Falling In love… Sar Pass 2011

This is an account of my trek to Sar Pass located somewhere in the Himalayas at about 13,800 feet in the state of Himachal Pradesh in the month of May…

It was with an intense desire to witness snow that I decided to sign up for the YHAI trek to Sar Pass. The low cost was an added incentive to go on this trek! 3152/- for a 10 day Himalayan trek…for someone who travels on a shoe string budget, YHAI is definitely a boon. But for someone who treasures her solitude, this trek did prove to be stressful with regard to the number of people in a single group – around 50 in my batch!

I pride myself in the ability to remain detached in a throng of people. Unfortunately, on this trek thanks (or rather, NO THANKS!!!) to one particular fellow trekker, I lost my beloved anonymity within a few days of joining the YHAI camp. A bad start to an otherwise beautiful journey in the mountains filled with the untouched beauty of Mother Nature.

The YHAI camp was surprisingly thronging with people. I guess there were about 200 of us on any given day. That’s how you cut costs… a valuable lesson learnt. And the meal times usually looked like an Indian Wedding banquet… what with all the decorations in the camp. Well, the food wasn’t befitting a wedding buffet, nonetheless it was nourishing food. Although the occasional fly in my dal wasn’t that nourishing I believe. I am cursed to find all the wrong things in my food!!! Out of all the many people in the camp, I can guarantee I would have been the only one to have found the lovely creature in my bowl… No hard feelings for the poor fly, after all he drowned in my bowl of dal which ultimately went down the drain…

There were about 20 tents, each housing 10 people. The tents were clean and cozy. The people in my tent remained the same from day 1 to day 10. I am not entirely sure if that was a good thing. 10 strangers (more or less) brought together for one common goal… to trek. Well, it was almost a reality show in the making…the minor skirmishes, the late-night gossip, the occasional tears, the animal-sounding snores…unforgettable memories I shall treasure for a lifetime…

The first three days of the trek were spent at the base camp in Kasol. On the very first day, I had the sheer bad luck to witness a gruesome accident. A beautiful black pup that had been happily playing with the campers in the morning was run over by a bus L …another bad omen. There were just two of us who witnessed this. No one else… For someone, who believes in fate, the signs weren’t looking good. In the first place, our train tickets never got confirmed and we had to get last minute confirmed tickets … jugaad. My family didn’t want me to come… I can still recall verbatim the lecture I got on how I got my priorities wrong… the rebel that I am… my heart chose to go… so did I…

After the excruciating heat in the train and a group of guys giving unsolicited marital advice, we had to go through a harrowing bus journey from Chandigarh to Bhuntar… luck was running against us right from the start…

Luck remained mixed throughout the journey…

We rested on the first day. The next two days included an acclimatization walk which was beautiful to say the least. Walking through the thick canopy… up and down… it was an acclimatization of sorts. I was mainly getting acclimatized to being around so many people… I honestly believe I was a pahadi in my last life… (in much better health than I am in this life, of course)… so the nature acclimatization wasn’t really needed…

We also did some rock climbing and rappelling. I have always loved climbing, whether they be rocks, trees or good old drain pipes on the building walls… needless to say the rock climbing was awesome… Rappelling, on the other hand, wasn’t that exciting. I would have preferred climbing down with bare hands. But it was a good experience…apart from being told by the instructor that two people my size could fit into the harness….which was true, so I don’t blame him for making me feel unhealthy which I know I am…

I bought some rain gear at the local Kasol market as I had intelligently left my sturdy rainwear back home… AFTER having read the do’s and don’ts of previous Sar Pass trekkers… I was loving my luck with each passing moment…

It was on the fourth day that we finally set out. I was loaded with a bag that the group leader thought was too heavy. A lot of people find it very strange that I can carry so much weight in spite of having not much weight on myself… one of god’s mysteries…I guess…

The first day’s trek was to Grahan. The trek was tiring. A friend fell sick… usually I am the one who falls sick… so this was a totally new experience… my ‘falling sick’ day was soon to come though L luck was still playing games…

The sun was scorching down on us… sapping away what little energy we had left. But overall it was a nice trek. We sighted a lammergeier at the lunch point. Luck does have funny ways of showing itself…

On the way to Grahan, we met Meenakshi Didi and Reena. That’s where we discovered that you can hire porters to carry your bags. … Now, that was a surprise… no comments though… they were lovely people… I have always found pahadis have this really mischievous innocent look… so did they… some of the most beautiful people I have met… our journey then on was together as a few other trekkers hired them as porters… although for them, I believe, they merely remained porters but for me they became friends… friends who took care of me when I fell sick… friends who shared some heartfelt memories… Meenakshi Didi was a sweet soul, always smiling although she had lost her husband in a very cruel way… long live the mountain spirit… and may god bless their souls for helping a stranger like me… Luck did smile back at me after all…

Grahan camp was small. Just five tents and a stinking loo… I feel pukish at the thought of it… so I shall not describe it further. So, Grahan was the first camp, where I answered nature’s calls in the lap of nature and from then on, it remained so…

After some tuneless Antakshri at the nightly campfire, we hit the sleeping bags around 10, I guess. The next day we started late around 9. The walk to the next camp Padri was nice. Slight showers but the newly bought raingear was helpful.

It turned out we were forbidden to enter the camp before three pm. It was raining, some of us were wet… but no, rules are rules and the guide decided to stick to them… can’t blame him though... he didn’t make the rules… some supposedly very intelligent people at YHAI made them… I shall not whine…

Padri was beautiful… and there one of our fellow trekkers got us a piece of snow/ice… I can still picture that moment when he thrust a block of snow into my outstretched palm… finally I get to feel the snow… there was much more to come… and I couldn’t wait to witness it…

But Padri was a mixed bag… the spiting machine was getting worse by the day… I spit here… I spit there… I spit everywhere… I don’t care if it’s unhygienic… I don’t care if the 50-odd people I am with are disgusted… I don’t care if the very sight of me makes someone nauseous… I shall spit where I please… may it be right where people wash vessels… rinse their mouths... wash their faces… spitting is my birthright and no one can take it away from me…

My humble request to YHAI – PLEASE BAN SPITTING ON YOUR TREKS!!!

Being allergic to smoke, I had to take a pill which didn’t go down well just like most pills never do… so next day I woke up with a very very bad throat and a running nose. And also, the night before, I lost my cool and screamed at someone in the dark… didn’t even know who until later… socializing wasn’t going so well… what can I say… nothing in my defense… my loss of anonymity was costing me dearly…

Padri to Ratapani was painful. I pushed myself to the limit. I didn’t want to give up. A few vomits later, I almost gave up. But help was right beside me… the burden on my back was shared by some kind souls… I curse my luck for falling sick (also my poor health, I must admit)…but as luck would have it, I was with some very helpful people… I trekked from Padri to Ratapani on half a bar of chocolate offered to me by another kind soul… the mountain spirit had spread to several others I guess… luck was still playing games…

It was at the lunch point before Ratapani that a fight broke out… no details… I despise gossip on a public platform…

It was on the way to Ratapani that I witnessed patches of snow… snow… that is what I had come to see… I was stumbling with exhaustion… doubting whether I would make it to Sar Pass… I was tired… yet I moved on… I was the first to make it to the camp… where I met Mr Sunil Gupta… who offered me what I wanted the most… COUGH SYRUP… having absolutely no stomach for antibiotics, I was dying for a syrup… and he happened to have some… luck was at it again…

Another bout of vomiting followed… but Meenakshi didi’s homemade concoction worked wonders… I have never recovered from throat infection as quickly as I did on that trek… I couldn’t enjoy the sights that Ratapani had to offer though.

The next day, we set off for Nagaru. It was a beautiful trek. Up and up we went. I was gasping for breath and would occasionally lean on my stick to catch a breath. That stick was brilliant. Unfortunately, I had to leave it at Sar Pass.

It was on the way to Nagaru that the snow line began. Snow everywhere… it was mesmerizing. Snow on my camera got me back to reality and I rushed to clean it up. Here I encountered the most sour-faced camp leader of all the camps… the less said the better. The camp was on a slope. It was dangerous to say the least. The female population didn’t want to answer nature’s calls in partial public view… the restrictions didn’t go down well with some, etc etc etc… The tensions were slowly beginning to surface… they had begun long ago when certain unruly people were asked to leave the camp…

Nagaru was cold. We went off to bed early as we had to leave at 3 am the next day. It was the day; we would climb the summit of Sar Pass! IT WAS THE DAY I WISHED I WOULD BE A SHERPA IN MY NEXT LIFE… THEY WERE AMAZING PEOPLE… Honestly, they were showing off at times as they knew they were awesome!!! But then, they were actually awesome!!!

We trekked through snow. My shoes (Quechua – Forclaz Lady) paid off. They were sturdy, didn’t slip and didn’t get soaked in the snow… luck, oh dear luck… it was peeping out again… It was a beautiful day. Our guide, Khem Thakur was egging us on. The sun was coming up and if the snow melted, we would be in a whole lot of trouble. So, we marched on… left right left…

the view was breathtaking… It was a dream come true… it was years ago that I had planned on a snow trek… and here I was… luck may be cruel at times… but I don’t mind as long as it takes me to places like these… it’s in moments like these that I wish I could travel forever… I was thankful that fate had brought me here…

And then there was the snow slide. That was a mixed experience. Khem Thakur firmly refused to let me keep my stick but promised me he would get me one when we reached the bottom… he kept his promise… and I carried it all the way back home… in memory of a lovely guide who probably saved a lot of lives…

The reason I am saying this is… on the next day a trekker made the mistake of carrying his stick with him… also he did not loosen the bag strap on the hip (as was advised by Khem Thakur)… the result was a shoulder dislocation… And it was Khem Thakur who ultimately helped the guy get medical aid without taking any monetary compensation in return, unlike the others who extorted exorbitant amounts of money to help the injured trekker. On a more serious note, the camp leader at Biskeri offered the guy Relispray to put on his dislocated shoulder… Don’t these camp leaders have any medical training!!! No wonder the trek cost us 3152/-

Biskeri wasn’t a very memorable experience… a really gross group imitation of the spitting machine unlocked long held-back tears… I would rather erase that camp site from memory…

After Biskeri, it was downhill till Bandakthatch. Going downhill, my toes went from bad to worse. But the trek was lovely. I stayed back to escape those who brought back memories of the previous day. It was a good decision. We also crossed a gushing stream. It was actually a glacier draining out or something of that sort. It was beautiful. I was so lost in its beauty that I stood in the middle of the log connecting the two sides of the stream oblivious to the others. It was only when the guide came to offer me help; I realized that the others thought I was stuck!!! For a moment, I had forgotten the others were there… I felt alone and blissful… a moment I shall cherish for a long time to come…

Bandakthatch was more beautiful than I could have imagined. Snow clad peaks all around… Meenakshi didi made me some more of her homemade tea and it was refreshing… another night of discordant songs… but I didn’t care anymore… I had seen heaven… and whenever I shut my eyes I find myself back there…nature in all its glory…

The next day we set off for Barsheni from where we had to catch a bus to Manikaran. Met some not so good people on the way… they were a weird breed of Pahadis… unhelpful and roguish…

At Barsheni, we luckily caught the bus just in time. And to my pleasant surprise, Meenakshi didi had saved me a nice seat… how do you thank such innocent generosity? Well, I tried to in my own weird way… she had put on my hat… and she looked lovely in it… so I gave it to her… that hat had travelled with me to almost all corners of India and to some places abroad… I loved it… it took me a lot of strength to part with it… but I am glad I gave it to a lovely human being…

We got down at Manikaran, we lunched at the Langar and then a nice hot bath in the hot springs. A bath after more than a week, it was … it was an entirely new experience… and weird…

At Kasol base camp, the ambience wasn’t very welcoming. Something in the air had changed. I would rather not dwell on it. But it felt like the YHAI organizers would have preferred if we had checked out that very day. We were technically allowed to stay for the night and leave the next day… and that’s what we did… and also witnessed a group of drunken revelers get kicked out… I feel sad for them… they were the only ones who got caught…

Luck was turning again… unfortunately not in my favor… we bought bus tickets for our journey from Bhuntar to Delhi. There was only one bus that left at 6.30 in the evening. There was a possibility that we might miss our train from Delhi. The bus was 6 hours late being caught up in a traffic jam, we did miss our train. The journey back home was terrible. We got down at Karnal hoping to catch a local train that would get us early to Delhi but didn’t get one. Got onto a bus that broke down at Gharonda on the highway. Got onto another bus which dropped us at Panipat. From there a bus to Delhi, which dropped us there at 12.30. Two and a half hours after our train had gone!!! And that is the story of the day when I missed a train for the first time ever in my life!!!

What followed after that makes me cringe even now. 24 hours on an unreserved ticket on a berth occupied by 4 other unreserved ticket travellers. That was the day I sat upright for one entire day!!! And got bit by bed bugs!!! After witnessing heaven, we got thrown into hell… luck and its myriad games…

Thankfully, we happened to be in the right place at the right time. That was the only vacant berth and we happened to be on it by sheer luck. So, you see, I can’t even blame luck… after all it could have been worse… imagine standing for 24 hours!!!

Sar Pass was heavenly… I met some beautiful people… and the mountains were incomparable in their sheer beauty… no matter how cruel luck might have been at times… I would gladly live through it again… if only to witness heavenly bliss at Sar Pass once again…

The Great Himalayan Bird Count 2009 (7th to 10th Nov’09)

I was fortunate enough to hear about the Great Himalayan Bird Count 2009 from a friend of mine. Since I had heard almost a month in advance, we set about planning and re-planning the entire trip. Thanks to the internet, I got all the information regarding our train journey.

Our train journey was going to start from Pune, halt at Delhi and then, to Dehradun. So, this means, we switched trains in Delhi. We quickly got our train booking done, partly online and partly through a friend’s uncle who works in Indian Railways. (Bless him!) With our tickets booked, we got down to some planning of our own, as to what all we would be doing and what all we could do in addition to the count.

I have rarely trekked with big groups. I have always preferred trekking in the company of a selected few friends. But this Bird Count had people from all over India coming in. So, this was definitely going to be a new experience. We reached Dehradun on 7th November, early morning. On our way, we had halted at Delhi, where a college friend was kind enough to host us at his place for the day. He, even, took us around Delhi, showed us the Delhi University where we spotted some nice butterflies and, also, to Janpath and the Natural History Museum. We caught the Dehradun AC Express from Nizammuddin at 11:30 (or so). The night journey was peaceful in the train and so we overslept, only to be woken up by fellow trekkers who had joined us from Mumbai. Quickly, we packed up our bags and took off. We reached the meeting after overspending 500/- due to our own stupid mistake. Thankfully, that was the only occasion where we wasted money on this trip. Touchwood. Money was an important factor in this trip as this was my first self financed trip.

At the briefing, the groups were decided. There were around 10 to 12 groups covering the Garhwal Himalaya. The trek route of the group I had opted for was Barkot-Jankichatti-Yamunotri. The briefing had taken half the day and, finally, we set out at lunch time for Barkot Forest Rest House. Barkot is a small town in Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand. On the way there, we stopped at Mussourie around 3 pm, for some lovely aloo parathas and to take in the breathtaking view. The place we stopped at was called Mahak Bhojanalay and, was pretty reasonable. Next stop was a couple of hours later, when another group’s car broke down. After spending some time there, we moved on only to get down an hour later at Dhamta for tea and some snacks. This place was called Chauhan Restaurant and Lodge and was pretty decent plus it had a good toilet. (A very important point to be noted) And then finally, we made it to our destination for the day, Barkot, at 7.45 pm. We made it just in time because it seems that the police put road blocks after sundown to stop vehicles from travelling at night, since it is so dangerous with the deep valley on one side.

Barkot Forest Rest House was, simply put, homely. We freshened up and left for dinner. Most of our meals on this trip comprised of Aloo Paratha. The place where we ate was Avantika Bhojnalaya and Mr Uttam Rawat’s parathas reminded me of home. I can still feel their taste and my mouth still waters. If you ever find yourself in Barkot, that’s the place you should eat at. Then, we went back to the rest house to be greeted by a jackal who it turned out had his whole gang in the area. The next morning, he or one of his fellows was spotted again. Anyway, we turned in for the night and got some much needed rest. Before finally turning to bed, we decided to make some changes in the plan and head directly for Jankichatti and finish the trek to Yamunotri on the same day, in case, the weather played truant. And luckily for us, the decision favoured us.

Next day, early morning (5 am to be precise) we decided to do some birding. But it turned out to be a bad choice since we saw no birds. And then at 6, we find the Asian Barred Owlet perched right outside the rest house and being troubled by a Blue Whistling Thrush. With that we began our bird checklist which by the end of the trip consisted of 35 species. In the vicinity of the Rest House, we spotted Grey Headed Woodpecker, Brown Fronted Woodpecker, a group of Red Billed Blue Magpie, Black Lored Tit, and Great Tit. After a wholesome breakfast of mouth-watering parathas we set off for Jankichatti around 8 am. On the way we spotted the Red Billed Blue Magpie again, Himalyan Treepie, White capped Water Redstart, White Rumped Vulture hovering too far away, and Himalayan Bulbul. We stopped for tea on the way and there on the river bank we found a Crested Kingfisher on a rock. My list of lifers was increasing with each bird spotting. There we also found a lizard with its baby on a rock completely camouflaged. Beautiful sight! Soon after our tea break we chanced upon a flock of lorikeets.

And then, we drove on to Jankichatti, the base village of Yamunotri. And there we found a bird of prey that I have never seen- Lammergier. It was a sight to behold. The ease with which it glided over us left us gaping. It was gliding with a couple of Himalayan Griffons. Turns out, he hangs around in their company in order to pick on the left over’s after the Griffons are done. We quickly stashed our bags at the FRH over there, in order to start our trek. It was almost one in the afternoon when we started our ascent against the strong advice of the forest guard who said that this was not the right time and that we were too late. As it turned out, he was right but our team leader persisted. As things turned out, we trekked Yamunotri without food or water! Now, that I would say was an achievement in itself. The climb was difficult but wonderful. Up and up we went, through the winding stairway. How I wish we could have taken the forest route as I had really wanted to see the Himalayan Monal, their state bird. But it was not to be. So, up we climbed and spotted some Himalayan Langoors, Fantail Flycatcher, Himalayan Woodpecker and a few others. At around 4.30, we finally reached the temple on top and settled for some well earned rest. Thankfully, on our trip down we had the Forest guard to accompany us. We were too tired to go back and, hence, decided to stay back a bit. My friends decided to take a dip in the hot springs. Unfortunately, I couldn’t. But I did enjoy dipping my feet in there. It was so refreshing to feel such hot water in such freezing cold weather. Hats off to Mother Nature and geothermal energy!

By the time we started descending, it was dusk and our forest guard was way more than just apprehensive. With the light rapidly fading, we tried to walk as fast as our legs could take us. The apprehension was growing on all of us. And soon it was pitch dark. My Samsung Marine had a good light and that was the only light we had for a long way when I realised we had another torch. But it wasn’t much good. Nonetheless, we now had two torches among four of us. That was a fair number. So, down we went making as much sound as possible to keep the predator at bay. And the predator that I am referring to is the Common Leopard who did pay us a visit, ultimately. My friend had this feeling that we were being followed and I trust his instinct. We were almost at the foothill when I spotted a pair of eyes and he spotted a silhouette slinking away into the woods. The forest guard didn’t utter a word. He knew what it was, he had dreaded it and, now, all he could think of was getting away from this place as fast as we could. So, that is what we did. We were back safely in our FRH at around 7. I can still picture those eyes vividly.

After a hot dinner we discussed our trip so far and then hit the bed. It was a freezing night. I had hoped to start off early morning but that was not to be. We went to pay a visit to the Devi who usually resides at Yamunotri but in winter is brought down to Kharsi village, which was next door. We went around the entire village because our guide wasn’t sure where the Devi was as it is installed on rotational basis in various locations. Thanks to that, we got a good view of the village life there which seemed pretty nice. After the devout had paid their respects, we began our return journey. We had decided that we would do our 10 km trek from Barkot to Yamunotri on our way back but that was not to be. The weather changed and by the time we left, it had started drizzling and, later, we heard that it snowed there. We missed the snow due to our change in plan but if we had stuck to the earlier plan we would have missed our trek to Yamunotri as well. So, things turned out alright I guess. We were back in Barkot by 2 o’clock. And we whiled away our time as it was drizzling outside and we couldn’t do much. Our team leader was very apprehensive about any of us falling sick due to this change in weather, so we stayed put. Dinner as usual was at Mr. Rawat’s. And then we sat up till late night, compiling our checklist.

Next day, we were scheduled to meet the Forest officer, Mr G. Sonar. We discussed our trip with him and he shared some valuable information with us. It was nice talking to him. Breakfast at Rawat’s, and then we were off to Dehradun. We decided to stop intermittently to see if we could add to our checklist but in the end we gave up on the idea since we were seriously running late. We spotted Plumbeous water Redstart, Spotted Forktail Long Tailed Minivet, and Blue Throated Barbet. We had to be back in Dehradun for the final meeting. There we got a pleasant surprise, as it turned out that Tom Alter had graced the occasion with his brother. Turns out they are both nature enthusiasts. Each team’s leader presented his or her team’s experience on their respective treks. With that, concluded the Great Himalayan Bird Count 2009.

Harishchandragad-Trekking into the Clouds

6th October, 2009

Harishchandragad-Trekking into the Clouds

It was more than five years ago that I had first heard of Harishchandragad. It was during an Optional English lecture that Dr. Phadke had talked about the awe-inspiring beauty of the huge cliff at Harishchandragad. (I didn’t know then that the cliff was called Konkan Kada!)This was before I started trekking. But since that day I had always wanted to go there. Somehow the trek never fell through. Being the fatalist that I am, it just reinforced my belief that when something is supposed to happen it will.

And so more than five years later on the 3rd of October, 2009 at 6 am, four other friends and I set out from Shivajinagar on a Pune-Nashik bus. We got down at Ale Phata at 8:15, in order to change buses. The bus ride cost us 60/- each.(for which I have yet to pay!) Since none of us had had breakfast, we ate at a small restaurant out there. Then at 8:45, we managed to catch a bus going to Kalyan, which would drop us at Khubi Phata. We made it there by 10:15. From Kubhi phata, we get a beautiful view of Pimpalgaon Dam. As the sun was shining bright overhead, the water was glistening in all its glory. Luckily, we got a jeep going to Khireshwar which was about a kilometer ahead. Khireshwar is the base village of Harishchandragad. The jeep ride took us barely 10 minutes. The driver pointed out to a lot of vehicles parked in the distance at the other side of the dam. It seems, Abhishek and Aishwarya were somewhere in the vicinity shooting for Raavan. Thankfully, no one was interested in that. So, we moved on to our little village where we had tea at a small hotel called Yaswant I guess. There I found a few chicks and even managed to get hold of one. Cute, cuddly little creatures they are. After the refreshment, we started off at 10:45.

The climb uphill was exhausting. It was after a long gap that I had gone for a trek and it definitely took its toll. Harishchandragad is the second highest peak in Maharashtra, nestled in Malshej ghat. It’s at a height of about 4500 ft. I was pretty disappointed with my stamina. :( On the way up, we spotted a number of butterflies. ( A detailed checklist will be provided at the end) Apart from that we spotted a few birds. (Checklist later) Saw a few mountain loaches in the water and lots of crabs. We found a partial snake skin, also, which a friend of mine quickly snatched up for keepsake. And how can I forget the huge skink who scared me stiff. The reason it scared me so much was that one of my friend’s kept saying that we were going to spot a snake (and he is usually right in such cases). So when I spotted the skink peeping out of a crevice in a rock, my first instinct said it was a snake! (which it thankfully was not since it was right in front of me!) We just seemed to keep going up and up without stopping. Mountains can be so deceiving. Every time we crossed a hill, it seemed that we were near the top only to realize that it was not so. Spotting a kestrel hovering in the strong wind was a nice sight. We had lunch somewhere on the way.

Finally, by the Grace of whoever it might be, we reached the top at 3:45 pm, after five long, unending hours! Actually even after reaching the top, it took us five minutes to realize that we had made it because there was mist all around and we could barely see anything. But the mist cleared to reveal a temple which has been carved out of a single rock. It was beautiful but I was too exhausted to look at it. There we met a group of three photographers who had come the day before and had put up a tent right in front of the temple. They gave us a lot of good information about everything out there and advised us to quickly find a cave for the night since they would get filled up soon. So that’s what we did. We went cave hunting. Thankfully, we found an empty one. The cave had two parts. The inner part was where we would stay and at the entrance was a small corridor type of place which was, unfortunately, occupied by a local villager had set up his cooking stall on the outside of the cave to cater to the trekkers. Honestly, it wasn’t that unfortunate because it was thanks to him that we got hot cups of tea in the cold weather up there. But the smoke of his kerosene stove blew right into the cave, making my eyes water all through the night and not to mention the completely blocked nose. (I might be allergic to smoke is what I realized later on!) We spread our mats and sleeping bags to mark our territory as we were sure there would be more trekkers looking for shelter and we didn’t want an invasion. And then settled for a nice cup of tea. My legs were sore. Every time I got up, I groaned inwardly with the pain. (Felt even more disappointed with myself)

One of the photographers we had met earlier, came to check on us. They had asked us not to go to the Konkan Kada for the evening since there was so much mist. Two of my friends had wanted to see the sunset but we had chucked the plan on their advice. He said the mist had cleared a bit so we could give it a try. He also wanted to show us a wild flower that he had spotted. We readily accepted his offer to accompany us. His two companions joined us. We were barely even half way there when the rain gods let loose their fury (or love, depending on your viewpoint). We were not prepared for the rain at all. It had been clear all day and even the three photographers didn’t expect such hard rain. We kept on for a while but soon realized it was fruitless. It was pouring hard. We were soaked. Thankfully, I had a couple of plastic carry bags for my cameras and mobile. Otherwise, I don’t know what I would have done! We turned back. I was shivering like hell due to the cold. The senior most photographer apologized on the way back for taking us there in the first place when he himself had advised us not to go. I think he felt really bad that he got us all soaked. And so he treated us to khichdi that he cooked on his stove(which was delicious although I couldn’t savor it due to my bad throat which had got worse due to the smoke.) We slept off with the alarm for 6. We finally managed to pull ourselves out of bed at 7 or something.

The photographers had invited us for breakfast the following morning. We had got food along and didn’t really know whether to accept the invitation or not. The rain gods solved our dilemma though. The rains had lashed out all night and the water seeped into their tent. They were in a pretty bad state in the morning, so, the breakfast invitation stood cancelled. It was drizzling a bit so we decided to take our chance on konkan kada and set out dressed in our rainwear. We had planned to have sandwiches up there. But on the way there, the rains got harder. By the time, we reached there, it was pouring and the mist had covered the valley so there was no view. It was the cliff that I had wanted to really see but I wasn’t very disappointed. The trek till now had been worth it. No regrets. Although I really don’t know why we still had our cheese sandwiches up there on the cliff under a tree with the rain pouring down on us. It was a watery sandwich. We could have easily gone back to the cave and had proper breakfast(which we had ultimately) but we kept to our plan of eating the sandwiches on the cliff! After that we trudged back to our cave dating back to the 11th century. It was quite a feeling to be in such an old cave. And there I had one of the best tomato soups I have ever had, made by a friend. (It was thanks to his cooking that we survived!) To add to that, he made great maggi, which we nicknamed ‘meri cavewali maggi’(like the ad.)

After packing up our things, we started off on our descent. I was apprehensive about it. My shoes had given up on me. The grip was almost gone. There were a lot of rocky patches to cross which had become slippery due to the rains. Plus there were many water falls to wade through. Each step was a struggle to keep my balance. Thankfully, I made it with one fall where I landed on my butt which still hurts! There was a very steep rocky patch which we hadn’t been looking forward to. And believe it or not but there was traffic jam at that very point. Before us, a group from Tech Mahindra had gone down. And some of their group members were stiff with fear. Usually, fellow trekkers help each other out. But their group was too huge to give them a helping hand. They had enough of help. So we managed to move ahead of them. And crossed that rocky patch with no mishaps. After that the trek down was fairly easy but very exhausting. My legs were shaking with exhaustion (more disappointment with myself.) No one else complained which drilled the guilt even further. We made it to the base at 4 pm. The trek was almost done but we weren’t home yet and Pune was more than four hours away.

There was a bus at 5:45, from the village going to Otur which was a little before Ale Phata. We planned to catch it. We were soaking wet. We went to the same place that we had been to in the morning. Changed clothes out there (for which we were charged!) Had Poha which I didn’t really like and then sat waiting for the bus which was exactly on time. The bus ride was bumpy! It took an inner route and finally reached Otur at 7. There we caught a goods carriers and rode in the back up to Ale Phata. It didn’t take long to get there and I was starting to get motion sickness. At Ale phata, we got a Nashik-Pune bus which was packed. So, we had to stand. My aching legs and motion sickness were beginning to bother me. I hoped to make it without vomiting. Bus journeys usually make me sick. Thankfully, I got a seat. Two of my friends got a friendly traveler to chat with, who recounted stories of his trekking days. The bus journey was otherwise uneventful. I made it to Shivajinagar without vomiting. That was an achievement in itself! We made it there by 10 pm and I was home by 10:30 eagerly looking forward to a really hot bath and then to snuggle into bed under a warm blanket. The trek was a success! Touchwood!

Checklist ( It is tentative-Will update it on further confirmation of IDs)

Butterlfies:

Common Rose
Common Indian Crow
Common Gull
Crimson Rose
Yellow Pansy
Blue Pansy
Lemon Pansy Chocolate Pansy
Painted Lady
Plum Judy
Blue Mormon
Common/Angled Pierrot (Need to confirm though)
Tailed Jay
Lime Butterfly
Great Eggfly male
Plain Tiger
Glassy Blue/Common Wanderer (Not sure)
Grass Yellow(Not sure which one)
A Hesperidae species which I need to ID
Blue bottle
Common Leopard Plus two moths which I need to ID

Birds:

Rufus Turtle Dove
Shikra
Red Vented Bulbul
Blue Jay
White Throated Kingfisher
Cattle Egrets-Near the dam
Common Myna
Sparrows
Marsh harrier-Near the dam
Grey heron(Not sure)-Near the dam
ducks(No clue of species)-Near the dam
Kestrel
Brahminy Myna
Malabar Whistling Thrush
Larks (Need to ID the species)
Pied-bushchat (both male and female)
Crow pheasant
Ashy prinia
Yellow eyed babbler
Small Green Bee eater Heard a Cuckoo call

Purandar-I should have trekked there!

12th September, 2009

Purandar-I should have trekked there!


I had missed the last time my friends went trekking to Purandar. Wonder where I was??? Anyway, I convinced them to go back since they hadn’t gone all the way up. So, we got onto our bikes ( at around 8.30 I believe) and made our way to Solapur road. It is not difficult to find your way as long as you take the correct right turn at Saswad Phata. It could get a bit confusing since there is a bus stop at the turn which is very crowded. I don’t remember exactly where but somewhere along the way you pass the infamous Urali Devachi. I had only heard of the place before but now I can understand why the poor people out there were protesting. The mountains of garbage out there are unbelievable.

The route mainly follows the main road except that you have to take a left turn from the main road in order to get into Purandar village which then leads you on to the foothills of Purandar fort. Since, the rest of the group had already trekked to the fort, this time we decided to go on our bikes. The road didn’t look too good but we didn’t think it would be too bad either. However, we were proved wrong. That road may be motorable for cars but for bikes with not-so-good shock-absorbers it can leave you with a backache. It definitely left me with one since I already have a weak back. The road winds a long way through the mountain but the view keeps you engaged.

I think it was the first time that I saw the Indian Tree pie around here. I have seen it on my two trips to Kerala but never around Pune. Although I am told it is not an uncommon sight out here. We also saw the Malabar Whistling Thrush whose ID a friend confirmed. We might have seen a Short toed Eagle but didn’t get a definite ID. It was definitely an eagle but not sure as to exactly which one. It was spotted at the water reservoir near the top (which, by the way, looked very tempting for a swim.) The road to the very top was barricaded for some reason and no one was in a mood to trek further up, so, we turned around and trudged back on the graveled road on our iron horses.

Earlier, we had had a measly breakfast at Samarth Wadapav in Saswad mainly owing to the fact that all the money we had added upto Rs.50/- After breakfast, we thankfully found an ATM. On our way back, we stopped at the same place but had a more filling lunch. We were back home by around three which made the trip all the more worthwhile because we still had the rest of the day to ourselves.