Do u wanna join the weekend IM Ratanghad trek (Maharashtra) in Feb'07

Although it wasnt a long trek, but a straight incline made it tough, but it was gr8 to have avid and praks who guided us and it is very vital to have such experienced guys like avid &praks guiding and being patient with us on the way up and down the trek. Yeah our young turk navin didnt need a lot of that though as he is himself a old hat at trekking.

The trek made me realise that my sedentry work has degraded my physical state and how essential it is for me to get back to shape and being fit.

The being on the top of the mountain all by ourselves, soaking in the sunset ,watching the night sky with all the stars shining bright which no laser show can match, catching the first rays of sun and seeing the moon disappear in oblivion slowly, the discovery of clear potable water under a moss in a cave & tasting better than our regular piped water, the savouring the tea on a chilly evening, the looking for coconut shells for lighting a flame and enjoying the bonfire, the recieving the "natures fax" in open air, the thoughtfulnes of praks & avid to not leave behind any non bio degradable waste like plastic are things etched in my memory which I will cherish them and want to go back to such treks more often.

on that friday night I worked until 12am had dinner at a road side stall and came back home by 1.30 to be woken up by an sms by navin "reconfirming whether we were meeting him at 4 or 4.30 am?", I called him back and then got ready and left in a cab to pick avid and kunal at tardeo and we drove to bandra and we lost a way a bit there to find globus, but we managed to get there in time and we finally got going.


PRAKS & AVID were talking of the various treks and routes, their expereinces and before we knew by sunrise we were at IGATPURI, then our search for breakfast joint got on, unfortunately all shutters were down although it was 7 am,until we got a place where we got some tasty pova and nice chai.

we then set off again.. appreciate PRAKS for staying awake all through the ride although every one of us at some time or other dozed off.

We then drove till AMBIT a small village at the base of BHAIRAV GHAD, there a local guided us to go back our route and stop at KAKTE WADI, so we drove back there.

PRAKS spoke to a local guy and requested him to guide us up the mountain and we left the car there, after filling up our bottles.
SATURDAY
10.20 am
THE LOCAL villager(our guide),KUNAL, NAVIN, PRAKs & AVID set off while I was gasping for breath even at the base levels itself.

They were pretty patient with me as it was a steep incline and I had to stop every few minutes.

It was a bit challenging but not such a tough trek. We reached the mountain top by 12.40 pm and then we sat and relaxed at the temple cave, had our pova ( which we had packed for lunch), and chatted a bit and slept inside the cave.

I was in a sound sleep when I was woken by navin that we were moving to the other cave on top. PRAKS and AVID were already up there.

I managed to shake off my drowsiness and then we walked up and avid started his stove to make tea, I and navin and kunal started collecting some coconut shell and the hide which were strewn over the hill top by worshippers of the god bhairav in the temple cave.

From the top we could see a whole lot of monkeys came out of their hiding and started playing near the temple cave. It was fun watching them play innocently.

We were treated to avids herbal tea, after praks was the guinea pig for the first tasting. Then avid made some splendid chai and then we rested for some time and then we went to the hill top to catch the sunset..while kunal got his photo shoot done for his beloved with the skyline as the background.

It was a delight joking with navin, and with even praks and avid joining in.


We then got back to again collecting some coconut shells and hide for the bonfire, while avid started boiling water for dinner on the portable kerosene stove of PRAKS.

We had an amazing dinner of bisibele bath, dal fry and veg curry.

We cleaned up the utensils but couldnt clean avids utensil of the smoke stains. BTW I have managed to clean all the stains back home avid remind me to give it back to u next time we meet.

We then started star gazing and were grasping the gyan of the stars from PRAKS and AVID. I was overwhelmed.

The other day when I was wondering while coming round the bend of marine drive on the way back home,as to how the man made skyline of so many neon lights pale out in front of a clear sky with all its stars shinning.

We then tried to sleep cuddled in our respective blankets.

Before that AVID and PRAKS guided us that it was better that we should wake up some one and not go to far for natures call for general precaution.


But I, navin and kunal kept tossing and turning due to the cold weather, as the temperature dipped at night.

PRAKS was considerate to give his warm coat to NAVIN who was shivering.

We then woke up at nearly 5.30 -6 to catch the first rays of sun.

We respectively finished recieving our early morning fax

Avid again made us nice tea and ready to mix upma.


After that we cleaned up and then started down, before that we stopped and paid our respects at the temple as some villagers had already come to offer their sunday prayers.

Sunday
10.15am
We started to climb down but Kunal got petrified as it was steep climb down with no support and nothing to hold in case of a fall for the next 25-30 meters, but AVID and PRAKs guded him and gave him confidence that he could do it and we managed to come down but at times slipping due to the skree

We came to the base village and then drank some water and then got off in PRAKS car and then he stopped at BHAGAT TARACHAND on the highway.

We had the most delicious lunch and pan. After that I and kunal emptied an shrikand pack.

We then drove in to the city and got off at SION.


I really look forward to more such treks and even kunal is ready to go ..what say praks and avid ... when should we pack our bags?


I really mean it guys

Our bags are always packed for such trips. We don't need much convincing....

so lets plan something mid of march

I am game for another trek.. :-)

Hey Anil,
The Description was too good... only you forgot to mention the lovely Sandwiches by AVID and also the Special tasty chai of some Vinayak .

Hey people, all who have missed this trek. I would say it was out of the world because we 5 people were totally recluse from the whole techo-geek world and i really came to know how to use some resources for a beneficial use.

so trruueee man... avids cheese sandwichs were really tasty and filling

and yeah it made us realise how less u need to survive in this big world

A brilliant story, gentlemen, and great photos too.

It's nice to read about the hard bits too: makes whimps like me think that we might even manage something like that one day. But nothing to hold onto, with a 30-meter drop? Heck, I don't even like going up a ladder

If it helps, you might want to hold on to your co-hiker...