Here is another blogpost about my Harishchandragad trek via nali chi vaat. I've kept a different idea of writing this blog post, its more of the thoughts zooming out as I jot down the trek. This writeup moves in and out of present and past tense.

This post is somewhere between the normal blog and far away 140 chars tweet.

Fri, January 8, 2010

* Karjat train for kalyan, sandwiches Mallik brought
* reached Kalyan about 9.00pm
* bus for Nagar , dropped us at Khubi phata instead of Savarne as both the conductor and the aspirants dozed off!
* took 2 trucks back to savarne, my truck driver advised to stay near the police chowki and be aware of the villagers at savarne
* almost 12.30 when we reached @ savarne, Mallik, Rajo and Vj followed after 10 mins
* decide to sleep near the police chowki, in our sleeping bags, till the alarm rang at 4.45

Ruturaj's Album

Dec 7, 2007. Friday
In the office, there was chaos about the time to meet everybody @ the VT station, even though everything was clear on "meetup.com". In the chaos 10.45pm was supposed to be the train departure (according to us). I left for home, Vinay, Kulkarni, Neeraj were supposed to come directly. Sudani and Ashok too went home. I was @ VT around 10.15 pm when I met Vinay, Kulkarni and Neeraj. Rajoba had called that he had just left Andheri with Sudani. But we saw nobody below the Big clock, were we there on the wrong day ? :P ? Vinay called Mallik, he said the train departed around 11.20pm, and we were early. So we headed out into VT's night. Amazingly the shops we banked on to get a torch, all had shut. Just a few remained. We went to Sterling got some snaps of the Deutche Bank and then into McDonalds. Enjoying burger, tea, coffee , Vinays' phone rang, it was Mallik

किधर हो भाइ?

बस पहुंच रहे हें

We saw a big group standing with a lot of big backpacks lying below. Met the familiar faces. Sanjay Bhutani, the one who never missed any trek, Janki, Bertram, Amey, Anupama, Pali, Mallik and more. Sanjay had got a german friend of his. '11.20pm S' was scheduled, Karjat. Train ride as always after Kalyan was more of monkeys jumping here and there. Vinay even managed to get on the luggage rack!

Travelling Directions

I had a long break from Trekking, thanks to some mosquito that seemed to have better of me at Malshej Ghat. I was yearning for a great outing, and Tringalwadi proved to be one. It began with Vj's buzz about the hiking group, MoRonz AdEventUrz. Although being a programmer in India, I'm generally off from Orkut, and other social meetup groups, donno why, perhaps I'm shy ! Vj had spread the word in the office about the trek to Tringalwadi on 17th and 18th Nov 2007. Few other chaps, Amol[s] and Vinay were interested, so was I. The group as always was buzzing with meetups, with one just 2-3 days prior to the trek, as always I missed that one.

The time was set 8:00 PM IST, CST. The plan was to get on a N 8:47 PM local (Kasara) and there on towards the trek. I reached VT around 8.15, I had forgotten to take a Kasara return @ Khar and so hurried towards the booking counter to see long tails. I called Vj just to let him know where I was. He came back with Vinay, my office colleage and Kulkarni, one of the Amols that had managed to make it successfully. Soon I saw the AC Milan player MallikaArjun with a huge backpack, seemed like he was planning for a full month long weekend. A check on the no. of guys needing a ticket made us change our plan to get a Debit Card (for Western and Central Railways). A quick print of around 4-5 tickets and I was lucky to get off the long line.

Travelling Directions

As I listen to "Hard as a Rock" by ACDC, my mind swirls back to our "hardcore adventure" trip, waterfall rappelling the Kondana caves!!

Vj again, our PRO !!! had subscribed to a meetup group, which now has been christened as MoRonz AdvEntUrez. He'd asked me to subscribe as well. And these like minded individuals had finally got another meet organized at "Cafe Sea Side", Bandra. I and Vj had managed to get there late eve, almost 8.30pm :P after office, where we were surprised to see a big group already chit-chatting and headed by our Maadu organizer, Kalpessbhai. Guess what had they been discussing !!! Plans for the movie "Sivaji" starring Rajni :D The meetup group had managed to find a star, or I don't know if it was other way round. But the group had Rahul Barve, Well ... a star 'cause he was into trekking, camping and adventures for the last 16yrs and was a pro. Another reason why he is a star, u'll know soon. The group full of enthusiasts, who were kind of first-timers, hobbyists in this field of adventure. And they didn't want just trekking, they wanted more... Waterfall Rappelling.

I don't remember if there were any members apart from Rahul himself and Kalpesh who'd done rappelling before, but all were keen on "waterfall" rappelling. The plan that was cooking was to trek Rajmachi in the night to the Rajmachi village, stay there till the early morn, and then climb up and back down to the Kondana caves, where we'd have our rappelling session. And then head down to Kondivade village. Rahul was quick to warn/notify members about a night trek in rains and mud, a wet sleepless night and then a rappelling event. But the buzzing group couldn't be tranquilized. They wanted it. So rendezvous at 7.30pm, Chandu Halwai, Dadar TT, 14th Jul 2007. The week between, Kalpesh had organized for a bus which would take us straight to Rajamachi trail, Lonavala and then move back towards the Kondivade village waiting for the tired सवारीs.

Travelling Directions

Kamandurg is a quiet and quite an unknown destination when it comes to trekking. Most of the enthusiasts prefer venturing in the Igatpuri and the Malshej ghats. The Mumbai-ite with the trouble of extra travel in the crowded locals before he can set his foot on the some of the lovely mountains.

Kamandurg, close to Vasai, Mumbai, is however quite an experience for a trekker. The information about Kamandurg too is not easily found on the net :) However Vj did manage to find and make the best use of Google. The trek was set for 9^th Jun 2007. Vj getting his trekking meetup's gang as well.

Travelling Directions

The trek was finalized !!! phew !!! After endless discussions to pick a peculiar destination. Karnala that was, a bird sanctuary. Why ? 'cause it was an easy one ! well... that was one of the points that contributed towards its vote, another one was its easy accessibility, only 15 mins from Panvel bus depot. Panvel bus depot itself being only 1.30 hrs from Dadar station by ST bus.

Excited !!! Mukti able to make it this time, even Saurabh. Other participants being the regulars, Vijay, Sudani and Neeraj. Good, always need some TP during treks, and Mukti assures that. She is best at it, with Saurabh to add some spice. The Junagadh king, Mr. Ashok Sudani adding the gujrati flavour to our recipe. Vijay and me relishing every moment of it.

Travelling Directions

Karnala Fort Trek, Photos

Standing at the top of hill, looking down the crevice between the two mountains, there was nothing I could see but the vast valley ahead hugged by other mountains, one of them the Rajmachi. Down there I could see no terrain. The valley dropping more than 2000 feet or so. And that is where we'd to climb down ! Sounds like a nightmare, but unfortunately was not. That precisely coincided with the talks, blogs, info that I and Vj had been reading all long the week.

The excitement kept mounting as the Thursday night turned into the Friday morn. I'd to ensure that everything is ready for the trek, for which we'd start in the night towards Karjat. As the day progressed in the office, there were few talks with Vj and other colleagues about the talk, but much of the passed with a normally hectic work schedule (that was a bit exaggerated!). And it was almost 7.00pm, Vj called Ankush to confirm where we shall be joining our journey. There was one more friend of Vj, Vikrant कोर्डे (who is never dry on jokes). They both were supposed to meet us at Thane stn.

Traveling Directions

Had been to this trek in the Malshej ghat region, to Naneghat. This ghat was extensively used in pre-British rule as a trade-route between the Deccan plateau and the Konkan Strip.

A special tax was also levied, and nane (Coins) were collected as tax, Any type of good was eligible as tax, from gold coins to cereals and grains.

... Traveling directions and more ...

Its almost the end of Monsoon, and the weather is just right for a trek, So I call Kapil @ 4.00 pm, 2^nd if we can leave for a trek at night, and ask him if one more friend of ours can come along...

Luckily enough 3 of us gather at Dadar at 9.30pm the SAME day!. We board the Kalyan fast local train at around 10.30, to reach there at Kalyan's S.T. stop around 11:45pm, to miss the second last bus of 11:30pm. Thanks to Kapil who couldn't come in time at Dadar station, and blaming the Ganesh festival's traffic.

Travelling Directions

This write-up of our Lohagad Visapur trek by my ever so de#$% friend Kapil Naik.

History tells Columbus wanted to discover India. In the process he landed in Caribbean islands. First he thought it was India. It was only when he realised that it wasn’t India, but a group of islands in the continent of America itself, islands were named as west Indies.

Why am I telling this story, we all suppose to know? Soon you will get the answer.

Everything was roughly planned for a trek to LOHGHAD, a fort near the malawali station, which is some kilometers away from lonavala and the same was conveyed to sanjay, mangesh, rutu, arvind, sid and hrishti by me and irfan. But little did everyone know that one of the person who planned it was in a mess, just a few hours before we were supposed to leave on Saturday night