rest whenever I could. While climbing I had lent a helping hand and encouragement whenever I could. But now I was just concentrating selfishly on myself.
Rizwan on the other hand seemed to have gained his "second wind". He would stop but hardly did he ever sit down - always standing, ready to proceed.
When descending, it is a good idea to hold a strong stick. It helps a lot. Nothing fancy required. Ant strong enough branch would suffice. Rizwan an I did the mistake of not carrying a stick, which we realized much later.
We finally reached the foot of the hill. But the village was pretty far. Now we all were so tired that even this simple straight walk was becoming impossible. We had run out of water. Time was running out. Our plan was to reach Karjat by 6:00 pm. It was already 5:00 and we had not yet reached the Kondivade village.
The Final Countdown
Then came the tractor. We spotted it as it clamoured noisily from behind us. We hailed it. The idea was to ask the driver to give Ashish (who was badly exhausted) a lift. Sachin decided to accompany him. There was seating space for only 2 people on either side of the driver. But is so happened that a wagon was hitched to the back of the tractor. The driver said he could give a lift to all of us if we climbed into the wagon. But the wagon was full of wet earth. And we would have to sit on top of it. As they say, "necessity, thy name is Gandhiji". As I began to climb up, I felt my legs cramp. I just climbed over and flopped down in the middle on the wet earth. I couldn't even move out of the way as others climbed up. Some were squatting, some were sitting, some were standing as the tractor lumbered towards Kondivade village. It was dangerous as there were no hand-hold of any kind. Those who could not find place to sit like I was, had to hold on to each of us as the tractor swayed this way and that.
Finally we reached Kondivade village. There we hailed the first available 6-sitter. Just like morning, we, the dirty dozen, jammed ourselves into the single 6-seater and finally reached Karjat. From Karjat, we caught the 6:15 train headed for Mumbai CST. I got down at Dadar with Sam, Ashish and Rizwan. Then we caught the 8:30 Borivali train and thats how I finally reached home.
Finally, home sweet home...
I was tired, my muscles ached. My clothes were dirty. I "smelled like a wet dog" (to quote my sister, word for word). I had some dinner, popped a painkiller and went to sleep. Right this moment as I am writing this blog, my legs are still aching. Was it worth it? I think it certainly was. If you ask me, will I go for another trek? The couch-potato in me compels me to deny flatly. But the feeble voice of the newborn trekker inside me says "May be"...
Yesterday (3-3-2012), I went on a Trekking trip to Rajmachi. It was a great experience (a statement even I wouldn't expect from a lazy couch-potato like me).
It so happens that one of my friends in office, Sushant, is a regular trekker. He invited guys from my team on this trek. Everyone agreed and there was no reason for me not to. And that's how I got myself involved into this little adventure.
The Auspicious Beginning
On Friday (2-3-2012), me and 4 of my team members (Rahul, Ashish, Sam and Rizwan) left office on time (shamelessly leaving our poor TL to grapple with the bug-infested code). The Thane bus dropped us at Kanjurmarg. From there we caught a train and went to Rahul's home in Ambernath.
It was a nice experience. We got to meet his family, especially his playful cute little daughter. Rahul and his family proved to be very generous hosts. We freshened up, had some nice food, and decided to catch a few winks. The plan was to meet Sushant and the rest of the trekking team at Ambernath station. So we had up to 1:15 am to catch some sleep. But the 5 of us were busy chatting (mostly cribbing about the job in general and the boss in particular :-P) until midnight. Then one by one they all fell asleep - except for me. For some reason, the fact that we had to get up in an hour's time kept nagging at me and 1:15 am found me still awake as alarms went off in more that 1 mobile phones. We brushed, freshened up and left for the Ambernath station.
The ticket window was closed (obviously). We punched some coupons we had, and met Sushant and the rest of the gang at platform number 2. From there we caught the 2:15 am train. It was the last train to Karjat.
Sushant was accompanied by 6 others including Sachin, Amol, Nilesh, Shobith, Aditya and Harshal. All of them are regular trekkers, which showed later as the 5 of us (apart from Rahul and to some extent, Sam) struggled while the rest trekked effortlessly.
Most of us fell asleep in the train, but for some reason I was still wide awake. Same was the case as we spent 2 and a half hours on the Karjat railway platform, waiting impatiently for morning to arrive. It was a long wait indeed. Sam entertained us with his tales from his days when he was studying in Delhi.
It was cold and getting colder as the night progressed. There was no tea available on the station. The first tea-stall opened outside the station after 5:00 am. Most of us had some nice warmth from the tea and the little bonfire lighted besides the tea stall.
On our way to start the Trek
We left the station at around 5:30 am. The first lap of our journey involved traveling to the Kondivade village that resides near the foot of Rajmachi. We were informed that we could get a 6-sitter rickshaw or an ST bus from a nearby bridge. It took us 15-20 minutes of brisk walking to reach this bridge. There was a rest-stand nearby. There was a ledge (bench like, build into the wall) that stretched along all the 3 walls. We went inside and sat down. It had no lights. It was dark and smelled of fish. Most of us tried to catch a few winks. I was still wide awake.
We missed a ST Bus which did not stop long enough for us to run out and hail it. But soon a rickshaw arrived. It was a 6 seater. The driver said, he could accommodate 10 people. All 12 of us crammed into the rick. I was the last one to go in. Already the vehicle was crammed with guys and bags. 3 guys were sitting in the front with the driver (Aditya, the leanest one, was on Sachin's lap). 7 (3 + 4) were sitting on the two 6-seater-seats. One more was sitting on the left hand side rod that blocks the entry-door at that side. Where was I supposed to sit, or even stand? Sushant, who was sitting near the door let me sit on his legs, with my backside jutting out of the door.
It was a rough ride. I could feel every bump in the road in the strained muscles of my body. I was unable to get my bowels cleaned up during the night. I had made the mistake of mentioning it to some of my friends. And there was some teasing about my "doors opening up" at the wrong moment. I took it all in stride. But soon most of them were dozing off. I was too uncomfortable to even think of sleeping.
As we neared the village, Sushant, now quite awake, suddenly said "Hey, look, that Dog". At first I did not get what he was referring to. Street dogs are quite common everywhere and I had no idea what the fuss was all about. So I looked back and there it was. A somewhat dirty furry canine chasing the rick, right below where my butt was hanging out of the door! I was scared. Getting my backside bitten off was the last thing on my agenda for the trek... But fortunately we reached the end point just then. The rick stopped and I jumped out. The dog had stopped a few paces back. It approached us cautiously. At first we all ignored it and started walking our way towards the foot of the Rajmachi forts. But it kept following us. It looked tired from its long chase of the rick. So finally, one of us threw a biscuit at it. We thought it would now leave us, but after gobbling away the biscuit, it kept following us. None of us had imagined that this dog would follow us all the way to the top of the Shrivardhan fort and back! Later we named him Yedu.
Somewhere near the foot of the hills, we stopped for some tea and snacks at one of the houses in the village. The sky was beginning to brighten, but the sun was still hiding behind the hills. We all had Poha and some had Vadapav. Some of us even had double helpings of poha. It was tasty. The tea was especially awesome. The proprietor owned a dog named Khandya. It was a small canine, probably just 4-6 months old. But was it full of spunk! That little dog kept growling and trying to intimidate Yedu! It was curious too. When Aditya suddenly decided to change into his trekking gear, and went inside the house, Khandya followed him in to investigate.
The Trek Finally Begins
Finally, with our stomachs full with (much-more-than-)breakfast, we moved on. The Sun was finally sneak-peeking above the edge of the hills. Further on, we took a left turn and that's when our trek began. We passed an Emu farm. The terrain was flat for a while. But it soon gave way to boulder-strewn rough terrain. Foliage became denser and the trail we were following became narrower. Now we were in business.
Yedu and Pedu, our resourceful canine guides
Somewhere during this time, Yedu was joined by another dog. We named it Pedu. These two canines kept walking with us all the way. It might sound unbelievable, but they were acting like guides to us. One dog would accompany the leading guys, while one of them would wait until the last one of the group had passed it, and then trail us. The trailing one would sometimes get impatient of the slow pace of the laggers and then it would dash forward right past us, sometimes passing between our legs! But both of them acted pretty intelligent. They both had specific tastes. Neither would touch plain bread or sweet laddoo. But they easily ate biscuits and stuff. Every now and then, we would stop and offer them water. We would pour some inside a concavity in some rock, and the two would lap it up thirstily. Both of them guided us and followed us up to the top of the fort. But on our way back, Pedu got enamoured to a tasty looking hen in the Rajmachi village. That's where we parted ways with Pedu. As for Yedu, he faithfully kept us company right till the end of the trek. During the afternoon, as we descended back on our way down, Yedu would follow us for a while. Then he would find some nice shadow, lie down panting, take some rest and then he would come bounding back to our group. He kept us company until we reached back to the Kondivade village. And then he disappeared as suddenly and mysteriously as he had appeared. That was the last we saw of him.
Up, up and (the destination is so far) away...
On our way, we visited the Kondane Caves. One can see some pretty nice stone carvings on the walls of the caves. As we moved on, we passed open plateaus that afforded us a great view of the ever expanding miniature landscape below. We also passed a few dry waterfall beds. Now the stress was beginning to show on some of us, especially Rizwan and Ashish. Even I would have felt tired since I am as out-of-shape as they are. But I like climbing. I was enjoying every moment of it. So was Sam. He was in a great mood. One time, at the mention of Rajmachi, Sam asked "where is the Rajma in Rajmachi?" Yup, only a true foodie like Sam would see the "Rajma" in "Rajma"chi...
In fact, Sam was so excited, that once he mentioned "Its great we came along. This Sushant revived the dead worm of trekking inside me." But following our careers and the soft city life, we all had become out-of-shape. And by the time we reached halfway, it was beginning to tell. Later when I asked Sam about his trekking worm, wiping his sweaty forehead, he said "What trekking worm? Its already dead, man."
But this was not the case with Sushant, Sachin and the rest of the regular trekkers. They were experienced. They moved faster and effortlessly. We lagged behind. Me and Rizwan always managed to be the tail end of the group. By the time we reached a clearing, the rest of them would be waiting, some sitting, some refreshing themselves with precious gulps of water. As a consequence we hardly got much chance to rest.
The Sun was trekking too, as it ascended towards the center of the sky, and we all had discarded our sweaters and jackets. The shivering cold of the yester-night was a distant memory. We all were sweating and puffing and breathing heavily. Each of us had carried at least a couple of 1 liter water bottles. Its back-breaking, yes. But its the most precious thing you will carry on your trek. Apart from water, the 5 of us were carrying some picnic snacks (bread, jam, biscuits, etc) we had bought at Ambernath. Again our inexperience showed. Picnic snacks are not much use on long treks. The experienced ones carried Glucon-D, chocolates, oranges, etc. Glucon-D was especially useful - an instant source of energy. Our Trek Guide (Sushant) and Trek Leader (Sachin) advised us to have it raw, in its powder form, instead of wasting precious water to mix it with.
Sushant, the avid photographer, was always busy clicking away either using his Cam or using his Mobile phone. I tried to click a few snaps, but as the going got rough, carrying the camera in the hand became too cumbersome. So I stowed it away for good. I would have liked to click a lot more pictures. But I had to have both my hands free in order to balance myself at some rough spots.
Sachin, the Trek Leader set our pace. He would advise us where to stop and for how long. He would rush us whenever we were lagging behind schedule. And in a way, it was a good thing. Its important to stick to the schedule when on a trek. If you take up too much time on your way up, you will have to hazard a descent in the fading light of the dusk.
We conquer the Fort...
After what seemed like eternity, with cramps threatening to stop us in our tracks, we finally reached what appeared to be the end of our mountainous trail. it was past 11:30. The Sun was high in the sky. We saw in front of us a flat plateau, and to our left hand side, above a cliff, was the Manaranjan Fort. As we followed the wide well-trodden trail, we came upon the small Rajmachi village. We decided to place an order for food at one of the villager's place. Then we continued on our way to the Shrivardhan Fort. The climb became even more rough as the cliff became steeper and steeper the nearer we approached the fort.
Riz and I take a bold decision...
Somewhere near the entrance of the fort, we were passing a steep cliff-face. Sushant, Shobhit and Aditya had stopped and were debating whether to risk climbing the wall, instead of following the regular easier route. Rizwan was dead tired so I was surprised when he said "Lets climb from here". It was a thrilling prospect for me too. So I encouraged him. Shobhit had already scaled the wall and reached the top. Rizwan started climbing and I followed. Sushant was encouraging us from below. Somewhere in between, Rizwan appeared to get stuck. He could not find a foot-hold to proceed. Then Sachin arrived above us. He guided Rizwan and Rizwan reached the top. All this while I was stalled at one place. Before I began to proceed, Aditya passed me. He is light-weight and very agile. He eats so little, yet where he gets all his energy from, God only knows.
I proceeded further and then I got stuck. My legs had gone wobbly. My foot-hold was weak and so were my hand-holds. I could not seem to find the next strong foot-hold. Neither was there a prominent enough hand-hold in sight. Now I was really scared. Was I gonna let go and fall down? Should I stay where I was, and cry for help? Help from where and from whom? I was right in the middle of nowhere. Where were the guys gonna get help from? Would someone from the village come with ropes to rescue me? How long could I hold on? All these scary thoughts raced through my mind. But the fear pushed me forward. In one of those rare occasions, I took the name of God, and forced myself to move up. I groped with my hands and pushed with my legs and soon I was heaving myself at the top where the others were standing. Sushant followed me. What took me 5-10 minutes to scale, Sushant climbed in less than half a minute. He was that fast!
When I finally reached the top, I was thrilled and scared and fascinated and terrified. It was a great experience. In fact it was so great that I decided then and there I would not repeat such a reckless feat again in my life... Am I a scaredly rat or what?
The Shrivardhan Fort
Finally we had reached the fort. Most of the walls and fortifications are crumbling. But the view from up there was awesome. I could see the valley below, the village we had left behind a few moments back on the mountainous plateau below, a lake on it's left and the Manaranjan Fort on its right.
After a brief photo-session, we began our descent. This time I was really scared. I like climbing. I can do it, with some efforts. But descending down is very difficult for me. I always seem about to loose my balance and pitch forward. So I usually descend slowly and cautiously, making use of my hands wherever I need to. Sometimes I have to squat on my backside and slide myself down from one boulder to the next one. The boulders were hot, their edges were sharp. My hands and my bum were scraped and sore. But apart from the initial difficult patch, our descent to the village was comparatively smooth. But my legs were done for. I was having intermittent cramps and all my leg muscles were aching. Sachin suggested we next proceed to the Manaranjan fort. But we decided to instead have food first. And a good thing too. I don't think I could have managed one more climb.
Lunch-time, at last!
We reached the Rajmachi village and had lunch. Some of us had ordered Lunch plate which consisted of traditional Maharastrian style potato bhaji, bhakri, rice and dal. Others had ordered the traditional Jhunka Bhakar. Me and Rahul had got tiffins. But I tasted the food from others and it was very tasty. Then again, isn't hunger the best appetizer?
After lunch, we visited the lake. There is a small ancient Shiv Temple near the lake. We took some rest in it's cool shade. There I finally fell asleep - the first wink I had in more than 36 hours. I managed to sleep for just 15 minutes but it felt like eternity. When I was jolted awake by Sushant, I had a massive cramp in my leg. I had to rest for a while. Sachin offered me a Relispray (these guys were really well-prepared), but I declined.
Finally I felt a bit better and we started off on our way back.
The hellish Descent
Descent was difficult and not just for me alone. Most thought it would be easy but for some of us it wasn't. Sushant, Sachin, Aditya and some of the others pulled it off pretty effortlessly. But me, Rizwan, Ashish and Amol found it pretty difficult. Even Sam had a massive headache. Fortunately most of us were equipped with caps.
One time, Ashish lost his footing and slided down. Sushant and Nilesh tried to hold him, but he slipped past. Finally Rizwan caught him, with one hand, his other hand holding a nearby tree branch for support. So, Aditya carried Ashish's bag and Sachin carried Amol's.
Our clothes were dirty, our bodies sweaty. Our faces were shining red with the heat and sweat.
I myself was pretty tired. I had to rest every now and then. While climbing, I had managed to ascend most of the part without much rest. But now I had to stop and rest whenever I could. While climbing I had lent a helping hand and encouragement whenever I could. But now I was just concentrating selfishly on myself.
Rizwan on the other hand seemed to have gained his "second wind". He would stop but hardly did he ever sit down - always standing, ready to proceed.
When descending, it is a good idea to hold a strong stick. It helps a lot. Nothing fancy required. Ant strong enough branch would suffice. Rizwan an I did the mistake of not carrying a stick, which we realized much later.
We finally reached the foot of the hill. But the village was pretty far. Now we all were so tired that even this simple straight walk was becoming impossible. We had run out of water. Time was running out. Our plan was to reach Karjat by 6:00 pm. It was already 5:00 and we had not yet reached the Kondivade village.
The Final Countdown
Then came the tractor. We spotted it as it clamoured noisily from behind us. We hailed it. The idea was to ask the driver to give Ashish (who was badly exhausted) a lift. Sachin decided to accompany him. There was seating space for only 2 people on either side of the driver. But is so happened that a wagon was hitched to the back of the tractor. The driver said he could give a lift to all of us if we climbed into the wagon. But the wagon was full of wet earth. And we would have to sit on top of it. As they say, "necessity, thy name is Gandhiji". As I began to climb up, I felt my legs cramp. I just climbed over and flopped down in the middle on the wet earth. I couldn't even move out of the way as others climbed up. Some were squatting, some were sitting, some were standing as the tractor lumbered towards Kondivade village. It was dangerous as there were no hand-hold of any kind. Those who could not find place to sit like I was, had to hold on to each of us as the tractor swayed this way and that.
Finally we reached Kondivade village. There we hailed the first available 6-sitter. Just like morning, we, the dirty dozen, jammed ourselves into the single 6-seater and finally reached Karjat. From Karjat, we caught the 6:15 train headed for Mumbai CST. I got down at Dadar with Sam, Ashish and Rizwan. Then we caught the 8:30 Borivali train and thats how I finally reached home.
Finally, home sweet home...
I was tired, my muscles ached. My clothes were dirty. I "smelled like a wet dog" (to quote my sister, word for word). I had some dinner, popped a painkiller and went to sleep. Right this moment as I am writing this blog, my legs are still aching. Was it worth it? I think it certainly was. If you ask me, will I go for another trek? The couch-potato in me compels me to deny flatly. But the feeble voice of the newborn trekker inside me says "May be"...
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