1. Airline Passengers, be it the jeans n tee strutting budget traveler or the tie n laptop variety of corporate travelers (really pity the later souls actually)
a. Their inexplicable knack of queuing up to get anywhere... be it while checking in (the bus will not leave without u buddy) or piling at the door of the bus (the flight will not leave without u buddy) or in the aisle when the flight lands. The last one I find most strange since it is obvious to all that, one can only alight when the ladder is out and besides, one will still have to wait for the bus and then the bags... so what value is served by standing at all those awkward angles and violating each others personal space?
b. Their absolute need to remain connected to the rest of the world all the time. Dude, cell phones were not invented for the first 20 odd years of your existence and you managed just fine. So why don't u just follow the law and switch off your phone. Also, why cant you wait for the flight to come to a halt before switching it back on. It may seem like a pointless rule to you but whosoever has made it probably knows more about communication systems than you and me. Besides, ain't you the guy who cringes n cribs when he sees someone else breaking rules outside of this aeroplane?
2. The auto rickshaw wallah
As a supply chain guy, system efficiency is always top on my priority list. Thus, I have always had issues with the auto rickshaw driver and his absolute disdain for the same. He is always cutting lanes and causing more traffic mayhem, thereby increasing travel time for himself and everyone else without realising that this is also reducing his fuel efficiency and hence increasing his costs. I have tried to explain this logic to a few of them but it seldom has any impact
3. Timelines of road projects
Why does it take longer to build a small bridge, when large apartment complexes get made in shorter durations. Why don't the authorities cost the loss to the county in the reduced fuel efficiency of all cars stuck in consequent jam. If this is done, one would realise how much we are losing every day the project is delayed. This penalty should then be recovered from the delaying agency and all concerned.
4. News channels
Their total confidence in the intellectual disability of their viewer is quite strange. While sensationalizing, reporting unconfirmed data and subtly passing off opinions as news is endemic problem, what I cant fathom is their insistence on repeatedly bombarding you with the same point in 5 different sentence constructions, 15 times. Most irritating is the live correspondent who seldom has anything new to add but insists on repeating all the facts 2-3 times and refuses to go back to the studio... Footage-hungry bugger!
Thank god for online news sites, I have not seen TV news for almost 2 months now.
5. Random Studies
"A recent study has found that being born is the chief cause of death. After 2 years of studying 20000 deaths over that have occurred 200 years, researches have concluded that 99.93% of the people who died were indeed born, thus establishing without doubt the correlation"
The above may have been inspired from onion (check it out) but you get the drift. Loads of money is wasted establishing correlations which are plainly obvious and loads of news space allocated to publishing such pointless results. Bulk of them are pertaining to how exercise can reduce obesity, prevent xyz disease etc. Cant you guys just state the obvious and stop wasting everyone's time and money in establishing it!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
A mid summer waterfall
Last weekend I went down the canyon valley at Lonavala with VRangers. This valley, also called the Ulhas/Bela/Tiger valley can be seen from the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. It was an overnight trek. 2 unique aspects of this trek were
1. Instead of climbing a mountain, we were going down a valley, so it started with a descent and ended with a climb.
2. There is an amazing waterfall in the valley. One does not see active waterfalls in and around Mumbai, this time of the year… this made the trek very lip smacking
I had also heard that this trek is quite a handful and having done 2 tough ones in the last 1 month, was really looking forward to testing my aukaad on this one.
The Journey began at CST at 11 pm. We were to headed to Lonavala in the Chennai mail. There were 32 people of which some were boarding at Dadar, some Thane, some Kalyan and some coming directly to Lonavala from Panvel. Many were first timers with VRangers. Once again, hats off to the organizers for being able to smoothly handle such a motley crowd.
A Train journey to hell
Chennai mail was better than Mahanagri express. However is it not saying much. The general compartment was packed to the brim. We were able to get in and make some space for ourselves. Since there were about 20 of us (strength in numbers) we were able to squeeze out place for 6-7 and survive. There were quarrels and chaos across the compartment. We were lucky to be next to the emergency exit window. Our friends in Thane boarded from this window. Some junta decided to risk boarding the reserved compartments. They had to pay about 30 Rs fine each. Considering the general ticket was Rs 40, I think it was a smart call.
As uncomfortable as we were in the train, you cannot suppress a gang of 20 odd out to have fun. Kartik was completely in his element initiating singing of the corny songs. Majid was up to his crazy tricks. We even took out the cameras and took some snaps. Time flew by and soon Lonavala arrived. As good boys and girls, most of us exited from the door. Some still choose to use the window. The journey was not that bad. Only 1 mobile lost, 1 screen broken and one set of batteries misplaced... not to mention, all the free full body massage.
Singing on roads
Lonavala station at 2 am was almost deserted. However, we arrived with a bang. Soon the police arrived and told us to behave. We had chai, a round of introductions and set off towards our night halt, which was half way to Khandala. Once again the peace of the night was disturbed. We took on some stray dogs in barking competition. A lot more shady songs were sung in transit. Kartik was at his creative best thinking them all up. My performance at the bonfire in the earlier trip became by bugbear as Kartik insisted that I sing along and complete all songs.
Sleeping with the bugs
We took the Rajmachi turn and stopped on the side road and rested there. It was 4 am now and Sudhir, our lead, mandated that we rest for 2 hours. It was quite stuffy and I opened up my sleeping bag to accommodate 3 people. Sleeping in the middle of a road was again something new and for the first time in my trekking career, Odomos was called for.
Morning surprise
After a very vital 1.5 hour shut eye, I woke up to folks hard at work getting breakfast organised. These guys had hardly slept, collecting sticks to start the fire, chopping vegetables etc. Supermen, all of em. This time, VRangers decided to treat us with a unique breakfast. There was no Pohas. We had boiled corn, veg sandwiches and tea. I helped a bit in the tea making. All got comfortable munching the wonderful breakfast and before we realised, we were running behind on schedule. Finally at 8 am, the trek began.
A beautiful view
Immediately on starting, we reached a point from where the view was brilliant. We could see the Dukes Nose, the expressway and a rail tunnel in a distance and our waterfall down below. Most folks got their profiles clicked here. Sudhir got us all in for yet another round of introductions, and gave strict instructions, most of which we soon forgot.
The descent begins...Follow the stream
Soon the descent started. we were going down a dry waterfall. There was a small stream accompanying us. This little baby would soon swell into a full blown rage as soon as the rains begin. Going up or down a waterfall is great fun. We were jumping from one rock to another. My brand new shoes were getting quite an induction. The group kept diverging and converging again when the people ahead took breaks. Descent has always been my problem and I had to work hard to maintain good pace without getting bruised. This took a bigger toll on my shoes. The descent kept getting fabulous. There was a section where one had to round a jutting rock with a small ledge to keep your feet and a short fall behind. Since one was at an obtuse angle, this was quite tough and Sudhir tied a rope swing behind for support. Much as I wanted to do the entire trek without rope, this was one (any only) section, where I had to use the rope.
There she is
After an hour and a half of solid descending, we reached the base of the valley and met the Ulhas river. We then walked upstream and met the first small waterfall. Some folks went in immediately. But Soniya advised us to move ahead as the main one was much much better. We followed her advise (after all, this is her 4th time to the canyon) and a small set of 6 of us moved on. Soon we reached the waterfall. What a sight it was. Massive, white, loud, humongous, fantabulous and very very inviting. Soon all of us were in.
Thande thande paani se
We got the first movers advantage. Since the place was slippery, folks who came in late had to wait till we moved out. Sitting under the falls was awesome fun. The water was hitting our backs at full force making it red. Even in April, the waterfall had a lot of force. I conjecture that this baby would be completely inaccessible in monsoons and even early winter with the base flooded and the river swelling up many fold. At the base of the falls, was a nice little pond. It was about 16 feet deep in the middle and 4 feet in the sides, perfect for the meek among us to frolic in the sides and for the adventurous guys to jump off the rocks into the centre. We all spent more than an hour in the water until Colonel Sudhir came and pulled us out.
Haila.. Bhel
After drying of and changing, we were met with yet another surprise. Sudhir and gang had carried all ingredients and were making some wonderful dry Bhel for us. It was yummy with a great mix of raw mangoes, tomatoes, etc etc. Playing in water makes you hungry and the bhel was very welcome.
Let the climbing begin
Well bathed and well fed, we filled our bottles at the next stream and set off at 12 noon for the climb back. We crossed a river and SO the climb began. This is where things got more kickass. I love climbing, and believe that I am pretty good at it. Having heard that this was a challenging climb, I had decided to set good pace and stay in the lead pack. The climb is quite steep and sharp. There are a couple of sections which are quite tough and some people required assistance there. Most amazingly, since we were climbing a dry waterfall, there is no saying which rocks would get shifted in the next monsoon and how much easier or difficult the sections would become next year. Its a new challenge every year.
Mosambi Khush Hua
Climbs are always more taxing and the sun was at its peak. Despite this, most of the people in my group of 8 had not filled up enough at the stream. Soon we were running out of water. I had done a smart thing to take my napkin and put it over my head, below the cap. This made me look more stupid and blocked a bit of my view, but helped block a lot of the heat. However, it was still taking a toll. I had also forgotten to carry Oranges for this trip. At this time, some wonderful soul brought out some sweet limes. We freaked out on those. To my memory, atleast 5-6 were gobbled up. We left a lot of evidence for the trailing group in the form of the peel. We managed to reach up with our limited resources by 2 pm.
Food
Our group of 8 waited for the trailing pack for almost 30 minutes and then decided to head off to Lonavala an wait there for lunch. In Lonavala too, we shopped for chikkis, meandered around and even waited an hour in the hotel staring at other people eating. Finally the rest of the gang arrived. We realised that they had been tp-ing around, having golas and clicking snaps and having a blast the last 1 hour while we waited to eat. Then, all of us ate our thaalis. Food was lousy but being as hungry as we were, we lapped it up. Despite all the exhaustion, once again we began signing.
Back to singing in the train
After food, a few left to catch STs. Most of us went to Lonavala station to take the next train back. We caught the 6.10 pm Trivandrum Express. This train was also jam packed and we just added to the mess. However, we made amends by entertaining all around. Kartik had made a mistake by switching my tape on previous night and I just couldn't shut up now. The train got empty in Kalyan and we got place to sit and sleep.
N so it ends
Finally the train reached Dadar and all got off and went their respective ways. I had met some more cool new people, made a few new friends. Most importantly, enjoyed a great trek and a waterfall in middle of April. Canyon Valley is a great trek for early summer. I will definitely be doing it again.
Thanks Sudhir and Co for giving me yet another wonderful weekend!
1. Instead of climbing a mountain, we were going down a valley, so it started with a descent and ended with a climb.
2. There is an amazing waterfall in the valley. One does not see active waterfalls in and around Mumbai, this time of the year… this made the trek very lip smacking
I had also heard that this trek is quite a handful and having done 2 tough ones in the last 1 month, was really looking forward to testing my aukaad on this one.
The Journey began at CST at 11 pm. We were to headed to Lonavala in the Chennai mail. There were 32 people of which some were boarding at Dadar, some Thane, some Kalyan and some coming directly to Lonavala from Panvel. Many were first timers with VRangers. Once again, hats off to the organizers for being able to smoothly handle such a motley crowd.
A Train journey to hell
Chennai mail was better than Mahanagri express. However is it not saying much. The general compartment was packed to the brim. We were able to get in and make some space for ourselves. Since there were about 20 of us (strength in numbers) we were able to squeeze out place for 6-7 and survive. There were quarrels and chaos across the compartment. We were lucky to be next to the emergency exit window. Our friends in Thane boarded from this window. Some junta decided to risk boarding the reserved compartments. They had to pay about 30 Rs fine each. Considering the general ticket was Rs 40, I think it was a smart call.
As uncomfortable as we were in the train, you cannot suppress a gang of 20 odd out to have fun. Kartik was completely in his element initiating singing of the corny songs. Majid was up to his crazy tricks. We even took out the cameras and took some snaps. Time flew by and soon Lonavala arrived. As good boys and girls, most of us exited from the door. Some still choose to use the window. The journey was not that bad. Only 1 mobile lost, 1 screen broken and one set of batteries misplaced... not to mention, all the free full body massage.
Singing on roads
Lonavala station at 2 am was almost deserted. However, we arrived with a bang. Soon the police arrived and told us to behave. We had chai, a round of introductions and set off towards our night halt, which was half way to Khandala. Once again the peace of the night was disturbed. We took on some stray dogs in barking competition. A lot more shady songs were sung in transit. Kartik was at his creative best thinking them all up. My performance at the bonfire in the earlier trip became by bugbear as Kartik insisted that I sing along and complete all songs.
Sleeping with the bugs
We took the Rajmachi turn and stopped on the side road and rested there. It was 4 am now and Sudhir, our lead, mandated that we rest for 2 hours. It was quite stuffy and I opened up my sleeping bag to accommodate 3 people. Sleeping in the middle of a road was again something new and for the first time in my trekking career, Odomos was called for.
Morning surprise
After a very vital 1.5 hour shut eye, I woke up to folks hard at work getting breakfast organised. These guys had hardly slept, collecting sticks to start the fire, chopping vegetables etc. Supermen, all of em. This time, VRangers decided to treat us with a unique breakfast. There was no Pohas. We had boiled corn, veg sandwiches and tea. I helped a bit in the tea making. All got comfortable munching the wonderful breakfast and before we realised, we were running behind on schedule. Finally at 8 am, the trek began.
A beautiful view
Immediately on starting, we reached a point from where the view was brilliant. We could see the Dukes Nose, the expressway and a rail tunnel in a distance and our waterfall down below. Most folks got their profiles clicked here. Sudhir got us all in for yet another round of introductions, and gave strict instructions, most of which we soon forgot.
The descent begins...Follow the stream
Soon the descent started. we were going down a dry waterfall. There was a small stream accompanying us. This little baby would soon swell into a full blown rage as soon as the rains begin. Going up or down a waterfall is great fun. We were jumping from one rock to another. My brand new shoes were getting quite an induction. The group kept diverging and converging again when the people ahead took breaks. Descent has always been my problem and I had to work hard to maintain good pace without getting bruised. This took a bigger toll on my shoes. The descent kept getting fabulous. There was a section where one had to round a jutting rock with a small ledge to keep your feet and a short fall behind. Since one was at an obtuse angle, this was quite tough and Sudhir tied a rope swing behind for support. Much as I wanted to do the entire trek without rope, this was one (any only) section, where I had to use the rope.
There she is
After an hour and a half of solid descending, we reached the base of the valley and met the Ulhas river. We then walked upstream and met the first small waterfall. Some folks went in immediately. But Soniya advised us to move ahead as the main one was much much better. We followed her advise (after all, this is her 4th time to the canyon) and a small set of 6 of us moved on. Soon we reached the waterfall. What a sight it was. Massive, white, loud, humongous, fantabulous and very very inviting. Soon all of us were in.
Thande thande paani se
We got the first movers advantage. Since the place was slippery, folks who came in late had to wait till we moved out. Sitting under the falls was awesome fun. The water was hitting our backs at full force making it red. Even in April, the waterfall had a lot of force. I conjecture that this baby would be completely inaccessible in monsoons and even early winter with the base flooded and the river swelling up many fold. At the base of the falls, was a nice little pond. It was about 16 feet deep in the middle and 4 feet in the sides, perfect for the meek among us to frolic in the sides and for the adventurous guys to jump off the rocks into the centre. We all spent more than an hour in the water until Colonel Sudhir came and pulled us out.
Haila.. Bhel
After drying of and changing, we were met with yet another surprise. Sudhir and gang had carried all ingredients and were making some wonderful dry Bhel for us. It was yummy with a great mix of raw mangoes, tomatoes, etc etc. Playing in water makes you hungry and the bhel was very welcome.
Let the climbing begin
Well bathed and well fed, we filled our bottles at the next stream and set off at 12 noon for the climb back. We crossed a river and SO the climb began. This is where things got more kickass. I love climbing, and believe that I am pretty good at it. Having heard that this was a challenging climb, I had decided to set good pace and stay in the lead pack. The climb is quite steep and sharp. There are a couple of sections which are quite tough and some people required assistance there. Most amazingly, since we were climbing a dry waterfall, there is no saying which rocks would get shifted in the next monsoon and how much easier or difficult the sections would become next year. Its a new challenge every year.
Mosambi Khush Hua
Climbs are always more taxing and the sun was at its peak. Despite this, most of the people in my group of 8 had not filled up enough at the stream. Soon we were running out of water. I had done a smart thing to take my napkin and put it over my head, below the cap. This made me look more stupid and blocked a bit of my view, but helped block a lot of the heat. However, it was still taking a toll. I had also forgotten to carry Oranges for this trip. At this time, some wonderful soul brought out some sweet limes. We freaked out on those. To my memory, atleast 5-6 were gobbled up. We left a lot of evidence for the trailing group in the form of the peel. We managed to reach up with our limited resources by 2 pm.
Food
Our group of 8 waited for the trailing pack for almost 30 minutes and then decided to head off to Lonavala an wait there for lunch. In Lonavala too, we shopped for chikkis, meandered around and even waited an hour in the hotel staring at other people eating. Finally the rest of the gang arrived. We realised that they had been tp-ing around, having golas and clicking snaps and having a blast the last 1 hour while we waited to eat. Then, all of us ate our thaalis. Food was lousy but being as hungry as we were, we lapped it up. Despite all the exhaustion, once again we began signing.
Back to singing in the train
After food, a few left to catch STs. Most of us went to Lonavala station to take the next train back. We caught the 6.10 pm Trivandrum Express. This train was also jam packed and we just added to the mess. However, we made amends by entertaining all around. Kartik had made a mistake by switching my tape on previous night and I just couldn't shut up now. The train got empty in Kalyan and we got place to sit and sleep.
N so it ends
Finally the train reached Dadar and all got off and went their respective ways. I had met some more cool new people, made a few new friends. Most importantly, enjoyed a great trek and a waterfall in middle of April. Canyon Valley is a great trek for early summer. I will definitely be doing it again.
Thanks Sudhir and Co for giving me yet another wonderful weekend!
Monday, April 5, 2010
The road trip to Velas with V-Rangers
First things first, I wasn’t that excited about this trip initially. There was hardly any trekking involved. I had only confirmed on Wednesday and mainly because of the drive and the idea of meeting a few more cool strangers. The basic premise of watching turtles was never a motivation. Thankfully, I chose to go.
The day began at 4.30 am for me and earlier for some other folks. We met at Panvel at 6 am and had our first round of introductions. Since there were almost 40 people, I hardly caught some 10 odd names. We had the standard breakfast of pohas and set off. There were 16 bikes, 1 qualis (packed with biker’s bags and 5 people) and my Alto carrying self +3. Instructions were clearly laid out to all to maintain contact. I was specifically told to be in the middle of the pack. We started off from Panvel with Kolhad as the first stop. I was having great fun driving on NH17. The 3 other members of my car were girls, which was not bad, except that I had to endure discussions on cosmetics and got zero navigator assistance. Also, none of them liked Dev D songs…that really hurt!! Jokes apart, the drive was brilliant on the 2 lane highway. The road is quite good. We played loud music and sang along. I passed a few bikers and was suddenly under the impression that I was in the lead. Fact of the matter was that some were always ahead and rest had passed me back at the toll naka. However, so sure was I (and my useless navigator) that we were in the lead that I actually slowed done and drove at 40 kmph for a while. Finally when I reached Kolhad, I saw the bikers waiting impatiently. I realized how tough it was going to be in coordinating this large a group. We grouped at Kolhad and moved towards Mangaon. We had to leave the highway at Mangaon and head towards Shrivardhan. One bike had a minor snag and so we waited a bit at Mangaon and bonded some more.
After Mangaon, the road got more awesome. There was a lovely ghat. Here, one biker skid a bit and the medical kit and Doctor (yes there was a doctor in the group) came to the rescue. Again we grouped and headed to Shrivardhan. We reached Shrivardhan town at about 1 pm. It is a tight town with narrow lanes. Our car took a wrong turn and we ended up seeing almost the entire town (which basically was the library, post office, police station and the local masjid). We stopped for lunch at a joint. The food was quite amazing. There was some more bonding and total dhamaal. Again, the way the coordinators managed the show was exemplary. Handling a group of 30-40 youngsters out to have fun is no joke. These guys (V Rangers) are amazing at organizing.
We set off from Shrivardhan at 2.30 and headed to Harihareshwar. Again, it was a brilliant, narrow and twisted road. This time I was able to keep pace with the bikers. Harihareshwar is an amazing place. There are rocks, a beach, a cliff, a mandir all next to each other. The place is called Dakshin Kaashi and is packed with pilgrims. The beach is generally off limits. We had a blast on the rocks which were being slapped with one massive wave after another. I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to carry a towel and change of clothes. So, in the interest of the upholstery of my beloved car, I had to stay out of the water and just watch the others having fun. The group was total dhamaal. There was pure, uninhibited fun. We were at Harihareshwar for a while and then headed off to Velas. We had to catch the 5 pm ferry to cross a narrow stretch of sea. Driving my car into the ferry was quite a unique experience. The ferry ride was quite lovely, but ended a bit too soon.
We were now driving through the narrowest twisty road in Bankot. Suddenly the road opened up parallel to the sea. This 2 odd km stretch is breathtaking. One is almost touching the sea here. I was driving with one hand outside. The bikers were having a total blast. Just as the seas stretch ended, we reached Velas. It was about 5 pm when we reached our halting point and the journey for the day had ended.
Velas village is the birth place (as per Wikipedia, only home town) of Nana Phadnavis, the right hand man of the young Peshwa Madhavrao-2. We had learnt about his exemplary administrative skills in school history. The village itself seemed quite prosperous. Most houses had hand pumps. There was continuous electricity (maybe due to its proximity to the infamous Dhabol) and our host’s neighbour had a Hundai Verna parked in his large mango yard.
The primary objective of our trip was to attend the Velas festival (kasav mahotsav), which is done to celebrate and raise awareness on turtles. They enable us to view the baby turtles hatch out on the beach and walk to the sea. So we quickly headed to Velas beach for the show. When we reached there, we saw 3 baby turtles had crawled out and were walking towards the sea. We all went bonkers and photography and video recording reached its zenith. We started racing the turtles against each other. Our joy at seeing the 3 baby turtles soon turned to delirium when the caretakers of the place came and opened up the nest. Suddenly we realized that there were 25 more baby turtles. We escorted them all to the sea. Watching these tiny creatures instinctively move towards the sea, persisting with their tiny limbs against small obstacles was quite a sight. Even more amazing was watching them start swimming at great speeds when they hit the waves. We all thought that the turtles were following the sun and so tried to ensure that we did not block their paths or cast our shadows on them. Later we learnt that the turtles are actually guided by the earth’s electromagnetic field. Nature never ceases to amaze.
After the turtle exodus, junta hit the water with vengeance. Again there was total dhamaal but again, I could only stand and watch. I was the caretaker of stuff. My cap had 5 goggles on it, my hands full of mobiles, wallets etc. Even my t shirt was sacrificed for the cause. The beach was an amazing sight and the setting sun a great inspiration to gather thoughts. Quite a bit of this blog was formed sitting there. Meanwhile, the operations guy in me was shuddering at the thought of our hosts accommodating 30 odd people full of dirt and sand, but they really know their stuff. The 3 bathrooms were taken up by the girls and the guys all got into the large common bath. There was plenty of soap and water and clothes lines to hang the wet clothes. Within an hour all were washed and clean.
We then saw the documentary on turtles. It told of how the turtle comes to the shore to lay eggs and walks away. However the eggs are plundered by locals and eaten. Even the turtles are caught and sold and also ravaged by wild life. All this was taking a great toll on the turtle populace and so some wildlife agencies got together with the government and the locals and started this concept. Locals work with these agencies and collect and take care of the turtle eggs. They ensure the eggs are hatched and all baby turtles released to sea. The concept has worked wonders. Most people are quite sensitive to turtles now. Our hosts were quite protective to the baby turtles, scolding us if we accidently impeded them on the beach. There is also good tourism as many people come from different places to watch this.
After the documentary, we had dinner. Our Hosts had made some amazing food for us. Eating on banana leaves, which one is then supposed to feed to the cow, was pretty cool. The enormity of the group can be felt by the fact that we were still introducing ourselves to each other. After dinner, 6 of us escaped quietly and went exploring the village with our torches. We climbed up one small cliff and sat for an hour watching the clear starry night sky and singing. When we returned, we saw the rest of the junta and gone to set up a bonfire. We rushed and realized that we didn’t miss much. The mood was clearly towards shady and corny songs and so I was able to exhibit my full repertoire and be one of the souls of the party. Small joys in life! The bonfire again was pure uninhibited fun. Such moments not only make life more enjoyable but also make you forget your sorrows, besides making great memories.
We headed back at midnight. It had been an exhausting and long day and some people just crashed. However, the adrenaline would not let the rest sleep. The group was full of experienced trekkers and a lot of amazing stories were told. I managed to grab some limelight with my Ladakh story. The energy was so high that some guys stayed up till 4 am. The last act was applying toothpaste on sleeping folk’s faces and taking snaps. For some strange reason they kept coming and showing me the snaps (maybe they were checking if I can be pasted too) and consequently I was also awake till 4 am.
Morning came soon and all of us were up at 6 am. Breakfast was Phoas again and we set off to Bankot fort/ Himmatgad at 7. The fort is 15 minutes from Velas village. It was on a cliff overlooking the sea and so the view from the fort is amazing. From here, we began the drive to Mandangad on SH10. This was the best drive of the weekend. The narrow twisty ghats were tight but wide enough and the road good enough to drive at a constant 50kmph plus. There was lot of kairis around and one could just pluck them from trees. We took 2 kairi breaks. We reached Mandangad fort at about 11.30 am. The view was again quite amazing. There is a small pond on top and soon half the junta was frolicking inside as I again sat and watched L.
Leaving from Mandangad we headed towards Mahad. We stopped midway and plan was changed to skip Mahad and head towards Mumbai and stop midway for lunch. This ensured chaos. Some people missed the message and when they hit NH17, they moved in the opposite direction towards Mahad. There was a lot of clutter and thank god for mobile phones and our deeply committed organisers. After an hour of chaos, they managed to get everyone to Mangaon at a lunch joint. Lunch finally happened at 3 pm. Most junta ate fish here. We headed towards Mumbai and decided to meet at Karnala for the final farewell. By now we had run out of music on my car and thankfully FM signal was back. This drive was quite a pain as there was very heavy traffic and lots of passing had to be done. We reached Karnala at 6 pm. The final farewell was important was I still hadn’t caught a few names. Everyone picked their stuff from the Qualis, bid adieu and we dispersed for one final time. Some of us will meet again, some wont. But all of us will remember this trip.
Trip Summary:
Total Kms driven: 450
Total time: 40 hours
Sleeping time: 1.5 hours
Total Cost: ~600 Rs + almost a tank full of petrol
Total Fun: Infinite
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