PEB Trek….A terrible experience

I was searching for a trek with waterfall.....hard to find though. But with the help of a friend I found one – Peb Trek. This place is near Matheran, I read a description of this place in some site and got very excited. This time 3 more guys agreed to join me for this trek. We was supposed to join a group form Neral. As always I was late to catch the early morning train from Dadar, we had to wait for 40 minutes for another train to come. As we were about to reach Neral, I got call from my friend, she told me that she has fractured her hand and is returning back. I was half asleep but this news took everything away. I asked about the Neral hospital address and we 4 guys started searching for same. When we reached hospital, everyone was in light mood, it was a relief to me that things were not serious. I am not comfortable with such situations, so throughout the route I was thinking how to react :D, but those guys made it easy. The weather was really soothing that day, other 3 guys were getting very impatient. I bid farewell to group and hospital and proceeded ahead for PEB. It was a pretty bad start but the worse was about to come…..

After reaching the base village we enquired about the way to trek but I guess villagers thought that we were looking for waterfall, instead of main path they showed us the route of a waterfall near the base. I believe this place is not known to lots of people. That day many other groups visited that trek but we found none in that place. It was a small waterfall, but this was my first waterfall for this season . We all had a nice bath and enjoyed the 'mercy' of god to the fullest. As monsoon has not reached its peak, I believe this place is worth visiting at the time of monsoon.
After around 1.5 hours!! we came out and started our journey towards the fort. One local guy offered his help as guide but god knows why we denied it :-(. Start for the trek was fine and we clicked lots of photographs while going up. We reached a plateau with a dry waterfall. After this route was really confusing, following other group suggestion we took a route from dry water way (first mistake - dry fall can never be a route). After walking for 10 min we reached a dead end, some guys climbed the rock patch but I was not pretty sure of climbing this patch. Luckily we found an alternative route. After this I don’t know what happened but we all turned towards a wrong direction. No rocks, only mud at a good inclination. For most of us, it was not a big problem, but one big problem was lurking at us. As we climbed the tough patch, one guy (let us call him “X”) started panicking.

I have never seen anyone so afraid as he was. He was literally shivering and his legs were trembling. Somehow I and one of my friends took X to the safe place. There was no way we would have go back so we decided to reach to the top and then to find a alternate way. X was so afraid that he was not even trying to cover small muddy patched. He was comfortable in climbing rocks but I guess he got terrified with muddy patches. I would not like to write more on this but, it was really horrible experience for him (include me too :D). Anyhow we reached the top. I was in the mood to go to the top of PEB trek, I even asked X to stay there itself but others were not in that mood and suggested to return. We were already very tired, I would have completed it alone but no one expect such things from a team member.

On mutual decision we started to go back. After walking for some time I got the feeling that we were again following some wrong route. Other guys were not agreeing with me. I suggested one idea which I always implement in such situation. We asked X and one guy to wait, I asked the guy left to go ahead for 10 minutes and walk back for next 10 minutes. I did the same thing but in the opposite direction. I returned early as I found no route. The guy who went ahead also came back disappointed. Then we decided to wait for one group who was descending from Peb fort, and were visible from the point where we started descending. I again went to the same place and to my surprise found that the route to descend was other than what we have seen (that means this was the third path for us, one which we used to come up, second which we were using for descending and third which other group used for descending). I came back and asked my group to come back. After resting for such long time X has restored his energy. I asked him to hurry up while descending. As rains were about to start and we wanted to reach to base village before sunset we required to increase our speed.

I was literally dragging X to follow me. (It was not exact dragging but I was holding his hand this time :-)). I was shouting constantly and was trying to boost him up. This route was very easy and we descended most of the part is a very short time. After reaching base village I had a nice bath in the water stream which removed all my tiredness. As always this water was refreshing and I was again ready to climb the peak :D.

We reached on time, had some heavy snacks, reached Neral station and were ready to leave for Mumbai. Train was scheduled at 6:35 pm and it was so overly crowded, which as always surprised me more. As it was Sunday, station was fill with “love birds” and college going guys n girls. This trek was unique and remembrable because of many reasons. The things which make it unique were presence of waterfalls and the experience I had with X. I think I am never gonna take such risk in future, even if I have to trek alone ;-)

Mahuli @ 15th July 08......ALONE with group :D

During my last trek to Rajmachi with Youngsterz, I heard about the other members of gang. Each of them sounds unique in their own way. I thought to meet each of them and to learn more about trekking. Youngsterz was planning to go to Mahuli and leader was Nilesh Patil, he is the main coordinator of this group. Hoping to meet him and to explore new place I decided to join them.

Planning was to leave early in the morning by train and to reach Asangaon. I was thinking to sleep early but it kept getting late and I slept around at 1 am. I had to wake up at 4 am to reach Dadar by 5 am. My train was scheduled at 5:20 am from there. I was so tired that day after gym that I couldn’t even sense the alarm. It was nice of my roommate who woke me up at 4:30 am to ask whether I was going or not. I really wanted to go but to leave bed at that point of time was almost impossible. I was trying so hard to leave it but just like a magnet it was not allowing me to go :-). My situation was just like Uma Thurman of Kill Bill-I movie. In this movie, she tries to wake up her paralyzed leg by concentrating on it. After hours of concentration she succeeds, it didn’t took me hours though but it must have taken few minutes. I stood up and started getting ready for trek. I left at 5:30 am, which means I was 1 hour behind. After reaching Dadar I came to know that next fast local to asangaon is at 7:30 am, I was really disappointed. Suddenly I saw a slow local leaving from platform opposite to me. To catch it I had only one option, to cross the railway line. I checked both the side, and there was no sign of any train. It was safe but I don’t know why I didn’t jump instantly. Suddenly a guy from behind jumped on the track to catch the train, my leg followed him w/o any delay and I was inside the train. I confirmed with fellow travelers about the destination, luckily got a seat. It was 6:30 am when my journey started. I was behind the group but was determined to catch them.

I reached Asangaon at 8:20 am, had some breakfast and inquired about the route. (This was my fault; I should have enquired it earlier). The guy told me the rite route but that route was not for trekker. From Asangaon a shortcut goes to Mahuli village. Instead of that I took an auto and went to “Shahpur”. (Please don’t do that). If I would have walked, it would not have taken me more than 1 hour to reach the base village, but by Shahpur route it took me 1.5-2 hours. At last I reached base village at 10:15 am, now I was approximately 2 hours behind the group. While walking towards Mahuli Village I got lift too which saved my time, otherwise I would have been very late. After reaching there I realized that Mahuli is a popular destination and around 5-6 four wheelers were parked in the village. I joined 3 guys in the way to have proper company. But these guys were really slow (one was a fatty, who was trying to hide his low stemmna by clicking photos here and there :P). I was determined to catch the group so I left them and went ahead. I have to say I am really fast when I am alone :-)

(Let me summarize the route – Go to Asangaon East and ask for walking route to Mumbai-Nasik Highway. Also ask the shortest route for Manas temple. After 15 min of walking you will reach highway, the entrance has a big banner for Manas temple, you can wait for bus here or can keep walking. After few minutes you reach a diversion. From here manas temple is clearly visible, also on the adjacent side banner of Mahuli fort is also present. From here Mahuli village is 3-3.5 kms. Just reach the base village and start the climb. Arrows indicating the right direction is in abundance so following the right route will not be a problem.)

After completing the first inclined patch I reached a small plateau, with a clear view of the destination. A ridge needs to be crossed to reach the top. I could see that the destination was far away and I was already feeling as if I have walked too much. But I could also see series of people climbing above; this motivated me and filled me with more energy. I started targeting one series at a time. Each time I took over one group of people I targeted next. In the whole climb, there was only one patch in which I loosed my balance, I know it’s early to say this but I am getting better as a trekker. :D.

I reached on top, climbed the iron ladder and it seems as if I have reached my destination. Some families (having mix of all ages) was also sitting on top, waiting for water. I offered them my water and we had some light talks. They knew about youngsterz group and told me that they just went ahead. I thanked them and again started following the group. Beyond my expectation the group was really large and unfortunately I was not able to recognize anyone. They were sitting near a water cistern. As per net I had to take a left turn from this place. Leaving them behind I went ahead. The arrows were prompting that I was on rite track. Moving ahead that track I came in a difficult position, the arrows vanished. An arrow on a tree was pointing towards a path going downwards!! My mind was not accepting it and I decided for youngsterz group to come.

To my surprise, the arrow was showing a rite path!! After meeting the group I met some of my old trek mates. It was delighted to meet those guys….we went ahead and reached the ruins of the fort. On the way we had “jamuns” (blackberry) which refreshed us for remaining trek. Here I met Nilesh, he was looking completely different from his orkut profile. He was very nice to me and we had a good talk. He told that many groups return from this place thinking this as the end point, but he had something to show us which was better than this place. We came back and took a right turn for our next destination. I was behind Nilesh who was leading us and talking about his experience as a trekker. He told that we need to do some rock climbing to reach the final destination. All the first timers (including me, though I am not one of them :-)) were very excited. But to my disappointment it was just a small rock patch. With the help of experience guys all of us climbed it safely and reached the destination. The view from this place was awesome, it really felt heaven like. A soothing and chilling wind was blowing at a constant rate. I sat there for 20-25 minutes just doing nothing but throwing stones against the wind :-). After this we went to Kalyan Darwaja and form there we returned back. (I wonder how many Kalyan Darwaja”S” are there in Maharashtra :D)

After Kalyan Darwaja we started to come back, the same rock patch took most of our time. I was in the mood to remain with the group, but sometimes big group also sucks :P. As we climbed down the iron ladder, group’s co leader Ananda told some of us about 5:30 bus. It was 4:25 pm on clock, he said if someone can reach early, he can stop the bus for others. I and two more guys agreed for this and started our journey hurriedly. For some time we all were together, but after few difficult patches one guy slowed down. Me and the guy left remain together for some more time, but then he also slowed down. He was under the impression that he will reach down in 45 minutes and will catch the bus. I had some other idea in my mind, I wanted to stop by the stream at the base and to take a nice bath in it. I don’t know how many of you will believe it but I completed the descending in “HALF AN HOUR”. I reached the stream and without wasting anytime jumped in it. I remain inside for 10-15 minutes, I wanted more but that would have meant missing the bus. I left that place and was literally running for the bus. And this time too I got a lift till bus stop. I would not call it a coincidence but now I believe there is something with me who helps me through this treks. What can I say, I am not blessed in other things so may be this is the thing (travelling/trekking) which I am blessed with. :D

Anyhow I reached bus stop on time , ate some chana-falli to get some energy. I was sure the group will not reach here before 45-60 minutes. As many of them were first timers and yups they were enjoying in their own way(in others words delaying themselves :P). Bus arrived, I talked to conductor, he was in a hurry and told me that there will be next trip at 6:30 pm. I tried calling Nilesh to tell him the situation, but was not connecting. So I send him a SMS telling about the situation. I reached the station at 6 pm. The train was scheduled at 6:17 pm, I stole some time to buy some fruits and have some refreshments. In this a great day was about to end and I was really happy I did it. I was travelling alone most of the time but believe my friends it was worth doing it :-)

To summarize Mahuli was better than my expectation and weather added more excitement in the trip. This was my 3^rd trek this season and I have to say it is getting better every time. Firstly it was Karnala in scorching heat. Then it was Rajmachi, though in heat as well, but with a good group and lots of fruits ;). Now Mahuli, a great weather, with a better health condition and yups chilled stream of water too :-). Though, I missed rains and waterfall this time. During next trek I will try for some trek with some waterfalls and I hope that time Indra Dev will not disappoint me further :-)

Rajmachi pics.....

http://picasaweb.google.com/ashishag.iitk/RAJMACHIWithYoungsterz3June08

Rajmachi with YOUNGSTERZ...

Let me first tell you what is youngsterz, it is group of passionate trekkers which organize treks for other and help them to enjoy it without any problem. You must have realized by now that I am in a "habit" to follow the wrong track and then getting exhausted in searching for right route :-). So this time I decided to go with some group and to save my energy.

(@ 28th May) To my bad luck rains in Mumbai has still not started and I really wanted to go for some trek. On orkut community “youngsterz” (all in capital :P), planning was going on for Rajmachi trek. This was a one day trek and I saw lots of people showing interest. I was willing to meet some enthusiastic bunch of guys, so I decided to go with this group. They were charging 200 bucks for this trip, which I thought was on the higher side. I hated this idea, but I had no other option!!!

(@ 30th May) Planning was very strange….they had planned to leave on Saturday late night (to board the last local to Karjat) and wait in Karjat Station till morning. This means no sleep on Saturday!!!! But I was ready to experience this. Start was very disappointing for me...as per trip leader Prasad, 4-5 guys were about to board from Kanjurmarg, I waited for about 40-45 minutes but no one showed up. At last when train arrived, in contrast to my thoughts it was full packed. I couldn’t believe how such large no. of people were travelling at 1 am in the late night. Somehow I entered the train, after few stations found a place to sit and was trying very hard to take a nap, but my experience says when you need it the most it will never come on time :)

One group was travelling in the same compartment, they were headed to Matheran. One of the guy from this group was very funny and was imitating a blind begger with a old song. Everyone from this group was enjoying it to the fullest. He was so funny that even I could not stop myself from laughing loudly, he repeated it many times but he was making all of laugh everytime. My trek group was in same comp. but was away from me. One thing I noticed was most of them was looking localities, talking in Marathi and were having fun. They were playing “Hide n Seek” in the train :D, can you imagine doing that…but it was very emotional (and funny ofcourse)watching them act childlike.

At last train reached Karjat, we all got down and gathered at one point. It was dark and all were new faces, so everyone was confused. I had to say first impression of the trip leader was not good. Who is the leader of the group was not even clear to me for a long time. Anyways this group had 5-6 experienced persons (let’s call them group X) , they were the people who was taking the decision. All new guys were following them quietly. The way of passing 2-3 hours in station was very unique, we all went to ticket counter and laid down between the grills (a good choice of location as all fans in that place were running). I also found a place and again started trying to get some sleep. I guess I must have slept for 1 hour but suddenly loud noises and stupid mosquitoes waked me up. The group X was all awake and talking very loudly (basically disturbing others…).

According to the plan, we were supposed to take breakfast and leave early. Shops were still not opened, so we all were waiting. One guy found out a shop which was open and was ready to serve breakfast. We reached their and again it was a disappointment. We ate “kanda poha” which was like “OOT ke muh mein ‘aadha’ jeera :D “. Shopkeeper clearly made us fool, but no one was protesting so I also kept mum. After breakfast we left for auto stand, which is located near Ram pul (I think so it was Ram pul only) By autos we reached the base village Kondivade. Before leaving leader asked all of us to gather in a circle and to introduce ourselves. I was waiting for this long, as this is the rite way to start a trek. But leader didn't describe about the trek and the precaution needs to be taken. (Which should be always done)

It was a very young group and everyone had different level of experience. We started our trek rite on time. Everyone was very excited and cameras started clicking all over the place. I guess we must have walked for half an hour and to our left we found a dry waterfall rocks. No water but still beautiful!!! Out of group of 19, 5 of us decided to climb the steep rock. It was fun, I was leading others. After this climb we reached old Buddhist caves. I thought we were ahead of other group but to my surprise they were ahead of us. They must have missed the caves and went ahead. We started following the trail and caught them very soon.

One thing which was very irritating was HEAT and the SUN. I was drained in sweat all over, it was itching badly and getting uncomfortable. Some of the guys of our group took out their shirt like sallu bhai, I was not comfortable to do that so I keep bearing the heat. Luckily we got a chance to take a rest for half an hour (waiting for slow guys...Group X remember.... behind us) under big shade and cool breeze.

I think we were only 15 minutes of walk away from Rajmachi village and we found mango trees and one more famous “maharashtrian” fruit. (I am really sorry that I forgot the name :( ) We all ate a lot of both, believe me it felt like heaven…

After crossing this mini “fruit” jungle we reached Rajmachi village. I thought that we will be served lunch before climbing the forts, but our leader was in the mood to finish the trekking part first. Leaving our bags in a house we all climbed one of the fort (either it was Manoranjan or Shrivardhan….see I still don’t remember which of the fort we climbed :D...seriously what has happened to me :O). I think group X joined the trek not for usual stuff of challenging mountains, but they were there just to enjoy. They were really very slow and because of them only we got late and we had to drop the idea climbing the second fort :( .

I believe if one subgroup is not willing to do sth that doesn’t mean that you should make others pay for it. Leader should take decision and not the team. If someone is slow (intentionally) then the group should be divided into two and then they can follow different routes.

Anyways the climb was good and I thoroughly enjoyed it. While climbing I was in conversation with our trek leader Prasad. It was really fascinating, he told me about his earlier treks and about other guys of youngsterz group. He also showed me the best point of Rajmachi trek. It was really beautiful; the view was of a dry waterfall from a post just opposite to it. It was huge and made me curious to know the way to reach at the bottom of the fall. I have kind of decided to go back to this place in monsoon and to get wet in this waterfall ;-).

After returning from fort we all had a nice lunch, I had “chawal ki roti” after a long time and overall it was a good vegetarian food. After lunch most of us was looking for a nap, some of “over enthusiastic” guys went to the lake….I wanted to but I thought to leave it for next trip :D.

After taking rest for 1.5-2 hours we started descending. We were late again because of “experienced” group X. Some of them wanted to go through Lonavala route and our leader was not commanding enough to ask them to follow his commands. We left in parts and out of 19, 13 were on their way, 6 guys were behind. While descending, one patch of the trek was little risky and a difficult one for the first timers. But everyone reached safely and we reached the base village before 7 pm. While returning we saw villagers collecting “jamuns”, tempted we started doing the same :). Just to give a courtesy gift to those villagers I bought jamun worth Rs. 10 from them. At the end of the trek no one can imagine a better ending than this.

We walked little further and caught autos till Karjat. Train was scheduled at 8:40 pm. Before leaving we all had bada pavs and burji pav. I couldn’t believe I am returning so early, I want to spent more time in mountain……but this is the way it always end :(. I reached Kurla and boarded a bus till my home.

It was a good trek in terms of mixture of terrains it provided. The trail had plains, plateaus, climbs, rocky patched, forests and everything you want in a trek. Anyone can go for this trek in a group. Just be patient and looks for arrows. You can even hire some villager from base village as a guide. The best thing is that you can stay there in night as it is a residential village, so everything is available at the top. A must visit in winters and in full moon nights(According to a gentleman whom I met in village..... he is a regular visitor of this place)

I am eagerly waiting for monsoon to come and it seems in the nest week after this I will not be disappointed :)

Raj Kapoor Special ....

"Old is gold" saying is very correct for old hindi movies songs. I have a special liking for such songs. Today when I was coming to office I struck gold on radio :D. At a frequency of 100.7, they were playing old songs of Raj Kapoor. The beginning of this 1 hour program was so amazing that I did not dare to change the channel for the whole hour. The program started with - "Kisi ki muskurato pe ho nisar, kisi ka dard mil sake to le udhar, kisi ke baaste ho tere dil mein pyar jeena isi ka naam hai". What a great lyrics. what a great song and Mukesh the synonym to Raj Kapoor in singing has done a great job.

As such Raj Kapoor is not my favorite actor, and I have not seen many of it's movie. But he did a brilliant job in Anari and Jish desh mein ganga behti hai. There may be more but I am not able to recall others. He really had a good sense of music and gave chance to many newcomers in field on music.

Some other songs which radio played were -
1) Jaha mein jaati hoon wahi chale aate ho..
2) Laga Chunari mein daag chupo kaise...
3) ruk ja o jaane wali ruk jaa..
4) pyaar hua ikraar hua hai pyar se phir kyu darta hai dil...
5) dil ki nazar se ......koi hame bataye...

Really a great start for the day. I hope they will repeat it again. FM 100.7 please keep on this tradition, this will increase your viewers for sure :-)