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Not just another .........."TREK"

Rajmachi Trek

Eventually being “tired” of getting “bored” all summer.. I decided to go on for local trek to Rajmachi- A place not many would have herd of, including me. So, I along with few friends of mine, contacted a local organization through which we could go (well, parents never allow you to go alone)…….. Solely depending on the info we got on the site, we group of 6 people set out to trek Rajmachi……
As decided we united with organization’s group (sum 50 trekkers…phew!!!!!) at Lonavla station (since we were from Mumbai and group from Pune)……
Coming back to the info that I got on website, the trek included a spectacular moonlight walk of 18 kms (I always wanted to go on night trek. Nah...( “Moonlight trek” it sounds more delightful), and a climb of two forts Manaranjan & Shrivardhan Gad. Well the details were accurate, but prospects seemed discerning, for what was to follow………….
We began our walk around 6 pm on normal tar road at first… just as sun began to set…… Time passed by chitchatting and walking at same time (there’s nothing funny bout that as of now…). We moved towards the actual terrain around 7 when it was pretty dark, so far it seemed exciting. Most of people were out with there torches, but I’d still wanted to rely on moonlight…….
(What’s the fun otherwise and also the fact that I wasn’t carrying a torch )…
Having the experience of walking in Himalayas, were one walks around 15-20 kms everyday…. I thought a 10 kms walk would be piece of pizza (why does it always has to be a cake !!!!!!!!)
Assuming 10 kms coz, I thought 18 kms included the walk on forts; well this was the discerning fact……
It must have been around 9 pm and still the destination seemed to be distant (all those who asked, where it was, leaders pointed at nearest mountain)… Getting a clue from that, I embraced the fact that it was still far away, and treading through narrow paths, the moonlight wasn’t helping, so sustaining on light of other people torches, I followed the path………………….
The tiredness was apparent on everyone’s face but the night veiled it well….
At some point of time, it felt as if our feet walked, not us…….

Stumbling, Tripping, Hitting, Trembling
On every stone and rock on our way,
Exhausting, Challenging, Wearing, Tiring,
Grueling, Draining, Panting,
Experience we had trekking the path…….
Rewarding, Pleasing, Humbling, Overwhelming,
Gratifying it felt, when we finally reached our destination…………
There was actually a cry of relief “Hey we can see a house here!!!!!!! " , something of that sort was it………….. I think I know now what would a traveler feel when he finds pond of water in desert after coming across many oases on the way…….
All just dropped down where they were standing and… guzzled down water and gulped down the food…. and even after that enduring walk.. People still were interested in camp-fire…more than that in singing…
What seemed to be a fun thing to do, turn out to be little more than that…. However the feeling of euphoria was soon overtaken with apprehension because we had to return back by the same route the very next day & that too in scorching heat…….
Wondering if I ever had more peaceful sleep than that, I woke at crack of dawn…. All set to trek the forts Manaranjan and Shrivardhan……




The only thing that drives you to climb a fort (the altitude) is the view from the top and to sit on the edge of the fortified wall (mesmerizing!!!!!!)… Although the climb of forts wasn’t that painstaking, but sun was sweltering…..




Returning back to our base camp, we devoured on local food of bhakri and chutney a little hastily, coz we had to trek back to lonavla station, if we had to make it to Mumbai that same day….
But we couldn’t leave before having look at nearby reservoir which was our and ofcourse the whole village’s only source of water……
On our way there, I couldn’t help but notice huge solar panels, since it was dark when we came in here, I didn’t realize the village did not have electricity supply…… ( and we thought solar panels were high end)......


Calculating, the time we took to reach here and making few alterations like adding some physical factors the “SUN” duuhh !!!!!!!, we estimated around 4 & ½ hours to get back…. [Before reading, recollect soundtrack of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly]…… Loading 3 bottles of water each, glares on our eyes, cap on our head, fully equipped with paraphernalia to beat the sun, (damn we missed sunblock….), we set out to trudge again…………………..

THE TRAIL..........
Treading on the barren land,
Retaining all the water in hand,
We walked again in the sunshine…..
With our mouth shut this time
(For we didn’t wish to taste soil again)
Sight only on path ahead of mine.
Walked again in the sunshine…..
Resting underneath the shade of tree
Awhile, to gather our might as we,
Still had long way to go, it seemed to be,
Winding lanes and meandering tracks,
Quenching thirst and gasping for breath
We walked again in the sunshine ………
In pursuit to cease, what we began with,
An unforgettable journey…..
For us, to reminisce it……….

[Its still hard for me to believe that i wrote it poetically]

The route way back no doubt, was an ultimate endurance test, completed by running half a mile on train platform to catch my only transport to way back home…….
The prospect of trekking in such an elusive environment, actually brings out best in you. The city’s lax-luxurious life (though not much in Mumbai), takes a backseat and you are smacked down to ground reality that………….
“Feet are your only means of transportation and Will-power your only survival tool”.
I have believed every experience good or bad, teaches something, well this sure hell taught me something…………….


[Yeah, never go trekking in summer……… he he !!!!!!!]



This entry was posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 at 1:00 PM and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

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