Tring tring: Hey dude! What u doin ths sunday?
Me: Nuthin. But wanna go a new trek.I too wanna do smthin new. Whr shud v go?
Me: Lets decide!
Tht last word’s meaning didnt came into existance till v had boarded our train back home. Me and Nilesh were too excited to do a promising trek. With Office overload testing my strength, i mainly relied on Nilesh to find a nice thrilling place. We being part of VRangers group r used to regular trekking. Time was inversly proportionate to our uncertainity of location. Numourous forts found thr way thru our memory lane. Dhakoba, dhak bahiri, bhairavgad, chavand, peth, ullas valley, sandan valley... finally our minds rested on matheran. Friday brot good news n v managed to carve a plan route. I had asked my friend Rohini to join and search was on for additional enthusiasts. V wr to climb up from Shivaji ladder route towards extreme south of matheran and return from peb fort route extreme north. But Saturday again stranded us 2 without ny more companions and my superman brain convinced nilesh to inject more fun in the trek n replan. I dont kno if the rain ws too harsh or i had a skinny mind. Again v sweeped the memory lane. V definitely wr going Matheran. I suggested v climb up from One tree hill route and come down towards west n go to irshaalgad. A mountain nearby. Late night calls to frnds n waking up google also didnt do much good. At last all v cud decide was to meet for 4.58am karjat local from dadar.
Morning dewdrops, my packed haversack n my charged digicam were all set to panaromise the mountains. Now whr was Nilesh! Ah running down the stairs lyk a free infant bird. I cudnt decide who was faster. His feet or the karjat local coming from opposite end. Now this was the moment of truth. Unlike fellow passengers v wr yet to decide wht to do! Nilesh suggested a new route, garbet plateau. 'Hey dude it goes besides ths awesome waterfall' ok then garbet it is, whr do v get down? 'Bhivpuri, b4 karjat'. Awesome.
Bhivpuri station could easily defeat a stranded fort. Missing the basic elements, a platform n rail tracks suggested v hve reached. Lets ask localites... Still not sure if the humans on the way wr sent from heaven or hell. First mouth opened to explain 'ul take a day to climb from here. its not possible in rains'... errr thanks but no thanks! perhaps the only thing i can do properly is trek. A quick breakfast at a side semi awake shop was enuf to start of. 7.30am my watch declared.
Left from the station comes Diksaal village, take
the best road right. Go on till the highway, take left till u spot the big waterfall called Aashane. the next Direction frm a passer by cudnt hve come more close to perfection. V wr running towards the gigantic falls to take a dip whn the farmers explained. V need to climb up the hill just right before the falls and moves towards right side. Cant v just go say hello to the falls, our eyes enquired but the determination to find proper route, easily overtuk the playful child in us. V climbed on the 1000ft hill just to notice v wr surrounded by waterfalls all around. i guess thts y they say- patience pays sweet!
Regular messengers on the way informed tht the first village up was Thakudwadi but v neednt visit thm. Go right opposite the falls direction in right, keep walking towards the mountains. Next stop wud b Dhangadwadi. Ah tht did sound easy enuf but wd the crazy rains blinding our sight and lush green nature encircling our minds, right path was far extinct. V kept walking till 2 busy farmers tuk time out of their ploughing and directed us. I asked "Garbet plateau cha raste kute ahes" (using my utmost marathi knowledge). i loved the way he explained the route n i smiled back a Thank you. Though i had to ask Nilesh "What did he say? i didnt understand tht hardcore marathi!" He had a nice laugh b4 translating n v moved on to find a village a midst waterfalls and river streams beyond another hill. Few wells here n their. just enuf to tempt us to halt n capture our own reflection beside em.
Nilesh was highly impressed wd the rice farming n insisted on a picture of him farming. I tho had to cut short his dream n picture the next stop. Sagachiwadi, another village in our clear line of sight to the left towards the parent mountains. It was already 9.30am. V wondered how further will the procedure of inquiring n exploring go. From right middle of the next village we reached the feet of mother mountain. Already at a height of 1200ft. It felt v r back to pavillion as next hurdle was no less. climbing from lil right side v now felt a clear distinction.
Looking back to revise Round 1, v noticed a huge lake and a dam besides far below. V gathered v came around it from right. Round 2 now made us face dense clouds. Suddenly v felt transported to the heavens above. The only thing visible was our feet and the grass around, a thin pave way to suggest v r definetly heading somwhere! How far how long was no more a hope as the villagers too faded and v wr on our own. The climb wasnt that treacherous, tho v did break the walk whn our breath preceded our steps.
Going around the mountain, circling from right v realised v r being guided upwards and the end shud b near... of our journey. Looking up wasnt a good idea unless u r ok with dissapointment. So i rather tuk out my waterproof cam and let it do the talking. Nilesh somehow remembered his previous birth dream to eat a live crab, and the team of Aaj Tak dived in. Me with cam interviewing Nilesh. Never b4 seen footage, live capture of Nilesh catching a timid baby crab and satisfying his taste buds!!! CAtch exclusive footage on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvBqFUvv9mQ '
Will u try?' was the returning favour. NO for me! Moving lil ahead our ears gathered faint noises of human shouting. Which soon materialised as a group of trekkers who started almost 2 hours b4 us. Wonder wht wr thy doing, ploughing fields on the way! just as v overtuk them, God blessed us wd one of the most enchanting views of our trek career. The Garbet plateau hugged by clouds all round. Winds gushing and water drops piercing our skin. If only wr thy lil bigger, thy cud hve defeated the Hitler's army! The other group had decided to break for lunch while i insisted v carry on and njy the fruits of labour in Matheran. But the plateau seemed nvr ending...
Our halt for photo session payed well as the winds shifted the clouds enuf to spot another lil hill straight ahead, and v wished it was Matheran! Our tummies needed sm fuel. Nilesh had brot milk packets at base which i had to experiment with now. My first attempt on raw milk n it tasted surprisingly sweet. A little more climb with a definite rock patch was noticed and endorsed. But as v moved, the prominent path tagged our questionare. Infact too prominent, v stud at a crossing. A thick mud road to left crossing across to right. And a hill climb straight. We looked at each other n instantly knew the question. But to find the answer, i walked to left and Nilesh to right. used my utmost intuitive skills and returned wd the simplest answer.. '
No idea whr it leads man' But my hero Nilesh found a way. '
Not the route dude, i found a pond.' need to go - call of nature. Errr okeyyy. So v decided to split. I wanted to explore the route uphill and he went down to relieve himself. I noticed the the path zigzaged above and the rocks wr neatly placed for me to step up n climb. I found a spot high enuf to guard the entire plateau and Nilesh down below. As he returned i guided him up and v climbed bit more to enter matheran from Garbet point.
And as v had thot vl c sm odd tourist around and ask rest of the way. Place looked totally deserted for years. Evn the goats v met at the entrance had vanished. Was it a haunted palace's route. Walkin ahead again v got 2 ways. And the golden rule... I walk left, u go right. Well finally v tuk left, walkin 10 min again 2 routes. Gosh v didnt suspected Matheran had a Snakes ladder game installed. Luckily i had network. Took out my N900 and googled map of Matheran. Whola! y didnt v do this b4. The way was all clear now. Another hour walk saw us njying the medieval times scenery of British reign, The main market. My clock said 1pm, ma camera said 2500ft, And ma tummy shouted Food! Matheran is blessed with proper markets n shops and v found a decent place for our bumps. Non veg resto with heavy rains outside. Filled ourselves to brim.
'Rubens, v wr suppose to go to Irshaalgad from here. I doubt thts possible now. Its 2pm.'
'Right dude, v shud go directly back.'
'Which route?'.....
Silence was never studied so deeply before. Again google to rescue. Wish i had researched for my graduation exams this well. Calls to frnds n various websites finalised our return route from Peb Fort. A mountain next to Matheran towards North but wud land us straight near Neral station. V noted time 2:20 and moved on.
The clock coudnt evn struck 2:30 and i had a strange pain in ma tummy. Somehow the pictures of delhi belly sick guy flashed in ma eyes. I explained Nilesh i had to relieve myself quick. Now water was an issue. Nilesh was kind enuf to come empty handed and i had 2 1L bottles. Of which i choose one n prayed vl get a waterfall ahead. Over with the episode v moved, did spotted a small waterwall by the rocks and a strange brown fruit tree which Nilesh declared eatable.
I climbed up to fullfill his wish. Crossing all the hurdles next 2 hours were a breeze. Follow the path of rail till the end of mountain. Look for a Big Ganesh rock painting on left. A prominent door reveals steps going down on left. Carefull stairs n slipery passage with heavy winds from front n valley on left to evn suck ur soul deep inside. Rest was fine.
Peb mountain was visible ahead. and a huge crowd coming our way. All advised not to go down frm other side of Peb as it will get late has dense forest n is slippery. We got evn more excited! Opposed to 3-4hours time predicted by localites, v reached the
top of Peb by 5:00pm. Yeh ofcourse not without climbing another set of criss cross ladders n an awesome view around. N
ow we werent much interested in breaks as had to get down before dark. There was a mandir right on top but our path went from around the mountain left. So v cudnt afford to loose an hour.
Without any wait except for some stylo pics, v continued. The path was indeed different and interesting now on. One Rock patch and the rear stairs of the fort brought us to a cave whr v caught breath. Sat 10 minutes. 5:20 and v had to move again. No matter how many pics i put up i can never reveal the beauty v witnessed. V wr advised to cross the mountain. And just whn the path goes down to c a V shape, take a right down. But before v cud descend from other side i saw a path climbing directly behind me above the mountain. Curiosity now drove my legs back. Nilesh sat there and i scrutinized the path. Went up n got tougher. Path went right, n slippery n skinny. It revealed a hidden level coming exactly above the caves v rested in. It went further ahead fading in rocks. Guess it can form another route back but a 3rd Degree one. This stunt shouldnt b done without parental guidance! The 10min hindrance an added asset now, i moved on. V met a pair of 6foot rocks ahead hugging each other. n v had to climb down evading the lovers. Thy tried their best to alter r path but thr was none other. Rest was a simple path thru green walls. Until v tuk right from the V mountain gap. Actually there's a clear path up to next mountain 'Nakhind' and the path to left wud lead u to denser forest ending towards Neral but a longer hike. So v took the right path! Water fall, Creepy trees n dim lights all pushed our nerves to double are pace. Darkness would overcome the beauty soon but v managed to reach the base before it won. Caught another small group on the way and a few crabs again.
This time tho i caught a crab... it insisted a photo shoot. Moving down, a lucky villager showed us the path ahead. Half hour walk to reach Panvel Station. And it was party time. I made the drinks (Tango orange) and Nilesh opened the starters (choco biscuits). And before v cud finish v wr aboard the local back home.
So did v decide whr vl go... cud v decide... I think i still cant decide the answer. But the question was interesting and worth living again!
